Xmas with the parents

Wow, my parents giving never cease to amaze me. These two time and time again have helped whenever they can and I can't be more graceful for being their son. Because of their too generous gift me and my wife will be able to go on vacation this year. Because of selling the house we orginally were planning to stay home to save the money but now we'll be able to make our yearly trek to Vegas. Too much.

Brandy slushes, Viking football (I lose the parlay but I can't believe how they won the game), and watching my son open up Xmas presents made for one of the best days of my life. He got this big wagon from my parents with foldable seats and 4 cup holders! Like I said, too much. Words can't describe how happy I am at the moment.

Good mood means some cards will definitely go up in the air tonight maybe before Las Vegas is on, maybe after as I still have another 500 hands to work off on PartyPoker. I don't think I played yesterday as I'm still down $80 after a small profit on Saturday night thanks to people who like to chase flushes in no limit (it doesn't hurt when I turn a set into boat).. That bring a good question into my mind... when is it profitable to chase that flush? I have a habit of overbetting the pot (talking about NL of course) when I have an overpair or top two pair on the flop and two flush cards appear. Is it the right strategy to try to take down a small pot to potentially taking down a larger pot (or losing a large pot) by letting the flush draw try to draw? I'm confused as to whether this is weak-tight play on my part and potential missed bets by taking down those small pots. If any uber-bloggers out there could chime in, please do so as I feel this is a potential leak in my NLHE game.

I did play a little limit O8 this weekend as well, nothing has changed in these games... wait for the nuts and drive em home. At least I feel confident about my starting hands now. Naked aces with only a low draw go bye-bye now without blinking. Most semi-high pairs with no flush draws are gone. I'll be studying a little more Kreiger before moving up in the rank for O8, but for now its a great way to clear bonuses. I did have a slight brain fart thinking I had the nut flush (I blame the Goose Neck beers I was consuming) with only the Ace. Nice 6BB loss there for not remembering the rules! How can I possibly think about hanging with the AlCantHang crew if I can't play poker with just a few beers in me? Sigh. I'll definitely need to tough up my tolerance should the bloggers descend (or is it ascend) to Vegas next year.

I got Small Stakes Hold Em' and Positively Fifth Street to start reading. I've heard good things about this 2 + 2 book, can't wait to start it.

I'll be on PartyPoker tonight slaving away at the bonus should anyone want to extend an invite to the blogger table (.50/1 O8 anyone??). Good luck and happy Monday!