medusa's castle

zomg i'm getting married

2011-01-27T15:48:00.005-05:00

in two days! i've been bad about updating this blog, and usually update on cardrunners, but i'll prob try to get back into the swing of things on here after the honeymoon. i need to simplify uploading pictures somehow, because right now it seems so difficult and time consuming!

hope everyone is enjoying double guarantee week, just enjoyed a good post from ckbwop, and grats to TBA who as usual has a final table to brag about. lucko21 final tabled the 6pm FTP on monday that had ~ 18k first prize, but his AA went down to KQ w/ 5 left and he couldn't recover. :( i played a multi-entry rush 1r that went insanely late and i spazzed out in 13th mostly due to being horrifically tired. wish i coulda stayed focused, it's not everyday there's a 4.5k first prize in a 1r.

Lastly, belated congrats to one of my favorite bloggers in the world, change100, for taking down the PCA ladies event!

tuesday spewday horse edition

2010-11-30T18:10:00.003-05:00

there was a request for HORSE, so tonight's edition is turbo HORSE at 9pm, super turbo HORSE at 9:15pm. all tourneys on full tilt poker.

also, in honor of teamwillow, an active CR member, there is a teamwillow snack-a-thon added to the schedule at 9:30pm. it's a $2 super turbo, NLHE. make sure to bust out some epic snacks in anticipation of the .50 bounties. tourney IDs for all three, but you can also just search me, pvanharibo:

pw = spewday

Tuesday November, 30th
Tournament #201493162 (21:00 ET) - Turbo HORSE
Tournament #201493422 (21:15 ET) - Super Turbo HORSE KO
Tournament #201493881 (21:30 ET) - Super Turbo NLH KO

thanks for playing!!

play spewday tonight (with a brag)

2010-10-26T10:15:00.003-04:00

Sup ya'll. Not even sure if anyone still reads this, but I had my biggest ever online score this past Sunday. I final tabled the Sunday Second Chance, finishing third for 28k. woo hoo!!!

Now for Tuesday Spewday:

Two private tourneys on Full Tilt Poker

9pm - ID 181980093, $11 turbo
9:15pm - ID 181980391, $6 super turbo KO
pw for both = spewday

You can also search for me, pvanharibo. I'll be in the CR chat if you're a member. We usually get about 30-40 and the tourneys don't last super long.

PLAY!!!!

updated blogger badge for freeroll

2010-10-14T09:10:00.002-04:00

i've been sick for a week, it totally blows. saw a dead body yesterday, not fun. how is viewing a dead body a tradition?! poker has been pretty terrible since september ended. i'm gonna miss that month of poker for a long time. trying to play small stakes so at least if i start spewing it doesn't hit the bankroll. lots of $3 90 mans. :)

tuesday spewday september 28th - win $25 bounty on me!

2010-09-27T17:16:00.004-04:00

i hope you'll play tomorrow night!! changed the first one to turbo, so it won't last quite as long, and should be a good time. $25 bounty on my head, so if i spew into you, a free $25! i can afford it cause i've been running INSANE hot on ftp this month. turned $187 into 50k, which is obv the sick side of variance. more after tourney deets.

Two private tourneys on Full Tilt Poker, Tuesday September 28th.

Tournament #181876634 (09.28.10 21:00 ET) - Turbo NLHE DS $10 + $1
Tournament #181879017 (09.28.10 21:15 ET) - Super Turbo NLHE KO $6 + .60.

Password = spewday

i wrote up a bit more on my CR blog, but basically i won the 42k two sundays ago for 18k, then final tabled mini ftops and finished 5th for 18k the next night. the following saturday i won a six max tourney for 5k, and then last night i final tabled the 42k (again) and finished third. bink!

not gonna do anything too exciting w/ the $$, but did buy myself a new computer and monitors, i'll post a pic once i get it all set up (prob not till end of october, sniffle).

lastly, if you're a member of CR, we're running a promotion right now where you can receive free lessons from matt matros and collin moshman just for posting a hand in the forums. deets are here.

if you're not already a member, sign up through truly free poker training, and then you could be eligible for next month's free lesson giveaway.

CRUSHED bayne and his lol two qb team (we can only play one) this week in ff, which makes likely going 3-3 this week not so terrible

play tuesday spewday tomorrow night

2010-08-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

bringing it back for one night only (at least till next month). come play on full tilt poker tomorrow night.

password is spewday

9pm ET, $10 ds
ID: 180433692

9:15pm ET, $6 super turbo ko
ID: 180436117

tuesday spewday

2010-08-10T20:34:00.001-04:00

i wrote up a recap of last week here, and the tournament is starting soon!

Tuesday, August 10th - Tuesday Spewday - Full Tilt Poker
password = spewday

9pm ET - double stack $11 - Tourney ID 176239127

9:15 pm ET - super turbo ko $6 - Tourney ID 176241593

tuesday spewday tonight

2010-08-03T13:01:00.001-04:00

play two tourneys tonight for fun and glory! tuesday spewday is on full tilt poker, password = spewday

Tourney ID 174878610: 9pm $11 double stack, early antes
Tourney ID 174876304: 9:15pm $6 super turbo KO

all times ET

i'm gonna try to do screen shots, but it's so hard. seriously, no idea how mookie did this for so long. may implement a weekly winner profile a la mookie. see you tonight!

tuesday spewday recap

2010-07-28T09:28:00.003-04:00

awesome time last night, thanks to everyone who came out and played. decent showing from bloggers, one time can i please run like goat early in the super turbo. it lasted 33 minutes and got 46 entrants. don't miss it next week on tuesday at 9:15. let's try to break 50!

so goat finished 5th. Adamtron took 6th place, the first money spot, and he's a friend of augie's which makes him half blogger. (ed. note: i was gonna link to augie's blog but he hasn't posted since february, so i'm linking to a recent interview instead. check out this entertainment video for a good laugh) DDionysus donked his way to fourth (jk dave!) and the top three were pro Frank "Frank1the1Tank" Calo, CR support guy asufan23, and tomek322, one of my forum friends, who took first for $87 bucks.

in the $11, which was a little too deep stacked for my taste (i think i'm gonna ask to switch it to 10 min levels, though i love antes from the start), we also had 6 money spots, with 47 entrants. jestocost made the final table, but busted 9th. 8th and 7th were two CR instructors, predator06 and m_reed05 (who just made a deep run in the Main Event). acedonkey, one of my friends from high school and law school who busted the main event this year when AK < AK (poor guy), took 6th place. aforementioned augie, one of our MTT instructors with CR, took fifth.

blogger lightning, originator of the "lightning fold" was fourth, and Bazuko, a CR member who final tabled WSOP Event 16 in fourth place for over 100k, took third. dackjaniels2001 and Frank got HU and flipped for about 50 bbs until Frank1The1Tank took it down. Hard to believe the title didn't mean more, but he was at the final table of the 33k on FTP and itm in the 1k on Stars, so w/e.

as for me, i don't even remember how i busted the super turbo, but i went out of the double stack when i called a min raise from the bb w/ K7cc and went broke w/ top pair. he had a set of 3s. oops.

hope to see everyone next tuesday at 9pm ET!

tuesday spewday

2010-07-23T16:29:00.009-04:00

i had dinner w/ astin and jordan in the city (at perilla) earlier this week. seeing them really brought me back.

astin was the first poker blogger to ever comment here, and he was the only guy i "knew" going into my first blogger weekend in june 2007 when i flew out to play the ladies tournament. i remember meeting him at the treasure island coffee shop w/ no clue what he looked like (a briefly recurring problem) clutching a guide to tournaments. he snorted when i told him what i was reading, and said something along the lines of, no sense in reading that now.

jordan is the first blogger that i remember emailing. i read one of his blog posts about poker in the city and emailed him hoping to tag along to a game. it was through him i heard of the wall street game, and that led to a cool poker circle that got me going to atlantic city.

poker's played an increasingly larger role in my life over the past 5 years, and a lot of the people i've met in the game are somehow related to poker bloggers.

at dinner we didn't talk too much about the tournaments that brought us together, but being w/ them got me thinking that it would be cool to play some poker with friends/e-friends/bloggers/blenemies/etc. thus, i've organized a weekly poker tournament. would love for it to be more than a glorified SNG (no offense to the mookie <3), so if you're around on tuesday please come check it out cause it's TUESDAY SPEWDAY and who is more of a spewtard than me? :)

here's the info, it's two tournaments, one regular MTT at 9pm EST and a super turbo KO at 9:15pm ET. password for both is spewday. (no period)

Tournament #174055893 07.27.10 21:00 ET - 3000 chips
Tournament #174065188 07.27.10 21:15 ET - Super Turbo KO

thanks to bayne for the name!

this summer marks the 10th anniversary of one of my all time favorite songs. happy anniversary rub you the right way!

blogger badge thingee

2010-05-18T10:33:00.001-04:00

thanks again to al and the dude who emailed me back for making this possible.

Play Online Poker with poker's top bloggers

Brought to you by online poker room Full Tilt Poker

brag

2010-05-17T22:48:00.004-04:00

was gonna post that blogger badge thingee but something is wrong w/ the html i copied and pasted. :( it's been awhile since i bragged. omg i love super turbos.

weeeeeeeeee

2010-05-06T16:18:00.006-04:00

pretty psyched about this, esp since i almost didn't play. been awhile since i chronicled a tournament on this blog, it's kinda long.

background: on tues night i played the 9pm SCOOP L and M. L i busted out of quickly but i built up a stack in the M. next thing i know i'm cooking myself eggs at 2:30am cause i'm super hungry, then it's 5:55am and i'm on a break, and then at 6:30 i bustout around 140th out of 5400 or so. fml. i only got a couple random hours of sleep before i had to get up for work, and was not feeling great yesterday. i haven't even made the ft of a bloggament tho, so i figured i'd give the mookie a shot and try to play smart.

won a decent size pot off tba (gg dude) early then spewed a bit. i got those and more chips back when cmitch ~ called me w/ 99 after i flopped tp w/ AQ. they never believe i have it. :)

i won a small pot w/ 33 but for the most part played "fold" for the next hour or so of the tournament. also won a nice pot off brainmc when he folded to my river shove on a JT59K board. like i said, i always have it. won some chips v. a shortie, lost some reshoving a button raise w/ QT and somehow lost v. A4, then lost a flip w/ AK to TT to drop below 30 bbs.

i was down to 20 bbs and had a dream spot. third to act opened for 3x, fourth to act flats, and i have QQ in the bb. i ship, opener folds, and caller has AQ. i hold. yay.

then i lost another flip, this time w/ TT to lightning's AK. boo. down to 21 bbs. i chipped up a little to 23 and then the co decided to shove 10bss w/ 92o and my QQ held up. yay. shortly after i opened 44 from ep w/ ~ 25 bbs. torn on whether it should have been a fold, i had to call about 5 people at the table, which is prob too many so early to act. bb woke up w/ AA and i was down to 16 bbs.

just over an orbit later i was down to 13, blinds were up, and sb shoved 10.5 bbs on my bb. i called w/ 77 and won the flip v. his K8o. shortly after my friend dave shoved 15 bbs on my bb and i pretty much flipped a coin and decided to call. in almost any mtt i think it would be a mistake to call, but i was playing for a stack and hoped i was flipping. if i lost i'd still have 10 bbs and i was feeling confident.

indeed, i flopped a set w/ 55 v. his KTo and was up to 40 bbs. weeeeeeeeeeeee.

sb the next orbit i had JThh and shoved on lightning's 9 bb stack. he called w/ 66 and i won yet another bvb flip. i busted someone when they shoved for 1.5 bbs and my J4o beat A2o. i was up to 50 bbs when i lost a big pot to chippymcstacks.

i was on the button w/ K3o which i'm almost never opening, but i guess i was feeling frisky. he flatted from the sb. flop was KQ2cc. i'm pretty sure i'm ahead, but my kicker is terrible, so i checked behind. on the Q turn he bet 1600 into a 5100 pot, which was pretty much a snap call. i was def a bit worried about him having a Q at this time, but it also seemed like a line a weak hand would take just trying to take down the pot. when he bet almost pot on the T (non club) river i prob shoulda smelled the rat and just given up, but i got stubborn and called. he showed me 22 for a flopped set, turned boat. down to 34 bbs.

i added 14 on a hand i played horribly v. queensup. i raised from ep w/ A7ss and he flatted from bb w/ 13 bbs behind. i cbet a K93 flop and then called his shove. it was a complete donkey call i wasn't getting the right price v. anything. all i can say is i was feeling lucky, and so if you've made it this far you won't be surprised to hear an A fell on the turn (and an insignificant 7 even landed on the river). he had KTo and had flopped top pair. oops. 46 bbs. yay.

then i started winning pots. a lot of them. A4o shoved 9 bbs and i won w/ AKo in bb. i shoved 34o from the sb into the 7 bbs of the bb and rivered a pair on his AJo. won a flip w/ AJss v. 44. over 70 bbs.

playing five handed i opened QQ and chippy shoved 25 bbs. i won (omg) another flip, holding v. his AK. then i won a lot of pots and had a bajillion bbs. i won a lot more pots, then lost one w/ KK v. AK when an A came on the river. i still had a big stack.

i didn't play many hands early at the final table, and before i even realized it we were down to 6 or 7. i lost a small pot shoving Q7 from the sb into tba's 7 bbs and losing to his K8, but this was the start of him coming back from the dead.

i doubled riggs when i called off w/ KQdd v. his A9o, is questionable. he shoved 10 bbs on the button and i was sb, but it was a risk i simply didn't need to take. maybe i was having memories of the guy shoving 92o. then i lost another hand w/ KQ, this time to tba's KT. this hand was pretty brutal, cause if i won i'd be three-handed with a 13 bb stack and a 4 bb stack. i was feeling pretty confident until the T flopped. ouch.

then i had a gross spot v. tba bvb. i had 80 bbs and he was at 20, covering the other two stacks. i have K2hh. i hate folding, i hate raise folding, i hate raise calling and i hate shoving. i decided shoving was prob the most +ev (any math geeks wanna run numbers v. some ranges?) so i shoved into his 88 and somehow didn't bink a K. no joke, i was pretty surprised when i didn't river a K.

the 13 bb stack from earlier was up to 17 and raised 2.5x first to act and i shoved A8o from sb. he called w/ KJ and rivered a J. seriously ftp, can't you ever put it on the flop?

the fourth guy finally blinded out and we were three handed. i opened 88 from the button and the bb shipped 33 bbs. i don't play that much short handed (unfortunately) but thought three handed this was a call. also, i was running like zeus at flips. curious what my hand is v. his range. he had A9o and i won yet another flip. heads up. yay!

five hands into our hu match was this hand, ftw.

Seat 1: twoblackaces (91,262)
Seat 9: pvanharibo (205,738)
twoblackaces antes 300
pvanharibo antes 300
twoblackaces posts the small blind of 1,200
pvanharibo posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pvanharibo [Js 9d]
twoblackaces raises to 4,800
pvanharibo calls 2,400
*** FLOP *** [9c 2h Jc]
pvanharibo checks
twoblackaces bets 6,500
pvanharibo raises to 13,000
twoblackaces calls 6,500
*** TURN *** [9c 2h Jc] [4s]
pvanharibo has 15 seconds left to act
pvanharibo bets 16,800
twoblackaces has 15 seconds left to act
twoblackaces raises to 44,400
pvanharibo raises to 187,638, and is all in
twoblackaces calls 28,762, and is all in
pvanharibo shows [Js 9d]
twoblackaces shows [9h 4h]
Uncalled bet of 114,476 returned to pvanharibo
BamBamCan (Observer): Teeeeeeeeeeee...........Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.EH
*** RIVER *** [9c 2h Jc 4s] [4d]
pvanharibo shows two pair, Jacks and Nines
twoblackaces shows a full house, Fours full of Nines
twoblackaces wins the pot (182,524) with a full house, Fours full of Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Duration 62s
Total pot 182,524 | Rake 0
Board: [9c 2h Jc 4s 4d]
Seat 1: twoblackaces (small blind) showed [9h 4h] and won (182,524) with a full house, Fours full of Nines
Seat 9: pvanharibo (big blind) showed [Js 9d] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Nines

me: JDKFJASDLKJFKLA;SJFDK;LJFDS;
AJKDLSFJLKDASJFKLDASJFK;JASDKL
AJDSKLFJALS;DJFKLA;SJDFKJASDFKLJ
JAKLDFJAKLDSJFKLASD;JFKLJAL
HJAKLDJFAKL;DJSFKL;AJSDKLFDKLS;

AJSDKLFJADKSFAK;LDSJFL;ADKLFJDAKLSFJDKL

i yelled so loud i thought i might wake lucko, but thankfully he was a log.

then tba and i traded chips back and forth for what seemed like a long time. his A2 hit bottom pair v. my AJ and turned into trips on the river. i paid him down w/ A high. i lost a pretty big pot to him when i had 77 and cbet an A high flop. i c/folded the K turn, figured he prob had me beat. then i three bet him w/ AQ w/ about 25 bbs, he called and we saw a flop of AT5. i cbet, he raised, i shoved, he called and showed A5. sigh. i was pretty fucking pissed, still thinking about the two outer on the river from the hand earlier. magically a T appeared on the turn, improving my mood considerably.

he was down to 19 bbs but lost a few pots and on the last hand i shoved T8dd into his 11 bbs and won a flip (obv) to beat his 66 and take it down.

cliffs: if you want to win a TOC seat, flip very, very well

this is for all the glee haters. you know who you are.

bbt 5

2010-04-20T14:09:00.003-04:00

Huge thanks to Al for setting all this up. Deets on his blog here. I was down to 190 chips last night at 40/80 and somehow built my stack back up, but lost it all when i battled v. vinnay's big stack with 3 tables left. i flatted 66 oop, flopped an oesd and decided to go broke. he had KK and held. def sucked to lose ~80 bb pot, but if i win there i have an awesome stack to try and win a seat to TOC, and as it turns out vinnay was able to hold on and do it, so good for him.

Tournament: Poker From the Rail
When: Monday, April 19th through May 24th starting at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $24+2 (or token)*
Password: 2010WSOP

Tournament: The Mookie
When: Wednesday, April 21st through May 26th starting at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $10+1*
Password: vegas1

*Winner also receives ToC entry

Tournament: Battle of the Blogger Tournaments Invitational
When: Sunday, April 18th through May 23rd starting at 19:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: Restricted freeroll**

**$2,000 Prizepool + 1st and 2nd place receive ToC entry

Tournament: Blogger Battle Royale
When: Sunday, June 6th starting at 14:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: Freeroll for BBT participating bloggers

mookie tonight

2010-03-31T11:46:00.002-04:00

i played the mookie a few weeks ago and it was the world's most brutally long sng (w/ a worse payout structure). would be awesome to turn it back into an mtt. who's in - tonight on FTP, 10pm, pw = vegas1

if it's a 2 table sng i'll prob unreg, but let's get over 30!

help haiti

2010-01-14T16:14:00.006-05:00

CR instructor Verneer is organizing donations for Haiti here and has already raised over 6k, and FTP is also doing a bunch of tournaments and fake tournaments and matching 100%. Cribbed from Brian's blog:

1. Aid For Haiti tournaments: Starting tonight and running through Sunday, there will be a number of “Aid For Haiti” tournaments at a range of buyins for players to participate in. The first one is at 2PM ET (under an hour) and it’s a $5 + $5 ($5 from every entry will be donated).

2. Aid For Haiti “no-play” tournaments: These are “fake” tournaments that won’t run. For anyone that wants to make a direct donation, they can enter one of the 10 different tournaments (all “scheduled” for Sunday at 6pm ET, 3pm PT) and not worry about playing a tournament.

