Innovation - Top Ten #9

I am a big believer in innovation.

At #9 on our Top Ten of 2005, I have placed Alex Tew's website http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com

The 21 year old is selling adspace for $1 a pixel. It's just that simple.
The lucky part, was the Reuters press report which gave him the attention to make it to the 904,000 pixel mark, as of Dec. 27th.

Whats also amazing, is that he only started this thing as of late August, this year.

I see this as a great example of innovative simplicity, at its finest.

The Year That Was

so... to recap, 2005 was quite a year.

Many things happened.

In retrospect, the greatest thing, among many great considerable mentions, is I quit my slave-like job. My only regret is that I didn't give my lovable, cuddley, former boss the Indonesian peace sign on the way out the door. It's just like our American peace sign, but you drop the index finger.

Anyway, to commenerate all that was, I will begin a TOP TEN of 2005.

IN this, you will find my top ten events, ideas, songs, movies, people, which made 2005 a little slice of pie, to remember for always.

#10 - the movie "Millions" ... maybe a kid movie, but excellent in plot, and execution.

Stay tuned for #9.

'Tis the Season

IN this latest collection of words and imagery, you may have noticed the King Kong picture. And I, in the absence of others due dilligence, feel I must comment on the movie which has just hit the silver screen, and more broadly, the collective national conscience.

To describe was King Kong is, would be akin to describing what the great pyamids of Egypt are. Words, and bladder control almost fail me (I stole that from Sheen, on the Jimmy Neutron Christmas episode). Either way, it is a start-to-finish spectacle of movie magic. Afterwards, the audience laughed, we cried, and in the end, we ALL had a big group hug. Yes indeed, the world is a better place.

But the poker still sucks a big giant monkey butt.
In fact, here, you hear it first. I, under my own free will, am giving up poker.
At least until mid January.

Here is the sad, sad story.

Over the last few weeks, I have been getting knocked out of tourneys, three times, while holding A-A. Thats sucks, and I can look beyond that, in of itself. But the way in which I have lost can easily be summed up in this perfect example.

Last night, while playing an online $8k tourney, I play my usual tight style, only one or two hand involvement in the first hour. I had only gone up a little, due to small pots. I then pop a straight on some guy, who had two pair, to give me a nice little pot.
I'm up to about 5k in chips, with about 75 people still in it. The tourney paid out to 30, so again I realize I'm near the money.

I then get a suited A-J in the big blind, and one person raises a decent amount. Everyone folds except for the small blind who called it. I then re-raise. The original better (aka=OB) (who by the way, was a very active player, in and out of pots the whole time I was at the table) calls, and so does the small. This leaves three of us in it, with the flop to arrive, me sandwiched in the middle.

The flop goes 2-3-J, rainbow (meaning, no two of the same suit). Small blind checks, I bet heavy. OB raises, small blind calls. I think about, and I call too.
Turn is and Ace, and now a four card rainbow.
With this, I have two pair, and feel prety good about it.

Small blind checks, I bet very heavy, OB thinks for a very long time, and eventually folds.
Then, as if the moon, Jupiter, and Venus all align in a perfect axis, the small blind re-raises to all-in.

I'm stuck. I'm thinking, what the hell does this guy have? A-A? No, he would have re-raised himself after the flop... J-J, no, same thing, most will have re-raised before now. After thinking about how all the betting had transpired up to then, I really put him on the same hand as me, A-J, with two pair. So I call.

Nope. He held a friggin 4-8 offsuit, and has a four card straight, which to the layman, means jack squat. Nada, nil, nuthin. SO, for a brief a second I am happy. I should win.

But, alas, Texas Hold'em offers five community cards. And wouldn't ya know it, a five lands on the river, and moron catches a straight. Another four-outer sinks my battleship.

So, it happens again. I can play no better, and yet lose again to the worst, crappiest players.
And what is wierd, is that a few months ago, and all through the summer, I hadn't seen nearly as many dumb stupid luck-ass players as I have recently.

I figure it's one of two things.

1) Harry "Dumb Luck" Dilrod got his Christmas bonus from the ice cream cone factory, so he decided to play online poker for the first time.

or

2) Desperate times, call for desperate measures. I mean, after all, watch the news. Every year its the same thing, crime rises, and stupid people crawl out from under thier cave rocks to steal a pack of Huggies from the local Quick 'n Queezy Mini Mart. It's just a tiny piece of some people's human nature. They want sooo bad to have a merry Christmas, that they are willing to be a fool for it.

So, sometime after all the donkey brains get thier just due, and the world rotates back to some degree of normalcy, I will cautiously test the figurative, poker waters.

The da Vinci Dare

Here, you will notice one of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces.

For those who may not know, I am a true admirer of art, in it's finest forms. And Da Vinci was exceptional. I have gained a renewed interest in his work, specifically, after listening to the unabridged audio cd of "The Da Vinci Code."
It's an incredibly well written, suspense novel with great imagery, delivering unexpected twists and turns throughout. Much like poker.

Speaking of which, I vowed to take Tuesday off from the game, and so I did. Wednesday evening, I eased back into it, playing only two online events. Both were multi-table tourneys.

The first, I played great, got good cards, and began to think I could reel this huka in. 67 fools, um.. I mean people, entered for $24 a pop. They gave the top 3 finalists entrance into a tournament slated for this coming Saturday afternoon. That one, ponied up the top winners a $10k buy-in, to any one of four, choice, globally located poker events. With the likes of Paris, the Carribean, LA (lame), or Las Vegas. They will also throw in 2 grand, in free spending money to boot.

So, I'm playing great, and it comes to the last four of us. On the bubble as it's called. Meaning, one person gets bounced, and the rest can then rest assured, INSIDE the comfortable, prize-gaining-imaginary-bubble (I myself picture something from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Two dudes have 30k in chips, and this other dude and I, have about 15k in chips. Basically, two dominant stacks who can bully thier chips, and two of us, who have to dice it up, with our skimpy stacks.

We go back and forth for a while, shuffling small numbers of chips back and forth, when low and behold, I catch American Airlines (a pocket pair of aces).
I raise a decent amount, but not so much as to force everyone to fold. I get one caller.
Flop delivers a king, a ten, and a duece. I bet big, and I get a caller.
The turn gives a nine, and there are now a few of the same suit on the board, making the flush a possibility. So, I commit the rest of my stack, hoping to push out the potential flush draw. Home boy held a Q-J, and the nine game him a straight. Needless to say, he calls, I lose.
Bounced, off the bubble again.

The twists and turns make my head hurt sometimes. I guess I'll take the lousy $100 consolation prize for fourth, but dang, I was so close to a major, major event.

So, I then caught an episode of the new tv show, E-Ring, (pretty bad, I predict it bombs) and whence I could stand no more, I plunked myself down for one more online poker tourture... er, I mean, poker tournament.

Event #2 was another $24 entry, but this time playing for a seat in FullTilt.com's Saturday $30k tournament. Thirty something entered, and they dished out four seats. Long story short, I broke INSIDE the bubble this time, and this weekend I will be playing for a piece of some real pie.

Speaking of pie, for only $6 (about the cost of one Marie Callender blueberry pie [I'll admit I'm actually guessing the true price here, as I have only once set foot in such aforementioned fine dining establishment]) you can visit the Wynn art collection in Las Vegas, as I did, when I was there a few weeks back.
At an estimated cost of $400 million (ya, thats 400 x 1 million) I figured the six dollar admission price tag was far and away, a much better deal than any of the famed Las Vegas buffet lines.

Inside, it was small, no Da Vinci, but there was Picasso, Warhol (who sucks by the way), and Matisse, among others most do not recognize, who were featured.
I myself, did not know half of the other artists inside.

So, to wrap up, I dare to say, Saturday should be my day to make up for all the lousy poker that has been going on lately.

If it is not, there is always a high score on Centipede to break, and there are ALWAYS frozen burritoes somewhere on the horizon.

Centipedes and a Frozen Burritoe

Above is a picture I did not take, but it is a pretty picture... no?

I am staying at my dad's house, in Merced right now, not doing much. Well, besides the usual internet poker tourny's. I've been averaging about four per day. And I gotta say, I'm almost sick of it. So many bad beats, stupid players, and general bad luck. So it goes.

To alleve the drudgery, I have resorted to Links Golf, Madden '06, and Centipede to fill my day. And, wherever there may be a small gap in time, I find that frozen burritoes (2 minutes till microwaved perfection), with one dollop of sour cream, and just a dash or two of hot suace, tend to round out whatever may remain of any discontent.

Thats about it really.

Friday is a Good Day

This is me, as current a picture as exists.
This is for the benefit of those, for whom I have not seen in many a moon.

I have also included it, not to serve my own ego, but mostly b/c I have no other pic to represent my most current situational status.

Let me just say this, how I look here, is how I feel.

