Compromising Anonymity

De'tente, or a rested development, or exile on no street.

2011-11-17T13:36:00.000-05:00

Hey there boys and girls, I figured I'd try some mental regurgitation to fill these faded 'pages'.

I enjoyed chatting up JOOOOOAnada and Buddy last night. Too bad their heads up match was done, I would have had some fun slinging virtual cards with them. They did show me the live feed of their cute new little bundle Zane. Hansome little devil he is.
Instead I played play money tournaments until about 2 am this morning. Smart, I am not. I did multiply my play money bankroll several times, so at least there's some pride involved. Play money games at least appeared a little less of a fonkey fest than I remember.

I got asked to leave the poker group I was playing in monthly. Their excuse being that I was pushy and made too many suggestions on how to run the game better, oh and there might have been a little yelling match with one of the guys that runs the game that may have had something to do with it.

Here's an example of what pissed them off: There were 6 people left in the first tournament (this is June/July i think). I was the chipleader at the time when dude I mentioned above starts complaining that the blinds were wrong and the levels weren't moved fast enough. He was not in the game at the time. He suggested rather vociferously that we should immediately escalate the blinds to fix the problem. I argued that this was not fair to the people in the game, especially the short stacks. This went on for awhile until I began yelling back at him (mea culpa) that this would not be happening while I was at the table, and that its not everyone's fault at the table that someone can't use a damn timer.

Yeah, I can see where I'm totally wrong there can't you? Apparently my remarks were not appreciated on several occasions and that I 'take the game too seriously'. It obviously had nothing to do with the fact that I was completely crushing the game. At least they had the scruples to pay me off as I was several hundred bucks ahead of the next guy. They forfeited their chances at the year long 1st place prize which I wrapped up anyway with 2 more wins last month. I'm contemplating re-starting my neighborhood game in 2012, its just a pain to run it sometimes.

Kids and wife are healthy and happy. All the kids just had their birthdays, all three bdays are within 4 weeks of each other, which sure is fun right before Christmas. My son's only wish was to have as many of his friends as possible over to play football and basketball. His wish was granted and we entertained 26 kids. Luckily they didn't stay in the house much, but when they did they sure left one hell of a mess. Never again.

That's all for now, enjoy your Turkey day you hosers, be careful out there.

Winner winner

2011-08-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

Well I tell ya folks, despite the fact that online poker is dead (as well as blogs) I was able to get my fix in last night at my monthly home game.

I got really low in the first game, down to 5 BB when I landed pocket fives UTG and ended up making quads on the river. I tripled up then continued my dominance to a first place win. I got nice and toasted after my win and ended up chopping first in the second tourney.

I extended my lead in the series by a few hundred bucks, and that makes me feel great. I fully believe the absence of online poker has made me focus more and become a better player. SO a hearty fuck you to the DOJ, you can try and take away my hobby, but I shall prevail.

Who is John Galt?

Movin'

2011-08-17T19:26:00.001-04:00

Had to go back to blogger, I was no longer monetizing the site and see no reason (other than the fact blogger sucks balls compared with Wordpress) to pay for site hosting. Hopefully all the redirects and such work, not that I post anything particularly meaningful or relavent any more...

Cheers kids, blogs are dead.

The world owes you nothing.

2011-06-17T07:13:00.002-04:00

Hey Kids, I get to play poker tonight!! Aren't you soooo happy for me? Cause I am. I get some much needed vacation next week with a long weekend at the beach with family and more and more family weeeeeee! It's a good thing I like them.

Big shouts and hollas out to NUMB, Blood and @themark for cashing in WSOP events. Bloggers gotta represent.

That's all, I'm sure you're glad you wasted the time reading this.

By the way:

Have a good weekend.

No Poker? No Problem

2011-06-01T10:26:00.000-04:00

So, its been a long time without online poker for me, but I've found many ways to effectively pass the time and also occasionally scratch that little gambling itch.

I've played in 3 of the 5 monthly poker tournaments near my neighborhood. There's usually 2 tourneys a night and anywhere from 12 to 20 players. I've cashed all three nights I've played to put myself in good position for the year long payout. I'm currently sitting in 2nd place.

I've recently joined Draftstreet to see if I can figure out how to beat daily baseball leagues. It's been a mixed bag so far, I've cashed in only 1 event. So I'll keep on the low and free tourneys until I get a good grip on the scoring system. I think if you use that handy little link there I and you will get some sort of bonus for playing $ games, so hook a brother up.

The WSOP has begun so I can begin sweating my horsies. The Leak should make things interesting.

I've been actively seeking out new music and keep finding old stuff. I have been picking through the Grateful Dead library and been getting some good bootlegs. I've also filled out my library with older Massive Attack, Acen (yes I went though the early 90's rave scene), the entire Daft Punk library, the new Beasties, and a Joy Division remaster.

I keep expanding my role at work by digging in to Wordpress (not that this site shows it), Sitecore, and some other CMS. Enough so that I know I will never have the patience and attention to detail to be a real programmer.

OK, I think I had a point at the beginning of this post, but I gotta go home. See you kids soon.

WSOP BEGINS!!

2011-05-31T05:51:00.000-04:00

Cheers to all those headed to Vegas, may the chips be with you! For those of us living vicariously through others we have props. Jordan has the details here: WSOP 11 props

Additionally he and I bet on ME entries. I thought I was going high at 5635, but jordan went higher at 6319. CK was nice enough to be the arbitrator in our guesses. So where are you at?? My initial guess was 5300, but I moved it up. I've seen guesses as low as 4000 and CK set the line at 5000 after getting our guesses.

I'll be watching for those updates so lets gettem started!!!!!!!

The rapture

2011-05-19T06:49:00.000-04:00

Really People?

How did this nutjob gain global pub for this shit? Guy adds a few numbers up and poof! The world is ending.

Seriously people.

Your life is not ending. God is not coming to save you....especially you. You will still have your life, your loved, ones, your world. I suggest you start controlling the things you can control and leave God alone. He has better to do than come and save you....especially you. Now go home, kiss your wife, kids, and whoever else you hold dear. Remember to live today and let tomorrow work itself out.

-Skidoo

Reality 86'd

2011-05-13T14:26:00.000-04:00

The intranets showed me this awesome documentary about Blag Flag in 1986. Just when I was starting to cultivate a taste in music, this stuff smacked my brain.

I'm glad that David Markey had the wherewithal to chronicle this.

"Reality 86'd" A film by David Markey from David Markey on Vimeo.

Edit: you have to go to Vimeo to watch it. Give yourself an hour.

So what happens?

2011-04-26T05:09:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to think that Party Poker will have a real good chance to return to the US before the other two big poker sites. They followed the rules the the US laid out and are viewed as legit by the UK.

Could Party Poker have a leg up on reentering the US sooner than other sites given their compliance so far??

New game in town

2011-03-19T09:34:00.000-04:00

I played a new neighborhood game for the second time last night. A good friend of mine turned me on to a juicy traveling game last month. It rotates houses every month and takes a very small rake for an end of the year leader board. Last month I played a little too tight and ended up 3rd in the first tourney. Bad beat in the second. This month I had a better understanding of my opponents, and outplayed/outdrew them all night. I won both tourneys last night chopping with the 2nd place guy both times. I now am atop the 2011 leader board. Then I won another 100 or so playing dealers choice. It was so nice having a great feel for the cards and players. A perfect storm of awesome. Pulled in a little over 5 bills then woke up this morning and played three sets of winning tennis.

Like I told Waffles, you gotta play like a champion for things to happen, I'm starting to do just that in cards and life. It's a great feeling sometimes.

Otis reminded me.

2011-02-25T04:35:00.000-05:00

I read this post by Otis just a few minutes ago and was reminded of this story:

Some background:
My soon to be wife and I decided we wanted some very special wedding rings. We are both of Irish descent, but not thoroughly steeped in the Irish traditions other than a healthy (or not so) taste for adult beverages. However it was our bright idea that we would have crafted for us, unique Irish knot wedding rings. We researched our lineages for designs and found a unique and not-too girly design that we would have fashioned into rings. Long story short we had these beautiful yet heavy rings crafted in 14K gold with a nice diamond nugget for my wife being the only real design difference. These were expensive rings.

Fast forward a few years and we were at my cousin's lake house. I was teaching my children to hang on for dear life to the inner-tube while my cousin sped. I remember thinking about removing my ring, but decided, nah we won't be going too fast because of the kids. Well, I decided to let my cousin pull just me and he punished the everliving crap out of me. I distinctly remember my final dismount as he ran me into a huge wake going about 30mph. I was floating gleefully through the air, arms and legs splayed and I felt the tug of my ring leaving my finger. I tried shifting my body towards the giant golden circle floating towards the cool blue water (that slo-mo NOOOOOOOOOO in my head) but to no avail. It sank like so many shiny lures before it and lays at the bottom of Lake Sidney Lanier.

My wife got a real nice shiny new ring for that one, and I have a nice cheap band of white gold.

HeadsUp

2011-02-24T14:42:00.000-05:00

HighOnPoker, always a font of good ways to separate me from money, is getting together some sort of prop bet for NBC's Heads Up Championship. Poker, gambling, and not dependent on MY ability...SOLD.

Here is the lineup of talent:

Jason Alexander
Patrik Antonius
Eric Baldwin
David Benyamine
Andy Bloch
Liv Boeree
James Bord
Doyle Brunson
Joe Cada
Daniel Cates
Johnny Chan
Don Cheadle
Nicolas Chouity
Allen Cunningham
Jonathan Duhamel
Annie Duke
Tom Dwan
Peter Eastgate
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Phil Galfond
Phil Gordon
Barry Greenstein
Bertrand Grospellier
Joe Hachem
Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
Faraz Jaka
John Juanda
Gabe Kaplan
Frank Kassela
Eugene Katchalov
Phil Laak
Howard Lederer
Erick Lindgren
Ayaz Mahmood
Thomas Marchese
Mike Matusow
Jason Mercier
Michael Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Chris Moneymaker
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Annette Obrestad
Dennis Phillips
Dwyte Pilgrim
John Racener
Greg Raymer
Vanessa Rousso
Kara Scott
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel
Vanessa Selbst
Emmitt Smith
Gavin Smith
Jennifer Tilly
Melburn Whitmire
David Williams
Justin Young

I think it would be a good idea for each participant to pick 5 players one of which must be a celebrity, one WSOP champ, one female, and 2 wildcards. Also, maybe as a tiebreaker we could use the card suit brackets that are set just before the filming. Check in with HOP, and lets get this moving...

More Music Please

2011-02-24T08:19:00.000-05:00

I've been searching high and low for new sources, avenues, and applications of music. I'm by no means a music snob or whatever, I try to do my best and listen with an open mind....even to that crap my kids like. I found this via my love of post-punk and joy division and it hit me so hard I had to share. I'm sure this isn't up everyones' ally, but heregoes.

Feel free to put me on a path if you think you have suggestions, and big thanks to Mary for sharing Musicophilia and for opening my music brain again.

Fantasy Baseball

2011-02-15T06:47:00.000-05:00

Hey there kids, I'm interested in running a Head to Head league on yahoo this season. It will be 6x6 format with the following setup (these can be changed if necessary).

Ideally I'd get 12 owners, but will accept 10-16. So if my 4 readers will tell 3 friends a peace, I should get a full league by opening day. (March 31'st)

Cost is negotiable, but I'm thinking between $20-50 for the season. Post here or email me if you are interested, once I have a minimum of 10 interested, I'll proceed.

WOOOT Baseball!! You kids be careful out there.

This was fun....must of been the drugs.

2011-02-10T05:05:00.000-05:00

I stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday for a fever and flu like symptoms. Somewhere in my tussin-fueled fog I managed to win my first non-blogger MTT in awhile. I'm officially addicted to the turbo and super tubo versions of On-Demand and Rush On-demand tourneys in values of 2.50-11. This tournament officially had 215 entrants and took just UNDER 2 hours.

Joy Division FTW

2011-02-10T03:59:00.000-05:00

VIA Mary
VIA DANGEROUSMINDS

The Ugly

2011-01-28T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well my memories of WPBT and Vegas have all but faded into oblivion, however I did want to address something mostly for myself. If I didn't manage to link you or mention you in the past 2 posts, but I did in fact meet you, well I'm slack. Its not you its me.

