Need What I Want

32...

2009-06-23T20:53:00.002-04:00

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Also happy birthday to real blogger, Carmen, who's also celebrating today.

~

I took down a forum anniversary tourney on Saturday that earned me over 41k in FTP's. It took me over 4 years to make 25k for a jersey, and I almost doubled that in one afternoon... I think I'm going to wisely invest those points in either a Cardrunner of Stoxpoker membership. My only problem with that is, I don't know when I would find the time to get the most out of those sites. I barely have enough time to play as it is, I don't know when I'd have time to study the game too. Maybe this fall/winter I'll have more time...

Ok...

2009-06-15T18:29:00.002-04:00

I don't have the time at work like I used to to write these posts, but since I'm hoping to get posting regularly again, the posts are going to be shorter and less drawn out and probably full of spelling and grammar errors because I'm not going to proof them so closely...

~

I had to drop the Jewell off at the airport this morning. She's gone to Washington DC for the week for work. That sucks.

~

I'm pretty sure I wrote about this last season, but just in case I didn't, I run a poker league with my friends (The Way Cool Super Fun League... "It's like a super fun league, only way cooler."). Basically there's a series of tournaments where you earn chips by what place you come in for the tournament. After the 7 "regular season" tournies, we're going to have a "Final Table" where each player uses the chips that they earned during the season. We've had 2 games so far (both of which I came in 5th out of the 9 people that are in it. Game 3 is this Friday. You don't have to be a league member to play in the tournament, so you're all invited.

~

I also have a prop bet going with a friend at work for this year's World Series of Poker (WSOP). We drafted some players and win $3 if they make a final table and $5 if they win the bracelet. We're a little over half way through the Series, and I'm doing well thanks to Phil Ivey winning two bracelets (so far!)... Still a ways to go, but I'm feeling good about it.

~

Back when I was writing here regularly, my game of choice was 6-max turbo SNG's. Since then, I've switched to playing full ring PLO cash games. I read Pot Limit Omaha Poker by Jeff Hwang, and it changed my game completely. Such a great read that provides a real thorough understanding of the game (for my level anyways). For anyone wanting to make the switch to PLO, that's the book to get...

Stay Tuned...

2009-06-13T21:56:00.002-04:00

In an attempt to add some content to my Facebook page, I'm going to try to revitalize this blog... hope for the best...

Music Review 2008

2009-01-02T14:05:00.003-05:00

I told myself that if I didn’t resurrect this blog in time for my 2008 Music Review post, I’d never resurrect it. And since this was such a big music year for me, I couldn’t NOT have a year end review… So here I am…

I developed a new appreciation and relationship with the Doors this year…

I’m going to be showing a lot of videos in this post so you can really get a feeling of my music year. I gained a new appreciation of live performances and tried to only use them in the ones that I chose. Of course you can always search out studio versions of these songs on youtube or other sites if you want to hear those…

Without a doubt, the best album of the year for me was The Unusable Signal from the greatest gutterrock band of all, Junkbutton. However, I really can’t count that one for this review because it’s not widely available, so it’s not fair to count it with national acts. I’m not just saying that either. For me, it really is the most thoroughly enjoyable album I listened to this year. I wish I had more videos to select from, but these are the best of the new songs that I’ve been able to come up with… Maybe if I ever get myself to another show, I’ll be able to get more videos…

One of the biggest assets to my new music binge this year was the Pepsi Stuff promotion that I talked about earlier in the year. Collecting close to 3,000 points meant that pretty much any song I came across and wanted to download from Amazon would be free. That really helped me to expand my music library.

I used that promotion to make a conscious effort to catch up on two bands that I knew I liked, but never really got on their wagon. One of those bands was the Foo Fighters. After getting a couple of albums from them, I decided that while I really liked all of their hits, the lesser known songs never really caught on to me. That’s ok though… I don’t have to like it all…

It’s not too often that I can say that the drums are really what stand out for me in a song, but I can say it about this one…

The White Stripes were the other band that I wanted to get into. Like the Foo Fighters, I always liked what I would catch on the radio or the music channels, but I never really invested in them or their albums. What I found really blew me away. Jack White is an incredible artist… There weren’t really any songs by them that I couldn’t get into.

It’s amazing what sound can come from just two people on stage…

What was great about really discovering the White Stripes was that it led me to discovering the Raconteurs, Jack White’s other band. Jack’s able to play with an entire band around him and not be contained by the image that the Stripes cage him in… What I love about him in this band is, while he’s obviously the star of the group due by just being who he is, you never get the sense that he thinks he is. He’s only interested in making great music. He does… I’ll be talking more about The Raconteurs later and their new album, but for now, this is Level from their 2006 album, Broken Boy Soldiers…

I came across this really cool vid on youtube (through Moby’s blog of all things…). Check this out…

Pretty cool, right? I believe that is a video that someone made in their movie making class that was posted on youtube, and then someone dubbed the song over it. That got me interested in the song, and I found the actual video of the song (by Gary Jules) to be equally interesting… Check it out…

Early in the year I made what was probably my biggest music discovery of 2008. It was a band called Okkervil River, and I came across them by stumbling upon this song from their 2007 album, The Stage Names…

I actually like this band and this album so much, that I’m pretty sure it would have made the top 2 for my album of the year this year if it was released in ’08. They did put out an album in ’08, so all hope isn’t lost yet, but I’d have to say this was probably my favorite album I bought this year… Here’s another track…

Another great discovery I made this year, was the band Against Me!. I found their album, New Wave to be a really good one, but unfortunately it was released last year so it wasn’t able to make my top albums for this year’s list… That doesn’t make Thrash Unreal any less of an awesome song…

Ryan Star was a contestant 2 years ago on the Rockstar: Supernova series. I’m not really one to jump on the bandwagon of some fly by night performer on a show like that, and I wasn’t. It wasn’t until earlier this year that I really discovered what a great singer/songwriter Star is with his album, Songs from the Eye of an Elephant which was released in September of ’06.

Another artist I found this year is Sufjan Stevens. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to really spend the time with him that I’d like to. He has a really large catalog of music (including a 5 disc Christmas album!), but what I have been able to find from him I’ve really enjoyed. I discovered him with a song called Chicago, but it was a song about John Wayne Gacy Jr. that really stuck with me…

Another band that I came across this year was the Cold War Kids. They had some songs from their 2006 album, Robbers & Cowards that really caught my attention. Most notably, Hospital Beds…

This year they had a new album come out that I was really excited about called, Loyalty to Loyalty. Unfortunately, nothing from it really grabbed me like the earlier record. I’ve made it number 10 on my top ten albums of 2008 list. Here’s the biggest single from it so far, Something is Not Right With Me…

As you may recall, last year my big music discovery was an artist by the name of Micah P. Hinson. I wasn’t able to put him on my list for 2007 because he didn’t put out an album last year, but he did put one out this year with …And the Red Empire Orchestra. To say I was anticipating it pretty highly should go without saying. However, it never really grabbed hold of me like his earlier albums did so I put it at number 9 for 2008. There was one stand out track for me with The Fire Came Up to My Knees…

Another new band for me this year that I’ve started to get into is The Decemberists. I was eased into them with their album, The Crane Wife. I like them, but much like the Foo Fighters and the White Stripes, their collection of music is so vast, it’ll take time (and money) to catch up. But then I heard a song that caught my attention while listening to an episode of NPR’s All Songs Considered. It was Wonder by Decemberist’s front man Colin Meloy from his live album, Colin Meloy Sings Live!. It didn’t take me long to buy that album and really find something special in it. It comes in at number 8 of my top ten albums of 2008.

