Last post for a while....

As most of you know, I don't typically put anything up here over the weekends. There's just way too much going on most of the time. But I was lucky enough to manage to make it out to a fun game yesterday, a game I think far more of you should be trying to get out to once in a while.

Yesterday afternoon as it started to sink in that Peb's and I were officially on vacation, I remembered another happy place that I could go to for a little fun and friendship.

It was Saturday's with Dr. Pauly time! The PLO event that runs at 4:20 over on PokerStars.

I've never been dissapointed with the caliber of folks that make it out for this game, and yesterday was no exception! Despite being a self confessed Omatard, I do my best to chat with a few good friends, sling a few chips around and try to actually NOT look like an idiot during the game. (well, when it comes to the poker at least!)

I had a great starting table, as I was sat with Wolfy, The good Dr. and a very good drinking buddy of mine. Now that's how to start with a bang!


To say I couldn't get anything going card wise, well... it would have have to be the understatement of the year! I was drawing hands like 2c-7c-10c-Kc and 3c-3s-3h-3d over and over again. In a limp to my BB, I was dealt the following hand and flopped top set. I played it slow and got to see that my Quad run from FullTilt, had managed to follow me over to the Stars account as well! I dragged a HUGE pot here! (heh)


As I exited from the game, I mentioned to everyone that I'd only played six hands. Well.... I checked, it was actually ten hands in that two hours. Two where I thought I had good enough starters to see a cheap flop. Of course I whiffed completely and had to fold post-flop both times. One was the Quad hand above, where I made a whopping 60 chip pot. Six hands where I doubled up as the short stack, when in all six cases, my best starting hands held on to the end. And my departing hand, where I'd flopped a straight and couldn't get it to hold, as the board brought the top end of the same straight to my opponent.


I was told that I should be proud of an 8th. place finish in such a tough field. I guess so, I don't know. Sometimes when you're as competitive as we all can be, it's just another loss, even though the game is really not your strong suit.

But like I said at the start, the game wasn't really why I was there in the first place right. I spent some great quality time with a few amazing friends and since that was what I went into it for in the first place, I figure I came out way +EV after all.

Off to Cuba now so be good, (or not ;) ) and we'll see everyone a week or so down the road.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Frantic Friday's.... The Peb's edition....

So honey....

I was thinking that your Birthday is coming up next Thursday and with everything that has been going on around us of late, well..... I was thinking that you could really use a little break. You know, just to shut everything down, have some fun and re-charge for the battle ahead of us.

Maybe I could persuade you to have a Beer or two?


I know a great little spot where we can get you some really nice Rum!
I hear they make some killer Cuba Libres!


Maybe you could let me find you a spot.... where the toughest decision you'll need to make is, should you sit in the Sun, or sit in the Shade today?


Oh I know what you need for a break! How about you and I take some time to play a little Pool together?


We will have to make sure that we set aside a little special time though. I know it will be tough to make plans and stick to them. But I can't help but remember how big the smile on your face was, the last time you and I spent some quality time with the kids!



I need you to rest and relax my love! I need you to take a break.
Some Sun, some Fun, some Salsa, some Merengue, some Booze and a Beach. Oh and of course the Largest Disco in Cuba! A girl's gotta' dance right!!!

Yeah, I think you need a break just like that!
So pack your things up! I booked the flight and we leave on Sunday.
We're heading back to Rafael Freyre, Cuba. Only this time, we're staying at The Playa Pesquero

I love you, with all that I am !


For all my friends that drop in here from time to time, I've...


SO



For now....

Usted tiene mis muchas gracias por venir aquĆ­....

Bring it on....

Another kick in the ass this week as things just continue to pile up, one on top of the other.

After outright beating Prostrate Cancer and then just starting to get through this recent bout of Rectal Cancer, we were told earlier on in the week that Fred now has to contend with Bowel Cancer. Not exactly what we were hoping to hear! So once more, the strength and determination of our family will be put to the test.

Why we're being challenged in this manner, will never be fully understood by yours truly. Just know that we will continue on as one of the strongest family units ever imaginable, and fight our way through this next challenge. Just as we have all the others before it.