What I did want to get out for me to remember is that I'm a junkie. I'm reckless, thoughtless, and plain ignorant at times. It's something that's hard to admit when you pretend to be a pretty smart guy. I simply don't have an excuse for Thursday night. I can't convince myself that it was actually me. I ran through my bankroll in a matter of hours. When I was done with that I hit the ATM and damn near drained my checking account. I didn't walk upstairs and go to bed, I didn't sleep it off. I didn't listen to the me that said on the plane 'Don't be an idiot...please'

Nope, I kept pushing the throttle....oblivious to anything other than the fix, the gamble, the booze. It makes me sick to think about what I put in jeopardy. For the sake of....nothing. selfishness, hardheadedness, greed, stupidity? I don't know. I couldn't shake that pit in the bottom of my stomach the rest of the weekend, so please forgive me if I was a little off. I was scared shitless of myself, of fucking up again, of losing. So, no more Vegas for me. Some guys just can't handle it.

Peace.

The Bad

2010-12-20T10:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday's tourney.

OK Kids, I got a few minutes to try and knock this out. We last left your hero with missing brain cells and a lack of fundage.

After a fitful sleep, I got up and showered, watched some tube while waffles snored and don cackled. I fell asleep again for a minute and then roused the dudes. I needed some food, since I failed to eat on Friday. We got dressed and decided to cab it over to Aria, I wanted buffet, so we walked about 14 miles around Aria until we found it. Totally worth it.

I had my home made omelet, and various other sundries from the huge buffet. The real bad part is that my hung over brain and shrunken stomach couldn't really take advantage. The shrimp were awesome and the prime rib was bloody, I just couldn't eat very much. I sucked as much down as I could and had a leisurely brunch before the tourney.

My last longer partners were wolfie and xkm1245. We were seated separately, but close enough I could keep an eye out. Neither of them looked particularly enthused, myself I was drowning in missed flops and picked off at least twice when I thought my raise should have been respected. I tightened up and was able to take a couple small pots, but I never got above my starting stack, I was terribly frustrated. I made a stand with ATo and was called by KTo which obviously paired on the river.

I enjoyed meeting Astin, who was to my right until he busted early. His printed photos of the view from Bellagio were spectacular.

I hung out and watched most of the rest of the tourney, getting up to give JOOOO reports on buddy once in awhile. She taught me how to play some penny slots and I bled away about 15 bucks but I did get a beer! woot.

I sweated several notables including Bayne, Mary, DawnSummers, Veneno, Garth, Gracie and Sweet Sweet, OhCaptain, Gnome, Drizz, and the eventual winner MiamiDon.

It was a treat to catch up with Gnome, and meet his wonderful wife who insisted on calling me ScoobyDoo. She was great, and a coupon meister. I also caught a Cat sighting, he told me about red rocks and seeing Dave Matthews unplugged, good stuff.

There's a particularly large hole in my memory here....I'll need to figure out what happened next cause i can't really recall, but there was more to Saturday night that included parading the golden hammer, more poker and drinking, but I'll end here for now.

Coming up, the ugly, an epilogue and things I remember that I forgot.

Interlude

2010-12-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

I hurt too much to write, I just want to curl up in a cool dark place.

Look at these pictures here. They made me feel a little better.

The Good

2010-12-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

For as many as five years I have wanted to join in WPBT festivities in Vegas. It just never was really feasible with its vicinity to the holidays, and y'know I'm just a poor old southern boy. Anyway I'd like to first say that I'm grateful to those that put their hard work, time, and effort to make this an unforgettable weekend in many ways. In no particular order I'd like to thank Al, Pauly, Iggy, CJ, April, FullTilt, Pokerstars. These are the lynch pins that make all this goodness go down...

Lets go ahead and skip to Friday night, cause well, the only thing I can remember about Thursday I'd rather forget. Maybe I'll come back to it in another post.

I woke up in darkness and had a mild panic attack. I wasn't exactly sure where I was. Luckily my phone was in my pocket. The clock read 8:05PM. I went to the shower and cleared my head, looked at the clock again in disbelief, and head out towards the MGM. I took the walk since I seriously needed it. The air was crisp but not cold and I grabbed a water on the way that went down way too fast. I sauntered past the MGM bar and noticed some bloggers there, not really sure who was there, but I smiled and nodded and moved along to the poker desk. I knew I had a hole to get out of.

I sat down and bought in for 100, which is not my preference, but i needed a stop gap. Pokergrump was already sitting there, and I didn't recognize anyone else. I played abc for a while and realized I could open up a little. I chipped up nicely gor a solid hour or so. Another blogger sat down that was either Soxlover or Penner. I'm really sorry that I got your name at one point and lost it. I think I called you sox on the way out of Legasse's hoping you'd correct me if I was wrong. By the time BrainMC sat down I had about 400 in front of me. The only hand I remember was with him when I flopped the nut flush draw (crubs) vs his set of tens. Didn't get there and I doubled him up. I got myself on the HORSE list and shortly started the blogger mixed game. I know the other CK was there, grump came too, we were joined by Josie, Yestbay, and CJ...maybe 2 more I can't remember right now. You can read about the oh so fun hand of razz I played vs Josie in the grump and josie links above. Good times. Bottom line, donks always win.

After awhile I retired to the bar and chatted up FromtheMorning, who was in town for less than a day, sox/penner/?, Waffles, CA April, Numbono, Ftrain, Iggy, Pauly, STB i think...and possibly more. My brain wasn't working so good, and now the memory is foggy and bleeding together.

We ended up back at the IP, where MiamiDon, Iggy, and I drank until about 5:30. A little aside about MiamiDon. I must admit I was not looking forward to being around him. We have butted heads on a couple occasions and I just wrote him off as an asshole. Well maybe some life moments have softened him up or whatever, but I had a hell of a time chatting and hanging out with Don. He's one of the good ones in my book and what's past is past.

If I met you and didn't mention it, please don't take it personally, I'm not that great in crowded social situations. I tried to get over my phobias as much as I could. It also doesn't help I was recovering from the massive hangover of Thursday night seemingly all weekend and there are several holes in my memory.

Next up: The Bad, Then The Ugly.

Recovering

2010-12-15T01:49:00.000-05:00

I had back spasms all day yesterday, also sore throat cough, all that fun stuff. Those of you who didn't see me in Vegas can safely assume that other than meeting some really fun people, things didn't exactly go as planned. Full post coming at some point.

Finishing touches.

2010-12-08T03:38:00.001-05:00

About this time tomorrow I will no longer be able to function as a rational human being. Too bad I'll be at work most of the day.

I'm still holding out hope of getting my bounty delivered today, if not, someone gets an IOU or I pull an Astin and just win the damn thing.

I got this:

to read for the trip. Hopefully the good Doctor can sign it for me.

I had to finish getting our big ass tree set up and decorated last night. We sat around after finishing up and played 'I spy' with the ornaments as the kids sipped hot chocolate and munched on chocolate chip cookies. Norman Rockwell would be proud. Here is said big ass tree:

Tonight I have to pack and spend some more quality time with the kids and the wife. Tomorrow will be like a trip to the dentist until 5PM est.

See you kids soon!

EDIT: I also found another picture compilation that is pretty neat. Pencil VS Camera

Far out

2010-12-03T06:19:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you see the daily mail, but this is great.

Clouds

I plan on recouping from a massive hangover about this time next week W0000T!

One week!

2010-12-02T02:30:00.000-05:00

AAAARRRRGGH

It's finally coming and I can hardly contain myself!!

I've got to get a to-do list together so I don't forget anything. At my advanced age I've finally learned not to depend on remembering more than three things at a time, so here goes.

I need to get my travelling music together. My 60GB iPod bit the dust early this year and I did not replace it. It was probably my 5th ipod, so I gave up. I have my phone though, so I'm culling together a 5-10 GB list for Vegas. In the last couple days I replaced some older music I had been longing for for awhile, namely Sebadoh's Bakesale, The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys, and Fugazi's13 Songs. I also got ahold of some newer music such as Fang Island, Vampire Weekend, and Kings of Leon. I'd also like to give the gang over at Coventry music blog a big high 5 for finding the complete Mushroom Jazz series online.

I ordered a bounty the other day, hopefully it gets here in time.

I've taken Paulys 'Invading Vegas' post and taken most of his tips to heart.

I plan on packing as light as possible, so I won't be winning any best dressed awards this year, also I'm on the fence about bringing my laptop. Other than the plane ride, I don't seeing it being of much use, but we shall see. I'd be happy to hear an opinion or two on this. What else, Oh money. I've withdrawn some $ from FT, I'll be crossing my fingers that it gets here in a week, if not, no worries. I don't really plan on eating any insane meals. With 3 kids and a wife to provide Christmas for, its hard to justify dropping three bones on some fancy hunks of meat, although I must admit I'd really enjoy it.

As far as extra curriculars I want to just go with the flow. My only real appointments would be Saturday's tournament and tilting back a few glasses of yummy brown liquid with OhCaptain et al.

What else? ahhh, the last longer challenge. I have filled the final spot on the team with xkm1245. XK has been playing the blogger series for a pretty long time and will certainly be a great additon to the Rock and the maniac.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some folks I havent met and those of you I have.

You kids be careful out there, at least for one more week.

Vegas

2010-10-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

Yep, It happened, I managed to secure passage to Vegas for the WPBT guilt free. Though a combination of Haitian Voodoo, mind altering drugs, and a lot of begging, the wife is allowing me to head to Vegas. I know, it sounds whipped cause it is. When you are in a marriage with kids, you have to make sacrifices, concessions, and relinquish a little part of your ego. That also happens to be the gift you receive. Its hard to explain but totally worth it. Anywho, I'm heading out on the 9th and coming back the 13th. I need to see if anyone is looking for a last-longer teammate, so hit me up. I'm terribly excited to go to my first Vegas blogger gathering and only my 2nd trip to vegas ever.

In 2003 I went to Vegas with a friend in the neighborhood. He was going for a conference and offered a room. I remember sitting down and playing blackjack for about 9 hrs. We didn't make it to the room until the 2nd day and I was in the hole. I somewhat remember getting asked to leave the Bellagio at one point. We rallied the next day playing 2/5 limit and betting football and horses. My buddy hit a longshot winner and handed me a wad of cash at some point that evening. Later we went to see the delertianers and played 20/hand blackjack. Somehow I managed to leave the 3rd day with some money left, good times.

I'm looking forward to seeing the bloggers again, and meeting some for the 1st time. People looking for last longer partner email me or leave a comment.

This is flippin' cool!

2010-10-08T07:59:00.000-04:00

I just need to go out and get a DSLR...

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Random

2010-09-16T06:46:00.000-04:00

Hey there! I just wanted to shoot a little post up to anyone who still has me in their reader or whatever. Things a the same as they ever were, just more of it. 3 kids and 2 parents doing 5 sports keeps us moving all week these days. Seriously, friends in the 'hood ask me every now and then how we do it and I have no answer. We just keep on moving.

One of these days we will look back and miss being sofa king busy and that keeps me motivated.

I'm looking forward to going to the Falcons game this weekend. I'll be taking my son and father in law. If everything moves along correcly we will also have some tailgating time with kuro, sham et al.

I hope you and yours are doing well.

I still got some skill

2010-07-19T15:54:00.001-04:00

The more things stay the same, the more they change, or something like that. I remembered that I had some amount of cash on Bodog, so I decided to download the poker client for my XP virtual machine. ( Can we please get a Mac client sometime this decade?) I found 36 bucks in cash and 54 in tournament credits left over from the blogger series (link doesn't work anymore) a while ago. SO I found a 1000 guarantee in late registration and joined in. The play was bodonktastic, and I was the chipleader as late as 6 players left, but I got a bad beat from the 2nd place guy, and coasted into 3rd for a $114 profit. Pretty sweet.

If you've been paying just a little attention to my posts for the last few months, you should notice I've been trying to make some positive changes to my life. I had a physical at the beginning of the year and it was a smack in the face. I flat out have not been taking care of myself for many years. I had fallen into some bad habits and I began to realize the abuse I have been doing to myself.

