There are reminders that surround me daily of who I am, and what I wish to become. Sure, the tedious studying of the human anatomy is better left to those like Dr. Chako who I'm certain could rattle off the names of the 8 cranial bones and 14 facial bones with no issue and his patients are better off with such expertise. Sitting across the desk from myself however, I doubt once I gather up my bachelor's degree and hope to continue on to a CPA certification that you would care if I know the three layers of skin and their function beyond recommending a lotion with the cold weather turning your hide into something found at a leather store.
Well-rounded student I GET IT. Trust me, yes I enjoy learning about the human body (ya'll got some gross stuff going on in there) but is it necessary that a 36 year old married guy with two kids to spend time on electives. Its not like I'm looking to change majors, rush a different frat house, or have a change in heart about what I want to do in life. Accounting is where I want to be, spreadsheets and databases get the blood flowing in the right places. I need to move positions and quickly as currently the walls are closing in on me, feeling like wasted talent that could be doing more but instead forced to listen my career dying like my co-worker's persistent cough.
Phil Mackey, a local sports radio show host, co-creator of the Minnesota State Poker Tour (MSPT) and Minnesota Poker Magazine (where I was left off the recent top online players in the state list despite owning the 91st best player the state ranking by PocketFives HUZZAH!), and someone I had the pleasure of helping out on their poker blog for a bit (until I decided to return to school, still hope to cover an event the right way online) gets a lot of guff for having strong opinions and "getting lucky" to be in the position he is in at such a young age (read his recent post on the matter). What these rubes don't see is how hard the man worked to get there and gave himself a chance to "get lucky". Working in sports, getting to travel to the different venues on the company dime, seems like a great gig and it probably is but Mackey had a vision on getting there and went for it.
Much like the very popular MSPT which is now going online at Bodog for qualifers (see the Minnesota Poker Magazine link above for details) it started with hard work and not much reward. Look at Otis or Pauly, think they started their poker blogs with grandeur visions of cross-country tripping around the world being paid to watch and record millions of dollars sliding verticial along a poker table? It's possible. But it started with a love for the game, the they went out and made the connections to various people and sites and their given talents did the rest.
I was fortunate enough to meet Otis early on at the WPBT tournaments, chat on Yahoo, and share the experience of becoming a newly branded father and continue with parenting stories for years to come. With some luck, I am able to call the final stretch for the Sunday Warm-up at the PokerStarsBlog and get tapped for SCOOP and the World Championship of Online Poker along side real writers like Shamus, defending PCA Women's Event Champ Change100 (hoping to peek at the screenplay before Universal snaps it up), Otis himself, Dr. Pauly, Writer Jen, F-Train.
Lucky? Like a (insert worn out poker cliche involving river card here).
My co-worker constantly bitches about her life and her health but does nothing but stare at the retirement clock sitting on top of her PC while browsing thru homes online that she'll never buy. Think I would be in this position if I'd stayed on the couch after my head injury? Happy with a revived married life, two kids who can't wait to see their dad, and a side job that I love? People like Phil Mackey, Otis, Pauly, successful writer John Hartness who despite working a full-time job is cranking out some kick ass novels, and even myself on a much lesser scale get there because they took extra shot, got out of bed when the floor was ice cold and fired up the laptop instead of giving up.
There's saying you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and you may miss nine out of ten times, but live to hit that tenth attempt. And if the tenth shot is fouled off your shin, you walk it off and get back in the box for number eleven. Because no one is going to hand you the career/life you're looking for. Maybe this is why learning the functions of cilia and endoplasmic reticulum are worth a few hours at night.
Showing posts with label MSPT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MSPT. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Online Poker Reporting Goes Live
Poker players may not like money, but if they smell an overlay they're the first ones in the buffet line. 36,000+ showed up at the Sunday Million this weekend and yours truly was there for the final table (click here for the report at PokerStarsBlog). $1.1 million paid out for a $215 tournament, amazing. And after watching the replay at PokerStars.TV you can see 2006 WSOP Main Event final tablist Erik Friberg made some excellent 3-bets with air to stay in the running. Biggest WSOP ME ever, biggest Sunday Million ever and the guy gets 4th place in both. Which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill, not a bad run.
But, that wasn't the only poker reporting I did over the weekend.
