Poignant

I love poker.

I really do. I love everything about this silly game. I love to be able to sit at a table against people from all walks of life and be able to match wits with them. Just this weekend for example, I've played poker against a doctor and an engineer, amongst others. I love the social aspect of the game - it's always a great time at a poker game, because you're always among friends. And since I acquired the gambling gene from my parents, I love to be able to have 'a lil sumpin-sumpin' riding on the decisions that I make at the table. That's just in my blood!

But the thing that I love the most about this game is also the most frustrating thing about the game, and essentially, where this game's true beauty lies... anybody can win! In golf, if you were to play a round against Tiger Woods, you couldn't win one match out of 10,000. But in poker, you could sit across from any seasoned pro and, although you'd probably be at a disadvantage, you'd stand a pretty good chance to be able to beat him. The most skilled players in the world must still rely on a certain amount of luck to be able to win a big tournament. If the poker gods aren't smiling on a player on a certain day, perfect decisions can still send him to his demise. It's a beautiful thing. Anybody can win.

That includes a stubborn, cocky twenty-something year old kid who started playing the play money tables at Poker Stars about 10 years ago. He wasn't cocky enough to play for real money at that time, but he played a lot and eventually increased his play money bankroll from PM1,000 to over PM2,000,000. If you would have had the chance to talk to him and ask him how strong a poker player he was, he'd have laughed and said 'oh, I'm pretty good'. And he'd have believed it too.

Truth be told, that kid didn't know the first thing about poker. Sure, he had good results. Sure his stack increased exponentally. But how much of that success was based on luck? How much was based on the fact that a majority of the play money players don't take their play money seriously and just donk off their chips. How much was just calling the wrong bet at the right time and reaping the benefits of a bad play?

Sit down with this kid, and he'd have many stories about sucking out on online opponents. Players would berate him, tell him how poor he played and how lucky he got and that he didn't deserve to win. They'd call him every name in the book - they'd make sure that he was on their buddy list (so whenever he logged in, it would tell those players so they could seek him out and play at his table - because they'd have a better chance to win money against him!). But according to him, they were sore losers and just complainers - he was just that good a player and had the results to back it up! This kid truthfully had no idea how fortunate he was. He was gaining experience, collecting chips and having a good time - he just didn't know how truly bad a player he was!

Fast forward to this weekend.

Saturday night, I played at Zooks' home game and finished something like 11th out of 19. I didn't play particularly well - once I bluffed with a 2-5 and went all in and everybody folded. I showed everybody the bluff - turned out to be really stupid on my part. Later, when I pushed all in preflop with a pair of 7's, I got called by a guy with Q8 ("I thought you were bluffing again!" he tells me) and lost when the board counterfeited me by showing K-9-10-K-10. True, the call with Q8 was terrible, but had I not showed the bluff, he would never have called. I was truly frustrated, but put the blame on myself. Luckily I was able to win $25 at the cash game, so I netted a positive $5 for the night! Woohoo!

Sunday afternoon, I played in 2 tourneys at Gordo's. In the first one, I finished 3rd out of 9 (won $15, net $5). Again, I played OK, but made a bad decision that cost me big time. I was getting an incredible run of cards and kept raising and raising pots preflop. I'd win most of them, losing just once in a while. Then I got dealt 3-5 on the button (3 handed). It's one of those hands that if you're going to play, you need to raise, because you'd rather take it down without having to see a flop - if it goes to a flop, you're almost assuredly behind. But since I had raised so many previous pots, I decided to limp, caught a pair of 5's on the flop 5-4-Q, but Teresa paired both her 5 and her 4 and all but knocked me out. Had I raised preflop like I should have, no way she calls with 4-5. Again, I lost to a crap hand, but because I played it poorly. When it's my own dumb fault, it's so much easier to take.

But the second tourney on Sunday was a different story. Blinds started at 10/20 and there were fireworks from the word 'Go'. One pot I raised preflop to 120, Toby re-raised to 250. I called and when the flop hit me, I pushed all in and Toby folded correctly. Just 2 hands later, I had A-K and with multiple limpers in front of me, I raised to 200. Toby came over the top for 500. I went all in and he insta-called (he was tilting a little) and flipped over A-J. He muttered something about not caring and how he shouldn't have played anyway, but when the J came on the flop, he had doubled up and I had a lot of catching up to do. Then a few hands later (still 10/20) , I managed to get all my chips (1200 or so) into the pot with T-J on a 8-9-J-3 (2 spades) board against Jeff's A-6 sooooooted in spades. The river spade knocked me out 10 minutes after I started.

My ride home is usually reserved for analyzing my play - What did I do wrong? What could I have done better. What should I do next time this situation arises? The only thing I could come up with is that I shouldn't have risked so many chips so early into a tournament. But then the more I thought about it, if you give me the option to get all my chips in with a 70/30 advantage, I'd take it every time - even 6 minutes in or 6 hours in. I decided that I wasn't taking any resonsibility for this one - I just got hosed!! I steamed and steamed most the ride home. Maybe I just need a break from this game - the frustration just doesn't seem worth it sometimes.