In January, the wife and I decided to quit smoking. It really wasn't much of an issue for us. I suspected my wife would have more of an issue than I, but she stayed strong and we haven't looked back ( minus 1 or 2 slip ups).

In May I decided that the fat had to go. I was 236 pounds, inactive, tired and uninspired. I shed 12 pounds in a month and have maintained 221-225 since the end of June.

Well this month I decided to bite the bullet and quit drinking. Today makes 2 weeks and it was a little easier than I thought it would be, despite the fear I had. It was the fear I felt associated with quitting that really set my resolve. It scared me that is scared me to even think about quitting, circular logic wins!

Well that's it for now folks, maybe next month I'll start studying to be a priest and really complete my transformation. You kids be careful out there.

Quick one.

2010-07-01T08:03:00.000-04:00

Sitting at 224 pounds....not exercising....shocker.

Ready for a long weekend, may the 4th be with you.

You kids be careful out there.

Time keeps on slippin.

2010-06-22T08:04:00.000-04:00

The girls were really proud of themselves when they dug up their matching PJ's that have turned into regular old t-shirts now. Gcox should be proud of them.

Then:

Now:

Makes a man feel a little old.

Geeking out

2010-06-21T16:25:00.000-04:00

I can't wait!

30 Days

2010-06-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

Well today marks the 30th day since I began to try and lose weight. My initial thought, is that A) It's really hard. B) It takes dedication and sacrifice C) I've been really lazy for a very long time.

Things I've improved: General eating choices - I eat smaller portions and only when I'm hungry. I also eat more green stuff now.
Sleep habits - I've been getting 7 hours of sleep a night (for the most part). Exercise - I'm now exercising at least 3 days a week.

After 30 days, I feel like I have more energy and feel thinner. I don't look at the gut in the mirror and grimace. I feel good. I've lost 12 pounds, which is below what I wanted, but I feel like I can keep going and extend this for another 15 days at least. I hope my continued dedication pays off with another 5-8 pounds of missing weight.

Thanks for the well wishes I have gotten, it really means alot to get some support. See y'all at the virtual tables tonight. Go play the charity tournament for the Ronald McDonald House.

Details:

Date: June 16
Time: 9PM CDT (Same time as Mookie)
It will actually be running in place of the Mookie. BDR will be broadcasting it.
Charity: Ronald McDonald House
$5 + $5(Tournament, charity)
Password= vegas1
Tournament#= 164273435

10 pounds and a good cause. Day 23

2010-06-09T03:18:00.000-04:00

Hello there folks, things be moving along here. I'm really starting to feel some of the heath benefits of weight loss. I've passed my first milestone, 10 pounds. I was 226 this morning!

I can definitely tell my belly is shrunk a little and my face has become more defined. Maybe next week I'll grace you with some pics. I ramped up the exercise and it is paying off so far, despite being a little sore. I may just have to extend my challenge past 30 days. Its starting to get contagious and the hunger is a small price to pay for how I feel right now.

Now for something that will make you feel good as well.:

Even if you are unable to play, $5 of your buy-in goes to the Ronald McDonald House. So, yeah, it's OK to be dead money. No one will complain :)

So one last time, here's the details:
Date: June 16
Time: 9PM CDT (Same time as Mookie)
It will actually be running in place of the Mookie. BDR will be broadcasting it.
Charity: Ronald McDonald House
$5 + $5(Tournament, charity)
Password= vegas1
Tournament#= 164273435

Day 18

2010-06-04T02:47:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the dissapearing act, I've had a head cold all week, but I'm feeling a bit better today. Sickness really helps a diet I believe. I've crossed the 230 barrier and was sitting at 228 this morning. I'm beginning to understand the importance of exercise I believe. I feel like I've been starving myself and have only lost 8 pounds. I'm going to jump into July and really try to up the exercise.

I'm going to take the wife on a real date this weekend to take advantage of the kids being gone. The house is really quiet when they're not around and we've had the chance to catch up on some cleaning etc. I've wondered more than a couple times this week what we talked about before we became parents. It's not a struggle, but its just odd to catch myself searching for a conversation. Anyway, the beat goes on and I'm glad to be out of the haze of a head cold. It should be a good weekend as tennis kicks back in. Summer is mixed season, so me and the wife get to team up tomorrow. I'll be doing some stretching tonight.

Oh, I twittered it but in case you don't follow me @iam23skidoo my lovely wife got the news that she passed the bar! It's a huge weight off of both of our shoulders, I assure you. I had no idea how much it was affecting her until about 3 days before getting the results. She broke down in a rare weak moment and shared her deep fear that she failed and how that failure was so deeply tied to her feeling of self worth. I tried to assure her that no matter what the results, she is in many ways my hero and my motivation for being a better person. Congratulations Rachel, it was a long journey from sitting on our little porch 5 years ago, going over the pros and cons of sending you to school, buying a new house, and not killing each other. We accomplished all those things and more. We are still friends and that's all that matters.

You kids have a good weekend, be careful out there.

Halfway there.

2010-06-01T08:44:00.000-04:00

And I'm stuck at 230. I figured I might have gained some weight over the weekend, but I was pretty much on a liquid diet, all of it beer. I feel lite total crap today, my head won't clear up and I had hazy hangover sleep last night. I sure hope to get some rest tonight. Today is day 3 of the kids being away. The grandparents took them to the beach for a week which is awesome for them and us as well. Those of you with kids understand I'm sure.

Sunday was really a piece of work. Anytime you have an impromptu fire in your backyard is either real success or failure. I'm not sure where this lands, but if you ask the wife it's borderline retarded. She's a pretty good barometer for that sort of thing and one of the reasons I don't get into too much trouble when she's around. As the story unfolds, there were about 10-12 guys at the house beginning around 1pm. We drank a torpedo of Sierra Nevada and 3 mini-kegs of home brew (Stone Ruinaiton Clone and an IPA). We also managed to go through 2 cases in my fridge, half a bottle of Jager and a bottle of Crown. It was a mean drunk for sure. How we managed to get through it without injury is a minor miracle. Well into it, someone had the idea that the kid's playhouse had to go. Admittedly, the roof was rotting and the girls haven't played in it in 2 years. I got out a sledgehammer and an axe, but the idea of burning the house somehow became the call. I had a moment of clarity and brought down a hose, but that freaking house went up like a match (dousing it in gasoline helps). It got real hot and singed the tree overhead pretty good. Not my finest moment to be sure, but the fire department was never called and no one got hurt, so here's to small miracles.

Also in the fray, our sump pump decided to stop working and a small amount of sewage leaked. So imagine you're my wife... You come home knowing full well that there was a party going on, you walk into your lovely home that for some reason smells like poop and there is a huge burned out area in the back yard where the lovely little yellow house once stood and your husband is nowhere to be found. ( I was at a neighbor's house playing rock band, blind drunk) I managed to redeem myself slightly by getting a plumber over in the morning to replace the pump ($1200!!) and had a friend bring over his Kirby vacuum/steamer. We even watched a movie down there last night, so the smell didn't seep in.

If she wasn't such a saint I'm pretty sure we'd be divorced by now.

You kids take care.

Day whatever

2010-05-28T02:59:00.000-04:00

230 again this morning. I mowed the lawn yesterday and did 3 sets of 20 crunches. FML.

Its shaping up to be a good weekend, 2 parties tonight, one tomorrow. Beer brewing and tennis party on Sunday. Hopefully Monday will just be relaxing by the pool.

Next week the inlaws will take the kids to Florida for a week!!! God I love them. Should be a good time as I will go on a date with my wife for the first time in a bit. I need to come up with bday ideas for her, it's coming up quick.

You kids be careful out there. If your drinking, don't drive and if you're drivin, dont drink.

Day 11

2010-05-27T01:21:00.000-04:00

OK, now I'm a little pissed. Can't a guy deviate just a little??? 231 this morning. I let the wife talk me into going to eat Mexican last night. I looked over the menu and found no 'healthy' options, so said fuckit and ordered what I wanted. I'm not giving up dammit. I'm over 1/3 into this and I must succeed. Time to start burning calories more... there is no miracle pill.

In other news, I flamed out in 27th in the MOOOOK last night and my big bro played. His exit was sealed up against the mighty 2-4. I had a blast listening to Buddy reminisce about the good ole days. Thanks for entertianing the donks for 3 years. Oh and I cashed in the DOOOKIE too, turbo razz is painful.

You kids have a good long weekend, it's not going to do my diet any favors I'm sure.

Battle of the Poker Bloggers Finale Tonight

2010-05-26T05:01:00.000-04:00

I'm still on the diet wagon by the way weight has been 230.5 for 2 days despite walking 2 miles per. I'll start crunches soon.

See yall tonight.

Day 6-7 Weekend wrap-up.

2010-05-24T06:17:00.000-04:00

I weighed in at 233 on Saturday morning. Must have had something to do with the bowl of chili right before bed on Friday night. We played outside for the better part of Saturday. It started off overcast and turned into a heck of a day. I tormented the girls soccer team mates on the jet-ski. There's something really satisfying about scaring the piss out of little girls. It's too easy.

I slept over 11 hours Saturday night. I needed that.

Weighed in at 231 Sunday morning and I spent the better part of 3 hours in the yard. Followed that up by taking the kids to the pool. It was packed to the gills and the kids had a really good time. I came home and napped for about 30 minutes. The sun took alot out of me and I have a nice red neck to show for it.

Weighed in at 230.5 this AM, so its back on the horse tonight. I'm going to try and add a half hour of workout tonight since my results aren't where I want them.

I hope y'all had a good weekend! Cheers.

Day 5

2010-05-21T13:38:00.000-04:00

230 pounds.

I'm still working on the self control thing. I had raw oysters for dinner last night and stayed up too late again. Today was not a fun day for me. I'll stick to it and and keep on trying. I'm going to have a nice quiet weekend and keep trying to make good choices.

Day 4

2010-05-20T01:52:00.000-04:00

Alright this is going to be like an AA meeting I guess.

Hi I'm Brian and I'm an alcoholic fatty....

I did manage to eat better yesterday, did some walking and stayed away from the beer. One day at a time right...

231 this AM by the way, I probably took in right at 2000 calories yesterday. I made relatively good decisions, besides staying up until almost 2am. This supplement is messing with my brain for sure. I felt really depressed on Tuesday and then really upbeat yesterday. I stayed up and bubbled the mook, cashed in the doook, then blew $30 bucks or so playing OH8 russsshhhhh. I was very meh about the whole thing, but then regretted staying up. I'm not tired at all. I haven't been tired all week and I'm just going to have to force myself to go to sleep.

Big congrats to my buddyOOOSSSSUU for taking down another TOC spot. You fucking donk.

Why didn't I think of that?

2010-05-19T09:38:00.000-04:00

Usually I do, but someone else has figured that shit out and I didn't know about it. I totally came up with the idea for the iPod and the Apple store before they came out. I was (am) just to dumb to do anything about it.

So lo and behold I need to get a picture printed for the UMPTEENTH FUCKING STUDENT PROJECT THIS YEAR for my lovely child and I say to myself "Self, you know drug stores and photo processors should just allow you to go and upload some photos for them to develop. I mean, who uses film anymore??" I go over to www.walgreens.com and gosh darnit if they don't have that capability...f me.

cheers!

Day 3

2010-05-19T03:04:00.000-04:00

231.5 this morning. Essentially I'm starving myself, and I know this is no way to build towards long term health. HOWEVER, I'm shedding some pounds before I really begin to worry about it. First a little blah blah and I actually have some poker content today!

I had to have some caffeine this morning. I'm so weak, but mmmmmm coffee.

Yesterday afternoon on the way home I got a call from one of my happy hour crew, who am I to deny the call?? So 3 beers there and I 'made up' by having just a piece of frozen pizza and some water for dinner, oh and another beer....weak. 3 days in and I'm already seeing a pattern. In my defense I really haven't been hungry. Even with the beer I calculate I had about 1800 calories yesterday. Not good.

Today I brought more tuna casserole and added a big helping of broccoli. I also brought some almonds to mix with the sunflower seeds.

