Poker and Liquor

Heading West

2007-06-22T16:37:00.000-05:00

I'm heading out west tomorrow with a short stop in Vegas. During my one night stay in Vegas, I'll be staying at Wild Wild West, because everything was ridiculously expensive for a one night (Saturday night) stay during the World Series of Poker. Excalibur was $265. $265 for Excalibur. Unreal. I felt lucky to get a room under $100 at all. It's not like I plan on sleeping much, if at all. I mainly need a place to throw my stuff, while I go lose a little money playing poker.

The trip is really about Death Valley, Bristle Cone Pines, and Joshua Tree National Park. I'm gonna be in the desert, and I'm gonna be in the mountains. I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about 125 Deg F. in desert in Death Valley, or the 14,000 foot elevation on White Mountain. I am psyched about seeing Methuselah, the oldest living thing on the planet at 4839 years old.

Trip report will follow.

The Joe Loy Effect

2007-05-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

Several people in my business have died recently. A year ago May 22, Chris Gulfman, age 35, a videographer from my previous employer of eight years, WYFF-TV, had a brain aneurysm and died suddenly.

April 30th, WHNS (Fox Carolina) videographer Cliff Cross, 41, passed away from a very short battle with a very aggressive cancer. Fox Carolina also unexpectedly lost their research director, Stephen Dillard, 42, two years ago from a heart attack. My wife worked at WHNS for 9 years, and knew Cliff and Stephen well.

On May 10th, a colleague and close friend of mine when I worked at WYFF, Mike LaBoone, 49, Broadcast Engineer, committed suicide. He taught me a lot about television, audio in particular. He always said in a twangy Ross Perot accent "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." I will.

This week, J oe Loy, Assignment Editor/Videographer was hit by a van and killed while covering another accident. He also worked at WHNS, Fox Carolina. He was well known in this market, not just by people in television, but by many in the community. As assignment editor, he makes all the calls to everyone who is anyone, looking for the stories to send the news crews out to cover. They all knew him, and they all liked him. Who wouldn't? Look at that smile . . .

It is very sad and tragic for everyone who knew these fine folks. It can also be a tough issue for those working in the business. Joy Loy's death, in particular, strikes a cord. He died on the job, doing what we all have done. I used to be the engineer in the live truck. I've been on the side of the road so many times, I can still smell the brake dust. All news crews have been there. It's what they do. Everyone in this business that goes on location has been on the side of the interstate at some point. So many of the police officers and emergency crews Joe talked to on the phone daily are on the side of the interstate constantly. Heck, nearly everyone's car has at least broken down once. It is a scary place to be, and it makes us all identify with his tragedy.

But believe it or not, I'm not just blogging this to express my sorrow. Television can be competitive, and competition can be ugly sometimes. But I was amazed and awestruck when I heard a little something about Fox Carolina's competing stations. As I heard it from a reliable source, WYFF (the NBC affiliate) and WSPA (the CBS affiliate) both offered to help out Fox Carolina by producing their news for them, so that the entire staff could attend the funeral. The entire newscast, done by your competition as an act of kindness and compassion. Can you imagine Applebees sending over cooks and wait staff to help out TGIFridays? I am proud of these station's behavior.

I doubt FoxCarolina will take them up on the offer, but I am very impressed to see it made.

09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0, and Save Internet Radio

2007-05-12T09:58:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know, this hexadecimal series of numbers was posted on Digg a bazillion times. It is the encryption key to HD-DVD. Oddly, it might've just been posted only a few times, except that there was a cease and desist letter sent to Digg, and they felt they had to take it down in order to avoid legal action. The intarweb revolted at the idea of being censored, and went post-happy. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, finally decided that freedom of speech, and the desires of his clientèle were more important than possible legal action against him. That, and it was probably becoming impossible for him to stop the avalanche of posts.

Funny side note, as the lawyers tried in vain to prevent this code from being released to the public, they filed many official notices to stop it. These are now a matter of public record. They contain the encryption code. Brilliant move, idiots!

So, I would never know what to do with this number, but there are those out there who do. While I don't encourage the theft of music, movie, software, or any truly intellectual property, I do feel that the MPAA and the RIAA are out of control with their desire to inhibit our abilities to copy music and movies that we have legally purchased. The RIAA's unbridled greed to hold fast onto their product, and charging $16 for a piece of 15 cent plastic while giving the performer/artist pennies on the dollar is criminal in nature.

The really sad part is, that if they quit trying to stop copying, quit investing millions into copy protection and encryption, and quit fighting the legal battles associated with it, they could lower the prices of the music and movies enough so that no one would bother in the first place.

EMI has realized this, to a degree, and has dropped DRM on all music at iTunes. I encourage everyone to support their decision by purchasing EMI music on iTunes. When you buy an EMI song on iTunes, it is yours--you can put it on your laptop, your iPod, burn it to a CD, burn it to eight more Mix-Tape CD's, put it on your computer at work, and not have to worry about it not working. THANK YOU EMI! I will finally buy music on iTunes.

Should I rant now about NetRadio? I'll try and make it brief. The RIAA, ASCAP, BMI, and Broadcast Radio lobbyists have succeeded in killing internet radio. They have increased the ASCAP and BMI fees to as much as . . . well enough to make it almost impossible to do:

"The rates include a minimum fee of $500 (U.S.) per year, per channel with escalating fees for each song played. In 2006 (the decision is retroactive), the applicable fee would be $0.0008 per performance. Since a performance is defined as streaming one song to one listener, a webcaster with 10,000 listeners would pay 10,000 times the going rate for every streamed song. The fee structure increases each year with rates that more than double by 2009"-Toronto Star

Did you get that? 2006 fees are retroactive???!!! If CJ and Otis had started fooling around with UPFORRADIO, they would retroactively owe enough money to be bankrupted!I can't imagine how this could possibly be legal, but that is the legal ruling.

