Music, Poker, and Life

Back by popular demand.... well, I'm back

2007-01-26T04:12:00.000-05:00

Don't know how much demand there was, or how popular said demand was. The important thing is, I'm back! It's been months since I've been here. It's a little dusty, and slightly smaller than I remember it to be. But enough about that, we have some catching up to do!

The name of this blog is Music, Poker, and Life.... because it's my damn blog, not yours, and I will compartmentalize it any which way I feel. So hear is what's going on in those three categories. Let's review, shall we?

Music
I guess the most exciting thing that has been happening as far as my musical interests are concerned, is planning our upcoming trip to New Orleans for jazzfest. I'm trying to put together a solid crew to stroll down Bourbon Street with, and it looks like the pieces are falling into place. The lineup for the Fairground was announced earlier today, and it's looking like a great couple of days of music! Jess and I will be there for 8 days, encompassing the 2nd weekend, and we're gonna see a TON of great music! Of course, it's not going to be without it's challenges. Jess and I fell in love with New Orleans, and it's gonna be difficult to pass through some of the devastated neighborhoods, and hear some of the locals stories, without feeling their heartache.

I haven't been to many concerts of late, at least none of the music variety. Jess and I did see George Carlin last weekend, that can be considered a concert I suppose, right? (But not music, I know, so go ahead and bitch at me for putting it in the wrong category) Carlin was a fun show, he was trying out all new material on us, some of which was funny, some of which was not. He's hoping to do one more HBO special, and this was the beginning stages of him putting that act together. Man, he is getting up there though! As he said it himself, he's now considered an old fuck.

Anywho, the only other music I have on my horizon now besides jazzfest, is when Galactic comes to town next week. I expect that will be a funky, bootyshaking affair as always. Those boys bring it every time out.

Poker
I haven't been getting down to Atlantic City as much as I would like lately. It's that homeownership thing, I think. As far as my online exploits are concerned, by bankroll is right about where it was last time we had chatted. Now, that doesn't mean that it has stayed constant..... it's been up and down more often than a yo-yo lately. A subpar season wagering on the NFL didn't help matters there either, because it all comes out of the same account. My bankroll took a much needed boost a week and a half ago when I placed 2nd out of 530 on a Bodog 12K Guaranteed Tourney.

When we do make it down to New Orleans for jazzfest, I have learned that we will be staying right across the street from the Harrah's Casino. Which will make it quite interesting as far as how am I going to survive 8 drunken days with zero hours of sleep, without losing everything I bring to that town, and then some. (Don't tell my wife I just said that, please)

Life
I am still employed, sending fruits and veggies all over this great country of ours. The job offer that I was hoping would be on the table after the holidays still has not presented itself, so now I am just biding my time, wondering if I am ever going to have to make that decision.

Home ownership is fun, I suppose. It's nice to be able to make as much noise as you want- lol. You are a little more concerned about property damage, however. Here's a little story for ya- We had a bunch of people over for New Years. Started out innocently enough, but after the drinks had been flowing for a few hours......

This is my dining room. Take note, specifically, to the wall on the left, behind the table. There's a mural on that wall, that we didn't particularly love, but until we had figured out which direction we wanted to take the decor in that room, both Jess and I were fine with leaving it up. OK, back to New Years..... the booze is flowing freely, good times are being had by all, there's lots of folks hanging out in the dining room (because there was dining going on, after all), and the topic of conversation switches to the mural, who is minding it's own business and not bothering anybody. Since we have moved in, we have mentioned many times to anybody who would listen that the mural was not in the future plans of the room. Somebody thought it would be funny to grab a Sharpie, and draw a boat in the middle of the lake. And a smiling sun in the corner. And a boy fishing off the country bridge. Then a U.F.O. And a dog taking a shit. Fornicating teenagers. And, next thing you know, I walk into the dining room and basically see a wall of graffiti that looks like it came out of Queens, circa 1986. So..... guess who spent New Years day removing wallpaper in his dining room! The fumes did wonders for my hangover.

Well, that's about all the time I have for now. Hope that my updates aren't as few and far between as they were the past few months. If you see me slacking, be sure to get on my case about it! And hopefully, some interesting shit will happen to me that I feel like I need to share.

Motivation....

2007-01-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

Thank you for staying tuned while I have been, ummmmm, on sabbatical. I'll be updating again soon! Jimidan, thanks for the motivation. =)

Plasma

2006-10-26T08:35:00.000-05:00

Owning a house can sure tire you out!

The last week and a half I have spackled, primed, painted, scrubbed, drilled, installed, screwed (not the fun kind), and hammered enough to last me for 20 years. The good folks at Home Depot now wave to me when I show up twice a day. There is still a lot to do, but we are getting there.

Big day yesterday....... deliveries!! I had been in a rush all week to get the living room painted because on wednesday the furniture was getting delivered. We bought a sofa and loveseat for the living room, and a huge sectional couch for the basement. And the TV. The whole reason I bought a house in the first place was so I can buy a kick ass TV. And when I found a house with a BAR in the basement, I knew I found a home for a great TV. I'm glad the deliveries didn't show up until late afternoon, if they were there in the morning I would not have gotten anything done all day!

I am still *slightly* bummed that I am not in Vegas right now. This was supposed to be the week (actually, 10 days) that I was going to be out there for a poker bender, and then the Vegoose music festival. But alas, we bought the house and there was all this spackling, priming, painting, etc that had to be done. The adult thing to do was cancel the trip. Doesn't mean that I like being an adult. Stupid sexy responsibility! BUT, since I missed out on the Vegas trip, I decided that a few days of this "vacation" would be spent in beautiful Atlantic City. I'll be heading down in a few hours (I miss you already plasma TV!), Jess will head down after work, and we'll be meeting up with Jimmy and Jennie down there sometime this evening. I will be looking forward to getting some quality time in @ the poker tables. Jess will head back on friday during the day, I may stick around and see what kind of fishes swim in for a friday night.

HOMEOWNERS!

2006-10-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

Check us out.....we have the keys and everything!

The good and the bad

2006-10-12T04:46:00.000-05:00

Overall, it's been a good week.

The positives:
*My back is feeling much better, maybe not 100 percent, but definitely 100 times better than it was the past 2 weeks.
*The New York Football Giants got their act together against the Redskins and went to 2-0 in the NFC East. I was able to get up to the game (thanks Jimmy!) and had a blast. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my wife, who allowed me to leave her stranded at the airport Sunday morning, so I could drive up to the Meadowlands for the game. She's the best.
*While the past few weeks on the virtual poker tables has been pretty brutal, I had a mini breakthrough of sorts in my Multi Table Tourney play. Well, whether it's a breakthrough, variance, or dumb-ass luck I do not know, but whatever it is, I'll take it. On Tuesday morning I finished 7th out of 425 in bodog's 1am $4000 Guaranteed, and tonight I just finished up the same $4000 G'teed tourney in 4th place (out of 395). 2 final tables in 3 days, not too shabby if I do say so myself. I would have been poised to make a run @ first place tonight, I was 2nd in chips and went out when my KK was cracked by the chip-leaders AQ.
*It's been over 3 weeks since I quit smoking. I've struggled at times, but I'd say 80% of the time it's not an issue. Unfortunately, that leaves 20% of the time when I am ready to physically harm someone.
*And last, but certainly not least, tomorrow we officially become homeowners!!!! We have the final walkthrough tonight, and then closing is friday morning. Excited, anxious, and nervous would accurately describe the mood around Jess and I.

The Negatives:
*The Yankees...... need I say more? And then the odd, tragic story of Cory Lidle. =(
*Several friends of mine have lost loved ones this week. My heart goes out to you. You know who you are.

Pain in the......

2006-10-02T01:40:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since I have had a chance to update this thing, I don't even know where to begin.

I missed the Bash @ the Boathouse. Yes, I suck. Seeing as how I had all these cool mofo's here in my backyard with endless amounts of alcohol and debauchery at my fingertips, I am quite ashamed. There's no way I could have gone however.... I couldn't even get out of bed for days. Somewhere along the way, I threw out my back. In a bad way. I missed 3 days of work and took more painkillers than even I care to imagine. It's somewhat better now, over a week later- still sore and stiff, but nowhere near the debilitating pain that it was at one point. But it did keep me from the Bash, and that ain't cool.

It's been over two weeks since I have had a cigarette, and while for the most part I am handling it well, there are definitely moments when I want to rip somebody's face off. Like right now. I hear that feeling subsides at some point. I only hope I don't hurt somebody first.

My father in law is doing as well as can be expected. Home from the hospital and going absolutely stir crazy because he really can't leave his couch. While that sounds nice for a day or two, and Lord knows I have pulled that off for a weekend here and there, I couldn't imagine being confined to that spot for weeks. He has a walker that he can use to get around a little, but the doctors don't want him moving around too much. And of course the insurance companies are going back and forth trying to get the other one to pay for his hospital bills, so that will be fun for the next six months. But we are glad that he is home, and all things considered, still in one piece.

