The Poker Enthusiast

4 Months

2010-01-14T14:28:00.000-06:00

Its been 4 since I’ve posted anything. I just have not had the time or inclination to put effort into anything written for others to read.

As far as things go, work is getting better with more orders and hitting budget equaling more time spent at work instead of being part time. I look forward to the day when I can work a full week on a regular basis again.

Lauren is ten and a half weeks out from her ACL reconstruction and is doing well. She is at or a little ahead of schedule in her recovery and gets to start running as soon as soon as her new brace comes in. This is the time where she will determine how long before she can start playing ball again. The effort she puts into her workouts starting in about 2 weeks can get her back on the field sooner then expected…as long as she doesn’t overdo her therapy. It’s a fine line she will have to walk for the next month or so as she regains her strength but has to limit what she does. We want to avoid a set back that will cause a delay but also want to help her be ready to play by the beginning of May if possible. She still has a long way to go to reach that goal.

On the down side, the poker league I played in for the last couple of years is ending its run. Its to bad because the group of players, 30 plus most nights, are fun to play with for the most part and had enough good players to make every tournament interesting. There is another league that I could jump into but I’m thinking I’ll take some time off before finding something new.

I have been playing online again, not a lot but enough to remind me why I took the year off. I’ll still join an occasional tourney or play the random micro limit cash game but I think my nights of grinding might be over. We’ll have to see.

I’m finding this return to writing harder then I thought it would be.

Time to Push Back

2009-09-09T10:52:00.001-05:00

I feel so beaten down by life right now. I could go on and on about all the things that suck right now and point fingers at the decimation that is my life but the reality of it all is that I have probably caused most of it if I actually took the time to go over everything.

I’m unmotivated.

Maybe its me going through a mid-life crisis, feeling self absorbed and rejecting criticism because I don’t want to look into the mirror for fear of what I might see…I know that much of this comes from trying to deal with the burdens of balancing my personal desires with my responsibilities. But the weight of financial hardship, trying to work through nine months of partial pay and feeling like a red-headed step child has left me bitter with tinges of surly.

Its time to work out of the rut.

Knock Knock...

2009-09-08T23:02:00.002-05:00

Is there anyone out there?

Life has gotten in the way of this here blog.

I could write about it but it would be at least a long short story.

I hope everyone out there in the blog world is doing well.

That was fun

2009-05-05T07:36:00.003-05:00

Well I did it...I played online poker for the first time in over 3 months. My buddy waffles sent me a little scratch so I could give it a try and what do you know...I had fun. The best part of it all was cashing in two out of the three MTTs that I played in which included a final table appearance in the PLO tourney I played in. I played weak tight for part of the hold'em tourney I cash but turned it around when I needed to do so and took 23rd out of just under 1000 low limit morons. Turbos take such skill.

This whole pandemic thing is driving me crazy. I understand that this flu is going to spread across the world but it is a flu and as such we will require bed rest and liquids to help us through the illness if we happen to get sick with this swine variety.

I'm meeting a blogger tonight. OSU is flying into Chicago for work and his Brother's graduation from college so we are going to get together for a beverage or something after my son's ballgame. It should be a good time.

Do We Have a Pandemic?

2009-05-01T09:30:00.001-05:00

Since the Swine Flu is basically a regular flu that may just spread a little fast, I offer this.

Pandemic 2

Like Riding a Bike?

2009-04-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

What can I say, my two fans have spoken up so I must move this thing along.

I have played no poker since the last time I posted so lets not even pretend that this here post has anything to do with the game. But what I can do is catch you up with a few things in life.

Since I’m learning how to write again, I think we will do this in a few short bullets and let it go at that.

1) Work still sucks and the part time thing because of our great economy is still kicking my butt.
2) Softball E. is having a very good season for her high school team with an ERA of just over 1 and averaging about 12 Ks per game.
3) Baseball E. is starting his season and has tryouts for his first travel team on Sunday.
4) Speedy E. living life and driving dad crazy.
5) Mrs. PE keeps me from losing it almost every day.
6) I have very little desire to play poker right now.
7) Well, I would like to play but cannot justify the use of the money since I had to spend my bankroll just to pay some bills.
8) I’m sure there are more things but like I said…I am learning to write again.

Have a great day.

ZZZZZZZZZ....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2009-04-29T22:32:00.002-05:00

I've been asleep at the wheel for a while. So much going on with the family that I just have not taken time to update this part of my life. I'm not sure anyone is interested anymore since I left the blog-world a couple of months ago...Lets see if I can get back in the groove.

My Addiction

2009-03-08T19:47:00.002-05:00

Having an addictive personality can cause issues with anyone. The fact that I know I have this issue helps me to look at the warning signs that mean I’m taking things to serious and thus, allow me to step away from things from time to time. But I’m not sure Facebook will allow me to step away.

I created my account to get in contact with my cousin. It had been about 20 years since I had talked to him and a conversation with my mom gave me the idea to see if he had a page. He did and we have had a couple of conversations with him since the first connection. Rob, I know I still owe you a story and I will get it to you eventually. But, what happened is a test of my resolve.

I find that I open up my home page and leave it open on my laptop. I will check for updates on a regular basis throughout the day. I will chat with friends that didn’t have my IM and make random comments to their updates. I am a Facebookoholic.

There…I have that off my chest…I feel better.

Life Goes On

2009-02-20T11:50:00.001-06:00

No, I have not died…No I have not been playing poker online. I have had an interesting month since the last time I thought it was important to write.

Let’s start with life…

I was sitting in my chair a couple of weeks ago, watching TV and chatting on the girly box when my oldest daughter reminded me that I needed to take her to a friend’s house to take care of their dog. So I get up from my chair and my hand has fallen asleep. I have a slight tingling sensation but why worry about something like that. I probably just leaned on it wrong.

So we head to the house and I wait in the car for her to let the dog out and give it some food when I realize that my hand still feels asleep. Not like it was but kind of dead. This worried me a bit and I hurried home to contact a friend who’s girlfriend is an EMT or something like that anyway. She tells me to call the ER and talk to a nurse to see what they think I should do. By this time I feel the sensation in my forearm and a little in my bicep. So I give the ER a call and they say call my doctor because they will not give any recommendations without seeing me in person.

I call my doctor…I surly dude who doesn’t like the fact that it is almost 11:30 at night when I call. I tell him what is going on and he relieves my feels by saying it doesn’t appear to be a heart attack based on the fact that my chest doesn’t hurt and I’m not feeling sick. Then the hammer drops when he says it sounds like a stroke.

Iwalk into the other room and kindly as my wife if she could give me a ride. I think it would be a stupid move to get behind the wheel of a car if there was any chance of a stroke or heart attack happening so we head to the ER. I new I’d get in fast because they really don’t want dying in their waiting area and we get to the area where they check blood pressure. 178/143 is not a good thing and they sent me into a room and hooked me up to some machines.

They did an EKG and my heart came back strong. No issues there so the next best thing was to do a CAT scan. I was a little worried about this because of the feeling numbness in my hand but it came back OK. So they gave me a little pill and walked out of the room for about an hour. When they came back my blood pressure was back to normal and I checked out.

The lesson I learned from this is to make sure not to skip taking your medication…for a week.

Everything else in life has been solid. Mrs. PE is going back to school, Softball E is getting ready for her first high school season, Speedy E can’t wait for the summer because she has a job lined up and will be able to buy her own computer with the money she earns, and Baseball E is just finishing up with basketball.

On the poker front, I have played a few live tourneys and have final tabled two of them. No big monetary gains but solid play from me overall. Have been doing pretty well in the cash games I’ve played which seems to get handed over to my wife for bills but that’s OK.

I’m glad to be returning to the spring…life always seems to be better when the sun shines longer and the air is warmer.

Borgota Bound

2009-01-23T14:41:00.003-06:00

Well not really but it sounded good. Check out the coverage here

Playing Poker and a Fundraiser

2009-01-19T10:12:00.000-06:00

Man it was so cold last week.

Anyway, not much happening that’s new or different. Its seems my/our life revolves around driving whichever child has event on any given day.

I did play a home game since the last time I wrote here and it was much the same as last time. Get deep and miss the money…again. I can’t complain to much as I felt I was playing my A game for the most part. I didn’t have the chance to run my stack up like last time but instead slowly increased my stack by winning smaller pots.

It started off well when I won the first hand dealt when I saw a flop with AQ suited and had a free look at the turn. I caught the nut flush draw and re-raised a small bet from a middle position player who likes to take stabs and he called. The river filled my straight and my opponent check folded. This seemed to be the way my night went…I one a bunch of hands without having to show my cards.

A little later I chopped a big pot when I flopped two pair and turn the nut boat. He held the same J9 for the chop. That was the hand I needed to win to start running over the table. Eventually we got down to two tables and I had a super donkey on my left. He wasn’t afraid to call with any two cards and won a number of hands with crap. I was hoping for a double up through him and he gave it to me on an AK3 flop when I had AK and he had A5.

I busted a player when I was in the BB. I announced I was calling blind, mainly because the guy on my right would have pushed ATC. The button pushed the remainder of his small stack in the middle and it was folded to me. I called getting about 6-1 on my money and we turn them over…I had no idea I would have AQ and ran over his AJ.

At the final table I made a few moves by stealing some blinds and ran into the hand that would define my night. I’m in the SB and bets are at 750/1500 and I have 5800 behind. UTG limps leaving 6K behind. Middle position player pushes to 2600 and super donkey calls from late middle position. I turn up my cards and see QQ. I go all in.

I think this is a no brainer. I don’t really care about the short stack…I want super donkey heads up and isolated. If I beat him and lose to the shorty I still have a net gain.

Anyway, BB folds and UTG tanks. Now when he didn’t push I felt I was safe. In my opinion, you can only call here with one or two hands…AA or KK. I mean if you hand wasn’t good enough to raise with preflop then it can’t be good now. But if you look at the odds he was getting, maybe calling is the right move. We he eventually he only called and super donk came for the ride. The flop came 983 and UTG shoves about 1K into the middle and super donkey folds. UTG’s set of 9s is golden and I miss the money by a couple spots.

I think what we see here is a guy who probably miss played his 99 and then felt he had to call…which I’m not sure I agree with but I can argue both ways. I think a better move from him is to raise/shove preflop since he only had an M of about 3 anyway. I really think limping with that hand is the wrong play most time but it was a good move for him that time as it really didn’t matter how he played it…I was going to get knocked out regardless. That is unless there are three players all in, in front of me…then I can fold QQ. Doesn’t really matter…I had a good time and won a few bounties to break about even.

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

This weekend we are throwing a fundraiser tourney together for my daughters softball team. It is a $20 re-buy with basically $5 going to the team and the rest to the prize pool. If anyone would like to make a donation of a re-buy, I will be donating anything I win back to the team as well as any unused re-buy funds I have left. You can contact me by email through my profile to make arrangements through paypal or a funds transfer on full tilt.

Regardless, it will be a fun time and hopefully I can either win some money for the team or at least help them out with many buy-ins.

Have a great day.

Searching and Searching

2008-12-23T12:30:00.005-06:00

Found a couple of jobs that might fit. The best looking one is about 5 minutes from home. It is for a major company we all know so chew on that for a while.

I have started playing Ikariam with a group of people from work. This caused me to get Waffles, IT and Riggs involved. Anyone else wanting to give it a try jump in at let me know. We have an alliance that kicks butt...wellkicks a little butt. We are growing and will offer protection and advice. You can go to our external alliance page here.

Have a great day.

Monday

2008-12-22T10:01:00.001-06:00

Since the demise of my life as I knew it, I have actually play a small amount of poker. Nothing amazing but with the limited amount of bankroll I have, anything in the positive direction is a big thing.

We’ll start with the Poker Stars blogger thing.

I played in two events, one of the hold’em events and the 8 game rotation. The hold’em event was going well until I had an issue with one of my children. I lost focus and made a play at the big stack on the BB. I was the SB and it was folded to so I raised it up. I had not played a hand in about three orbits so I figured a little steal would work. I had 94 suited so when he re-popped me I should have folded. But I make a comment in the chat about me not playing a hand in a while and then push my stack in the middle. It could have been a re-steal by him so I though he could fold. He felt AT was good enough to call off 2/3 of his stack but I hit a 4 on the flop…it was good until he caught a T on the river. I’m not sure I could call a re-shove with AT but he did and he won.

The mixed game went well until the bets started getting huge and then it became a matter of getting hands at the right time. I didn’t. I do know that I really like triple draw and made most of my chips during that part of the rotation. The part that killed me was having a nullified while holding the nut flush draw and nut straight draw. I caught none of it with my numerous outs and left silently.

So, I have been playing a little on Lock Poker and forgot there was another level of terrible play. Players calling big re-raises out of position with T8 off suit…things like that. Anyway, I took advantage and won a small MTT, about 350 players. Its nice to win but I find my self distracted. I really need to stay away for a while more. To much life getting in the way of smart play.

So being Monday, the only day I work this week, I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Moving On

2008-12-18T09:45:00.001-06:00

We had an ice/sleet storm during the night but other then that it was just another Monday. But it wasn’t just another Monday…I was now a part time employee and on some levels I felt a sense of betrayal. Considering the hoops I have jumped through for the company, I think my feelings were justified. Anyway, traffic sucked and I arrived about 30 minutes late to work…not a great start.

I checked my emails and headed to the production meeting like every other Monday morning…it is not every other Monday.

I doodled on my notebook and took some notes. This meeting took longer then most and when it was through, I had to write a couple of emails and get some information put together. I went for a walk around the plant and walked with an unfocused gait. I’m wasn’t sure why I was even there.

I worked my way through the day and prepared to leave when I got a call I was waiting for. It was one of our sales guys from the east coast…near waffles…So I told him I couldn’t talk because I’m now an hourly employee and I’m off the clock…25 minutes later I hung up the phone and headed home. Giving away time for free…that will get me somewhere, someday.

Tuesday I went to city hall and the county health department to see what kind of programs they had for underemployed, overweight, thin haired men and their families. Pretty much a waste of time for now. I also called the mortgage company…because we are in good standing there isn’t anything they could do at this time. But if we start having problems they can come up with a plan to help us work through it. They took note I called and said it was a smart move…If we had waited until after we had problems it would have been harder to do anything. I guess having a credit score in the 800s has advantages?

Yesterday I ran a conference call with a customer in New Mexico. The General Manager was actually at the customer’s facility while I sat in the conference room by my self…I wasn’t actually alone…I had waffles on IM.

I’m struggling with the concept of managing a department as a part time employee. I have no initiative. I’d rather sit at my desk and play Ikariam.

Well...

2008-12-17T09:19:00.000-06:00

Working through the myriad of issues in your life is a large part of what defines you as a person. The reactions, both good and bad, at the point that the issue becomes real is a moment of truth and our experiences in life move us down a path that is often sloped and strewn with obstacles. Then it is just a matter of keeping our balance or stumbling on the impediments in our way.

My problems are my own and I sometimes spill them on the canvas of this blog. Sympathy is not needed and though empathy fits, it doesn’t bring a solution in most cases.

It started on Thursday morning last week. It was a typical day at work except for closed door meetings with employees on an individual basis. And being a small company, work got out fast that one of the customer service people was getting let go. Them it was a production employee followed by some job responsibilities being moved around. It looked like everyone was meeting with the bosses and everyone was on edge.

I went into the office with the General Manager and the President like I have a million times before. The conversation started with what had happened to this point and what some of the changes meant to me. Then they let me know I was going to be moved to part time starting the next Monday…two days ago.

I took it about as well as I could. I don’t really understand how I can be a manager and be part time but whatever. It wasn’t a total surprise that things were happening but it was a surprise that it hit me. They gave me the rest of the day off to think about the offer, ironic considering they are trying to save money, and I left a little while later to think about my options.

I basically got fucked. I lost my insurance and 40% of my pay. I am expected to do everything I did before and I might have made more money on unemployment when you look at the gas savings. I write this today as two other employees fly to a customers place for a meeting which pisses me off even more.

So that’s my life in a nut shell right now.

Merry Fucking Christmas.

Love This Movie

2008-12-13T07:24:00.000-06:00

Stupid comedy at moronic level.

The Season is Here

2008-12-08T09:56:00.000-06:00

Christmas time is here and we started the yearly routine on Friday night as we brought up the numerous containers of holiday cheer. One of the girls had a friend over so we had an additional able-bodied person to help work through the minefield of ornaments, light stings and nutcrackers strewn about the house. By bedtime, we had the tree up and most of the cursory items in place. The only things we didn’t have in place were the outside decorations.

Saturday came and as usual, I was out of the house with Softball Enthusiast around 10:00 and headed to pitching lessons. It was a good day because she has moved onto a couple of new pitches and worked on the proper way to throw them without killing her self. She has a long way to go but she has been working really hard at improving her game and wants to put her self in a position to play varsity as a sophomore. She isn’t there yet but I think it is a possibility if she continues to work they way she has been over the last couple of months. She is to the point where throwing strikes with her fastball just happen because her mechanics are tight. This allows us to work harder on her other pitches and should speed up the progress with she will need to achieve her varsity goal.

So in the afternoon I started to put up the outside lights. Started means I was to cold to stand on the ladder with the wind pulling any warm I had in my body. I did get the light bulbs changed to red and green but the ones hanging from the gutters will have to wait a couple of days.

Sunday I took Lauren to practice in the morning and returned home just after the start of the Bears’ game. I was glad to be inside watching the game instead of outside…except that I had to go hang green stuff outside after half time. I also put up a few of the lights but I really didn’t want to climb the ladder. I am a puss. I made it back inside for part of the 2nd half and got ready to leave for Softball E.’s game. Yes I know it is winter time but her team is playing a winter league in a huge building in towards the city. She didn’t pitch and was 0-2 hitting but drove in a run and smoked the ball both times in their 3-2 victory.

We arrived home around 7:30 and watched one of the Harry Potter movies as we ate our late dinner. Another weekend flew by as we move closer to the end of another year. It has been a tough year but I am thankful to have a family to spend time and do things with.

That Spunky Waffles

2008-12-07T20:53:00.001-06:00

Poor waffles…nobody gives him any respect until someone calls him out for what he is. Here is a quote from the tables on Full Tilt.

Maniac57: !!!@bags
Maniac57: mother$#!$ers
Maniac57: cumswillers
jennyho1: shut up you pus infected cumbubble anal wart

Dealer: Maniac57 wins the pot (5,167) with 7,5,4,3,A
Dealer: jennyho1 finishes in 81st place

Maniac57: wheeee
jdinner: lol
Maniac57: Anal Fart
Maniac57: anus
Maniac57: horses &&%@
jennyho1 (Observer): still snivellin cry baby?
Maniac57: pink lips
Maniac57: gg jenny
jennyho1 (Observer): a grown baby, how pathetic
pokerenthusiast (Observer): cumbubbles come from spitters
Maniac57: cumbubbles and straws

Maniac57: was jenny talking to me?

If he cashed the tourney does it count as a money shot?

Have You Met Ralph?

2008-12-05T11:45:00.001-06:00

It started out as a typical Friday night except for one thing…I was the first night of my drinking career. To say it was the first night isn’t truly correct. I had imbibed beers before and just the week before I was on my way to a my first over indulgence when I have the fortunate experience of going to McDonald’s for a Cheeseburger instead of staying at the road party that was busted 10 minutes after we left. That was a sobering moment. Anyway, this the story boy meets drunkenness.

Bill and I had two 15 packs of Stroh’s, one for each of us and since he was driving I had a head start. It wasn’t long before half mine was gone and we had only been out about an hour. We drove around and finally met up with some friends on Green Acre Road. It is one of those roads that is a few miles long with only one or two farmhouses sprinkled along the side of the road. It was a great place for us to hang out and I don’t remember ever being busted there.

So it is still early, maybe 8:30 pm…the sun had gone down and it was a nice evening in early October. I had a good buzz going and pushed it until the point of being stupid drunk. I can recall closing the back door of one of my friend’s car while his hand was there…you know how hard it is to open a car door when someone has their hand stuck in it? Anyway, I probably drank about 10 beers in the span of an hour and a half or so and it was catching up to me fast. Bill said it was time to go home but I rejected his plea. This was fun, my mind was muddled and I needed another beer. After some protesting, I finally gave in and jumped into the car to get a ride home. About 300 yards down the road I insisted on stopping so I could take a leak. My real intention was to run back to the party and have some more fun. He pulled the car over and I did my best to act coy…easy to do when you are drunk…and turned to start my jog back to the party. Within two steps, I was face first into the ground. I had my pants unzipped as part of my plan and I may have peed on my self…don’t remember for sure because I was laughing so hard.

Bill drove me home.

I walked in the door and my mom was watching something on the tube. She commented on how early it was as I sat down in the chair across the room from her. I was hammered out of my gourd. She asked if I was drinking and I admitted to having a couple of beers. As we talked, I propped my elbow onto the left armrest to try to steady my misbalanced body. I tried to follow the conversation but my mind and body was having an issue with maintaining focus. As I sat in the chair, leaning on the left armrest, I started to fall to the right. Nevertheless, my expert instincts held up as I deftly caught my self and smoothly switched to leaning on the right. I was in complete control…there is know way she knew I was hammered. A few minutes later, I excused my self and went to bed.

After taking more time then usual to take off my cloths, I slid into bed feeling the weight of to many drinks. I knew I was going to crash quick and I was ready for the slumber. But, a strange thing happened. When I laid my head down I was greeted with a feeling of unbalance. I wasn’t sure how to cope with a room that seemed to be falling, or tilting or maybe both at the same time. I rolled over on my side hoping that getting comfortable would help me get through this strange affliction that had attacked me…but I was wrong.

I’m not sure if my mom heard me heaving but I let loose with everything right there on my bed and on the floor. When I was finished I rolled over the other direction and fell asleep. At some point I was woken by my mother dragging me into the bathroom…maybe I walked/crawled…don’t remember. She threw a towel at me and I wiped off the puke off my face and curled up into a ball on the cold tile floor in my bathroom. I think I used the towel for a pillow.

When I woke up to day light, I went back into my room to see that everything had been cleaned up. I can’t imagine that it was fun cleaning up alcohol induced vomit off of a carpet but there was no way I could have done it that night. I grabbed a blanket and crawled as deep under it as is possible to try and drive the throbbing heartbeat out of my head. I can remember think that I was never going to drink again.

Sometime later I grabbed my mattress and took it outside to air out. It took me 45 minutes to get it from my room out into the late morning breeze. I had 20 minutes to get some food and head to the high school for my soccer game. It was time to move on.

I Smell Something

2008-12-04T10:22:00.001-06:00

Independence is a major milestone in the life of a child. Being able to dress ones self and be responsible for various small tasks builds a child’s self-esteem and pushes them towards dependability. But there are flaws in the process as they grow into their role in their growing responsibility.

Being in a household that has both parents working, my son (7) and middle daughter (12) have one day a week where they have to be home by them selves for about 20 minutes or so. This isn’t a big deal, they know the rules and follow them pretty well. So yesterday, they get home and Speedy E. goes up to her room as normal and Baseball E. goes to get a snack. He has a slice of pizza left over and decides to warm it up in the microwave, something he has never really done on his own. He goes upstairs and asks his sister how long to let it cook and she said 30 seconds. He heads back downstairs and fires up the machine. Apparently, 30 minutes is not the same as 30 seconds because he turned it off when he saw some smoke starting to come out of the microwave. We think it ran about 5 minutes before it started smoking but we are not sure.

House smells like smoke a bit but we opened some windows and it seemed to so the trick. We talked Speedy about not being a couch potato and to actually act like a baby sitter. No blood, no foul.

So I was home for about 15 minutes before I had to head back out the door. I saw there was a letter from my high school so I opened it up to check out the news.

Back in the day when my gut wasn’t the size of a basketball, I use to play basketball. I was ok but nothing great…I just had some mad jumping skills. Yes, white men can jump. Anyway, during my junior year we went to the state finals and eventually, our team became kind of an icon in our town. Well that was 25 years ago and the school is going to honor the team in a ceremony before the varsity game on January 30th, 2009. I guess I will get to see how bad my body has broken down in comparison to the rest of the guys I played with back then. They are also having an alumni tourney the following day. There is now way I will play that because I will probably have a heart attack the second time running down the court. I wonder if I can still dunk?

Blogger Fun

2008-12-04T00:04:00.007-06:00

This should be fun.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

All bloggers can play in this exclusive online poker tournament.

Registration code: 589358

Its Not a Whirlpool

2008-12-03T15:04:00.001-06:00

Poker seems to be warming back up to me. I have done a little dabbling at Lock Poker and it reminds me of my early days of playing online.