Like to hear radio on the internet? Too bad. Broadcast radio has killed it. It will be dead. Time of Death: July 15, 2007. It may have even backfired on the broadcasters as well--many stations that simultaneously stream their broadcasts on the internet will have to pay as well. KUDOS to NPR for fighting the good fight!! It is a shame you lost.

There is still hope here, PLEASE wirte your congressman and demand them to pass the Internet Radio Equality Act, and check out savenetradio.org

Enough of my ranting at The Man.

A Good Steak and BJ

2007-03-13T19:03:00.000-05:00

It's here! The man's answer to valentines day. Steak and BJ Day is March 14.

Steak. BJ. That's it. What more could a man want?

Inform your significant other now.

Been a While

2007-02-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I wrote in here. It's been a while since I played poker on any kind of regular basis.

I've been very busy at work. We've been creating a nature TV show called Expeditions with Patrick McMillan , which is now airing on South Carolina Educational Television. It's been a ton of fun and hard work. For those of you who can pick up SCETV, it airs 7:30 Sunday nights. We've done shows on Shell Rings, Snakes, Carnivorous Plants, Bats, SeaTurtles, Volcanoes & Fumaroles, Rainforests, and Salamanders so far. Not all of these have aired yet. We hope to have it picked up nationally by PBS.

But busy at work is no real excuse, it's that I've been lazy at home.

I did make a Poker appearance at BadBloods Annual New Years Tournament, and managed to take first place before being totally overcome by the amount of alcohol I had consumed.

Most recently I missed a game at BadBlood's but got the jones so bad that I went to the Spring Hotel (a local underground poker game) the next day. Playing 1/2NL, I started out doing fairly well, and chipped up from $200 to around $350 when I ran into a hand I am now asking advice about.

After a 45 minute cold spell, in middle position in the 5 seat, I take a look at KJ spades after a fold and two limpers. I bump it up to $15. Fold, fold, then Guy in the 8 seat pops it to $40. 3 seat calls and I decide to call. Flop comes 5TK two spades. I gotta like that flop, so I bet out $60. The 8 seat stands up to contemplate. After deliberating (possibly for show) he raises me $100. I don't know him too well, but my read is that he is a solid player, not likely to bluff outright, but could possibly semibluff a nut draw.

I have $250 still in front of me, and $100 in the pot, looking at a $100 raise. To me it's definately a push or fold situation. Top pair, good but not great kicker. 2nd nut flush draw.

I go in the tank, and figure he has AK to beat my kicker, a pair of Aces, or maybe two spades including the Ace, to beat my draw. I guess it is in my nature to put him on a better hand than me, but he did bump it to 40 preflop, so he has to have something. My reasoning goes this way: he either already has me beat, or he has a better draw, most likely the former. I fold face up.

He flips out that I could possibly lay that down. The dealer turns the last cards for show, and I see another T and K to give me a posthumous full house. Judging by his reaction, I think I woulda won if I hadn't folded, which ruled out Big Slick as one of his holdings. But was the fold the right decision at the time? Even if he does have Aces, should you push here? Other than playing KJ in the first place, did my play here seem reasonable?

Some guys there who know him better than I said later, they were 95% sure he had a pair of Aces. Although I thought I made a good laydown, I then went on some kind of wonder-if-I-did tilt for a while, and never really recovered. Ended up the night flopping a straight to someone elses set and pushing. Of course, he boated on the turn and IGHN.

Less Poker . . . More Liquor

2006-06-06T19:32:00.000-05:00

So the next big trendy drink to sweep the restaurant industry is going to be, or already is, the Mojito. This is a drink made for me. Plenty strong with Rum, loaded with mint, not too sweet, with club soda's effervescence. It is a versatile drink, capable of handling various flavors and modifications. I haven't tried it yet, but I am imagining a Mojito with Pear Sake in it. The Mojito, I believe, has no rival as a mowing-the-grass beverage. Extremely refreshing!

If you didn't realize it by now, I love the Mojito.

3 oz Light Rum
Juice of 1 lime
5 fresh mint sprigs
2 tsp. sugar or simple syrup
Club Soda

Dissolve Sugar or simple syrup into lime juice and mint leaves. Mix well to crush mint flavor into lime/sugar. Add ice, rum, and top with club soda. Modify to your hearts content. Lower the sugar and add SoCo, I don't care. Might be great.

Another good thing with this beverage is that it makes a good drink for those watching their sugar intake, as you can easily use Splenda or Equal to make it. For many drinks out there, this is almost impossible. The wife has diabetes on one side of her family and hypoglycemia on the other . . . so she has sugar issues. Other than straight liquor, or Rum and Diet Coke, there are few choices.

So the Mojito is my current drink of choice.

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

Here's my current Ice Cream Flavor: Ben & Jerry's Black & Tan

That's right, Guinness fueled ice cream ready for the likes of myself and Iggy. Try a pint and a pint for a Guinness Float. I always loved the creaminess of stout, glad to Ben & Jerry capitalizing on it.

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

I drank a very small amount on my recent canoe trip. I mean, eighteen guys around a campfire with as much alcohol as they could afford, I drank a small amount. By the way, Goldschlager and Red Bull is tasty.

And I busted the hell out of my knee when Shep tipped over the canoe , and threw me on a rock (I'll continue to place full blame on him, deserved or not). It needed stitches, but I was 4 hours from the take out point, 1 1/2 more hours from my wallet and dry clothes, then a good hour and a half to the nearest hospital. By then, stitches would probably be too late. So, I had a couple shots of tequila, a couple shots of Jagermeister, and a couple of Newcastle, and kept on falling out of the canoe, until we got back to the camp so I could grab a butterfly, band-aid, and begin drinking in earnest.

