$5 An Hour

Yep, I played 30 hours this most recent weekend and won $150 for my efforts. Considering that I was stuck over $1k twice during my two long sessions, I'll take it.

I was down almost two racks Friday night into Saturday morning. I ended up playing 3 handed with this crazy guy named Walter whom I never played with before, and Eugene who's as tough as they come. Walter was betting every flop and raising his button with reckless abandon. Checking wasn't in his repertoire. It wasn't until after the Saturday morning regulars came that I was able to get unstuck and finally start whacking him.

Then I played Saturday evening into Sunday morning, almost the identical shift, where I was dealt AA and KK twice in a span of about 45 minutes. Of course those didn't win, so I went almost 3 hours without winning a pot. We played 4 handed for most of the early morning, and I was up against our friend Walter again, Elon (pretty solid), and some Asian guy that I don't know. This time, Walter didn't escape me and I got him pretty good. When I left, he was in for 3 racks. By noon, I was up $50 and didn't want to miss the Ranger game so I turned in for a quick nap.

The Rangers played their worst game of the playoffs. I don't know if they're going to be able to dig out of a 2 game hole this time. Things didn't feel so grim against the Caps since the Rangers lost a close one in overtime in game 2, so it easily could've been 1-1 going back to MSG. But the Bruins look to be beating the Rangers at their own game. Hopefully, they can turn it around and start exposing the 3 Bruin rookies on defense. And Lundqvist needs to outplay Rask and so far it hasn't happened.

Oh yeah, and I'm now 0-2 on making it to the Great Googamooga festival. Well, this time I had a thousand reasons on Sunday as to why I didn't make it, but luckily I received word that it was cancelled due to the rainy weather so I didn't feel so bad.

Can't wait for my next hand...

I Heart King Schultz

Ok, I know I'm a little late to the party in seeing Django Unchained, but devoting my attention to movies lately has been quite a luxury for me considering how much time I spend playing poker, video games, or updating all my stupid gadgets and making sure they can all play Netflix :)

But the character of Dr. King Schultz is already my favorite Tarantino person ever. Played by the magnificent Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, he's so disgustingly admirable that now I have to see Inglorious Basterds.

Ok, he's cool, but how so? Well first off, he's got one of those gadgety-up-your-sleeve guns. Sure, I'll shake your hand, then blow you away. He's always well dressed, and like any exquisitely bearded German (even though Waltz is Austrian), he's constantly curling his mustache. If I could grow a beard like his instead of looking like someone who shaved off other people's facial hair and glued them to his face, I would.

His humorous wit and flair for the dramatic is matched by his keen ability to converse and negotiate, whether it be by deception or by shocking reveal. You feel that he has an aura of invincibility about him, and can overcome any obstacle through his seductive intellect or simply via gunshot as either will seem to do in Tarantino's world.

But his compassion and sympathy are what make him truly extraordinary. His willingness to help Django on his quest to save his wife while taking him under his wing and teaching his trade of bounty hunting is nothing short of superhuman.

And what of this role as a liberator? I'm sure the fact that his name "Dr. King" is a historical reference to the great man himself.

And isn't it the greatest irony that Schultz, the epitome of calm and coolness, and after scolding Django for his lack of patience and resolve, becomes the firestarter to the powder keg that ignites the film's denouement in Candie's house. "Sorry, I couldn't resist" will be burned into my memory banks.

4/13 - 4/14 A Day With The Crazies

So I got most of my money back from the previous week's lunacy. This weekend, I had the pleasure of playing with some truly insane players which always makes for some fun.

First up, we have a nut job who looked like Anthony Bourdain if he were about to turn into a zombie. He's got the whole bad teeth, peppery hair, long chin thing going. He had a Greek or Middle Eastern accent. He sat down, and on his first hand, he elects to put $140 in a pot with K9o on a board of 2359T and 3 spades to a flush. He put $40 on the flop and $60 on the turn. Yep.

later. I called him down with QQ on a board with AK on it. They were good.
Then I called him down with K high on a 9 high board. It was good.

The second maniac to appear that evening was this Korean kid who upon initially sitting down, asks me if I have rolling papers. Then he asked if any of the players at the table knew someone named "Robert" without giving any specific details as to whom this Robert was. Then after spanking me by flopping trip nines on a jack high board, he goes to play $40/80. About an hour later he comes back about a full rack lighter and posts under the gun. That's he discloses that he's 130 pounds, but will "kill anyone" that messes with him. Bi-polar, ADHD, and perhaps some kind of inferiority complex, this kid had Virgina Tech massacre killer all over him.Hopefully, he was just high out of his mind.

Upgrading our desktop computer to an MSI 7850 2GB video card today. So excited!

TR 4/6 - 4/7

I was whacked for ~60 big bets last weekend, making it my worst loss in over 7 months. Got spanked on Saturday evening/Sunday morning when the game broke around 430 am. I'm always grumpy after one of those sessions. I feel like I was cheated, like a baseball game that's called after 6 innings due to rain. It's a cheap win. Then Sunday came, and I was happy to be only stuck that session for less than $100.

I have AK, monkey has 68 off. Flop hits A92 rainbow so naturally he won. Um, he put in two bets with no pair, no draw on the flop in case you didn't notice. I lost. Oh well, with play like that, I'll consider this loss a temporary loan. The money will come back to its rightful owner :)

Then I lost with a set of AA, then a set of KK, then flopped broadway. That was at least $800 down the drain. And there you have it, the fish beat me for the weekend.