I'm also officially back on track, poker wise. Earlier in the week, I won a satellite to gain entry in a 60k online tourney. It will be this Sunday at 3pm.
In addition, last night I took 6th out of 160 entrants, netting me $618.

Of real world events, my bud Jeff just saw the birth of his first child, Jacob.
Congratulations to him and his family.

I also want to thank Jimbo for use of his bolt cutters. Wednesday, I returned to my storage facility in Discovery Bay and discovered the keys to unlock my 10x10 unit, had somehow disappeared somewhere within the last 4500 miles I had traveled. Sure, it looked funny, me with criminal looking facial growth, wearing wrinkled, smelly clothing, suspiciously cutting a storage lock. If I was to be busted by the law, it wouldn't be the first time in a storage facilty, at least. None-the-affected, I cut away and rummaged for my belongings. Found were the White Sox preseason tickets, and happy I was.

I'll have to return to the storage once more before heading north, to Oregon. My new set of keys, are in a guaranteed safe place this time.

Reno, to play Some Keno, In a Casino

Actually, I don't play keno. But I am in Reno. I left Las Vegas yesturday, and drove the 7 hours up highway 95. Seven hours of desert driving got me thinking. Las Vegas live poker tables suck a$$. And I'll tell you why.

It finally dawned on me why I can do so well in the tournaments, yet fail miserably on the cash tables. In every tourny, everyone wants to survive. So people play good cards, and don't chase inside gut shots. Odds are, the inside shots don't hit.
But on each and every cash table I played at, 1-2 limit, 2-4, 3-6, 4-8, 5-10, 8-16, 10-20, 30-60, whatever, every hand, at least 8 people are in it. With this ratio, someone will hit thier straight, or flush, if one can be made, nearly every single time. This makes every hand your in, independant of the cards you hold, almost pure 8-1 odds. Roulette, and blackjack have far better odds than this.

People will bet, and call multiple bets on long shots and four outers (where only four cards in the deck can make your hand).
This aggressive style relagates the game to a stupid roll of the dice. And whoever wins the dice more often than not, by pure luck, wins money that night.

It is a game, and anyone can play however they want, but Las Vegas tournament poker (or any tourney poker for that matter) is not even close to cash table, Las Vegas poker.

Case in point: $4-8 limit poker table at the Golden Nugget. I'm on the button with A-J. It is bet, and re-raised once before me, and I re-raise, all preflop. Everyone calls. Flop is A-5-8. It is immediately bet by someone I shall hereforth, call "crazy lady #1," or "CL1" for short. Three other dudes call, I raise. Everyone calls. Turn is a Jack. I now have two pair. CL1 fires off another bet. One dude calls, and I raise. Only CL1 calls. River is a 6.
She bets, I had to call, thinking the only thing she could have is a pocket pair, that tripped (made three of a kind). Instead, CL1 held a 4-7 off-suit, for the straight. Keep in mind it was bet three times before the flop, and multiple bets were made before she had anything at all. But CL1 never flinched, and fired off bets, at will.

And I tell you, every live poker game, in every casino in Las Vegas, was this way. It makes the patient, good card player odds reduced to competing with every Tom, Dick, and Suck Out. I lost a bundle, to say the least. I wish I had seen it.

It took a while to recognize it, mostly because about half the time, the winning hand is not seen, everyone folds to the one who caught thier crazy-outer, because after all, every one was chasing some miracle card as well.

In a tournament though, the pre-flop is usually bet up a few hundred, (in the early stages anyways, it is more as time goes by and as people gain chips) or at least 2-3 times the big blind, thus pushing out most 4-7 off-suit card holders. It then comes down to two or three people, at most four, who have cards that are worth putting up some chips for. After the flop, usually another bet is made, by someone who obviously caught a piece of the flop, or maybe a high pocket pair holder. Then the field is more often than not, reduced to two people who are heads-up (meaning mono a mono), if not folded by all. A showdown will thus ensue. This is how it goes. It's like clockwork.

A smart player will not chase the last two remaining community cards to catch someone who already has a made hand (unless it's a major combination draw: straight and flush draw, or it's an ace high flush draw). It's predictable, and you can control your fate, to the extent that you choose to commit, and to the stength your cards allow.

But not in the live games. Its all aggressive, and all about who catches thier "suck out" cards. It's a crap shoot. Completely contrary to text book (and successful I might add) tournament play.

Speaking of successful tournament play, here are my Las Vegas tournament stats.
Events entered: 10 muli-table tournaments, 5 single table satellites.

2 cash wins, one was a three way chop, meaning the final three of us equally divided the 1st-3rd prize money, equalling $682 apiece. The other cash payout was an 8th place finish for a wimpy $85.

I made two other final tables, one 9th, and one 4th. No cash for each of these however (payouts are always based on cost of entry, and total number of entrants).

Of two others, I made it to the final two tables, from fields of 50 or so.

The rest were either quick-outers (e.g. k-k vs. a-a), or no-card-catchers where I was slowly drained of chips.

This means I had 6 quality showings. Which I figure is pretty good and tells me I know how to make good reads on people, I know how to maximize my wins, and I know what, and when to throw cards away. I can always improve, but overall I feel I did well for just picking up the game 18 months ago, and only seriously, for a year now.

It still just eats me up though, that I didn't realize how the cash games are played. If I would have, I would have stayed away, and never will again partake. It's a fools game. Its funny too, b/c no where else, even in my travels round this great land, did I see games like this. Talking to my brother Billy, we concluded that there must be a lot of bitter locals, mixed with the "gambling" tourists, which makes the cash game an aggressive race to the end. This sucks, and there is no advantage to any one player. It's just who gets more dumb luck than the rest, It's actually a disadvantage to players like me, who don't chase, and play good cards only vs. a whole table of long shots. With 10 aggressive long shot players, I fold a lot, and get out drawn often, if not every time. End result, I basically took a major financial bath.

But there is advantage to the survival game of tournament. Case in point, the top poker players make final tables often, and have several wins per year, in the 30 or so major events throughout the year. This is skill, and experience at work.

It is worthy of mention, that as you get closer to the finish, the more luck you do need. But point is, if you play it safe, and only get involved in hands where you hold a strong starting position, you increase your chances to collect chips. Make good reads, posture yourself to your advantage, and stay aware... all these things are a simple formula to strong poker. Its just that simple.

F%@#ing Runner Runner

Unbelievable. There I am, at The Plaza 7pm tournament. Only 19 people entered, so it was a small one, but there I was, running the table. I was catching cards every other hand, there for a while. I had a huge chip lead when we combined to the final table. Half an hour later, five people were gone, and now everyone had just about the same 18-20k in chips like me. I figured I was a shoe in to the money.

I then get A-Q in the big blind. Some dude bets 3500 in chips. Everyone folds, and I call. He declares he is going all in blind, even though I'm the first to act. The flop is Q-2-5. I go all in myself. He calls with his suited A-K. He friggin catches runner runner diamonds (meaning the next two cards, the turn and river are both diamonds) to give him the flush. I was a 93% favorite to his 7% underdog. What a miracle set of cards.

I take fourth. They only paid three.

I'm still sick about it.

In other news, I found it impossible to find a laundromat to do my laundry today. I drove around for an hour, and found nada. The stupid Rio has no facitlities for thier guests, unless I pay $5 a shirt for dry cleaning. I think I wore my last pair of clean socks today. Tomarrow I have a laundry mission. Wish me luck.

Payday

Its paydirt people, paydirt. I finally cashed in.

I started the day with a few single table satellites at The Bellagio, even sat right across from that "Armenian Express" dude. I think he stole a pot from me. I just wasn't so strong as to call his re-raise. Oh well, both tables were of no great consequence, and I never got much traction.

Then, I hit up Binion's 8pm.

The first two hands, I actually misread my cards, and won both pots.

The first one, I held Q-J. The board hit 7-7-7. There was just two of us, and I put in 300 hundred. (We all had about 2k). Dude calls. The turn is a king. For some reason I thought I had a king, so I bet another 300. Dude calls. River was a 2. I bet 300, dude calls. He had J-9. My Q-J won. Stupid play. On both our parts. But I'll take the chips.

Then, very next hand, I'm in the big blind and I got 4-6. No one bets the whole way through, and in the end I thought I had 2-6, so I turned my cards over saying I paired my two's on the river. Oh snap, actually, I pulled a straight with the final duece.

Everyone thought I was a total moron. And at that moment, I could hardly argue.

But I hung in there, only playing hands when I had significant cards, and of course grabbed a few opportune situations. (I swear so many reads can be had in a live game vs. internet play)

Four hours later, I find myself at the final table, whittled down from a starting 47 players. I'm 2nd in chips with 22k, 1st only had 25k, so I was in great position.

