Memorial Day Weekend

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Memorial Day weekend. To me it used to mean spending the weekend in freezing cold weather on a campground drunk for 3 days straight in Wisconsin. Maybe I'll tell a story or two about Edgefest in future posts... if I can remember enough about it since one of the few memories I have was climbing on top of my 1992 Mazda 626 plastered off a half bottle of Tanqueray and juice.

Ah, youth.

I'm all grown up now, but I'm still a Toys-R-Us kid. Things change when you get married and have a little one running around screaming for more chips and something to drink.

You have to wait till they go to bed. :)

Late night poker with these fine folks (Pauly, I know you want this jacket worn by the guy on the right...)



A little SnG with seven players, T1000 in chips, and me with a tall vodka cranberry. Alas, the wanna-be internet pro was shot down on the bubble as my friends E and BJ battled it out for the $25 top prize ($10 to the looooooser). E had been the suckout king (there ya go E, I got it in the post) all night. Flush draw vs. top two vs. a flopped straight? Too easy for this river monarch. He needed a card, I obliged by turning over nasty river cards that would make online poker seem not-so-rigged.

At 2am I also figured out something else... I am a lightweight. Sure I had plenty of beers during the day, but that one tall drink at the end of the night got me drunk. Maybe I'll order Shirley Temples in Vegas and pass them off as Vodka Collins'. Naw. Drunk poker is too much fun especially when you get to play with friends :)

Little Drizz rejoiced after beating his dad in a hard contested game of Chinese Poker....



Well... it was more 52 card pick up then Chinese Poker but he made sure he won and did a victory dance afterwards.

When you're at the cabin of course its always good to do a little yard work. I'm notorious for not doing yard work or fixing things. It might have something to do with the inability to use tools or follow instructions. But, I like a good Minnesoooootan I was able to split some logs with the accuracy of Paul Bunyan... ok maybe more Paul Simon then Bunyan, but I got the job done!



When the firewood is split and the women are off to the nearest flea market what else there to do?

Golf.

I sucked. Hard. But luckily my friends Burnsie, Rice, E, and BJ were there to pick up the slack as we entered a 5-man best ball tourney in the resort area. Out of 15-17 teams we tied for first but went away with 3rd place money due to too many putts as a tie breaker. Had I been able to hit something besides the lawn gnomes in people's yards we probably would have won it.



A fun weekend and I even got a little sun (beware Chris you might win the Whitest Minnesotan contest).

Back home on Monday for some yard work, blisters, and a little online poker...

I don't know what I was playing but it wasn't poker. Maybe it was the crash from lack of alcohol... no I had a big tumbler of Cap'n Coke by me the entire time. Whatever it was, I was not playing well except for a couple of Omaha SnGs with the ABobANation. I got Bobbitizied twice and watched the man run over the field. Wanna bet on someone most likely to cause a pro to flip a table? My money is on him. Mix card savvy with gift of gab, and this guy may not win, but he'll being having the most fun. I guar-ron-damn-tee ya.

A tip for those players with kids... don't enter a rebuy tourney while the little one is still up. Its stupid money management when its a nice day out and the little guy comes up to you with his big blue eyes and goes "OUTSIDE OUTSIDE".

Awwwwwww.

I was down $120 in buy-ins for the night after playing some horrible poker, mixed in with a nice run at the heads-up $20 Stars tourney. I made it to the 3rd round, but pissed away my chips when it got late and wanted to go to bed (hence I play better poker when I'm actually paying attention). Not the kind of practice I was looking for going into Vegas, but at least I figured out how NOT to play.

Thanks for dropping by, now go here and beg for Lindsay Lohan to return to her curvy self. I need a new actress to drool over while she weens herself from the crack-addict like diet she's on. Any suggestions?

Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, it looked like a blogger tourney last night at the $100NLHE tables and the big chat room on Yahoo!

I got to say its not helping the anticipation of next week.

Remember to prepare those livers for Vegas. Have a fun weekend folks!!

Could You Please Stop Kicking Me?

As I woke up Little Drizz this morning to get him dressed I thought about how his attitude seems like how bad I've been running lately playing poker. He kicked and screamed the entire time while changing his diaper and putting on a new t-shirt and pants. Even leaving me a surprise in his diaper that usually isn't there in the morning.

I got shit on all last night. Again.

Money in, with the best of it. Check. Results: a toddler size shoe to the genital area and two stacks lighter.

I won't go into hand history and all that jazz, but losing last night with the exception of a boat over boat, for lack of better words. Hurt.

All poker bloggers have gone through this, extended times of receiving kicks to the groin (or any sensitive area you may have), but how do you see the light at the end of the tunnel? I look at how I'm putting my money in the middle and still feel confident in ALMOST all of my calls/raises/folds but I'm just not getting results.

Does this mean I suck? Am I the fish? Isn't this game about results? Is it about how high of limits you can play/achieve as I was told by someone "slumming" in the $100NL game last night when him and friend chatted continuously about how he should go back to the $600NL or $30/$60 game. My advice to him? Play where you're having fun, if you not having fun here, then leave. His reply, "ooooooh are you jealous"? No I wasn't, because playing at this level is a challenge to me at the moment. I'm still trying to become a winning player here and that's my goal. Even Scott Fischman talks about how the size of the limit you are playing at doesn't matter.

Money in, with the best of it. After that its gambling. Thanks again to Felicia for giving me that golden nugget of wisdom, after "you suck" its kindest thing I think I've heard her say to me :D I kid.

She's also offering to stake someone in a tourney on May 30th in Vegas and in true Felicia manner, her disclaimer.... "You must know me. It doesn't matter whether or not you actually like me, most people don't. If you are some idiot flamer or stalker who has been harassing me for the past year, you can suck my *&%@!".

I can't wait to meet her in person :)

Since hold em' was handing me dirty diapers, I decided to check out a Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better full table SnG on Stars. I took 2nd. Eight straight cashes in these, including 4 wins and 2 seconds. Knock knock puddin' head maybe Hold Em' isn't your game. That could be true, but the swings in PLO8 are enough to big enough to enrage a Buddhist Monk. I want to be able to laugh off a beat in Hold Em' before trying the murky waters of nut straights with re-draws to the nut flush and low with 54 people to see the flop.

Enough bitching for the day, I have an alcoholic weekend to prepare for. 1.75 liter of Cap'n Morgan. Check. Golf Clubs. Check. 12 pack of decent semi-microbrew? Check. Money for Grand Casino Hinckley. Whoa there pilgrim, you're going to Vegas next week. Wouldn't you rather give your hardly earned money to a bunch of degenerate gamblers and drunks?

I would. 7 days folks. Peace.

Thanks for dropping by, now here's a webpage to help you waste time for the next seven days before the WPBT

I'll Be The One With The Yellow Rose...

I know many of us will be armed with cell phones and such in Vegas. I was wondering how we are going to know who's who?

Some of us have posted pictures of ourselves, some have not. This is not pressure to anyone who does not want their picture posted on a website. But, for those who want to meet prior to the Rio on Friday afternoon/evening is there a way we could identify the person behind the blog?

