Rants of a Young Mind

This is what we waited for ... ?

2006-06-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

Four years? This was supposed to get us non-soccer people all excited? Umm, guess not. Good job fellas. Run around the field some more. Wake me up when this is all over.

Still happy to say I haven't watched one highlight of the World Cup.

Pulling the Plug

2006-01-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

That's it. I haven't offered anything to the blogging community for quite some time. Hell, I haven't offered anything for myself in a while either.

I'm trying to sort out a lot that is on my mind and frankly, not sure where I'm headed.

It takes a truly dedicated person to do this stuff. I'm not that guy. Thanks to any who read this thing when it actually was a living, breathing entity. Sorry that I haven't done anything in quite a while.

To those I've met through this ... it was freaking awesome.

To those who stumble upon this now ... go check some of the archives ... there were a couple of good things in there somewhere.

I may one day come back. I have to find my voice again. Hell, I have to find myself and my passions. Right now, besides my wife, my life seems to be sucked out of me. Trying to figure out the road ahead for me. Don't worry ... I'm not depressed, just need to analyze some stuff in my life.

Take care!

WTF???

2005-12-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

Are we starting to take this a little too far?

Underwater Poker

A Long Time Coming

2005-12-06T12:53:00.000-05:00

I know I am a couple of nights past on posting this, but the reality took a day or so to set in. It has been a long, long time since this city could say "Who Dey" and really mean it! This is a new time in city. The Cincinnati Bengals are back baby! It's a great thing. This past Sunday was a statement game for this Bengals team. The road to the AFC North is now going to go through Cincinnati. Prepare for it to stay that way for years to come! The Bungles of old are no longer. This is the Bengals ... the team with either the best or second best offense in the NFL. No defense has figured out how to stop them. In the past three weeks, 3 of the NFL's Top 10 Defenses have allowed 117 points (avg. 39/game) to the Bengals offense. And, let's be real ... if the Bengals wouldn't have gotten bored with the Ravens, that beatdown would have been much worse. It is written. The Bengals have arrived. In Marvin We Trust!

--------------

Small update on me. Since getting that off my chest and not keeping it to myself and letting it eat away at me, I have been in a better mood. I have decided to go back and get my MBA, but have to bust my ass over the next few weeks to get ready for the GMAT and apply by Jan. 9. The school of my choice will still accept applicants during that first week. So, it is a great goal to have and one that I'm excited about. I don't know what it is about school, but the interest is there for me to continue my education. Funny ... when in school all you want to do is work ... when in work all you want to do is go back to school.

Also, I'm seeking outlets to recapture my love of sports writing. Back in high school, I won several awards for my sports reporting for the high school paper in state competitions. It is something that I haven't done in a while, so I will have to get back into that frame of mind, but again, something to look forward to. So, I have that going for me.

A Funk of Sorts

2005-12-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I’ve been in a funk for quite some time and while I can address where the issue lies, there isn’t a lot I can do about it right now. I can handle some of it, but actually getting in and “fixing” the issue won’t be easy.

The issue lies with “Am I happy?” Happy about what? Well, that pretty much means anything right now. It stems from the issue that I don’t have a fuckin clue what I want to do with my life. I have ideas running rampant in my head, but don’t have any plans. It drives me fucking crazy. Now, I’m talking about occupation, future, career, etc. I know what I want to do with my life as a family-man and we’ll get there. But, I have to find a way to be happy taking care of my family through working. What I’m doing right now isn’t it. I go there and get pissed, try to come home in a good mood and can’t fake it any longer. The Wife has it figured out and feels like this is her fault because we have to have her finish her higher education.

I know not everyone finds their “dream job,” but I have to at least find something that will keep me interested. The work I do would be great, as long as it was for someone I was happy with.

I don’t know … am I making any fucking sense? I’m going to try to figure this out through the blog for sometime. I know I’ve been distant as hell from this thing because when you are constantly in a shitty mood like I am, there isn’t anything that you really want to write about. Maybe I will just try to get some ideas and bounce them off you all. I just need to figure some things out.

God Love the French

2005-11-08T11:58:00.000-05:00

I don’t have much respect for the French. But, I do hate seeing what is going on over there. The country is absolutely beautiful, so I hope not too much is destroyed.

But seriously, it took 12 DAYS before you declare it a STATE OF EMERGENCY?!?!?! Hell, we had rioting here in Cincinnati a few years back and we put the curfew in effect after a couple days! Doesn’t take a genius to figure this stuff out.

How long until they ask for help from the USA? Any websites out there taking bets?

Question for the masses

2005-11-04T10:40:00.000-05:00

The Wife and I had a little argument yesterday. The Christmas season is quickly approaching and it is the one holiday a year that I truly enjoy and go all out for.

Now, be mindful that we are still several years away from having kids, so this argument was really moot at this point.

Anywho ... talking about Santa Claus. She is under the opinion that we need to tell the kids the truth from the get-go that S.C. doesn't exist. This blew my mind! She said she didn't want to lie to our kids, and them losing trust in us.

Can I please get some perspective from those of you out there that have kids and how you deal with Santa?

For me, I remember as a child trying to stay up so late into the night to catch Santa. I would watch the news at night and wait for the reports where he was. I would set out cookies and milk and a note and try as hard as I could to catch a glimpse of the fatguy in the red suit.

I know I have seen my little cousins eyes light up when they see presents under the tree that weren't there the night before. I just think that is too much fun. I wouldn't want to have my kids be the only ones in school going around saying Santa doesn't exist and then trying to explain that to the other parents.

So, we argued about this for a while. How for me, Christmas is all about the presents and for her it is about the birth of Jesus. Note: she is infinitely more religious than I am, and her family more than mine too. I'm awfully spiritual, but still have issues with my Catholic faith/Catholic Church. I don't have a problem incorporating the religious aspect of Christmas into our family at all. I do have a problem not allowing our children to believe in something like Santa Claus.

Please, share comments in the comments section and let me know if I'm out of line here. I guess I don't see it as a lie. I don't think really think my children are not going to trust me because I kept up a facade that Santa was really doing all this.

How Stupid

2005-10-28T16:06:00.000-04:00

Cancelling Halloween over 3 Children in a Boston-area school. Seriously, this is some stupid shit. I'm so sick and fucking tired of hearing about how this offends one or two people (in this case, 3 children's families) and everyone is so quick to bow down to them. Complete bullshit.

If I were the principal of this school and some parent threatened me by holding their children out of school, I would have said, "Fine. But this will go down as an unexcused absence." I wouldn't have cancelled anything.

This country is becoming too fucking PC. Seriously, what is next? No days off because of Christmas because it is a Christian holiday? What about Martin Luther King Day? George Washington's birthday? Fuck! Everyone can take offense to something. You know what I say to that? Boo Fucking Hoo!

Here is the story that prompted this.

PokerStars is the Coolest

2005-09-30T22:48:00.000-04:00

PokerStars has to be doing the coolest thing I have seen with on-line poker. Setting up taht tournament for poker bloggers is awesome. While I know I don't stand a chance in hell with all the awesome players, I have always enjoyed playing these things.

The traveling for work has taken quite a toll on me the past few weeks. I'm going to need to change up the routine a little bit and get refocused to the on-line game.

Look forward to playing on PokerStars with everyone.

2005-09-30T22:42:00.000-04:00

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 1112851

Katrina Devastation

2005-09-01T10:59:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite trips from my college days, with five close friends, was down to New Orleans for a post-Halloween excursion. Only there for a few days, it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Eating at some of the best restaurants, with the hottest hostess ever, and partying around town.

It wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time, I’d been to N’Awlins. To me, it is one of America’s best cities. The life down there was just amazing. I love Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, the great food and festivities.

Those are the images I want to have of New Orleans. Not the amazing destruction photos on the news. It is truly unthinkable to see this city almost completely under water. Really, one of those things that you don’t think will “happen to us.”

My thoughts and prayers go to everyone still stuck in the region, waiting to get to drier and safer land. My heart goes out to you as you begin to rebuild everything. I cannot begin to imagine the strength you have to persevere. But, I know you will. New Orleans will be back. We have to do all we possibly can to help and rebuild that infrastructure. Once N’Awlins is back, the best we can do it bring back the tourism and funnel money so desperately needed.

I watch the news and sympathize for the victims and then I see the looters. I don’t have a problem with people looting food and water, and even some of the clothes (to an extent). You have a family to feed and need to take care of them. The clothes and shoes are needed since you lost everything and the stuff you are wearing is soaking wet and ruined. But … but, how in the fuck can you justify plasma televisions, guns, throwback jerseys, etc.? You have to truly be some low-life shithead to care more about that, than trying to help your fellow man/woman and save some lives.

Finally, I love to listen to talk radio. I am the oldest young man you will ever find. The stupid people that they let call in to these shows amaze me. And, for some reason, I love to listen to the liberal talk radio here in town. As you know, I am a moderate conservative, from earlier posts during the election. Anywho, I just heard some woman call and say George W. Bush was behind Hurricane Katrina. Yep, he orchestrated the whole thing by blowing up a bomb under the ocean and working with meteorologists to replicate the air currents. She wasn’t joking. She was dead serious. I have no idea what the host said because I threw my headset across the office.

I hope you all will contribute to relief funds in some shape or manner. I am donating money through my company and will try to join one of the PokerStars tournaments. Go check out the PokerStars Blog or Wil Wheaton for more details.

Lastly, this post was more about New Orleans, but Biloxi and the rest of the Gulf Coast was also devastated. We need to help the entire region with relief efforts. I’ve never made it Biloxi, but I promise, once you rebuild, I will visit too. Keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers and be thankful for what each day brings.

Hoop Dreams

2005-08-18T22:48:00.000-04:00

So, I have finally watched one of the best documentaries ever made. I don't know what has gotten into me recently with documentaries and biographies, but that is my flavor of the month.

I watched Hoop Dreams the other night and absolutely loved it. It was about so much more than the two kids hoping to make the NBA. It was as close as someone from the outside could get to growing up in the ghetto and living with the drugs and gangs right around your block. Basketball was all these kids had to get themselves and families out.

This has quickly become one of my favorite films. I guess I didn't pay too much attention in 1994/1995 to this movie or to the Academy Awards, but to find out that this movie was snubbed from a nomination was ridiculous. I guess rules were changed once people found out there was a plot against this movie because everyone knew it would win hands down.

I had to do a little research about the players in the movie and found the following article from the Washington Post.

LOOKING BACK AT BROKEN 'DREAMS'
Film's Key Players Have Moved On
By Mike Wise
Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, July 5, 2004; Page D01

"People say, 'When you make it to the NBA, don't forget about me.' I feel like telling them, 'Well, if I don't make it, make sure you don't forget about me.' "
-- William Gates, in the final scene of "Hoop Dreams"

CHICAGO --
The asphalt is still cracked and dried, just as the neighborhood is still cracked and dried. Weeds sprouting from the concrete, muscling up to breathe in the heat of another Cabrini Green summer.

Ten years have passed, 10 years since one of America's most dangerous public housing projects became a laboratory for a documentary film director and his crew, who set out to find the essence of athletic hope among black children hypnotized by basketball in the inner city.

"Hoop Dreams" chronicled the NBA aspirations of two adolescent boys and their families. Their pursuit unveiled broader themes of struggle and adversity -- in a world constantly telling young William Gates and Arthur Agee they were not supposed to make it.

"If you think about it, we were the first reality series," William Gates, a pastor, said. "We just didn't bank in like everybody else. Nowadays, even the 'Survivor' losers go on TV and get paid."

The film's $8 million box-office take made it the highest grossing documentary of all time. Since its theatrical release in October 1994, the only documentaries more successful have been Michael Moore's most recent film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," and the IMax movie-like "Winged Migration."

Viewers first meet Arthur as a doe-eyed 14-year-old on his way to see NBA star Isiah Thomas at a prestigious basketball camp, hosted by a private Catholic high school his parents cannot afford. William soon fills the screen, emerging as his family's last beacon for pro basketball stardom.

Their disparate journeys play out over three unsparing hours. Two teenaged protagonists use their skills and desire to try and vault them over every hurdle of urban blight: teen pregnancy, poverty, crime, crumbling public schools, parental drug use and abandonment.

After the credits rolled, their lives moved on.

William is 32 now. Arthur is 31. They have eight children between them, closets full of sneakers and trophies, unresolved issues about why they didn't make it and how close they came, and a deep friendship, rekindled at least once a year.

Gates, still self-aware and socially conscious, is a senior pastor at the Living Faith Community Center in Cabrini Green, where he works at the Kids' Club, sometimes nurturing third-graders who cannot yet read and other times telling a young genius she tested in the top 3 percent nationally.

He came back to the neighborhood begrudgingly, after he was out of work for a time and his brother was gunned down in the street.

Remember Curtis Gates? He was the former playground king who gained weight, lost self-esteem and lived vicariously through his younger brother -- "All my dreams are in him now," he said in the film. He was murdered almost three years ago at age 36.

Arthur is still an infectious dreamer. His sole income now is derived from launching a "Hoop Dreams" clothing line (slogan: Control Your Destiny). He has partnered with MTV's Rock the Vote for a 50-city tour that he hopes will help promote the line.

"We're talking about writing $60 million in orders," said Agee.

Family Development
In one of the film's most powerful scenes, Arthur's father, Bo, wandered off the court to complete a drug deal, steps from where his son played. Viewers peer inside the Agees' darkened apartment after the electric bill could not be paid.

The maternal struggle of two women trying to keep their families together is another central theme.

You can almost smell Emma Gates's battered chicken crackle and pop in her fryer, and feel the empathy in William's mother when she says: "I really thought Curtis was going to make it, so I just wanted this one to make it. I want him to make it so bad, I don't know what I'm going to do."

And the suburban Catholic high school, plucking talented children from the playground and then playing God with their lives -- keeping one enrolled, discarding the other.

You see Sheila Agee as she extricates herself from welfare and enrolls in a nursing class. She finishes with the highest grade-point average and graduates quietly in a large room with a few other classmates. "I didn't think I could do it," she says, crying. "And people told me I wasn't going to be anything."

"You thought everybody else was crying when they saw that scene, I 'bout lost it," Arthur said. "To this day, everybody that comes up to me, asks, 'How's your Mom doing?' "

The filmmakers also captured the day when Arthur plays his father in a game of one-on-one. By then, Bo Agee's crack addiction had put the family through hell. He had spent seven months in jail for burglary. He had physically abused his wife, Sheila.

Bo got religion and asked for forgiveness, and his family took him back. But his son never forgot.

They dueled shirtless on the asphalt, in the humidity of a Chicago summer, until Arthur began taking it to his father, who at one point tried to rearrange the score to his liking. Bo was laughing. His son was not.

"Ain't no con game going on anymore, Dad," he says before he reels off a string of moves and shots to beat his father. "I'm older now."

"We called it 'The Great Santini' scene," Steve James, the director, said over lunch at a Guatemalan restaurant a few blocks from where the film was edited. "We thought it was going to be poignant -- boy plays dad before he goes off to college. And then it suddenly exploded into this thing about Arthur's anger and resentment."

After James and his partners had paid their bills, he split the profits with the families, which he estimates totaled between $175,000 and $200,000.

Arthur's family pooled their shares, and eventually moved out of the West Garfield Park housing projects and into the neighboring Chicago suburb of Berwyn, where they now reside. William estimated he received about $150,000, but concedes he "wasted some, gave a lot of money away and gave above and beyond to the church.

"I wish I would have known what a 41 percent tax bracket was back then," he said, ruefully. William married Catherine Mines, the mother of his infant daughter, Alicia, in the movie. Alicia is now 15. They had three more children -- William Jr. 9, Jalon, 6, and 7-month-old Marques -- and live in the Austin Community on Chicago's West Side.

"Oh, it's still the 'hood," he said, laughing. "But it's a lot safer than Cabrini."

Bo Agee, Arthur's father, is now a pastor at the Upper Room Outreach Ministry on Madison and Pulasky, where the movie was partly filmed. He celebrated the church's third anniversary two weeks ago with Steve James in attendance. Sheila is a private nurse who mostly works with well-to-do families, and William's mother, Emma, is still at the same job, working as a nurse's assistant. She was able to move out of Cabrini Green two years ago and now lives five minutes from William, Catherine and their children.

Arthur has four children, too -- two boys and two girls from four mothers, ranging in age from 13 to 7.

"They weren't planned kids, that's why I know they're here for a reason," he said. "They're here to teach me a lesson about responsibility."

"Where would I be if 'Hoop Dreams' never happened?" he asked. "I don't know. I'm very, very happy. It helped my family out. Not only financially, but emotionally. It put that love back -- it put what was important first."

Said Gates: "What would have been ideal was for me and Arthur's family to live happily and that we have enough money to do whatever we need to do. But it didn't pan out that way. We never caught that next wave."

Lost Opportunities
Agee starred in junior college and played two years at Arkansas State. He said his dream flickered when he turned down playing for the CBA's Connecticut Pride in 1996. Agee had worked out with the team and felt ready but instead decided to take a small speaking role offered by James in "Passing Glory," a TNT film about Louisiana's first interracial basketball game.

"I was going to put another two- or three-year run into trying to get to the NBA, like these guys," Agee said last month, amid the squeak of sneakers at the league's annual pre-draft camp in Chicago.

"Instead, I made $17,000 for what? Seven weeks. I look at that now and I know I didn't make a real, 100 percent run. Outside, other social things intrigued me. I lost a little bit of the hunger.

"But it also opened my eyes up to reality: That ball is going to stop bouncing. That knee is going to give out."

He formed the Arthur Agee Role Model Foundation, which helps inner-city youths strive for a higher education, and visits Washington annually for a local Hoop Dreams scholarship fund's three-on-three tournament.

Gates committed to giving the game one more try at the outset of 2001. He put his ministry on hold and began working out with Michael Jordan during early preparation for Jordan's second comeback.

When Jordan began inviting NBA players to ratchet up the level of competition, Gates stayed home. Until Jordan called and insisted he come down.

"Will, we got your spot," Jordan told him. "I didn't give it away just because these guys showed up."

Gates held his own against NBA players, and Jordan promised him a tryout with the Wizards. He was all set to play in the team's summer league when he fractured a bone in his foot. The youngster in the film whose knee betrayed him was suddenly cursed again.

"That was my NBA dream," he said. "I never put that uniform on, but I knew I was good enough to play."

Curtis was murdered on Sept. 10, 2001, caught in an apparent love triangle. The family was later told by police that he had been kidnapped by a man who was seeing the same woman. According to police reports at the time, he had run through the rear door of a home and actually telephoned police that he had been shot in the arm.

The assailant followed the trail of blood and fired three shots with a rifle as Curtis lay on the ground. William was in so much denial, he asked to see Curtis's lifeless body at the hospital the night of the murder.

Curtis's funeral was on a Saturday and William's workout with the Bulls came the following Tuesday. He performed well, but with so many guaranteed contracts the Bulls said only that they wanted to keep him on the reserve team and promised nothing.

"Curtis was the only one who knew about my comeback," William said. "He met Michael. He told me, 'If you make it, I'm quitting my job and travel where you travel.' "

The man police charged spent 2 1/2 years in jail, but circumstantial evidence led to an acquittal.

Gates played at Marquette and graduated with a communications degree. He scored well on the LSAT exam, before deciding he did not want to go to law school. He lost his counseling job and was unemployed for much of 2002.

"I was installing bathrooms, doing odd jobs," he said. "It got so bad at one point I was trying to go to grocery stores and, like, 'I'll bag.' "

He went back to the ministry, and between the Kids' Club and his own parish, Gates now pulls in about $40,000 a year -- "Or $30,000 less than what you're supposed to for a family of six," he said, half-smiling.

Will Jr., now 9, wants to see the entire movie, but for now Gates has only shown him the first two years of his high school career, before the knee injury and disenchantment creeps in.

"I'll show him the rest when he gets into high school," he said. "Psychologically, he has this image of his dad being successful right now. If he sees the adversity now, I think that could play heavy in his perception of himself. Any time stuff start going wrong, he could think, 'Well, it's supposed to be this way.' It happened to my dad. When he starts facing a little adversity, then I can work that in, to show him that I faced it, too."