First hand at the final and I catch cowboys. (pocket kings). I carefully raise to 5k. A guy on the other side of the table, just as carefully, goes all in (for about 10k). I call. He has rockets, and I lose that one, to be halved. But everyone was so cool, and I was having so much fun, I didn't care too much. I was still around 4th or 5th in chips.

It eventually came down to three of us, all with about 50 or 60 thousand chips. We all agree to split the 1-3 money equally, $682 a piece.

As side note, Binion's holds 2% of all prize money from all of thier daily tourneys, to be applied to a TOC (Tournament of Champions) held every couple of weeks. So, the three of us who split, needed to decide who would get the free entry into this TOC. Well, the other two guys were out of town tourists, so gosh fellas, I guess I could stick around a fews extra days!

That will be Sunday.

From now till then, I'm not sure what I'll do. If the weather cracks 60 degrees, I may check out the grand canyon and Hoover dam.

It's a Tough Gig

Today I got my humble pie served on a silver platter. Basically, I got munched into little pieces
every table I played.

I started with three single table satellites for The Bellagio's mongo tournament starting on Dec. 12th. All three were midway finishes for no loot or take home prize. I then opted for some live table NL. Big mistake. It's always rough on the big casino, live cash, NL tables. Everyone usually has 500 to 1500 in real cash on the table, and anyone with a decent hand raises so big, so as to eliminate the small guys like me, unless we commit to an all in, or at least half our whole stack. After an hour and a half of trying to sneak in cheap, and not once catching a flop, I commited with big slick, the A-K. Didn't work out. Some huckleberry called with his 8-9, and caught a straight.

OK fine. Onto to greener pastures I presumed. I went back to the satellites, except I hit the satellites for thier 7:15pm $540 tourney. Its a big time event, and the satellite entry was cheaper than the previous ones I entered.

The 7:15 is the largest daily tourney in all of Vegas. Perhaps the world, for all I know. Two attempts at that, and I laid fat goose eggs both times.
I did catch quad eights though. Its always easy on the ticker when you know you got the pot
coming your way, and all you have to do is show an ever so subtle level of doubt. That was today's highlight. The only highlight.

In general though, today was one of the tougher days on the tables I've ever experienced. It seemed most every time I caught a decent hand, it was always second best. And when I did try to make a move here and there, someone had a piece to call me down with.

Thats how it goes.

I'll stay level headed, and figure tomorrow has to be better.

Seahawks and a Yoohoo: Vegas Style

Today I was at Binion's Casino, in Las Vegas.

I know I should be in Oregon, continuing work on the bathroom. And I am very motivated to do so.

So... I feel I must explain, now, here, at this here juncture.
SO... here it is.

When I got back to California and read my leftover mail, I realized I had just narrowly missed the deadline for a free, three-night stay, included with free entry into a $45k invitational poker tourney. Bummer man. Then, the next piece of mail I opened was another offer, almost as good.
This one is a "Video" poker tournament though. And, granted "video" poker is more akin to a slot machine than poker, still, why not push some buttons for a while and have a few free drinks? I'm gonna be the dude who you think may be three sheets windward, because I'll be the one trying to start a conversation with every passer by willing to give a moments eye contact.
I sign up tomarrow. Game starts on Wednesday.

Vegas is cold. Hecka cold. Saturday hailed 30+ mph winds, and temperatures well bellow 50. I would guess the chill factor was in the thirties. Seriously, this a desert right? When I was here in July it was 92 at 7am, and was easily over 110 all afternoon. Now this? I calculated that to be an 80+ degree temperature swing.

I watched the Seattle-Giants game today. Last night some employee/white-homey-the-homeboy made a comment about my Seahawks hat. I jibed back about how Alexander would run on them, just as he thought Tiki Barber would seal the game with such certainty, so as to him it seemed reasonable to simply forego the entire game itself. We left each other pondering our own, very certain stance.
The Rio has a great sports book for a game with Ny fans. There was a lot of hollarin, and a lot of screeming. Not a thing was out of hand, yet the decibal levels of both rival fan base, was raucous and grand. I loved it. With the Seahawks winning in OT, I was able to depart the scene with hands held high, asking rhetorically, "Tiki who?"

The Rio does lack one thing though. Get this, all general guests have to pay a fee of twenty bucks to use the weight room. They include it into the "spa." Awesome. Super cool guys. Internet costs ten bucks for one 24 hour segment. Again, awesome fellas. Oh, but the fridge and pantry was stocked with a plethera of assorted spirits, beverages, and snacks. With a price of course. I've only had two things. Wait, no three.

I looked at the beer first. But it's Corona in the can. Sick. Bud Light in the can, grosser still. And a Heiny, in the mini 12oz. keg. Stoked. All shwag beer if you ask me.

But alas, I opted for the water first. Later, I taste tested the micro-sized, 8oz. unsweetened oj. I didn't see the unsweetened part until it made me wince in a salavatory tightening, of sorts. Like eating a grapefruit, with lime chunks. Nausea set in.

Next, I dove head first into a Yoohoo. THAT was what I was looking for.


IN POKER NEWS, I have played two days here now, entering four tourneys so far. The Plaza midnight, The Rio noon, The MGM 6pm, and Binion's 8pm-er.

The Plaza had 70+ players, I made it the the final 19 or 20. No money tho. The Rio was 70+, and I hit the final 30, no $. The MGM was a quick buster outer.

Binion's was something special though. $125 buy in, with one $50 re-buy (to be used whenever you want, no matter what your chip count, in the first hour). Oddly, it was 7 tables again, offering a $3k+ payout for first, and paying out to 7th.

I didn't get cards in the first hour what-so-ever, except for the pocket-ace rockets. I made a slender pitence. With only a "manufactured" win or two in the next hour, my chip stack began to look a little cruncheesy slinky (crunchy-cheesy-slim-skinny).

In the third hour, I called an all-in, to put me all-in, while holding a diamond suited A-9. The board fell me a pair of nines with the nut (slang: best possible hand, given the community cards on the table) flush draw. It hit, and I was happy. Soon therafter, I felt very solid. I made almost every right read, and was able to capitolize a few times over. I had over 16k in chips, after starting with 2 thou. Things were going quite well.

We condensed to two tables, and then both tables looked half vacant. Twelve were left, equally divided between the two.

The blinds had been tacking a whack out of me at that point, and I had just been shallacked for a 2200 blind+ante. My chips were back down to 8.8k and there was nearly 4k in the pot already.

A pair of jacks were top pair on the flop, and I had them. So I threw in the rest of my chips. He called, and I saw him hit his 6-out, 90-1, river ace to bump me out. He was the tables chip leader with roughly 50k in chips, so for him it was a very cheap call to see if I was just trying to buy it, and to seeif his A-K would land. Sure enough. Jerk.
Heartbreaker. Just five to the money and after wading through 4 1/2hours of patient, well deduced... and well performed poker play.

I still felt comfortable afterwords though, knowing I was in acute form, and in the end, just ended up getting drawn out on.

Oh, some pro was at Binion's last night too. "The Armenian Express" is what he calls himself. Chris was his first name though. In any event, I had never heard of him, and I lasted longer than he did!

Today, I hope to hit paydirt. In the meantime, I need to get some breakfast in me.

No new pics...

... so you'll just have to scroll down.
No pictures are required anyways, unless I had a pic of
2-8 offsuit.
I almost had it painted onto my tailgate.

I played a tourney at San Pablo this morning. First, I
started with some 8-16, just as something to do. And,
it seems I do ok on the higher limit, limit games.
After a few hours, maybe three, I ended up with a net
gain of forty something bucks.

Once the tourney started, I felt in my element. I doubled
up quickly, then doubled that a short time after.
It was then that I began to feel edgy, and even a bit jittery.

I used to feel that way every time I played poker. For about
the first three months. Its exilerating, but nerve-racking if
your trying to play straight-face poker with a bunch a
strangers. Truth was, the crowd was very mellow, and
sometimes entertaining too. I think I get nervous sometimes
when I have a big stack, early. Many times, I have busted out,
after first getting off to a great start. Grant it, I used to play
more specutively in my formative days, and for the last
four or five months, my game has been very profitable. So
why the nerves...
Today, I actually got up and left the table, and walked outside
for a while. It helps to calm nerves when walking, I think.
Maybe fifteen minutes later, when I was good and well
bored to the point of total inner sanctified calm, I returned
and essentially picked up where I left off.

With two tables left I was in second place chip wise, and
felt solid.
I ended up making a few high dollar, pre-flop bets, only
to lose those hands. Before I knew it, we were consolidated
into one table, and I was
now near last in chips. They paid the top ten, so we were
all going to get paid off, but it was just a matter of who
would drop first.