Poker-wise, I have really been stinking up the joint lately. I've been playing way too many MTT's and been busting out on the bubble (at best). My rate of return on SNG's has been awful. And let's not even talk about my performance in cash games lately. So yeah, I'm having bankroll issues. Thankfully I've had 3 winning weeks with the sportsbook since the NFL season began, which is keeping my head above water. Barely. All this has been online, by the way. I haven't had the chance to get down to AC in a good number of weeks, and its probably a good thing with the way I've been hemorrhaging money lately. Plus, in less than two weeks we close on our house (YAAAAAAYYYYY!), and there is a big difference, in my mind at least, between dropping a couple hundred on a table in Atlantic City, and donking away a couple hundered of my online bankroll.

Speaking of online bankrolls, seems like our "friends" in Congress attached an Internet Gambling ban to a defense bill designed to beef up security at our ports, which easily passed over the weekend. Because after all, who doesn't want more secure ports? Unfortunately, the sneaky SOB, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) backdoored a piece of legislation through that will make it illegal for banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions to transfer money to and from gambling outfits overseas. We are still months away from the date when these banks have to comply, but be careful friends, as Big Brother will be watching, and they may just decide to confiscate your bankroll.

Stressful times

2006-09-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

It's been one hell of a week.

On saturday night, we got a call that Jess' dad was in the hospital after getting hit by a car while crossing the street. We rush down to the Hosptal of UPenn to find that he was brought into emergency surgery where they were trying to save his leg. Many hours later as the sun is rising on sunday morning, we get word that the operation went well, and with the help of a good amount of hardware, amputation was avoided. It was a looooong night. We're thankful that everything seems to have worked itself out, now we just keep our fingers crossed that there will be no infection (always an issue with multiple compound fractures), and that recovery will be as pain free as possible.

So of course being up all night saturday, I slept through a good portion of the Eagles-Giants game on sunday, but I was very happy with the result. Living as a Giants fan in Philadelphia can be unbearable when the Eagles are victorious. Would you believe I haven't heard a peep out of those obnoxious Philly fans this week! I've actually behaved myself and haven't rubbed it in too much, with as brutal as that loss was.

Things are moving forward on the house front. We'll be homeowners in three weeks!!!!! That's really right around the corner. We're already freaking over mortgage payments- lol. We took a good look at our budget, looking for places where we could easily tighten up and save a few dollars here and there, and have come to the conclusion that we spend WAY too much money every month on cigarettes. Between the 2 of us, we figured that we were wasting $300 a month. So on Monday, we both quit cold turkey. She hasn't missed it too much yet as she has had a cold and probably wouldn't be smoking while she is sick anyhow. I, on the other hand, have been an absolute *JOY* to be around the last 72 hours (~sniff~sniff~ smell that people??? the sarcasm is strong with this one) Especially with the events of last weekend, it may not have been the best timing in the world, but there's no time like the present. There's no doubt in my mind that I am now a non-smoker...... but these next few weeks aren't gonna be pretty.

This weekend is the big "Bash at the Boat", thrown by one Mr. Al Can't Hang and associates. I am looking forward to the festivities and meeting a few bloggers whose writing I enjoy on a daily basis. Of course, nobody will know who the hell I am, but that's their problem, not mine. I'd like to thank Al for putting me on the list of attendees on his blog, in turn pimping out this site to anyone desperate enough to work their way 30 deep into a list of blogs, looking for something decent to read. Not that they found that here. ANYHOW, I'll be heading over to the Boathouse after I get out of work on saturday evening, and will be throwing back copious amounts of alcohol with some fine fine people. From what I imagine, it will be a wild and crazy evening. I hear there will even be sorority pledges on call to act as designated drivers. Sorority girls, is there anything they can't do???

Some Pics of the house

2006-09-12T02:03:00.000-05:00

the screened in patio
Jess working the bar!
from the front
our backyard

WOWOW

2006-09-07T00:18:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just have to shake your head, smile, and thank the good Lord that He put people on this earth with no brains and disposable income. This poker thing is easy when you find players like that at your table.

I'm not one to criticize players for the most part, but this hand that I just played begs the question, "What the hell were you thinking?" Here's the setup..... 1/2 No Limit game on bodog. I buy in for $200, sit down and scoop the first pot to increase my stack to approx $220. Next hand, I get dealt A9 offsuit in the small blind. It gets limped around to me, so I throw the dollar in to see the flop. First 3 cards out come 333. It gets checked around. On the turn, the case 3 comes out, so now I play the board and have the nuts- Quad 3's with an A kicker. I throw out a pot sized bet just to see what happens, not expecting any action, or a split pot. I get reraised $25. Ok, we both have Aces, right? I figure what the hell, I'll push all in, we're gonna split the pot anyways. All $220 goes into the middle. I get called, like I expected. He flips up Q high.... NOT what I expected! And of course, just to mock him, a useless Q hits on the river. That very well may have been the most moronic play that I have ever seen at a poker table, or at least the most costly moronic play that I have ever seen at a poker table.

It's been a good week for me. My fortunes at the table have turned for the better (gotta love when variance works in your favor) so my bankroll is almost back to where it was 3 weeks ago. We have our house inspection tomorrow, I'll snap some photos and will post them here if anyone is interested. What the hell, I'll post them here even if nobody is interested.

One thing that I am going to miss when we move is our local tavern. Quotations Bar is just a few minutes from our apartment, and Jess and I have spent a LOT of time in there the past two years. I've laughed in there, I've cried in there, hell I even took my shirt off in there one time and waved it over me head(*shudder*). The owner, Mike, went to Villanova like I did. He opened the bar just a few weeks before we moved to the neighborhood, and we were immediately drawn to it for it's different decor- no pictures, instead there are famous quotes lining the walls and the tables (hence the name)- and their remarkable beer list. Every month Mike brings in a new selection of microbrews from around the world, keeping the top 10-15 sellers, and rotates out the other 20-30 selections. Usually I'll just walk into the bar and have one of the trusted barkeeps pick one out for me. The food is fantastic as well. Anyhow, I was quite honored when we walked in last week and found out that I made the beer list!! There was a Hazelnut Porter that was in stock that I was absolutely addicted to. And there was the description of it on the menu... "Shawn's favorite" Almost brought a tear to me eye. Of course, that was the same night that we told Mike that we bought a house in Delaware. I would like to think it was bittersweet for the both of us.

Full Speed Ahead

2006-09-02T23:41:00.000-05:00

Started looking at houses on Thursday night. Made an offer on Friday. Offer accepted Saturday morning.

I take longer than that to decide what I am going to have for lunch most afternoons.

Of course we still have a few hoops to jump through before we can be officially tagged as "homeowners", but we are well on our way. It almost has moved too fast to comprehend. We just decided on a realtor last week, one who we liked (hey, she was cute) and very aggressive. Jess and I are so laid back, we wanted someone who would push us to get things done. We were looking for someone to take us out of our comfort zone a little, after all we are making the biggest purchase of our life, I don't necessarily want to be nonchalant about it. Plus, she was cute. And my wife liked her because she kept complimenting her on her hair and her shoes.

It was the fourth house that we looked at. I must have passed over it 10 times while browsing through the internet listings. It never really gave me a feeling one way or another. I guess that's why it is recommended that you actually go inside a house when deciding on a purchase. The second we walked up to it, I had a real good feeling. A very attractive brick 4 BR, 2 BA Colonial, nice yard. We step inside and meet the current owners, an Italian couple in their 80's who have been in this house over 50 years, since the day someone hung a door on the hinges. The house was immaculate. Over the years he has done a ton of work on it himself, building a brick, screened in porch off the kitchen, all types of stone work around the exterior, handcrafted railings and woodwork. We walk through the main floor, *love* the screened in porch, check out the upstairs, and then head down to the finished basement. The basement is huge, and it is divided into two areas.... a family room, and this gentleman's wood shop. The second I walk into that family room I am 100% sold on this house. A built in, absolutely gorgeous, handmade bar! At risk of sounding overly dramatic and cheesy, it took my breath away. The other half of the basement is his woodshop. I don't know one single thing about woodworking, but I *do* know that a pool table is going to look fantastic in there!

We looked at one other house in the neighborhood, but we knew what we wanted. Gina, the realtor, called the listing agent and got the scoop. There was another couple who was coming back the next night to take a second look at the house, so we figured we needed to act accordingly. Their asking price was more than fair, and we didn't want to risk losing this house over a few dollars a month on the mortgage. We put the offer together Friday night, signed the papers, and got the call Saturday morning. If all goes as planned, we'll be in our house in less than 6 weeks!!!! C*R*A*Z*Y!!!! I can't wait to invite all of you for a drink at my bar!

In other news, I've been on a little rough streak on the poker front. I've been bouncing back little by little, but I suppose variance had caught up with me for that monster win streak I had a few weeks back. The cure for a bad streak is Saturday nights on bodog, where the fishies come to swim! I think I may just limit myself to playing on weekends in the future, it's just that good.

Football season is finally upon us! I can't wait. I'll be attending the season opener @ Giants Stadium against the Colts, Manning vs Manning. And for the first time in 3 years I have Sundays off, so I can enjoy football season the way it is meant to be enjoyed... with a beer in hand, following my various fantasy football teams via live updates on the computer. Although, I am already screwed in one of my leagues as I was the unlucky sap who drafted Domanick Davis with an early pick. In my defense, that draft was held over two weeks ago before anybody knew the severity of his knee injury.