But then I thought about all of the reasons why I love this game so much, and why it's so much a part of me. I thought about that know-it-all kid who played on those play-money tables and won when he had no business doing so. I thought about how he felt when he was winning - even if his decisions weren't as sound, he was still having fun playing the game. I thought of all of his opponents who berated him and his play, and what was thought of them at the time (and how much merit he gave their complaints anyway). But mostly, I thought about how vastly different my life would be had I not ever played a hand of poker. A very large percentage of my very best friends in this world, I met at a poker table. I met one of my very closest friends, Tim, at a poker game, and 20 years later, I'm the godfather of his youngest daughter. I was introduced to the Peoria Jaycees through poker, and now a huge percentage of my social calendar is spent with these new friends. If it wasn't for poker, I'd have never got the opportunity to know all these truly wonderful people - that's a very scary, but very true statement. And you know what? That's not something I want to give up very easily. I owe so much to this game, so I'm just going to keep on playing and see where it'll take me next...

I do truly love poker!!

Pilferer

Sorry I haven't written in a while - between the holidays and being sick, I haven't had the chance to write until today. I guess it's a good thing that I don't have much to say.

First of all, I hope that everybody had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did. Every year since I can remember, we've always gone to midnight mass on Christmas Eve, but this year, we broke tradition and went to 4:00 mass instead. It was nice - normally I don't get to bed until about 2:00 that night and with everything going on on Christmas day, I'm usually worn down pretty early. But this year, I was able to get to sleep at a normal hour and was good to go all day! We spent Christmas morning at my parents and then went to my aunt & uncles for our gift exchange and the White Elephant exchange.

For our White Elephant gift exchange, and I ended up getting a combination shoe horn/walking stick/back scratcher. It's something to see for sure! My cousin Drew ended up with what I brought - a handful of old license plates. I don't think he was very happy with that! :) My cousin Michael got the white elephant, but I guess somebody has already kidnapped it away from him. It should be an interesting year for the elephant - who knows where he's at or what he's up to!

And for those of you who think I took him, I can assure you I did not!

Karma

I just got back from a poker game in Mossville (went with Toby and Gordo), and it was indeed an experience. Buy in was 30 + 20 for a rebuy/reload. There were 3 tables (19 players) and everybody but one rebought, so that made 880 in the pot. Top 4 places paid - (440, 260, 120 and 60)... We played in some guy's garage, and well over half of the players were smokers. Normally that's not a big deal, but when you've got a couple dozen people in a garage and it's bone-chilling cold outside, you can't open up the doors and let the fresh air in - you'd freeze your butt off!! By the end of the night, I could barely see my own cards through all the smoke in there.

Gordo and Toby started out at the same table, but I was at a table where I didn't know anybody. My goal when I started to play was to sit back for the first half hour or so and not play any hands. I wanted to get a read on the players at my table before investing many of my chips - not knowing my opponents should have cost me the tournament at Zooks last home game and I didn't want to make the same mistake here (surprisingly, I learn from my mistakes). This strategy accomplished 2 things - I did get very good reads on my opponents, but more importantly, it gave me a table image of being a super tight player (I know you're all laughing, but I'm serious - these guys thought I was a rock!! hahaha if only they knew!!). This absolutely worked in my favor for the rest of the night. There were pots that I had absolute garbage and pushed in a raise and 3 guys said "Well he must have pocket aces - I'm folding". The strategy worked out really well.

After about 5 players got knocked out, a guy went all in with pocket 8's preflop and I woke up with Aces in the cutoff. That eliminated him and gave me a sizeable chipstack (and validation of my table image to my opponents ;). After that, I basically folded most every hand - except for a handful of well-timed bluffs (uncalled of course - who wants to go up against aces! :)- and made my way to the final table of 9 players.

When we got to the final table, Toby and Gordo were still alive as well. We played for what seemed like forever before we lost the first player at the final table. Then there were 8. Gordo was dealt pocket aces and got all his chips in against pocket kings, only to watch a K-2-2 flop end his night in 8th place. That was a brutal beat! Had he won that pot, he would have been the chip leader and a major player in the tourney - Tough luck Gordo!

For the next half hour or so, the blinds were getting pretty substantial, and I noticed that Toby and I were becoming targets. Toby is a very tight player, and with my newfound rocky table image, I recognized that I was ripe for other players trying to stealing my blinds. So I started pushing all-in on unraised pots relatively often. Once I pushed with 4-9o, another time with 10-3. Didn't matter - I pushed. And since they think I'm a rock, they all folded. I needed those chips for when they raised my blinds, and I absolutely used my image to my advantage! But Toby, on the other hand, I don't think recognized it. The other players knew that Toby would fold his blinds to a big raise 99 times out of 100, so they were chasing each other to raise the pot when Toby was the big-blind. Somebody would pop a nice raise, and I'd hear other players whispering "I was going to do that if you didn't". Once Toby's blind was raised and he re-raised all in over the top and got the guy to fold, resulting in a nice pot, but that only happened one time. They kept popping his blinds and he kept folding until he eventually got blinded down to where he was super short-stacked and had to call with pocket 4s against AQ (not a particularly bad spot) but lost to an A on the flop. Toby finished in 6th place, which is becoming all too familiar for him - finishing just out the money seemingly every tournament (See Exhibit A, for one example...)

After another kid lost, the remaining 4 of us were in the money. Woohoo!!

Then my luck turned a little cold. I was maybe 2nd in chips and was dealt pocket jacks, so I made a sizeable raise preflop. The chip leader went all-in over the top of me, and I made a big laydown (luckily so, as he showed his pocket aces). Then, having K-9 in the hole, I made a sizeable bet on a A-6-3 board trying to represent an ace, only to have a another guy re-raise all in. Again I folded, and he showed me his pocket 6s (I played it off like I had a big ace and made a great laydown!) Eventually, my chip stack was diminished to where my big blind made me pot committed and I was forced to call a raise from pocket 8s with Q7o. My odds were pretty bad to win, but they were even worse when each of the other two players revealed that they had both also folded Q7o. Needless to say, I didn't catch the lone remaining queen and I was eliminated in 4th place.