Download: The Engine Driver, On the Bus Mall, Wonder

A band that I really got into this year, which I’m kind of disappointed in myself for not getting into earlier was Buckcherry. This is a great rock band that has really put some good songs out. Their new album, Black Butterfly is no exception and comes in at number 7 on my list. It’s a great mixture of ball grabbing rock songs (Rescue Me, Too Drunk…) and radio friendly ballads (Dreams, Don’t Go Away). Josh Todd and Co. may be falling into the formula rock trap (ala’ Nickelback/Hinder), but the difference between him and Chad Kroeger is, I believe Todd has lived these songs before.

Download: Rescue Me, A Child Called “It”

One of my most anticipated albums of the year came from The Killers. I loved every song from their first album, Hot Fuss (it probably would make my all time top 10 list of albums if I was to make one…). I didn’t give their second album Sam’s Town much attention, but after hearing the first single, Human from the new album, Day & Age, I knew this was going to be a good one. It was.

Everything I love about Okkervil River, can be found in The Killers which helps the album, Day & Age come in at number 6 on my top albums of 2008 list. This album brings a real nice mellow sound, but they add a synth sound to it that makes it feel more radio/video friendly. I think that helps it to sell some more records, but it really gives the music a watered down feel…
Download: Human, Spaceman, A Dustland Fairytale

Like I said before, Okkervil River was one of my biggest discoveries this year. Their 2007album, The Stage Names could have been my album of the year last year if I had known about them at that time. While I don’t hold their 2008 album, The Stand Ins quite up to that level, it holds its own at number 5 for my 2008 list. With really no bad songs, on the record, these guys are what I’d call quiet rock. You can go see them in a club and nod your head to every song, but they’re not going to blow your ears out.

Download: Singer Songwriter, Starry Stairs, Pop Lie, On Tour With Zykos

My other big discovery for 2008 was The Hold Steady. These guys are just a great rock band, and you know if from the first note of their album, Stay Positive, which I put at number 4 of my top albums of 2008. I love the voice of singer, Craig Finn, but I will admit that his style of storytelling rather than actually singing does bug me sometimes… My one disappointment in this album is that it was leaked before it was released, so when it was released they put out a limited number of discs with some bonus tracks. I, of course didn’t get that version, and am missing some songs, most notably a song called Ask Her For Some Adderall that I really like. Hopefully they’ll be available individually sometime soon…

Download: Constructive Summer, Lord, I’m Discouraged, Stay Positive, Magazines

One of the most anticipated albums of the last two decades finally hit the shelves about a month ago… Chinese Democracy isn’t your old school Guns n’ Roses. And anyone who would expect it to be is crazy. This album took 15 years to make and saw a lot of musicians come and go. From what I’ve read online, a lot of people would be happy if this was called the Axl Rose Project and not GNR. I can’t say that I disagree with them, but it is what it is… And I think it’s pretty awesome. Awesome enough to come in at number 3 for 2008. Sure it’s over produced but what can you expect after so many years in production? It doesn’t rock in the same way that they did in the 80’s and 90’s, but it still rocks.

Download: Chinese Democracy, Better, Sorry, I.R.S., This I Love

Another of my favorite surprises this year was Jack White’s other band, The Raconteurs. It’s no secret what an amazing musician he is, and their 2008 album, Consolers of the Lonely shows what he can produce when he’s got a full band of talented musicians around him. Just awesome awesome stuff. I flip flopped a couple of times between this and my number one pick for my favorite album this year. I went with the other making this number 2, but as I listen to this again, I’m just not sure I made the right choice…

Download: All of it, but the ones that really stand out to me are, Many Shades of Black, Five on the Five, Rick Kid Blues, You Don’t Understand Me

You know? Now that I’ve listened again to Kings of Leon’s album, Only by the Night, I know exactly why it took the number 1 spot of my top albums of 2008 list. It’s perfect. From beginning to end, it captures your ears and holds on with everything it has. I came across KOL last year with their album Because of the Times. I thought they were awesome then, so I collected their entire back catalog and loved everything I heard. With this year’s album, you can see real growth in their music and musicianship. Before they were just a real catchy band with a southern rock style and a singer you can’t understand. They’re still all that, but with this album they’re bringing a real modern sound with them.

Download: The whole thing. Really. There’s a lot to be appreciated with this record. I think it has a lot to offer people with all kinds of musical tastes.

Enjoy!

Pep Talk...

2008-09-28T16:36:00.001-04:00

My poker game has reached a new plateau this weekend. It didn’t start out that great. I had a cash game here at the house where after 5 hours of play I lost exactly one $10 buy in. But since then I’ve been on fire.

My bankroll has reached a new all time high, and for whatever reason I just can’t bring myself to move up in levels. It’s gotten to the point where even the Jewel is giving me shit for not moving up. My games of choice are $6.00+$.50 6-max turbo SNGs and .5/.10 $4 CAP PLO. And I’m sitting on a $700 bankroll. Those are pretty much the lowest stakes you can play and I’ve got the bankroll for so much more. But every time I try to move up, I just can’t handle it. I just always feel like I’m outmatched or I’m not comfortable playing my A-game. That’s pretty much what it is. My A-game suffers because I can’t get past the fact that the top of the window says it’s a $12 SNG and not a $6 one…

But anyway, I did take some shots yesterday. I played a $12 SNG, and you know what? I went out 6th. Dead last. I crumbled and burned. But I didn’t let that stop me. I fired up a $.10/$.25 $10 CAP PLO table. The buy in was $20, which just about stopped me right there… I played timid at first. Trying to stay out of the aggressive player’s way until I found a big hand (as I normally do at the lower stakes…). I bled a few chips away. I stayed in a few hands I wasn’t supposed to for a little longer than I should. At one point I found my stack down to $13, and I just felt so down on myself for trying to move up… But then I found some hands. I found some big hands and some opponents who wanted to get some money in against me with them… and they held up. In the matter of about a half an hour I had built my stack up to over $50.

And my run didn’t end there. That was the only shot I took at the higher PLO tables, but I played some more at the lower level and I cleaned up. I did play another higher SNG and went out 5th, so that still isn’t treating me very well. But the lower games kept working for me and I played a few. When the dust settled yesterday I had added about $100 to my Full Tilt bankroll. I’ll admit the deck was hitting me pretty hard, but I was also making some good laydowns as well as some next level moves that I may not always make. I also found myself playing extremely patient, even for me. (UPDATE: Tried another $12 SNG and came in 2nd, so that’s looking up…)

So from here what I have to do is just keep taking these shots. I’m not ready to exclusively play the higher stakes, but I’m going to work them in when I feel confident.

Maybe the Bills are this good…

2008-09-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

What a great time to live in Buffalo and be a fair weather fan! I’m not going to be so bold as to say the Bills are playoff bound just yet, because seriously, who have we beaten? But it’s certainly exciting around here… Now if we can only get some billionaire to swoop in and keep the team here… Sign the petition here…

~

The Jewel and I went out to her favorite restaurant Saturday night to celebrate our 6 year anniversary that was Sunday. “Kung Fu Dinner”, as my friend, E calls it, it’s a Japanese place where the chef comes right out to the table to cook and serve your meal. It doesn’t suck, but it’s the same show every time (chef spins the egg on the grill and says, “Japanese eggroll”, sprinkles sesame seeds on the rice with a strobe light flashing and says, “Japanese disco”…). But if that’s where my sweetie wants to go, and it’s only once a year, that’s where we go…

One highlight, if you can call it that, is you’re usually sitting at a table with people that you can grow to hate and have something to talk about on the way home. We were seated with a party of 5 celebrating a birthday. We know that because they were sure to mention it to us, our waitress and our chef at least a half dozen times.