Together Again
"Hoop Dreams" still brings them celebrity. An intrepid student doing a term paper on the movie -- Northeastern University actually had a "Hoop Dreams" class as part of its curriculum -- got Arthur on the phone a few weeks ago and nearly fainted. "I said, 'Dude, calm down. I'll help you out,' " Agee said. He got an A-plus.

Last week, William spoke at St. Joseph's summer basketball camp -- just like Isiah Thomas did when he and Arthur attended. One of the campers this year was Will Jr.

At the Kids' Club in Cabrini Green, Gates arrived for work recently in a steam-pressed cocoa dress shirt and matching slacks, burgundy shoes and a ring of jingling keys, larger than a high school janitor's, on his waistband. He is still the responsible kid who gave $50 of his paycheck to his family in the movie.

Agee joined him an hour later. He wore a platinum rope around his neck, diamond-studded earrings and enough fabric in his baggy jeans and shirts to construct a five-man tent.

"What's up, A-gee," William said, affectionately.

"What up, dawg?" They clasped hands, embraced and laughed long and hard.

The family man and the class cutup, together again. They were supposed to hang out on Saturday, but Agee forgot to call Gates back.

"What happened?" Gates said, laying on the guilt. "I keep tryin' to tell you, man, you my only outlet. You the only cat who can get me out of my element."

Later, when Arthur leaves for family court to make sure his child-support payments are current, Gates reflected on his bond with Agee, a bond transcending the film 10 years later.

"Arthur was always doing the things I wanted to do," he said. "I think we need each other. I keep his feet on the ground and he keeps mine off of it."

If you get a chance, I highly recommend sitting down for a couploe hours and watching this great movie.

This is what is right about sports

2005-08-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

With all the news about T.O. and his ridiculous holdout and overpaid athletes, here is a story that is only getting heard in my hometown ... Reds still taking care of Perez.

This 6-year-old kid lost his grandfather at a Reds game in early August. The Reds organization stepped up and took the kid away from a bad situation and Reds players took his mind off it by including him as a member of the team.

And to do it all over again a couple weeks later goes to show that the Reds have a top-notch organization. But of course, this isn't the stuff people care about, so it doesn't make it to national media.

Almost up and running again

2005-08-15T10:06:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine got me a new hard drive for cheaper than I would have paid Dell. It is installed and I'm in the process of installing everything back on the PC.

Now my only problem is accessing the Internet at home. Unfortunately, I have lost the WEP network key to logon. It was in a .txt file on the computer for easy access when friends came over with their laptops and such. Not sure how to find the key on the Wife's computer. Also, don't want to reset the key until I know that it won't screw everything up. I've told y'all before ... I'm not too smart as these computer issues.

If anyone has any advice as to how to find the old WEP key or how to reset the whole damn thing altogether and keep the other PCs on the network, I'd appreciate that.

Also, if anyone knows how to recover information from a hard drive that has gone kaput, please, please let me know. I didn't think about it until a day or two ago, but I have lost all my hands/stats in PokerTracker, lost all my documents, all the before/after photos of home improvement and everything else I valued.

This is such a pain in the ass.

Still Without Home PC

2005-08-11T09:28:00.000-04:00

Well, I am continuing my battle with Dell. Since my computer fried 3 weeks after the warranty expired ... they refuse to do anything for me and I refuse to spend any more money with them.

I find it convenient that they discontinued the particular model PC, especially after a rash of complaints about them getting too hot and frying hard drives. I have done my research on the damn thing and now I'm pissed. I feel that for the kind of money I spent on the thing ... I shouldn't be having problems like this.

Anyway ... I am without the basic necessities of life right now ... home PC, Internet and on-line poker. The wife is back in school, so time with her PC is limited.

Glad I bought Madden 2006 to entertain myself for a while at least.

If anyone has any tips on how to wage a war with Dell and win (no refurbished laptops ... please feel free to drop me a line.)

Blogging opportunities will be few ... I don't really like to do this at work since I have to logon everytime I connect to the InterWeb.

Fuck Everything

2005-07-26T23:38:00.000-04:00

Had to get the wife's computer out. Mine ... well ... apparently running spyware software and virus software at the same time is too much for the hard drive. Had the PC for one year and the hard drive fucks itself.

Warranty ... oh yeah ... went out two weeks ago. Fucking figures!

I think I have lost everything. If any of you techy people out there know how to recover anything off the hard drive, I would greatly appreciate that. I have a few things that I would like to recover. I don't care about the music/movies/porn (well, I am upset about the porn), but there are documents on there that I would like to get back.

Fuck everything right now. Supposed to catch a flight for work in a couple hours and now I have no PC to do work on! Fucking great!

Hard to Pass This Up

2005-07-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure I saw this over at Iggy's site a while back, but this is an offer that is too good not to take a stab at.

Noble Poker Releases the First Ever $1 Million Dollar Sit N Go Giveaway

I haven't played a SNG on Noble's software, so I don't know the type of games out there, but I couldn't imagine they would be that difficult.

Good luck to anyone out there trying to accomplish this.

The Kid and Me

2005-07-20T13:38:00.000-04:00

“See, in my world—the world of high-stakes gin and poker—we play for cold, hard cash. It’s all business, pure and simple. Anyone who thinks card playing is a game—I’ll show you a loser. Money … M-O-N-E-Y.
“That’s how you measure success. One dollar at a time. One chip at a time. That’s how you keep score.”
—Stu “The Kid” Ungar

I found the quote above on my poker desk calendar yesterday and thought it was appropriate since I am finishing the book on his life. I also received the movie, High Roller – The Stu Ungar Story, in the mail yesterday from my Blockbuster Online account. I must say I was really disappointed with the movie, especially after reading the book. The movie doesn’t do his life justice in any way. I’m not saying it wasn’t enjoyable at all, but the book is so incredible. In my opinion, you can always paint a more vivid picture with words in a book than you can on the screen.

The kid cast in the movie was completely wrong for the part. He may have had the look they were looking for, but he didn’t have the attitude of Stu. Granted, I’m not sure any kids have ever had Stu’s attitude. That is part of what makes his story so appealing. Stu had the mentality that he was indestructible and played every game and life that way.

I thought Michael Imperioli did a decent job acting. I doubt Stu was a character many good duplicate. I guess I struggle seeing Imperioli doing anything other than Christopher on The Sopranos. Vince Van Patten was a complete douche bag in the movie and that’s all I have to say about that.

Speaking of gambling, an obvious theme to this blog from time to time, this past weekend was an event to remember, or try to remember depending on who you are. My brother, his fraternity brothers and I (an honorary member of the fraternity) began a tradition of golf, gambling and booze one weekend a year at Pine Valley Golf Resort in Elizabethtown, KY. Arrived Thursday night and proceed to drink and gamble into the wee hours of the morning. I think six of us played five games of hold’em and I won four of them and finished second in the last. It might have had something to do with my inability to decipher what cards I was holding in my hand. After several Red Bull and vodkas and many, many beers that tends to happen. I was grateful that I had essentially paid for the entry fee in the weekend’s festivities.

Instead of trying to recap a weekend full of drinking, golf and gambling … let me sum it up by saying for the past two nights I have had the shakes and felt as if my heart will come out of my chest. I don’t tend to go on 64-hour binders, so weaning off a weekend of such magnitude takes a while. I give incredible amounts of respect to those that can do it for a living (AlCantHang).

Friday night held another poker game with all 20 of us. Many donkeys in the group and everyone being incredibly drunk made this a virtual crapshoot. My table was about half donkeys and half decent players. I finished second in this game too. Only one hand worth mentioning. We were down to five players—needing to eliminate one more to combine tables. I cannot remember seat positions, but Mole was to my right and limped in. I raised the pot $500 and everyone folds around to Mole. He says, “You wouldn’t do that if you had a big pair. You would have wanted me in the pot if you did have a big pair. You have to have Ace-Jack or King-Ten.” He thought for a little while and finally called the $500. Flop came 867 rainbow. He moved all-in for $650 more. I thought for a few minutes, looking at my stack, seeing how much it would cost me to win the amount in the pot and how much I would be left with I lost. I counted out the chips and set them aside. I told him that I didn’t hit the flop, but I don’t think he did either. I put him on a small pair, but not a set. For the same reason as his read on me, I know him well enough that he would have checked for me to bet, then come over top of me. But, I knew I was still behind in the hand. I had overcards to his small pair in my mind.

I was drunk anyway, so I finally called his all-in. He turns over pocket 4s and I show my AT of spades. Fourth Street was a blank and the River brought an Ace. Nice suckout. Finally, one went my way. Ever since Vegas, I have been catching breaks like this. Like I said, I went on to finish second.

Golf was great as usual. 72 holes in two days is more than my body can take though. Thanks to the golf gods on Sunday for raining and letting me keep my one-stroke lead in the two-day tournament (w/ handicaps).

Last couple of items. Sorry I wasn’t able to play in the Charlie Tuttle Charity Game on PokerStars the other night. I struggled to know my name, much less play poker for a few hours minutes.

Congrats to Pauly for an awesome job covering the WSOP for the past almost two months. Truly a masterpiece and if the book does become a reality, I will be first in line to buy one. As far as Joseph Hachem winning the whole thing … congrats to him. I was pulling for Mike Matasuow at the final table. In my heart of hearts I wanted to see Ivey to win his sixth bracelet and his first WSOP ME. I would have liked to see Raymer make back-to-back final tables.

Question: Do you consider Greg Raymer’s accomplishment of winning the 2004 WSOP ME in a field of 2500 and making it to the final 27 in 2005 in a field of 5600 better than Harrington’s back-to-back final tables in fields of 890 and 2500?

Also, would you still believe I have fired up Party Poker since the end of May?

Best Poker Coverage - Tao of Poker

2005-07-13T13:32:00.000-04:00

I seriously doubt that anyone out there isn't reading Pauly for some of the best coverage at the WSOP.

Go check out his site and hit the top of the page for more links. I'd try to do more, but I'm at work and spending too much time on his site already.

Hope those IT guys are poker fans?!

Also, been reading "One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar" and it is an awesome book. I can't put it down and that isn't easy for me. I'm not a book reader at all, but this is the type of story I enjoy. I like autobiographies/biographies more than anything else.

Actual Poker Content

2005-07-11T23:06:00.000-04:00

Wow ... it had truly been a while since I blogged any poker content. Mainly since I haven't played poker since I returned from Vegas. I was still steaming after some of those hands I lost money on, that I haven't had any real desire to play. Luckily, the home game group wanted to get together tonight for a game. Won the home game SNG and took home a nice chunk of change and didn't have to drive anywhere.

My big hand of the night was heads up with the 26 offsoot. Made a straight and took a huge chunk out of his hand with the A2.

Won when I caught a K and he only had a six. I ended up making a boat. I must have seen the Hilton Sisters five times tonight.

Finally was able to rent One of A Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar - The World's Greatest Poker Player.

Really looking forward to reading that book. Also got Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros.

Wanted to learn a few other games and I knew that book took care of some of those lessons.

Anyways, the actual reason why I posted ... go check out the BEST WORLD SERIES OF POKER COVERAGE IN ALL OF THE LAND!!!

NEW! World Series of Poker News
NEW! 2005 World Series of Poker Photo Gallery
NEW! 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament Results
NEW!His Latest Fox Sports Article

Hopefully that will work. I dunno. I just copied and pasted from Pauly.

For You Volleyball Guys Out There ...

2005-07-01T16:13:00.000-04:00

The AVP is in town. So, for all you guys out there (me included) that watch women's beach volleyball, here you go.

Misty May's Ass Blog

NBA Draft - University of Kentucky perspective

2005-06-29T11:11:00.000-04:00

Being a hardcore UK Wildcats fan, I knew watching the NBA Draft last night was a waste of my time. Sure, I hoped the kids that once played for the program would have their names called, but I knew there was little chance of that happening.

I was pulling for Chuck Hayes more than Kelenna Azubuike and Randolph Morris. Chuck gave his heart and soul to the program for four years and was a winner in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, he just didn't have a wealth of NBA talent. I predict he will sign a free agent contract and will make a team.

The other two players, KAZ and Randolph, won't be as fortunate. They have given up college careers for a life without basketball, NBA basketball at least.

Reading the Wildcat Faithfulmessage boards is downright depressing as fans spew their venom on these two players and their decisions. Don't hate the players for doing what they did. You can dislike their decisions because of the impact it will have on the team, but they are kids that made bad decisions. No more, no less.

I don't have any ill will towards KAZ. His situation is different than most underclassmen. Not his fault his father is a criminal and cost his family hundreds of thousands of dollars. KAZ was trying to step up and take care of his family. I admire that. Just unfortunate that one more year probably would have put his name on a draft board somewhere.

Randolph, on the other hand, handled his situation with poor class. Faxing your declaration for the NBA draft to your college head coach and avoiding any contact was a piss poor decision. He had terrible advisers along the way that fed him incredibly bad information regarding his draft status. One or two more years at UK could have done two things for him: possibly be a national champion and potential lottery pick. Instead, he will be working out for teams in the NBADL and making a couple hundred bucks a game.

I hope each player can realize their dreams. I just wish they would have made better choices and stayed at UK. They are forever linked to UK and I appreciate the time they gave to a great program.

Finally, I have grown up reading Pat Forde, now with ESPN, in the Louisville Courier-Journal. I honestly think he is one of the best sports columnists out there. Great piece about the players I have mentioned here on ESPN today.

Back to our regularly scheduled program …

2005-06-27T21:03:00.000-04:00

Rest of Day 2 from the Vegas Trip

Decided to show the Wife the Strip. Start walking down the Strip and go in almost every casino along our walk, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Bally’s, Paris, Aladdin, MGM Grand, and the Mirage to name a few. Oh yeah, not necessarily in that order either.

Walking into each casino I had the urge to check out each poker room. I had seen several on previous trips, but with the poker explosion, I didn’t know if the others would have renovations to rooms or not. Walking into the Mirage, we weren’t going to walk past the poker room. The Wife actually said, “Yes lets go look at it.” Boy am I glad she did.

The World Poker Tour Mirage event was going on right before my eyes. Now, I have met professional athletes and actors before. I have the autographs to prove it. So, being star struck wasn’t something I saw happening to me. The attempt to play that off wasn’t very good.

Began to look around at which players were still in the tournament and those already eliminated, possibly hanging by the rail. The overall atmosphere wasn’t all that impressive at the Mirage … seemed quite cramped to me and being right next to the sports book seemed a little distracting. Guess that is why I’m not a professional … distracts easily.

Here is a short list of those I saw playing: Mike “the Mouth”, Jesus Ferguson, Huck Seed, Phil Ivey, Erik Siedel, Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Tilly (hot or not?? You decide), Johnny Chan, Dan Harrington and the green hat, Scotty Ngyuen, David Phan, David Williams and my personal favorite Paul Phillips wearing the now famous shirt “Jopke! Jopke! Donkeys Always Draw!”

Stood around for several minutes and absorbed it all in. While others were watching the people in the middle of the action, I stood and watched how the players play while not in the hand. Ivey was incredible. It looked like he would absorb everything through osmosis.

After leaving the Mirage, we thought we would end the trip with an excursion through Caesar’s Palace and the shopping mall there. Probably not Shawn and mine’s brightest idea. The women of course loved it. We saw Pete Rose signing autographs at Field of Dreams. Shawn (a big Pete fan) couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get an autograph … so he ponied up $100 for a ball and photo. Me, I’m not too enamored with the a-hole. Plus, I knew that Pete is in Vegas like 15 days a month.

Continue through and run into two boxers from The Contender. Ishe and Sergio were relatively small fellers. I didn’t expect them to be huge or anything, but even I thought I could go a round or two with these guys … ok not really. I had only seen the show twice and it happened to be the weekend before we left for Vegas. Great show. Hope it comes back for another season. The final match was being decided the next night on live teevee, but we were unable to see it. Three bills for a ducat.

A little happy hour at Margaritaville before dinner was a brilliant idea. Great service and a very nice dancer/show to boot. Jumping down into the volcano and emerging soaking wet while wearing little always gets an A+ in my book.

We went to Roy’s Restaurant, just a minute or two off the strip on Flamingo. Abso-fucking-lutely one of the best meals I have ever had. Six of us at dinner for a little more than $350 with food and wine/beer. It was Hawaiian food and boy was it spectacular. I recommend it to anyone the next time you are out to Vegas. It truly was too good to put into words.

From dinner we go to the Aladdin for some more gambling. Let’s just say that I officially HATE the ALADDIN. Piss-poor service and dealers who wouldn’t talk to you. Absolute dicks. I was sitting a blackjack table and tried to get the attention of a waitress to take our order. Waited and waited for about 35 minutes. She never came by the table. The Wife was at a slot machine and the same treatment.

I’m sure my mood wasn’t helped by playing with some stupid ass clowns that didn’t know how to play fundamental blackjack. Can’t count the number of times I saw people hit 14 with the dealer showing a 5 and them going bust and the dealing squeezing out another 5 for a 20 beating my 18s and 19s. I finally remarked to the table, “Did you notice that you took a face card there that would have been the dealers? Instead of us all winning on that hand, we all lost … thanks to YOU!”

After an hour of no service from the shitty staff, we left. Absolutely the last time I step foot in the Aladdin.

DAY 3 – MORE POKER

Woke up to sign up for the same tournament the next morning. Got there around 9 a.m. and only eight people signed up. Umm, no thank you. Thought I would employ the wait-and-see approach. Hung out with the Wife by the pool and checked out some amazing beautiful babies and saw a few not so.

Get to tourney time and see that 26 players have signed up. Shawn and I decide to play and the field almost maxes out at 28. Play begins. That is probably where I should leave it for this tournament. I didn’t see any cards worth while. I did have the opportunity to play 92 offsoot 10 times. There was a lot of preflop raising on my first table. I was able to steal a blind here and there to get moved to another table after ours busted up. At that table I played two hands, both in LP. I had KJs and lost to KQo with both of us making top pair. Then went out with AJo to AKs with both having ace-high. Those were the best cards I saw the entire time. Not one pocket pair. Even had I played some marginal hands, I wouldn’t have won any of those pots either. Finished in 11th position. I wasn’t too happy, but I beat the two fellers from the previous day. It wasn’t much fun. Too many people treating it like an WSOP event. I wanted to win, but I wasn’t about to be a dick to the entire table.

Side Note: Here is what was especially frustrating. Shawn and I have played many a game of poker. I respected his play since he would win his fair share of our home games while I continued to sit in poker purgatory. We went into the trip with the idea of splitting our winnings on tournaments. I felt pretty confident on this theory. Well, I was the only one that pulled any weight in the tournaments. Not that my 11th place finish is anything to write blogs about, but it was better than the quick exits Shawn displayed. I saw him fold pocket 6s in LP with no raises on the board. Just fold! I would have killed for pocket 6s at my point in the game. Oh well … our next trip will focus on individual performance.

More touring needed to be done. Bought a 24-hour pass on the monorail. Really enjoyed that to get around quickly. In my opinion, it was awfully nice, but hardly the most convenient mode of transportation. You still had to walk for a day and a half to get to a lot of locations. The Wife and I got to check out the Wynn Las Vegas. WOW! Absolutely amazing. Definitely one of the most beautiful hotel/casinos I have ever seen. I couldn’t believe the number of tables, none cheaper than $25 minimum, and the shear number of people that filled each and every table. Several $500 minimum blackjack tables out in the middle. I guess that isn’t high stakes for the Wynn.

I was impressed. I bought the most expensive golf ball ever to add to my collect. $500 for a round at the course. No thanks. $5 for a golf ball … ummmm sure.

Seriously, even if I were a scratch golfer and could afford to play that course, I wouldn’t do it. It is a) too fucking hot and b) $500 for a round of golf. I don’t know. Maybe if I were a scratch golfer I might play. No way would I try to take part in this with my game right now.