I ended up netting 10 dollars for the night, so that's not too bad, but I went home thinking I could have done so much better. I played as good a game of poker tonight as I have played in quite some time. My player reads were spot on all night, and their read on me was 100% wrong. They thought that the hands I won were just a matter of me catching good hands left and right! They had no idea how loose I was really playing. I only showed one bluff all night (and I didn't even have to show it - I bluffed a guy that bluffed me multiple times, so I just had to rub his nose in it like he did to me a few times earlier). Had I not run into such huge hands, I think I could have made it farther into the tourney - maybe even won the thing - but 4th is ok.

I feel bad for Gordo though - I do really think he would have won the whole tournament had his aces held up. But I guess we'll never know. Maybe it's just the poker gods kicking him in the butt for 2 weeks ago...

Banjoists

The Christmas season is officially here now - we've finally been banjoed!

Every year, a small group of insurance agents from Kuhl & Co. come to Pekin Insurance with their banjoes and walk around to each department giving us a short little concert. This year, they sang Silver Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Silent Night and White Christmas. Those songs were great, but that wasn't the highlight of the show. Some of us employees see to it that they don't leave our department until they whip out 'Dueling Banjoes'. It's been a yearly tradition for almost 15 years, and this year may have been the best ever! It's not the most holiday-inspring song, but of all the songs they did, that gets the biggest applause from us by far. I guess that speaks volumes on the group of folks I work with!! :)

Now I can't get that song out of my head!! But that's a good thing!!

Peculation

Since June, I've been a member of Blockbuster's Total Access online plan. It's a subscription service where you can rent select 3 DVDs online and they'll ship them to you. Then when you're done with those, you can return them to the store and trade them in for 3 new movies at the store. Then they'll e-mail you the next 3 on your list as well. It's like getting six movies at a time, and it was a pretty good deal. And at $17.99 a month, it was only a dollar more than Netflix. I was a member of Netflix, but I quit when I couldn't think of any more movies to rent.

Their service has been pretty shotty lately. Take this week for example. I returned my movies to the store on Monday night. Typically, they're supposed to send out three more movies - usually the next day but sometimes 2 days later. Well it's Thursday and they still haven't shipped any movies yet. And this has been happening on a regular basis - I don't know if they're just slow or if they're trying to limit the number of movies I get a month. There are a couple of my coworkers who are also memebrs of Blockbuster, and they're having the same problems as me.

Well last month, I got an e-mail saying that they've increased my monthly charge from 17.99 to 24.99. I decided to stick with them, but today I got another e-mail saying that they're increasing their rates from 24.99 to 34.99. Well they can kiss my butt! I've paid for my membership through January 9th, so I'll stay with it until January 8th or so and then I'm through with them! I'm going back to Netflix. And you know what? I checked on Netflix' site and they're still the same $16.99 they've always been. Another lesson learned!!

Erudite

Monday night, I was in Peoria for bowling night, so beforehand i stopped in to Barnes & Noble to check out their supply of desk calendars. I've always been a sucker for those things. This year, I had three calendars - Boggle, Tangrams and Sudoku. The Sudoku one (which I received as a gift) I did for about a month and ended up giving it away. The Tangrams one I kept up with until about Setember, but messing with the magnets got to be a pain, so I quit doing that one too. But the Boggle one I kept up with - it usually doesn't take very long and it's a good way to get the mental juices flowing in the morning.

Anyway, I was looking through their new calendars for 2008, and there were three that caught my eye - the Boggle calendar for 2008, a Scrabble calendar (another of my favorite games) and a New York Times crossword-puzzle-a-day calendar. I was going to get all 3, but at the last second, I decided against the Boggle one and bought the other two. When it was finally my turn to pay, the little cutie behind the counter saw the New York Times calendar and said 'Ooh - the New York Times crossword calendar - I had the 2007 one and those puzzles are hard!" I asked her if she was able to finish any of them and she said "A few, but not easily - they're really difficult!"

Now I love crossword puzzles - I would say I'm not necessarily any good at them, but I more often than not finish them, and a lot of the time without needing outside assistance (dictionary, internet, etc.). Judging by this girl's demeanor and appearance, she seemed the intellectual type - cute as a button, but definitely well spoken and probably the honor-student type. Also, the fact that she owned the 2007 calendar backed up my impression - I mean, how many dumb girls try their luck with a crossword puzzle every day? I left the bookstore thinking if she struggled with these things, what am I doing trying? I probably should have gone with the Boggle calendar - that's probably more in tune with my intellectual level than the lofty New York Times crossword calendar!

Well, I brought the calendars into work this morning, and opened them up and put them on my desk. And since January 1st is a work holiday, I thought I'd give the first crossword puzzle a try. Let's just say that I've learned my lesson - you shouldn't judge people by their first impressions!! I breezed through that crossword puzzle in a matter of minutes!! Now I realize that January 1st is a Tuesday, and the puzzles get increasingly harder as the week goes on, culminating with the imposing Sunday crossword, but if the subsequent puzzles are like the first one, I think I made the right decision!!

Maybe (just maybe) I'll find a trivia calendar and post a daily trivia question on my blog. That might be fun!

