Granted, the $1.20 I won won't cover much in the way of a funeral, but now I can retire from poker with the best of 'em.
Update: I did it again, on 23 March 2006, and never got around to uploading it.
Friday, January 20, 2006
I can die now.
Granted, the $1.20 I won won't cover much in the way of a funeral, but now I can retire from poker with the best of 'em.
Update: I did it again, on 23 March 2006, and never got around to uploading it.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Karina, Karina
Ever have one of those new years days where you meet two girls named Karina within 8 hours of each other, one from Russia by way of Israel, and the other from Romania by way of Cleveland? Maybe it's just me.
Anyway, I rang in the new year the cheap way, in the casino, so instead of paying to drink I got paid. It was a tour de force the whole way, and after starting at noon, I wasn't back up to even again until about ten, and finally ended the day up $100 one hour into 2006. I took Sunday off, but found my way back there on Monday and won an additional $177.50 in five hours.
I played another 380+ hands at Full Tilt yesterday, and ended up down $10. This isn't as bad as it sounds, since I had rotten cards most of the time, and stood a great chance of losing significantly more. I'll be happy to break even on days with bad luck, as long as I can get paid on the good days (like Monday).
The single worst play I've witnessed in my hold 'em career showed up last night. The flop was KKA, then another king showed up on the turn. I didn't follow the action to this point, but the bottom line is two people made it to the river, which was another K. So the board is four of a kind, kings, with an ace kicker. Just as a joke, the first player bet a dollar, and her opponent folded. I guess he was afraid of a fifth king, or maybe he thought she had three pocket aces.
Anyway, I rang in the new year the cheap way, in the casino, so instead of paying to drink I got paid. It was a tour de force the whole way, and after starting at noon, I wasn't back up to even again until about ten, and finally ended the day up $100 one hour into 2006. I took Sunday off, but found my way back there on Monday and won an additional $177.50 in five hours.
I played another 380+ hands at Full Tilt yesterday, and ended up down $10. This isn't as bad as it sounds, since I had rotten cards most of the time, and stood a great chance of losing significantly more. I'll be happy to break even on days with bad luck, as long as I can get paid on the good days (like Monday).
The single worst play I've witnessed in my hold 'em career showed up last night. The flop was KKA, then another king showed up on the turn. I didn't follow the action to this point, but the bottom line is two people made it to the river, which was another K. So the board is four of a kind, kings, with an ace kicker. Just as a joke, the first player bet a dollar, and her opponent folded. I guess he was afraid of a fifth king, or maybe he thought she had three pocket aces.
Friday, December 30, 2005
2005.99
Ugh, a whole month and a half with no posting. I should be fired. I know all of you have read every other blog on the internet and are on the edge of your proverbial seat awaiting the chance to read what I have to say next, and I intend to deliver.Today I logged a whole two hours at work, of which I worked about one so far, and came home with a sinus headache and head cold. I've been advised to get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids, and I should be able to do at least one of those this weekend. I should read the sudafed box to see how much celebrating I need to do, and stay within about twice that amount on Saturday. I missed getting to Breck this weekend, but with 12 feet so far of snow, there should be plenty left even after the auld lang tourists.
CTTOI, I don't know the words to that god-awful song. Here they are, for anyone as morbidly interested as me. Also, there's an even aulder version, which is, IMHO, better. Cheers.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Long Time No Blog
Not too much new to report here. Work is going well, but all I can say about that is they pay me on time. I'm still not cleared enough to know what I'm doing, but as soon as I am, you'll be the last to know.
My sister, who went to Europe to study different cultures and learn about diversity, has reached the highlight of her trip by attending a traditional Spanish performance of los Backstreet Boys. Naturally, she finagled her way backstage, got to eat dinner with our second cousin once removed (practically a brother by Latin and Southern standards), and see the concert from the front row, all while speaking Spanish in a redneck accent.
My other sibling has outfoxed, or at least outdrawn, a deer 50% larger than himself (he's the one smiling, with the gun). His story is more straightforward, involving the deer being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my brother in the right place at that same time, and pointing a rifle along the right vector at the right time and releasing a projectile at the right velocity at right time, resulting in the termination of the animal's primary functions (assuming that being eaten and mounted are secondary functions; reprioritization of the stag's functionality will of course require a revision of this description).
Anyway, here's the picture.