Today I found myself at the doctor for a tetanus and some antibiotics.

Martinis

2006-06-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

I order another beer and Blood has more martini. This makes me laugh. What makes a man switch to martinis? I mean, if you're some douchebag suit and you have to impress the minions...that's one thing. But when a turbine counter gets all fancy, that's just odd.

Not much time to post, Shep and I are heading out on a canoe trip to the Smoke Hole area in West Virginia, but I thought I'd quickly comment on some accusations G-Rob was making towards the Martini.

First off, Vodka Martinis are NOT Martinis. Martinis are made with Gin. That said, whatever drink you call it when you fuck up a martini with vodka, well they're pretty good too. However, since Vodka is a mostly flavorless liquor, we'll have to add one Ghey point.

Blood prefers the Grey Goose variety of Vodkatini. They Ghey Goose is sooo smooth, it has no bite, no kick, no . . . character. Add one Gay Goose Point.

Bloods recent post was entitled "Shaken, not Stirred", and I have this to say on that matter: When you stir a Martini, you get the drink cold. When you shake a Martini, you break up all the edges off the ice into the drink. This gets it cold, but it also waters it down a bit. Watered down Martini?? That's right, add 1 more Geigh Point.

Blood gets Two Geigh Points for sharing with his buddy, Clot. That's just queer.

Beer is never gay. Well, a Peach Lambic is, but most beers aren't. On the other hand, a martini is generally a very strong, non gay drink. G-Rob should not be dissing the Martini. The only problem is, James Bond and BadBlood queer them up a bit.

Nuff said.

2006-05-23T21:24:00.000-05:00

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

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

I'm Back from the Valley of Desolation

2006-05-22T13:35:00.000-05:00

Three words: Hot Tubs!

One of the wonders that is Dominica is the hot springs. They are everywhere. The Boiling Lake shown in the previous post is the source for some of the hot springs, while others just bubble up out of the ground. The water is high in sulfur, which makes them smell a little, but also makes them good for the skin. The high iron content makes many of the springs very noticable, as the creekbed looks rusted.

The Commonwealth of Dominica (not to be confused with The Dominican Republic) has yet to utilize the great geothermal resources to very much potential. Over 60% of their power is hydroelectically generated, which is good. The remainder comes from--get this--coal. That's right, the country with the hottest, largest boiling lake in the world, and geothermal energy everywhere, uses coal to heat water to turn turbines. There are talks under way to create geothermal power, and I hope that they are able to do it in an environmentally sound manner. Dominica's greatest attraction, and greatest resource is it's natural wonders of the rainforests and hot water springs. If they screw up the rainforest in order to tap into the geothermal energy, then it just isn't worth it.

They do, however utilize the hot water springs well, in the form of hot tubs. If you ever have the chance to go there, go on a hike in the rainforests, and lounge in some natural hot springs.

One night, I had several Kabuli Beer (local brew), some Rum Punch (emphasis on PUNCH), and went to the Screw Spa. As we didn't have our camera with us at the Screw Spa, here's a pic I found online of some other unknown people in the spa. We arrived there at dusk. The full moon shone down on us while some type of lightening beetle flitted about. VERY relaxing.

Every morning and evening I availed myself of the Hot Tubs at the small inn we were at, and occasionally bathed in the cold waterfall on the premesis.

Enough with the relaxation bit, we worked our asses off most of the time hiking all over the island on little sleep, carrying heavy gear. Did I mention this was a rainforest? Yeah? Well guess what happens ALL THE TIME in a rainforest. That's right, rain. And lots of it. On our 16 mile hike through the Vally of Desolation to Boiling Lake and back, it rained about 4 inches on our heads. It also ruined one of our lenses. But man-o-man was the cool sights worth it.

One of the on-air-types, Nancy, started to get hypothermia. I brought her temperature up with some improvised tea. We had some Red Sorrel juice (local yummy juice from the Hibiscus flower) with I mixed with some water, put into my Nalgene water bottle, and heated up over a steam vent that was bubbling and spewing up out of the ground. Nice hot tea, on the spot.

There was a nice hike at Freshwater Lake, the source of most of the hydroectric power.

And, of course, I had to climb a tree. I have a reputation to uphold.

Luckily the work was fun, otherwise it would've been a grueling trip. I had a great time. Oh, and I had the best Pina Colada in the world. The Rum Punch is the traditional local favorite, and it was good--and strong--but the pina colada was outstanding. I ordered it on the last day, because I wanted something different than Rum Punch. The girl said she'd bring it out to me, and went into the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later (and a lot of noise from the kitchen) I recieved the best pina colada ever. It was obvious that she had cut open a fresh pineapple, and busted open a fresh coconut in order to make it. I mean fresh. And tasty.

Off to the Boiling Lake

2006-05-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

Thats right, Boiling. Like actually above 212F.

I'm working on a nature series for television to be air on SC Public Television, marketed towards National PBS, and possibly the Discovery Channel. I'll be out of town for the week on a shoot in the Carribean Island of Dominica.

Some of the itinerary:
Friday Afternoon Shoot Blue-Gobies and waterfall at Trafalger with underwater camera. Friday Evening, Shoot Leatherback sea turtles. At this point, I should point out that the term "Shoot" means with a video camera--not a gun.

Saturday Whales/ Dolphins with possible underwater shots. Souffreire--Low elevation sulpher vents with wild cashews and lizards. Snorkling at Scott's Head. Shoot Leatherback turtles at night, or shoot giant fruit bats at Tou Santi (The Stinking Hole).