A few hours go by … not real sure what happened between those times besides drinking and dinner at the Bellagio buffet. While standing in line, talking about the day’s events, I hear a voice that I recognize pretty well right next to me … Scotty Ngyuen. I ask for a quick picture and he agrees. Extremely nice guy. He is seated before us (OBVIOUSLY) and I’m just giddy for getting the photo. The hostess begins to seat us and I make a joke to Shawn about sitting next to Scotty and sure enough, that is where they put us. I didn’t bother him while he ate dinner. I hate when I see people do that. Plus he was there to meet his girl and they put down more crab legs than I thought humanly possible. After watching them act like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for a little while, I continued to go to the buffet and shovel food into my mouth. Excellent buffet by the way. Scotty took approximately seven phone calls in the 45 minutes of eating before he left. He left his girl and took care of the tip. His girl remained for a little while longer. She got up to grab some desert and left the table unoccupied. The thought crossed my mind and Shawn’s to quickly grab her phone and get Scotty’s number, but smarter and sober minds (read the Wives) prevailed.

After the buffet, we hunted down the one table that had a World Poker Tour table game. Interesting. I really don’t remember how it was played, but it was fun and enjoyable. It was heavily favored to the house, but if you hit just one hand you were going to be up. Luckily for Shawn and I, we both did well at that table game.

That was essentially the end of the night. Nothing else really to report. More drinking at one of the casino bars.

DAY 4 – I’m on the Floor

Honestly, didn’t do much in the way of gambling on Day 4. The wife and I had to make a trek to the Stardust to see some family friends who basically live there.

Met our friends for happy hour and proceeded to kill some drinks. Last night in Vegas. But, before we can do that, I have more gambling left in me. I don’t feel like anymore blackjack. Not just for the trip. NO. MORE. BLACKJACK. EVER.

I hit up the Three Card Poker game. If you remember, that is my favorite game to play. I continued to do real well there going up $150 in a matter of a few hands. As much as I was enjoying my play … I wanted to be sitting in the guy to my left seat. I was doing very well there. Won on a couple straights, a flush and a three-of-a-kind. Only thing was that I never put more than the $5 minimum bet in the Bonus. The guy to my left had the following four hands in a row, with each bet carrying $25 in the bonus and a $75 bet:

Three 10s, straight, straight, and three Jacks. Trips pay 30-1 and a straight is 6-1. He made his trip up in a matter of four hands. I did well myself and got to even for the previous two days. After he cashed out and left, I felt the karma from the table leave, so I quickly colored up and headed off to a wonderful Italian dinner behind the Flamingo.

After dinner, Shawn and I head back to the Flamingo poker room for the last night of action. Everything came to screeching halt at the tables. Women head upstairs to pack up.

DISCLAIMER: Below consists of several bad beats and incessant whining from the author.

Bought in for $200 and sat down at the 9-handed table. I’m Seat 8.

Dealt KhKd in EP. Button on Seat 4.
Seat 7 – Calls $2, Hero – Raises to $4, Seat 9 – Folds, Seat 1 – Folds, Seat 2 – Calls $4, Seat 3 – Calls $4, Button – Calls $4, SB – Calls $4, BB – Calls $4, Seat 7 – Calls $4

Seven players in - $28 pot (minus rake)

Flop: 9d 3s 5c

SB – Checks, BB – Checks, Seat 7 – Bets $2, Hero – Raises to $4, Seat 2 – Calls $4, Seat 3 – Folds, Button – Folds, SB – Calls $4, BB – Calls $4, Seat 7 – Calls $4

Five players in - $48 pot (minus rake)

Fourth Street: Kc
SB – Bets $4, BB – Folds, Seat 7 – Folds, Hero – Raises to $8, Seat 2 – Folds, SB – Raises to $12, Hero – Raises to $16, SB – Calls $16

Two players in - $80 pot (minus rake)

River: 4c

SB – Bets $4, Hero – merely calls $4

I show my trip Kings. I didn’t like the three clubs on the board, but I seriously didn’t think he had two clubs in his hand. SB flips over the 6c9c for second pair/flush. Trip Kings cracked in an $88 pot. I lost $28 on that hand.

A couple hands later:
Dealt AA in MP. Button on Seat 3

Seat 6 – Calls $2, Seat 7 – Calls $2, Hero – Raises to $4, Seat 9 – Calls $4, Seat 1 – Folds, Seat 2 – Calls $4, Button – Calls $4, SB – Calls $4, BB – Calls $4, Seat 6 – Calls $4, Seat 7 – Calls $4

Eight players in - $32 in pot (minus rake)

Flop: Q 9 3 (rainbow)

SB – Checks, BB – Checks, Seat 6 – Bets $2, Seat 7 – Folds, Hero – Raises to $4, Seat 9 – Calls $4, Seat 2 – Calls $4, Button – Folds, SB – Calls $4, BB – Folds, Seat 6 – Calls $4

Five players in - $52 pot (minus rake)

Fourth Street: 6

SB – Checks, Seat 6 – Bets $4, Hero – Raises to $8, Seat 9 – Calls $8, Seat 2 – Folds, SB – Folds, Seat 6 – Calls $8.

Three players in - $76 pot (minus rake)

River: J

Seat 6 – Bets $4, Hero – Raises to $8, Seat 9 – Calls $8, Seat 6 – Calls $8.

Seat 6 – Shows QJ for two pair
Hero – Shows AA
Seat 9 – Shows A5 (played any Ace down to the end)

$100 pot goes to Seat 6 with a rivered two pair. Why Seat 6 didn’t reraise me in that position I’m not too sure. Unless he thought I had Trips, he had the top two pair. I lost $24 in that pot.

Last Hand of the Night:
Dealt Pocket 6s in LP. Button on Seat 9.
Seat 3 calls $2, Seat 4 calls $2, Seat 5 folds, Seat 6 raises to $4, Seat 7 folds, Hero calls $4, Button calls $4, SB calls the $3, BB calls the $2, Seat 3 calls the $2 and Seat 4 calls the $2.

Seven players in - $28 pot (minus rake)
FLOP: 5 6 T (rainbow)

SB – Checks, BB – checks, Seat 3 – checks, Seat 4 bets $2, Seat 6 calls $2, Hero raises to $4, Button folds, SB folds, BB calls $4, Seat 3 calls $4, Seat 4 calls $4 and Seat 6 folds.

Four players in - $46 pot (minus rake)

Fourth Street: 4 of clubs

I begin to cuss in my head because the premonition in my head told me to get out of hand then. Remembering my luck from the previous few hands, I should have known better.

BB – checks, Seat 3 – checks, Seat 4 – Bets $4, Hero – Raises to $8, BB – folds, Seat 3 – folds, Seat 4 – Calls $4.

Two players in – $62 pot (minus rake)

River: 3 of spades

Seat 4 – Checks, Hero – Checks. I know I am beaten here, especially after the 3 hit the board. I knew he was holding a 7, but I was at least hoping he held a pair of 7s. Nope. He flips over his monster J7o. Luckily, I only lost $16 on this hand.

Preventing myself from going Hellmuth on the table, I flip over my trip 6s and walk away from the table. Cash my chips in and head upstairs to end my Vegas trip.

Those three hands cost me $68 from my stack alone. Playing other random hands here and there cost me the other significant portion of my stack. I started with $200 and walked away with $60. Should have been approximately $180 in profit coming my way.

Tell me if I am wrong here on this play or any play in particular. After calming down and analyzing everything, I don’t think I can be overly pissed anymore because I guess the pot odds were screaming for him and everyone else to play. The amount he stood to win for the little price it cost to play. On the hand with my trip 6s, I understand his play after 4th street, but I cannot believe he stayed in after the flop.

Feel free to lambaste me if I’m acting too much like Hellmuth.

I'll Make This Prediction

2005-06-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

With how much I think we will be seeing Full Tilt gear at this year's WSOP, I fully expect the boom that happened to Party Poker to happen to Full Tilt by year's end. They won't have as many players, but they will be close.

Check out yet another media release about their success at the WSOP.

Full Tilt Poker's Professionals Dominate World Series of Poker with Five Final Table Appearances in the Past Three Events

Too Much Shit

2005-06-22T23:03:00.000-04:00

That's what has hit this poker blogosphere this week. I'm not in the mood to post my trip report even though it is finished. Doesn't seem like much else matters at this point.

Go check Pauly and Spaceman.

R.I.P. Charlie.

U.S. Open & Payne Stewart

2005-06-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

For the few of you who have read this here little blog since its early days, you know I have a love for the game of golf. I love to play golf and especially watch golf. I know for many of you that it is too boring to watch on the teevee.

Anyway, this marks the return of the PGA to Pinehurst, the site of Payne Stewart's incredible U.S. Open victory over Phil Mickelson. It was incredible to watch the tournament come down to the final three holes and have four players in contention. But, the best part was to see the excitement in Payne's face as he won. He had a love for life and the game of golf. He was my favorite player. I tried to imitate everything he did on the course, minus the knickers. It was a sad day only months after that victory when he and a few others were killed in a tragic plane crash.

I haven't seen anything yet on the U.S. Open, but I hope some type of tribute is planned on Sunday for Payne. For the golf nuts out there, such as myself, I hope you take a moment to reflect on Payne Stewart and what he meant to the game we all love.

2005-06-14T00:17:00.000-04:00

I know I have taken longer than anyone in history typing up a Vegas trip report, huh?

I will try to finish the whole thing in the next few days and just give you all the gory details.

In the meantime, go read this Poker Bot article.

Oh yeah and why you are at it ... go check out the best World Series of Poker coverage on the planet here:

Pauly is kicking ass with at: Tao of Poker
Absolutely the best place for up to the minute World Series of Poker action.

For more stuff - photos included - go check out Poker Player Newspaper and the Poker Prof for more tournament coverage.

Finally, check out Phil Gordon's podcast from the WSOP. I've enjoyed downloading and listening to it every day.

Next year's Vegas trip is scheduled. Happens to fall around the same time to hopefully see her.

Cool Stuff

2005-06-09T10:27:00.000-04:00

Full Tilt Poker's GreatFull Red Series Promotion Pays Off at the World Series of Poker

This is pretty cool of Full Tilt to do this type of stuff. Pieces of the Pros and now the GreatFull Red Series.

I have no idea how many players each person had to beat to get the 1%, but how awesome would it be to see an extra $7,000 or $2,000 in your bankroll for someone else doing all the work?

Vegas Trip Report - Day Two - Tournament

2005-06-08T19:55:00.000-04:00

Woke up around 8 a.m. The wife wanted to make sure she got a chair by the pool and I wanted to have plenty of time to sign up for the morning tournament. Went downstairs to grab some grub and hang with the wife by the pool (the shade for me) for a while. Turns out the pool doesn’t open until 9 a.m.

Sign up for the tournament. Table 2. Seat 1. I hate seat 1. Sitting right next to the dealer and can’t see the people in seats 8 or 9. I had to dispel these thoughts before they clouded any judgments I would make in the tournament. Starts at 10 a.m. so plenty of time to clear the head.

Go back outside and lay by the pool. Read a little bit of my favorite poker book, Championship No-Limit by T.J. Cloutier. I don’t know why I just said who it was written by … the three people reading this know that already. I’m sure I looked like a dweeb out there reading “the gambling” books. To those people who think that way … eff off!

About ten minutes before the tournament was to begin, I get up and head inside. Take my seat and see that about 24 people had signed up. Not too bad, but I wanted the full 30 players.

Info on the tournament. Buy-in = $50+5. $48 went to the pool. $2 went to the dealers. Players begin with $1,000 in chips. Blinds begin at $25/$50 and double every 20 minutes.
Payouts: 1st – 70%, 2nd – 20%, 3rd – 10%

Based on the payout structure, I felt it was appropriate to read T.J. Top three is where the money is—so focus on finishing there. I was gunning for first nonetheless.

Before the tournament kicks off, I had to listen to this woman who wouldn’t shut the fuck up at the $2/4 table. I could tell she was from Boston from her accent. She was inquisitive to what was beginning. I explained it was the daily tournament and it was capped at 30 players.

The following conversation only lasted approximately two minutes.

“Well, you don’t have a full table,” she says.

“It’s still a few minutes before it is to begin and people are still coming,” I say back politely.

“But your table isn’t full.” I try to ignore her. “How many players?”

“30.”

“You only have five at your table.”

“Right, that is what the other tables are for.”

“But, you only have five at your table.”

Another player sat down at that moment.

“Know we have six. Make you any happier?” I say.

“How much does it pay?”

“Not sure. Depends on the number of players.”

“You only have six at your table.”

“Do you not see the other people sitting and standing around the other two tables?”

“They’re playing in it too?”

“Yes, that is what makes this a 30-person tournament.”

The other players at the table could tell I was getting pissed and they began to try their best too. If the poker room would have allowed headphones, I would have reached into my pocket to pull out mine.

“Should I play?”

“No. Sign-ups are over,” another player says.

“Guess I’ll stay here. I won $500 for hitting the royal flush.”

“How much you have in front of you now?” he said.

“$620.”

“How much you start with?”

“$100.”

“How long you been playing?”

“About six hours.”

“So, you’re only up $20 bucks after six hours?”

“No, I’m up $500 or more.”

“No, you didn’t beat anyone for that money. The casino gave that to you for high hand of the day.”

“No…”

“Yeah … maybe you should try another game,” said the player to my left.

And with that, she got pissed and left. Longest. Two. Minutes. Ever.

After some table rearranging, the tournament kicks off with eight players to a table. I still had shitty seat one! I began to survey my table. Several people wanted to play the part of “badass” with their sunglasses and hats pulled all the way down. I really wanted to ask why, but I didn’t.

Started off pretty tight for the first two orbits. I didn’t see anything worth playing. The other tables were a little crazier. I was going to be too with the blinds doubling every 20 minutes and only starting off with $1K in chips. I think three or four people were eliminated in a few minutes.

Finally in LP, I see 77. Only two limpers ahead of me, so I pop it for a raise of $300. My goal was to take the pot right then and be happy with the $175. Everyone folded so I guess it worked. I didn’t want to get into a footrace with anyone holding overcards.

Not too much was happening. A couple players from each table were eliminated, so they consolidated tables. I was stealing some blinds and protecting mine well mostly. I looked up and saw we were down to 18 players. Well, I've beat six right?

I really wish I would have been taking more copious notes during the tourney to keep track of average chip counts and the pertinent information.

Long story short. I win a couple decent pots and we make it down to a final table of nine. I was roughly 4th or 5th in chips at that table. I decided to play conservative and treat this table just like a Party Poker SNG.

We got down to the final four and I was third in chips. Just waiting for one person to make a mistake. I knew it wasn't going to be me. Ultimately, 2nd chip stack and chip leader got into it. Chip stack two went down and we were in the money. Now I was 2nd in chips. Third place guy was down to the felt two or three times and kept catching a little life. He took a pot off of me and took a pot or two off the chip leader. He was all-in against the chip leader with 83o vs. K7 and spiked a 3 on the river.

"No offense guy, but I just want you to leave," I said. Blinds were somewhat high at this point and my stack was getting low too.

I look down at my hand and see A5o after Guy goes all-in again. I call. He flips up Tc9c. Avoid clubs, but cannot avoid the T on fourth street. Again ... he would not go away.

I'm down to $2,000 in chips with the blinds at $500/$1,000. This is where I was a little on tilt from the previous couple hands from that Guy.

I moved all-in in the dark. Guy of course calls me. The guy in the safari hat stays out of the way. Guy flips up 77. Great. Guess I'll take a look at my hand ... 72o. At least I went out in style.

So I cashed anyways. Apparently those two guys made a deal after a few hands.

Rest of Trip Report is Coming

2005-06-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

I will try to work on this tomorrow and have it posted tomorrow night. Come back later.

Las Vegas Trip Report -- Up to and Day One

2005-06-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

Friday, May 20, 2005

The day that I couldn’t wait for finally arrived. No, that was not the departure day, but it was at least the last day of work for over a week. We were leaving Cincinnati to handle some things up at the Wife’s hometown and lake house.

Still needed to pack a few things, so I was a little rushed gathering my final things. No biggie … all the important stuff was packed. Took off and headed to Wife’s hometown.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Had to handle a few things at the lake house. You know – simple stuff such as launching the boat, making sure the boat lift is operational, launch the wave runner, and get the house in order. Now, the weather hasn’t been the hottest in recent weeks, so the water wasn’t real warm. Let’s just say that I had to check for my manhood after the getting the wave runner back.

Left for Indianapolis and now it was only a matter of hours until takeoff. Ordered some of the best pizza and chicken wings I have ever had from Mickey and Bill’s Pizza. Let me tell … this place has the best wings ever! Absolutely huge and everything was a meaty leg, not itty bitty wings.

Caught some shut eye … as much as I could. Anticipation was building!

Sunday, May 22, 2005 – DAY ONE

Arrive in Las Vegas and boy are we ready. My friend Shawn couldn’t get out of the Gate before he gambled a little. Hit a $.25 machine and promptly lost $5. A sign of things to come?

The Wife wasn’t in sensory overload as much as I had predicted. She adjusted really well. Since we arrived at 9 a.m. Vegas-time, she wasn’t as impressed because all she had ever seen were photos with all the glitz and glamour of the neon lights. I told her the sun hadn’t gone down so don’t get upset yet.

First tour of duty was to check-in and get our rooms, except we knew that wouldn’t happen for about four hours. Shawn and I swing by to see the Flamingo poker room and all of its glory! Yep, all six tables! There was one limit game going at the time and we were curious about the daily tournaments. Got the info and then we had to appease the women. They had one thing on their minds … ~~Thunder from Down Under~~ POOL! I wasn’t against checking out the pool and boy am I glad we did?!?! The eye candy out there was amazing. Now this was a Sunday, so all lifeguards were working and slides from pool-to-pool were going. The lifeguards were worth drowning.

After playing cabana boys and ~~finding our lovely ladies chairs~~ kicking older ladies out of their chairs Shawn and grab some time for poker. We knew we could check on the girls in about five hours and they would never know how much time passed. Bought them each a yard-long Flamingo drink to keep them tidied over.

Head inside to sign up for the tables. Just opened up a new table and looking for two to three more people to fill it up. How appropriate! Unfortunately we had to sit right next to each other. Shawn being the ~~dickhead~~ nice friend he is sat directly to my left. Now Shawn and I have played many a home game together and I respect his play a great deal. We had an agreement going to Vegas that we would split any tournament table winnings, but not side games. Simple enough.

Bought in for $100 at a $2/4 game. I usually like to have 50BB for my buy-in, but I quickly surveyed the table and saw that is what most players had in front of them. Plus, this was my actual first poker room experience in Vegas. Start slow and gain momentum, right?

I didn’t grab my pad and pen before we checked our luggage, so I wasn’t able to take any notes on the hands doing this session, except for the one hand that I memorized. Watched Shawn blow most of his stack. I don’t know why he thought Ace high was good for a lot of hands. Maybe I won’t respect his game as much from now on. He got down to $20 bucks from his $100 buy-in when he was dealt KK. I don’t remember the position he was in or the flop. I know he ended up getting his last $20 in the pot with three callers and took down the almost $60 pot (minus rake) and he was back in the game.

Several hands later, after watching some guy catch Trip 3s with his monster 83s hand and win a nice pot, I’m dealt KK. Again, I don’t particularly remember my position in consideration to the button, but as you can probably tell, that didn’t matter much for these players. I remember that preflop it was raised twice before it even got to me. I sat there, and I’m sure I gave away a tell with a dumbfounded look on my face, thinking, “I’m sitting here with KK and it has already been raised twice?” Now, in a NL tournament, I would probably fold in that situation (unless it was these players in the tournament). I decide to cap it at $8 and three players see the flop.

3 3 J (rainbow)

I begin cussing in my head (you’ll notice I do this a lot on this trip) because I’m sure some dickhead, no, not Shawn (he folded already) had a 3. I decide that I’m going to fire away regardless. A bet of $2 is out there, I raised it to $4. Both players call. I begin to think that if I had the 3 I probably would have raised? Maybe not.

Fourth Street – 8

A bet of $4 is out there. I raise to $8. One folds. Down to two players.

River – 3

“Motherfucker. Rotten son-of-a-bitch!” Just screaming that in my head, not out loud. The Flamingo has rules against berating other players or screaming obscenities. Hellmuth won’t be playing there. Well, now I have the decision to make. I like the amount in the pot but I hate seeing that third 3 remembering that one of the players still in the hand played the 83s earlier.