With a man.... NO!... REAL genuine and caring human being such as Fred leading the way, we'll learn, grow and become stronger and better as we kick Cancers ass one more time. It's what we do, and how we go about our day-to-day business of late. Life lessons learned from such an amazing human, have well prepared us to come together as one. And we shall!

Learning what's truly important in life may have come slow to this simple minded dolt of a kid, but at least it eventually did make an appearance. It came to me before I could wither away, as nothing more than a dark and morbid stain on this Earth.

When I was lucky enough to become part of this family, the black hole that sat not so deep within me, was removed. The place that caused pain upon others on purpose, or created jealousy within myself and among others. The place where hatred raged on un-bridled, waiting for the next opportunity to rear it's ugly head. The place where laughing for the shear joy of life, was replaced by laughter at another's expense. It replaced a black hole that was destroying my soul and everything I was.

When I became a part of this family, the Cancer within me, actually to be brutally honest with myself the Cancer that was me, had been kicked in the ass.

What's truly important in life has come to me with a clarity of 20/20.

I wish nothing but the same for each of you out there, as that's just how I roll. How I was taught to roll actually, by one of the greatest and strongest families imaginable. All lead by examples in life and it's lessons. All lessons well learned, as much as well earned.

Consider your words and actions for certain, but never fear judgement. For those that are the loneliest and blackest of all, eventually fall out of even judgements favour. Left to become nothing but fodder for the rest of the Cancers within this world. By being a better or bigger person one step at a time, perhaps all of the Cancers in our World could be cured as I was.

Who knows? But I do like to think that there's hope.

Finally, I'd say be strong Fred, but that just seems so redundant.
So I say Good Luck instead.


My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Just call me..... Quadzilla....

I made mention of a few monster hands I'd been dealt of late and I have to tell you, they just keep on coming! My chubby little digits are actually a little tender from all the work involved in getting screen captures from the last few days. I've got enough material right now I think, to cover this little corner of the Blogoshpere for the rest of the year.

Today I thought I'd go with your opinions regarding Omahahaha starting hands. Of course this is open to anyone and everyone, but as I know a few of you personally and I know what kind of Omahaulics you can be, I'd really like to hear from YOU, YOU, YOU and YOU.

In my only Omaha game ever on line, (PLO/8) I ended up in the cash with a third place finish. Considering my lack of knowledge for the game and the fact that this leads me to play like an anal retentive nit, I'll take the result. But I constantly found myself crushed by the flops that came down, a large portion of the times that I'd folded. So here's a few hands and what I was tinking when I folded them. Please feel free to critique at will.

So here's the first one. It's the 29th. hand into the game and I'm in MP. We're 6 handed and there have been two limpers ahead of me. I look down at 9d-10d-Jh-4s and although I guess there is straight potential in the hand, I see no low potential at all and let it go. We'll never know if my Quad's were good here, but I woudn't have gone anywhere after that flop.


Next on the 43 hand of the game and in the SB, we're down to 5 handed. Again there have been two limpers ahead of me and I look down at Qh-2h-3s-3c. I personally don't like that Queen sitting out there all by herself, and I let the hand go. Had I limped in, I think the flop might have kept me interested for sure. The turn would've sealed two players fate, IMHO.


Around the 10th. hand of the final table, we'd gotten down to 8 handed poker. I'm on the button and have had a limper and a pot sized bet ahead of me. I hold Ah-Ad-As-9s. Now call me crazy perhaps, but I actually took some time to consider making a call here for three reasons. The player that potted has been really ultra-aggresive with his stack. I can fairly safely say his low draw is only to the 2 and if the flop comes low, maybe I can yank it in. Lastly, I think I can also eliminate his high hand outs because of all of my Aces as well. My gut told me to forget the call as it was really a weak play. That meant fold or pot and I took one more look at my hand. I decided on fold and immediately felt gratification from doing so, as both players behind decided to stay in and check out the flop.