Ululation

* Well, I got to work this morning, and my new screamin' slingshot monkey was sitting on my desk. He looks a little different from the one at the party Friday - this one has a green cape and he's actually wearing a crash helmet too. And this guy is definitely much louder - he literally screams any time he crashes into something. With as much as I've been flinging him around the cube today, I'm shocked that none of my superiors have scolded me! I'm sure the whole department can hear him screaming!

* Poker update - back last weekend when I downloaded PokerTracker and RealTime, I had $140 in my PokerStars account. By the time I went to bed Saturday night (well actually Sunday morning), I had $370 in there. But Sunday was a really bad poker day, and I ended the weekend with $205. Last night, I went bowling and then to Double A's to watch some of the Bears-Vikings game with friends, but I made it home by 10:30, so I decided to play for a little while. I won a handful of big pots, but more importantly, the few pots I lost were very small. After an hour or so, I quit for the night with $285. That puts me up $145 since acquiring the new software. I'd like to think that it's helping! Plus, with all the hands that I've been playing lately, I'm earning a bunch of FPPs (Frequent Player Points) which I can spend on merchandise in the Poker Store. I have enough points right now to get a DVD player, but I think I'm going to trade them in for cash. At my current pace, I'll be able to trade in my points for $100 by this coming weekend. You gotta love getting cash for making cash at the poker tables!!

Switcheroo

As you all know, Friday was the Jaycees Christmas party, and it was a great time!! My food was excellent and the company was even better. Kudos to Dawn for putting it all together - it seemed to be a perfect evening!

Funny story - I was sitting at a table with Jason, Victor, Keri and Jeff. Keri started playing the 'switch the nametag' game, so I had her nametag on and she had mine on. Anyway, after multiple times switching, I had Jeff's nametag on. Well Victor must not have known what was going on, because he looked at me, then started talking to Keri, saying "Ya know, it's just weird to see him with that nametag on. I don't know him as Jeff, he's Tucker!" He really thought my first name was Jeff!! We all laughed and he was embarrassed (hopefully not too much though). As little as I use my first name, I'm sure he's not the only one who doesn't know it.

The white elephant was obviously the best best part of the night - I drew #19 out of 37, so I was right in the middle. Here's a synopsis of how the exchange went (it might be a little lengthy, but it's worth posting I think...)

Shane drew #1 and he opened a bottle of rum, adorned with a slingshot monkey. Being a non drinker, I could have cared less about the rum, but I had to have the monkey. I set my sights on getting him. Mary really wanted the monkey too, so I knew I had some competition, but I wasn't going to back down!!

#2-17 were pretty uneventful. Not many gifts were stolen, and most of the gifts that were opened were alcohol, however Matt Ryan opened up some frog slippers/foot massager that sort of caught my eye.

#18 was where the gift exchange really began. Gifts were stolen and restolen and by the end of that pick, wouldn't you know that Kriss stole the monkey for the third time, and thus making him off limits. I was devastated!! I'm sure Mary was too, but there was nothing either of us could do.

#19 came along, which was my pick. I had my heart set on the monkey, but I sadly settled on stealing the frog massager from Matt. That actually turned out to be a pretty good decision in the long run.

Somewhere in the low 20's, somebody opened up a little Jesus figurine (he came with something else - maybe alcohol - i don't remember). Shortly after that gift was opened, Rhonda (Matt's lady) stole my frogs back (for Matt, I'm sure) , so I was ready to open a new gift. But Kriss really wanted that Jesus, so she struck a deal with me - if I stole the Jesus, she'd trade the monkey for it!! Woohoo!! I quickly made the deal, and I had the monkey and nobody could take it from me!!

Well, somewhere in the late 20's, somebody opened up Humphrey the Humping Dog. It's this stuffed dog that wraps around whatever you want and when you push a button, he starts going to town, making moans and groans while he's dry humping whatever he's attached to. All of a sudden, the monkey didn't seem as interesting. Humphrey was cool! Too bad I was out of the running for him...

...or was I? Later on in the night, Lori had the 'Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader' game, but J.O. stole it from her, and there's a rule that says you can't directly steal back something that was stolen from you. Lori decided on stealing Humphrey for the 3rd and final time. Well, Mary's turn finally came, and she was still eyeing my monkey (hee hee hee). I told her that if she could get Humphrey for me, I'd trade her the monkey for him. But Lori had Humphrey and he was off limits. But Mary came up with the master plan. She struck a deal with Lori, so she stole the '5th Grader' game from J.O., traded it to Lori for Humphrey, and I traded the monkey to Mary and wound up with Humphrey! I ended up getting exactly what I wanted (and so did Mary, Kriss and Lori - it couldn't have worked out any better). That was the first 3-way switch in Jaycees white elephant history so I'm told! It's always good to be a part of making history!

And the story even gets better. I came into work this morning and was telling my story to Mike, my cubemate. After listening to the whole thing, he said that he has multiple slingshot monkeys at home and would give me one. I offered to buy it, but he wouldn't take any cash. He even let me choose what color cape I wanted on my monkey (part of me wonders what he's doing with a houseful of these monkeys, but hey, i'm not asking - especially if he's offering me one!)

How lucky am I? I'm thinking Humphrey, the monkey and I will have to celebrate!! (hee hee hee)

Mismatch

Well, it's Friday here at work, and that means casual Friday. The shirts and ties that we're required to wear during the week get to stay in the closet on Friday, to be replaced by business casual attire. For us guys, that means a shirt with a collar, dress pants and shoes. Getting rid of the tie is a big deal - not that I mind wearing a tie every once in a while, it just doesn't make sense to have to wear one every day. Anyway, it's nice to get that reprieve, if only once a week.