When I started out, I first played for real money after filling out a survey and having $5 put into my account at Noble Poker (This is when I started this blog). I went in with the idea that I would try and grind it out but not worry if I lost it all because it was free. I started with the >02/.04 limit tables and would grind out 37 cent sessions and had a stop win gap of $1. I bought in for 60 cents and had a stop loss of 40 cents. It was small time poker but I stayed focused and before long ground it up to $10. Then I was up to $17. In a couple of weeks, I had a bankroll of $25 and was living high on the hog. I played my first SNG when I hit the $30 level and moved into the $75 zone. Without to much trouble. I started taking random shots at this point, random meaning I started to play a $5 SNG now and again. Anyway, I found they had a jackpot SNG program where you received $300 if you could finish in the top 2 of 5 straight SNGs. I hit it on my first 5 and the rest is history.

Within a few months I had money on Stars, UB, Pacific, Full Tilt, Party and Sun Poker. In all I had a couple of grand sitting out there and started to take a random withdraw now and then. I’m sure a lot of it had to do with pure luck but I made my start without ever depositing a dime out of my pocket.

So here I am again. Sure, I have a little money on Full Tilt and will continue to increase my bankroll there, at a snails pace, even if I don’t play considering the few people who signed up through my affiliate program. Anyway, I will try to regain the old magic from days gone yore by playing at Lock Poker for a while. The biggest question in my mind is whether or not I can go back to grinding for a while…maybe for the next few months. I truly a tourney player at heart and even though I have yet to fail to cash in the double up SNGs, I know playing them to rebuild a workable bankroll will be a grind. If I stay within my bankroll management restrains.

Would I consider going back to Full Tilt full time?

Sure but with the rake on the low level SNGs, trying to work it back up might be more then I am willing to do right now. It will be better for me to slowly build my roll there, $5-$10 per month through my affiliate money then to play $1 SNGs with a 25 cent rake. So I think I’m done with Full Tilt for now. I will miss it and I will still rail some of the time…I may even buy into a random event here and there but I think it would be silly to leave the deal money at Lock Poker alone.

So what about my new found killer of family time? I played one hold’em tourney and didn’t cash or even make it very deep. I had a workable stack but blinds were at the 250/500 level and I look at AK suited in the BB. Early position player raises to 1900 and a middle position player calls. I have 5700 and see over 4K in the middle. The initial raiser has both of us covered and the other player has 2200 behind. I look at my price to call vs. what I have left and realize I will probably have 3-1 or better odds to call anything post flop so I go ahead and push. I figure I’m against a pocket pair and maybe a strong K and realize the big stack will not fold no matter what. He didn’t and the middle position guy called also. My chance to triple up is here and I see 77 and KJ. I question the KJ calling but the big stack had the 77 sow I have 5 outs to take the lead…but they don’t come.

I jumped into a double up SNGs and grind out a cash and also started a PLO tourney. I hit a big hand early and went dormant for a while. As we approached the final table I knocked out a few players and hit the final table as the chip leader. Dormancy struck again and missing a few raised flops left me in the middle of the pack with 4 players left. My run ended when I flopped two pair and was open ended but lost to a turned flush.

So not a huge score but the grinding has began.

@&#%*&% Morons

2008-12-02T11:50:00.001-06:00

Well things seem to be moving forward a little in regards to my dad’s estate. But let me back up a little and walk you through the process.

My father passed away back in February.

My sister is executor.

I have two stepbrothers and two stepsisters.

One stepsister was given $1 as her part of the inheritance.

My stepmother died 13 and a half years ago.

Stepbrother 1 had not seen or talked to my father since his mother’s death.

Stepbrother 2 talked to my dad at random intervals totaling maybe 12 times or so since his mother’s death.

Stepsister 2 talked to my father often until she divorced and moved away, leaving her children with her ex-husband and giving up her rights to them. This pissed my dad off and he said he would never talk to her again.

My sister and I take care of all funeral arrangements.

We fix up the house, my sister more then I, to get it ready to sell.

We get stuff ready for garage sale.

My sister informs steps to come to the house to get anything they would like to have.

They never come.

My sister, acting as executor pays all the bills, takes care of lawyer stuff.

My sister, as executor asks for 15K compensation for her executor duties plus hours of labor and mileage. I think this is a little high but not to terribly high. My calculations came to about 11.5 but I’m not going to argue over $3500 split between 5 people.

We are ready to disperse money in November. Two of the steps hired a lawyer to argue the executor fee after they hired the lawyer to hurry up with the payouts. There is still one bill outstanding so we will have to hold back 10K in reserve.

A new court date was set for December 4th.

Steps lawyer says they will sign off if my sister lowers her fees to $7500. She counters to $12000. About where I thought it should be.

They prepare an order to have the money released.

My sister makes a deal to send each of us 10K until everything else gets worked out.

Fucking morons fighting about 1K each. They will spend that in there lawyers fees. Fucking idiots.

Have a nice day.

Sticking My Toe In the Water

2008-12-01T10:17:00.001-06:00

Well I stuck my toe back in the water and it is tepid at best. Playing on a very short bankroll is frustrating as hell after having a few years of taking shots when I want. Anyway, being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to play some online poker at Lock Poker. Let me tell you, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

When I opened the poker client, I found it easy to navigate after a bit of thought. It wasn’t long before I opened a PLO tourney and watched as an agro donkey build up his stack only to give it away time and time again. I was the happy camper when he doubled me up a couple of time but saw my hopes dash by his brilliant play when he called my re-raise with his 367T rainbow vs. my AAKT double suited, The Q92 flop could not have been better for me but he knew he would hit his 6 and 7 on the turn and river so he called my push and caught up.

One thing I noticed was a deeper payout structure. I don’t recall the exact structure but they pay a few more spots then lets say some of the other poker site out there today. This can be good for some but I would actually like to see it pay a little more to the top finishers. Over all it isn’t to bad.

After looking around a while, I went to the SNG section and saw a few things that would be great for an action junky. They have some kamikaze SNGs that require you to push every hand. What a thrill for the action bloggers out there. The also have some lightning tourneys where everyone must ante 250 chips each hand and thus the pot is huge to start. Not a bad idea but you are all in within 4 hands because you start with 1000 chips. But my favorite part was the double up SNGs. Have the table receives twice their buy-in. I played 4 or 5 of these and have yet to fail to cash. Now they are a bit of a grind but I think they are an easy bankroll builder for the smaller bankrolls.

They also have a few guaranteed tourneys including a 250K. But many of the guaranteed tourneys were re-buys so you have to check the fine print before starting one.

For the FPP players out there, they have gold chips and gold cards that you can earn during your play there. You use there chips to buy into other tourneys, kind of like free rolls, where you can win some cash if you make a deep run.

The only draw back that I saw was when I signed up for one tourney, the table didn’t open. I could tell that the tourney was progressing but I couldn’t get to my table. I sent a quick email to support and then logged off and back on. The table was there but I had missed a number of hands before I was finally on my table. The good thing though was that support sent me an email right away suggesting that I log off and back on to fix the problem. I can think of some other sites where I wouldn’t have gotten a response for hours or even days. I’m sure Lock Poker is looking into fixing the bug and will eliminate the problem in the near future.

My overall impression is very solid. The traffic as between 5 and 6 thousand so not real high but there seemed to be enough for a lower level player like me. I’ll give it 4 out of 5 as my recommendation because of the one issue and that I think they need to add RAZZ to the mix. So if you are looking for an online poker download, try Lock Poker.

A Little Meat

2008-11-26T10:58:00.002-06:00

Happy Hump Day.

My head feels clear again. I am ready to jump back into the waters full of various Pisces. But I will probably abstain for another month just because I need to prove to my self that I can overcome the addiction that has cause many late nights of frustrating results.

I got caught in a virtual argument with a vegan yesterday. Well it wasn’t an argument…It was more of a statement against a letter that was posted. It talked about this person’s life style change to become a vegetarian and the process that was involved. I thought it was a good account of the thought process until this person started to talk about Commandments in the bible and what they did or didn’t say about eating. Now, if I remember correctly, there are 10 Commandments in the bible and none of them has anything to do with food. One of the analogies that the writer used was how there were animal sacrifices but then the lord came down and died on the cross so the sacrifices stopped…and that meant that God didn’t like the animal sacrifices. I think he missed the point about why Jesus died on the cross. Anyway, he also talked about having a dog and couldn’t imagine eating his dog. Now there is no comparison with eating a big juicy steak and eating leg of dog.

Lets start with cows. They are raised to produce products we can eat. They are not a domesticated animal. They are the same as corn that grows in the field. They have no will. They are happy if they have food to eat but don’t have any understanding of anything other then reproducing and eating.

Now dogs are domesticated. But, if you look at the purpose of dogs you will realize they are working animals. Their meaning to us has changed based on centuries use as a companion but there is one thing…Dogs show affection and we respond to that affection. But, do they really love us or do they love the fact that we are the ones who feed them. I love my dog but it would be just as happy with someone else if she was getting a regular meal and some affection.

I left a comment for the vegan blogger who posted this story and she made a comment that did disturb me a little.

Thanks for your comment.

I don't believe that, because an animal was raised to become "meat," it's ok to kill it. Africans were once raised to work for whites. I don't believe that's right. Simply because a group can control another, that doesn't give them the right to do so.

Now I don’t recall anything that every said that Africans were raised to work for whites. I do recall that people were forcibly taken from their homes and made into slaves, but they were not raised to do such. However, using this logic, should we not have used horses to pull carriages…I’m sure the horse would have much rather have sat around eating grass in the field. No, animals have no will…they make all of their decision based on instinct. The horse pulls the wagon because it knows it will get oats and an apple when it is done. Not because it wants to pull it. We as people push the cart because we make the decision to move it from point A to point B.

All of this being said, I don’t like cruelty to animals. I think someone who hurts an animal on purpose should be hurt in a similar fashion. But I think that slaughtering cattle is fine because it is a crop, not unlike corn. As long as they are not being tortured I think it is ok.

I’m not sure why I ended up here…making a statement. I think that standing up for something you believe in is a great thing. But to place burdens on others because of what they believe is wrong. We can all just agree to disagree.

Barking at the Moon

2008-11-25T09:41:00.001-06:00

I think the world of WOW is read to really go main stream considering what I saw last night. I saw a commercial for the new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, on ESPN. I guess I didn’t realize the target audience for the WOW would be watching highlights from the weekends football games. So if the people at Blizzard are convinced that spending large sums of money during a NFL recap show to pimp there product, then I must be doing the right thing by playing.

Ozzy fits right in with his eloquent speech truly inspiring me to want to run to the store and purchase the latest expansion. Who wouldn’t be driven by the clear and concise dialog the flows from his mouth…like music to my ears. Maybe the should have used Bark at the Moon as back ground music.

My Inner Geek

2008-11-24T10:37:00.001-06:00

Knowing your geekish tendencies is important in the grand scheme of things. I have no problem with the fact I played Dungeons and Dragons when I was a kid…hell, just the other day my son pulled out my container of various die and asked “Dad…what’s this?” I answered, “Why that is a 20-sided die.” I have a whole crap load of the various utensils of destruction needed to play the game…I still have my copy of the Monster Manual, Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters’ Guide, Monster Manual 2 and even the Deities and Demigods book. You never know, maybe I’ll want to get the stuff out and play again. I am content with my inner geek.

So you ask why I would bring up D&D? I guess because I’ve been playing WOW and actually enjoy playing. I guess it should be a surprise that I like the game and even though I can’t seem to keep the monsters off of waffles as well as I should, it is a fun little game. And if you break it down, it only cost about 2 cents and hour to play. 90% of the online poker world should think about that because they would lose less money if they paid money to play a game where that can’t win anything back.

I played for a few hours…like 15 hours over the weekend. I have 2 characters going and mailed some silver pieces to my 2nd character, An Orc Warlock, so that he could afford some other things. My Undead Warrior is doing well and is up to 20th level. I have found that some of these quests need multiple players to get them done without fear of death so maybe I can convince a few people to give it a try.

As far as poker goes, I played in a Bodog free roll the other day. I don’t count that as playing because I didn’t put any money up. Anyway, the play was horrific, even for a free roll and I lost interest after about 2/3 of the field was gone. I had a workable stack and I think the structure there is pretty good but I didn’t like the software at all. There seemed to be stalls and hiccups and I wasn’t always sure where I was at during a hand. I’m sure I could get use to it but while I’m on hiatus, there is no need.

Is There a Return in the Future

2008-11-21T15:14:00.001-06:00

Well it has been ten days since I started my hiatus. I spend the long evenings looking at the screen of my laptop…I look and wonder what it would be like to slip my toe back into the waters of online poker. Is it the draw of the game…Is it the draw of the competition…Is it addiction…Am I just a loser that has nothing better to do with my time? I am a lurker. I watch friends play to fill up the empty space left by my exodus from online poker.

Actually, I’ve been playing WOW and having a blast. I hooked up with waffles the other night and watch him kill things in one shot that would take me much longer to kill. I guess being a 70th level Undead Rogue has its advantages. Anyway, I have leveled up pretty good, 16th level, but I’m running out of time on my free trial. I guess I’ll have to run to the store and buy it so I can waste more time until my hiatus is over. Hell, the cost of the game is much less then my monthly juice/rake so it is all good.

I played live last Friday. I wasn’t going to play because I was short of funds but I made a deal to trade some Pay Pal money for the buy-in and went on my way. It was a $35 buy-in with $5 going to the house for food and drinks and $10 going to a bounty. We had three full tables of various skill levels with the typical calling stations and agro lagtards. My first table had a nemesis sitting two to my left. He thinks A4 is a great hand to call two raises with and over plays junk all the time. There was also my old boss, worldpoker05 on full tilt, who is very tight and a number of players that I’ve played enough to have good basic reads of them.

First couple of orbits I played tight until I found AK in latish position. I raised 3x to 150 and was called my nemesis. The flop was QT3 with two spades and I fired a continuation bet of 200 into the pot of 375 and he called. He could have either the straight draw or a flush draw as well as either or pairing the Q and T. I he is a good enough player to fold a whiffed pot so I know he has a piece of it. The turn brings me an off suit J giving me the straight. I thought a bit and tossed out 250 into the pot of 775. I was trying to feign weakness but he just called. At this point, I hope he has two pair and because I know he will call an overbet for value. The river is a 7 and I tank a bit. This is a bounty tourney so I want his bounty chip but will he call a shove or even a small bet. I shove hoping he thinks I missed the flush draw and he folds. He later said he folded T9. To bad an 8 didn’t hit the river.

Shortly after that hand I was moved to the TV table. We watched the Blackhawks game in between hands. Anyway, It didn’t take me long to realize that most of the players like to limp and see flops so I opened up my range a bit and began to make raises. I won the blinds with T8, A7, A5 and 53 before someone re-raised me. I actually had a hand with AQ but folded after a couple minutes of thinking. That didn’t stop me though. I raised with Ax and bet at a Kxx board and took it down. I also came over the top of limpers a few times and enjoyed watching them slam their cards in the muck as I pulled the chips in to my stack. Before I knew it, I had 13K while the next biggest stack had maybe 3200. By this point the blinds started to mean something and I continued to put pressure on the players. I asked players there chip counts and raised half there stack over and over again. Nobody played back at me…until a shorty pushed after I,,,limped…with AQ suited. I knew he would have to push with the blinds coming and wanted him to commit his chips. His A7 was no match. As we got ready to move to the final table I made one call that was very questionable…well it was actually dumb. A shorty pushed for less then the SB and I called from the SB position. The big blind pushed over the top. To 2025. I was getting about 1.6 to one to call while holding 56 suited. I was looking at busting two players for about 10% of my chips stack. Really I was playing against the raiser and I figured him to have a big ace so I was close to the right odds minus the shorty. I made the call and was happy to see that the raiser had pocket 2s. The shorty had me dominated with his 75 but the flop came and gave me a 6 to take the lead. I was gold until the river when a 2 hit and gave the stack to the raiser. I guess it was the wrong play but it almost worked.

At the final table I was an average stack…maybe a bit above. Anyway, it was tight as the blinds were getting huge. In one hand, my nemesis limped from early position and it folded to me in the BB. I checked blind and we saw a flop of 544. I announced ”I guess I should look at my cards” and checked. He made a pot size bet and I came over the top for all of my chips. He tanked a bit and folded JJ face up. So as a good sport I turned over my 82 off suit. He went on major tilt and bled chips for the next 30 minutes. I got a couple of high 5s but I knew I would have to tighten up. And that killed my game.

I was never able to get much going and players folded to my raises because they knew I had something when I raised. The real problem was the short stacks and idiots trading chips back and forth. We didn’t lose anyone for an hour and fight though I might, I could gain any traction. I finally pushed on the bubble and got called by the big stack. Yes I missed the cash and a chance to replenish my online bankroll a bit.

The bluff was a huge thing in may ways. It hurt me a bit tonight but all of those players will remember it. I can use that when I have a hand…and I will.

Pimping Bodog

2008-11-20T14:41:00.002-06:00

Play this.

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And Now, the End is Near...And So I face, The Final Curtain?

2008-11-13T09:46:00.001-06:00

I’m taking a break.

I had good intentions of getting back into the swing of things but life sucks right now and spending time writing just isn’t in the cards right now.

I had to take the majority of my bankroll in a pair of transfers for cash that left me far short of my comfort zone and proceeded to waste most of it trying to win a seat for the FTOPS Razz event. It wasn’t a bad beat that knocked me out…it was the twisted humor of the junk kicking game that I love to play.

Over the last 14 months, I have spent almost $2500 of my live bankroll paying for softball equipment, hitting and pitching lessons and the fees for my daughters playing on their traveling teams. I had to take money out of my on-line roll to take care of some more of these things and now have crumbs.

I need to do one of two things…learn how to win more money or find a better job so I don’t have to go into my bankroll to pay for these things.

A tilted exposé of my run could be seen shortly after getting knocked out on the bubble of the razz qualifier if you opened up the SNG I was playing in with all but the last 3 dollars of my bankroll. Like a fool I ran AK into KQ when the table idiot shoved on my 4x raise knowing I was committed to the pot…maybe I give to much credit saying he should know I’m committed…I call and the “no withdraw god” hits him with a Q on the river to send me home.

I talked to my wife about replenishing my roll after everything is completed with my dad’s estate but that probably is the wrong thing to do. Maybe it is time to step away from the game…to do things with my time other then sitting in my chair with the TV on playing cards until midnight or later all the time.

I’m frustrated by the fact that I spent all this time building my arsenal, most of my live roll came from on-line, and then gave it away to the point I cannot play comfortably anymore. It was my choice to spend the money on my children and would never want to deprive them of things that I think are important for them to have, but…it just sucks.

Last night was a failure in bankroll management. I shouldn’t have played the $55 qualifier but I had cashed in it 4 of 5 times in the past and was trying to use it to get something workable to play with. I wouldn’t have played the Razz event…I would have taken the tourney dollars and grinded my roll back to something playable. The right thing to do would have been to start playing some $2 SNGs and work it up slowly but I fell victim to my vanity.

I don’t have disposable income so unless I can turn this around quickly, I will be done. I have a couple of buy-ins left and will try to get it turned around but only after taking a day or two off. Then I either turn it around or I have to get some ad money to start over.

I do get a little money from ads but not much. I have it deposited into a bank account that we use for Christmas and other things. I’ve always tried to keep the ad money separate from the poker money so I could see what is going on with my game.

Maybe I’ll just play free poker and learn to push 94 off suit pre-flop and cheer about winning 10 million free chips.

Fiction is Good for the Soul

2008-10-22T16:51:00.000-05:00

I’ve had a problem lately…I seem to be on non-blogging blogger. I understand that making a commitment to the blogging community places a burden of responsibilities on anyone who steps up and takes the challenge, and that I have been less then conforming to the true standards needed to be considered an active blogger, but I will try to improve the efficiency of my efforts as the cold winter months start to impede upon outside activities. I guess you could say I would rather be doing other things while the weather is still nice. That and work has been busy.

I gave the few readers of this blog a brief glimpse at a project I’m working on a week or so ago. It is my first attempt at fiction and you had the privilege (I guess it was a privilege) of reading the first few paragraphs of a literary masterpiece. Well, maybe not masterpiece but it will be a short story by the time I’m done. I’m looking at 15 – 20K words but it could be bigger or smaller depending on the amount of effort I end up putting into the story. I will give a brief synopsis for those of you who care about such things.

It is a story about a 45 – 55 year old man who is heading to Las Vegas for the first time. He is a math teacher at a…wait…maybe I’ll just show you some reviews.

From Ramblings of a Mad Man

“The heart breaking tragedy of a man on a quest is both moving and inspirational. Moving in that I had a bowel movement after reading the first couple of paragraphs and inspirational because it inspired me to head to the bathroom instead of crapping my pants.”

From JJ is OK

BLOW

So as you can see, the reviews speak louder than words…well they are words so they speak the same as words. You can see that one review says the story is inspirational and they both have moving concepts in the review. I am very inspired by these reviews and will continue to try and live up to the expectations that my readers have set for me.

I’m guessing that this will take me a couple of months at most but being a procrastinator…anyway, I will post it when I’m finished writing it…or not.

Feeding the Rush

2008-10-22T00:00:00.002-05:00

Awake in a Dream

2008-10-08T19:29:00.002-05:00

I opened my eyes but a cold grayness was all I could see. I wasn’t sure where I was at or how long I had been there but I knew one thing…I felt like shit. Reaching for my eyes, I felt an excruciating pain run from my right shoulder and down my arm that threatened to send me back into unconsciousness. I slowly fought off the desire to slip back into the darkness and tried again to reach my eyes with my other hand. What I found was a bandage that seemed to be wrapped around my head.

I sat there for a minute and collected my thoughts but my mind seemed to wander. After a while I started to pull off the gauze wrapped around my skull and felt them pulling at some unknown injury around my vanishing hairline. As I pulled it off of my eyes I was blinded by the brilliance of light that emanated from whatever room I was in. The light brought a new pain but one that slipped away as I slowly adjusted to my environment.

The room was certainly well lit and I looked around to try and understand where I was located. Reality struck home when I saw wires hooked up to me and an I.V. sticking out of my arm. Now all I had to do was figure out what happened to me that caused me to be sitting in a hospital bed.

As I searched my mind the beeping from the heart monitor came into my consciousness. The continuously repeating sounds didn’t help me focus on the situation at hand. I started to push my self up, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, when the door to my confusing life opened. She looked like an angel in her white nurse’s outfit and I hoped she could shed some light on what happened to me. But as I started to speak she asked me to lie back down and try to relax. The words I tried to speak wouldn’t come as I realized I couldn’t talk.

Fear bubbled into a froth as I started to panic. I tried to get up from my bed but my legs didn’t work and my useless right arm failed me for a second time. I heard her scream something as I continued my quest to break free of my confines. In ran what had to be a doctor and I was startled when my angel jumped across my chest and held me in place. I felt the needle slide slowly into my arm as the doctor did what he could to get me to calm down. As the drug began to take affect, I slowly lost the battle and succumbed to the sleep inducing injection.

To be continued…

Ten Things

2008-10-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

1) Man do I feel better.

2) It is amazing the amount of stress we put on our selves when it isn’t really warranted.

3) What can be worse as a father then having your daughter go to her first high school dance and remembering how you were as a high school boy?

4) Why is it that when you find that old CD that you bought for one song, there is a scratch on that song?

5) Does anyone see the resemblance of the bitchy neighbor lady in Sarah Palin?

6) Does anyone see the resemblance of your high school friend’s hot mom in Sarah Palin?

7) Can someone tell me why the price of gas is going down even though our economy seems to be turning into a pile of shit?

8) Does anyone feel sorry for all those companies who granted bad loans?

9) I don’t have a problem with the people getting loans they couldn’t afford because they were doing what the system allowed them to do…and they also have to pay the price.

10) I don’t like bailing out the idiots who over sold there products because it would got them big bonuses that they can now retire on while everyone else fixes their mess.

A Couple of Weeks Away is Good For the Soul

2008-10-06T12:32:00.001-05:00

The burden of having a job has beaten me down like a rented mule. I have been inundated with work for the last couple of months with the culmination coming to a head today. I write this as I wait for the ISO auditor to come and finish the second day of audits for my company’s re-registration…a necessity to do for so many corporate businesses now days. Anyway, I will be glad when it is over and I can go back to reading blogs at my desk.

They other day I sat back and evaluated my year as a poker player. Let me tell you, I was not impressed with my results. I had losing months for the first 7 months of the year and even though I have not had to re-load, I got to the point where I was lower than any time previously in the history of my online game. So from there I dug a little deeper and found one big thing that stood out. I played three tourneys this year for the cost of $966, which I never have been able to do in the past. Now I made the choice to play in these events so I must take the consequences of my actions. But if you take them out of the picture, I have had a solid year. I’m still down a little overall but am lose to getting unstuck…and that is a good thing.