The blinds had been going up every fifteen
minutes, antes had been going on for nearly three hours now,
(and also going up each round)
Basically this meant, each hand now had an individual ante of 300 chips, and the
little/big blinds were now 500-1000.
Ultimately, the two chip leaders were now allowed to sit back and watch everyone go all in
on each other. It was a feeding frenzy.

So there I am. And I pull the trigger with an 8-2 offsuit.

The only reason I did it was because two dudes ahead of me
were already all in, and I didn't put either on a big pair.
Most of time, at this point, its only ever mono-a-mono.

This allowed me to triple up hopefully, this is called "pot odds."
Also, I was nearly positive no one had my same two cards!!
All I needed was one to hit.
Sure enough, one feller has A-7, the other A-9.

The flop gives me a pair of 8's. The turn and river were
of nonconsequence. I tripled up and knocked one fella out.
I told everyone, that if I win the whole thing, I'm getting
2-8 painted onto the Tundra's tailgate. And I would wear
it like a badge of honor!

Later, I'm dealt suited A-J. I only raise 1k, thinking I'm gonna
play it cheap and sneaky. The big blind (who is chip leader by far)
thinks hard, and I verbally try to lure him in, "it's a thousand, whats
a thousand anyways?!"
"Ok," he calls.
The flop is 8-8-10. He bets a thousand. I call.
Turn is a five. He bets a thousand. (Keep in mind, the pot was
about nine or ten grand in chips) I call.
River is nothin. He checks, I go all in. I get busted. I talked
him into keeping his 8-5, and I gave him a boat, for all my
chips. Yahoo.

I still walked aways with 100 bucks for 7th place.

More Pictures

Poker Update

I won $100 even at The Mill, in North Bend, two weeks ago, Wednesday. Just a few days ago, I won a little over $150 at The Mill. Both times, playing 4-8.

Today, in San Pablo, I made $20 something in 6-12, and then promptly lost $100 in some NL with pocket queens. Later, I went to The Oaks, and won forty something in 6-12, before then losing $200 in 15-30. Nuthin I could have done either. $200 is not enough to start a 15-30 game. I figure, $100 is perfect for 3-6. Its just enough to take a two or so,bad beats, and allows you to chase a hand once in a while. I say, with this formula, its sets an amount to win with also. And at the Oaks, I just couldn't catch any cards.

Then, just now, I finished a 9 seat Sit-n-Go (single table tournament). I was patient and wasn't in many hands for the first half hour. Then, two guys are out, then another. I catch a few cards, win some chips, and now its down to four of us. I felt good, but was thinking I was going to have to get comfortable and do some waiting again, when low and behold, my Q-J sees a J-J-Q flop. Chip leader bets heavy into me. I wait a few seconds, maybe five total, then call. Nect card is an Ace. Chip leader bets heavy. I chill. Waited maybe half a minute, and called. River comes, and he goes all in. He had a pair of aces. That was nice.

The final two dudes busted out in mostly non-exciting fashion. I did win it with pocket queens though. Net gain, $225.

Pics.

Some Pictures?

Some Pictures...

Some Pictures

Please now set your "Funky MoJo Groove" to the "On" position...

Above, you will find a KO from this morning. It was taken at Horsefalls Beach, here in North Bend, OR. I'll try to get more Ocean stuff, and maybe something from the hills outside my granny's place.

Today I begin the rough-in plumbing for the loft bathroom.

I could have started it Monday, but instead I decided to do a quick repaint/recarpet, of an upstairs bedroom in the main house. This allows me to have a room (other than out in the loft) when visitors appear.

This became pertinant, when I discovered that my cousin Brandon and his wife Jaimie show up every Saturday night for dinner, and Sunday morning mass with my grandmother. And in lieu of the aforementioned loft living arrangement (many disadvantages), and to avoid slumber upon the living room floor, I figured a quick-o remodel was in order.

With all temporary living arrangements now squared away, I can at this point, concentrate on the orginal goal. The loft has been duly de-rodent-ified, de-buggified, and all blueprint plans have been reviewed, verified, modified, reverified, reauthorized, and now, ultimately, have final and complete approval for all construction commencement.
So, after I finish my morning mocha and wrap up todays blog update, I then head off to buy supplies.

Oh, and I have another round of....

Kirk's 2005 Roadtrip Best Of/Worst of List


Best Price for Gas - $2.39 Boise, ID 10-19-05
Worst Price for Gas - $3.19 Minneapolis, MN 10-10-05

Best Live Music Gig- Tally Hall - Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI 9-22-05
Most Like James Taylor Live Gig - Bob Skon - The Firefly, Ann Arbor , MI 9-20-05

Best Bar To Get Your Funky MoJo Groove On - Coconut Joes, La Crosse, WI
Worst Bar To Do Any Studying, But Still Ok to Get Your Drink On - The Library, La Crosse, WI

Best Bar Pickup Line - "Can I take your pic with my camera phone? I want Santa to know exactly what I want for Christmas. "
Bar Pickup Line Most Likely to Get You a Free Drink (or at least one dumped on your head) - "If you were a booger, you'd be the first one I pick."

Best Location(s) to Find Single Women - Any drive thru coffee shop on the entire Oregon coast
Best Location to Find a Single (or so she said) Woman with No More Than Four Front Teeth - Hank's Pub and Karaoke - Elko, NV

Best Mocha (home brew) - Becky & Garret's icey, chocolatey blend
Best Mocha (drive thru) - 1st Stop Java - North Bend, OR
Best Lookin Hot Hoochie to Serve a Tasty, Chocolatey Mocha - 1st Stop Java - North Bend, OR
Worst Mocha On Earth- My uncle Richard's house (dude, you need some real Hershey's syrup man)

to be continued...

Santa's Rain Men

To the left you will notice one fine photo of a pebble stone creek, just as it is about to run into the sea. I found this place only few miles south of Lincoln City, Oregon.
By the way, this is a KO. (Kirk Original)

The weather has been chilly, and overcast for days now. If I didn't know better, I would be stuck in California mode, and expect rays of sunshine to break out any minute. However, for the benefit of those who have not experienced an Oregon coast winter let me just say this, coastal Oregonians had might as well live at the North Pole. Just as Santa and his elves have 6 months of daylight followed by 6 months of midnight, the Oregon coast has 6 months of consistant, daily rainfall and/or drizzle. It is starting just about now. Awesome.

So, to make do, I have signed up for a bathroom construction project.

My grandma's house here, has a detached garage/loft. As kids this is where we played indoor soccer, indoor football, and refereed the smaller kids (some more voluntary than others) in annual 4th of July WWF wrestling matches. I think I may have even experienced my first french kiss up there with some girl we met in town that summer... in any event, the place is stock full of adolescent memories. So, then, when the opportunity presented itself for me to do something that would improve the place, I jumped at it.

Long story short, I'll be installing a tiled shower, your basic toilet/sink standards, and putting together most, if not all of the plumbing and finished electrical work. It's my baby, and this baby needs a new jumpsuit. I'm sure I'll post a few pics of the progress, as time goes by.

I stated in a previous post, I will be publishing a Best Of/Worst Of list here soon. As a sneak preview, I have the following:


Kirk's 2005 Roadtrip BEST OF - WORST OF List

Best Baseball Venue: Comerica Park - Detroit, MI
Worst Baseball Venue: Tiger Stadium - Detroit, MI

Best downtown skyline - Chicago
Most Unsightly downtown skyline - Salt Lake City

Best sofa sleeper - Garret's house
Worst sofa sleeper - Garrets house after his son Kenyan barfed on it

Best radio station - Minnesota Public Radio
Worst radio station - All stations in North Dakota, Montana & Idaho.

to be continued...

Pardon Me... Coos Me...

Coos County, Oregon... North Bend to be excact is my curent whereabouts.
I showed up Sunday afternoon, stopped into the Franson Court Coleman
residence, and immediately felt more rested, more comfortable, and the
most relaxed I have been the whole trip.

Traveling is fun, and all, but sometimes travel can be just as energy draining
as work. Not always, but in my case, rolling up the Kentuck Inlet melted
whatever road fatigue that lingered.

Since my arrival, I have been helping Sage-cuz, (hafta call him that, b/c there
is now a Sage-dog in the family) on his new house up in Glasgow. Nuthin major, some helping hand donations, but more watching and questioning the current construction practices and techniques. Other times I just like to give him shit. And if I blend the real questions with the rankle-him questions... results can be predictably entertaining.

The picture I have posted, is not a Kirk orginal. (It is of Shore Acres Park, very near to North Bend) I'm sorry folks. It is however, just as most of the others are, the picture my mind's eye would LIKE to see. Ya? And, wouldn't you, the viewing audience prefer to see right into the heart of my cerebral cortex?

OK, well, ya, neither would I actually. But, point is, you don't really want to see any of the stark cold, ugly pics of bland, out of focus pine trees, from todays collection... and in truth would much rather witness the sunny, happy places, where my conscience actually, currently resides. I know it, you don't have to say... its obvious.