I'm pretty easy to identify. I'll probably be wearing a softball uniform or tourney t-shirt, a visor with the T-Wolves or Twins, as Chad stated I'm fairly tall but not basketball size tall (meaning I don't wear size 20 shoes and have to go to a specialty store to shop for clothes). I will probably have an athletic sized woman about 5'2" next to me complaining that either:

a) I'm wandering around watching people gamble too much

b) I'm playing too many slots (this is unlikely since I'll be getting one of those electric fence collars to shock me if I go near a penny bonus game slot).

c) I'm not paying attention to her and wandering into the poker room before we even drop off our luggage

d) Downing my 5th rum and coke before dropping off said luggage and asking her when's a good time to go to the nudie bar (she will probably walk away at that point).

I'll try to take a more recent picture of myself before June 2nd (even mentioning the date gets me excited in a tingly-sensation-down-there sort of way). I think World Famous Poker Champion Chris Halverson has a pic of the Minnesota boys from Al's visit this winter. I know I took some pics with a disposable camera, but I probably haven't gotten them developed. Had my wife taken the pics she would have ran to Target the day after taking the pics and waited at the counter until they were ready. She likes pictures. I like getting a bunch of pics from totally different events, it makes for more fun when you're not looking at 15 pictures of Aunt Rose opening up her ginsu steak knives set.

I missed Pauly's freeroll last night. I suck. Plus I was tugged by the ear (and other body parts) to go to bed semi-early last night due to playing softball for the fourth straight day. I saw the Yahoo! chat room filled with the usual suspects, and someone even invited the porn (how much did the chick want for her webcam BG? I kid. I kid.)! Unfortunately (or fortunately for me) there were other matters to attend to.

Tonight, no softball, no yard work, just a little WPT then a couple of tables of $100NL at Party and an Omaha SnG or two at Stars. Maybe a Cap'n Coke to calm the nerves and some porn to um... relax, yeah that's it.

Thanks for dropping by, now go here to make sure YOU get noticed at your next social gathering.

Answers From UpForPoker's WPBT Quiz

Go here to take the quiz...

1. What blogger would you most like to have a drink with? I've already had a drink with Al... but I promised the missus I wouldn't get drunk last time. No promises this time.

2. What blogger, besides Al, would you most like to have a drink with? BG and Bobby Bracelet while shooting dice and/or rooting for #9 to win the daily double at Pimlico.

3. What blogger would you most like to talk poker with? Hank and Bill Rini for Hold Em', Felicia for Omaha and Stud games

4. What blogger would you most like to talk to about the written word? Yikes, I flunked my ACT English test can't think of how horrible a discussion about writing would be with me.

5. What single Vegas-trip event has you the most excited? Stormin' the Castle, right after Iggy dunks a 23 oz. Guinness on Phil Hellmuth at the WSOP for being a tool.

6. Will Otis fall down? (This, by the way, is the oldest time honored quiz question) Like the prof, I want to know the over/under on this prop bet. I'm in.

7. Who would be able to out arm wrestle Bad Blood? Despite my lanky arms, I put up a good arm wrestling fight.

8. Which blogger most resembles Patrick Swazee? Anyone besides the 15 million Aprils that are coming.

9. Which blogger is the tallest? I am a fairly tall guy, but I think G-Rob's hair will narrowly edge me out.

10. Which blogger would middle America find the most shocking? Being from Middle America, I'd say Pauly. Walking into a church Sunday pancake breakfast with a hawaiian shirt, bag of unknown pharmaceuticals, and a notebook would definitely raise some blue haired old ladies eyebrows

11. How many Taco Bell tacos can you eat? Now, or when I was in college?

12. How many can I eat? Depends if there's sour cream in the tacos.

Bad Reads, Worst Results

Maybe I'm paying too much attention now that I only play two tables at a time. Usually you would figure in no limit hold em' that if there are four limpers behind you and the blinds ahead of you that you probably would want to raise with Aces.

I guess not.

Then again when the same person keeps showing down powerhouse hands like A5o and Q9sOOOOOOted, its hard to put him on Aces. Oh well, rebuy and retry. Wheeeeeeee.

Just a brief one hour session for me last night after softball, lost half of a buy-in. Its debated as to whether I should have played poker at all since seven softball games in three days can take a toll on an out-of-shape 30 year old.

I've also been getting the prescribed sleep depravation for Vegas as directed by the good doctor.
At the moment I'm taking double doses of no sleep.

A screaming toddler in the morning does NOT sound the same as a pit boss reminding you that the hot asian dealers are not "for hire" at 3am on a blackjack table. It sounds more like Onterrio Smith when they took away his Whizzzzzinator.

Start rant.

I do feel the need to squak about something.

Being sick at work.

Everyone has done it, and its not the sniffles or a headache. Granted I've come to work not under the best of health before. An occasional sneeze, runny nose, and even a cough or two. But for the past month or two the cubical next to me contains a woman that sounds like a three-pack-a-day smoker battling alergies and yellow fever. All day *cough* *cough* *hack up a (insert animal reference here)* *cough* *sneeze* *blow through a box of Puffs (with the added Aloe lotion)*

Please. Me likey being healthy, please go home and rest. Make some chicken soup and watch All My Children and Thomas the Tank Engine. Let Maury tell you about the chick who's gone through 15 different paternity tests and still hasn't found the right guy. I don't feel like contracting your illness just nine days before going to Vegas. I'd rather liquidfy my liver and other internal organs through the funnel of rum and tequila not Nyquil and Alavert.

End rant.

Thanks for dropping by now go here to learn all about those nagging health issues you have been having due to that date you paid for last night.

Omaha, I Love Ya

Omaha.

Love it.

Sure the suckouts are plentiful as I painfully found out during a rebuy tourney on Stars. But after cashing in six consecutive Omaha SnGs (winning three of them) it restored my faith that there are still some really weak competition out there for the taking. I've almost wiped out the loses incurred at Stars over the past two months. Yes, I'm a poster child for break-even poker. At least I've ditched the nook of bonus whoring....

What's that? Party re-load bonus? BONUSMAY for 20% up to $100?

Gimme my nook back.

But, I am not doing my normal mindless four-tabling of the $25NL tables. I'm playing at least 100 hands of a $100 or $200 table each night, and concentrating on that one table. Results are still good, the players are still bad. After my first foray into this limit I thought I was out of my league. But when people stack off with a sOOOted hammer (no it wasn't a blogger) and two pair with a flush board, it restores my confidence that this game can be beat (especially when I'm holding the Ace high flush). Please don't ask about coin flips though, even though I cashed in a couple of SnGs at Full Tilt (BONUS CODE: Drizz99) I still lost all three coin flips to get bounced.

Speaking of Full Tilt... I got the pleasure of giving away some money to John Juanda this weekend at a $2/$4 Razz game. Yes Felicia, I know the game was too tight, except for that one guy who called me down with a T9 (I managed to stack bricks with the competency of a master masonry worker). Razz is still a fun game despite the brickhouse building that can ruin that great four to a wheel start. If you don't play Razz, its much like being dealt AA as your starting cards in Hold Em' and losing.