My typical summer swoon hit again this year but I had a play to lesson the affect this time around. During early August I went on hiatus and actually went into the client software and forced a mandatory leave from the game. I think it allowed me to refocus but more importantly, it allowed me get away from playing while life’s distraction interfered with my decision making. I know that my work life was intruding on my game and I came to the realization that I have to separate the two if I want to have success.

Now this wasn’t a new revelation for me but something that I have to remind my self of from time to time. But I can see it in my patience at the table and my results as of late have indicated such. Overall, I looked at my life time results that indicate that I cash in 20% of the tourneys I play. I truly think this is a little high because it means I might be trying to slip into the money instead of doing what I have to do to get deep. Anyway, the number I like is the percentage of final tables I have reached. I’m at 11.5 % during the last two years of my play with almost half of those being top 3 finishes. This is more of an indication of how I have been playing overall. The breakdown of the top three spots show me getting 1st place 33% of the time, 2nd 42% of the time and 3rd 25% of the time. Not bad but I would like a few more first place finishes.

So when I look back I realize that variance plays a part in my results and that 2 years of data show that I can make money playing the game. Does that mean I wont go broke? No it doesn’t. If I don’t maintain my bankroll management skills I could go broke at any time. I have a few friends who think I play to small and don’t take enough shots but I think they are wrong. I think playing above my bankroll will lead to more frustration if I go to the wrong side of variance for a short time while taking those shots. I am happy grinding it out until I get to a level that won’t deplete my bankroll if I lose a couple of tourneys.

Along these lines, I had a talk with a friend the other day. He was complaining, again, about the beats he has been taking and the frustrations he has been feeling about the game poker. This gave me the idea to look at his results and I found something very interesting. He has been cashing in 19% of the tourneys he plays. Sounds like a great number but when you dig a little deeper you will see the problem. He final tables about 8% of the tourneys he plays, which isn’t bad but he has had very few top 3 finishes…more specifically, he only reaches top 3 about 1% of the time. This is a glaring weakness in my mind so I took this information to him over the weekend. We spent about an hour going over the details and the biggest suggestion I had for him was to spend some time playing SNGs. I told him to challenge him self to play x number of SNGs and to track his results over time to see if he can improve his results in a final table situation. I know that my history of SNG play helps me when I get to the final table so I think it can help him. Anyway, I also told him to evaluate the payout structure when he gets to the final table and compare his place equity to the payout. Basically I told him that he needs to quit folding to the final table for en extra few bucks and try to get into a position to get deep.

So there you have how things are going for me…have a great day.

I Take a Week Off and See What Happens

2008-09-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

I’m going to actually write about poker today. It has been a while so stick with me as I bring back a long forgotten aspect of my writing to the top of the page.

I arrived home last night around 10 minutes to 6:00 and chatted with the family as I always do. My oldest had a sore back, the middle child was as usual and my son had soccer practice at 6:00 so Mrs. PE was leaving with him. They had already eaten supper so I threw in a frozen pizza and turned on the Cubs game for an evening of baseball. At around quarter after 6:00 I opened the laptop to see if anyone was playing and made the decision to jump into the PLO tourney that had just started. I figured I would kill some time in between pitches and see if the lemurs could out catch me yet again.

The craziness of this tourney is such that two players at my table had 14K within the first 30 minutes of the tourney. I have one of them tagged as an idiot and I am more than willing to play some connecting hands against him because he doesn’t know how to fold.

Seat 4: numainville (14,472)
Seat 6: pokerenthusiast (1,635)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ks 8c Kc 9h]
numainville calls 60
pokerenthusiast calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Kh 3d 7s]
pokerenthusiast bets 360
numainville calls 360

I figure he is drawing to a straight or maybe flopped two pair.

*** TURN *** [Kh 3d 7s] [6c]
numainville checks
pokerenthusiast bets 1,080
numainville raises to 2,160
pokerenthusiast calls 135, and is all in
numainville shows [4s 6d Ad 3h]
pokerenthusiast shows [Ks 8c Kc 9h]
Uncalled bet of 945 returned to numainville

Now I understand he has a big stack but only has two pair and is drawing dead.

*** RIVER *** [Kh 3d 7s 6c] [Qs]
numainville shows two pair, Sixes and Threes
pokerenthusiast shows three of a kind, Kings
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (3,510) with three of a kind, Kings
*** SUMMARY ***

This was a nice way to get started. And on the very next hand I find something else I wanted to play.

Seat 2: FLOP_IT ONCE (13,498)
Seat 4: numainville (12,837)
Seat 5: Vedda76 (1,068)
Seat 6: pokerenthusiast (3,510)
Seat 8: XBooZeRX (9,323)
Seat 9: usmctop (4,277)
XBooZeRX posts the small blind of 30
usmctop posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Jd Ts Jc 9s]
FLOP_IT ONCE calls 60
numainville calls 60
Vedda76 calls 60
pokerenthusiast calls 60
XBooZeRX calls 30
usmctop checks

I love this type of hand in PLO. It gives you a lot of options but you can also get away from it.

*** FLOP *** [6c Ad Jh]
XBooZeRX checks
usmctop checks
FLOP_IT ONCE checks
numainville checks
egasVedda76 bets 360
pokerenthusiast calls 360
XBooZeRX calls 360
usmctop folds
FLOP_IT ONCE folds
numainville folds

I have middle set but figure I’m ahead of these guys. I’m not ready to commit all of my chips yet because I don’t have the nut and there is a scary draw.

*** TURN *** [6c Ad Jh] [Ks]
XBooZeRX checks
Vedda76 bets 648, and is all in
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast calls 648
XBooZeRX calls 648

I’m getting 3-1 on a short stack and 4-1 if the last players calls. I have 4 clean outs to the straight may have boat outs. Not sure if this was the right call here.

*** RIVER *** [6c Ad Jh Ks] [Qh]
XBooZeRX checks
Gopin2nd has returned
pokerenthusiast bets 2,442, and is all in
XBooZeRX has 15 seconds left to act
XBooZeRX calls 2,442

I hit the nut and get called.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
pokerenthusiast shows [Jd Ts Jc 9s] a straight, Ace high
XBooZeRX mucks
pokerenthusiast wins the side pot (4,884) with a straight, Ace high
Vedda76 mucks
pokerenthusiast wins the main pot (3,384) with a straight, Ace high
Vedda76 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,268 Main pot 3,384. Side pot 4,884. | Rake 0
Board: [6c Ad Jh Ks Qh]
Seat 5: Vedda76 mucked [6d 6s 3c 5s] -
Seat 6: pokerenthusiast showed [Jd Ts Jc 9s] and won (8,268) with a straight, Ace high
Seat Seat 8: XBooZeRX (small blind) mucked [7h Ac 3s Qc] - two pair, Aces and Queens

As it turned out I was sitting with gold.

I stayed out of harms way for a while until I found AAxx and called from position. This was another hand with a big stack guy who like to push chips around.

Seat 2: FLOP_IT ONCE (16,031)
Seat 4: brc77 (16,110)
Seat 6: pokerenthusiast (7,258)
pokerenthusiast posts the small blind of 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [As Ac Ts 7h]
FLOP_IT ONCE raises to 350
brc77 calls 350
pokerenthusiast calls 300

I really just want to see a flop. If it hits me well I stay.

*** FLOP *** [Ah 9h Qd]
pokerenthusiast checks
FLOP_IT ONCE bets 575
brc77 calls 575
pokerenthusiast calls 575

I have the best hand but many cards that will kill me hand. I call in hopes that the board pairs.

*** TURN *** [Ah 9h Qd] [Kc]
pokerenthusiast checks
FLOP_IT ONCE bets 2,875
brc77 folds
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast calls 2,875

I’m thinking he has a possible straight but maybe betting a draw.

*** RIVER *** [Ah 9h Qd Kc] [9d]
pokerenthusiast checks
FLOP_IT ONCE bets 8,625
pokerenthusiast calls 3,458, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 5,167 returned to FLOP_IT ONCE
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FLOP_IT ONCE shows [3h Kh Ks 3c] a full house, Kings full of Nines
pokerenthusiast shows [As Ac Ts 7h] a full house, Aces full of Nines
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (15,541) with a full house, Aces full of Nines

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15,541 | Rake 0
Board: [Ah 9h Qd Kc 9d]
Seat 2: FLOP_IT ONCE showed [3h Kh Ks 3c] and lost with a full house, Kings full of Nines
Seat 6: pokerenthusiast (small blind) showed [As Ac Ts 7h] and won (15,541) with a full house, Aces full of Nines

His set of kings was unlucky and he did have the heart redraw. I’ll take the chips.

As the rest of the second hour went by, I bled some chips and started the 3rd hour with just under 12K

Time started to slip away. I was looking for some hands to play that would help me chip up but they avoided me. I slowly drifted down into the 8K zone before seeing a free flop from the BB.

Seat 3: TwoPairTim (8,736)
Seat 4: sdrapak (24,230)
Seat 6: CommanderDan (4,791)
Seat 7: pokerenthusiast (7,971)
CommanderDan posts the small blind of 500
pokerenthusiast posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Kh Qs 4d Jd]
TwoPairTim calls 1,000
sdrapak calls 1,000
WideOn has 15 seconds left to act
CommanderDan calls 500
pokerenthusiast checks

I can work with hand I’m hoping to hit good.

*** FLOP *** [Tc Qd 5s]
CommanderDan checks
pokerenthusiast checks
TwoPairTim checks
sdrapak bets 1,000
CommanderDan folds
pokerenthusiast calls 1,000
TwoPairTim calls 1,000

I’m not running from this hand
*** TURN *** [Tc Qd 5s] [Kc]
pokerenthusiast checks
TwoPairTim checks
sdrapak checks

Free cards are good.

*** RIVER *** [Tc Qd 5s Kc] [Kd]
pokerenthusiast bets 4,000
TwoPairTim raises to 6,736, and is all in
sdrapak has 15 seconds left to act
sdrapak folds
pokerenthusiast calls 1,971, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 765 returned to TwoPairTim

I hit the nut and get paid.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
TwoPairTim shows [2c Ad Js Jh] a straight, Ace high
pokerenthusiast shows [Kh Qs 4d Jd] a full house, Kings full of Queens
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (18,942) with a full house, Kings full of Queens

He waited to get his money in behind. I’m not sure I fold if he bests the turn.

So now I have chips again and we approach the final table. I have good reads on the players at my table as well as a couple from the other table so I just want to be in a position get deeper…and I’m there. As we get to the final table bubble, I bust the 10th place guy and have 35K as the final begins.

Early on I limp in with a nice connecting hand.

Seat 3: pokerenthusiast (35,858)
Seat 6: oraslerapas (84,334)
Seat 7: ilvolpe (12,004)
Seat 8: WideOn (42,104)
ilvolpe posts the small blind of 800
WideOn posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Jh 9c Tc Jd]
unit15 has 15 seconds left to act
unit15 folds
EVIL YODA folds
CR_ROC folds
pokerenthusiast calls 1,600
tylaur folds
oraslerapas calls 1,600
ilvolpe calls 800
WideOn checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac Qs Kc]
ilvolpe checks
WideOn bets 1,600
pokerenthusiast calls 1,600
oraslerapas calls 1,600
ilvolpe calls 1,600

I flop the nut. Now my hand is vulnerable to combinations of two pair but I want to build up the pot a little so I only call. I probably should have raised.

*** TURN *** [Ac Qs Kc] [3d]
ilvolpe checks
WideOn bets 1,600
pokerenthusiast calls 1,600
oraslerapas calls 1,600
ilvolpe calls 1,600

I still have the best of it and wait for a little more money to get into the pot…should have raised it here.

*** RIVER *** [Ac Qs Kc 3d] [9s]
ilvolpe checks
WideOn bets 4,800
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast raises to 31,058, and is all in
oraslerapas folds
ilvolpe folds
WideOn folds
Uncalled bet of 26,258 returned to pokerenthusiast
pokerenthusiast mucks
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (28,800)

Now that I have the nut I re-pop it. It might have been better to call and see if someone else puts money in.

The big stack has been on a mission to bust everyone and has accumulated over half the chips in play. I have not backed off and have chipped up into a nice 2nd place spot but with 100K less chips than him.

Seat 2: CR_ROC (26,728)
Seat 3: pokerenthusiast (73,358)
Seat 5: tylaur (41,859)
Seat 6: oraslerapas (170,055)
oraslerapas posts the small blind of 1,500
CR_ROC posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Ah Ad 7s 9s]
pokerenthusiast raises to 10,500
tylaur folds
oraslerapas folds
CR_ROC raises to 26,728, and is all in
pokerenthusiast calls 16,228
CR_ROC shows [7c Js Jd 5h]
pokerenthusiast shows [Ah Ad 7s 9s]
*** FLOP *** [9c 7d 2h]
*** TURN *** [9c 7d 2h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [9c 7d 2h 6s] [Qd]
CR_ROC shows a pair of Jacks
pokerenthusiast shows two pair, Nines and Sevens
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (54,956) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
CR_ROC is sitting out
CR_ROC stands up

Now I have the ability to put a hurt on the chip leader. The 3rd place guy has been looking for positions to get involved but only with strong hands…he has been very predictable. The chip leader has splashed around a bit and likes to put pressure on you. My plan was to attack the small stack as much as possible but I received a gift from the big stack and took over the chip lead. From there I turned up the aggression a bit and chipped up to about 140K when this hand came up.

Seat 3: pokerenthusiast (139,586)
Seat 5: tylaur (66,859)
Seat 6: oraslerapas (105,555)
oraslerapas posts the small blind of 2,500
pokerenthusiast posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [2d 3s Th Ah]
tylaur folds
oraslerapas raises to 10,000
pokerenthusiast calls 5,000

This hand is as good as any to call a min-raise.

*** FLOP *** [2s 3c 8d]
oraslerapas bets 10,000
pokerenthusiast calls 10,000

Flopping 2 pair is nice. I feel good about my hand but I’m not ready to commit a ton of chips yet. He keeps the aggression going.

*** TURN *** [2s 3c 8d] [4s]
oraslerapas bets 10,000
pokerenthusiast calls 10,000

I now have a straight draw to go with my two pair. I’m probably ahead but I’m not sure…not willing to commit my stack yet/

*** RIVER *** [2s 3c 8d 4s] [2h]
oraslerapas bets 60,000
pokerenthusiast raises to 109,586, and is all in
oraslerapas has 15 seconds left to act
oraslerapas folds
Uncalled bet of 49,586 returned to pokerenthusiast
InstantTragedy (Observer): Booooooooooooooooooooommm
pokerenthusiast shows [2d 3s Th Ah] a full house, Twos full of Threes
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (180,000)

I hit the boat and he pushes into me. I think he needs 88 or 44 to be in the lead because I just can’t put him on the last two 3s. Funny thing is…he folded my re-push to leave him with 15K.

This is about the time I melted down a bit. I doubled each player and eventually the chip stacks were 70K each for the other two players. But then we got to heads up.

Seat 3: pokerenthusiast (168,562)
Seat 5: tylaur (143,438)

Within 4 hands we had all are chips in the middle.

Seat 3: pokerenthusiast (155,562)
Seat 5: tylaur (156,438)
tylaur posts the small blind of 3,000
pokerenthusiast posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Kd 8h Ks 2h]
tylaur calls 3,000
pokerenthusiast checks

Check with my kings. Hoping to go after a bigger pot.

*** FLOP *** [Kc Jh 6c]
pokerenthusiast checks
tylaur bets 12,000
pokerenthusiast raises to 36,000
tylaur raises to 120,000
pokerenthusiast raises to 149,562, and is all in
tylaur calls 29,562
pokerenthusiast shows [Kd 8h Ks 2h]
tylaur shows [Ah As 5d Th]

I hit the set and he surprises me by betting. When we get it all in I was very happy to see my lead and even more happy that it held up. A few hands later it was over.

*** TURN *** [Kc Jh 6c] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Kc Jh 6c Tc] [Js]
pokerenthusiast shows a full house, Kings full of Jacks
tylaur shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (311,124) with a full house, Kings full of Jacks

So there you have it…A brag post about a low buy-in game.

A Wasted Year

2008-09-12T13:10:00.000-05:00

The new job was good. I went directly into the small batch department where I filled small batches of paint. But with it being a department of 3 people, I learned to do many of the other jobs and started to learn how to shade paint in short order. Within 6 months I Moved into Quality control to work on random batch sizes ranging from 100 galloons to 6,000. My pay went from $6.44 an hour to 13 in that same amount of time and was ready to move out.

Life was good on many fronts. I was living at my dad’s place, I was making a decent living and I had no real bills to speak of. I started putting $100 a week into savings and easily got by with the money I had left over to spend. I mad made a plan in my mind to work at the new job for no more than 5 years and to continue to put money away for the future. I spent a lot of time that year with my friends from the neighborhood and had some god time along the way. We continued to have are random gatherings and started bowling a lot.

One of the guys worked at a bowling alley. So on weekends we would head out there around 10:00 and loiter around waiting for him to finish up. The alley would close but we would stick around bowling for free until anywhere between 2 and 3am. Most nights we would bring in a case or two of beer and just have fun screwing around. It wasn’t much of a life but we were a pretty close group of friends and didn’t get into much trouble.

One of the things my dad always said to me was ”I don’t care what you do…just don’t get a ride home from a cop.” I broke that rule that same spring…well even worse. It started a couple of years before when I got a speeding ticket. I had no money so I didn’t pay the fine. Eventually they suspended my license. I knew the situation but continued to drive like so many other people out there until I messed up. After I started working I went to the county clerk’s office and paid the fine and figured it was over.

Anyway, I was driving to work one morning and apparently didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Officer friendly pulls me over and says he’ll just give me a warning but has to run my license first…to make sure I’m not a hardened criminal. My license come back suspended and I am arrested for the infraction. The officer handcuffs me and we talk quietly as we wait for the paddy wagon. I show him my receipt for the ticket but it doesn’t matter. You can straighten it out in court.

Calling dad was the hardest thing I ever did. My stepmom picks up the phone and I tell her the story…she hands the phone to my dad and I repeat the circumstances of my arrest and the phone goes click. She bailed me out 20 minutes later and gave me a ride to work. I found out later that you have to ask for reinstatement and pay a fee to get your driving privileges back so I send a check and whatever form I had to fill out to the state and a week later I can drive again. I went to court and pleaded not guilty and ended up talking to the district attorney about the situation. The charges were dropped and life returned to normal. Stepmom was wonderful through this whole ordeal. She drove me back and forth to work for a couple of weeks and realized that people make mistakes. Dad never talked about it with me.

There wasn’t much direction in my life. Sure I made some money, saved some money and had some friends to hang out with but It was sort of like having a non-existence in a some ways. No real goals, I wasn’t playing ball anymore, I hung around a group of people that for the most part kept this cycle of inconsequential living in perpetual motion. I think the most productive thing I did all year was buy my dad tickets for the Bulls games. There wasn’t much more to be said for that year of my life.

How much more is there...

Back to the Grind of School

2008-09-11T21:56:00.001-05:00

I really needed a job and my mom came through. I got a full time job working at a paint factory filling drums full of paint. It took absolutely no skill to do the job based on the fact that two of the fillers couldn’t even spell there name. I would spend hours standing by empty drums, waiting for them to be full. The place smelled like crap but it was a nice income for a summer job. The best part was cashing my check on Fridays. We would head to the liquor and grab a bottle of mad dog or some other crap and guzzle it down before we got to work. The nice buzz would make the rest of the day go by quickly.

That was a weird summer overall. I was living with my dad but I didn’t hang out with any of my old friends. I started hanging out with some people from his neighborhood and it turned into a real routine. Get home, eat supper, hang out for a while, play cards, drink, play stupid drinking games. This cycle repeated endlessly until something cool happened. Jenny came along.

She is the stepsister of my friend Chris and was smoking hot. She was gonna be a senior so was a couple of years younger but who cares. She was smoking hot. She started to hang out with us and next thing you know we were flirting and such. I wasn’t really sure if anything would happen other then some heavy petting because I knew she was going back to Nebraska or what every state it was that she lived. Anyway, the fact she was leaving didn’t deter her but may have given her motivation. We promised to keep in touch but I didn’t keep my end of the bargain.

In August, school started and I went in with an open mind. I had a smaller schedule and figured that soccer would help keep me focused and I think it did for the most part. And to go along with it, the soccer team was much better. The coach did a little recruiting and gave us the ability to compete that season. He also set up a couple of road trips which helped us bond together as a team.

Our first trip was to the Milwaukee area. I have no idea who we played but we spent the night in Kenosha right across the highway from “The Brat Stop”. Now the drinking laws in Wisconsin allowed anyone who was 19 before the end of September of that year to drink so many of the players on the team were of age. So our first act of team work was to walk over to The Brat Stop and check it out. They carded everyone so we ended up buying a few cases of beer and headed back to the hotel to get loaded up. SO imaging this picture…16 guys walking along the highway carrying 4 or 5 cases of beer…now imagine it if you are a cop.

He turned on his cherries and pulled up along side of us with a screech. We were a little freaked but we kept calm as he questioned us along the highway. He asked us all for our IDs and then checked to see who was carrying the beer. Lucky for us that everyone with a case was also of age. He eventually asked us where we were staying so we told him the hotel and our room numbers. He promised to check up on us later. I’m sure he wasn’t surprised when he knocked on the door of “our room” to find someone other than us staying there.

The next day we played another random team and finished our left over beers during the ride back to campus.

Our other trip took us to downtown Milwaukee. We played a local college team and went to a team supper right in the middle of town. After dinner coach says it’s ok if we hang out for a while but to get back early because we have a game at 10:00. 8 or 10 of us head down the street and wave to coach as we go. We found Major Goolsby's and started the evening by drinking fast and hard. At some point we realize we need to start heading back but get sidetracked at some dive. By the time we leave it is 3:30 and we have to walk 30 blocks back to the hotel. We stumble down the street and find a parking lot that offers a distraction along the way. One of the guys pulls on a door handle…it opens…there is a set of keys in the ignition. We all pile in and drive back to near the hotel. As we rumble to our rooms we see a line of sailors outside a door. Now we know sailors get lonely and are more than willing to pay for a little action so it wasn’t a surprise ay all. The Gilbert starts calling them fags and queers because they have to pay for it. A security guard comes around the corner and our coach opens up the door and tells us to get to our rooms. Gilbert continued his assault by yelling out the window but eventually drifts off to sleep.

Morning came and the hangover was heavy. We headed to the game and coach got even. None of the drinkers got a break and he made me play center forward. We lost 7-0 and slept most of the way home.

My focus was gone after the season. I quit doing to classes in November and took a job at the paint factory in January. I had no direction other than working and partying.

Where does it go from here?...

College...Year One

2008-09-10T22:36:00.001-05:00

I had to get a job. I had a part time job at the J&L gas station as the edge of town but making $3.35 an hour was going to get me very far. My lucky day arrived when mom said she had a position for me with a lawnmower distribution center that was a client of hers. It would be on an as needed basis but at least 3 days a week…and it paid $6 an hour so I was happy to take on the extra work.

My mom was a manager at a temporary agency and always had menial jobs ready for me to make some money. I never viewed her position as much of a job but now that I’m older, I think it was a good service that she provided. It certainly helped me make a little money at random times when I needed it.

Anyway, my job was working in a warehouse picking parts for lawnmower repair shops in the Midwest. Being the hard worker I was back in the day, I would get a stack of pick slips and bust them out as fast as I could get them done…that is until the warehouse manager bitched at me for working to fast. Warehouse manger is really an overstatement of his title. He was the only permanent employee that worked back there and I was the only one working for him. He spent most of the day listening to music and packing boxes for UPS. He would disappear at random times and smell like dope when he returned. He taught me how to drag out the job so I could be called back the next day. He was a complete waste as an air breather.

This job plus the gas station gig gave me an income to have some fun with for the summer. I have no idea how many concerts I went to, mainly because I was to drunk to remember them all. Anyway, I put away a little money for the coming college life and drifted through one of my last summers of freedom.

When I started school at Waubonsee Community College, I had all intentions of working hard and getting my life started on the right track. I had a full load of classes and tried out for the baseball team that was good for a small community college. During fall practices for the team the baseball coach had a meeting with all the players and asked one big question. “Has anyone here played soccer?”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to answer that question. I knew there was a soccer team but I really didn’t think I wanted to play. “PE…you went to H-BR…they have a great soccer program…did you play?” My moment of truth had arrived and I stepped up and said ”I played a little” “Great…You’re on the team” he said and my college soccer career began.
The team sucked thus the need for additional players and in all three of us baseball players were volunteered for positions of ineptitude as we had now started being two sport athletes.

