The Sweet Up and Down

New York Day 2

2011-06-16T11:10:00.000-05:00

I took a few pictures while out and about in New York yesterday. The first is the shop I will be working in. It's looking pretty great. The second is some graffiti I saw in Harlem on my walk home yesterday afternoon. I was shocked that the graffiti was something so intelligent. I expect some indiscernible gang sign or something random. This was great to see. The last pic I took while waiting for the walk sign on our way to a bar on the lower east side. Funny.

New York, New York

2011-06-14T23:35:00.000-05:00

After a 2 hour delay, including 1 hour sitting on the plane, I made it to New York. Walking out onto 7th Ave at 33rd St was exhilarating. I tried to get a cab but found a big line. I figured I could take it on myself. I started walking to 1st Ave to find a cab there. I walked from 7th Ave to Park Ave and found a cab there but was refused when I said I needed to get to 104th. LAME. I found the 6 and had to pull my bags through the turnstile, backwards. I let 2 trains pass before I got on. Not so bad. The car was air conditioned and I got to sit for most of the ride. So I make it to the 103rd St station and walk the 4 blocks to 1st Ave. Josh meets me half way and carries half my stuff. Thankfully, too, because I was sick of it.

Now I am here and it feels weird. I guess this is my home now but is it? I don't know where to get groceries or how to read the subway map. I suppose that is the fun of it but it's a bit depressing in the little moments that feel so alone. I'm excited to wake up tomorrow with the first full day in front of me. I'm not really sure what I am going to do but I'm excited for the possibilities and I hope I continue to be excited by those possibilities for a long time ahead. I know that Chicago was a great basis for a jumping point to New York. It laid a great foundation for me as far as city life goes.

This is totally ramble-y. I had more thoughts but apparently forgot them when I decided to type. I'm good at that.

American Cheese v Cheddar Cheese

2011-03-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

Does American Cheese work as a viable substitute for Cheddar Cheese? Those who frequent Potbelly seem to think so. About a year ago, Potbelly switched from using American to Cheddar cheese. When people ask if they can get American Cheese on their sandwich or salad, I deliver the devastating news that we in fact don't have American Cheese. When I tell them what cheeses we do have, they are almost always content to have Cheddar cheese instead. I cannot help but ask if there is *anything* that these two cheeses have in common, aside from color.

A quick Wikipedia search concludes that American cheese used to be made of cheddar but now is made from a mixture of a few ingredients like milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate and sald (Wiki). Doesn't sound too appealing. Some people even go so far as to say that American Cheese is not even cheese. What about cheddar? The same simple search shows that Cheddar originated in the village of Cheddar in England. Now this is what I'm talking about! How can anyone think that these two are even close to the same thing? A third search led me to a Yahoo! Answers page about the differences between the two. There are some great responses. I especially like the response from Michael. He says, "Some American Cheese 'makers' add so many items to their American Cheeses that they can no longer call it 'cheese'. In its place we get items like Cheeze Whiz and Velveeta. These products are sold as 'cheese food', 'cheese spread', or 'cheese product', depending primarily on the amount of cheese, moisture, and milk fat present in the final product".

I interacted with a lady who, upon hearing the news that I didn't have American Cheese, shook her head at me and just left! What an inspiration! Thanks to her for not accepting a substitute for a cheese substitute.

Totally Super Uninteresting Post: Young People and Old People

2011-01-27T10:12:00.001-06:00

The point I want to get across in this post is that the actions, attitudes, and things we think about are closely related to our age group. Let me explain. (It's entirely possible that by the end of this post, I have found some new truth or idea that I had not previously thought about in preparation to do what I am about to do - which is write this post.) Here we go.

When I was young, like 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade, I used to think that the things I was doing were so much cooler than the things the grade below me were doing. I had 3 younger brothers, so I always knew what those younger kids were up to. I remember doing those patty cake sort of games in one grade and then as I moved to the next... I was too cool for that so I would do something really rad like play hop scotch. Here is where I think it gets interesting (finally). While I had moved on to other, cooler things, I realized that the kids who were in the grade that I had previously been in were doing the exact things I thought were once so cool and now so lame. It seems to go this way for pretty much all age groups. Second graders do this thing until they move to third grade where they do this other much cooler thing. Meanwhile, the second graders who were just previously in first grade are now doing the exact thing I was doing that I now find stupid. I am amazed to hear from teacher friends about the things these little kids are doing. They are the exact same thing I was doing at that age. But I never taught them those little kid things. And I'm pretty confident no one else did either. How do they come to learn about these things? They are somehow passed down but I'm not sure of the channel in which they move.

Now how about old people? I always hear from my peers about how they will never be like an old person. You know about that old person smell? Or the style of clothing that old people wear. They seem to always wear just about the same thing, no matter who it is or where they come from. This last week, I was running a store from the center of a show called "Living and Giving." It took place on the 14h floor of the Merchandise Mart. It was the type of show that lots of small business owners attend to try and buy the next big thing for their hometown store. What I discovered durning the course of the 7 day show was that old people do the same things just like children do. AND I would venture to guess that, even though we tell ourselves that there is no way we're going to dress like old people and act like old people, it is inevitable. It is simply the way of the world. Get ready.

The Eternal Anti-Rebel

2010-12-21T18:16:00.003-06:00

Is what I am. Let me explain. All my life, I have been afraid of getting in trouble.When I was in 2nd grade, I got falsely blamed for making fun of JJ Hecei. He told Mrs. Benne that I was making fun of him. In order to avoid getting in trouble, she told me I needed to write a letter of apology to JJ for what I had done. If I did not write the note, I would miss recess for the rest of the week. Well I certainly did not want to lose recess and I really didn't want to get in even more trouble for not apologizing. (I told my mom that I had not done it but she insisted that it would be best to just apologize and move on) When I was in 6th grade, I told Joey Beckerle that he was a bitch. He immediately went and told the teacher, which got me in super deep trouble. (A pretty bitchy move if you ask me) I was so scared that I was in trouble, I was sure that I never wanted to have that feeling again. In high school, getting a JUG (like detention) took 5 demerits OR you could get an automatic JUG if you didn't have your demerit card on you. The one and only time I had to serve JUG was the day I was talking during afternoon announcements and had forgotten my demerit card at home. Coach Vitello caught me talking to Kevin Inglis and that was it. Vitello was scary enough without forgetting your card. I also had a chance to smoke pot on the way to school freshman year. I was jammed into a green Saturn and while I never actually smoked, I was so nervous about being late to school and smelling like reefer. Luckily, I was only late. 1 demerit.

A few years after that, I was faced with many opportunities to possibly be in trouble. I remember when I turned 21, all the talk was about whether or not I would give my younger brother, Tom, my ID. I always wanted to be that cool older brother who would hook up his younger brothers but I just never had the stones. He never got my ID. I remember even before I was 21, trying to get beer was so tough. My best friend Kevin (the one who I was talking to in front of Vitello) was the one who would tap shoulders for someone to buy us some beer. That never worked but he did manage to get an older co-worker to buy us some Corona.

This brings me to today. I'm 26.5 years old and still afraid of getting into trouble. I was at Best Buy buying a dvd when 3 adolescent girls came up to me and asked me if I would buy them 'Call of Duty: Black Ops'. I told them I felt like I was being set up and that I was sorry but could not help them. I was devastated for them. Earlier, while browsing the aisles, I had seen these girls wandering around. It took them asking me to make said purchases for me to realize why they were wandering. After saying no, I headed to the checkout. Halfway down the steps, I paused and looked back upstairs for them. I was SO close to turning around and telling them that I would do it but then I remembered that I am the eternal anti-rebel.

Random

2010-12-01T19:05:00.002-06:00

I wonder if it means anything when someone says that they DON'T want something on their sandwich as opposed to people who say what they DO want on their sandwich. Can those two groups of people be different in other ways besides how they ask for toppings? I saw this guy on the train knitting. His look didn't necessary say 'knitter' but that's what you get in this city. I was in the bathroom at the Merchandise Mart recently and was peering through the stall door at the guy who was washing his hands. He took forever to wash his hands and when he was finally done, I saw him peer in the mirror through the crack of the stall. I couldn't believe how rude the employees were in the Mart as I was trying to find the bathroom. No one is friendly anymore. I find that as I grow I discover more pet peeves that I own. It's almost entirely work related. How can someone be on the phone the entire time they are ordering food? It's pretty rude if you ask me. I have plenty more. Another year means another year of me hating the BCS. Somehow, this past week, Auburn came from 21 down to barely beat Alabama while Oregon routed Arizona but the two teams flip flopped in the standings. How is that possible? I read this article recently that said blaming the 'computers' for the BCS is the wrong way to look at it. Humans made the formulas that the computer uses. In the past, when the humans didn't like the numbers the computer generated, they simply changed the formulas the computers used. I think that's the right way to look at it. It's our fault. Until the BCS is thrown by the wayside, I cannot be a fan of college football. I just cheer for the underdogs. Mostly, that means Boise St. It's tough to realize that we are entering a long winter. It's just the beginning now. I feel like I'm getting strapped in for a long roller coaster ride knowing I won't be able to get off the ride until April. That's harsh. I'm listening to the newest Kanye West album. He's legit. No way around it. The gap between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years is too small. Why can't we spread these holidays out a bit more? It's tough to make a change in the world. I was reading a book while spending some time in the bathroom over Thanksgiving break. It was about simplifying your life. One of the chapters was titled "In 100 years, all new people". The point was that in 100 years, no one living now will still be living. If you can accept that, I feel like you can live life freely. Don't regret. Auto tune really sucks but this album is still really good. I brought some Boulevard Wheat back from St. Louis. I've always said it is my favorite beer but I'm starting to think that it's time to move on from it. I still really love it but enough to consider it my favorite? Probably not. The search is on for my new favorite. College basketball season started and I couldn't be more excited. It's the best sport out there. So with this short time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is a lot to do in preparation for the big one. I had a discussion about God over the break. It was a good one but I don't think it made any progress in either direction. It reminded me of this thought I had a few years ago. It went like this, "Are we smart enough to have a God or are we too smart to have a God." What I mean by each thought is this...The first half is asking if human beings are special enough for God to have created us. We have rational thought and make towns and cities and governments and so on. Are we special enough to have a creator? The other half is asking the opposite. It is asking if we, as humans, are so smart, in science and technology, that we have ruled God out. Are we to the point that we have come to see that God simply cannot exist. I think it's an interesting thought. These are random thoughts.

FoxNews

2010-10-25T22:49:00.000-05:00

This was at the bottom of the front page of foxnews.com Monday night. I thought it was some sort of advertisement. Eek. It's a bit much, don't you think?

How do you live?

2010-08-11T15:59:00.000-05:00

Working in the restaurant business, I run into lots of different people. It's like people watching at work. It's extra interesting because our shop is right next to Union Station. But it has its up and downs. I love hearing about different types of people. I remember one guy who was about to catch a train to Las Vegas. He was getting a sandwich on a Tuesday right before his train. He told us he would make it to Las Vegas on Friday night. Whoa! There are also some bitches. People who are rude and people who seem to think their demands are normal. I constantly wonder what makes people happy. But this is not what I want to talk about.

What I wrote on a note to myself last week is the following: "2 sides. Who am I to tell people how to live and what to enjoy? OR Come on do you really need bacon added on this sandwich? Live! What's more important? Living well? or just living?" These are my exact words. I wrote it down after a lady came in who is clearly overweight and could be so dangerously. She got her usual Ham, Mushroom, Egg and Swiss sandwich. As I was finishing the sandwich, she asked me to add bacon to the sandwich. I love bacon just as much as the next guy but I don't find myself needing to add it to every sandwich I get. Am I missing out? Am I the one who is refusing to live? Or am I the one who is living by avoiding excess?

This is not the only time I have had these sorts of thoughts. I remember a family of three came in near closing time. It was a mom, a dad and a daughter, who was not older than 14. All three looked like a veggie salad could do wonders. Instead, they all ordered BIGs Meatball, Italian, and Wreck. Quite possibly the worst three things to order on the menu. At that time, I couldn't help but ask myself why parents set such poor examples for their children. The dad even made sure that his daughter wanted a BIG sandwich! I laughed on the inside but felt seriously conflicted about whether or not to say something.

Once again I am forced to ask myself what is important in life. Is life about enjoying and living as happily as possible at every individual moment? or is it about knowing that life does not last and that is it the most precious thing we have and that it must be protected at all costs?

I am reminded of our campfire song "Fight Test". While the song might be about subject material completely unrelated, I am still inspired by the lyrics: "I don't know how a man decides what's right for his own life. It's all a mystery." In the final analysis, I fall on the side of living with the knowledge that this will not last forever.

My eyes won't enjoy looking at the blue skies, and the blue lakes, and the lovely people forever; and my ears won't hear laughing and music and fast cars and conversation forever; and my hands won't touch the Stanley Cup and guitar pic and grass and the steering wheel and the grip of the golf club or baseball bat forever; and my nose won't smell freshly cut grass and tasty food and red wine and cold beer forever; and my mouth won't get to taste french fries and sushi and ice cream and steak forever. So let's enjoy what we have while we have it but while always being mindful of the fact that no one has forever.

2010-06-02T23:07:00.000-05:00

I believe in love
But think nothing about it when you're not around
I believe in love
I think you're just fine
On this sweet up and down.

Cooking the slowplay

2010-05-09T17:22:00.001-05:00

I had a day off from work and decided to play some poker online. I had my usual 5 table action going. After playing for about 30 minutes, I realized that I had not eaten at all. Multitasking while playing online poker has become an art form for many people, I'm sure. My laptop sat on my counter while I started to boil some water. While waiting for my noodles to finish cooking and while I was stirring occasionally, I was dealt AA. I made a standard raise to 3x the big blind or in my case 30 cents. I got one caller and took a flop of A5J. Recently, I have had some issues getting action from monster hands like this one so I decided to slowplay. I checked the flop and got a check behind. The turn was a blank and it went check check again. River came and I finally bet out .50 cents. Ahhhh no action! It's so tough to get action sometimes. Anyway, I was pretty excited to see my multitasking skills at their prime. I could not help but think how much greater it would be to have the same scenario at a casino where multitasking is not even a thought....I think I'll make that happen very soon ;)

I'm not sure I have mentioned this before about what is going on with me and my quest for online poker domination. Back in October or November I got an email from UB.com. It said that they missed me. And that in order to see me more often, they were going to give me $25 to come back to them. It was a nice gesture but these things usually have plenty of strings attached. Most of the time it involves a bonus after making a deposit or something along these lines. Basically they usually suck and are not worth it. After reading through the email I could not find any of those sorts of strings. So after getting the UB app for Mac, I was quickly on my account and saw that I had $25.59 in my account. I had apparently left .59 in my account from a few years ago. So I decided to give it a shot. I played two tables of .05/.1. I had $20 of my $25 at the tables. Obviously this is not optimal but at this point, what else can you do? Play .01/.02? Pshhh! No chance. Let's fast forward to May of 2010. It's now been about 6 months and lots of up and downs. I have played 29,000 hands since I got this $25. My account now stands at $294. I'm not finished yet, of course. I would love to turn it into $10k. That will be extremely difficult as I have not even moved up a level yet. Ahhhh! It could be a while before I even move up to the .1/.25 game. Hopefully I'll keep building and I'll have more to talk about in a few months. Good luck out there!

Long missing, I'm back with 4 topics

2010-04-08T14:17:00.001-05:00

I have not written for a long time. I have been super busy with whatever. In this edition of the Sweet Up and Down I want to discuss 4 topics. On the plate today, we have Duke basketball, a stupid rule in basketball, Tiger Woods, and Major League Baseball.

1. Duke won the title in 2010. Whoop de do. Has there ever, in the history of the tournament, been a less-deserving champ? Over the course of the 3 week tournament, Duke beat the likes of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Cal, Purdue, Baylor, West Virginia, and Butler. On the other hand, Butler, this year's runner-up beat the likes of UTEP, Murray St, Syracuse, Kansas St, Michigan St, and then lost in the final by 2 to Duke. I think it is safe to say Butler deserved the title and would have had it had they gotten a call or two go their way. Specifically, Jon Scheyer drew a charge midway through the second half. It was easily the worst call I have ever seen and had it been called the right way, Butler would have gotten an 'and 1' from the play. Boom, 2 points, tie game.

2. A stupid rule in basketball. This rule works in both college and the NBA. Let's picture a late game scenario. Let's say you are LeBron James. You are down by 3 points late in the game. You have one last chance to hit a shot to possibly tie the game. As you take the ball down the court, you are fouled before you get the chance to take a shot. The other team is not letting you get the chance to tie the game. Instead of playing defense, they foul. Is that good for the game? Is it good for the fans? No and No. I can understand when you are losing at the end of a game, the need to foul. A team that is trailing needs possessions. In this situation, a foul is justified as a way to try to steal. BUT when you are winning the game and you foul someone so blatantly, how is that justified? I think this is the single dumbest rule in the game and it should be changed. A foul at the end of a game that is intentional in nature by the team that is winning should be called intentional. The best way to fix it.

