The Delay, It's Almost a Cliche

Leaving Santa Cruz late week, I thought I quick stop in the San Jose/Walnut Creek/Discovery Bay area would be all that separated me from Oregon. Instead, while driving through San Ramon I realized I needed to pull into San Ramon Valley Medical Center.

Long story short, another minor medical phenomena has held me back. For Friday of last week through Tuesday of this week, I had been laid up on Jimmy's couch. Wednesday (yesterday) I was finally able to get around and feel normal again. And with that, I would have been Audi 5000. Except for one thing.

My brakes on the new car, as I posted earlier, had a slight squeak. I had already had them checked in Merced from a trusted family mechanic who told me, it was nothing more than the non-factory brake shims rubbing during braking. But, while driving to Santa Cruz last week, I was feeling some shuddering at freeway exit braking levels.
So, while in Discovery Bay, I figured Jimmy's garage was a great place to replace the shims, and investigate the shudder.

I had ordered the shims on Tuesday, so I already had the new brake parts. But instead decided to first reroute a wiring harness under the hood, that I thought could be a future problem. End of day Wednesday, the harness was fully done, and looking good. But it did end up taking all day.
Today, I began the brakes only to find out I received the wrong parts from Toyota. Awesome. Tomorrow I should be getting the right ones.

If all goes well, I should be taking off tomorrow afternoon.

WPT Qualifier At Bay 101 - The Results

Today I played some 6-12 before the 8:45am tournament. I made a whole $20.

The tournament though, was a $125 buy in, with 110 entrants. 1st and 2nd would gain entrance into thier WPT main event in March. The other top 15 or so would gain take home cash.

We all started with 1000 chips, and the blinds began at 25-25, going up every 20 minutes. Perfect. Exactly how I like it. Chill, and wait for the good cards to come.

At the 45minute mark I caught A-A, and some guy ahead of me had already bet 600. I hesitated, and waited a while, to make it seem like a tough decision, but then carefully stacked it all-in. He thought for a while, and eventually caved. Dam. I guess 600 plus the blinds, will be ok.
Later, I'm holding an A-J, it's me and another guy after a hefty 300 pre-flop bet. The board goes K-Q-10. I flopped the straight! I bet 200, in a "I'm buying it, kinda way." He goes all in. I call. He holds a friggin A-Q. Then the turn gives him a jack for a straight also. Dam. I guess splitting the blinds will be ok.

For the last hand before the 1 hour break, I catch a King-high flush. This is normally a great hand. Instead I see a huge chunk of change lost when I was beat not only by a full boat, but also by four of a kind. Jimminy Christmas, I thought, for lack of another foul-language outpouring.
An hour and a half into it, I'm down to 800. Half the table has moved into the multiples of thousands range, and the blinds are soon to be 200-400. It's time to make a move.

Three of us call 400 to go. I have A-10 suited in clubs. The flop-ola is Qclubs-8clubs-9diamonds. I act first. I pretend to think about betting (I have the nut flush draw, an inside straight draw, and an ace for an over card) and instead, power check. Dude next to me immediately bets 200. The other guy ponders the reality of life, for an eternity, and then moves all in. I have to call. I have only 400 left, and I have a 3-1 chance to draw the ace high flush, and a shot at other potentially win-able hands. I call, putting myself all in.

Dude next to me calls. For an opportunity to go way up in chips, I liked my chances. IN the end however, no other club showed up, nor did an ace.

Big tourney victory will have to wait another day.

I'm am now in Capitola, to meet up with my cousin Sage. Then, it's northward.

The Royal

Yes, I got a royal flush.

But there is a story.
Isn't there always?!

First, I play a 3 table satellite. A measly $5. I played an hour, and did not win a single hand. But it's five bucks, and if the cards are gonna be cold, at least it's only for $5.

Then, I enter another. Same thing, 3 tables, for $5.

Another hour goes by. I'm getting sucked for every blind, and not hitting a single hand. Of any kind. Then, I get Q-Q. I bet big. Everyone folds. OK, great. Things will change.

I then keep a K-9. This is the flop:

I check. The turn comes, I check. On the river, I put in a "token" $75. Not a single caller.

Friggin great. I win only two hands in two hours, including a flopped full boat, and not a single extra chip was pulled in with any of it. Amazing.

What then seemed like half an hour later, I'm getting whittled down again on endless garbage hands, when I realize I'm down to 400 in chips. Everyone else is moving into the 2000+ range. It's time for one thing, and one thing only. Time to go chuck it all in there, and hope for the best. I'm holding Q of clubs and 3 of diamonds.

