Leap Day

Almost time to spring forward, and just in time, too. The light is starting to encroach on my morning sleep. Today is Leap Day, and also Pepper Martin's 26th birthday. There should be no such thing as Leap Day. There should be 12 30-day months, and a 5-6 day (or two 2-3 day) holiday(s) around the beginning or middle of the year. No more "30 days hath September, April, June and November." It would be "30 days hath every month." What did February ever do to get such a raw deal?

I'm going to play Bingo at the kids' school tonight, with the kids and one of their friends. That will warm me up for 3-4 tabling No Limit Hold 'em tables while playing in Kat's Donkament tonight. The theme of the evening is "Disco," so I'll be dressed in my usual jeans with my Guinness jersey -- quite appropriate, I think. I don't think Granny will be going, as she's not your average Bingo-type Granny.

Last night was frustrating, as I missed buying into the Riverchasers tournament, because, well I'm not sure why. But when I looked up at 9:00, there was the new-style Full Tilt registration screen still open, with the password entered. I guess a table must have popped up before I hit the right button. Hmmph. So I continued to two-table (that's a lot for me) NLHE at Pokerstars, and played one round too many. I turned a decent win into a small loss when I failed to remember that when someone plays back at me, they might have a hand.

I will try to concentrate harder during the BBT3 series of tournaments, because there's no shortage of good players who will be trying their best to trap me or push me off the best hand. The first event is Sunday night, the monthly Blogger Big Game, and the list of players already registered is a Who's Who of good blogger poker players. The entry fee for the first event (out of 55 over the next 3 months) is $75.00, or one token, which can be won in satellite tournaments. I've already won my entry token in my second try at a satellite. So I'm in for $30 on the first event. I've got a stockpile of $26 tokens (won via satellite tournaments at an average cost of $13, I'd say) for entries into the weekly Mondays at the Hoy events, and I think the rest are $11-$13 buy-ins. To avoid total demolition of my Full Tilt account, I'll need to make the money in several of them. I think what I'll do is play the March events, and see where I stand at the end of the month. If I haven't come close to breaking even, then I'll probably scale back and only play a couple of events a week.

Speaking of the end of March, I'll be heading out to Las Vegas for some live poker on March 30-April 1. I had a free ticket on Jet Blue to use up, so I booked myself as far in advance as I could. Now it's coming right up, and I need to make a hotel reservation (probably the cheapest one I can find, such as Circus Circus or Stratosphere.) I'm somewhat apprehensive about getting robbed or beat up; the only other time I was there, I stayed at the Venetian for a business trip, and only went as far as Harrah's on foot, and to the Palms by bus with the rest of the conference attendees. I've never taken the monorail, walked anywhere off the Strip, or even been outside after about midnight. If I can, I will try to meet some real poker bloggers, who will be there at the same time. I may also try to meet "the Aunts" for lunch one day -- although I can't remember whether they are still out there. I'll bet they know all of the best value buffets in town. Money is also an issue, so I'll be checking the couch cushions, kids' piggy banks, etc., for poker money (just kidding about the piggy banks, the 529 funds can tapped for this "educational" trip.)

OK, the kids' friend is here, and the wife is leaving, so I gotta go.

Update: Bingo skillzzzz!

I won at bingo tonight, scoring on the diagonal with B3 followed by I30 FTW! As I raced to the front to claim my prize, the woman hosting the event said I was the first adult winner in the (now two-year) history of the event to win...

And NOT LET THEIR KID CLAIM THE PRIZE! Doh! I guess this must be what it would have felt like, had I gone to a big high school. Socially inept person gets made fun of by cheerleader in front of the whole school.

She harassed me for the next eternity 30 seconds, and finally let me go. Thanks, thanks a lot, Mrs. C. Remind me to put your kid in right field if I get him in baseball. Just kidding. He'll be on the bench, feigning injury (kids have to play at least two innings, unless they are injured.)

Geez, I bring 3 well-behaved children, somehow gain 2 more whose parents are not at our table, clap for everyone, stop talking when the kids are calling the numbers, and that the thanks I get. Well, I think there will be no penguins in the movie I watch with my prize of pair of movie passes. In fact, I might use them both myself, on consecutive movies, on a weekend afternoon.