3. An “Aid For Haiti” user has been set up for direct P2P transfers. Anyone can transfer any amount greater than $5 to that player ID.

All money raised will be matched by Full Tilt Poker and sent to various charities, so for every dollar you donate, an additional dollar from FTP will be directed toward helping the cause. Personally I will be making a direct donation, as well as possibly playing in some of the tournaments. I urge anyone who can help, even a little, to do so as well.

****************************************

for those who don't want to use poker monies (like me) you can donate directly through red cross here.

also, timex (mike mcdonald), one of our team CR pros, organized a 20+20 super turbo this sunday at 1:35 pm. the tourney ID is 132657628.

apparently pokerstars is matching donations. info on their blog.

lastly via riggs: You can TEXT right from your mobile phone. text “Haiti” to 90999 and your phone will be auto billed for $10 and go directly to help efforts.

only 3.5 more weeks till lost!

2010-01-10T11:12:00.003-05:00

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! i am currently re-watching the fifth season and may start watching the other seasons when i'm done in anticipation of the 6th season premiere. hoping to get glee season 1 and rewatch soon, but also have big love season 3 on the list.

go JETS!! two years ago i "became" a giants fan, which had been the only football team i ever cared about due to a few years cheering for them in middle school, but i think i've decided to chuck the giants and go w/ my bfriend's team, the jets. it's just easier, and also i like green. :)

i've been playing some more tournaments lately with very meh results. made a bunch of small final tables and went deep in a few tourneys, but the last few days have been crappy. lucko was playing cash for awhile but recently stepped back into the tourney world and took down a big ante one on stars and also finished second in a $26 on ftp. gooooooooo!

will prob sunday today while watching football, but am trying to keep it manageable. the other week i was 9 tabling and it just doesn't work well. too much to keep track of. i also tried playing a shit ton of hu chippies on ftp, thinking if i could break even i'd come out ahead b/c of rakeback. after almost 200 i'm down $40 bucks but after factoring in rakeback down about $17 total. i ran retardedly bad (well, i realize they're hu chippies, but seriously i really did run bad) -- if i flopped a straight the board runner runner straighted to chop (at least 3x), if i had K8 v. K6 they hit a 6, etc. etc. i may try it again just to see if i can run ~ good and end ahead, but after that i'll stick to mtts.

was playing some six-max cash and will be resuming that soon. i'm running below expectation, so even though i'm down just over 4 buy ins, hem tells me i should be up 2 buy ins. wtf! that's just all in ev so it's not 100%, but i def should be up not down imo. i will keep plugging away. have been watching verneer's micro stakes vids on CR, which i recommend checking out.

my friend augie decided to start blogging -- i think he enjoyed his time at the blogger tournament in vegas so much that he was inspired. :) check out his blog!

pokerstars blogger thingee

2010-01-09T21:27:00.001-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Free Poker Download at PokerStars

Registration code: 418178

blogger weekend recap

2009-12-23T14:53:00.005-05:00

i've been so bad about blogging and it's been annoying me. even though i'm up to my eyeballs in work i'm taking a break to post something, anything.

i made it to blogger weekend, although i did not leave w/ very much money. team fluffy unicorns went up in smoke when both of my team members were out in the first or second level of the blogger tourney. i didn't last too much longer. lost a bunch when i hit the second nuts to the nuts, and then busted to same guy (hi ross) when i couldn't fold JJ to his utg raise. he had KK and i did not suck out. i actually considered folding, and there are not many bloggers i would fold JJ to. maybe if blinders had limped utg.

overall i had fun. got to see and spend some time w/ people who i don't see very much, like new tampa resident alan, schaubie, bayne, etc. met some new people, like dr. chako and the wife, who both seemed super cool. didn't remember some people i'd met before, like stb, who has a weird thing about not letting other beer bottles cool in the same container has his miller lite lest he accidentally take a sip of the wrong beer (wat?). recognized astin, which i was proud of, although sadly i barely saw him. spent some qt w/ my blogger girl crush change and her SO pauly. ridiculously i think my favorite moment of blogger weekend was sitting w/ change and augie listening to the glee soundtrack. yeah, i said it, i'm a huge dork, i know. also had a nice lunch w/ dan.

good times until sunday night, when i somehow made my way to the IP and lost a few buy ins playing trashed cash w/ ck, dawn, f-train and a few other people who apparently are bloggers but who i didn't know. oh well, live and learn. augie was kind enough to let me work from his house on monday, then it was off to chicago on business. was very psyched to be home the end of last week.

missed the first few nights of hanukkah but lucko was waiting w/ some cool gifts, including a bright orange hoodie (lol). he also just got me the complete bsg, and we started watching last night. i'm excited to watch it again, but my mind was racing about all the things that happen in the show, so nuts! our gift to each other is a king size bed, so we mostly exchanged smaller stuff. those who saw me at blogger weekend can attest that my "happy weight" is slightly out of control, so post-superbowl i'm gonna really try to exercise instead of just saying i'm gonna try to exercise. we'll see how that goes. :)

dinners at per se will not help, but luckily i have no plans to experience another one anytime soon. the food was fantastic, but next time i'm just not going to drink. it added sooo much unnecessary $$$ to the bill. will try to post some pics for the foodies once i get them from my dinner companions, although i post so infrequently that i'm not even sure anyone will read this. def wish i'd made it to robuchon w/ astin, but maybe next year.

tv is a little sad right now. dexter, biggest loser, V, glee, survivor, etc are all on hiatus or ended the season. i CAN'T WAIT for feb 2nd, woo hoo lost! also psyched for glee to come back, the show just continues to knock me over.

life is good and i'm grateful to the few people who still read my long posts about nothing and for the friends i've made in the blogger world. i've been bad about blog reading of late, with much of my time now spent surfing things like the cardrunners forums (cue the obligatory plug for truly free poker training), but i still try to find time now and then. twitter seems to be overtaking the world. tons of movies i want to see right now including up in the air, avatar and invictus. hopefully will make it to all over the next week or two. maybe i'll even, gasp, blog about them!

edit: just realized i forgot to mention my dinner w/ maloney and his awesome wife in chicago. didn't mean to leave you out buddy. el nuevo mexicano was disappointing and this crack in my fave mexican restaurant in chicago is not good. i will give it another chance, but it made me very sad.

atlantic city

2009-12-07T11:03:00.002-05:00

spent the weekend in AC. not great for me poker-wise, although i did win a couple buy ins playing cash. the play in the 340 wsop circuit on friday was laughably horrible, and i went out when i flopped top set and a guy put in almost half his stack on the flop w/ a 7 high flush draw and got there on turn. i still had flush and boat outs on the river but couldn't hit.

the tournament started a half hour late, and they didn't push our dealer at all (i heard the dealers were at the same table for 5 or 6 levels). i would have felt bad for robert except after making a mistake on almost every hand (floor was called over 3 times in one level), i lost all patience when he tried to tell us he'd been dealing tournaments for a year. he never mucked the cards of players who weren't at the table, he took five minutes to shuffle every hand, and as much as i'm complaining now, i managed not to tilt at the table which i'm proud of.

i played the nightly harrahs tournament afterward and went out when i four bet shoved JJ with fold equity and got called by A4o who flopped trips. i degenned at the craps table for awhile then hit bed for the 560 on saturday.

the field was waaay tougher on saturday. we came back from break at one point and i noticed that the table behind us was on the flop while our dealer hadn't started dealing yet. i looked up and sure enough, it was my boy robert. he actually caused a problem by not mucking the bb's dead hand when the bb wasn't back when the cards were dealt, and was generally as awful as the day before. i busted after the second break, and decided to bail AC.

drove home in a massive blizzard and could barely see the road a couple of times. blech. had my first winning sunday in awhile playing all micros. getting ready for mini ftops. :) mostly grinding .05/.10 right now and trying to teach myself six-max cash. i have very few hands in (less than 2k) so it'll be awhile before i can glean any real info/stats. playing cash def works way better with my job/time right now, so i'm just going to try and keep learning and spending time on my game.

psyched for vegas this weekend, and then i'm going back to chicago next week for meetings.

ok, back to work!

dear glee

2009-12-03T12:47:00.002-05:00

pretty pretty please find a way to incorporate gershwin's i got rhythm? also, solid work last night, was wondering how long you'd let that go on. but april? one more episode then no glee till april? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. at least there will be something else on tuesday nights. since fringe moved to thursdays i've been a little disappointed on tuesdays (damn you for going on hiatus also, V). thankfully i have lost coming in february, but glee, i'll still miss you.

openx grrrrr

2009-12-01T13:20:00.002-05:00

if anyone out there is proficient w/ open x and could help answer a few questions i'd be very grateful. anyone? pleeeease?!

part 2 of vegas recap will be coming before next trip to vegas. been sick and still not feeling totally with it. :(

blogger weekend woo hoo!

2009-11-24T14:37:00.003-05:00

yeah, i know, it's pretty nuts. i very ridiculously decided this morning after seeing the low flight prices that i should fly out to vegas again, so i'm going back!

i arrive thursday evening, will work from hotel on friday, and then be around through monday evening.

anyone know if i need to register for the blogger tournament ahead of time or can i just show up on saturday?

yay vegas!

vegas recap

2009-11-23T20:22:00.005-05:00

trying to write up a ~ trip report from vegas. it's fairly boring and rambling so read at your own peril. got sick/jet lagged after the trip and couldn't motivate to do this until now. tv wise i'm loving glee, fringe, and survivor, liking dexter and biggest loser and finally watched first two eps of how i met your mother. enjoyed it, gonna continue, prob slowly. tried to get lucko to watch happy go lucky (it was b/w frozen river, that, and i've loved you so long) but no dice so we watched die hard instead. i also finally saw braveheart. it was good, but i'm def impacted by mel gibson's RL persona (i'll call it the tom cruise effect).

i made the finals of a hu tourney i played w/ some forum friends so gonna play that sometime this weekend, but apart from that i'm on an online hiatus till mini ftops on december 9th. i've been pretty disgusted w/ my tournament game so i'm taking time off to watch vids, hand histories, etc. may also try some low-stakes cash and watch some six-max and hu cash vids.

also gonna play live in AC december 3-5 in WSOP circuit events. pretty psyched, staying at harrahs and gonna play me some more live donkaments. if the players are even close to as bad as vegas it's gonna be AWESOME!

grats to chad who has been on quite a heater, taking down the 50/50 on FTP and chopping the weekly 1k on UB. lol at all the problems they had getting their money, though, it's in this 2p2 thread. he sent me a nice apology awhile back which i accepted (i'm such a girl) and we sporadically gchat about poker and fantasy football. did not see him on vegas trip, and was slightly disappointed as am curious to see his kid IRL (cute in pics).

ff i am in good contention for a playoff bye in one league, out of contention in another (slight exception if i win next three games, maybe), and on the playoff cusp in the last. my other three that i have a stake of all shit the bed. :(

trip report:

ck very graciously picked me up from the airport and offered me lodging for the first couple nights of my trip. i was very tired so we chilled at her sick house and caught up, and then i passed out the second my head hit the pillow.

hit up pancake house for breakfast and then headed to the rio for the wsop final table. there were no seats but we settled in on the stairs just below the media. i occasionally popped into an empty wsop media chair when he was out on the floor, and ck ended up getting a seat in begleiter's section. i took a break for lunch w/ my friend lizzy and on my way out was psyched to see an IAVA presence in the hall outside the theater. i left right after akenhead hit his river w/ KQ to triple up (they played for awhile before anyone busted), but got back after he busted and schaffel's AA < KK.

watched for awhile longer, enjoyed a nice dinner at gaylord w/ ck, jen and f-train. this guy stopped by to say hi -- he was a nightmare to have on my left at the epo and was part of the akenhead cheering section.

watched awhile more but my back was hurting so i left to play some 1/3 at the rio poker room. lost some when a guy called my huge flop 3 bet w/ a flush draw and got there on turn. won most of it back when i missed a fd but called a big river bet w/ middle pair and was good. lol at how bad i am at cash. played the midnight tournament and busted running 88 into JJ. was stunned at how awesomely bad people played. that was a recurring theme of my live tournament experiences.

couldn't speak by 3am b/c i was so damn tired, so i took a cab back to ck's house and had the cab driver concerned for my safety even as i was leaving the cab in front of her house. i think i was so incoherent and pathetic looking that he was genuinely worried about me. slept beautifully but missed most of the morning nfl games. we drove to naked fish for lunch only to discover it was closed, along with two other restaurants so we ended up at a random vietnamese place to cheer on the giants.

checked into gold coast, discovered i couldn't get internet (a recurring, unsolved problem from my trip despite a room upgrade), and hung out at the GC hooker bar. hung out w/ pauly, change, al, big mike, otis, katkin and a few others. had nice dinner at palms mexican restaurant. good times.

al and michael craig had some kind of wager that resulted in a bunch of people playing poker at the golden nugget 1am tournament. i grabbed a ride w/ benjo and registered for the tournament. $60 with one-time $45 add-on. played a couple of orbits of cash and won a flip for stacks w/ AK v. 88 to double my buy-in.

i played fairly tight early in the tournament*, a 3-table SNG. guy to my right was boyfriend of woman i met in london, but i chose not to mention connection and tried to play the role of table donkey (not hard for me, obv). he was shoving and playing really LAG and i picked up a hand and stacked him. he re-bought and when he busted we begged the TD to allow him to rebuy but no dice.

there was a woman at the other end of the table all dark sunglasses and acrylic nails who i immediately assumed was terrible. i three-bet her early (she opened a decent amount but had only shown down good hands) after a shortie had moved all in, she four-bet shoved, and i had to fold my shitty AJ soooooted. she had TT and held v. the shortie. i had a lot of chips at that point so i could afford to raise/fold, but it wasn't great.

maintained my stack, picked up a big pot against someone, and then promptly moved tables. i had been fairly quiet at my old table and was bored/tired but something snapped when i got moved to change/pauly/benjo/dan/jen's table and i could not stop babbling. blinds were getting big and i didn't have a lot of room to play. apart from raising 72o and showing, i can't recall any hands from the table. pathetic. i may have bluff shoved once. or twice. or three times.

switched tables and again could not shut up to save my life. made some buddies, talked about truly free poker training, and won a few pots. i sucked out w/ A9 v AQ when i made a marginal call to a three bet shove, and no doubt a few other times. made it to the final table as an average stack, but felt i had an advantage cause it was about to turn into pushbotting and people play soooooo weak live. pauly and change were at the final table which increased the difficulty, and change and i made it three-handed w/ the sunglasses/acrylic nails woman. pauly was the bubble boy iirc. :(

during the early final table play i kept trying to talk to the other woman, asking her her name, etc. and she would not respond. it created a somewhat tension filled atmosphere. when we were three-handed she told us some crackpot story about pauly trying to steal her button on a dealer change or something like that. so weird. i remember shoving T high into change's broadway hand and doubling her up, but then she lost to the other chick. first hand of heads up acrylic chick shoved her sb (shoving was something she did not start doing until the very end of the tournament) into my bb. i looked down at A4hh and called with maybe 10-15 bbs. she had KQ, hit a K and i got second. i also won some $ in a last longer. w00t! nice start to the trip imo. i think i won $500 or so plus another hundo from the last longer. not a great ROI, but great fun!

ok, this is taking longer than i thought, i'll break into parts. part 2 will include my caesar's 3pm win and two ill-fated efforts at the Venetian. in the first V deep stack i played a 54k pot all in on the flop at 100/200 b/c i'm a complete aggro monkey who won't fold (i lost on the river, sigh). i also watched the wsop main event heads up live, mostly from the bluff production room, and visited the high stakes poker set. will try to download some pics from my camera for next post.

* i will never be a great poker player b/c i am terrible at remembering hands from tournaments. stoner told me a story a few months ago about how he randomly shared a cab w/ elky in LA this past year and elky remembered a fairly random hand they'd played in a tournament over three years earlier when stoner looked completely different. sick. two days after i won the caesar's tournament i could barely recall final table hands for lucko. :(

back from vegas

2009-11-18T15:24:00.001-05:00

i thought i published this days ago but i was wrong. ooops.

will do a proper recap soon, but i learned something important. being without internet is the key to a relaxing vacation. this is probably a big duh, but omg i had no idea how much more relaxing a week can be when you can't be on the internet. today of course sucks b/c of no internet, which is why this is not a trip report. i took some pics, not as many as i should have, and got to hang out w/ quite a few bloggers on this trip. that was mainly the intention, since i can't make blogger w/e in december. :(

piece of taylor

2009-11-18T15:23:00.001-05:00

As if there weren't already a million reasons to join Truly Free Poker Training, here's another one. Anyone registered by December 3rd is eligible to win 1% of Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby's payout at the final table of the Poker Million. First prize is 500k. Info here.

life update

2009-11-05T14:56:00.002-05:00

according to loretta i'm an inconsistent blogger, so i thought it was time for a post. i update my cr blog slightly more regularly, but i'm still a pretty bad blogger.

anyway, went into the city for halloween and had an awesome meal at pearl oyster bar. we also had dinner at savoy, which did not impress me as much. if you like seafood and are going to be in nyc, you have to hit up pearl. i hate mayo and still love their lobster roll. yummmmm.

a friend got a reservation at per se on december 19th, which i can barely wait for. it's a thomas keller restaurant (of french laundry fame) and we're going to have the extended tasting menu. review here.

i've been sucking in every poker tournament i play, so i've been playing more hu cash. i'm probably slightly above break even and just started using HEM, which i love. i can't track all my play cause i still play on my mac sometimes and can't find my little portable USB thing to xfer hands over. i'll prob just have to go buy another one. :(

work has been keeping me super busy and i think that's one of many reasons why my tournament game is so off. i just don't have the patience and concentration that i used to. when i'm at the computer i'm always thinking about other things i need to be doing, or surfing forums, etc. at least w/ hu it has my full concentration and i can't get distracted in the same way.

leaving tomorrow for vegas, and very excited. i finally feel ready to go back after my long stay from the summer. it's mostly a vacation although work will undoubtedly happen while i'm there. i'll watch the final table and also probably check out this season's HSP being filmed. hoping to play a venetian deep stack if time permits, but actually looking more forward to playing live cash.

as for tv, i'm finally caught up on gossip girl, and liking this season. mad men has been fantastic, and can't wait for fringe to get back on now that world series is over. i'm also caught up on house but i think i missed an episode or two. still not caught up on sytycd or melrose place, but not sure i ever will be.

made lucko watch taken w/ me. i watched it years ago on sci fi and really enjoyed but had no idea if it would hold up. i still liked it, but around episode 6 lucko started to fade and now it's a cheesy memory for him.

we've been watching a ton of bball cause he convinced me to join a $50 fantasy league. i tried to pick nets players cause i'd be rooting for em anyway, and have devin harris, terrance williams and courtney lee. go nets!!

tonight we're gonna go out for hibachi and watch V, looking forward to it!

dear pokerstars

2009-10-25T15:30:00.001-04:00

PLEASE GET AUTO ADD ON.

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lj

lol biglaw

2009-10-19T09:54:00.002-04:00

From above the law, this email was recently sent to all associates at Quinn Emanuel. Back when I was at NYU we had something called early interview week, where you spent one week going on endless 20 minute interviews with law firms. My interview w/ Quinn was BY FAR the strangest, most awkward 20 minutes of all the interviews. The two interviewers sat conversing with one another. I thought maybe it was a "test" and so when it was appropriate I tried to ease into the convo, but it soon became clear that they had no interest in talking to me, and used the 20 minutes to discuss farm animals and other random topics. Needless to say it was one of the few firms where I did not get a callback.