3. Tiger Woods is presently playing his first round at Augusta. Yesterday, the Chairman of the Masters, Billy Payne, decided to read a statement about Tiger Woods. He basically said things like Tiger has let us down and that he is sincerity is what we must now look to. And on and on. I can only think that is just not the place or the time or even the person to be saying these sorts of things. Who the F cares what Billy Payne, Chairman of the Masters, thinks we need to feel about Tiger? Who is he to judge? I thought his comments were wholly inappropriate and at best misguided.

4. MLB. I just read the quotes from Jerry West about the length of the Yankees-Red Sox games. What the hell is going on here? Their games last for nearly 4 hours? Last night Angel Hernandez had to deny 4 (yes, 4) timeout requests. Why does everyone need a damn timeout after every pitch? I saw a few days ago that there was some research done in this and they went and looked at a game from 1957, I believe, and in that game they found that not one batter ever stepped out of the box once they had stepped in. No one batter, not one time during an entire game. Nowadays, people step out of the box after every pitch for every at-bat for an entire career, much less a season and even more lesser, a game. This isn't just a Yanks Sox problem. It's league wide and needs to stop. Now, please.

The Curse of the Era

2010-01-16T08:43:00.000-06:00

The 'steroids era' lasted roughly from 1989 to 2003. During this time, more players hit more homeruns more frequently. This is a statistic that can be proven. Hundreds of players were using either steroids, HGH or some other PED. Big name players have either come out or gotten caught using. Players like Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, David Ortiz, Rafael Palmero, and others that are suspected like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa. Are these players all bad people? Were they chosen to play in this era and use drugs? No and No. I am sick and tired of hearing from other older players who ridicule the steroid users. As if the players not playing in the era are somehow morally superior. I heard Matt Holliday who plays now, after the era, talk about how he does not approve of McGwire using. Of course you don't approve. If he had played in the era, he could have easily been a user. I can say the same for Hank Aaron, Jack Clark and whoever else. Babe Ruth? This guy was an alcoholic, womanizer. If there were steroids, would he have used? How can we give moral superiority to those who were lucky enough to play outside of the era? It is unfair and I can't stand it anymore. The point is this: No one outside of the era can possibly understand what it was like to play in the era. So judging those within the era is wrong and needs to stop.

This is this...

2009-12-29T16:19:00.001-06:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4779279

Re: The Heisman

2009-12-22T16:15:00.001-06:00

I reply to my Heisman article found here, I have an article from espn.com about Suh being named AP Player of the year. Where do these opinions come from and why are they so varied? Everyone gets a vote and everyone thinks differently? Let's start to get some real consensus. It's like the BCS but with awards.

Fox v CNN

2009-12-13T17:09:00.000-06:00

On my bookmarks toolbar, I have FoxNews and CNN right next to each other. They are in between facebook and weather.com. I like to compare the headlines. Each site has their own agenda and from time to time, it becomes extremely obvious. Here are the two right now...

The article about spending is spun very differently for each agenda and the recession article is a bit pessimistic.

The Heisman

2009-12-11T15:56:00.000-06:00

I was reading this article on espn.com about the greatness of the Heisman trophy. The article talks about how there is only one Heisman given out each year. There are many Academy Awards, many Grammy's, and so on. There is only one Heisman. It is given annually to the best college football player. Last year the winner was Sam Bradford. He was an obvious pick. Past winners from this decade are Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Carson Palmer, Jason White, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Troy Smith, Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford. Here is the problem I have with the award. This might just be the nature of the award and hence, can never be changed. But fight on, I will. Out of the players who have gone into the NFL, (Weinke, Crouch, Palmer, White, Leinart, Bush, and Smith) only 2 have had success. Why is that? The 2 of those 7 that have done anything are Palmer and Bush. The Heisman voters have this obsession with giving the award to a quarterback. Only 1, Bush, is not. There is no rule that says it must go to a quarterback. Let's start giving the award to the actual best player in the game, not the one who is popular and gets the credit. For this year, my vote is going to Ndamukong Suh. This guy will be a force in the NFL. I know it is hard to predict but I think it's much easier to say that Suh will dominate in the NFL than it is to say Colt McCoy will dominate in the NFL. He is the best player and has the brightest future. Give it to Suh.

Rose Bowl Ad

2009-12-01T08:52:00.000-06:00

Just saw a Rose Bowl ad describing the game as "all eyes will be on Pasadena" and "the grand daddy of them all." Let's see here....no and no.

!!! (UPDATE) College Football is the BEST!!! Weee (UPDATE) !!!

2009-11-07T13:33:00.007-06:00

Great read here from Yahoo! Sports writer Dan Wetzel.
It goes well with this article.

Check out this sweet graph (plus commentary) that helps us figure out why teams are ranked in their position.

I thought we could compare this chart to some other sports and see how the BCS really is superior.

For instance, in the 2009 NCAA Tournament (pictured below) the team that wound up being the champion was the one won one the tournament. I know it seems amateur, but the people over in basketball think it's wise to have a team win on the court !!! in a tournament !!! I'm seriously laughing out loud at how stupid this idea is. I mean when you think about it, it really is stupid to play the games on the court. Just think how much better College Basketball would be if there was no tournament. Oh man, I can't wait for the day when this tournament no longer exists and we can have a basketball BCS. That will really be a good day for the sports world.

Here is another one that I think you might find ridiculous....

Let's be honest. The BCS clearly has the best system. A system based on playing games on the field is laughable. The computers know best. They definitely can predict who the best teams are, even if they have never played each other. Putting those teams against each other would be a mistake because that way, we wouldn't need the computers!!! And we all know that computers are very important in life. So, based on this logic, the actual game of football is not the best way to figure it out. One of the best things in college football is the bowl games. You cannot forfeit those in order to have a champion. It would be much too big of a sacrifice to drop the bowl games in order to have a real champion! HA! Removing bowl games in order to have a champion! That would be really stupid. So, no one complain about this system. After all, it is based on the computers!!! OOOooooo

Deserving Sports Fans

2009-11-02T18:44:00.001-06:00

I read a blog on Yahoo! about Green Bay Packers fans and how they didn't deserve to lose to Brett Favre twice. The post goes into really no detail about why they did or did not deserve to lose to Favre twice. He does say, though, some things....

"Most of us will never see our hero, arguably the best player in the history of our franchise, come back in the colors of our arch-rival and then destroy us, cementing the fact that his new football team is now clearly better than his old one."

This might be true. But what other things will most of us never see? Let's see. The Detroit Lions, from 2007-09 lost 19 games in a row. Not many cities get this privilege. The Pittsburgh Pirates currently hold the record for most consecutive losing seasons at 17. This record is ongoing and I don't see an end in sight. Most fans won't see this happen, either. So, who really cares what most of us will ever see. In sports, anything can happen.

"Karma failed us. After everything that's happened, all the breathless media reports, all the spin, all the lies, all the hurt feelings ... Brett Favre gets to come out on top, both times? This time, in your own front yard? That is not right. That is not just."

Karma does not care about Packers fans or Vikings fans or Yankees fans. Justice and karma and 'things working out right' don't exist, especially not in sports. There is no justice in sports. There is just sports. Karma doesn't help out a franchise. Things just happen.

"I guess "deserve" is a concept that doesn't apply here, though. Things happened the way they did because Minnesota has a better football team. They have a better defense and a better running attack. In this case, that means they win. It sucks, but that's how it works."

This last quote negates the entire article. If only the author would have come to this realization at the beginning of the article, he could have stopped writing. He finally understands. The Red Sox were never cursed. They had inferior teams. The Cubs are not cursed. They might be a bit unlucky. But overall, they have not had the best team. In sports, justice, fairness, karma, 'getting what's yours' and whatever else do not exist. The best team usually wins, no matter the colors on the uniform.

Nightmarish Happenings

2009-11-02T17:26:00.001-06:00

I played for 30 minutes today and went set under set for my stack. In three sessions, about 5 hours, I had a net gain of $206.

Another daydream...

2009-10-28T21:58:00.002-05:00

I didn't quite win 265 like last time but I'll take 141 any day of the week.

SportsNation sucks bad

2009-10-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

You know what sucks at television? ESPN show SportsNation. Could they talk about anything less-relevant? I think it's nearly impossible. Here is some great programming ideas..... Let's ask "SportsNation" how many people they think don't know the NFL overtime rules. Then, ( and this is the genius part of the show) we can have two unknown, idiot hosts, talk about the question and (more genius) guess what they think "SportsNation" thinks about the subject. Seriously? This is the show. I'm not exaggerating, either. They ask people a question and then the hosts guess what they think the people think. Worst. Show. Ever.

Re: The New Cursed

2009-10-25T23:54:00.001-05:00

A little while back, I wrote an article (here) detailing why I think the New York Yankees are the new cursed team. I went on and on about how the Boston Red Sox destroyed their curse by coming back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Well, the time has come. With a win in Game 6 of the 2009 ALCS, NY has made it to the World Series for the first time since losing to Josh Beckett and the Florida Marlins in 2003. We finally find out if the curse has been placed on the Yankees. I have held this theory since the loss in 2004. There has been evidence to support my theory. The loss in 2004 was the start. 05, 06, 07, and 08 helped support it. Can 2009 add more to the curse? Is there a curse? The World Series is next...

I'm a daydream believer

2009-10-24T09:35:00.002-05:00

I had a dream. On Friday, at about 1pm, I took my paycheck from Joel Waraday and drove to the casino to play poker. In this dream, I got to the casino and sat down in a 1/2 game. On my second hand, I had QQ and doubled up my $150. I only played for two hours and in that span, I had a set of 7's, a set of Aces, queens twice, and got paid off with two pair when I held AJ. After two hours, I got up after turning $185 into $450. I checked my wallet later and found 4 one hundred dollar bills ;)

Re: Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

2009-10-21T15:58:00.003-05:00

Here we go...

Marijuana is originally from Asia. It has been used there since at least 3000 BC. It eventually made its way to the Greeks. It has also been found in regions of China dating back 2,500 years. The coolest part of the history of Cannabis is its connection to Shakespeare. "Pipes dug up from the garden of Shakespeare's home in Stratford upon Avon contain traces of cannabis." They decided to research his estate after it was hypothesized that 'noted weed' from Sonnet 76 and 'journey in my head' from Sonnet 72 are references to pot. Even though pot has a long history of use, it became illegal in the United States in 1937.

Theories abound as to why Marijuana eventually became illegal. One is that the paper and chemical companies did their best lobbying to make it illegal for fear that they would be run out of business by the affects of marijuana and the benefits of hemp. Another theory criticizes the theories about economics for not taking into account the social aspect. This theory states that it became illegal because of a deep seeded racist attitude toward African Americans and Mexicans.

But this 1937 Act did not make the possession or use of marijuana illegal. All it did was levy a tax on anyone who dealt with it. This act, though, was the first step toward illegalization. The second step was the 1964 Convention on Narcotics. And the third step was the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. The 1964 Convention basically was a treaty of countries to regulate and stop drug abuse. The 1970 act was the United States implementing that treaty.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 created five Schedules or classifications of the various drugs. The DEA and FDA were in charge of placing each drug into the appropriate schedule. Schedule 1 drugs are drugs that "have a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision." Marijuana falls into this schedule. As you go down each schedule, you get drugs that are less and less controlled. By the time you get to IV and V, you are dealing with drugs like cough suppressants, Xanax, Valium, and Ambien. This is the first joke of all. Drugs that are highly addictive and regularly abused are at the very bottom of the list. And, to make matters worse, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine are NOT ON THE LIST ANYWHERE. The chart below shows some startling facts...

In 1968, Nixon was preparing to start enforcing the Convention of 1964. He hired the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse to study the affects of marijuana.

After the study, It's chairman, Raymond Shafer, said "The criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use. It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only 'with the greatest reluctance'". President Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act anyway.

Since then, the violence on the borders of US and Mexico has been deadly. There are hundreds of people killed each year in the drug trafficking scene. There is so much money at stake, it has to be kept tight by the drug lords. They have semi-automatic weapons and they have millions of dollars. When there is a drug user, there is a drug dealer. The United States government has spent billions of dollars trying to stop something that simply cannot be stopped. How is this rational? Does it make sense to let the money being made off of marijuana go to Mexico and Mexican drug dealers instead of the United States government? A few days ago, President Barack Obama eased regulations of medical marijuana stores. He has told federal authorities not to target medical marijuana suppliers or users. This is the first step toward legalization. The public opinion on pot has gone from 25% in favor of legalization in the 1970s to 44% today.

Pros versus Cons. The pros of the drug are obvious. It can prevent nausea and vomiting, stimulate hunger for chemotherapy, lower intraocular pressure in the treatment of glaucoma. It has also been shown to stop schizophrenia, help with multiple sclerosis and depression.

Putting money in the hands of the taxpayer and not in the hands of drug cartels is a pro. Ending violence on the border is a pro. Not wasting money trying to stop the cultivation and distribution is a pro.

The cons are not so obvious. The most obvious, though, is the effect it can have on the respiratory system. It is smoke going into your lungs, just like tobacco smoke from a cigarette. With the drug being illegal, adulterants are bound to happen. With the legalization of marijuana, this would not happen.

What about the Gateway drug theory? This is a major con. Or is it? According to a 2005 study in the "Drug and Alcohol Review", "pre-existing traits may predispose users to addiction in general... the availability of multiple drugs in a given setting." The study says that there are many other factors, aside from the actual cannabis that contributes to the use of other harder drugs.

It seems that rational minds can conclude that the pros heavily outweigh the cons. It would be a good thing to let patients who need marijuana have easy access. It would a good thing to stop Mexican drug cartels. It would be a good thing to tax marijuana and make money. It would be a good thing to stop wasting taxpayer money in an effort to stop a drug that is not harmful. The DEA would be better utilized stopping the trafficking of many other drugs. It would be a good thing for marijuana to become legal in the United States.

Sources:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/09595230500126698
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/77339/?page=entire
http://www.world-mysteries.com/marijuana1.htm
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/03/01/shakespeare.cannabis/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1195939.stm
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200612/23/eng20061223_335258.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana
http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/20/govt%E2%80%99s-latest-action-on-medical-marijuana-first-step-in-legalizing-pot/
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607604644/fulltext
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_cannabis_from_Schedule_I_of_the_Controlled_Substances_Act

Twitter kinda sucks

2009-10-21T14:15:00.000-05:00

Twitter is failing like Facebook used to fail. They need to stabilize the server or people are going to quit using it. It seems like its popularity is slowing already. They can't afford to have it constantly failing.

Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

2009-10-20T17:22:00.001-05:00

Cafferty Blog

It's a hot button issue nowadays and I'm going to do some research and give my take. Look for it in the next couple of days.

Music Songs

2009-10-20T12:43:00.001-05:00

Just some of the music I've been listening to lately. Check out some of these songs and post some of the ones you've been listening to lately...

The Helio Sequence - Hallelujah
Vampire Weekend - Horchata
Arcade Fire - Haiti > Rebellion (Lies)
Owl City - Fireflies
Dave Matthews - Let You Down
The Decemberists - Rake's Song
Van Morrison - Ballerina
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
Regina Spektor - Eet
Alberta Cross - Low Man

19-1

2009-10-19T11:38:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged in a while because I've been thinking about this. I wish I was more eloquent in my retelling of this story. It deserves as much as it can get. Luckily, there is an article which chronicles this story much better than I have here. When I get a copy, I'll type it up...

In March 1945, Henry William Hayden Jr. was in a foxhole on the side of a hill. He was with one other soldier. At the top of the hill, there were 19 Germans bearing down on them. The rest of their battalion was at the bottom of the hill, too far away to help. The other soldier with Henry decided it was a suicide mission to try and take these Germans on. He got up to run back down the hill and was shot in the eye. I guess he was right, for him. Henry thought differently. He had one clip for his M1 Grand, which held 8 rounds. He also had 3 hand grenades. He was not afraid to die, just afraid of being captured. With his battalion watching from a distance, Henry stood up and fired all of his 8 rounds and did not miss. He went 8/8. Part of the 19 Germans was a machine gun rig. He quickly took it out with one of his 3 grenades. He took the remaining Germans out with his other 2 grenades. 19-1. Nineteen to One. Winner, Henry. For this, he was awarded the Silver Star - "for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States." Thank you. Thank you.

Joe Nathan = Joe Sebok?

2009-10-09T20:33:00.001-05:00

Here is how you connect the 'boring' baseball with the 'always exciting' poker.

In my job search...

2009-10-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

Check out the postings about athletes...

Why do you root for them?