AC + Snakes = good weekend

2006-08-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

This is one of those weekends where there are plenty of highlights to go around, you just don't know where to begin. I suppose I'll start off with the event I have been looking forward to for months now, and that's *finally* getting to see Snakes on a Plane! Jess and I went to see it last night, hitting the bar for a few hours beforehand so we could get in a quality SOAP mindset. I have to admit, with all the hype surrounding this movie, I was concerned it would be a let down once I actually saw it. It wasn't. I was absolutely giddy the second the opening credits rolled, and stayed that way for the next hour and half. The jokes were cheesy, the action non-stop, the snakes were scary, and Samuel Jackson was the MAN. Don't expect any Oscars for this one, but this was the most fun I have had at a movie theater in years. And isn't that what going to the movies is all about, being entertained?

We got home from the movie, and lucked out since the Yanks/Sox were in a rain delay so I was able to watch most of the game, even after catching Entourage. I sat down to play in a 10:30 touney on Bodog, but after about 15 minutes I had developed a *nasty* headache, and just wanted to lay down on the couch and watch the Yankee game. So I was about to just go all in with junk and get it over with, but instead I asked Jess if she would want to play it out for me. She sat down at the controls, and I moved to the couch. At first she was asking me every hand what she should do, and finally I just started answering "have fun with it". I ended up watching the game and napping on and off for the next 2 hours, and when I finally looked up at the clock it was almost 1am and Jess was still in the tourney. She ended up busting out just off the money, but I was proud of her!

Dave and I headed down to AC on saturday night. I went down $200 early, by giving away most of my chips to a loose aggressive player 2 seats to my left by playing weak hands out of position, then getting pushed out of the pot after the turn and/or river. I was very upset with my play after the first hour. I went for a little walk and got my head together, figuring I was gonna wait this guy out and get my chips back from him. I rebought for another $200, and played conservatively from there on, waiting for my chance. I picked up a pot here and there, and with about $270 in front of me, I pick up AA in the small blind. A couple of limpers in the pot when it comes around to me, I raise it to $12. Mr Loose aggressive call, as does one other player. Flop comes out A Q 4, no flush draw. I bet out $15, and get raised another $35 by you-know-who. The third person in the hand folds, so it's heads up. I decide not to slow play my set, this guy is likely to hang himself here anyway. I raise him another $35. He asks me how much money I have left in front of me. I don't even count my chips for him, I tell him "it doesn't matter, just put me all in." You could tell I confused him with that challenge, he sat there and stared at me for a good sixty seconds, when he eventually did push all his chips in the middle. I called in a heartbeat, and he flips over A3. Ace-three????? I wish I could play witha table full of these guys. I pull a $600 pot, and my night is looking up.

I ended up leaving with $85 profit, after I lost a pot to a med student who needed the money more than I did. I was dealt QQ, when he fires a preflop raise of $15 into the pot, This kid has been quiet all night, playing very very tight. I reraised him another $25 to see where I stood, and he called instantly. So I know that he has a hand now. Flop came out J 9 3. I still have an overpair to the board, so I throw out another $25. He reraises me all in, another $60 on top. I knew I was beat at this point, but with the overpair and only $60 to call into a $190 pot, I had to call. Sure enough, he turns over KK as I flip my QQ. The turn comes...... Q. The look on this poor kids face was like I told him I just ran over his dog. He was crushed. I felt bad. I really did. River card..... K. I felt better. He was elated. Than he ran over to me and apologized. A few times. I told him he didn't need to apolgize, I was the one who sucked out on him in the first place. He then told me that he was in med school, and he really needed this money, and that he would save my life one day. So I got that going for me.

I have another fantasy football draft tonight, my big money league. I have the #4 pick in the draft, so unless somebody has a brain fart and passes on one of the big 3, I am going to have a tough decision to make. It's a heavily Touchdown biased scoring system, with 1 point for every 20 yards gained rather than the traditional 1 point for every 10 yards gained, so that is going to influence my pick in a big way I think. Either way, I *HATE* picking #4 in this years draft.

A Worthy Cause

2006-08-18T02:25:00.000-05:00

I'm still not sure what type of readership my little space gets here, but for anybody who happens to stumble through here, you might want to check this out. It's such a good cause, it even made me figure out how to link to stuff through my blog! There's some cool stuff on there to bid on, or if poker isn't your thing, you can just make a donation if you like. It's all For Peyton.

In other news, fantasy football season is upon us!!! I had my first draft tonight, with 2 more in the next week and a half. I'm happy with the team I assembled, I was able to find some good value picks in the later rounds. Now we keep our fingers crossed that the inury bug doesn't hit my team.

Looking like a trip down to Atlantic City is in the works this weekend. I can stand to rebuild my bankroll a little bit since I had to dip into it to fix my car. I'm sure I will come back with a story or 2, hopefully nobody will flip me the bird and threaten me this time around!

Snakes On Crack On a Plane

2006-08-14T23:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sure by now, we have all been introduced to the movie event of the summer, Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L Jackson. I just happened to catch a little bit of his interview on Letterman, where was talking about the plot of the movie. Turns out these Snakes, in order to get them all riled up and super aggressive, have been sprayed with pheromones and according to Mr. Jackson, pheromones are basically crack to a snake. Well, he should know. Snakes on Crack on a Plane!!!

My excitement concerning Snakes on Crack was shortlived. Right after the Samuel Jackson segment, a commercial came on that I had not seen up until now, and I am thoroughly pissed off about. It seems that one of my favorite songs of all time has been misused to sell jeans, and unfortunately, it's not even the original version of Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, it's some crappy American Idol ripoff version. I will never buy another pair of Lee dungarees.

For those of you interested in following up on my previous post, it cost over $400 to fix the damage to my car when my tire fell off due to the thievery of my lug-nuts. Bunch of savages in this town. I dipped into my live poker bankroll to cover the expense. I just couldn't introduce an unexpected expense like that into my budget at this time, especially as Jess and I get nearer to buying a house. We went and looked at a bunch of houses this weekend in Delaware, and came away with 4 or 5 that we really liked. This week we'll talk to a few realtors and go with one we are comfortable with, and start moving ahead in the process.

My poker bankroll keeps moving in the right direction. I was on a huge rush 2-3 weeks ago and I have slowed down a little since, but I'm happy as long as it keeps moving upwards. In other news, the Vegoose festival slated for Halloween weekend has announced it's initial list of artists. Follow the link to the right to check them all out. So far, some of the acts I am looking forward to are the Black Crowes, Tom Petty (who I have never seen live before), The Killers, Jurassic 5, Galactic (of course), and Medeski Martin & Wood with special guest, Maceo Parker. I haven't seen Maceo Parker in almost 10 years, the last time I saw him, believe it or not, he was sitting in my living room of my off-campus college house after a show in Philadelphia. That was a killer show, it was a triple bill featuring Maceo, George Clinton, and ironically enough, Medski Martin & Wood. A few of the females I went to the show with ended up backstage, and Maceo and the guys in his band were looking to keep the party going. We got invited back to their hotel, but the general consensus was that we felt like heading back to the suburbs to party out there so we wouldn't have to worry about driving home, so they all came along for the ride. Somewhere in an old shopping bag filled with photos, I have a picture of Maceo and I chilling on a $10 couch in my crackhouse that we lived in while attending Nova. Priceless! I need to find it and get that framed.

Bunch of savages in this town

2006-08-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

I had a nice productive day planned before I am supposed to go into work tonight. I made an appointment to bring my car in for a few things that I have been putting off, a run to the bank, and to my insurance agent. With any luck, I'd still be home by noon and would be able to get in a few hours napping on the couch before I had to be at work. Things didn't go exactly as planned. I did jump out of bed @ 7:30 when my alarm went off. So far, so good. I'm out the door @ 7:45, hop into the car to head to the mechanic, put the ole Honda Civic in reversre, then *CRUNCH* loud grinding noise and not going anywhere fast. Hmmm, I put it in drive and try to pull back into the parking space. Move about a foot, and my car drops down HARD. What the fuck? I step outside the car, and there is my right front tire fucking rolling on the ground. Some asshole removed my lug nuts last night. Bunch of savages in this town. So I jack the car up to check the damage, and luckily it looks minimal. I start hiking up the hill into town, while I am on the phone with my wife blowing off some steam. She decides to leave work and head home in case I can't find what I need at the local auto parts store. I don't even know what I need at the moment besides some new lug nuts, so rather than continuing up the big hill in the summer heat, I turn around and head back to the apartment. On my way I give the local police a call to report this vandalism, and they gave the impression that they couldn't be bothered with it, but promised to step up patrols within our apartment complex @ night. Thanks guys!

Jess gets home, and we head to the auto parts store where I get the new hardware. Once home, I put the tire back on and start tightening the nuts, and it is apparent that two of the bolts must be bent because the nuts won't turn. Unfortunately, they weren't even opposite corners, which makes driving on it a risky proposition- but with my frustration level growing, a risk that I am ready to take. So I drive, slowly mind you, to the mechanic and that is where it sits. I'm waiting for a call back when they can assess the damage. So far today I have had three different people... the mechanic, the cop I talked to on the phone, and my apartment complex manager... ask me, "Who did you piss off?" That's the funny thing about it- we keep to ourselves here and haven't pissed off any of the neighbors. I don't think there is anyone out there who would consider me an "enemy", and if there is, I don't think I have pissed off someone that royally where they would track me down and try to kill me. Which pretty much leaves the possibility of some neighborhood kids, trying to be funny. But that is an awful lot of motivation for mischief to be walking around in the middle of the night, with a lug wrench, to cause some damage that wouldn't happen for hours, and that they likely wouldn't even get to enjoy watching happen! I'm 100% perplexed on this one.