I took some pics this AM, but will not share them. Trust me you don't want to see my fat ass. Maybe I'll do a before and after though. Here's a pic of me and my youngest and the scale this AM.

And now for poker.

A month ago I swore I wouldn't make any more deposits to online poker. I was pretty good until I finally ran out of money and fpp's. Monday night when I couldn't sleep I threw some cash on the poker machine and nearly blew my wad on super turbos. I clawed back and made a small profit, then closed up FT and vowed to get the $ back off. I had every intention of doing so last night, but I figured I'd just see a few hands of RRRUUSSSHH to try and get some rakeback and play only the nuts. I'd only need 32 hands to get my fill.

On the 11th hand I made a small raise in mid position with ATo and got one caller.
I bingo'd on the flop of TT6 rainbow and checked, villain checked behind.
Jc hit the turn [ThTc6s Jc] and villain lead out with $19 (pot), and I took my time and reraised to $42 which the villain calls.
Villain check-folded to my $100 bet on the 2s river and I take a nice little pot.

Hand 15 I got KK in early position and raised to $8. (too little?)
I flopped a set and made another $8 bet hoping to get a raise. villain complied by doubling my bet and I reraised to $42.
Villain let it go and I took another small pot.

Up about $80 bucks and I was ready to book a win when on hand 17 I got AA UTG +1. I raised to $9. (I've played so little lately I'm pretty sure my betting is weird, but I'm really not sure what to do there.)
Villain in late position called and I bet pot on the [4c5h3d] flop. If that's not an AA busting type flop then I don't know what is.
Villain raises to $42 and I reraised to $78 in hopes of taking it down there and held my breath.
Villain almost timed out (warning) at that point but showed QQ when I called his push. I faded his 2 outs and doubled up.. weee poker is easy.

I ran my $160 up to $434 then lost a little with 2 pair when some dunce couldn't lay down a straight and flush draw. I then folded a few more hands before booking a $237 profit in about 15 minutes....good stuff.

So what does 23skidoo fresh off some new found money??

Fear not, I withdrew that shit, you kidding me?? See you soon kids.

Day 2

2010-05-18T03:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was filled with fail for the most part. I didn't eat too much, but I also did not eat well. I need to begin inserting healthy options into my diet. This will take some effort by me, but I updated my wife on my plan and she is all for it. Hopefully her positive nature will have an influence on me. My rough calculation from yesterday is around 2100 calories. This includes 2 beers, which definitely have to go.

I was 233.5 this AM which I consider standard deviation. I woke up late so no pics. Consider yourself lucky. So far today I've had my supplement and 4 glasses of water. I'm shooting for 8 glasses at least per day. I'll be having 1/2 cup of shelled sunflower seeds after I finish this post. That's a little over 200 calories. As soon as I'm done with the sunflower seeds I'll switch to a healthier snack. For lunch I have Tuna Pasta with cheese, I'm estimating lunch to be right around 600 calories.

That's all for now. see you kids tomorrow.

Day 1

2010-05-17T08:09:00.000-04:00

Because of my tendency to overindulge in foods as pictured below and the more than occasional adult beverage. I have decided to challenge myself to lose some weight. I've made a few half-hearted attempts in the recent past, but I'm really getting tired of the big fat belly I see in the mirror every morning. Mine's not looking that good either...ZING.

As of this morning I weigh 234LBS. I'll begin weighing myself with pics tomorrow through June 18th. One month. My goal is to drop 15LBS in one month. Geez that's scary writing it down. I haven't been under 220 for several years now. My ultimate goal is 200, but I don't want to set my goal too high. I want to see what kind of changes I can make in 30 days. I'm going to shoot for 2000 calories a day and one hour of light to moderate exercise.

I'm cheating a little I'll admit. I will also begin taking a 'dietary supplement' beginning tomorrow. I may divulge my secret in a month depending on the results.

Today I skipped breakfast and have had about 6 glasses of water. For lunch I had yellow rice and mixed beans and corn with 2 small boneless pork chops. I estimate my lunch was around 1200 calories. I also walked 6 blocks after lunch.

This is now public record, so hopefully my fat ass will stick to it for at least the minimum...wish me luck.

Quick Chili

2010-05-16T07:46:00.000-04:00

I do like to cook from time to time, unfortunately I don't always have the time to devote to it that I like. I have perfected the art of making real quick (~1hr) delicious chili. Here's my primer. I tweak the recipe almost every time I make it.

The ingredients: 1LB ground beef, 1LB ground pork, Whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, jalapenos, red wine, garlic clove, onion, red pepper, green pepper, chili spices, red kidney beans, pinto beans.

Mix together the whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chili spices, and some of the tomato sauce. Turn the sauce on low.

Add the beans and mix.

Put all the garlic through a garlic press and add the jalapenos.

Cut up the onion and put about 1/4 of it into the sauce, the rest of it goes into a non-stick pan and sweat them in some red wine.

Fry up the meat in the onion mixture, drain most of the grease.

Add the meat and onions into the chili, then chop up the peppers. Add the green peppers and about 1/2 of a beer. Use cheap beer.

Mix this up and let it cook for 20 minutes or so.

Add the red peppers.

Cook another 20 minutes and its ready. The longer the chili cooks the better it will taste. It will be even better after a night in the fridge.

Enjoy.

Weird

2010-05-14T04:35:00.000-04:00

I was lazy yesterday and didn't bring my lunch, so I decided to go out around 1:30 when I could barely think straight. It was particularly beautiful yesterday afternoon and I decided to take a nice stroll to a place with a patio a few blocks away. This particular place has a decent menu and a great selection of beers on tap. Perfect for a long lunch on a sunny patio right? I ordered my salad (!?) and perused the menu, slowly talking myself into ordering a draft . I believe it was Bell's Hopslam that they had on tap that was getting me jonsin'. Nevertheless, as I was getting the bartendress' attention my work phone rang.

Long story short, I had to scarf down my salad and ditched the idea of a long beer fueled lunch. Now this is where it gets weird.

As I was briskly walking back to the office I had the uncanny feeling that I had a buzz, that I in fact had a beer or three before leaving the restauraunt. I couldn't shake the feeling for a good hour, it was like I had an acid flashback with beer....weird stuff. It probably means my liver is saturated and I'm dying, but I'll just chalk it up to psycho-somatic drunkenness. Weird eh?

Well this weekend is shaping up to be boundless fun. First there will be poker played tonight! Weeee! First live cards since I went to NYC last month. Sham is hosting a HORSE tourney and I'm sure there will be shenanigans.

Tomorrow I'm hosting my tennis/beer group and we will be making a Lager of some sort. I even secured a torpedo of Sierra Nevada for the festivities.

Sunday I'll be making up to my family for being an absentee dad for 2 days. I hope they are gentle with me.

You kids have a good weekend, see you soon.

I don't want to go to school anymore!

2010-05-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

What the hell is it with the schools and all of the freaking parental participation crap?? I send my kids to school for you to teach them useful things like math, and geography and not to sing some crappy DrSeuss montage at 9am or make a freaking tiki party with juice and cookies at 2:30pm!! wtf! Just teach them and send em home. I promise that I do actually talk to them and participate in thier life. I DONT NEED TO TAKE TIME OUT OF MY DAY TO COME TO SCHOOL AND SEE THEM. good lord. I dont EVER remember my parents coming to schol for 4th freaking grade graduation or any other crap at 10 am requiring them to take a day off from work. Do teachers even have the basic understanding of how they are paid?? We work, we pay taxes. You teach my kids and GTFO. Thank you.

Take 2

2010-05-07T09:22:00.000-04:00

Not an overwhelming positive on that one, this one is a bit more PC.

Here's another one I like..

Looks like I'll have fun for the next 30 days...

The Dank

2010-05-07T04:39:00.000-04:00

So here's my first custom banner attempt for the Dank. Thoughts?

Just cause

2010-05-06T01:46:00.000-04:00

Its fun to play with MS paint rather than work.

Maybe I should go ahead and get photoshop....

Did you know?

2010-04-30T09:12:00.000-04:00

You can qualify for the WSOP for $11???

Thanks Full Tilt and Al

2010-04-16T16:57:00.000-04:00

.....for finding new and interesting ways to separate me from my money...

See you donkeys soon.

In case you havent seen it elsewhere...here ya go.

Weekly Champion Profile - Me

2010-04-09T05:33:00.000-04:00

Back in the day, winning the mookie held a certain distinction among bloggers. Well, dammit if I'm going to miss my chance to participate in the weekly champion profile.

Without further adieu, your weekly champion profile with 23skidoo

Q: How did you get into poker?
My grandmother taught me solitaire at a very young age (6-7 maybe) then when I had a firm grasp of suits she taught me spades, hearts and bridge. When I was about 20 I started a nickle, dime, quarter dealers choice game at my apartment and gained my love of -EV card play.

Q: Do you have any poker related goals and if so what are they?
My main goal is to have fun and don't be stupid. Hard to do sometimes. I also have trouble controlling my emotions at the table especially when someone doesn't follow the rules.

Q: What would your first piece of advice for someone wanting to learn how to play poker (submitted by Maudie)
Learn and practice proper bankroll management. I never have.

Q: What level of static do you get over your poker habit? (Submitted by Drewspop)
This was a huge problem in years past. Now that I have weened myself from the online teat, the wife is much more accepting of poker as a casual hobby.

Q: What was the first poker blog you read?
I first entered the world of blogdom through Paul Phillips Paul led me to Wil Wheaton, who at the time had the coolest weekly online poker game evar.

Q: How would you describe your playing style
PassiveLaggTight

Q: Who would be at your 6-handed SNG?
This has always been a tough question, I would want a fun time, so Antonio E, Phil L, Lacey J (rawr), Tripjax , and Jordan.

Aside: I found this post where tripjax bested me heads up in 2006 at the mook.

Q: Between Nihilism and Masochism, which do you think better describes why you play poker? (Submitted by Iakaris)
No question about it....masochism.

Q: What is the last book you read?
River of Doubt by Candice Millard, based on this.

Tell us a little know fact about yourself.
I wanted to be an actor growing up, but I wasn't very good. Then I wanted to make films, but that was too hard. I became an IT guy cause it it kind of fell into my lap. Oh Im lazy by the way, but you know that.

Now I know why Mook stopped doing this. Its a pain. Maybe next week's winner will follow suit though...it was fun.

ED Note: I just noticed that I started this blog 5 years ago on this coming Sunday, holy sneyekees!

Weekend Update

2010-03-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

Hi there to those of you who stop by here every now and then.

I'm not terribly motivated to post anymore these days, but I did want to give a big time thanks to Otis, theMark, G-rob, and badblood for their gracious hospitality and fantastic effort in putting together such a great excuse to get out and meet some folks I have 'known' for years. I hope to make it back up there again one day and spend some more quality time.

Thanks as well to bustout poker for the additional prizes and food. Good luck on your new venture, you look to be doing it right.

See you guys soon I hope...

23skidoo

Fading Hoy

2010-01-16T06:42:00.000-05:00

I'm fading all of Hoy's picks cause he's worthless.

Not that I read anything other than his picks, but whatever his reasoning, I'm sure it's wrong.

Cards +7 will lose to the Saints. The Saints D is relatively healthy again and their offense has more weapons. Hightower and Wells will be ineffective and one will drop the ball at some point. Cards-24 Saints -35

Colts -8 will squeak by the Ravens 17-13.

Vikings -3 win at home, cause that's what they do. The Cowboys defence has looked good over the last three games more because of their opponents than anything. They will focus on AP and will be carved up by farrrvre. Cowboys 21 Vikes 28

Chargers -7 don't cover and may just lose. Marmalard will get chuck happy against a very good defense. My pick is 21-17 Bolts.

There ya go kids, strap in for a good weekend of championship football mixed with good old fashioned hatery.

2009 - Living with the cobwebs

2009-12-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

HI guys, 2009 brought on another down trend for me poker wise. I played less, wrote even lesser, and lost more. I've become a strictly for-recreation player and I don't see that trend changing with the ever growing needs of family-hood. No complaints there.

Maybe I'll turn this into a food blog. nah. I ain't that good.