Then, with a little help from the dealer, I catch it:

Yup, only the second royal flush I have ever seen. And both have been mine.

With that win, I was able to propel myself to the final table with a comfortable chip lead.

Soon, a few people drop out, it's down to seven, but they only pay five of us.

Later, in my big blind I hold a 5-10 suited in hearts. One dude, raises to double the blind after every one else folded. It's relatively cheap for me to call, and I figure "why not, what if I flop a flush?"

Sure enough, all hearts show up on the board. I bet the minimum amount. Dude raises 2k. I go all-in. He has A-A. But one of them is a heart. The river gave him the last heart he needed, and the last heart I wanted to see. (I would have been an overwhelming chip leader, if I had won that one)

What a game. Another one of those situations where I can only blame the dealer. But, online, I can't even do that!!

Delayed Again...

I was planning to leave for Oregon last week. However, since selling the Tundra, I was without wheels. I had a plan though.

My dad's truck, I was going to borrow originally, just for the Oregon trip. But it's having transmission trouble. Than there was the Mercedes. Now it has troubles.

So, I did a quick look on craigslist for a truck or something, and instead found a sports car. Toyota Supra, with the targa top. Oh well, I'm so sad. Seemed like a good deal tho.

IN any event, this forces me to visit the lovely, and always fun Department of Motor Vehicles. I really really love it there. Always something fun to do.

I also need to get the brakes checked out. No big deal, just a slight squeak. I could do it myself. But sometimes time, (and grease up every fingernail) is worth money.

This put's me on a course to leave town Wednesday (approx.).

IN poker news, I'm doing so-so. Playing some 7-card stud, while trying to round out my skill sets. There, I've made money this week. In hold'em, my cards are ice cold. Just not catching anything lately.
However, Billy seems to be getting it. I saw him take a 1st, and a 2nd, out of three events last night. Way to go.

Tonight, a cheesy Jackie Chan flick is on the agenda.

Oh by the way, the picture at the top is kinda like my car. But it's not blue, and it doesn't look exactly like that. Mine is red, and looks more like the car below.

Poker Flats

Longing for some real, live action poker, and tireing of computerized charactors, I sauntered on down to Poker Flats, in downtown Merced.

Now, downtown Merced does not have what I would call panache, but it does have a new movie theater, and a poker room. So, things are kinda looking up for the place. However the poker room only has three tables. Can't have everything I guess.

They have a $10 buy-in every weekday at 11:30. You get 50 in chips, and the blinds start out at 1 and 2. The blinds also double every 7 minutes (maybe every 5 min. something like that) which makes it essential to get good cards early.

A few weeks ago, I went down there two days in a row. With such a quick round of blinds, and after not catching any cards, I ended up playing only four hands for both days. Neither of which got me anywhere at all.

But today, I caught a few hands early, including A-A with someone all-in ahead of me. That was nice. I made it to the final table with 250 in chips.

I then call an all-in for another 50, with A-7. But only because it was cheap to potentially knock someone out, and for a chance to see all five board cards. An ace hit, and it was a win.

Later, another situation like that appeared, but for 100 in chips. One dude, heads up, all-in on his part. A perfect chance to see a gauranteed five board cards, with minimal investement. My J-8 had a decent chance to his Q-9. I paired my eight on the flop, but he ended up outdrawing me for a straight.

This left me with 200 in chips, and the blinds were now 50-100. It was down to five of us, and I peeked at A-J on the button. I pulled the ripcord: all-in. I got one caller. He had K-Q, and again, I paired on the flop, with the jack. But the turn delivered a King, and I was knocked out for fifth spot.

I still earned $20, doubling my money. And, I guess if you call thier free greasy chinese food edible, I got lunch out of the deal too.

Again, and I've said it before, so many reads can be had in live game vs. internet. Some people just project thier weak cards so transparently. Today, I was not able to capitolize on this, but others could have.

Soon, I wil be departing for Oregon, by way of San Jose (to see my cousin Sage) and Lafeyette (to see Jeffrey LaPLante about some software) and Discovery Bay (to see Jimboni also about some software). I'm hoping to hit Bay 101's WPT qualifyer Wednesday morning, or thier daily tourney Thursday morning.

Then, it's onto the Oregon Trail. Where there is no tournament poker, but only a bathroom worthy of A high stakes remodel.

Heads UP!

IN last post, I noted that I had been experimenting with low buy-in, heads up (1 vs. 1) poker tournaments.

Basically, they work just like any other tournament. Each person coughs up a set dollar amount. This varies from $5-10-20-30-50-100-200. The difference is, only two people are allowed to join.