Down to 5 handed at final table now and I'm UTG. The blinds had escalated and I was sitting on about 20 to 25 BB's. I am dealt 2s-3s-2c-Jd. I still don't love that one misfit card and I let the same type of hand as earlier in the game go into the muck. It is down to 5-handed, is this a leak or strength? I'm lost!


So there you have it! Quad Quad's in one game and I didn't play any of the four of them. Talk about messing with your head, when it comes to starting hand selection the entire game!

Now in typical Bam-Bam'ion fashion, I'd like to leave you with one of the hands that I personally thought I played very well. Just to give you a chance to tell me what a real donk I am at this game! For certainly if I thought I played it OK, I must have made many, many mistakes along the way.

It was way back in the 35 hand of the game. I was UTG at the 6-handed table and see that I hold 3s-4d-5c-6s. Now for me, this is a hand that I see some potential in. There is also potential for a few callers based on the play so far, if I make a pot sized bet. The blinds are obviously not that big as of yet and if I actualy hit the potential of this hand on the flop, I will be getting paid a much larger pot in the end. Only the BB was interested in the hand and off we go. A damn near perfect flop hits me for the 3-7 straight. In my mind, I currently have Bingo! More chips go into the pot and we see the 3c on the turn. this dissapoints me just a tick, as it opens up a second flush possibility and of course, the wheel is there as well. Once again the chips just slide into the pot with absoloutely no effort. As soon as I saw the way that it played out on that turn, I figured a split pot for certain. When what I considered to be the miracle 5d came on the River to improve my straight to a boat, I figured since the chop was a strong possibility, I might as well get a few more chips into the middle. As it turns out after the call, I was actually ahead the entire time. I ended up scooping the fairly hefty pot.


So considering that I thought I was sitting down to play in our regular Monday night HORSE game, I think I'll take a small amount of pride in finishing third.

It was after all, not just a surprise to me that the game had changed. But my first ever PLO/8 tournament.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

I'm dreaming of a White Bedrock....

A lot can happen in 48 hrs. around Bedrock. Take the Weather for example!

Late Saturday night, the all day rain turned into some very serious freezing rain. Meaning that the ice build up became quite an issue for Trees, Roads and of course, roof tops. It kind of starts off slow like this.


The weight of the ice and snow, eventually becomes far too much for almost anything trying to support itself against it. As an example, this is the 55 foot Colorado Blue Spruce that is the center piece of our entrance to the cave. Again, it's 55 feet tall and usually has a width of a little over 35 feet. In the Summer, I ride the lawn tractor underneath the bottom branches, with barely any ducking required!


Considering the incredible number of trees down all around our place, I'm just thrilled that the old Girl did so well through all of this.

Oh and as you can see, a little snow also fell after the rain. About a foot or so. But then to compound all the issues from the earlier freezing rain, the temperature warmed up to a few degrees above Zero. That foot of snow became compacted into about 6" of sloppy mess. Naturally, the temperature immediately dropped well below freezing and created a solid 6" block of ice. What would happen next you wonder? How about another 8" of snow! Instantly, the roof becomes a priority! Now I know I don't have my Daughter's incredible talent with a camera, but hopefully this will give you some idea of what I was up against. The top fluffy 8" just fell off the roof with a push or pull. Getting that solid 6" underneath, well that was another story!


Someone asked me yesterday, "Why didn't you do all this as it was coming down? You know, just to try and keep up." Well I'll tell you what. If you use your logic and your basic math skills here, here's the 4" wide hand rail leading up to the front door. It's obviously on a standard step angle and made of 2" x 4" wood.


Yep! That's about 10" or so, even at that angle. That's what came down in about 2 1/2 hours! Now despite my obvious lack of skill with a camera, I think the background in that shot gives you some idea of how much there was on the flat ground.

All the fallen Trees and branches have been cleaned up and all of the snow was taken off the roof. Now I only had one small concern. I needed to figure out how to help this poor bugger.


As I was on the roof and shortly after getting safely back down on the ground, the Spruce in the middle there was creakin' and crackin' for all it was worth. Something had to be done, or I would be losing one of the trees that has been blocking the sight of the road for years.