Moving on up

2006-07-27T04:53:00.000-05:00

My online bankroll has been moving in the right direction as of late, and quickly at that. I've had a really good week. I guess when you make more $$ in your 2 days off than you bring home in your weekly paycheck, that qualifies as a good week, right? Or I just needing a better paying job, it can work either way I suppose- lol.

The main thing I have been doing differently is choosing a better game, rather than jumping into the first available seat. I'll take a few minutes and scout out a few tables, and then when I decide on a table and join the waiting list, I'll turn down openings until I can get position on a few "target" players who I think I can outplay. This strategy has done wonders for my bankroll, but I feel a little sleazy about it at the same time. Shouldn't I just be sitting down and letting my skills determine my wins and losses, rather than picking on those who just seem to be giving their money away? Am I becoming a better poker player, or just an opportunistic one? In a lot of the poker books that I have read, they talk about table selection being a big factor in finding success in the game. It was advice that I have overlooked until recently. It's good advice. I've run into a few more bad beats and suckouts than I would have normally, but the huge pots that I take when my hands hold up have more than made up for them.

Related to my choice of tables, has been my choice of games. I have finally convinced myself to stay away from the Multi Table Tourneys. While I have hit for some nice finishes in MTT's in the past, I am a much better ring game player at the moment. I just haven't been going deep enough to come close to breaking even on my buy ins lately. This has become very apparent ever since I started tracking my play. I record every session and every table that I sit down at. The day I went out and bought that notebook and started noting my results, it forced me to be a better player. Maybe not a better player, but a more responsible one. Up until that point, my bankroll management skills were severely lacking. To a point I guess you could say they still are, since I am still playing slightly above my bankroll. And let's not forget that just a few weeks back I nearly wiped out my account. I'd like to ride this current rush that I am on just a little higher, so I can get my bankroll to the point where it can handle the variance of playing 1/2NL and not worry about getting felted again. When that happens, I'll go back and reread a few books on tournament play and give those MTT's a try one more time. But for the time being, I'll stick with the cash games.

I've been itching to get back down to Atlantic City again, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Jess and I will be heading out of town tomorrow on a 4 day weekend to Wisconsin. My Dad has 6 brothers and sisters that are spread out all over the country, and every year we all get together during the last weekend of July. This year it is just outside of Milwaukee. It's always a fun time. A little more tame these days than I remember them growing up- back in the day, they would work through multiple kegs over the course of the weekend. I guess it is time for my cousins and myself to pick up the slack. There will definitely be some cards in the air as well, the men usually retreat to the garage to play some micro-limit poker, and the girls take over the dining room table to play a game called "May I". I don't know how the game is played, I just know that it is a very loud game- always resulting in shouting, sometimes tears, and very occasionally violence. It's extremely intense, and us men want no part of it.

Golfing in the AM

2006-07-23T23:29:00.000-05:00

Dave and I didn't make it down to AC this weekend. Surprise surprise, work got in the way again.... Go figure. Friday night I worked from 4pm - 6am, then had to be back in @ 10am. By the time my shift ended 11 hours later, I was feeling ok, but didn't know how much longer I had until I hit the wall. I ended up putting in a few hours online and called it quits up a couple hundred for the evening.

Looking forward to getting some fresh air tomorrow and playing a round of golf with my buddy Eric. I am sure there will be lots of talk about our trip to Vegas in October. He was looking to organize a trip in the fall with a couple of our buddies from college and our wives, and it just so happened that Jess and I were already planning on being out there halloween weekend, for Vegoose. How convenient! I'm not sure if anybody from that crew will be interested in attending the festival though, so there may be some scheduling conflicts. He was talking about catching one of the Cirque de Solei shows, David Spade, etc. The shows I'll be more interested in catching are those featuring Galactic, and Oysterhead (keeping my fingers crossed- lol), etc. It *has* been confirmed, however, that I'll be in Vegas for a whopping 10 days!!! I'll be flying out the morning of Mon Oct 23rd, landing in plenty of time to catch the Giants take on Dallas on MNF, and I'll make my return on November 1st. That will give me 4 days of poker before the wife hits the town. Hopefully I'll still have enough money to take her out to dinner when she arrives!

Looong weekend

2006-07-21T03:54:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Jess and I went down to the Borgata in Atlantic City. For our anniversary, Jess had gotten us tickets to see Robert Randolph & the Family Band and the Black Crowes concert last Sunday. It was also the first time I saw their poker room since the renovations, and I have to say I am impressed. The room is huge, a ton of tables, and their was little to no wait to get on. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to sit down, as there was no way I could have pulled off a profitable session. By the time we got there, thanks to an INSANE 26 hour shift I pulled at work, I was going on 32 hours without sleep. Yes, that right, a 26 hour shift. I went in @ 10am on saturday. At approximately 5pm, there was a power outage at the warehouse. We still had 12 trucks to ship, and we couldn't use 13 out of our 15 doors because the dockplates were electric. By the time we finished loading @ 4am, we were shipping trucks with three flashlights in the pitch black dark, because our backup power supply that generated the emergency lighting had also failed. The electric company showed up about that time with a huge generator on a flatbed tractor trailer, and as the highest ranking manager on duty, I had to stick around so when the power did come back on I could reset all the systems. We were fully operational by 5:30am. Sunday is usually my day off, but sadly I had switched with one of my co-workers so he could take a vacation, so I was scheduled to be back in @ 7am. There really was no point in driving home just to turn around and come back in so I stuck it out. By the time my relief came in, it was noon on sunday. The concert started @ 7pm, so I had just enough time to go home, get a shower, and we headed down to the shore. As you can imagine, I was absolutely fried by this point.

We arrive @ the Borgata with some time to spare, and I figure that I needed to load up on whatever stimulants I can get my hands on. So the choice was obvious.... Red Bull and vodka. So after I knock down a handful of these, we get ready to head into the venue, with a pit stop @ the restrooms on the way. I use the facilities, and as I go to wash my hands, my heart drops down to my knees. My wedding ring is gone. I check my pockets, the floor, my pockets again, take a peek in the urinal just in case, it is nowhere to be found. It's always been slightly loose, so I am figuring the worst at this point. I'm a mess- the sleep deprivation and the drinks aren't helping either. I break the news to Jess, and we start tracing our footsteps back through the casino just in case, with no luck. I was never certain that I had it with me when we left for AC, when I shower I always take it off because it is loose and slips off easily when my hands are wet. But I couldn't imagine that I wouldn't have noticed in the last 5 hours that I didn't have it on. But there is nothing we can do at this point, so I get another drink and try to take my mind off of it and enjoy the show.

Robert Randolph comes out first. His music just has a way of making everything alright in my soul. I saw him for the first time almost 5 years ago, and just hours before that show, I was laid off from my job. Walking into the show that night, I was at the lowest of lows. I had never lost a job before, I never saw it coming and I had no idea what I was going to do. Within minutes of RRFB taking the stage, I knew everything was going to be alright. And the same thing happened again on Sunday. Jess and I snuck onto the floor and worked our way up to the front, and danced our asses off. His set was a little on the short side, but that's ok because the Crowes were on deck. They blew the roof off the place. Chris Robinson just might be the best frontman of a Rock n Roll band of our generation. By the end of the show, I had forgotten all about the fact I was up for over 40 hours straight, the lost ring, and anything else that may have been bothering me. Of course, reality set in pretty quickly, and Jess and I decided that rather than spend the night @ the hotel, we would drive back to Philly and look for the ring at home. And wouldn't you know, when we got back to the apartment it was right there on the sink next to the shower, right where I left it.

Dave and I have plans on heading back down to AC saturday night for a session. I've been on a decent run as of late, working my online bankroll back up to where it was before I tilted off almost all of it a few weeks back. I've decided it is best to stay away from tournaments for the time being and just stick to the cash games, which is where I have been doing most of my damage of late.

2006-07-10T23:54:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned before how much I love my Sirius satellite radio? In addition to having great music at my fingertips that you just won't hear on conventional radio, I stumbled across another fantastic little programming nugget. Every day, 12 hours a day, live coverage from the World Series of Poker. They've been keeping an eye on all the tourneys (right now they are highlighting the final table of the Ladies $1000 No Limit event), interviewing a bunch of pros, taking phone calls, and basically making me wish I was in Vegas right now! Not that I am sitting around the house listening to every minute of the action, but it's good to know that it is out there.

Haven't played any live poker since last weekend, with Atlantic City being shut down for a few days and all. I am glad that Jersey got their budget straightened out and the casinos are back in business. Jess and I will be heading down to AC this upcoming weekend. Robert Randolph and the Black Crowes are playing the Borgata on Sunday night, and I am psyched for the show. I would like to head down early and check out their new poker room, but there is a chance that I may have to work Sunday morning. I *love* going into work on my days off! Especially when I have other things I'd rather be doing, such as checking out the Borgata's new poker room! But on the other hand, I really don't mind stockpiling all these comp days, because I'll be cashing them in for Vegoose at the end of October. Jess and I are trying to figure the logistics of it all now. If I play my cards right (pun intended) and don't do anything to piss off the wife between now and then, I may be looking at 9 days in Vegas =)

Winning Weekend

2006-07-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

I hit a one-outer on the poor guy. On the river. He had me dead to rights, and I put a terrible beat on him.