It took until the salad course for me to decide I hated them. The birthday girl (50-something, I’d guess…) really liked the ginger dressing they put on the salad and asked for some extra. The waitress brought out a little bowl of it and set it down in front of her. You know that face that people make when they’re talking to an idiot? I know that face well because I deal with idiots all the time. Well the birthday girl asked if she could have a spoon and huffed and puffed and pointed at the spoonless bowl and made that face. If she were in my party, I would have told her to use her fork (this dressing has the consistency of applesauce) or maybe she could *shudder* POUR the dressing from the bowl onto her salad. It’s not like she was sharing it with anybody…

Anyway the waitress got her a spoon, and that’s when I started hating someone else in the group. This older gentleman asked for a knife. Seems simple enough. However, this place didn’t have knives. See, they cook your meal right there in front of you. The chef, with all his whirling and twirling of his knife and spatula, cuts up all the food in little bite sized pieces for you. “I’m sorry sir, we don’t have knives.” “But I need to cut up my salad. Either bring me a knife, or you can take this back to the kitchen to have someone cut it up.” Now I wasn’t watching too closely, but I suspect he was giving the look too. He certainly had the tone…

Now I don’t deny someone the right to cut their salad up. But come on… live a little. They don’t have knives, slice through that lettuce with your fork. The waitress went to the kitchen to see what she could wrestle up while he sat there and had a silent tantrum. Someone did come get his bowl and took it to the back to be cut up. When they brought it back he didn’t even say thanks. I actually don’t think he said anything for the rest of the meal… He’s brave though. He finished that salad. If I worked there, there’s a good chance there might have been some spit in it when it came back out…

~

Poker was an up and down battle all weekend. My great run at the PLO CAP games sort of fizzled out, and I had minimal success at the SNGs. However, last night I did end up taking a second and a first to bring my roll back up to where I started the weekend. So it was a push…

Well, here’s a twist…

2008-09-16T18:58:00.000-04:00

While I was getting crushed in SNG’s all weekend, my cash game went on a heater like I’ve never had before. I took a few beats as per the game, but I sat and doubled my buyin consistently all weekend long.

It started Friday night with game 3 of The Way Cool Super Fun League (“It’s like a super fun league, only way cooler”). We had seven players turn out. I started off running very well, but pushed AQ into AK on a flop of Axx to get crippled. After building back a little bit I was able to get it all in preflop dominating my nemesis (AK vs AQ I believe). He spiked his Q (hence nemesis status) and I slide down to the cash game end of the table… From there I buy in for $10 for our .25/.25 dealers choice game and a few hours later cash out up $15, the exact amount I lost in the tourney.

The weekend showed more of the same. I’ve found a new love in the PLO CAP cash game tables. The hands that people are willing to cap it with is beyond astonishing, and my running well didn’t hurt either. 3 or 4 times I was able to double or more my buy-in. Unfortunately, my SNG game was getting kicked around and I lost a lot of that back to that. I even switched to PLO SNG’s where I felt I could take advantage of some top pair maniacs… One hand stands out. I was in the pot with 44xx for whatever reason and looked at a flop of 4KK. I knew this would be a great chance to take advantage of some dope overplaying a naked K and got in a raising war with one guy. I was licking my chops when all the money went in and our cards were turned over. I looked to see what 3 cards I’d have to sweat on the turn and river but instead was staring at KKxx… Amazingly two more 4’s didn’t hit the board, and that was it for me in that game…

~

The finale of Big Brother is tonight… The two that are left deserve it as much as anybody I suppose. While this show remains Must See in our house, it’s certainly taken a dive in the interesting department these last few seasons… I’m rooting for Dan because he’s been the most fun, but either way, I don’t really care…

Warrior

2008-09-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

Here’s the video to the song, Warrior, Kid Rock’s tribute to the National Guard. Download the song at NationalGuardWarrior.com. Pretty cool…

Weekend Highlights...

2008-09-08T19:07:00.001-04:00

I hosted a cash game here on Friday night and scored big. As I have mentioned many times in the past, cash games are not my thing, preferring tourney style games. But this marked the second big cash game win for me in a row. I didn’t do anything too great to earn my score. I can recall a couple of big marginal, yet reasonable calls on the river I had to make against a couple of regulars who have been getting a little too aggressive lately. There was one hand where I first limped then called a 3x raise preflop with a suited 85. The flop came with two 8’s and an A. There was a little betting and raising going on, and the board completed with running 4’s where all the money wound up in the middle. He showed AK and my boat felted him. It was a fun night, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. This Friday is Game 3 of the Way Cool Super Fun League. Hopefully my rush can carry over into that for some much needed points…

~

The Jewel and I closed the pool yesterday, so that must mean that summer is over… This one went by too fast. The end of pool season isn’t really a big deal for me; I’m happy not to have to deal with the upkeep of that for a while… But the weather this year was not very pool-friendly, so the Jewel was kind of depressed, since swimming is one of her favorite things.

~

Yesterday was also the start of the regular Buffalo Bills season. Like the start of every year, I’ll be interested for a little while… At least until we figure out just how bad the Bills will suck this year. However, with the dominating performance they pulled yesterday over the Seahawks (are they any good?) in the rain, along with Brady going down in New England, this might be a season that’ll keep my interest through the end… I’d say maybe even into the post season, but no reason yet to think this year will be any different… Not yet…

~

I DVR’d MTV’s Video Music Awards last night and started watching it earlier this morning. I tell ya what… Linkin Park lost some cool points in my book. They were up for best rock video or something, and the award was being presented by Slash and Shia LaBeouf. After their name was called, they were given their award, and as Slash and Shia LaBeouf were walking away, one of the guys (Joe Hahn) said into the microphone, something like, “Transformers was awesome,” or something like that…

Now I’m sure Shia LaBeof is LaGreat and all, but come on… The guy is making a (albeit huge) career out of being Spielberg’s bitch boy. Transformers was CGI and noise. Shia LaTool talked to tennis balls and ran around. This Linkin Park guy really wants to give him a shout out when Slash… SLASH!... is standing right there? I’m sure Shia LaDouche is a nice guy and all, but he’s not even on the list of things that made Transformers great… Slash is on the top two of what made Guns n’ Roses great, and number one for top hats… But Linkin Park wants to make sure they tell Shia LaBeof that Transformers was awesome… So sad…

~

We had a pleasant surprise last night when we discovered that HBO was running a free weekend and we were able to watch the season premiere of Entourage. You may recall that the Jewel and I got rid of our movie channels a few months ago to help catch up on old credit card bills. The new season of Entourage is definitely one of the shows that we’ll be missing the most… It was nice to get to see one new episode before we have to wait probably a year before we can rent them on DVD…

~

Late last week our dishwasher, as we say back east, shit the bed. It’s been getting rather loud for the last month or two, and then around midweek after the Jewel started it, it started making a racket like never before. Almost like there was a two pieces of metal that were clanging together. It finished the load though… Later in the week, I loaded it up again, and it started like the last time, making the clanging sound, but after around 10 minutes it just stopped. That was it for that dishwasher… We stopped at Sears on Saturday and bought a new one. It’ll be installed on Wednesday.

Long Weekend...

2008-09-03T19:26:00.002-04:00

4 day weekends pretty much rock. That’s what I’m coming off of right now… Of course going back to work after said 4 day weekend sucks worse than any Monday ever could, it’s still worth it…

My plan for the weekend was to do not much. Mission Accomplished.