I didn’t want to play goalie but the regular goal keeper had broken his are in a drinking accident. With a starting position in the bag I played every game like I have always played everything…to win. This was a hard thing for me with a team as bad as we had. Playing hard was easy but losing like we at first just wasn’t going to work. I pushed my game to levels I didn’t know I had and ended up being the team MVP and getting all-regional honors to go with it. I also made the baseball team…I wonder if there was a connection.

School was also going well with all A’s and B’s except for a C in Spanish. I really hated my Spanish class because I couldn’t roll my R’s like everyone else. I also didn’t like going to class everyday so I did what I had to do to pass...I copied from my neighbor.

As the first semester came to a close I realized one thing…I wasn’t going to be able to play baseball. Playing baseball in college required a time commitment that I couldn’t keep. I needed to have a job for money but there was no way I could work and play so I worked. I still feel like I played ball in college because I did play a bunch of fall ball games and made the team but in reality I never played a meaningful minute of ball.

Not playing ball hurt. The focus I had the first semester disappeared so I went back to what I knew well…drinking. It culminated during spring break when I went on a road trip with a friend that saw me drinking in Fayette, Iowa at Upper Iowa University and ended with a party where we emptied my friend’s dad’s keg. All I really remember from most of this is trying to hook up with the girl I turned into a lesbian and getting shot down after we were bare ass in my buddies bed. She wasn’t out of the closet yet and apparently still had thoughts of being straight. The killer was I didn’t have a jimmy protector and she wasn’t finishing the night without me having one. I just got up, got my pants back on and went back down stairs to grab a beer.

It really sucks when you get shot down and then can’t have a beer. The keg was dry and it was still early. No way was that going to stop me so I took a collection and headed to find a buyer. Some girl, I don’t remember her name, came along for the ride and we found the random drunk who hooked us up with a few cases to get us by for a while. As we headed back to the party, I found out the reason Kim ( I just remembered her name) came along. She was looking to find out what I had to offer and started to go down on me as I was driving. Now most of you men probably know, alcohol, blowjobs and driving don’t really go together…but you also know that there is know way your gonna turn down a hummer. Needless to say, I took the back roads back to the party.

By the time my freshman year of college was over, I had failed 2 classes and needed to go to summer school if I wanted to play soccer my sophomore year.

And it Goes On

2008-09-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

It started well. I moved from goalie to midfield because there was a younger kid who was a solid goalie and I was also solid in the field. We ended up getting knocked out of the state tourney in the final 16 if I remember right so that was a let down. Individually, I was 2nd on the team in goals scored in my first season every playing something other than in the goal.

Drinking was just something corn fed kids did back in the day. There was a party almost every Friday and Saturday until basketball started. But being that I had relationship, I kept it in check for the most part. Eventually the miles between us encroached on our personal time with friends and we broke out relationship off.

It didn’t take me long to find someone new. Alcohol seems to have that affect on teenagers and I jumped at the chance to go out with a random girl whenever an opportunity came along. There really wasn’t anyone serious which left me to do basically anything I wanted to do.

Basketball started right after soccer ended and being a senior I figured it would be my year. We had gone down state the year before and we had a shooting guard that we knew could get us a long way. They season was progressing well when I guess I made a mistake. One of the players on the team had a small party at his house on a Friday and when I arrived at Saturday morning practice my coach called me in and asked me if I had gone to the game. I told him I was there for a little while and then he asked me if I had anything to drink while I was there. Now I could have lied and gotten away free as a bird but I told him that I had a couple of beers and went home early. He went nuts and almost kicked me off the team. The hypocrisy of it all is that he walked in on the whole team the year before when we were down state. He kicked out the non-players and told us to keep it down. We had cans of beer all over the room and one of the guys was getting a blowjob in the bathroom. In the end I was suspended for a game but lost about half of my playing time. I took it like a man as while parent questioned why I wasn’t playing as much anymore. Of coarse the season went to pot around this time. Our good guard(29 ppg) blew out his knee and we headed into the post season with no direction. It culminated with a resounding defeat to a team that had never beaten us before…ever…even going back to 5th grade. The best part of the season for me can be stated in one simple way…I got my only chance to dunk a ball in a game and banged it off the front of the rim…in that final game. Still…this white boy could jump.

Most of the rest of my senior year was waiting for the next party. I was tired of going to school and basically quit doing school work. I already had enough credits to graduate and my only ambition after high school was going to the local community college. I arrive at school just in time and skipped 7th period the rest of the year. I think my high school educational experience can be summed up with two words…fucking boring.

I think the biggest problem I had with high school was the lack of challenge a small town school presented me. I could have easily been in the top 5-10 percent in my class but being educated there just didn’t flip my switch. I guess when you take some form test and they say you are suited to be a park ranger and that being a park ranger is the last thing you really want to do…well, you get my drift. But there were a couple of highlights.

Now one of the things many high school students in the U.S. look forward is prom. It wasn’t really that big a deal to me but I knew it would be a great party so I was up for it. I wrote a little something about it so I’ll post it again.

I had made up my mind weeks before that I would ask Kathy. Everyone liked her and even though she wasn’t the hottest thing around, she had a nice body and could hold a conversation. Eventually, after days of procrastination, I summoned the courage and finally asked her. But not without a battle in my mind.

Just walk up and ask her you idiot…You’ve been friends for four years…she doesn’t have a date and either do you…Quit being a pussy and ask her…Christ dude…what are you nervous about…you’ve played soccer in front of thousands of people and you get freaked out about one question…She’s looking at you…walk up to her…one step in front of the other moron…
“Hey Kathy…you have a minute.”

I wanted to go to prom but my chicken-ass self could hardly muster up the courage to ask anyone. Breaking up with Pam was still having an affect on me and my ability to act like a normal teenager. My friends kept giving me shit as they prepared to waste a ton of money on a ritual that creates hope in young men. The hope that they will get laid…or at least a blow job.

Fuck yah, she said yes…I’m not sure if she puts out but I hope I have a shot…Dude…she isn’t an easy mark…put your pecker away and be a good guy…How the hell can I afford this…Maybe mom will throw me a little cash to help out…I’m gonna pull a good one off tonight...Cool, lunch time

Trying to get everything arranged in about two weeks was difficult but it worked out. I went and ordered the tux and Kathy told me what flowers to get. I knew things were coming into place when I got to use my mom’s new Cutlass instead of my 69 Nova that was having issues. We teamed up with our friends Dale and Wendy and made the rounds to get our pictures taken.

This is so fucking lame…I want to start drinking…When is this picture taking shit gonna end…man, Wendy is hot…how does she not fall over when she walks…She is gonna have back problems…wow…Kathy looks hot…I hope I get laid…her dad looks scary…her sister is hot…fuck I’m ready to get laid…finally…lets drink

Back in the day we would drink and drive. It was just what we did back in the mid 80’s and as long as we didn’t get to crazy, nobody seemed to mind. When we arrived at the destination, we finished off the bottles of bubbly and I had a good buzz.

I hope this buzz lasts a while…HAHAHA, he’s way stoned…I wish I had a joint…Night Ranger is so fucking good…My buzz is gone…I’m hungry and we still have another hour at least…he’s getting laid tonight…I hope I do but it isn’t looking…wait…what’s going on…

It was a normal dance except we had to dress up. Everyone still acted stupid for the most part but we still had to pick the King and Queen of the prom.

I know I have no shot…just tell us the winner already…YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME…That fucker is king…I didn’t know kings could be lame ass cock suckers…So stupid…wish I wasn’t on the prom court…I voted for Kathy but she probably wont win…OMG…OMG…I’M AT PROM WITH THE PROM QUEEN…I’M GETTING LAID I KNOW I AM…man I’m hungry…

Going to prom with the prom queen was cool. I always bring it up when I get with old friends because it is kind of like having a status for doing nothing at all. I don’t really care about status but it is fun to mess with my friends. Anyway, we went to dinner after prom and headed home because we had a big day planned for the day after.

Man am I still hungry…that had to be the smallest piece of steak I’ve ever eaten…Should I hold her hand on the way back…maybe I’ll get a kiss…I’m gonna get so drunk tomorrow…I hope I don’t fall of a cliff…she’s cool to talk to but I don’t think she’s gonna put out…At least I got a kiss…Fuck…I know my mom is going to want to talk about this shit when I get home…

The next day we went to Starved Rock near Ottawa. Dale drove his Trans Am and we had plenty of beer and food. The whole senior class sitting out along the river getting drunk and having fun was classic. We almost got arrested when a park ranger caught us swimming in the water back in the canyons but we looked like good kids so he let us go.

Man, mom would kill me if I got in trouble for something stupid like that…You know they would have found the beer…Paul’s knee is fucked up after that fall…He’s done…man I’m drunk…Jesus Dale….open up the stupid windows and turn up the music…Sammy Hagar rocks…I’m gonna put my hand on her leg…She doesn’t mean no…Fuck…What the fuck am I doing…At least I stopped…that could have been really fucked up…man I’m drunk and stupid…Can I ever talk to her again

Nothing ever happened except for me looking like a drunk idiot. After she said no the second time I backed off and regretted being a moron. Nothing ever came of my idiocy and Kathy and I still talked in the hall way and at WCC where we both went to college. I hadn’t seen her for four years. That is until we met at our five year reunion.

It will be cool to see Bill again…Wow, Scott lost all his hair already…Wait, he wasn’t in our class…Oh shit…

“Kathy, I’m very sorry for how I acted the day after prom.”

“That’s OK…If you did it today I would probably say yes”

You have to be kidding me…All this fucking time I feel like shit and she says that…Maybe she’ll put out tonight…Fuck…I don’t think my girl friend would like that…

“That’s funny”

I love that story. I think it reflect how I thought back then. Anyway, the other highlight was going on our senior trip.

As we prepared for the trip, we made the decision to stay alcohol free while down in Orlando. The year before a bunch of the seniors got in trouble and there was talk of canceling our trip because of their mistakes. We didn’t want to ruin it for the classes that followed us. So anyway, I hooked up a quarter bag with a friend of mine and we were ready for the trip.

When we got down to Orlando we picked up some rolling papers and proceeded to make root beer barrels instead of joints. In the end a bubble pipe wrapped with tin foil became our pipe and we had a couple of us had a way of entertaining our selves. Then someone stumbled upon a bottle of rum…if breaking into a motor home and taking the bottle of booze they found as stumbling upon. This got us thinking and we convinced a couple of guys to jog into town and see if they could get some more. Town was 5 miles away but they didn’t disappoint and we spent the next few days hiding it from the chaperons as we got a good buzz going for a few nights. That is until one of the girls did a face plant and busted up her face. We slowed down after that but still had one more big fling in the magic kingdom.

A couple of us used our passes to head to river country and spent the day getting hammered. One guy had never drank before and ended up puking all over the place when we got back to where we were staying…The good times of youth.

In the end a couple of people still got in trouble for stealing shit and couldn’t walk for graduation. I made it through high school and had to get ready for college.

There will be more…

A Little More of My Life

2008-09-08T20:23:00.001-05:00

Like I said, nothing more really happened during my Junior year…Then summer time came and a lot in my life changed.

Now that I reflect on the past a bit, I have a little more to add about my Junior year. My dad got re-married on New Years Eve. I don’t really know the significance of the day but I was a real issue for me. But being the good son I ignored the tell-tail signs of self denial and continued to plod through the year.

A couple of funny things happened with my new step family. Is it against the rules to fool around with a step-sister? I’m not really sure but once my dad and step-mom got hitched, my new step-sister quite messing around with me. I remember the first time something happened…we were heading back from one of my basketball games and she put her hand on my leg. I was like an oak tree within seconds and was looking forward to having my cherry taken from me. In the end we never got to far and like I said…once we were technically related, all things stopped. Now she is fat and left her kids to hook up with her dealer. Sometimes things happen for a reason.

So summer comes and I am still trying to get my cherry broken. Getting some stinky finger and some heavy breathing really doesn’t do it but low and behold things change. My other step-sister hooks me up with a sure thing, mainly because I ask her to find me a sure thing. It was a warm summer night and I head to a friend’s birthday party to drink beer and to get laid by a sure thing. At some point in the evening we head off in my dad’s Ford pick-up to Jeter Road and get the action going. In the end I’m sure it was the 23.5 seconds of her life and we went back to the party to drink some more. A little while later we heard sirens and found out one of my friends had rolled his car into a tree so we headed back to my dad’s and continued the night of my first real sexual experience while the rest of the house slept. She was a sure thing and never got tired.

It was around this time that I tried smoking pot for the first time. I knew my step-sisters smoked it and I found there stash one day while everyone else was out of the house. I smoked two bowls and got totally stoned. I was a little freaked when the phone rang because I knew the person on the phone had to be a cop. Anyway, it became a new influence in my life that shaped much of the next couple of years in my life.

I found that summer that I didn’t care about some things as much as I use to care. I still played sports but they were a little less important to me at the time. I never did spend a lot of my time getting high but I continued to party a lot and only worried about the important things…me.

One thing I always tried to do was mind my mother. She was lenient on me in that I could stay out late if I wanted but would always make sure I was home when I said I would be home. If I told her I would be home at 1am then I made sure I was home by 1am. I think she let me get away with this because she didn’t want to lose me and felt by giving me space I wouldn’t push her away. I think she did a pretty good job with me and gave me enough leash to feel free but not enough to hang my self with.

One other thing that happened that summer was meeting up with Pam again. I told this story but I will re-post it because I can.

#9 and #10 In high school I went out with this one girl. We got along great and we were about as serious as juniors in high school can be. Then one day she breaks it off and never gave me any indication of why we could date no longer. Later that year she moved to another town about 15 miles away and I figured that was the end. During the summer that followed she came back in town on many occasions and her and one of my classmates, we’ll call her TC, would stop by and say hi. After a while she started to stop by on her own and we started seeing each other again in some sense. Then she dropped a bomb. The reason she had broken up is because TC had tried to commit suicide because she liked me but I was going out with someone else. This floored me and we talked about how we could continue to see each other if it was going to cause potential harm to one of our friends. This is when I did the most logical thing and asked the school councilor how we should proceed. The councilor knew the situation and said that it was important not to hide it and let her know how we felt about each other. Obvious good advise and we did just that. TC was glad that we told her and everything ended up just fine. I still can’t believe I talked to a school councilor about a problem. The second part of this story only has one thing. TC is now a lesbian and thus I have turned a woman away from men.

Then Senior year started.

Continued again.

It Was My Life

2008-09-06T01:32:00.001-05:00

I wasn’t sure what to do. My life had just been turned up-side-down by the words that came out of my mothers mouth. We sat in the car outside the old brick police station as we waited for me dad to come back outside so we could go home.

I remember the day that started this off. My dad and I were heading to my grandparents house on a Sunday morning and the police flagged us down. It seem that he was speeding and he received his first every speeding ticket at the age of 43. I don’t think my dad was speeding because we had just been passed by a truck that had slammed on its breaks and pulled into a driveway. It didn’t matter as he handed the ticket to my father.

Apparently my dad didn’t pay for the ticket. He was being charged with driving on a suspended license after being pulled over by a cop who had run the plates on the car and saw there was a warrant out for his arrest. Small town cops with nothing better to do than check license plates.

Mom wasn’t very happy about all of this as you can guess. Anyway, as we waited she told e she had asked my dad for a divorce. She looked at me with her care worn eyes, searching for my feelings. How was I suppose to react? That’s great mom…I was looking forward to living in a broken home. But as I sat there trying to take in the words she had said, I knew it was the right thing to do.

Mom and dad had been fighting for a while. Most of the fights had to do with his drinking and his lack of ambition after the recession of the early 80s destroyed his company. Sure, he worked everyday but having your hard work fall to pieces will demoralize almost everyone.

The fighting was hard on me. My sister was married and so was no longer home. There were so many times I had to step in to get the fighting stopped…you can’t imagine. Then one day, there was a knock on the door. My father was served the divorce papers and asked to leave the house. I suppose it could have been a restraining order but I didn’t really know for sure.

Within six months we moved to Hinckley into a two bedroom duplex right next to the train tracks. My sister lived in town also which I think was a big part of why we moved there. I didn’t really have many friends there but I had my skate board and got to know people I already knew a little better. This was all during the summer before my Junior year.

Soccer started in August and it was good to be busy again. 2-a-day practices during the pre-season workouts got me in shape as I busted my ass for the ex-drill instructor who was our coach. It was during this time that I became close with a few of my teammates and we were soon heading out on Friday nights trying to catch a good buzz. It was easy to get beer in town as the 20 something losers would always get us a case if we bought them a 6-pack. Losers are easy to find in a small town.

The soccer season was a waste for the most part. Most of the team was more interested in getting drunk and it showed as failed to advance past the regional championship game. We lost to a team we had beaten twice already that year and to make matters worse, they ended up making it all the way to state. But…we still drank.

I had a few girl friends during the year and one in particular that stood out the most. Her name was Pam and we really got along great. But one day it was over as she dropped me like a bad habit. The pain was short lived because there was always a party to go to and she eventually moved a couple of months later. Maybe that was why she broke it off.

One of the best part of the year was going down state in basketball. We had a superstar player surrounded by some solid teammates as we won 18 games in a row at one point during the season. I didn’t play a lot but it doesn’t matter when you are a team player. During Regional and Sectional play we had some close games that really put us to the test. We moved through the Super-Sectional with ease as the star scored 55, actually scoring the same amount as our opponent. It all came to an end in the state quarter finals as our point guard got caught taking speed during the season and thus had no energy anymore after being forced to play clean. And our 2nd leading scorer (22 points per game) felt is was smart to get stoned just before the game and miss every shot he took from that point forward. Not a great end to the season. If people only knew some of the stuff that went on with that team.

The rest of my Junior year was spent drinking and walking through life without direction. But I had a lot of fun.

To be continued…

Random...Just Random

2008-09-04T18:54:00.000-05:00

What a crazy week. It started on Thursday last week when I had to make a trip to Toledo and got home Sometime Friday night. On Saturday morning at 5:45, after playing poker until 3am, I had to be at the starting line of the 5K run the baseball/softball organization I’m involved with was holding. When that was over I headed up to Wisconsin for a weekend at the lake. On Monday, I left the lake and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Boston. I eventually arrived home from Boston at about 11:30 Tuesday night. I’ve spent the last two days trying to get caught up so I can be ready for a visit from a customer tomorrow. Life is running fast right now.

I do have to say that the Boston trip went well. It was my first time to the fine city and I had the privilege of meeting a break even poker player. That’s right…I got to meet waffles. He reminds me of someone who would compare me to JJ. I only had an hour so we walked 47 miles to a food court and had some Chinese food and chatted each other up. Good times and I’m glad I finally got to meet the guy who sends me IM’s all day long.

I watched the Republican Convention last night and think that Sarah Palin gave a great speech. I’m not sure if that qualifies her to be a V.P. but she was more charismatic in the first five minutes then I’ve seen McCain during his whole campaign. I could go on about all the political stuff but I have to study everything some more before I make up my mind. At least she is something to look for the next couple of months.

And yes…I can still write about poker. I final tables the $5 Razz on Monday night. Nothing spectacular as I went from 4th to 14th near the bubble when my made 7 got ran down. I fought hard and lasted long enough for 5th but couldn’t get that one hand to get me into real contention. I also went deep in a PLO o8 tourney, missing the final table by a couple of spots. So overall I think I’m getting my focus back through playing less and working harder. Maybe I just got lucky.

Fishing

2008-09-04T18:30:00.000-05:00

Can you put a price on the time you spend with you family and friends?

I woke around 8:00 on Sunday morning. The insects had long stopped their noises and I slowly woke in the cool morning temperatures. I threw on the same old shirt from the day before because we were camping. It doesn’t bother me that others might have smelled a little something special coming from me because that’s what happens when you camp. Anyway, I slipped on my shoes and walked across the dew covered grass and enjoyed the view of the mirror cover water some 20 yards from where I was walking. It was a great day for anything.

When I got to the cabin I noticed that everyone was up and having breakfast. My father-law was already taking a post breakfast nap and I had a quick bite to eat before heading to the boat. My son came along for the ride as I knew he would and we headed out for a morning of fishing.

One of the best things about fishing with your son or any other child is that it doesn’t really matter if you catch anything. Sure, our first obligation is to catch fish but we always throw them back in anyway. As we motored our way across the glistening water, we chatted about anything that came to his mind. Being that he is 6-years-old, the subjects were random and questioning. They covered things like the fish he caught the day before to giving me a demonstration on how he made his catch during the football game the week before. These times are special and should be cherished for what they are...some of the best times of your life.

As we found a spot that has honored us with our prey in the past we talked about the east wind that was blowing and how you had to work harder to catch fish when the wind was blowing from that direction. Now most 6-year-olds fish with worms…but not my son. He had a tube jig with an 1/8 once weight on it and worked it about as well as a child of his age can. Hw started out working it with some speed but soon realized that he had to use a slower approach to catch his quarry. He quickly mimicked my approach and caught his first fish of the day…A 13 inch crappie that would have a nice start to a meal.

We spent the next 2 hours drifting along not really caring if we caught anything. Being with dad on the lake was enough for him…at least in my eyes. We repeated this a few times over the weekend and each of them seemed to be the same…dad and son hanging out together. We ran into a school of perch just before dark and continued to bring them in one after another until I just became plain tired of pulling them off the hook.

I can’t think of a better way to spend a Labor Day weekend with my son.

Feeling is the Key

2008-08-27T18:34:00.000-05:00

As I get older I see and feel the pain of life everywhere before me. I view examples in all directions as I stumble through this world with a mind numbed stare. I’m not looking with eyes of pessimism but seeing the stark reality of what is happening in the world. These things can be summarized in a few different categories, of which, we deal with in our own way to get us through the days, weeks, months and years of our lives.

Our age is relative to a lot of things and how we react to it has as more to do with how we are feeling than our actual age. And as we get older we run into more physical issues. We suffer through pain from the past exploits of our youthful invincibility and carry the scars through the rest of out lives. The pain I carry everyday reminds me of my youth. It is almost a badge of honor, or maybe it is a badge of stupidity…I’m not really sure which is the correct answer.

Things I’ve seen through my eyes.

As many of you know, my father passed away in February…he was liked by many and did a lot for many people…he died a lonely man. Things in his life tore at him…I could see it in his eyes and his mannerisms. It started around the time my parents got divorced and changed through time. I think he spent so much of his time helping others the last 10 or so years of his life because he had nobody to take care of and felt that it was a failure in his eyes to do differently. I also think he had unwarranted regrets about having a family that was split up by divorce and the turmoil caused by his re-marriage.

Things I’ve seen through my eyes.

My step-father is nearing the end. 2 ½ years ago he was told he would live 5 more years at most. He just left the hospital with heart issues as well as lung issues that are all related to his ailing health. I’m not sure if you are reading this now mom but I know you will…When we went to the Ray’s game in April 2006, I realized then that he would be lucky to make it 3 years. It was something about him having to stop every 100 yards to take a rest that convinced me that the doctor’s time table may have been off. I am sorry for you and I will be here for you. I know that he and I have never been close but what can you expect…he isn’t my father but I will miss him because he is a very good man and has helped me in his own way. Cherish the time you have left with him. You are both in my/our prayers.

Things I’ve seen through my eyes.

The anguish of youth surrounds us through our children. I see it with my oldest daughter who deals with peer pressure that will only increase as she starts high school next week. Do you remember what it was like to make decisions, knowing the difference between right and wrong and doing the wrong thing anyway? I can only hope that the things I have done, both right and wrong, will give my children the ability to make the right choices when it really counts. And please tell the truth when you make the wrong ones because it is much easier to deal with it when we know all the facts.

Things I’ve seen through my eyes

Dealing with self absorbed people is trying on our soul. Their vanity and self aggrandizing ways are like little needles that individually have almost no effect. But over time, these little pin pricks become irritating and soon we are scratching at the discomfort. Eventually, the nuisance becomes a boil that has an ugly head of puss that if left untreated explodes into a myriad of cankerous infections that…well let’s just say it isn’t pretty.

Things I’ve seen through my eyes

I’ve seen the elation of a child as he reaches the end zone for a touchdown and the despair of watching the lead slip away into defeat. Does the look on some ones face when they do something great out weigh the despair you see when they have something tragic happen in their life? Or is it all connected?