...aaaand damn! I missed the start of the Donkament, because I was typing this post. Must... not... tilt...

:wq

Catching up

I spent a few more relaxing days at the end of last week and over the weekend reading, sitting around, and playing poker. Thursday night I played in the Stud Hi/Lo version of the Riverchasers tournament, and played in a few cash games beforehand to warm up. The cash games (at the very lowest stakes on PokerStars) were easily beatable, even by me, but the tournament, ah, was not. I did OK in the first hour, probably due to luck, and then went swiftly down. I found the cash games enjoyable, so I continued to play some of them over the next few days. I suspect I'm not getting any points from them, though, so I have to get back to the no-limit hold 'em cash games to try and make my bonus. I guess it would help if I at some higher limits, but I'm still not good enough for that. Friday I played in Kat's Donkament, with a far smaller field than normal, because of the Eh-Vegas event in Toronto (lovely this time of year.) I played well after the rebuy period ended, even though I had not built up a stack prior to the break. You can read meanhappyguy's very long post, to see his take on the final table. I guess I got impatient and busted out in 5th or 6th place. Dat is geen probleem. (Practicing my Dutch for our family trip to England and Holland in a couple of months.)

The rest of the weekend, I played in token satellites and Stud Hi/Lo cash games. The token satellites because the BBT 3 series is coming up. This is a series of tournaments that will culminate in a tournament of champions for the winners, with 7 WSOP seats at stake (2 Main Event, 5 preliminary event seats)! Last time, I did not play in the later starting tournaments, nor in the more expensive Big Game tournaments (other than the first one.) This is a better chance than I've had in a long time to win a WSOP seat. (There was a series of freerolls that Milwaukee's Best Light ran a couple of years ago that was unbelievably easy, and they were giving away 8 seats. I won a few events while they were still in beta, but once the crowds showed up, never really got close to a seat. I think there were 500 or 1000 players in each week's final, with one seat and a hundred set of poker chips. People were going for the chips, believe it or not.) The competition will be fierce, and I will be ready. I may have to adjust my sleep and work schedule, though, to make sure I don't fall asleep in meetings.

I also read a book about being a cheapskate, and did a budget for the first time in decades. The last time was when I was in my early twenties, and had bills and debts all over the place. That was less of a budget than a payment schedule. Now it's more about living within/below our means, and making conscious decisions about where our money goes, rather than just pissing it away 59 or 119 dollars at a time, and not accomplishing goals (such as a big plasma TV, heh.) I'm not getting any younger, and the next layoff might mean a giant pay cut, so we need to be prepared to live on much less than we do now, in my "peak earning years."

I'm making more of an effort to stay informed about politics and foreign affairs. For example, I'm skipping the scientific articles in the daily paper, and reading the Nation and World sections. I watched the first part of the movie about the Iraq "War," and learned that our clueless leaders not only lied about weapons of mass destruction (about which I knew,) but also intentionally and willfully mishandled the runup to the invasion, the immediate aftermath (orders to stand by while the country was looted,) and the short-term security and reconstruction effort (firing the Iraqi Army, turning them into insurgents.) Somehow, I had given the Bush administration credit for just misunderstanding what would happen, or for putting too much confidence in the military. But they really fucked up every step of the way. So, I'm trying to read meaty articles and opinion pieces, rather than stuff about which poll said Obama is ahead of Clinton, or which candidate has momentum. I've got a couple more books from the library, one about the financing of wars throughout U.S. history, and the other called "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America is Losing the War on Terror." These assholes work for us, not the other way around. If we don't want the police state to continue, let's make a change. I have voted for Green Party candidates when possible, and I believe that third and fourth parties are the way out of the horrible situation that is our government. However, voting for Ralph Nader is not the answer -- it has to happen from the ground up. Throwing away a vote on a Green or Libertarian Party presidential candidate is ineffectual, or worse. Electing 5 Greens or Libertarians to Congress could lead to a coalition government, with the minorities being the swing votes on issues important to one major party or the other.

Another habit that I've recently formed is working out, albeit only to the ultra-cheesy ":08 min." series of exercise videos. The ridiculously ripped leader and his buff guys and gals would have you believe that doing 8 minutes a day of pushups and biceps curls with no weights will make you look like they do. But it is better than not exercising, which is mostly what I've been doing for the past year. I think I've done a session or two for 6 out of 8 days. If I can first make it into a real habit, then I can start branching out into more difficult exercises, more cardio, etc.