It was really too bad there was no one else around. I think everyone would've got a kick out of seeing the carnage, as my only real option was to get underneath it and slam into it a couple of times. (Remember the Horse in the Bud commercial?) Note to those of you that may someday find yourselves in a similar position. Looking up is just plain stupid!

And so, the snow has made everything white and beautiful, and all crisis' from the ice has been averted. All I had to do was get my aching old self up and head out to work this morning.


Uh-Huh! That's what the roof looked like at 5:00am. Now that my friends, that's a cooler!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Weird things on the go....

Only have time for a quicky today, as the cave is under more than a foot of snow and ice. I'll need to do some diggin' out and get some of that weight off the roof in a hurry.

So we'll go with a couple of quick questions for you and the promised screen capture from the charity game last week. As well as one that proves muhctim's reads, are right on the money!

The first question I have is regarding the latest run of monster hands over on FullTilt. Besides myself and TwoBlackAces, has anyone else been running exceptionally well with hands like Quads, Straight flushes etc.? I only ask because of the 9 or 10 games I played over the weekend, this was the 8th. time I hit Quads.


Loved the help from the rail by the way Doc! If I had more time, I'd also put a couple of the 3, (YES THREE!) Straight Flushes that I also hit. One being so close to a Royal it hurt, as I was only good to the King.

The next question is, has anyone else noticed these crazy word verifications of late? Usually, I can figure the poor dolt having to enter some form of type, is just biding their time with simple repeat letters within a hands reach. You know what I mean, the typical zzqrtq or vxzxcv and the like. Has anyone else noticed the switch to some fairly comical ones? Over the last week or two, I've been asked to type in a few like braoff, imanut, betucant, inerpnts, nizgunz and twice, I've run across felasheo and felateo. Something tells me that our friends have a little something-something on their minds of late!

When I jumped into a RAZZ game to kill a little time yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find my Monday Night pal, muhctim sitting down at the table. Always my pleasure good Sir! On one hand in particular, his read was right smack dab on the money! Thankfully, my opponent had absoloutely no clue what-so-ever, and let me get away with RAZZ murder!



The last shot here is from the Bad Beat on Kidney Failure charity event last week. This was the hand that got several comments from around the table, as I showed the complete bluff with air that took a nice pot from Mr. B.. I wouldn't normally consider showing the move to be honest, but you know how it goes! A little ego when you actually think you're making the correct play and it works out that you're right, can make you do something as silly as showing a Pro that you caught him with his hand in the cookie jar again.


Ok then, I'd better get my butt in gear now. Something tells me it's going to be a pretty long day of moving snow. It may be that the expectations are for another foot of the stuff by Dinner time!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Frantic Friday, the SFW editon....

On the way in to work today, the discussion on the local station was about spending Lottery winnings. It wasn't one of those typical, "what would you do with all that money?" type of discussions either. It was all about vehicles. The question was, "What one vehicle would you just have to have, if you had all of that money?"

Peb's and I have had this discussion so many times in the past, I just thought it was hilarious that it was actually being discussed on the radio! I've never been able to actually lock myself in to one, "must have it and only it ride." I would take forever to decide, if I was only allowed one. Peb's on the other hand, is so damn practical. She'd take anything that safely and somewhat stylishly, gets her from point A, to point B.

There was one commenter during the show that got me really thinking about today's topic. He said, "I'm already well off and I love my LT1 'Vette like no other car I've ever had. But I have a buddy that's still driving around in an old rusted out '78 Honda Civic. I'd buy him a new car right away."

The D.J. rightfully asked, "OK then, what would you buy for him?"

He said, "I don't know, whatever he wanted."

I found that to be a bit of a cop out. I mean, a gift should come from the heart and I guess giving someone their choice is cool and all, but I personally think it's way better and means so much more, if you take the time to think and get something that you believe is perfect for the receiver.

So they got me thinking. What vehicle would I buy for a blogger friend, if I could buy the one in the first place. I actually found this process to be fairly easy. So from my heart, here are just a few examples of what I would buy for whom.


For The Doc : If you're going to get one, get the best!


The Wife : Can't clash in the driveway with The Doc's ride and MUST be the perfect accessory for those fabulous red shoes. Got it!


