I'm slacking

Deal with it.

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Was rummaging through some old boxes at my mom's house yesterday when I found my old High School yearbook. I also found several items that I totally forgot about, including a list of Things-to-do-In-Life. I vaguely remember writing this and its dated April 1989. Here's the list with some commentary.

1) Graduate from college

So far so good. I'm 1 for 1.

2) Play trumpet in an orchestra.

Ok this one is a gray area. I'm sure I meant the NY Phil or Boston Pops but SHSU Orchestra 3rd Chair will have to suffice. Count this one as a 'yes'.

3) Make $50,000 a year.

This made me laugh. I'm sure my friends in school wrote that they wanted to make a million dollars, but I just wanted what I wanted. Another yes. And sadly, its going to be back on my list.

4) Get married and have kids.

Well I did get married. And I did have kids. So we can mark this one down as an accomplishment.

5) Run a marathon.

I have no earthly idea why this would be on the list. I hated running then and I hate running now.

6) Run for public office.

Again I'm not sure why this is here. I have always been active in politics, even at a young age, but I'm a kingsmaker...not a king. Pry will never happen. (i'm not really a kingsmaker)

7) Move out of Edna

Another funny. I moved...then came back. So technically this one is fulfilled.

8) Own a mercedes.

What the eff? I think i'm trying to fill the list now. Is a Dodge Ram extended cab close enough? This one is going down in the 'NOT FULLFILLED' column.

9) Go to Disney World.

Now I think i'm trying to be funny. I have been to both the Anaheim and Orlando parks so a big check mark on this one.

10) Read the bible in its entirety.

This must have been put in by someone else. I've yet to get past Genesis.

So this was funny (for me) and I've actually accomplished 6 of the 10 on the list. Not bad. Here's my new list in no particular order.

1) Play in the World Series of Poker's Main Event.
2) Get a PhD in Literature
3) Make a million dollars :)
4) Buy a boat and fish more than once a year.
5) Buy a bigger house!
6) Tell my kids I love them every single day of their lives
7) Own a Lexus. Mercedes suck.
8) Win a WSOP bracelet (if i do this, then i cross off several items on this list)
9) Run a marathon
10) Find A WOMAN who makes me laugh, is familiar with both Chaucer and Tchaikovsky, loves Democratic Party politics, loves my kids, thinks I walk on water, thinks Karen Carpenter is pretty swell.

I may need to clone myself for the last one.

-247

Playing a satellite

I played a satellite for the first time in awhile today. It was actually a spontaneous thing - I saw it was about to start in 1 min and it was only $4.40. So now I won a seat into next week's $40,000 GTD tournament which has a $100 buyin. Nice job for me.

My 1st live HU challenge

I got my first live heads up challenge last night... and its no surprise it was from the father of the Brothers.

If you remember from my past posts, this guy is a real tool. We had a uneventful PLo8b hand where my low was beaten by his...but my pair of 2s won the high and I take half the pot. Granted I got lucky for half a $20 pot. Hardly a windfall, but this tool begins to berate me. He starts by telling me I got lucky, which I knew already.

But he can't let it go.

He's on me about how great he is and how bad I am. I finally have enough and tell him if I was so bad, how come he couldn't beat me consistently. Well he puts out the $10,000 heads up challenge. Then I say "great, why not make it $20,000!" I was kidding but then he gets rude. Tells me that "if we make it $20,000, you'd have to sell everything you own, and it still wouldn't be enough". Hehe. You gotta love this guy. Not only was this getting to be funny, but it was making Brian and John (the brothers) very uncomfortable. So it dies down a little... then he says "god damn internet players, i've been playing cards longer than you have been alive." So I add "and you still haven't learned the game." Then the classic lie of all lies... "have you ever won $30,000 in a casino?" I told him "no, cause i don't play the Incredible Hulk slot machines." I laughed to myself. He was really pissed and added "it was poker you ass, and I walked out of that casino with $200,000".

I'm sorry but that was a huge ass lie and everyone knew it... I sat there for a second or so, then just started laughing. Everyone but his sons were laughing. Old WildBill calls him a damn liar and we start laughing more. This pissed him off, so he pushes his chips in the pot and quits. Then it returned to being uncomfortable again.

I think I may be done with this game. I hate to quit, but Brian and John are so bitchy and critical of other players who win pots that its not even fun to play.

Another thing: when their father leaves, they both let me know that they have won "way more money than I have" at that game. My only response was "congratulations", but Bill tells them they were lying too and we went back to laughing. Gotta love Bill

Horse, Schmorse

I've been playing tons of HORSE lately. For those that don't know, HORSE is a rotating game of Holdem, Omaha Hi/low, Razz, Stud and Stud8. With more and more "players" entering the online world, these young, up and coming studs all want to specialize in one game. Generally that one game is NL Texas Holdem. They play holdem as if its the only game that matters. Granted the Main Event is a NLHE spread, however, if you can learn all the games, it will make you a much more profitable player.

I played the $20 HORSE tourney on Full Tilt last night to mixed results. I made the final table but still found some very questionable plays and calls late in the game. During the FT chat talk, most of those remaining were only NLHE players who dabbled in a few of the other games and decided to give HORSE a try. I felt I was playing strong but never really amassed a huge amount of chips. Seemed that when I was playing well or had monster draws/hands, someone would come out of nowhere to call me down with a suspect hand and catch on 7th. No worries. In the end I lost a 25k pot in RAZZ that would have put me in 2nd but instead I finished 6th out of 84 for a cash of $64. Hardly what I wanted with first being over $500. I'll give it another try soon. If i get it down to 3 I felt I would win this thing. With all the heads up HORSE i've been playing I felt i woulda pwnd.