At work on Friday, we had what we call a “Food Day” in celebration of the long weekend. People bring in food, and we enjoy it all day. After my recent digestive issues, and drastic diet changes, I wasn’t really planning on partaking that much. Though when they set the spread up right in front of my desk, it did make it a little harder to resist.

Until… I saw some of the “community food” habits of some of my co-workers. So many hands ruffling through bags of chips. I saw not one, but two episodes of double dipping… DOUBLE DIPPING! Who does that? I saw one manager take a chip, scoop up some taco dip, and you know how sometimes you might be putting something in your mouth that might drip, and in order to catch the drip you might lean your head over your plate? Well this person leaned their head over the bowl of taco dip! There was a crock pot that had some surprisingly good smelling, though not the most appetizing looking concoction of hotdogs and chicken wings simmering in bbq sauce. I was planning on trying that out since it smelled so good… That was until I saw a different manager, with apparently no convenient place to put the crock pot’s lid, place it ON THE FLOOR! She took the lid off of food, put it down on the floor (not even upside down, though I’m not sure that would have made me feel better about it), spooned out her chow, and then put the lid back on the pot! I wasn’t too concerned with having any bbq hotdogs or much of anything else after that…

~

On Saturday, the Jewel’s sister had us and other family members over for a Labor Day barbecue. Not really something that I would ever look forward to, but it didn’t suck that bad. I did get interrogated by my bro-in-law’s 4 year old nephew on what I did for a living (work at a bank), why did I do what I do (not really qualified for anything else), and why wasn’t I a lawyer like his daddy (I’m really not that ambitious – luckily he didn’t make me explain that to him, it might have depressed him… and me…).

On the way home, we decided to get a couple of movies for our long weekend, so we stopped at Blockbuster. We saw a display of previously viewed Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story, which I really wanted to see, so I grabbed that off the rental shelf. I also noticed Deal, which I didn’t think was out yet and snatched that right up as well. I knew it would suck, but it’s the one new poker movie that I had been waiting for since I originally heard about it. The Jewel decided to pull the chick card and got Definitely Maybe…

Saturday night we watched Walk Hard… Which pretty much sucked. There were a few funny parts, but for the most part it was a huge waste of an hour and a half. Sunday night I watched Deal. Like I said I knew it would suck, and it did not disappoint. I’d like to say that it was better than Lucky You, but I’m not sure I honestly can… On Monday night we started watching Definitely Maybe, and at some point we had to turn it off for something, and we never turned it back on. I don’t know if the Jewel plans on finishing it or not, but I know I don’t. So we went 3 for 3 on shitty movies this weekend.

On Tuesday, the Jewel’s mother had knee surgery, so I took off from work to hang out with the Beag while the Jewel and her father spent the day at the hospital. I finished going through all of our cd’s and ripping what I wanted to my computer (a project I started months ago), I cleaned a bunch of stuff off of my DVR and watched Weeds, an old Nick Nolte film that I have on VHS and been wanting to watch again for some time. Let me tell you, the Jewel and I don’t own an HD tv or anything fancy like that… So I can just imagine what that would have been like if I were accustomed to watching movies on that level… But VHS is really hard to watch…

~

Poker started out pretty good for the weekend, but quickly fizzled on Monday and Tuesday. I got my Full Tilt roll up to another all time high, took a shot at the higher buy-in, and haven’t cashed there since… I have found that people really have no clue when it comes to Omaha, so I’ve started to mix that into my rotation. So many people are willing to get themselves all in with top pair, it’s sickening that I can’t hit something… And then when I do, they hit something better… Here’s probably the worst one of them all, that I just took so it’s fresh on my mind… What’s worse is this is so typical. People will get their money in this bad all the time… I was 87% when the money went in… When I can get some of these to hold up, look out!

Full Tilt Poker Game #7923360567: $6 + $0.50 Sit & Go (Turbo) (60246943), Table 1 - 20/40 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 19:15:02 ET - 2008/09/03
Seat 1: phils730 (1,415)
Seat 2: dueGAgal (1,090)
Seat 3: memoryboy119 (1,775)
Seat 4: junkbutton (830)
Seat 5: tituuf (2,360)
Seat 6: Nadezda (1,530)
Nadezda posts the small blind of 20
phils730 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [As 9d Ks Ad]
dueGAgal calls 40
memoryboy119 calls 40
junkbutton raises to 220
tituuf folds
Nadezda calls 200
phils730 folds
dueGAgal calls 180
memoryboy119 calls 180
*** FLOP *** [Ac Qh 5d]
Nadezda checks
dueGAgal checks
memoryboy119 checks
junkbutton bets 610, and is all in
Nadezda folds
dueGAgal raises to 870, and is all in
memoryboy119 folds
dueGAgal shows [4s Ah 7h 8d]
junkbutton shows [As 9d Ks Ad]
Uncalled bet of 260 returned to dueGAgal
*** TURN *** [Ac Qh 5d] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Qh 5d 2s] [3c]
dueGAgal shows a straight, Five high
junkbutton shows three of a kind, Aces
dueGAgal wins the pot (2,140) with a straight, Five high
junkbutton stands up
The blinds are now 25/50

The Dark Knight

2008-08-27T19:58:00.000-04:00

The Jewel and I went to see The Dark Knight last night. There’s nothing I can say about it that hasn’t already been said… I have to agree that all of the hype revolving around Heath Ledger and his portrayal of The Joker is well deserved. I have never seen an actor envelop himself in a character so completely before. Brilliant. I hate jumping on the posthumous Oscar bandwagon, but he more than earned it.

August 26

2008-08-26T17:33:00.000-04:00

On the night of August 26, 1999, I was playing gin on Yahoo! games. I had just learned how to play maybe 3 days earlier. On that particular night, I happened to sit at the table of someone with whom a conversation started. I can’t tell you what we talked about. I can’t tell you what made this particular anonymous internet conversation memorable. But I remember the next night I went back to see if I could find this person again. I found her… I married her… And nine years later, we’re still talking…

HH's from HA MTT last night...

2008-08-24T12:13:00.002-04:00

Jumped into a $5 HA (Pot Limit Hold’em and Omaha) MTT last night. With 108 runners, I made a deep run, but didn’t get far past the money bubble… Here are the key hands…

With a bigger bet on the turn, I probably would have gotten away from this one, but since it wasn’t much bigger than the flop bet, I didn’t feel he was too strong… I hit the river while he made a bigger hand, and I stacked him…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773095336: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 10/20 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 21:21:36 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Chris Partlow (1,490)
Seat 2: Fathomer (1,470)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,480)
Seat 5: lcabasa (1,500)
Seat 6: bsnappper (1,445)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,500)
Seat 8: junkbutton (1,500)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,115)
DonkeyBallz22 posts the small blind of 10
lcabasa posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jc Td]
bsnappper folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton raises to 60
dgrfn calls 60
Chris Partlow folds
Fathomer folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
lcabasa calls 40
*** FLOP *** [7s 9s Qs]
lcabasa has 15 seconds left to act
lcabasa bets 190
junkbutton calls 190
The_Emphasizer sits down
The_Emphasizer adds 1,500
dgrfn folds
*** TURN *** [7s 9s Qs] [4d]
lcabasa bets 285
junkbutton calls 285
*** RIVER *** [7s 9s Qs 4d] [Kd]
lcabasa bets 965, and is all in
junkbutton calls 965, and is all in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lcabasa shows [Ks 9d] two pair, Kings and Nines
junkbutton shows [Jc Td] a straight, King high
junkbutton wins the pot (3,070) with a straight, King high
lcabasa stands up