When, a couple of years later, I was looking to switch firms, recruiters always tried to sell me on Quinn as it being a "cool" firm, where you could wear jeans. You were expected to work hard, but they "cared." Yeah, lol.

From: A William Urquhart.
To: Attorneys.
Time: 10:21 am.
Re: CHECK YOU [sic] EMAILS OFTEN

Now more than ever there are many talented lawyers and law firms competing for our business. Doing really good legal work is not enough. Clients expect that and well they should given what we charge for our services You must all realize that we are in a service business. In this day and age of faxes, emails, internet, etc. clients expect you to be accessible 24\7. Of course, that is something of an exaggeration—but not much.

LESSON NUMBER ONE: You should check your emails early and often. That not only means when you are in the office, it also means after you leave the office as well. Unless you have very good reason not to (for example when you are asleep, in court or in a tunnel), you should be checking your emails every hour. One of the last things you should do before you retire for the night is to check your email. That is why we give you blackberries. I can assure you that all of our clients expect you to be checking your emails often. I am not asking you to do something we do not do ourselves. I can assure you that John Quinn, Peter Calamari, Mike Carlinsky, Faith Gay, Fred Lorig, etc. all check their emails often.

Yesterday I was working with a relatively new associate on a project which both he and I knew was a rush. It was for a relatively new client whom we were trying to impress. The associate did a nice job under pressure. Before I left the office at about 7:30 I sent an email to this associate asking him to perform a task—fax a draft letter for review and comment. I assumed the task was done. Turns out the associate left the office and did not check his emails until this morning. I assumed the task had been completed. It had not been. In this case it was no harm no foul, but I think we can all imagine scenarios when this could be a disaster.

meh

2009-10-15T21:53:00.004-04:00

had a couple meh days of poker. nothing going in tournaments, but played an awesome 23 hand session at $50 NL where i won 2 buy ins in 16 min. then i lost a buy in last night in short order. i flopped bottom set w/ 55 on a 569 flop and got it all in. villain had 86 and went 9 9 to out boat me. four-outer for the win! thus far stars >>>>> ftp for me in hu cash.

work has been really busy, but i'm hoping to find time to see my cousin tomorrow. he is going to be undergoing an autologous stem cell transplant soon, which means they will transfer in his own stem cells. he finally found a donor, which is amazing news, and if this transplant doesn't work, the next step is using the donor and transplanting his/her stem cells. thanks again to all the bloggers who got tested and sent kind words. once work calms down i'm going to figure out how to get my info on the national registry. Gotta call their 800 number and figure it all out (1-800-627-7692).

i'm heading back to chicago next week, pretty excited to hit up el nuevo mexicano again. i fucking love this restaurant! maloney you in?

finally got up to date last night on the biggest loser and am digging this season. i used to make so much fun of lucko for liking this show, and now i'm more hooked than he is!

i went to see bruce four times last week and am bruced out. although he played diff albums, there was a lot of overlap in the shows, and i swear if i hear outlaw pete live one more time i'm gonna lose it. i wish he'd played more stuff off his latest album. i'd love to hear surprise surprise (my personal fave) or my lucky day. prob won't got to the msg shows coming up.

a friend of mine had an extra ticket to see kylie minogue, so i went to hammerstein ballroom w/ her for that. gayest place i've ever been. not even close, and i've been to many gay clubs. alan cumming was in a balcony directly to his right grinding w/ his partner, but that was my only celeb sighting. the funniest part of the show is when all the screens start showing hot guys taking showers, and then her back up dancers come out with just bathing suits on and recreate shower scenes. the crowd was pretty into it. :-)

watched season premiere of dexter and enjoyed it. looking forward to seeing michael c. hall and john lithgow together.

don't forget to sign up for FREE POKER TRAINING!!!!

behind on blogs

2009-10-08T13:32:00.003-04:00

i've seen a couple allusions lately to the decline of blogger tournaments, and i know i'm guilty of contributing to this. i'll admit it, the prizes in bbt definitely motivated me to make time in my schedule in order to play. i was also playing a lot more nightly poker a year ago, and so it was easy to fire up one more table. without the impetus of bbt i simply don't play as many nights. i'll often just play one tournament and watch tv, rather than have five tables going and have my entire night be poker.

by the same token, i am MASSIVELY behind in blog reading. my bloglines has become intimidating b/c some of my favorite bloggers have 40+ posts since the last time i checked, and i just don't have the time to read through them all right now. one part of my job that i hadn't quite anticipated was being on CR forums and 2p2, which i've been trying to get more involved in. this is only going to increase over the next few months, and i think maybe that's time i used to spend reading blogs.

i also wrote recently about poker not being as much of an outlet anymore, and that still holds true. i've been dabbling in 50 NL and loving it, though i still haven't figured out HEM so i can't tell if i'm a winner. speaking of HEM i know it's a great program but i'm finding it so difficult to get working. :(

still haven't come close to catching up on the dvr, which is frustrating. unbelievable i've gone so long without watching dexter season premiere. bruce has been part of that, b/c i went to see him twice last weekend (after being gone for ~ three weeks) and am going tonight and tomorrow night as well. that's quality dvr time i'm giving up for my favorite 60-year old singer/musician.

i also need to make time to get into the city cause i miss my friends and my favorite restaurants. hopefully i can make that happen in the next couple of weeks. super huge shout out to a few of my friends and one CR instructor who came to the fundraiser for my cousin mitchell last night.

he wasn't able to be there, but my aunt read a note from him and he found a matching donor!! so awesome! first he is going to have a stem cell transplant of his own stem cells, and the donor is a last resort if that procedure doesn't work. i'm pretty scared for him as it does not sound like an easy road, but i'll just keep my fingers crossed and pray. thanks to all the bloggers who got tested and have been posting here and on fb and such.

lastly, happy belated bday to fuel.

free cardrunners

2009-10-06T16:58:00.003-04:00

i've never had a spammy blog post other than pimping some cheesy singer or tv show that i love. speaking of tv, not remotely caught up after getting back from london, but still digging glee, loved the first two eps of fringe, and am meh on survivor so far. lucko is loving this season but i haven't come around quite yet. watched two eps of mad men and still have two to go, and think this season may be my favorite. was SUPER disappointed in true blood season finale. hard to know if reading the harris books has impacted how i see the tv show or if it was as cheesy as it seemed.

so anyway, i wrote about this once ages ago, but if you aren't already signed up for truly free poker training (tfpt), you should be.

how it works: you play on ftp (click here if you don't already have an account), you accrue points, you get free poker training

no points are ever deducted, they are simply a threshold. 750 points gets you 1 free week of stoxpoker, and training is given in one week increments. one month of cardrunners is 5500 points, and one month of stoxpoker is 3000. stox has more lower stakes and mixed games videos, in case you've never checked it out.

tfpt does not impact mgr and again NO POINTS ARE DEDUCTED. it's free, gloriously free. so what are you waiting for, sign up now!

if you are at all confused, check out cmitch's post here about it, he does a good job of explaining.

i'd be super appreciative if you could post about TFPT on your blog also and help spread the word. thanks!!!

today/tomorrow

2009-09-17T15:09:00.003-04:00

has gone slightly better than yesterday. i was somehow convinced by my taxi driver friend to play cash back at the casino which was a bad idea, as i couldn't hit a draw to save my life and am generally not a good cash game player. so that sucked, but i've put it behind me.

luckily i was able to sleep in and spend some time exploring lovely downtown nottingham. i ate at this cute little restaurant that was recommended by a bartender in the casino across from my hotel that had delicious proscuitto. i should also mention offhandedly that the indian food i ate (two different nights for dinner) was absolutely outstanding. may go for another night of indian when i head out to eat soon.

have a few meetings tomorrow and then wsop europe starts the next day. i'm in london trying to meet a lot of people and find new opportunities for CR, and if any readers will be in london, holler!

i'm a bit lonely as i don't really know anyone here yet, but i'm guessing that will change quickly over the next couple of days.

today blows

2009-09-16T14:02:00.003-04:00

not having the best of days.

busted day 2 of epo in the second hand today. i never really knew what being card dead was like until yesterday after the dinner break. i raised two hands and had to fold to shoves both times. got nothing remotely playable, and didn't help that i had huge calling station stacks behind me. don't get me wrong, they were skilled players, but jesus christ i've never seen people play so many effing hands w/ such crap cards. soooo frustrating that i couldn't get any fucking hands. had A high a few times but folded it to raises.

i'm horribly homesick but in england for awhile, and my vacation plans have pretty much dissolved.

one bright spot of england has been meeting one of lucko's friends aka phil, who is about to pick me up for dinner. updated this post w/ a link to him, even though he never posts on his blog. RUBBISH! plan to get extremely drunk and hopefully the spasm in my neck that started last night will go away w/ enough alcohol. i can't turn my head to the right at all. :(

also, my iphone fell on the floor right after i busted and the screen is completely cracked. i run so fucking bad.

tv and dance (and some ff)

2009-09-10T12:38:00.003-04:00

what in the world is going in pop culture right now?! dance and musical theater are making serious comebacks.

i danced as a child (even inexplicably made a dance troupe that i couldn't join due to soccer) and once dragged an ex boyfriend to a britney concert in part to watch the backup dancers. i was glued to kids incorporated and star search as a child, but it's been awhile since there was something close on mainstream television.

i think this recent trend started w/ high school musical, which i've admitted on this blog to having seen (numerous times). there is so much song and dance in teen/tween shows these days, and since that translates into $$ and marketing opportunities, it's transcended its initial target market.

slumdog millionaire is evidence in the film market, and glee is the most recent evidence in television.

while living in vegas this summer i spent a lot of time at my friend* augie's house, hanging out w/ him and his gfriend amy. they are really into "so you think you can dance." i had successfully ignored the show until the summer, but consider me hooked. they do a way better job than american idol of not overhyping the bad dancers, but also set up the stars nicely. this is my first time watching from the audition phase, and i'm psyched to see how the first chick (wendee?) does in the later rounds.

glee wasn't quite as good as i'd hoped last night, but i can overlook its faults to watch the singing and dance. some of the acting is really stiff and i have no idea where they're going w/ a few of the plot points, but at least it's different. it feels a little like the awesome one-season show wonderfalls and i wanna check to see if there's any overlap in producers.

speaking of season premieres, i've always prided myself on having never seen an episode of melrose place. that changed this week when i watched the premiere of the "new" melrose place and i'm embarrassingly hooked. i have no idea if it's at all close the original, but the character/story set-up is terrific, and the acting was much better than i expected.

it reminds me in a weird way of mad men. both are an evolution of television that started as the nighttime soap opera, but has now just morphed into mainstream tv. granted mad men is far more creative in its premise, but it's still a soap opera.

looking forward to fringe and biggest loser premieres in a few weeks, very sad about true blood finale next week, and then only four more months till LOST!

saw inglorious basterds last weekend and really enjoyed, and if you haven't seen district 9 yet what are you waiting for?

FOOTBALL TONIGHT! can't wait for the start of the season. unfortunately there is major drama in my last league that drafted last night. some people didn't look at the scoring that was on the site, and the league commish quit b/c he thought the scoring was the same as last year. sigh ff drama. i'm bummed b/c i was looking forward to the league w/ the people in it, and now it's falling apart for no apparent reason.

in another league my first matchup is v. bayne. hope to trounce his ogres.

random dream mention: lucko says nobody cares about dreams except themselves so read at your own risk, but i had a dream that freaked me out last night.

my first job out of college was at the michael hartig agency, a small theatrical talent agency in nyc. i worked there about eight months. it was run by michael and another agent, and in my dream they called me and asked me to work with them on a project. after my meeting w/ them i was scheduled to meet up with a friend from high school in atlantic city. so much going on there w/ confluence of current worlds.

michael passed away awhile ago and i haven't talked to the other agent in a couple of years, but both featured SO realistically in my dream. michael was a total queen, probably in his '60s, fairly old-school, and demanding yet tender at the same time. it's really impossible to put him into words, but he was one of a kind, and i can still hear his distinctive voice in my head after all this time.

it must be a result of all the dance and music i'm absorbing, which reminds me of theatre. it took me awhile to recover from how vividly he appeared in my dream, despite him being out of my life for ~ 8 years.

att is a JOKE (rant ahead)

2009-09-04T13:46:00.001-04:00

i have had all sorts of second thoughts since purchasing my iphone, which as i've mentioned previously is by far the worst phone i've ever owned. my dad sent me a link to an article yesterday which details how the iphone has totally messed up att's network, and it's dropping calls way more. uh, thanks, i already discovered that.

then today i noticed a 2 minute call to austria on my bill that i have zero recollection of making that they charged me $9 for. wat?

i called to complain, and got it taken off, but then realized that i've been calling london for the past week making hotel arrangements and setting up meetings, and it turns out that my 5-10 phone calls have so far cost almost $40. i got transferred to the international division and was told that for $3.99 a month (that they will retroactively start) my calls will only cost 8 cents or 28 cents a minute, depending on whether landline or cell.

here's the part that has me incredibly incensed. that is only if calls originate in the US. if i call either US or anywhere in london while i'm in london, it's $1.29 a minute. my only other option is to pay $5.99 for a "world traveler" plan, which then lowers each call to .99 cents. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME ATT?! no, sadly, they're not. any call i want to make on my iphone while i'm in london is going to cost me .99 cents a minute.

IT GETS WORSE!!! they also charge me extra to use my data plan, i.e. email/surf web/etc.

they have various packages where i'm looking at an additional $25 or $59 (or more) in order to even send/receive emails. this is in addition to the 5-15 pounds a day that most hotels charge to use internet.

so, what do i do? i don't really want to rent or buy a prepaid mobile there, b/c most contacts have my cell phone number already. however, i'm not sure it isn't best to do the above, and use it for most calls/texts, and then only use my phone very sparingly. needless to say i'm very frustrated and disappointed at this development. there is no way it costs att this much to use cell phone towers in london, and the whole thing is complete bullshit. plus now it adds another component, which is dealing w/ renting/buying another cell phone there. adfnhkljsdl;fjasdl;fjasdkfakl;sdjfkl;asdj

FUCK YOU AT&T.

football and poker

2009-09-03T10:17:00.004-04:00

two years ago i was a last minute addition to a fantasy football league despite being completely clueless, and i had a blast (even though my team sucked). i depended mostly on bayne, who was not in the league. last year i was in five leagues, and actually had a decent showing. i think i finished 2nd in two, and third in another, very tough league. i made the playoffs in all my leagues. again, though, bayne and lucko were huge crutches.

this year lucko and i are doing the nffc, which is a big buy in nat'l ff league. since i plunked down a lot of money i figured i ought to learn something. i'm doing that draft plus three others (although i have a piece of two other nffc teams). i did a bunch of research on my own (gasp) and thought i was ready last night when i had my first draft. unfortunately i'd have to give myself a B. the best part about having the fourth pick is that if i was 2 or 3 i'd be completely torn on who to take, and 4th made it easy. i'd take whoever of forte, turner or mjd made it to me. i was pretty happy it was forte tbh, although i don't see any way he can match his numbers from last season.

my team:

forte (sweet!)
andre johnson (double sweet!)
wayne
bowe (coulda taken thomas jones in this spot, but i felt so meh about him)
wells (shoulda taken rice here, sigh)
gates (score!)
mcnabb (double score, stay healthy pls k thx)
parker
bradshaw (damn you guy who picked in front of me for taking mendenhall!)
hightower
new england (worst pick ever in this spot, shoulda taken sproles)
mason
morgan
williams
akers

i will pick up a backup qb in good time, but it was my symbolic vote of confidence for mcnabb's health. :)

i'm slowly getting my confidence back w/ poker. i finished 2nd in a turbo horse tournament the other night (omg i <3 those so much), and have been cashing in a much higher percentage of the tournaments i've been playing lately. unfortunately i finished 16th for jack shit in a tournament where 1st paid 5k, and my 2nd in a 90 man was a $3 buy in, but it's something. i am taking lucko's advice and playing fewer tables and focusing more on them. stoner told me i should stop watching tv, which is ldo, but i love having the bg. i may try to switch to music more, although w/ football coming up on sundays that will be tough.

i won't play any wcoops, but am psyched to play some mini ftops before i leave for england. lucko won a seat to the english poker open, and since he can't go i'm going to play in his spot. i have meetings in london before and i'll watch eric liu taping the european cash game that will air on the poker channel, then go to nottingham for the epo, and then head back to london to work at the wsop europe. it's a longish trip that i'm not as psyched for as i would have expected, but hopefully it will be fun and i can win us some moneys!

poker update

2009-08-26T13:30:00.003-04:00

i'm cross posting this from my CR blog, which i don't do very often, but it's a typical rambling post.

basically, poker has been on a steady decline for me. my last big tournament scores were in march -- i finished 2nd in a $50 fo on stars for about 18k, and finished 19th in the 750k and deepish in the sunday million a couple weeks later. i started working for CR on 4/20, and have not had one decent score since. ironic, huh.

anyway, i dabbled in hu limit but probably played too high considering i had no clue what i was doing, and i have trouble playing nlhe at micro stakes, even though i should. i'm contemplating going back to tournaments, but the problem is the time intensity. i don't know if it's that working in poker now has made it less of a hobby, but after spending 8 hours all day working at my computer on poker, i am having trouble motivating to fire up a bunch of tournaments and sit for another 8 hours. i didn't have this problem when i was a lawyer.

i've thought a lot about this the past couple days. the best i can come up w/ is that poker was, to some extent, an escape. i hated my job, and i looked forward to coming home and player poker asap. even though i lived in nyc and occasionally went out on weeknights, i def spent more time than i should have home playing poker. now i live in the boring suburbs, but find myself watching more movies, reading more books, and going out more. well, i go out a lot less since we got the grill, but i'm cool w/ that.

i used to think that tournaments and players had changed and i was behind the curve, and that's true to some extent, but i think moreso i've changed, and i'm simply not playing as well as i used to. poker money became play money, and i've become desensitized to losing money in a way i never thought possible. i am too aggressive for today's tournament game, where people are calling three bet shoves w/ KT for 20 bbs. open shoving 15-20 bbs became popular awhile ago, but i'm still not sure what my shoving/calling ranges should be given this.

right before i started w/ CR i had a coach, and knowing that someone would be analyzing my hands, and constantly saving hands for review made a huge difference. i didn't realize how much until i didn't have my coach anymore. i have an email draft somewhere in my inbox of saved hands, and i do occasionally post hands on forums, but it's not the same. i'm not ready to take on a new coach b/c i'm not serious enough about my game right now, but i have to remember how much reviewing hands helps.

my next live tournament was going to be the borgata in september, but it's looking like i'll be in london for wsop europe (working, not playing, sadly) so i'll have to wait till the borgata winter open. i didn't play online at all last sunday, and haven't decided yet if i'll play this sunday. there's something very freeing about having this extra day in the weekend. a friend of lucko's burned us season 1 of fringe. the first two episodes were more about cringe, but it def got better. i missed a bunch of episodes when i was in chicago right after i started for CR, and then didn't want to ruin it by watching the later eps, so i missed the last 4-6 eps and am psyched to catch up in time for the new season.

i did play live last weekend at the fringe friend's house, but busted the tournament when my top set of Ks was busted by lucko's almighty Q9 when he hit a flush on the river (we got all in on the flop). i got beat in pots by club flushes 3x that night. :-(

i just finished a book called the tourist, which was a spy book in the vein of nelson demille. it was fine, and set up well for a sequel which i'll probably read, but def not the best book i've read in awhile. i'm now on the third sookie stackhouse novel (which true blood is based on) and enjoying the books, but wary about having the show ruined. alan ball is so excellent that it's one of those rare occasions that i'm worried the book will ruin the tv show.

pls post, forward, tweet, etc.