After declamating my meager online bankroll thanks to the cards from hell and a vortex of coolers and bad beats I still had the itch for some poker action. Knowing that Event #1 of the Minnesota State Poker Tour was kicking off its $1,000 + $100 buy-in at Grand Casino Mille Lacs, I decided to hop up there on my own dime to check out what live poker reporting entails.
It was a blast. Sure there was no thousand mile stare at the end of the night because I promised two little ones that daddy would be home in time to collapse the massive blanket fort built in the porch and tuck them in. Five hours to Twitter about the tournament vaguely while bouncing around the round for more of a feel versus reporting specific player's names (I'll start brushing up on this). Also, making a prelude post of sorts on MNPokerMag.com while chatting it up with the parents of one's the site's owner who knew fairly little about poker but loved to watch. A different setting from the massive NAPT tourney at The Venetian currently down to 24 players left (as of this hour) being covered by the good folks I usually sit on an IM message box with. Perhaps they'll have a pointer or two for the next tourney as it was interesting to say the least when there were questions about interviews (I don't have a voice recorder) and mostly friendly faces willingly to take the couple of minutes between hands to chat (ran into a Cubs fan while I was sporting my Cubs shirt from the last Gentile Summit).
Will there be a next time? Fairly sure of it. My free time will go from zero into the negatives once school starts in a few months but for a second job that gives me an esteem boost, I'm willing to work through the long nights to do the first job I've ever truly enjoyed.
Quick rant: NBC you're doing it wrong. Ice dancing, figure skating, and Bob Costas droning on about Apollo Ohno's 6th grade subsititute teacher who once completely ignored the future speed-skating wunderkind while checking the NBA betting lines on the Warriors/Magic tilt that night on your flagship channel as MSNBC and CNBC get live Curling and perhaps one of the best prelim Hockey olympic games ever? Regardless of who won, that game between Canada and USA was heart pounding and WATCHABLE. Even the commentary added spice while Canada blitz their much more talented players at the brick wall of Ryan Miller.
Instead you continue the same production playbook from 1968 with clips of past action that rabid fans have already seen and/or heard the results of, with musical interludes with heartwarming stories better saved for the Jerry Lewis MS telethon. No wonder your station has dropped so far, so fast from "Must See TV" to having The Office (a re-make), fat people losing weight, and The Tonight Show as its outstanding brands...
... oh you screwed that pooch too
Shove the purely subjective "sports" onto the cable NON-HD FOR MANY PEOPLE channels, and start playing live sports like double decker luge, short track speed skating, and more downhill skiing coverage you know things that are EXCITING and bask in the ratings instead of rotting away like that Nazi dude in the Indiana Jones movie who got tricked into drinking from the false Holy Grail.
But, that wasn't the only poker reporting I did over the weekend.
After declamating my meager online bankroll thanks to the cards from hell and a vortex of coolers and bad beats I still had the itch for some poker action. Knowing that Event #1 of the Minnesota State Poker Tour was kicking off its $1,000 + $100 buy-in at Grand Casino Mille Lacs, I decided to hop up there on my own dime to check out what live poker reporting entails.
It was a blast. Sure there was no thousand mile stare at the end of the night because I promised two little ones that daddy would be home in time to collapse the massive blanket fort built in the porch and tuck them in. Five hours to Twitter about the tournament vaguely while bouncing around the round for more of a feel versus reporting specific player's names (I'll start brushing up on this). Also, making a prelude post of sorts on MNPokerMag.com while chatting it up with the parents of one's the site's owner who knew fairly little about poker but loved to watch. A different setting from the massive NAPT tourney at The Venetian currently down to 24 players left (as of this hour) being covered by the good folks I usually sit on an IM message box with. Perhaps they'll have a pointer or two for the next tourney as it was interesting to say the least when there were questions about interviews (I don't have a voice recorder) and mostly friendly faces willingly to take the couple of minutes between hands to chat (ran into a Cubs fan while I was sporting my Cubs shirt from the last Gentile Summit).
Will there be a next time? Fairly sure of it. My free time will go from zero into the negatives once school starts in a few months but for a second job that gives me an esteem boost, I'm willing to work through the long nights to do the first job I've ever truly enjoyed.