I may need to reevaluate my style of play in an MTT setting. There is one game in particular that I try to avoid - stud. For me, this is the most robotic and standard textbook play of the session. I play only split Jacks or wired 9s down. I'll play 3 cards to a flush if i see less than 5 of my cards are gone and I'll steal occassionally in late position if my door card is the highest card showing. I don't get involved with other hands in this section. Far to easy to lose tons of chips to overzealous players who won't give you credit. I think I have to get involved in more hands in this section if i want to finish 1st. I may need to read a book or actually practice in a cash game.

The split games (o8b and s8)are the key in HORSE. But for me the stud8 section is my favorite. To me this is the easiest spot to get some huge chips. I sat at a s8 tournament a few months back and got some advice from rjs162. Bob told me to play only for the low and ditch on the turn if you aren't 4 to the low. Sometimes you will flush or catch a str8 and scoop the whole thing. And unlike o8b, you can raise with only the low in a multi-way pot. I've since added the high with flush draws and wired pairs, but i'm always careful on playing the high only and will fold when I sense danger. Too many chances to get chips in this section so no sense overplaying one or two pair. His advice was simple and i've put it into practice with no variance to good results.

Blogger Tourney

Pokerstars is having a tourney for bloggers only. Should be a pretty cool thing.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 5748204

Post count...

Its not quantity, its quality.

And i'm lacking in both.

Funny thing from the backseat:

Thomas called me earlier to pick him up. He wanted to spend the night with me, so I go pick him up. No biggie. On the way back we are listening to some 50 Cent on the radio. Save your "kids shouldn't be listening to gangsta rap" comments... Its dark out, but out of the corner of my eye I see him doing the robot in the back seat. Classic!!! He's just staring out the window and doing the freaking robot. I started laughing and he never saw me. I love that kid.

Los escritores americanos latinos son la bomba:

I may have found a topic for my class. Something along the lines of the Boom writers of Latin America. I'll toss in some magical realism and how narratives are developed from the culture. Should be interesting. At least for me. Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are my faves and i'm actually looking forward to the research.

Yeah. This is your past calling...

Had a very nice conversation with my former boss. The principle investor in our project asked if we could secure a turn key quote from a "reputable" contractor on the construction. He mentioned a few local General Contractor's he knew. I contacted a few of them and they really had no idea about this niche market, so I turned to my old company. My old compadres were very happy that I thought of them and I think they were sincere in saying there was no ill feelings from our separation. I never had any to begin with, but my leaving was pretty sudden and I thought they would shut me out.

I guess the almighty dollar opens many doors. This thing is moving fast and furious. I have the architectural contract finalized and i'm working on hiring a civil engineer now.

Steeler needs this project to come to fruition. I'm digging deep into my own $$. No supersizing of fries for me for awhile.

That's one Biggie Fry and a coke. Anything else?

I'm certain that i'm now unemployable. I think i'm 0-3 on the job front. I say "i think" because two of the interviewers have yet to contact me to tell me to eff off.

Is not hearing from them a good thing? I doubt it.

Gone Fishin'

My Monday and Wednesday night classes are cutting into my finances. I now have to skip two very lucrative live games and its hurting me. Now WildBill cancelled the Tuesday night game as well due to lack of participation.

I may start selling Amway soon.

-247

Multiple Guess

I've had a few interviews this week and the theme of each interview seems to be TEKS. TEKS is the standardized test that all school children must pass in order to move to the next grade. The test is administered as early as the 3rd grade in Texas. In order for High School students to graduate they must pass the test in their 11th grade year and then are retested in their 12th grade year if they fail any part of this test.

So basically every principal I met with told me they teach directly from the TEKS. Groovy. gg creativity.

And with the No Child Left Behind Act it makes the gifted and talented students stagnant. I mean, why teach something that isn't on the test! Besides you don't want to leave any child behind. The dumbing down of Americana has begun. And i'm going to be an active participant in it!

Few stories of the past week to catch you all back up...

Thomas lost his first tooth on Wednesday. The tooth had been wiggly for some time now so I got a small towel and yanked it out of his mouth. He said it didn't hurt. He's a trooper. We put it under his pillow last night and the "tooth fairy" left some US currency.

WOULD YOU SAY THE MAIN IDEA IN THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH IS:

A) Thomas lost his first tooth
B) Thomas is a trooper
C) I may have violated Thomas' civil rights in extracting his tooth prematurely.
D) I could be prosecuted by some activist judge for allowing my 6 year old to believe in fairies.

Allison took a crap on the floor yesterday and for the life of me I don't know why. Thing is, she made it to the bathroom but proceeded to poop on the floor. She then covered it with a bath towel so I wouldn't step on it, she would later claim. When I discovered the gift under the towel it made me _____________.

A) sick to my effing stomach
B) curse the genes she inherited from her mother's side of the family
C) Both A and C
D) order a grilled cheese sandwich

Not much online poker for me lately.

-s247

Me

Been busy. Deal with it.

Three interviews this week. The first went really well.

Confession

I've never netflix-ed.

Like you care.