OK, quite enough rambling and ranting. I'll be playing in the Blogger Skills Series tonight, with the game being HOE - Limit Hold 'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, and Stud Hi/Lo (the E stands for eight-or-better, which all cards making the low hand in Hi/Lo must be, in order to qualify as a low hand.)

:wq

Moonies

The lunar eclipse is in totality, looking like a ball of molten glass heated in the flames (according to one sleepy child). A while ago, it looked like an ember with a steady stream of oxygen blowing from one side, blinding white, while cooler orange on the back side (according to the other sleepy child). We just got back from the harmonic convergence at Magdalen's house, and we couldn't find the homework binder with a month's worth of moon observations in it. Arrrrrgh! After we turned the car and house upside down, we decided to table the search until tomorrow, and take observations during the eclipse. That was very exciting, and reminded me of the last lunar eclipse I saw, during the final game of the 2004 World Series, when the moon turned red in honor of the Red Sox. The kids were enthusiastic, and thought it was really cool. Plus they got to stay up late.

The harmonic convergence was nice -- lots of R&R, good food, and fun times. Unsurprisingly, there was no poker, but shockingly, there was no bridge! We had a foursome, but we just never got around to it. OK, maybe next time.

The kids are on vacation this week, and so am I. I'll be checking out several blogger tournaments over the next few days, and lots of cash game action, but tonight poker was eclipsed by a shady character.

Butt Splice

Today was Valentine's Day, so I gave Mrs. Dino a nice card, and a beautiful butt splice. You can see a picture of it here. This week is also my mother-in-law's birthday, Magdalen's birthday, and my mother's birthday (yes, even my mother has a blog.) We're having a harmonic convergence at Magdalen's house this weekend. Tonight, we're having a nice session of taxes, followed by a little poker, I hope.

OK, we're done with the taxes for tonight, with 5 minutes to spare before the Riverchasers Online Poker Tour weekly tournament starts. Not many people signed up - I guess nice dinners and glasses of wine are being consumed by spouses.

:wq

Skills - not

Back in the Blogger Skills Series - this time it's 6-max limit hold 'em.

I'm at a table with three recognizable names - twoblackaces, Donkey Shortz, and chitwood. I guess I should shudder with fear. However, the giant club of the all-in bet is removed. The most they can raise me is a stubby single bet. We'll see how I do.

20 minutes in, I have the chip lead at my table with T3865. I got that mostly by raising a flush draw on the flop, hitting it on the turn, then having Donkey Shortz call my turn and river bets. I also won an early pot where twoblackaces played aggressively, and I called down with my top pair, top kicker.

Just flopped a boat after Donkey Shortz raised preflop and I defended with 66. check-check, check-check, check-fold - oh well. Next hand, AA on the button, checked to me, raise, blinds fold. Oh well.

I watched Howard Lederer's chat on FTP, and submitted a question about his dad, whom I met many years ago at a party. He didn't answer the question. The chat was drivel, as he cherry-picks the softballs and puts up pat answers. Guess I won't be doing that again. Howard left the "chat" room so quickly after one hour, I'm surprised the Road Runner sound effect wasn't played.

Just raised on the button with 55, both blinds called, flop 679 rainbow, turn 6 river 8, putting a flush possibility on the board, and giving me a straight. Mondogarage bet both the turn and river, and I just called both times. Probably should have raised both times. It turned out he had an 8 in his hand, for an open-ended straight draw.

AA in the small blind, limp reraise twoblackaces. Flop comes an ace, and I check-call. Turn is a jack, and I bet, he raises, I reraise, he folds. I'm thinking he had QQ. Getting hit with the deck here, up to T5745 after 40 minutes.

At the 100/200 level, I've got T6685. Just played a 4-way pot, and took it down wnd with A2ith TPTK. Up to T8085, and in second chip position in the tournament, out of 30, at the first break.