I did manage to put together Christmas dinner for my family along with my brother's, sister's and most of the wife's immediate family. It was a great day that lasted from 8AM to 1AM. I brined the turkey again this year and it turned out succulent and tasty. No leftovers this year.

Yesterday I put together a pretty freaking awesome lasagna, which I may turn into a post in the next couple of days. I am the comfort food king.

I hope anyone who still reads this has a great new year, the wife and I are planning a paradigm shift in our eating, shopping, and spending habits. I am laying out a budget which will pay off a significant amount of debt this year while shedding some weight and teaching our children healthier eating habits. Wish us luck.

I don't have any poker related goals anymore. I just want to have fun and play more live this year. I've decided that online poker is like flipping coins no matter the style I try playing. Anywho, I'm rambling; you kids take care out there.

-23skidoo

Trip report NYC

2009-11-24T09:11:00.000-05:00

Like many companies in the US, mine has enacted cost cutting measures across the globe. One of the offshoots of that endeavor is a reduction in travel. I haven't been up to the city in a couple of months so I intended to meet up with some old friends; as it turns out I liberated some new acquaintances of their money.

I woke up about 4:15am on Thursday morning and made the hour long drive to the airport. Since I've made the trip so many times I have the timing town pretty good. I made it to security with plenty of time and put my bags through. My luggage got pulled, and I remembered the hard drive I put in my roller, DOH. The security woman removed the drive and I put my toiletry bag back into the front pocket in my bag, and she barked at me "I have to run that back through!" in a gruff voice. I said, "well this bag went through already too". "REMOVE THE ZIPLOCK FROM THE BAG SIR" she bellowed, I just smiled and took it out. I went back to the xray thingy and picked up my bag and hard drive and apparently dropped the ziplock without putting it back in my back....ugh.

Thursday morning there was some snafu with air traffic control, so we sat on the tarmac for 30-45 minutes until we took off. I managed to sleep through most of the flight which was a major score. I usually can't sleep on the plane being 6'4" and ~~225~~235, but I got an empty middle seat which I happily shared with my row mate.

My work day was typically batshit crazy as I had about 3 days of projects to finish in 1 1/2. I managed to plow through and finished up around 6:30. Over the course of the day my buddy bailed on me for dinner so I sent out a last minute plea to Jamie and MattyEbbs to see if I could find a dinner companion or better yet a poker game.(unfotunately Jordan was busy filling the pockets of the Nawlins locals). Ebbs replied with an invite to the relocated Wall Street poker game and I weighed my options as the day went on.

After work, I convinced myself that I would find my hotel and some food and get a decent night's sleep. After making my way to Tribeca I discovered it a little more subdued than other areas I've stayed in. Somewhat quiet and uncrowded. When I got to my room I discovered my toiletry issue and I turned right back around to find some food and a bodega.

I walked around for 20 minutes contemplating food options and had a fairly funny conversation with my wife on the phone as I did it. I settled on a place called Edwards and drank a half carafe of wine with my roasted chicken. It was tastily followed up with a healthy snort of Macallan 12. It was this point that I decided I would not be able to avoid poker.

Getting to the game was easy enough, just a short train ride and I was 2 blocks away. I was ushered to the converted apartment and immediately recognized Jaime's table. I'm glad it's getting good use now that he's become domesticated. The game was 1/2 nlhe and I set about getting a feel for the table. I was already getting a little tired and I quickly determined I'd be playing against an aggressive table. I clammed up, but my hand to my chin and avoided eye contact as necessary. Given my familiarity with the players (or lack of) and general uncomfortable feeling being at a new table, playing tight was absolutely the best way to go. At least at first.

Being nearly 5 days later I don't recall too many specific hands. The players were: the mad Hungarian to my right who played through 5-10 hands and busted, to his right was the Russian aggro, a normal looking dude who didn't really make much of an impression, the dealer, the owner of the apartment who loved overbetting crappy boards, the young TAG, the irish nut-peddler, and Matty ebbs who was replaced by the annoyingly smarmy know it all to my left.

For the most part I played straight forward, I would occasionally float a pot and made only one 'move' toward the end of the night. I made a standard raise to $12 with 77 UTG +3. Young tag raises to $25 in late position and I briefly consider raising but call with no other players in the pot. He bet another $25 on the Q-Hi flop and I put him on nothing better than TT. I based my play on my perception that he would get away from another high on the turn and he had not shown down much at all. When the K hit the turn, I decided I would check raise regardless and go with it. He bet another $50 which I felt was very weak so I raised $150 on top. He did give it a good amount of thought and I feared I made a bad read, however he folded face down and I flashed the sevens. It went quick, but he said thank you. I guess he was worse off than I thought. I racked up shortly after that (+365 tyvm), I had been up nearly 20 hours at that point and I needed to get back to the hotel before I passed out and got rolled. I recall having trouble counting the chips and getting a good idea of what amount was in the pot already. My tired mind even miscounted my cash out chips so I was certainly glad to be ahead at the end.

I'll leave my travel tale of success at that. I'm out of practice writing and this stupid little post took me 2 days to finish. Hopefully I can motivate to write some more soon.

Have a pleasant turkey day and those of you with kids give em' one more good squeeze just because, sometimes they need it.

UGH

2009-11-18T04:28:00.000-05:00

Why did I have to go online and figure out I could go to Vegas for less than $100. FML

OMFG

2009-10-21T05:27:00.000-04:00

Can not stop laughing...

Double secret probation.

2009-10-09T03:46:00.000-04:00

So shortly after that last post I pulled a traditional skidoo move and blasted through the bankroll I built up since August.

Without further justification and explanation, here is 23skidoo's guide to bankroll mismanagement:

Get the itch to play poker. This usually coincides with a trip out of town, the wife is out, or you have consumed several adult beverages and you are bored.

Drop $100-$150 on to the poker account.

If you are lucky, you will find some of your invisible internet friends to rail or play with in a low stakes SNG or a blogger tournament. This path will usually scratch the poker itch and fill the need for some sort of interaction.

#3 is the exception to the rule.

In most scenarios you will vow to play good* and start with a one table low stakes sng.

5 minutes later the $6 SNG is down to 5 players and you are cruising to a win. This is when you go ahead and register for the $11 SNG with your expected winnnings. This move is always +EV

Now that you've got 2 tables going, its a good time to check your email and google reader so you don't play too many hands.

After timing out once at the $11 SNG and accidently clicking call on the all in in the $6 SNG. Go ahead and close your email and refocus.

Bubble the $6 and curse yourself, now you REALLY need to win the $11. Your best shot is to play hyper aggressive and make people fold.

Curse when you are snap called by QQ holding JTsooted.

Now that you've lost 1/2 to 1/4 of your initial deposit, you need to win a $14 superturbo to break even.

When you lose that, use the rest of your $ on a SNG and win it.

After this, go on a massive run until about 4AM when you fall asleep at the laptop up about $400.

Wait a few days and log back on to be surprised that you actually have cash left. Go through your hand history to see some of the stupid beats you put on some people playing $2/$4 PLO8.

Try to remember playing $2/$4 PLO8.

Vow to use your newfound winnings for good, and play sparingly for the next 6-8 weeks building your bankroll to the $1k range.

Repeat steps 1-14, but this time you start playing $100-$200 SNG's and lose 4 in a row.

Put the rest of your cash on a $2/$4 NLHE table and blow it on a flush draw.

Suspend yourself from FT and wait till next month.

There you have it folks, 23skidoo's guide to bankroll mismanagement, enjoy!

*This is an assumption that you actually know how to play properly.

**You have to go ahead and prepare yourself that you will get 2 outted for all your chips on the bubble.

Hello Mookie my old friend.

2009-09-24T05:16:00.000-04:00

Hey, its been awhile, come on and play. You know you want to .

Tournament: The Mookie
When: Wednesday’s at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $10+1
Password: vegas1

Pokeme

2009-09-18T06:54:00.000-04:00

Anyone want to swap your PS for my FT? It's not as dirty as it sounds.

I can do any amount up to 500.

23skidoo are at gmail

Wednesday Wrapup

2009-08-26T08:16:00.000-04:00

I've had some ideas floating around my head, and I'm just going to spit em out rather than keeping the stew on and losing the flavor.

I Love You Man

23skidoo's one word review: PUKE

The wife and I tried to watch it last weekend, I fell asleep both times. Paul Rudd is going to have to earn his way back to my safe list after this one.

I think my wife summed it up the best. We paused the movie about 3/4 of the way through and went out to the back porch to smoke. We chatted about the movie and some other stuff. About an hour later I say something to the effect of how do you feel about turning crap off and 'hitting the sack'. She retorts 'I couldn't care less, I'm fine not giving any more of my life to it'. Apropos

I am a fat bastard

I had a physical 2 weeks ago and I was a bit put off when I saw the scale. 234 is a pretty big number. I'm a big guy so it's a little bit easier to hide the fat, but jeez, I really let go. I know there are some bloggers out there doing some half assed prop bet which involves a weigh-in in Vegas. I'm cool with everything but the Vegas part. Vegas in mid December just is not on my radar. I have joined Daily Burn at the suggestion of Riggs and started logging my intake. After a week I recognized that I take in more than I burn, easy-peasy. The second week I began watching what I eat and lopping down the portions. I also tried spacing my food out through the day. I've dropped to 229, but I'm pretty sure that's mostly water weight. Next week I'm going to ramp up the exercise. This will be hard as most of my days are full. That's the crux of exercise, you have to make time and make it a priority and I haven't quite figured out how to motivate myself to do it.

OK, thats it for now. I know I had more that I wanted to put down, but I'm blanking right now. Time for a little walk....

You kids be careful out there!

My kid is a good sport.

2009-08-21T04:07:00.000-04:00

My kid is a good sport.

My son, god bless him, has been graced with superior physical gifts. These I attribute more to his mother's side of the family than to mine. Yes, they grow 'em big on my side of the family, but it takes a good mixture of physical prowess, desire, and cognitive ability to be a better than average athlete. Those of you who saw me nearly lose a leg trying to jet ski know that is not one of my gifts. I am a big boy, but clumsier than all get out.

My son is big for his age. He is 5'1" and 115.5 lbs as of this morning. He is also 10 years old.

When they boy was born, our first, my pride and ego swelled. A boy....oh the places you will go. Like 90% of all dads out there I immediately began crafting his future. I saw him a mix between Roger Clemons and Bill Gates. (hey I AM a geek after all) Not too lofty of goals eh?

As soon as he was able to figure out that whole hand and finger deal, I put a ball in his hand. By 4 he was playing T-ball with the YMCA. The boy has lived and breathed baseball since. The great part of this is he actually LOVES it. He watches games with the old man, he knows stats and he is ravenous to learn baseball history. All of his school book reports have revolved around sports. He has a fantastic positive attitude, and is a good teammate.

Baseball has come pretty easy for him until the last 2 years or so. I attribute this to the rapidity of his growth. He has a tough time doing things QUICKLY, but he always does it right. So, this season he has had some trouble making a travel team. His previous team was ~20min away from us, and a little out of our network of friends. My suspicion is the team's coach had someone else in mind for my son's position (1st). Regardless, we found ourselves trying out for some other teams and we haven't found a spot for him for a variety of reasons. I'm still waiting on the last team to give me a call this weekend.

This post started in a different direction, but I'm going to keep going and see if I get where I need to be.

Flashback to June, baseball has finished and we decide to let P play football in the fall. He had been asking for awhile and I finally gave in. I warned him that the practices would be intense compared to baseball, and he would most likely be put on the line for his size.

He was undaunted, and true to his word he has yet to complain about the heat, the aches, the tedium of learning a new sport, or playing less than glamorous positions in the trenches. And dammit if the kid isn't good.

The coaches have so far gushed over his ability to pick up his positions and made him the teams snapper from game 1. I watched the team play a scrimmage against 6th graders on Wednesday and they held their own.

I've gone through the seasons as my son has played and I've tried to keep as much levity in tact as I can. In fact I'm not misguided enough to think he has a better than average chance to be a collegiate or professional athlete. I do think I have the duty as a parent and father to allow him every opportunity though. I plan on being as supportive as I can until I'm told to stop. There's only one person who can tell me that, he holds the cards.