2009-10-08T16:09:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about the teams that I root for. Kansas Jayhawks, St. Louis Blues, St. Louis Cadinals, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears (kind of). Why do I root for these teams and not others? I remember when I was young, I hated KU and I wanted Mizzou to beat them everytime in any sport no matter what. Based on the recommendation of a friend, I looked at Kansas for a college choice. He talked so highly of it and I took his opinion very seriously. There were also other factors. It was a school that was close to home, but not too close. It was not Mizzou. Not being Mizzou had become a positive. So many of the usual bro's went to Mizzou from my school, I knew I could not follow that path. It was not only not Mizzou, it was the rival of Mizzou. So I could actually root against those people I grew to despise. Kansas was, from what I gathered on a visit, a great place. The campus was and still is beautiful. The town was great and the people were very supportive of the school and its sports. I was blown away seeing everyone wearing Kansas shirts, hoodies, and hats. I knew I wanted to stay. Kansas was perfect. It's weird because at one point in my life, I felt the exact opposite. I had this passion for seeing Kansas lose. Now I have this passion for seeing Kansas. My connection to Kansas is now so great, I would never waver from my love for it.

The same goes for the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues, although to a smaller degree. I witnessed the Cardinals win the World Series and I witnessed the Jayhawks win the National Championship. I feel even now that it was better seeing the Jayhawks win than it was seeing the Cardinals win. But why? Throughout my time at Kansas, I became a part of something. I was in the crowd when Dickie V gave Nick Collison a standing ovation. I was standing at Potter Lake when the goal posts were carried from the field to the water. I was on Mass St. when we beat UNC and when we beat Memphis. For all of these reason and even more, I love Kansas and will forever.

What about the other teams? It seems like I don't have the connection to these teams like I do to Kansas. Why not? I have never had the experiences around these other teams like I have at KU. Pro sports come and go. Life on a college campus is year round. Basketball might not be playing but you walk by the Fieldhouse everyday and see the players walking campus. Same for football. I remember waiting for Todd Reesing to get cash so he could pay for his beer while I was bartending. He thought he could get his beer for free because of who he is but I waited for him and sure enough he came back with a twenty dollar bill. These things don't happen with other sports teams. Players play for money and usually don't give a shit about fans. Well, that's a bit harsh but they are there to collect a check. That is a fact. It's different. There is an emptiness involved in cheering for a professional sports team that does not exist in college sports.

While I know that I'll never stop cheering a rooting for Kansas, I cannot say the same about the other teams. I like to think that I'll root for the Cardinals and Blues forever but I can't be certain. I really do not care about the Rams. Every once in a while I check on how they are doing but beyond that, I don't really care. I used to love the Rams. Could the same happen for my love of Cardinal baseball and Blues hockey? Unlikely. But, still I know it will never happen to my love for the Kansas Jayhawks.

Does anyone know what I mean? Anyone have that connection to a team that is unwavering?

What A Nightmare

2009-10-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning from a horrible nightmare. I was dreaming that I was on the St. Louis Cardinals. How that happened, I have no clue. But it was the bottom of the 8th inning at Yankee Stadium. The Cardinals were winning 5-3 and I had to replace Yadier Molina as catcher for the inning. The only problem was that I did not have any of my own equipment. I put on all of Molina's stuff. It fit but I had to get a glove from someone else. Tony LaRussa gave me one but I couldn't open it all the way, so when I was warming up, I couldn't catch it. My pinky finger could not get the glove open. I simply could not open the glove. It was devastating. Still, Tony said I could go in if I felt I could do it. I told him I would still play. So, while there was inexplicably a children's choir singing on the right field warning track, I warmed up with Stephen Colbert. He was encouraging me and giving Tony concerned looks at the same time. I was really nervous. The crowd was going crazy; I had never played catcher before. If I could just get through this inning. I knew that if I could not catch the ball, I could maybe get outs by picking people off or throwing them out stealing. The choir was leaving the field; I was finishing my warm ups, catching almost none of the balls. It was time to go. Bottom 8th. World Series. Yankee Staium. BOOOOM. Nightmare over. It's 8:50am and I'm awake in bed.

The real nightmare was Carpenter pitching like he has never been to the postseason. I will say that tonight is a must win for the Cardinals. If the Dodgers beat both Carpenter and Wainwright, we have no business winning this series.

Twins @ Yankees ALDS Game 1

2009-10-07T17:05:00.020-05:00

5:04pm
Doing some live blogging of this game. I'm here ready to go. We're at commercial 3 minutes to first pitch.

5:07pm
First pitch right on time strike one from Sabathia. And that thrid pitch from CC was a strike for sure. Did not get the call. Also, what are your thoughts on the TBS PitchTrax? I think it sucks.

5:13pm
Thanks for complaining about not getting the start in Game 2, Posada. Nice stuff there. Man at 3rd, 1 out for the Twins.

5:18pm
Yankees work around a leadoff double. It's probably going to be near impossible to get any runs for the Twins. I could be wrong but that first inning is usually the best time to pounce. They missed their chance. We'll see what happens. Yankees coming up to the plate. NOTE: Please notice the sponsored links on the right side (>>>>) of this blog. Hint: Please Please just once each time you visit. Thank you.

5:28pm
Another NOTE: At the top of the blog, click follow blog and you can stay connected with your gmail account. In the game, Jeter ran on a grounder by Teixeira, preventing the double play. 2 outs, A-Rod up. Last NOTE: add comments at the bottom of this post or at the bottom of any post. Stir conversation and discussion.

5:41pm
Sabathia dealing after two innings. 4 K's.

5:49pm
Announcer calls Cano the future batting champion of the AL?! He says this one pitch before Cano strikes out. What an isane-o!

5:54pm
Umpires really kinda suck. That was no doubt strike 3 and instead Punto gets a base hit. Can Minnesota take advantage?

6:03pm
Minnesota strikes first! Imagine if they had not grounded into that double play. Oh man, the score could be 3-0. Three 2-out base hits gets it done this time.

6:05pm
Please reference the post at 5:13 about Posada bitching about Molina getting the game 2 start. It's laughable. He talks the talk but can't walk the walk.

6:13pm
Yankees tie the game on a two run homa by Derek Jeter. Horrendous pitch from Duensing. Tie game bottom 3rd.

6:42pm
Yankees finally take the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the 4th. This game is going pretty slowly.

7:11pm
Matsui with a 2 run homer. Yankees have this game well in hand. Lots of time, but it might be too much for the Twins to overcome.

7:29pm
Game is getting super boring. Yankees are in cruise control. I don't see any way the Twins can possibly come back and win this game. They have 8 outs to work with and haven't threatened since their 2 runs in the 3rd inning. Main event in 1 hour!

8:27pm
Best part about slow as hell American League baseball? Less time between their game and mine. Ten minutes to the start of the Cards game. May be watching on TNT for a little bit. I don't mind.

MLB Postseason Predictions

2009-10-07T10:02:00.003-05:00

Ahh, the postseason is upon us. What a time. October baseball. This is what I love, right here. I love it even more when my team, the St. Louis Cardinals, are part of the tournament. So, with that bias in mind, let's get to the predictions....

We'll start with Colorado and Philadelphia. The season series went to Philly 4-2. Philly really dominated the season series with the Rockies only able to win the first game of each 3-game series. The second series featured Cliff Lee's first home game in a Philly uniform. He pitched extremely well. They threw out J.A. Happ and he pitched a complete game 4 hitter. In the Rockies wins, though, they outscored Philly 18-6. So I can't count out Colorado just yet. Game 1 today at 1:37 central time. It will be Jimenez v Lee. Jimenez hasn't faced the Phillies this season and Lee had that great performance shortly after coming to Philadelphia. The offense is a similar story. In beating Colorado 4-2 in the season series, Philly only outscored Colorado 31-28. That's real close for having 4 wins and only 2 losses. I expect this series to be a close one with Colorado winning at least one game and possibly two, pushing it to a decisive 5th game. Tonight though, I am going with Philly. Cliff Lee is too good and the Philly lineup is too good. It's a rough series and Colorado is dangerous, winning tons of games in the second half of the season. They give Philly a fit but not enough to overcome what they face. Philly in 5.

The second game of the night, starting at 5:07 central, is where you'll find my first complaint of the post. Minnesota vs. NY. Minnesota just defeated the Tigers to make it to the ALDS. They had to play a decisive 163rd game. MLB was waiting to set the American League series dates and times until after this decisive game. Then, after the game, one that lasted 4 hours and 37 minutes, they schedule the Twins to play at Yankee Stadium in 20 hours. How can that make any sense? It's so ridiculous. I can't believe MLB would do that. Actually, I can. They do things that don't make sense all the time. So, this is right within their character. So stupid. Ok so the prediction....New York won the season series 7-0. The just dominated in all accounts. The Twins are under matched and now tired. They were outscored 41-25 in those 7 games. They are really going to have a hard time holding down the Yankee offense and even more trouble scoring against the Yankee pitching which includes a determined CC Sabathia. Yankees in 4.

The 3 game of the day, starting at 8:37 central, pits the St. Louis Cardinals against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a story of two of the most storied franchises in the National League. It's a rivalry that goes back decades. And it's a series that features two of the best hitters in the game in Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez. It also features two Cy Young candidates in Chris Carpenter (my vote) and Adam Wainwright. Carpenter gets the start for St. Louis and Randy Wolf gets the nod for LA. In the 5 wins versus LA this season, the trio of Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro have combined for 38 innings pitched and given up only 6 earned runs. That's ridiculously good. It's an ERA of 0.95. I think this stat is the story of the series and possibly the rest of the postseason. I have St. Louis in 4 games.

The last game, taking place on Thursday at 8:37 central, is Boston vs. LAA of A. LA won the season series 5-4 and outscored Boston in those games 43-40. It's extremely tight between these two teams. Boston has tons of depth at starting pitching but has injury question marks. LA has imporved their offense but has pitching questions. I think this series is the closest of all and it goes to a 5th game. I'm taking LA in a decisive 5th game back in Anaheim.

NLCS matchup of St. Louis and Philadelphia
ALCS matchup of LAA of A and NYYankees

I want to continue the predictions but I'm afraid it would be a waste of time if I am wrong, which is a strong possibility. Getting to the postseason is extremely hard. Winning in the postseason is even harder. The 8 teams are so close in their abilities, it makes predicting these playoffs almost impossible. Can Minnesota actually knock of New York? Probably not but you can't rule it out. Can LA beat the NL Central two years in a row? Can Manny hit? Can the Angels actually overcome an AL East opponent? What about Colorado? Philly is going for a repeat. It seems like a strong possibility at this point. Who knows? We'll have to wait and see.

What a run

2009-10-06T12:12:00.001-05:00

Monday Night Football with Favre vs. Packers
Tuesday MLB Playoff Tigers vs. Twins
Wednesday MLB NLDS Cardinals vs. Dodgers and Rockies v. Phillies.
Thursday MLB ALDS Red Sox vs. Angels and Twins (yes, I predict Twins) vs. Yankees.
This is a nice little run here.

I'll have my full MLB postseason predictions tonight after the Tigers/Twins game.

Bad Movies

2009-09-30T11:13:00.003-05:00

There was an article from Yahoo! about the worst movies of the decade. I went through a few and read some of the reviews. There were some hilarious quotes about the badness of these movies. A full list of the 100 worst movies of the decade can be found here. Here are a few of my favorites...

"I personally know a dozen 10-year-olds who could come up with a better plot than this." -Eleanor Ringel Gillespie (Ballistic: Ecks v Sever)

"A pathetically unfunny comedy that should have been shipped straight to video, if not recycled as guitar picks." -Lou Lumenick (Kickin' It Old Skool)

"A story that might be enacted by a deranged and sexually confused 12-year-old girl with her barbie dolls." -Lou Thompson (The In Crowd)

"It's absolutely worthless nonsense that's almost bad enough to make me wish cinema had never been invented." -Daily Mirror (Half Past Dead)

"You've seen better mysteries on Murder She Wrote, you'll hear better dialogue in an Ed Wook flick, and you'll experience better sex scenes on a hot day at your local zoo." -Scott Weinberg (Twisted)

"It's just the most inept filmmaking you can catch in theatres right now, or probably all year long." -Marc Savlov (Alone in the Dark)

"Turkeys don't come plumper than this." -Peter Bradshaw (Killing Me Softly)

"It's hard to determine exactly where I gave up on Down To You, but I'm pretty sure it was right after the opening credits." -Scott Mantz (Down To You)

"Depressingly laugh-free comedy that's so irredeemably awful that you'll wonder why Martin Lawrence isn't in it." -Matthew Turner (Code Name: The Cleaner)

"It hasn't got a clue where it's going, or which movie it wants to copy most." -Audrey Rock-Richardson (Deuces Wild)

"Here is a film so pitiful, it doesn't rise to the level of badness. It is hopelessly incompetent." -Roger Ebert (Dirty Love)

"No words can describe how truly awful this movie is." -Greg Maki (The New Guy)

"Abysmal film that's an embarrassment to all concerned." -Matthew Turner (Dragonfly)

"No logic, no laughs, a classic 'take-the-money-and-run' sequel which had me praying for a projector malfunction or some other excuse to leave the theatre early." -Kam Williams (Big Momma's House 2)

"Torture. Impossible to imagine how it could've been worse." -Simon Braund (Gigli)

"Not only would I not see this movie, I wouldn't see any movie playing in the same multiplex." -Ben Mankiewicz (College)

"The most fascinating thing about this movie is why they thought anyone would want to see it." -Brooke Holgerson (Fascination)

Indisputable Evidence

2009-09-29T12:29:00.003-05:00

The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals in an important game this past Sunday. The play that ended the game was a double play. Clint Barmes made what seems like an amazing play. He went over his shoulder and had the wherewithal to double Albert off first. The replays looked legit. Well here are some still photos from the stands.....

Bikes

2009-09-28T17:42:00.006-05:00

Here's a couple pictures from a bike race in Dixon, IL. My favorite American biker, Byran Witry, is pictured in both shots. He took 3rd place in the 4/5's race.

Re: The Best of The Best

2009-09-28T13:18:00.004-05:00

Some of you may remember a little while back, I posted a piece about Brett Favre coming back. While I agree it is annoying how he constantly changes his mind, I don't see how anyone would not want to see him play again. The TD pass he threw in the final seconds of the San Francisco game was enough for me to get past the annoyance of his constant wavering in retirement. That was awesome and totally worth it. That is all.

Stefan Lessard = PF Flyers?

2009-09-28T11:06:00.003-05:00

In preparation for the marathon the last two years, I have run along Lake Michigan. I usually run from the North Avenue bridge down to Navy Pier and back. During the grind of the training process, I sometimes, on occasion, slack off. So where can I find motivation?

Enter Stefan Lessard. On September 26, Dave Matthews Band played a show in Tinley Park, IL. The next day, they had an off day. @SLessard posted a pic of his off day. Here is the link to that picture. I stalked my Twitter account and saw this picture 3 minutes after it was posted. I thought my Twitter account would finally pay off. All this stalking, all these celebrities, all this creepiness would finally pay off. I thought it was finally my chance to meet a member of my favorite band. Talk about motivation! I immediately threw my shoes on and headed over to the lake.

While running, I looked at everyone with a different eye. My usual straight forward stare was absent. I had to look at the face of every individual to make sure it wasn't Fonz. After I got down to Navy Pier, I checked my watch and saw that my split was 3 minutes faster than normal. I flew. I didn't stop for water. I didn't feel like I needed to stop moving. I just wanted to run. Too bad I didn't see Fonz. I honestly don't think I was prepared to see him or anyone from the band. I didn't even think of what I would say until I was already out there. Even so, I wish it would have happened. Definitely a highlight of the summer. I stopped at the spot he took the picture from. That was cool enough.

What if I had the chance to see a celebrity every time I ran? I would be Jesse Owens. It was fun trying to find Fonz and getting ready for the marathon. I guess I'll have to keep my Twitter account active for more motivation. Who knows who will be next. October 11th is too soon!

Epic Fails

2009-09-21T14:46:00.007-05:00

What do you do for entertainment when you are low on funds? Watch epic fails on YouTube. Here are 3 of my favorites...(UPDATE: now with more than 3)

Exit Fail
Levitation Fail
Cop Fail
Workout Fail
Backflip Fail

The BCS is a JOKE

2009-09-18T15:22:00.005-05:00

Is there a bigger joke in all of sports than the BCS? I really don't think there is. And here is why...

BCS stands for Bowl Championship Series. Series? How can there be a series of championships in one sport? There is no Series of Championships in baseball. There is on series, the World Series. There are no multiple championships in the NFL. There is one, the Super Bowl. In hockey, there is one winner, they hoist the Stanley Cup. By now, you should be firmly grasping my point. If not, stop reading and go watch a replay of your favorite magicJack St. Petersbug Bowl, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, or the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

So, the current system, the BCS, creates a Series of Championships in which the best teams play. None of the bowls listed above are in the BCS. They are other, less important bowls created to raise money for a university (not such a bad thing) and make bad teams feel like they aren't bad (not such a good thing). Within the BCS, you normally find teams like Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Florida and an ACC team that certainly has no business being there. Why not have these 8 BCS teams play a small tournament to decide the winner of the season? What, with all the controversy that ensues after the BCS ends, it only makes sense. Until there is a way to decide the champion on the field, I will never fully enjoy watching college football.

