Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Some Red Sox talk

So the Red Sox are finally rounding out their team for 2006. The major addition from last week being, of course, Coco Crisp. Wow, that is quite a name. I heard about the trade while I was in the hotel in Disney World last week. I told my wife who we got and my 8 year old says, "I thought we only had apple jacks? When did we get cocoa crispies?"

Anyway, everyone here in Boston likes the trade, mostly because they didn't have to give up any of the prized young pitchers. We also get a young guy who is supposed to be a real great player. The doom and gloom around here was getting pretty bad after Damon was gone and it took so long to find a replacement. Looks like the patience may pay off. It also looks like the team is ready to sign Alex Gonzalez to play shortstop for this year. Now all they have to do is figure out what they are going to do with 7 starting pitchers. Can't wait though, 18 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Last thing related to the Sox (tangentially). The morning after the trade we were in the airport to go home and I picked up the Orlando paper to see if they had any more details, reaction, etc. I scanned through it but there was nothing about it all so, knowing I wouldn't have a lot of time to read it anyway with 3 kids on a plane, I tossed it in the trash. We were waiting at the gate while a Chicago flight was boarding ahead of our flight. This guy comes by with a huge bag over his shoulder and almost knocks my youngest out of his stroller to get the paper out of the trash. As he looked up I mentioned that I had just put it in the trash so it was relatively clean, being my normal cheery self. The dude just looked at me and grunted something like "oh". I think I said, "I just grabbed it to see about the trade but there was nothing in it". He asked what trade so I said the Red Sox trade. He just looked at me, real smug and said "They're still playin?" and walked away with a little chuckle.

Now I won't get started on the history and tradition of the 2 teams as not to offend anyone but wtf. I was pretty happy for the While Sox when they won this year. But find me some stats on how many fans the Red Sox have vs the White Sox out of their respective cities and we can talk.

Ok, I probably have made absolutely no sense but I did want to mention that. It kinda pissed me off. Now I am better.

Back to the daily grind...

Well, I am back from vacation and oh, how sweet it is. Not. The week was great in that I wasn't in the snowy weather in Boston, but not so great in that my youngest son was sick most of the week. Kinda put a damper on the visit to Disney but the weather was great and we made the best of it.

Now it is back to work and the normal daily grind, which incidentally includes poker! We got back home around 4pm on Saturday and I was playing in a home game by 8pm. Yeehaa, back in the swing. I actually had a pretty good night of it. There were 6 of us and we played 3 $10 games with the winner taking all by $10, which went to second as their next buyin. Just a friendly game with my friends.

I ended up winning the first game and second in the other 2 games. I sucked out BIG TIME in the first game when everyone was still in. I had AJ in MP and there were 3 of us in the pot. The flop came JJK and the action checked to me. I put in a half pot bet to see what was going on. One folded and the other guy, who was first to act and originally checked thought for a while and then said something like, well, I'll see one more.

Now this guy is someone that has to see every flop usually so you never really know with him. He is a pretty good player most of the time (probably because when this group plays, there is a lot of limping pre-flop without a lot of raises). Anyway, the next card was a blank so I put in a pot sized bet and he thought for a minute and then went all in. Hmm. Well, I put him on an K but not much more so I call him. I have him covered, barely, so we flip over and he has KJ!

Well, since I said I won this game, you know the outcome. The river delivered the 2 outer A and I won with Aces full of Jacks. He was stunned and I felt like the sheepish donkey but what can you do right?

The rest of the night I played ok and got a little impatient when it got to be heads up in the other 2 games. Overall, it was a good way to start real life again.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Vacation starts tomorrow, good thing...

So I played 3 $5+.50 SNGs on Poker Stars last night. All I can say is either I suck or am really unlucky. Nothing too memorable other than finishing 5th, 5th, and 9th! The 9th was ridiculous. I played like a donkey. Donked off about 800 of my chips on top pair and was outkicked. I even knew it and still called it down. Just disgusting.

Anyway, played 3 more tonight on Ultimate. I actually kept some better notes because I wanted to have a better memory of where I was going wrong. Looks like I am overplaying inferior hands but let me know what you think.

In the first one tonight, it was the 2nd hand and I have pocket 6's. The blinds were at 10/20 and there was a min raise to make it 40 just before me that I called as well as 4 others. The flop comes 4,5,6 rainbow. Good flop as I make top set but scary straight draws right? Someone ahead of me bets 60 into the 240 pot and 2 people call to me. I raise it to 160 and get 2 callers. The turn was an 8. I was first to act so I bet out 100, afraid of the straight. Next guy calls and the third goes all in and I fold, knowing I am beat, losing 320 on the hand.

