The Melancholy Poker Blues..

I missed the WWdN last night.. on purpose.. I was sitting right there, with the tourney window open... checking out who was all registered and what not.. but, I asked myself 'Do I really feel like playing poker?'.. and since the answer was 'No', I chose not to.. imagine that.. I figure I saved myself 11 bucks....to be lost at a later date, I am sure....

Then ofcourse, at about 7pm, one hour after it started.. guess who feels like playing poker... doh!!! Gonna have to remember that next time....

I have been taking some serious kicking of the junkage lately.. I mean, really bad calls to my raises, and then being sucked out on... prompts me to come up with a saying such as:

'We don't remember the good sessions because the bad sessions hurt so much'..

There are two distinct kinds of bad sessions.. those that just bring you no cards whatsoever to play with... and then the other kind... the kind that would make even Freddy Krueger cringe.... you know, bad beat after bad beat, after bad beat... those sessions where you do get the cards, you do make the right decisions, you do end up with all your money in the pot with the best hand, and yet, you still end up with a losing session..

..well, the latter has been my bane of late... perhaps this is partly why 'I did not feel like playing poker'.

I am ready to go back to Las Vegas now.. so whoever is going to make all the arrangements.... get to it... ;)

I promise to play in mixed games with bloggers this next time, and I hope some or all of ya'll hold me to that promise.

peace

Today is Christmas day...

... in the world of Poker Christmas, I got the best gift you can get, from Absolute Poker.... (I would link to them, but, as you will soon read, I am upset with them again)... anyhoot.. A Royal Flush.... diamonds..... I take that back.. not the best... it was during a fun money game.. so, a real cash game would have been better... I requested the hand history, and as usual, got let down again.... but.. I held Qd8h in the BB checked to me.. I raised a pussy min raise, both of the two remaining donkeys called..... flop came KdAdTd... I min bet.. 1st guy folds.. second guy min raises, and I call.. turn is 8s.. I check.. he checks.. river is Jd..... I bet 300... which is 5X's BB.. he calls... yay me....

My niece got me a Hand Held Electronic WSOP Hold'em game.... sweet.....

That 5K Christmas Freeroll at doyles was a bust.. I was like 8th in chips out of 400 or so left.... a guy I have covered by 2k is in BB to me in SB.. I raise 3XBB with KK.. he goes all in, so, I call... he has J8o...... flop is JJJ..... I am crippled.....

..... few hands later... I am UTG with AA.. 1700 in chips.. way at the bottom of the 300 or so left.... I push... one caller, he has 1900 in chips.. T8s.... flop is J97 rainbow... I am out....

i didn't even get mad.. How could I.....???

My brothers new girlfriend is quite the looker.....



This carnivore was hanging outside my apartment the other day...



Watched 'Bad News Bears'... the remake.. not too bad.. not quite the spirit of the first one.. but, I recognized I was judging by the first one.. so.. I suppose if you never saw the first one, you would say it was pretty darn movie...

Watched 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'.. wasted my time....

Watched 'Sky High'.. cute movie.. kids will prolly like it....

Just got done watching The Tournament of Champions... yay Mike... he kinda grows on ya.... don't he? I cracked up when Steve and Mike gave Phil the stuffed donkey for a christmas gift.... way funny....

If you got this far.. I suppose I should reward you faithful readers with some really good news I got the other day......

I got a promotion at work.. 6% yearly increase in my salary.. will certainly come in handy... looking foward to seeing more of me in the bigger games online and in Las Vegas.....

ok, thats it for now.....

Peace

Merry Christmas to ALL...

... and to all a good FLOP!!!!!

Ok, Wednesday evening, after a particulary grueling day at work.... keep in mind, I am a software type, Systems Analyst..... I decipher code written by other people, usually years and years ago.. to determine why it don't work, or how to make it work bettre... occasionally... I get to write new code... for new systems... and before I left for vegas.... I made sure the 4 programs I wrote for the new system were all hunky dory.. I would not have been able to go, had they not been hunky dory... anyway... doing some final testing on wednesday, come to find out.. someone overwrote my code.. not only in our project library.. but also on my pc.. so, after a particualry grueling day on Wednesday..