Researching this post, I found a Wikipedia article named "BCS Controversies". It lists all the controversies by year. Here is the funny part...Under the heading 'controversies by season', it lists the following years: 1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09. Almost every season is included dating back to 1998!! What a joke! How much more do the people need? Literally, the BCS creates controversy every year. When was the last time there was controversy over any other sports championship? The other systems seem to be much more sound. I will not say they are perfect but I will say most of the controversy that seems to surround any other sport is over a call by a referee. This is human error. It is not an error in the system. An error in system is what we have with the BCS.

So what about those controversies? Remember the Big XII from last season? The log jam of Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. What a joke that was. How about Kansas getting a BCS bid over Missouri after Missouri beat Kansas? Another joke. Or in 2006-07, with Boise St. undefeated and not getting a chance to play for the Championship? The classic argument is that they did not have the strength of schedule. My response? Boise St. went on the beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl in one of the most exciting games ever. And was it in primetime during a tournament for the world to see? No! It goes on and on and on and on and on. There are too many to discuss. The point is this: A system that relies on computers and formulas to determine who the best two teams are, cannot be sustained. It must be replaced now. Here is an idea. The top 8 teams would play a bracket style tourney. 1v8 2v7 3v6 4v5 This would be the first week of the tournament. It could occur 2 weeks after the season ends and then every week until a champion is crowned. This year the tournament would start December 19 and end January 2. It's that easy.

Until something like this is put in place, I cannot respect college football. It's a joke of a sport.

Vick can play in Week 3!!!!!

2009-09-03T20:07:00.002-05:00

Breaking News: Roger Goodell has decided Michael Vick can play in Week 3.

After meeting with Vick for about 45 minutes, Goodell has determined that Vick can play in week 3 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Ok, so far I've been writing this like a news story. I've been acting super excited at the 'breaking news.' Well, I'm not excited. I actually don't really care. This is the part that burns me...

Why week 3? Why in the world has Goodell decided that he can play in week 3? There is literally no objective way to decide when he can play. Goodell met with Vick and his 'personal mentor' Tony Dungy. After these few meetings, Goodell has determined that he can play in week 3. For what reason. What standard has Goodell to decide eligibility? There is none. He cannot rationalize his decision. And if he cannot rationalize the decision, it makes the decision irrational. This decision is irrational. There is no reason, no explanation for why the suspension is for 2 weeks. Did he close his eyes and point to a clock? When he opened, his finger was pointing to 3. That makes the same amount of sense as the method he actually used.

Oh man, this makes me mad. Were there only 2 protesters outside the stadium that day? Did he think getting Vick back sooner would lead to better ratings, better ticket sales, and better jersey sales? Was it something like, hey there's a guy right there with a Chiefs jersey! I think Vick should play against KC. NO. NO. If it was week 4 or 5 or 6, then that's how it would be. How could anyone argue for or against this decision with no rationalization for it? Just let him play in Week 1 for crying out loud. That would be just as reasonable as Week 3. I thought of a number and 1 was that number. Makes sense, right Roger?

The Best of the Best

2009-08-18T15:29:00.005-05:00

Every time I watch golf, no matter what tournament it might be, I root for Tiger Woods. I do. There is the extremely rare circumstance where I will root for another golfer but these come in the even rarer circumstance when Woods is not near the top of the leader board. But, about 99% of the time, I root for Tiger to win everything, every time, no matter what. It's just how I feel. I love to see the best of the best win it. Tiger has been on top for a long time. Ever since I saw him destroy the competition at the 1997 Masters for his first major title, I have wanted him to win. When I was in 7th grade, right around the time of that triumph at Augusta, I got a Tiger Woods shirt. It was a white t-shirt that simply stated "I am Tiger Woods." I was in love and still am.

I was even younger when the best basketball player of all time was dominating everything. MJ. Michael. Jordan. #23. Michael Jordan. The best ever. He won 3 straight and retired. He came back and then won 3 more. When he came back as owner/player of the Washington Wizards, I wanted him to win it all. Every time.

There is a new 'best player ever' named LeBron. People give him standing ovations in New York. And that's not just because he's rumored to be going there in June 2010. They give him standing O's and chant MVP in other cities because he is universally loved. The whole country loves LeBron. They all want him to win. I am part of that group.

There is another player, in another sport, who is considered 'The Best of the Best.' His name is Brett Favre. For some reason, the love is lost on Favre. I understand the annoyance that comes with his faking on retirement. It seems like he's done it every year for the last decade. But how can you blame him? If he does not try to do it now, he will never be able to for the rest of his life. It is literally now or never. He is the best QB of all time, so why would you not want the opportunity to see him play one more season, especially with the two games against Green Bay - one at Lambeau. This is great entertainment. You better believe the world will be watching Favre this season. When Favre was deciding whether or not to come back last season, Green Bay GM told him that they did not want him on the Packers and they did not want him in the NFC North. They said he was not good enough to play on the Packers but also could not play for another North team. Why do that? Whatever the reason, it got Favre fired up. He's pissed. He wants to show the Packers what they lost. He gets this chance now, with the Vikings. And we get to see the best of the best for one more year. Or two. Or three.

So let's give some love for 'The Best of The Best'. Woods. Jordan. LeBron. Favre. Everyone is a fan. Consider yourself lucky for getting the opportunity to see Brett Favre in the NFL.

Healthcare = Fundamental Right?

2009-08-11T10:15:00.006-05:00

This is the question of the moment. Is universal, government-sanctioned healthcare a fundamental right? I have had some internal debate over this subject for a while now. I use the words 'fundamental right' because these are the words most often used by the media and the government officials speaking on the subject.

On the one hand, I am unemployed and have no health benefits from an employer. It should be obvious that I would be an advocate for free healthcare. Who would not like free healthcare? Especially people who currently do not have any sort of healthcare. In the last 2 weeks, there has been a string of robberies and muggings in the Lincoln Park/Lakeview area. If I became the next victim, I could be in big trouble if they decided to break my jaw like they did to one of the victims. The size of my medical bill would easily drown me. If tomorrow, the government said that I was covered under their healthcare plan, I should be thrilled. Why don't I feel thrilled?

I was watching CNN and FoxNews and saw that they both used the words "Fundamental Right" when describing this healthcare plan. My next move was to go to Wikipedia and type in those words. Here is that link (Wiki). From what I gather from Wikipedia, here is a list of the fundamental rights...

Some rights generally recognized as fundamental at the federal level follows

Right to life after viability
Right to freedom of movement within the country
Right to property
Right to marry the person of any race (not gender) of one's choosing
Right to procreate irrespective of marital status or other classifications
Right to freedom of association
Right to freedom of speech
Right to equal protection under the law
Right to freedom of thought
Right to vote in general election
Right to freedom of contract by parties with proportional bargaining power
Right to privacy

From this list, here is what I gather...

These rights are fundamental. What is meant by fundamental? Something that is given to you from the time you are born. It is guaranteed for every citizen regardless of race or religion. So far, I can see how universal healthcare could fit into these categories. But when you look closer at this list, I don't find healthcare fitting into the list. These rights are not rights on the scale of something like universal healthcare. It does not cost $230 billion dollars to give someone freedom of speech or freedom of movement about the country. It does not take government intervention to give someone the right to freedom of thought or freedom of privacy. What fundamental right takes so much money to provide? What fundamental right forces a tax increase to pay for someone else? What fundamental right takes any money from its citizens? I suppose due process costs tax payer money and so does an election. But to the capacity of healthcare? Due process and the court system is set up for all citizens. It's for the protection of all citizens. Elections are for all citizens 18 years and older. Neither of these cost close to what a healthcare plan costs. What if we get a healthcare plan covering all citizens, even those who are unemployed and living on the streets? Now those people can stand in front of us in line to visit the same doctor we have been visiting for our entire lives. Is that fair?

To me, there is no doubt that universal healthcare is not a fundamental right. It might be a different kind of right, but it is not fundamental. These rights are clearly different altogether. So, should the government mandated healthcare proposal go through? It's tough to say; but I can clearly see that it is not a fundamental right.

Everyone Should check this out

2009-08-10T20:08:00.001-05:00

The New Cursed: Bronx, NY

2009-08-06T14:48:00.003-05:00

With the rivalry renewed tonight, I thought I would offer my opinion of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry and curse.

For the past who knows how many years, up until 2004, the team that everyone knew could never win, was the Boston Red Sox. They were cursed. The curse of the Bambino. The ball got through Buckner's legs and on and on. Red Sox nation simply could not win. It didn't matter. They lost.

Bring on 2003. ALCS. Red Sox/Yankees. Game 7. Red Sox lead 5-2. Grady Little is the manager, the man to blame, who left Pedro in the game. Yankees rally and Aaron Boone is forever famous. Yankees go on to lose in the World Series to Josh Beckett and the Florida Marlins. They have now lost in '01 and '03. Why? I believe it was the slow turning of the curse from the Red Sox to the Yankees. It did not come full circle until the following season...

2004. Red Sox. Yankees. Same story. Yankees are pounding the Sox. They have a 3-0 series lead and seem to be a lock for another World Series appearance. But something happens. The Red Sox win Game 4. Ok, blow it off. No big. Then the Red Sox win Game 5. Still, the Yankees have a 3-2 lead and they have home field advantage. Game 6 back at Yankee Stadium. The bloody sock. Curt Schilling. Game over. Sox destroy Yankees in Game 7 to complete the comeback. They then go on to win the World Series.

Since the 2004 ALCS, the Yankees have lost their swagger. In 2005 and in 2006, New York lost in the ALDS both times. In 2007, they lost in the first round after Joba Chamberlain was attacked by bugs in Cleveland. And who won the World Series that year? Red Sox. Again. Shortly after, Joe Torre departed the team for LA. 2008 was even worse. In the last year played in the House That Ruth Built, they missed the playoffs entirely.

We arrive at 2009. The Yankees did their usual reloading. They added starting pitchers A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia. They also added All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira. How has the season gone? They lead the AL East by 2.5 games. They open an epic 4 game set at Yankee Stadium tonight against the Red Sox, who have gone undefeated against NY this season.

So, what about curses? What about the Yankees? I believe the Red Sox are the team in the East nowadays and the Yankees have to fight the curse. But there is only one way to find out. Watch what happens.

Steroid talk

2009-08-05T00:45:00.005-05:00

There is a list with 100+ players who tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). This test was in 2003. MLB wanted to see how many players were on PEDs before it implemented its Steroid policy for the first time the next season (apparently a lot players were on this stuff). So far, there have been a few big names on the list.

Before the start of the 2009 season, Alex Rodriguez was leaked from the list. Back in 2007, he denied ever using or needing steroids. Two years later, he's guilty. There was a fairly large amount of upheaval over his name being released - for a variety of reasons. A-Rod was the man who was supposed to save baseball. He was supposed to hit 800 HRs and leave all the steroid talk in the past. He was the savior. Apparently not. Now, just a few months after A-Rod's name was leaked, we found out that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are also on the list. This means that two of the players who helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and in 2007 were juiced. Where is the public outrage? Why are fans continuing to fill seats? Manny gets standing ovations in LA and I have heard that the Red Sox fans are continuing to support Ortiz, maybe more now than ever. Are you f**king kidding me? These players, along with 97 others, have ruined what once was the great American pastime. Does anyone else see this? Am I the only one?

In baseball, numbers are paramount. At the end of your career, you have numbers next to your name. This is how you are judged. If you have 500 HRs, they say that's a good mark to decide Hall of Fame eligibility. If you have 3,000 hits, you have the same HOF mark. Because of the need to "keep up" or because "I was caught up in a culture", these numbers are forever skewed. FOR. EV. ER. There is no possible way to make things right. In my mind, 755 is the career best for Home runs and 61 is the season best. No one who was not on some PEDs has ever beat either of these numbers. This bothers me to a great extent. In 100 years, baseball will be over 200 years old and people will look back on this time with a different perspective than we have now. I just hope in the year 2100, they still remember Aaron, DiMaggio, Mantle, Musial, Gibson, Rose, and NOT Rodriguez, Ramirez, McGwire, Sosa, Ortiz, Giambi and whoever else is hiding behind the list.

One other thing: release the list in its entirety NOW. The sooner we get past this, the better. At least one Hall of Famer agrees with me.

testing 1,2,3

2009-08-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

Colorado

2009-08-03T14:32:00.001-05:00

Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

2009-07-30T14:44:00.001-05:00

Musical Genre related to IQ

2009-07-12T22:56:00.002-05:00

Musical Genre and IQ

Opera 108.2
Classical 108.2
New Age 107.5
Jazz 107.2
Showtunes 107.0
Blues 106.3
Big Band 105.2
Folk 104.6
Latin 103.3
Oldies 102.3
Contemporary Rock 101.1
Easy Listening 100.2
Reggae 99.7
Heavy Metal 98.5
Bluegrass 98.1
Country 97.1
Gospel 96.0
Rap 93.5

http://www.highiqsociety.org/iq_tests/

I got 111 after 3 beers.

Re: Music

2009-06-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

I have read the previous post quite a few times and there is one thing I can't get around: Music is subjective. Subjective means there is no one right answer. I hate when things are subjective. Especially when it comes to an argument. I might have been a bit harsh on country music fans. Let me take this space to apologize to them. Please accept my apology. But don't forget this one thing: country music sucks a big one.

Music

2009-06-12T11:45:00.022-05:00

There are many types of music out there. There are tons of genres and tons of mixed genres. Music really is becoming eclectic in itself. It's come a long way. From the beginning with ritual hymns to jazz to rock 'n roll to metal to country to rap to fusion. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to music. I am no expert and have not taken more than 1 course on the history of music BUT I taught myself to play guitar, I have been to many many concerts, taken a class on Jazz and been around some talented musicians. So, I know a little.

My iPod is full of lots of different music. From Radiohead to Taylor Swift to Jay-Z. Three corners of the music world. What do they all have in common, aside from being on my iPod? They are all talented musicians making good music. Listen to any Radiohead and you'll hear some of the best music being produced today. 'In Rainbows' is unbelievably good. Taylor Swift has some well written, catchy tunes. She knows what she's doing. Jay-Z is one of, if not the best rapper of all time. His music is full of great beats, piano, guitar, and some awesome lyrics.

The common theme that runs through these three examples and throughout most of the music on my iPod is that it's really good, well written, creative, new music.

I recently went on a trip to upstate New York. One of the most popular styles of music among the locals and among the people I was with was country music. The music has a long history. It's origins in the 1920s to the 1950s and 60s with Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to the 70s and 80s with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Somewhere along the line, country music lost its quality.
(Check out the cowboy pictures - why are they wearing cowboy hats? Do any of them actually use them for their true purpose? They wear them to say 'hey, i'm country'. And that's lame.)

The music nowadays is not good. I do not find any pleasure in listening to country music today. The artists I speak of include Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Toby Keith. For one, I cannot get over the voices. The way they sing is not the way they talk. There is no emotion in their delivery. They just sing with a made up twang. They all sound similar too. Second, the poor quality of the actual music. They don't seem to try new ideas. They write simple songs that don't feel creative or new. Finally, the lyrics. I cannot get over the poor quality of the lyrics. One example from this past weekend is a song by Alan Jackson. It's called "Good Time". The point of the song is this...He is tired from a long work week and wants to go out and have a good time. Simple enough. Here are some of the lyrics...

Work, work all week long
Punchin’ that clock from dusk till dawn.
Countin’ the days till Friday night
That’s when all the conditions are right.
For a good time
I need a good time.

Yea, I’ve been workin’ all week
And I’m tired and I don’t wanna sleep
I wanna have fun
It’s time for a good time

I cashed my check, cleaned my truck
Put on my hat, forgot about work
Sun goin’ down, head across town
Pick up my baby and turn it around
Good time,
Aahh, I need a good time

I’ve been workin’ all week
And I’m tired and I don’t wanna sleep
I wanna have fun
Time for a good time

Someone tell me where in this example do you find something better than anything any of us could have written. I want to see it. I could have written these lyrics blindfolded. Let's look at an example from Radiohead....

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Just as you take my hand
Just as you write my number down
Just as the drinks arrive
Just as they play your favourite song
As your bad day disappears
No longer wound up like a spring
Before you've had too much
Come back in focus again

The walls are bending shape
You got a cheshire cat grin
All blurring into one
This place is on a mission

Before the night owl
Before the animal noises
Closed circuit cameras
Before you're comatose

Before you run away from me
Before you're lost between the notes
The beat goes round and round
The beat goes round and round

I never really got there
I just pretended that I had
Words are blunt instruments
Words are sawn off shotguns

Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out
Come on and let it out

Before you run away from me
Before your lost between the notes
Just as you take the mic
Just as you dance, dance, dance

A Jigsaw falling into place
So there is nothing to explain
You eye each other as you pass
She looks back and you look back
Not just once
and not just twice
Wish away your nightmare
Wish away the nightmare
You got the light you can feel it on your back
[A light,] you can feel it on your back
Your jigsaw falling into place.

