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.