Kat : Light, Nimble, Powerful & Beautiful. Sounds like a perfect match to me!


Al : They say this beauty runs on Alcohol. Again, sounds like a good match!


BadBlood : Serious muscle, 10 speaker 1100 watt sound system AND truly Bad = No Brainer! The custom plates are a nice touch too!


Drizz : Dude, if it HAS to be Purple, it better be Plum Crazy!


Mookie : As the pro-creation champion of the world, a Mini-Van is a must! But I personally think that getting 742 off-spring around town, should have a little style to it.


Iggy : One of the easiest of all of the decisions to be made actually.


Riggstad : I think I've finally found the true definition of, "The Man Truck."


CK : It had to be Classy, Flexible, Little, Yellow and a bit Different. Got it!


TheGoatlady : An eye for an eye, a Goat for a Goat!


And finally,

Waffles : Not really one thing... not really another either. Kinda' "break even" if you know what I mean. But I still think it should be a bit Classic. AHA, Bingo!!


My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Handy Andy and the Kidney shot....

First off... nice to see so many friends support the event last night. It's efforts like that that make me think, I just might be a descent judge of character after all! I know one thing. I'm a damn lucky man to have met a bunch of you out there! (even if it is only virtually so far in some cases!)

The Bad Beat on Kidney Failure event was a blast last night. It included several good friends, several other Bloggers from within our little community and four FullTilt pro's that chipped in for a great cause. Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello, Amanda Baker and Andy Bloch.

I'm quite happy to say I sat at the tables with three out of four. I missed Marco while rushing through the crowd, but I had played with him several times in the past. I'll take the time right now to say thanks to all four of them. Let's face it! they don't know any of us from Adam and they certainly don't have to do squadoosh for any single one of us. But just the use of their names in this cause, had to have enticed a few extra players to jump into the game, and that was what this was all about. Getting players to donate to the cause. So therefore, I salute all four FullTilt Pro's for helping out the cause!

Also special thanks to Wolfy and DDionysus for the most excellent railing! That was a great help guys!

As I worked my way through the minefield that is a NLHE MTT, I was constantly amazed by the hands that were being played! Now perhaps with it being a charity event, this should have been expected? I don't know. But even Mr. B will have to admit that he was quite the serious card rack, when it came to gettin' the chips in bad. There were a few hands where I thought the chat box was never going to stop scrolling down! There were lot's of derogatory comments from a few of his, "catch-ups" during the game, but I'm going to tell you something. Andy Bloch was nothing, if not a perfect gentleman the entire hour and a half we sat at the same table. From ignoring a few of the more idiotic comments in the chat, to not missing a single "gg" as any player was knocked out, Mr. B was the perfect example of a spokesperson at their place of employment. I say well done Sir! NH and VGG !

Now if I can only convince him to never take me out of a game again!

Yeah, I busted out in 8th. of the 85 runners, when Andy Bloch wasn't making another goofy 444, 555 or 666 raise with Ace-rag. Earlier on as we moved to final table, I'd raised him 888 as a sort of comedic relief for myself more than anything. I'm not sure it was that well received by the others, but his "lol" in the chat made me feel right at home. So later on as we were down to eight handed, in mid-position I picked up an A-Q. The players behind had not been interested in the blinds that much, and particularly in the BB of Mr. B. Having seen him protect with several, (at least 8x) A-x hands to a raise, I figured my stack needed a few of his chips! I made the raise, it folded around to him and he did as he had done, on every other occasion. He raised it up. WAY too enticing an offer for me, having seen the hands that he had been defending with and only having about 12 or 13 BB's left, I jammed them into the center. I lost a 47% / 53% race with Andy Bloch and you know what? For a donkey that doesn't usually play so well in these NLHE MTT's, I can live with that.


Also huge props to my Boy's NewinNov and Schaubsy for kicking some azz and making it three of us blogger type's at the final table. Man you both played well from the hands I was lucky enough to see. Congrats on the great finish to you both!

