At Last

GO RED SOX!

1918 2004

Guinness and Poker Tourney

For those of you who didn’t participate in yesterday’s Guinness and Poker Tourney at PokerStars.com, wow, you missed out. There were 133 entrants, including the glitterati of the poker blogging community (HDub, Iggy, Al, BG, Pauly, CHalv, the list goes on). So, that would put the prize pool at $2660, paying to the top 18 places.

On top of this, there was a Yahoo chatroom set-up, so between poker, chat, my hookah and my beer, it’s amazing I could even play poker. Anyway, here’s my report, full of highs and lows, even for a LA like me. Note: every player started with 1500T.

Level 1 (10/20)

Just treading water.

Level 2 (15/30)

Lost 500T with QJo to A3s on a Qx33x board.

AKh, raised to 400 in the face of preflop raising, all folded back to me, won about 200T.

Level 3 (25/50)

78o in the BB, bluffed all-in after some strong preflop raising to win 600. Some of the money came from Sean, who IM’d me privately after the hand to ask what I was holding. I don’t think he was happy when I told him.

In the BB with QQ, everyone folds to me, win the SB.

Level 4 (50/100)

Raised with KQo in the LP, won the blinds.

Held K4o in the BB, flop is KQx, raised 200, SB folds.

Called some strong preflop raising with AJo. Bet hard after the flop came up a rainbow A23, won about 500T.

Here’s where my heart starts to break.

Pushed all-in against a shortstack (glyphic) holding snowmen (88). He shows AA and I get no help. Lost 600T.

Next hand. I get 9To in the BB. The flop comes up 9Jx, and the player to the left of me makes a decent bet. I put him all-in and have him covered. He calls and flips up, you guessed it, AA. I think he might have limped in with that. Lost 800T and doubled-up yet another player. I’m down to 557T.

Level 5 (75/150)

Like Sammy Sosa would say, “this level has been berry, berry goot to me”.

All-in preflop with KTo. I’m short stacked, blinds are nuts, need to make a move. My caller shows QQ. The board comes up xKxTx and I double up to 1300T.

Raised with AJs preflop, win the blinds. Up to 1600T.

QTo won all-in preflop against AA on a 98T7J board. I apologized profusely as I stacked my virtual chips. Up to 2800T.

TJc won all-in post flop against AcKs when I hit my club flush on a 9sAc5cQsQc board. I’m stunned at the beats I’ve been administering, and stack my 6331T chips.

Level 6 (100/200)

Not much happened.

Level 7 (100/200/25)

Tilting away my game…

I see cowboys (KK) in the hole, along with a raise or two ahead of me. I push all-in and have everyone well covered. One player calls me and flips over AQs. I’m ecstatic, since it’s not even a coin flip. Then the board comes up AxQxA to give him Aces full of Queeens. I drop to the murky depths of 2558T.

My tourney’s pretty much over, since I’m mentally destroyed and the blinds are so high. I push all-in with 88 in the face of a pre-flop raise, only to get called by AKs. He catches his A, and IGHN.

Game Over

So, I finished 46th out of 133, or in the top 35%. Not bad, but not nearly as good as it should have been given the luck I saw on level 5. That should have set me up to coast into the top 20 at least. In any event, I had a great freaking time. Definitely looking forward to the next one!

Some Things Never Change

The month of October is Hispanic Heritage month, which means something to me since my father is Cuban, and thus I have a hispanic heritage. Anyway, at lunch today there was mariachi band playing. The music was good and the mood was festive. Very nice change of pace. Anyway, someone made the comment that it must be “janitor appreciation month”. Needless to say I was nauseated, but didn’t say anything.

It gets worse. So, we’re walking back up to work, and it’s obvious I’m in a foul mood. I’m asked what’s wrong, and (among other things) call out the person who made the remark. At which point the person decides to tell me about how he would routinely have conversations with a janitor at his old job and how this was in such sharp contrast to how most people ignore the janitorial workers in an office setting. I said “Wow, how magnanimous of you.”

It’s been a pretty terrible week at work, so this was just one more thing. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this weekend.

Finally

Wow…. I’m wasted. Sox win!!! Yankees suck!!! A-Job sucks, Jeter blows spits! I’m spent… hung with Joe and Rob and Rhino Bar. Place was out of control. Beer, shot, everywhere. I’m still numb from the outcome. Greatest Team Sports Comeback EVER. I’m thinking of heading up to Boston for a game of the World Series. Not sure how to make that happen. Fucking billable hours. Ok, time to pass out. Can’t wait to hear what Simmons thinks about this.