How can anyone say that the first set of lyrics are superior to the second? The great thing about using a Radiohead example is that the lyrics are secondary in their mind. The write such great music, the lyrics aren't even the focus of the song. Another example from Jay-Z...

99 Problems

The year is '94 and in my trunk is raw
In my rear view mirror is the mother fuckin law
I got two choices yall pull over the car or
Bounce on the devil put the pedal to the floor
Now i ain't tryin to see no highway chase with jake
Plus i got a few dollars i can fight the case
So i...pull over to the side of the road
And i heard "Son do you know why i'm stoppin you for?"
Cause i'm young and i'm black and my hats real low
Do i look like a mind reader sir, i don't know
Am i under arrest or should i guess some mo?
"Well you was doin fifty five in a fifty four"
"Liscense and regestration and step out of the car"
"Are you carryin a weapon on you i know alot of you are"
I ain't steppin out of shit all my papers legit
"Do you mind if i look round the car a little bit?"
Well my glove compartment is locked so is the trunk and the back
And i know my rights so you gon' need a warrent for that
"Aren't you sharp as a tack are some type of lawyer or something?"
"Or somebody important or somethin?"
Nah i ain't pass the bar but i know a little bit
Enough that you won't illegally search my shit
"Well see how smart you are when the K-9's come"
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one
Hit me

These are some of the best lyrics around. He writes such great stories.

Many times, when I am critical of country music, people ask why. I tell them some bullshit like I just don't like it and can't distinguish the voices. The truth is different. Here is the truth: I believe country music is, in every way you can imagine, inferior to other types of music. And those who listen to it exclusively are less intelligent than those who listen to other music exclusively. Yes, I just said that. But why? Is it that those who listen to country music just don't enjoy music as much as others? It's possible. I know many people who don't really put much stock into music as a whole. I know a few people who listen to country are in this boat. Maybe the fans of country music just want some fun music to listen to. They aren't interested in anything too deep. They want music to sing and dance to and that's it. To each his own, but I do believe you are inferior.

The Vegas Recap Day 3

2009-04-22T15:03:00.009-05:00

Saturday 4/18/09 Las Vegas

On Saturday morning, we knew we had to take full advantage of the our last full day in Vegas. I woke up around 10:30 to Pat busting in the room with a bottle of Captain. I had a golf outing at 12:30 and Ben and Pat were going to get the day started right. While I golfed, they boozed. The golf trip was excellent. There were six of us. Rob is a pro at a course in Phoenix, so he got us a great deal for the round. It was Tim, Chad, and I versus Wilkerson, Scott, and Rob. I believe they gave us 18 strokes (Rob is good) and we won by 1. My round was not what I was hoping for. I personally shot a 102. I had 3 pars, and lots of bogeys and double bogeys. I had some good shots and some real pathetic ones. Either way, it was a great trip. We had some amazing mountain views and the course was in great shape. I got no sunburn, save for my legs getting super red. We got back to Vegas at around 6:30. I found Pat, Ben, and Emily at the IP bar. They were mostly lit. They had been at the Sports Book all day, parlaying everything they could think of. They Cardinals lost in 11 and that ruined it right there. So, while they continued to drink, I went upstairs and got ready for the night. I donned my black pinstripe button down and jeans. They also got nice and dressed up. While they were getting ready, I went back down to the bar to convince Emily that I in fact did not hate her and wanted her to go out with us that night. I'm glad I did because she did come out and it was a great time. My goal was to get over to Harrah's to get some black shoes from Tim. The idea was that it would be impossible for me to get into either Ghost Bar or Rain with my green and orange Asics. Well, I got caught up talking to Emily and Tim left without me. They went early to get some Rio Buffet. That is phenomenal planning. Anyway, I was stuck with my Asics. It would be a test to see if I could get in. It almost made us bail on the Palms altogether. It turns out, we are all happy we made it.

The line at Rain is out of control. They are all kinds of ropes and lines and really awesome door guys wearing ear pieces. Anyway, we were on the list and got in rather quickly. We bypassed the entire line. It was nice but the $30 cover hurt a little. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. It turns out it was. On the way into Rain, you can hang out at the pool bar. While we waited for Pat and Emily to get in, Ben and I got a drink. It was a standard 2 drink $20 price. Thankfully, Tim went back and got Pat and Emily inside. Whew! The show that night was the Paul Oakenfold Experience. There were people dancing on rings hanging from the ceiling and guys on stilts walking around with spotlights. It was pretty crazy. We decided to get a shot. It was going to be Ben's staple, RumpleMinze, but we weren't sure if they would have it or not so Pat just ordered 4 CP's. The cost: $44. Wow. I will say that the shot was pretty big. It semi made up for the price. I owed a round from a couple nights before, so I paid. Now comes the good part. Raving. The Oakenfold music was non-stop Techno. I loved it. We 'went to the middle'. The dance floor was jam packed with people and thats where we wanted to be. The four of us made it to 'the middle' as I liked to call it. While there, I sweated more than I have ever sweat. It was dripping off my eyes and nose and ears. It was everywhere. And damn, was it worth it. We just raged. The music never ended. The dancers were directly above us. And then.....it rained. Every few minutes, they make it rain. It is more like snow bubbles. In either case, rain combined with strobe lights was quite the experience.

We took a break and lost Pat and Emily. We found Pat but could not find Emily. Ben and I took a big shot of Absinthe. It is light blue in color and tastes like black licorice. We also bought a new drink. Ben decided to leave his in a corner and hope that it would be there when he came back. It was a horrible idea, as it was very much gone when we made it back 30 minutes later. BUT, 30 minutes later, we got a free shot of Absinthe thanks to our background in bartending and our friendly nature. Between the lost drink and the free shot, Ben and I decided to get back to the middle. We got back and Ben started pimping. He starting dancing with a girl and then did some recreational kissing. After she left, he started dancing with another girl and did even more recreational kissing. The only difference was the older brother. We left the middle and tried to get in the limo to the strip club but got lost. We decided to enjoy the EGG-travaganza across the street. At this point, it was around 3 am. We had some good drunken conversation. After, we walked to the empty lobby and grabbed a cab. We got the cab home for $12 after the guy went the wrong way. He was a nice guy and took a couple bucks off the fair. We got home around 4:30. All in all, Saturday night was the night of all nights for us in Vegas. Ask if you want more details. I wish I could have this night more often. Sunday was nothing to talk about. We went to BLT Burger and had a really cute waitress. Then we laid around until our flight. All in all I bought $550 worth of goods with only $410.

The Vegas Recap Day 2

2009-04-22T14:07:00.009-05:00

Friday 4/17/09 Las Vegas

Onto Friday. We woke up around 9:30 and got ready. I was showered and playing craps/drinking at 10:30. We started the day just like we ended the night before. I lost $165 in that craps game. After sick of getting run over, we decided to meet up with the guys who had just gotten in. They were, appropriately, at Chipotle. Nice start, guys. I got a slice of pizza and the 20 of us headed to The Venetian. We were awkwardly standing in the middle of nowhere. The two Jake''s put bets on one spin of the roulette wheel and both lost. Nice one guys. They all started to move on while we stayed and got a hot hand in a game of roulette. I started to get my 'black overs' after I started crushing. I went on a run and won a few hundred. We were trailing them. We went to Treasure Island and the same happened. We won at both craps and roulette. Big Jake kept calling Ben 'Chuck Norris'. We still aren't sure why. Ben was still deep in the hole. Not good. By this time, it was around 4 pm. We had some Blues hockey to check out so we went to the sports book at Caesar's Palace. There we sat for about 4 hours. The games were not going well. We had a 4 team parlay with Blues over Canucks, Dodgers over Rockies, D'backs over Giants, and Tigers over Mariners. It might have been the worst parlay in history. We were losing all of our bets. The Dodgers came back and won but that was our only win of the 4. Sad. While we watched in defeat, we ate some good burgers from the food court nearby. You just walk toward the big chandaleer and go right. Perfect directions. The games ended and we got out of there. By this time it was around 8 pm. We hung out and gambled a bit til around 10:30. Somewhere in here, we went back to Bobby's Room and saw Doyle Brunson and Allen Cunningham. I loved it. I was star struck. I wanted to take a nap before we went out. I went on a bathroom rant about the book club we were with. We were real tired so Pat called it a night and Ben and I went to meet up with Tim. We made it to Planet Hollywood and Paris. There was a piano player at PH and then we gambled at Paris while Tim, Rob, and Cooley bailed on us, mid gamble, mid waiting on cocktail. Lame. We got home around 1 am and called it a night. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

The Vegas Recap Day 1

2009-04-21T09:46:00.008-05:00

Thursday 4/16/09 Las Vegas

Ben and I flew into Vegas on Thursday night. We got to our hotel around 10:30.

We met up with Patrick and checked in. Pat had his friend Emily with him. She was there to work. Lucky. We checked in after a long drawn out process by Pat. See, he was trying to decide which credit card to use for the hotel room. He switched cards about 10 times. He kept pulling one out and putting one away and then switching, sometimes between just two cards. He went back and forth between 3 or 4 cards. It was quite the process. Finally, we got checked in. All 3 of us dropped our bags off in the room and got started.

The Imperial Palace is not the best casino around. In fact, it's extremely dated. The chairs look like they are about 15 years old. They are wood, painted white. Real classy. We got our first drink at the IP and started the walk to The Venetian. Our drinks were empty by the time we got there so we decided to gamble so we could drink for free. Well, The Venetian is one of the more expensive casinos on the strip. Our only option was speed roulette. Ben started it off with $60. He was broke. Fast. Pat went next with $20. He went broke quick. I sat next to him and put in $40. I was broke fast. We all put in $20 more and went broke fast. In this time, we had gotten 2 drinks and lost about $200. They were the most expensive drinks ever. Out of the $200, we hit zero numbers on the wheel. It was the most pathetic display of gambling that I have ever been a part of. We were instantly in the hole.

After getting a fresh drink, we decided that The Venetian was not doing it for us. We started the trek to Bellagio. Bellagio didn't go well either. We lost more money playing Roulette and Craps. I bought our first pack of cigarettes for the weekend. It was $8.95 in the Bellagio shop. We decided that because our hotel room was a smoking room, we would smoke the whole weekend. We went to the Bellagio Cafe and ate some food next to some attractive ladies. They ate a lot of good food. I remember one of them had Eggs Benedict and Ben wanted her to take a bite so he could ask her if it was any good. She took a bite but he never asked. We got burgers. They were expensive and delicious. By the time we were finished eating, it was around 3 am. We walked to the poker room and saw a few pros. We saw Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Barry Greenstein, Minh Ly (pictured), and a couple others. We got a drink from the bar and pulled straws for the bed situation. I won it and got to sleep by myself. I was glad to win as I have been on a futon for the last few months. We then headed home. We got home around 4:30.

The World Baseball CLASSIC

2009-03-21T21:02:00.004-05:00

Who gives a shit? Anyone in America? NO. 2009 marks the second year of the WBC. The 'C' stands for classic. Nothing can be called Classic if it's in its second year of existence. Not even Coca Cola. Coca Cola has put its time in and can now be called Classic. The World Baseball Classic cannot be classic for at least 10 years. At least. Maybe not ever. This tournament sucks.

Pedroia to Jeter to Youkilis for a double play? Something is extremely wrong with the sound of that. Pedroia is a Red Sox and Jeter is a Yankee. These two should never turn double plays together. They should be throwing punches at each other. I would take Pedroia anyday in that fight. Jeter is a pussy more concerned with how he looks than how he plays. Pedroia would no doubt club him in the face with his MVP trophy, ending the fight quickly. (See: here)

What about the MLB season? Why are the players in the WBC playing every other or every second day? They have the real season coming up and, instead, they are wasting their time sitting on the bench for Team USA? This puts everyone behind. I'm glad the St. Louis Cardinal players aren't busy with the WBC. Chipper Jones said it best when he said this tournament has serious flaws. I have a solution: Get rid of it.

The NEW Up and Down

2009-03-15T14:43:00.010-05:00

Ok, the Sweet Up and Down was once my place to bitch about bad beats and other BS that goes on at the poker table. Now that that life is fading in the distance, I have decided to post the things that have been Burning me. Thanks to my friend Bryan for the inspiration.

Selection Sunday. Tons and tons of basketball. I love selection sunday because college basketball is the best sport. Luckily, I went to KU and saw a National Championship and now I know what good basketball looks like. There is also BAD basketball. Watching the SEC Tournament Championship game was like watching the WNBA championship. (check this out WNBA 2K8) It was awful. Mississippi St. vs. Tennessee. Both of these teams suck. Tennessee especially is grossly overrated. I'm glad Miss. St. won mostly because Tenn. does not deserve to win anything, ever. What Tennessee calls offense, I call craptastic basketball. It is simply unwatchable. They never take good shots or even run any set plays. Then, and this is the funny part, they miss a shot, get the rebound and immediately shoot again?! I mean, this is pathetic basketball. I honestly find myself laughing out loud. High percentage shots is what it's all about. Bruce Pearl does not know this. Watch these teams crash and burn in the early stages of the tournament. I anticipate some haters pointing out KU's quick exit from the Big 12 tourney and I will reply with "we lost all 5 starters and Bill Self is the best coach ever".

Just above this version of basketball is the Big Ten. Purdue vs. Ohio St. They are almost as unwatchable as the SEC. I've seen pickup games more entertaining than this garbage. No one can score the basketball. But if you ask an expert (not Dickie V), it's because the Big Ten plays such great defense. HA. The truth is, they pass the ball around until the shot clock runs out. Then they have to shoot. Any top team in the Big 10 (11, but don't get me started) would be destroyed by any good team in the ACC, Big East, and Big 12. It's kind of like Big Ten football. They all think they are the best but I can't seem to find one good team out of the bunch of losers. THE Ohio State? Lick. My. Nuts.

Now all I can think of is how much I hate Jim Tressel. This naturally leads me to how much I hate Pete Carroll. I can picture them with their headsets on their stupid heads and it makes me want to punch them in the face. Coaches should be like Mark Mangino. HUGE. And mad.

Until the next Burn...

The Bad Taste Never Leaves...

2009-02-17T13:30:00.004-06:00

I'm sitting here listening to this bullshit that I could not care less about. All day long, I go through the motions. My life has become the thing that I hate the most: routine, mundane, boring. For six months of my 24 years on earth, I played poker every day. It was a mix of emotions. I was stressed, upset, nervous, excited, and alive. I was doing something different.

Now, I know poker has had its rise in popular culture and has reached a climax. Even so, I felt like I was doing something that could work for a while - and it did. For those six months, I was making 25/hr. I would leave at 9 am with 400 in my pocket and come home with 800 or 600 or 1000 or 100 or 0 or 500. It was such a unique type of living and I was pulling it off. I was really doing it.

Of course, things started to turn downhill. I started to pay back my debts to Annie and to those who got me through school. The bankroll started to dwindle. The bills started to pile and I felt the pressure at the tables. During the height of my six month run, I won 16 sessions in a row. After the pressure started to mount, I had a hard time winning 3 in a row. I wasn't myself. I was playing differently, less aggressive. It didn't help that I started to get incredibly unlucky during this span. The combination of the dwindling bankroll, the loss of confidence in my game, and outdraw after outdraw, it was tough to keep up. After a while, I could not.

It has been nearly 3 months since my last session at a casino. 3 months can give you some perspective. I have learned a lot about myself through the time I spent playing poker. I learned that I can really do it. FACT: I made a living playing poker. I learned that the saying is right on. "Poker is a hard way to make an easy living." FACT: This shit is hard. Putting in the hours is just as stressful as an office job. In some ways, it is more stressful, more difficult, and scarier. I was my own boss. I had to show up on time and I was responsible for everything. Money management is extremely important. Not just in poker but in life as well.

If I were to make a come back, and that is a big IF, it would be under different circumstances. My bankroll would be safe. I would have no debts to anyone. In order to do this, I would have to somehow get a hold of around 38k. That is why the IF is so big. Lots of things would have to happen. BUT, if this were to happen, the 38k, I believe I could really make a run at it. The situation would be set up nicely. My routine from Chicago to Indiana was smooth. The only thing that I could see as a problem would be the gas necessary for the vehicle I used. If I were to make a run at it in some other city, it would most likely be even more smooth.

Until I either realize that I do not want to play poker anymore OR get the perfect situation to maximize my EV, I will have my boring new life and the memories of what once was. You know the bad taste never leaves.

I run bad

2008-11-17T23:02:00.004-06:00

I run my Streak for the Cash up to 10 and then Buffalo can't finish at home against the lowly Browns. Sad. So I have 99 run into 1010 on a board of 245 and then my streak goes to shit after I make an impressive run.