Sunday Parrots Giant trees and rainforest. Cactus forest at Calihut. Make up day for Stinkhole.

Monday, Boiling Lake

Tuesday Iguanas, hummingbirds and make up day.

The sulfur vent shoot will require an 16 mile round trip hike, and should be very cool. There are only a few plants and animals that can handle living around the temperature, steam and sulfur gasses.

Also ,we'll be shooting leatherback turtles at night laying eggs. VERY COOL.

I have more to do, and little time, so I'll wrap it up.

And cheese

2006-05-07T16:07:00.000-05:00

We now finally have a Whole Foods here in G-Vegas. It is such a fantastic store, it makes you want to cook and eat and drink and eat and eat. Great timing. Like several other bloggers, I have been trying to drop a few pounds lately.

I've been rigorously excercising almost daily. I've been eating salads and grilled stuff, and I've been eating less stuff altogether. I rarely drink sodas anymore anyway, but on the occasion that I do, I've switched to Fresca. Snacks are few and far between.

What is the difficult part? Light beer. Less alcohol. I realize that alcohol has tons of calories, and I realize it deserves a fair amont of the blame for my weight. New rules: 1)No alcohol on weekdays. 2)No alcohol to excess. 3)Try to drink light beer. 4)No sweet mixed drinks.

That said, I've already taken a little liberty with my new rules. TheWife went to Whole Foods on Thursday, so when I walked in the door after work, she put a very thin slice of Manchego Cheese in my mouth and a glass of 2003 Las Rocas Garnacha in my hand. Now, I am much more of a gourmand (read: glutton) than a wine critic, but it would be hard to find a better 8 dollar red wine. It's a Spanish Grenache that with a bold, fruity taste, without being sweet. And let me tell you, it went extremely well with the manchego chese and my lack of eating and drinking.

I celebrated my rule breaking by drinking a couple Singha on Cinco de Mayo. That's right, due to a two hour wait at Sabrosos and similar wait times at other Mexican resturants, we had Thai food on Cinco de Mayo.

Since I was having a fun weekend already, TheWife and I met Shep and MsJackHammer, as well as another couple, Jason and Jen for Sushi. Shep and I (with a little help from TheWife) drank two teapots of Sake. I was fairly good with the food though, and for the first time ever--I left Irashai without feeling like I was going to explode. We then saw a great show at the Handlebar by Mac Arnold and the Plateful of Blues. That old blues guy can play a mean gas can. If you ever get the chance, go see Mac. Oh, and get a bottle of Las Rocas. And eat cheese.

Back in the Game

2006-04-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

Excalibur wasn’t the only place I played. By my last day there, I had figured out the bus system. I had been told before that Downtown Vegas was no big deal, and wasn’t really worth the cab fare. I figured, however, that it was definitely worth bus fare to check it out, so I headed off to the Freemont Street Experience. I quickly found Binions Horseshoe Casino, and sidled into the poker room.

What games are available? NLHE and 2-4 Limit. I’m still gun shy, so I pick the 2-4. This was an interesting table, with 2 dikey lesbians playing, and old timer local, an old skinny black guy, his retarded friend, and a new local bald guy, who says he walked there from Vermont. The walked-here-from-Vermont story was told believably, but I have played poker many times with a world renowned Nougat Farmer with perfect hair.

Vermont quickly assessed retarded guy as a target. Who didn’t? Mentally handicapped guy at the table? Yeah, he’s my target too. His black buddy is shaking his head, saying “Idiot shouldn’t be here. He has no grasp of this game. No grasp at all.” Thanks buddy.

I’m out of a hand, and my cell rings, so I step away from the table. Say a couple of words, and the dealer looks at me because it’s my small blind. I say “I’m in, post me.” as I say goodbye to TheWife and quickly grab my seat. Idiot raises, Old Guy calls, Young Dike calls, Black Buddy calls, and Vermont raises when I look down to see pocket Aces. I raise. Old Dike folds. Idiot calls. Old Guy calls. Black Buddy calls, and Vermont caps the bet because that’s his MO when Idiot is still in the hand. Calls around. That’s 6 people still in a capped pot preflop with me holding aces.

Flop is 8 high, rainbow. I bet, Idiot raises, Old Guy calls, and we lose the rest. I reraise and Idiot goes, but Old Guy is still there. Turn is a J, and I check-raise. River is a 6, bet, call. Old Guy turns over 64s for two pair, cracking my aces. 64? Capped preflop, and he played 64 to the river? I hate 2-4 Limit.

The point of this bad beat story isn’t to bemoan my loss, it is to say that I got up tilty and walked away for a bit. While I was gone, I realized that I had $600 in my pocket, it was my last day in Vegas, and if I’d been playing No-Limit, I could’ve pushed Old Guy off the pot and won that one. So I rebought to about $150, and sat down at the 1/2NLHE table. I only had about 45 minutes left, before I had to head back to the strip.

I chipped up quickly at the NL table with a couple of semi-bluffs, a better kicker with the ace, and a set of Kings. I made a Japanese guy rebuy with the nut flush, which felt good. Then I flopped a full house 10’s over 8’s, only to see queens on both the turn and river give my opponent a higher full house Q’s over 10’s. With that loss, I cashed out only $20 up, but it was good to get back to No-Limit.

I am back in my comfort zone and no longer gun shy. I really do prefer No-Limit. It just suits my style of play so much better. Problem is, it doesn’t always suit my bankroll very well. The swings are much more drastic, and you need some Franklin’s on the bench.

Limits

2006-04-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

I played poker every night I was in Vegas. I had work to do in the daytime, but for 3 or 4 hours every night, I sat down and played poker. Limit poker.