..I boot up Absolute and proceed to invest $3.60 into SNG's. That would be six at $.50 + $.10 each.. and after 2 hours, or so, I finish the session at $3.90.

I started with $3, so, 90 cents up... I had:

1 first
1 second
1 third
2 bubbles
1 stupid call on first hand with 64soooted cuz 5 people were all in before me...

Now, I should never have even played, the mood I was in.. I was, and I am embarrassed to say... ANGRY.... All I could think about, while playing, and I use the term, 'playing', loosely.. is -->

How on earth am I ever going to be able to take a vacation again.. if I can not trust the people I leave behind to NOT write over good code, that I or someone else spent months writing.. and more months testing...

<-- the more I called min raises with weak paint and 2 gap connectors.. the angrier I got... I wanted to play more, after the 6th game, which was my 1st place.. and put me back to even plus a lil more.. but, my friend called and she knew I was angry... so.. I shut down my computer... and went to bed. Wednesday night could have been a very bad night for the Slayre Poker Bankroll... had it not been for the timely phone call of the non poker playing friend..

Last night, which was Thursday night, today being Friday and all.. hey, don't blame me, blame the Romans... I went to see King Kong ( not impressed ).. and then to dinner at a favorite restaurant, Rockfish... got home late, and booted up Absolute again, except this time, I was in a much more jovial mood.. but, it was late and I was tired, so I just played a few fun money SNG's...

And I played any two cards, as long as it was not raised more than the current min raise.... and I went from 5500 in play money to 26000..... imagine that..

I can safely say, that playing any two cards, from any position, no matter how much money in the pot, is much more exciting than playing... that other way..

peace and joy

Wil tourney on Stars

short summary.

I finished 8th.... out of 70 pretty good showing.. I was way pleased with my play.... I also missed the first 10 minutes.. taking a nap.. didn't here the alarm.. missed two orbits.. not a huge deal..

I only was able to make it that far due to a very luck board.. my AJ vs an AQ
( forget who ).. board dbl paired, and our Ace kicker let us chop the pot.. otherwise, I was a goner... around 40th or so.. that was the the I really needed lady luck....

Got down to 13 and for a couple orbits I was in 7th place.. but, could not get any cards whatsoever.. stuff like 24 73 T6 all offsuit, and always someone jamming before my turn to act.. finally.. I get KK... the antes and the blinds make the pot about 1100, so I jam, cuz, now I am second to last in chips... no callers... next hand is QQ.. same thing... no callers.. I am back up to 7th in chips..

then the crap hands come again.. and were are down to 10.. the bubble... Wil is actually short stack but, takes down a couple pots.. one an all in and before you know it, he is up from like 1400 in chips to 11k in chips... I forget who bubbled... but, thank you cuz, that put me in the money.. second to last in chips again...

One player goes out.. I have to fold a couple times... get KQ, push... get a caller.. 55. lady luck was not looking my way this time... the 5's hold up... I am out in 8th...

Cash 31.50 for a nice 20 buck profit.......

tons of fun and I will be back next week for sure...

Thanks again Wil.....

oops, i did it again

Finished 7th in an Absolute freeroll.. 2 bucks....

So, twice in two days, i make a it ITM... in MTT's with 1000's of players...

Maybe I should play while deathly ill more often.. NOT!

I'm ready to gambool again tho.. put some money into Stars and will be playing in tonights:

"The WWdN Friday game at PokerStars is moving to Tuesday, beginning December 20th. The game will play each week, except in the event of major holidays, starting at 7:00 PM EST. The buy-in will remain at $10+1."

I got that 35 cents or so I won at Doyles ( hey, that was a big MTT freeroll as well ), up to $4.60 now, or so. Lost my roll on Poker Host, and also on Empire... that was free money as well..

Not as sick today as I had been the previous 3-4 days.. still not 100%... but, much bettre.. or it could be that eclair i just ate.. that always make a body feel bettre....

There is a $5k holiday freeroll at Doyles coming this saturday that I was lucky enuff to sign up for.. only took 1000 people... and I guess I was in the right place at the right time... cuz, I am in!!! ( I believe I will pretend it is one of the many $5.00 freerolls I play ). First place pays $1350... and I think it pays 27 places..... so... that would make for a nice christmas bonus....