Lighter Side

Margaret will love this post from the Best of Craigslist. Here’s a great line:

1. Several annoying hags will ask you, “So when are YOOOOOOOOOOU going to have a baby? Hmmm?”, as they look disapprovingly over the tops of their glasses. These same hags will shake their heads sadly when you inform them, “I would rather dip my face in acid then have my crotch ripped open by a head the size of a pumpkin, thank you.”

Dogma Continued

Well, the (limited) results are in from 43 years.

So, there’s my $0.02. Once again, I appreciate the feedback. I’m well aware that I’m on an island at the moment, and that’s cool. I guess some people have their own convictions and I have mine.

Work + Politics = Sucks

Wow, you’ve lucked out. You’ve browsed this site just in time to take part in a poll. Yes, I know, I’m too good to you people. So, before you run away, here are two very simple yes/no questions:

Question 1: Are people who choose not to vote in a particular election allowed to have (and voice) an opinion about that election?

Question 2: Are people who choose not to vote in a particular election allowed to have (and voice) and opinion about the election system in general?

I’ll follow up this post with specific examples of how these questions pertain to me, but first I was an unbiased from you guys (Taurus, Dan, everyone). Don’t be shy, click the comments() link and then click the Comments? link. Please feel free to elaborate on your yes/no responses.

Nothing Minor About It

WARNING: GRAPHIC (GROSS) CONTENT AHEAD

I had some minor surgery yesterday. I had this removed from my body:



It had shown up on the left side of my chest, just below the collarbone, about 2 months ago. It was about the size of a peach pit, and felt hard to the touch. I went to see my PCP, who sent me to a dermatologist, who sent me to a plastic surgeon to have it removed.

Anyway, the procedure was yesterday. I left my office a little after 1pm to make it up to northen Bethesda by 2pm. I showed up, signed a waiver, paid $20, and was promptly shown in the “surgical room”.

The nurse was nice enough. She asked me to remove my shirt and wait for the doctor. I did so, and sat down in the only chair in the room. The doctor came in, we shook hands, and he hit a button to electronically recline my chair. I wasn’t too nervous, but decided to burn a hole in the ceiling with my eyes until the procedure was over.

The nurse came over to inject the local anesthesia. She warned it would sting and then burn, but she neglected to tell me how many times this would happen. So, after every injection, I would wonder for a split-second if another one was coming. This would become a running theme during the surgery, a lack of communication. Don’t they understand that you need to be able to brace yourself for these kinds of things?

Anyway, she numbed me up and I started focusing on the ceiling, trying not to pay attention to what the doctor was doing. Things seemed to be going ok, for the most part. He made his incision, and started the process of removing the cyst. At which point, it all went downhill.

He started making all kinds negative statements about the cyst while talking to the nurse: “See how calcified it is?”, “I thought I made the incision big enough”, “It’s very uneven”, and “Seems to go almost down to the muscle”. Then he starts to try and tug it out.

Here’s the weird thing: you’re numb. So you don’t feel the pain, but can still feel what’s going on. I can feel him trying to pull something out of my chest. It’s a terrible sensation. At this point, I started to sweat profusely and my heart rate goes up. He’s incredibly frustrated by this cyst, and next thing I know, I start to feel sharp pain.

OWWW!

Ok, now I’m feeling pain. Sharp, cutting pain. The doctor asks the nurse to administer some more anesthesia, which she does. The pain doesn’t recede, and my heart rate remains high. At this point, I think he pulls out the big guns. I see him load up a syringe and feel him administer 5 or 6 shots on the left side of his incision. This time, the pain retreats.

I’m thinking to myself, “I want to get off this ride!” I’m tempted to ask the doctor to just give up on the cyst, sew me up and send me on my way. He has other ideas. He ask the nurse for some XXX scissors. I don’t remember what XXX was, but it sounded medical. And painful.

You know the sound that scissors make when cutting through cloth? I heard that sound over, and over, and over again. My mind was racing. “What the hell is he cutting? Is he widening the incision, is he cutting the cyst out?” It was like he was just hacking at my chest, trying to get this thing loose. I was worried I might pass out.

And then, POP, it’s out. I’m too dazed to feel relief. He asks me if I want to see it, and I say sure. He dangles it over me, and I’m fairly disgusted. Looks like some kind of mini-brain. Pretty gross. Next thing I know, I’m being stitched up and sent on my way. Nothing to fill out, no pain medication prescribed. Just a flimsy bandage and a kick in the ass. Watch out in case the wounds oozes! Bye bye!