Feeling is really the key to life. I have come to the conclusion that as long as I feel then all is good regardless of what I’m feeling. And though I seem to have a bit of tragedy and/or mixed emotions about the near future, I am delighted to be part of everything that comes my way…because not caring is the alternative.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Watching the Pole

2008-08-23T07:18:00.001-05:00

As I sat there in the stands watching the game with a cold beer in my hand, my friend Kevin asked if I wanted to head to the strip joint. I hadn’t seen Kevin in a few years because he had moved to Green Bay to take a job at a local College. I contemplated the question as I finished the beer, swallowing the last bit of backwash mixed with the chew sitting between my cheek and gum. It wasn’t as if I did want to go but the game was good and the beer was cheep and I will get the same amount of action either way…None.

“Let’s go”

It was only 10 minutes to the place and it sat on the edge of a big mall. I guess it was there well before they built the mall and was grandfathered into being ok to stay there. I don’t remember the cover charge but we bought our first two drinks right away and found a spot near the stage. It was dimly lit and the girl on stage was nothing spectacular. It was strictly a topless place but she could have kept her top on.

When “Brooke” came through the door heads turned as the new girl walked the room. She was wearing a sash that covered nothing other than the area all straight men long to enter. You could tell she was good at the game. She moved from table to table as she sold tickets to win some prize she was raffling off to the crowd. It turns out she has been in Penthouse a couple of times including a girl on girl spread that she had done just 6 months earlier and was raffling off an autographed copy of that issue.

We each bought a couple of tickets as she flirted with us, trying to suck out as much money from our wallets as she could. When she was done siphoning money from Kevin and I she continued on her way as a new girl started on stage.

Kevin made sure I had a drink in front of me at all times. We watched the young skanks dance and talked about everything from theology to the economic impacts of global warming on sports in the United States. A hot but semi chubby stripper was crawling on all fours in a little leather something that kind of turned me on. Then the main attraction hit the stage.

The girl who had been floating around the room earlier was the main attraction. It seems that she moves from dive to dive across the country in a never-ending quest for cash and this place was her current stop. She hit the pole running and the crowd of losers, potential rapists, sexual predators and general degenerates came to life. She really could sell her body and did it with gusto. We tucked a few bucks and had some real fun with this trollop. When it was all over Kevin and I chatted a bit just before she came back by our table.

I was drunk, there is no doubt about it, and in such a state of intelligence I made a challenge to her. If I could get 5 guys from my team to come back with me the next night, she had to give me an autographed copy of the Penthouse Magazine and take a picture with me so I could show my friends. She agreed and I headed out of the place thinking I was king shit…still going home with nothing other than my right hand.

As it turned out, one of the guys on my team got engaged the next night. To celebrate the demise of his manhood the team dragged him to the club and the party was on again. It wasn’t the same as they apparently only have so many strippers in Wisconsin and thus the same group of women were working again. But when Ms. Penthouse came out she saw me and came right over. She sat on my lap and chatted for a while and I introduced her to the poor soul getting married. She gave him a little personal show and came back with an auto graphed Penthouse for me to enjoy. By the end of the evening we were all drunk and stumbled back to our hotel and finished up drinking at about the same time as the sun started to shine.

I really wasn’t sure what I would do with my new prize and figured out the biggest problem I had to face. There is no way my wife won’t find out what went on so how do I proceed? With a team as close as mine, someone would tell a wife or girl friend and before you know it the whole world would know what happened that night. So I called my wife the next day and told her the store as best as I could remember it and waited for the bomb that would explode a few hours south of where I was playing ball. She just said to bring the Penthouse home so we could see it together and left it at that.

Sometime the ass chewing you expect never comes.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Some Good Comments

2008-08-20T21:47:00.003-05:00

I want to thank those of you who responded to my last post. There are some great comments there and I think they confirm part of what I was saying but maybe not in the same way.

It is our personal choice to play in any event we want to play and I didn’t mean to diminish any of they events that are out there right now. I really was writing down how I was looking at it from my point of view and how playing in all these events, though fun, can also have a draining affect when they turn into a competition. I personally love the Skills game because I think that my game is well rounded and that I have a chance at running deep at any time. As for the Riverchasers, Mookie and Donkament, or any other blogger tourney out there, they are always a blast and I will always play those at random times because I enjoy the company(I still need to get to a Tuckfard event).

Now to other things.

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

I’m out of shape. I guess I could be in shape if looking like a pear is what being in shape looks like. This really became evident last night as I played co-ed softball with my wife. We split two games losing 10-9 and winning 22-8 and had a blast doing it. My hamstrings and ankle were sore by the time the 2nd game started but I worked my way through it and made it home without anything major happening to my physical well being. After taking a shower I iced up both hamstrings and my ankle and actually feel pretty good today. The best part was watching Mrs. PE get on base every time but one and doing a great job in the field. She has not played in about 7 years so W0000000T to Mrs. PE. As for me…I think I was 3-6 with a couple of walks. I popped out with the bases loaded and one out to kill a rally but also had a big 2 out hit to drive in a couple of runs. I wll give my self a grade of C+ overall.

Softball E. ended up her season on the disabled list with two stress fractures on her right tibia. It looks like she played through it for about 4 weeks before we got the right diagnosis. She wore a boot for about 3 weeks and now has an air cast but is doing therapy and has been doing some pitching and fielding work. She should be good to go in another couple of weeks.

Speedy E. has made a 12U travel team in the same organization that her sister plays for. I was surprised when she wanted to try out but as a father I was there cheering her on. She kicked butt and they offered her a spot on the team right away. I have my trepidations about it but she wants to give it a go so I will be right there for her all the way. She had her first practice last weekend and her coach gave her a hitting T and asked her to take 200 swings a day until he says she can stop. She has been in the back yard doing it every day taking her swings like a champ. I was really wondering if she would put in the effort he asked for but she stepped up big time. I even built her a cage so she wouldn’t have to chase the balls all over the yard.

Baseball E. is playing soccer and football this fall. He is so much like me when it comes to playing sports it is unreal. There is no telling how far he will go if he puts his mind to it.

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

I played live last Friday night. The structure was terrible but so were many of the players and I eventually cock-roach my to 3rd place. Over all I was card dead in the tourney. The first hand of any significance was during the 5th orbit when I had 45 suited in the BB. Blinds were at 50/100 and I had only played a couple of hand and was sitting with 1525. Three limpers came in before and the small blind called. I figured this was as good a time for a squeeze as any so I throw my stack in the middle. I figured anyone with something good would have already raised and if I get called I will have live cards. A middle position guy ends up calling of almost all his stack with his K6 and I’m in trouble…until I turn a 4 and it holds up. I use this stack to get to the final table where I continue to get nothing for cards. I steal a pot here and there and eventually show one of my steals with my 62. I was hoping to catch a bigger hand soon and get a caller when I push with it. The next orbit I get AT on the button and push only to get a call…by KT. So I have doubled again and look for more stealing positions. I have tilted the guy on my left but he gets a big hand and double up. We get to the bubble and it is folded to me in the SB and I push without looking at my cards. Tilt boy calls for his tourney life with QJ so I flip over my cards to see what I have…Q8 is not what I was hoping for and I get crippled to 800. I really thought he could fold a hand like QJ as I didn’t announce a blind push but he couldn’t. Next hand the UTG player pushes with AQ and the big stack calls with TT and the TT holds up to squeeze me into the money.

The cash game went well as I had 4 players at the table who saw every flop regardless of the betting. I lost a couple of pots early when one guy rivers a 4 to hit 2 pair vs. my KK and another when the same guy called down with a gut shot and hit. I got my money back from him with a turned flush that he called down and a boat that gave him a flush. I also stacked a guy when I flopped a set of 9s and had the nut flush redraw in PLO when he couldn’t fold AAxx. He even called my set and still paid me off. In the end a won a little in the tourney and was up 1 ½ buy-ins in the cash game so it was a good night overall.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

What About Blogger Tourneys

2008-08-14T22:03:00.000-05:00

It been a long time…I have had no time to write and little time to play…I took a forced absence by having Full Tilt cut me off for a week and I am starting to get rejuvenated. We’ll maybe not rejuvenated because earlier today I was talking about taking the rest of the month off but I am getting charged up. Maybe it is because Mrs. PE and I will be playing co-ed softball this fall. Anyway, I want to talk about something that I think others might be thinking but are afraid to say.

For years we have had regular blogger tourneys and at its highest points we have had hundreds of players competing for extravagant prized as well as bragging rights. But what I think has happened is that people have taken these fun little game way to serious and thus the problems have occurred. These problems I talk about is burnout and I think many would agree that the bankroll burning events over the last year have caused many to shy away from those games we use to play for the camaraderie they instilled in us all.

The question I ask myself is how do we get it back. I’m not really the high profile kind of blogger to get it done but I think we need to consider cutting off the blogger tourneys for a while…except the Mookie anyway. All of the other blogger events have lost steam in the weeks after the BBT3 and I’m sure some of it can be attributed to the post tourney burnout. Sure, some of it is from summer time and any number of other things but I think if we called off some of the blogger events until maybe October, we could come back recharged and ready to go. Kind of like summer vacation for the blogging world with the Mookie being summer school. I don’t know…maybe I’m looking to deep into something that isn’t really there but maybe we could use a little break from all the nightly events.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Helping Out a Friend

2008-07-30T19:58:00.002-05:00

I was talking to a friend about his impending 40th birthday and some of the complications that surround that milestone of age. Being that I have already surpassed such an achievement, I felt that it was easy for me to give him advice and to guide him into the life that awaits. It was at this time that the true meaning of this conversation hit me and that I had to probe into what he was feeling and how he would take the insertion of his 40th birthday into his life. So, I was overjoyed to enlighten him with some of the wisdom I have gained throughout my life.

When the topic came up, the thought of it penetrated my soul. The hard driving question infiltrated my thought process as I recounted a memory that will be forever kept in the deepest darkest crevasses of my mind. This was a breach of epic proportion but I was there for him and thus…my story as I told him.

It was January, eight plus years ago, when it started. I was 33, not 40, but it doesn’t really matter how old I was. It was a frigid morning and the frost was on the inside of the windows in my bedroom. As I pulled myself out of bed I leaned over and gave my wife a kiss, not really wanting to get out of bed but only to drift back to sleep with her warm body next to mine. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and headed to the toilet as I do every morning muttering out-loud about how cold the floor felt that day. I reached down between my legs and pulled out my manhood and prepared to let a night full of bodily fluids release into the cold water below.

My wife came running into the bathroom shortly after letting out a howl that would wake up the dead. She figured I had cut myself shaving or such but what she saw was a man withering in pain and piss all over the wall, toilet and floor. The pain I felt can only be described as a crochet needle being shoved down the urethra of my cock. I figured something must be wrong.

I made an appointment with my doctor and he gave me a prescription for some drug. I finished the day afraid to pee but ready to float. I cried like a school girl as I waited for the pain to hit me like a truck. I had to be seated to go the bathroom for fear of falling but eventually the pain went away a day or so later. While the next few days went by, I still waited for that pain to return for at least a week.

All was great once the medicine kicked in to gear. I was back to normal until the pain came back a couple of days after the pills were gone. Again I was crying as I walked to the bathroom to relieve my self. The doctor gave me the wrong stuff and quickly became my x-doctor. That’s when I met him. The doctor that cured me from the agony that threatened to take over my life.

After getting a prescription of the right stuff I was cured. All he wanted to do was give me a check-up after the medication had done its job. When the day came for my appointment I was glad to be pain free. Check my heart, check my lungs and pee in a bottle and I’m on my way home. But as we talked I realized that there might be something else. An intrusion that has given men shivers and caused them to avoid the doctor at all costs. He wanted to check my prostate.

Now I am fairly open minded person but to have someone probe my anus isn’t something that I have ever looked forward to have happen. He asked me to drop my shorts and assume the fetal position on the table. I had fear in my eyes as he told me to relax and asked if it was my first time. His reassuring voice did nothing to calm my fears and I tensed at his touch. He smiled and said it would be ok as he handed me a paper towel and wrapped his digit in latex. As he cover his appendage with K-Y jelly, I closed my eyes, wanting the intrusion to be over. I tried to take the edge off the moment by asking if he was going to buy me dinner but it went unheard by him.

The feeling was not pleasant. I was too stiff and he had to ask me to relax numerous times. Eventually I gave into his desire as he slide his staff into to my sheath. Just when I thought he was through he push deeper into the abyss and I felt the pressure of his surging probe as it massaged my prostate. “Everything feels good MR. PE” but I didn’t agree. He pulled his finger apart with a snap and threw the dirty glove into the bio-hazard canister by the door and walked out of the room. I was cold and alone and left to clean up by myself.

I left the doctors office and went home feeling better about my health. I felt violated but healthy. I really was happy that everything turned out ok and I became friends away from the office with my doctor. And the best part of the story happened a few months later at a ball game. He actually did by me dinner.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Play the KORS tonight

2008-07-15T16:00:00.002-05:00

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Flickr Me a Retard

2008-07-08T17:03:00.000-05:00

1. Dust Storm, 2. Johnny Rockets' Smoke House hamburger, 3. Downtown Hinckley, 4. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 5. MIRA SORVINO, 6. Signs of Summer - G & T, 7. Sunset Beach, 8. Raspberry - Swirl Cheesecake, 9. Behind the Biscuit Net, 10. Fennec foxes, 11. Shorebreak rainbow at Porthcurno, 12. Joker Poker cake

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

As the Summer Continues

2008-07-08T10:34:00.002-05:00

Busy, Busy, Busy…That is all I can say.

Baseball E. finished his first semi-real ball season a couple of weeks ago by getting to the championship game with his transition team. For a bunch of 7 and 8 year old kids, my son is actually 6 and playing up with the older kids, both teams played great defense. Normally at this level you have most of the outs coming from strikeouts but the kids flashed the leather in the last game. Going into the bottom of the 6th inning his team was winning 9-3…then the wheels came flying off and before you know it the game was over and they lost 10-9. He took like a man-child/good sport but some of the kids were crying…There is no crying in baseball.

Speedy E. Finished up her in-house season making it to the semi-finals before losing a close one to the eventual champs. It was a tough season in that we had 6 very solid players and 6 that needed a lot of work. All the girls improved and had fun so overall the season was a success. Speedy is now getting ready for her 2 tourneys that will becoming up the next couple of weekends so no rest for the weary.

Softball E. has had a very tough season. She battled back hard from her ankle injury and was doing well until she pulled a muscle in her other leg. She has been pitching very well but can’t really run and her hitting has been sub-par. At this point she is just working on her pitching and doing what she can to help her team. In her last 9 outings as a pitcher she has walked 5 batters and only given up 11 earned runs so things are much better this year on that front.

Last week I broke down and bought a new grill. It wasn’t like the old grill didn’t work any more but more like I want a new grill. Now anyone who has had the pleasure of trying to build one of these by following the directions knows that it doesn’t go together as well as it should. So last Thursday I get home from work and start looking a directions and get everything moved into place to start the project. I had figured on 3 hours because my last one took longer but I am older and smarter. I take everything out of the box and get it all spread out. I find all the tools I will need and have them into place. 1 Hour…OMG it was easy peasy. I must be the smartest man in the work. Or maybe following the directions does actually work.

Tonight is the 2nd sub-qualifier for the new KORS monthly championship. Check out BTN for more details.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

New Brickin The Nutz Banner

2008-06-27T20:02:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Kat I have a new banner for BTN.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Living With Tilt...You Can Luck Your Way Through It

2008-06-19T05:29:00.004-05:00

I had a little work tilt yesterday.

It started when I had to be at work one hour earlier than normal so i could some stuff done and ended thirteen and a half hours later as I opened the car door to go home. In the middle was a bloody nose, a couple of meetings dealing with a new ERP system, and a 1 1/2 hour long call to Japan, with a few other people, to work on getting about 250K of material returned for credit.

I called the wife as I drove away and found out the family was heading to the ballpark to watch a friend play. I stopped to fill up the tank(gas tilt)and met up with them. The game was good and I finally made it home around 10:15...Just in time for the Dookie.

I hit a big hand when my AAQT caught back up after the turn gave me a straight vs. a flopped 2 pair. I then hit a set of aces to take over the chip lead. I eventually got to heads up with a huge deficit and decided to gamble. I won the first push but lost the second one and finished in 2nd place.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

A Little Something About the KORS

2008-06-15T11:42:00.002-05:00

I have posted the information on the new KORS events that will be starting in July. In a nut shell there are steps up to a final event that will be a $200 buy-in. GO to BTN for more information.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

The KORS is Moving to Tuesdays

2008-06-11T23:02:00.002-05:00

With the Skills game going away, I thought I would take the Razz part and make a weekly series of events and ave them run on Tuesdays. More setails to come soon but I think you Razz players will enjoy what I'm going to try. Think big montly tourney. Anyway, I'm changing it to KORS to stand for King of Razz Series and you can find updates at http://brickinthenutz.blogspot.com/. Thats all for now.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

500 Equals a Win

2008-06-08T12:24:00.005-05:00

Well this is post 500.

I can't really put into words what this milestone means to me. I would like to thank the all of my readers for their consideration through my...whatever.

Haha, 500 posts didn't seem to be that hard to do and I get to gloat over a win in a PLO o8 tourney. Thats right, I won something and will actually gloat over it.

I watched the TOC last night and noticed much of the blogger world had gone into hiding when it was over. So I found a $5 tourney and jumped in. My first big hand came when I limp called a big raise with another calle while holding Qc 9h Jh Tc. I'm giving up a low draw but I figured to be against AA2x and maybe AK23 type hands so I took an educated chance that they held each others outs. the flop comes 4h 9c 8s so I'm wrapped very well. The initail raiser bot bets and another player calls so I'm getting great odds to call and I do. The turn Th gives me the nut straight and a flush redraw and they get all their chips in the middle. I had the high locked and they were each drawing to a low. An 8 on the river gave me most of the pot and I'm sitting with over 4K.

For th rest of the, until the final table I stayed between 2K and 6K as I tried to chip up only to get beat out. At the final table I had 4.1K and sat 8 of 9 while the chip leader 75K. The action was crazy but I stayed focused as two of the bigger stacks got knocked out. With six players left I had 5K and the 5th place player had 15K. With five left I 6K with 4th holding 20K. With four left I had 4K while 3rd held 22K. I then doubled the next two hand to move to 16K and eventually we were down to three.

Seat 2: The Juan Grande (90,655)
Seat 7: Ignorant (106,329)
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (20,516)

I was glad to improve my expected value and I'm ready to take some chances. But these other two players were at war so I took small shots as they sent chips back and forth to each other. I tried to maintain my stack and knew they would bump heads eventually.

When we got to heads up it looked like this.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6738119989: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (51101559), Table 8 - 1200/2400 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:18:43 ET - 2008/06/08
Ignorant: wow
Seat 7: Ignorant (200,778)
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (16,722)
pokerenthusiast posts the small blind of 1,200
Ignorant posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [5d 4c 7d 6h]
Ignorant: third
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
Ignorant: nice work poker enthusiast
pokerenthusiast: ty
pokerenthusiast: chop?
pokerenthusiast calls 1,200
riggstad (Observer): hahahahahaah
Ignorant: ill give ya ten bucks
Ignorant has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast: :)
Ignorant raises to 7,200
pokerenthusiast: lets go
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
Ignorant: for the chop
Ignorant: lol
pokerenthusiast raises to 16,722, and is all in
Ignorant calls 9,522
pokerenthusiast shows [5d 4c 7d 6h]
Ignorant shows [9d 5s Qh 9h]
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ac 4h]
*** TURN *** [Kd Ac 4h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ac 4h Js] [4d]
pokerenthusiast shows three of a kind, Fours, for high
Ignorant shows two pair, Nines and Fours, for high
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (33,444) with three of a kind, Fours
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 33,444 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd Ac 4h Js 4d]
Seat 7: Ignorant (big blind) showed [9d 5s Qh 9h] and lost with HI: two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (small blind) showed [5d 4c 7d 6h] and won (33,444) with HI: three of a kind, Fours

riggstad (Observer): BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Seat 7: Ignorant (145,812)
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (71,688)

riggstad (Observer): BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Seat 7: Ignorant (101,124)
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (116,376)

riggstad (Observer): BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
riggstad (Observer): chop?

Seat 7: Ignorant (83,124)
Seat 9: pokerenthusiast (134,376)

No more BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMs from Riggs...he fell asleep.

I had sat with this guy for part of the tourney and realized I was better right away. I turned up the aggression and he folded like a towel. I actually felt like bayne as I sat and waited for the right hands to play and let the monkeys knock each other out.

He should have offered a better chop.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

The KORD is Tonight...With Additional Bounties

2008-06-06T12:45:00.003-05:00

Come play the KORD tourney tonight(see the banner on the right). I wikk send a bounty prize from BTN Apparal to anyone who knocks out waffles. In addition, Surflexus will send anyone who lasts longer then me $5. That should be easy cuz I suck at poker.

Have a great day.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Knock Out Waffles...In the KORD

2008-06-02T20:55:00.001-05:00

Knockout tourneys are fun. Knock out waffles in the Kord and win a bounty. Check it out at BTN.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

The KORD

2008-05-29T09:25:00.000-05:00

Well, after a long time away, the KORD has returned. It is the Anti-Waffles except that would mean that waffles is a stud but we know that he isn’t. He just plays a lot of stud. Anyway, it will be June 6th at 9:15 central time. It is an $8 buy-in and will have a 50/50 bounty. It should be a lot of fun. The password is pokere.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

The American Dream

2008-05-28T23:00:00.001-05:00

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Getting Better...Getting Worse

2008-05-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

Well, after weeks of inactivity, Softball Enthusiast finally got back on the field of play. Her ankle was well enough to give it a go and she did well. She went 1-2-3 in her first two innings of work before running out of gas in her third inning on the mound. She has a long way to go to get back into shape but we have a plan that includes me making her work out every day until she gets back into shape. She has throw every day for the last 5 days since getting the ok to play again and we will do this for a while. Her main motivation was watching girls play that are not nearly as good as her but are healthy. Her team lost on Sunday when the second baseman couldn’t catch either of two pop flies in the infield and the third baseman missed an easy foul pop-up. We had a discussion on being motivated and using the her injury to push her to the next level. She sat on the bench for all but 3 inning during the 5 games they played this weekend and she was pissed. I think she expected to get all her playing time back after a 6 week layoff but there was no way she could play much more the maybe 2 games over the weekend. She was complaining about it as we walked back to the car and I told her if she has a problem she needs to talk to her coach so that he can explain his reasons for not playing her more. I can only speculate but he knows why she didn’t play more.

Speedy E. made a tourney team that plays tourneys after the in-house season is over. She then left her equipment bag at the ballpark thus she has no glove or bat. I was so pissed. I’m still pissed. Anyway, we have an old glove that she will use unless someone is nice enough to turn her stuff into the park district office.

I can’t write anymore…Leaving your equipment at the ballpark is about the stupidest thing you can do.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Look What I Did at Brickin The Nutz

2008-05-23T08:58:00.001-05:00

The management of Brickin The Nutz has come up with a new idea. Sitting around the Razz table the other day we thought that creating our own clothing line might be a good thing so we have opened a store front called BTN Apparel. We have various items for sale including a waffles thong and the prices are low just for you. I don’t have the Brickin The Nutz stuff ready yet because some work is being done on a logo but it will be out shortly. We will also have KORD apparel for the Razz Enthusiast so take a look around and see if there is something you like.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

More Super User Account Facts

2008-05-21T10:06:00.003-05:00

We have had stories of super accounts at different poker sites, accounts that can see the whole cards or maybe even have a way of attracting the cards they need to win hands. There has been some basis for truth for this and I think I have proof that the random number generators in the world may be faulty and that they are being influenced to do what is in the best interest of the organization that is using them for their needs.

It all came to me last night as I was driving to my daughter’s concert. I was listening to the NBA lottery draft show and realized that it isn’t any different then poker. All these teams have a percentage chance of getting the top spot with the better teams getting only 1.7% chance of winning the top spot. So, as they read off the name I realize that some small market teams get passed by and then it happens…The Chicago Bulls are guaranteed a top 3 spot.

Now I arrived at my destination before the show was over but I was sure of the outcome. You see, the Bulls were expected to compete for the championship after having a couple of good years but fell flat on their face. Being that the Bulls are from a big market, it makes a lot of sense that they get a top college player.

When I got home last night I turned on ESPN and waited to hear the news. And there it is…The Bulls have the top spot in the 2008 draft. Talk about a suckout. That’s is a one outer on the river and they got their money in bad. How is it that they get the luck? The NBA has influenced the number generators and given a team in need a chance. We all know that the Bulls can generate a lot more income for the NBA than lets say Milwaukee.

It is just another example of a super user account.