I've been playing suited connectors alot more frequently.. if the price is right.. and altho I have no statistics.. I believe it has been good for me..

tried some micro limit ring games.. 1cent/2 cent and such.. manage to break even.. i don't get limit.....

peace

And the crowd goes wild..

I can't remember the last time I made a final table, online... then it occurred to me.. I just haven't played all that much these last couple months...

I was tooling around the different sites I have icons for, pretty much just making sure they all had the latest updates and whatnot.. and found myself joining a freeroll on PokerHost...

Tournament Name: 10:00.PM Cash Freeroll

Total Prize Pool: $6.60 (2 Re-buys at $2.20 and 1 Addons at $2.20)

Total Players: 659

Tournament Completed: 2005/12/18 01:13:59

Tournament Cost: $0 / $0

Tournament Results:

1st: player: ithurtsme2 - $14 prize awarded
2nd: player: DR Hustla - $8.50 prize awarded
3rd: player: d RoCk'z GirL - $6 prize awarded
4th: player: bdog66 - $5 prize awarded
5th: player: BigFrank - $4 prize awarded
6th: player: janyce - $3.50 prize awarded
7th: player: slayre - $3 prize awarded
8th: player: XShortKidX - $2.50 prize awarded
9th: player: sandman2 - $2 prize awarded
10th: player: raised2call - $1.50 prize awarded

So, yay me..... now I can play thier micro limits and see how long it takes to get my junk kicked......

Peace

So, I make it into work today..

.. despite the fact that I am prolly dying from amonia..or pnemonia.. or whatever... man do I feel like crap....

Anyway.. played too tiny buy in sng's on doyle's... this gets boring.. just sit and wait till 3 people bust out.. then raise every time you decide to play.. rinse repeat.. took a second and a bubble.. ( its not a fullproof method )..

Got bored.. as stated.. knew I had like $5.70 on Empire Poker.. so, decided, since I really didn't care about that money, them giving it to me and all.. I would sit down at a $25.00 buyin ring game.. 6 max. I found a table with only 4 peeps and the highest chip count was $10.11... so.. I sit down.. so to speak..

Managed to get my roll up to $6.10 got bored, and still not caring about the cash.. joined a $5 SNG.. played really good poker too.. I was second to last in chip stack, with about 735.. found KK in the BB.. UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to T200... ( blinds are 50/100 ).. fold, fold, SB calls, I go all in.. raiser calls... SB folds.. the guy has J8offsuit.. Jclubs.. 8diamonds.. I don't have the K of clubs.. the flop is rag, club, club. turn is club.. river is club.. unbelievable.. I'm down to 135.. get crap til i'm UTG.. KQsuited.. clubs.. blinds are still 50/100 chipleader is to my left.. i'm all in.. fold, fold. raise to T235 from SB.. BB folds...

Is my KQ sooted good.. damn right.. he did his lil raise with 74sooted. diamonds..

I know there is no need for me to tell you how the board turned out...

I emailed Empire and asked them to send me a check for $0.10.. then promptly deleted their software...

I'm doing well at Doyle's tho.. that is currently my main sight.. I only went to Empire cuz I really didn't care.. but, I didn't expect my junk to be kicked as hard as it was... made me mad enuff to forget my amonia... for a few minutes, anyway...

now, im here.. and soon will be slumbering... got some antibiotics in me and they make me loopy.. can't play poker angry and loopy...

Oh.. here is the pic of a drunk bastard talking to Wil Wheaton.. and Wil being very courteous about it...


i have no idea what I was saying, and I am sure he didn't eithre...

Peace

some more 'back from vegas'

There is no way I can completely describe the recent trip I took to Vegas to play in the WPBT Winter Classic II.. and to meet fellow bloggers... no matter how many entries in this journal I make... no way..

I'll try tho..