I'm not proud of it. I wasn't even particularly happy about it at the time, knowing that I was a 98% dog.

But then he gave me the finger. Flipped me the bird. And for good measure, told me to "Go fuck myself". I enjoyed scooping that pot.

Welcome to Saturday night at the Tropicana Poker Room.

Dave and I headed down to Atlantic City after I got out of work Saturday night. We sat down at the same 1/2NL table. Dave's only been playing for about 6 months or so, and I noticed vast improvements in his game this weekend at the table. He ended the night about $20 down, taking a brutal beat when his opponent rivered a gutshot straight in a large pot that resulted in a $200 swing. But he played solidly and aggressively all night, whereas just a few weeks ago when we went down he was the definition of a calling station. I'm enjoying having a "poker buddy", someone ready to hit the casino with me at a moments notice. Someone to bounce ideas off of, talk strategy, and share a bad beat story or two. Most of my other friends that play poker either live far away and always seem to be traveling (*ahem* Jimmy- lol), or have already started their family, and random, spur of the moment AC trips are out of the question. Plus Dave and I work together, we both have similarly odd schedules, so it makes it easy to plan a casino run. Not to mention that our poker exploits seem to make the gossip rounds at work. For the past two weeks, I've been going by the nickname "quads" at the warehouse (See previous post for the story). Which also segues nicely into the hand which earned me the finger.......

So we've been sitting at the table for about an hour or so, and I get dealt pocket 2's. I've been partial to playing deuces for the last couple of months, dating back to my friend Chuck's tourney where I folded pocket 2's preflop at the final table, and would have ended up flopping quads. So I call $10 preflop with the 2's, and three of us see the flop of A 6 2. Action is to me, and I throw out $15 as there is a flush draw on the board. One player folds, and the "Bird"man reraises me. He has $100 or so in front of him, so I try to put him to the test and I put him all in. It wasn't much of a test, in retrospect, because as soon as he insta-called me, I knew he had pocket Aces. He flips over the rockets, stands up, claps, and high fives his buddy. Turn is no help, and then here comes my one outer on the river..... the case 2. Quads again! (Have I mentioned how much I love the Trop???) He slams his fists down on the table as the dealer pushes the pot my way, as I mumble "Sorry about that man..... tough beat". I probably shoulda kept my mouth shut and not said anything, but I sucked out on him pretty bad and was genuinely sorry that it went down like that. That's when he gave me the finger and shouted across the table, "Go fuck yourself, you fucking Donk". Well then I couldn't help myself, I just started laughing my ass off, and that didn't sit too well with him.
HIM: Oh, you think it's funny that you play shit like that and get lucky?
ME: No, I think it's funny that you are acting like an ass
HIM: Well you're not going to be laughing when I am waiting for you outside this poker room and I kick your ass
DEALER: Floor!!!!
His buddy got him out of there pretty fast after that.
I don't think that I made a horrible play on that hand, necessarily. Of course, if I put him on aces I get out of his way, so feel free to fault my ability to read the opponent, but holding a set I am gonna put my money in the middle and take my chances. But honestly, who flips somebody the finger at a poker table? What is this world coming to? And not that it really matters to me one way or the other, because I'm certainly not personally offended by a little foul language and a finger gesture, but I was surprised the dealer let it go as far as it did before calling for the floor. I guess it takes threatening statements to get management involved in Atlantic City. But on the bright side, Dave and I headed back to Philly @ sunrise, and I had this jerk's $$ in my pocket- I finished up $280 for the evening. Not to mention that I just cemented my new nickname at work..... "Quads"

Online, my bankroll has been taking huge hits for the last week or so. I have a bad habit of playing too many large buy in Multi-Table Tourney's, and that will dwindle a modest bankroll pretty fast. Of course it all can't be attributed to playing these MTT's. I hit a bad run of cards, and I tilted something awful last week. Then I broke the cardinal rule of bankroll management...... I moved UP in limits, trying to get it all back. And I don't really have to tell you how that went. Yeah, I basically went broke. A month ago I had almost $2500 in my Bodog account. Yesterday I had less than $100. I coulda bought some nice shit with that. I could have booked my trip to Vegoose with that $$. I could have put some money into my car, or even used it as part of a down payment for a new ride. I could have done a lot of things with that 2 grand. But I tilted it away. I know that even at 1/2 I was playing above my bankroll, and I was playing with fire. Moving up to try to get it back wasn't too bright on my part either. So what do I do today? I go against my better judgement, and deposit $200 into my account so I can sit down at a couple of large buy in MTT's. I played the 100K guaranteed ($100+9 entrance fee) which I finished middle of the pack. Up until the first break I was well above the average stack, then shortly thereafter I was crippled when my straight ran into a rivered flush. I then entered a $50+5 MTT. 106 entrants, 18 make the money. I was shortstacked almost the entire time, at one point down to T$1200 with the blinds @ 300/600 (that was after I doubled up another small stack, before you go wondering what I was doing waiting so long to make a move) It seemed that every time things got really desperate, I looked down to find KK- I must have had kings 5 times over the course of the tournament. I battle my way into the money, make it to the final table still shortstacked, and steal my share of blinds to stay afloat until we get 5 handed. I catch KK again in the big blind, with an all in and a caller in front of me, and triple up at just the right time. Eventually I am heads up against a player who has me outchipped 4-1, and I take my chances with A7 when he wakes up with JJ, and I don't improve. I collect $1060 for my efforts, and I am on my way to building my bankroll back to a respectable level. Now if I could only find a good book on money management.

Poker Playlist

2006-06-23T05:55:00.000-05:00

Nothing new to report on the poker front, the career has once again gotten in the way of my poker game. Basically, one week every month my life gets put on hold as it is my turn in the rotation for the closing shift at the warehouse where I work as a transportation manager/dispatcher. Which means going in @ 4PM and leaving between 5-8AM. So there is no poker to be played as sleep takes priority. Anyhow, not to be a lame-o and take a week off from this blog (all two-and-a-half of my readers would be devastated, I am sure... lol) I will share with you my "poker playlist" that I usually turn on as I sit down for an online session. I have yet to join the world of ipod owners, but if I did I am sure it would be on there too. I'm not quite sure when I will get an ipod, I still have way too much fun with my satellite radio. I don't know what I did before I ever had it. Anyhow, enjoy the playlist.....

Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
If I had a Million Dollars- Barenaked Ladies
Crazy Game of Poker- O.A.R.
So Damn Lucky- Dave Matthews & Friends
M.E.M.P.H.I.S.- Disco Biscuits
Bullets- Bob Schneider
Free- Phish
Right Place, Wrong Time- Dr. John
Sweet Emotion- Mike Gordon & Leo Kottke
Bakers Dozen- Galactic
Give a Little Bit- Supertramp
Big Pimpin- Jay Zee
Lucky- Secondhand Jive
The Gambler- Kenny Rogers
Going in the Right Direction- Robert Randolph
Superstition- Stevie Wonder
I left my Wallet in El Segundo- Tribe Called Quest
Too Much Too Soon- Llama
Paint it Black- Rolling Stones
Another One Bites the Dust- Queen
First Tube- Phish
Bullhead City- Umphree's McGee
Pretty Vegas- INXS

Trip- Quads

2006-06-18T05:34:00.000-05:00

Just getting back in from a fun Saturday night in Atlantic City. After working an 11 hour day, I wasn't really in the mood to make the run, but my poker fiend (I mean friend) Dave must have called me at work four times today tempting me with the trip down, even though he has to work @ noon on Sunday. So I get out of work around 9PM, head on over to his place to pick him up, and we make our way down to the Trop. We immediately get seated at the same 1/2NL table. To my right is a young kid of 22 or 23, beard, dreadlocks, all hippied out, and he is owning this table. He has about $700 in chips in front of him. I come to find out that he has been there about 7 hours by the time Dave and I sit on either side of him. We start shooting the shit about music, bands we have seen, festivals we have been to and whatnot. He is quietly filling me in on some of the players at the table, as we are down on one end... who plays any 2 cards, who you can raise out of the pot, who the maniacs are and who you have to watch out for. All good info for a guy like me who is just sitting down at the table.

We're playing for about an hour and a man joins our table, who is obviously on *something*. He's definitely not drunk, but playing like he was just doing some bumps in the parking lot or all jacked up on speed. Either way, he sits down and buys in for $100. On the first hand, he raises all in preflop on a $8 pot. So this is how it's gonna be. We fold around and he shows A 10. Ok, here we go! Third hand he pushes all in after the flop with pocket 8's with one overcard on the board, to win a whopping $14. He tries the same move a few hands later, when my hippie friend to my right calls him with pocket queens. The maniac has to rebuy. Hippie Power! A few more hands go by, and while he is still being aggressive and picking up small pots, at least he has moved away from the all-in move for a couple of minutes. In the big blind I look down and find pocket 7's. By the time it comes around to me, the pot is raised by *guess who* to $12. I call, and promptly flop my set. Sweet! I check it to the maniac, and he bets $25. With 2 spades on the board, I don't want to give him any chance to draw out on me, so I put him all in right there. He calls instantly, and shows me the KJ of spades... lovely, I feel like I have seen this somewhere before. Turn comes a blank, and the river..... you guessed it- SPADE. But, it was the one spade in the deck I was happy to see, the seven of spades, giving me quads! I take down a very nice pot. 30 minutes and 2 more rebuys later, the maniac takes off.