Player 1 checks. Hero bets $4. Player 1 raises to $8. My poker face here wasn’t so good I’m sure. Hero raises to $12. Player 1 thinks for a few minutes making me think “I’m good!” Player 1 calls.

Player 1 flips J5. Hero flips KK!

The guy looked defeated (and he was). He flopped the highest two pair on the board, but I would have at least thought he might think the other 3 was out there too. He finally said nice hand and I scooped up the $89 pot. That got me to about +60 for the time being. I wasn’t going to be the guy who scoops a large pot and walks away either.

Unfortunately, I got a little lax after that and chased some flops and wasn’t very smart. I ended up giving a good amount of it away, some to Shawn when I had the best and gave him credit for a better hand … so I mucked. He played that hand well. About the last one I saw him play really well.

Some more time lapsed and we had to get up. That was the only pot worth mentioning. I ended up about $20 for the time being. High hopes were floating in my head.

Go check on the women and find them about 2½ sheets to the wind. Just about 3 sheets. They had a couple more of the Flamingo yard drinks and were feeling quite good.

A few hours pass until we grab a little bite to eat (nothing good to report there) and went to ‘O’ at the Bellagio. In time to pick up the ducats and get a good drink or two. Two rows from the top for $100 per ticket. Another $40 bucks for two drinks, a chocolate covered strawberry and bottle water for the Wife. I figure the theatre sits about 2,000 people. Tickets range from $100-300 (I think). Just doing a safe estimate that every ticket is $200 and every couple spends another $40 in drinks/snacks – that’s $480,000 per show. Two shows per night - $960,000 per night. They are dark on Mondays and Tuesdays, so that leaves five nights a week to make some money. By my calculations that comes to $4,800,000 per week. Not too shabby huh? For the year – $249,600,000. I know it took me two months advance to book my tickets. I would tend to think this isn’t the only way the Bellagio turns a profit.

About the show. I cannot go into too much detail because I was on visual overload. There was so much to watch. The performers were amazing. They did stuff that I didn’t think was humanly possible. The contortionists had me thinking dirty thoughts. It was amazing. Let’s just leave it at that. Oh yeah … I had a thought about that girl I met one night talking about going to Vegas to try out for a Cirque Du Soleil show. Man was she hot. I love gymnasts!

Left and we were about gassed for the night. I know. I know. Like I said, this wasn’t my typical trip. Normally I can go for two days straight with about 30 minutes of rest. But I didn’t feel like coming home alone.

More to come.

Post Tonight ... Hopefully

2005-05-31T18:23:00.000-04:00

Since this is really the first night I have spent in my house, I have quite a bit to do around here. Plus 10 days off of work has a way of causing more work. I have all the notes in a little notebook that just need to be put to screen. I may actually try a first draft and edit for a change instead of the normal drivel that spews from my fingers.

I'm Alive and (not so) Well

2005-05-27T11:07:00.000-04:00

We are back from Vegas. This was not my typical trip since the wife was with me, but expect a full trip report Tuesday.

We are off to Michigan tonight to go fishing on the Lake for Memorial Day. I doubt I will catch anything like this.

I will let you know that whatever winnings I had had were successfully given back to the poker tables after three incredibly bad beats. Just know that AA, KK, and 66 were cracked and cracked big.

More Coming ...

2005-05-23T16:12:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note. Arrived yesterday. Sat down at a $2/4 table. Won a $70 pot but I was afraid. Had Cowboys but board paired 3s on the flop. River brought a third 3. At that point I couldn't get away from the pot. Won with the full boat against the guy who held J5 and had the boat with Jacks and threes.

Not too much else to report on the $2/4 game.

Saw 'O' at Bellagio. Had to take the wife to a show. Awesome to say the least. They did stuff I didn't think was humanly possible.

Sat down this morning for a NL tournament at the Flamingo. $50 + 5 buy-in. I finished 3rd for my first real live tournament in Vegas. I'll take it. I should have been in for 2nd, but the guy wouldn't go away. Caught a river 3 for pair of threes against the big stack to stay in the game when all he had was the small blind.

Playing in tomorrow's tourney.

Check back for more.

T-Minus

2005-05-18T23:42:00.000-04:00

3 days, 5 hours, and 17 minutes until my flight leaves for Las Vegas. I can't wait. This week has gone soooo slow, but I can't speed up the rotation of the earth, so I will trust that the week is going at normal speed.

The wife is done with her first year of law school tomorrow at noon. I will be taking her out to Pauly's favorite place Hofbrauhaus for some one liter beers and table dancing.

I unfortunately won't be completely away from work while in Vegas, so I will have an update or two while out there.

Wish I could be going one week later to attend the convention.

Fucking Awesome!

2005-05-12T21:48:00.000-04:00

The new XBOX 360 is fucking awesome! I have been waiting for this show ever since I saw screenshots and hints popping out.

Go check it out ... go to Google and type in XBOX 360. If you are a gamer ... it's worth it.

Helluva Weekend

2005-05-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

“We’re the entertainment for the Mother’s Day brunch. I’m a ventriloquist.” – Daddy says to crowded elevator as he, Iggy, and I tote a cooler full of beer.

I wasn't able to play in tonight's WPBT WSOP event on Noble. Tried to get home and watch and chat, but unfortunately the chat is restricted to only those at the tables. Good luck to all.

Aside from the amount of beer that would be consumed, at that very moment, I knew this was one hell of a way to conclude a great weekend – playing a home game with Iggy and his friends, along with Pauly and Daddy.

Great to meet up with Pauly and Snailtrax (Daddy), who quite possibly has the best post ever about things you can do with a donkey. Fun to sit around a table with some very good poker players, and Sam – who absolutely killed the table, but reminded me of some of the fish I lose to on Party Poker.

I’m sure I won’t be able to give much justice to the game and events of the day, so I recommend checking out Pauly, Snailtrax and Iggy for more sordid details.

Lost my original buy-in, to come back and regain most. Only lost a little at the tables … mostly to Sam.

Iggy’s friend GMoney took a good pot off me flopping broadway to my two pair QJ. Watched Iggy take a good hit playing the Hammer down … so when I got it, I pushed hard to just show it off for fun. I can’t remember, but I think it was the only successful hammer? Someone please remind me.

**********

Well, I have alluded to many topics last week and over the weekend that I guess I need to finish thoughts on, right?

Let’s start off with my golf game on Saturday. I used to be a very good golfer, but the last two years I haven’t played as much as I like and unlike riding a bike for a while … it just doesn’t come back that easily. Plus, tinkering with a swing change complicates things further too. I would love to spend countless hours refining the swing, but that little thing called work seems to get in the way.

My friends and I played a local public course that isn’t very difficult, but is extremely tight and unforgiving for any missed shots. Off the tee, I was very long and straight. That hasn’t happened in quite a while. I loved that part of my game and couldn’t have asked for a better start. For most holes it was a driver-wedge combination. Sounds great right? Not for me. I lack confidence and seem to lose all control with the one club that should exude confidence and incredible control. I sprayed the wedge all over the place and lost strokes here and there because of it. I finished with one birdie and a couple pars and several bogeys and a snowman. I was displeased with the final outcome of the day, but I felt confident with my swing. Some more work to build confidence with my wedge is in order. If I can bring my “A” game from 120 yards and in, I will finally have put it all together.

**********

Bausch and Lomb and Nike have developed some kickass contacts for baseball players and golfers! These contacts apparently make it easier for baseball players to see the seams on the ball and identify the pitch coming at them. Tinted red, they give an intimidating appearance at the plate. I guess they are also like sunglasses directly on your eye. The golfer version is tinted green so you can see your golf ball better in the air and grass. I look forward to these coming out for the public.

My eyes usually look like this after a good night of drinking.

**********

I was going to talk about Van Gundy's fine ... but who cares about that now. What else did I have in mind?

The alledged rape at Wildcat Lodge. Let's just say that I am happy that nothing has come of it. Glad that Chuck Hayes did not have to have his name drug through the mud. I'm not going to bother linking up to any of the articles sense I don't want to really draw any more attention to it than need be.

**********

I will post more tomorrow. I have more to say, but want to watch the rest of the Blogger tournament.

Oh yeah - t-minus 11 days until I leave for Las Vegas. Take care everyone.

**********
My last thought for the evening ...

I'll leave you with this wonderful photo of Scarlett Johannson. She is quickly climbing up my charts.

Details Tomorrow

2005-05-07T00:50:00.000-04:00

I have been working very hard on my golf swing. Tomorrow I will test out the many hundreds (if not thousands) of balls that I have hit to retool the golf swing and get back to my normal handicap.

Plus everything else I've been wanting to say.

And, you'll thank me for this - Tiffany Fallon - PMOY 2005

Lots to Say ... Too Little Time

2005-05-03T21:32:00.000-04:00

I've read some good stuff out there today and I had wanted to post my thoughts about the WPBT WSOP Event 2 on Sunday ... but there are not enough hours in the day right now.

Go read BadBlood's thoughts on "Playing the Game."

I feel the same way most times. I am comfortable with the level I am at, but I tend to get bored at that level. My only problem is that I don't like to put a lot of my money out there ... just yet. I'm getting there. I will become more confident and will move up in levels. But, right now I will stay where I am.

Also check out Wil Wheaton and his latest conquest on the PokerStars SNG. Well written and hilarious.

I have lots to talk about. Some things will consist of more local politics and the stupidity of this City Council. Also, the new contacts by Bausch and Lomb and Nike called MaxSight -- quite impressive. Van Gundy's $100K fine from the Commish. And lastly, a story that I hope is not true - an alledged rape at Wildcat Lodge at the University of Kentucky.

I also plan on updating my blogroll. See, I'm a lazy blogger when it comes to putting things on the side, etc. Mainly because I'm not a web guy -- me no understand html. There are a lot of good and well-written bloggers out there. I'll update over the weekend.

Oh yeah, while I'm thinking about it, you can subscribe to my site through Bloglines. Several months back, The Fat Guy helped me out getting the RSS stuff set up. See, I told you I don't understand this web stuff much.

That's all for now.

WPBT WSOP EVENT #2

2005-05-01T16:53:00.000-04:00

A few more people and the seat will be guaranteed. I imagine we'll get close to the 70 player mark before the tournament starts.

Hit up Iggy's site for the details.

Also ... answer to the trivia question I asked a few posts back:

What 7-letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed?

Lounger

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly. The Good Again.

2005-04-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

Am I proud of the ‘hit-n-run’ style that I have been using? Not really, but I am enjoying the results. I don’t really consider what I have been doing as ‘playing poker’ and that makes me feel a little dirty. But, you can’t argue with results. The quick strikes that I have been doing have been great. Now, from time-to-time I have gotten burned and it is not a pretty sight.

Well, the title should give you a clue of how my poker night was last night in the fishy waters of Party Poker. Getting home from work and waiting on the wife, I plop down in front of my computer and fire up a Party.

The Good – Decided to start the night off strong on a $1/2 6-max table. Now, I could multi-table these games, but I’m not a that big of a fan of multi-tabling. You would think I would be since my ADD wouldn’t have time to figure out what else to do. Back to the $1/2 6-max table. I had no intentions of doing a ‘hit-n-run,’ but sometimes the power is out of your control. Played a couple premium hands and they actually held up and was paid nicely for that. Up $30 in 20 min. Off the tables.

Fired back up and sat at a $10 SNG. I ran into the anti-Party Poker SNG table apparently. Super tight table and I wasn’t catching any cards (that part isn’t new). We were in the 50/100 range and I had only played my blinds once. I hadn’t made any moves at this point ... figuring that when I did, my table image would reflect strength. I’m in the BB (JTs) and it is folded around to the SB who smooth calls the BB. I raise up 300 to push him off the pot, leaving me with about 400 or so chips. He reraises me back. Now I’m thinking that this guy is just trying to force me off my bet. I go all-in. Nope ... he had me. Hilton Sisters underneath. Board hits me with a J, but nothing else materializes. I’m out in 7th.

As I sat there watching the table unfold, he wrote in the chat that if it weren’t for the fact he had the Hilton Sisters, he would have never called my original raise. Thought I was strong. Well, that’s all fine and good, but hey, he had the cards and I tried to be a little too aggressive. I realize that it probably was not my strongest play, but I have to get aggressive at some point. Can’t always be happy just finishing in the money.

Hopped to another table, only this time I played a little $25NL game and won a few bucks back. Not too much. People weren’t calling too many bets on the flop ... so I bullied a little bit there to win about $10 before I was bored and had to tend to things with the wife before her volleyball game.

The ugly came at the next $1/2 6-max table. The table was just the way I like ‘em. Lots of preflop betting and when you hit your premium hands, you were rewarded nicely. Unless you were me! Not rewarded at all. Rivered a few times and a couple other times my stubbornness reared its ugly little head. I had trip aces cracked on the river when he finally makes his flush. I know he has the King flush (his ace is on the board) but I call anyways. Why, because I’m pissed and verbally assault him through the chat window. Lost $60 before I stepped away. Took waaaayyyy too long to walk from that table.

That was a decent size loss in recent memory, so I decide to call it a night right there. Sleep it off and come back another day.

That was until I couldn’t sleep. Had to be at work by 6:30 this morning. I guess this weighed too heavy on my mind. I slept until about 3 AM before my body was telling me that it wouldn’t let me sleep any longer. I meander downstairs to try and lure myself back to sleep. Turn the teevee on, push the button that makes that wonderful “diung” noise for my TiVo list and see “WPT - Caribbean Poker Adventure.” Thought, hey, I can watch a little poker. I’ll rest my eyes and hopefully fall back asleep. Well, that didn’t work out so hot either. I watched as the poker gods blessed this gentleman in his first live tournament and thought that maybe the poker gods have something to spare for me? Lets fire up a Party again and catch the ~~drunks~~ fish playing at midnight Pacific time, eh?

Do I want to sit at the $1/2 6-max or a $25NL table? Decisions, decisions. I pick $25NL and settle in. I’m definitely not going back to sleep. I played tight for a bit until I figured how the table was playing. Not too aggressive ... so I don’t plan on making too much off the table. I’m sitting in the BB and I “take a peek” and see AcJc. Get a few limpers and I raise it to $1.50. I get 3 callers. Flop J28 rainbow. UTG throws out a small bet of $.50. UTG+2 folds and so does SB. On to me. Well, I know this guys has a J. Does he have the other J too? Surely not. I have one...one on the board. Well, at this point it would only cost me $.50 to see the next card. You can’t build a pot that way. I raise him $3. He calls. An A hits on the turn. Top two pair for me. I start thinking, “Well, I know how this will end...he’ll actually be playing KQ and a 10 will hit on the river totally effing me out of another pot.” I lay out a $2 bet ... I thought a relatively small-sized for the $7.00 pot. Hoping to entice a raise so I can re-raise. He raises all-in. $15 buckaroos. Wow, he could have JJ. Are the pots odds correct here? Am I actually ahead? I figure WTF? It’s 3:30 in the A M and I’m gambooling. He flips over ... yep you guessed it ... J2o??!?!? WHAT??? You called a preflop raise with J2? I understand you actually flopped two pair, but seriously! I scoop the pot and he calls me lucky for catching my Ace on fourth street. I simply type back... “TY”. I have successfully doubled up for the session. I win a few more pots to put me somewhere in the text of up $45 or so. I log off and catch a couple winks before the alarm on my phone goes off telling me that “yeah...it’s time to go to work!”

Quite the up and down sessions. Nothing to mind-numbing, but I essentially broke even for the night ... maybe up a few bucks.

WPBT WSOP Event #2

2005-04-27T23:16:00.000-04:00

Iggy announced the 2nd event to send a blogger to the WSOP.

Sunday, May 1st
7 PM
PokerStars
Same password as last time

I know I said I wouldn't be playing in another poker tournament ... at least for a while. But, I can't pass up opportunities to play for a seat to the WSOP.

I'm in.

And this time ... I'm not playing like a scared schoolgirl like last time. I will re-read the most influential poker book to me, Cloutier's book, and I will be aggressive.

Poker In Sports Illustrated ... On Campus

2005-04-27T19:59:00.000-04:00

I thought I would post up this article I read in the latest digital version of SI On Campus.

The Final: Hands Across America
During a three-month jag through Poker Nation, the author went all in, bluffing TAs and getting schooled by future MBAs

By John Walters
Seductive eyes. Charming smile. Eric has been coveting my stack of chips from the moment he met me. And he is good. Real good.
"I was playing in a game against my accounting professor," the Indiana sophomore tells me, "and I raised $10 without even looking at my hole cards. The flop comes 6-7-9 rainbow. I go outside for a few minutes. Then I check, and he checks. A 9 on the turn. Now I look. I'm holding 6-6. I got the boat [6s full of 9s]. So I go all in and win $150. I mean, it was blind luck."

Eric took his professor to school. And now he was looking to do the same to me. Eric is the devil -- don't think I didn't notice that he beat his prof with a 6-6-6.

Three months ago I didn't know a big blind from a duck blind. The first time I sat in on a game, on Super Bowl Sunday at the University of Florida, I was relieved of my entire $20 buy-in after only two hands. Gainesville? Lossesville.

Greater moments of ignominy awaited on my Heart (Club, Diamond and Spade) of Darkness odyssey. When an Internet poker honcho's offer to put me in touch with Doyle Brunson was met with apathy on my end, he asked, "Do you know who Doyle Brunson is?"

"Uh, no," I replied.

"He's the Babe Ruth of poker."

Wait a beat.

"Who's Babe Ruth?" That, I have since learned, is called reraising with rags.

"The thing that separates good players from marginal players," Flounder, a Duke senior, told me a month later, "is knowing when to fold."

To think it cost me $100 in Durham that evening to learn that lesson, whereas I would only have had to spend $10.97 (plus shipping and handling) to purchase Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits. Remember when eight guys would sit around a table and smoke pot as opposed to splitting one?

But by now, sitting next to Eric in Bloomington, I too have become a poker face. I marvel at how addictive hold 'em is, remember what an undergrad at Central Florida told me: "My roommate is begging me to quit playing poker. Can't stand what it's doing to me -- and she's a stripper!"

I'm in. Eric's in. Everyone else, after the two of us raised preflop, has folded. The flop comes a 3-5-8 rainbow and I raise. Eric reraises me. I have yet to read Super/System or Super/System II, Doyle Brunson's epochal how-to tomes on the game (whereas Eric, when I asked, "Have you read Super/System?" replied, "Which one?"), but I'm putting Eric on a high pair. The rainbow (three different suits) means he is not drawing to a flush, and his preflop raise indicates ... well, what do I know? I've lost $140 researching this story.

Still, this is my moment. "I'm all in," I say, pushing my last $60 of chips to the center of the table.

Eric grins. Studies me. Ten minutes ago I won a big pot holding nothing better than K-2 offsuited. Is the dude from SI bluffing again? Eric wonders.

"All in," he announces, turning over his hole cards. His friends "ooh" and "ah." My head drops as swiftly as the trap door on a hangman's gallows.

"Got a pair of kings," Eric announces. His eyes radiate. The glow from his smile can be seen in Terre Haute. The $160 pot is --

"But you don't," I answer as I turn over my cards, "have a pair of aces."

Issue date: April 28, 2005

I'll prolly be back later tonight.

UPDATE: OK, this article is not the full story. If you can get the digital version, there is a six-page spread. Unfortunately ... I cannot figure out how to copy and paste the text from the digital magazine for your enjoyment.

Gambling ... It's Hard Work

2005-04-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

"It's hard work. Gambling. Playing poker. Don't let anyone tell you different. Think about what's it's like sitting at a poker table with people whose only goal is to cut your throat, take your money, and leave you out back talking to yourself about what went wrong inside. That probably sounds harsh. But that's the way it is at a poker table. If you don't believe me, then you're the lamb that's going off to slaughter." -- Stu Unger

Congrats to Bob who had an amazing run last night on the WSOP Blogger table. Good luck on June 3 against 2,000 or so people. With all the railbirds you'll have ... I'm sure you'll represent well. I will be cheering you on from sunny Cincinnati. Last night was one of those things. If I had won ... which lets face it, would have never happened, I would have had to figure out how I could have shown up. I'm afraid I may have been that blogger who couldn't show up. Glad that didn't have to happen.