We had a naked man in the hallway, friday night, saturday morning.. we were awaken at about 2am by some very loud knocking and yelling.. the young man was hollering to his roommate to open the door.. his knocking was causing the entire floor to shake.. I stood for this for about 30 minutes.. I called the front desk.. I explained there was an apparent naked man out in the hallway, making lots of noise and disturbing our sleep.. they said they would send security.. in the meantime.. i got some clothes on and went on out there.... to find.. a young man, about 22 years old.. obviously drunk, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.. I told him.. look, im sorry your locked out.. but, you have got to be quiet... he wanted to know what I would do if I were in his situation.. ( i didnt tell him that it would be highly unlikely that I would ever be in that situation, but, since, I wasn't 100% sure of this to be true, I kept my mouth shut ).. Security showed up.. got a quick summary of how the young man had stepped out for a second, and didn't have his key.. his roommate was passed out on the floor. the room was registered in his passed out roommantes name, so, front desk would not let him in.. if that was true, i do not know.. then the security guard started knocking loudly and yelling.. I said whoa whoa whoa.. i didn't call you so you could join in the noise making.. eithre let this guy in the room or take him away..

the guard didn't like that too much... told me to let him handle it... well, he didn't seem to be handling it too well.... then, from around the corner, came what to me, was obviously a call girl... that was my first impression anyway.. she asked me where room 137 was, which was the room with the passed out roommate, so, I pointed... there, with the naked guy and the security guard...

Then she told the naked guy.. 'Well, some one is gonna have to pay me'... and then i was pretty sure of her occupation after that.. ( she was hot by the way, for those interested ).

I have no idea what happened after that.. i went back to bed.. saw the guy in the morning and he just smiled.. no apology no nothing.... kids...



This is the car I would have bought, out of the couple 100 or so they had on display at the auto collection inside the Imperial Palace.., had I won a big enuff jackpot.... pretty neat place.. can get in for free easy enuff.. lots and lots and lots of cool cars... we spent at least an hour in there... and we aren't even car enthusiests...

or this one:



I was asked by a young lady if I wanted to buy her a cocktail... I am pretty sure she was a hooker... I declined...

I got my picture taken with Elvis.. one of them anyway...

( I shoulda took notes. )

I came home with more money than I expected too.. but, promptly bought some xmas presents and now its all gone...

I also came home with a very bad cold.. prolly the flu that it seems most of the other bloggers got on the same trip...

I drank more alcohol in 4 days than i have all year long...

I met a couple crazy canucks...

Thats Marlene and Larry.. she won the 3pm $300 draw and got to stand in the wind machine and put as many bills in a lil slot as she could, in 45 seconds... she had to total more than $100 for it to count.. she cashed $174 bucks.. they were way cool.. they go to Vegas about 3 or 4 times a year..

Ok.... i suppose i should start writing shit down as i remember it...

Peace...

more 'Back from Vegas'

I am going to take notes.. on the next trip... I think it is going to be mandatory..

There is just so much to write.... so much has been written... some by me, but, mostly by others.. and still yet, more to come.....

All the more common adjectives apply.. great, fantastic, unbelievable, fun, exciting.... it is a trip I hope to take several times before I die......

I did not participate in any of the extra blogger activities you will read about in the other write ups.. I only made it to the tournament on Saturday.. this was by choice... more than by chance.. April did call me several times to let me know where everyone was.. the timing was just off.. You see.. I am not as young as I used to be, and my companion, as beautiful as she is, is even more so not as young as we used to be.. so, altho we wanted to be up, about, and awake, for the entire 5 day trip.. our bodies forbade it... we each just pretty much shut down after about 14 hours...

We did have one heck of a time just checking out the strip on our own tho....





On Thursday, we pretty much just ate.. We ate at the Imperial Buffet for breakfast, and later that day for late lunch, early supper. We were quite stuffed.... We went back out on the strip Thursday night and checked it out even more... I forgot my camera, and alas, have no pictures to share.. she did bring hers, but, it is not a digital.. we are waiting for them to get developed...

Friday was Ethel M. Chocolate factory and Hoover Dam..
( not letting me upload the photos )

Friday night was the Fremont Experience.. pretty cool..

( not letting me upload the photos )

The Saturday WPBT event was absolutely the most exciting poker related event I have ever been a part of... this is when I got to meet some bloggers for the first time.

( I'd show you some photos, but, alas, blogspot is being a prissy bitch )

From memory only:

I met Pauly, Derek, Joanne, Factgirl, StudioGlyphic, F Train, Linda, Wil, Otis, Iggy, Grubster, AlcantHang, Bill and several others I just do not remember...