An hour or 2 goes by, and I have just about doubled my buy in. Dave isn't doing so well and has had to rebuy at this point. Anyhow, I am in middle position, and I look down to see pocket jacks. The standard bet at this table has been $8-$12, so I throw out the $12 bet after a few limpers enter. 3 callers. Not too thrilled with that. The flop comes, and this time there will be no suspense- JJ8. Flopped the quads! Checked to me, I check it quickly as well, as does the rest of the table behind me. Turn is the 3d, which puts a third diamond on the board. I say a little prayer to the poker Gods that someone just hit a high flush. First to act bets $20, which I smooth call, when the next player to act raises it to $60. I can barely contain myself. One folder, and the original bettor calls. I do a little acting job as I gleefully call. The River.... well who cares what the river is, I honestly didn't notice with what I was holding. First to act goes all in with his remaining $35. I think about how to get as much $$ out of the played behind me. After he reraised on the turn, I figure he is holding something big and want to give him the opportunity to really hang himself- so I just raise it up $35. In retrospect, that was the incorrect move, I just have to get all my money in the middle of the table. He just calls my $35 raise, and flips over 88 for the full house. The gentleman who went all in does indeed have the flush. And I scoop a $350+ pot.

Mr. Full House gets his revenge on my shortly thereafter. I look down to find pocket Kings, and there are three of us left after the initial round of raises and reraises that see an uncoordinated, Q high flop. I bet out, and get reraised by the gentleman who lost to my four of a kind earlier. My music-loving friend on my right folds, and I call as we are heads up. The turn comes out and pairs the board with another 7. I bet $40 and am reraised all in immediately. It wasn't tough to fold my kings at this point, even though I tried to talk myself into making a bad call. My opponent laughs and turns over pocket 7's for his four of a kind.

All in all it was a good trip. Dave and I left @ 4:30 am and we were back in Philly by 6am so he could get a little sleep befor eheading into work, and I could catch some shuteye before going over the in-laws place for some Father's Day festivities. After that, a nice relaxing day is planned.... I'll try to catch some of the Bonnaroo webcast tonight, I am particularly looking forward to checking out Matisyahu's set, moe, and the Superjam featuring Trey and Mike, with the Benevento Russo Duo (which looks like it actually took place on saturday night, but they are webcasting it on sunday night). Anyhow, I am sure there will be some online poker included in the evening somewhere along the line as well.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like a redheaded step-child

2006-06-14T23:17:00.000-05:00

I've been taking a beating on the tables lately. My online bankroll has been cut in half in a weeks time- ouch! My bad run seemed to start when Jess and I went to Atlantic City the weekend before last. Thankfully, an early hit on the slot machines saved the trip from being a total disaster. I'm not one to play slots usually, that is where Jess prefers to spend her time when in the casino. On our way to find a place to eat dinner, she had decided to burn a voucher she had in her pocket at the $1 Wheel of Fortune slots that we were walking by. I sat down next to her and threw in a twenty, just to pass the time with her. And within three spins, I hit for $750. Now if we were smart, we would have just found something else to do with our time and had our nice little 5 day vacation at the shore paid for. Yeah, fat chance! I had yet to even hit the poker tables! I gave Jess $300 at dinner from our score, after all she did pick the machine next to my lucky machine! After dinner I sat down @ the 1/2 NL game, and it was a pretty typical session.... A little up, a little down, a little up again. Jess wasn't doing so well. Twice during the next few hours she visited me in the poker room with her hand out, and she is just too damn cute to say no to- lol. But it was house money, so as far as I am concerned, as long as she is having fun it's fine by me. Anyhow, back to poker. After a 8 hour session, the table I was sitting at broke- I was exactly even, I had my $200 buy in left in front of me. I moved to another table, where one gentleman just had a mountain of chips in front of him. He spoke with a very thick accent, was ultra aggressive, and was catching cards left and right. I started off well at this this table, and soon found myself up $80. I get dealt 5/7 of diamonds in the small blind, and just about everyone at the table limps in for the family pot. Flop comes 3/4/7, so I have top pair/ shitty kicker with an inside straight draw. I check, foreign guy bets $15, myself and one other player behind me calls. The turn comes and fills my straight- it's the 6 of clubs, which puts 2 clubs on the board. I check again, the player behind me bets $15, and foreign guy raises him another $40. I completely have this man on the flush draw, just a gut feeling from observing him push people around for the last hour or so. So I push all my chips into the middle of the table. I'm hoping this is enough for him to lay it down, even though he would be getting awful odds to chase. The original bettor folds, and with his mountain of chips in front of him, foreign guy calls. He flips over pocket clubs just as I thought, and the dealer flips the river card, the Ace of clubs. I leave the table without saying a word as his mountain of chips starts looking more and more like Everest. It was 5am at that time anyhow and as good a time as any for some sleep.
The next morning Jess and I wake up, and she is experiencing some serious gamblers remorse, thinking of all the nice, pretty things she could have bought with the $500 I gave her rather than giving it back to the one armed bandit. We grab some lunch, and talk ourselves into a couple more hours in the casino before we make the trip down to Cape May, NJ. I walk into the poker room just in time to get seated at a 1/2 NL table that they were just opening up. After an hour it becomes very apparent to me, that the majority people playing poker at 2 PM on a monday afternoon aren't playing hooky from work, they ARE at work. I cut my losses and leave down another $100. Off to Cape May we go.

The rest of vacation was nice, very relaxing. We had a great room right across the street from the beach, but the weather was kinda lousy so I spent my time alternating between napping and drinking.

Since being back from our little excursion, my online bankroll has taken a nosedive. I haven't come close to cashing in a MTT, but I can't seem to stop myself from buying in, and my cash games have been abysmal, to put it politely. I took a few days off earlier this week, but I jumped back in tonight and am up $10 at the moment. If I had any brains about me, I'd drop down limits right now, but I am still playing my usual 1/2NL. I never claimed I was bright.

On a much better note, this week the announcement was emailed around that the Vegoose music festival will be back again for it's second year. I had such an absolute blast last year, there is no way I won't be in attendance again this year. Jess and I have already started looking at flights and hotels. Last year I put Jess on a plane the day after the festival ended and I stayed an extra couple of days to focus on poker. This year, I think I will head out for a few days before the fest and then have Jess join me. Hopefully I won't be broke when she gets there! We had such an awesome crew out in Vegas last time, we must have rolled 25 deep. Sleep deprivation, an absurd amount of alcohol, party favors, and hot music makes for an unforgettable combination, not to mention the fact that it's VEGAS! One night we all pooled some $$ and rented a suite at the MGM with a huge patio (jacuzzi included) overlooking the strip, and threw a toga party. Even on halloween weekend, we got plenty of stares in our togas as we made our way from the Excalibur where Jess and I were staying, across the MGM casino floor, and up the elevators! Some of us then made our way to the Galactic show @ the House of Blues, which was rocking..... when we returned @ 5am the party was still going as strong as when we had left. I found it to be quite amusing watching the sun rise and calling all my friends back on the east coast as they were making their way into work.... yeah, I can be a prick like that. I'm looking forward to an even bigger crew this time around. So any of you who may be reading this, let's rally the troops!

All work and no play

2006-05-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

It's been over a week since I have played any poker. I suffered through a looooooong week at work, amassing over 70 hours due to the Memorial Day holiday (including one marathon 18 hour shift). Unfortunately, I am on salary so this did nothing for my paycheck! It didn't do much for my state of mind either, so it's a good thing I stayed away from the tables. I was so fried by the end of the week that I had trouble forming complete sentences.

On Saturday night, Jess and I attended the wedding of a couple of good friends of ours. I actually showed up late, just getting out of work in time to make dinner at the reception. It was a great time, the reception was actually in 30th Street Station.... which is similar to New York's Grand Central Station, with some amazing architecture, marble and granite everywhere, etc. Very interesting concept and a ton of fun. This was the same group that was at the poker tourney the week before, so of course everyone had their chance to share their bad beat stories after 10 gin and tonics. On the way home, we stopped at the Wawa right up the street from our apartment. For those of you who don't know what a Wawa is, it's probably the best convenience store on earth, next time you are in the northeast or midatlantic states search one out. Anyhow, as we are waiting for our made-to-order 2am sandwiches, this random guy comes up to us and asks "Hey, have you ever heard of the band My Morning Jacket?" I state that I have, then he points to a guy next to the fresh doughnut case. "Does he look familiar to you?" I admit that he doesn't, as I have never seen a picture of the guys in the band. Anyhow, turns out it really was the keyboard player for the band, they were opening for Pearljam in nearby Camden, NJ. He was a pretty down to earth guy, he seemed pretty psyched to be touring with Pearljam, understandably so. A pretty fun drunken quasi-celebrity sighting in a random Wawa at 2 in the morning.