Anyway, poker is going strong; I won $30 taking third place on Saturday night in a 39-man tournament at Sticks. The game started at 7:30 and went until about 1:15. Basically the first two hours consisted of the suckers exchanging way too many chips with each other, the third hour was spent sorting out the results of that carnage, adn the final two in a dead heat between the last 5 or 6 of us. First place took $100 in tabs, and second $60, but I was happy.
I also won $60 playing online Saturday morning, then lost it on Sunday, but I was up for the weekend. I'm now switching sites, and working on rebuilding a bankroll.
I busted out midway through a tournament on Monday, then had a date Tuesday (a situation that has resolved itself, since the girl in question is now incommunicado), but my luck picked up last night, as I found myself on the good end of several bad beats. (Nothing beats flopping a set of nines when the preflop raiser flops a set of sixes, except flopping tens, jacks, queens, aces, a straight, flush, straight flush, or 4 of a kind, or a royal, or maybe catching any of the above on the river). Anyway, I dominated the final table until we were heads up, at which time my luck ran out. My opponent was playing pretty solid poker, so I was able to bluff a few times, but never had any real hands worth betting. This is of course an excuse, since when you're only against one person, anything worth calling is worth betting. Anyway, he ended up beating me slowly, although a more aggressive player would have been more interesting to be up against. He was tough to read, since he hadn't said a word in the whole time we were playing against him. As a rule, the loudest players tend to be the first ones out, but the most sorely missed. Worth keeping in mind, I guess, if I intend to get any better.
Anyway, it's Thursday again, but not a payday thursday. So I'm at the halfway point or something. I need to check my calendar to see if I get tomorrow off, but I'm thinking not, seeing as I'm not a veteran. Of course, all our money comes from the Pentagon, so you'd think we'd take military holidays off.
In the news, it turns out that Mr. Sulu has been crossing the Neutral Zone for the last 18 years. It's interesting that one of the first leading Asian characters in a major series, and one of the finest helmsmen in the fleet turns out to be a double minority. Maybe it'll be an inspiration for gay Trekkies everywhere, or at least an excuse for those who are technically straight but have never been within phaser range of a human female.
OK, so Tronie != Trekkie, but I couldn't resist. You should thank me for finding a cropped version of this photo; the lower half is not pretty.
My sister, who went to Europe to study different cultures and learn about diversity, has reached the highlight of her trip by attending a traditional Spanish performance of los Backstreet Boys. Naturally, she finagled her way backstage, got to eat dinner with our second cousin once removed (practically a brother by Latin and Southern standards), and see the concert from the front row, all while speaking Spanish in a redneck accent.
My other sibling has outfoxed, or at least outdrawn, a deer 50% larger than himself (he's the one smiling, with the gun). His story is more straightforward, involving the deer being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my brother in the right place at that same time, and pointing a rifle along the right vector at the right time and releasing a projectile at the right velocity at right time, resulting in the termination of the animal's primary functions (assuming that being eaten and mounted are secondary functions; reprioritization of the stag's functionality will of course require a revision of this description).
Anyway, here's the picture.
Anyway, poker is going strong; I won $30 taking third place on Saturday night in a 39-man tournament at Sticks. The game started at 7:30 and went until about 1:15. Basically the first two hours consisted of the suckers exchanging way too many chips with each other, the third hour was spent sorting out the results of that carnage, adn the final two in a dead heat between the last 5 or 6 of us. First place took $100 in tabs, and second $60, but I was happy.
I also won $60 playing online Saturday morning, then lost it on Sunday, but I was up for the weekend. I'm now switching sites, and working on rebuilding a bankroll.
I busted out midway through a tournament on Monday, then had a date Tuesday (a situation that has resolved itself, since the girl in question is now incommunicado), but my luck picked up last night, as I found myself on the good end of several bad beats. (Nothing beats flopping a set of nines when the preflop raiser flops a set of sixes, except flopping tens, jacks, queens, aces, a straight, flush, straight flush, or 4 of a kind, or a royal, or maybe catching any of the above on the river). Anyway, I dominated the final table until we were heads up, at which time my luck ran out. My opponent was playing pretty solid poker, so I was able to bluff a few times, but never had any real hands worth betting. This is of course an excuse, since when you're only against one person, anything worth calling is worth betting. Anyway, he ended up beating me slowly, although a more aggressive player would have been more interesting to be up against. He was tough to read, since he hadn't said a word in the whole time we were playing against him. As a rule, the loudest players tend to be the first ones out, but the most sorely missed. Worth keeping in mind, I guess, if I intend to get any better.