I read a few articles in the past few days that have made me stew over the subject of children in sports. I remember reading the tale of Jericho Scott last summer and the subsequent hand wringing involved in the possibility that a child could be blackballed for being 'too good'. In my mind it was further proof of the dumbing down of American society. It ties into every thing that is wrong with today and our 'everyone has to win' outlook.

I appreciated Craig Fehrman's followup on Deadspin on Tuesday. His angle makes a lot more sense. The attributes the heightened anxiety and idea of unfairness that is derived form some parent's expectations of ( or deluded view of) their child's talent.

It is exactly these expectations that I do not want to foist on my child. It has to be his drive, his determination, and his ability to see him through to where he wants to go. I'm here for guidance, understanding, and support. (and a big fat house to retire into. ;)

Read Bob Cook's 'Your kid is not going pro' if you liked this, or even if you didn't.

Take it easy out there kids, have a good weekend.

idiocracy

2009-08-20T02:09:00.000-04:00

The Regular Guys were talking about this speech this morning. Somehow I missed it when it was previously aired.

This woman is a congressman, and holds a masters in public speaking.

Congratulations America! Welcome to the idiocracy.

I may not post very much anymore,

2009-08-19T09:04:00.000-04:00

but I'm still good!

.....you kids be careful out there -23skidoo

Bloggers marry up.

2009-07-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

I finally took the time to cut out Rachel's graduation speech. It's a little over 9 minutes long, but its good, and I'm very proud.

You're daily dose of awesome, with all apologies to Julius Goat

2009-06-23T06:07:00.000-04:00

Special thanks to Kissing Suzy Kolber

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2009/06/joe-namath-autotune-post.html

Calling all dads.

2009-06-18T05:52:00.000-04:00

I came across the following site thanks to the beauty of del.icio.us.

Because I don't care for wine, I reject the whole concept of spitting (as opposed to swallowing) (which…this isn't that kind of site, you sick pigs). It's like, "Yes, I want the rather humiliating experience of sipping tiny little birdie-sized helpings of wine and filtering it through my teeth and trying to find notes of oak and cherries and king scrotum in it, but I'm not at all interested in attaining the requisite level of drunkenness that would make this behavior seem less awkward."

http://www.dadgonemad.com/

I thought it was timely since Sunday is fathers day. Happy day to all you dads out there, go play some golf and let those women folk make you a steak.

cheers!

by the way, you can see my bookmarks at http://delicious.com/23skidoo

Recruiting is Elementary..

2009-06-17T09:46:00.000-04:00

My son has been playing baseball since he was 3. He has above average talent and is a good team player. I finally gave in to his request to sign up for football this season. I asked around to some of the guys I knew about the local program, and went ahead and signed him up for rec ball. He is now being recruited by a travel team which is more selective and competitive. We're still weighing the options, but it really blows my mind that a 10 year old is being recruited to play football. The kid wants nothing more than to play, and play well on a winning team. We shall see.

By the way, I gave in and signed up on Twitter. You can follow me @iam23skidoo. Dunno if I'll adopt the platform or not, I'll probably end up updating it as much as this place...

cheers!

Checking in

2009-06-05T04:04:00.000-04:00

Hi folks!

It has been a long month since we've last heard from your hero. The wife and I have a fabu trip to Costa Rica two and a half weeks ago...geez that feels like months ago. We had an adventurous week full of canopy touring, river rafting, site seeing, and walking....LOTS of walking. Maybe one of these days I'll actually take the time to post some pics, but hey, who am I kidding?

Work proceeded to squarely kick me in the junk upon my return and I have had my head down since.

I managed to play in a few of the BBT4 events, but I just suck. I made a decent run at the Big Game, but got way too tight after I accumulated a nice stack from a turned nut flush draw and a pre-flop AK vs Hammer dual that held up.

Tonight I go to my first live Baseball game of the season. My son and his baseball team get to go onto the field before the game for some sort of fund raiser award.

Speaking of the Braves, I think what they did to Tom Glavine is just despicable. I've never held Schuerholtz in very high regard and now I think he is just trash. Tom is absolutely one of the best Braves of all time and to string him along then make up some BS about his ability is just plain false. Plain and simple the greedy fuckers didn't want to pay the 1 million roster bonus he earned by rehabbing and getting ready to pitch. So in short, the Braves upper management can bite me. They've shown they have no interest in how they look to the fans of their team.

That's all for now kids, back to work.

Around the horn

2009-05-06T07:50:00.000-04:00

It is a blissful HUMPday and I'm ready for vacation already....just a few days now and it's to Costa Rica for a week.....oh sweet salvation.

I've played a few BBT4 tourneys and I'm non-plussed, it's discouraging yet expected to see some of the same play I see in the $3 games. I get pissed sure, but I'm gonna keep it to myself (for the most part) since I feel pretty good in my play. Other than the fact that I'm tending to be weak/passive recently.

The thing is that nothing surprises me anymore. The moron hoping for his 1 to 4 outer will hit and that's fine.

God bless.

For some reason this is still 'fun' for me more because of the presence of a select few who I still chat with and the others, who I just laugh at.

I'll post once more before I'm out for a week or so, I have to lend yet another example of the fact that bloggers marry up.

My wife graduates law school Friday and has been chosen as the speaker for her class. Hopefully she gives me the thumbs up to post the speech here. Stay tuned.

l8ter

Weekend wrapup.

2009-04-13T12:19:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed a somewhat relaxing weekend that started off with a canceled poker game. It's spring break here which means most of my regulars were out of town. Thursday afternoon I kind of lost my motivation for trying to scrape together a game, so I scrapped it and adjusted my outlook to doing something with the Fam.

The kids selected Summits out of our options, mostly I'm sure because they have a game room and can spend more than 20 minutes there getting morbidly bored. Summits happens to be my favorite bar + restaurant in the area. They offer 200+ draft beers and bottles to boot. Not to mention they actually have an edible menu, not this chain restauraunt crap.t You may have something similar in your area. Summits offers a beer club which rewards you with customized mugs at certain levels. The custom mugs also offer a few ounces of extra hoppy goodness.

I'm closing in on my next mug, which is more like a chalace, for hitting 250 draft beers. I figure when I surpass 250 I'll have to start going the bottle route more often on my way to 500 and the custom made German Stein. ahh, but I digress.

On Saturday, my father in law retaliated with my mother in law and had a surprise party of his own for her. The wife and I were far less involved for this one, we got there a little early to help set up. I got the bar ready and was the designated wine pusher for the evening. We did our thing for a couple hours and left somewhat early. It was nice to get home and pass out at a reasonable hour.

We did Easter mass on Sunday, and dammit if I didn't just now think of taking pictures...so slack. The girls were terribly cute in their spring dresses while the boy and I stuck to the khaki-oxford uniform.

Afterwords, the kids relaxed at home for a couple hours while I got some work done, then we headed off to the aunts house to stuff our faces and veg during the end of the Masters.

I must say I was a little sad for Mikelnuts, poor guy just can't get out of his own way. Just what the heck were our boys choking on there at the end? Frigging Argentinean hits a tree on 18 and still manages to win....pathetic. Call me racist, whatever. I've been called worse, its just disappointing to have what seems to be good players shit their pants at the end of 4 days...

Not a bad weekend, all in all. Started out with torrential downpours and ended with some of the most beautiful weather to date this year. I love spring in the south.

Have a good weekend folks, see you around.

Palookavillle

2009-04-08T05:02:00.000-04:00

My wife never gets sick. She has an iron will and boundless energy, I often remark that Rach has another gear that most normal folks just don't have. Well, yesterday she got sick. I was staying home already since I was a little under the weather, which happens on a bi-monthly basis. Around 10AM she casually mentioned ot me that she was tired and proceeded to sleep the rest of the day and all night long. I started getting a little antsy around 10PM when she came down to get some tea, drank two sips, and went back to bed. This morning I was certain it was strep. Her voice was scratchy and wavering and she still had no energy. I had a meeting to get to this AM and took the kids to daycare so she could get some rest. As I was writing this I reminded myself to call and check up on her, but got no answer at home and her cell. I busied myself for a few more minutes and tried a few more times for the next 30 minutes or so. I must admit that I got a little panicked.

She finally called me back from her car just a mminute ago and let me know she was on the way to immediate care, and I let myself breathe again. I know its nothing, but it kind of pisses me off that I have to get reminded of how important she is to me, just being there for me.

That has nothing to do with the title of the post, and I'm struggling to find a reason for it. I think Ive come up with the fact that I feel like such a palooka sometimes, taking more than I give. I really got to work on that.

On and off

2009-03-31T05:12:00.000-04:00

There's little doubt that my zeal for playing cards online has dwindled. My online footprint has become a little toe and I'm just not sure if i can recapture the love and need for the game that I once had. I'm not all that sure I want to either.

This is not a goodbye post or anything dramatic like that. I'm not fishing for attention, just stating a truth that I've been trying to deny for several months. I've discovered what I really love about playing poker will never be accomplished by staring into the magic box for hours on end. Its a tool, but its not the goal.

The things I love about poker are (a) the camaraderie; for a healthy amount of time I thought I had that. I loved discussing hands and situations with my fellow bloggers, I followed progress, I participated. It was good. I have made fantastic connections with some of you that I will not let subside, but I like looking into a person's eyes and the fluid nature of a live game; (b) the nuance; I love the fact that the answer to nearly every poker situation is "it depends". Every situation is unique, every hand requires recall, thought, and intuition; (c) the money; I don't think its a secret that I love to see chips flying across the table. I love the sound, the feel, the sight of a person who has just won or lost a big pot.

You see where I'm going. On-line poker has turned into a video game for me, a time-waster, a place to flush my hard earned money down the virtual tubes. I cant take it anymore, and its false to pretend to think I can be a better player online, 'cause it's obvious to me that I don't care to make the moves to become one.

I love the game, I am a successful player when the cards, the people and the chips are in front of me. I really don't know why there's a difference. It just is, and I'm not ignoring it anymore. Most of you who still read this I'm sure you'll see me virtually or live again. I still won't be able to tear myself away from games like this:

..among others. You guys are just too much fun.

So if indeed you still read these pages, I appreciate it. I still read ~50 or so blogs on a regular basis.

I'll try to be more read-worthy in the coming months posting more about the traveling that's going on and the hustle and bustle of everyday life that is a father of 3 in the 'burbs.

See ya around!

Weekend Wrapup

2009-03-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

Hello kiddles and crazies, how are things going?

I had a long exhausting trip up to NYC Thursday and Friday, I layed low even though I did contemplate hitting up a new club for some poker. By the time 6:30 rolled around on Thursday I was sofa king tired I could barely complete a sentence.

I opted to plop myself down in my hotel's bar for food and basketball highlights. I could have easily retired around 9, however I befriended a young salesman from NC and proceeded to get good and lubricated. I finally hit the sack around 11 and managed to donk off some $ on Full Tilt. I'm such a monkey sometimes.

I worked tirelessly yet bleary eyed through Friday and caught my Flight out of LGA confident in my abilities to put out quality work while smelling like an oak Macallan cask.

I pulled in to my house around 10:00 where the wife was there entertaining 2 of her friends and an unfortunate boyfriend. Obviously we stayed up far too late and polished off what wine we had in the house.

Saturday, I bailed on my tennis match and took MasterP and one of his buddies to their baseball practice. While they practiced, I found the nearest coffee and proceeded to drown in it for the next hour. After practice I took the boys to Zaxby's and we downed copius amouts of chicken digits. I had somehow managed to miss Zaxby's up till that point and wasn't overly impressed, but it aint bad for fast food I suppose.

The mouse (middle girl, stay with me) had a softball game Saturday afternoon, which I had to miss. Keep in mind the mouse is 8 years old and just starting to appreciate softball. I was however regaled to the following story:

Mouse was playing third base at the time and the biggest girl on the opposing team (BFG) was up to bat. BFG crushed a line drive towards my daughter's left knee, and she just did not have the time to move. Mouse fell to a heap on the ground and my wife bolted in from left field to asses the damage. Mouse was bawling and heaving and clinging to my wife for a few minutes and someone else delivered some ice. My wife asked mouse if she wanted to have a seat on the bench to ice her knee and mouse just stopped, grabbed her dusty hat from the dirt, put it back on and assumed her position at 3rd base as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

The very next batter hit a drive down the third base line which the mouse speared, then stomped defiantly on third base for the third out. She gently tossed the ball toward the mound and marched off the field. Both she and the wife repeated the story to whoever would listen for the next 24hours, it was a good one.