I didn't spend all weekend indoors partly because I don't want to win the palest Minnesotan contest. I played in a softball tourney despite my body feeling like a geltain dessert. We didn't win the tourney but it was nice to get out with the guys and down a couple of Miller High Lifes with some Caribbean Jerk wings from Buffalo Wild Wings (yummy). We finished the tourney 3-2 and due to some wacky rules we had to coin flip (insert audiable sigh here) to see who would go on to the 4 team bracket finals.

Take a guess who DIDN'T win. And no I didn't call it. Next time I'm bringing that coin with heads on both sides with me to softball (thanks Bob).

Back home for a little yard work (gotta get some marriage points after being out with the guys all weekend) and a nice TALL Cap'n Coke to relax while watching Star Wars Episode 2 (not the best of movies but needed to see it to remind me of the new Episode out). I know its complaint of everyone who enjoys the Star Wars movies but... could they just cut out the uncomfortable Anakin/Amadla dialogue and stick with the super cool guns and lightsabers? It reminds me of my horrible attempts to impress the ladies at dance clubs back in college.

After Count Dooku lopped off Anakin's arm, I headed downstairs to play my 100 hands at Party and maybe an SnG since the Cap'n Coke was starting to hit the right spots. But Felicia had an IM informing me of an Omaha freeroll at 24h poker. I didn't want to stay up for two to three hours to win a dollar, but she said this tournament puts the T in Turbo and the 200 person tourney would be done in an hour. Whoa. Anisotropy, AlCantChat, and Tom Bayes joined us for the 10 Euro top prize. I'd never owned a Euro before, and in case I ever get to complete one of my sport fantasies of seeing Wimbelton live, I'll need some to pay for the strawberries and cream!

I blinked, and I was out in 30ish place. I don't know if this is a regular tourney, but man if your favorites hold up just once or twice you'd have your fish n' chips paid for, maybe even a little extra for some tea.

Thanks for dropping by now go read what the fanbois are saying about the new Star Wars. If you have already seen it, I don't want to know how it ends *plugs ears*.

Someone besides Bill Fillmaff....

Please teach me how to win a coin flip. I'd love to know.

Star Wars!!

Sadly I didn't go. I do want to hear about the movie, so if you did see it drop me a comment.

Short post today since I'm half-asleep because Bobby Bracelet, Iggy, and the race for some chalupa money kept me up.

Bob tossed me an IM while I was playing some Hold Em' on Empire to chip away at the bonus that needs to cleared by Friday afternoon. Despite being at a very juicy table, I couldn't catch the cards to play with the manaics and end up a whopping dime ($.10 not $1,000 lets remember you're not reading Richard's blog here ok?) after two hours.

I fired up a couple of $10 Omaha SnGs with Bob and the smack talk made my night. Playing poker with friends >>>>> grinding bonuses. I'll probably keep repeating that but nothing could be more true. I played for two hours and didn't even notice. I bubbled out of one of the SnGs and never had a chance in the other but I had fun. I LOVE POKER! (good use of caps Bob?)

Iggy hopped on top of a couple of phone books to join the conversation later on. I hope he links the two insult websites he showed last night. I laughed so hard I woke up my wife from the basement. No marriage points earned, but damn those pictures and captions were funny. The pit bull of poker bloggers also dropped by to view Iggy's twisted sense of humor. I'm still laughing at those Star Wars pics (wish I remember'd the link grrrrrr).

The whole time I was playing the cash game and SnGs with Bob, I had a $1 Omaha H/L tournament at Stars going. Since it was limit not much attention was needed for the early rounds. These tournament boil down to one thing:

You need to hit a hand late in the tournament (yes a wonderful statement of the obvious).

Its not like a no limit or even pot limit tournament where you can steal your way into the money if you're careful about it. In a limit tourney you need to hit that one or two hands that will vault you into a comfortable position to be able to see a couple of flops and get lucky.

I got lucky, and I'm treating myself to a Chalupa and maybe some hot sauce this afternoon. I donked away the 5BBs I had left (finishing 42nd/610) when the blinds got to 600/1200 on KK99, capping pre-flop but an A J J flop sunk me when the chip leader stayed in with his AAxx, soooooooooooo rigged :P

Thanks for dropping by, now go here and make sure your spouse isn't sleeping. Thanks again to Iggy for pointing this site out.

Beating The Game One Table At A Time

After spending the last three months four to five tabling, I've scaled back my play to one cash game and one/two tournaments at a time for the past week.

The results have been quite nice.

I have won two buy-ins at the $.50/$1 tables ($100 a pop) over my last 4 sessions at the cash games. I cashed at the Pot Limit Omaha tourney at Full Tilt.

Last night was no different, I won a half buy-in while chipping away at the Empire reload bonus. I will probably be forced to four table on Friday morning to clear the bonus before it expires, but I will just play the $25 tables instead of risking $100 or $200 while finishing off this bonus (losing a $100 stack would defeat the purpose of clearing the bonus now wouldn't it).

The only downside to my evening was two MTTs at Stars where I managed to run TT and QQ into AA at the same time on different tournaments after they min-raised. One was a turbo tournament and I didn't have a choice, the other was debatable. Am I the only one who gets that fingernails-on-the-blackboard feeling when someone min-raises late in a tourney? I know its a good way to get action but its also a good way to get them cracked when 4 to 5 people call. Any other bloggers/readers agree with the min-raise with a monster style of play? Is it a sign of passivity or craftiness?

I know a couple of other bloggers have been shying away from the bonuses, in search of enjoying poker and LEARNING the game once again. You don't learn anything from spamming the fold/call/raise buttons when no thought went into your decisions. True, bonus whoring will always have a small place in my game since it is a great buffer vs. variance, but as stated in previous posts, I will no longer try to clear six different bonuses on six different sites just for the sake of clearing the bonus. I may try twelve tabling .50/1 limit sometime just to see what the working rate is for seeing 500-700 hands per hour vs. my current one/two tables of $100NLHE or $50 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better.

Vegas.

Yes, Vegas is coming soon and the hype has the bloggers reaching for double doses of Ritalin and SoCo. Will the hype match the experience? Having met the walking party its hard to not believe the hype. I just hope my tolerance for tequila keeps up. Everyone seemed to have listed things they want to do in Vegas during the WPBT event, so here's my short list:

Spin the wheel at the Excalibur - If I have to multi-table to get Aces cracked I will.

Play at one table over my usual comfort level - This one I've been thinking about for awhile. I know I can play higher stakes, but everytime I get to a cardroom, I go limp and play in the $2/$4 game. Wuss indeed. Besides liquid encouragement, if anyone can help me pass this mental barrier, let me know. And no, I'm not looking for "Drizz your game is good enough to play", I'm looking for "this is how you should visualize when faced with larger bets then what you're used to".

Puke and rally while playing Craps with the Nardi brothers and Al - This is only if Bobby Bracelet isn't tied up with Norman Chad discussing his win over Layne Flack at the first WSOP event. GIMME DA HI-LO AND A BUCKET!

Learning the serenity of drunk Pai Pow Poker from Otis - I've always played Pai Gow sober (no idea why).