Anyway, it's Thursday again, but not a payday thursday. So I'm at the halfway point or something. I need to check my calendar to see if I get tomorrow off, but I'm thinking not, seeing as I'm not a veteran. Of course, all our money comes from the Pentagon, so you'd think we'd take military holidays off.
In the news, it turns out that Mr. Sulu has been crossing the Neutral Zone for the last 18 years. It's interesting that one of the first leading Asian characters in a major series, and one of the finest helmsmen in the fleet turns out to be a double minority. Maybe it'll be an inspiration for gay Trekkies everywhere, or at least an excuse for those who are technically straight but have never been within phaser range of a human female.
OK, so Tronie != Trekkie, but I couldn't resist. You should thank me for finding a cropped version of this photo; the lower half is not pretty.
Monday, October 24, 2005
The Trouble with Being a Shark
is that it's always feeding time. I'm getting to be pretty deadly at hold 'em, but it remains to be seen who's going to be killed first. Time is already gone, and if anybody's money is next, it won't be mine if I have anything to say about it.
I invested in three books on the subject (as a way of justifying the expenditure, I told myself I'd be staying at home reading instead of hitting the casinos), and they've already paid for themselves. Just a few tweaks here and there have made me 30% more lethal. I trounced 32 people at Sticks on Saturday night, winning another $90 tab, making it $170 from that bar alone over the last two weeks. Then I went to a home game, but was late getting there, on account of one of the people I was carpooling with had to win the second tournament at Sticks. So I played pool with my designated driver for a while, and neither of us earned any bragging rights from those matches. We both see pool as a way to kill time between poker tournaments.
Anyway, it was well into the first tournament when we arrived, and they wouldn't let us buy in, so we had to wait another 90 minutes or so, and by the time the second round got going, everybody was too tired to play well. Several people went all-in way too early, but I wasn't in a position to profit on those hands, leaving me heads up with the guy whose house I was at, with him having a 7 to one chip lead against me. This was about 2:30 AM, and everybody was putting pressure on me to end the game quickly, and that put me on what they call "tilt," which means I lost focus. This was a winner-take-all match (although the first match ended in the first two places splitting the pot), and, not being the winner, I took none. But it was a good time anyway.
Then yesterday I had a huge lead at On the Rocks (almost 8 to 1 against the next highest stack), with 5 of us left in the tournament. Then I started talking to the blonde next to me, and the next thing I knew, I was the short stack. I can't complain, though.
On the ballroom front, I'm getting the hang of Lindy hop, and learning which girls aren't worth the trouble to dance with. Some mean girls hurt my feelings, though.
I invested in three books on the subject (as a way of justifying the expenditure, I told myself I'd be staying at home reading instead of hitting the casinos), and they've already paid for themselves. Just a few tweaks here and there have made me 30% more lethal. I trounced 32 people at Sticks on Saturday night, winning another $90 tab, making it $170 from that bar alone over the last two weeks. Then I went to a home game, but was late getting there, on account of one of the people I was carpooling with had to win the second tournament at Sticks. So I played pool with my designated driver for a while, and neither of us earned any bragging rights from those matches. We both see pool as a way to kill time between poker tournaments.
Anyway, it was well into the first tournament when we arrived, and they wouldn't let us buy in, so we had to wait another 90 minutes or so, and by the time the second round got going, everybody was too tired to play well. Several people went all-in way too early, but I wasn't in a position to profit on those hands, leaving me heads up with the guy whose house I was at, with him having a 7 to one chip lead against me. This was about 2:30 AM, and everybody was putting pressure on me to end the game quickly, and that put me on what they call "tilt," which means I lost focus. This was a winner-take-all match (although the first match ended in the first two places splitting the pot), and, not being the winner, I took none. But it was a good time anyway.
Then yesterday I had a huge lead at On the Rocks (almost 8 to 1 against the next highest stack), with 5 of us left in the tournament. Then I started talking to the blonde next to me, and the next thing I knew, I was the short stack. I can't complain, though.
On the ballroom front, I'm getting the hang of Lindy hop, and learning which girls aren't worth the trouble to dance with. Some mean girls hurt my feelings, though.
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