Go Bulls

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

More 6-Max

2008-05-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

So my deep run in the 6-max tourney was simple…get strong hands and get paid off. I started off with pocket kings early and took down a pot with a continuation bet. That changed a little later when I folded to a push on the river with this board, Ah Ad Jd 3c As. I floated a bet when he fired out post flop and I re-raised on the turn with air. I was folding any river bet and got knocked down to 2800 chips. I won a big hand with 67 suited on a flop of 876. I called flop and turn bets and I re-raised on the river to take it down uncontested. I finally doubled up against the table maniac when I saw a flop from the sb with J9 suited. The flop was 9TJ and Mr. Maniac bet with two of us calling. I was a little worried about a slow played straight from the other guy but I wanted to see what his action would be. The turn gives me the flush draw and two pair so I come over the top of his 1200 bet and he calls showing AJ. The river gives me the flush and I move to 7200. I end the first hour with 6900 chips.

For the early part of the 2nd hour I lost ground and ended up hovering around 5K in chips. I finally had a chance to double again against the same maniac when I hit a set on the flop and filled up the river. Other dude hit his set and paid me off. He check-raised me with top pair of 9s and now I’m sitting at 12K. I stayed quiet for a while before taking down a hand with KK. The very next hand I get AA and double up to 22K. Three hands later I get KK again and bust who had QQ and move to 30K. This game is so easy…right? I give half of it back when I hit TPTK with my AK and loose to a set of kings. I get my chips back when I bust a guys aces with KQ when I hit two pair and end the 2nd hour at 32K.

The 3rd hour saw me check raise a flop with an over pair to move to 42K. After getting knocked down to 35K and some missed flops, I won a big hand on a check-raise and a continuation bet. The I find AA again and double up right before a table change. Sitting at 88K and top of the tourney, I’m ready to use my stack. I was in a hand I made players play for their stacks. I won a few and lost with QQ vs. 67. I then lost a race with TT vs. AQ. I then lose a big hand when my opponent goes runner runner for a flush after I had hit my straight. So all the luckbox poker I had earlier was coming back but I still had 52K chips in my stack. I then get the suck out of the tourney. I get all-in vs. the same donk with AK suited. He has KK and end end up with the wheel on the river to move to 113K.

At some point we get into the 4th hour and I’m sitting great at 127K. I bust a short stack with my 25 vs. AK and hit 134K just before the slide. I turn it around with a boat and get back to 125K and eventually get to 140K with some steals.

At the final table I went card dead. And in 6-max with a M of 13 or so I was in trouble. I played back a few times and regained my stack but was hurting with 4 players left. I had 3rd place equity but wanted a double up to have a shot. I eventually ran into this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6461064522: $3 + $0.30 Tournament (49009537), Table 51 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:54:20 ET - 2008/05/18
Seat 2: pokerenthusiast (144,130)
Seat 4: Timmytwotime (68,246)
Seat 5: M-Mcash1 (469,885)
Seat 6: UMSTS9 (304,739)
pokerenthusiast antes 1,000
Timmytwotime antes 1,000
M-Mcash1 antes 1,000
UMSTS9 antes 1,000
UMSTS9 posts the small blind of 4,000
pokerenthusiast posts the big blind of 8,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [2d Qd]
Timmytwotime folds
UMSTS9: nb
M-Mcash1 folds
UMSTS9 raises to 16,000
M-Mcash1: ty
pokerenthusiast calls 8,000

I’m getting 4-1 on my money so I call. His range is big.

*** FLOP *** [9d 5d Ks]
UMSTS9: i had 2 pair
UMSTS9 bets 20,000

He makes this bet I think no matter if he hits or not. If I call there is 78K in the pot with me having 9 out at least. I wanted to represent the fact that I am willing to get my chips in the middle so I make a nice call inducing raise hoping the bet for value will make him fold. Regardless of his action, I am committed to this pot once I come over the top.

pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
M-Mcash1: good fold
UMSTS9: had u on 56
pokerenthusiast raises to 88,000
UMSTS9 raises to 287,739, and is all in
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast: crap
pokerenthusiast calls 39,130, and is all in
UMSTS9 shows [7d Kc]
pokerenthusiast shows [2d Qd]
Uncalled bet of 160,609 returned to UMSTS9

I have 8 outs.

*** TURN *** [9d 5d Ks] [Jh]

I have 12 outs.

*** RIVER *** [9d 5d Ks Jh] [9s]
UMSTS9 shows two pair, Kings and Nines
pokerenthusiast shows a pair of Nines
UMSTS9 wins the pot (290,260) with two pair, Kings and Nines
Timmytwotime: gg
pokerenthusiast stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 290,260 | Rake 0
Board: [9d 5d Ks Jh 9s]
Seat 2: pokerenthusiast (big blind) showed [2d Qd] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 4: Timmytwotime folded before the Flop
Seat 5: M-Mcash1 (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: UMSTS9 (small blind) showed [7d Kc] and won (290,260) with two pair, Kings and Nines

He said in the chat that he almost folded. Not sure if it was true but I’m not sure I get away from this at this stage. He committed almost half his stack on a weak king so I will keep that note for next time.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Popular Blackjack and Poker Game Sites on Alert for Identity Theft

2008-05-19T21:59:00.001-05:00

One of the places I have written about before for playing online backgammon and other games is Backgammon Masters. They also continue to have blackjack and other games like poker as a staple of their site. I also found out something else that is interesting. They have been investigating identity theft and cracking down on fraudulent play.

In a recent report, BackgammonMasters found several users in their systems that opened accounts with names of famous persons. Further investigation found that these people were fakes and that they were using these names as a status symbol of sorts. Rest assured that people like Madonna and Tom Cruise may not actually play blackjack or online backgammon on the site. What has the world come to if we can’t believe the player name of the game we play. It has even been reported that a guy was arrested for impersonating a prince of Morocco. What is happening to this world of ours when royalty has to worry about identity theft.

Rest assured that if you want to play blackjack, backgammon or poker, you should give Backgammonmasters a shot during your free time on the net, your identity is safe with them…all the time.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Love Me Some 6-Max

2008-05-19T12:47:00.002-05:00

I'll have a little more infor later. Played well and got really lucky at one point.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Another Day

2008-05-14T12:54:00.000-05:00

Not much to say today. I played the skillz game last night but didn’t bring my skills with me. I had a bit of call down syndrome and gave away some chips. By the time it was over I was glad for the reprieve because I couldn’t keep my self in the game. I think I was on tilt a little.

It started with the 4K PLO tourney on Full Tilt. I stayed tight and tried to move up the board but my strong hands were missing. As we got down to the the final 60 players or so, I had a shortish stack but a double up would put me back into contention. 18 players are getting paid when I look down at TAA5 with one suit. I have 4K chips and after 3 limpers at 160 I make a pot size bet. I get one caller and we see a flop of 3h Kd 3d. I don’t have a lot I can do here other then check push or open pot bet. Now most players will realize that if a player raises pre flop this late in the tourney he has a big pair. So when I make the 2400 bet and he puts me in I figure he has a king or 2 pair. But, what he has is a diamond draw with the 2nd nut diamond and 2 under pair. It could be very easy for me to have a set of kings and or the nut diamond draw on the guy, especially if you have seen how tight I play. Anyway, his QQ77 wins out when he hits a 7 on the river and sends me home. I guess it isn’t that bad a call but I would have to think he knew he was behind with his QQ77 pre-flop. This was the beginning of the end for me.

From there are started to play stupid in the skillz game and ended my evening with a little Razz. I won about a quarter of a buy-in buy playing position on a loose player on my right. He liked to raise and fold if he missed or even fold if I hit. He was easy to read so I tried to stay involved when he was in a pot. I made a good layown on him when he hit a 6 and I had a 7. His action had changed so I knew he had to have made his hand. I could have done a little better except the short stacks kept beating me for their lives. Twice I put guys with less then 6 bucks in while I help 3 under a 5 and lost both times. One guy started with a 9 and the other had a T. I was running good there I guess.

Anyway, no poker tonight because of softball and baseball. We will be going for win number two in softball and trying to improve to 3-1 in baseball. Should be a good night.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/.

Bow Tied

2008-05-13T11:44:00.002-05:00

Well I have to say that I’ve gotten some reaction from my last post. I thought it would be nice to show how the id, ego and superego war with each other and that it can really mess with a teenagers head. Now it has been a lot of years since I was a teen but I can recall much of what I went through with clarity. I think the emotions of the time help imbed these pictures into a caricature of the truth as we embellish life in our memories.

As for the story, it is true as I remember. There are things I have left out, mainly because of the space needed to write it down, but the tale is accurate beyond a doubt. “Kathy” was and is still in the area but I have not seen her in years…but we still laugh about the incident when we see each other. “Dale” was in my wedding but I have not see or heard from him in 13 years or more. I know he has been divorced and lives within 10 miles of me but quit returning calls at some point so I have lost touch. I have no clue what happened to “Wendy”. She was an underclassman and so I have no reason to stay in touch.

So with being in truckin and writing this last story, I went to Technorati and checked out who had linked it or me up. It isn’t something I do a lot but my traffic jumped and was just seeing where some of it came from. I ran across a site called Taylor Bow Revenge. So as I am sitting at work during lunch, checking these sites out, it pops up. A picture of an attractive girl and a link to What I Knew?. It’s kind of weird because it looks like she has frosting on her face and so I look around to see what other stories there are on the page. That’s when I see a giant cock on the left side of the page. I look at the picture again and realize that is not frosting on her face.

And now you know…the rest of the story.

Go to http://www.livepokerradio.com/

What I Knew?

2008-05-08T22:37:00.002-05:00

I had made up my mind weeks before that I would ask Kathy. Everyone liked her and even though she wasn’t the hottest thing around, she had a nice body and could hold a conversation. Eventually, after days of procrastination, I summoned the courage and finally asked her. But not without a battle in my mind.

Just walk up and ask her you idiot…You’ve been friends for four years…she doesn’t have a date and either do you…Quit being a pussy and ask her…Christ dude…what are you nervous about…you’ve played soccer in front of thousands of people and you get freaked out about one question…She’s looking at you…walk up to her…one step in front of the other moron…
“Hey Kathy…you have a minute.”

I wanted to go to prom but my chicken-ass self could hardly muster up the courage to ask anyone. Breaking up with Pam was still having an affect on me and my ability to act like a normal teenager. My friends kept giving me shit as they prepared to waste a ton of money on a ritual that creates hope in young men. The hope that they will get laid…or at least a blow job.

Fuck yah, she said yes…I’m not sure if she puts out but I hope I have a shot…Dude…she isn’t an easy mark…put your pecker away and be a good guy…How the hell can I afford this…Maybe mom will throw me a little cash to help out…I’m gonna pull a good one off tonight...Cool, lunch time

Trying to get everything arranged in about two weeks was difficult but it worked out. I went and ordered the tux and Kathy told me what flowers to get. I knew things were coming into place when I got to use my mom’s new Cutlass instead of my 69 Nova that was having issues. We teamed up with our friends Dale and Wendy and made the rounds to get our pictures taken.

This is so fucking lame…I want to start drinking…When is this picture taking shit gonna end…man, Wendy is hot…how does she not fall over when she walks…She is gonna have back problems…wow…Kathy looks hot…I hope I get laid…her dad looks scary…her sister is hot…fuck I’m ready to get laid…finally…lets drink

Back in the day we would drink and drive. It was just what we did back in the mid 80’s and as long as we didn’t get to crazy, nobody seemed to mind. When we arrived at the destination, we finished off the bottles of bubbly and I had a good buzz.

I hope this buzz lasts a while…HAHAHA, he’s way stoned…I wish I had a joint…Night Ranger is so fucking good…My buzz is gone…I’m hungry and we still have another hour at least…he’s getting laid tonight…I hope I do but it isn’t looking…wait…what’s going on…

It was a normal dance except we had to dress up. Everyone still acted stupid for the most part but we still had to pick the King and Queen of the prom.

I know I have no shot…just tell us the winner already…YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME…That fucker is king…I didn’t know kings could be lame ass cock suckers…So stupid…wish I wasn’t on the prom court…I voted for Kathy but she probably wont win…OMG…OMG…I’M AT PROM WITH THE PROM QUEEN…I’M GETTING LAID I KNOW I AM…man I’m hungry…

Going to prom with the prom queen was cool. I always bring it up when I get with old friends because it is kind of like having a status for doing nothing at all. I don’t really care about status but it is fun to mess with my friends. Anyway, we went to dinner after prom and headed home because we had a big day planned for the day after.

Man am I still hungry…that had to be the smallest piece of steak I’ve ever eaten…Should I hold her hand on the way back…maybe I’ll get a kiss…I’m gonna get so drunk tomorrow…I hope I don’t fall of a cliff…she’s cool to talk to but I don’t think she’s gonna put out…At least I got a kiss…Fuck…I know my mom is going to want to talk about this shit when I get home…

The next day we went to Starved Rock near Ottawa. Dale drove his Trans Am and we had plenty of beer and food. The whole senior class sitting out along the river getting drunk and having fun was classic. We almost got arrested when a park ranger caught us swimming in the water back in the canyons but we looked like good kids so he let us go.

Man, mom would kill me if I got in trouble for something stupid like that…You know they would have found the beer…Paul’s knee is fucked up after that fall…He’s done…man I’m drunk…Jesus Dale….open up the stupid windows and turn up the music…Sammy Hagar rocks…I’m gonna put my hand on her leg…She doesn’t mean no…Fuck…What the fuck am I doing…At least I stopped…that could have been really fucked up…man I’m drunk and stupid…Can I ever talk to her again

Nothing ever happened except for me looking like a drunk idiot. After she said no the second time I backed off and regretted being a moron. Nothing ever came of my idiocy and Kathy and I still talked in the hall way and at WCC where we both went to college. I hadn’t seen her for four years. That is until we met at our five year reunion.

It will be cool to see Bill again…Wow, Scott lost all his hair already…Wait, he wasn’t in our class…Oh shit…

“Kathy, I’m very sorry for how I acted the day after prom.”

“That’s OK…If you did it today I would probably say yes”

You have to be kidding me…All this fucking time I feel like shit and she says that…Maybe she’ll put out tonight…Fuck…I don’t think my girl friend would like that…

“That’s funny”

Truckin

2008-05-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

Truckin' - May 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 5
Welcome to our 72nd issue of Truckin'!

1. Sundays by Paul McGuire
I held four crappy jobs and had to work on Sundays at an art museum. Most of the time, I got baked in the parking lot and just stood around making sure the post-church and post-brunch crowd kept their grubby mitts off the paintings... More

2. Prison Justice by Dr. Chako
Hateem's crime must have been grave. They broke his ankles and elbows, of course. What happened next is beyond human understanding. At least five executioners must be involved. After the arms and legs, you'd think Hateem's spirit would be broken, but you'd be wrong. They must be swift. From the time the gag comes out, the screaming must be intolerable... More

3. Egotistical: Three Examples by Sean Lovelace
The radio was playing angry girl bands. I love and have always loved angry girl bands. They have what I call fuck you. Also I was waiting on a girl. A cute bra-less girl who would soon leap off a balcony... More

4. High School Reunion by Johnny Hughes
He kept asking me if I remembered people which I didn't, but he told me all about them anyway. No one would ever forget Bobby, especially me. Now the most mellow guy in West Texas had a license to carry a hand gun... More

5. Ode to.... by Dusty Rhodes
Death is natural. We will all die and we will all have friends and family that die. It is a hard thing to deal with but it has to be done. People cry, people act strong, people try to empathize but can't truly understand what it is that you are going through. Our experiences are all different but I can't imagine anyone who likes dealing with these things... More

Truckin and Skillz

2008-05-06T15:45:00.001-05:00

What can I say. I have been published in Truckin and thus maybe someone else will read me and realize I don’t have a clue. If you remember back a month or so ago, my father had died and I left my soul out there for everyone to see. It wasn’t my intention to write something that would considered for something bigger like truckin but a few people said that I should send it in because they felt the pain I was going through and felt it was worthy. Looking back at the pain I felt and the emotions I went through I’m not sure I really wrote any of it. I was just describing the random thoughts that cluttered my mind as I tried to deal with the death of my dad. I think opening your soul and leaving it out there for the world to see is easy. Putting it into words that others can maybe empathize with will only be done if you do it freely and without regret. I’m not sure I could do it again. I also think that you need to read all five parts to understand the rollercoaster of emotion I experienced during that period of time in my life. Anyway, I am truly honored to have one of my stories posted on truckin and hope to have something worthy again someday.

Well the first official game for my son was last night. He is playing transition ball…they use pitching machines for pitchers…and every pitch was about eye high. He tried hard to hit the ball but it is hard to hit something that high. Anyway, it looks like the outs made at this level are strikeouts for the most part. The only put out of the game was on the last play. Someone hit a bal to my son and he picked it up tagged the runner for the last out of the game. Little stud boy.

Don’t forget the skills game tonight. It is Razz so I will be playing. Check out Full Tilt at 8:30 central in the private games. The password id skillz.

Check out Live Poker Radio

Donkey Poker Rules

2008-05-04T21:21:00.002-05:00

I played a little donkey poker in the 3K PLO o8 tourney on Saturday bight and what do you know...I made the final table. I ruined my chance at top 3 when I made a play at the blind and had to call a push from a shorter stack. I had a good low draw and a couple of suites and some connectors but missed everything and got short. I fought hard and took a stand with JJ88 double suited and lost to AAxx. I lasted a long time and had fun until about 2:30 am. Problem was having to be at the ball field at 7 am on Sunday.

Tourney went well except the girls giving up a 4 run lead and ending the game in a tie as drop dead time came. If they win that game they would have played for the championship but instead had a game that didn't mean anything. I'm tired after getting about 3 hours of sleep and being in the sun all day. I look like a lobster.

Go to live poker radio and check it out. They are live at the Borgota.

Summer is Almost Here

2008-05-02T10:51:00.000-05:00

Christ…I was starting to wonder if I would ever write again. I can tell that it is ball season because I have no time to do the things I do the rest of the year. With that being said, I have not played as much lately. Maybe two days a week at best and that is about it. I’m not missing it to much but the shakes are starting to go away as my body fights the addiction.

Mrs. PE has applied for a new job. It isn’t like she was tired of driving kids on a school bus but with all our kids going to school full time next year, she decided it was time to get a full time job. And what is it she maybe doing soon if all goes well? She will be a dispatcher for 911. Sounds like an interesting job and she will get government benefits so she has that going for her. Of all the candidates that applied, she was one of five that got an interview for the three spots they are trying to fill. Good luck Mrs. PE.

In other news, Speedy E is going to tryout for a travel softball team next weekend. They will play a couple of tourneys after the in-house season is over and hopefully be the precursor for next years 12U travel team. This was a brainchild of mine to try and get more interest in travel ball for the younger girls so I hope it goes well.

As for Baseball E, he is playing transition ball and having a lot of fun. He is one of the youngest kids in the league because we moved him up but he fits right in with the older kids. It is so fun watching him dive around and slide into bases like he knows what he is doing. The funniest part was getting him a cup to protect his manhood. He walks around the field holding his crotch just like a ball player should.

Softball E is in a funk. She hurt her wrist but came back from that. Then she sprained her ankle and hasn’t really been able to play because of it. She ended up with a high ankle sprain and if you know sports, high ankle sprains are the worst. It turned black and blue and with her low tolerance for pain, it has been a long road to recovery. She has started throwing a little but it starts to hurt if she is on the mound for to long. She still can’t run very well but she is trying hard to heal. She is going to try and throw a couple of innings tonight but she isn’t going to hit or play in the field. If all goes well, she may pitch a whole game on Sunday.

Work sucks. I had an all day ISO meeting last week that I had to run and this week I had to do a presentation for the sales force. The worst part of the presentation was that my boss kept adding things he wanted covered and then threw a business trip into the middle of my preparation time. I finished it with plenty of time to spare and it went well but it put a crimp into my blog reading time.

So for the PE family, the weekend will be filled with picture day on Saturday as well as other normal everyday stuff. Throw in some Softball practices and games and we’ll maybe get the lawn mowed…If I can get it back from the lawnmower guy who is fixing random problems with my riding mower.

Have a great weekend.

More Skillz

2008-04-23T15:36:00.000-05:00

Wow…two weeks in a row I cash in a skillz game. Now this doesn’t show that I have any skill at all other then ran into some hands at the right time.

I hit my first semi big hand of the tourney after floundering between 2900 and 3700 chips. I made a call with suited connectors in the bb vs. a raise from middle position. I flopped a gut shot and check raised the continuation bet that came and induced a fold. My second big hand came when I turned a double belly buster and a flush draw and induced a fold when I bet out. I think it was a steal gone bad on his part or he didn’t want to lose all his chips on 2nd or 3rd pair. The next hand I get AT and raise it up from the button. I had raised the bb a few times and he finally got tired of it. He used up most of his time bank before coming all in over top of my raise. I was getting a little better then 2-1 so I make the call. I did think about his range of hands and put him on ATC as a re-steal and was right when he turned over 83 off suit. My hand held up and I move to 7.4K. A bit later I look down to see AAKJ suited diamonds and raise it up. Both blinds call and the flop comes Qc 3s Td. The sb checks and the BB fires out a pot sized bet. I have any AK or J giving me a straight so I figure I have 8 outs twice if I’m behind 2 pair plus any 3 threes gives me two pair so I re bump it to isolate. Sb folds and the BB calls. He flopped 2 pair but I hit my straight with the nut re-draw to a flush and it holds up to get me to over 14K. I finally took a hit when I my QQ into AK and a river K almost crippled me. Down to 3K I hit a hand and moved back to 8K and waited for the final table bubble to burst.

When it burst I had 1K left but more then doubled up and then tripled up to move to 6K. Another double and I’m back to 13K but I give some away and continue to go up and down. With 8K left I raise it up and get all in with Donkette. We had the same hand but she caught better and sent me home in 8th. It was a lot of fun and I think I played well. I may have been a bit to passive in PLO but I like to see flops and try to out play players after the flop by having the nut draw.

Prolly no Mookie for me tonight but maybe the Dookie. The Riverchasers is next on my list so I’ll see you there.

Such Skillz

2008-04-16T11:28:00.001-05:00

I have no idea how I did it but I did this last night.

3rd place isn’t bad but I had the chip lead for a good part of the final table and was in great position with 4 players left. But it was a long journey.

Early on I stayed very tight. As players like Surflexus gained huge stacks with aggressive play, I lost ground. I finally got a nice starting hand with three diamonds and had the flush on 5th street. Two opponents were hanging with me and one hit a 4 outer to catch a boat. So some unlucky cards early put me in a bad spot. After losing a few more chips, down to 946, I more then doubled with a set but still had a short stack of around 2K. Eventually we arrived at the first break with me holding 2.5K.

So I’m a little below starting stack when we get back from break but I know a couple of good hands will get me higher on the leader board. This is about the time I missed everything and slowly chipped down. Sitting with 622 chips I find 7AA and get them all in the middle. I hit two pair and move to 2.4K but still need to catch a couple of hands soon. I chipped up a little until I find a spot to make a move. I get involved with a player who I know is chasing a low when I have a big pair. I kept the pressure on and he had to fold when his low missed. This about the time I started getting more involved. I had played very tight but now that the antes were getting large I could start using my image a little. I had 5.5K and ready to get lucky…or make my own luck.

After winning a couple of smaller pots I hit a straight for a scoop and moved to 10K. I folded xKK at some point a bit later after I raised and got two more raises behind me. One of the players ended up have rolled up Qs and would have busted me. So I have given away about 3K at this point but hit a big flush and get it back plus some to 12K. We are on the final three tables and I have a very solid stack but just about everyone can go bust in two hands with the huge bets. When we were down to 19 players I went on a small self created rush when I stole about 5 times in 9 hands. This was huge as I realized I could you my image to take down some hands. In all I went from 12K to 22 K in about 15 hands after busting a short stack. I stayed between 22K and 25K until I hit a nice one to move up to 30K. Can you think of a better time to get rolled up aces? So I look down and see three beautiful aces and get involved with the chip leader who is calling with a low draw. I put pressure on every street and we misses his low put hit two pair so I even got the last bet out of him. 44K and I can rock the house as we hit the final table.

I was in 1st or 2nd much of the final table and had a 20K lead on the 2nd place player. But, then things started to change a little as Hoy, CK and TJ chipped up. This put four of us at a big advantage. Then it was time for me to look at 333 and I eliminated Iwantitall and regain my 20K advantage with 61K.