How else can I run bad? I guess the rest of my life is running pretty well. My computer freaks out from time to time but mostly it has been running smoothly as of late. I hasn't happened in a bad way lately - the way that requires multiple restarts and battery removal - just the good way where all it requires is a quick restart.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that running bad is a state of mind. It's a function of your ability to think the worst of yourself. I think that is how poker players are. They are eternal pessimists. If they get it in with the best of it, they immediately ponder how they could possibly lose it. I think that way. But why? All you can do as a poker player is get it in while you have the best of it. While that does not happen every time, it does happen most of the time. If that was not true, I would not be a winning player. Once I get it in with the best of it, there is nothing else to do.

Tonight, I thought my bet of Buffalo was +EV and I still think it is. I would make the same bet again if I had to. That's all I can do. If this one time it turns out to be -EV, then so be it. I can do no more.

This is the attitude I need to really concentrate on. Results do not matter. Decisions are the most important part of anything. I try to make the best decisions, the most +EV spots I can get. If the results don't follow, I have to remember that they eventually will. Stick to the grind. Stick to what you do. If what you do is +EV then you get +V, even if you feel you are running bad.

Things I Do

2008-11-17T17:47:00.007-06:00

What do I do well? I thought I would make a list.

I know correct hand ranges for opening the pot in and out of position.

I know how to attack weakness with bluffs/semi-bluffs.

I know how to take someone down to Value Town.

I know how to play in position against weak opponents.

I know how to properly size bets depending on situations.

I know how to determine hand strength.

I know what it takes to stay mentally tough.

I know how to exploit my tight image.

I know how to release a hand.

I know how to switch gears.

I know how to translate board texture and table texture.

I have good money management.

What do I need to work on?

I need to not let my emotions control my actions.

I need to lose all distractions affecting my play.

I need to learn to pick off bluffs.

I need to avoid getting bluffed.

I need to become more aggressive in position.

I need to not worry about my plus/minus and concentrate on each hand.

I need to get to level 3.5/4 thinking.

I need to get finances in order to play optimally.

I need to be more patient when donkeys go on heaters.

I need to see the big picture while in the trenches.

I need to not involve other people when I'm upset.

I need to realize that Rome was not built in a day.

A revelation? This all happened in like 15 min.

2008-11-15T22:55:00.002-06:00

I just pwnd .05/.1 and I'm not sure why. I had $3.45 left in my FullTilt account and just ran it up to $11.85 in 20 minutes. I spent some time watching CR/Stox videos and am already feeling the effects. I want to be the best I can possibly be and I may be on my way. I am very excited for Monday.

Full Tilt Poker $0.05/$0.10 $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BB): $11.35
UTG: $4.65
MP: $8.70
CO: $6.70
BTN: $5.85
SB: $3.00

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with A 8
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, 2 folds, SB calls $0.05, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.30) K 2 9 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: ($0.30) 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.30, MP calls $0.30, SB calls $0.30

River: ($1.20) 7 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP bets $0.80, SB folds, Hero calls $0.80

Final Pot: $2.80
Hero shows A 8 (a pair of Eights)
MP shows 3 J (King Jack high)
Hero wins $2.55

I Pwn MSNL

2008-11-15T22:49:00.001-06:00

Full Tilt Poker $0.05/$0.10 $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BB): $9.15
CO: $6.55
BTN: $7.80
SB: $6.30

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BB with 8 Q
2 folds, SB calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.30, SB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.60) 6 8 6 (2 players)
SB bets $0.40, Hero raises to $1, SB raises to $2.70, Hero calls $1.70

Turn: ($6.00) 7 (2 players)

River: ($6.00) 4 (2 players)

Villain mucks Kc10d

PWN

2008-11-15T22:39:00.002-06:00

Full Tilt Poker $0.05/$0.10 $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN): $6.35
SB: $5.15
BB: $5.65
UTG: $5.70
CO: $7.25

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with Q J
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, BB calls $0.25

Flop: ($0.75) 2 Q Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.50, BB calls $0.50

Turn: ($1.75) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($1.75) 9 (2 players)
BB bets $0.10, Hero raises to $0.80, BB calls $0.70(AcKc)

How about a blog?

2008-11-12T20:20:00.002-06:00

So I have been avoiding blogging because I've been getting run over lately. I mean hard. Get hit by a car type of running over.

I had A8 against AA on a board of A82

I had JJ on a board of QJQ and lost to KQ when a K spiked.

I had second nut flush with J8h on a board with the Ah and Kh.

I had JJ on a board of Jh10c9h8h.

I had 89d on a board of 10d Jh 5d 3h Qc.

And now on the other side of it all, I had two set of Jacks today. One was a double up and the other was a big pot. I also raised with 35s and flopped 246. Sickening.

So what is poker? What's it all about? I've been doing this for 5 months now and wow, what a roller coaster. I have had some crazy swings. And the thing is, I didn't have any swings for the first month, my best month. It was the month of 16 winning sessions in a row. I would love to make a run like that again. I could not agree more with the saying that playing poker for a living is a hard way to make an easy living. I mean that is truth. This is no walk in the park. I have been hit in the face with some tough situations. I have been on the highest of highs and more recently the lowest of lows. I lost 3 buyins in one session just last week. It was brutal. I was in the most unlucky of spots.

I am not sure if this is true but I think playing 9 handed does something to poker. I have been a lot less consistent since switching to the Horseshoe, where they play 9 handed only AND, probably more importantly, have better players. But having better players cannot explain everything because I still consider myself the best player at my table at any given time. I have just taken some brutal beats.

Perseverance and mental toughness is something you must have to player poker. There was this guy at the table today who was livid, and I mean LIVID, every time something bad happened to him. Imagine being in the BB and having the guy next to you straddle. This made him livid. Imagine having to fold after you limp because someone raised. This made him livid. I raised once and he folded while showing only his middle finger to the table. He must have rebought 5 times and everytime he lost he mumbled 'son of a bitch' under his breath, threw his cards into the muck, punched the felt, and had the greatest look on his face. He was obviously the biggest donk ever 3.0. I kept laughing. It was extremely amusing.

What a sick session

2008-10-30T00:05:00.003-05:00

I had a gross session today. I felt like I was in the zone for the first time, ever. What I mean when I say that is that I was really in the zone. I mean for real. I have felt good in the past but today was different. It was unlike any day I have ever had. I was in the 1 seat for a while and the guy in the 9 seat was real active. He made some sick calls and was a real good player. He had a poker hoody on, which is lame. There was also the amateur to my right who was tight but a decent player.

We were all talking, having a good time winning pots of each other and the other idiots at the table. I moved to the 4 seat after a few hours. I had a big hand against Mr. Jones, sitting in the 8 seat. I had QJc. The flop came Qh 6c 9c. I led out and he raised me. He had 100 left and I shoved it in. He called with the 9h 9s. I missed. That took out one of my towers. Later on, I started playing well, getting some hands. I made a good value bet with the 56d. I rivered a straight and a flush. I bet it and got called. I also raised in the CO with 55 and got called by Mr. Jones in the BB. The flop came KK8. He checked, I bet. He called. Turn 3. He checked and I bet. River was a K. He checked and I bet again. He paid me off with 22. What else? I stacked Ron with a set of 5's. I had some big pairs, and picked up some pots with nothing or middle/bottom pair.

This day was so good, I played for 12 hours. I just couldn't get up. I didn't even with THAT much. It was a good 20/hr day. Not the best but I felt so good. If I wouldn't have gotten up, I'm sure I would have been able to take a chunk more off the table.

Lunatics and Bottom Set

2008-10-22T15:25:00.006-05:00

Lunatic guy two to my left. I stacked him twice.

I'm in the BB with the 10 7

The table limps around 6 handed and I check. Pot is 12.

Flop comes 5 8 9. Table checks around.

Turn comes 6. I bet out 10. Lunatic raises to 25. Table folds around to me and I raise to 80. He moves in and I call. I think he had about 100. River is the 9. Scoop.

So this lunatic reloads.

About 30 minutes later, a guy from middle position raises to 12. I find the 10 10 in the CO and call. The lunatic in the SB moves in for 65. He says that he wants to see how big that guys hand is. Well, he mucks and I call. He forgot about me. Board runs out 8 high and I scoop again.

Very next hand, I pick up AK and raise to 12. He shoves his reload of 120. What is my decision? After a minute or two, I muck it. Right play? I can't tell.

So my buddy, Vic, sits down next to me after he had waited for a long time to get a seat. I know him to be a TAG, plays good cards, and bets them. One of the best laydowns I have ever made.......

The table limps around to the guy to my left who makes a pot-builder raise to 7. Vic calls I call and a couple others call. I have 3 3.

The flop comes 3 4 5. Vic bets out 21 into a pot of 35. I am to his left, so I'm next. What are my options. Fold Call Raise. A fold here would be premature. I can't just muck. I am obviously suspicious of his holding but can't just lay it down now. A call could be good as I am in position on him and could see what he does on the turn. A raise here would also be OK in certain spots. I decided that this spot was not good for a raise as there were 5 to the flop and someone behind us could make a play with 67 or A2. I also thought that because my set was bottom set, I might get in trouble against a higher set.

I called the 21 and the table folded. The turn comes a K. Vic bets out 50 into 77. I tank. Could he have 67? Very possible. The preflop action was so weak, he could have 67 or A2. Could he think I was on a flush draw of some sort, like AQs or AKs? If I have AKs, I hit top pair and still have the nut flush draw but that doesn't seem to bother him at all. So what could he have? And what does he think I have? I thought he must have had 1 of 3 things, all of which beat my set. I decided he had 67, A2 or either 44 of 55. SO, I mucked. He showed 4 4. It was the happiest I have been to lose in a long time.

Sit on It

2008-10-21T18:04:00.003-05:00

I find 8h8c in MP and limp. There are 4 limpers and the BB, Ron makes it 7. BB calls, EP calls, I call and BTN calls. Five take the flop. The pot is 35.

Flop comes Qc 3c 8h. Check Check Check, I bet it. I bet 20. The BTN calls and everyone else folds. The pot is 75.

The turn is the 4d. I bet 45 this time. BTN calls again.

The river is the 7c. I bet again. 60 this time. He calls. He said he had AQ. A nice sized pot.

Another pot involved Ron on the SB again. There was a straddle and I raised to 17 with the AdKc. It folds to Ron in the SB and he raises another 25. So he makes it 42 total. It's back to me and I really am thinking about it. Ron is a tight weak player. I often bet him off hands and he goes away quietly. For me to see him raise out of position told me that he had a hand.

I thought of all the options. I thought it would be OK to fold. I was in position and I had a pretty big hand so I decided that it wasn't worth a fold here. While I was thinking about it, Ron showed me his stack size, seemed kinda loose and feeling alright. He put his chips in front of his cards and counted them down, telling me he was willing to go all the way with it. After he counted it down, he got a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure what it was...not so willing to put his chips in. So I thought a raise might be the right choice. If he has AA or KK, I'm dead but anything else, I'm OK. I ended up calling. I was in position and I thought he had a pair but I would have two overs. Plus, he is weak tight and I might be able to get him to fold something.

The flop comes 8c 10c 5d. Ron checks. ?? I thought he had a pair but why would he check? Could he have 99? Seemed unlikely. Maybe he had JJ or QQ. I couldn't really figure it out. I knew I had two overs. So, I bet the rest of his money, 84. He insta-calls. He shows down 10h 10d. EEk. A huge hand. Turn is the 7c and river is the 9c. My flush kills a set. A 5.15% comes back from the dead to take down the pot.

Here is the question. Does anyone actually think in the course of the decision on the flop that you have the back door flush draw? I did and I'm not sure if it's a waste of time or not.

1 in 649,740

2008-10-16T18:04:00.002-05:00

I hit a royal flush today. Nothing happened before or after that hand. I won the 90 dollar pot, got a 500 dollar bonus and everyone in the hand got 100. Thank you and you are welcome.

Bad Calls and Good Calls

2008-10-15T18:08:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I make a good call and sometimes I make a horrific call. Today, I did both and the bottom line was in the red. Lame. I need to start playing better poker if I want to continue to play poker.

Here is the horrific call. The table was 6 handed and I found A6s in EP and limped (mistake #1). A raise would have been better here. The flop is seen 4 handed. It is 6c 6d 9h. It gets checked around (mistake #2). I should have bet out. The turn is the 8s. This time I bet and get called by one person. The river is a 5s. Villain checks to me and I bet 11. He raises to 25!? I call??!!! (mistake #3). I am bad. I called just in case he had something like 67 or 64. He had 7c10s. That's just bad poker.

I made a good call with 88 on a board of 92275. Flop was checked. Turn was bet, I called and another called. River was same bet, I called, other called again. They both had a seven. I even said that he had a seven on the turn when he bet $7. I beat both of them. This was not enough to cover what I lost on the hand I played extremely poorly.

Perfect, Perfect

2008-10-09T18:03:00.002-05:00

Biggest donk of all time. Seriously. Not a joke. He had his stack up to 800+ and after about 4 hours, he had to rebuy for 200. An hour or so after that he was about to around 300. I was near 300, too. I was waiting to snap him off when I got the perfect chance.

I find 9h9d in the small blind and decide to just call. The flop is Qh 2c 9s. Lock. I check and donk bets and there is one caller. I raise. Donk calls. Other folds. Turn is a 5h. I check again. No draw at all on board. He bets 20 and I raise to 80. He calls rather quickly. I have him on some Q like Q10 or something of the like. The river is the Qd. I move in my 180 left. He insta-calls and shows Q5. On the flop, he was 1.3% and on the turn he was 4%. He stacked me and now I'm considering quitting poker.

Sometimes, luck

2008-10-08T19:03:00.007-05:00

Another usual day of hands and no hands and no action and nothingness. I was down a bit when the most interesting hand of the day occurred. I was down 75 but had reloaded to about 225. I was in my usual 4 seat.

There was a loose-aggressive player in the 7 seat. I thought he was a good player. Him and I had been battling a bit. We were involved in a few hands, one in which I showed down a 78c to take down a pot with a board of AK3A. He got his revenge later, putting me all-in when I was unprepared to make the move. He had won a few big pots, showing down quads and 2 sets. He had some hands, but played them well. I'm going to call him Clive. So Clive had been aggressive on all parts of the game. He took down pots a lot. Raised a lot. Ok, so the hand.

The table had gotten tight for about 5 minutes. There were a couple people missing and there were 2 chops on 2 of the last 3 hands. I was in the cutoff and it was folded to me. I was fearing another chop, so I decided to play the 3d 4h. I limp and the button folds and the blinds call/check. Pot is 6.

The flop is 3s Kc 3c.

SB check

BB check (Clive)

I bet 7.

SB fold

BB raises to 22.

Now this guy is tricky. I knew I had the best hand, as he made lots of raises and bets. I had a decision. Should I raise or call? I didn't want to shut him out of the pot, and I didn't want him to do something crazy on the turn to shut me out of the pot. I was in position, which is always good. I finally decided to just call. A raise here, I thought, would have ended the pot.

The turn is the 9c. Not a good card. It brought a flush but beyond that, it couldn't have changed the hand very much. This time Clive bets right out. He bets 45. Before this bet, the pot was 6 +22 +22 = 50. Now, it is 95. The action is to me. A 45 dollar bet. ??? I just could not put this guy on a hand that I was afraid of. Maybe he had a better 3. I thought it was more likely he had a K of some sort. Maybe he had K9 and he thought his K now beat my K. I still thought my hand was good. My stack had about 200 left in it. I raised to 110. He insta-shoved. WOW. Not what I was expecting. He had a lot of chips. About 400. After my 110 dollar bet, I only had 101 left in my stack so I just bet over 50% of my chips. Now, am I supposed to be able to fold? I thought my raise had me committed. I said that I could not fold so I rolled the rest of my chips into the pot and Clive showed the Ac2c.

I thought he played the hand extremely well. He had me. Check raised the flop and led right out when he hit the flush. It was well done. I obviously had a flush in mind but from the history of this player and the way the hand was played, I just didn't think that's what he had. I was wrong.

Of course, poker hands don't end on the turn. There is such thing as 5th street - the river.

After all this, the chips were in, I got outplayed and then there was the river.

The Kd. ;)

:( or :)

2008-10-07T17:58:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure what to think of today. I was even on the day but I had like 5 sets. I look back on the day and can't find out how I only broke even. There was one hand I lost a good chunk of money on and if not for that hand, I would have been up about 120. Here is that hand.

I was in the CO with the 67h. There was one small raise to 6 and 3 callers. I make the call and the flop comes...

4h 8d 9c. There is a 10 dollar bet from the initial raiser and I make the call. We go heads up to the turn...

9h falls on the turn. Now, the original raiser checks and I, with my straight and flush draw, bet 15. He now min raises me to 30. Hmm? I call.

River comes 5c. I hit my hand. The good, hidden way - not the flush and it's the nut straight.