Last Friday, when I got home from work, I saw a package sitting on my front step, and I knew exactly what it was - my new rugby shirt! I was so excited - I wore it to the poker game I hosted Friday, I wore it to bowling Monday and Wednesday too. The master plan though was to wear it today to work. I'm not sure what the powers that be will think of it, but it adheres to every guideline in our employee handbook when it comes to dress code. I even told a few folks at work to check out the shirt I'd be wearing today.

Well, last night when I got home, I logged on to Poker Stars and started playing poker, and my one-tracked mindedness kicked in. I sat and played until bedtime. i did win about $110 last night, but imagine my disappointment when I went to pull the rugby out of my closet this morning, and it wasn't there! Of course I knew where it was - in a pile with all of the other dirty clothes that I had planned to wash last night. Oh well, procrastination is still my middle name, and my rugby work experience will have to wait at least another week!

Speaking of poker last night, here's one of the funnier hands I think I've ever played - sometimes it pays to be lucky/stupid!! Limit Hold'em Blinds $1/$2...

*********** # 6 **************
PokerStars Game #13843743803: Hold'em Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/12/13 - 20:58:15 (ET)
Table 'Donar III' 10-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: docwally79 ($4.50 in chips)
Seat 2: AkuAku ($11.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Tuxter018 ($71.25 in chips)
Seat 4: vlarndt ($60.75 in chips)
Seat 5: pstvexpcttn ($30 in chips)
Seat 6: jaysona ($35.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Friar_Tucker ($106.25 in chips)
Seat 8: GARDOCK ($90.25 in chips)
Seat 9: Jefftrez ($111.25 in chips)
Seat 10: kennism ($45.75 in chips)
Friar_Tucker: posts small blind $0.50
GARDOCK: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tuxter018 [6s 8s]
Jefftrez: folds
kennism: folds
docwally79: folds
AkuAku: folds
Tuxter018: raises $1 to $2
vlarndt: calls $2
pstvexpcttn: calls $2
jaysona: calls $2
Friar_Tucker: calls $1.50
GARDOCK: folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 9d 9c]
Friar_Tucker: checks
Tuxter018: bets $1
vlarndt: calls $1
pstvexpcttn: raises $1 to $2
jaysona: folds
Friar_Tucker: folds
Tuxter018: raises $1 to $3
vlarndt: folds
pstvexpcttn: calls $1
*** TURN *** [7s 9d 9c] [3d]
Tuxter018: bets $2
pstvexpcttn: calls $2
*** RIVER *** [7s 9d 9c 3d] [7d]
Tuxter018: bets $2
pstvexpcttn: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tuxter018: shows [6s 8s] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
pstvexpcttn: mucks hand
Tuxter018 collected $25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $26 Rake $1
Board [7s 9d 9c 3d 7d]
Seat 1: docwally79 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: AkuAku folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Tuxter018 showed [6s 8s] and won ($25) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 4: vlarndt folded on the Flop
Seat 5: pstvexpcttn mucked [5c 5h]
Seat 6: jaysona (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Friar_Tucker (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: GARDOCK (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Jefftrez folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: kennism folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I don't know why he called the river bet - maybe frustration, maybe didn't see he was counterfeited, but I'm glad he did - the hand wouldn't have been as memorable if he had folded - thanks pstvexpcttn!!

Pachyderm

The Peoria Jaycees Christmas party is Friday night, and I'm looking forward to it. It's being held at the River Station, who has one of the best prime ribs I've had. And since that is one of the menu items for Friday, lucky me!! It should be a really good time, and I hope it's well attended.

But the part of the evening I'm really looking forward to the most is the gift exchange. This is my first Jaycees Christmas party, so I've never been involved in one of these before, but here's how I understand it. Everybody who wants to participate goes out and buys a gift (no more than $10). It can be a nice gift, a gag gift, whatever floats your boat. Then each person wraps it and brings it to the party. Each person bringing a gift draws a number and the exchange begins. Whoever drew number 1 gets to choose whichever gift they want, and they open it. Whoever drew number 2 can decide whether to take the first gift (which they already know what it is) or they can open a new gift. The process continues until each person has a gift. I believe once a gift has changed hands 3 times, it cannot be stolen anymore. It's your typical white elephant gift exchange, but knowing the Jaycees, it'll be anything but typical - I can't wait to see this group of gifts!!

A few years ago (maybe 8 or so), our family started a yearly white elephant gift exchange (works just like stated above), and it's always the hit of the day. We've gifted everything from a chia pet to a shoehorn to a giant pez dispenser. But the prized gift is a small white Buddha-looking porcelain elephant. Whoever wins this guy gets to keep him for the year, but is obligated to regift him and bring him back for somebody else to have the following year. My father won it last year, and it's sat in his family room ever since. It's always the most coveted gift at the exchange, and whoever wins him gets to write their name somewhere on him - sort of like the Stanley Cup in hockey - so that no matter who has the elephant at any time, they can see who's held him before. I'm carving out a place for him at my house as we speak!!

If the Jaycees white elephant is half as fun as our family's white elephant, Friday night will be a hoot!!

Backstop

* The Nationals have had some big acquisitions in the the past week, trading for a couple of young, potentially super outfielders in Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes, acquiring a potential starting pitcher in Tyler Clippard from the Yankees, and then yesterday signing free agent catcher Paul LoDuca (who was born on the exact same day as me by the way - 4/12/72). While none of these moves are probably going to turn Washington into a World Series team this year, they could be stepping stones to a potential World Series somehwere down the road. It's refreshing to see our team acquiring young talent, instead of trading it all away like they've done ever since I've been rooting for this team. Add the new ballpark (which will be ready for opening day) and it's a great time to be a Nationals fan!