Seat 1: ck31 (34,686)
Seat 2: hoyazo (40,252)
Seat 4: Tom Jefferson (41,654)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (17,880)
Seat 7: Bone_Daddy84 (14,311)
Seat 8: pokerenthusiast (61,217)

A bit later Hoy knocks out CK and we are down to five players. At this point I am getting some walks here and there and a random steal. I still have the cjip lead with Hoy close behind. Hoy then knocks out Bone_Daddy84 to take the a small lead. Then the hand that hurts me.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6053570660: Skill Series (40521504), Table 4 - 4000/8000 Ante 700 - Limit Stud H/L - 1:23:04 ET - 2008/04/16
Seat 2: hoyazo (77,199)
Seat 4: Tom Jefferson (27,704)
Seat 5: RecessRampage (31,180)
Seat 8: pokerenthusiast (73,917)
hoyazo antes 700
Tom Jefferson antes 700
RecessRampage antes 700
pokerenthusiast antes 700
RecessRampage: gg eric
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to hoyazo [2s]
Dealt to Tom Jefferson [Js]
Dealt to RecessRampage [3d]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Qc Qs] [8c]
hoyazo is low with [2s]
Tom Jefferson: gg
pokerenthusiast: gg
hoyazo: gg
hoyazo brings in for 1,000
Tom Jefferson folds
RecessRampage completes it to 4,000
pokerenthusiast calls 4,000
ck31 (Observer): gg
hoyazo has 15 seconds left to act
Bone_Daddy84 (Observer): good luck all, i have to say, if i dont bust hoy,he bust me
hoyazo calls 3,000

I won’t be able to push RecessRampage out so I only call. I put Hoy on the low draw for value.
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to hoyazo [2s] [9s]
Dealt to RecessRampage [3d] [7d]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Qc Qs 8c] [5c]
hoyazo checks
RecessRampage bets 4,000
pokerenthusiast calls 4,000
hoyazo calls 4,000

Both still drawing.
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to hoyazo [2s 9s] [Td]
Dealt to RecessRampage [3d 7d] [4s]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Qc Qs 8c 5c] [Ah]
pokerenthusiast checks
hoyazo checks
RecessRampage bets 8,000
pokerenthusiast raises to 16,000
hoyazo has 15 seconds left to act
hoyazo calls 16,000
ck31 (Observer): nice to see you BD
roochie m (Observer): gl all
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
Bone_Daddy84 (Observer): you too ck
RecessRampage folds

I try to isolate RR here and hoy calls. He is drawing to a straight or flush. Not happy that RR folded cuz I want his money in the middle also.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to hoyazo [2s 9s Td] [Ks]
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Qc Qs 8c 5c Ah] [Qh]
pokerenthusiast bets 8,000
hoyazo raises to 16,000
pokerenthusiast calls 8,000

I hit my set and bet to see where he is at. He might be representing the flush but probably hit it. I can’t fold with 10 outs…not at this point.

*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Qc Qs 8c 5c Ah Qh] [6s]
pokerenthusiast checks
hoyazo bets 8,000
pokerenthusiast calls 8,000

I have seen 7 spades up so I figure a split pot. He had 3 more spades for the nut flush. Ugh…Not sure how to get away from this hand or if I should.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
hoyazo shows [As Ts 2s 9s Td Ks 3s] a flush, Ace high, for high
pokerenthusiast mucks
hoyazo wins the pot (114,800) with a flush, Ace high
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 114,800 | Rake 0
Seat 2: hoyazo showed [As Ts 2s 9s Td Ks 3s] and won (114,800) with HI: a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: Tom Jefferson folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: RecessRampage folded on 5th St.
Seat 8: pokerenthusiast mucked [Qs Qc 8c 5c Ah Qh 6s] - HI: three of a kind, Queens

Now I hit the aggression button and start to steal more and fluctuate a little. I don’t care about anything other then getting my chips back or going home. I want a chance for the seat. I eventually knock out RR when I hit a boat when I was priced in to call with a pocket pair. It continued to apply as much pressure as my little stack had and moved back into 2nd for a bit and back to 76K…about 20K behind Hoy when I won with HI: a pair of Sixes; LO: 7,6,5,3,2. I have such skills. But I had to fold 2 pair on a boar of AKJT and I was all but done. TJ ended my night two hands later for my 3rd place finish.

I’m not unhappy with how I played. I used some Razz thinking in the later stages in that players tend to call less because the bets are so big. What could have been didn’t happen.

Congrates Hoy.

Going to the Game

2008-04-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

Throughout life, there are things that fathers and sons do together that signify manhood. It isn’t smoking cigars or playing poker or any other so called manly thing we do. It is going to a ball game.

My first game was back in 1972 around the time of my 5th birthday. My dad took me to see the White Sox in a double header vs. Cleveland on a Sunday afternoon. We sat in the upper deck and I think the sox won both games. The sun was shinning and I had crackerjacks as I tried to follow the action on the field from the upper deck. I didn’t really know anything about the game considering I was only 5 at the time but I was there with my dad…and that’s all that mattered.

I think I only went to two major league ball games with my dad but I’ve already been to six with my son. The first one was two years ago in Tampa while we were down the on vacation. It was the home opener and with their fan base, tickets were easy to get. The Devil Rays played the O’s and my son fell asleep some time in the late innings of the game. That year we also saw games at Wrigley Field, US Cellular and Miller Park in Milwaukee. Traveling is fun but traveling to see ball games is about as good as it gets in my opinion and we saw eight different teams play that year.

One of the things I always looked forward to was trying to catch a foul ball. It really didn’t have to be a foul…it could be a ball flipped to me by the first baseman or an outfielder. But getting that ball is like making a connection with that player. He doesn’t know you but for that one instant you are together in a moment that has a profound affect on the one receiving the ball. To me, as a child, ball players were my god. I looked to them as roll models and emulated them because I wanted to be them.

My son got his first ball when we were at Wrigley Field. The Cubs sucked that year so getting a good seat wasn’t very hard. We where six rows behind the visitors dugout and found three balls come our way that day. Each of the kids walked away with their first ball and everyone was full of smiles. To this day I still have not gotten a ball for my self.

I still like to go to a game whenever possible so when the opportunity came along on Friday I jumped on the chance. You see, we had some guests from Japan who wanted to go to a game while they were here so I was more then happy to be the host. I convinced my boss that my son should go and we were on our way.

The weather sucked. It was in the low 40s and a drizzle came down the whole time we drove to the ballpark. As we walked to the stadium the rain came down a little harder and I feared a cancellation but in the end the game start only a few minutes late. We stopped and bought some hot dogs and beverages of choice on the way to our seats and settled in for a cold night at the ball game.

At some point during the night people started to leave. The bars where open and much more inviting to many of the fair weather fans so my son and I moved down closer to the dugout. Between inning he would stand there waiting for a player to flip up a ball or for a coach to see him and do the same. Time and time again he came back to sit by me and waited for his next chance. Eventually the game ended and we went back up to the dugout in hopes of getting the ball we cherished. The kids were standing around, five or six of them ranging from 6-9 years old. Suddenly a ball comes from within the dugout bouncing on the roof and lands in a seat right behind my son. The throng of children converge on the spot as little hands search for the prize. After a few seconds a hand comes out of the pile with the ball and my son walks away empty handed. The I notice the person walking away with the ball is a 30 something year old guy. He walked up behind the kids and literally took the ball out of one of the hands of a young boy.

What kind of grown man would take away something like this from a child? The group of fathers start giving this guy crap. It takes a real man to take a ball away from a 6 year old kid. Anyway, I told the guy how classy I thought he was and he made the funniest comment ever. You see, this guy was from Detroit and he says” I’m glad I don’t live in Chicago” Now I have nothing against Michigan people in general but I’ve been to Detroit and to say that it is the arm pit of America gives arm pits a bad name.

So as we walk back up the stairs, dejected and alone, I thought about the moment I had with my son. I was there for him and even though we didn’t get the prize, we had already won the night by being there together.

Hell Has Frozen Over

2008-04-10T18:09:00.003-05:00

Way to go Waffles

Leaving Las Vegas

2008-04-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

Leaving Las Vegas was nothing special. Either was getting there.

I landed at McCarran at a little after 9:00 Monday morning. You would think I would be ready to go except for one problem. I was just passing through on my way to Long Beach for a business trip. I walked by a bunch of slot machines that were there to entice that last of the money held by people returning home from a long weekend of degenerate fun. After waiting maybe 30 minutes, I jumped onto a plane headed for Orange County.

One the way back home I was think I would be on a non-stop flight back to Chicago but was fooled when we landed the mostly empty plan back in Las Vegas. Four of us were left on board and we were forced to leave the plane as the next flight crew wasn’t ready yet. I moved my stuff up to the front row so I could get off quickly when we returned to Chicago and made my way back to the gate area. I watched as an elderly woman told her husband time and again that it was no wonder he lost at joker poker because he didn’t know how to play. This was after she ran out of money. Anyway, I went to the bathroom and waited to return to my seat.

The trip home was full of people coming down from a day of partying and started with me sitting next to one of the weirdest people I have ever met. I can’t tell you why I thought this other than I think he might be the next Jeffrey Dahmer. I eventually returned home about 22 hours after I had left on Monday, realizing that I had made two trips to Vegas in one day and didn’t even throw a quarter into a slot machine.

When it Bleeds it Pours

2008-03-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

So, Sunday everyone went to Wisconsin to my in-laws place up there. The in-laws have a house, not a cabin, on a nice sized little lake and the kids wanted to go there for spring break. I had to work on Monday so I stayed home alone while they went sledding and played in the fresh snow that had just fallen the day before. Mrs. PE’s dad drove up there for her because of her eye bur she was well enough to drive home on Monday night.

She finally had a good night of sleep and made it home with no problems. We got the kids ready for bed and hung out watching a movie. That’s when she started to bleed tears. She wasn’t actually crying but there was a release of blood from around her eye as the swelling gave way in a red mess running down her cheek. She wasn’t to freaked out other then the fact that it looked gross as hell. My oldest daughter had to leave the room until it was cleaned up for fear of throwing up.

I’ll take evenings like that because I really missed them while they were gone.

She Can See and Some Poker

2008-03-24T22:00:00.003-05:00

Well everyone is doing fine...Mrs. PE is a little sore from her eye surgery but doing well. She didn't have much sleep for a couple of days because it hurt more to have her eyes closed then when they were open but finally she slept well Sunday night.

As for me, I played a little poker and saw quads 4 times on Saturday. The first one was in my opponents hand when I had pocket rockets on the 2nd hand in a tourney. But the I hit them on the flop with KK on a KKA board. Most people would slow play the kings but I bet out...well take a look.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5731942297: $2 + $0.25 Rebuy (43531146), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:13:12 ET - 2008/03/22
Seat 1: Chapdawg777 (6,725)
Seat 2: GaryBettmann (1,284)
Seat 3: PLEASURE ROD (11,693)
Seat 4: zaj232323 (2,900)
Seat 5: muchdutch33 (6,329)
Seat 6: VegasSister (1,675)
Seat 7: pokerenthusiast (13,147)
Seat 8: briandtam (1,300)
Seat 9: tdream00 (2,617)
Chapdawg777 posts the small blind of 25
GaryBettmann posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pokerenthusiast [Kh Kc]
PLEASURE ROD folds
zaj232323 folds
muchdutch33 folds
VegasSister folds
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast raises to 200 - I raise 150/200 here...the table had been aggressive so I opted for the bigger bet.
briandtam folds
tdream00 calls 200
Chapdawg777 folds
GaryBettmann folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ks Ad] - Can I ask for a better flop...Now how do I take his chips...afeeler bet.
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act
pokerenthusiast bets 200
tdream00 calls 200
*** TURN *** [Kd Ks Ad] [Ah] - Now I check her just to see what he does...If he has an ace he will surely bet.
pokerenthusiast checks
tdream00 bets 350
pokerenthusiast raises to 700
tdream00 raises to 1,050
pokerenthusiast raises to 1,400
tdream00 raises to 1,750
pokerenthusiast raises to 2,100
tdream00 raises to 2,217, and is all in
pokerenthusiast calls 117
tdream00 shows [7s As]
pokerenthusiast shows [Kh Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ks Ad Ah] [9h]
tdream00 shows a full house, Aces full of Kings
pokerenthusiast shows four of a kind, Kings
pokerenthusiast wins the pot (5,309) with four of a kind, Kings
tdream00 adds 3,000
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,309 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd Ks Ad Ah 9h]
Seat 1: Chapdawg777 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: GaryBettmann (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: PLEASURE ROD didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: zaj232323 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: muchdutch33 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: VegasSister didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: pokerenthusiast showed [Kh Kc] and won (5,309) with four of a kind, Kings
Seat 8: briandtam didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: tdream00 (button) showed [7s As] and lost with a full house, Aces full of Kings

TOugh hand for him but do I really care?

I ended up flaming out in this on the final table but made a nice run.

Went deep in a few tourneys but nothing to write home about. Overall a losing weekend as I played a couple of higher games and backed someone who shall remain nameless. Also played some razz but you can check that out at BTN.

Eye Surgery, PLO and the NCAA Tourney

2008-03-20T10:29:00.000-05:00

Been very busy with work so not much time to post. I don’t even remember the last time I put something up. Anyway, been playing and spinning my wheels. Had some luck in Razz cash and I’ve been playing a little PLO cash and some tourneys. Made a nice run again in a PLO tourney but couldn’t get away from a flopped set of jacks after a dude raised pre-flop. I had KKJJ double suited and when the flop came JAx I re-raised the raiser for all my chips. Stupid move in that the only thing players raise with in the late stages of these tourneys is AA or KK. I should have known my set of jacks was behind his set of aces. I missed the money by 4 spots when I could have made the cash easily.

Mrs. PE will be having eye surgery on Friday. Apparently, the muscle on her eyelid has detached or something and the need to put it back together. It is an out-patient surgery so no major concerns. We’re not sure how it happened but she will be able to return to wearing contacts in about six weeks.

So with me taking her for the surgery, I will get to watch most of the NCAA tourney on Friday. This time of year is about as good as it gets for sports fans and I am pumped. The only drawback is that Illinois sucked this year so I have to enjoy the games without a personal favorite involved.

I'm Running Good

2008-03-15T11:12:00.000-05:00

I always dread this time of year. The anticipation of the unknown coming upon me as I wait for the dawning of a new age puts me into a scattered mood. It is time for my review.

I’ve done a lot for the company in the last year but did I do enough to justify a good raise. Product optimization, quality investigation and sucking off the customer should be worth a little something in my honest opinion. If you look at the amount of travel I did last year, which was equal to about a month of my life, then I must be of some importance.

Well, after all was said and done I received a 2.5% raise. Not the biggest in the world but I can’t complain…well I could complain but I won’t because I like the place and we continue to expand. In the end I have to believe that any raise in this economy is a good raise.

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

My oldest daughter is in The Pirates of Penzance, a musical being run by the drama department at her school. Her first performance was on Thursday with her finishing up on Monday afternoon. As someone who has been in musicals, I think they did a great job of pulling this off. A draw back was that Softball E didn’t get the part of Mabel because she is 6 inches taller then her counterpart and it wouldn’t have worked. Instead, she gets to sing some of Mabel’s parts because the girl who has that part doesn’t have the range to pull it off. I think it’s a great sign of her character that she did this without any fan fair. Maybe she can get a job with Milli Vanilli.

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

After getting home from the Musical last night, I fired up the lap top and donked in a 6-max tourney and blew it when I forgot that low buy-in players don’t know how to fold. I flopped two pair with a flush draw on the board in a battle of the blinds. When the turn brought a 3rd heart I bet again and he called. A fourth heart came and I check raised him committing my stack with two pair that was no good but knowing he had a weak flush and should lay it down. He called with his weak 8 high flush and busted me.

So I jumped into a PLO tourney and looked down at AKTT double suited on the 2nd hand of the tourney. Five players saw the flop and I hit the joint when it comes down AQJ.

*** FLOP *** [Js As Qc]
Souperfly bets 540
Moikster has 15 seconds left to act
Moikster raises to 2,160
taggyo folds
adrian1300 has 15 seconds left to act
adrian1300 folds
pokerenthusiast has 15 seconds left to act

Now I have the best hand but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to play it. It is very early so do I just jam to try and isolate vs. calling and pricing in other players? If I call I am committed and I do have the best hand possible to this point so I jam.

pokerenthusiast raises to 2,880, and is all in
Souperfly calls 2,325, and is all in
Moikster calls 570, and is all in
pokerenthusiast shows [Kd Ah Td Th]
Souperfly shows [Jc Ac 5h 3c] – He has two outs
Moikster shows [Ad 7c Qs Qd] – He has one out.

Can I ask for a better situation…I don’t think so and I triple up right away.

I lost a few chips later with a set of jacks and the nut flush draw when my flush missed and my opponent had a set of kings. Later I was crippled when I lost a big hand vs. some guy who called me to the river with aces and sixes and hit his third 6 on the river vs. my flopped set. Down to 1200 chips I was in trouble. But, five hands later I was back to about 4K after a timely hand and on to 5K and almost back to par. The deck came back to me again an orbit later and I was over 7K.

Hello…is there anyone there…crap

My laptop crashed with some stupid stop error and I had to wait for it to reboot. Luckily everything came back ok and I only missed two or three hands.

Right away I double up with a set of 8s and move to 14K. I gave some back on a busted draw but doubled again to 20K with a boat vs. a straight. I moved to top 5 with a straight a bit later and started to think I was going deep. We are finally in the money a bit later and I hit a big hand to move to 40K. I’m playing very tight aggressive and trying to take advantage when I can. From here though I went a little card dead in that I wasn’t willing to commit to a pot with much of what I saw. Eventually we got to the final table bubble with me a the short stack as the chips flew around the table. I found AAxx and went with it and got called by QQJx. I flop a set but he has a gut draw. The turn is a blank and I have one bullet to avoid. A king hits the board and I am the bubble boy for the final table.

I played well so I can’t complain a whole lot.

I did have the pleasure of stacking the worst poker player ever in a PLO cash game so overall it was a great night.

Running Deep

2008-03-14T08:58:00.000-05:00

I have returned to making some deep runs as of late and I realize now why I need to change parts of my game. This epiphany came last night as I played the ultimate game of skill…a low buy-in turbo knockout.

Before I get to deep into my epiphany, I’d like to explain a few of my thoughts. For one thing, to get deep in a tourney you have to get lucky. Luck comes in many forms like winning multiple coin flips, avoiding big suckouts/winning big suckouts and catching some good flops. Another thing you need to have is the ability to adapt to table conditions. Identifying the different types of players at your table is very important if you want to have success. Finally, you need to know your limitations and work on them to close the leaks in your game. Solid opponents will take advantage of tendencies they see from your play.

Now to my epiphany.

Like I said…I played a $3 turbo knockout tourney last night. The skill level in these is very low and with a few timely hands it is easy to get deep. Last night is a prime example of this as I played very tight and waited for solid hands to get me home. I chipped up a little when I flopped trip aces and then busted a guy when my JJ beat his short stacked KQ for a knockout. I got my 2nd knockout when I raised to limpers with my AK and a short stack called with K9 to move to 3100 chips. With blinds at 250/500 and with 2500 chips the action was what I wanted. With a limper, a raiser and a caller in front of me on the BB, I look at 45 suited and make the call. I basically committed to the pot but I didn’t want to push the limper away with a push. I wanted to quad up. The limper folded anyway to we wait for the flop. It comes 6s 5d Td and I push. I am probably behind a pocket pair but both of these players have pushed every pocket pair they have had. I put them both on over cards and hopped I was right. I got one caller and was right when he flipped over KQ. My pair held up and I have 7500 chips. A bit later I won another coin flip and busted a player to move to 14K. I knocked out another with AQ vs A3 to move to 26K and I feel like I have a chance to make the final table if I can hit one more hand. In a hand I needed I get AK suited and see a small stack push to 2K, the size of the big blind and another player pushes for 8K. I am in the BB for 2K already so it costs me 6K to win 13K. Getting better than 2-1 I call and see opponents holding 44 and 66. I don’t catch and I’m down to 16K. In my last hand I ran KT into J9 and had no chance as he hit runner-runner for a straight. I can’t complain because it is really a luck box game and 25th of 600 something players doesn’t mean much other than catching cards at the right time.

What I truly realized is that playing tight is easy for me. Opening up my game when the table is tight is harder. I’ve made this observation before and at times I do well with changing gears but I need to keep changing gears and not revert to the old tight style of play that is my comfort zone.

Donking Up Some Omaha and the Mookie

2008-03-13T13:49:00.001-05:00

The night started off with me jumping into a nice cheap $2 MTT to get thing started. I’m maybe 15 minutes into it when I find Q7 on the BB. It is folded to the SB who calls and I check. The flop is A7A and the SB blind leads out. No considering that this is a $2 tourney, the skill level is such that I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t have an ace. I call his bet with my 7 paring the board. This is a place that I will almost always re-raise but I felt I could get a little more from him. Anyway, the turn is 3 and he bets again…about half the pot so I re-raise a bit more then the pot. He insta pushes and I have to make a decision. I go back over it in my head a bit and I can’t see that he has anything, his shove is trying to make me think he has an A when he has air. I call and he shows JT for nothing. He hits a J and I go home. Now I know you are not supposed to lose your chips in an unraised battle of the blinds but how cane he think he is ahead. I prolly should have bet the flop but he would more than likely push so it works out the same other then I could have folded the better hand. Just frustrating.

I was actually really pissed after that because I felt like the worst poker player ever. So I joined a PLO o8 tourney because it is more like playing bingo and anyone can win at bingo. I hit my first big hand when I was dealt 8h 2s 9c Jc in the SB and saw a flop of 7d Ts 6s. It is about as wrapped as you can get. Two of us saw the turn after an early position raise and I hit a straight. It wasn’t the nut thought but I put the raiser on the low draw. As it turned out he had a gutter ball that hit when a 9 came on the turn and I had the bigger straight. I chipped up with some smaller pots when I look down and see 2h 5h 6c Ad in the BB. Four of us saw the raised pot that gave me the nut low and the weak side of an OESD. In the end I split the low end with a short stack and scooped the bigger end side to move way up to over 7K. I hung around that level until catching a nice a ¾ pot to move to 11K. I started to lose traction and was down to 7.7K when I doubled with a scoop vs. an agro goof. I stayed at that level until the final table.

The final table was a little tough in that I was short but I worked hard. I had a couple of timely doubles and was in position to make the top two even but as you know…when the blinds get big that you are committed to just about any raising hand and I raised my AK63 double suited into A2JJ and lost. There was a short stack that out lasted me but the difference between 3rd and 4th was on $20 while 4th and 2nd was $65 I wanted to be in position to get at least 2nd so I really don’t mind getting it in there. I ended in 4th but thats OK. I have to thank Riggs, IT and surf for railing. If I missed someone else then let me know and I can give you props.

I also played the Mookie and made the top 40 or so but tried a resteal vs. Lucko and my game was over.

Still, not a bad night overall.

2 Years of Blogging and Bodog Pimpage

2008-03-11T15:06:00.001-05:00

I missed me 2 year anniversary for the blog a while back while, during the time when my father passed so I guess I’d like to say cool beans. 400 and something post during that time and I’m still an idiot when it comes to writing. I went back and looked at some old posts and I have seen a change in how I write and also realized that I started this blog with no idea in what direction I or the blog was going.

I did have a minor screw up the other night. I was running poker office and had a bunch of screens open when it crashed. I’m not sure what caused it other then that I had to many screens open and it couldn’t handle the info coming in. Anyway, I couldn’t get it to start so I eventually had to uninstall/reinstall it and lost all of my history. 10s of thousands of hands played are gone. Not really that big a deal because I started over at the beginning of the year so really only had maybe 2 months of stuff gone from what I really wanted.

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All Play and No Work

2008-03-11T10:33:00.000-05:00

Now that ball season is approaching fast, my commitments as Director of Softball have increased. I had clinics over the weekend that I had to attend as well as drafts for a couple of the age groups. Tonight is the draft for the girls Majors. the level that Speedy E. plays. My wife is one of the managers but cannot make the draft tonight so I get to do it in her place. I'm not sure if there is a conflict of interest involved but someone would have to do it for her anyway. I am going to try and get a free pick for her team because all of the other teams have multiple coaches with kids on the team while Mrs. PE's assistant doesn't have a child on the team. We should be able to pick first in my opionion. We'll see what happens.

I'm also looking to find coaches for next year's traveling teams at 10U and 12U. I hope we can find someone to step up and run a team. There are plenty of kids that want to play so all we need is someone to take over the program. I will coach the 12U team if we don't find someone but that isn't really my first choice. I think we have someone already but I need to confirm before doing cartwheels. The 10U team will be a little harder but I'm sure some parent will step up and do the job. We have someone who does all the scheduling so all they need to do is coach.