There was also a special added bonus during last nights game ! I found my wedding present for Gracie! My table had the pleasure of having Gracie join us for a while, and I was promised she'd seek out Maudie and get a big 'ole Bam hug on the day of the nuptials. I missed my Maudie hug back in December last year, despite the fact that we sat at the same table for a bit. Two birds with one stone, now that's "Sweet-Sweet," even if I do say so myself!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

An important note....

Yeah.... Two post's in one day.

I've had a helluva couple of day's and I'm a little late to the party. But for this kind of party, always better late than never. A friend has asked for our support in helping out a friend in need. One thing I know for certain, it's what the Poker bloggers do.

So, come out and play in the charity game tonight on FullTilt. How can you say no, once you know all the facts.

1) It's for a good cause.
2) You were going to play tonight anyhow.
3) My easy pickens for chips will be in play once again!

You can help out tonight.

Here's the details:

When: 9pm ET on 11/12
Where: Full Tilt - Tournament #67971755
Buy in: $10+$10
NLName: Bad Beat on Kidney Failure
Password: CailtyssRulien

Oh and another thing! You might want to check the entrants list on this one. The last time I checked, no less than four Red letter FullTilt Pro's were entered. It wouldn't surprise me to see a few more than that.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Monday night's rock....

As is always the case, the Monday night games were a blast. This week was made even more special, with the return of Baywolfe after an extended break due to real life. It was great to have Bay back in the mix. Hopefully, we'll get to see him out as a regular in the Donkery that is our Monday night Poker.

The tables were full of good friends, as both local and those not so local showed up to sling a few chips. MemphisMojo, Muhctim, cem, Baywolfe, brudder Carson, DonKaaa, the ever lovely SuzY_Q and the pleasant surprise of Fred's return to the game, (as BarBill) all made for wonderful and very entertaining evening.

Another special guest made it out to the HORSE game as well. Purple Power himself, Sir. Drizz joined in on the fun. Always great to be lucky enough to hang around Drizz for a bit, even if it is only virtually. Another special addition in that game, was my bud TheGoatlady. As natural selection would have it, the random seating selector managed to squeeze my little fishie butt, right between the two of these sharks. Nice start!! :)

In the early Hold'em game, I started strong and actually played pretty good. (for me! STOP laughing!) I made what I personally think was a pretty tough continuation bet, into a very coordinated board at the time. I'd raised pre, bet the flop and hated to see that turn card. I was up against Fred and he'd passively called me all the way down to that point. I figured that I needed to find out where I was in the hand and assumed I'd get instant feedback with another bet. Once he tanked for longer than 5 or 6 seconds, I was pretty sure that I was making the right decision. He ended up folding an under pair to my Aces.



Fred crippled me, Hmmmmmmmm........ strike that! I crippled myself making a decision to move back at what I figured had to be his weak-ass kicker on an ace. I was only holding pocket Queen's at the time, but I'd played them like Aces the whole hand. When the Ace hit the board and he seemed to begrudgingly come along, I figured I could make him believe I really liked that Ace. No such luck, he was just fine with his 3 for a kicker. I donked off 1/3 of my stack to him. Then I ran just brutally card dead. Instead of the continuous run of folds I would normally make in this position, I decided to take a few stabs with the junk. Brilliant idea! I won exactly one more hand the rest of the night. I basically spewed what little chips I had away, trying to hit something on the flop. 'Cause that's what Donk's like me can be like sometimes.

I was proud to see Fred make the money in only his second appearance. Hopefully the game is a welcome distraction for him. I know he could always use a little of that right now! Special thanks from me to you all, for making him feel so welcome at our tables. Means a lot!

*EDIT* Just so you know, the first thing Fred said to me when he came out of his first chemotherapy treatment yesterday was, "That's a great group you've got there on Monday's. You're a pretty lucky guy!"
I think that say's it all!