* After playing online poker for years, I've finally broke down and bought PokerTracker this weekend. It's a program that will save each online poker hand you've played in its own database and will analyse your poker play. It will tell you pretty much anything you want to know about your game. Since buying the program Saturday, I've played 1,358 hands online and I'm down $15. I have a VP$IP of 23% (that's the percentage of hands that I voluntarily put money into the pot). I've won more money playing pocket 8's than any other hand, and I've lost the most money playing QJo. It will tell you who which player you've lost the most to, what limits you play the best at - you name it, it can tell you. Hopefully it will make me a better/more profitable player in the long run.

* I also downloaded Realtime (by suggestion from Zooks - thanks!). It's much like PokerTracker, however it charts the statistics of your opponents and overlays their stats on the screen as the hands are being played. Let's say player #3 raises a pot - Realtime will be able to show you what kind of player player #3 is. What percentage of the time does this player raise? When he raises, does he usually have a premium hand, or does he bluff a lot? How much money has this player won or lost? Realtime tells you all of this while the hand is being played - it basically helps you make informed decisions, and in the long run, better decisions mean more money!!

* I mentioned above that I've won more money playing pocket 8's than any other hand. I'm sure this hand is part of the reason why - limit hold 'em $1/$2

*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #13785682005: Hold'em Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/12/11 - 00:28:29 (ET)
Table 'Aguntina' 10-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: BobJNH ($42.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Tuxter018 ($52.50 in chips)
Seat 5: sk1llz2424 ($62.25 in chips)
Seat 6: the_caryn ($58.25 in chips)
Seat 7: CPenfold ($14.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Skiguygt ($36.50 in chips)
Seat 9: bluedevil97 ($39.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Mikk97 ($97.50 in chips)
the_caryn: posts small blind $0.50
CPenfold: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tuxter018 [8s 8h]
Skiguygt: folds
bluedevil97: raises $1 to $2
Mikk97: folds
BobJNH: calls $2
Tuxter018: calls $2
sk1llz2424: calls $2
the_caryn: folds
CPenfold: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [7d 8d 8c]
CPenfold: checks
bluedevil97: checks
BobJNH: checks
Tuxter018: bets $1
sk1llz2424: calls $1
CPenfold: calls $1
bluedevil97: calls $1
BobJNH: calls $1
*** TURN *** [7d 8d 8c] [3d]
CPenfold: checks
bluedevil97: checks
BobJNH: checks
Tuxter018: bets $2
sk1llz2424: calls $2
CPenfold: calls $2
bluedevil97: folds
BobJNH: calls $2
*** RIVER *** [7d 8d 8c 3d] [Ts]
CPenfold: checks
BobJNH: checks
Tuxter018: bets $2
sk1llz2424: raises $2 to $4
CPenfold: folds
BobJNH: folds
Tuxter018: raises $2 to $6
sk1llz2424: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
Tuxter018: calls $2
*** SHOW DOWN ***
sk1llz2424: shows [3h 3c] (a full house, Threes full of Eights)
Tuxter018: shows [8s 8h] (four of a kind, Eights)
Tuxter018 collected $38.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $39.50 | Rake $1
Board [7d 8d 8c 3d Ts]
Seat 2: BobJNH folded on the River
Seat 3: Tuxter018 showed [8s 8h] and won ($38.50) with four of a kind, Eights
Seat 5: sk1llz2424 (button) showed [3h 3c] and lost with a full house, Threes full of Eights
Seat 6: the_caryn (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: CPenfold (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 8: Skiguygt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: bluedevil97 folded on the Turn
Seat 10: Mikk97 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Speechless

* I've lost my voice. Since Saturday morning, I haven't been able to talk. I don't know why - my throat's still a little sore, but for the most part, I feel ok - just can't say anything. Most of you would say that's a good thing!! Had tentative plans to karaoke Saturday night, so that obviously didn't happen. That might have been funny though...

* The poker tourney at my place Friday night was a success - except for the fact that I didn't win. There were 11 players, and I think it lasted until around midnight. Here's how it ended up (paid 3 spots)...

1st - Jeff (3 victories in a row - what a friggin luckbox!)
2nd - Jason (2nd place twice this week - always the bridesmaid...)
3rd - Zooks (folded her rags all the way to the money)
4th - Toby (bubble boy - should have known not to mess with Jeff's A3o)
5th - Tim (you sure that jerky wasn't made in a Ron Popeil dehydrator?)
6th - Mary (she finished higher than Gordo, and that's really what's important)
7th - Gordo (took me out and then saw somebody take out a deer on the way home)
8th - Shane (out early enough to play some pool in the basement)
9th - Chris (couldn't back up the smack - at least he made the final table)
10th - Me (two days later, and I'm finally over it Gordo...)
11th - Chippy (wish you could have stayed longer - we hardly got to know ya!)

The Pekin Insurance boys didn't show too well, as none of us cashed and 3 of the 4 were among the first 3 knocked out. I'm planning on having a game each month, so hopefully next month we'll show a little better!

Pity

There's no crying in poker... well maybe there is! Check this hand out from my poker tourney...

I've got about 2k out of my 2500 original stack and am dealt pocket kings in middle position m- blinds are 75/150. It's folded to me, and I pop it up to 375. Everybody folds to Gordo, who calls my raise. Sheets folds in the big blind.

Flop comes 5 J K - Jackpot!! Woohoo!!