On my last trip to Vegas in December, I lost a $100 buy-in twice at 1/2 NLHE within 10 minutes of sitting down. I only had $700 to start with, so $200 was a hefty chunk. It made me a little gun shy of NLHE.

So this trip, I played Limit hold'em at the Excalibur. I played the 2/4 Limit, and the 2-6 Spread Limit. I suck at poker. At least I suck badly at 2/4 and 2-6 Limit. I just bleed away my chips. I usually do OK though, at the 1-3 spread game. So this was my pattern, and it happened each night: Sit down at 2-6, chip up slightly, then bleed away 1/2 my stack. Move to 2-4 Limit, bleed away 1/2 of what is left. Move to 1-3 limit, make back most of my buy in, and cash out for a $10 loss. One night I was down $180 before the move to 1-3 and cashed out for a $45 loss, for an OK comeback, but still a loss.

I just have a problem with those games. I can't get the knack of them. I also NEVER get cards at those tables for some reason. Of course not getting cards doesn't stop me at the 1-3. There, I'm in my comfort zone, and play the table. I have fun with some hands with blind raises (they wouldn't let me live straddle at 1-3) or garbage hands. Then I tighten up for a few hands and look for a payoff. If I don't get one, I loosen up again. The payoff comes. I keep the table guessing, and feel like I'm in control of the pace.

I don't have any specific hands to speak of at the Excal, they were generally unremakable. I only got the hammer once the whole time, and I played it hard to the river. Of course, it was way behind the whole way and lost.

If I counted in all my tips, I'm close to even, or slightly up. If I count in free drinks and entertainment, I'm way up. I'm not upset with my play, but I'm not real happy about it either.

Why the hell is 1-3 so different from 2/4 or 2-6 for me??

More later . . . .

Odds?

2006-04-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Vegas. NAB was a little slow this year, there weren't many new things since last year. I played a few hours of poker each night. Since I was staying at the Excalibur, and I like the poker room there, that is where I played.

I found the intarweb once while out there, and noticed that Dr, Pauly was in town covering a WPT event. I gave him a call, and we talked, but we never got the chance to hook up out there and play some poker. I also managed to not sit at a table with Otit either. I knew people in Vegas, but couldn't seem to meet with them to play some poker. I was feeling a little discouraged. I checked my armpits and breath for odor.

****

I knew Jimmy in the high school days. He didn't go to my school, he didn't actually go to school at all. Jimmy had already graduated, but was hanging out with a degenerate bunch of high school students while he waited for life to happen. Jimmy was a raucous addition to my small clique of artsy-type freinds.

One time, I broke up with a girl, and was very depressed. Jimmy saved me. We drank a bottle of cheap gin together and climbed an old water tower in the middle of the night. Jimmy was therapeudic.

Whenever there was the slightest opportunity or excuse, Jimmy dropped trou and would streak or go skinny dipping or just sit there naked for no apparent reason. Jimmy drank like a fish. Jimmy did plenty of drugs. Jimmy slept with plenty of girls. Jimmy was my friend.

But time marches onward, and people come in and out of your life. I've seen Jimmy occasionally through the years. He's been working in the downtown resturaunt scene, waiting tables. Like me, Jimmy's gained a few pounds, and his hair has a little gray. It's been 3 years since the last time I bumped into him.

****

Monday night, after a LONG day of walking concrete floors at the crowded convention center, talking to salesmen and engineers, and trying to score cheesy promotional items, The Wife and I slowly headed back to the Excalibur. After a quick stop at the room to drop off stuff, we walked over to the Luxor, then Mandalay Bay, where we stopped and ate a fantastic buffet. We played a few penny slots (to get free beverage), made a sports bet for a friend, watched a band for a few songs, then headed back to the Excal.

"You know Honey. I think I'll play just a little bit of poker."

"Don't stay up too late."

And so I head to the poker room. I had let Otit and Dr Pauly know I had been playing there, and thought I'd scan the room for anyone I knew. According to Pauly, Grubby had been there the night before, and I never saw him. So I look through the room and see a somewhat overweight guy with a ponytail and goatee that resembles Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons.

"Damn that guy looks like Jimmy. It couldn't be Jimmy, lots of guys look like Comic Book Guy." Then I see it. The Cheap Trick T-shirt. The instant I saw the Cheap Trick shirt, I knew it was Jimmy.

Jimmy was going to Anahiem to see Cheap Trick. He flew to Vegas because the flight was cheaper, and rented a car to drive to Anahiem. He decided to spend around three hours playing poker, before continuing his journey, and picked the Excalibur. That's right, I tried to hook up with Otit and Pauly for three days, but couldn't, and managed to accidentally hook up with an old high school buddy who was only there for three hours.

I should've put $500 on #19.

Another Donkey goes to Vegas

2006-04-20T13:30:00.000-05:00

My flight leaves in 2 1/2 hours. Wish me luck. The Winter Classic last year kicked my ass, and I'm hoping for a little retribution.

I'm going out there for a work related conference. NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) is one of the biggest technology shows around. It is similar to the huge CES (Consumer Electronics Show) , that most of you have heard of, but replacing the "Consumer" with "Professional/Broadcaster." I'm currently working on a nature show, and we are thinking of going HighDef. We need cameras. It's a TV Geek paradise, and I will be busy.

But not too busy to play at least a little poker. Sleep? What's sleep? I also hope to see Otit out there, as he is accompanying his wife to a different convention. We'll try to hookup and play some poker at the MGM or Excal.

Wish me luck.

It's true . . .

2006-04-04T19:13:00.000-05:00

I am Poker Champ. Tourists.

