I'm Back!!

Yes, I have been away from blogging for a bit. I had to take some time off, or all I was going to write about was political rhetoric, which really isn't any fun to read. I will still have a few things to say, but I will do my best to keep those comments brief.

Poker

After the UIGEA passed, I have had a very difficult time putting in the hours. I have played a little 100NL, a couple of tourneys and some Razz, but my concentration has not been there. There does seem to be some decent bonuses available, so that's always a good motivational tool! Some of the sites are new to me, but I suppose it's worth a try.

Our own little BTP WCOOP is still going on, and I managed a 3rd in the HORSE event last Sunday to put me in 2nd place overall. We have one more event to crown the winner, and it would be a lot of fun to win, as I was 2nd last year as well. All the guys are pretty damn good players (and good guys), but I wonder why I can do OK against them and struggle to beat a damn 100NL game. It's very frustrating...

Las Vegas

I finally made my way out of town to LV last week, and actually missed two days of work. That was a first for me, but I definitely needed a break. I met up with some online poker buddies that I have corresponded with for at least a couple of years and we had a great time. I was the oldest of the group (by far) but it was a great group of guys, who hopefully had a fun time watching me drink myself into oblivion. The games (200NL) were pretty good overall, and much softer than the the usual 100NL online game. The downside is a common refrain---SLOW, player mistakes, dealer mistakes, tips etc. I ended up losing a small amount (maybe 200 ish), so there was very little damage done. I spent more in tips and food than that!! I may go back in a few months just to play poker (no partying) and really take a hard look at the viability of beating the hell out of those tables.

I didn't get around quite as much as I had planned, but so far the room at Caesar's Palace has my vote. Next trip will be the Bellagio and the Venetian for sure.

Thanksgiving

It's always a goofy holiday for me since the markets are always open on Friday. I cooked a delicious pork roast, cornbread dressing, three different types of gravy, and a few other goodies. I finally finished the leftovers today at lunchtime, so it only took a week-not too bad!

And in the News

More good news after reading this article about the benefits of drinking red wine. One can only hope that soon we will discover that this wonderful news is dose related!

And this just in---Bill "the cat killer" Frist will not make a run at the white house in 2008. I guess he figured he has done enough damage...Gee, maybe we want to dig a little deeper into the insider trading allegations...Since he is so worried about us playing poker, it seems only right we find out everything about his stock transactions (how nice, a stock held by a majority of family members). I did read that he is disappointed that these allegations weren't cleared up as quickly as he wished-LOL. It's close to Tom DeLay saying "I'm innocent". Douchebags.....

OK, enough of that little rant---I'm off to have a couple glasses of wine, finish a commodity update and play a little poker...Later all...

A Matter of Perspective


A buddy of mine is a very, very good poker player. He plays in bigger games than I could even dream of, so when he loses a stack, it's 1000 bucks. We have all been kicked in the teeth by the bitch known as variance, and at times it seems bad beats begets more bad beats.

He and I were IM ing the other morning while he was in the middle of a 3 stack drawdown. You want to talk about bad beats? At the same time, one of my dearest friends IM's me with the horrible news that her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer.

I'll tell you something my friends. All of a sudden, that 3K downswing seems awfully damn unimportant.

Treasure your friends and loved ones, and enjoy each and every day as much as possible.

The guys at BTP have our own brand of WCOOP going on every Sunday...It's usually a good bit of fun, with not a lot of money involved, but a HUGE amount of pride and ego...This past Sunday was a NL HU deal...I was out played badly in the final, but-

PokerStars Tournament
You finished the tournament in 2nd place.

I went on to lose a stack at FT later in the 100NL...Argg



A couple things for your reading displeasure...

Kissinger and

Our Congress


Election Day

It's too bad most all folks just want it all to be over, and I'm one of them...All the name-calling, the slanderous statements...Those are our elected officials folks, and we voted for them. It's great to see they take the high ground on all of the campaign issues. The truth is, they all sound like 3rd and 4th graders saying my dad can beat up your dad. Disgusting.

R vs. D

what are we voting for?
who am I?
where do I fit in?

what a joke...

D Gay marriage-always a major concern, as it affects me daily...
D Illegal Iraq war
R I think guns are OK
R Prop 87 (Calif) is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever seen
D No oversight in Washington in (at least) 6 years
D Truth about Kissinger
D What? We have a Constitution?
D Religion
D "War on Terror" It's inconceivable that that the Green Party could do a worse job than this administration.
R Environment I like everything clean and pretty too, but the liberals are over the edge here...of course that moron (in Calif) is way over the other edge
D The CIA---almost break even here, but the odds are better with D if you want to rein in those bastards
- Staying home---another words, STOP messing about in other countries. It's a novel concept (see CIA above) that I doubt either party could adhere to for long, since we MUST conquer the world.
- Taxes and spending (they both suck) a slight edge to R, but they have now spent more than ever before in history. The REAL problem is the Dems would (if they had their druthers) raise taxes and squander the proceeds on bullshit, rather than paying off a few trillion of our debt. Taxes ARE going up kids, no matter what smoke either party tries to blow you with.
- Immigration---way too complicated for me at the moment
- legalizing drugs---As well read as I try to be, I am admittedly ignorant on all facets of this debate
- Health care What a mess...
- SS a bigger mess; see Taxes

Anyway, we MUST have a Dem House to keep these psychopaths in line...

Oh yeah, and then there is poker D too late? I hope not.

It took more than several days to get back into the swing of things, but I am slowly getting back in stroke. I had a sweet little run at Paradise recently which netted me a few bucks. I was down to 27$ over there after draining most all of my accounts. I started playing at the 25NL a week ago Friday, and by Sunday evening had an account of over 700$. Some of that was bonus, but it was a very nice run. I doubled up at the 25, and off I went to the 50 NL game and almost doubled there before getting back to 35ish. I took a break and then I was off and running with over 100 before too long. I called it a night, then started on the 100NL game Saturday morning and never looked back, and finally getting to multi-table a bit.

I was playing very well, and perhaps I was experiencing a new level of play. I was doing more thinking and analysing than ever before, and putting people on hands, and being more aggressive when I sensed weakness. I think some of the better players call this "poker"! It's always easy to say such things after a win, but I would like to think that some of the work i have been doing on my game is paying off.

I plan on being in LV the middle of November, and really look forward to playing some live games. It has been a long time since that has happened, but should be fun. The plan is for some online friends to meet up, so it promises to a good time. Naturally, I am having problems booking my flight, DAMN! The thing says 4 seats left, but I get an E mail saying I need to re-book...A real pain.

I had E mailed Change100 recently hoping she was going to be writing somewhere, and sure enough...Great news!!

I'm in the mood for some Razz, so off I go to Full Tilt.