I gave this guy a great opportunity to get away on the turn, but he didn’t listen, and went broke with a pair of Kings…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773149661: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 15/30 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:26:07 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 2: Fathomer (1,460)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (1,500)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,470)
Seat 5: Sussex_Kid (1,530)
Seat 6: bsnappper (1,435)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,470)
Seat 8: junkbutton (3,040)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,075)
Fathomer posts the small blind of 15
The_Emphasizer posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Jh Ts 5d Js]
DonkeyBallz22 folds
Sussex_Kid folds
bsnappper calls 30
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 30
dgrfn folds
Fathomer calls 15
Sage62 sits down
Sage62 adds 1,430
The_Emphasizer checks
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ks 2c]
Fathomer checks
The_Emphasizer checks
bsnappper bets 90
junkbutton calls 90
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer folds
*** TURN *** [Qs Ks 2c] [9d]
bsnappper bets 300
junkbutton raises to 1,200
bsnappper calls 900
*** RIVER *** [Qs Ks 2c 9d] [4c]
bsnappper bets 115, and is all in
junkbutton calls 115
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bsnappper shows [5s Kc 5h Ac] a pair of Kings
junkbutton shows [Jh Ts 5d Js] a straight, King high
junkbutton wins the pot (2,930) with a straight, King high
bsnappper stands up

I like the way I played this turn from out of position. After raising preflop, I made a pot size bet on the flop that looked like a standard c-bet. I checked the turn to show that maybe the Ace scared me and I was giving up, but insta-raised the pot in what turned out to be his value turn bet. He probably should have thought a little harder before calling with his two pair. He was so low on chips that it didn’t matter what happened on the river, I was getting it all, and I did…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773264009: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 15/30 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:35:41 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Sage62 (1,320)
Seat 2: Fathomer (3,010)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (2,040)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (975)
Seat 6: DJhumble (1,105)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,597)
Seat 8: junkbutton (4,475)
Seat 9: dgrfn (3,143)
Fathomer posts the small blind of 15
The_Emphasizer posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [2s Ad Ah Kc]
DonkeyBallz22 has 15 seconds left to act
DonkeyBallz22 folds
DJhumble folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton raises to 90
dgrfn calls 90
Sage62 folds
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Ac 2d Kd]
Youngster21 sits down
Youngster21 adds 4,045
The_Emphasizer checks
junkbutton bets 285
dgrfn calls 285
The_Emphasizer folds
*** TURN *** [Ac 2d Kd] [8c]
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton checks
dgrfn bets 350
junkbutton raises to 1,905
dgrfn calls 1,555
*** RIVER *** [Ac 2d Kd 8c] [2c]
junkbutton bets 2,195, and is all in
dgrfn calls 863, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 1,332 returned to junkbutton
*** SHOW DOWN ***
junkbutton shows [2s Ad Ah Kc] a full house, Aces full of Twos
dgrfn mucks
junkbutton wins the pot (6,391) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
dgrfn stands up
The game is now Pot Limit Hold'em with 20/40 blinds
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,391 | Rake 0
Board: [Ac 2d Kd 8c 2c]
Seat 1: Sage62 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Fathomer (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: DJhumble didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: jeffe10 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: junkbutton showed [2s Ad Ah Kc] and won (6,391) with a full house, Aces full of Twos
Seat 9: dgrfn mucked [5s As 8s Jd] - two pair, Aces and Eights

Again, I slow played a big hand, and got someone all in with a very weak holding. Admittedly, I have only a slight understanding of decent Omaha strategy, but respecting huge raises while holding only an overpair has got to be something that you need to realize is not a strong hand… especially for all your chips…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7773389075: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 8 - 25/50 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 21:46:23 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: Sage62 (1,300)
Seat 2: Fathomer (3,760)
Seat 3: The_Emphasizer (2,160)
Seat 4: DonkeyBallz22 (1,415)
Seat 5: Youngster21 (3,855)
Seat 7: jeffe10 (1,497)
Seat 8: junkbutton (7,663)
Seat 9: Bawlsout (1,855)
jeffe10 posts the small blind of 25
junkbutton posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [8s 4d 5s 9d]
Bawlsout folds
Sage62 folds
Fathomer folds
The_Emphasizer folds
DonkeyBallz22 has 15 seconds left to act
DonkeyBallz22 is sitting out
DonkeyBallz22 has timed out
DonkeyBallz22 folds
Youngster21 raises to 150
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 100
*** FLOP *** [7c 5d 4s]
junkbutton checks
Youngster21 checks
*** TURN *** [7c 5d 4s] [4h]
junkbutton checks
Youngster21 bets 325
junkbutton raises to 1,200
Youngster21 raises to 3,705, and is all in
junkbutton calls 2,505
Youngster21 shows [8d 9c 3c 9h]
junkbutton shows [8s 4d 5s 9d]
*** RIVER *** [7c 5d 4s 4h] [2c]
Youngster21 shows two pair, Nines and Fours
junkbutton shows a full house, Fours full of Fives
junkbutton wins the pot (7,735) with a full house, Fours full of Fives
Youngster21 stands up
Sage62 stands up
Fathomer stands up
The_Emphasizer stands up
DonkeyBallz22 stands up
jeffe10 stands up
junkbutton stands up
Bawlsout stands up

Now that was pretty much the first four hands that I played. Busting four players and sitting behind a huge stack. From here, I pretty much just fold for the next hour and a half. I trade a few small pots around, but don’t make any major moves.

Then, when we’re about 6 spots from the money, I make this stupid stupid play, doubling up a short stack… I wanted so bad to check raise big on the flop because I felt that I was ahead, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. So instead I play the hand out about as weak as it can be played… I’m most disappointed in the river call… My excuse was that the pot was so big, but all I did was throw good money away after bad… So bad…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7774505947: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 150/300 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:21:51 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (9,339)
Seat 2: marytere86 (7,497)
Seat 3: LarryM17 (3,454)
Seat 4: Phakim84 (6,790)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (9,498)
Seat 7: junkbutton (14,638)
Seat 8: Wilduece (5,538)
Seat 9: willyfoldna (6,712)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 150
Wilduece posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [9d 7s 3c Ad]
willyfoldna folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
marytere86 folds
LarryM17 folds
Phakim84 folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 150
Wilduece checks
*** FLOP *** [As 5c 8h]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 600
junkbutton calls 600
*** TURN *** [As 5c 8h] [4d]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 1,800
junkbutton calls 1,800
*** RIVER *** [As 5c 8h 4d] [Tc]
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 2,838, and is all in
junkbutton has 15 seconds left to act
junkbutton calls 2,838
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Wilduece shows [6h 5h 7d Ks] a straight, Eight high
junkbutton mucks
Wilduece wins the pot (11,076) with a straight, Eight high

After that hand, I tightened right up, concerning myself with making the money. I hate to play so long and have nothing to show for it. With probably 3 or 4 away from the bubble breaking, I went for broke with a huge straight draw on the flop. He had a big hand and draw too, but luckily mine came in…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7774742627: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 250/500 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 23:41:53 ET - 2008/08/23
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (8,989)
Seat 2: marytere86 (4,293)
Seat 4: Phakim84 (5,890)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (19,506)
Seat 7: junkbutton (9,350)
Seat 8: Wilduece (9,226)
Seat 9: willyfoldna (6,212)
junkbutton posts the small blind of 250
Wilduece posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [7s Td 8d 9s]
willyfoldna folds
DonkeyBallz22 folds
marytere86 folds
Phakim84 folds
jeffe10 folds
junkbutton calls 250
Wilduece raises to 1,500
junkbutton calls 1,000
*** FLOP *** [5h Jh 6c]
willyfoldna has been disconnected
willyfoldna has reconnected
junkbutton checks
Wilduece bets 3,000
junkbutton raises to 7,850, and is all in
Wilduece calls 4,726, and is all in
junkbutton shows [7s Td 8d 9s]
Wilduece shows [Qh Qs Ah Kh]
Uncalled bet of 124 returned to junkbutton
*** TURN *** [5h Jh 6c] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [5h Jh 6c Qd] [4d]
junkbutton shows a straight, Eight high
Wilduece shows three of a kind, Queens
junkbutton wins the pot (18,452) with a straight, Eight high
Wilduece stands up