So, after I was ousted last night, I began to think about my NL game, or for better words, lack thereof. I understand now that I am strictly a low-limit grinder. Nothing more, nothing less. I do not have what it takes to become a good NL player. I went through my hand history last night and while I didn't have a ton of great hands, I truly have no feel how to play NL. Steal opportunities? Yeah, I've read all the books. I've taken all the notes. I'm simply not aggressive enough. I did execute a few times last night, but overall, I lack the cajones to make the big play that could pay off. So bloggers ... be happy it is not I representing anyone at the WSOP.

So, I will bid adieu to the rest of the blogger tournaments until I can really work and solidify my game. I will still play NL SNGs because you really don't need any skills to play those. I think a trained monkey could finish in the money 60% of the time. Sorry for the news, but there really isn't any reason for me to play ... unless you guys just like getting my money. In reality, I can't understand why I am not aggressive at NL poker since I'm aggressive in every other thing I do. Makes no sense. I love gambling. I just can't put it all together when I need to.

Anyways ... go read a great writeup from last night at Pauly's place.

Also, huge thanks and big ups to Iggy and Otis for setting up the tournament.

************

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a huge seven-day spread about bringing gambling to the city. For the love of god ... Mark Twain was right. Cincinnati is always 20 years behind. For a city in the financial troubles that it is in, gambling would certainly help bring us back in the black.

Go check the articles out here. I would love for the boats to come. I want so very bad to have some gambling boats only minutes away from my house. I love the craps tables and blackjack tables. Please come closer.

*************

Going back to my grinder-style of play. That is typically why I do not talk about my play much here on the site. There aren't any bells and whistles to my play. I'm a very ABC-type player. I wait for the premium hands and I capitalize. Lately, even those hands haven't been holding up too well. I could sit here and analyze my play and report on it, but again, there isn't anything earth shattering. There are far better writers and players to go read to gain insight. I have my theories and ways of playing, but I'm not the most articulate writer out there to help give anyone my insight.

**************

Really looking forward to getting Dan Harrington's book. Yeah. I know what you're thinking. Why? You said you aren't a NL player. True, but Harrington is one of my favorite players to watch. So methodical. Great player and I don't think anyone else could have done what he did in '03 and '04 making back-to-back final tables. I've read other bloggers views on the book and eventually when I do buy and read it, I'll give my review. Don't expect it any time soon.

***************

I would go and refill, but I think I need to go to bed. I've been able to catch up on some old episodes of Lost. I think it is the 2nd best show on television right now. It's right up there with 24. I used to watch a lot of tv, but I truly don't have the time for too much of it any longer. I still get my shows, but now I have to wait weeks before I actually know what happens. That is the wonderful thing about TiVo. I truly have no idea how this show will end. I guess it is coming back for a second season, but I don't see how. Yes it has been a huge ratings success and everyone has loved the show, but don't turn this into Gilligan's Island.

****************

I have some thoughts on the NFL Draft, but they may need to wait until another day. I don't think I can keep pounding this out tonight.

****************

Stu Unger's quote. I feel like that lamb being led to slaughter right now. I haven't been able to pick up tells or get into my "A" game. I will one day. I will continue to learn and read and improve my play. When that happens ... look out. I will be back in the blogger tournaments one day. Good luck until then. If you ever want to say anything while on the tables ... I'm not too hard to find. If you know my screenname on one site ... you should know it on all sites. E-mail me if you want it.

****************

Last Add: A little trivia for you ...

What 7-letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed?

Few things to touch on ...

2005-04-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

I've been hitting the $1/2 6-max tables a lot the past couple days. I guesss the strong run I had in the beginning had to be offset by some of the incredible river beats I've taken the past couple nights.

I'm not going to get too concerned over it. I had the best hands everytime until that river card landed and I couldn't too much more to push people off their draws. I kept firing at them and they kept calling and hitting their draws.

Glad to see Alex Smith go #1 in the NFL Draft. I wasn't a big fan of Aaron Rogers because he's a Tedford-guy. I don't think Tedford guys really turn into much of anything in the league. I wouldn't base my future on a Tedford quarterback. Hell, eight picks in and he hasn't been selected yet.

Looking forward to the Bengals and the 17th pick. Hope they get Erasmus James. They need a big run stopper. Hope he's the guy.

Any ideas where the 'freak' of the draft will go? Matt Jones from Arkansas. I say early 2nd round. Some team will take a chance on him. I think he'll be a big time player down the road ... similar to Hines Ward.

What else?

Go give UWannaBet some good vibes. He's been on a bit of downslide. Playing well, but nothing going his way at the moment. Didn't realize he was a another local blogger. We'll have to take on the boats in the near future. Iggy ... you in for that?

Go support the Poker Geek and his shirts! They look sweet.

Celebrating my birthday tonight, even though it's tomorrow, by going to the Cincinnati Marshals indoor football game. Not sure what it's like. The Diamond Deputies should be nice! (Wanted to link to them, but site seems to be down ... hope the team is still here???)By the way ... what's up with the weather. It isn't supposed to snow at the end of April. This is bullshit!

Going back to the draft. Can't wait to see how the Redskins screw up their pick. Really, is anyone dumber than Dan Snyder? Personally, I think you have to take Carlos Rogers or Mike Williams.

Comment Spam

2005-04-20T21:55:00.000-04:00

Looks like I am now victim to Comment Spam. Since I truly have no idea what software to use or upload, and I'm not sure you can do anything with blogspot, I will leave this into the hands of capable InterWeb people out there.

Please let me know what I need to do to stop this. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

Seriously ... why are there people out there that have nothing better to do than create spam?

********

Playing a small SNG on PokerStars right now. It's obvious that the players are better on this site. I'm still playing similar to my style on Party Poker, but doesn't seem to be doing much for me right now.

10:22 p.m. -- Still grinding this out. Haven't seen many flops. 8 out of 50 as of right now.

10:26 p.m. -- Busted out in 5th. Finally caught two face cards. Being blinded to death. Moved all in. My KQc vs AQo. Nothing materialized on the board. He wins with Ace high.

Just really trying to get a good feel for the game structure before Sunday.

Wynn's Casino, PokerStars, and the Pope

2005-04-20T09:57:00.000-04:00

Set to open on April 28th ... I can't wait to check it out when I'm there in May. I'm sure, if this is anything like any other Wynn property, it will be spectacular.

Wynn offers inside look at new resort

******
Finally able to sign up last night for the WPBT WSOP NLHE event on PokerStars. Again, big thanks to Iggy for setting this up. I certainly doubt I have any shot to win, but I'm more than happy to contribute $30 to the cause. But, it is my birthday and all, so maybe good karma will result in something.

******
As a somewhat practicing Catholic, I was a little disappointed with the election yesterday. While I'm sure Ratzinger is a great man, I was hoping for someone a little more forward thinking and revolutionary. My personal selection was Cardinal Francis Arinze from Nigeria. I have seen an article that states Catholics aren't ready for Black Pope, but I was hoping to symbolize another change in the works. Maybe a little more on this at a later time.

2005-04-14T21:15:00.000-04:00

The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. - Frank McKinney Hubbard

Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who say he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker. - "Amarillo Slim" Preston

First things first. Have you ever seen a person fall off the "hot tree" faster than Britney Spears. I mean seriously. Just look at a before and after of her.

Not sure when this was taken, but I'd hit it.

Sure, she might be pregnant here, but really, would you hit it? Better yet, another photo ...

Ah yes, nothing says sexy like this, huh?

Anyways, enough about that.

-------
Well, after about a year of trying, Iggy and I finally met up for some beers last night. Iggy = stand up guy and super smart poker mind.

We enjoyed talking poker, beer, baseball, and some Britney - hence her falling from grace.

Me = novice; Iggy = Pro

Talked about the PokerStars blogger WSOP satellite event coming up. If it isn't too late, I want to play. After all - I think there might be an omen behind the date of the event. It is my birthday afterall.

I will be in Las Vegas March 22-26. I made those plans long before the next WPBT date the very next week. So, if for some stroke of luck I were to get a seat at that tournament ... mark my words, I will be there for it. I told Iggy last night, if that were to happen, I would catch a flight immediately after work Thursday and be there Friday morning.

Now, while trying to build a bankroll for Vegas, I realized (after Iggy told me) that I'm going about this all wrong. I'll retool and start fresh. Limited time to build enough to have some "fun" with out in Vegas.

This will also be the first time my wife will be in Vegas. She really looking forward to the trip. She's earned it with all the hard work in Law School. I'm taking her to go see "O" at the Bellagio. I'm actually looking forward to it too, but I wanted to see Zoomanity - the adult-friendly Cirque' Du Soleil show.

-----
Also, I cracked Iggy last night about my views with my site. I enjoy doing this site, but I realize that there aren't many people out there that read my site. I don't have the following of the other people out there. I love to read what everyone writes, but I know I'm not as good a writer as a lot of you. I won't link to those that I think are the best. You know who you are.

Anyways, I don't really get too much a kick out of anyone reading this or not. It's fun for me. Gives me a place to unwind mostly. Hell, I cannot stay on topic most times.

Well, that's all for tonight. More in a few days.

Feable Attempt at Uber Post

2005-04-05T20:41:00.000-04:00

Howdy all! It has truly been a while since I offered anything of substance on this site. I have been saying that big news was coming, but that was a few weeks back. And now, I’m not so sure this is big news any longer. Long story short is this. I used to be involved quite heavily in the political scene around here. Right up until late last year when I lost all faith in the elected “leaders” of this city. I put quotes around leaders because they are more like bickering children than actual leaders. Their idea of reforming this great city is grandstanding on race dividing issues rather than rebuilding people’s hopes for a great city to raise your children. Anyways, sorry to get off on that rant. A gentleman I met while working for a former councilmember, who is now just jumping from elected office-to-elected office after only a few months (a true political whore), has asked that I run his campaign. Now, this may not seem huge to most people, but I was honored to be asked to run his campaign. Had he asked this a few months back before I had my current job, I would have jumped at the opportunity.

While I cannot devote my full attention to his campaign, I can put together the full plan for him. I have been working damn near 80 hours a week right now between the two jobs, getting everything ready for the big announcement and impending campaign. I really think he has a shot. Although the democrats will still hold the majority on city council, I truly think a conservative, Westside voice is desperately needed. I will have more updates on the campaign as things happen.

At the same time, I have also been asked to sit on the board of a newly created PAC that represents the needs of the Westside of Cincinnati. I accepted the position, but after the last meeting and seeing the two crazy ladies that are going to help run this thing, I may have to step down and watch this great idea implode from within. I know these two women from my previous work, and their racist attitudes won’t fly with me. I had to bite my tongue at the last meeting when all we were trying to accomplish was a mission statement and our purpose, and they wouldn’t shut the hell up! You may not believe me that they are in fact crazy, so I will paint this picture for you. Say you wanted to coordinate an outfit. Purple in moderation isn’t so bad you think, right? Let’s go overboard. Here is the ensemble: a purple jacket, a purple shirt, purple pants/jeans, purple shoes, purple fingernails, purple purse w/ matching purple inner bag (makeup) for the purse, purple eyeshadow, purple lipstick, and to top it all off – a purple pen to write with! For pete’s sake? Who in the hell lets someone out the door looking like that?

Enough of that.

Anyone seen Super Size Me!? Wow! Want to talk about a life-changing movie. As I sat there and watched this, all I could think of is what this food has already done to my body. For those that don’t know. This idiot, Morgan Spurlock (I believe), decided to go on a McDiet for 30 days. Breakfast, lunch and dinner --- all from McDonalds. Doesn’t sound so bad huh? Now, I call him an idiot because of how this experiment would have killed him had he kept it up. He made it the full 30 days, but not after putting on 25 pounds, having his liver almost shut down on him similar to an alcoholic, and consuming over 30 pounds of sugar.

It really was a great movie after much reflecting. I will never look at fast food the same. I will most likely vomit at the very smell of McDonalds. By the way, everyone loves McDonalds French fries, right? Would you actually believe that after 10 weeks, they won’t show the slightest sign of decomposing? Really … I’m serious. Who actually knows how long it would take. The dude had to throw them out after 10 weeks, along with the other McDonalds food, because of the smell.

I will never eat McDonalds again. No matter how hung over I am. I will grill my own burger instead of heading to the Golden Arches.

Editors note: That guy, Morgan, has a television show to debut on FX called “30 Days.” I’m not sure if he will be the one doing the ‘experiments’ of if someone else will, but the premise is to do something out of your ordinary for 30 days. Sounds like a great concept too. I'm sure I will check it out when it premieres.

Poker news – not too much to report. Been too busy with all the political stuff to really sit down and play. But, I don’t have much time before I go to Vegas, so I need to focus and build the bankroll for playtime. When I have played, it has been with mixed results. Mostly on the positive, but with some negatives. I have to do too much of the 25-30 minute sessions with the limited amount of time I have.

~~Today~~ Yesterday is was opening day for the Redlegs. I watched the Stealth Bomber flyover the stadium from my plush window view. Really wish I was at the game. This is the first time in four years that I have missed opening day. Didn’t really miss the parade that much. Maybe because the past few years it has been freezing in the morning and no fun to drive the convertible. ADD: Yesterday was a beautiful day here in the Queen City. The Reds snatched victory from the Mets with a walk-off homer by Joe Randa!

Now, that didn't stop our favorite Red, Ryan Freel from getting too excited. Seems his $600K+ salary isn't enough to call a cab so he doesn't get a DUI!

Can I bum a ride?

Seriously ... what is it with the sports figures in this town and DUIs? Just in the last year or two ... Justin Smith of the Bengals, Bob Huggins of University of Cincinnati, Keith LeGree of the same University of Cincinnati basketball coaching staff, Bubba Nelson of the Cincinnati Reds, and now Freel.

Wow ... something of substance. Feels good to be back.

Read this interesting poker news today: World’s Sexiest Poker Room Gives Away Ultimate Poker Prize

Now, I know my ultimate prize is prolly a little different than others, but I was a little upset once I saw it was just a seat to the "Big Dance."

Here's the reason why it's the sexiest poker room.

Expect another update on Thursday. I'm hosting a small, friendly game of Omaha Hi tomorrow night. We usually play Hold 'Em, but I was growing tired of the same outcomes. Thought I would force the issue a little. We'll see how this turns out. I'm sure it will be a no fold'em game fer sure! Looking forward to it though.

Finally, just to send you guys off on a good note, the up and coming "Lady of the Ring" Mrs. Amy Hayes! *You might be able to find some extra photos in the Cyber Club if you choose.

Now can I get called for roughing?

Blogger Hates Me

2005-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:00

I was trying to post last night, before the game, but I kept running into error messages.

I'm going to post tonight for sure.

Horrible Way to Die #627

2005-03-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

Tractor driver suffocates under pile of manure

I'm pretty sure you can file this under the Horrible Way to Die folder.

Not Quite Over it Yet

2005-03-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, what an incredible weekend in college basketball! My brackets were fooked after the first round, well not really, but they are now.

I think that is the greatest weekend ever in college basketball. I have never seen so mnay incredible games.

Although, I have shed the last tear for my beloved Kentucky Wildcats. Incredibly upset about the loss to Michigan State, but hey, I really didn't think they would go as far as they did. I am incredibly proud of those guys. They played their hearts out.

Finally, I have mentioned this before, but Chuck Hayes is going to be sorely missed. I will miss him. He is the heart and soul of this team. Here is an incredible story about him. I don't care what your feelings are towards Kentucky, but you have to respect and love this kid.

Also, I have a post coming on a great movie that I watched this past week. Enjoy the website - Super Size Me!

Sorry for no poker updates. Haven't played due to the holiday weekend. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter.

Promise a post is coming

2005-03-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

Sorry...things at work have been hectic. I'm currently in training right now and will bang out a post in the next day or so.

My basement does look great in case you were wondering.

Also, thanks to the help of the Poker Tracker Guide, I have tripled my bankroll already on Party Poker. Some of that could be to the commitment to playing regularly, but a lot has been to fixing a leak here and there and truly going after the fish on Party Poker.

I think I need to write up a serious testimonial for the book.

Greatest Day in College Basketball

2005-03-13T11:17:00.000-05:00

Well, my beloved Musketeers will be hoping for a NIT bid. Unfortunately, the late season rally of theirs didn't last past Pat Carroll and St. Joseph. I hope XU makes the field, but I'm not holding my breath with such a pathetic RPI number.

My Kentucky Wildcats pulled one out yesterday! What a great game. Today's SEC championship with Florida will be an incredible game. I'm sure Florida is playing with great confidence after beating UK a week back. I'm sure UK will be playing with revenge on their mind about that game. I look for an ugly game between these two today.

Tonight, I will be sitting in my completely renovated basement (looks great by the way. Once I have my friends digital camera, I'll post some photos of the incredible work done.) watching SELECTION SUNDAY.

I'll predict the #1 seeds. Obviously Illinois and North Carolina will receive them. I think with a win today, UK will lock up the third #1 seed. And, much to my dismay, I believe Duke will receive the forth #1 seed. I truly believe that seed should go to Louisville. They have been playing some great basketball and really, nobody pays them any attention. This team is for real folks. My sleeper pick for the NCAA championship.

Should Have Found Time to Play

2005-03-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Received this in an e-mail about a NLHE tournament here in town. First prize was a seat to the WSOP. I know I wouldn't have won that. I'm sure that if I were ever to make it any final table, I would wilt under the pressure I put upon myself. I will make it to one of these events soon ... if for nothing else, check out the competition and maybe find some other ring games around town.

Hi, TexasHoldEmEvents.com visitor!

The MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL TEXAS HOLD’EM TOURNAMENT to benefit Milford High School is happening this weekend and WALKUPS ARE WELCOME!

March 11, 12, & 13 at the Mason American Legion Hall, 401 Reading Road in Mason, Ohio. For a map, click the link below:

Grand Prize: A Seat at the World Series of Poker!

* $40 buy in, $40 re-buys in first 90 minutes anytime you have $1500 or less in chips.
* One "add-on buy" at the break: $40=$4,000 in additional chips!
* WALKUPS AVAILABLE TODAY AND TOMORROW!

o Saturday, March 12 at 1:00pm
o Saturday, March 12 at 7:00pm
o Sunday, March 13 at 1:00pm

* Doors open 60 minutes prior to each sessions.
* Each session winner receives $250!
* Top 25 from each qualifier will advance to the finals. Finals will be held on Sunday, March 13 at 6:00pm.
* Live Action every day includes: Omaha, Five Card Stud, $5/$10 Hold’Em, Seven Card Stud.
* Top 10 places get a cash prize and trophy.
* GRAND PRIZE: A SEAT AT THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER!

WALKUPS ARE NOW AVAILABLE! BRING YOUR REGISTRATION FEE WITH YOU.

Good luck!

I Hate Dukie V

2005-03-09T09:24:00.000-05:00

Not that anyone out there needed further proof that Dick Vitale is a Duke homer, he has released his All-Rolls-Royce teams for the year, along with his Player of the Year.

Of course he names J.J. Redick the POY and to his First-team. What a bunch of crap. Now, don't get me wrong. J.J. is a good player, but he is not the best player in the country. That title belongs to a certain foreigner, Andrew Bogut of the Utes.

Also, how is Shelden Williams on the 2nd team. Didn't I watch Anthony Myles of Xavier eats his ass up last year in the NCAA Tournament, before XU was "forced out" of the tournament, so Duke could be in the Final Four? Yes, I am saying that the NCAA wants Duke to be in the Final Four every year. The last two foul calls on Myles, with 12 minutes left in the game, last year were bullshit and the refs knew they had to get him out of the game or Duke was going to lose.

I'm so tired of the media sucking the dicks of Coach K and any twit on that team. Dookie V keeps trying to spread the word that J.J. Redick is the best three-point shooter in the country. Hey DICK - look at the stats. Salim Stoudamire out their in Arizona shoots the 3-pointer a lot better. 53% to 41%. Hell, just shooting - SS is at 52% to JJ at 41%.

I know I'm also biased because I am a XU and UK fan. So my hatred runs a lot deeper than almost anyone I know. But, if you don't think the media push the Duke agenda - you're fucked in the head.