What is also obvious, is that my laptop battery juice is running low, so gotta go.

Stay tuned for more, possibly real photos down the road.

All Good in the Hood

Hood River is nestled along the banks of the Columbia River, with the water cutting a swath to divide Washington from Oregon.

About halfway across the state, it seems to avoid the massive, winter/spring rainfall as found on the coast, and instead seems to be more a climate associated with the dry and often hot plains found in the middle of the state.

However, dug in amongst the high walls of the gorge, the shadows throughout the day make this place much more tolerable during the Sarahan days of summer.

Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Ranier are both clear and visable, with snow still adorning thier peaks, even at this time of year.

The picture you see is from the shore, of the aforementioned Hood River, looking to the west. This pic was taken this very morning.
Don't let anyone say I don't bring you only the freshest blog ingredients!
Always 100% natural, always the finest. The King of Blogs, I think, may be my motto. I'll need a Born-On-Date to insure my freshness though. I'll get with my marketing people later on today.

I am tired though. I was to meet up with at least one cousin, if not two as of yesterday afternoon. Not wanting to impose, as it was a very spontaneous of a phone call, I decided to get a hotel room for my own benefit.
As it were, the only place I called that had a vacancy (Fri. night and all) was what turned out to be a bed and breakfast. Great. Feeling kinda weird as I walked in the door. Me, Mr. Solo vagabond traveler, just off his horse from the dusty, high desert plains of Idaho, unshaved, mostly unkept, and certainly head hair very uncontrolled, I'm sure I didn't look like the nice, sophisticated, upscale gentlemanwho called ahead for his reservation. But I accepted the available room, quickly took a shower in the late afternoon, and went to meet my cuz for dinner and a beer or two.

After just a few hours at a local joint, I found myself real tired of all the freeway traveling, and excused myself for the evening, while setting up plans for lunch today. Trouble was, as I was driving back, I began to feel again wierd, mostly about staying at the room I reserved. Its a bed and breakfast! Its where honeymoon couples stay, and the host will cook you breakfast, and get to know you, and you share personal stories about how you got there and how they first started thier business, blah blah... blah.
I'm sure they are great people, and no harm intended, but I JUST want to crash out, wake up, and jam. I really don't need to chit-chat. When I have a hot woman to globe trot with, and befriend the countryside en masse, then I will chit-chat untill those happy California cows commute thier happy ass on home again.

So, that said, I decided I would camp out again. Granted, two backpacks and my toothbrush were still at the B&B, but screw it, I'll get them in the morning. For now, I was heading to the campgrounds I saw earlier in the day. I found the campgrounds just fine, and there I was. Tired, ready to camp it, ready to forget how much I paid for a room I wasn't even going to sleep in.
And then, just as I was settling in, I became very aware why this latest decision was not such a good one either. Not only did the East-West freight train run every half ahour, about (50 yards away) but also, the only campsites available were just as close to Interstate 94 as they were to the train tracks.
This was twice now I have made the oh-so-not-wise decision to camp out rather than couch surf or shack up in a Holiday Inn, then only to find a camp grounds right on a freeway. No peace here.

End result, I am tired.

Which leads me to another conclusion. Crosscountry traveling should not be done by the light of the Motel 6. (They always leave the light, for some reason...) Instead, travel-trailer, mini-bus, fifth-wheel, mega-bus, or even minivan, I see as a much better mode de transporte.

Next time, its by land yacht, or not at all.

Westward Windfall

I do not have any pictures of where I am at now, but I do have more from the hood of my truck.

One thing I have noticed, is the farming effeciency, and scale. As I travel west, there are more advanced irrigation, and storage machinery techniques. Obviously due to westward espansion during technological windfall. The land is still just as dry in many areas. Much looks like meadow-prairie land, on the brink of desertifaction. Volcanic activity within the last 6 million years has left many boudlers, and other acute clues of former flow, to the point where it almost looks Hawaiian. Just a bit older.

Scrub brush dominates, along with oak and willow at the rivers edge. Along highway 94, I have crossed the Snake River at least five times. Before that, it was the Yellowstone River, and the Missouri. The Snake however, is much more shallow to its flood zone. I guess it doesn't flood that much. If it did, many towns would be affected. I'm not sure if I personally could live here. The mountains are very bare, trees a mile from the river are a rare premium.

The weather has been a very moderate 60-70+, depending on if you caught some sunshine. Along the rivers, exposed rock can stay warm, much more than the open air. Today gave not so much of this though, it was 95% cloudy today. And 50% windy. Mostly gloomy. And thats another reason why I have no picture of today. Today's were categorically non-impressive.

I'm currently in Far Western Idaho. I took many stops, trying to catch each rest area, tourist trap, or Historic Site. Some I passed up, after tiring of the stop and go of it all. Plus the weather was windy/almost cold in many places. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I had some pants. It's been four pair of shorts for two months now. I've lost some t-shirts, I've gained some t-shirts. Its come and go sometimes, when on the road. And, I tell ya, being a road warrior ain't all its made out to be. It's a tough haul. Takes a certain man to conquer miles of asphalt in a single day. A Mega Man almost, really. A He-Man like, Superman possibly, mostly composed of great power and intelligence. One who, can for endless hours, endure monotonous eons of not-always-so-scenic highway, while driving, and maintaining sanity. But thats not relevant. What is relevant, is that the White Sox are in a World Series. Ya..?! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm feeling it.

One side note to the White Sox victory, is that it requires a road trip to Tahoe now. It seems, way back in early spring of this year, I wagered a small 10 or 20 dollar bet on a 20-1 shot. I think it was 20 bucks. I have another 26-1 on the world series. I just have to get back to check the ticket. I don't remember if its from Vegas or Tahoe. In either case, I'll make the journey before I leave for anywhere else.

Tomorrow I leave for Pendleton, Oregon. I will try to grab a few pics along the way. I'll need to wake up earlier than I did today, though.

Miles from Miles

I left Miles City by 8am. I took an hour side trip to see some "Historical Site." It didn't take that long to get there, I just passed it very ealy. I thought it was too insignificant to be deemed "Historical."
What it was, was a metal sculpture of a teepee, and mock, dancing, native American Indians. So I passed it, and instead found a long dirt road, through cow pastures, and mountain sides. The views were great. The new camera got some use.

520 miles Tuesday, 495 today. 950 to North Bend, Oregon. I was thinking I'd be early. And the best I could do, is Friday afternoon.

However, if I split the last leg in two, I arrive more refreshed and have fun along the way. I've heard of one or two poker rooms in or around Portland.

Poker Update

Won three-ten.
Another single table, online Sit 'n Go.

Feeling a little better.

Home on the Range

I find myself in Miles City, Montana.

I left Fergus Falls, MN at 7:30am this morning, after leaving Minneapolis Monday afternon. I have passed through the Badlands of North Dakota, and over the Missouri River, once again. Clues of the Rocky Mountain Range are now within site, after hundreds of miles of rolling midwestern hills. These, composed of the usual mix of farms, (silos included), woods thick with brush, and the usual sprinkling of business parks or homes. Now in Montana though, it's much more Wyoming-like. At least what I've seen of it so far.

The speed limit is 75, so 80 is reasonably nice. Thank goodness for the radar detector. Twice today it alerted me, well before eye shot.

Thw White Sox have secured a world series berth, and are heavy favorites. Houston or St. Louis will provide a decent challange. My prediction, Sox: 4 games to 2, no matter who wins the NL.

Won 100 bucks tonight in an online, single table tourny (also known as a "Sit 'n Go"). Even after two near breakdowns. The first was at the one hour break. The last hand happened, while I was watching tv, and not paying attention. Then, I look, and have no idea how much longer the break will be. Most times, it is shown, in a very obvious mini-window. But I don't see it, and, none-the-less, I hafta go. So, I sprint to take a quick leak. When I come back, I see, just in time, my pocket kings folded due to my time running out! Then, two guys go all in against each other, both with A-6. Only a king hits, and nothing for the other guys. I vow to recover.

Later, suddenly, the lights go out, the tv goes out, and my internet connection is down. Luckily, only a few seconds passed before the power kicked back again. It still took a few minutes for the wireless connection to appear. I was almost mad. It was heads up, and each hand was critical. I lost maybe ten hands in the lapse. In the end however, I still won.
Actually, this is twice now, the internet connection has gone out, while on a final table. Last time I still won 100, as well.

Feels good after busting out one last time at the Canterbury Club. Thats a great one. I flop two pair, guy ahead of me bets 25% of his chips, I re-raise to half is stack. He goes all in. Could he have trips? The flop was 2-4-A. I had A-2. He also bet pre-flop substantial amount. No one does that with a low pocket pair. If he had trip aces, he would have checked the flop. So I call. He had A-J. I was ahead 85%-15%. He caught running diamonds for a flush.