Most website based poker rooms, offer this heads up format for NL hold'em, limit hold'em, omaha, razz, etc. What's great, is a new game starts about every 30 seconds. At least on Full Tilt.

I've always thought I was good enough at heads up. I think my winning percentage, once a tourney has narrowed to only two of us, is around 75-80%. And I know a few of those loses were in an ugly suck-out kind of way. But I was really liking the idea of getting paid off, without having to figure out nine other guys all at once.

What I have found, is that heads up play, really forces you to vary your betting style, much more so than usual. Sometimes, it's easy to fall into a predictable betting pattern, thus allowing others to see through your cards. 1 on 1, it's all about set up, change up, and hopefully end up, on top.

So, two days ago, I win three in a row. Yesturday, I stuck exclussively to low buy-in, 1v1 matches, and winning another 3 of 5. By 2pm, I was up $45 overall. Small potatoes, but still, the win percentage is all I was caring about (only one match offered a total fish [easy player]).

Now feeling confident and all, I parleyed all my $50 for one more 1v1. I figured, $100 in two days, from a start of $5, was damn good.

This guy was aggressive from the start. But not to worry, these guys are the easiest. You let them steal blinds right and left. But when you catch cards, they usualy bet into you, essentially giving thier chips away. The real trick is, to not attempt to play the over-aggressive-back-at-them game. At least for me, this has never worked. In fact, twice, I've been worked for a mountain of cash in 30-60. Clever vs. Agro is the only way I have found.

SO, this is how it went. He stole every pot from me for the first ten hands. Then I catch AA. He bets into me the whole way, and I whallop him for a hefty sum. He steals pots for another 10-15 hands, and my flush then whallops him again.
It went on exactly like that for over 90 minutes. The blinds were then up to 200-400, which is a whole lot, when only two players start with a mere 1500 in chips. It forces an impending end to the game, coming down to who gets the best hand(s) at the very end.

And here's one for the record books.

I have about 1200 in chips. He has 1800. He's the big blind for 400. He now has 1400, and my small means I have 1000. But there is 600 in the pot before we even see cards. Effectively making the last hour and half, a dead even match if I win this hand, only taking the blinds.

I get K-9. I call the big blind, and raise another 200. He calls. $1000 in the pot now.
Flop is 9-9-10. I'm the first to act. I check. He checks.
Turn is a 2. I bet 200. He goes all in.

Of course I call. He held 10-7, giving him 2 pair (10's and 9's with a 7 kicker), I have trip 9's with a king kicker. I'm a heavy favorite, 95.5% to be precise.

The river offers the dagger through my heart, a 10.
Only 4 times out of 100 would he have got that last 10.

His full house, 10's full of 9's renders my 9's full of 10's useless.

But I am reading a new book! See picture above.

Good Bye, Good Friend

Yesturday was the day.
The day me and an old friend departed ways. Many good times were had together... Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Oregon. But sometimes, you need to trim the hedges, to allow the landscape to flourish.

Indeed, I sold the Tundra.
And yes, I cried. But only a little bit.

Anyways, I'm going to Hawaii, and I don't need a truck anymore. At least not a big, huge, no-seat-recliner type. It was like sitting in the bleachers of a football game. For 69 thousand miles.

And, now that the Top Ten is done, I can update other current events as well.

Saw a possum tonight, right in the backyard of my dad's house. I'm not sure what the county Animal Control recommends, but I do remember my uncle Mike grabbing the .22 and rifling one from about 30 yards when I was younger. I think I had to bury it. No great love lost though. I believe they carry many potenial diseases. My dad had already gone to bed when the witnessing took place. We'll need to have a roundtable tomorrow.

In poker news, I have jumped back into action. I played only a couple tourneys after Christmas, and just a few more since new years. Not much luck in any, other than one $10 single table victory, but not enough of a win to cover the other entries.

Then, today, I played three seperate $5 multi-table events. I bombed out hecka early in them all. So, to avenge the loss, I entered a $5 heads-up (1 vs. 1). I figured I could use the practice. And whaddya know. Bingo. Winner.
Then, after dinner, I tried another $5 heads-up. Bingo. Winner.
And, after watching some of "Brothers Grimm" (not that great btw) I went for one last heads up event, this time for $10. Bingo. Winner.

Each took about an hour. So, they were not quickies by any means. But I think I have realized my betting techniques needs to vary more, when I play the full table, or multi-table events.

So, that's it. I'm sticking around Merced untill Wednesday of next week. And then, FINALLY, this time for real, I'm really, truly heading back to Oregon to finish granny's loft. I know she think's I'm a flake. But I shall reward her with an awesome, high-class bathroom, fit for a four star hotel.