I'll get my revenge tomorrow.

3/23 Thanks Stan!

Had my best weekend of the year winning $1300+ over the course of Saturday night. The Borgata was fairly busy, we had two main games going all night. I was sitting in a game where Frank and Julia were the two best players, while everyone else at the table was a mark. We had some premium tuna at this table: Teddy the wonderfish, Reena the jeweler, crazy Korean guy who likes to put his hands on me (I dunno, he's weird or gay, not sure), another crazy Korean kid named Yoon, and this nutball who called 3 bets cold with 24 offsuit to crack my KK. I think that anyone with a modicum of discipline and patience could beat these guys.

Unfortunately, the Local H show that I was very much looking forward to was canceled due to poor Scott Lucas's damaged vocal cords. He was mugged and assaulted while on tour in Russia, where his assailant put him in a chokehold. Poor Scott, get well soon! It would be a sad day for me and rock n roll to lose my beloved Local H. Devastated, I would be.

In other news, Stan Strickland has resigned as poker room director at the Borgata. Of course, I think selfishly and am concerned that the premium treatment that I've been receiving will decline. Free rooms, free food, free parking, the list goes on. The Borgata has become THE poker destination on the east coast, despite all of the little casinos springing up. I applaud Stan for raising the bar as far as the quality of product and he should be proud of his accomplishments. He dealt the deathblow to the once and mighty Taj! Something that I once thought was unthinkable. It will be two years in May since I started playing part time poker on the weekends at Borgata. Had it not been for Stan and his staff, none of this would be possible. I wish him the best.

Well, taking the weekend off for Easter. I've been ridiculously tired as of late and haven't had a day off since the snowstorm in February.

Stuff I'm playing/watching/reading/listening:

Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything
Oscar Wao (still)
Working my ellipical
Mass Effect 3 : Citadel
Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D
The Following
Kacey Musgrave

"I'm Working Out, I'm Eating Right..."

I've been doing 30-45 minutes a day on my little elliptical. I've been trying to limit my daily carb intake to ~150 grams. And yet, my blood sugar is still way too high. My daily average is somewhere above the 180 range which isn't good. It's been two weeks since I started taking medication and my doctor has just doubled the dosage, but I'm still not seeing consistent positive results.
Only good thing so far is that my blood pressure seems to have come under control.

But it's still really frustrating. It's been really difficult to restrict myself 3 meals a day. I went bonkers and bought tons of Atkins bars and shakes. For breakfast, it's Cheerios or a banana. For lunch, it's a salad, egg white omelet, or turkey sammich. And then I try to have a reasonable dinner with Kelly. Then I slide in whatever Atkins snack is needed to satiate any hunger pangs.

The weekends are particularly tough since I tend to not eat much while at the poker table. Sunday, I had my first bout with finding a way to raise my blood sugar because I was an idiot and took my medication in the morning and forgot to get something to eat. 4 glucose tablets and a glass of orange juice later and I was able to quell my sweaty palms and aching chills followed by a bit of nausea. Diabetes is awesome.

At least I had another solid weekend where I won 35 big bets. Not too many memorable hands with the exception of the rare instance where I was dealt AA back to back, which just so happened to come on a rush where I struck the fear of supreme luckbox into everyone at the table.

Our wedding plans continue to chug along. We've picked a venue and a date. Looks like the end of July and we'll be hitched.

Local H 3/27!!!

3/9 - 3/10 TAGfishing

This lady and her husband show up at my table. She's wearing a PokerStars hat, an ugly WSOP shirt, and brought her matching chip protector with her. Her husband is wearing the EXACT same hat and a shirt that says "Omaha Happens". Yes, I get it. You want everyone in the poker room to know that you play poker. Ummm, ok maybe I don't get it. YOU'RE ALREADY IN THE POKER ROOM! OF COURSE YOU PLAY POKER. It all seems very silly to me. It may even seem a little cute. But when I see people like that, I only see dollar signs. Anyway, the dude leaves to go play $10/20 Omaha while she stays to play our game.

So yes, I get it. You play poker. You want everyone to know that you're an astute savant of the game. So impress me. Show me that you know how to play the game. Oh wait. You don't? You're terrible. You're a TAGfish. That's a Tight Aggressive fish. It's someone who's more selective with their hands, but plays terribly and typically overvalues their holdings. She proceeds to play 1% of her dealt hands and drops $500 in an hour.

For example: she raises in late position. Phil 3 bets from the button. The big blind calls the additional two bets as does our lady friend. She check raises Phil on a 7 high flop, Phil subsequently 3 bets and then they're heads up. King hits the turn and she leads out only to be raised by Phil again. She check calls the river and they both turn over AK for a chopped pot. Why was her play so bad? Her check raise is terrible and doesn't work in limit hold'em. She's only getting worse hands to fold, and she's taking herself to value town against hands that beat her. If Phil had a hand like AQ, KQ, or AJ, hands that she's beating, Phil is likely to fold the turn if she were to fire again unimproved. I hate her turn bet because she misses the opportunity to check raise the turn. When she bets the turn a hand like TT-QQ is likely to fold. After Phil 3 betting the flop, I think it's unlikely he would check again and would certainly bet again if he had something like QQ. If you're not keen on extracting maximum value or playing optimally, you're a fish to me.

Then she proceeds to play raise and fold poker for the rest of her short session.

This TAGfish got lucky and won 30 big bets for the weekend.