Quick rant: NBC you're doing it wrong. Ice dancing, figure skating, and Bob Costas droning on about Apollo Ohno's 6th grade subsititute teacher who once completely ignored the future speed-skating wunderkind while checking the NBA betting lines on the Warriors/Magic tilt that night on your flagship channel as MSNBC and CNBC get live Curling and perhaps one of the best prelim Hockey olympic games ever? Regardless of who won, that game between Canada and USA was heart pounding and WATCHABLE. Even the commentary added spice while Canada blitz their much more talented players at the brick wall of Ryan Miller.
Instead you continue the same production playbook from 1968 with clips of past action that rabid fans have already seen and/or heard the results of, with musical interludes with heartwarming stories better saved for the Jerry Lewis MS telethon. No wonder your station has dropped so far, so fast from "Must See TV" to having The Office (a re-make), fat people losing weight, and The Tonight Show as its outstanding brands...
... oh you screwed that pooch too
Shove the purely subjective "sports" onto the cable NON-HD FOR MANY PEOPLE channels, and start playing live sports like double decker luge, short track speed skating, and more downhill skiing coverage you know things that are EXCITING and bask in the ratings instead of rotting away like that Nazi dude in the Indiana Jones movie who got tricked into drinking from the false Holy Grail.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Weekend With Laptops
Trying to pull away from playing more poker yet with the Mastodon weekend in Greenville, SC and a trip to Vegas next month along with the below going ons at Full Tilt and PokerStars have me throwing my bankroll onto the virtual felts.
Full Tilt has FTOPS MCDLXVIII going on and after checking out the final table of the PLO event the sites flagship tournament series is running as strong as ever. Yes, RUSH POKER (a.k.a. freebase virtual crank) is still giving me fits and excitement. Even after six years of playing a game with the largest dollar amount swings, Rush Poker still has my head spinning from the peaks and valleys. But, for a full-time worker, parent of two, and soon-to-be student (pending finanical aid and transcript review) it brings the condensed full session of 500-1000 hands in a matter of one or two hours depending if I throw in a second table or even a third with 6-max PLO.
One other promo you may want to check out the Big Little Tournament with a 200K guarantee for just two bucks AND its a turbo meaning this guy can slide in the play before work at the PokerStarsBlog tonight SCORE!
At PokerStars the milestone race is on as the 40th Billion hand promo has a giveaway with every millionth hand getting a slice of money multiplied by according to how many VPPs you've earned. The true grinder will be walking away with a hefty score after that. Also there's a chance for the low roller to get some high stakes action as a $40 buy in will get you into a $1 million guarantee tournament at 1:30 CST this afternoon.
If you're the live playing sort then a trip north to Mille Lacs Grand Casino for the conclusion of the Minnesota State Poker Tour $1K Bracelet event today because I suck at life I am not attending today and will be huddled under a blanket and laptop instead of having fun with like-minded degenerates.
Full Tilt has FTOPS MCDLXVIII going on and after checking out the final table of the PLO event the sites flagship tournament series is running as strong as ever. Yes, RUSH POKER (a.k.a. freebase virtual crank) is still giving me fits and excitement. Even after six years of playing a game with the largest dollar amount swings, Rush Poker still has my head spinning from the peaks and valleys. But, for a full-time worker, parent of two, and soon-to-be student (pending finanical aid and transcript review) it brings the condensed full session of 500-1000 hands in a matter of one or two hours depending if I throw in a second table or even a third with 6-max PLO.
One other promo you may want to check out the Big Little Tournament with a 200K guarantee for just two bucks AND its a turbo meaning this guy can slide in the play before work at the PokerStarsBlog tonight SCORE!
At PokerStars the milestone race is on as the 40th Billion hand promo has a giveaway with every millionth hand getting a slice of money multiplied by according to how many VPPs you've earned. The true grinder will be walking away with a hefty score after that. Also there's a chance for the low roller to get some high stakes action as a $40 buy in will get you into a $1 million guarantee tournament at 1:30 CST this afternoon.
If you're the live playing sort then a trip north to Mille Lacs Grand Casino for the conclusion of the Minnesota State Poker Tour $1K Bracelet event today because I suck at life I am not attending today and will be huddled under a blanket and laptop instead of having fun with like-minded degenerates.
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