New Team Team Member

2006-04-02T17:51:00.000-05:00

Obviously I don't post enough. Here to help me with that problem is my brother Shep. He's a G-Vegas home game regular, and occasional Brad-O-Ween pimp. He plays poker successfully with the likes of GRob, Badblood, and Otis, so he knows a little about poker. He's a Smith, so he knows a little about liquor too. Will my one reader please welcome him to the Blogging world. Wait, he is my one reader.

Donkeyfest

2006-03-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

There was a birthday party poker tournament at The Mark's last night. It was a ton of fun. Ms. Allin was a gracious host as always. She successfully avoided all conversations about vaginas, no matter how many times I brought up the subject. And she has delicious balls. Meatballs. On a sandwich. Delicious.

I ate dinner before the tourney, and ate the aforementioned Meatball sandwiches, so I was able to avoid the same situation that I experienced at Falstaff's Invitational. That's right, I remained mostly sober.

The tourney had a two full tables. The 10 minute blinds started out at 25/50, but with a sizable starting stack at 5000T. The rapidly increasing blinds didn't play too much of a factor for a while, but were murder towards the end. I think the hosts tried to set this up to last in the 3 hour range. I think it ended up taking around 4 1/2.

3 Bad Ones
I took some small pots early at an uber-tight table, and was a slight chip leader until I stupidly made a call with ATs against the rock that is The Axeman. When The Axemen reraises preflop, watch out! I knew to watch out, but called two big bets anyway before giving up. I slowly built my chips back.

I then lose a huge chunk when my semi-bluff bet is raised all-in by the short stack (The Rick--brother of The Mark) with a made hand. My biggest mistake here was not paying enough attention to The Rick's stack. I think there was around T700 in the pot when I bet into him T1000. He only had around T1800 left, so he pushed. At that point, I think I have to call the extra T800 here even though I know I'm beat. A T500 or so bet would have given me info, or scared him off, without pot committing me. Bad play on my part. I slowly build my chips back.

I commit almost the exact same mistake again with The Rick. The only difference was my hand wasn't a semi-bluff, it was top pair mid kicker, against slow played aces. But my play was similar, and I doubled him up again. Bad play on my part. I am crippled. I slowly build my chips back.

So, a couple of bad moves. Otherwise, I was really happy about the part of my play last night previously known as: "I slowly build my chips back." I was mostly making good aggressive moves that paid off. Sure, I sucked out on others a few times. Decent cards came my way often enough. Not especially great cards, but hands like KJo, or QTs, that I played aggressively and bought limps and blinds with. As with the earlier hands against The Rick, the aggression would sometimes backfire. My stack was up and down, but my play was consistent.

2 Good Ones
The tables combined, the blinds were climbing, and I was short stacked again. The table folds around to me on the button, when I spy pocket Aces. Ms Allin is on the Big Blind. I semi slow played with a min raise. Small Blind folds, she calls. Flop is K high rainbow (I think). Ms Allin bets, I min raise. She calls. On the turn, I am all-in, which is slightly more than a pot sized bet. Call again. I double up. I liked my play on that one. A big bet preflop, and she'd have folded.

Blah, Blah, Blah. I suck out a couple more times. I avoid real confrontation with the big stacks when possible. I become one of the bigger stacks as we get down to four people. Myself, Ms. Blood, Alan?, and big stacked Otis. Now comes my favorite hand of the night. Blinds are gifuckingnormous at T2000/T4000. I am on the small blind, with big stacked Otis on the big blind. The others fold. I look down to see the hammer. I have around T17,000. I know Otis will call an All-in. I can feel it. Instead I raise Otis to T9000. Otis likes his face cards and wants to call, but he can't figure out why I'd bet into the big stack over half my chips, but not push all-in. Otis tanks. Otis finally decides I must want a call, and so he folds. I show Otis the Hammer. Otis tilts. (Note: Rabbit Hunting showed a garbage board with a 7, and Otis would've lost. Knowing this, Otis untilts a little.)

Winning Otis' big blind puts us about even. Two hands later, I take out Alan? in 4th and Ms Blood in 3rd in a single hand, when I get pocket queens, and spike the set on the flop. They both played great. Ms Blood did a fantastic job. She and I had a side bet, that if she took me out, I'd shave off my beard. If I took her out, she'd cut her hair real short. I hope BadBlood likes her new short hair. On second thought, I'll take payment in the form of chocolate chip cookies instead. Ms Blood makes the best.

I now have a 5 to 3 chip lead over Otis, and we make a deal. I guess that makes me the winner. Woo Hoo!!! It was a blast.

Afterwards, I also did well in some Pot Limit O8. A notable hand there: Otis pushes all in with the Hammer in PLO8! He loses, and wishes Mark a Happy Birthday.

Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY THE MARK!! And thanks for a fun evening.

Drunken Poker at Falstaff's (AKA: A Clueless Post)

2006-02-27T08:37:00.000-05:00

I hear rumours that I may have been intoxicated at Falstaff's Invitational poker tourney. It's Monday, and I still feel a bit hungover, so I believe the rumours might be true. I still made it to third place in a field of 25 or so. Why do I play better drunk? Why do I have to get obnoxious drunk? Why hadn't I eaten any food that day? Why was there a bottle of Patron at the poker table? Damn you Patron!

I had too much of a blast, obviously. Apologies, from the obnoxious drunk guy.

I am bad with details when completely sober, but I did like that Falstaff had us set up as 4 tables of 8 or so, instead of 3 tables of 9 or 10. We maintained the lower seatage throughout, and I liked it. Less people per table, and a slow starting blind structure, made for more action without the crapshoot factor. Falstaff was hit hard by the curse of the host, and was the first one out. He didn't make it to the first blind change. He was at another table, so he'll have to fill you in to what was his undoing.