On sunday I headed back into Philly with my wife to Penn's Landing, where the annual "Jam on the River" festival was taking place. Finally, a day off just to hang out and forget about work. Saw some fun bands, including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Railroad Earth, and Ween. I really got my groove on to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, as all the stress and tension of the week melted away in the hot Philly sun. Jess and I were contemplating heading over to the Electric Factory for the Disco Biscuits late night performance, but their show wasn't going to start until after 11PM, and I had to be back in work @ 10am on monday (yes, we even work on Memorial Day, which coincidentally was my 1 year wedding anniversary)

Looking ahead, I'll be able to get back in the poker groove this weekend. I'll be taking a few days off of work early next week, and Jess and I have a few days at the fabulous Jersey shore planned. We reserved a room at the Tropicana in Atlantic City for sunday night, where I should be able to quench my poker thirst as Jess hits the slot machines. Then monday we will head down to Cape May for a few days, where we have absolutely nothing planned. So another trip up the Parkway to AC isn't totally out of the question.... hahaha.

Results

2006-05-21T17:23:00.000-05:00

I had to work saturday before the tournament, and all day I was stressing over if I would be able to get out in time to make the first hand. I don't have the kind of job where I can leave at a designated time, my work day ranges anywhere from 7 to 14 hours- you are done when you're done. I had called ahead and instructed my buddy Chuck, the host, to hold my spot and blind me away until I had arrived if I wasn't there in time. Luckily for me, we kicked some ass @ the warehouse, I got all my drivers loaded nice and early, and I walked out of work with enough time to go home and pick up Jess, who had decided she wanted to deal with the girls. We booked it up to Chuck's house with plenty of time to spare.

Ok, so we have the 30 entries at $105 each. 250 starting chips, blinds starting @ 1-2, and raising up every 20 minutes. Final table of 6 makes the money, with $1500 to the winner. Everybody in the money is required to tip out at least 10% for the house to cover the beer and food, and take care of the girls for dealing. We draw for table assignments, 5 tables of 6 to start. I end up with my friendly nemesis, Ralph, at my table. I lived with Ralph many years ago, he's a great guy, but he's always been my rival in things like poker, fantasy football, etc. Plus my wife has commented on quite a few occasions how she thinks he is "a total hottie" (her words, not mine) so there's a little extra animosity there. Anyhow, I like seeing him directly on my right, he's one of the few guys in the room I have played with before, so I am feeling comfortable.

Through the first couple of rounds I take a few small pots, when the first important hand of the tournament for me takes place. It's the last hand before the first break, which takes place between rounds 3 and 4. I get dealt pocket queens UTG, and raise 4 times the big blind. I get one caller, an extremely loose but aggressive player who has showed down some marginal hands up to this point. Flop comes Jh/7h/2c. I bet out 50, and the loose aggresive player counts up his chips, and pushes all in, a 130 chip raise. I call, and he flips over 6h/8h. Turn comes a blank and the river is the 5h, giving him his flush. I'm steaming, and on the short stack. Thankfully it was the last hand before break, because I needed to step away and collect myself.

Right after the break I get moved to a different table, where with my 60 remaining chips I need to get aggressive. My first 2 hands are AdKd and AcJc, and I pick up a few chips with those hands. A few minutes later in the big blind I push all in against a limper and the small blind with 2/7 offsuit. What the hell, I'm feeling reckless baby! Both parties fold. I'm picking up chips here and there, still below the starting stack of 250 but getting myself out of immediate danger, anyhow. Then I was involved in one of the oddest hands I have ever seen. I'm holding J7 offsuit in the small blind. 1 limper when it comes around to me, so I call and the big blind checks. Flop comes out 10s/9c/2c. I figure this flop might have missed everyone, so I put out a pot sized bet. Big blind folds, and the limper calls. He has slighly fewer chips than I do at this point. Turn comes out Kh. We both check. I have this guy on the flush draw after he decides to see the free card. 5th street pairs my 7's, no club. I push all in, hoping my read was correct, looking to take the pot right here in case he had either the 9 or the 10. It was an aggressive, and probably reckless play on my part. He goes in the tank for a minute, and finally says that he's gonna call, since he was planning on pushing all in anyway. My heart sinks when I hear this, figuring I am on my way to the garage to play in the cash game that has started up. Then he flips over 3c/8c. He was on the flush draw like I had thought, and called my all in with 8 high!!!! It took every ounce of self control not to bust out laughing right in front of him.

After I busted out 3/8 boy we were down to 12, so we consolidated tables again. I was still a below average stack, but I'm feeling good about my play to this point. I keep hanging around, looking to get aggressive but just not getting the cards to make a move. Before you know it, we are on the bubble and my M=7. We're playing 4 handed at my table, with the gentleman on my left being forced to play just about anything with just enough chips to pay the blinds maybe 3 more times around. On the button, I pick up pocket 5's. UTG folds, I push all in, small stack to my left calls, big blind folds. Heads up, and it's a race..... small stack flips over Q7 of spades. My 5's hold up, and we are in the money!!!

Coming into the final table I am 5th out of 6 in chips. Blinds are now 50/100. Just a few hands in, I pick up pocket 2's in the small blind. The small stack calls, folds around to me, where I just call, hoping to see a cheap flop. The big blind asks small stack to count up his remaining chips, an additional 300 or so. I'm thinking if he raises just enough to put the small stack I will call, but instead he decides to go way over the top, forcing me to go all in if I wanted to call. Smart move. Ralph (my arch nemesis, remember him?) has been sitting behind me for the last couple of rounds watching me work- thoroughly impressed with how I've played the short stack into the final table. Before I muck my 2's, I show them to Ralph and tell him that I know I should be playing them, because I am about to fold the winning hand. Small stack shows AJ, big blind shows AK. Flop comes........... 10/2/2. I woulda flopped fucking QUADS! Small stack doesn't improve and goes out in 6th. Two hands later, I pick up AK under the gun, push all in, folds around to the big blind who calls me with Ah9h. He pairs his 9 on the flop, I don't improve, and I collect $200 for my 5th place finish. I tip out $30 to the house and the dealers, and go find my wife who is absolutely thrilled that I cashed in her presence. Although, sticking to her superstitions, she didn't want to come anywhere near the room when the final table was going on- lol. But I think it is safe to say that we put the notion of "bad luck" to rest.

So I played the short stack all the way to the final table, for a profit of $65 on the evening. Not exactly the $1500 I was shooting for, but all things considered, I'll take it. Throw in the $50 Jess got for dealing, the plentiful beer supply, enough food to feed an army (including wings, hot roast beef, meatballs, a 6 foot sub, baked ziti, burgers, dogs, salads, etc) and I would have to say that it was a worthwhile evening.

Getting ready

2006-05-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night is the home tourney that I had mentioned a few blogs ago. $100 buy in, the exact number of people who will play is unknown, but there will be at least 30, so it will be a nice payday for someone. I'm looking forward to that "someone" being me! I've had a pretty steady week, slightly ahead in my cash games and playing well in the MTT's. I've been exclusively playing the MTT's the past couple of days to get in a tournament state of mind for saturday. Last night I placed 5th in a $50 buy in MTT for a tidy little profit. I was 2nd in chips @ the final table when I ran into the chip leader, after I rivered a flush while he rivered the full boat! Can't do much about that.

Earlier tonight I was playing in a 25K guaranteed 6 handed tourney on bodog (which had a RIDICULOUS overlay, by the way. 306 entrants @ $40+4) Anyhow, I was the chip leader for the first hour and a half when I tripled up on the third hand. I had pocket 7's, flop came Q 7 3 with no flush possibilities. I check on the flop, we have a raise and a reraise after me. I call, and the original raiser comes over the top. I couldn't get my money in fast enough. The raiser had AQ and the other player had KK. After taking that hand, I bullied the others at the table for a while, picking up the blinds and small pots here and there. Once the antes kicked in, I found myself at a table with 2 other huge stacks. I picked the wrong times to be aggressive, and next thing you know I am no longer among the big boys. I don't play shorthanded tourneys very often and at this point I am probably too conservative with my starting hands, so the blinds and antes caught up to me quickly. Something I definitely need to keep in mind moving forward. Anyhow, with my M around 10 it is time to make a move, and I pick up the "Hellmuth" (pair of black 9's) in late position and decide to make a stand. I got called by AK and my nines didn't hold up. I fell hard and fast. Definitely one to file under a learning experience though, particularly in regards to shorthanded play, and big stack strategy.

Check back late sunday for the results from the tourney on saturday night! I am sure I'll have a couple of good stories to tell.

Early Exit

2006-05-14T13:31:00.000-05:00

I just got knocked out of the 100k sunday tourney on bodog. I don't like sharing bad beats usually, because nobody really likes hearing them, but this one has a point to it- so here goes. I am dealt AA in the big blind, UTG raises 4x the big blind, folds around the table to the small blind, where he pushes 3x the raise. All I can see is my stack getting bigger, but I want to isolate the small blind, so I bump approx 4x his re-raise. In the chat box, the small blind writes..."Wow- I guess I am beat. You must have the aces. Well, good luck all" and then pushes all in. I insta-call and he shows QQ, with a Q on the turn.

Why the hell do people do that?????????? It would have been one thing if he thought I was trying to steal the pot, or thought I was overplaying 10's or jacks, but this guy put the correct read on me. Shit, I may as well have typed in the comments that I had AA- he knew. What drives someone to put their life on the line as a 4-1 underdog? It's not like he was getting shortstacked and needed to make a move, the tourney was only 20 minutes old.