I may have time to stop in a poker room, in central Montana. I need to mapquest my current location/destination(s).

Scooby and Pong in St. Croix

I'll admit it, I'm thinking of Hawaii, lately.

Who's played a little ping pong lately? Let me tell ya, get in a game as soon as you can. Its more fun than it sounds, believe me. Its just like, at least for me, fooseball. Who loves fooseball? Air hockey... anyone?

Who is gonna start an XGames-like scenario for the table college sports? I see a demographic yearning for this.

Scooby Doo, where are you. We have a case for you now... great song... wait, uh... wait a second, just how helpful has Scooby usually been? Really, I mean compared to say, Fred? Or Velma? The two are bookworm geniuses. Scooby and Shaggy just eat monster sandwiches.

In other news, played two poker tournies in St. Croix, WI., and two in Minneapolis. St. Croix is a nice place. Small town, not much to see or do. Got some laundry done. That was a highlight. No way to connect to the internet, for many moon.

All four tourny events, were non-spetacular.
Three half way pointers, and one quick bust out on an A-K.

One of the "poker strategies" I mull over in internal debate about, from time to time, is the opponent-expression-read one. Sometimes, I know for a 99% fact what someone is really thinking, in relation to thier cards. Not often, but it does happen. Just as when you can tell a 9 year old is lieing. Or a grown up for that matter. When I was in Vegas, I had a few days, where I completely, and entirely, gave up on poker decision making, based on player reads. Instead, pure cards, as I called it. I even had a lengthy debate, with this guy from New York. Up state. Deep in the MGM, playing 10-20 there and in conversation, I decided, yes, I would never again make big decisions based on how another player, presents him/herself. It is an extreme swing, but does teach a much more disciplined version of the game. No bluff, no chaser.
You just have to hit cards.
Since then, I have slowly regressed. Just a bit. Usually to take advantage of small blind or big blind situations. This time though, I knew it, and I even had something. I was ahead. Then, ExZACTLY why I gave it up way back then, I saw what can happen. I had A-K. Preflop bet was 1000. After puttin it in, I decided I was pot committed, and going all in, if I hit either of my cards, unless:
a) all three cards are suited, not to mine.
b) I flop a full house.

The actual flop was K-10-9.
I put it all in there.
He quickly calls.
He has K-J. I'm ahead. He has 7 outs. Any J, or any Q (for the straight). I have the rest of the deck. Turn was a blank. With one card left, he had about a 4% chance (approx.?) and it hit. He gets a stupid jack, for his two pair.

Other cash games in Minneapolis have netted me enough to cover this weeks expenditures, including buy-ins.

For now, I gotta watch the ChiSox attempt to win an American League title.

Tropical Tuesday

Today I ended up, near Red Wing, MN., home of the world famous Red Wing boots and shoes. The Mississippi River carves a wide path, even at this high of a latitude. In many places, the sandstone has been etched away by time, and tell many layers of geology.

Yesturday was a balmy 70, I could swear. Its possible that it only reached 64. But it felt like 70.
Great golf weather. Today is skiing weather. Too bad there is no snow. Good indoor weather.

I'm staying at the Tropical Isle casino, and plan to play one more poker tournament in Minneapolis, before heading west. The only event I have played so far, was the Monday NL, but I only got about half way through the field.
Today, I played some live 3-6. Won $75.
At 3pm, I entered an online tourn. 154th place. Loss $64.
Also, 4pm online Single Table tourn. 2nd place. Won $135.

Not a big day, but I may play one more online tourn. tonight.
The White Sox host the Angels tonight. Must see tv. Must go. Now.

Ski Minnesota

I recently dropped into the La Crosse, Midway area.

Great breakfast I thought I'd mention. My bud Garret, and his whole family deserve much thanks. Thanks for putting me up for a night, thanks for dinner, and ...serious thanks for everything.
The surounding area was bountiful with very nice places, great houses, great people, and with the trees changing to thier fall tones, it was simply, great, overall.
However, if I win the WSOP, I have to give this dude Josh 100K though. As a matter of fact, thanks to him too.

Off to this so-called Minneapolis place, I adventured forth. And, well first, let me just say this,all of what I knew about this place, has been through either (and not necessarily in order of importance) major/pro sport teams, movies, or the top 40 hits of Prince (formerly known as a symbol ) 1984-2000.

Not that I expected the town to be any one thing or another, I just did not expect to be impressed as much as I was.
I arrived in downtown well before dusk, and did some checkin out. Nice city. I think it would not be so far of a stretch, to say that Minneapolis is one of the nicer downtowns, nationwide. The roads I found easy to navigate, and surprisingly, the entire downtown fifteen block radius (approx.) appears to have just come off the completion of an entire re-construction. As if, they are the epitome of the downtowns, currently in the midst of thier own re-dos.
I passed up St. Paul, but from the freeway, its looks at the same, or nicer.
The weather has been clear and crisp. The smell in the air is sweet and refreshing.

At the moment, I'm just around the corner from the Canterbury Park Track and Card Room. I've won enough to cover a few tournament entries, plus some. I'm still trying through the satillites, despite the fact that I will buy in, if I can't get one tomorrow, by noon.

Today was thier opening to the thirteen day extravaganza. Event #1 was a three hundred dollar buy-in, with more than three hundred entrants. First place was announced to gain twenty-seven-grand, and they were paying the top 37. I suspect the NL events will draw more people.

And, in sports, The Chicago White Sox rule. back to you Mack!

Thanks... in weather, its gonna be cold, because it certainly is colder here now.

If it gets colder still, maybe some skiing is in the future.

Just Another Day

While watching "War of the Worlds" (total bunk, despite being a Speilberg project) I started off playing some 5-10 online. Went up a bit, went down a bit, lost a huge chunk when my pocket sixes tripped on the flop. The other hombre just so happened to get his pocket kings to trip, also on the flop. Just another day.

So I bailed and went to a 15-30 table. Only two other people were there, each holding about 2 grand in front of them. I won a small pot right off the bat. Two or three hands later, I get K-5 suited in spades. Some guy raises preflop. I call. Its just me and him. The floppage is K-K-8. I bet. He re-raises. I re-raise again. It gets capped. The turn is another eight. I now have Kings full of 8s. I bet, he re-raises, I raise again, we cap. The river is a 5. I have two ways to the boat. I bet, he only calls. The pot is well over a grand. Homie had a K-5 also. Unbelievable.

I was able to stick around and pull in a profit of $170 on the day, even after the 5-10 losses.

{music fade in: Ice Cube - "It was a Good Day"}

Vince Lombardi, Bill Murray, and Mark Nilsson

I awoke in Harris, Michigan Sunday morning thinking I would explore the area. I drove around a bit, but only found the forest among the trees. And there is a lot of that. So, I decided to just be on my way, even skipping thier 1pm poker tourney.

The drive westward towards Wisconsin was sunny and easy. I arrived in Green Bay many hours later, feeling a little bit of a buzz. This was home to Vince Lombardi and Brett Favre, there was no mistake about it. This was indeed Packerland. I dropped into downtown and was astonished.

I knew it was not a big city per se, in fact, much smaller than Omaha, Nebasaka. However they did have a few 30 story or so, brick buildings, with distinct mid-western architecture. Everything nice, together, and ...kinda pseudo-normal. The one thing that stood out, actually did NOT stand out, were the people.
It was a ghost town. 6pm and a ghost town. It took me 40 minutes to find a hotel. Another half hour after I checked in, to find someplace that was open, to grab a bite to eat. I could understand if the Packers were playing the NFC championship game, but no, they are actually very mediocre this year, and they aren't even playing until Monday night.

In any event, they do have a casino, and with a large poker room. I played some live cash NL (No-LImit). Some guys were cool. Some were arrogant and a pain in the ass. But all the dealers were top notch. I stuck around long enough to lose a few hundo. Just bad luck mostly, not much I could do when full boats are made every fifth hand.

I sauntered back to my hotel room, tail tucked in tightly, and decided to watch some tv. After all the football and baseball highlights had been seen at least four times, I went back to the poker room. Just a few hours after I had left, it was all different dudes, but the same results for me.

I wouldn't say I was on tilt, but I was begining to wonder if I ever wanted to play NL again, aside from tournament play.

Again, I made the sad trek back to a hollow hotel room, in a city where I knew no one. Out of pure boredom, I played some 8-16 and 15-30 while watching the Bill Murray/John Candy/Harrold Ramos classic "Stripes." And thats the fact jack. Oh ya, with what I picked up online, I balanced out the day to nearly even.


That was last night. Today, not feeling the Green Bay buzz any longer, I headed south by southwest.