I had some pretty good cards at the final table, being dealt pocket Quad Kings once. Or maybe it was just a pair. I saw a lot of paint when we were down to 3 to 5 people, but I wasn't the only one. Right at the end, it seemed that everyone was getting good cards, and the pots were huge. I am ill equipped to relate any real factual details, so let's just say I had a blast, and stumbled my way to 3rd place. I believe I was still making the correct plays, but my ability to count chips was seriously hampered. My brother scooped me out of there when the tourney was over, so I didn't play the cash games at all. It's a good thing.

Thanks Falstaff for a fun time. Next time, keep the Patron away from me.

Falstaff Invitational

2006-02-24T20:11:00.000-05:00

This weekend i'm headin' off to deal 'em up with a ton of Blogging Brethren in the Queen City. It's just north of Brokeback Mountain. OK, I won't do that again, last time I swear. Enough with the Brokeback jokes already! They just keep coming and coming. Those jokes are so gay.

I am really looking forward to playing at Falstaff's invitational tourney. It promises to be a blast.

Since the BBSOP on New Years Day, I have only played poker once at Otis' house, and it was socially fun, but otherwise uneventful. As such, I just have'nt had anything to say. I have been feeling a little down on the poker thing in general lately. I don't play enough to get better. I don't have enough funding to play at a level that I feel will help me grow at poker. The local game, or "medium game" as BadBlood calls it, has grown a little out of my current budget. I mean, I could afford to play it, but with my bankroll against the competition I would be facing, I would be scared money. And that's no way to play.

And so I haven't blogged. I apologize. I guess I should at least try to write something, even if I have little to say. The words will generally begin to flow eventually. I'm just not a "writer" like so many of the good and prolific bloggers out there. I do, however, have strong opinions about things on occasion. Oh, and I'm trying out the "Performancing" plugin to Firefox to blog this, on the advice of Maudie. We'll see. So far, I like the interface.

The recent good news is, I've booked a flight and a room in Vegas in late April. It's a work thing, but I think I'll find some time to play poker. Hopefully I'll get some work done too. ; )

Happy BBSOP 2006

2006-01-03T08:49:00.000-05:00

The BBSOP 2006 New Years Event went off without a hitch. The 40 minute structure allowed for lots of real poker. The players were ready to play (even though a few were hungover from the previous eve.) Three tables were set up. I had Mimosas poured and Guinness for later. MsBlood's Famous cookies were coming out of the oven. It promised to be a great touney.

If your name wasn't Smith.

I could've seen some cards. I saw the hiltons once. They were my only pair of the tourney. They bought the blinds. The blinds were very low. I saw KJo four times, and never saw the turn with them. My only pot at all was early, when a TJ suited spiked a T high flop, and I bet out to NeighborGreg who tanked for a while and folded. This gave me the preflop bets (enough to bring my back up to within one chip of my starting stack of T200. Outside of those six hands, over a period of two hours I never saw a pair, suited connector, or anything over a 9 high, yet managed to also never see The Hammer.

I was losing very slowly. Late in the third level (about 2 hours in) I finally saw something that resembled a hand, AJo, and pushed. The Mark called me with a baby pocket pair and I was the 5th person out.

The first out was my brother Shep Tiltstein, and the second was his son, Wolverine. Bad tourney for Smiths.

Congrats to a great player, Falstaff, for the win. And to a great suckout artist and general luckbox for the second place position.

*****Bitch bitch bitch. I know. Well, lets turn that around. CASH GAME TIME!

I used up all my -EV Variance in Vegas and at the Tourney. It was finally gone for a bit. +EV Variance was there for me in the cash game. I saw all the cards I had been looking for in the Tourney. Even my crappy cards would see a limped around flop and hit two pair. Cash game good.

The highlight of the cash game was with myself and G-Rob (brain fuzzy on exact details). I bet out a standard 5XBB raise (blinds were small) with pocket 9's, and he calls. Flop comes something like 367 rainbow. I bet $5. G-Rob raises $15. I reraise $15 more. G-Rob pushes all-in for about $12 more. I call.

G-Rob says "Well I'm ahead" and turns over a 47 showing top pair.

I show pocket 9's and he says "Well, maybe not. I got outs!"

The whole table says in unison "He needs a 5!" The Turn comes a 5 for the suckout inside straight for G-Rob.

That's when I channeled CJ. CJ and I both said in unison "and an 8" as the river turned over with the 8, giving me the inside straight re-suckout. The table erupts! "Did that just happen??"

All in all, a great day of Poker, and a fantastic way to start the new year. The Bloods were outstanding hosts as usual. BadBlood was great at setting up a very professional tourney and busting out, leaving the Tourney Director job to CJ when he moved to the cash game. This has become the standard MO for Blood and CJ.

Happy Holidays

2005-12-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

A few short words on this, I apologize in advance for ranting. Maybe our upforpoker boys might like to tackle this one on tri-clops.

When I was a kid, the phrase "Happy Holidays" was everywhere, but no one thought ill of it. This is not a new phrase. Why is our culture suddenly so fucking bent out of shape about an old phase wishing a happy holiday season to everyone?? GROW UP RELIGIOUS RIGHT!!! Try being inclusive of others. Christians stole this damned holiday from the Pagans anyways. Yule, Saturnalia, and the Winter Solstice were all celebrated at this time of year before Christians took it over in a fit of Triumphalism. No one even really knows when Jesus was born anyway. Then there's the Jewish time of Hanukkah. And, well, Kwanzza. Even if you don't celebrate any of these, there is still New Years Day.