I was able to ride that stack into the money, but not too far… With the bubble breaking at 12 players, I went out in 10th with this unfortunate hand…

Full Tilt Poker Game #7775004217: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (59010323), Table 9 - 400/800 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 0:05:07 ET - 2008/08/24
Seat 1: DonkeyBallz22 (16,051)
Seat 3: jstorm (28,084)
Seat 5: jeffe10 (10,116)
Seat 6: mike86_rezkid (16,633)
Seat 7: junkbutton (15,876)
jeffe10 posts the small blind of 400
mike86_rezkid posts the big blind of 800
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to junkbutton [Kd 2s Jd Ks]
junkbutton calls 800
DonkeyBallz22 folds
jstorm calls 800
jeffe10 folds
mike86_rezkid checks
*** FLOP *** [Ac Ts 7s]
mike86_rezkid checks
junkbutton checks
jstorm bets 1,400
mike86_rezkid folds
junkbutton calls 1,400
*** TURN *** [Ac Ts 7s] [9s]
junkbutton checks
jstorm bets 5,600
junkbutton raises to 13,676, and is all in
jstorm calls 8,076
junkbutton shows [Kd 2s Jd Ks]
jstorm shows [7h Tc 3s As]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Ts 7s 9s] [5s]
junkbutton shows a flush, King high
jstorm shows a flush, Ace high
jstorm wins the pot (32,952) with a flush, Ace high
junkbutton stands up
DonkeyBallz22 stands up
jstorm stands up
jeffe10 stands up
mike86_rezkid stands up

After 3 hours of play, I showed a profit of close to $4… Sustaining my current ‘break even’ streak…

It's Always Sunny in NeedWhatIWantelphia...

2008-08-14T18:32:00.002-04:00

Not only have I had not much to say, I’ve had little time to say it. It seems like every moment of every day is spent doing something or going somewhere, and then when I finally get home, in my chair and can breathe for a minute, I’ve got the Beag staring at me and pawing at me and growling at me in this way-too-cute-for-words way she growls and throwing her ball at me. When I’m at work, which is where I spend a lot of time writing, I’ve been either too busy or two tired to write anything. Or if I do have some moments, I’m trying to catch up on all the blogs that I haven’t read yet. The flood of posts caused by the WSOP really set me back… I’m still about 5 days behind on everyone…

So what’s been going on…

Like I said before, my poker game had taken a turn for the good, and a big part of that was my discovery that Poker Stars had added .10/.20 Limit 5 card draw… Which as you may recall, was at one time my most profitable game. I hadn’t been able to play any 5CD for quite a while because my bankroll over at Stars had depleted by my chasing of stupid pipe dreams…

My roll there was around $26 when I decided to check them out again a few weeks ago. I came up with a couple of different plans for increasing the bankroll and ended at around $16. Then I found that they had a lower limit for 5CD (previously the lowest was .25/.50). So I went to work and right now sit at around $36. This really is a very easy game to win at if you can stay patient and robotic in your decisions. Which I am and can… My last couple of outings have been frustratingly break even, but that’s to be expected, so no big whoop…

My SNG game on Full Tilt was rocking for a while there, but then at the end of last week I took a dive. Not that taking a dive for me is any big deal because I play so ridiculously within my bankroll. Because of this, with what little I’ve played in the last 4 or 5 days and the little bit of rakeback I get, I’ve actually got my roll right now, up to close to my all time high. My plan right now is to let it grow just a little bit more, and then I’ll take a more serious shot at the $11 SNG’s… Something I’m way overrolled for now as it is, but mentally, I need a little more padding to be comfortable…

~

I discovered a new tv show on Hulu.com in the last couple of weeks… I’ve read a few good things here and there about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and was surprised to see that Hulu had the first 3 seasons available for viewing. By the second episode I was hooked*. I’m now about a third of the way through season 3, and aside from a couple, all of the episodes have been awesome.

It has a Seinfeld vibe to it, but dirtier. It’s about 3 friends who own a bar and get into mischief during the day. A lot of shows are focused on controversial topics, so some people may find it offensive, but I think everyone can find it funny too.

Danny Devito was introduced as a main character at the beginning of season 2, but as much as I love him, I really don’t feel like he added a whole lot to the show. They may have needed his star power to keep the show alive, but I think they could have gotten anyone to play his roll and it’d be just as good.

*Below is a scene from the second episode of the first season. When Charlie says, “I don’t have to buy you sheet,” I was hooked…

Well, I guess I haven’t had much to say lately…

2008-08-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

Work has sucked.

Poker was awesome, but started to suck a few days ago.

I have no excuse for the long absence. I’ll try not to let it happen again…

Runner Runner Redonkulous...

2008-07-31T06:31:00.001-04:00

The last time I wrote about poker I was excited about a new plateau that my Full Tilt bankroll was about to hit. Well, I hit it, I surpassed it, I enjoyed it for about 15 minutes, and then it came crumbling down… I haven’t dipped that far down, but it dropped enough to make me shake my head and think for a minute…

That started my weekend downswing. Seriously, after I hit my milestone, I couldn’t so much as flop a draw let alone a real hand for the remainder of the weekend. Monday was a little bit better. Though I only had time to play one SNG, it was pretty clear the poker gods were still cross with me for getting cocky… I was able to get myself HU, but with a huge chip disadvantage. I held a little over 1,000 chips and my opponent was sitting on a stack of just over 7,000. I’m dealt K4 suited on the button, and with high blinds, and figuring that King high is better than whatever he’s probably holding, I move in of course. Of course he calls me with his any two cards, because he has a huge chip lead, can take the hit if he loses, and seriously, with the blinds so high and my paltry stack, I’m pushing with anything. He holds Q8 suited. The flop comes down x44, and for a minute I think maybe my luck has turned around, but with the 8 on the turn I know that the poker gods are just fucking with me, making sure I know my place. They give him another 8 on the river and I get just a taste with second place money.

I hate to believe in losing streaks. I don’t want to think that anything has anything to do with the current hand I’m playing. I need to be able to not put myself in a negative state of mind. But it’s hard when you are not even surprised by a ridiculous runner runner beat like that one…

I had no time to play Tuesday night, but I won the game I played last night, so I’m feeling good that things are turning around now… My roll isn’t as high as it was, but it’s past that ‘plateau’ I talked about.

Unnecessarily Tragic...

2008-07-30T20:17:00.001-04:00

I’m pretty disturbed that they can chase this poor guy around for 6 days and can’t capture him or tranquilize him, but they can shoot him dead? I’m far from being an animal activist, but this seems unnecessarily tragic…

The "Last Lecture" Professor died today at age 47...

2008-07-25T14:06:00.003-04:00

Link

I think it's pretty impossible to have a computer or a tv and not know about Randy Pausch. His story has been widely spread throughout the internet and news programs for some time now. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, he lived long past his doctor's expectations and inspired millions with his "Last Lecture". If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor...

Day off...