Tomorrow is the Day

2005-03-08T18:45:00.000-05:00

My new floor will finally be laid tomorrow. I have been waiting for this for almost 2 months now. I have gone stir crazy to not be able to enjoy my basement or big screen television. I will be happy to have my TiVo back too.

I'll take some photos of the floor once it is complete.

I promise more is coming

2005-03-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

Quite a bit in my world going on right now. I will give a full write up later this week about my meetings last Wednesday. As of right now, I'm still undecided in what my future endeavors are going to be with the new circumstance. I'll explain later. Since I can't give you all the scoop right now, I will go on to other news and leave you a nice photo of Amanda Beard - winner of Page 2 "Hottest Female Athlete" this year. Deservedly so. She's been a favorite of mine for years.

Here's a little photo for you from the SI Swimsuit Edition

Hottest Female Athlete Award Goes Nicely With All Those Gold Medals

Having lots of fun with PokerTracker now that I understand the inter-workings of the software. Big thanks to Iggy and Hank for their diligent work on the book.

These are the best few weeks of the year. March Madness is in full effect! Hoping my Musketeers pull the rabbit out of the hat again this year and roll through the A-10 Tournament for the NCAA bid. I expect the Wildcats to receive a 2 seed. Hope they are somewhere near me this year.

I promise there will be more to come. I'll give you a little tease. If this woman is elected mayor of this city, I will move out of Cincinnati. So, please, let me know how your city is because my wife and I could be looking for a new town to call home.

Meant to Post This Yesterday

2005-03-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

Everything that is right about college basketball. UK fans will miss you Chuck! Thanks for the four years!

I wanted to post this before Senior Night last night, but I was tied up in meetings last night and actually missed the whole game. Kind of glad about that, because I probably would have shed a small tear about Chuck Hayes leaving the UK Basketball program. He truly is a class act and a player I will all cherish wearing the UK BLUE! All he does is win.

Some more photos to show how much this kid meant to the program.

The heart of a warrior.

You Poker Bloggers Will Rule the World

2005-03-01T18:11:00.000-05:00

The only difference between a winner and a loser is character.
—Nick Dandolos

Boy, you poker bloggers are taking over the world. You are meeting people, working for some of the best poker people in the world, and writing books about poker now. Congrats to Iggy and Hank for their hard work on the book. I will certainly be ordering their How to Guide for Poker Tracker. Personally, I think you should have just stolen the title and made it: Poker Tracker for Dummies. I know from my experience, I haven’t used Poker Tracker to its fullest. I just wasn’t able to grasp all that it could do for me and therefore, I must admit, I have been playing without the aid of Poker Tracker for quite some time. Thanks for the help fellas. I will let you know how it helps. Look for the money by the end of the week.

Since I’m at my new job, I don’t want to jump around to the different poker blog sites and see who has posted new information. I too, just like Mene Gene recently, have started to use Bloglines. How I am so slow to some of this stuff is absolutely amazing. It is great. And, speaking of Mene Gene, I apologize for never truly realizing how hilarious he is. It wasn’t until one day before lunch; I printed out the 15 pages of new posts I had to look at from his site, and laughed my ass off the whole time (especially this story). There were really only like five sites out there that I read with any regularity and Mene Gene has now made that list.

My regular home game is meeting up tonight. I’m really hoping to break my streak of bubbleness in these games. I haven’t cashed in these games in six months. Makes no sense to me, but for some reason, I do not bring my “A” game.

I’m preparing for my Vegas Vacation in May. Sorry I won’t be able to make it to Vegas for the 2nd Poker Blogger Tour event. Sounds like a great time, but unfortunately, I cannot afford to take paid days off. I am hoping to increase my bankroll significantly to fund my bankroll for Vegas. If I can finally get serious about my play and play at least 3 to 4 nights a week, I think I will have a decent bankroll for Vegas. Right now, I am merely a once a week kind of player. I thought this laptop thing would make me want to play more, since I could play anywhere I want, but alas it does not.

I will have another post, either tomorrow night or over the weekend about some new involvement I am having with city politics. If you have read me in the past, you know live in one of the more racially turbulent cities in America – Cincinnati. I used to work for the city and before, didn’t want to jeopardize my employment and speak ill of the how much City Council was doing wrong. Look for more in the near future.

Damage is Done...Fix Up Job Underway

2005-02-23T23:19:00.000-05:00

The life of my basement for the past month.
As you can see below, my life has been a disaster since my basement was destroyed. I have put up new studs, new drywall and will have a new floor laid. Hopefully this will all be over soon. Looking forward to entertaining again in the near future. Hell, I just want my TiVo back!

Sorry Iggy...I can't have you over for beer and poker until this room is normal again. Plus, the TiVo has the WSOP episode you have still be dying to watch.

My basement...running full length of the wall.

New drain system that had to be put in...in the other room.

Go Muskies! Go Cats!

2005-02-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Xavier played their best game of the season tonight. Completely balanced on offense. Let's hope that Brian Thorton stays healthy for the remainder of the season. I won't count XU out of the NCAA tournament yet. They won the A10 Championship last year before the Elite Eight run. Keep it up Muskies!

Also, one of the best freshmen in the country resides on the Victory Parkway campus. Stanley Burrell, no, not MC Hammer from the Super Bowl commercials, is one hell of a ball player. He isn't a traditional freshman per se, since he spent last year at a prep school to get him prepared for the college speed.

UK is holding their own in a less than spectacular SEC this year. Still, only three losses on the season for such a young team is incredible. I was at the game on Saturday against Mississippi State. There isn't a better atmosphere in the country to watch a ballgame. Got in a little trouble for chanting "Digger Sucks" so went with the back up chant, "4 and 12." That was his record coaching in Rupp Arena. If you couldn't figure it out, I hate Digger Phelps.

KAZ (Kelenna Azubuike) the best game of his career tonight. Wished he started doing that a little earlier this season, but if he and the Cats get things going now, that will make me happy.

Sorry to see Travis Diener's career is over at Marquette. Tough kid. One hell of a ballplayer. He will make some NBA team very happy. Much like Kirk Hinrich.

Huge Deal Made Today

2005-02-23T22:50:00.000-05:00

The land of the NFL will still be the main attraction on ESPN.com and SI.com for quite some time, at least for me. Since I'm not a huge baseball fan, especially after the wonderful and hilarious press conference by Barry Bonds, seeing that Randy Moss will more than likely be suiting up in the silver and black next year will be a huge step up for the Raiders. I think it is a shrewd move for the Raiders. Let's see if they can keep Moss in check. Huge move!

Speaking of Bonds...has there been a more laughable comment than, "I don't know what cheating is." Hell, first thing I thought about was Clinton's BJ in the Oval Office, "That depends on what your definition of is is."

Creative Zen Micro

2005-02-14T19:07:00.001-05:00

Anyone have one of these? If so, let me know. I like what I've read about them. Really like the idea of a voice recorder, FM radio, and syncing to my Outlook calendar and contacts. Of course the music is good too. Let me know. Thanks.

Hanging with the WWE

2005-02-14T18:45:00.000-05:00

So tonight I'm headed to WWE Monday Night RAW. I'm not a big wrestling fan, although I did grow up watching it and was a huge fan of Jerry "The King" Lawler when we would watch in Louisville every Tuesday night. Along with a couple of friends, we scored free tickets to a VIP suite for the event. I don't know how good our seats will actually be, but I'm looking forward to the people watching. Anyone know who the big stars are anymore? Looking at the website, I understand Triple H is the main guy. Guess The Rock is too busy doing movies. I have done a little research into the women. Man they look good. In my latest issue of Playboy, a preview to next month show new WWE RAW Diva, Christy Hemme, will pose. Hope she makes an appearance tonight. She was a former Juggy Girl on "The Man Show."

I'll let her check my pipes.

Juiced: No Shit?

2005-02-14T18:36:00.000-05:00

Jose Canseco needs the money. He isn't a credible person....unless you are talking about steroids. He knows a thing or two about 'roids. Will I buy his book? No. Do I believe his story. Absolutely. I never really doubted that the likes of McGwire, Pudge, Juan Gone, Giambi, and Bonds used steroids. The people that should really jump out at you are Brady Anderson's 1996 season and Brett Boone since 2001. Their "seasons" were a farce. The last few years of baseball are a farce. I'm going back to recognizing Roger Maris as the all-time HR leader. Not Bonds and not McGwire.

Oh yeah. And I believe that Sammy Sosa only used a corked bat once.

Great Column by Rick Reilly

2005-02-14T18:27:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of, in my opinion, the best sports writer out there. His columns are always the first thing I read when I get my latest issue of Sports Illustrated. He tells it like it is and I hardly ever disagree with his sentiments.

This week about Deion Branch calling his coaches throughout his career from Pop Warner to the NFL and thanking them for making him the player he is today. It is great to see him highlighted for being a true, down-to-earth player. He knows he didn't do it on his own. There was help and guidance and teaching involved. Great column! If you can't read the link about (because it is exclusive content), here is the story.

Making the Right Calls
Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch understands that being a great athlete is the work of dozens of people, not one

In the final hours before the Super Bowl, NFL players have been known to go and get, say, a $40 hooker. Or go to Tijuana and get muy smashed. Or try to set the coke-snorting world record.

But before this Super Bowl, wide receiver Deion Branch of the Patriots did something even stranger.

He picked up his cellphone and called every coach in his life who meant something to him. He called Pee Wee coaches. He called his high school receivers coach. He called his junior college offensive coordinator. He called his college head coach. He called 13 coaches in all.

And do you know what he told them? Thank you.

Thank you for caring about me when I could've gone south. Thank you for making me run stairs. Thank you for believing I could do this.

He thanked his coach at Louisville for not giving up on him when his grades were lousy. He thanked his high school coach for believing he wasn't too puny. He thanked one coach for being there for him when his infant son was near death.

He got so emotional while thanking them that "I was crying half the time," says Branch, 25. "It's hard, but I don't want them to think I've left them behind. I want them to know I'm thinking about them all the time."

And when he was done calling -- about two hours later -- he got on the team bus, put on his number 83 and made the Patriots thank God they had drafted him.

Branch caught 11 passes -- tying the Super Bowl record co-owned by his hero, Jerry Rice -- for 133 yards. He was named the MVP of New England's 24-21 win over the Eagles.

If you're counting, that's two Super Bowls, 21 catches, 276 yards, one MVP, two rings and maybe the one example of a pro who understands that being a great athlete is the work of dozens of people, not one.

"He called this afternoon [Super Bowl Sunday] about three and said, 'Coach, I'm calling to say thank you for the many ways you helped me,'" says Vernorris Bradley, who was Branch's receivers coach at Monroe High in Albany, Ga. "He said, 'Thanks for all the ways you influenced me. I just want you to know how much I appreciate all you did.'"

Usually, the response to these calls is something like, "Am I being Punk'd?"

"I mean, I was just floored," says Bradley, who retired after the 2003 season. "A guy that famous and successful can think about a guy who coached him so long ago? On the day of the Super Bowl? Man, that's somebody who hasn't forgotten where he came from."

Branch even called the coach who cut him from the middle school team. "He kicked me off the bus," remembers Branch, who at 5'9" is hardly bigger than the MVP trophy he was lugging around Jacksonville late Sunday night. "He said I was too small and I'd get hurt. I was so mad."

Of course, Branch has heard that Short People song his whole life. "The 49ers said that, too. [Before the draft] they said I was a good player but too small for this league."

Wonder if they still think that after watching Branch tear through the Eagles' secondary -- the one with (cough, cough) three Pro Bowl players -- like a minibike through a herd of drugged elephants. It was as if they didn't even see him. And he broke them for good in the fourth quarter when he just flat picked the pocket of cornerback Sheldon Brown, turning a sure interception into a 19-yard gain that set up the field goal that gave the Pats a 10-point lead.

Oh, and don't forget, it was Branch who double-handedly killed the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. I mean, Tom Brady is good, but he isn't throwing them to himself.

Of course, after Branch won the MVP, he thanked God, his blockers, his coaches -- everyone but his dental hygienist and his own marvelous Velcro hands.

O.K., so Branch is a gratitude freak. So sue. Four years ago he nearly lost one of his newborn twin sons, Deiondre, to spinal meningitis. The baby was in a hospital being kept alive by machines. "I think [Deion] was having to decide whether it was time to unplug," says Bradley, when a "miracle" occurred. The infant suddenly responded to treatment.

On Sunday, Deiondre was chasing his brother, Deiontey, around a Super Bowl field of confetti. Now his father holds on tightly to anything that comes his way -- spirals and sons.

After the game some corporate suit told Branch that as the MVP he could pick any Cadillac he wanted, not just the red coupe that had been rolled to the 50-yard line after the game to show it off.

"Well," Branch grinned, "that little one on the field looked pretty sweet."

He sure did.

Issue date: February 14, 2005

Still Playing Pacific Poker

2005-02-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

What can I say? I hate the software as much as the next poker player, but you cannot deny yourself the opportunity of easy money! I hadn’t played on Pacific in quite some time; I am mainly used it to teach the Wife how to play.

Saturday night, after returning home from a friends wedding, I decided to hang with my friends staying at the house and fire up Pacific Poker. Luckily for me, I wasn’t too inebriated because I videotaped the wedding and reception. That was the other reason for staying up…drink some beer.

We fired up Pacific and started out playing Omaha Hi. I’m not a big fan of Omaha Hi/Lo. We were a little faded, so we didn’t want to worry too much about the money we were playing. Nothing on the $.50/1 tables. Not a single person. Found one table at $1/2. Sat down and played for a while until that table began to break up. Moved up to $2/4 and made a nice profit. Should have made quite a bit more, but two of my full houses lost to higher full houses, on the river both times no less, costing me $80 pots in both situations.

Pacific isn’t the greatest software, but the fish are incredible out there.

Crosstown Shootout – Let’s Go Muskies!

2005-02-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight marks the 72nd Crosstown Shootout between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. Be sure to watch on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. The game could very well get away from XU, but if history holds true for this great rivalry, it will be a close game and the winner may very well win at the buzzer. UC is a 15½ point favorite. I think that is a little much given the history of the series, but I won’t be placing any money on XU to cover. Can’t bet the heart in this game.

Now, I know most of you out there are thinking, “Who cares about this rivalry?” I understand. We XU fans don’t expect the rest of the country to get as excited about this game as we do here in the ‘Nati. The national scene gets pumped up when talking about the Duke-UNC rivalry (and rightfully so) and how close in proximity they are to one another. We are a matter of minutes apart. Roughly 10 minutes separates these two universities. Roughly eight miles! That is all!

The story here lately is how UC might not keep the rivalry going because it doesn’t mean anything to them anymore. What a crock of shit! Could it be because they have be dominated the past eight years? XU has won 6 of the last 8 and 7 of the last 11. To say this “our championship” is bullshit. What has UC won the past several years, being the elitists and all?
Several C-USA Championships. I know they are moving into the Big East and yes, that will be one of the top three basketball conferences next year, but for UC to try to disrespect XU like this continues to show the lack of class coming from that University.

Catholics vs. Convicts! That’s the way it is and the way it always will be, unless UC is too scared to play lowly XU since it offers them nothing.

My prediction: UC – 72, XU – 69. I just can’t pick my beloved Musketeers because they are so young and inexperienced. Plus, if Brian Thornton doesn’t play, XU has nobody to bang inside with the much taller, experienced, and mature Bearcats.

Comparison of Two Hall of Fame Quarterbacks?

2005-02-10T17:56:00.000-05:00

I asked a question before the Super Bowl about Tom Brady. If he won his third Super Bowl and his third Super Bowl MVP, would he be a lock for the Hall of Fame? Well, we now know that he did win his third Super Bowl, but not his third Super Bowl MVP. I asked that question to a group of friends that night and everyone said “Yes. He’s a lock.”

So, I got to thinking about a comparison between Brady and another quarterback. Here is the breakdown below of the two quarterback’s best four years (since that is all Brady has played).

Tom Brady:

Games played – 63
Completions – 1,242
Attempts – 2,015
Completion Percentage – 61.6%
Passing Yards – 13,919
Touchdowns – 97
Interceptions – 52
Average QB Rating – 87.7
Rushing Attempts – 163
Rushing Yards – 244
Rushing Yards/Attempt – 1.5
Rushing Touchdowns – 2
Passing Yards/Attempt – 6.9
Passing Yards/Completion – 11.3
Super Bowl Wins – 3
Super Bowl MVPs – 2
NFL MVP – 0
2-time NFL Pro Bowler
Regular Season Wins – 48
Regular Season Losses – 15
Post Season Wins - 9
Post Season Losses - 0

Quarterback A:

Games played – 52
Completions – 1,109
Attempts – 1,669
Completion Percentage – 66.4%
Passing Yards – 14,666
Touchdowns – 104
Interceptions – 57
Average QB Rating – 98.8
Rushing Attempts – 82
Rushing Yards – 199
Rushing Yards/Attempt – 2.4
Rushing Touchdowns – 2
Passing Yards/Attempt – 8.7
Passing Yards/Completion – 12.1
Super Bowl Wins – 1
Super Bowl MVPs – 1
NFL MVP – 2
3-time NFL Pro Bowler
Regular Season Wins – 40
Regular Season Losses – 12
Post Season Wins - 5
Post Season Losses - 2

Now, Quarterback A has better numbers over the four year comparison than Brady, except for the Super Bowl victories. Brady has him 3 to 1 in SB victories and 2 to 1 in the SB MVPs. QB A has Brady 2 to 0 in the NFL MVPs. Would you say QB A is a Hall of Famer? Would you say Kurt Warner is a Hall of Fame quarterback?

Looking at those comparisons and numbers, I don’t see how we can say that Tom Brady is a Hall of Fame quarterback based on a 9-0 play-off record and three Super Bowl victories. I’m not trying to take anything away from Brady, but he shouldn’t have a bust waiting for him at Canton right now.

I don’t think anyone in their right mind would say Kurt Warner is a Hall of Fame quarterback after watching his fall the past few years. He technically only had three good years, but this past season was the most he has played since 2001. His four seasons used in the average were 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004.

Does this change anyone’s opinion now? Are you still convinced that Tom Brady, if he retired tomorrow would be a Hall of Famer? Would Kurt Warner be enshrined in the Hall if he retired tomorrow?

I think Brady will be in the Hall of Fame after his career is long over, only because of his postseason record. People will always talk about the Super Bowl victories, and I’m sure he will get several more rings in his day. Warner, you can’t say the same for.

2005-02-03T22:52:00.000-05:00

“The theory of probability has no idea what game you are playing. The odds of being dealt any specific poker hand (any combination of fiver cards) is 1 in 2,598,960. You have the same chances of being dealt a royal straight flush in spaces as you do the 7 of hearts, 6 of spades, 5 of diamonds, 3 of clubs, and 2 of hearts.” – Poker Wisdom from my poker desk calendar

If you read the previous post you know I finished 9th in my 2nd Cincinnati Series of Poker championship this past weekend. Had 29 people play this year; one more than last year. It was a pretty tight tournament from the onset. We were a good 30 minutes in before the first all-in bet. The one that I remember the best, even though it wasn’t at my table, was the AA vs. 88. AA went all-in after the flop, but I’m not sure what was on the board. The 88 called the bet, actually putting himself all-in and caught an 8 on the river. That table erupted at that beat.

Play continued for about 7 hours until the winner was decided. There were a couple of people upset at the final two because they thought they were in cahoots with one another. Now both people are good friends of mine and they did make a deal early on that if they made it to the final two with equal chips, they would split the money. If one player had more chips than the other, they would play until a winner was determined. I was fine with that deal, because I said it was allowed in the rules. Now maybe they didn’t play many pots against one another, but they both played plenty of pots against the rest of the table to get where they were at.

There wasn’t quite the afterparty this year compared to last. It was certainly more tame. We drank whatever beer was left, went to a few bars, and ate some sliders from White Castle. Anyone who knows the WC Lounge, especially from the classic movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, knows how good they taste while drunk, not so good the next morning.