Gordo checked it to me, and I bet 375 again. Gordo calls.

Turn comes an Ace - Perfect - Gordo plays Ax alot, and if he is here, I'm loving this even more.

Gordo checks again and I pop it to 600. Gordo calls.

River comes a Queen - I'm beat and I know it already.

Gordo checks and before I see his hand, I throw my trips in disgust. Gordo shows me his TJs and I'm all but out!

I'm boycotting ten jack forever!! Twice in a matter of days that hand has done me in!!

BTW, I'm posting this while the tourney is still going on - once I find out who wins, I'll post...

Vindication

I played in two more online tournaments last night - here's the synopsis.

First one was another 180 player SNG, same setup as the one last night. I played pretty well - kept increasing my stack slowly but surely, but eventually I was the small stack and had to race with my ATs against a pair of 8's. I ended up losing the race, and finished 23rd (top 18 got paid). Second tourney was a 9 player SNG and I ended up winning that one - my $5.50 was turned into 22.50! The payday wasn't huge, but I needed a confidence boost after a string of non-winners. Only one interesting hand to speak of, and again I was on the short end - this was from the 180 player tourney...

*********** # 111 **************
PokerStars Game #13692967734: Tournament #69445062, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (150/300) - 2007/12/06 - 18:37:39 (ET)
Table '69445062 12' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: MrsPresident (1819 in chips)
Seat 2: nash8500 (6279 in chips)
Seat 3: wayneking7 (1600 in chips)
Seat 4: Sjimian (2994 in chips)
Seat 5: iddaPhil (7480 in chips)
Seat 6: Tuxter018 (10046 in chips)
Seat 7: TiboQc (3679 in chips)
Seat 8: Cmolp2004 (9342 in chips)
Seat 9: featherly37 (14053 in chips)
MrsPresident: posts the ante 25
nash8500: posts the ante 25
wayneking7: posts the ante 25
Sjimian: posts the ante 25
iddaPhil: posts the ante 25
Tuxter018: posts the ante 25
TiboQc: posts the ante 25
Cmolp2004: posts the ante 25
featherly37: posts the ante 25
TiboQc: posts small blind 150
Cmolp2004: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tuxter018 [Kd Ks]
featherly37: calls 300
MrsPresident: raises 1494 to 1794 and is all-in
nash8500: folds
wayneking7: folds
Sjimian: folds
iddaPhil: folds
Tuxter018: calls 1794
TiboQc: folds
Cmolp2004: folds
featherly37: calls 1494
*** FLOP *** [3c Kc Ad]
featherly37: checks
Tuxter018: bets 900
featherly37: calls 900
*** TURN *** [3c Kc Ad] [3d]
featherly37: checks
Tuxter018: bets 1500
featherly37: folds
*** RIVER *** [3c Kc Ad 3d] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tuxter018: shows [Kd Ks] (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
Tuxter018 collected 1800 from side pot
MrsPresident: shows [As Kh] (a full house, Aces full of Kings)
MrsPresident collected 6057 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7857 Main pot 6057. Side pot 1800. | Rake 0
Board [3c Kc Ad 3d Ah]
Seat 1: MrsPresident showed [As Kh] and won (6057) with a full house, Aces full of Kings
Seat 2: nash8500 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: wayneking7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Sjimian folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: iddaPhil folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Tuxter018 (button) showed [Kd Ks] and won (1800) with a full house, Kings full of Aces
Seat 7: TiboQc (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Cmolp2004 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: featherly37 folded on the Turn

Isn't it funny how the hands you remember most are the hands that you lose. I'm sure there were many hands I could have posted where I came out on top, but I don't remember those as much. :)

Munificence

* Went to Gil's in Hanna City last night for dinner, and I have to say the fried chicken there was pretty darn good. Had some steak fries and mashed potatoes (of course, no gravy!) too and everything was wonderful!! It was especially wonderful last night, because it was free. I guess the waitress accidentally put my meal on Melissa Harrison's check, so she paid for mine unknowingly. Had I known that would happen, I'd have ordered a couple of appetizers too!! Maybe a steak or two as well... :)

* After dinner, I went home and played online in a 180 player SNG ($4 + $0.40). I played exceedingly well for the first couple of hours, turning my 1500 starting stack into 8790 and finding myself 5th in chips with 48 players remaining (top 18 get paid - 1st place pays about $200). Then came hands 102 and 103...

*********** # 102 **************
PokerStars Game #13678304958: Tournament #69362125, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (150/300) - 2007/12/05 - 23:42:57 (ET)
Table '69362125 10' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: lildog8 (1860 in chips)
Seat 2: nzstoreman (8453 in chips)
Seat 3: NuhiZhuta (14136 in chips)
Seat 4: Tuxter018 (8790 in chips)
Seat 5: umfufu (11195 in chips)
Seat 7: MsbhvnTwin (4154 in chips)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (3010 in chips)
Seat 9: earck (1645 in chips)
lildog8: posts the ante 25
nzstoreman: posts the ante 25
NuhiZhuta: posts the ante 25
Tuxter018: posts the ante 25
umfufu: posts the ante 25
MsbhvnTwin: posts the ante 25
7xxcookxx7: posts the ante 25
earck: posts the ante 25
NuhiZhuta: posts small blind 150
Tuxter018: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tuxter018 [Ac Ad]
umfufu: folds
MsbhvnTwin: folds
7xxcookxx7: folds
earck: folds
lildog8: folds
nzstoreman: calls 300
NuhiZhuta: calls 150
Tuxter018: raises 1200 to 1500
nzstoreman: calls 1200
NuhiZhuta: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qs Ah Kd]
Tuxter018: checks
nzstoreman: bets 900
Tuxter018: raises 2100 to 3000
nzstoreman: calls 2100
*** TURN *** [Qs Ah Kd] [5s]
Tuxter018: bets 4265 and is all-in
nzstoreman: calls 3928 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Qs Ah Kd 5s] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tuxter018: shows [Ac Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
nzstoreman: shows [Jc Td] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
nzstoreman collected 17356 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17356 | Rake 0
Board [Qs Ah Kd 5s 3d]
Seat 1: lildog8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: nzstoreman (button) showed [Jc Td] and won (17356) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 3: NuhiZhuta (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Tuxter018 (big blind) showed [Ac Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 5: umfufu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: MsbhvnTwin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: earck folded before Flop (didn't bet)