I wanted to meet all the bloggers, I truly did... and I expect to, during all the future get togethers...

The tournament was nice to me... I finished 90th out of about 108 entries... I drew table 5 seat 10, which started me off on the button.. StudioGlyhic, our WPBT Winter Classic II champion, was seated to my right, and I can honestly tell you.. he looked nothing like the champion he turned out to be.. during the first few orbits of the tournament.. F Train was in seat 7... ( these are the only two I 'met' ). Studio because he was right there, and F Train busted me out.

Out table started out way tight... any raise would take the blinds.. 'any raise'.. and I tested that theory a couple times myself.. I made it thru the to the 1st break.. and when the blinds were at 100/200, I found KQs in middle to late position.. I raised 3xBB to 600.. everyone folded or had already folded cept for the Trainster... he thought a bit and put me all in.. ( he had me covered by about 500 or so ).. crap... I wanted to fold.. but, I had learned from play, from books, and from reading blogs.. DO NOT MAKE ANY HASTY DECISIONS so, I went to the tank.. Ftrain was prolly the most aggressive player at our table, and I was prolly the most tight... he knew I would not raise unless I had a strong hand, and I knew he was capable of bluffing, and or raising with anything from Ace sooted to mid pair... I was watching him as I was thinking.. and his vein in his neck was pumping furiously.. he would not look at me.. I put him on ATsooted, or a mid pair.. he took to long to raise, for a high pair.... I called...

My KQs found itself up agaisnt AQ... butthole... ;) I didn't mind the Ace so much, but, my Queen was dead.... I needed clubs, or a K... the entire board turned up red, if memory serves, and all 10 or less... i go get drunk now..

And did I ever get drunk...I went to eat when they got down to 3 tables.. ate there at their Pizza place.. best damn pizza I ever had in my life.. and I will never be so drunk as to not know when I am eating good pizza or not....

Got back when they were down to 4 or so... watched the HU match, and I was routing for She-Verb.. I actually picked her to win, way early on.. when she was short stacked... she almost came thru for me.. heh..

I missed the Shoot out in the Desert.....

My companion and I spent the rest of Saturday night on the Duece ( double decker strip bus ) (( never take the duece prime time saturday night, it takes forever )). We went to the M&M world.. 6 or so floors of M&M stuff... I bought one magnet for my fridge, my sole souvenier, aside from the photos and the memories... oh, and my big giant 46oz daiquiri cup..

We hung around the casino on Sunday, just relaxing and waiting for our shuttle back to the airport...

Neither of us wanted to leave.... it was bitter sweet...

Next trip.. I WILL play mixed games with which ever blogger I can find.. and I will beg April to help me out with this, again, promising to show up... :)

( Thanks April.... )

So Peace, and if you didn't go this time, make damn sure you go next time...

Back from Vegas

We made it back in one piece... we didn't want to leave.. and we certainly can not wait to go back... we had a heck of a time...

Now, if I were some sort of skilled blogger, I could take the time and patience that would be necessary to make a proper accounting of all that transpired in Vegas, from my perspective... and altho, all I would have to do, is just reach down into my lil bag of will power, and make the post happen, I just don't feel like it, plus.. there would be pages and pages and pages and pages...

So, I am just gonna wing it.. I didn't take any notes.. so, am going to rely on memory.... and since this is my plan of action.. let me start with what was a huge highlight for me during this trip...



I got to meet Pauly.. now, I don't look to him as some sort of Blogging God, or Journalistic celebrity... he just happened to decide to answer an email of mine about a year ago, that pulled me from a very not so happy place... and I got to thank him in person for that... so, nuff said about that.



Also, got to meet Barry Greenstien(sp), and he is a very humble person.. he gave a nice lil talk, before the tourney started...



And I also got to me Wil Wheaton... who is a genuinely nice person and was gracious enuff to let me take a couple photos... there is another photo of him listening to me go on and on about something or the other, I was quite drunk at the time, and my companion happened to be sober and took the picture... to me it looks as tho Wil is wondering, 'How drunk is this guy, and how can I can away from him'. heh.. he was so nice...

I figure if your gonna make a fool outta yourself, might as well be to a nice person...