2008-07-25T09:02:00.002-04:00

With the in-laws away on a little long weekend trip, I decided to stay home and hang out with the Beag today. She’s not too keen on spending long days by herself, and I’m more than happy to not go to work, so it’s like we’re helping each other out…

~

I haven’t talked about poker in a while, so I thought it was time to give a little update there… My SNG game has never been better. I’m not winning every one, but I am making the right decisions most of the time. My Full Tilt bankroll has been hovering at an all time high, which I’m really happy about. However, getting over that hump has always been the hardest thing to do for me. I can get to the high, but busting through has never been easy. I know that as long as I don’t splash around too much at the cash games and stick to what I know best in the SNG’s, I should have no trouble. After that, I really need to get myself to move up to the $10 SNGs. At this point the only thing keeping me back is my own lack of confidence, and if I don’t play them, I’ll never gain any. Right now my biggest obstacle is myself…

Last weekend I decided that I wanted some change of scenery in the online felt. Since getting the laptop, I’d only been playing at Full Tilt. First I downloaded Bodog again. I had read some good things about the soft “Beginner” SNGs that they run, and wanted to try them out. I had a whole 7 cents in my account, which is good for nothing. I tried to make a deposit, but the few options they offered, all had too many hoops to jump through for my liking, so I didn’t get to play. I might try to earn a bankroll the old fashioned way with freerolls if I ever get the time.

Then I downloaded Poker Stars again. In that account I actually had around $26. I fired up a couple of $3 SNGs to see if I couldn’t get anything started there… And I quickly remembered just how much Stars hates me. If I wasn’t running big hands into bigger ones, I was running into players calling raises with 94 suited and not able to lay down their flopped pair… It didn’t take long for the roll there to drop to around $15. I then tried out the .01/.02 NLHE tables to see if I couldn’t get something going there. I treaded water for a while, but soon enough came to the conclusion that I really do suck at NLHE cash games. My latest attempt at building up the Stars bankroll is NLHE HU SNG’s. Their cheapest are $2 + $0.20, so not really ideal for my paltry roll, but I think it’s going to give me the best shot of making anything out of it. So far out of the 5 that I’ve played I’ve won 4, so it’s a good start. Ultimately my goal is to get the roll up enough that I can start playing 5 card draw again. I always did real well with that. That is, as long as I stuck with it. I really screwed up before when I was doing so good and then just blew it all with a bunch of MTT’s that were just silly to blow a bunch of money in.

~

I don’t think I gave a final roundup on my WSOP prop bet with the Case Ace. After being down for the entire Series (down $3 going into the Main Event), I finally pulled ahead. With two of my guys making the money in the ME and only one of his, I was able to take the $5 for the most players to make the money, the $5 for the total money won and $5 for the highest finishing position. That gave me a WSOP profit of $12. I’m happy with that. The goal of the bet was to make following the Series more interesting (which it certainly did), and to hopefully make a couple of bucks. Our plan now is to draft the final table and bet on who has the player who finishes first. We’ll put off that draft until we get closer to November so we can learn as much about them as we care to before we pick.

~

Also last weekend I came across a guy who had a bunch of pictures online from a recent Junkbutton show that I wasn’t able to attend. You can view all the pictures here . They are really high resolution pics, so I thought they’d do well with making a poster. So I opened up Microsoft Publisher, which I’d never used before to see what I could come up with. I ordered it through Café Press and I think it turned out great. Check it out:

Youtube clip dump #3

2008-07-21T20:16:00.001-04:00

Here’re a couple of tearjerkers for you…

This first one I caught a mention of on the ESPY awards last night… Basically this college girl hit her first ever homerun and when she missed touching first base and went back for it, she tore her acl and couldn’t walk. Two members of the opposing team picked her up and carried her around the bases.

This next one I guess was featured on The View this morning. The Jewel heard about it from her mother and after telling me about it, I looked it up...

In 1969, these two guys bought a lion cub at a department store in London. They named him Christian. After a couple of years Christian got too big for them to care for, so they worked it out that he could be sent to Kenya and be reintroduced into the wild. A year after that, they wanted to go visit him. They were told that there is no way Christian would remember them. They went anyway. Here is a short video of their story and then their reunion… Try not to cry too much… After you watch this video, read more about Christian’s story here…

Youtube clip dump #2...

2008-07-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog is a 3 part series available on iTunes. It is cheesy, campy and all kinds of awesome. It stars How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris and is written/directed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Joss Whedon.

Harris stars as Dr. Horrible, an aspiring super-villain, whose attempts at villainy are constantly thwarted by his nemesis, the heroic Captain Hammer. He must take his efforts to the next level in order to get into the Evil League of Evil while also mustering the courage to talk to Penny, the girl at the Laundromat. And it’s a musical!

Here’s a preview:

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On e of my all-time favorite comics was Richard Jeni, who unfortunately killed himself a little over a year ago. I was very fortunate to get a chance to see him live a few years ago. Here are a couple of my favorite bits:

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That second clip about Michael Jackson reminded me of the following bit by Katt Williams. Warning: Depending on your level of tolerance, this bit may contain some strong language… It’s also funny as hell…

Work stuff...

2008-07-18T18:18:00.001-04:00

I think if it weren’t for weekends, there would be a lot more workplace shootings… One can only handle so much stupid, but once Friday afternoon arrives, it’s like, well, I only have to put up with stupid for a few more hours then I don’t have to look at them for two whole days. Three day weekends come around just in time for those occasions when two days off just isn’t going to cut it.

A typical work week:

Monday: I’m too tired to really give a shit. Whatever you say…
Tuesday: Ok, what’d you say?
Wednesday: You know that’s the most retarded idea you could possibly have.
Thursday: But you’re implementing it anyway…
Friday: ARGHHH! 3 more hours… 2 more hours…1 more hour…
WEEKEND!

Rinse
Repeat

~

On a related note, there have finally been new developments regarding the job at the Jewel’s company that I interviewed for a few weeks ago. She cornered the hiring manager to find out if the job had been filled or not since I have not received any communication as to whether or not I was getting it. The manager told her that the req. had actually been put on hold until they decide if there is even enough work to justify hiring someone. She did tell the Jewel that if an offer was going to be made, I was the one who was going to get it.

The Jewel seems to think this is good news because you never know, just because they’re not hiring now, they may soon, and my name is at the top of the list. I seem to think that this sucks ass… I’m certainly happy that I didn’t totally bomb the interview like I assumed I would, but it’s really discouraging that something that I wanted really badly (and continue to want really badly – see above…) was so close, but ultimately unreachable.

I’m not going to give up all hope yet. The Jewel says that it’s slow right now because everyone is on vacation, and in a month or two, once everyone is back to work and things are in full swing, the workload will pick up and they’ll figure out they need me after all. Seeing as they’re a defense contractor, I’m hoping we invade Iran or Canada or somewhere soon to help boost military spending… I need a new job!

Let's hear it for the boy...

2008-07-17T18:03:00.001-04:00

There’s this guy named, Gabriel Greenberg, whose older sister died in the 1980’s as a teenager. He has a bunch of her stuff, and now, 20-something years later, this is all the memories he has of her. A few years ago he was looking through it and came across a cassette tape of the Footloose soundtrack. He became obsessed with this soundtrack and what it undoubtedly represented to his teenage sister in the 1980’s. I mean, this could have been THE soundtrack to the 1980’s and who would understand that more than a teenage girl? So he listened to it over and over and somehow found a connection with his sister through the music.