So now he leads out for 75. WOW. What in the? Wow does he have a bare 9? An overpair? I was not sure but I knew he had to have something. Next question. Is there a spot for a raise? I decided no, a raise would not be good. I don't beat tons of things and I knew this guy to be a bit tricky. He also threw in that min raise at me on the turn. I decide to call the 75. He shows me?

8s8h

It's a tough spot and it makes sense. Can I fold there? Daniel? Can I?

Value City Poker

2008-10-03T18:13:00.002-05:00

I just value bet my face off. I have really improved this part of my game. I had some spots today where I certainly did not have the nuts and was not sure my hand was good but I was able to make good value bets, and got paid on almost all of them.

I had Ad10h in EP and limped in. The flop was 10d 6h 3d. I bet right out and got a caller, a guy with a stack around 1200. The turn was the 8d. I liked the card and bet it again. Once again, I got called. The river was the 9c. This guy won't go away and in the past I would concede the pot or check/call. I bet right out again and got a call from Qc10s.

I had Jc10s in MP in a 4 way pot. Flop comes As Qc Qs. It gets checked around. The turn is Kh. I bet out and get a caller. The river is the 8h. This time I get led into for 20. In the past, I would simply had called here and hoped I was not up against a boat. Nowadays, I can get value here so I raised it up to 60 and got insta-called by a naked Q.

Sets

2008-10-02T19:37:00.003-05:00

Sets are my favorite. They are why I get up in the morning. Sets are my goal for any given day. A lot of the time, sets are the difference between a good and bad day. I hit a set today and played it well. Here is a rundown.

I am in EP and find the 6s 6h. I limp in hoping to get a cheap flop. It doesn't last as the guy to my immediate left raises to 12. A young guy who had lots of money called and so did 3 others. There is now 56 in the pot and I need 10 more to call. The pot is laying me 5.6 to 1. This is not the same as the odds against flopping a set but the implied odds were easily covering that. So, I call.

The flop is the

Kd 3s 6c.

With so many people in the hand I had to decide what to do. I was in early position and had a tight image so I decided to go with that image and check. The initial raiser to my left (who knew I had been tight but caught me on a bluff) bets 40. The young rich purple chip guy called the 40. I have another decision. I wanted to raise here. I was sure of it. After much deliberation, I came to the conclusion that my hand is strong enough that I don't have to raise. There are no real draws on board, too. So, I call the 40. The turn is the Qh. The board is still extremely good for my hand. I continue the slow play and check it again to my two opponents. The man to my left moves in for 87. The other guy thinks for a while and I am definitely wanting him to call or even raise. Unfortunately, he folded. I called the 87 and he showed 99.

I was quite surprised to see that he didn't have AK or even KQ. And if he didn't have it, I thought the other guy must have. But, it didn't matter as I won the pot. Good hand, good day. All in a sets work.

Slow Down

2008-10-01T23:14:00.001-05:00

Two slow days of annoyingness

I had a guy raise me on the flop with KK. I had AA and it got all in and he rivered a K. No hands today. NONE. Bluffed my way to a very small win.

The Blur

2008-09-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

The Blur. Today was a good day. Today was a very very good day for this little project we have here. After a day like today, you feel like maybe you know something about how to play this game. I bet out with sets and got someone to believe I had a set when he had AA (I had KK). It was just a day of days. The cards fell in the proper place and the chips came my way.

So I find the two black Kings OTB. I raise it up to 11 and the SB reraises to 25. I didn't think he was that strong but I was wrong. The BB also called the raise and the reraise. The flop comes Qh 9h 4c. The SB bets out 40. I didn't think he had AA and he couldn't have gotten that lucky to have QQ. I don't believe he would have bet out if he had that anyway. So the BB calls the 40 and I wasn't too scared of him. I thought he had AQ or KQ but more likely AQ because I had two Kings. So he called the 40 and then I had a decision. I was very close to folding the hand when I decided I had the best hand. I made it 100. The SB thought for a long while and he said that he thought someone must had a set by now. When he said that I knew he had AA and I was dying for him to fold. So he eventually folds. The BB calls the 60 and the turn is a blank. A black 3. He checks and I bet the rest of his chips, about 120. He called and the river was another blank. I showed the KK and the BB mucked and the man in the SB slammed his hand on the table, saying he had AA. WOW.

I had a set of Jacks two times and turned a set of 9's. I had KK against an all-in bet from the guy who said that no matter what, I was going to be behind. He said no matter what, he would get his money in good. He had 10's. He left.

Today was a very good day and it was kind of a blur in that I don't recall too many of the hands that put me on top. Sets and big pairs. I also had a flush with the 68d. Ok, off to softball.

The TAO

2008-09-18T19:52:00.005-05:00

So my big pair lost to a set again. This is happening all the damn time nowadays. I had KK 4 times today and I won 2 of the 4. One time, it was the set. Another time, Ed, the old guy who runs me over, bet me out of it. The third time, I won a small pot.

The fourth time, I was UTG and raised to 12. I got 3 callers. The guy I talked about a while back who said that he was going to just give me the 100 he bet, because he had nothing, was at the table. He is super aggressive and tries to take pots away. So he is one of the callers in this pot with the KK. The flop is KQQ. I finally seriously have a lock. I check the flop and everyone checks to aggressive guy who bets 25. I give him a pretty serious amount of acting before I call his bet. The turn is a 4, giving the board 3 clubs. I check it again and so does he. The river is another 4. I bet right out 75 and he calls fairly quickly. So this one makes up for the 3 I lost with. Thank you aggressive guy.

So, before this big hand, I had been dumped on just like the norm for the past week or so. The set over the KK and a few others. So I get in this pot to the guy to my left. He had been getting unlucky and had seen how I played and knew that I wasn't getting the best of breaks either. He knew I was playing good cards. So I limp with the 79d. He raises right behind me to 15. I decide to call after 3 others do, too. The flop comes down 10c 8c 3s. I check and he bets out. Everyone folds to me and I call the bet. The turn is the 7c. I like the card because he must think I am drawing and that cards does both draws. I bet out this time, thinking he must have some pair or A10. The bet is 15 and he raises me to 50. He only has about 115 total. So after that bet of 50, he has around 65 or 70 left.

I really tank, trying to decide what to do. The tank isn't too long because after a point, he knows I have nothing. So I tank for a good amount of time and say, "Let's do the rest of it." He doesn't insta-call so I know it was at least a decent play. After a minute he calls. I obviously don't like it, but if I am even close to where he is with his hand, I should have 13 outs. Maybe a few less if he has the Ac or a bigger pair with the club of that pair. So, while I only have one shot at those 13 or so outs, I still thought he would fold a decent amount of time. So he called and the turn was the 9h. I say, "You caught me but I hit two pair." He was pissed and while he was getting up from the table he said back to me, "You're not going to last long making calls like that." I quickly replied, "I didn't call anything."

That was the start of the slow climb back to the top.

Gutters

2008-09-16T20:01:00.003-05:00

Back to the gutter after getting run over and over and over. I'm not sure what to do. I think I have decided that I'm not bluffing anymore. I can't afford it. I gotta play a solid as possible until this streak of ridiculously bad cards ends. I have just one hand to examine today...

I find KQs from middle position and decide to limp. The table had been limping a lot so I decided to comply. There are 6 people to the flop. The flop comes 8s 8c 3s. It checks around to the man two seats to my right. He bets 11. I make the call. So does the SB, an older gentleman who comes with his buddies on Tuesday and Thursday. The turn is the Kd. The SB checks and so does the guy who bet 11. I decide it's a safe flop to bet. I bet 30. The SB now raises me to 80!? I have to pause for concern here. This guy had been running well. Making plays and catching lots of cards. I didn't have many chips left so there was no chance he would fold an all-in bet. What could he have? He called 11 out of position and then check raises the turn? I don't know. I didn't know if I was even drawing at all. I folded it. Not sure if I made the right play there.

So I get beat up and beat up and get my 400 whittled down to a mere $39. WOW how bad am I at this game? So I double up with QQ against the nut flush draw. I sit there and sit there with nada. Finally, I'm on the button with 63 bucks left. People limp around and I find the 8c 8d. I limp on the button and the SB raises to 11. Four callers to me and I shove. The BB calls and that induces one other caller. The SB shows 44 and the other shows the AQd. I avoid it all and take down the pot. I get half my 400 back and that's how the day ends.

Stay

2008-09-15T23:03:00.003-05:00

I hope I am here to stay. Today was a good day. I flopped a set of K's and then the next hand turned a set of 7's. I never had any real confrontations. I did have one though...

I was trying to fold my BB thinking that it was the SB. I had Q5 and the dealer, Mike, let me keep my hand when I was trying to muck. The flop comes Q5K. Check and Texas Julian bets 10. I call it and everyone talks about how now I must have something. Ewww. So yea, I do have a hand. The turn card is a blank. Julian bets 15 this time and I call again. The turn brings another Q, filling me up. This time I lead out 3o and get paid off. Not much more happened today. No big hands. No AA or KK.

The Potential of You and Me

2008-09-13T15:45:00.006-05:00

Friday was a day. It wasn't really bad and it wasn't really good. The potential was HUGE. I finally broke through. I got some cards, I had a good table, willing to put money in the middle. The problem about potential is that it isn't anything until it is realized. I had a down day of only 4 dollars while the potential was around 1200 dollars. That is a huge amount of unrealized potential. Here are the hands to break down the day...

The table limps to me in the BB and I find the Ac Kd. No checking anymore. I raise it up to $15. I get two callers. The flop comes Kd Ks 4d. I check. One caller bets out $15. A fold in late position. I reraise to $45. He reraises me. I insta-movein. He calls, only having to put a few more into the pot. He asks if I have AK and I say yes. He shows the K7. The turn card is the Jd and the river is a 7. That would be a 4/1 dog beating me in that pot. For him to win the pot, it was more like 95/5, which is worse. But if you count his chop outs, then it's more like 4/1. I had to rebuy. I'm now in for $400. If I had won that pot, I would have had $380 in front of me. Next.

Uri is a drunk who kept taking forever to play his hands. He would raise with J6 and 92 and everything else you can imagine. He raised to $15 a lot. On one such occasion, I found AA and min raised him to $30. He shoved and I insta-called. He showed down the A4. A four hit the board, but I won the pot. Ok, I doubled up and now I'm at $400.

Uri, again does the same thing. I have KK this time and the same result. He moved in on the flop and I called. He did have the nut flush draw but missed. I added some more to my stack. I now have $580 in front of me.

A new player came into Uri's spot and acted like he was the king of the table, telling people he would call their all in no matter what. He wanted to be tough and act like he didn't care. So, I decided to teach him a lesson. I found QQ and after he raised, I reraised. He called and the flop came down A64. That easily, my QQ is cracked. So I check and he bets out 15. I call it. The turn is a blank. I check and he bets out 15 again. While I ponder the call, he says, "Sir, your queens are no good." I already had a plan in mind but this entrenched it even further. I call his 15. The river is another blank. I stick out 100. He has only about 85 left. Now, he says that he thinks I have a set. So, he looks back at his hand and mucks. I show him the QQ and say that I guess it is good. Nice play, he says.

There was this young guy to my left the whole day. He had long hair and a hoody. When I sat down, he had $700 in front of him. After a few hours, he had $39 left. He lost it when he moved in. So he was on tilt, hard. He rebought and we were involved in a pot. So the guy who called my QQ hand raises. I find AA again. I raise it up to $40. Tiltboy calls rather quickly and so does the other guy. The flop comes 4J8. I bet out 75 and tiltboy calls fast. Fold from the other. Turn is an 8 and I move in on tiltboy. He calls instantly with JJ. Flopped a set. He was on tilt so hard, I really thought his range was quite large, including KK QQ AJ 10's 9's. I guess when he called the flop so quickly, I should have had him on a hand. He knew I had AA. I think everyone did. So there was 200 lost.

Let's add it all up. My initial 200 plus the 180 from AK plus the AA and KK from Uri is another 400 plus the 200 from tiltboy. This equals 980 plus the pots I won not discussed here. Instead, I play very well and got unlucky. I didn't find myself on tilt at all. It was a good feeling. So the potential was huge and the results were not. Probably good that it was on a Friday, so I can get over it for Monday.

Baby You're So Cruel

2008-09-11T18:24:00.003-05:00

I forgot to blog yesterday so this is about the last two days. Yesterday was kinda lame just like the other days have been lately. I didn't get many hands. Really just one to talk about.

The Texas guy was to my left and after I limped, he raised to $15. There were two callers after that and then the action was back to me. I had limped with the 67c. It is a modest holding and since there were 3 already in the pot, I decided to join in. The flop was innocuous when it fell 5h 8d 3s. I was third to act and after the blinds checked, I did too. Texas guy did not. He bet $15. The two blinds called the $15. So there is a bet and two calls in front of me. I have $79 left and decided that I played it in such a fashion that they could reasonably put me on a set of 5's. So, I moved in. Texas guy was next and thought about it for a while, especially a hard call with two left to act behind. He called. Blinds folded. My plan had not worked. There was the back up plan. The turn was a blank and the river fell the 4c. As soon as he called, he asked if I had a set and I said no and then I asked him if he had an overpair. He didn't reply so I can't tell for sure what he had. I am guessing 10's. He was not happy and when I got to work today, there he was, still in that same orange jacket, grinding away.

So today was going well. I made a good value bet on the river with AA and got paid. I think the guy next to me had AJ or KJ. I bet the flop, he called. The turn was a J and I bet again and he insta-called. I said that it was a fast call. He said he liked his hand. Playing it a bit to bold for me to believe. So, on the river I bet 75 and he called.

I ran into some trouble when I raised from UTG with 10's. I got a few callers and the flop came down 9 high unsuited, unconnected. I bet it again. This time, the young Asian guy raised it up. I know he's a good player, capable of making plays if he thinks I have something like AK. So I moved in. He had to deliberate for a minute or two but then called, showing KK. That was a downer. I was close to leaving, too. I added on 100 before I left, just in case I had a hand to play.

A few hands later, I find 69d on the button and limp. The tall black guy to my left on the SB raises it up, like he was doing, all the time. The BB called and so did the man to my right. The flop was 4710 of diamonds. The SB bet 15, the man to my right called it and so did I. Turn was the 9h. SB bets out 30 this time. Man to my right moves in for his last 20 and I call the 30. River is a 9s. The SB bets out 30 again and I raise it up to 80. He called saying that a flush was good. And it was. So the hand I lost was wiped clean after this nice little guy. Back at it tomorrow.

Mysterious Ways

2008-09-09T19:02:00.003-05:00

Today was just like the other days but this time I won a decent amount. How is this happening? I flopped one set and rivered a full house, very similar to yesterday. I flopped a set of 2's and rivered the 8. Check this out. The flop was 10c 8c 2h. I have 2s 2d. I bet right out. I can't have donks doing crazy things. I get a caller, Tommy Lee Jones. The turn? What could it be? A great card, the 7c. I mean that is brutal. It goes check check and the river is the 8. I bet out and got paid.

The other hand was against these two donks. I have the red 7s. The flop came out 653. I bet out 11 and got raised by one of them to 21. The other cold calls the 21. I am laughing at there donkness. They both have about 50 and I just shove out 100. They both call and I river the 4. HE HAW.

Still a slow day. I had no hands really. I didn't have AA KK 10 10 or 99. I had QQ once and JJ twice. No AK and AQ once. I can't wait to break on through to the other side and just bulldoze.

A Sort of Homecoming

2008-09-08T17:59:00.002-05:00

Today was another crap day that happened to show a profit. I finally flopped my first set and got it all in for a double up. I also had another full house that paid me off too. I was real short then so it wasn't huge. I played the hand great though...

I had Jh 10d in the SB and chose to play. The flop was the 5s Qs Jc. I checked and called a smallish bet of about $12, putting him on a flush draw or Q, hoping to avoid or get lucky. The turn brough the 10c. I checked and he bet out $45. I really had to think about it. At this point, I thought he was acting a bit too tough. I thought he might not have much at all. I decided to make the call out of position. If there was a tough spot in this hand it was right here because I was out of position and wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to shove for some reason but now thinking deeper, it was probably the right thing to do. I just didn't want to lay it down so I called. So the pot has 90 plus 12 plus 12 more at least equalling around 125.

The river is the Js. I filled up nicely. Now, how do I extract? I thought this guy was pretty tough, a decent player who knows what he's doing. I decided to play right into that image of him and bet a smallish, scared amount, that doesn't want to get raised. I bet $50. He thought for a while and shoved. I had $70 left and called. He was a little upset I didn't call faster. I had to think for a minute. I've been running terribly so I wanted to make sure he didn't have Q 10 or QQ. Either way, there was no way I could fold it. Nice hand, played well.

Now, tomorrow is another day that I hope to be able to break though. I have really had a bad run here and I'm sick of it. COME ON.