We didn/t have the kind of view Pauly had. ( Pauly's View )

Ours was a bit more, rustic:



We arrived about 10:30 pm Wednesday night and after getting from the Airport to the Hotel, and then checked in and finding out room, we went out and checked out the strip and played a few penny slots until about 3:30 in the morning.. my friend was way tired and I decided to take a nap.. I was up at 6:30 and ready to go again.. I went exploring while she got ready ( the 'she' variety of people generally take awhile to get ready ), so, I was able to pretty much explore the entire hotel and find out all the short cuts.. I mention this, because, from the front of the hotel to our room, was about 6 and 1/2 miles... once she was ready, we went and had breakfast at the buffet of the Imperial Buffet, located there in the same hotel and despite what I had read in the reviews, the food was damn good.. and they had tons of choices.. and an omelet bar. we tried a bit of everything....

Then we just walked up and down the strip, checking out the the other nearby casinos.. she was shopping.. I was looking for 9/6 video poker... occasionally we would throw a couple bucks into a penny slot, mainly to rest and to get a drink... at about 4pm or so, we made it back to the room and took a short nap.. and out back on the strip by 7:30.. we decided to walk north, cuz, earlier we walked south.. so, it only made since.. it was damn cold too.. we almost turned back.. but, had gotten fairly close to the Wynn.. decided to check it out..

Wow.

That place is amazing..... truly. Nothing I could type would do it justice..

They have marble stalls in the bathroom...

We finally made it back to the room around midnight.. somehow I had gotten a 46oz daguiri, and it was half full, or empty, and I remember being fairly toasted from all the other drinks... she was ready for bed, but I decided to go up to play some 1/2 NL.. well, I never made it to the elevator.. I took a few steps and not unlike one of those episodes from a twilight zone movie.. the hallway kept getting longer and longer.. I decided it prolly was not a good idea to make the trek up to the poker room and most likely lose all my cash.. and besides.. we had a Hoover Dam tour the next day.. had to be up bright and early..

So, I came back to the room, turned on the shower, de-clothed, and pretty much passed out/fell asleep in the tub. It was the only way I was going to be able to get up on time...

Hoover dam tour was incredible.. took all day and we were dog tired... once we got back.. took a short break.. then headed up to check out the Fremont Experience. my goal was to hit Binions and soak in what energy might be emanating from the WSOP champion photos they had on the wall.. we found Binions and we found the photos.. but, as I will attest to shortly.. not much energy made it my way...

So, that is Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday.. brief and to the point.. Will come back latre with more about the Tourney, some pictures, some links to pictures, and some other fine things.. for instance..

Number of twins seen: 4
( or would that be 8 )

Funny things heard in the elevator:
Mamma, you got your shorts on backwards? ( Old man to apparently his wife, after she told him to be quiet )

Things I didn't expect to happen:
Being woke up at 2am by a naked man in the hallway.

How many times I busted out, randomly, with, 'Viva... Las Vegas'? More than several.

So, go read the other write ups.. they are all much bettre than mine... I have not read any yet, cuz, I didn't want anything to influence my stellar skills.. but, I am sure they are bettre than mine...

I met some fine people.. some I won't or don't remember, and I regret that...

Anyway.. more latre.....

Peace

Getting to be about that time..

This time tomorrow, I will be at the airport, patiently awaiting to board the plane that will fly me west, to Sin City.. it is my hope, that the view I see from the window as we gain altitude, is similiar to this:



This is looking North to Austin, from in front of the main building of St. Edwards University, at about 8pm...

I don't particulary think is all that good of a pic, but, 6 people that I showed it too, at different times, went all goo-goo ga-ga over it.... I suppose I am my own worst critic.. anyway.. I thought of a way to post it... so, I did...

One more day of work.. then back to the apartment to make sure I don't forget anything, then pick up my traveling mate, 30 minutes early, make sure they don't forget anything, then off to the airport... should be in Vegas in about 26 hours or so......

peace

Edit: Its now 6am, about 12 hours since the above was posted and I am at work..
Don't want to be here. Can not get my mind wrapped around the issues I will be leaving behind for others to deal with.

If you have not seen the 75 bands pic over at StudioGlyphic, it is pretty cool.