Get my Full Tilt T-shirt signed by some pros - I'm not a total drooling fanboi, but I've never met a pro poker player before and would like to meet the players behind the avatars or at least get their ink on my FT t-shirt.

Play in a mixed game at a casino - I'd love to play some form of H.O.R.S.E or S.H.O.E. at a casino, this will depend on Felicia's natural charm with the brush though :P

Get the same bouncing waitress at the Aladdin during the WPBT tourney - For luck purposes only. I swear!!

Play at a new card room - I'd most like to play at the new Wynn cardroom, but the brand new Belliago card room has my attention also. Hopefully some other bloggers have the same interest.

Come home with a story and experience I'll never forget - This one is a given. If I laugh at an electronic screen I'm sure the same jokes are 100X more gut-busting in person.


Thanks for dropping by now stop watching that bootleg clip of Girls Gone Wild in Provo and start playing some poker!!

Otis Reaches From Across the Pond

First... BG asked us to list our "secret shames".

Even on the risk of public flogging, I shall list my shames:

- My biggest one is posting on a message board for a MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) I used to play called "Dark Age of Camelot". I like the people who post there and still exchange IMs with them. But 37,000 posts?!?!?! I know, I know.

- My limited music knowledge outside of the 80s. Its horrible, I couldn't tell you three bands in the current Billboard's top 100.

- Extreme Home Makeover, Grey's Anatomy, Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives: you know you watch too. Stop laughing.

- If there's chocolate, there must be a glass of milk. No exceptions.

- I've read Nora Roberts novels and like them.

- I talk to my cat while playing online poker... granted sometimes its "GET THE F#()@ AWAY THE MONITOR" but he calms me down. Think the Aladdin would mind me bringing him?

There are my shames, if you want to treat me like a leper now I'll understand.

Oh look a poker tournament! Where?!?!

Good redirection.

As I walked in from cutting tree stumps and de-rooting them around five p.m. on Sunday I had an IM from Otis (you da man) asking why I wasn't signed up for the WPBT tourney tonight. I was at my cabin since Friday morning I didn't know there was one! I'm always happy to donate my $33 towards the good cause of sending a fellow blogger to the show.

I faired a little better then recent WPBT tourneys on Sunday night, finishing 23rd in the latest WPBT "Send-A-Blogger-To-The-WSOP" tourney. Most of you know Joe Speaker took home the big prize and a free trip to play with the pros for more then Little Debbie's snack cakes money (hmmmmm Nutty Bars).

I played fairly well but card death for the hour after the first break killed any chance I had at making a final table. No pocket pairs, no sOOOOOOted connectors, not even a couple of paint cards, just trash hand after trash hand. I was able to steal a couple of blinds but the antes ate me up.

No Hank I will not mention the first hand of the tournament, we'll discuss it over a couple of beers at the Aladdin. It did add to my recent bad runs, having big favorites in tournaments and losing (or chopping in this case). What was different in this case is that it got me fired up to play better, not tilt. Granted there was a "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at first, but I played as aggressive as one can when being dealt 84o for a solid hour. Plus Hank mentioned several times this was the toughest starting blogger table he'd played it.

I agree. Since the Grubblog Classic, and having Doubleas to my right and Grubby on my left I can't remember a tougher starting table.

The yahoo chat was fun as usual, even if there were no porn stars gracing us with their chesty presence and promises of sexual fantasies fullfilled.

Moving on... last night after getting home from softball (we won both games, including getting 29 runs in one inning, they only had one error, we rock) I fired up Full Tilt to check out the games for a quick hit and run. Instead I saw a lot of pros on! JJ, Clonie, Andy Bloch, Quiet Lion, David Opperheim (see Daniel's website...). Lion, JJ, and David O. were playing $10/$20 NLHE, Glyphic politely declined to play after I IM'd him. Wuss.

There was a GAMBOOOLER in the house at the $10/$20 game. This guy would push with anything: 32s beat big slick, he did run Q6o (no pair) into the Lion's flopped set of nines (excellent play by Richard). It was obvious the money did not matter to him as he would reload after every failed push (I'm guessing it was a pro who just didn't care or was casting some bait for someone like me to join the game). But, why push in a game where you know there's 3-4 pros that will call you because they too are unafraid of losing a stack ($2,000)? -EV play if you asked me, but its not my money and I know I am several years from playing in that game so I'll keep my opinions to my myself, or my blog for that matter ;)

Thanks for dropping by, now go read about Man jOO going to a yankee. I'm guessing Al was rather amused by this story.

Grand Casino Hinckley Card Room and WPBT Event?

Congrats to Joe Speaker who is probably the only WPBT member who owns five different department store credit cards and has a tailor on speed-dial. He's going to the show, its a little tournament before the big one at the Aladdin :) Thanks Pauly who once again brings life to the WPBT events with his excellent reporting, go check him out (I'm pretty sure you already have...).

The weekend started out with all the excitement of a wet bottle rocket. It rained, it was cold, I wanted to be at home instead of the cabin with this weather. Usually I look forward to my weekends up at the cabin, knowing I'll be drinking one too many beers with my good friend E and his recently pregnant wife and relaxing outside with a good book or a golf club in my hand. Dreary weather can suck the fun out of the whole experience. It rained the whole weekend, everytime we'd go out within 30-45 minutes it would start raining again. Sigh. But, my loving wife knows how to please her man in ways not limited to the bedroom.

"Casino?" she said as we drove to check out a garage sale along a dusty, country road

Immediately my weekend took a turn for the better, especially since Grand Casino Hinckley just opened a poker room.

Four hours was the time allotted, more then enough for me to get my poker morsel for the weekend. But first I had to walk through 15,435,982 slots to find my way to the new poker room which became even harder to find since there were no signs directing me (or anyone else) towards the room. Sadly I succumbed to the calling of NEW SLOTS BIGGER PAYOUTS FUN NEW BONUS GAMES!!!!! Jez why don't you just flash some 36DDs in my face and give me some singles. I dropped $40 on two new slots while getting zero bonus games.

I guess the double Ds were fake after all. Maybe in Vegas I'll find a pair more to my liking.

After my failure to successfully find the poker room without playing a slot, I decided to walk around the back area towards the hotel. A nice new corridor, complete with a mini-strip mall (salon, coffee shop, knick-knacks shop, native american arts) I saw the sign to the Royal Oaks poker room.

The Royal Oaks poker room contained six tables in a smallish but well decorated room. Four TVs for viewing, a waitress who came with my lemonade (sorry no free alcohol here...) so quickly I didn't even see she dropped it off! There was a plasma screen up front to show the different limits being spread and a loud enough announcement of when your seat was ready (I had to wait 15 minutes for my seat, and yes I PLAYED MORE GODDAMN SLOTS!!).

The limits being spread were $2-$4, $3-$6, $4-$8 (for Stud and O8), $2-$10 (eh??), and something I thought was a misprint $5-$30 limit hold em'. I think Hank could live off that game if he could stand the weather out here.

After being called to play I sat down to a very enjoyable three hours of poker. What began as a shorthanded 6 man game quickly exploded to all six tables being filled with a waiting list filling up as well!

And I must say... live players suck. You want strategy on how to beat a low limit live game? Here it is...

