Tennis

Leaving here in a few minutes for my tennis lesson. This will be my third session of 6 total that I have pre-paid for. I'm definitely getting better and may continue at the end of these 6. I think we are going to work on serving today.

Busted (again)

Well this shouldn't take long. I went over to the Rio last night to register for event #51, so that I could avoid the lines this morning and stroll in leisurely a little bit late. This morning I got up after a nice rest, worked out a bit in the room, took a shower, had breakfast with Matt, and then drove over to the Rio. That was about an hour ago.

When I arrived I noticed my table was in the area that they play cash games... so I knew my table would be one of the first ones to break. My plan was to sit back, be very patient and wait for a good spot... not forcing anything.

We started with 4500 in chips and the blinds at 25-50. I folded the first two hands dealt, and then on the 3rd hand, a guy raised from early position to 125 and got two callers. I called from the small blind with 88. THe flop came 862 rainbow and I checked. The original raiser checked, the cutoff bet 350 and the button called. I check-raised to 1175. The original raiser folded as did the cutoff and the butoon very quickly shoved all in. Obviously there is no thought here as I have the very best hand possible, so i call. He reveals 97os for an open ended straight draw for his tournament life. He hits it immediately when the 10 hits the turn, and I do not fill up on the river. Crippled down to 400 chips I get it in a few hands later and lose.

Now the axiom here is that if you're going to take a wicked beat in a tournament and get busted, its best to do it in the early rounds so that you don't sit around for 12 hours. I guess that's true, but I would've like to have at least played a little bit to get some kind of an idea of what the play is like in these. My sample size is obviously too small.

There's nothing you can do about bad luck. I'm just very disappointed that I didn't double up to a nice healthy stack like I am supposed to there. Sorry to everyone that invested in me, and that was following along. This is one of these brutal horror stories that you hear about. Its just a bit shocking when it happens to you.

Now.... I'm going to the pool.

Lunatics?

So I forgot to write this one up...

Leaving Las Vegas on a Monday evening after another poker trip, Matt and I encountered what seemed to be a series of events...featuring some strange behavior.

First off we get up to check our bags, and weird things are happening. The Kiosk does read Matt's credit card so he uses another one. Finally it says "Get boarding pass at gate" which is odd. Then the guy never calls his name, as people that arrived and checked in after us continue to stream by. Matt finally says something to the guy, who just sort of mumbles "hold on one sec" as he fiddles with some paper printer machine thingy. Once he gets that sorted out he "forgets" about Matt waiting and calls the next name on his list... someone that arrived and checked in at the kiosk long after we did. Eventually we just barge up to the counter and get it sorted out with another employee, who gives us only a fraction of shit for breaking the line. So it began.

Next, its up through security and then over to the gate. Before we get to the gate we pass by a young woman standing against the wall speaking into her cell phone, who lets rip one of the best hypocritical phrases ever, "Stop it! Shut up and don't FUCKING cuss at me!" She continues to rant on at some unseen soul on the other end of the line. That one got me laughing.

Its not more than a few seconds later that I look over to the right at one of the other gates and a group of girls are surrounding their friend as she is screaming "Noooooooo!" and sobbing, with mascara running down her face. Whoa. What's going on around here?

So we proceed to the gate counter to get Matt's boarding pass and have to wait a bit because there is a guy in front of us bitching and moaning to the gate agent that he won;t make his connecting flight... as if there is anything a gate agent can do about a late flight. He repeats himself 4 or 5 times as the ever-so-patient gate agents just nod and smile. Finally he is off and we approach the counter, and I finally ask, "Is it a full moon tonight?" only half-joking.

We get the boarding pass and while waiting, we observe two baggage handlers/ground crew having a discussion that goes something like this:

"If you've got a problem with me, you need to come say it to MY FACE!"
"I'm not sure what you heard but..."
"No, you need to man up and come say it to my face not behind my back..."
etc, etc, etc. They eventually walk back down to the tarmac, their voices trailing off...

Our not-even-half-full flight is boarding now, but rather than stand in the jetway waiting for everyone to put away their bag, we just choose to be the last ones on the plane. That's when a family comes running down the hallway with a mother literally dragging a child and a huge bag behind her screaming "Wait! Wait! We're coming!" even after 2 or 3 Southwest employees have told her she can relax and walk as she is in no danger of missing the plane. She must think they are trying to trick her because she continues to drag the children on-board at a hurried pace, huffing, puffing, and sweating under the weight of her heavy frame, child, and gargantuan piece of luggage that in no way will fit in an overhead compartment.

We finally get seated, taxi, and take off. It's cloudy and overcast in Las Vegas on this evening. But its a low ceiling and we break through the clouds at about 6 thousand feet.... to reveal a big, beautiful, and totally full moon.

The coining of a phrase... it begins.

Awesome.

Busted

The first trip of the summer to the WSOP did not go well. In fact, it went decidedly awful, as I lost nearly my entire poker bankroll. This is not something to slit my wrists over, or make me give up the game. I simply caught a bad turn of luck, which unfortunately does play a role. I'm not particularly unhappy with the way I played, though on 1 occasion I did make a poor choice to stay in a game after it got tough. Meh, whatever... these things happen.

I had been trying to win my way through a series of online tournaments, but just as I got geared up to really grind at it, it seems I can no longer deposit money on the site. Wow, just goes to show how far the feds head is up its own ass. "Let's seize 30 million one time, instead of legalizing, regulating, and taxing it so we can make 1 billion every year."

I ran pretty well this week since coming home and was considering going back to Vegas this weekend, but birthday celebrations and other previous engagements preclude me from doing so. Perhaps the following weekend. I still believe there are massive amounts of dead money to be had... although I noticed a seemingly much tougher average player in the Venetian Deep Stacks events. I think the lower buy-in events at the WSOP are still filled with home-game heroes and other novice players with delusions of grandeur. Hmm... sounds like me actually.

On other fronts... FLO TV goes nationwide tonight as the digital transition allows us to light up markets that were occupying our owned spectrum with an analog television signal. Tonight we flip the switch. It is the hope that having a nationwide footprint will allow our partners to advertise nationally and get more subscribers. The next few months will be telling.

Now, here it is... your moment of Zen.