2009-08-21T12:35:00.005-04:00

thanks to mike and mike there is now a website up for my cousin here.

he is desperate for a matching donor. thanks to all those who have already been tested, but please if you can send out this info to your friends or pass along on your blog i'd really appreciate it. if you have any questions you can email me at princeharibo@gmail.com, or email my cousin or his wife (email addys below). he really needs to find someone in the next month, and thus far he has not found any matches. they send the kit out to you in about two days, and you can overnight it back.

How Can I Get Tested?

Call Lab Corp at 1-800-533-1037 and ask to speak to Sharon, Tanya, or David. Tell them that you would like to be tested as a potential donor match for Mitchell Brown (Date of Birth: 1-5-1977). Let them know that Mitchell is part of the Hackensack University Medical Center Friends and Family Account, so they know where to send the results.

Lab Corp will send you a testing kit. The test involves nothing more than a swab of the inside of your cheek. Please understand that there is a cost associated with the kit that is typically not covered by your insurance. Lab Corp will bill you a charge of $150.00 after they receive your kit back in the mail. However, if you are interested in being tested and cannot afford it, please let us know (as there may be funds available to offset the cost.

You will need to follow the directions and mail the kit back to Lab Corp ASAP. When filling out the paperwork, please be sure to give Lab Corp permission to fax your results directly to CarolAnne Carini, Transplant Coordinator at Hackensack University Medical Center. Her direct fax # is: 201-996-5691.

What If I am a Potential Match?

As a potential donor, you would need to come to Hackensack University Medical Center or your local hospital to have some routine preliminary tests such as an EKG, Chest Scan, etc. Once confirmed that you are healthy enough, the transplant involves a shot called Neupogen®, which is designed to quickly increase the number of white blood cells in your body. The Neupogen® sends a message to your bone marrow to start producing more white blood cells, which in turn increases the number of Stem Cells floating through your blood. Shortly after the Neupogen® is administered, you will be required to donate blood for a few hours a day over a two day period.

Please note that as a donor, all medical costs incurred in connection with the donation (preliminary tests, the Neupogen® shot, the blood donation, etc) will be covered under Mitchell’s medical insurance as the recipient and there will be no additional costs to you.

Being a donor today is a lot less invasive than many years ago. It’s quick and as easy as as donating blood.

Will you consider getting tested today?

Thanks again for all of your support and please feel free to email us with any questions at mfbrown05@aol.com or jillow1231@aol.com

dear at&t mobile,

2009-08-20T11:46:00.004-04:00

i woke up this morning unable to make or receive phone calls. at first i thought it was my iphone, which wouldn't surprise me since it's the shittiest phone i've ever owned. randomly enough a family member, who works for your retarded company, informed me that there was some sort of outage in northern new jersey that was probably the source of my problem. despite this i decided to let you know of my problem by going to your website and filling out a form.

i filled out all of the problems i was having, and was almost done when i came across the required question (denoted by an asterik) saying "which of these things is wrong with your phone? (check all that apply)" there were four choices, including unable to power on and off, cracked screen, etc. i tried to not check any and click submit, but b/c this was a required field, i was forced to check one, and then explain in the short comment field that actually i was not having any trouble powering my phone on and off.

so i ask you -- do you not do QA testing on your website? how is it that this required field made it through rounds of testing without anybody realizing that you needed an additional checkbox that says "none of the above." i am not surprised i am having problems with my phone, since you guys can't even put up a web form properly.

please fix this outage soon so i can make and receive phone calls, and when you're done with that, please fix your website forms so they can be filled out properly. thanks so much!

all the best,

lj

whitney

2009-08-18T15:35:00.001-04:00

as my friend jeff said, "further proof that crack is wack."

pls spread the word - bethematch

2009-08-11T09:48:00.002-04:00

all the info in my previous post is right here: http://helpmitchell.blogspot.com/

also, thanks to bwop -- you can go to bethematch and register for free to get tested. Just make sure they forward the information to Hackensack University Medical Center (see helpmitchell blog for info).

pls help my cousin

2009-08-10T09:28:00.004-04:00

i wrote awhile ago about my cousin who was diagnosed with lymphoma and recently had his spleen removed. he has a 3 year old son, and a 2 month old daughter who was born while he was receiving his first (failed) round of chemo. he sent out an email a few nights ago with a plea for help, and so I'm posting it here. basically he is looking for a potential stem cell donor to help fight his cancer cells. all is explained below. i know it's long but it would mean a lot to me if you take the time to read it, and help out if you can. in order to get tested as a potential match there is a charge of $150, and even if he finds one match, they always want a back up. i understand that times are tough and the cost may be too prohibitive for some people, but if you are able to spend the money to get tested you have my everlasting gratitude.

his letter (explaining his condition, what has happened already, and what will happen in the future) - he is my first cousin, the son of my father's sister. i have read it three times now in full and apparently can't read without bawling. thanks for taking the time to read it.

Dear Family and Friends:

I hope this email finds all of you well. I wanted to give you an update on my progress and to let you know I am in need of your help. A lot has taken place since my last email and I am writing to you today because my fight against Lymphoma has taken another unexpected turn. After first being diagnosed back in April, I started a regiment of Chemotherapy called R-CHOP. This is the most common and successful form of Chemotherapy given to people with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Typically, over 90% of the people who receive R-CHOP are put into remission by the fourth Chemotherapy treatment. Unfortunately for me, it was determined that after my fourth treatment, my tumor and cancer were not responding as well as anticipated. The R-CHOP had killed a portion of the cancer cells, but for some reason some of my cancer cells had developed a resistance to the Chemotherapy, which is why the treatments did not completely annihilate all of the cancer. Shortly after my fifth treatment, it was determined that the best course of action was to take another biopsy of the tumor and see just how many active cancer cells were still present. Due to the location of the tumor, this required the removal of my entire spleen, and on July 14th I had a Splenectomy at Hackensack University Medic al Center. The pathology quickly confirmed that the tumor still had a healthy number of cancer cells that were not destroyed by the R-CHOP and a new game plan would need to be formulated.

After meeting with a team of doctors, it was decided that my greatest chance of survival would be to start a new regiment of Chemotherapy called R-IVAC, followed by what is called a Blood Stem Cell Transplant. This new Chemotherapy is a different group of drugs with a much higher potency aimed at killing any and all remaining cancer cells. Because of the potency of these drugs, I will need to be admitted to the hospital while undergoing treatments. Each treatment will last five days with a two week recovery in between. Soon after my treatments, I will have another scan of my body to determine the success of the R-IVAC. Depending on the results, I will then need one of two types20of Blood Stem Cell Transplants.

If my next scan shows that any and all remaining cancer cells have been destroyed, then there is a possibility that I will undergo what is called an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. This is where my own stem cells are removed from my blood and one last ultra high dose of Chemotherapy is given to me. This dose of Chemotherapy is so strong that it will wipe out most, if not all, of the remaining cells in my body, including all of my white blood cells, which make up my immune system. It is for this reason that my stem cells are collected ahead of time, so that they can be given back to me after this last dose of Chemotherapy. Shortly after my stem cells are returned to me, they will hopefully start to regenerate and grow new white blood cells along with a new immune system. This, of course, is the best case scenario and doesn’t involve anyone else.

If after my next scan, there are any residual cancer cells remaining in my body, I will need what is called an Allogeneic Stem Cell Trans plant. This is where I need your help! An Allogeneic Transplant is where we try to find a donor whose DNA typing best matches mine. The hope is that the donor’s stem cells can be transplanted and start to regenerate new white blood cells that are then capable of destroying my cancer cells. Because finding a donor can be a very time consuming process, and I will need a Blood Stem Cell transplant within four weeks after my last scan, I am asking as many people as possible to get tested now to see if they are a potential match for me. This is possibly the only chance at survival I may have and here is what you can do to help:

First you need to call Lab Corp at 1-800-533-1037 and ask to speak to Sharon, Tanya, or David. Please tell them that you would like to be tested as a potential donor match for Mitchell Brown (Date of Birth: 1-5-1977). You will also need to let them know I am part of the Hackensack University Medical Center Friends and Family Account, so they know where to send the results. They may ask you a few questions and will then send you an easy to use testing kit. The kit will arrive with instructions and will require you to swab the inside of your cheek. It will also ask you some medical questions, which will help identify you as an eligible donor. You will need to follow the directions and mail the kit back to Lab Corp ASAP. When filling out the paperwork, please be sure to give Lab Corp permission to fax your results directly to: CarolAnne Carini, Transplant Coordinator at Hackensack University Medical Center. Her direct fax # is: 201-996-5691. Please understand that there is a cost associated with the kit that is typically not covered by your insurance. Lab Corp will bill you a charge of $150.00 after they receive your kit back in the mail.

After Lab Corp receives your kit and processes your information, they will then forward the results directly to my team of doctors at Hackensack University Medical Center (with your consent). Lab Corp will NOT disseminate your information to anyone else such as a national registry. If you are a potential match, the staff at Hackensack will contact you and ask if you are still interested in being a donor. If so, here is what is involved.

As a potential donor, you will need to come to Hackensack University Medical Center or your local hospital to have some routine preliminary tests such as an EKG, Chest Scan, etc. Once confirmed that you are healthy enough, the transplant goes as follows: At the hospital, you will be given a shot of what is called Neupogen®. This is the same shot I take after each round of Chemotherapy, which is designed to quickly increase the number of white blood cells in your body. The Neupogen® sends a message to your bone marrow to start producing more white blood cells, which in turn increases the number of Stem Cells floating through your blood. Shortly after the Neupogen® is administered, you will be required to donate blood for a few hours a day over a two day period.
Being a donor today is a lot less invasive than many years ago and it’s as simple as donating blood. You should also know that as a donor, anything that is needed at the hospital as far as your preliminary testing, the Neupogen® shot and the blood donation will be covered under my medical insurance as the recipient and there will be no additional costs to you.

Please note that there is NO AGE RESTRICTION on becoming a donor and your medical history will be reviewed to see if you qualify. The only thing that would preclude you from being a potential donor is if you are HIV positive or have had Cancer within the last three years. Of course, if you are uncertain about your medical history and whether it will impact your ability to be a donor, you may contact Carolanne Carini, Transplant Coordinator at: 201 336 8509 or at ccarini@humed.com. Carolanne is also willing to answer any and all questions about the transplant process. Additionally, if you are able to be tested, please let us know so that we may follow up on your behalf.
For those of you who have previously been tested through a National Registry such as the Gift of Life (561-982-2900) or the National Marrow Donor Program (1-800-627-7692), you can ask to have your HLA Typing (your match probability) faxed directly to Carolanne Carini at 201-996-5691.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to read this, and words cannot express my thanks to any and all that are able to be tested. My family and I thank you in advance for your help and ask one additional favor. Please pass this email on to all of your friends and family members, so that we can increase the number of potential donor matches. The more people we are able to reach, the greater the chance I will have in finding a donor and potentially a cure. You can find more general information on Blood Stem Cell Transplants at www.marrow.org

Mitchell

true blood rules!

2009-08-06T11:09:00.002-04:00

just a quick plug for what is fast becoming a favorite show of mine. the first couple eps of season 1 were sloooooooow, but once i watched 8 eps at once later in the season i was hooked. season 2 is delivering massively, and i can't tell you how excited i get for each new episode. i bought the first of charlaine harris's books last night. the original in the series was published in 2001, and she's still writing them. the show is behind the books and has made some changes, but apparently fans of the books are not unhappy.

alan ball, the man behind american beauty and six feet under, is resonsible for bringing the books to life, and he is doing a killer job. normally i try to read a book before i see a movie/watch the show, but this is one of the few where i don't think it matters.

we recently marathoned seasons 1-4 of lost in about a week and a half, and i can't wait till we can start season 5. i'm pretty psyched to watch it again, esp with the rest of the series so fresh in my head.

if you're in chicago, you have to check out el nuevo mexicano. one of the best mexican restaurants i've been to in the states. went there last night w/ matt and his wife, good times.

internet issues

2009-07-30T14:59:00.002-04:00

as of yesterday, firefox has decided it does not want to work on my computer. i can't use gmail or the backend of my company website, and it runs SUPER slowly. i upgraded to 3.5 but that didn't help, so then i uninstalled it, and then reinstalled and still nothing. ie works fine, but i hate ie. i also hate vista, and my new computer. there is this weird zoom thing on the track ball and my windows are constantly shrinking text and then getting too big and i can't seem to control when it happens accidentally. just got a new mouse, so once i get the desk and everything set up that should cease to be a problem.

the bigger problem is fucking office 2007. it is all weird w/ boxes everywhere instead of drop down menus, and my biggest gripe is that if i have three diff excel spreadsheets open, i can't minimize and compare them side by side b/c the default just replaces whatever spreadsheet i was looking at with whatever one i click on. i searched help and found that i can click a button that does a side by side comparison but i don't want that. i want to have multiple excel windows open. i can't even imagine how much more annoying it will be in word.; aedjfalksdjflk;as;jdflk;ajsdsa;

is it too much to ask to have a working computer w/o retarded problems. who the fuck is gonna help me fix the firefox issue. certainly not dell. i guess i can try emailing firefox support, but really, how can they help me cause they'll say it's my OS or internet connection (def not latter, could be the former, fuck vista).

sorry for all the rants, but i just wish shit could go smoothly for a few days.

the big and the little

2009-07-29T10:00:00.002-04:00

a little sears update: on my way to dinner last night i got a call from the last salesperson (dipa) i spoke with. apparently the on-duty manager (nirdmala) emailed/called the store manager (i had suggested this, since it is 2009 and if you have the authority to do something nobody else does i know that you never really have a day off - overall this is bad, but in this case it was beneficial). the store manager, either seeing the sheer absurdity of the situation, or hearing from nirdmala that he probably did not want to deal with me the following day, authorized the refund and purchase of the new air conditioner, credited to john (who actually kinda sucked as a sales person for not telling us about the different voltage requirement, but w/e), with arrival on friday. thankfully we should still be receiving our a/c and grill on wed as planned. weeeeeeeeeeeeee. see kids, complaining helps! it also tilted me for half my day, but that's just how i'm wired.

i got weird news about my cousin today. not sure if i wrote about him here, but he is 6 months younger than me and was diagnosed with lymphoma a few months ago. he underwent five chemo treatments, but none hit the cancer, so the doctor recommended his spleen be removed. his recovery from that was brutal, as for awhile his intestines weren't working and he was in a lot of pain. he was finally released from the hospital, and yesterday went back to have his drains removed and see his surgeon for a follow up. once he is recovered from the surgery he will undergo another round of chemo (!!) and then possibly something to do w/ stem cells.

his wife had a baby in the middle of his chemo treatments (she's gorgeous, and now about 8 weeks old) and they also have a 3 year old. i am trying to stay positive b/c why do anything else, but obv his cancer is fighting the treatment pretty hard. :( thinking about him, his wife and their family brings tears to my eyes every time. there are so much more important things to life than bitching about a new air conditioner, or being annoyed over stupid bullshit.

so while i will probably continue to take life for granted (as bfriend says, we all do) and bitch about silly things, my cousin's cancer fight has definitely opened my eyes to the bad shit i could be bitching about.

my heart goes out to mondo and his wife/gfriend/SO who are going through something similar right now. i hope she is out of the coma and hospital soon, and although i haven't commented or said anything previously i'm following your posts/status updates and thinking about you quite often.

i'm a stressball

2009-07-28T16:40:00.002-04:00

i am going nuts right now and figured this would be a good place to vent. can someone please explain to me how we are in the midst of the worst economy of my lifetime, and a company can be so IDIOTIC in their customer service. yeah, SEARS, i'm talking to YOU.

spent ~ 900 bucks there the other night. one thing we bought is an ac that they are getting into stock on friday. we discovered that the voltage is too high and we have to go down to the 15k btu model. spent almost an hour w/ the sales guy last night, he was super helpful, and i don't want him to lose the commission. so i called the store to ask them to please get in the other model, and they won't get it in unless i purchase it, but i can't purchase it over the phone unless i have a sears card. i realize they want to push their sears card (and are worried about fraud?), but at the expense of a sale? WTFWTFWTF!? how come i can give a chinese delivery restaurant in new york city my name and credit card but fucking sears can't take my order?

i am going to talk to the store manager tomorrow by phone, but the whole process is insane. why can't they get in a model of an air conditioner that they HAVE ON THEIR SALES FLOOR without me purchasing it? i could order it online for delivery at the store, but then john might lose the commission and i know it's silly that i care so much, but that seems like an absurd solution. if rob (store manager) won't help me tomorrow i will order it online for delivery into the south plainfield store and then hope we can return from there and have same dude sell it to us again. either way, just horrible customer service on their part. i'm tempted to return the grill and other stuff we bought and shop elsewhere.

meanwhile, i don't really have the time to be devoting to this bullshit b/c i have a crazy amount of work to do since getting back from vegas. the number of little things i have to deal with in one day is mind-boggling, and it's very hard to focus on the bigger picture stuff sometimes.

i never thought i'd institute this, but i think i'm going to leave my email closed, and just not respond to stuff. i am always very quick to reply and try to help people out, and some stuff is very time sensitive, but it's impossible to get work done when little things come up every five seconds over email.

had hoped to play in the next borgata deep stack this weekend but i have way too much work to do, and not enough time. i think i'm headed back to chicago next week for a meeting or two, and then i'm looking very forward to working from the beach for a week.

i still don't have a desk in my living room (or ac, thanks sears), and there are close to 25 unpacked boxes remaining. it's stressing me out as i work b/c i'm mostly upstairs (where ac is) and i have no desk and my back is killing me. once i can order a desk, filing cabinets, bookshelves, and other furniture i will finally be able to set up my office and feel like the professional i am. i absolutely hate working from the couch. the best part about being at the beach house is that it has these really comfy recliners that will make it way more comfortable to work.

i know this rant would not satisfy waffles, but it's all i've got.

also, astin is coming to AC this weekend, so i'm going to try and drive down on sunday and spend a little time w/ him and his friend, even though i won't be playing the awesome structured borgata event.

oh, lastly, poker has been sucking lately. i never wrote on here about how pauly and dan won me 11k in the dream team event, but you can read a recap on my CR blog. mostly i've been playing like shit (often playing when i shouldn't, like drunkie) and seem to have lost all ability to play poker. i think the stress of still not being moved in and all the work i have is playing some role, so i'll have to see once i get more settled. after all that gets squared away there are a million CR/stox vids i want to watch.

main event busto

2009-07-08T15:55:00.002-04:00

still hard for me to type, i'm not over it, but i am indeed out of the main event. i misplayed one hand and it cost me huge. i tell myself over and over to think before any decision, and i played sooooo well on day 1 and the first level of day 2, but i spazzed for a second and instead of being psyched for day 3 i'm wallowing in misery.

anyway, obv if this is my biggest problem in life then i'm doing ok, and i'm lucky enough to have a good job, an amazing boyfriend (who is still in, gooooooooo lucko!), and the health of my close friends and family. so....while i'm bummed about busting the main event, i have a lot of good things in my life, and now i will have to live vicariously through my bfriend as he makes his way through the field.

glgl to all still in!

what an obit

2009-07-07T02:54:00.001-04:00

wonder what year it was first written...

2a tomorrow

2009-07-07T02:52:00.002-04:00

starting w/ ~75k. lots of chips at my table, hoping to play well and get lucky!

gooooooooo me!