There aren’t too many of my hands to talk about. Looking back on my notes, I didn’t play out of position too much at all and really only played to the showdown four times. I was able to steal a lot of blinds, but never able to scoop any big pots. I did play the hammer one time and bluffed the guy off the flop to scoop a small pot. I just had to play it. I think it may have been the alcohol working.

Anyway, so the Super Bowl is this weekend. Hey, does anyone know if T.O. is going to play? I can’t seem to find anything about his status? I can’t believe this isn’t a huge topic of discussion in Jacksonville?

I was watching Sports Center a couple nights back when some reporter posed a question to D. McNabb about T.O. “Did T.O. make you a better quarterback?” What? Now, I realize T.O. gave McNabb a better option to throw too, but he certainly didn’t make him a better quarterback. McNabb was a great quarterback before and an incredible team leader. Anyway, McNabb basically said, “No, he didn’t make me a better quarterback. If he did, then I guess you can say I made him a better wide receiver.” Stuart “One Eye” Scott went nuts on the answer along with Michael Irvin. Only Steve Young exercised some intelligence in the matter saying, McNabb basically said he was a good quarterback before and will be after. It wasn’t a reflection on T.O. I can’t stand how the media feels they must only cater to controversial issues and try to cause a rift between teammates.

As much as I wanted an All-Pennsylvania Super Bowl, it wasn’t to be. I ultimately think that New England will win yet another Super Bowl. They just don’t make mistakes. I hope Philly wins and McNabb gets his ring. My prediction: NE – 26, Philly – 17. Brady will earn his third Super Bowl MVP in four years.

Poll Question – If Brady leads NE to their 3rd Super Bowl in four years and earns his 3rd Super Bowl MVP, will this make him a lock for the Hall of Fame?

I was reading the other morning that Barry Bonds will miss most of spring training because of arthritis in his knee. Now, tell me if I’m wrong or not, but when you go off the juice, aren’t your knees one of the first things to go and show signs of arthritis? I could be wrong, but come on. My prediction: Barry will report and of course will be lighter (see Jason Giambi last year) and will say that it is a result of the knee surgery. He realized he needed to take some of the pressure off his knee, so he changed his diet and dropped a few extra pounds. Barry Bonds is a fraud. He is a great ballplayer, but in my eyes, he has cheated to get where he is today.
His numbers are fraudulent and when he does break Ruth’s record and ultimately Aaron’s record, there should be an asterisk next to his name.

A prime example of why women shouldn’t own sports teams. ABA owner fires woman coach because she wouldn’t bench best player. Makes sense right? This Sally Anthony chick is nuts. Check out her website. (Funny, just brought the link back up...site is now "Under Construction.") It is good to see that the coach was reinstated. Plus the coach is kinda hot. Am I right?

Anyone watching the Grinnell v. Beloit basketball game? This game is awesome. I should have went to Grinnell and played basketball. That would have been fun. Wonder what the over/under was on the game? Anyone know?

Finished 9th

2005-01-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

Had my big, annual tournament last night. This will be a short post because still feeling the effects of the hangover and long day. About 30 people showed up. An old roommate of mine won the thing and took home $840 for the 7 1/2 hours of work. I was one spot off the final table. My goal was to make back-to-back final tables, but one short isn't too bad. I didn't play bad at all. I was stealing blinds when I needed to steal them and played well when I had cards to work with. Unfortunately, they just came too few and far between. Eventually I was blinded off. Went all-in in the dark on my final hand. Never looked, caught two pair, but lost to a higher two pair.

Great night overall. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I'm sure this time next year I will be talking about the 3rd CSOP.

Really...A Month?

2005-01-26T20:33:00.000-05:00

Good stuff. It really has been a month since I last posted. No real excuses for that except laziness and craziness around my house. Laziness on my part of not really having too much to say, being preoccupied with a life transition, and not playing much poker. Craziness surrounds my house as all the snow the past month, along with rain and flooding has somewhat ruined my basement.

Now, this wouldn’t seem like a great big deal, but this is my part of the house. The basement is completely finished and this is where my surround sound system and 55” Mitsubishi television sits. Luckily, the flood wasn’t a problem for me. All the snow and rain has been soaked into the ground and forcing its way through cracks in my foundation, ruining carpet (and towels) in its path. I have removed all the drywall and paneling along one side of the basement in anticipation of the construction work to be done. A new drain tile and drain system should take care of any water problems for the future. Luckily for me, right now, it hasn’t affected any of my television watching or video game playing.

Since the carpet is ruined in that section of the basement, my wife and I decided to put down a new floor. I could have ripped up the carpet and padding and put the carpet back down, but it would look like shit. I don’t do well with stuff that looks like shit. We are going with a company trying to break into the Cincinnati market that puts down a natural stone floor. You can check them out here.

Since this problem has lasted the past month, I’m excited to get it over with, but still have to wait a while longer for the people to come in and do the work. As you can imagine, I’m not the only one in the city who needs this work done.

Enough on the bad stuff. Let’s get to some good stuff. I have gone through a small life transition this past week/month. I have left my former position, which I don’t believe I ever mentioned what that was (for good reason), for a new position with Ashland Inc. I am very excited about this opportunity to work in their corporate headquarters and in the corporate communications department. I promise I won’t talk about work much in this little blog. The reason that I didn’t mention what I did previously was because I worked for the city government. There are extremely high tensions in the City of Cincinnati and anyone that has a blog in this town that discusses anything going on in the city tends to get picked up by the local alternative media. Now, my goal was to never get that attention. While I have had many opinions in the past year of blogging, I never wanted to make any known for fear of the City finding out. Now that I am no longer an employee, expect to see some juicy stuff on how ridiculously this city is ran. Why this city continues to reelect the Councilmembers we currently have serving is beyond me. Anyways, I’m excited about the new opportunity. It will be one that will provide me with great experience and incredible chances to move up in the world. Have I decided this is the career path for me? No, I still think PGA golfer is the way to go, but I’ll settle for this right now.

As for everything else, I plan on picking up the postings regarding sports and most likely local politics. I have decided on a new look for the blog. I didn’t like the small columns on the previous one and also know that I cannot post only on poker. I unfortunately do not play enough or devote near enough time to the hobby. I hate to call it a hobby, but right now that is all it is. Profitable when I do play, so that makes it better than my other hobbies. I am playing in a home game this weekend. We had to take it on location because I’m expecting anywhere between 30-50 people. I will find out the total on Saturday at 2 p.m. This is the one big tournament I plan on doing every year. I got started a little late on the planning stage of it this year and may not get as many people as I would like. I played and ran the thing last year, finishing fifth. Hoping for a better outcome this year. I have invited Iggy to the game, but with the surgery and all, not sure if he is up for much more than clicking a mouse.

Well, I think this is enough to get me back in the flow of things. Thanks for coming back if you have. Sorry for the hiatus.

Merry Christmas

2004-12-24T13:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays to everyone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

This Is Crap

2004-12-14T13:15:00.000-05:00

Shutout: EA Sports corners NFL video market

I used to be a Madden junkie. It was the only football game I would play. Until this year. I bought the NFL 2K5 from ESPN and loved it. It is better than Madden. Unfortunately, this will be the last year for this game. Stupid bullshit from EA Sports to eliminate competition. Now what really sucks is that I will have to go back to the $49.99 price to play a good football game. The $19.99 price tag for this game was too great and the gameplay was incredible. EA and Madden couldn't stand the competition. I may not buy another Madden football game because of this now.

EA's motto: Don't join'em. Don't beat'em. Just buy'em.

Holy Shit!?!?!

2004-12-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

Local Woman Diagnosed With 66-Pound Tumor

She had this removed over the weekend.

Grace Radtke said she knew something was wrong, but had no idea it was a 66-pound tumor that was causing her pain.

How did she not know this was causing her pain? Did she not realize that this growth was unnatural?

Glad to see she is ok though.

Reaching a New Low

2004-12-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

From the Akron Beacon Journal...not sure if you need to subscribe or not so I posted below.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Comes to TV

FSN Ohio has old game in its grasp

By R.D. Heldenfels

A new show on FSN Ohio has everything you need for a modern sports event.

There's a controversial call, and a slow-motion replay to see if it was right.

The crowd often boos one of the best players because of his questionable tactics.

There's plenty of jargon.

You can bet on the game.

You can drink -- a lot -- while watching. Probably while playing, too.

And there's a fat, loud guy screaming a lot.

OK, that guy is Tom Arnold, who is co-hosting the telecast.

But as you can see, it's now possible to make anything look sort of like a major sport. Even a Rock Paper Scissors competition.

Yes, Rock Paper Scissors -- that game you played as a kid -- has come to television. At 8 tonight (with a replay at 11), FSN Ohio will carry an hour of highlights from the five-hour, 600-player, 2004 RPS International World Championships. The tournament took place in Toronto in October, with a top prize of 10,000 Canadian dollars (about $8,100). You can find out more about it, including the winners, at www.rpschamps.com.

You might think it's impossible to turn two people waving their arms into compelling television.

You would be right.

FSN coverage of the tournament walks the tightrope between straight presentation of matches and mockery. Arnold is crucial to the latter, although the show is pretty much self-mocking.

Some players wore the cheesiest hand-made costumes to be found outside a Star Trek convention, and the quality of the video is almost as high as what you see on public-access programs.

Making this a bit sad is RPS's determination to be seen as a legitimate sport. Players sport colorful names (Bonecrusher, Bloody Knuckles, Supergirl). RPS has its own terminology -- like ``prime,'' referring to a pump of the fist before you throw your rock, paper or scissors -- and strategies like the ``toolbox,'' when you repeatedly throw scissors.

One of the longer segments in the telecast involves a player's repeatedly engaging in an ``illegal prime,'' which antagonizes the crowd but also disorients his opponent.

But I'm sure the people behind RPS think they deserve to be in the big leagues -- to have contract disputes, drug scandals, lockouts and brawls leading to felony charges.

No doubt they looked at the TV poker phenomenon and thought, ``Hey, at least our guys have to stand up when they play!''

So the FSN telecast is less of a test of the people who play the game than of the people who might actually watch it.

I flunked the test. Even knowing who won -- since I had checked out the results on the Internet -- I managed to get through the entire hour of RPS without dozing off or running away.

Of course, I also went through a bad period when I more than once watched an infomercial promising to teach me how to play the piano in a few easy lessons.

Never bought the lessons. Still can't play the piano. But I watched the show. The TV was on, and there it was.

And the people behind RPS can find plenty of evidence that people will watch -- and like -- any sport, no matter how odd.

Poker has indeed become a phenomenon through television, with local stores peddling lots of chips, cards and other gear to holiday shoppers. (Yes, I watch poker, too.)

Before ESPN got rights to major sports, it tried to woo viewers with tractor pulls and darts. ``Ever do replays on darts?'' ESPN's Chris Berman once lamented. ``Ooh, nice wrist action.''

There are still nostalgic tributes to the short-lived XFL on the Internet.

So RPS has scored a hands-down victory just by getting on TV. No matter how long or short its video run, years from now, someone will have a Web site celebrating it.

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Somebody please tell me this isn't real.

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Also, a small write up coming about my play with the blogger community on Party Poker earlier this week. Most of them are in Vegas this weekend. Glad they could have a little of my money.

No Really?

2004-12-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

While I'm sure that most MLB players aren't on the juice, there are plenty out there who are. Again, this gets to the root of the problem I have with MLB. The MLBPA (Players Association for those following along at home) refuses to do anything. Giambi finally admits to something that we all knew for a long time.

Oh well, guess I will continue to focus on the only professional sport that matters to me...NFL. Thank God College Basketball is on now too!

My Post of Substance - Debatable

2004-12-01T01:18:00.000-05:00

Finally Proof That You Are No Better Than Any Other School in the Country

“In a lot of ways this program hasn't been this healthy in a long time.”

“From Sunday through Friday our football program has exceeded all expectations, in every way. But on Saturday, we struggled. We've been up and down and sideways a little bit.”

“We simply have not made the progress on the field that we need to make. Nor have we been able to create the positive momentum necessary in our efforts to return the Notre Dame program to the elite level of the college football world.”

The three quotes above are from Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White. With that, thank you Kevin for finally exposing what Notre Dame truly stands for. You are just trying to be a football factory like everyone else, so stop proclaiming the bullshit about academics and history. It is all bullshit.

For anyone that knows me, I absolutely despise Notre Dame and revel in their misery. I take great pride in revving up my Notre Dame friends because they still “believe” that Notre Dame will “Return to Glory.” I’m sorry ND fans, you are sadly mistaken, as long as you continue to play the game you do. You want to sit on your high horse and chant things about class, dignity, institution of higher learning, academics are important for our athletes, and all the other crap. If that were true, then you wouldn’t have fired Ty Willingham. And oh yeah, if football weren’t that important, why in the fuck are you the only school in the country with a national television contract (that forces me to watch your shitty teams) and doesn’t share any bowl money with the other schools? Fuck off!

Fuck – I remember stirring up shit for ND fans when they hired Willingham. Hell, you would have thought he was the next coming of Christ! One good fucking year at Stanford was all he had under his belt. People were predicting National Championships and undefeated seasons. What a bunch of shit. Do you even know what Notre Dame is anymore?

I’m not taking away the history…can’t do that. Notre Dame does have a proud tradition. But face it, that is long over. Now all the talk is on Urban Meyer at Utah. Another great coach out there yes. Is he ready for Notre Dame? Absolutely not. No coach is. Hell you eat your young out there. Three seasons for this guy and he’s done? He didn’t even get one recruiting class through the university you schmucks!

Talking with my friends last night about all the talent that is at Notre Dame and with Urban Meyer, they’ll win a National Title in the next five years. Keep dreaming dumbasses. Face it…Notre Dame will never compete on the level they once stood. They will never compete with the USC’s, Oklahoma’s, Auburn’s, Miami’s, and Texas’ of College Football. Not with the standards you “believe in.”

Go ahead and hire Urban Meyer. At the same time, show what your school “stands for” and reduce your requirements. That is the only way ND will ever compete again.

Courtesy of Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com:

The unique quality of which Notre Dame has been so proud of for so many years -- that it doesn't do things the way the typical “football factory” does -- became a lot less visible around 1:15 ET Tuesday afternoon. Sending a coach on his way three years into a contract is what any school would do. Florida and Stanford come immediately to mind.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, on to other matters.

Sirius Satellite is Kicking XM's Ass
Sirius Satellite Radio to Air Men’s NCAA Tournament

As if I need any more reason to stop listening to regular radio. Given the landscape of satellite radio, I am leaning more towards Sirius than XM. Could be some of the Howard Stern stuff, but mostly now for the NCAA Tournament and NFL games, maybe a little because of Eminem’s station and Radio Bam (Bam Margera from Viva La Bam on MTV) too. XM took baseball --- ok you can have it. Can’t listen to baseball on the radio anyways. I’m sure Iggy would disagree. Maybe that is my ADD coming out.

I would love to buy Sirius right now, but until we get back to generating two incomes, it will just have to wait.

Bill Simmon's At It Again

There are plenty of great writers out there, but I’m not sure any of the top Bill Simmon’s. He is simply the best. After the BoSox World Series victory, I feared that Bill wouldn’t be able to summon up the demon’s of the past for future stories and essentially, his aura would be no more. Luckily for us, over Thanksgiving, he threw his back out again, and we were treated with a nice write-up of crappy television. Enjoy if you haven’t already read it.

Last Tuesday was a new low: The nympho (Sarah) was so horny and frustrated, she ended up seducing one of the gay friends of one of her two gay roommates -- that's right, two -- then complained afterwards because he "wasn't that into it." Throw in a set of male genitals and she would have been right back in that thing. I may have hallucinated this show because of the Percocets, but I'm at least 70 percent sure it actually happened.

(How can MTV save this show? They can't. It's a train wreck. Why hasn't HBO ripped off the idea, thrown seven wannabe actors in a Hollywood Hills house and pushed the nudity/partying/swearing envelope? How many times do I have to keep floating this out there?)

Finally
HALO 2 will receive it’s own post. Sadly, I haven’t been able to play much lately. Quickly though, the graphics are incredible and the gameplay/on-line play is awesome. Doubt I will beat this game anytime soon either. I like to play on the hard levels from the get-go.

I do have much more to say and will prolly finish my rants tomorrow night.

I've Been A Bad Blogger

2004-12-01T01:14:00.000-05:00

I realize I haven't posted anything of substance in a while. I will have a big post in another day or two. Will cover plenty of stuff.

Blog Maverick

2004-11-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

I tend to read Mark Cuban's blog every once in a while. Some of his posts are quite longwinded, but always insightful. The guy isn't all that bad. Hell, I wish he would come to Cincinnati and buy the Cincinnati Reds. I respect him as an owner because he will do what it takes to win.

Got on there this morning and he had an incredible post on the latest FCC b.s. regarding MNF's T.O. & Desperate Housewive's skit. Is it just me or are we spending way too much effing time on a skit? WTF? Anyway, Cuban has a good take on what we can to appease the FCC. Introducing the new reality show - Apologevents.

Oh yeah, sidebar on why the NBA sucks. So Cuban makes a legit point about the decision to start the NBA season on Election night wasn't the brightest idea because 99% of America was more interested in the Presidential election. The NBA's reaction...that's right...LET'S FINE HIM FOR HAVING AN OPINION! Fuck David Stern and his worthless league of "potential." Hey David, thanks for ruining basketball on all levels.

Damn, what a way to start a Friday?

Also, HALO 2 evaluation is on the way. Wanted to get enough playing time into it and also try out the XBox Live stuff.

Poker news is on the way also. I have given serious thought to my play the past couple weeks, although, my play has been focused entirely on Omaha Hi and not Hold'em. I haven't read anything regarding Omaha ever, just trying to spend time at the tables to get the science of that game down. Overall, the bankroll has improved steadily with my Omaha play.

Does anyone know out there if PokerTracker analyzes Omaha stats. I just haven't played with it enough to figure that out. Hell, I still struggle trying to analyze all the info from Hold'em. I need a "How to Read PokerTracker for Dummies" book :-).

Great Daily Czabe

2004-11-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

I make it a priority to read the Daily Czabe every morning. Steve Czaban is one of my favorite sports radio personalities. Today's Daily Czabe is one of the best I've read in quite some time. He has a great opinion on the whole NFL Monday Night Football "fiasco" and lashes out against "our team (Repubs)" and the crap they're pulling with Nipplegate, etc.

Seriously, how can people get upset about that scene when we are inundated with hours of commercials about how much better my sex life will be by taking one of the mulitiple penis pills...gimme a break.

If you have a hard time explaining about an "inferred" naked woman jumping into a man's arms, but don't have a problem explaining why you can't get your dick hard, you need to reevaluate yourself.

For Christ's Sake

2004-11-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

Why is there a fuss about the Monday Night Football and Desperate Housewives segment at the beginning. This country is becoming too damn PC about this crap. I can't understand why this is such a big deal. Cool it with all this "don't want my kids seeing that" crap. Half the shit on television these days deals with sex of some sort or violence of any sort.

Here is an article to check out.

HALO 2 DAY

2004-11-09T13:15:00.000-05:00

This really should be a day off for me. This is the most exciting day I've had in quite some time. HALO: Combat Evolved was the first game I bought for my XBox a few years back. I've been anxiously awaiting it for years now!

I'm scheduled to pick it up today...preordered it several months back. As much as I wanted to go pick it up last night at midnight, my wife would've killed me.

I'll play it for a while and post my review later.

Free IPods?

2004-11-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

I know the subject sounds too good to be true right? After some research, I have verified that this website www.freeipods.com is a legit website and they do offer a free 20GB IPod. There are only a couple things you have to do.

All I need is 5 people to sign up and participate in the free trial of one of several offers, and I get MY free IPod. You then pass your information on to 5 other people and you get YOUR free IPod.

After taking their survey (which took about 5 minutes) I have to sign up for one of their offers, ranging from 2 free weeks of Blockbuster Online, New York Times subscription, BMG Music Service, etc...(I'm picking the two weeks of Blockbuster Online), and complete the time period. I also have to refer 5 people who will do that same thing and honor the free trial commitment to any of these offers. After your trial period is over, simply cancel. Now, by you doing this, you help me get a free IPod. This is where you come in and try to get your own. Do you know 5 people who would be willing to go through the offer period, etc. to get your free IPod for you. That is the small catch. You have to refer 5 people who complete the requirements and then you get your free IPod.