Edit: Edit:: ( 8am )Today,somehow, I need to put myself in a frame of mind such as:

1) Going to Las Vegas for the first time;
2) Meeting folks that enjoy poker as much or more than I do;
3) Possibly meeting Professional Poker Players;
4) Playing in (for me) a huge tourney;
5) Being away from work for one week;

is no big deal, because otherwise... it is going to be a very, very... loooong day.

Edit: ( 11:15am ) half way done... even got permision to leave early due to the inclement weather.. which bothers me... there is an ice and sleet warning for the counties north of us... but so far, the weather is holding here in Austin.. I won't really know how SW Airlines deals with the weather til this evening.. but, like I said, this inclement weather bothers me more than it normally would.

It occurred to me, a moment or two ago, I am gonna have a hella heck of alot of email when I get back...

Movies

I watched 3 movies since Thursday..

Be Cool - much bettre than some of the reviews I read led me to believe.. good thing for Travolta and clan, I don't hold much stock in what the critics say... Together again with Uma was just as good if not bettre than their Pulp Fiction movie.. The Rock was WAY WAY WAY out of character as a Gay bodyguard.. He frequently made me laugh.. quite enjoyable... worth a rent...

11:14 - this movie is one story that lasts about 20 minutes.. but, it is told from several different perspectives.. and this is way cool.. the cast is pretty durn phenomenal.. Patrick Swayze, Henry Thomas, Rachael Leigh Cook, Barbara Hershey.... anything I might say about this movie would not do it justice.. it is well worth a rent.... you won't regret renting it...

House of D - wow.. I was truly suprised.. this movie is written and directed by David Duchovney(sp).. yeah, good ol Fox Muldur from X-Files.. he also plays the main character as a grown up, but just briefly in the beginning, then just a lil bit more than briefly in the end... the true 'stars' of the movie are Anton Yelchin and Erykak Badu Tea Leoni ( wife of David D. ) has a fine performance as the mother, which is kinda wierd since they are married and all, but, only if your think about it too long.. its a coming of age story about a young 13 year boy growing up in NY city, dealing with different types of loss. Robin Williams plays a mentally retarded man, age 41, best friend of the main character ( Yelchin ). Pretty darn good performance, especially the airline ticket counter scene.. Its an independant film, put together in a short period of time, on a small budget, and I cried.. so there ya go.

peace

Slayre Claims Victory in Local Poker Tourney

Its a small SNG at Adam's place... $30.00 buy in.. 6 people.

seat 1 is Adam
seat 2 is vacant
seat 3 is Justin
seat 4 is April
seat 5 is Mel
seat 6 is ( oh shit ) Lori, me thinks
seat 7 is me, Slayre

There really is not a whole lot to blog about here with this tourney... everyone played pretty tight the first two rounds.. blinds at 10/20, then 15/30.. after the first break, blinds now at 25/50, and Justin and Adam start playing a bit more agressively.. altho, it was pretty much blind stealing...

I don't recall raising at all, myself, until the 4th round, 50/100, I am in the BB and there are 2 limpers and the SB completes.. I look down and see QQ, so I quickly compute that there is already T400 chips in the pot, so I raise T300, to T400.. they all folded...

I stole a couple 3 or 4, maybe 5 or 6 pots with absolutely nothing.. just took advantage of position and some tells I had picked up..... I think Adam and Justin were doing the same thing...

Poor April.. I don't think she got any playable cards the whole evening... she got down to pretty much short stack and ended up ALL IN vs Mel, she held K4 suited, and he had AQ suited, different suits.. the flops gives April the nut flush and she doubles up... bit latre, she is ALL in with Adam, and altho she is slightly ahead, the board cards are more favorable to Adam.. April is the first out... she graciously volunteered to deal for the rest of the evening...April is a very fine player, the cards just did not fall for her this night.

Mel was the next out.. taken out by Adam as well, or perhaps Justin.. I do not recall for sure.. he kept getting decent cards, but just could not connect with the board at all... he was the second one out.. 4 players left..

Lori, was the third out, Justin sucked out with two pair.. she had limped in with AA and since he was in the BB, he was able to check his weak K3... flopped a K and rivered a 3...