Of coincidental note, I stoped into a smelly little town called Nekoosa, still here in Wisconsin. I say smelly, because I mean stinky. Really stenchy. They have a wood processing plant with huge, train car loads of wood chips brought in. I think they compress the wood there because the whole town smells like particle board, except with heavy emphasis on the glue portion of the aroma.
I mention this town because, as I'm passing through, I stop into a tiny, nondescript mini-market/McDonalds (Kinda like the Chevron/McDonalds that have been springing up everywhere) and I walk into the bathroom, address the urinal, and begin to... well, do what men do when at a urninal. I then look up at the picture on the wall. And holy cow was I surprised. It was none other than a work by my cousin Mark. His copyrighted signature was there and all, M. Nilsson. As another sure sign of authenticity, was the painting itself. All the colors and style, were the same look as his now, in-family-famous, Kleenex box product.
Of all places.

I'll be in Lacrosse on Wednesday, and somewhere within the confines of Minnesota, on Thursday.

Some pictures

Salutations

First off, I want to offer my sincere congratulations to the University of Michigan, and thier overtime win over archrival Michigan St. It was close, and Michigan State is no question, a solid quality team. The game started while I was still in St. Ignace, starting in the Kewadin noon poker game.
There seemed to be a balanced representation of fans from both teams there. On average I would say, 2-3 fans of each, at each table was the count. One overtly conversational State fan launched the first strike. UM had just scored first if you recall(for those who saw it) and this guy says, for everyone in the room to hear, "You know, the horse who shits fast, is done the quickest." No one said anything, but I think I detected a murmur of a chuckle, somewhere to my right.
Some time past, and UM scored again. A dude in the ten seat then says, "There shittin alot aint they!!" People laughed. The overt guy didn't say anything.

I saw three touchdowns, and that was it. I was out of the tournament, before the begining of the 2nd quarter. I then picked it up on radio, all the way to Manistique, MI. which only got me some of the third quarter. Later, I heard from a guy with a State shirt on, ( I was dressed in purely nonaffiliated attire) that UM won in overtime. I gave him my best wow-amazing-thanks-for-the-info-man-with-one-last-look-of-amazement face. He appeared welcome with his passage of knowledge.

The noon poker thing was something else. I won the first hand, doubled up even. Flopped two pair with my K-9s. Won maybe two or three more hands before I lost three hands, and in large chip quantity uniformity. Did I mention how these guys run thier rebuys? Long story short, net loss $50.

All is well though, I rolled into the Island Resort Casino around 4pm Eastern, 3 Central. I know this, because no more than 1/2 of a mile from the casino, there is a huge highway sign stating the official zonage demarcation. After getting a room, I went to the poker room and played the only game they had going, 10-20 Limit. I won my first hand. And my third. Both were good sized pots. I played then slow and careful. Within 15 minutes I was up $240. I decided to only work with what I had over $200. I lost $35 on pocket tens, and had to make a decision. Do I leave, or do I see about the other five? I've always said two hundred a day is a great stopping point. I actually got up, leaving my chips though (as if I was only taking a break) and walked to my truck. On my way walking out the door, I was decided on an immediate exit, just as soon as I grab my phone. Not that I needed my phone, in fact I hadn't had reception in 80 miles. But it would be a good time to devise of a way to be gracious, and not... well... this is the deal. When you play poker, it is best to do what one can to keep it a gentleman's game. I believe so. And to do what I can for the integrity to remain, I will. So, no matter matter where you are, if a player drops in, grabs a quick hit and run, and attmepts to leave the table, he/she will always draw some kind of a remark. Now, I know, nobody owes anybody anything. I may never see any of them ever again. But, in the name of that good sportmanship, I will stick around AND PLAY diamond TIGHT.
The next bet of that five dollar chip turned into a win. I continued to play with only high quality, premium hands. I never raised preflop unless carrying a pair or two face cards, and I never reraised. Not once. I bet if I had it, folded or checked if I didn't. Over the course of possibly 25% hand involvement, I slowly built upon what I had.

More time passed, maybe 45 minutes, (thus crossing the imiginary threshold of minimum time necessary for the other players to have conceivably caught up) and I decided that was it. A nice lady conveniently arrived, and was looking to get in. I offered up my seat and tipped the dealer five. I cashed out for a net profit of three hundred even.

The drive over the southern rim of the upper peninsula today, was very much like the coast of Oregon. The mountains are not as near the shore, but the dunes, the white caps on the lake, and the trees are all very similiar. There are less pines, replaced by Aspen and some oak varieties. There are lakes, small ponds, rivers and creeks in the entire area. People do drive the speed limit though. 55 only. No more. No less.

So, I relax here tomarrow. Maybe play thier 1pm tourn. I may not though. The weather is seriously a perfect comfortable, it would be a shame to be indoors more than necesary. I'll see if they have anything to do around here. I'll let it be known how it goes.

Squirrel Surfing

As I was sitting, watching the shore break, it dawned on me. Was this shoreline any more or less beautiful than Waikiki? I was there last summer, and yes, with no question, outright righteous.

True, there were even more wonderous parts of Hawaii. To compare I could not even begin to do simply due to these, as I have outlined:

1. Such same peace of mind
2. Same people I am comfortable with. i.e. love of sports, weather, geography, points of interest, etc.
3. Clean streets
4. Clean buildings
5. A few nice looking elligible, potentional, participants for my woman-looking-for-as-a-le-pardneroess, list.
6. All necessary hardware/grocery needs one could ever need
7. Clean water
8. A natural surrounding that is unparallel to anything I have seen before.

However the surf is smaller here. It is surf, no question. In fact there is this break, just off the road, north of the Comfort Inn, its a perfect a smoothy-righty, if say you were a squirrel. I've seen dogs surf. And a squirrel water ski actually.

The waves do not seem to be constant though. I figure, they must primarily be either wind or boat initiated.
The clarity of the water also took me by surprise. All the great lakes are huge. And, well, they are called great. It is surprising to me how such a mass stays so clean. I guess its just me, and seeing the Pacific so often. All places I have scoped out the clarity of the ocean, ranging from Rosarita, Mexico to Seattle, Washington, is nothing but a greenish... mostly greenish that is, to blueish, soupy mix of salt and thousands of years of tiny dead things. Not that its gross. I'll swim in any of it. Well, except for, right near Tiajuana. F that. (As I've recently been taught to say) Nonetheless, not so clear really. Mostly Non-scubable.
Here it is clear.


But there are also huge islands, very close to shore. It appears at night, as if all are also thier own town. Boat traffic is very light throughout the day, and every day. Just a small fishing community actually. There is a small tide that comes in and out each day. No more than a rise and fall of a few feet at most. Some shores are just large, round, smooth, stones. Mostly grey, with some tans in the bunch. Some other shores are cliffs, of the same shades. Mostly limestone I believe. The rest, highly hardened bedrock. I could be wrong about the composition though. I'm not a geoligist.

But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night. Actually, thats not true. But I did stay next door to a Holiday Inn last night. What if I stayed here for a year? Just roamed the lakes in my ocean going like vessel. High captain of the open seas. Without all the risk of the real seas. Sounds great. Sign me up. I'd like a jet ski too please.

I may. I might.
If I continue to win money, why not? Maybe get a job, maybe not.
Watch cartoons all day, on my 70foot yacht...

Right now though, I can imagine those squirrels have a great time.

Poker, Pizza, Politics and a Taco Salad

Last night I jumped into an online $100 buy in tourney. With 50 something total entrants, the competition was stiff. I've certainly noticed, the higher the buy in, always, the better the players. At the 2 hour turning point, there were 12 people left and I was in fourth place. I think I got tired and a little soft. I took 12th. I would detail the downfall, but it all happened so fast. Some speculation, and some overplayed medium hands. Oh well.

Again though, I have somehow turned it around. An hours worth of work at an online 5-10 table netted me $176 this morning.

In other news, I have discovered not only the best pizza I have ever had, but also maybe the best cup of coffee I have ever experienced. B.C. Pizza deserves much props. Super quick delivery, non-greasy, and all fresh vegatables do not say enough about how this place has it right. They also have a great taco salad. ( I need my ruffage, ok?!!)
Another place worth visiting if ever in this neck of the woods, is Java Joes. Joe will hook you up. And he's a heckuva cool guy, willing to shoot the breeze about anything. We discussed California, his local politics (he's on the county board, I think he said) and just how great this area is.

I don't think I can really fully describe just how relaxed this whole area really is. Perhaps its the time of year, after the tourist season, and with the weather still enjoyable. Either way, I highly recommend stoping in one day. I know I will certainly be back.

Here forward, I plan to hit up Kewadin Shores once more for thier Sat. noon poker tourny, and then its westbound. I'm not sure if I can get to Minneapolis/St.Paul in half a day or not. Another option is to check out an 'ol high school bud who is now living it up Wisconsin style.

For the rest of the day, I'm leaning towards ... staring out the window for a while.