But the point is, Happy Holidays is INCLUSIVE to all of these. Everyone is eligible to have a happy holiday. Not everyone is qualified to have a Kool Kwanzza, or a Super Saturnalia, or Merry Christmas. Can't we all just get along, and quit bitching about the words people use to wish you good times?

Christ spoke of tolerance, why can't Christians??

Jesus!

And now I apologize for not posting much about poker. I was in a postcoital refractory period after the WPBTgasm I had, and needed a rest from all things poker. BadBlood, of course is here to get me started off again in the new year with a BadBlood's New Years Day Tourney '06. The brand new bouncing baby bankroll begins, January 1. Right after a trip to the ATM.

Vegas or Bust!!! How about both.

2005-12-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

It's impossible to communicate how much fun I had losing my bankroll. It was a small bankroll anyway, which was part of the reason it was so easy to lose. Note to self: Find a way to bring more cash next time, or never, ever play No Limit in Vegas with a tiny bankroll.

I had a couple of bad beats at the tables that I may mention later, but the trip was definately +EV. I think I even learned a few things about my poker game. I certainly learned to wait for another home game to play G-Rob. There's just no point in going all the way to Vegas to lose money to him. BTW, you're a bastard G-Rob. I always think you are bluffing when you aren't, and I fold to you when you are.

The walk over to storm the castle was a mission of the utmost importance. I had a blast, but I really wish I'd have had a little more cash, so I could've played a little longer there. I have never been so card dead as when we stormed the castle. I played for four hours with only two pocket pairs--both of which were dominated, and lost me money. Most of my hands were 73, 94, 82, 63, 42, 32, and, of course, one of my best hands of the evening, 96o. I never even got the hammer. I changed tables three times in an effort to change my luck, to no avail. I was soooooooo card dead. Regardless, it would've been nice to sit at the TV table with Wil. I signed up for 2-6 again after a break, but didn't get placed there.

All the bloggers were fun to hang with. Those that I hung with (outside the GVegas crew) most memorably were probablyIggy, EasyCure and wife, STB, Poker Princess, April, and Tanya. Tanya and I got pretty drunk right before the Tournament. I think this contributed to her Gigli Award winning performance. She was fun. The highlight of drinking with Tanya was making a Dial-A-Shot call with AlCantHang while everyone was signing up. Al is in the building, and we are still Dial-A-Shotting with him. Oh, and tipping her (in her cleavage) after she busted out first and started waiting tables.

Iggy. Iggy. Iggy. That is one fucking cool ass dwarf. What more can be expressed in words. Seriously. I think I have a man crush. Who doesn't?? Iggy is just that fucking cool.

Runnig so poorly, I railbirded a bit with easycure and wife. They were very nice, and easy to talk with.

I see this trip report is going to become one of those stream of conscience rambling posts, so I'll cut it short now and pick it up again later. Just suffice it to say, I couldn't have had a better time losing all my money.

Thanks Otis, and oooooh Pictures

2005-12-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

Otis offered up some great advice to those of us (and I hope I'm not the only one) who are low-rolling in Vegas this weekend. I think I'm bringing enough money to get by without too much problem, but will definately have to watch my bankroll.

So, I've found a couple of pictures online of Chilly , and finally scored a picture of the elusive Iggy.

Chilly:

and a closeup of Chilly's third nipple:

and lastly, the find of the year, an actual photo of IGGY:

I CAN'T WAIT TO BE THERE. Touchdown thursday at 1:59

Prebinging at the Mark

2005-12-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

Otis almost fell down. There was some sort of Weeble Wobble force field keeping him upright. It defied the laws of physics.

Twenty people were in this tourney that outgrew G-Rob's house and moved to The Mark, including all three members of UpForPoker (good to see CJ again), Wes the Big Pirate (sick wife and kids, but he made it), Poker Btch and The Mark (It's their House), Shep Tilstein and Wolverine (my brother and nephew), Tommy the Axeman, Mr and Mrs BadBlood, and others. I was fortunate enough to draw a seat at the B table--without our most aggresssive players, G-Rob and the Mark. And I had The Bluffing Firefighter on my right.

At the A-Table: Within 15 minutes, G-Rob's aggression payed off. For someone else. G-Rob was out. You cant blame him as he lost flopped set over flopped set. Another fifteen minutes later, The Mark joined him. The Wolverine had a huge stack.

At the B-Table: By this point I had crippled The Bluffing Firefighter by slow playing a folpped set of 5's and calling his all-in. I had also played the hammer three times, losing a small chunk when a two flopped with other garbage. Over the course of the evening, I had the hammer at least 7 times. I played it every time but once, when I faced an all-in raise ahead of me. It never payed off well, mostly taking down the pot immediatly post-flop.

Here's the problem, when G-Rob and The Mark busted out an early 1st and 2nd, they proceeded to carry shots of SoCo around to everyone, making certain to give me a shot EVERY time. Somehow a drunken TeamScott managed to place in the money at 4th place. I think I busted out with the Hammer, but I really don't remember. Drunk I was.

And though I wasn't even close to falling down, I was still more drunk than Otis. I have noticed a tendancy to party heavily shortly before a planned party. I think the expectations of the partying, makes me have a premature edrunkulation. So that's what I did. I do think that this technique helps me out when the real party arrives, as I have partially gotten it out of my sytem.

But I can't believe I ended up positive for the evening, placing 4th in the tourney, and making a small amount in a cash game I can't even remember. I also won a $5 prop bet with Otis, when Badblood proves once again that his huge guns are for decorative purposes only, as he loses to the Mark arm wrestling.

It's funny, what I remember most throughout the evening was the twinkle in Otis' eyes as he talked about our upcoming trip to Vegas. I could see his excitement and felt it myself. Maybe his light spirit is what held him up, and kept him from falling.