2009-07-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

playing 1a today of main event. i thought i played well last year and got unlucky. i think this year's field is gonna be tougher than last year's, but just hoping for the best. thanks to all the people who bought a piece, i'll be trying to win you lots of monies!

buy a piece of LJ

2009-06-29T21:53:00.002-04:00

i am playing day 1A of the main event. i am selling percentages in 1% blocks, at a 1 to 1 (even money) ratio. if you're interested email princeharibo@gmail.com. I have about 15-30% left to sell (still pondering how much I want to sell).

wsop horse event

2009-06-17T17:33:00.004-04:00

this is xposted from my CR blog. the post from the day before talked about how even if i finished 23rd i'd be proud of how far i made it in a game i'd never played live before.

***************************************************************

i just loled when i re-read my last entry. gives me a little perspective, cause i've been really bummed out about my 10th place finish.

i saw the horse on the wsop schedule and remember thinking it'd be cool to try playing horse live (i've only played tournaments online, mostly $26 and under). i busted the main event sattie on stars around 4:20. too late to join my friends playing o8 which was a cheaper buy in at the venetian, but just in time for the horse tourney. i debated, and in the end decided to listen to my boyfriend. his reasoning was, play if you want, have fun, don't worry about the money. i was 0/3 in my first three wsop events, and figured this would be the one i'd have the least chance to cash in. i was wrong, but i'm ok w/ that. :)

day 1 started slowly, as i acclimated myself to the different games. i registered late and missed almost the entire orbit of lhe. when o8 started i was taken aback. i've never had to look at four cards before, it's hard!! i prob looked at my cards in o8 three times every time. ha. i lost 1k early, and was down to 3500, but won a few pots and got back above the starting stack. right before dinner break i lost a big razz pot to a guy who started with a T showing, hit a K on fifth street (when i made my 86 low) and he continued to draw and hit a 76 on 7th. i was totally steaming and really glad for the break.

omg people played razz so badly. i watched a guy call down w/ KK87 showing v. 2344 showing. really? (although, when we were down to two tables i called a complete w/ a K and ended up winning). i saw players who i thought were good occasionally calling with high cards (and saw people completing w/ a 9 showing, which i did not think was a winning razz strategy), so i finally did it once.

the guy to my left on day 1 was a complete luckbox calling station who called EVERYTHING and kept getting there v. me, and then dumping his chips to the two really good players to his left. our table had very few chips in play, and i managed to get a lot of them before we broke (calling station busted).

my second table i got moved to the right of paul darden. i do not know the guy and barely talked to him, but after playing at his table three different times, i will say i never saw anyone speak so consistently rudely to the dealers in my life. he criticized every single thing they did.

some of the dealers were obviously new to the game, and i saw them corrected many times by players, which is totally cool. however, i definitely think it's out of line to snap at them constantly and call the floor over several times to complain about dealers.

anyway, i lost a bunch of pots to him. my second table was waaaaaay better (skill-wise) than my first, and i ended the day with far fewer chips. i had been up to 30k, but was down to 14k at end of day. to darden's left was a baller who had just finished 3rd in the lhe event. there was another very well known stud player at the table also. the eventual runner-up of the event was also at the table and took a huge pot off of me.

day 2:

started at a table w/ perry friedman (ftp pro) and nobody else i really recognized. a young asian dude took a couple huge pots off of me, and i was not doing very well. i had around 30k and was feeling kinda bad when our table broke. the funniest part of the table was these two dudes whose girlfriends were standing behind railing. for like five hours. it's early day 2 with a lot of people left. did these girls really have nothing better to do than stand around watching their boyfriends play horse? i can understand final 2 or 3 tables, but as much as i love my boyfriend if i'm not playing the event i'm not standing behind him watching the first couple hours of a day 2. found that very strange.

i was moved very briefly to the right of vanessa rousso, where i forgot during stud hi on 7th street that we were in stud hi and called out a low hand. that was pretty embarrassing, and lucky for me it got reported by pokernews. didn't want to admit it was my first time playing, so i just laughed it off. the table was good, but luckily it broke shortly. i decided to play like it was part of my strategy to throw people off. :)

my new table i got moved to the left of lacey jones, and there seemed to be a very aggressive player three seats to my right as well (the eventual winner). i won a couple pots and then scooped two pots in stud 8. one was fairly controversial and reported on pokernews. i checked out of turn (sigh, i'm such a n00b) but then when they both checked i tried to bet, which i wasn't allowed to do. then the dealer was so flustered he dealt 7th face up to the first player, so we all got our cards face up. i bet and got two callers (lacey was already all in) and ended up scooping it. weeeeeeeeeee. went from 35k to 140kish in three hands or so.

all went well until i got moved to my last table of the day, which was insanely tough for me. ron 'schifty' schiffman, who was at the vanessa table was there, and so was fabrice soulier, who killed me in a hand where he raised 74o from second to act (wat?) then called my three-bet and then luckboxed flopping a straight v. my KK. i also got completely owned in a few hands of o8 after that and ended the day very sadly w/ 66k.

day 3:

most of day 3 was reported on pokernews. i raised the first two pots and got no callers, and then won a few showdowns, won a couple three way stud hands, and next thing i knew i was up over 500k. sadly it all came crashing down. i lost a heartbreaking stud8 hand when i had trip 8s on fifth, i thought he had trip 4s, and basically got as much money in as i could. not sure if he hit the flush on 5th or 7th, but either way i didn't boat up. after that i played a couple limit hands marginally, and my final hand i got all in w/ AQ v. 33 and despite the Q high flop shannon shorr hit a 3 on the river to bust me 10th.

making the final table would have been awesome (although there was no money jump for 9th, they played the ft 9-handed to start) and there were stacks shorter than me even after the horrible stud loss, i was playing to win. there is an argument i should have tightened up and tried to make the final table, but i guess it's just not my style.

i'm really disappointed to get so close, in an event i never dreamed it could be possible, but if i'm in that position again i need to learn from it. i should have tried harder to keep the dinner break when it was scheduled, as i could have used the break from playing, and who knows how that could have changed the outcome. i busted in that hour window that they added, and i think it put me at a disadvantage. live and learn.

thanks to everyone who railed, tweeted, texted, commented, etc. <3.

my first CR video

2009-06-06T17:27:00.004-04:00

it's an interview w/ joe kelly, an internet gambling expert. it's drm free, so it's available even if you're not a paying member of CR. watch here. new blog here.

zomg i have a new blog

2009-06-05T20:31:00.002-04:00

you can check it out here.

i think you have to be a registered user, but you should be a registered user once you sign up for TRULY FREE POKER TRAINING, and since there is no excuse for not being signed up for something that's free, i assume you're all reg'd users. :)

also, CR now offers FTP rakeback, so if you don't have rakeback on FTP use this link.

three random things

2009-06-04T04:32:00.002-04:00

1) a guy in the media who i first met a few days ago asked me earlier today where i went to law school, and it turns out we were in the SAME SECTION as 1Ls. lol small world story.

2) i discovered at midnight tonight (having woken up before 11am) that my shirt was on backwards all day. :(

3) the US looked like shit today playing costa rica

i hate iphones and lol wsop is hs

2009-06-04T03:00:00.002-04:00

i keep meaning to post but then don't get around to it. worlds are colliding here, as far as being a blogger and knowing people, plus meeting people through CR and then also in the media. for as popular as it is, poker is a small world.

it's def a lot like high school, which on the one hand sucks cause i hated hs, but on the other hand we are still adults (or at least over 21), and so it's slightly more mature. there are cliques and cool kids, those with kickass houses and those without, but so far it's been a fun experience. one interesting byproduct of being in the poker world is that i have e-friends as young as 18 and as old as...well, old. it attracts such a cross section of people and when you have poker in common age doesn't make that much of a difference.

i'm going to see "O" tomorrow w/ CK, which i'm totally psyched for. lucko and i saw love last year and neither of us was impressed, but i'm hoping my second time at a cirque de soleil show is the charm.

i'm really excited to meet some e-friends over the next few days/weeks, and also will be starting my CR blog sometime in the next couple of days. my stupid iphone has now broken twice in 1 week and i am tilting my face off. i caved to societal pressure and went w/ the iphone over the bberry, and now i have to make yet another trip to the forum shops so the people at the apple store can replace the screen that they already replaced last week. sigh.

not being able to copy and paste is a shitshow and i'm wondering if i can jag the iphone altogether and return to being a bberry chick. it is my favorite fruit after all.

kristin scott thomas

2009-05-31T21:17:00.002-04:00

what is w/ her and all the french characters/movies? she's british, right? seems random. must google.

i have been feeling super anti-social over last 24 hours. i think part of it was that i was originally supposed to be in la w/ lucko this weekend, and not getting to see him on top of everything else (not switching 1k to sun or selling seat, busting said 1k, brian going out 13th, shitty food) has me a bit bitter.

i have been pondering whether to head down to amazon room, but i think i'm gonna play big game and the blogger mulligan before getting back to work tomorrow.

how to blow 1k in 1.5 hours

2009-05-30T16:39:00.003-04:00

starting stack 3000, second level gives you 60 bbs. chip up to 4200 really early, then in level 2 get in w/ TT v. AA on all under flop. prob should have gotten away but structure is so bad, i was willing to gamble. i would have four flushed him but loser had Ah also. :(

then with 30 bbs i comlete in sb in seven way limped pot. flop K94dd, i check w/ my 94, utg limper bets, utg+1 calls, i raise, and they both call. turn is 8c putting two diamonds and two clubs on board and i shove remaining stack. utg limper shows K4, fml.

40k

2009-05-29T18:07:00.003-04:00

i'm in media row at amazon room, tweeting (yes, tweeting) updates on CR guys. townsend has a nice stack of over 600k, and i hope to be following him at the final table on sunday. still a long way to go, though. click here for twitter feed.

i reg'd for the 1k on saturday, will be nice to play an event, looking forward to some live poker. hoping i'll find time for some venetian deep stacks also, i enjoyed playing there last summer.

Blogging from WSOP

2009-05-28T15:59:00.004-04:00

I have been busy as of late acclimating to Vegas. No links cause typing on iPhone is hard enough as it is, but I've already seen change, pauly, al, tim and met many other media guys and hopefully I can catch up with ck and f-train later today. We (as in cardrunners) have a bunch of guys playing the 40k event today so I'm following their progress on the CR website. Well I will be once my media pass gets taken care of.

I finally made my way to the rhino, alan's favorite spot in vegas and the setting of my favorite alan story. It is def a sight to be seen and fascinating for people watching. :)

As for poker I've got nothing. Played some live cash last night and lost two big pots. One with a rivered 2 pair to a turned set and one with nut flush draw to top pair when we got it in on flop. I drowned my sorrows in blackjack and won a bit back. Am gonna try to stay away from table games mostly, though. No idea when/if I will have time for tournaments.

ZOMG TOC SEAT

2009-05-20T02:42:00.003-04:00

indeed, hell has frozen over. the most hilarious part being that i won my seat in limit hold 'em! i flopped really well early (88 flopped quads v. AA) but also lost my share of pots (KK < A7, AT < 99 on T high flop, etc.). i totally jennifer tillied one hand late v. smokkee when i was too busy cursing the board for straighting while watching the fringe season finale to realize that i had the nuts on the river. durrrrrr. i called his raise on the river when i obv shoulda re-raised, and was still cursing until i saw the pot being shipped to me. i also cracked lightning's AA w/ J9 when i flopped 2p. weeeeeeeeeeee.

thanks to bayne for the screenshot, and to smokkee and elsnarfgrande for not chopping so i could get more $$ and the seat. this would be diff post if i had not been victorious. thanks also to lucko for railing/telling me how terrible i play. how pissed were all you people w/ seats that it was 1 non-seat and 3 seats at the end and the non-seat won!?

of course the irony is that i am not sure if i'll even be able to play. i respect all that al has done with the bbt, but imo holding the toc on june 7th is straight up gender discrimination. that is the day of the ladies wsop event and the only event i'd planned to play (unless i win a seat into main event, ldo). i have not yet figured out what i will do, short of starting a petition to change it to saturday june 6th. it seemed to work well on a saturday last year. :)

it felt good to win even though it was retarded and dumb luck, cause i felt like i was playing kickass poker in riverchasers last night, only to lose two straight flips and two 60/40s to go from cl to busto in not very many hands.

otherwise poker's been pretty terrible lately. i have not been playing my best, and ftops was a complete wash. i'm not even sure i cashed in any (including minis). a big hurray to loretta who is finally posting again, and took down a hu tournament (and had another ft finish) in one of his first nights back playing again.

see ya at the mookie tomorrow!

bayne calls this a cooler

2009-05-17T16:26:00.001-04:00

i call it a bad beat.

PokerStars Game #28309465837: Tournament #162033905, $50+$5 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2009/05/17 16:20:47 ET
Table '162033905 93' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: bajared (11495 in chips)
Seat 2: juvenia (9530 in chips)
Seat 3: jaysu (4195 in chips)
Seat 4: BJDarter (4455 in chips)
Seat 5: jelijahd (2475 in chips)
Seat 6: Houstex (4585 in chips)
Seat 7: fizix87 (4915 in chips)
Seat 8: keikol (8040 in chips)
Seat 9: princeharibo (6680 in chips)
jaysu: posts small blind 75
BJDarter: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to princeharibo [Qd Qc]
jelijahd: folds
Houstex: folds
fizix87: folds
keikol: folds
princeharibo: raises 250 to 400
bajared: calls 400
juvenia: calls 400
jaysu: folds
BJDarter: folds
*** FLOP *** [3d Qh 8s]
princeharibo: bets 900
bajared: calls 900
juvenia: calls 900
*** TURN *** [3d Qh 8s] [7c]
princeharibo: checks
bajared: bets 750
juvenia: raises 3750 to 4500
princeharibo: raises 880 to 5380 and is all-in
bajared: folds
juvenia: calls 880
*** RIVER *** [3d Qh 8s 7c] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
princeharibo: shows [Qd Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Eights)
juvenia: shows [8h 8c] (four of a kind, Eights)
juvenia collected 15635 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 15635 | Rake 0
Board [3d Qh 8s 7c 8d]
Seat 1: bajared folded on the Turn
Seat 2: juvenia (button) showed [8h 8c] and won (15635) with four of a kind, Eights
Seat 3: jaysu (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: BJDarter (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: jelijahd folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Houstex folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: fizix87 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: keikol folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: princeharibo showed [Qd Qc] and lost with a full house, Queens full of Eights

bridge and tunnel

2009-05-17T13:40:00.002-04:00

i'm still getting used to life in nj. i went into the city last night for something i'd committed to months ago, and got a chance to see a few friends before 6 weeks in the abyss known as las vegas. it is definitely strange to have to know train schedules and deal with the hassles of coming and going. at the same time, it's nice to look out the window today at grass and hear bird chirping, and have an extra living room so i can watch lost w/o annoying my boyfriend. :)

ok, off to ship an ftops or something. lol in my dreams.

shocker

2009-05-13T10:34:00.002-04:00

it's pouring rain in chicago. i don't know why i'm surprised.

no bruce tix, i maybe shoulda gone over and hustled, but my friend who was there told me there were very few people selling and a lot of people looking. i am not gonna make hershey, but still have the show on the 21st at the meadlowlands and i think i'm gonna splurge w/ a friend and pay a retarded amount of money for tix on the 23rd.

here on biz till tom night, then back to jersey (finally). then 1 week till wsop. it's gonna be crazy but for blogger who are gonna be out there would be fun to meet up -- shoot an email to princeharibo@gmail.com

woulda coulda shoulda

2009-05-12T21:40:00.004-04:00

this was going to be a post about how awesome bruce was last night, and how bummed i am that i couldn't find a ticket for tonight, but instead it's a bad beat post, as i once again exit an ftops w/ AK < AQ. today was a tilt-inducing day on a number of levels, and this does not help.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12186099155: FTOPS Event #15 (84234005), Table 21 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:38:08 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: Todula (2,115)
Seat 2: thundrstrike (2,545)
Seat 3: califorication- (2,510)
Seat 4: pvanharibo (2,735)
Seat 5: double bologna (870)
Seat 6: bobtahoe (3,380)
Seat 7: KingTriton (3,260)
Seat 8: pooli (4,175)
Seat 9: JnastyMD (1,985)
KingTriton posts the small blind of 80
pooli posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pvanharibo [Kd Ac]
JnastyMD folds
Todula folds
thundrstrike folds
califorication- raises to 400
pvanharibo raises to 2,735, and is all in
double bologna folds
bobtahoe folds
KingTriton raises to 3,260, and is all in
pooli folds
califorication- folds
KingTriton shows [Qd As]
pvanharibo shows [Kd Ac]
Uncalled bet of 525 returned to KingTriton
*** FLOP *** [3d 5c 5h]
*** TURN *** [3d 5c 5h] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [3d 5c 5h Qc] [8c]
KingTriton shows two pair, Queens and Fives
pvanharibo shows a pair of Fives
KingTriton wins the pot (6,030) with two pair, Queens and Fives
pvanharibo stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,030 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 5c 5h Qc 8c]
Seat 1: Todula didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: thundrstrike didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: califorication- folded before the Flop
Seat 4: pvanharibo showed [Kd Ac] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 5: double bologna didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: bobtahoe (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: KingTriton (small blind) showed [Qd As] and won (6,030) with two pair, Queens and Fives
Seat 8: pooli (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: JnastyMD didn't bet (folded)

AQ can't win for me either, apparently.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12186289772: MiniFTOPS Event #15 (84243268), Table 656 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:47:55 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: metrofan2k (5,160)
Seat 2: NikkorD3x (1,213)
Seat 3: DragonPL (4,095)
Seat 4: uk_surf_mix (3,140)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (3,825)
Seat 6: ChrisBHT (1,635)
Seat 7: FireworKKing (4,044)
Seat 8: Spizz18 (5,930)
Seat 9: scorpion1807 (1,766)
ChrisBHT posts the small blind of 100
FireworKKing posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pvanharibo [Qd Ah]
Spizz18 folds
scorpion1807 folds
metrofan2k folds
NikkorD3x folds
DragonPL folds
uk_surf_mix raises to 500
pvanharibo raises to 3,825, and is all in
ChrisBHT folds
FireworKKing folds
uk_surf_mix calls 2,640, and is all in
pvanharibo shows [Qd Ah]
uk_surf_mix shows [8c Ac]
Uncalled bet of 685 returned to pvanharibo
*** FLOP *** [7s Tc 6c]
*** TURN *** [7s Tc 6c] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [7s Tc 6c 7d] [8s]
pvanharibo shows a pair of Sevens
uk_surf_mix shows two pair, Eights and Sevens
uk_surf_mix wins the pot (6,580) with two pair, Eights and Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,580 | Rake 0
Board: [7s Tc 6c 7d 8s]
Seat 1: metrofan2k didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: NikkorD3x didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: DragonPL didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: uk_surf_mix showed [8c Ac] and won (6,580) with two pair, Eights and Sevens
Seat 5: pvanharibo (button) showed [Qd Ah] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 6: ChrisBHT (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: FireworKKing (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: Spizz18 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: scorpion1807 didn't bet (folded)

not surprising that A9 eventually puts me out of my misery. nice reshove by QT.