So no Skills for me tonight and no Riverchasers on Thursday more than likely. We shall see.

Busy, Busy

2008-03-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

After a busy weekend of driving around I think things are starting to return to normal. It nice to have a lot of things to do but last weekend was crazy. Friday I drove to a customer’s plant and did a review of there process. It was 300 miles each way and with a snowstorm coming I got in an out of there as fast as possible. There was about an inch of snow on my car when I left but as I drove back home the snow went away and I made it home with no problems.

I spent playing some tourneys and did well in the Razz 2K with a final table. I ran a little card dead at the end to keep me from getting a little deeper. I also played some Omaha and did ok but didn’t cash. Ran on OESFD and the nut low draw but missed my 14,732 outs and lost to his 66xx that was good.

Saturday was spent running to the lawyers and then taking Softball E. to pitching and hitting practice. I flew from there to a coach’s clinic I was involved in and had to miss my son’s hockey game. Grandma had to pick up softball E. and get her costume for the musical she is in for school. I finally got home at some point and played that night. Had a couple of deep run cashes in hold’em but nothing huge. Got killed by a four flush with my AK vs. AQ in another tourney. That one hurt. Anyway, had a solid night overall. Also played the Bronze Freeroll for 7 hands when my over pair lost to top pair crap kicker when he hit a 5 outer.

Sunday was more softball clinics but this time it was for the players. We had 100 plus girls show up for some instruction from the high school coaching staff as well as league reps. It was a great turnout and we look to improve upon it for next year.

Have a great day.

Am I Stupid

2008-03-09T20:07:00.001-05:00

I took this today.

Getting Back on the Horse

2008-03-06T10:11:00.000-06:00

Life is returning to semi normalcy after a couple of tough days. I was hoping for a crisis at work to help me get through my first day back but things actually went well. I’m just trying to get through the run down feeling I have right now.

I made the choice to play the Mookie last night to get back into the flow of things and my weak/tight game got me to a mediocre finish as I just couldn’t get things going. I was in position to make it deeper but had to lay down AT and the tried a steal from late position with T9 and ran into QQ. I had outs when I was open-ended but my luck ran out in 31st place. I had KK a couple of times, once early with a raiser and a caller in front of me. I popped it up hoping the original raiser might push but he folded followed by the other player. The other time I raised from early position and everyone folded. I played a little too tight but it was hard to get into the action late as players were raising and re-raising like crazy. Oh well, I’ll try it again next week. This was my first BBT3 event and I truly expect to get deep and have a chance at one of these.

I also played the Dookie and luck-boxed my way to a bubble finish. It was PLO, one of my favorite games and I pushed some edges early and gained some chips. By edges I mean having KKxx vs. AAkk and catching a king to suck out. I also did it with JJxx so I was running good. My luck-box skills left me though when I flopped a set of 5s and lost to a bigger set.

I’m to busy to write any more…Have a great day.

Thank You All

2008-03-05T10:14:00.002-06:00

What can say other then thank you to everyone who left a comment! I didn’t really write about this for any other reason then to get my emotions out there. There are things in those posts that some people my not like but they were how I felt at the time. Some of my thoughts were just momentary and not necessarily how I truly feel but more of a reflection of the grief I was dealing with and how I saw interactions as they went by. Many of you have offered to do anything you can and I thank you for your gesture. I will only ask that you lend an ear if I need it and to make sure you give your loved ones a hug, a call, or whatever it is you do and be there for them in their time of need. And if I didn't leave a note of thanks on your blog please understand that I truly appreciate your thoughts.

Lying in bed last night I saw my dad with his smirkish smile as I drifted off to sleep. I also thought of him on the drive to work and while sitting in a meeting about 30 minutes ago. I know that the days ahead will be harder for a while.

Ode to...Final

2008-03-04T15:45:00.001-06:00

Getting up the morning of the funeral was a chore. I stayed up late, not because I couldn’t sleep but because I wanted to vegetate alone for a while. When I went up stairs for bed I turned on the TV and watch Sand Lot. Its funny how there are certain things like movies or music that help you escape for a while and that movie did it for me. I feel asleep around the time that the kids tried to get the baseball away from the big dog and woke up during the final credits. It was 3:00 AM so I turned off the TV and went back to sleep.

I didn’t want to get up but it was time to get moving. Everyone was dressed and ready about ten minutes after when I would have preferred but we still had plenty of time before we had to be to the funeral home. We were the first to arrive by a couple of minutes and talked with Pastor Bob for a few minutes until my sister arrived. The finality hadn’t real hit yet.

We all took a moment to be with dad. My family went up and had our last private thoughts about him before the people started to arrive. As everyone started to appear, we greeted everyone with a smile, hand-shake, hug or a combination of the three. Eventually, everything got started as everyone was invited for one last moment with dad. The PE family was second to last, just before my sister and her family. We held each other as we looked at my dad for the last time, tears falling from or pooling around our puffy eyes. We stepped out of the room before they closed the casket…the beginning of the rest of my life without my father.

We sat down together on the couch that was to soft. It would have been a great place to take a nap but it sunk down to much for my liking. I half listened to the words being said and choked back the tears…kind of anyway.

Sing “Amazing Grace” was a bit of a chore for me. I skipped some lines and ignored the off key signing from the group of people in the room. Its hard to sing sometimes. And as Pastor Bob went into the Homily, I perked up as he talked of my father. A man he din’t know but understood from conversations he had with my sister and I. I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job then he did to describe my dad.

The Aurora Pipes and Drum group played a song as the pall bearers carried him to the awaiting car. The funeral procession was long and we had to wait a bit for everyone to arrive at the grave site. There were words spoken, music played and gunshots fired signifying who my father was. There was ice everywhere which is much better then the mud that would have been there the day before. We cried…and it was over.

People drove away in their cars and went to work, headed home or came to the luncheon we had. I have always found it strange that we feed people after words when in reality we have just spent a lot of money and could use a hand out. But it is a time to gather together in remembrance and as in most cases, we had way more food then we needed. It was nice talking to my aunts and uncles that have been away for so long. We talked about getting together this summer but who knows what will happen. Either the death of my father will bring us back closer together or will be the thing that all but ends any relationship we had.

As we packed everything up I thought of all the other people I have known who have done this same thing. Give some food here and send some flowers there…It is almost as if we are giving away those feeling we have just tormented through. It can be a burden dealing with all the flowers and food…but I would do it all over again for my dad.

Ode to....Continued #3

2008-03-04T00:21:00.001-06:00

I woke up in the morning late…some time around 9:00 I think and I threw on a pair of shorts and an old t-shirt. My laptop was sitting on my chair so I fired it up and sent an IM to a couple of people at work. Sitting around waiting for the visitation didn’t seem to make much sense so did a little work. I had one of my guys do a test I needed done and chatted a little about some things that were going on.

We have a bunch of Easter stuff that we brought up and put away some winter things like snowmen and some nice throw blankets that sit on the back of the couch doing nothing but looking seasonal. I really didn’t feel like putting some of this stuff away but I eventually gave into the requests of my wife and took them down stairs until next year.

Eventually, I got out of my chair. It is my chair and I have asked people to move to another seat if they sit in it. I needed my chair today. I wasted time in it trying to put off getting ready as long as I could. Procrastinating is something that I can do well when I want to and I waited as long as I could before dressing in my suit and tie.

I realized about 20 minutes before we had to leave that I have gained way to much weight because there was no way I could wear my suit pants. My enlarged stomach impeded my ability to button my pants. Luckily I found a pair of pants that would work just fine and I finished getting ready for the visitation.

The kids were fighting a little as we prepared to leave and I tried my best to let it go. There are times, many times, when my children drive me crazy with their almost constant griping and today was no exception. I think they realized quickly that I wasn’t in the mood because they stopped on their own without a tirade by me. Things were going well.

Everything was in place at the funeral home. The flowers from friends and work places looked beautiful and I took time to read each of the cards from everyone. We gave Speedy E the job of writing down who sent what so that she could be involved. She really enjoys doing things like making lists and we wanted her to feel special. I didn’t really take any time to be with my dad other than a quick moment with my son and daughter. Instead, we all talked quietly while we waited for people to show up.

My step-brother and sister were two of the first to arrive. I expected Mike to show up because he still lived close and would still drop in on my dad from time to time. I’ve only seen him five or six times in the thirteen years since my step-mother passed away. As for my step-sister, she has been away for a long time. She had an affair on her ex-husband and gave custody of her kids to her him. She asked my father if she could move in with him while she tried to get back on her feet and he said no. I guess he didn’t like what she stood for. I truly think the only reason she came up from St. Louis is because she wants to know what she has coming to her. I hope this isn’t the case but she hadn’t talked to my dad since he turned her down.

People came and went. Friends of mine, friends of my sister, friends of my dad and people from the old neighborhood came in an endless barrage of “I’m sorry” and “How long was he ill?” They are the standard comments we all make when we try to comfort others. I tried to mix up my answers to help control my own sanity as I heard the same thing over and over. I know they all mean well and I appreciate everyone that came by to help us and to show my father their respects.

My best man spent an hour or so hanging out with me and my family. He was lucky to be there based of a snowmobile accident a couple of years ago that almost killed him. He hit a tree at about 70 miles per hour and woke up a few weeks later without the ability to talk and with a skull fracture that would kill most of us. He still has troubles to this day but I am thankful he is alive and could be there for me.

A few neighbor ladies from my childhood showed up. All of them have lost their husbands in the last ten years. I can now empathize with them in some ways but I don’t truly understand all of what they feel with their loss. One of them asked me to come by with the family sometime if I’m driving through the town I grew up in. None of her kids live near her so I’m sure the seven years without her husband bothers her from time to time. I told her I would try to stop by but in reality it was probably just lip service. I have been down my old childhood street maybe ten times in the last twenty years. But I will knock on the door if I am in the neighborhood.

We had a nice surprise when all of my dad’s brothers and sisters showed up. They live a ways away and didn’t think they would show up until the funeral. The last time they had all been together was when my grandfather died twenty years ago. The bickering that ensued after his death split the family for years. I have my opinions on the stupidity of it all but things like death seem to put those misunderstanding aside.

After four hours of standing on my feet, talking to so many people I finally had a chance to sit down. My back hurt and my feet ached but my heart seemed to be at ease. Remembering the good times with old friends and learning new and wonderful things about my dad from people I have never met brought a piece to my mind. Yes he will be missed by many people but I realize that the tears that flowed that day were from others. And that I was actually there to comfort them and not them to comfort me. I never really looked at it that way but I think there is some truth in that statement. They come to be with us and our grief and we tell them thank you for coming. But in two days he is a nice memory for them and we are left to deal with the loss for however long it takes to let it go.

Before I left, I took a moment to look down at my father. The man who help cast the person I am today. Looking down at a face that really doesn’t look like him with all the make-up and embalming fluid, I saw the man that everyone else saw. A man who would help others in need and not expect anything in return. A man who often put the needs of other in front of his. I didn’t cry as I stood there remembering him. I smiled as I turned and walked away.

Ode to...Continued #2

2008-03-03T10:41:00.001-06:00

Flowers, food and other things dealing with the visitation and funeral just seemed to pop up as we went through the process. These are all thing we know about but don’t really occur to you right away. More costs in honor of the deceased that are all very worth it.

Saturday wasn’t too bad. The kids had things to do like hockey and softball and the busyness helped keep my mind off dealing with my father’s death. I made the early trip to pitching practice and discussed life with Softball E. She didn’t really want to talk that much so I didn’t push it to hard. We all need to express and relieve our selves in our own time. Anyway, while we were gone, Mrs. PE, Speedy E and Baseball E went through all of our pictures to find the right ones for a mosaic of pictures for the visitation. They brought a smile to my face as I glanced through the memories.

The rest of Saturday was uneventful other then a few calls. The biggest call was trying to find someone to take care of my dad’s dog. He had a husky that is three years old and is full of energy. I would love to keep the dog but with two cats and a small dog, it wouldn’t work. Huskies are pack animals and this one wants to be the alpha male. He would eat up our little dog and we wouldn’t want that. My sister doesn’t have the room for the dog so we ended up asking a friend of my dad to keep him for now. She agreed so we don’t have to worry about that for a while. This lady has a friend up north who will probably take the dog and give it a good home with lots of room to run around.

Later in the day, I was taking my middle child to a friend’s house and almost missed the turn. I was lost in thought of my dad at the time and almost drove by without a second thought. I’m not sure how long these random moments of refection will continue to pop into my head but I enjoy the memories of my dad.

I knew Sunday would be bad. I arrived to church early hoping to get the pomp and circumstance out of the way as soon as possible. We have a close nit congregation so I knew I would be flooded with condolences from many people. However, it really didn’t shake down that way. A couple of people came up but not as many as I thought. The news might not have gotten out as well as I thought but I knew that it would change.

His visitation and funeral arrangements were announced during the service and the heart felt warmth of my church family came pouring out like a tsunami. As the condolences came, I found it hard to concentrate on their feelings of sorrow and condolence. I fought to hold back the tears and many times I had to take a second to collect my self before responding. I thought I had good control over everything until I saw my daughter…tears in her eyes…wanting to be held and told everything would be ok. 14 is a hard enough age to be alive with all the hormones and such so I turned my back on the elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife and held my daughter…trying to take away her pain with my love. My wife walked up and joined us in a moment of family tears that needed to flow to maintain our sanity.

My other daughter walked up during this and I stepped away to be with her. I’m not sure she totally understands the finality of all of this. I think she is trying to be strong and putting the pain away in the back of her mind. She has had aloofness about everything but I truly think it is her way of dealing with the sorrow. I gave her a huge and kiss and told her how much I love her just because I can and because I want her to know it is ok to cry…with her dad...and that her dad is man enough to cry for something lost.

After church, we had some running to do and I was semi lost in thought as I drove to our destination. I wasn’t crying but I know that tears wanted to come and Mrs. PE asked what was wrong. I jumped immediately back into man mode and said nothing. Stay strong and show no weakness…It is what my father would do.

Ode to...Continued

2008-03-02T17:32:00.000-06:00

Trying to deal with the death of my father at that point really couldn’t happen. My wife was there for me and I can’t imagine trying to get through this without her. As we stood there holding each other, letting the tears run down our cheeks, the nurse walked back into the room and handed us bag of my dads things. A credit card, a gift card we had given him, his membership card to Amvets post 103 and $92 in various bills. I figuratively had to sign his life away to get his things.

I needed to leave the cold cubicle of death as I felt uncomfortable just waiting there for my sister. As we stepped back out of the room, a police officer said he needed to talk to us before we leave but said it was no rush. Dealing with this sort of stuff was low on my list but I know it has to be done.

My sister showed up with my niece and nephew a few minutes later. They had been there for a while but some well-intentioned person sent them to the Chaplin instead of to the emergency room. We hugged, something my sister and I rarely do, and prepared to step into the room again. Her son and daughter didn’t want to step in and I don’t blame them. I didn’t really want them to see him with a tube down his throat and some contraption on his face. That doesn’t need to be one of the things they remember about him.

My wife, my sister and I held each other in a moment of confusion and disbelief as we looked down at our recently deceased father. The tears were back but easier to deal with. Everyone left in his immediate family consoled together. I’m not really sure I thought of anything other than the confusion I felt at that moment. What do we do now? What is our next step?

The hospital Chaplin told us everything that would be coming. We informed him which funeral home we wanted the body taken to and he gave us some idea as to what we needed to get through the first part of the process. After all of this was done, we met with the deputy coroner and finished our obligations at the hospital.

Mrs. PE and I chatted quietly as we headed to my dads house. We were all meeting there but my sister wasn’t there yet when we arrived so we headed to the club where he was the treasurer and, in general, the guy who kept it in business. The people were in shock as we explained that my father had passed.

My dad would show up at the club every morning at 5:30 to do his work and the two custodians would arrive by 6:00. On this morning, the lights were still off when the custodians arrived and they found my dad sitting on the floor. He never made it to the office and thus couldn’t reach a phone. They quickly called for an ambulance but it was mostly over by that time. He was in ventricular fibrillation by that time and all attempts by the paramedics came up short.

When my sister arrived at the house we started to go through his stuff. We found many of the documents would need in the weeks and months to come and we finally left to get some lunch. Lunch was on dad this day as it was many other times we were with him in the past. It was kind of strange spending his money but it will all end up with us anyway. A morbid thought but reality.

Eventually we met with the people at the funeral home and went through everything that will happen in the next couple of days. When it was all done I realized that being dead costs a lot of money and that I think I will try and get all of that stuff taken care of to make it easier on my children.

My sister and I said good bye for the day but we still have much more to go through before it is done.

Ode to....

2008-03-01T13:26:00.001-06:00

After a few days of travel I made it home Thursday night feeling good and ready for Friday. I woke up early Friday morning because I had a lot of work to do and left the house about 6:45. At around 7:00 I got the phone call on my cell phone.

You know the call I’m talking about…It comes in many forms but is dreaded by everyone. I can be based off an accident or a sickness and hits you in the junk much worse than any bad beat you’ve ever had. It is the phone call that says someone has died.

Flying through traffic I answered the phone wondering why my wife would be calling me 15 minutes after I left the house. I wasn’t sure what I had forgotten but it could wait until I made it home later that night. Then the word “emergency room” clicked and something about “passed away” slowly crept into my consciousness and I realized that someone I know had just died.

Death is something we deal with in different ways. I don’t like to talk about the loss of loved ones until I’m ready to fully deal with the emotions that go along with the pain. Ignoring the pain doesn’t last forever and eventually I have to come to grips with it or be caught up in a maelstrom of conflicting feelings as I balance real life with the past memory.

I turned the car around at the stop light, not caring if a police car was around because I needed to get home. There was a lot to be done in a short time and I had calls to make. I called my boss and let him know I wouldn’t be in that day by leaving a voice mail message. I also called John and let him know because I wanted to cover my bases. As I drove home I wasn’t flooded with memories of the past…I only had thoughts of doing what needed to be done and to be strong.

I’ve had family and friends pass away in the past. The last was my wife’s grandma who died a few years ago. Actually…now that I think of it, a friend died a few months ago. He wiped out on his motor scooter on the way to watch a football game. Cracked his head on a culvert and died on the spot. I saw his wife a couple of weeks ago and even though she was trying to show strength I could tell the pain was eating her up. Condolences only do so much…they cannot replaces what has been lost.

When I arrived home, Mrs. PE was on the phone but dressed and ready. I made another work phone call and we headed out the door to head to the hospital. We stopped by the bank to get some cash and filled up the gas tank just in case there was a lot of driving in store for us that day. We made the 20 minute drive and walked into an emergency room that was empty. Nobody was there to greet us with their smiles and helpful ways.

All of my grandparents have been dead for a few years. My grandfather on my mothers side was the last to go. We suffered a lot in the last couple of years of his life as this great story teller could no longer remember who any of us were. There were glimmers from time to time where he came back for short periods of time but just a small piece of the man I remember as a child. He loved to tell stories, some made up and others real, that could captivate just about anyone.

After waiting a few long minutes, the receptionist walked up. We told her who we were and she took us to a waiting room. The doctor came in and told us what happened. We got the whole story from the beginning, probably to help easy their own minds as well, and we were asked to wait a few minutes more. I was hoping my sister would be there by now but she had longer to drive.

When I was in high school I saw a man die. He was very old and fell over in his back yard as my buddy Doug and I drove by on our way to go drink. It was very hot out and he was working in the garden. We started to do CPR and continued until the ambulance showed up. I knew he was dead and had no chance but I still tried as hard as I could to give him a chance. I was drinking to forget that night.

The nurse came in and asked us some questions. My sister wasn’t there yet but my wife and I decided to go anyway. As we walked to the curtains with the nurse, I held my wife’s hand and proceeded through. There was a body on the table, or bed, or whatever it is called. The nurse said some things that I didn’t really hear and I slowly walked up.

Death is natural. We will all die and we will all have friends and family that die. It is a hard thing to deal with but it has to be done. People cry, people act strong, people try to empathize but can’t truly understand what it is that you are going through. Our experiences are all different but I can’t imagine anyone who likes dealing with these things.

I couldn’t make my self look. I didn’t want to look because it would mean it is true if I see it. My feet were stuck in mud as I tried to move closer. I looked everywhere but at the face. His arms look so frail. There has to be a mistake because my dad’s arms aren’t this small. He is a strong man with a strong will. There is no way that they could put that tube down his throat. What is that thing on his face? Oh my…I will miss you dad.

I Reached One Goal for the Year

2008-02-25T09:27:00.000-06:00

I had another crazy weekend with bankroll bleeding and coming up short. I did achieve a goal that I want to accomplish but come to the realization that I’m not ready to do this all the time.

One of the goals I had in place for this year was to achieve at least the bronze level in the Iron man Challenge on Full Tilt. I’m not really sure why I wanted to do this but other then to set a goal and get there. Now being that I have not been a cash player this made the goal a little harder to reach because I wasn’t playing in my normal comfort zone of MTT play. I also don’t have the time to play one table for hours to reach the 50 point level so I had to add multi-tabling into the mix. Add in playing FTOPS and some other tourneys and you have a path to destruction.

It started off pretty well when I two tabled 1/2 Razz as well as some other levels mixed in. I stayed tight and earned points at a slow rate but made my 50 points with a little time to spare each night. As the days went by I got tired of grinding and moved up to three-tabling 3/6 and lower in an attempt to get it done faster. This is where the most problem occurred because I’m not rolled to play 3/6 and with the maniacs at that level the swings can be huge. All-in-all I had a small meltdown of my bankroll during this run but finally made it early Sunday morning by hitting my 20th fifty point day. I wont be trying this again any time soon because I was spending to much time playing and not really enjoying the time at the tables.

I think it is great that I reached the goal. Anytime you put something out there that you have never achieved and you get it, it is a good thing. But making points your goal vs. winning money is not optimizing your play and I found that I was more focused on the pot sizes then watching the table for tells. That’s not to say I didn’t gain some good information from some of the donkeys playing Razz…Its just that I wasn’t playing nearly as well as I can.

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I leave for Coos Bay tomorrow morning. I’m secretly hoping the snow that will come tonight cancels my flight so I don’t have to go. I really think it is dumb to be flying across the country for a meeting with one company wjen we could probably do it over the phone. I may or may not play while I’m on the trip other then trying to get 1 point per day for the monthly free roll.

That is about it for today…have a great day.

Waffles is the nutz

2008-02-24T10:59:00.002-06:00

In honor of waffles winning the KORD and his fantasic WOW play.

Waffles is th New KORD

2008-02-22T08:44:00.003-06:00

Go to Brickin The Nutz for the whole story.

What's Going on and the KORD

2008-02-20T09:35:00.001-06:00

Play the KORD on Thursday.

It has been a while since I have done a personal post so I guess I will throw a little up for the world to see.

Work still sucks and it is being capped with a special treat. I get to fly to Coos Bay Oregon to meet with a customer next week. That fun part of this is the location of Coos Bay and how it is that I get there with killing my self. You see, I have to fly to Seattle, then Portland and finally to Coos Bay in a one day trip from hell. I leave Chicago at 8:00 and land in Coos Bay at around 4pm for a grand total of 10 hours of being inconvenienced. Because we get there so late and the company we have to meet with is a good 30 miles away, I will spend the night at one of the fine hotels in the area that isn’t full. That leaves the Best Western as my only option. Anyway, we meet the next but can’t fly out until the 3rd day because there is only one flight that can get us to where we want to go. So I will be traveling for three days for a 1hour meeting that doesn’t really need to take place anyway. Fun times.

Baseball E. just finished up his first basketball season. He had a lot of fun and played really hard. He had a couple of games where he scored 8 or 10 points so I think he may give b-ball another try. He is now getting ready for one of my favorite sports…floor hockey. There is nothing like children swinging stick to get the blood pumping.

Speedy E. continues to play the violin. She has practice just about every day during the week but she apparently doesn’t need to practice on the weekends because she never does. I’m not going to get on her to much about it because I never practiced when I was learning to play the clarinet. She seems to have slowed down on the boy crazy stuff that young girls go through but I’m sure it is still waiting to come back around.

Softball E is still Softball E. She has pitching practice every Saturday and her team practice on Sunday. I for one will be ready when the season starts. I think I’m more excited about the new then she is. Anyway, her pitching coach was right when she said she would be throwing at least 5 mph faster by spring time. She is also right when she said at least 10. I know she is touching 60 from time to time and is doing it on a more regular basis. That’s a lot of fun for dad to see.

Mrs. PE has been busy with all of her stuff. Her final years as a girl scout leader is coming to a close soon and she continues to drive those kids to school on her school bus. No way I would ever do that.

SO that’s it for the PE house hold. I’m sure there is more but I only have so much in me sometimes.