1) If you feel someone has a top pair/no kicker DO NOT TRY TO BLUFF HIM/HER OFF IT, they will call you down everytime. Especially the doofus with proper UV protection and the Ultimate Fillmaff hat.

2) If you flop the nuts, you will get called down every street. Just keep betting and hope that a runner-runner straight/flush doesn't hit. No one will drop their third pair 93o just because you raised pre-flop and led out.

3) Be nice to the dealers, because if even if you don't win, a smile on their faces is worth more then winning a couple big bets. (Thanks to Carol for the fun time).

4) If the guy who looks like Newt Gingrich suddenly bets out when a third flush/straight card hits... give him credit for hitting his 15th runner-runner of the day and order a Corona.

I ended up 2.5BBs after three hours of play. Not bad considering I won only two pots the entire time (Hilton Sisters flopped a set, and nut flush vs. a not-so-nut flush).

Positives of the room: Excellent decor, friendly staff, friendly dealers, decent waiting board and announcements that even I heard (I'm hearing impaired for those not in the know).

Negatives of the room: Only six tables (they advertised a Wed. night tourney for 80 people, like to know how they'd pull that off), limited room to move around (the tables were big fairly tight together), and they limit how many chips you can buy ($100 worth at the $2-$4 table, I like to have a mini-castle of chips because I feel limp without em).

After I cashed my big winnings out my wife arrived with Little Drizz right on time and we headed back to the cabin for some burgers and pork chops on the grill. Nighttime fell, and we shivered outside to chat with E and his wife over a bonfire while discussing Catholics and the new pope, drunken casino night at the park (very fun time!), and plans for Memorial Day (warm-up drinking weekend for Vegas).

Sunday came too soon and we got home in the afternoon to fire up the computer while my wife cut the lawn (her idea not mine) and little Drizz caught some well needed Zs (toddler in a car for more then an hour when its nap time SUCKS!). I nailed a nice hit n' run at a $2/$4 Razz table on Full Tilt (BONUS CODE: Drizz99) for 6BBs. The wife gave me and stern look and informed me it was time for yard work. Sigh.

Got back in around five to see Otis had IM'd me about a tourney.... (to be continued tomorrow, this is too long as it is :P )

Thanks for dropping by now go read up about how Joe crushed the bloggers to win his seat at the WSOP!

Little Drizz drops by again...

Little Drizz here... dropping by to tell you to WAKE UP AND WELD THE HAMMER, its only 20 days till the Vegas WPBT event!!!

Drizz and Clonie sittin in a tree...

Got A Spare Four Leaf Clover?

No? How about a rabbit's foot? A horseshoe perhaps?

Once again the master of losing coin flips did just that last night. Bounced early in the WPBT event at Noble due to a mix of card death and finally a coin flip my 55 vs. AKo. Why do I always lose these things? Ah! I lacked proper chip tricks to help win race situations! Sigh. Maybe I should hit up one of those chip trick sites to dazzle the ladies in Vegas. As always the rail was much more fun then the tourney. Keeping up with the chat seemed like more fun then playing cards anyway. Otis chiming in at the wrong times while Felicia discussed her current medicial status was priceless.

Congrats to Scott and Badblood on a tournament well played in taking 2nd and 3rd respectively!

I was also playing in two other tournies at the same time since my adult ADD can't handle just one screen plus three different IM chat sessions. Yes, I'll be multi-tabling in Vegas too... just kidding.

$1 Stars NLHE - 1573 contestants

I started off great by doubling through twice in the first three rounds, slowplayed KK while someone hit their Q with QT on the flop. Made trip aces with A3 in a BB special while someone called down with TT. Eh? But, after being in the top 20 in chips for several rounds I went card dead and had to resort to stealing the blinds as much as possible just to stay at par. Then I picked up 99 one off the button to race with AK in the big blind. True to its name, Riverstars produced an Ace on the river. Thankyouverymuchbyebyenow. 201st when 180 got paid. Sorry Tom, no Taco Bell cash.

$20 Pot Limit Omaha Hi @ Full Tilt - 113 Contestants

As you can see above with the Full Tilt banner, there's a lovely pro by the name of Clonie Gowen who is a part of team Full Tilt. She happened to be playing in the same tourney as yours truly. Lo and behold when I got seated, she was sitting directly across from me. Even though I had been playing at Full Tilt for several months this is the first time a pro has been at my table. My first thoughts were "at least I'll get some sleep tonight".... Three hours later we were still battling it out and this hand came up, I would appreciate some comments from "tournament pros".

All fold to Clonie who raises two off the button to T1350 and has ~T5000 left behind, the button pushes all in with T1900, the blinds were at 300/600 I believe. The SB folds , I'm in the BB with KT64 all diamonds with T5000 (a short stack as well). We're already in the money with 15 or so players left. I called the T1300 (there was ~T4200 in the pot so I'm getting more then 3:1 to call, correct?). I know my hand sucks but for those pot odds I thought it was worth it to take a shot.

Flop comes out T 9 6 with two clubs.

Clonie checks, I check.

Turn is a Jack of clubs (here's come the sticky part)

Clonie checks, I min bet to represent the flush. She thinks and folds.

River is a blank. And my two pair is trumped by the all-in's J9.

Immediately all the rail fanbois start berating me saying "you have to roll it when there's an all-in". Even Clonie chimed in for a minute or two calling my play stupid since her straight would have knocked out the all-in. Yes, she's right, knocking out opponents is the right thing do to in that situation but I had a different line of reasoning for my semi-bluff. I wasn't worried about the all-in staying in the tournament, I was worried about Clonie staying in. I figured if I could represent the flush and she didn't have it, she'd fold and be down to just a few more orbits thus crippling the most dangerous player at the table. Which is what happened three hands later when she went all-in and someone drew out the nut flush.

The question I have for the tourney poker pros out there... was I wrong in my reasoning? Knocking out a player vs. attempting to shut out the most dangerous player left in the tourney?

It bothered me that even Clonie got mad at my play without seeing it from my perspective, then again the rail fanbois cluttered the chat so much all I could offer was an "I'm sorry". In retrospect, I wasn't sorry, I stuck to my plan, and eventually got the results I wanted. Even if it did piss off one of my favorite pros to watch and one that I'd like to meet.

As Chad saw I missed the final table by one via suckout by the chip leader. I had AATT sOOOOOted and two queens flopped, hitting the chip leader's KQJ2. It sucks but wow, what a rush to play on a table with a top pro for nearly three hours and hold my own while doing it!

Thanks for dropping by, now go read about my beloved Vikings current mishap. Please don't bust up the team that has oodles of potential this year. Luckily the Vikes have 15 million running backs and Smith can be replaced as needed, but this doesn't help team spirit along with Kelly Campbell's recent "i b smokinz weed while rolling my wit my ride im da wrong lane wit my stolen gat" arrest.

Just Random Thoughts Today

- Stan Van Gundy... NBA Basketball coach or potential stand in for Ron Jeremy?

- Jason Giambi going to the minors. If any other player struck out 1/3rd of the time and had a batting average that matches Stephen Hawking's IQs, its time to work out the kinks in his swing at a lower level.