Full Tilt Poker Game #12186348052: MiniFTOPS Event #15 (84243268), Table 656 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:50:55 ET - 2009/05/12
Seat 1: metrofan2k (1,065)
Seat 2: NikkorD3x (1,213)
Seat 3: DragonPL (8,290)
Seat 4: uk_surf_mix (6,580)
Seat 5: pvanharibo (685)
Seat 6: ChrisBHT (1,835)
Seat 7: FireworKKing (3,344)
Seat 8: Spizz18 (6,330)
Seat 9: scorpion1807 (1,466)
metrofan2k posts the small blind of 100
NikkorD3x posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pvanharibo [Qd Td]
DragonPL folds
uk_surf_mix folds
pvanharibo has 15 seconds left to act
pvanharibo raises to 685, and is all in
ChrisBHT folds
FireworKKing folds
Spizz18 has 15 seconds left to act
Spizz18 raises to 6,330, and is all in
scorpion1807 folds
metrofan2k folds
NikkorD3x has 15 seconds left to act
NikkorD3x has requested TIME
NikkorD3x calls 1,013, and is all in
Spizz18 shows [Qh Th]
NikkorD3x shows [As 9s]
pvanharibo shows [Qd Td]
Uncalled bet of 5,117 returned to Spizz18
*** FLOP *** [6s 8s 7h]
*** TURN *** [6s 8s 7h] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [6s 8s 7h 6d] [Ad]
Spizz18 shows a pair of Sixes
NikkorD3x shows two pair, Aces and Sixes
NikkorD3x wins the side pot (1,056) with two pair, Aces and Sixes
pvanharibo shows a pair of Sixes
NikkorD3x wins the main pot (2,155) with two pair, Aces and Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,211 Main pot 2,155. Side pot 1,056. | Rake 0
Board: [6s 8s 7h 6d Ad]
Seat 1: metrofan2k (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: NikkorD3x (big blind) showed [As 9s] and won (3,211) with two pair, Aces and Sixes
Seat 3: DragonPL didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: uk_surf_mix didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: pvanharibo showed [Qd Td] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 6: ChrisBHT didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: FireworKKing didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Spizz18 showed [Qh Th] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 9: scorpion1807 (button) didn't bet (folded)

fuck poker

2009-05-10T20:53:00.003-04:00

i'm so fucking tilted right now. it's been a crap day from start to finish. played like shit early in the day, then buckled down and played decent poker, only to lose every possible flip, 60/40 and 70/30 possible. out of million AK < QQ, and so many other lost flips i can't recall.

i finally won a flip in ftops 10 w/ 44 > AK. next hand the same guy overshoves 15 bbs and i have JJ in sb. he shows Q3dd and obv flop is Q55. two orbits later the button raises, i three bet from bb w/ AK, he shoves and shows AQ. flop QQx and i'm done, woulda had 22k w/ blinds 140/280 in $300 tournament. fuck poker. as i type this i bust my last tournament, the 5r, when i squeeze a 4x raise and call w/ AK from bb and 77 holds. adjklfjasdklfjadksfklasdjfklasdjfklajsdklfjadsklfjklasdfjklas

fuck poker.

weather in mpls sucked today, it seems everywhere i travel the weather immediately goes to shit. gonna try to get some work done tonight so i can enjoy the (allegedly) nice weather tomorrow afternoon. then tomorrow night is bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuce, and tues i'm off to chicago. i'm sure the weather will immediately turn cold and rainy.

it would be nice to watch ep 4 of breaking bad, cause i finally finished the first 3 eps, but netflix sent me a defective disc. won't be home till friday, but at least i can try to get a working one to me by that time. i am just running bad in everything.

also, fuck poker.

/end rant

free stoxpoker and cardrunners

2009-05-08T12:59:00.003-04:00

I am confounded by the number of people who are not yet signed up for truly free poker training (TFPT). i mean, it's FREE. it doesn't take away from rakeback. doesn't reduce mgr. it really is FREE FREE FREE. if you're not signed up, you most definitely should be. link is here.

you can still call me lj, though. i never had a nickname growing up and love it!!

once again dear readers, it's FREE. costs you nothing to sign up. if you don't meet the points threshold, no worries. if you play at all on ftp there is NO DOWNSIDE to signing up. you can tell i feel strongly b/c i'm using more caps than usual. :)

sadly i think many celebs are this out of touch

2009-05-07T19:52:00.001-04:00

although i hesitate to even call paris hilton a celeb, she's twenty fucking eight!!!

"Defending herself against a lawsuit claiming she didn't do enough to promote the 2006 bomb "Pledge This," Hilton insists in a deposition in Miami federal court that she went the extra mile for the movie.

"Any chance I got, any red carpet, any press, if I was doing something for another product ... I would just bring it up, 'Oh, my new sorority film, it's going to be sexy, it's going to be really hot girls'like I really, you know, did my best," said Hilton, 28.

The deposition offers several other glimpses into Hilton's life, including her preference for David Letterman because Jay Leno asks questions she doesn't like. She also acknowledges she'd never seen her own cell phone bills until attorneys showed her one in an attempt to figure out who she was calling.

Asked who gets her bills, she replied, "I don't know. I'm assuming, like, whoever pays my bills. I never ask about that stuff.""

booo iphones (no poker content)

2009-05-07T08:52:00.002-04:00

i went into the city last night in my new role as bridge and tunnel girl. the previous night i got myself an iphone, b/c i'm traveling so much with my new job that it's really integral for me to be wired.

this worked very well until i got to the departure party (at mad46, an over the top wannabe pretentious rooftop bar) and i actually needed to use it for business. i charged it fully in the afternoon, but less than 6 hours later i was in the "red zone" and i needed to send some emails/make some calls. the really nice people at the apple store (i have a pic of them cause i'm a dork, but can't post it b/c i haven't connected my iphone to a pute yet) helped me move over numbers from my sim card but most recent numbers didn't switch over. i mean, my boyfriend, who i've talked to more than anyone the last year and a half, was not in my phone when i started yesterday. the sick part is i had to ask him for his number b/c i still don't have it memorized. cell phones have changed everything, it makes me feel so old.

also, just fyi, departure parties are a huge perk from my old law firm. they gave me $1500 to throw a party when i left, and i invited a relatively small number of people and then pigged out and got trashed at this awesome japanese place by my old apartment (EN japanese brasserie). someone else has to sponsor it, and the friend who sponsored mine ended up giving notice a few days after me, and it was her departure party i attended last night. pretty sure she got $2500 cause she was more senior. i have a feeling these sorts of perks will not exist at law firms in the near future given the industry right now.

anyway, i digress. i needed numbers that weren't in my phone, and couldn't figure out searching in the "mail" section, and luckily a well-timed email saved me. that said, i was pretty pissed that my iphone died completely on the train ride home, and i couldn't call my poor boyfriend who was waiting at the train station for me. i did not realize this, and hopped in the first cab i saw. apparently i missed a blowout celtics game (woo hoo) and an action-packed lakers game (even though it was also a ~ rout, i think).

tonight we're going to go see wolverine, which i was more excited about before i read the reviews. i doubt i'll get a chance to play many ftops, cause i leave sat for mpls and will be hanging out w/ friends. i may play sunday, but only if i can't cross paths with a few people from my law school days i'm hoping to see. monday is work then bruuuuuuuuuuuuce, and then tuesday i head back to chicago. he's playing the night i arrive, so i may try to go scalp a ticket. i can't wait!!!!

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!!!

cardrunners ftw!

2009-05-04T18:07:00.008-04:00

for those who aren't regular readers, i have spent the past four years working at a "biglaw" firm in nyc. it is very prestigious, but to say i find the work unfulfilling is quite an understatement. while on secondment (basically an exchange) to a dutch law firm in the netherlands, i started playing a lot of tournaments at the holland casino, and upon my return i got into the whole poker blogging world. i have tried for the past few years to figure out some job that might combine law and make me happy, and failed miserably.

last fall i started reaching out to people in the poker community, wondering if i could pull an f-train and change careers altogether. well, about 8 months later i'm pretty psyched that my networking paid off, and as of about two weeks ago i became the director of marketing for an online poker training website.

it's basically a perfect fit for me, b/c i have business/marketing experience from my pre-law school days, but also an ability to negotiate and handle a variety of tasks differently due to my legal background. i'm also quite obviously into poker, so that works out well. instead of waking up with a feeling of dread at going into the office, i am excited to cross off the million things on my list to do, and work on making cardrunners an even better brand.

i will probably be creating a site blog sometime in the very near future and have not yet decided whether I will keep this one up. CR blogs can be accessed by non-paying members, but in case you aren't aware, there is an awesome, free way to become a stoxpoker and/or CR member, and it's at this link for TRULY FREE POKER TRAINING. truly free poker training doesn't take away any of your ftp points, and it doesn't count against mgr, but if you meet a threshold for a given month you can get anywhere from a 1 week to 1 month subscription FREE to the sites. if you aren't already registered, you DEF should be.

you can expect that i will be pimping CR/stox smokkee style, but fear not, i will also continue to bore you with my thoughts on everything from books to tv to how wildly terribly i'm playing in bbt4, at least for the time being. catch you later tonight when you can watch me shove AJ into TJ's KK. :)

kindle

2009-05-03T13:16:00.002-04:00

anyone have one of these? i didn't think it was for me until i held one in my hands and saw how easy it is to read. they are light, and hold hundreds of books. no more deciding which books to pack, and worrying about how heavy certain books are to carry around.

the downside is that they're 360 bucks. most books are 6.99-9.99. my biggest dilemma would be whether to rebuy some of my heaviest books so i could read them when i'm traveling.

stuff

2009-05-02T22:31:00.004-04:00

i got totally burned by my friend mike on my last post. i did not realize potbelly was in 13 states. thought it was chicago thing. overall chicago was fun, but i'm def glad to be home.

did you realize that airlines now charge you just to check 1 bag? the last time i flew i didn't have a bag, and was not aware of this new "burn our consumers for as much money as possible" policy. united charges $15 to check a bag. that same bag that fits just fine on an airplane and has been the case since i started flying. does everyone carrying on bags that are a certain size rather than checking in suitcases down in the baggage hold really save that much money on fuel?

that's not the worst part. the worst part is that if you are over 50 lbs on this bag that you've paid $15 to check, they charge you an additional $125! 140 dollars to check a bag that used to be free. i feel old. :(

so on my way to chicago my bag was about 54 lbs and the woman checking me in told me she'd let it go if i took out 2 lbs. i decided to carry my raincoat and all was good. somehow on the way home it weighed 57 lbs. i said i would take some stuff out and the woman looked around disdainfully at my full backpack, laptop bag and purse and said, where you gonna put it? she had a point. in a slightly hushed voice she said, i'll let it go for $40. it took me a second to realize she was trying to gain cash, and i turned to bargaining mode. i countered back, 20, and she said, drop it on the scale. lol. so yeah, i basically bribed some chick to save 105.

i was not about to pay $39 for "economy plus" but i was willing to pay $6.95 for a half hour internet connection (priorities, people), and i was the last person on the plane cause i was busy emailing and checking blogs. i flew standby on the 9am, and was psyched to get an aisle seat, but as i walked onto the plane i noticed the economy plus section was essentially dead, so i just parked myself in the aisle seat in row 5 and opened my paper. for a 2 hour flight it's not such a big deal, but it was def more comfortable. such bullshit to see everyone crowded in 20 rows and then open seats everywhere in the first 8.

i get to newark and there's only about 20 bags coming through on the carousel. none are mine so i bust out my baggage claim ticket only to see it says "laguardia" w/ another person's name. so much for bribing the chick at the counter, sigh.

i hop a cab, call united, and nobody can tell me anything about my bag. later a call comes in and they found my bag at laguardia, phew. it arrived around 1am as i was ready to pass out.

i was supposed to go to the borgata to see no doubt/tinted windows tonight, but given that game 7 of the best nba playoff series i've ever seen was on (granted, i have not seen all that many, and the nets/lakers ones i saw were among the worst), i gave into some slight peer pressure and ate the cost of the tix. i am still kinda tired after two weeks away, and it def helped my decision that i thought tinted windows sucked on david letterman. would have been a fun w/e to be at the borgata but i'll get over it.

hurray for celtics! i watched game 6 at maloney's house, where his wife made a delicious pasta and offered up some cookies w/ a dirty name. one of the best things about chicago was hanging out w/ matt* and his wife who are extremely cool, and it never ceases to amaze me how awesome most people i've met through the blogging community are. he invited me over despite my serious rooting for the celtics (rondo and pierce in my nba playoff pool). thx for the hospitality! :)

i don't think i've mentioned on my blog yet, but i have a new home. i am now a not quite yet proud resident of bound brook, new jersey. there is a lot i will miss about my city apartment -- fantastic location (esp for food delivery), lots of friends, and mad convenience for just about anything, but lucko's in bound brook, and it makes a lot of sense w/ my new job (more on that next post). i also now have infinitely more space, which rules. i'm gonna have a dual monitor set up, which i've been wanting for ages. we have totally re-done his house, and it's not finished yet, but it's gonna be cool. i'll be able to have a grill, ride my bike more, and more than almost anything i'm excited to have a normal size kitchen and try out some cool recipes.

i won a seat to the 150 seat main event qualifier tonight, but mostly haven't been doing anything on the poker front. bbt4 has been a huge bust, as anyone who has seen me playing is aware of. i am prob one of the worst players in the series, and considering how many i play, that's some serious dead money. on the bright side i finally had my first cash. $21 w00t.

i'll prob play some sunday tourneys, and am excited to have a chill sunday. go heat! (dwade and beasley are also in my pool). hope you are having a good weekend!

*mike

chicago, sundays, and curtis sittenfeld

2009-04-27T00:07:00.004-04:00

have been having a blast in chicago. potbelly is the shit. apparently they have one in nj, gonna have to check that out. (yet another reason to move to morristown, apparently).
fri night i met up w/ maloney and his wife. maloney is a super cool dude, as is his gorgeous wife, and they were kind enough to humor me by heading to wrigleyville after our deep dish pizza. i was all excited cause lucko told me about this bar called sluggers that had batting cages and pop a shot. like every other bar w/in a 6 block radius of wrigley field, the music was blasting 20x too loud, but we sat outside for a drink, and then headed upstairs for games. i went 10/10 at my first batting cage, then managed to go 0/20 (no joke) at slow pitch softball. in between i hit a decent number of fast pitch balls, but the slow pitch was mad embarrassing. i was pretty beat from a busy week, and we didn't stay out super late.

saturday i took a friend's bike along the lake and hit up the zoo. last time i was at a zoo was in antwerp years ago and being there made me very sad. i had similar feelings at the lincoln park zoo (i mean, what animal wouldn't rather be out in the wild than cooped up in a fucking zoo?) but admit i liked seeing a giraffe, tiger and polar bear. it was fucking freezing riding along the lake and was most definitely not 77 degrees as i'd dressed for. :( also, chicago weather sucks. it downpours, like, every other 20 minutes, and then at 8:30 pm magically becomes super hot.

i rested up then met up w/ a friend from hs and her husband and adorable 19 month old. we ate at this new burger joint, counter, that was decent. i was dead not long after dinner, and hit bed early, although not before seeing their 3 br/2ba condo which she confirmed the mortgage on was less than their 1br apartment rent in nyc. so sick. i also couldn't stop myself from playing a turbo hose on stars. jesus, i love these tourneys. i went out fourth on a retarded hand, but they are like crack.

today i ran like ass at poker. it started when A4 flopped middle pair on K42 flop v. my nut flush draw (AT) and held, and carried over to my blowing a nice stack in the warm up. was doing decent in brit thing but then i lost a flip and shoved AJ in sb over button raise only to run into AQ in bb. sigh.

on the bright side i chose chicago in my espn streak, and that was a hella fun game to watch. overall i'm rooting for the celtics cause a) i love green and b) i have rondo and pierce in lucko's nba pool, but the more games the better. also goooooo miami (and dwade especially) and yay yao!

also had dinner at the same place i ate last sunday, this KICKASS mexican place called el nuevo mexicano. anyone in chicago, check it out.

planning on playing the blogger events this week. see you there. i'll be the donk out in first five minutes, as per usual.

have about 30 pages left in american wife, curtis sittenfeld's third book. i loved her first two (prep and man of my dreams) although i would say they are most definitely more female oriented. not "chick-lit" but just female protagonists who are way more relevant to people who grew up as adolescent girls.

her latest book is a really weird/interesting concept, which essentially fictionalizes laura bush's life, and her rise from mostly liberal humble librarian to first lady. her husband in the book "charles blackwell," aka gwb, comes across as shockingly sympathetic, and as with most books i have found myself occasionally tearing in public as i read (seriously, there is nothing worse than having to stop reading a book in a public place b/c you are so sensitive you start crying). :(

in any event, i related way too much to her narrators in her first two books, who reminded me of myself in high school (i may have blogged about this before) but this book is a departure from those in a significant way, and i definitely recommend. it's def not for everyone, but if you enjoy reading and especially if you are somewhat fascinated by the dynamic of the former president/first lady, it presents an interesting viewpoint. i am dying to know if laura bush has read.

k, that's all. will be blogging later this week for sure, hopefully to report a bbt4 win, but lololol as if.

update: bah, am so tired, but just realized that happy gilmore started on tnt. damn tnt. how am i supposed to turn off this brilliance. "the price is wrong, bitch"

same old same old

2009-04-21T23:46:00.003-04:00

at least when it comes to bbt4. busted razz tonight playing silly hands and getting tilted at all my bring ins. due to a ~ bet w/ lucko i actually went back and counted, and i didn't bring in nearly as much as i thought. around 16% in first hour 20 min. (i didn't last much longer).

i missed 24 last night, so will prob just check that out and hit bed. i have been waking up earlier lately and it is taking its toll.

maloney (or matt, as i like to call him repeatedly) reminded me that lost is a clip show this week. i still plan to watch at some point, but made dinner plans, which means no mookie for me. prob would just be a waste of 10 bucks anyway. also special shout out to maloney for his help recommending a cookie skillet tonight. it was a little more cooked than i would have liked, but who doesn't love a skillet? i had an egg white, cheese and potato one the other day that was heavenly. god bless chicago.

i've been to chicago a couple times previously (visiting friend at nwestern, soccer games) and was not impressed (nice place but wouldn't want to live there). this trip is different, though, and i have to admit i am really digging it! heading to this place, sunda, tomorrow, and mado on thurs night. friday night i'm gonna chill w/ matt and his wife here -- giordanos is known for their chicago style pizza. any other restaurant recs from locals?

apparently this spring is the midwest tour, as i'm in chicago right now and heading to minneapolis in a few weeks. will also be stopping in hershey, pa for bruuuuuuuuuce, though obv that is not the midwest. i am getting more and more excited to see tinted windows at the borgata on may 2nd. i downloaded their cd off amazon today and am loving it!

does anyone out there read poker forums? i'm familiar w/ cp, 2p2 and p5s, but wondering if there are other cool ones that i might not know about (not counting exclusive ones like +1/67suited, which have made it clear they do not welcome my membership) :) based on my bbt4 performance i clearly need to make some improvements to my game.

tinted windows

2009-04-16T14:05:00.003-04:00

just heard about this band yesterday. they are playing w/ no doubt at the borgata on may 2nd and i'm pretty sure i'm going to go, despite it being the day after i get back from a business trip. it's the kind of rock/pop i live for. former members of hanson, cheap trick, fountains of wayne and smashing pumpkins. how's that for random!

ok, off to do a million and one things. i am a stressed out panda. if there are any nyc readers out there, come out tonight to madame x (houston b/w laguardia and thompson) and grab a drink. my friend jon is djing, and we'll be there around 9/9:30.

best. headline. ever.

2009-04-15T19:26:00.002-04:00

"Susan Boyle: Unemployed 47-year-old virgin becomes overnight music superstar"

i linked to this yesterday. article here.

why aren't we taxing marijuana?

2009-04-15T18:53:00.004-04:00

esp in california, jeez.

good article here about the stupidity of our war on drugs.

found the link via drug war rant, a great blog, that also linked to this recent study showing decriminalization in portugal worked.

rip pokerroom

2009-04-15T16:46:00.002-04:00

pokerroom was the first site i played on when i discovered online poker. i continued to play on it right up until i left amsterdam in early '07. uigea was in effect in the US and no more pokerroom for me. i have somewhere b/w $50 and $100 on there but can't remember my pw to try and log on and cash out. :(

article here.

why am i up at 4am?