Top Ten #1 - Who Else?!

Without any further ado... the most memorable event of 2005 (yes, this was put to a vote) was the World Series run for the Chicago White Sox.

It's not just that I'm a fan. Nor, because they did it for the first time since 1917.
The rivalry with the Cubs had no influence either, I believe.

Instead, I think it came down to four basic things.

1) They took off right out of the gate in April, winning a high percentage number of games early. Yet, few noticed, or gave credit.

2) They nearly collapsed, yet still pulled it off. At the All Star break, they held what is usually, a comfortable lead of 11 games over the Cleveland Indians. Yet, with a week and half left in the season to go, the lead cut to within 2.5 games. Worse yet, they had to play the Yankees, and Cleveland still, among others. They made it close, but closed it out strong, winning the last 5 of 6.

3) Playing the adeptly named Los Angeles Angles of Anehiem and Los Angeles County of California/Northern America/Western Hemisphere/Third Planet from the Sun, and even in the series at 1-1, Chicago starting pitchers threw four complete game victories, to wrap up the AL pennant in a clear, and decidely powerful way.

4) Ok, ya, its because I'm a big fan. And no, the tatoo will never go away.



*Trivia - Can you name the team that won the first World Series? A: The Boston Pilgrams, 1903.

Top Ten #2 - Best Website

Is there any question?

Who doesn't have Google.com as a "favorite link?" Except for possibly those who just enjoy typing "g-o-o-g-l-e-.-c-o-m" everyday. I must admit, I went through that phase.

With Google, Froogle, Blogger, G-mail, among many more, they have redefined what a successful website business means.

What's more, thier stock price has defied all odds (up about 100% for 2005), and Google Earth captures every persons' imagination that sees it.

Afterall, this blog itself, is a product of the good google family.

However, what I perhaps admire most about Google is thier corporate culture.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111101644.html

And they have some nice seasonal logos too.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/holidaylogos00.html

Top Ten #3 - Best DVD

From those who put the "F" back into freedom, Team America: World Police.

My only regret, is that I did not see this one in the theater. Oh, the sights, the sounds.
Perhaps the smells.

From these guys, I will forever know that by simply "acting" and saying something as basic as "dirka dirka" our world, just may be, a safer place after all.

Top Ten #4 - Ugliest Car

Hello Mr. Pontiac Aztec for 2005.

Whoo hoo. Who wouldn't love this chick magnet.
And, wow, such a wonderful color scheme. What's it called, "Burned-Out-Old-Rusty-Abandoned-Refridgerator Orange?"

Man, what I'd give just to sit shotgun in one of these babies. Where do I go to get in line for this sure-thing collector's piece?

Top Ten #5 - Best New "Mini" Game

I give to you, with great pleasure, Big Jump Challenge!!



http://www.miniclip.com/bigjumpchallenge.htm

Top Ten #6 Worst Quote of the Year

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job"

This individual is clearly a candidate for "worst president" in my Top Ten 2000-2099... stay tuned.

Top Ten #7 Best New Engineering Feat

Muchas gracias, and feliz navidad, if I had not mentioned it already.

Here we are, at number seven in the countdown. This item is something, that as a pure idea, has probably been around since the dawn of man's perceptable, logical thought process.

Let me put it this way, ever since humanity began to think in terms of a society, he/she has had to think of a way, or ways to sustain that society. And energy, or the creation thereof, whether it be in the form of camp fire, wind, electricity, or oil, and the harnessing of this energy for actual good use, has always been coupled with some distinct drawback, that somehow gets a society in some kind of trouble.

Here, I give you, what could be a major step forward. The world's first commerical, ocean wave generated, power plant.
http://www.oceanpd.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3514259.stm

Located off the coast of Portugal, a series of moored pontoons use the perpetual ocean waves to generate enough electricity to power more than 1500 homes.

If this first phase is successful, the reports go on to say the capacity could be increased 10 fold, quite easily.

Top Ten #8 - Best New Band of 2005

Ringing in the new year, at #8 for the Top Ten of 2005, I cordially bring you... Tally Hall.

http://www.tallyhall.com/ - official website
http://www.indie911.com/tally-hall - listen to tracks for free

Perhaps, they could technically have been called a "new" band back in 2002, when actually formed. However, I as sole propriety author of this blog, have the exclussive right to call them "new for 2005." And furthermore, they rock... just like Rocky rocked that Russian dude in Rocky IV (or maybe it was Rocky V).