The in-laws were having a surprise party for my father in law on Saturday night, and I was a key part of the obfuscation of the days activities. I had to pretend to go to work on a planned outage and my wife was going shopping with her mother. Therefore pa-in-law was called in for kid duty, which he actually loves.

As flimsy as the plan was, it worked and he was dutifully surprised. We partied with the old folks and had a generally good time. Given the proper amount of 18 year old Balvenie I'm a real charming mofo.

Sunday the wife had a tennis match and the boy had a baseball game, which they won easily. I seem to remember the boys being so much better pitchers when I was that age....anywho. I couldn't get home fast enough so I could assume the position on my lazy boy and pass out.

What Joy.

Tinkering

2009-03-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

I'm tinkering around a little bit, so if some lame poetry popped up from me on RSS I apologize.

I have no intention of torturing any of you with my mental regurgitation from days gone by. I do intend to transcribe the vast majority of my poetry here, but I will keep it hidden from view from now on out.

I'm warming up to this again, so bear with me, I'm gonna tinker some more so I'm happy with my 'new' home. Then I should be able to be comfortable enough to once again regale you with my BS.

Cheers!

TEST

2009-03-16T06:48:00.000-04:00

Sorry I'm a moron, switching to do it yourself mode has its drawbacks.

101891024A

2009-03-13T09:07:00.000-04:00

smashed against

a density unknown

like flashes from a camera

strobe and up-close

pardoned from treason

a reason

slighted by

an agency of fascinating people

looks on

observing behavior much unlike its' own

the creature stirrs with madness

unlike the possibilities

reaches unknown

an alien abduction from

his natural domain

sightless and bleary

unable to live in the midst

of the ungratefulness we serve

to the ones we owe so much

apparent to philosophers

unseen by you and me

we wave in disbelief

as the trail leads to

space

Coming soon...

2009-02-24T10:22:00.000-05:00

I believe I may soon come out again. The groundhog has seen his shadow and spring is coming.

This is me:

....beware

Poker + Business

2008-12-29T07:53:00.000-05:00

Zappos CEO blogs about the correlation between poker and being a successful boss...

good stuff.

Home For the Holidays

2008-12-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

Been keeping my head down for a bit....rather than being cranky and boring, I've just laid off posting for awhile.

I hope everyone has a great Holiday! While I'm out enjoy this tasty bacon.

From here.

Pokerstars Blogger Freeroll

2008-12-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

It's here again! Make sure to join!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code: 327119

BoDonk a donk

2008-11-19T02:12:00.000-05:00

Once again I took down the Bodonkey..yay!!

This time I came into the final table as the leader and gave it up with about 4 players left. With three left, Smokkee had a nice lead on the table and I was second. I pushed QQ and was called by wwonka's AT which obviously turned into a FH for him. The very next hand I pushed AJ and smokk doublled me up with AT. I took my time and finally got a few hands in a row. After a bit, I was in the BB with 2Td and faced a 3x raise vs smokk...I decided to see a flop. I flopped 2P on a 5d Tc 2c board with smokkee holding K7c. I check called the push and dodged all his outs.

Willwonka and I both mentioned deja-vu since we were in this spot just a couple weeks ago. I played the hammer on the first hand of heads up and wwonka just had no chance... I got TT, AQ, AA and finished him off with JTd vs Jx. Good times.

Next week everyone gets their change to tilt waffles as he has a bounty on his head, so sign up early and we'll see you Thursday if I can make it.

Register for the Bodog Blogger Tourney!!!

Check Smokkee for more details.

More parlay fun.

2008-11-18T03:35:00.000-05:00

Last week gave me the bug, placing parlays makes watching all the games more fun, so in addition to my weekly Titans bet and a couple of NCAA bets I placed 4 more parlays, I hit on the least crazy one, yay!
5 Team Parlay127705295
Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread
(401) Denver Broncos +6½ (-115) Sun@1:00p

Final Scores
Denver Broncos 24
Atlanta Falcons 20

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread
(415) New Orleans Saints -6 (-105) Sun@1:00p

Final Scores
New Orleans Saints 30
Kansas City Chiefs 20

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread
(420) Tampa Bay Buccaneers -4 (-115) Sun@1:00p

Final Scores
Minnesota Vikings 13
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread
(409) Tennessee Titans -3 (-105) Sun@4:15p

Final Scores
Tennessee Titans 24
Jacksonville Jaguars 14

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread
(429) Cleveland Browns +5 Mon@8:35p

Final Scores
Cleveland Browns 29
Buffalo Bills 27

Outcome:
Win

Risk US$ 5.00 to win US$ 122.18

So I got to actually stay up and watch what turned out to be a pretty exciting game last night. Go Browns!

I'm heading up to NY tomorrow and I'll hopefully get some work done in between the poker. ;)

in which we jinx ourselves.

2008-11-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

I seldom write about my sports betting, mostly because I'm not a long term winner. I'll occasionally get the bug and throw out some bets and a crazy parlay or two in addition to the 2 NFL pick'em leagues and the college pick'em league I'm in.

This week I've already won some very close matchups with a blocked field goal helping the Crimson Tide to cover the 3.5. A one point Green Bay loss, that covered the 2 point spread. And a last second non-meaningful hail mary in the ATL/NO to go over 50.

Then I took all my bets and wrapped them up into a little parlay like so:

6 Team Parlay

Football - College Lines (Game) Point Spread

(167) Alabama -3½ (-115) Sat@3:30p
Competitor:(168) LSU

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread

NFL - WEEK #10

(213) Tennessee Titans -3 (-105) Sun@1:00p
Competitor:(214) Chicago Bears

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread

NFL - WEEK #10

(234) Arizona Cardinals -9½ Mon@8:35p
Competitor:(233) San Francisco 49ers

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Total

NFL - WEEK #10

(217) New Orleans Saints vs. (218) Atlanta Falcons Over 50 Sun@1:00p

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread

NFL - WEEK #10

(223) Green Bay Packers +2 Sun@1:00p
Competitor:(224) Minnesota Vikings

Football - NFL Lines (Game) Point Spread

NFL - WEEK #10

WRITE-IN GAME

(235) Baltimore Ravens -1 Sun@1:00p
Competitor:(236) Houston Texans

Risk US$ 5.00 to win US$ 237.43

So now I get to sweat a 10 point win for the Cardinals to hit a nice little sum of money. GO CARDS!

So now the thing that will kill me is that if I hadn't tried to reverse jinx myself, would I still have lost...

Where's waldo?

2008-11-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

No only am I posting ever so infrequently, but I'm doing it on 2 sites...ugh.

Hopefully I'll be updating www.iam23skidoo.com more than this one, or at least the same.

building bridges to Obama

2008-11-07T07:59:00.000-05:00

Here are the contents of an email I received from a good friend this afternoon:

In the spirit of putting America first, I have decided to reach out to the new Admin by re-naming my Black & White, neutered male freeloading cat of little accomplishment, Obama…..he was previously known as Beauregard.

For the record.

(I think it is only fitting that the picture shows him hard at work in the Oval Office (asleep) sitting on top of my wallet!!!!

I can not recall the last time I laughed so hard at an email.

OK what would you NOT put this on??

2008-11-02T13:37:00.002-05:00

http://www.baconnaise.com/

Anybody got a spoon? Or a straw?

Bodonkey WInner

2008-10-29T09:40:00.004-04:00

Awesome Tourney, Great Prizes....and I win. What a country!

Register for the Bodog Blogger Tourney HERE

Check Smokkee for more details.

As soon as I can traverse their antiquated hand history tool, I'll put up a few hands on www.iam23skidoo.com

I am a boDONKEY

2008-10-29T04:19:00.000-04:00

Awesome Tourney, Great Prizes....and I win. What a country!

Register for the Bodog Blogger Tourney

Check Smokkee for more details.

I went through a few hands that were key to the final table for me. I'll try not to bore you too much, but wwonka had such a massive chiplead on the table, I'm proud of the comeback.

Here's my lowpoint on the final table:

My buddies come to save the day here. I make the dreaded early position min raise and get a call from NewinNov. He commits to TP and I hold on.

wwonka was making medium sized raises and getting alot of folds On this hand I put him on a weak ace and went with my gut. I really didn't expect a call.

Here's another hand where I felt he was making a stealy move. I made a re-raise of his smallish looking bet and checked it down.... OH and nothing beats the JACKACE.

I finally take a lead with this one. I bet the turn when I thought I was ahead.

And I take out columbo with this: Astin is right...Aces are easy.

And here's a truly nasty hand when I take out CEM. I call the BB and he raises just enough for me not to fold.

And here's a masterful play of the hammer for me. I raise and smoof-call wwonka's re-raise. Obv I jam the flop and he sucks out.

This got us to fairly even, but I kept the pressure on and got cards when I needed them. Good times!

Thanks Kajagugu! Even a drunk can understand the economy.

2008-10-28T03:30:00.000-04:00

I found this again, courtesy of Kajagugu.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Tax System - Explained With Beer

Pretty easy way to explain things. I am Kajagugu and I approve this message:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.'Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 ( 25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Double or nothing

2008-10-21T11:33:00.004-04:00

I know all the Matrix tourneys are all the rage right now on Full Tilt. I refuse to deposit there anymore just out of sheer hard-headedness, so I've been plying my trade on Stars for the past couple of weeks. I happened upon their 'double or nothing' SNG's and I'm loving them (enable doom switch now).

The table starts with ten and if you manage to outlast 5 of your opponents, you double up! (minus the vigorish)

I'm currently on fire with these all the way up to the $100 level, I have cashed in every single attempt. As you would imagine the play is generally frog's ass tight in the early stages. I usually will take a stab with an open range early on to accumulate a few chips for the mid-levels when the table decides to wake up. Take note, these are turbos and the ante' starts up around the 50/100 level. These are great for me, since I can usually slate only about an hour or so to play.

I would be interested in hitting up the re-buy donkfest set up by Numb, so let me know if you'd like some cash on Stars and we can swap.

BTW....I am continuing to cross post at www.iam23skidoo.com. I will move there exclusively in December.

Cheers all, sorry I'm not posting often I just don't have much to say.

Double or nothing.

2008-10-21T04:49:00.000-04:00

I know all the Matrix tourneys are all the rage right now on Full Tilt. I refuse to deposit there anymore just out of sheer hard-headedness, so I've been plying my trade on Stars for the past couple of weeks. I happened upon their 'double or nothing' SNG's and I'm loving them (enable doom switch now).

The table starts with ten and if you manage to outlast 5 of your opponents, you double up! (minus the vigorish)

I'm currently on fire with these all the way up to the $100 level, I have cashed in every single attempt. As you would imagine the play is generally frog's ass tight in the early stages. I usually will take a stab with an open range early on to accumulate a few chips for the mid-levels when the table decides to wake up. Take note, these are turbos and the ante' starts up around the 50/100 level. These are great for me, since I can usually slate only about an hour or so to play.

I would be interested in hitting up the re-buy donkfest set up by Numb and Dank, so let me know if you'd like some cash on Stars and we can swap.

Cheers all, sorry I'm not posting often I just don't have much to say.

Damn Waffles, Riggs, Kat etc...

2008-10-10T16:15:00.002-04:00

How Fitting.

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

In case you don't already know, I am cross posting (for now) at http://www.iam23skidoo.com

Damn you Waffles, Riggs, Kat, etc...

2008-10-10T09:23:00.000-04:00

How fitting.

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of intoxication with success

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Throwing bad money

2008-10-03T09:04:00.005-04:00

Throwing bad money after worse...

2008-10-03T03:46:00.000-04:00

Ugh...I got myself started....watch this:

Can we just go start a new America somewhere else?

Use some Common Sense. We need to find a viable way out of this hole, Washington will not help us.

I also played the Riverchasers last night and won the damn thing. Here are just a few examples of cardrackery.