2009-04-15T03:51:00.003-04:00

excellent question. i still haven't finished 24 (thx for no spoilers ig), which was the sole purpose of staying awake. i played skillz tonight but somebody started w/ 669 and beat my AA4 by hitting another 6 on fourth when i was clearly committed to pot. sigh, luckboxes. grats to heff for taking it down, who i think i've now linked in three straight posts. pls stop being at my table, k, thx.

i was transfixed by this most of the day. embedding has been disabled, so you have to click, but god i love les mis. i was also blown away by this, which seems quite silly but i blew through my 6 matches in no time. why couldn't i have discovered it at 11pm instead of 2am. :(

my bbt in summary

2009-04-14T01:15:00.002-04:00

lucko: "wow, thats like ur bbt in summary. overplaying hands and running like total ass"

i figured heffmike was raising wide (though he says he folded AKo which i believe), and didn't really know what to make of that shove, but had my usual awfuckit bbt4 moment and couldn't click fold. flatting pre is prob better there, but hard to complain when you get 100 bbs in dominating.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11671536857: PPI / Riverchasers Tournament (86703117), Table 3 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:10:49 ET - 2009/04/13
Seat 1: Alceste (2,940)
Seat 2: MiamiDon (4,890)
Seat 3: heffmike (3,360)
Seat 4: Blinders (2,625)
Seat 5: jimdniacc (1,050)
Seat 6: pvanharibo (2,925)
Seat 8: IncaMabel (2,940)
Seat 9: lightning36 (3,270)
pvanharibo posts the small blind of 15
IncaMabel posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to pvanharibo [As Ks]
lightning36 folds
Alceste folds
MiamiDon folds
heffmike has 15 seconds left to act
heffmike raises to 90
Blinders has 15 seconds left to act
Blinders folds
jimdniacc folds
pvanharibo raises to 300
IncaMabel has 15 seconds left to act
IncaMabel raises to 2,940, and is all in
jimdniacc: I'm just supposed to assume you had that.
heffmike has 15 seconds left to act
heffmike has requested TIME
heffmike: wierd spot
heffmike folds
pvanharibo: lol
pvanharibo: i am alwyas out so early
pvanharibo calls 2,625, and is all in
IncaMabel shows [Td Ad]
pvanharibo shows [As Ks]
Uncalled bet of 15 returned to IncaMabel
heffmike: AK
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7s 9d]
*** TURN *** [Jc 7s 9d] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7s 9d Tc] [9s]
IncaMabel shows two pair, Tens and Nines
pvanharibo shows a pair of Nines
IncaMabel wins the pot (5,940) with two pair, Tens and Nines
pvanharibo: obv
pvanharibo stands up
The blinds are now 20/40
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,940 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc 7s 9d Tc 9s]
Seat 1: Alceste didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MiamiDon didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: heffmike folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Blinders didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: jimdniacc (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: pvanharibo (small blind) showed [As Ks] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 8: IncaMabel (big blind) showed [Td Ad] and won (5,940) with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 9: lightning36 didn't bet (folded)

i wanted to watch house, cause some people told me last week's episode was all the buzz. i missed it (stupid hd dvr) so went back to what i thought was last week's episode starring mos def on hulu, then began watching this week's. oops. :( house is def luring me back in, but i'm annoyed i missed last week's episode before watching the current one. can't remember the last time i thought that about house.

last week's lost was epic imo, my never ending love for this show knows no boundaries. i have no started to look forward to the season 3 repeats on saturdays almost as much as new episodes. watching them through the filter of season 5 they almost are new eps. <3 lost.

we just finished watching season 4 of the wire (it was my third time for most eps), so rest assured it hasn't lost (hehe) its spot as the best tv show ever, they are simply apples and oranges.

tilt much? (not much poker content)

2009-04-09T13:02:00.003-04:00

i'll start w/ blogger tournaments. i did finally hit the points in last week's mookie, but despite a prop bet for april i am consistently going out in the first hour of most bloggaments. i have been tilting a lot, getting way too stubborn, and not playing smart. i think my highlight was shoving A8 into heff's TT last week and sucking out, though it could have been shoving AJ last night on a paired board into an overpair that had two of my outs.

i played a few scoops so far, but nothing going. won my first two hu matches in the small and medium buy ins, then lost one when J8hh called my shove w/ ATdd and hit an 8, and the other when my KK went down in flames on a QJT flop to 98 who called my three bet oop. so awesome. played a few non traditional ones (mixed he, 2-7 lowball, stud 8) just for fun, but ended up so tilted that they ended up being the complete opposite of fun.

i am in jersey for passover, which as faithful readers know is my favorite of the jewish holidays. this is for one reason and one reason only. HAROSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my cousin didn't give me as much to bring home this year as last year, but i think it's cause i ate so much at dinner. lucko pointed out last night that the non-jews outnumbered the jews at our sedar, which was hilarious. this is mainly b/c catholic cousins (not technically my cousins, but way too difficult to explain) have four kids, and they boost the numbers considerably. kara, the six year old, actually did the four questions, and was soooooooo excited about it. her (also catholic) grandmother had wanted me to help her work on them, but she did pretty well reading them in english. maybe in a few years we'll get her singing the hebrew.

i recently read the new john grisham book, the associate, which i thought was a new low for him. i view him as plane reading, along with guys like david baldacci, although generally i'm not a big fan of grisham's writing. (i think baldacci is a much better writer). i used to consider nelson demille plane reading but the gold coast is such a good book i have to put him in a diff category now.

imo the rainmaker was the best book grisham wrote, by far, and his books seem to have gone downhill ever since. the associate was just plain phoned in, not sure how his editor even let him publish it. i've worked at a top big law firm for four years (though not for much longer, WOO HOO!) and NOBODY GOES TO THE FIRM LIBRARY TO WORK ANYMORE. it is like he wrote it fifteen years ago and just couldn't get it published until now. jesus.

i have about 100 pages left in moneyball, which might be the best book i've read in the past year. i am not a huge baseball fan, though i've become a quasi-mets fan due to lucko. however, i cannot put this book down. michael lewis is a great writer, and i can't tell you how many times i've laughed out loud at a book about baseball stats! this is an oversimplification, b/c it's really about billy beane and his approach to putting together a successful baseball team (and more), but i highly recommend even to non sports fans. i am going to get myself on amazon soon and see what else he's written, b/c i'd read a book about gardening by him at this point (and i have a "black thumb" or so i've been told).

i still have neal christenson's latest tome on my to-read list, along w/ the first two twilight books, but the former is too heavy to carry around, and the latter just seem embarrassing to be seen with. didn't have that problem w/ harry potter, but can't quite get over the hurdle w/ twilight.

ok, off to watch last night's lost, can't believe i waited this long. also, is it me or is 24 slowly going downhill this season? it started off so fantastic, but the past couple eps have had me cringing and i'm losing interest. :(

running good is fun

2009-03-30T23:56:00.002-04:00

i can attest that during the months of october - february i ran like ass. complete ass. if i was ahead w/ KK v. QQ, i lost. AA v. TT, same. couldn't win flips to save my life. last night i think i won five flips in the span of 3 hours. i think i've improved my game and worked on leaks (i still have tons) but running good def helps.

except in blogger tournaments. i don't know what is going on w/ me psychologically, but i cannot get into a groove in these. i got in like 70 bbs w/ AKo unimproved today. i mean, wtf?!? i can't explain it. there is no thought process involved.

i've been getting more into watching tv online. hd on hulu is pretty sweet, and it's a great way to catch up when you aren't home and don't have time to sit in front of the tv, but have some time in front of the computer.

thanks to those who commented on my request for financial help, much obliged.

sunday tourneys

2009-03-30T10:39:00.002-04:00

i was going to call this post sunday runs, but figured that would conjure up a mental image i did not want to be responsible for. i went deep in both the ftp and stars sunday majors, although obv i failed to get either done or this would be a very diff post.

i busted 128th out of the million bvb when my QTcc raced againts 88 and lost.

i went out 19th of the 750k when my AJ < A9. that one hurt, as i flopped a J, he flopped a 9, and hit his two outer on the turn. i made a very ill timed bluff a few hands earlier, when i shoved T7dd into an ep raiser's AK. obv i got called a donk by everyone in the chat, and probably most of you watching (it seemed there were a few) were like wtf, but i felt like i was getting a fold there a lot, he'd been very active, and i'd folded every time until then. it was a 60/40 -- one i was on the wrong end of, but i was lucky to even be live there, and the result def sucked. how do i not hit 2p?! i played a high variance game the whole tournament and was def disappointed. if i could go back i would probably fold, and wait for a better spot, but at the time i thought i was making a decent shove, and was getting a lot of folds. regardless, the hand that really hurt was the AJ a few hands later when i had a chance to get back to 25 bbs and still give myself a shot to win. sigh.

i (obv) went back to the standing this morning and the guy who had AK v. my T7 finished second for like 80k. yeah, i'm ~ jealous.

all this shows is that while i'm playing mostly good poker, i make mistakes and sometimes they hurt. also, fuck A9 guy (who SNAP called, although i guess w/ my image hard to blame him) and fuck him for hitting a two outer on me (although there were chop outs). congrats to todd for finishing deep also (he went further than me, i think he busted 11th). tdizzle fo shizzle. :)

i bought in directly to both sunday tournaments and made a nice profit on the day, although 125k woulda been way sweeter.

yesterday was also my mom's surprise party, which went off without a hitch. she seemed surprised, the food was fantastic, and i think everyone had a good time. thanks to lucko for all his help leading up (three trips to the dollar store, lol) and his extreme sacrifice of the weekend. all male slumber parties only happen a couple times a year, and i know it hurt to miss one.

overall it was a great weekend. friday night lucko came into the city after a half day to pick me up and then we went to meet his fam for dinner at maggiano's. their spaghetti w/ meat sauce is SO delicious! we sat in tunnel traffic (er, traffic leading up to the tunnel) for an hour (that was the sucky part of the weekend) but dinner was way better than you'd expect from a chain, and then we played buzz and poker w/ family and friends. i love buzz, although i finished a close second in four games. i won some money playing small stakes poker, but i concluded that i take poker too seriously to play with people who are there to have fun. it sucks, but until i can take it down a few levels prob no more casual poker for me. :(

saturday we ate at stuff yer face, one of my fave restaurants in new brunswick, and i saw the accountant. i hate the way poker is taxed and wish that poker players were enough of a force to get the IRS to change the rules. it is SO MESSED UP the way they force you to calculate taxes on poker wins/losses.

if you're not too bored yet, i will also share my wonderful thursday night, wherein i peer pressured my friend ryan into hosting game night. we played a bunch of sweet games, as usual:

one
two
three
four
five
six
seven

tonight is rambler's final tourney in his poker series which i registered for early this week, since i always forget. :( pretty sure i have no shot at winning the cp prop bet that i entered on a whim, someone pls just tell me who i owe money to and how much (i thought it was 20, though i'd have to go back to the thread to know for sure).

ok, this is getting long. still no breaking bad, not even up to date w/ 24 from last week. i am sucking in all my ncaa pools (three of them) and am pretty sure i have no shot in any of them. bummed for rutgers who lost yesterday after an awesome game (that i was at) v. auburn. purdue looked better, but i felt rutgers could have won the game and it was within their reach. turning the ball over when they had a possession that would have tied the game majorly sucked.

i'm cursed

2009-03-25T20:02:00.003-04:00

not really, i just can't get any points in bbt4. i started super slowly in bbt3 (not that i got a seat, but i made money) but it's still kinda crazy to not have any points after 13 tournaments. i feel myself not caring when i'm playing, and making calls i know are bad. last night i prob called three bets in three diff hands knowing i was beat, but soooooo curious what the other person had and figured, "it's a min bet!" i also tilted from the moment i started when JJ < A6o on the first hand when he four flushed me. i hate limit. love horse/hose, but hate lhe by itself.

i just spent about 10 minutes ordering my dinner from a local sushi place. they have a new woman manning the phone who had a lot of trouble understanding me. so scared to see how many ways they fuck up my order.

sadly, i have very little financial knowledge, and what the markets are doing right now is mostly over my head. i know things are bad, people are getting laid off left and right, but no clue what i should be doing w/ my money during a time like this. not listen to jim cramer is about as far as i've gotten.

gl to all in mookie tonight. maybe tonight will be the slump buster and i will finally make the points!

second in brit bloggament

2009-03-22T19:30:00.005-04:00

unfortunately (or fortunately) it was not correct brit blogger tournament. i found it odd that i was first one registered when i signed in a few days ago, but have been sick and did not think too hard on it. last week bayne signed into wrong brit bloggament and i razzed him hard telling him he should just search for me when in doubt. i had not counted on sleeping through the tournament, or i would have realized my error before the "real" brit bloggament started.

despite napping through i managed to cash 2nd in a field of 7. lucko was kind enough to save some of the hands.

Full Tilt Poker Game #11276645455: Brit Blogger Game (83908496), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:24:45 ET - 2009/03/22
Seat 2: bayne_s (1,240)
Seat 6: pvanharibo (595), is sitting out
Seat 7: DeRustZelve (7,640)
Seat 9: columbo (1,025)
columbo posts the small blind of 40
bayne_s posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
pvanharibo folds
DeRustZelve raises to 240
columbo calls 200
bayne_s folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 9d 8c]
columbo bets 785, and is all in
DeRustZelve calls 785
columbo shows [Js Qc]
DeRustZelve shows [Ad Ts]
*** TURN *** [6h 9d 8c] [5c]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9d 8c 5c] [2d]
columbo shows Queen Jack high
DeRustZelve shows Ace Ten high
DeRustZelve wins the pot (2,130) with Ace Ten high
DeRustZelve: big bertha is a swinging
columbo stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,130 | Rake 0
Board: [6h 9d 8c 5c 2d]
Seat 2: bayne_s (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: pvanharibo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: DeRustZelve (button) showed [Ad Ts] and won (2,130) with Ace Ten high
Seat 9: columbo (small blind) showed [Js Qc] and lost with Queen Jack high

Full Tilt Poker Game #11276658359: Brit Blogger Game (83908496), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:25:23 ET - 2009/03/22
Seat 2: bayne_s (1,120)
Seat 6: pvanharibo (635), is sitting out
Seat 7: DeRustZelve (8,745)
pvanharibo posts the small blind of 40
DeRustZelve posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
bayne_s raises to 1,120, and is all in
pvanharibo folds
DeRustZelve calls 1,040
bayne_s shows [Ah 2c]
DeRustZelve shows [Tc Qc]
*** FLOP *** [Ac 5h 3s]
*** TURN *** [Ac 5h 3s] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 5h 3s 9c] [8c]
bayne_s shows a pair of Aces
DeRustZelve shows a flush, Ace high
DeRustZelve wins the pot (2,280) with a flush, Ace high
bayne_s stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,280 | Rake 0
Board: [Ac 5h 3s 9c 8c]
Seat 2: bayne_s (button) showed [Ah 2c] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: pvanharibo (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: DeRustZelve (big blind) showed [Tc Qc] and won (2,280) with a flush, Ace high

i was pleased to find out i made five bucks rather than losing five bucks, which is what i had anticipated before i went off to bed.

it has been a rough few days. i started getting sick on wednesday, but figured it would only last a day or two. i unexpectedly had a lot to do on thursday (this will probably be covered in a future post) which did not help, and now it's sunday and i find myself still feeling like crap with a sore throat and ridiculous congestion.

despite feeling ill i was a trooper and helped celebrate lucko's bday on friday and my mom's bday today. both were born on march 21st but we compromised the celebrations by splitting the difference. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCKO!!!!!!!!!

i am tilted as i type b/c twice over last two days i have gone out of tournaments w/ big pairs to complete donks playing an insane number of hands who cracked my big pairs w/ suited ace rags which flopped or turned flushes on a board of unders or when i also had a set. grrrrrr. that is probably a run on sentence but i am too tilted to care.

i have only watched about a half hour of the bsg series finale (lucko will not allow me to watch in his presence, which is prob good b/c i want to try and get him to watch from beginning), but am hoping to finish it tomorrow. i will miss this show a lot. lost is still pwning, and although i'm not up to date on 30 rock i urge all who have not yet started watching to check it out on hulu.

tomorrow night we are off to the ncaa women's tournament at rutgers. should be fun, as long as i don't fall asleep in the middle.

ac and malice plug

2009-03-16T23:24:00.003-04:00

went to ac this w/e for some live poker. played some buzzed 1/2 cash on friday night and had a great session. at one point i was up to 1750, but left w/ around 1400. i was getting really good starting hands, and hitting flops like mad. rest assured it wasn't like i was playing super awesome. i did stack ylon schwartz, who was having some fun at 1/2 w/ his friends. he overshoved w/ an 8 high flush draw and gut shot on a 3c4cx board, and i called behind w/ Ac2c for gut shot straight flush draw and an over. i even hit a 2 on the turn! i play sooooooo gooooot. saturday cash was not as good for me, but i still had fun. we were up playing until 5:30am, which might be a record for me.

i also played the ladies event. it was pretty hard to watch someone fold JJ face up on the river after calling the flop and the turn on an all under board w/ 1k left and a 4500k pot. i lost some of my 3k stack early when i raised a bunch of limpers w/ 88, cbet an A high flop hu and got raised. no way she was folding, but i felt i had to take a stab give the hands people were limp calling with.

i doubled when i shoved 11 bbs from the co w/ T9ss and got called by 99 behind but hit a ten. i worked that up a little, then changed tables. i made a move on one player w/ 77 on a J high flop. she raised my cbet on the flop and the dealer to my left (she had dealt to me the night before at borgata but was playing the event) had mentioned that she was very aggressive. i figured there was a decent chance she was just using her stack and shoved. she folded pretty quickly. unfortunately i ran JJ into a 10 bb reshove who had AA, then shoved 88 the next hand and the bb woke up w/ 99. that left me w/ about 3 bbs and i don't even remember the hand i busted on.

overall the structure was terrible, and it made me greatly appreciate the structures at the borgata.

online i made a small final table in the $20 turbo on ftp today, but finished 8th after losing 6/7 showdowns in a row. grrrrrrrr. had a roller coaster in the 3r tonight after donking out of everything else. had a huge chip stack early, then lost w/ bottom two pair from the bb on a T34 board in a limped pot to a guy who overshoved the flop for 30 bbs after i bet out (after limping T9dd utg) and he of course hit a T on the turn. not long after that i picked AA in ep, and he again overshoved behind me, this time for 40 bbs. there was a caller who had just under his stack who called and i obv called. shover had KQdd, overcaller had 88 (so bad) and of course KQ rivered a straight on me. that was for a 50k pot at 200/400. sigh. down to 10 bbs, i shoved and doubled twice, and before i knew it i was back up to 34k. i grinded for awhile, lost a few chips, and my downfall was a lp raise when blinds got to 500/1k or so. i raised from the co and called a 28bbish shove from the bb. i had been fairly active and felt calling was standard. he had AK and i lost the flip, and i'm out before the money.
such a sick few hours. cashed in the sunday million yest after having a nice stack from fairly early, and was bummed to go out in the 400s after some marginal short stacked spots.

still no points in any bbt4 events. def not running well, and tilted out on sunday of the brit one iirc. i final tabled a small horse tourney a couple weeks ago and won a satellite to the stars sunday tourney last night. (which i promptly unregistered from, obv) i've been enjoying horse as a change of pace.

excited to watch 24 tomorrow night. and then WEDNESDAY LOST!!!

after watching alec baldwin on 30 rock do that bit in confession where he referenced malice, we ordered it from netflix. i'd never seen (thus did not even get the joke during the episode) and really enjoyed. i went into the movie knowing almost nothing about it, and it greatly increased my enjoyment. if i'd been seeing trailers on tv and was blitzed by the marketing campaign that would have surrounded it if it was released today, i doubt i would have liked it as much.

did not find time to start breaking bad, it's looking like it will be at least until the middle of the week. i am taking thurs and fri off of work (march madness w00t). i won dwal's pool last year (too lazy to link, plus he never updates his jog blog anyway) and am gonna do that again, along w/ a couple others. i have always enjoyed poker but it's fair to say i have way more general gamble in me than i used to.

bad beat of the day

2009-03-11T21:35:00.002-04:00

no new episode of lost. :) on the bright side i'm soooo excited to take in last week's episode again, imo the best ep yet. to my dismay my dvr deleted it over the weekend before i could watch a second time, and i hate watching tv on the internet (hopefully my new desk chair will help with that).

ftp is running super turbo ko six max tournaments all evening, and yesterday i think i saw some full ring. mtt chippies, sweeeeeet. i wonder if the p5s ones got them thinking.

breaking bad is on its way from netflix, and i'm hoping to start it next week when i get back from ac. playing the ladies event at caesar's on saturday -- it's a terrible structure, but i'm looking forward to playing live again.

excited for mooooooooookie tonight!

i hate ft bubbling

2009-03-10T20:32:00.005-04:00

i felt like tba last night. :(

i sucked out along the way (isn't that the team lucko way?) but people w/ ftops avatars run like god. this is five hands after he had KJo < KQo aip, then immediately shoved his 82o and doubled v. A8o.