- Rob and Amber NOT winning the Amazing Race. I cried and hope CBS sees the errors of their ways and brings them back next season.

- Picking up cat puke in the morning while half-asleep. Not recommended.

- Officer chased, then shot and killed at point blank range because he told the man to leave the bar. (Star Tribune). I hate people sometimes.

- Vegas in 22 days, anyone have a time machine? Currently I can't get "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show out of my head. No idea why.



At last night's softball game our co-ed team broke their proverbial win cherry. No, perverts, we won our first game last night despite wind and rain that left me looking out for Noah's Ark. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but I hate playing sports in bad weather. Golf especially. Give me 80s, sunny, no wind and a 6 pack and I'll be walking around the course with an extra wood.

Finally got home around 9:30 to catch the tail end of the PokerProf's Noble Freeroll. Unfortunately I got home too late and couldn't employ my Phil Hellmuth style of winning tourneys. JOPKE! (see Paul Phillips' website for details). I was most concerned that a certain SoCo drinker managed to beat me despite my perfect use of UV protection and chip tricks. The rail was fun as always to ride, watched BadBlood get unceremonially rivered during a race.

In all honesty, I had more fun chatting then playing!

I fired up Pacific Poker *shudder* to waste the $10 that has been sitting in there, but I couldn't enter in the $10 SnG, so I hit up a $5 6-max SnG. If this place had better software I would quit my job and play there full time. Got called down 3 times with one card gut shot straight draws, unfortunately the last one made it and I lost out. In the past I would have calmly explained to the gentleman (or lady) how they played their cards in a incorrect manner (all while throwing some random object across the room). Now, I just shrug and feel good that I got my money in with the best of it, and praise the poker gods for continuing to send people like these to the virtual felt. Lets face it who would you rather play against? Someone who plays 3rd pair like the nuts, or someone who's going to check-raise you on a scary board only because he/she has figured out you're holding nothing but overcards.

Thanks for dropping by now go hug your pet today (even if it puked recently). And don't forget to go get a free frosty!!!

A New Way To Play

Bill may not want to take credit but his recent post on chasing poker (not casino) bonuses has really shown a light on a glaring weakness in my poker game.

I've been playing to finish the hand, not to win. In other words, playing not to lose, rather than playing to win.

With the limited time I have to playing online (roughly 10-15 a week, less during the summer), I should be using the time to advance my game rather then mindlessly trying to cram eight tables and play ABC poker to clear a $100 bonus on IHaveAPokerSite.com (if this is a real site I apologize). Sure bonuses are great buffers vs. variance. A safety net as you will. They are excellent bankroll builders when starting out. The bonuses take the sting out of "paying for your lessons" while learning the game in the lower stake rooms.

But, I've come to realize that $100 represents one stack at .50/1 NLHE (which I'm well bankrolled for), and instead for mindlessly clearing 3,000 hands and not paying attention, I could earn that $100 by trying to win it from my opponents in much less time. As I stated above, time on the virtual felt is a premium for me.

I have outgrown poker bonuses. Now, this doesn't mean I won't hit up the sites I plan to play on (Party and Full Tilt for ring games and UB and Stars for tournaments) should they offer such a bonus. It would be stupid not to take the free money being offered for something you are already doing (as Bill stated...). But, I won't go hopping around site to site just to clear a bonus. Casino bonuses are a different beast. Definitely check out Sound of a Suckout for a guide to clearing these moneymakers. Blackjack is something you can mindlessly play while making a profit clearing bonuses and there's no learning repercussion from not paying attention (except maybe hitting on 20 which I've done before *whistles*). But not paying attention while playing poker can be disasterous, especially if your goal is to become better and move up to the higher stakes.

I believe this is the reason why I have not progressed beyond the .50/1 and 1/2 NL Hold Em and 2/4 Limit Hold Em games in recent months. True, there's been some bad cards but I also believe there's been some bad play (ok I KNOW there's been some bad play). With the help of some generous bloggers and re-reading a couple of books, I am confident I will be a regular at the 2/4 NL Hold Em and 5/10 Limit Hold Em games by the end of the year. Or if I have it my way, I'd love to play Omaha 8 or better (but the hand tracking ability is a little sketchy at the moment).

Damn, I didn't even play last night yet I wrote all that.

Softball was on tap last night (yes beer was involved if you caught the not-so-subtle pun). My arm is killing me but I did manage to throw out a couple of base-runners from left field and go 6 for 7 at the plate (legging out three triples have left this old man in need of a respirator this morning). We split two games only because we managed to rally for 6 runs in the bottom of the seventh again.

With all the softball and volleyball I have been playing lately I wonder if I should change the header of my blog.

Naw, I don't play USVBA sanctioned tourneys anymore, I play small town drink-fest tourneys (much more fun since drinking at a USVBA site is frowned upon). While the softball league is very competitive, I don't play in national qualifiers every weekend against the best in the state. I'm just a humble dad who's out getting some exercise and enjoy playing a side game of I-throw-you-go-run-after-it with Little Drizz. And that keeps a smile on my face this morning despite getting four hours of sleep.

Thanks for dropping by now go read all about the USVBA in your area. I played in the North Country region (but you won't find my name on the all-tournament teams because frankly I was an average Class A/AA player).

Things That Increase (Decrease) Your Bankroll

I have been looking over the bankroll for the past two months and its not pretty. A two month slide when I was supposed to be gearing up to bring extra cash to Vegas for the WPBT Aladdin event is not going "as planned".

Here's a list of things that have increased my poker bankroll:

- Bowling (won most improved bowler, high handicap series, and got money back in a fund we put money into each week)

- Pull Tabs (probably won at least $150 over the past month, minus any multiple replays under the beer taps)

- Handouts from the wife (once in a while she'll give me $20 to spend which I usually pocket and save... after she goes shopping of course)

- Volleyball (see below)


Things that have NOT increased the poker bankroll:

- Poker (a longer dry spell than John Travolta in a hit movie)

- Casino Whoring (even losing while clearing bonuses and betting on the Kentucky Derby)

I tell ya, losing streaks really test your patience for this little card game we play. For instance two hands cost me four hours worth of playing on Saturday. I ran QQ into AA twice on rag boards with no overcards. Once was in a cash game when I was testing the 200NL tables (luckily I was up a little and it didn't cost me my entire buy in. The other was deep into a $10 tourney on UB where I was in the top 15 in chips and called the only person who could bust me at the table.

I'm not upset by the losing, I'm more upset that I correctly put them on Aces or Kings, yet I still CALLED (not raised). This has been a tremendous leak in my game. I scoop the little pots with steals but when the big pot comes along, I seem to get the worst of it too often.

Impatience perhaps? Could be. I know I should stop, drop, and roll before leaping into a decision for all my chips. Too often I find myself hitting the all-in button before thinking out the possible hands they have and what they think I have. Just a few plays this past week and I would be praising the poker gods instead of cursing them.

Away from poker I played a volleyball tourney all day on Saturday at the 152 Club in Albertville. Top shelf liquor here included a bottle of SoCo, Al would be proud. Even though we went 8-0 during pool play, we lost in the championship match but managed to pay off our entry fee and some of the bar tab (One2Many? Guilty).