I had planned on going back to work, but was pretty freaked out by the whole experience. Adrenaline was wearing off, along with the anesthesia. Out of the blue, I call my old boss Patrick and end up stopping by his place on my way home from the doctor. It was great to see him, Kersten, his daughter Winnie (she’s huge! what are you feeding her?) and his new baby. Calmed me down some. And then I got Margaret to come over an eat greasy pizza and watch bad TV with me. That was nice. Helped take the edge off such a crummy experience.

DCPoker Home Game

Here’s a recap of last night’s DCPoker game, courtesy of our host Stephen F:

Quick recap of the game (hope I got everyone’s name right and approx what they won – I may be way off for some people here after my sixth beer)

We had 8 players – cudos to Brooks for coming through with table/chips

Big Stack Ethan was the big winner last night, tripling up after bullying most of the table and taking most of Eric’s early winnings with a couple of over-the-top all-ins. He also bullied the table, regularly scooping in $15 or so in chips.

Up, Down and Back Again Eric fired the first big shot of the night, with
2 low spades and a jack on the field, Eric went over the top on my $10
bet to take two players all-in (me, brooks). Brook’s flush didn’t hit
and Eric’s JK took down my JQ off (ouch!), which I just couldn’t lay
down (gonna have to visit some boards). Despite this huge stack, Ethan
chipped away at Eric and Steve’s all-in pre-flop bullets setted on 4th
street knocked Eric out (despite my awful dealing). Eric came back
strong at the end of the night. He walked away with something like $20
in profit.

The Comeback Kid Brooks B got knocked out by Eric early, reloaded and
took Rob S all-in (and threatened to walk to the ATM in the rain if he
busted out). Just for the off chance to see Brooks in the rain, Rob S.
called the measly extra 8, allowing Brooks to double up. Soon Brooks
had built a small castle around him in green chips. Brooks B walked
away with something like $20 (maybe more)

Tight as Hell Jimmy – Jimmy was tight as hell, but got a good streak mid
game. Of course, we all knew he was tight, so there was never that much
action. I believe he walked out with what he came in with.

Polite Jon G – Jon was pretty tight and with some wild betting about an
hour in, a lot of us were stuck sitting on the sidelines. I think Jon G
lost a couple buck, but nothing big.

Mr. 3.50 WTF? Raise Dan H – Was up most of the night with awkward raises
of 3.50, 4.50. He pushed out many a player and raked in a number of
blinds and had Rob S.’s# and went back and forth with Ethan most of the
night. I got him late in the game with an all-in (for me, anyway) when
I slowed played set 5s, hoping he didn’t have the flush. Down $20

Pot Odds Stephen – After getting taken out early when Eric’s K kicker
beat my Q (both had high pair Js after the flop) – that still hurts. I
was down about $80 at one point, as big stakes forced me out of a lot of
bad hands (lost 3 bucks a hand over and over and over again). But
despite the ridicule over my obsession with pot odds, I got Eric with
some bullets and Dan with my slow-played set 5s to get back to down $40.
Not a good night for the champ, but it could have been worse.

The Bluff That Got Away Rob Silver pulled a couple all-in bluffs to
bully the table into some early winnings, but his bluffs caught up with
him when Ethan and Dan had the rocks and called his bluff. Rob was down
$50. Nonetheless, Rob made more than any of us with his $200 win on the
WV game, so despite coming in last, he’s the big winner tonight.

Feel free to give me crap about the recap – I was drunk most of the
night!

$20 On-Line Tourney

FYI: On Thursday, October 21st, Iggy is holding a $20 buy-in tourney on PokerStars for poker bloggers and readers. These tourney’s are usually -EV due to the talent they attract, but they are a very good time. You can find more details about the tourney on Iggy’s site. if you need any info on how the create an account, fund it, etc, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. The last tourney attracted 70 players or so, so I expect even bigger things this time around!

Oh, I almost forgot. I’m trying to come up with a fun bounty to put on my head. Basically, a gift that I owe to the person who ends up knocking me out of the tourney. It should typically be something that’s representative of the person providing the bounty (Al = SoCo, etc). However, I’m remarkably incapable of introspection. Can any of my friends help me out with this? I’ll pre-empt some of you right now: you can’t put sarcasm in a box.