So I've been sitting here steaming for a little bit now, trying to get inside the head of this player. I've come up with a few things that might explain his play.....
* It could be his MTT strategy- take chances early with pairs and draws, either go broke or amass a big stack, and take your shot at a big payday. If that's what it was, then more power to him. It worked this time. Hopefully I'll be seated next to him with AA again when it doesn't work.
* Simply put, he's a Donk.
* Maybe he had somewhere to be, laundry to fold, soup on the stove, or his dog just ran out the front door and he needed to catch him.
* He's a donk.
* Maybe the $110 buy in means nothing to him. Maybe he's playing with a bankroll of $25,000. Maybe he's sitting at a juicy 30/60 game somewhere and he needs to focus his attention on that for a while.
* or, he could just be a donk.

I know I have made similarly stupid plays in the past, and thinking back on some of them has calmed me down a little bit. I guess what goes around, comes around. 4 out of 5 times I'll be well on my way to a nice stack in that situation. I've been playing very well lately, making good reads, some nice laydowns, and being aggressive when I have the goods. A few hands earlier in the 100k tourney I had KK (I've been catching great cards the past few days) raised heartily preflop with one caller, the dreaded ace came on the flop of course, and the caller who has been *very* aggressive so far in the tourney checks it to me. He had been contesting every pot so far, and something just didn't feel right. I checked it on the flop and the turn. He overbet the river and when I layed it down he showed AA in the hole for his set. A few months ago I probably would have gone broke on that hand because I wouldn't have been aware that this guy had put on the brakes. Of course, then I would never have had the honor of getting my Aces cracked by a donk.

Card Dead

2006-05-11T03:29:00.000-05:00

I've seen enough 8-3 offsuit in the last six hours to last me a month. Tonight was one of those frustrating evenings that is a test to see if I really do have the patience to fold for hours at a time. I'm not sure if you could say that I passed with flying colors, but in the past I would have lost a lot more of my bankroll that I did tonight, so I suppose that's a positive. Although if one day turns into three days, which turns into a week, I am sure I am gonna lose my head eventually. Just another part of my game I need to work on, having enough patience and discipline to look at it as one long session. Looking at the big picture, I've had a damn good week, up $550 bringing the bankroll to just over $2000. And considering where I was just 3 weeks ago, I have nothing to complain about.

I think I need to plan a trip to AC soon to work on my live game. I have a home tourney ($100 buy in, expecting about 50 people or so) coming up next weekend, and can stand to sharpen my skills. At these tourneys, we usually convince a few of the wives & girlfriends to deal, and we require that the winners tip them out at the end of the night for their efforts. Jess has always enjoyed the experience and the extra couple of $$ in her pocket, and was planning on dealing next weekend. Today she told me that she wasn't sure if she wanted to do it this time around, given the recent circumstances. (See my previous entry if you haven't read that yet.) Of course I told her she was just being silly, and I wanted her to go- but she's not convinced. That really puts the pressure on me to do well if she does attend.... we need to put this behind us. Of course if she decides not to go, I may just have to throw the tournament- I couldn't imagine her reaction should I cash after she stayed away! Just the fact that she had asked me if I would prefer if she not deal has me *slightly* concerned that she is reading into this too much.

Meet my wife

2006-05-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

Remember when the Brady Bunch went to Hawaii and found the "bad luck" tiki idol? When it comes to poker, I have my own version of the idol. It's my wife. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife dearly. We have a fantastic relationship. She's my rock, my motivation, my inspiration, so on and so forth. But she is bad news when it comes to my poker game. It's not that we have arguments or disagreements concerning poker, I am very lucky in that regard. She understands that I enjoy the game, as long as I am not losing the rent money. She doesn't mind that I make the occasional run to Atlantic City, or sit at the computer for a couple hours a night, or the fact that I've been to Vegas 4 times in the past year (once for a few days during our honeymoon, even). She's cool with it. But it's become very apparent the past few months that when she is nearby, I don't win. I can't win. It's bad. Whenever Jess would come home from work, or come in from watching TV in the other room, even if it's just for a few moments, I go bust. At first we made it into a big joke, and laughed it off. It's just a crazy coincidence. But it kept happening. Again and again. To the point where not only are we both aware of it, but it's starting to really bother her.

She knocked me out of 2 tourneys today. The first was the 100K sunday tourney on bodog. She left the apartment to go shopping in the early afternoon, so I jumped online and promptly won a satellite qualifier into the game. I amassed a quality stack early on, and was in very good shape heading into the first break, when she came back to drop off a few packages. On the last hand before the break, my KK gets crushed when my opponent hits a runner/runner flush. I throw out a few choice profanities, Jess realizes what just happened, and she decides it would be best if she just goes back out. An hour later she tempts fate, comes home, and within 10 minutes of her arrival, I'm heading to the showers when I push all in with Queens, and the big stack flops 2 pair against me. The second tourney was a WSOP qualifier, and I'll spare you the details since I am not a huge fan of bad beat stories. Let's just say that she came over to have a smoke on the balcony, which is located right next to the desk with the computer. Jess watched in horror over my shoulder as I was sent to the couch yet again. She came back in from the balcony with the saddest look that I have ever seen, where she admitted to feeling absolutely awful that she is my bad luck charm. She can pout with the best of them. I spent the better part of the next 30 minutes trying to cheer her up.

Can the woman I love really be a bad luck charm for me @ the table? Poker is a game of skill, probablity, courage, and in the short term, luck does play a big part. Personally, I don't believe in "bad luck" tiki idols. But for my bankroll's sake, the majority of my play will be after she has gone to bed for the night.

Know When To Walk Away, Know When To Run

2006-05-03T02:17:00.000-05:00

I have a leak in my game. Well, I probably have more than one, but let's focus here. I've identified it, tried to eliminate it from my game, yet I always seem to talk myself back into the same old trap. It's not knowing when to get up from the table. As I am writing this, I am currently seated at a juicy 1/2 NL game. I'm up $250 on the night so far. I'm starting to get a bit weary, my mind is wandering (as evident by the fact that I am actually blogging while playing), but for the last hour I have convinced myself that this game is just to good to leave. Which may be the truth. But then again, I could just be fooling myself. I say the game is good, because there are a couple of loose passive players that I have picked on all night still seated, and there is a LOT of $$ on the table..... over $4000 to be exact. So there are definitely some things to consider. Then again, I also was just getting ready to leave the table 20 minutes ago, when O.A.R's "Crazy Game of Poker" came over the Sirius radio, which I considered an omen for me to stick around. So my judgements aren't always based in fact. Then again, neither is my poker game. I know the statistics, the percentage plays, but a good deal of my game is based on feel. Probably too much (another leak to discuss at another time).

A few weeks back I was at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Within 2 hours of sitting down I triple my $200 buy in @ the 1/2 NL table (basically all I play these days, either online or B&M). It's getting late and the game I was seated at breaks up, so I move tables. Within 10 minutes in my new seat, it is apparent to me that this game is much tougher than the one I was in before. I contemplate leaving, but then the rationalizations begin. "Did you really drive 2 and a half hours roundtrip just to play three hours of poker?" "Playing against tougher competiton will only make you better" "You got a free pass from the wife for this, she doesn't expect you home till sunrise! Don't waste it!" Not very good reasons to stick it out in a bad situation. But I did. And you guessed it, I wouldn't be telling this story if I didn't lose it all back, plus the buy-in.

I am trying. I just left the table I was seated at with my profit intact. And I have at least identified one of the problems in my game, and as GI Joe said, knowing is half the battle.

Why?

2006-05-01T04:13:00.000-05:00

Why a blog? Cause it seemed like a good idea at the time. Which is shortly after 5am on a Monday morning, after a 6 hour (and counting) session of online poker. For anyone who cares, I am up $65.25 for the night. Anyhow, I've been reading a lot of poker blogs lately, and I figured I'd throw mine out there and see if it floats. At the very least it will be a good way for me to record wins and losses along the way. I'll sprinkle in some thoughts on music, marriage, people I know, and whatever else comes into mind.

So yeah, it's 5am, and many of you (or not many as I really don't expect anyone to be reading this) may wonder what I am doing playing poker all night long. I work a lot of nights, and my internal clock is so screwed up I don't know when it's time to sleep. So I play a lot of poker... it beats late night television. I play on bodog.com. I've had a pretty good run of it so far online, though 2 weeks ago I did lose almost my entire bankroll in just a few short days. I was approaching the $2000 mark, playing above my bankroll at 1/2 NL. Then the inevitable streak of cold cards came.... not even cold cards, because I can handle that. It's the streak of second-best hands that do you in every time. And after a while, I tried to win it all back at once (aka tilting) and before you know it, I'm down to $500 in my account. Fun. I took a week off or so, got myself back in the right frame of mind, dusted off Super System, Harrington on Hold'Em, and went at it again. So far so good, I have the bankroll back close to $1200, and that's where we stand at the moment.

This past weekend Jazzfest kicked off in New Orleans, and I should be there. My wife and I had planned on going again this year before Katrina hit. For obvious reasons we decided to cancel our reservations, but I am regretting it. New Orleans needs us there now more than ever. The resiliency of that city and their citizens is amazing. I love that place.