To help prove that this is legit: http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html

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Hey-
Check out this great site that is giving away totally free iPods! I've joined and I think you should as well. It's a completely legitimate offer, and this company has already given away $4 million in free stuff!

All you have to do is join, complete and online offer, and refer friends to do the same. That's it!

Here is my referral link. To help me get my iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser: http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=11515411

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If you do sign up...thanks.

Four More Years

2004-11-04T21:58:00.001-05:00

"I actually voted for John Kerry, before I voted against him!"

I apologize up front for those who are offended with the political talk. I won't say too much, but I am extremely happy to have four more years of W. I have heard so much crap from the extreme left the past few weeks/months that it made me sick. If you truly believe that John Kerry was the man to "lead" America, I'm sorry. The man doesn't have a bone in his body. He clearly wouldn't have had the backbone to stand up for America.

-------

I played a home game on election night to try to help take the mind off how crucial the state I live in was for this election. It was with nearly the same group of ~~assholes~~ friends. After a little advice from Iggy I decided to change my game up a bit for this group. I normally play the cards and only wait for proper position and good starting hands. I have had my moments with this group, but haven't had much success lately.

I wanted to see a few more flops on Tuesday night. Most of the flops were pretty cheap to see and if I didn't hit anything, I tended to get out of the hand. One particular hand was my downfall and basically took me out of the rest of the night. Short story is that I had the top pair and allowed a guy to chase his four flush rather cheaply - TWICE. I knew my top pair was strong enough and I put him on a flush draw. I thought my two bets were significant enough to force him out of the hand, but I was wrong. Needless to say, he hit his flush on the river and I had nothing. Like an idiot, I paid off the final bet, leaving me shortstacked, to make sure I was right. I was. Didn't mean much to me at that point.

I was able to maneuver my short stack for quite some time to make the final 6 out of 15 considering how early in the game that had happened. I ended up getting knocked out on what I feel was a bad beat. Pocket Ks, all-in preflop. One caller. Both flip over, KK vs. A2o. Didn't like the overcard at all, but thought I might be ok. Flop comes out with J82o. Fourth street, blank. River brought the mighty 2.

I was extremely pissed because the guy that beat, this was his first time playing. He truly didn't know what hands beat what. He called simply because he had an A in his hand. He caught more flops and river cards than I thought humanly possible. He ended up finsihing second. Much to my amazement.

Although I battled my way back to at least finish sixth, I was less than impressed with my play. Although I told myself to see more flops (which I did), I still played the cards 99% of the time. I never played the guys (which I should be doing at this point because we play together so often). I'm not too sure what it is going to take for me to improve my game and improve my playing of people instead of hands/cards.

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Kentucky basketball! Man was I impressed last night. Although it was a Division II basketball team, it was great to see this freshman class. I expect huge things from them. I will have much more on this later.

Election Day

2004-11-02T09:32:00.000-05:00

Regardless of your political views, today is a very important day. We as Americans have the ability to express our views freely and elect whomever we want. Other countries are not as lucky. Don't sit on your ass today because it is raining (at least here in the 'Nati) or for any other reason. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain/bitch.

VOTE!

The Sweet Smell of College Basketball Season

2004-10-29T10:27:00.000-04:00

While the NFL is still dominant and baseball has now finished, my favorite sport is just getting started - College Basketball.

If you go back and check the archives, you will find out quickly the two teams that I root for - Xavier University and University of Kentucky. Now, I know what most people think when they think of UK fans - we're obnoxious, loud, etc. While, yes many fans are that way - I consider myself to be normal. Do I expect UK to win a National Championship every year, NO. Do I at least expect for them to make a run at the title, YES. Have I been happy with the past two seasons (even though they were bounced from the tourney early), ABSOLUTELY!

I'm especially excited about UK basketball this year. Could this be like the Syracuse-Carmelo year, maybe. The talent is there. Hopefully, the frosh can understand Tubby's system early enough in the season, but if not, Tubby like always will have the team at top form in the late stages of the season.

The media believe that UK is the team to beat again in the SEC, regardless of who they lost and what they gained. I hope they are right.

Now, my beloved Musketeers are having some bad times right now. The number one return player from last year suffered a sprained knee this week and XU lost another player for the season. Under first-year coach Sean Miller, I still expect XU to be one of the top teams in the A-10. Will they continue on the magical Elite Eight run from last year, that is still to be seen. I truly believe that this team as much talent as they have ever had. I look for Justin Doellman to be THE MAN this year for XU. He has moments that compare him to Larry Bird, but I'm not comparing him to LB, with his ability to shoot the ball, dribble, pass, and his knack for making big plays.

The USA Today/ESPN Poll was released today. Kansas #1? Wake Forest #2? I think Wake Forest should be the Preseason #1. Skip Prosser (and I'm not floating his boat because he is a former XU coach) has all the pieces this year to run for the National Title. Chris Paul is by far the best player in CB this year. Kansas is my #2. Wayne Simien returning for his senior year, I'm sure he wants to fill that void from the Syracuse game in 2003, will be a force this year.

I anticipate a much longer version of this at another time. Preseason polls aren't really worth paying attention too, but, the excitement is there and I can't wait.

Could This Be The Real Thing?

2004-10-26T19:07:00.000-04:00

Found this on one of my favorite sports sites.

For once, this doesn't appear to be a fake.

Check out Steve Czaban for more snicky's.

WHO DEY!!!

2004-10-26T18:55:00.000-04:00

I can't say enough about the game last night. That was an incredible environment to be a part of. I can't believe the Bengals actually pulled it off, but that was one hell of an effort they put on last night.

I was furious at my boss this past week after I had asked for a half day for Monday, had it granted only to be taken away. But, I couldn't get quite that pissed because it wasn't like she didn't have a good reason to take off Monday. Her husband decided they needed to go to the World Series.

Turned out that it wasn't a bad thing that I wasn't able to tailgate so early. Most the great places were full from business people still parked in the area. As soon as work was out, I busted my ass down there and opened the cooler and got out the dogs/brats/metts for the grill. It was a great time to be had with thousands of Bengals fans.

Inside the stadium, it was electric. Never seen anything like that before. The closest that I ever came to that was running out on the field for my high school football rivalry. 35,000 fans show up for that game every year. That was cool, but this was 10x better than that.

Let's just hope that this is the turning point for the Bengals. This city truly needs a team to be proud of. The other "pro" team in the area isn't too much to help their cause. Iggy prolly agrees with me on that note.

WHO DEY!!

I Was Wrong

2004-10-21T23:33:00.000-04:00

The Rocket had the inning. Congrats to St. Louis! Looking forward to the BoSox - Cards matchup. I have thought these were the best two teams this year, so only fitting that they meet for all the marbles.

Prediction - BoSox in 6.

Predictions for NLCS Game 7

2004-10-20T23:49:00.000-04:00

After watching the way St. Louis pulled off Game 6 tonight, I cannot fathom them taking the game with The Rocket on the mound.

I would love nothing more than a St. Louis-BoSox World Series, but I don't know if the Cardinals will pull another rabbit out of the hat.

Sidebar...since Yanks-BoSox game isn't quite "over" yet. Yankee fans throwing shit out on the field. Show some freaking class. Don't aim whatever you're throwing at The Passion of the Center Fielder....throw it at your own team which has just made history as having the biggest effing collapse in sports history.

I'm predicting that Boston fans will burn down the city tonight. I hope that they don't since there are still four more games to be played. Also, how tough is Curt Schilling? I don't think I have seen anything like that ever. MJ playing with the flu was tough, but dude had staples in his foot to hold a tendon in place. Eff that man. Shill is the shit as far as I'm concerned. The only thing missing from last night's game was the music from The Natural everytime the camera zoomed in on the bloody ankle.

Cue the music

Well, back on topic now...if anyone would care to make any predictions about tomorrow night's game...feel free. I think the final will be Stros 7 Cards 4.

UPDATE: Game over...What, no handshake between teams? Ah, who cares. Screw the Yankees...yet another year that you can't buy a championship.

Why

2004-10-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

In the name of all that is holy...would you put Pedro on the mound when Lowe has been nothing less than magnificent tonight?

Effing BoSox must want to continue the curse. I understand the theory of bringing Pedro (your ace) into the game, but for fucks sake - the crowd was dead before bringing him into the lineup. Yeah, give them a reason to get into the game! Stoopid effing BoSox.

Already gave up two runs in this inning...nice work Pedro! Must have forgotten to rub his midget.

Hey, I spent $10 and all I got was this picture?

UPDATE: Pedro got his act together, but still gave up some big shots. Come on man...get your head out of your ass!

Sweet, another homer for the BoSox! I'm not so much pulling for the BoSox as I am rooting against the Yankees! Thanks to Scott for that one.

Another Reason Why The Cincinnati Reds Suck

2004-10-12T16:07:00.000-04:00

Reds decline to offer Larkin a contract

Look, I'm not a huge Barry Larkin fan, but for fuck's sake...how to you not offer a guy who has been with you for 19 years, and had as productive year as anyone who will replace him (because you are too fucking stupid to have thought that Barry was getting old and haven't groomed anyone to replace him), how do you not offer him a one-year contract deal and then a coacking position?

Fuck the Reds. This is another reason why I'm just about through with Major League Baseball. That and the fact that my other team cannot fucking win in the postseason. Bobby Cox is one of the best manager's ever in MLB, but WTF? Can't you win more than once in 13 straight division titles?

I wish everyone could hear this bumbling fucking idiot of a general manager, Dan O'Brien, the Reds have talk right now. "Barry didn't have much to say." NO SHIT! BECAUSE YOU TREATED HIM LIKE SHIT. I HOPE HE GAVE YOU A GREAT BIG FUCK YOU!

Fuck the Reds! Fuck you Carl Linder for spending more money on a fucking festival that happens once every few years (Tall Stacks) than wanting to increase payroll and put some pitching and talent out on the ball field.

I'm Sorry It Has Been A While

2004-10-06T22:53:00.000-04:00

No better way to start this off. It has been quite a while and I do apologize for that. Truth of the matter is, I really haven't had much to talk about lately. At least not in the way of poker. I haven't played online for the past three or four weeks and haven't played in any home games for about the same amount of time.

I have been more or less caught up in the football season, some of the end of the MLB season and now the playoffs, and quite a bit of fantasy football. I am quite the geek when it comes to that stuff. I have three leagues that require constant attention. So far, I'm good, middle, and bad in the respective leagues.

I spoke a week or so back about an interesting conversation I had with Iggy. We were talking about a local radio host and the status of Major League Baseball. Speaking of how things are different these days (these days since the last MLB strike). Since that last strike, MLB has lost quite a few fans of the game and haven't truly been able to resurrect our attention spans.

I personally cannot stand George S. and the Yankee nation. That he continually buys players year after year, I guess I'm growing tired of it. Frankly, my aggression is towards the lowly Cincinnati Reds and Carl effing Linder. That asshole is worth more than George S. by about 100 times, yet that old shithead refuses to spend one fucking dime on pitching. He goes out and gets the Reds absolutely no talent. That is the part that Iggy had to "explain" to me. I think that many of the players are grossly overpaid, and that is the inherent problem. If the market will pay it, why shouldn't the players take full advantage? The salary cap is all kinds of fucked in baseball. This much we agreed on. I will stop boring everyone about this. It was nice to have a sports conversation with someone for a change. Most of the people that I work with would prefer to talk politics instead. I love talking politics, but I eat, sleep, and shit sports.

Highlight of the night:
iggy: you dont EVER here people bitching about jim carrey making $20 fucking million for one movie but if it is arod he's evil. Which one is harder?
me: baseball, although, some of those faces jim makes can't be easy

I will try to do a much better job with this thing. I am planning on playing some Party this weekend and I think I will start posting some of my strategies/theories and get more feedback on this stuff. I am trying to learn the interworkings of Poker Tracker, but I don't believe I have enough hands involved yet.

Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for the absence.

New Post Coming Soon

2004-09-27T23:46:00.000-04:00

I actually do have quite a bit to talk about. Just had a great conversation with Iggy about sports among other things.

I apologize for being MIA the past few weeks. My dedication level has waned lately.

I will leave you with this just to get your attention...my view from Sunday's Bengals v. Ravens game.

In Good Hands...with Carson Palmer.

One of the Last Things I'm Worried About

2004-09-22T13:14:00.000-04:00

Interesting article on MSNBC about Poker Bots playing online. Honestly, I'm not worried about a Poker Bot. Mainly because the bots wouldn't spend any time at the tables I'm at the majority of the time.

I would imagine others out there have more to say on the issue than I do. I play online enough to build up my bankroll, but I'm not on there every single night grinding away.

This article was humorous about the writers first experience with Party Poker.

My New Favorite Casino Game

2004-09-13T23:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I know it has been quite some time since my last post. My life really hasn't been that interesting except for my friend's bachelor party this past weekend, while also driving to Michigan for my wife's cousin's wedding.

For starters, my buddy's bachelor party was another four-day binge (luckily for me, I only had 2 days). Last Thursday night, we partied at the Belterra Casino for a little gambling and golf. The night started off at the craps tables (who now offer 10x odds) but for some reason, the craps gods have not looked down nicely at me the last few times. This was no exception. Within ten minutes, I'm down $50 bucks. Well, let’s go try my hand at blackjack...that always works, right? Usually, but not tonight. I really can't stand when people hit their 12 with the dealer showing a 3 and I couldn't keep track of the number of times that happened. I watched another $5o go by the wayside within minutes.

Since we didn't arrive that early, and I knew we were playing golf in the morning, I didn't take a very large bankroll with me to gamble on. Also, since there aren't any poker tables around, I didn't see much reason. I guess that is my optimism coming out. Ended up hitting the ATM for a little more cash. I never lose when I go to the machine!

Sat down at 3 Card Poker. I hadn't played it before and Let It Ride was already closed down for the night. Figured I would give it a try. The dealer was nice enough to explain it to me and away we went. Basically, there are two bets to play. The "Pairs Plus" bet and the Ante/Play bet. The only way to make any money in the game is to always play the "Pairs Plus" bet. This is also how the casino is profitable at this game. Needless to say, since this was my first time playing, the cards fell my way. Within 20 hands, I was dealt the 9TJ spades. Hit the straight flush! $10 "Pairs Plus" bet on the table and I play the hand hoping for the dealer to qualify with a Q (not that I needed that - no matter what, my "Pairs Plus" bet was going to pay out). She qualifies with an AKx and I'm rewarded handsomely. 40-1 on the PP bet for a straight flush. Another $10 for the ante and $10 for playing the hand. I'm immediately up for the night. $450 in chips in front of me and I get to rake them all. I'm feeling great, that is until my friends decide to buy-in. Hey, this was my game...just me and the dealer.

I pocket those chips to make sure for once, that the alcohol racing through my system doesn't talk me into playing those too. All in all, I'm up $200+ for the night and I've paid for my whole weekend with that. Got to bed very late and woke late for golf. Played a little 5-5-5 on the course with my team and took two of those bets down too. It was good couple days for me.

Next time I'm at any casino, I'm looking for 3 Card Poker. It was fun to play and didn't require very many brain cells. That was an especially good thing for me at that point.

Awoke on Saturday morning (even before the asscrack of dawn) to drive to the in-laws place then to Michigan. Never been to Michigan before and the day of the Michigan-Notre Dame game probably wasn't the best day to drive up. Michigan was very nice (at least the area we were at).

Other than that, I have not been up to too much. I haven't logged any sessions on Party or Pacific since the Monty Memorial Tournament. I finally finished Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. I know what you are thinking..."Didn't you start that book like three or four months ago?" Well, yes. I never proclaimed to be the world's most disciplined reader. I can get started and then put a book down with no problem. It was slow for me to start with. Once he finally started the poker talk, I wasn't able to put it down. I will eventually type up my review on it, but I'm not sure when that will happen. I have picked up another book and I needed to give the brain a break from poker reading. Who's Your Caddy by Rick Reilly is absolutely hilarious. It is actually a welcomed relief from the constant poker reading I've been doing. I'm also looking forward to reading Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em by T.J. Cloutier.

This has been quite longwinded and I'm not sure I wrote anything that anyone would want to ready. With that said, go check out the greatest poker trip report ever written by Iggy. I'm sure that must have been some freaky shit playing poker while Hurricane Ivan was ripping through the country.

Local Poker Article

2004-09-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

I know Dayton is roughly 40 minutes north, but "local" enough. Here was an article in the Dayton Daily News today. You have to sign up for it, so I've posted the article below.

IN THE CHIPS
Who knew? Professional players agree: Gem City a
hot spot for gamers
By Dan Cox

DAYTON The Wright Brothers
aren't the only thing the Gem City is known for, but you might have to travel to Las Vegas to really appreciate what the Miami Valley has to offer.

"Dayton Ohio, for some reason, has produced some of the best poker players in the world," said Mike Sexton, the host of the World Poker Tour on the Bravo channel.

Sexton, who grew up in Kettering and graduated from Fairmont East in 1965, started playing poker professionally in North Carolina and later moved to Las Vegas when he felt more comfortable with his skills.

"I always figured if I went broke, I'd get another job," Sexton said. "Turns out I haven't gotten a paycheck in over 20 years."

David "Chip" Reese, who graduated from Centerville High School in 1969, is a professional poker player who has played on the World Poker Tour, and he also believes Dayton has a strong poker reputation.

"What Dayton was a hot spot for was the most skillful game in poker, seven-card stud," Reese said. More betting and decision making are involved with seven-card stud than in any other type of poker, according to Reese.

"Any game where there's more decisions to make is a more skillful game," Reese said. "If someone can master seven-card stud, then they can master any poker game."

Reese is one of the only living members of the poker hall of fame and has been voted by other professional poker players as the best all-around player on eight separate occasions.

"(Reese) is the best in the world to me," said Dale Rockwell of Reece's Las Vegas Supplies in Dayton. Rockwell played poker professionally for 10 years before settling in Dayton. He organizes charity poker tournaments around Ohio through the store.

Since poker's recent surge in popularity, rentals for poker tables and chips have risen sharply, Rockwell said. Sales of poker tables have also risen; only 15 tables were sold a year before the poker boom, but now Rockwell sells 15-20 tables a month to people eager to turn their basement into a makeshift casino.

More organizations are contacting Rockwell to hold tournaments than in the past as well.

"We've got so many charities lined up, that we're turning people away," he said. "We're that busy."

The last event Rockwell helped organize was for Springfield Catholic Schools. The tournament lasted eight days and had 3,400 participants. Rockwell said the schools made around $105,000 after expenses.

Players have different theories as to why poker has become so popular. Some believe the free online games that allow novice players to learn about different games without investing any of their own money have taught a lot of people the basics.

But all three men believe the shows on television that allow viewers to see what kind of cards each player has while the game is going has played a huge role in popularizing poker.

"You will become a better poker player by watching the World Poker Tour every week," Sexton said. "It's reality TV at it's finest."

Reese agrees with Sexton that allowing viewers to see the cards of the players has made a huge difference in the way people look at poker.

"If players are bluffing, then viewers get to see what they're going to do," he said.

Along with the greater understanding, fans of poker are learning who the celebrities are in the game, and some players are uncomfortable with their celebrity status.

Reese said in the past he wouldn't tell people about his profession because he was afraid that they would treat him unfairly.

"Now, I don't want to tell them because I feel like such a celebrity," Reese said. "Thanks to TV, it's a sport now. It's not a seedy back-room thing anymore."

Sexton agrees with Reese on how the public views poker.

"It's not considered an evil thing anymore. It's considered a sport," he said. "The public accepts poker as not being a bad thing anymore."

Party Poker Bad Beat Jackpot

2004-08-30T22:58:00.000-04:00

As of right now, the Party Poker Bad Beat Jackpot is worth over $216,000! Damn that is sweet.

The smallest table they are allowing to hit it is $2/4. That's a bummer for me because I'm not quite established enough to move up right now. I'm sure one of these days I will build my bankroll up enough to be able to handle a long session at the $2/4 tables, but right now is not the time.

I couldn't imagine hitting it, especially with the qualifications needed to hit it.