After the break, 120/240. Tried to KO twoblackaces, but doubled him up instead. I had second pair to his bottom pair, but he hit trips on the turn. Chipped back up by picking off a bluff/semi-bluff by Gump47371. I was in the big blind with A2 suited, and he raised preflop. I called, and bet out on the flop when my suit hit the flop for a flush draw. He raised and I called. The turn was a 2, giving me two more outs. I checked, he checked. A blank came on the river, and I bet out. He hesitated, then folded. Maybe he had a small pocket pair.

Bam Bam showed up at our table - go to his blog and enter your made up porn star name.

I was drifting down, but now I'm plummeting. I'm down to T1835, in the 250/500 level. Wait -- ooh pocket aces in BB - walk. Oh well. Next hand, twoblackaces knocks me to within a couple of big bets of out, when he bets his flush draw on the flop, and hits the flush on the turn, pairing my jack.

The torture is over, as I'm out in 20th place. Terrible performance, given all of the great cards I got. Aces 3 times, many Ace-x suited or not, and quite a few pocket pairs.

Super Bowl Results, and No Poker

Wow, was I close on my Super Bowl prediction! I got the Giants' halftime and final scores right! Unfortunately, the Patriots scored just 4 touchdowns fewer than my prediction. So good game Giants, they certainly deserved the win. As in the Patriots' first Super Bowl win, no one gave the Giants a chance, and they pulled it out in the last minute. I missed the reaction of the Boston fans, and didn't even have time to read the Globe online on Monday. Personally, I am appalled by the videotaping revelations, but don't think it had much if anything to do with their 3 previous Super Bowl wins. I think they will still be the team to beat in the AFC next year, assuming an upgrade to their linebacking crew.

I was literally the last person to board the plane -- as I walked up to the gate, the gate person said my name, and I said, "Yep." (Strangely, on the way back, I could have been literally the first passenger on the plane, if I had wanted to shove my way around a couple that needed a little assistance getting on the plane. They had given my seat to two people, so they offered me the aisle seat in the front row, with preboarding and a free drink. But I'm very cognizant of asshole-y behavior when traveling, and so decided not to walk around these innocent people.) Jet Blue is nice, but it's starting to lose its luster a little. The TVs were great a few years ago, but now I notice that the resolution sucks. They only come around once or twice to serve drinks, and the selection is awful. I guess decent beer in a can is an oxymoron, Guinness excepted. The flight was 6 hours and 20 minutes across the country -- geez that's a long time.

I took a few barely legible notes during the game, including these gems:

5:10 Stuck straw up nose

Nat. anthem - just sing it FFS - Fenway incident (Hmm, which Fenway incident was I thinking of? Probably the time Michael Bolton forgot the lyrics.)

Fucking sneezers - bastards!!! (Between two cross-country flights and 6 buffet meals, I'll be lucky if I don't catch a virus.)

We're in Utah Nevada

17-14 Giants - We're in California

GG Giants


I did not get to play poker at Bay 101, as my VP (who also plays poker) set up an event at a pool hall on the only open evening. Hmm, $20 cab fare each way, plus lose $100 at 3-6 limit, or free beer and schmooze with VP? Free beer wins.

Super Bowl Prediction

I'll be flying out to California during the Super Bowl(TM) today, and this time, the TV's should be working. I am planning to get in some live poker at Bay 101 on Thursday night, so I am bring my copy of Small Stakes Hold 'em to read on the plane. However, this time, I actually played some limit holdem before heading out to the poker room. I opened up a few lowest-limit tables on Full Tilt, and tried to concentrate on a) playing reasonably tight; b) folding bad draws in small pots; c) value betting my good hands, including draws in larger pots; and d) not bluffing. I made a small profit over a couple of hours, and felt I played well. I find live (limit) poker to be much more difficult than online. The action is very fast-paced during the hand, and it's hard for me to make a plan for the hand while trying not to interrupt the flow of the game. In online, I can take as long as I want, up to 15 seconds. That's a huge amount of time to look at opponents' stats, figure out pots odds and make a plan. I typically only play one table online, so I can concentrate when I'm in a hand. Good luck me.

I predict the Patriots will win the Super Bowl by a final score of 42-17. The halftime score will be 35-3. The score after the first 6 minutes will be 14-0, with Moss and Stallworth each scoring a touchdown. No breasts will be exposed.

Gotta go finish packing now.

Super Bowl is a registered trademark of the National Football League.