Gabriel Greenberg has a childhood friend who is a musician by the name of Thomas Bartlett. He heads up the band, Doveman. Greenberg told his friend his story and asked him to cover the album. Now why he would do this, I don’t know. I’d think that he could get a closer connection to his sister through the original songs that she undoubtedly tapped her feet to when she listened to it. My only guess is he was looking for a more melancholy version of those songs that she loved.

Well he got it. And knowing the backstory to it, I find it all very touching and emotional and awesome. Unfortunately I haven’t found where I can download the songs yet, but you can read Greenberg’s story in his words and hear the streaming songs here…

Scenes from the last row…

2008-07-15T17:45:00.001-04:00

My company made me sit through a big meeting run by our president yesterday. It was held in a banquet hall; I was there along with 200 of my closest co-workers. We have these things about 3 times a year and my job at them is to try real hard not to fall asleep. I think the whole purpose of everybody in the company being required to attend is that we feel involved or something...

Whatever… Here are a few things thoughts I had yesterday in between catching myself snoring…

I like to get to these things early. I can get the seat I want and not have to worry about walking in late and getting stuck stepping over people for a crummy seat in the middle of the row. I get there early and get myself in the back row on the end, right where I want to be. So I’m sitting there and someone who I don’t work with and barely recognize, but she works somewhat in the same vicinity as me, so I guess we’re best friends, sits down next to me. Now, I don’t know much about her, but I do know that she’s one of these chatty Cathy type people. I hate people like that. I don’t care about your family. I don’t care about your car problems, I don’t care that you don’t want to be here. Just shut up. What was ironic was that a few minutes later, another lady, that pretty much fits the same description, actually grabbed an extra chair from the back of the room and slid it up on the other side of me. So now I’m not even sitting on the end of the row, which I specifically got here ten minutes early to be able to do, and I’m in between these two blabber mouths. Atleast I won’t have to worry about falling asleep…

Just as this thing was about to start, I hear someone behind me. I turn, and another lady, this one I don’t recognize, pulls up another chair right behind me. I’m so dumbfounded, I can’t even believe what’s going on. I purposely get here early to avoid exactly what is happening. How I don’t run screaming from the building is beyond me (but really not that hard to fathom, seeing as I’m pretty much boxed in at this point). What made this even worse was that this woman, now breathing down my neck, was sporting day old cigarette breath. Now I’m no prude. And I can appreciate the smell of a lit Marlboro along with other former smokers… But smoker’s breath, unless you’re smoking, never smelled good. Apparently she’s practicing for a dance recital too. Either that or she has a nervous leg disease which prohibits her from sitting still and stop tap tap tapping her foot on the wooden floor… For pretty much the entire presentation…

I don’t like to use the word douchebag when describing someone, even though it’s a pretty common occurrence within the anonymity of the internets, but I wracked my brain and couldn’t come up with any other word to describe the two douchebags sitting in front of me. I think these two guys thought they were at a high school assembly or something, giggling about their peers and just basically looking like totally jackasses…

What didn’t help with at least one of their jackasseryism was the quarter inch square diamond-looking earring one of them was sporting. Now I say diamond-looking, while I don’t know for a fact that it wasn’t authentic, it’s pretty safe to assume that something the size of that, if it were in fact real, wouldn’t be worn by this turd, seeing as it’d cost more than he makes in a year. And please guys, if you’re a dude, and you’re wearing a rock as big as my pinky knuckle in your ear, either be a professional basketball player, or have at least one endearing quality that will make you appear to not be such a douchebag. Seriously, you might as well be playing dress-up with your grandmother’s fancy jewelry…

Prop Bet Update…

2008-07-13T11:09:00.000-04:00

My WSOP Main Event prop bet has become a freeroll for me with Allen Cunningham being eliminated last night. As much as that makes me happy, I’m also a little (very little) sad to see one of the last big name pros eliminated so late. I am very happy to see some big names still in it, especially my last two horses, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow. To me, those are two of the greatest players of ALL TIME and to see them both still alive with ONLY 79 players left while starting with 6,844 is simply amazing.

But aside from that, my prop bet took a huge swing in my direction now that Cunningham is out. I am set to win the $5 bet for the highest number of players to make the money, with my two horses Hellmuth and Matusow vs the Case Ace’s lone money maker, Cunningham. Since Cunningham is out now, I’ll scoop the $5 bet on the total money won as well as the $5 bet for the highest finishing position. The only thing left to see is if I win is the final $5 for making the final table ($10 if both of Hellmuth and Matusow make it – also known as ESPN’s wet dream table…).

~

Held game two of the Way Cool Super Fun League this weekend. After my horrible finish in game one, I really needed to turn it around to earn some points for some much needed chips for the final table in December. There were 6 of us playing for $10 a piece plus a $5 bounty to the person who knocked you out. I started out really slow and actually stayed that way for most of the night. I was simply not getting any cards. A lot, and I mean A LOT of 82, J4, Q6 type hands. Very disappointing. I limped in with a few suited gapers and actually hit some hands that were good enough to pick up a few chips to stay afloat, but no real confrontations or nice pots won for at least the first hour or two. Finally the blinds were creeping up enough and my stack was hovering at a position where waiting around wasn’t good anymore. I needed to pick some hands and do some pushing. Which I did for a while. I found some tiny pairs and some medium aces and just pushed with them. My ultra tight image was enough to win some blinds and limps.

I was able to make it down to the final three by doing this before I actually had to start showing some hands. The other two players I was with were both very aggressive, so I knew that once I found a hand I liked, I’d have to push to their raise and for the most part when I did this, they would lay it down to me. Finally I found AJ suited in the bb. The dealer made a raise, the sb folded and I pushed. He hmm’d and haw’d for a while before finally calling with A7 suited. I can’t quite remember if it was that hand where I knocked him out or it was sometime later, but that pretty much doubled me up and I actually took over the chip lead. If it wasn’t then, it was shortly after where I took that player out and I was heads up.

The other player that I was up against is easily the most experienced live. Or at least he carries himself like he is (very confidently moves chips around). His father is the poker room manager at the local casino. I use that as an excuse to be intimidated by him, but I really shouldn’t be. He’s aggressive, but I found that he can be moved off hands when facing similar aggression.

Anyway, we spar back and forth for a while, the aggressor taking the small pots. I get him rather dominated in chip count when a hand that I can not remember very well comes up. I think I had something like A8s. He raised preflop and I call. He moves what he has left in blind before the flop (which was probably a little more than double his preflop raise. The flop comes down 8 high so I call. I can’t remember for the life of me what he had, but I had him pretty much crushed. He had Qx, and I remember after the turn he needed a Q or a T to win, and the river brought the Q.

So that doubled him up, and we went back to aggressively taking pots back and forth preflop. Finally I was dealt pocket jacks. I raised preflop and he called. That should have tipped me off right there because the majority of our hands were either raise fold or raise reraise fold. The flop came down 552. He checked I bet he called. Again, this really should have told me what I needed to know, but I didn’t listen. The turn was a blank and he checked again. I don’t remember if I bet and he moved in or if I just moved in at that point, but regardless we got it all in on the turned blank. I was somewhat afraid of him turning over a five, but not really since he called a raise preflop, but he didn’t have a five. He had what I least expected him to have and that was pocket deuces. He flopped a full house, slowplayed it to the turn and left me with two outs… Which I missed of course putting me out in second. I did earn some much needed points for the league, so I’m happy about that.

After the tourney I joined the cash game that 4 others were splashing around in and I proceeded to get ridiculously lucky throughout for the rest of the night. We played dealers choice and some of the games included wild cards where I made five-of-a-kinds twice taking pots from a royal flush and another five-of-a-kind, getting paid off on both. A very good night indeed.