Full Tilt Poker $35,000 Guarantee No Limit Hold'em Tournament
t8000/t16000 Blinds + t2000 - 5 players

UTG: t394,132
CO: t667,866
agriffrod: t190,266
Hero (SB): t308,070
BB: t369,384

Pre Flop: (t34,000) Hero is SB with Ac Qd
1 fold, CO calls t16,000, agriffrod raises to t188,266 all in, Hero raises to t306,070 all in, 2 folds

Flop: (t418,532) 9h 5c 2h

Turn: (t418,532) Ks

River: (t418,532) 3h

pvanharibo shows Ace King high

agriffrod shows a straight, Five high

agriffrod wins the pot (418,532) with a straight, Five high

that woulda given me a great stack going into the final table but jfdklsjdfklasjdflajdkl. i really need to work on my short stack play, b/c i think i missed some shoving spots after this leading up to my final hand -- Q8o < J5cc, where i (shockingly) lost again to agriffrod. obv sunday night improved my confidence, and i'm playing better than i have been. the ft bubble was waaay more deep stacked than i'm used to, and i enjoyed the experience, even though i couldn't get myself in a position to win.

on the bright side i did win rambler's tournament, so yay for points in the cp sidebet.

finally, huge congrats to lucko, who won the riverchasers tournament last night. he's slipping a bit in his old age (7 tournaments before your first win?) but i'm still proud. i wish i could run like that in blogger tournaments.

follow up daily show on cnbc

2009-03-10T12:21:00.001-04:00

had to post. thanks to jeff, since i'm behind on my daily show watching.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

a little bit of recap

2009-03-09T09:12:00.008-04:00

i played 19 tournaments yesterday, and cashed in three. one was a satellite to the million, where i eventually ran AQ into AK. the wins and the beats def all run together at some point, but AQ and KK played a role in a LOT of them.

on to the 125k, which got over the 200k prize pool mark...

early on i cracked AK w/ AQ, and AA w/ 66, and then just used my stack to play smart poker. i shoved a guy at one point who raised my bb from lp w/ A8cc, and was shocked to see him call off w/ KJcc. obv he hit a J, and i took a big hit there. ATo shoved into my AJo and i held, and A7 shoved into my AQhh aip and i hit a flush on the turn (not that it mattered). i was surprised a few different times in the tournament how bad some of the play was. i don't play $50 tournaments all that much on stars, and maybe it's cause it was a sunday, but i saw some really bad play (flatting a raise for half your stack and folding to a flop cbet). i won a few flips at crucial times, including 22 > AQ for a big pot (although i also lost a big flip w/ 22 v. AK later on in the tournament).

the most interesting hands for me came when we got down to about 100 left. i had xthesteinx at my table, and for awhile both him and djk123 (who seemed to have a really good day on ftp/stars, at least getting deep). i felt like i didn't get intimidated, made good reads (four bet shoved djk once when i felt his rr was weak, even though i would not have been happy w/ a call).

around hand 400 i made a slightly loose open w/ A5o, but was happy w/ how i played it post flop. yes, it worked out (phew), but i felt like i got max value, and kept the pot small. it was a huge pot for me given blinds, table position, etc.

Poker Stars $50+$5 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t3,500/t7,000 Blinds + t700 - 8 players
UTG: t235,181
UTG+1: t675,241
Hero (MP1): t268,604
MP2: t412,603
CO: t224,153
BTN: t252,570
SB: t416,011
BB: t399,870

Pre Flop: (t16,100) Hero is MP1 with As 5d
2 folds, Hero raises to t17,550, 3 folds, SB calls t14,050, BB calls t10550

Flop: (t58,250) 8d 9c 5c (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t58,250) 8s (3 players)
SB bets t36,000, BB folds, Hero calls t36,000

River: (t130,250) 2h (2 players)
SB bets t76,000, Hero calls t76,000

Final Pot: t282,250
SB shows Ad Jd (a pair of Eights)
Hero shows As 5d (two pair, Eights and Fives)
Hero wins t282,250

around this time the_d__ry got moved to my table (sigh) and i rred an aggro guy at my table for the second time (with the intention of calling a shove w/ my AQ), and i was not surprised he shoved on me w/ 99. i won that flip, which helped since shortly after i lost the 22 to AK, which set me back to 60 bbs. i then won another flip (on the river) w/ 44 v. AK to a guy who limp shoved his 15 bb stack, and this set me up to be in a good position at the final two tables. i squeezed once w/ QQ but got no action, and then lost three consecutive hands where i raised and got rred. i even folded AQ, which as most readers know is huge for me. it hurt, but the bb overshoved about 80 bbs over my standard raise and even though i felt w/ every ounce of my being that i was ahead, i just couldn't call there, not with the awesome stack i'd flipped incredibly well to get.

KK was a weird ahnd for me throughout the night. i flatted it v. a very loose player (the guy who overshoved when i had AQ) and got shoved by a shorter stack out of the blinds and won a nice pot. i also played JJ ~ trappy when i limped from the sb into the bb and got shoved by his ten bb stack. he had AK and i won yet another flip, and even though we were getting the money all in either way, i felt like i was playing the stack sizes at the table well. i did things like folding small pps to raises (gasp) and rred marginal hands when i thought the or was weak/opening wide.

then i had another KK hand, which played out very badly. in hindsight i think i should have folded the turn, but i cbet a J high three club board and got INSTACALLED by the guy on the button who called my utg raise. he bet very small when an A hit on the turn, and i thought there was a decent chance he was on a flush draw. i think when he bet the river i pretty much had to fold, but made a crying call and was shown AJ no clubs. :( this about halved my stack, and two hands later i made a standard 20 bb reshove w/ AJ and ran into AA. this was my awesomest suckout of the night. i sort of pounded the table in frustration and got up to walk away when i heard lucko yell excitedly from across the room. for some reason his laptop was showing the flops/cards before mine, so he saw the JJx flop before i did.

i then proceeded to lose half the stack i'd just gained running 99 into JJ. i would fold 99 a lot to a rr in the spot, but the guy who rred had been really aggressive, was a high stakes player (avg bi $300), and i felt there was a chance he was making a move. um, he wasn't. ok, then came my worst mistake of the night. i raised AQo from ep, the shortie whose AA i cracked (who'd quadrupled up) shoved, and i was all set to call when the bb reshoved his 17 bb stack. this was a spot where i ~ stopped thinking, and what limited thought process i had went, well, i'm against a 10 bb stack and a 17 bb stack, and there's a chance i'm flipping v. both, and there's a lot of money in the pot so i call. this is not a good thought process. however, i got super lucky to four flush AK (and A9), and from there i lost very few pots going into the final table, and played the ft bubble w/ my stack well. there were a few guys who were definitely trying to fold to the final table, and that was sweeeet.

my final table position was not ideal, b/c although the-toilet 0 was across the table from me, the biggest stack was directly to my left. one of the first hands at the ft he three bet me and i shoved my entire 50 bb stack over him, praying he didn't have a hand he could call with (he didn't). i had a pp, but felt like it was a good spot to show i wasn't going to be run over. as it turns out he eventually won the tournament. i made a few other four bet shoves when i felt people were playing back at me, and they all worked. i played very aggressively and it paid off until i got hu.

i was extremely nervous, and btw did not look at the payouts throughout the entire tournament, so i had no idea when i finished how much i'd won, or how much first prize was. the guy played very well hu, playing very positional poker, folding almost every bb, and raising EVERY SINGLE BUTTON. i three bet him pre for about the fourth or fifth time praying he would finally shove me when i had KK, but instead he flatted. on an AQx flop i cbet. i wouldn't cbet there all the time, but i thought he was calling me very wide, b/c he was sick of me three betting him pre. he called, and when a J hit the turn i checked. he bet, and in hindsight i think this should have been a fold, b/c there's just too good a chance he has an A there. regardless, when he bet the river for the remainder of my stack i kind of stopped thinking and figured if i called the turn thinking i was ahead i should also call the river. this turned out to be an 8k error as he had QJo for two pair on the turn and i finished 2nd. :( i still do not subscribe to bayne's "fold KK pf" crazy ass theory, but it def got me in some trouble last night.

so anyway, here's how to come in 2nd in the 125k on sunday: flip really, really well, suckout when you have to, and play aggressive poker when you have a stack. ez game. :)

thanks again to everyone who railed me, it was awesome to have so many people cheering me on at the final table. a special thanks to lucko, who let me use his dual monitor set up, without which there is no way i would have been able to play this tournament with everything else i had up at the time. he also gave me a ton of moral support throughout the tournament -- walking outside during breaks helped a lot, and maybe i will get you doing some yoga during breaks at your next ft. <3

another 2nd, but one i'm pretty happy about

2009-03-09T01:08:00.006-04:00

obv i always want to win when i get hu in a tournament, but i am very happy to have my biggest score ever.

i ran very well to get to the final table, and am proud to have outlasted the-toilet and another high stakes baller at the final table. thanks to everyone who railed, it def helped, and i really appreciate it.

i've been waiting for a big score for awhile and although i'm in a very weird place right now that mixes happiness and sadness i know that when i wake up tomorrow i will be more happy than sad. i went broke on my final hand w/ KK on an A high flop, to a guy who called my cbet w/ mp and turned 2p on the turn. i will relive that hand and a few others from hu for awhile (and it will be ages before i fall asleep tonight) but i'm trying to remember all the suckouts i had along the way, and what a nice boost it is for my br.

despite the suckouts, i really felt like i was thinking hands through and played really well (prob my best poker of late) throughout most of the touranment. i'm proud of my results lately, and hope that this is the start of some good poker karma. :)

also, lost fucking rules and if you're one of those people who stopped watching after season 1 or 2, get your shit together and begin from wherever you left off.

why i hate news networks

2009-03-05T15:21:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

bbt4 has begun

2009-03-05T03:44:00.002-05:00

and i am not doing crap. played mostly well in mookie until my final hand, when i convinced myself that my underpair was ahead of a flatter's (pre and on flop) small bet on turn. this did not turn out well as he had top set and tarped me good. have busted other events early, but i will get into groove eventually.

i got hu in a tournament for the first time in awhile tonight, and am uber embarrassed that i lost to a guy who earlier at one of my tables raise/folded w/ 10 bbs. i played horribly v. him 3 handed and hu, when he was basically telegraphing his hands. he offered to chop the hand before he picked up aces and cracked my 62o, but i don't really regret not taking the offer. i brain farted at a bad time, but should have been able to take him.

it's worth noting that today was my first day taking a class at the yoga studio i just joined. perhaps yoga will not only improve posture and back pain, but also poker.

lost has transcended words for me, so just go read goat or maloney. i LOVE where tonight's episode took the show, even though i still don't get it all. goat helped me out with some confusing time travel concepts, and i think what gets me most excited is that there's still a WHOLE OTHER SEASON after this one. YAYYYYYY!

also, 24 is owning this season, imo. my stupid dvr prioritized chuck over the first hour of 24 (did you all know it was gonna be 2 hours?), but hulu was there to hook me up on tues night when i got around to watching.

monday night i watched the rutgers women struggle all game v. uconn at the rac. it's becoming an annual tradition, and i forgot how much i enjoy live basketball. the uconn team is amazing, and they were a fun group of athletes to watch. they made rutgers work hard for every shot, but despite being down by 18 (possibly more at one time), rutgers closed it to 6 late in the game, and def showed their scrappiness.

yay sleep!

30 rock is brilliant

2009-02-27T13:39:00.006-05:00

last night's episode had me howling (pretty sure my neighbors think i'm crazy), but i thought i'd post my favorite line from a couple weeks ago (i hope this works, this is my first time trying hulu's cool start/stop embed thing). you can watch eps for free on hulu and i highly recommend checking this show out asap.

santonio holmes

2009-02-26T18:43:00.002-05:00

best quote from this article about his court appearance.

"Holmes said he "learned a lot" from missing a game following the traffic stop."

ummmmm, yeah. hopefully he learned not to tell police officers that he had three joints in his car when he got pulled over b/c is car was "similar to one [police] were looking for in a drug sting."

american idol

2009-02-26T00:09:00.004-05:00

i have been giving this show another chance b/c i am enjoying the hollywood portion of the show, and i thought that paula was slightly less loopy this season. i was wrong. wtf? how can that woman be on national television w/ an inability to form a coherent sentence. ever!!!! it drives me insane. i'm a big fan of the new judge (kara) and i really really really hope they are just easing her in as paula's replacement, b/c paula makes the show almost unwatchable for me. kara, thankfully, tips the balance to watchable. someone pls get paula some help. how many seasons does she have to slur and murmur way through before someone tells her that whatever she is on is not good for her.

i also contemplated making my first ever idol vote tonight, but decided against it.

last random thought -- if someone accidentally leaves the "e" off of vote and texts vot to 5705, do they count it?

this is what i get for writing a post before i'm done watching -- i <3 megan. i LOVED her audition and remember looking forward to her future performances, but somehow missed her during hollywood week. really hoping she gets through, even though the 16 year old kicked way more ass during her performance.

food poisoning sucks

2009-02-25T09:03:00.002-05:00

thanks to brother jimmy's bbq for making the last couple days suck. thankfully the worst of it seems to be over, and i'm onto solid foods (hurray for dry wheat toast!).

i slept most of yesterday but woke up in time for skillz, but bricked on my last couple hands. that or played badly, it's hard to tell w/ razz.

random lost questions:

why does jack's grandfather look younger than his father?

how is alex really dead but claire is a ghost? is it related to their family?

also how sweet did they set up a spin off??? sun tells her daughter she met a new friend for her -- aaron....they try to find the island that captured their mothers...

i am officially into fringe, which has gotten really good! also loving american idol. i only watched the first season from start to finish, and forgot how much fun the hollywood rounds are. missed the past few weeks of biggest loser, but hoping to catch up w/ on demand. i just found out this week that i have an nbc on demand channel that shows old eps of heroes/bl/friday night lights, etc.

poker's been marginal lately. i made some final tables, but couldn't manage better than 3rd, and they were all pretty small tournaments. def feeling like my game has stagnated, but plan to kick it into gear before bbt4! thanks to al for setting up yet another awesome series. very psyched that he brought riverchasers back w/ a $26 bi, and the big game will have one week w/ a 1r1a, which i'm also excited about.

the deets:

Tournament: Brit Blogger Game
When: Sunday's at 16:00ET
Game: NLHE
Buyin: $5+.50
Password: donkament

Tournament: PPI / Riverchasers Tournament
When: Monday's at 22:00ET
Game: Deepstack NLHE
Buyin: $24+2 or token
Password: riverchasers

Tournament: Blogger Skillz Game
When: Tuesday's at 21:30ET
Game: rotation of non-NLHE games
Buyin: $10+1
Password: skillz

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

blah blah blah

2009-02-12T11:09:00.003-05:00

i keep having all these ideas for blog posts, but then when i actually have the time to sit down and post, i find other things to do.

well, thanks to don for reminding me during last week's mookie about the US v. mexico game last night. i missed most of the first half doing a prospective student interview for my alma mater, but she was cool, plus it was at milk and cookies, one of my favorite places in the city. their double chocolate chip mint cookie is fantastic! US won 2-0, which is awesome v. mexico. they looked a little dead during part of the second half (i was confused for a sec as to which team had a man red carded) but bradley scored the second goal w/ only a few minutes left. tbh, i thought it was a fairly shitty shot, considering he had the time to take a touch and aim, but luckily the mexican keeper fucked up. i think the next game is april 1st, and this time i have it in my calendar so i don't forget and make other plans.

i have so many thoughts and feelings on lost that i don't have the time to put into words but i cannot remember the last time a tv show got me this excited. yeah, yeah, i love wire, bsg (that's battlestar galactica for any readers who have not bothered to watch one of television's best dramas, regardless of its sci fi-ish origins), veronica mars, etc. but this show actually makes me think, YAY IT'S WEDNESDAY!!!!!! part of me wishes i had the willpower to wait for dvd, but obv i don't cause i barely have the willpower to wait for the following wednesday. i will be extremely upset if we never hear another word about libby, but i have a feeling the writers are saving that for season 6. it sucks that season 2 and the first half of season 3 are so damn bad, b/c a lot of people who would be loving this season never stuck around to watch.

lucko and i started watching season 1 of buffy a few weekends ago, and i'm excited to watch more. i never watched the show when it aired, but numerous people have raved about it. next after that is the shield. (though i think buffy will take awhile). meanwhile i still have the savages, the illusionist, and old boy from netflix. i'm probably going on 2 months, and i need to woman up and watch them, if only so i can get buffy season 2!

this weekend is my dad's birthday, which conveniently falls on valentine's day. mostly i think vday is bullshit, just a commercialized excuse for consumer spending, yet we have made our very romantic vday plans to go to dinner and see friday the 13th (we are "celebrating" on friday night). i finally got around to seeing the original and part 2 last weekend, and am actually looking forward to the remake. i love/hate horror movies, b/c i get myself so scared, but i can't stop watching.

if you ever watch horror movies, immediately rent the strangers. it is one of the most suspenseful, fucked up movies i've ever seen. i was completely freaked out by it, yet i loved it at the same time. it stars liv tyler and someone else i can't remember right now (scott speedman, maybe?) and is worth the two hours.

i was gonna write about how much i'm sucking at poker, but really why bother. i've made some extremely retarded plays over the last couple of days but have been racking up some min cashes here and there to avoid feeling like a complete failure. i got 4th in a six max rebuy, which was fun cause i don't play six max very often, and i had a blast playing. i still played like a retard though, which is prob why i couldn't close it out. managed a 3rd in a 180 man last night (ajfaklsdal;sdfd;a i just wanna win one), but gonna keep grinding. doing the 2p2 leaderboard this time around, and am already doing better than i did the first time, so yay.

really looking forward to bbt4, whatever al has planned will rock, i'm sure.

congrats to rambler for winning the mookie. was so bummed i missed his monday tourney this week, esp cause it was six max.

really? phelps edition

2009-02-10T10:40:00.001-05:00

i'm remiss in posting, and will have a post up soon about how badly i've been playing poker. in the meantime, enjoy this, another installment of my favorite snl segment.