Mother's Day included a huge brunch at my place with family. Egg bake, mammoth muffins, cheesy potatoes. Yummy. Even a bottle of Lipitor wouldn't lower my cholesterol enough after stuffing myself silly. Of course, my wife decided it would be great to do some yard work immediately after everyone went home. My body politely disagreed with her, especially after playing and drinking all day the previous day. Her cool stare into my soul called my bluff and I found myself sawing branches and hauling brush for the remainder of the day.

So much for a relaxing weekend.

Thanks for dropping by now go read about this horse who managed to cost me a couple of bucks this weekend. Had I been properly drunk at the time, I probably would have bet on him.

Email joke for Da Minnesoooooootans out there

Jeff Foxworthy on Minnesota
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through l8 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Minnesota.
If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each Year, because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Minnesota.
If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too Spendy", you might live in Minnesota.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Minnesota.
If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Minnesota.
If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Minnesota.
If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might live in Minnesota.
If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Minnesota.
If you know how to say Wayzata, Mahtomedi, Edina, Shakopee, Winton and Ely, you might live in Minnesota.
If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy, you might live in Minnesota.


"Vacation" means going up north past Virginia for the weekend. You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
You often switch from "HEAT" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.
You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
You think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and venison.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
Where men are men and so are the women.
There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Zups Grocery Store at any given time.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
You consider Minneapolis exotic.
Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your Blue spruce.
“Down South” to you means Iowa.
A brat is something you eat.
You go out to fish fry every Friday.
You find 0 degrees a little chilly.
You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Minnesota friends

One Legged Man In An Ass Kicking Contest

I'd rather get cold-decked then get the second-best hands like I did last night.

Set over set (raises hand twice).

TPTK vs. turned set, yep that's me, Abe Froman, sausage king of Minneapolis. And yes I'll go back to the clubhouse with the kids now to stop my whining. Bueller?

Just wasn't my night last night. The bright spot was getting deep into the Pot Limit Hold Em' Bracelet Race tourney. But, like the cash games, I ran into a second best hand. Queen high flush vs. King high flush with the Ace and two other flush cards on the board, busting around 30th place out of 145. That's poker.

I don't know if this was karmadic revenge from Da Geek for taking his online moniker but it sure was funny to see how he busted out of the tourney. Poor guy.

After watching the WPT last night it made me never want to complain about a beat again. The Grinder vs. Danny N. and hitting the ONE card left in the deck on the river to send Michael home. He could hardly keep it together for the quick interview with Ms. Hiatt afterward. Not that I'd blame him. Oof, that smarts.

Light day today due to lack of sleep and interesting happenings. I'll be playing a full weekend of poker, hopefully clearing a couple more bonuses for the Vegas trip without denting my current bankroll as my slide in the cash games continue.

Thanks for dropping by, now go hug a Mexician and a couple of Coronas. Its CINCO DE MAYO!!!

Razz Me Tender

Note to self: When looking for a "quick" SnG to play before getting some desparately needed sleep, don't choose Razz.

The work day dragged more then a 60 year old ex-stripper's pair of fun bags yesterday. Getting thru the day with less then four hours of sleep isn't for this trooper. Since I don't drink caffeine for the most part (minus an occasional Cap'n Coke), I don't have the advantage of a "quick pick-me-up" with a cup of coffee. Nor do I want to, coffee to me taste like dirt and nothing more. Maybe Little Drizz will like coffee, he loves dirt.

Anyway... played a little softball again last night and our co-ed team fell once again while playing defense worthy of a Bad News Bears highlight reel. Heh. But, its all for fun. The real reason you play is to hang out afterwards which we did by dropping by J. Cousineau's for some chicken strips (the honey BBQ sauce is fan-tabulous!) and plenty of mass produced beer. There's a time and place for micro-brews, fruit-tinted, and foreign beers. After a softball game its time for Lite, MGD, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or Mich Golden Light. Wet, cold, and not flat. I'm not picky, just keep em coming.

After a beer or five it was time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

What was that? Poker? Yes, I have heard of the game. No, I'm tired, maybe tomorrow.

Huh? Easy money? Bonus Code Iggy? Well, I could use some cash to blow on drunk strippers and dollar Craps in Vegas. But the Twins are on and the bed is looking awfully comfortable right now.

C'mon just have one SnG, I'll give you a free taste and it will add three inches to your manhood.

Ok, I don't where I was going with that but I'm back and yes I decided to forgo just a little sleep to play a couple SnGs. I fired up Party to use up the mini-step freeroll I had and find a quick SnG on Full Tilt.

The mini-step SnG didn't work out and I wonder where the heck this weak/tight lay down of Ace-King came from. 6 people left, I get AK UTG + 2, raise 4XBB, one caller, then the button min-raises. I have no read on him other then he's played quite a few hands but none to showdown. A minimum re-raise always reeks of Aces or Kings, but hell this is Party and he could have two sOOOted cards. I fold (like I said, no idea where the weak/tight bug bit me), the flop comes out a King high rainbow, and I can't help but think I missed a big opportunity to double up. Got blinded down to 4BBs and pushed with 66 in the big blind. The min raiser from the previous hand had limped in already and called with KTo. I was hoping for a non-call but the flop again comes out King high and I win $4. Go me.

That took around 45 minutes, perfect now I can get to bed... except I'm playing a Razz SnG on Full Tilt and I'm the chip leader. Guess I'll stick around.

Was still the chip leader with 5 left when suddenly it rained Kings, and more Kings, and more Kings. 9 out of 10 hands in a row I caught a King or Queen on the doorcard and had to pay the bring in. Of course everyone of those 9 hands someone would complete I was forced to fold without anything underneath to warrant taking off at least one card. Whoever said Razz said was relaxing, must have been drunk at the time. But we won't mention names.

Glyphic dropped by to watch the paint dry (his words) in my push towards a heads-up battle. Fold, complete, fold, fold, complete, fold, swat kitty away from the monitor, call, bet, fold, complete, complete, porn, complete, ooohh bonus game playing slots, fold, fold. Needless to say I spent two frickin hours to win $14 for first place. I think clipping my nails would have been more productive and relaxing. There's nothing soothing about watching bricks fall when you start with a wheel draw and your opponent has two pair. Ok, I secretly love Razz, don't tell the wife.

Its definitely a cash cow at the lower levels, like Glyphic said "they always try to bluff their doorcards at this level". Very true, if one player had a 6 or lower ALWAYS completed regardless if she had paint or even a pair in the hole. I played back at her a couple of times after catching a good card on 4th street and she folded each time. Smart aggressive? Maybe. But to complete the bet EVERY time someone has a bad bring in card seems a little too loose. Maybe Felicia has a comment on aggression late in a Razz tourney.

Speaking of the Master of All Things Stud, last I heard she was schooling the male gender in the Plaza H.O.R.S.E. tourney. Good luck Felicia!

Thanks for dropping by, now go check out those wacky conservative Texans trying to ban "Sexy Cheerleader Dancing". Was there really another reason to go to your high school's football game? I can't think of one.