That leaves Slayre, Adam, and Justin.. Adam is short stack, and Justin and Me are about even, with Justin prolly slightly ahead.... Adam went out 4th, losing to Justin, and giving Justin a 3 to 1 chip advantage over me.... I folded 73 from SB, for the 1st hand of the HU match.. suprising April, who stated.. 'your folding at heads up'.. I said sumtin like,, " you really can't play every hand HU'... and followed that with, 'At least that is what Phil Gordon says.. '.. not sure how that went over.. ;)

Very next hand.. I hold T2.... BB.. Justin completes from the SB, and I check.. flop is T73.. Justin bets T300, and I raise T300 to T600. Justin calls. I forget how events went on the turn, I know it was less than the T and there was no flush possible and a vague str8... I think he bet T500.... making the pot at about 2k.... I counted my stack, T2300, and went all in with my Top Pair, very weak ass kicker. Justin goes to tank for a bit, decides I am bluffing, or at least semibluffing, and calls me... he turns over 75.. he does not improve and I double up.

And then we chopped.. we both knew we would be there for awhile and him and Adam had plans... so, chopping was the best option, $90.00 win for each.. We did play one last hand, all in, just to see..

I had A8d, he had JcJh. Flop was rag, rag, diamond.. turn is 3d..... river is Jd.. I would have taken the rest of his chips with the flush....

The quote of the night..... I guess would be.. Adam had made a comment about me and my chip lead... and then Lori said, 'yeah Joe..??..? is it Joe?' I said, 'its John, but you can call me Joe if it helps.'

To which Justin said, 'As long as you preference it with "Chipleader". '

We all got a good chuckle out of that......

It was a fun time and it was great to see April and Adam again, and to meet more Austin poker players for the first time... I hope I get to play with them again soon.

Adam was as usual, a most gracious host.

Peace

Less than a week

Wow.. seems like just yesterday I was making a 'Less than a month' entry..

Honestly, I thought that the time between then and now, would pass grueling slow.. but it has not.. at least, not as grumesome as I imagined.. this time next week, I will be in Vegas with one of my bestest friends, both of us wondering, ''ok, what now?'' heh.. I truly hope to meet Pauly/
He has been a postive influence in my life, more than he knows, and thanking him in person, well... it would be keen.

Want to thank Pauly's brother as well, for teaching me how to play Razz......

Bloggers I have met.. that I am pretty sure are going.. April, ScottMc, CJ, PokerPrincess, so, if when ya'll see me, don't be running the other way... I promise not to take all your money.. ;)

I think some others from austin may be going, but, I am not sure...

I called Imperial Palace Poker Room and found out that they have a 1/2 NLHE table or two running pretty much all the time, and that is the level I will be most comfortable with... also, reading some of different sites out there that talk about poker rooms in Vegas and what not, most say the games at IP are pretty soft... I have never actually played a live ring game before, with total complete strangers as opponents... so, I am sure it will be exciting... I plan to sit down out a table while my friends takes my luggage to the room and then goes to get me a drink.. ha ha.. ( she won't go for that, but, I thought it would be funny to type.. )

I got my lil bankroll on Doyle's up over a dollar now.. its pretty much a crap shoot there... I tend to fold AQ on down, when people are all in... seems to be a pattern.. just wait for 3 or 4 to bust out, then you can start playing poker... I usually just sit out til that time... whatever works, right?

Been reading Dan Harringtons book.. Vol I. almost down with it.. Excellent read.. I like his style.. and I like how he makes comparisons between online play and live play... he also talks alot about SNG's, which I tend to play more than MTT's, and everything I read has been helpful.. I highly recommend this book. granted, there are some things in there that I already knew.. but, he has a way of explaining WHY I should know it.... kinda like, "oh, now wonder I do that".

Will be getting Vol II after the Vegas jaunt. ( well, that is the plan anyway )

Also got Mike Caro's book of tells, and I will prolly try to read and finish this one on the airplane... have it fresh in my mind, so to speak.. I got free drink coupons from Southwest, so, not sure how that plan will work out.. reading and drinking don't mix....

Whelp, going to see a christmas procession or sumtin now, at St. Edwards... not entirely sure what it is, but, all the grandkids are gonna go, so, its a no brainer for me..... camera camera camera.. can't forget it..

ok

peace