HORSE was a typical HORSE game for me. I did win a couple of LHE hands this time though, as it seemed the RnG figured out I'd need a few good hands here and there, in order to screw me royally at a later point. Then natch' comes the Omahahaha. OK I'll be honest, I was petrified to play a hand at first. Think about it! I'm sitting at a table with Carson, DonKaaa and drizz is on my immediate left! Three of the players that I know and should respect for their Omaha talents. I folded for the entire first round of Omaha. (say it with me now..... PUSSY!) Actually I have to be honest here, I figured I could learn a thing or two if I just watched and got a bit of a feel for the way the play was shaping up. That and I basically got some pretty crappy hands. But the RnG did get it's kick in the junk in during the Omaha portion. I was dealt what I would consider a pretty craptastic Omaha starter, only to see it come up Quad's on the flop. SweeeeeeeeeT ! Then to add insult to injury, I think both drizz and DonKaaa were in that hand with flopped boats. That could've been a pretty damn big pot if I was still in there.



I ran well in RAZZ and was getting some pretty good boards to work with. Somehow the bricks managed to keep on missing me and finding my fellow player's instead. I ran up a descent stack through the RAZZ portions. STUD was just insane! Talk about a dream land or Nirvana in Poker! I honestly ran hotter on Monday night than I can remember running for a very, VERY long time! Rolled up starters with the case card apparently still out there somewhere. Four card straight flushes with very live wrap and nut flush draws hitting repeatedly. I actually made Quad's twice, to go with a King high straight flush and one absoloutely perfect steel wheel. What can I say, it was just insane. Only real issue was, the hands were way to obvious to get any real action after they were made. So there were an awful lot of half-pots rather than the monsters I could have made, if the power of my holdings could have been disguised a little better.

I ended up making the money and busting out third in the HORSE game. I see TheGoatlady went on to a well deserved win, and DonKaaa posted his second 2nd. place finish of the night, having also finished in that spot in the first NLHE game. Congrats to both!

As is alway's the case from my perspective, thanks to everyone for making my Monday nights something I start looking forward to, the second that I bust out of the last Monday night game. You're all the best !

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

I remember....



On November 11 we wear poppies and gather at war memorials across Canada to pay tribute to those who died in war. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the time the Armistice of World War I was signed in 1918, we observe two minutes of silence to remember.

Despite our generally accepted roll as peacekeepers rather than war mongers, it's hard to forget that over 116,000 Canadians have given their life in a war, so that this world can be a better place for us all.

We still have thousands out there in harms way every single day.

So I remember, every single day.


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae


I've got nothing else, but my sincerest thanks....

Poker 101, just walk away....

Did you ever have one of those runs where no matter what you decide on, the entirely opposite will absoloutely always happen? That's pretty much how I ran all this weekend.

So I was doing pretty good in an event when I was dealt the 6c-7c in mid-position. I threw out a medium sized raise, only to have the button jam and be called by the SB. Natch, I'm totally done with the hand. Only to watch it go on to be the winning straight flush of course.


On the button myself and early in another game, I draw A-3 and don't care to see the flop with it.


In yet another game, it's way too early for me to play an A-9 off-suit to two players willing to get lot's of chips into the center pre-flop. So I fold it.


When a short stack jams them all in the center and it's not enough to get me off a suited Asian-Jew, I found myself knowing how the hand would ultimately play out. You see, I started a little ahead!



I always know what to do when the junk just keeps on finding me. I accept that it's going to happen all day, and I head to the "junk game." RAZZ somehow always makes me feel better! The problem is that on this weekend, even RAZZ decided to kick me in the junk.



Unfortunately for me, this trend continued all weekend long. In the Brit game, I ran my straight into a higher one to put me out second Gigli. I then sat down for a little more RAZZ, only to watch as I was dealt three rolled up hands in a row. For the record, the odds on that are staggering to say the least. That was enough for me. I finally turned on my own little doom switch of poker, and shut the damn thing down.

Tonights TuckFard night for those of you able to make it out.
7:00pm EST for NLHE and at 8:00pm, we'll fire up the HORSE game.
Both are just $3.50 to enter and the P/W for the games on FullTilt is of course donkey.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Care to cross the pond anyone....

Time once again for one of my favorite weekend games....


This is Cloud (cloud71) and Acorn's (zagga) game and if you haven't been reading them, you should be!! Despite what the banner says, the game actually starts at 4:00pm EST for those of us on said time schedule. It always a ton of fun and filled with a bunch of good folks.