Ah, Softball Season!

Back in the old days... ok it wasn't THAT long ago, but I used to play softball five nights a week and go to the bar/clubs five nights a week afterwards. With a wife and kid now those days are firmly in the past. No more $200 beer tabs, complete with cheese bread, wings, and chicken fingers (with the honey mustard sauce of course). No more blowing money on pull tabs or hoping someone was sober enough to find our way home.

Not for this guy.

I got a taste of the former beer-swilling days last night after playing on my first men's softball team in three years last night. My wife's cousins are now of "drinking age" so naturally if you played baseball growing up and don't want to torture your body thru playing town ball (think Bull Durham without the groupies or any chance of playing major league ball), you play softball! I was a tad nervous that I'd strike out every at-bat and/or fly out but that did not happen. I batted a respectable 6 for 9 last night while our team had a bottom of the seventh inning 6 run come from behind victory in the first game, but losing the second game. I also thought I wouldn't make any new friends seeing that I'm 30 and my wife's cousins are still in college along with the majority of the team.

Not true.

After the game was done and my wife had her I-took-care-of-Little-Drizz-way-too-much-and-he's-driving-me-crazy-with-his-screaming look on her face (he's not one to sit in a stroller for a long period of time and it was a tad chilly last night) I thought I'd be going home while receiving a guilt trip about not taking care of the kid.

Didn't happen.

My friend Burnsie pep'd up that the team was getting together for poker while going out to the parking lot. My wife's first words? "You better make this up to me". Whoa, did I slip into a bizzaro world here? Did she just say yes? And with promises of a back rub with the aromatherapy green mint lotion, I was ready to sling some cards!

Me and Burnsie arrived my wife's cousin's house and were greeted by a selection of fine malt beverages.... Lennie's Berry Weiss (not bad), Premium Grain Belt (decent with wingies), and.... GUINNESS. Now we're talking! I helped myself to a couple of bottles while they set up the SnG. 7 players all paying $10, $45 to first and $25 to second. After receiving T1000 in chips in an assortment of colors which would confuse the hell out of Al we were ready to play.

This was a great primer for the WPBT in Vegas for me at least since half the table could play decently and were not just a bunch of Gus Hansen wanna-bes.

Seat 1: Me (see Tao of Poker for detailed description)
Seat 2: Brian (one of my wife's cousins)
Seat 3: Softball guy with an eerie resemblance to Danny N.
Seat 4: Weak calling station who liked to check raise
Seat 5: Burnsie (Loose-Aggressive, very good bluffer)
Seat 6: Ross-man (other of my wife's cousin)
Seat 7: Big softball guy who knew what he doing

First couple of rounds I started off playing loosely since the first couple of rounds. One hand of note J9 sOOOOOOOOted on the button with five limpers and a 9 4 3 with two hearts (no hearts for Drizz). I fire out T50 figuring my top pair/lazy kicker was good, table folds except the calling station whom a figured was on a draw. The third heart falls and I represent the flush with a T200 bet after he checked, he promptly re-raised to T400. I mucked. Had he done this later at night after I figured out that he bet strongly at ANY pair, I would have pushed.

Burnsie got railroaded with TT vs. KK on a Q Q Q 6 K board and went out first. Calling station went out next when Danny N. hit his flOOOOOsh with 84s while he check-raised with King high. I lost a lot of chips when Ross-man called down my bets while I was holding ATo and he hit his two pair on the river with 54o.

Then.... it was my turn to call it a night. People respected my all-ins/blind steals a little too much (I bluffed twice, only once did I have an actual hand... AA) and I started taking the blinds 4 or 5 times but that only allowed me to see another couple of orbits.

I went out with a meow in 5th when my J2s couldn't over come the Big Guy's Hilton sisters despite flopping a Jack. The Danny N. look-a-like went from being down to the felt, to winning it all vs. Ross-man.

Another great learning experience, not-so-great result and I loved every minute of it. The guys were a riot, there was Guinness flowing, even a naked Rachel Hunter (wowowowowow) in Playboy made an appearance.

Like I said, a primer for Vegas. Replace seven guys with 50+ bloggers. Replace Guinness with... well more Guinness + SoCo + Cap'n Cokes + (insert shot/drink here). Replace basement card table with Excal's Poker Room. Replace Rachel Hunter with Deja Vu dancers. And I just got a glimpse of things to come.

Anyone else getting ridculously antsy for Vegas? I keep staring at the 5 calendars I have at work hoping June 2nd is tomorrow.

Thanks for dropping by now go read up about the possible new card club/racktrack coming to Minnesota (I hope...).

Come see my webcam!

Um, no. I can't even look at myself in the mirror.

But we did have an assortment of railbirds in the WPBT Yahoo! chatroom last night that dropped by offering to show how to operate stolen dildos in various orifices. Bless their slutty hearts. I don't know who *cough* Doc *cough* invited these wonderful ladies to our chat last night but thanks. Mucho thanks for those in the chat room for putting a smile on my face, I needed it (more downturning event later...).

I wish I had some exciting tournament report in which I made it far into the tournament only to lose to a coin flip or a three outer... but I don't. I lost because I didn't bet someone off their inside nut straight draw, compared to filling my draw as well (but a lower straight). I was out an unceremonious 2nd to last. I'd blame a bunch of distractions and yada yada, but I'm the one who hit the all-in button and sent myself to an early departure. THINK MCFLY THINK! Sigh. Maybe next time.

This weekend up at the cabin was supposed to be a relaxing one and it was for the most part. It was supposed to be in the 60s with a slight chance of rain. Instead we got 30s with sleet and snow. Did they hire Brick Tamland do to the weather reports? Is it really that tough to come within 30 degrees of the actual temp? The chicks on Naked News do a better job of forcasting the weather then the locals and look better doing it.

The weather got me into a pretty foul mood for the weekend. I did enjoy a round of golf in between the blizzards. A little brisk, but after the first couple of holes the layer of ice melts off and you feel fine. I didn't get to the casino as planned since we spent most of the time opening up the cabin and getting it ready for the summer but we did play a little poker at least. To tell you how foul of a mood I was in... I didn't want to play after awhile, even semi-drunk. First time for everything I guess.

Sunday morning we packed everything up early since it looked more like December then May outside and traveled back home so I could fire up the WSOP blogger qualifier (see results above), the wife went to work on some stuff around the house. After a half hour or so she came downstairs with a concerned look on her face. I thought maybe she'd found my stash of Busty Babes in Cheerleader Uniforms Washing Cars magazines, but since she wasn't holding my suitcase full of clothes I figured it was something else.

Mold.

She scraped away a bad caulking job on the tub upstairs to reveal what they (the previous owners of the house) were hiding. Now we have to take showers in the little cube fit for solitary confinement until the sheetrock can be replaced. We're praying that the mold is confined to just the sheetrock around the tub since there's no water damage to the plywood underneath the tub. Sigh. Top that with Little Drizz catching a cold and it wasn't a relaxing weekend.

Thanks for dropping by folks now go visit CarrieILoveSex_29's webcam as she listed her occupation as "self-pleasuring" and ask BG about the size of her ankles.