9 Handed

2008-09-05T21:55:00.003-05:00

I think something about playing 9 handed at the Horseshoe affects the hands I get. I seriously have not flopped a set in 18 hours of play. I have had AA twice. The profitable hands are just gone. I hope the losing streak I watched Jim battle through a few weeks ago is not creeping onto me and my bankroll. Needless to say, I had another losing day. It was not all a waste though.

I had a few good bluffs. One time when the flush card hit on the river, I bet it and he insta-folded. The other was against the red shirted older gentleman. I had nothing. The problem is, he caught me later when he had something legit. I also hit a straight twice. Got paid once.

I got the tourney coming Sunday. I think it's going to be good to change it up before Monday. The tourney is a good to chance to not only get a change of pace by playing a different type of poker but also a good chance to get a change of scenery. Hopefully the losing ways are out of my system and I can take this tourney down.

Grind Me

2008-09-04T21:07:00.004-05:00

This is a grind and there is no way around it. I was battling hard today. I simply could not break through.

I picked on this loose aggressive player while he was in a straddle. I raised his straddle with the 8c 10h. Of course, he called. This might have been my mistake, thinking he would lay a hand down. So the flop came 9h 3s 5h. I bet it and he called. The turn brought the 10s. I KNEW I was ahead. I just knew it. So i shoved the rest of my stack in, about $90. He insta-called. I mean instantly, he called. The turn was the 7h. He showed the Qh 4h. I had to rebuy.

Later, I had the AJ in the cutoff and limped to a 4 handed pot. The board was J high and the same donk was in the pot against the foreigner and myself. I got all in again and the foreigner turned a straight. Donk didn't even show.

I lost with KQ on a K high board. The flop was the K92. Turn a 4. River a 2. He showed 42. It was bruuuutal.

I finally got dealt AA. I got them twice but not much action with them. Never had playable hands, really. I want to play and enjoy playing hands like 89d 56h 78s and the like. I simply did not have good holdings all day. I will grind again tomorrow. And the tourney is one day closer...

And sometimes you gotta say please....

2008-09-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the fabulous Las Horseshoe. Today was first day at the new Horseshoe and it was great. The poker room is amazing and the casino itself is the best in the area. I felt like I was in the Wynn or the Bellagio.

The poker room holds 36 or so tables. There are two levels. The upper one is in the back two steps up from the main level. It holds 8 of the 36. They play the higher stakes games up there. By the time I left, there was a list for PLO and Omaha 8. I hope I can get into one of those games sometime. They also had 3/6 6/12 and 2/5 NL and 5/10 NL.

I played my regular 1/2 and it was a good game. The dealers were good. I recognized a few and especially one who took me in that pot when I had the ass end of the straight. He was cool then and still is now.

The game itself was slow. I didn't have many hands. I never had AA and only had KK once and got NO action. I flopped a few hands and that kept me alive. I also had QQ hold up against what I am guessing was JJ. I bet it the whole way until the A hit the river.

I had a donk try to hit a flush against my AK and also had that same donk try to drive everyone out of the pot when it was 9 high and I had 10 10. Thanks for the 130! Tomorrow is an off day and then I'm back again. Still looking forward to the tourney on Sunday. Back Thursday.

Sometimes it's slow

2008-08-29T09:18:00.003-05:00

Today was so slow. I was down $90 and then left up $113. I can't give too much info because nothing really happened. I lost to Sal in a pot where he had TPTK and I only had J kick. I suspected so I made smallish bets to avoid getting raised big. Got away cheaper than it could have been.

I flopped two sets. Absolutely no action on the first set, a set of 4's. The other was a set of 6's. The board was 5s 6s 10c. There were about 5 people in the pot. A donk bet $5 and someone called. Then Joe made it $30. I made it $80. Fold. Fold. A slow fold from Joe. Damn. He had some chips behind, too.

Six hours and didn't get AA once. Uh. I didn't really lose too many pots but didn't win any either. Just glad to have an up day and a decent one at that.

I'm back, baby!

2008-08-27T22:28:00.003-05:00

I'm recovered from the crazy day that was 'feces and spiders'. I'm back onto the streak of winning sessions of poker. I played for about 5 1/2 hours and nothing too crazy happened. I'll give a rundown.

I had 9c 5h from the BB. Flop comes 678h. Pretty nasty. I got rewarded with the pot. The turn was another 6. Not good. I bet small each time just in case. He had the Ah and a pair.

A hand early on I had Qh 10h. The flop comes Ah Kh 9s. I thought about it and decided I wasn't going anywhere on the flop. I have a couple outs. The turn was the Jc. NICE. I like this card here because it disguises the hand. If a heart turns, it's obvious. I won this pot against two players. The A rivered, too.

One donkament played his whole stack to the end with a flush draw and hit it on my two pair. I talked a small amount of shit and he said to me that when I sucked out on him he didn't say anything. I quickly shot back, "you should have." He was in for $600 and got up and busting the 3rd time.

I had JJ and made a standard raise. The flop came 10 high. Ron checked and I bet $20. He called. The turn was a blank and he shot out a nice bet of $25. I still had him on A10. The river was another rag and he checked. I decided quickly I was good as there were no overs and I was extremely confident he had A10. I bet out $50 on the river. He called it. The JJ held up and I heard him whisper to the guy next to him he had A10. A dead on read is nice to have while I am in a hand. A skill I need to work on.

Finally flopped a set of A's. I had wanted to for the last month or so. I finally did and got a nice pot of Old Jim.

Back to the grind tomorrow.

Feces and Spiders

2008-08-26T22:13:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I had one of the weirdest days of my life. It was Monday August 26, 2008. I got up around 8:30 AM to drive Annie to work.

A little background. On Saturday, I finished moving out of my apartment. The storage unit was open for only a few hours on Sunday so the car had lots of things in it. It was completely packed from Saturday night until Monday morning. So we get to the car around 8:45 AM and there is a massive spider web in the passenger seat. One of my guitars was in that seat. The web was connected to the guitar case, the rear view mirror, and the passenger door. It was a huge web but we could not find the spider at all.

So I get Annie to work and while she leaves, I get out the car to remove the web and, hopefully, the spider. I remove the web and find the spider curled up on the black part of the mirror. It starts moving toward me. It runs on its web toward the passenger door and rests on the edge of the door and the wind shield. I find a piece of paper and smash it into the spider several times until the paper has a brownish liquid on it.

Ahh. It's dead. So I proceed to the storage unit to unload the car. After 30 minutes of moving, lifting, packing, repacking, and organizing, I get back to the car to remove the body. I flick at it with a new piece of paper found on the ground of the parking lot. I get the body loose and it falls toward me, still connected to its web. For an instant, I feel that it is still alive and coming at me. But it is not to be. It just dangles lifelessly from its silk web.

I'm feeling a bit rattled and very sensitive to itches and feelings on my skin. So how do you relax that feeling? I thought the best idea was to get someone else into the car so they could make sure there were not more spiders hiding. An oil change was necessary so I went directly to Jiffy Lube. Now the oil is changed and I feel comfortable about being in the car.

Crisis averted. Now onto more important things. Building a shelf for the closet. Home Depot will help. I head to the location on N. Halsted. I've always been a fan of Home Depot but this visit was different. I head for the lumber section and get some attitude from an employee. I ask him for help and he replies "With what?" Like he is too good for me or something. Super annoying. So it turns out you have to to saw your own lumber because they have no room for a power saw. Wow. What the hell? I spend the next 30 minutes cutting pieces of wood for the shelf.

So I finally get home and get started on the shelf. A few minutes after starting, a maintenance man knocks on the door. The question he asks is in some broken English. Is your bathtub OK? I thought that it was fine because it was draining fine the night before. Well, I had no clue what the hell I was talking about. He came right in and took a look. It was about 6 inches full of some green liquid. No clue what it was but the same problem was happening next door. The maintenance guy heads back over the apartment next door for the next hour or so. He must have been banging and clanking and screwing and doing whatever else he thought was necessary to stop the problem.

Well the problem did not go away. It was the opposite, in fact. The bathtub filled higher and higher and it came up from the drain and out of the backup drain. But it's not just liquid. I am disgusted to say that it was some solid, too. The same was true for the toilet. That's right. It was coming right back up at us after we sent it down. After coming close, the water receded. It was a close call. But it was not over. After coming close and going down, and coming close again and going back down again, it was up for good and I mean overflowing out of the toilet and getting dangerously close in the tub. I immediately grabbed a towel and put it under the door and closed the door to prevent it from coming out of the bathroom. This was a nightmare situation.

"That smell, Bob, is our shit."

After overflowing for about 10 minutes, it stopped. But the water was still standing in the bathroom. Another maintenance man came and started cleaning it up. He had a hose with a pump that went right out the window and onto the roof!? He got the toilet empty and most of the tub. The rest of the tub was to be fixed with a shop vac. The other, original maintenance man came back with that and they both starting vacuuming. The back end of the shop vac starting leaking and spraying out onto our bed and the suitcases and clothes we had nearby. I yell at them to stop. I just shake my head. Idiots. Ten minutes later, half a bottle of 409 later, and a bunch of wet towels later, the bathroom is ok to use. The last guy leaves, telling me that I can use it. Oh man. This was a 6 hour affair. It was a long ass day and I didn't even get paid for it.

One day after recovering from that episode, I am ready to get back to the Up and Down. Wednesday, I am back.

Huge Day

2008-08-14T16:39:00.004-05:00

I had a huge day. I got off the shnide that was my two consecutive losing sessions. A new winning streak has begun. I was in the SB and everyone folded to the button who raised. I thought he was on a bit of a steal. So I defended with 52s. I checked dark and the flop was the 2h 6s 2c. The button bet $100 into the 26 in the pot. I moved all in and he insta-called with AA. Ah. I was up to $650.

Lots of other hands including KK twice, and A7 beat an A10. Lost a decent sized pot with a J9s. Flop comes J94. I bet out and this new guy was like, "I want to play with this guy. I think he's pretty good." So he called. The turn was a K. I bet it again. He called again. River is another K. Lame. He bets of $50. I tank for a long while. I call. :( He shows the K5. Come on now. So it turns out that guy plays every hand. A good day, though.

A new sort of streak

2008-08-13T16:44:00.002-05:00

Two days losing in a row. Poker is laughing in my face right now. I cannot get anything going at all, ever. I had 56h and the flop came J55. Lost to Sol who had J5. Sickening. My first hand was KQd. Flop comes 9d 10d Ks. No help. I just kept losing and playing kinda bad but after awhile I realized I am still playing well. I just need to keep grinding. I got some of my loss back today when my AQh flushed on the turn and when I flopped a set of 3's on an all diamond board. The Italian folded Ks Kh.

...And Snapped

2008-08-12T16:49:00.002-05:00

The streak ends at 16. The new number to beat. I had a rough day at the tables. I never got anything going. It all started to go down hill after I folded KK on the flop. Auburn later told me he had QQ. I really hurt and was never really able to recover. I had some other sick beats. I lost to quads. I had 56h. Flop came 9c 5c 5s. I called on the flop and turn and the river was checked. I lost to K5. It was just brutal all day. I'm going to have to edit when I remember more of what happened.

On the positive side, I turned a straight flush. I had J8h. The flop came 9h 10h Qc. So I flopped a straight. There were 9 people in the hand. It was checked around. The turn was the 7h. A bet from the SB and everyone folded but me. After 9 people were in the pot!! The river was a blank. He bet 17 and I made it 40. He called. I obviously was dying to get value.

The dealer accidentally flipped one of Sol's cards while dealing. It was the 8c. I look at my hand, while sitting directly to the left of Sol. I have 8h 8d. I mucked after seeing the 8c. The flop was Jh 8s 10d. Like I said, this day was brutal.

Sweet 16

2008-08-07T23:36:00.002-05:00

It's not really that sweet. It just is. 16 in a row. Pretty good stuff.

Today I was with my brother and it was his first time playing cards in a casino. It was meant to be a fun day just letting him get some experience while I tried to actually work. It turned out to be good for everyone. We were both up about $100 for a long while. He flopped top set of Q's and rivered a boat. He won a massive pot there. I won a few pots with some marginal hands and one good hand with a set of 9's. Then we both went card dead. I think I was more dead than he was. I folded for an hour straight.

So Tom was up $47 to end the day. He got up and while he was getting his chips exchanged and what not, I played one more orbit. On my second to last hand I find the two red 9's. I call a raise from the talkative guy who is semi-insane/maniacal. The flops comes 3c 5c 9s. Sickening. He bets out $20 and I decide not to just sit on my set. I bump it up to $60. I did this for a couple reasons. First, he was aware that I was about to get up. I could have been messing around with my last hand, just trying to win a pot. Second, he was a maniac who played all kinds of things. Third, there was a draw on board that I wanted to crush. So, I make the raise and he shoves the rest of his stack. It's about $140 total.? He had a pair and a flush draw. I rivered a red 3 to fill up. A good end to the day.

Almost had a stack

2008-08-07T00:09:00.003-05:00

I was up early and often today. It was my 15th winning session in a row. Pretty sick but this game is also easy for me to crush. I had a stack of about $550 after I rivered the nut flush. I had As 4d on SB and limped. The flop was Ks Js Qs. Pretty sick. I bet out ten and the guy next to me moved in for $40. Two people call and so do I. Turn is red and the river is the 5s. Good hand there. I bet the river and got called by the 10s.

I find 67d in late position and limp. The BB is on his 3rd hand. The flop comes 8910. BB checks and a guy in early position bets. I raise and get a call from the guy to my left. Let's call him donkey. The BB makes it $100. First bettor folds. I move in and donkey folds. The BB calls. He's got the nuts. That sucks. I lost $200 on that hand. I still left up. Just not up up up.

Luckbox 14

2008-07-30T20:47:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, you have to get lucky. Today is a day where I got real lucky, twice. So the guy I talked about a while ago - the huge guy who doesn't stop talking - was sitting at my table. I'll call him 007. I wanted to snap him off. I find AK in early position and raise. He calls. The flop comes 743. I bet out $30. He talks about it for a while and says that if he is going to call, he should just move in. So he does. He has $75 or so total. I have to call the additional $45. I do. The turn is the 2 and the river the 5. I runner runner the wheel. He shows the A3. Donk.

The very next hand I am UTG with the AJd. I limp. 007 makes it "5 straight." By the way, I hate when people say shit like "straight" and "all day". It's so not cool. It's the same reason I don't wear my FullTilt hat. Anyway, I call the extra 3 bucks. The flop comes AJ7. I check and huge guy bets $5. I raise to $30. He calls. The turn is a blank. I put the rest of his chips in. It's about $60 more. He calls. The river is the A. He shows JJ. OOPPS. So...I'm a donkey who gets lucky.

One of my last hands I have the KsKh. I raise to $11. Linda raises to $25. I move her in and she show the KdKc. Brutal. Just annoying. So I got lucky and unlucky. A pretty standard day. Not many hands. Still a plus day.

Tuesday the 13th

2008-07-29T13:40:00.004-05:00

So lucky 13 it is. I guess I didn't realize how to play in this 1/2 game for a while. Now that I have it pretty much figured out, I am dominating.

I got to work a couple hours early today. I sat down at a 5 handed table at 6:45 am.

This tightwad was to my left. He had about $900. The second hand I get, I see Ah 2h. I limp and so does tightwad. The flop comes down 7c 2d 5s. The pot has $8 and he bets $15. He was overbetting all day. At this point, I did not know how he was playing. So I make the call. I know he's aggressive, trying to take down pots. The turn comes the Ad. Gin. This time he bets $50. I say "$150." He calls and I have $39 left. The river is a 4. He checks and I move in the rest and he calls, showing 7s 5c. Sucky for him. Two hands and I've doubled up.

The rest of day, I was card dead. I hit a set of 7's. Decent pot. I didn't have much more. I had AA once. It was slow after that. Left with a little more than my initial double up.

I'm a Donkey 12

2008-07-28T16:48:00.002-05:00

I am a donkey and today marks my 12th winning session in a row.

I flopped two pair against the same guy twice. The first time I had KQ and smooth called the flop. The second time I had QJ and raised the flop. He was thrown off.

I was up about 240. I think when I get to this area for the day, I start to play to protect the earnings. This can make me play bad poker - this is why I called myself a donkey today.

I am in late position and find the 8h 8d. Crazy Joe is in early position and made it $10. I call and so does the BB. The flop comes down 10 8 4. Rainbow. BB checks. Joe checks very loudly. I check, too. The turn is a J. The BB bets out $10. Joe now makes it $50. I tank and when I say I tank, I mean I really tank. This is donkeyness. What do I do? Do I call and not know where I'm at? Do I raise and put the rest of his chips in? He had about $120 left after the raise of $50. Or do I fold? Well, I am a huge donk. I fold. :0?!

So I go on mini tilt. I try to bluff this tourist with the Ah on an all hearts board. He flopped a flush and I never go there.

I also lost with KK when the BB hit an A with his AK. Luckily my time had come and I had to leave. If not, I may have donked the rest off. I still left with $120 extra.