*********** # 103 **************
PokerStars Game #13678322029: Tournament #69362125, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (150/300) - 2007/12/05 - 23:44:00 (ET)
Table '69362125 10' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: lildog8 (1835 in chips)
Seat 2: nzstoreman (17356 in chips)
Seat 3: NuhiZhuta (13811 in chips)
Seat 4: Tuxter018 (337 in chips)
Seat 5: umfufu (11170 in chips)
Seat 7: MsbhvnTwin (4129 in chips)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 (2985 in chips)
Seat 9: earck (1620 in chips)
lildog8: posts the ante 25
nzstoreman: posts the ante 25
NuhiZhuta: posts the ante 25
Tuxter018: posts the ante 25
umfufu: posts the ante 25
MsbhvnTwin: posts the ante 25
7xxcookxx7: posts the ante 25
earck: posts the ante 25
Tuxter018: posts small blind 150
umfufu: posts big blind 300
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Tuxter018 [Qc Qd]
MsbhvnTwin: folds
7xxcookxx7: folds
earck: folds
lildog8: folds
nzstoreman: folds
NuhiZhuta: folds
Tuxter018: raises 12 to 312 and is all-in
umfufu: calls 12
*** FLOP *** [6s Ts 3c]
*** TURN *** [6s Ts 3c] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [6s Ts 3c 8c] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Tuxter018: shows [Qc Qd] (a pair of Queens)
umfufu: shows [Ad Ks] (a pair of Aces)
umfufu collected 824 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 824 | Rake 0
Board [6s Ts 3c 8c Ah]
Seat 1: lildog8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: nzstoreman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: NuhiZhuta (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Tuxter018 (small blind) showed [Qc Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: umfufu (big blind) showed [Ad Ks] and won (824) with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: MsbhvnTwin folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: 7xxcookxx7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: earck folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Arrgghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I'm playing pretty well, but lately my very strong hands are running up against the nuts and I can't seem to get away from them. Maybe I'm not supposed to get away from them and I can just chalk it up to bad luck. Then again, maybe I shouldn't risk so much unless I have the nuts. Either way, it's one (of many) parts of my game that needs improving!! Anybody out there have any suggestions???

Quadruplicate

Guess what I was doing last night at about 8:30... I'll tell you what I wasn't doing - I wasn't playing poker at math club. I was already knocked out of the tournament by then. Here's the hand that crippled me...

Blinds 20/40 - starting stack was 1500 - I had about 1700 - I was in late position and was dealt pocket queens. Jason was chip leader and UTG and he raised it to 125. He was raising pre-flop about every other hand, so I had no reason to think he had a great hand. I decided to flat call his raise - I thought a re-raise might chase him away and at that point, I wanted to spring a trap and try to win a huge pot instead of a small one. Kate was the small blind and she pushed all in - she was the short stack (605). Jason sat and pondered calling for about 5 minutes and finally made the call. I insta-called and we had a 3-player pot. Flop came 2-5-8 rainbow. Jason bet 200 into the (dry) side pot. I called. Turn came another 5. He again bet 200, which I called. River was another 8 (2-5-8-5-8 board - nothing too scary here) he bet 400, again I called. Turns out, he had pocket 8s for quads. Ouch! Kate had AKo, so had Jason not been in the pot, I'd have won. Maybe I should have re-raised before Kate's all-in. Maybe I should have re-raised after Jason's call of her re-raise. I don't know. All I do know is that it left my stack at about 300, which I lost a few hands later when I pushed with A3s and was called by Toby's AKo. Hopefully, Friday night I can stick around a little while longer!!

Recovery

Well, Friday was the day I got my wisdom teeth pulled, and everything went pretty well. Going in, I was pretty worried as to how much pain I'd be in, and truthfully, I never should have been worried at all. The pulling of the teeth was painless (considering they gave me about 15 shots of novocaine!) and the teeth haven't caused me that much discomfort. I've been able to eat solid foods and they're feeling pretty good! Now my throat on the other hand...

When the dentist was pulling my teeth, he noticed a growth on my throat which didn't look right. He said that since I was already frozen up, he thought he should go ahead and remove it, so I said OK. He snipped it off and then cauterized my throat so it wouldn't bleed. Then he stitched it up. When the novocaine wore off, I had a sore throat like you wouldn't imagine. And also, it constantly feels like I've got a straw stuck in my throat. It's pretty uncomfortable, but hopefully it will get better soon. And hopefully, the growth isn't anything to worry about - the surgeon is sending it to Kentucky for a biopsy - he didn't seem too concerned about it, so I'm not going to worry about it - I learned my lesson wasting time worrying about my teeth!!