After having to miss Saturday's with Doctor Pauly yesterday, (due to another pay-off for not-so-mini-Peb's in another photo-contest! WoooOOOoooT!!!) I'm going to try and get back from our visit with Fred in time to make it, "across the pond" for this one.

Hopefully I make it and I can see a bunch of you there!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Just Truckin'....

What better way to spend a little quality time this weekend?

Truckin' - November 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 11

Welcome back another issue of Truckin'.

1. Jupiter Four by Paul McGuire
Cal never had a chance. After one season of winter ball in the Dominican Republic, he walked away from baseball. He was miserable down there. His Spanish was bad. He caught a nasty parasite and his girlfriend constantly begged him to come home.... More

2. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Conviviality by May B. Yesno
The voice crackles and chatters. The sum and substance of the call is an invite to play with resistors and transistors and bread boards, hot solder and imagination. One of the customers wanted company. His wife was off chasing her particular dreams of sustenance some six hundred miles away across two mountain ranges... More

3. Luna Moth by Betty After Dark
Then you flipped me. On my back. Crawling on top of me. Hovering over me, you pushed my arms above my head. I imagined you had tied me up. You fumbled. We giggled... More

4. The Green Chip by Jonathan Bennetts
In just over twelve months Alex had hit rock bottom and it seemed like he had been there forever. He plummeted headlong into being a hopeless drunk who'd lost everything; his sole reason for living now was to raise five bucks daily for his quart of Orillia Tiger Ruby Red Port wine... More

5. Pizza and the Party by Matt Moon
tried talking and joking with Brittany but she was giving one-or-two-word responses. She was not digging me. She'd rather stare out the backseat window than associate with me. That was very unfortunate. I was really hammered and she had some cute aspects to her. I kept trying to progress the conversation but failed miserably every single time.... More


What a Long Strange Trip It's Been...
From the Editor's Laptop:

Thanks again for wasting your precious time with Truckin'. The November issue features two new writers, Matt Moon and Jonathan Bennetts. We also have two veteran scribes returning in May B. Yesno and Betty After Dark. And yeah, that's a sultry dirty story from Betty! I also added a bit of fiction to the mix for this issue.

Please tell your friends about your favorite Truckin' stories. The writers definitely appreciate your support.

Also, if you know anyone who is interested in being added to the mailing list, well, please shoot me an e-mail.

Thanks to the writers enough for writing for free and exposing their guts, blood, and soul to the universe. Their art and dedication inspires me and I hope it inspires you too.

Be good,
McG

"Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command." - Alan Watts

* * * * *
Tao of Pauly -- http://mcgrupp.blogspot.com
Tao of Poker -- http://www.taopoker.com
Truckin' -- http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com
Coventry - http://phish-coventry.com
FSL - http://www.fantasysportslive.com
Las Vegas Blog -- http://www.lasvegasvegas.com

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

Frantic Friday's.... (NSFW?)

Otis has Mental Massage and BadBlood has Metal Monday's. Not wanting to be a direct thief but not being that creative either, I've decided that I should put up a few Frantic Friday's.

I've decided that for the next few Friday's, I'm going to ask for some help on a few major decisions I need to make. I find Friday to be the best day to get advice from everyone out there, as the prospect of going into the weekend generally has that great vibe about it. I find everyones really got their thinking caps on on Friday's.

So..... here goes!

I'm thinking about switching over to contact lenses. So Peb's ask's if I'm getting regular or coloured ones. I didn't even know there was such a thing as coloured contacts!

So what colour should I get?

My first instinct, was to go with Blue.


But I've always personally had more of a thing for Brown eyes.


I remember Schaubsy mentioning something about Green being his favorite.


But I find myself leaning towards Hazel.


Sorry Drizz! I just can't see myself getting Purple!


Oh and please don't get all jammed up and do what Riggs did and say, "just get three.....


or four pairs Dude!"


I mean, it's not about the money to be honest. I just don't think I need any more than maybe two, do you?



So....... any thoughts?

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....