Hand 12 - Presto Sucks
Full Tilt Poker Game #8323166237: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:12:02 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (3,265)
Seat 6: cemfredmd (3,090)
Dealt to iam23skidoo [7s 8d]
cemfredmd raises to 80
muhctim calls 80
iam23skidoo calls 40
*** FLOP *** [4h 7d 8h]
iam23skidoo checks
cemfredmd bets 80
iam23skidoo calls 80
*** TURN *** [4h 7d 8h] [4d]
cemfredmd bets 80
iam23skidoo raises to 200
cemfredmd calls 120
*** RIVER *** [4h 7d 8h 4d] [2s]
iam23skidoo bets 40
cemfredmd calls 40
*** SHOW DOWN ***
iam23skidoo shows [7s 8d] two pair, Eights and Sevens
Board: [4h 7d 8h 4d 2s]
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (big blind) showed [7s 8d] and won (900) with two pair, Eights and Sevens
Seat 6: cemfredmd mucked [5c 5d] - two pair, Fives and Fours

Hand 14 - Flush Draw no goot.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323196120: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:14:16 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 3: NumbBono (2,915)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (3,625)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Kh Qh]
NumbBono raises to 120
iam23skidoo raises to 240
NumbBono calls 120
*** FLOP *** [5s Qs Jc]
NumbBono checks
iam23skidoo bets 500
NumbBono calls 500
*** TURN *** [5s Qs Jc] [Jh]
NumbBono checks
iam23skidoo checks
*** RIVER *** [5s Qs Jc Jh] [3c]
NumbBono checks
iam23skidoo checks
iam23skidoo shows [Kh Qh] two pair, Queens and Jacks
iam23skidoo wins the pot (1,540) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 3: NumbBono mucked [Ks 4s] - a pair of Jacks
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (button) showed [Kh Qh] and won (1,540) with two pair, Queens and Jacks

Hand 32 - PP GOOT

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323381890: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:28:06 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (3,965)
Seat 7: muhctim (3,135)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [6s 6d]
iam23skidoo raises to 350
muhctim calls 250
*** FLOP *** [Qd 9h Qc]
iam23skidoo bets 650
Uncalled bet of 650 returned to iam23skidoo

Hand 33 - BS or Big Slick?

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323396467: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:29:10 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (4,365)
Seat 6: cemfredmd (2,335)
Seat 8: pktqueenz4me (2,807)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ac Ks]
iam23skidoo raises to 200
cemfredmd calls 175
pktqueenz4me calls 150
*** FLOP *** [Ad 4h 8s]
iam23skidoo bets 500
cemfredmd raises to 2,135, and is all in
iam23skidoo calls 1,635
cemfredmd shows [Jd Ah]
iam23skidoo shows [Ac Ks]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 4h 8s 4s] [8d]
iam23skidoo wins the pot (4,920) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (button) showed [Ac Ks] and won (4,920) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 6: cemfredmd (small blind) showed [Jd Ah] and lost with two pair, Aces and Eights

Hand 35 ... from the clutches of defeat. At least I said I'm sorry.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323421187: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:31:00 ET - 2008/10/02

Seat 3: NumbBono (1,885)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,250)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ah Js]
NumbBono raises to 180
madbrooklyn folds
iam23skidoo raises to 630
muhctim folds
pktqueenz4me folds
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces folds
NumbBono has 15 seconds left to act
NumbBono raises to 1,885, and is all in
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo: sorry..
iam23skidoo calls 1,255
NumbBono shows [Ac Qh]
iam23skidoo shows [Ah Js]
*** FLOP *** [6s Ad Th]
*** TURN *** [6s Ad Th] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [6s Ad Th Td] [Tc]
NumbBono ties for the pot (1,930) with a full house, Tens full of Aces
iam23skidoo ties for the pot (1,930) with a full house, Tens full of Aces
Seat 3: NumbBono showed [Ac Qh] and won (1,930) with a full house, Tens full of Aces
Seat 5: iam23skidoo showed [Ah Js] and won (1,930) with a full house, Tens full of Aces

Hand 45 JJ is ok.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323614526: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:45:21 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (4,565)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,295)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Jh Js]
twoblackaces raises to 240
iam23skidoo calls 160
*** FLOP *** [8d 3s Td]
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo bets 400
twoblackaces calls 400
*** TURN *** [8d 3s Td] [Jc]
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo bets 880
Uncalled bet of 880 returned to iam23skidoo
iam23skidoo wins the pot (1,320)

Hand 61 donk aa

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323745247: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:54:48 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (4,985)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,595)
iam23skidoo posts the small blind of 50
muhctim posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ac Ah]
twoblackaces raises to 300
iam23skidoo calls 250
*** FLOP *** [7s 8s 5c]
iam23skidoo bets 200
twoblackaces calls 200
*** TURN *** [7s 8s 5c] [2c]
iam23skidoo bets 500
twoblackaces calls 500
*** RIVER *** [7s 8s 5c 2c] [8d]
iam23skidoo shows [Ac Ah] two pair, Aces and Eights

Hand 71 - obfv

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323883421: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:04:58 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (3,835)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (9,170)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ah Kd]
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces raises to 360
iam23skidoo raises to 1,200
twoblackaces calls 840
*** FLOP *** [As 4c 6s]
iam23skidoo bets 7,970, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 7,970 returned to iam23skidoo

75 - 76 no play

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323931948: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:08:35 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (9,930)
Seat 7: muhctim (3,280)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Js Jd]
iam23skidoo raises to 420
muhctim has 15 seconds left to act
Uncalled bet of 300 returned to iam23skidoo
Seat 5: iam23skidoo collected (300), mucked

Full Tilt Poker Game #8323937843: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:09:02 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (3,575)
Seat 4: madbrooklyn (2,070)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (10,110)
Seat 7: muhctim (3,280)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (7,965)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Kd As]
muhctim folds
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces folds
madbrooklyn folds
Uncalled bet of 60 returned to iam23skidoo
iam23skidoo wins the pot (120)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (big blind) collected (120), mucked

and... hand 86

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324025573: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:15:35 ET - 2008/10/02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Qs Ah]
iam23skidoo raises to 640
muhctim folds
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces folds
madbrooklyn folds
Uncalled bet of 480 returned to iam23skidoo

Hand 98....geez

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324087719: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:20:12 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (5,090)
Seat 4: madbrooklyn (2,070)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,005)
Seat 7: muhctim (2,500)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (10,335)
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Kh Ks]
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo raises to 640
muhctim folds
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces folds
madbrooklyn folds
Uncalled bet of 480 returned to iam23skidoo
iam23skidoo mucks
iam23skidoo wins the pot (400)

Hand 103 Hieeya! Amazing TBA doesn't re-raise the river.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324110536: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:21:54 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 2: twoblackaces (5,010)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,005)
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Tc Jc]
iam23skidoo calls 160
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan folds
twoblackaces checks
*** FLOP *** [Ad 5c 7c]
twoblackaces checks
iam23skidoo checks
*** TURN *** [Ad 5c 7c] [4c]
twoblackaces checks
iam23skidoo checks
*** RIVER *** [Ad 5c 7c 4c] [6h]
twoblackaces checks
iam23skidoo bets 400
twoblackaces calls 400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
iam23skidoo shows [Tc Jc] a flush, Jack high
iam23skidoo wins the pot (1,200) with a flush, Jack high
Board: [Ad 5c 7c 4c 6h]
Seat 2: twoblackaces (big blind) mucked [As 3d] - a straight, Seven high
Seat 5: iam23skidoo showed [Tc Jc] and won (1,200) with a flush, Jack high

Hand #127 HAMMER TIME

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324274552: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:34:09 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (7,305)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (16,285)
muhctim posts the small blind of 100
BamBamCan posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [2d 7c]
iam23skidoo raises to 800
BamBamCan calls 600
*** FLOP *** [4d 6c Ah]
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan bets 600
iam23skidoo raises to 1,400
Uncalled bet of 800 returned to iam23skidoo
iam23skidoo shows [2d 7c] Ace Seven high
iam23skidoo wins the pot (2,900)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (button) collected (2,900)

Hand 132. DOH....yay!

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324296545: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:35:49 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (8,395)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (14,735)
muhctim posts the small blind of 120
BamBamCan posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [6d 6s]
madbrooklyn folds
iam23skidoo raises to 720
muhctim: ok gl
muhctim has 15 seconds left to act
muhctim raises to 1,545, and is all in
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan: jebus
BamBamCan folds
iam23skidoo: u2
iam23skidoo calls 825
muhctim shows [8d 8c]
iam23skidoo shows [6d 6s]
*** FLOP *** [6h Qc Kh]
*** TURN *** [6h Qc Kh] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [6h Qc Kh 5s] [3d]
muhctim shows a pair of Eights
iam23skidoo shows three of a kind, Sixes
iam23skidoo wins the pot (3,430) with three of a kind, Sixes
iam23skidoo: doh

Hand 148 AA overplay

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324344713: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:39:29 ET - 2008/10/02
BamBamCan: YUP !
Seat 4: madbrooklyn (2,660)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (12,500)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (11,840)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ah As]
iam23skidoo raises to 720
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan raises to 1,200
iam23skidoo: lol
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo raises to 3,675
iam23skidoo wins the pot (2,475)

Hand 163 ...ok I'm making up hand numbers...you got me. Priced in??

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324459154: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:48:19 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 4: madbrooklyn (3,860)
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (11,770)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (11,370)
BamBamCan posts the small blind of 150
madbrooklyn posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Qh 5h]
iam23skidoo raises to 1,125
BamBamCan folds
madbrooklyn raises to 3,835, and is all in
iam23skidoo has 15 seconds left to act
iam23skidoo: suckout on
iam23skidoo calls 2,710
madbrooklyn shows [7c 8c]
iam23skidoo shows [Qh 5h]
*** FLOP *** [3s Qc 6s]
madbrooklyn: nh
*** TURN *** [3s Qc 6s] [As]
*** RIVER *** [3s Qc 6s As] [Th]
iam23skidoo wins the pot (7,895) with a pair of Queens

Hand 169 Third Pair can NEVAR lose.

Full Tilt Poker Game #8324472457: Riverchasers Online Tour (62582923), Table 1 - 150/300 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:49:21 ET - 2008/10/02
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (15,480)
Seat 9: BamBamCan (11,520)
iam23skidoo antes 25
BamBamCan antes 25
iam23skidoo posts the small blind of 150
BamBamCan posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iam23skidoo [Ah 3s]
iam23skidoo calls 150
BamBamCan has 15 seconds left to act
BamBamCan raises to 1,050
iam23skidoo calls 750
*** FLOP *** [9c 5h 3d]
BamBamCan bets 10,445, and is all in
iam23skidoo calls 10,445
BamBamCan shows [Jh Ac]
iam23skidoo shows [Ah 3s]
*** TURN *** [9c 5h 3d] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [9c 5h 3d 7h] [Kc]
iam23skidoo wins the pot (23,040) with a pair of Threes
BamBamCan: lol
Seat 5: iam23skidoo (small blind) showed [Ah 3s] and won (23,040) with a pair of Threes
Seat 9: BamBamCan (big blind) showed [Jh Ac] and lost with Ace King high

If you've read this far, I commend you and clearly you have too much free time.

Till next time CHEERS and have a good weekend!

I endorse this message

2008-10-02T10:41:00.004-04:00

This may be the one and only political post you'll get from me. But when things begin to threaten my ability or potential ability to provide for my family then the gloves come off.

I strongly encourage you to wake up and pay attention, this country is falling into a socialist wreck and is a shell of its former self. I don't know much about economics, but I know that throwing bad money after worse money is generally a bad idea. I try to listen to people who are smarter than me in these instances. I'm a recent devotee of Dave Ramsey and although I disagree with his sometime totalitarian views I can not disagree that the man knows finance. So when he posted his Common Sense ideas for financial solvency in this country, I was compelled to follow his advice. I strongly encourage you to take a look and let your representative know that he will be out of a job if this bill passes. It's the only thing they care about.

I am cross-posting (albeit not very frequently these days) at www.iam23skidoo.com