And then, I dunno, maybe around 3 or so, I think I'll grab a mocha and see what Joe is up to.

Full Boat on Lake Huron

Today I'm feeling great. Last night, not so much.

Around 5pm I headed in the direction of the Kewadin Shores Casino, located here in the beautiful upper peninsula town of St. Ignace, Michigan.It was my second night in a row attending thier 6pm poker tournament. Which was very beneficial to get to know some of the local players. The night before I made it to the final table, only to bust out in some non-exciting fashion. Net loss $30.

With newly found determination, I walked in and got to work. Slowly earning chips to a count of 6500, from an original 1500, I felt I was doing well. However I feel it must be said, the tournys these guys run are awfully generous to early risk takers. They have unlimited rebuys for $10 anytime your under 1500 chips while in the first hour. Thus anyone with a pocket full of cash can stick around in the first hour, hoping to suck you out on any one of a number of different long shots. Additionally, they have what they call a "Dealer ReBuy," which is an additional 1000 chips for $5. The point being, to help dealers make some tippage. But it doesn't stop there. They also have a one time only "All-In" rebuy, for $10 to get your original 1500 back. And to top it off, after that first hour you can fork over another $20 for an "Add-On" of 3000 chips. The long and short of it is, more money is put in the overall prize pool, but it makes the first hour of play much more hectic and absurd.

Fine, however they want to structure it is fine with me, I feel, as long as I physically feel fine. Which I did not. As I mentioned, I left around 5pm, and without eating any dinner. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, I can handle any mild hunger cravings. But, unfortunately for me, I've recently been prescribed anti-biotics for an inflammed in-grown hair. (totally sucky) And as a requirement for these little foul smelling pills, is that you take them on a full stomach.
I thought I would be ok. I had a decent lunch, and I was drinking a lot of water to help the situation. And as I said, I was doing fine for a while, until the headache came on. And it came hard. Temple rubbings, toe curling, and all the slow deliberate breathing did not help. But my soldier mentality told me to tough it out. After all, I had a decent chip stack, and a good handle on the players at the table.

Then, I got stuck. I held an A of diamonds and an 8 of hearts. With two of us in the flop came 5-6-7, all diamonds. The other dude checks first, I bet 900 chips. He raises to 2000. And in my shoes, I got an open ended straight draw, and the nut flush draw. Its not necessarilly a good early tourny move, but I go for it.I call. The turn comes A of clubs. Great I think, now I also got top pair. Dude bets 3000. Tough situation here. I quickly add up my outs. If he only has two pair, I have smething like 20 outs (cards that can help me). Any diamond (9 more left) any 4 or 9 to make my straight (8 of those), any 8 to give me two pair (3) or any other ace (2). And honestly, at the time I really figured he had the flush already. All my years of finely honed human/poker observation told me so. (after the hand, he showed that he did indeed flop the flush, king high) This left me with one shot at one of those diamonds. I'd like to believe that if my head was clear and headache free, I'd lay it down.
River came up something other than what I was hoping for. He went all in, and I had to fold. I still had chips and a chair, but I was crippled. Then, it got worse.

I hung around until after the first hour break, and bought another 3000 chips for $20. My stack was now around 4500, but the big blinds were up to 2000, effectively leaving me two more hands. After relentless 2-7s and 3-8s, I found myself posting the big blind with another garbage hand, just as my belly began to grumble. I was going to hurl, and please God, not during my blinds. The small blind called and checked at an excruciating slow pace for the entire hand. He took the pot, I posted my small blind and immediately left the room. I opened the bathroom door, took two steps, saw a trash can and launched chunks like an NBA free throw. (not Rick Barry style, more Shaq like) I hunched over the can for a few minutes, washed my face, and regained my composure. I stopped by the gift shop for a pack of double mint gum. Chomping heartily on the minty freshness, I took my seat and prenteded everything was normal. I'm not sure if it worked, perhaps not.
In the end, I was forced to go all in with a decent K-9 vs. A-J. No one paried and that was it. Net loss $50.

But today got better. I played some 15-30 online, and after half an hour of hovering around even, I caught 10s full of aces to rake in $180 over my buy in.

Then, just now, The Chisox clinched the central.
Damn those antibiotics, but I don't care, life is good.

OK, Screw it... maybe I am "Matter of Fact"

I decided late last night, that this blog will be composed in part, on my current poker ventures. But only because I seem to be maintaining a pretty high win ratio. Also, it will serve my own purpose of documenting my winnings. So, if I start losing, it will be clear and obvious, that I need to change hobbies, or at least change my poker strategy. Not that I doubt my own ability to gauge my success/failure, its just that in a game that certainly has an element of luck to it, streaks of two days, followed by a converse streak of three days, completed by another streaky streak, can well... blur into one another.

Anyways, today I played a tournament online. It was a 24 dollar buy-in with 110 entrants. The prize pool was a gauranteed $3,500. 1st would take something around a thousand, 2nd $600 or so, and scaling back proportionally as one placed lower in the final standings. I took 102nd. So that sucked. Here's the story.
I had A-J off suit, and raised $125 of my begining 1500 chips. Everyone folds except for some blow hard who kept his 7-8, also off suit. The flop rolls a 3-7-10. (suits inconsequential) I fire off 400, figuring no one would call 125 and have any of those cards, except maybe a ten. And, I would of course find out if he re-raised. Now, this is not always the case, some people are sneaky. In fact, its best to be sneaky actually. But I'd like to think I had my "feelers" on.

In any event, he calls my 400. At this point, you may wonder, why would he call such a high bet? Good question... follow along. Next, the turn gives me my ace. I immediately bet another 400. He, just as quickly calls. :(

I'm worried now. The river card makes the board 3-7-10-A-8. No flush, and a remote chance at a straight. But keep in mind, he would have to have called my preflop raise with a J-9. And then call a high bet after the flop with an inside straight draw (meaning the middle card of the straight was missing. And, usually only inexperienced players do this. A much better odds advantage is an outside draw, meaning you have four connectors ((e.g. 2-3-4-5, thus eight cards in the deck could help, versus only four for the inside variety)).

Other possibilities for him, would be if he held a pocket pair and caught trips.
I guess I was willing to gamble on this.

Knowing I hold a pair of aces, with a solid kicker, coupled with the fact that I only have 500 in chips left, I put out what I consider a sucker bet. That being, a low bet, to sucker him in. This is great to pull in an inexperienced player if they dont have a strong hand, and great for scaring away a veteran) He calls. His two pair, of course put my aces to shame.
In all my days of playing, its always the newbie players who really dont know what they are doing, who make the worst bad beats, defying all odds and logic to sweep up huge pots.
Of course, these are the guys you want to play with in the long run. But it still hurts.

I soon thereafter, somehow floundered my remaining chips.

Oh well though, I decided to play some 2-4 limit on a live cash table. It took me about 20 mintes to lose my 40 dollar buy in. But I rebought and in another 20 minuted cashed out for $100 even. Net gain, one Andrew Jackson.

I played the 2-4 only because there was nothing higher with an open seat. So, after a rousing episode of Scooby Doo on the tube, (ya, they caught the ghost impersonating bandits) I found an 8-16 table, with only one dude there. Straight up, heads up.
Hmm, I thought, I guess I could work on my final table skillz. He had $160, I had $160. No more than an hour later, I had his $160.

Net gain on the day, $180. Time, 12:47pm.

I swear to the big guy in the big house, I could live off of $180 a day. And nobody can beat the hours or the commute!!

Ok, well gotta go, Tom and Jerry is on. And you know that dang the Jerry is always up to something.

On second thought...

The test ran fine, looks good, but the question remains: what will this blog be about?
Of the leading ideas so far, none strike me over the head.

Perhaps though I could document all of my poker playing escapades.
But I dont want to come across as shallow and matter-a-fact, as much of what gambling is.
I could easily pour all of my spiritual and religious beliefs into smallish, type-written words (maybe in a fancy old English font) that would inevitably display my broad universal understanding and humble approach. But I dont want to sound like a ... well you know.

I could go the "Daily News" route, and tell all of what I've done through out the day. But I dont think anyone gives a shit what I ate for breakfast, or how I successfully managed the day without actually having any clean socks. Although, both were very newsworthy unto themselves.
And of course, there is the "Weekly Update" version of the "Daily News" route. Here, I could summarize the Mon-Fri chronicles, with maybe a special Weekend Feature full of flair and funny, anectdotal, feel good items.
However, I dont want to be a Ted Koppel, or Entertainment Tonight.

In truth, I want to be a blend of sorts. Like when Rocky met Adrian, or when Bill and Ted had thier most excellent adeventure. Firguratively speaking of course. If ever though, I do indeed travel through time you can be sure it will be posted.

First Thoughts

Monday, 1:49am. For the most part, this is a test.