Give me some feedback on my betting. Was I too weak on my reraise on the flop? Was my bet too small on the turn, so I showed weakness? Should I have just checked the turn because of the obvious straight possiblity?

Anyway, we are down to 8 people and a guy that has been betting like crazy raises to 250 or 5 times BB. I am in the BB with 1100 left and holding QQ. This guy had been betting like this a lot so I felt pretty good that I could have the better of him. I pushed my last 1100 and he called with pocket 4's! As my run lately would have it, he hit his 4 and I missed. Gone in 8th place.

The second game I played really came down to 2 hands also. The blinds are at 15/30 and a raise to 90 is in front of me. I have JJ so I reraise to 210 and the raiser calls and another dude, who was a total donkey but had chips from some serious luck also called.

The flop comes AAK. They check and I bet 150 and crazy folds but the original raiser calls. The turn is a 9, he checks and I bet another 150 and he calls after some thought. The river is A and he bets out 350. I think for a bit, even type that I am a donkey, and call anyway. He turns over KQo and I am down to 600.

On this one, I was pretty sure he didn't have the A because of the way he was betting so should I have put more money in to represent that I did have it on the turn? Once the river came, he knew I didn't have it, I assume, and that is why he bet out harder.

Anyway, a couple hands later I push with pocket 10's and called by A7. He, of course, hits his A and I am out in 7th.

The last one was a little better in that I finally finished ITM. I was in last with 5 left and when it got to 4, I was like 4 to 1 in chips to third place. For whatever reason, the big stacks kept going at each other so I just laid low and the second largest stack busted himself (with A2, one 2 on the board with a K and a Q) to put me in the money. Could never move up but one good hand when it was down to 3. I was the SB and looking at the hammer sooted. I pushed my puny stack and the big blind folded! He had me at least 9 to 1 in chips but didn't mess with the hammer. Bummer, would have liked to see how it turned out since I went out a couple hands later anyway with J10 in the BB when I caught a J on the flop and pushed. Called by QJ and all done in 3rd.

Anyway, I leave for Disney World at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow and will be going through poker and blog withdrawal for the entire week. Goodluck to all at the tables. Give me some feedback on what I am doing wrong and don't be a donkey like me.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

I think I need more focus…

I played a couple SNGs last night on Stars. I felt pretty good about the way I played in the WWdN tourney on Tuesday night so I was hoping to get some better results in terms of cashing.

I ended up playing in two $3, 1 table turbos and one $5, 3 table turbo. I came in 2nd in one of the $3 which earned me $9. Bubbled on the second $3 and came in 8th in the $5, which paid the top 5 spots. I thought I played ok but nothing too memorable really. In the one that I cashed, I was the short stack with 4 to go and ended up with QQ, AA and AK that all got me some nice pots. The thing that bothered me about this one was the way I played once I got heads up. I let my emotions get to me because the big stack was bullying me.

He was doing it to everyone during the tourney so I am not sure why I took it personally but I did. I know, this is another sure fire way to lose money. I guess the first step is to recognize it right? Anyway, earlier, he had a huge stack and I just kept folding until I could nail him and ended up doing it twice so I wounded him pretty good. Unfortunately, noone else at the table was patient enough and he ended up busting a lot of the table. When it finally got to heads up, I had donked off a bunch of my chips while he had grown his stack. He had me 4 to 1 to start. I had to fold a bunch of hands until I got some nice high cards and took the plunge. I ended up pushing 3 times in a row and getting called at one point to give me a slight lead. That was when my trouble began. I had grinded back like that and then called a raise with J6 sooted. For whatever reason, I figured he was still bullying. The flop came with 9 7 6 to give me bottom pair. I bet and he raised. Rather than give it up, I called. To make my donkey play even worse was my double BB bet when the A fell. He thought for a minute then called. I figured I may have rattled him a bit by representing the A. The river brought a K. Again, I decided I needed push it a bit so I bet 3 times the BB. He again thought and called. He turned over his pair of 9’s!! to take it. Now, I was being pretty dumb in trying to make that play one both the turn and the river after his raise after my flop bet, but figured I had a shot. Anyway, after that hand, I was back down to about 6-1 in chips. I pushed with A6 and he called with K9 and ended up making a straight or flush or something to send me packing. Normally, I play heads up much more conservative and make better reads. This time I was just plain dumb. After the hand, I thought about it and realized that this guy had been calling everything anyway. My play to push him off by representing the A and/or K might have worked on a lot of people, but I should have known if this guy had anything, he was gonna call.

Oh, well, down $2 for the night. The story of my life really. I hope tracking my play and results will help me because I sure need it.

To Turbo or not to Turbo?

Can I get some advice on this from any of you out there? I recognize that my cash game skills are not up to par yet so I am a SNG whore. I have been all over the map on what I play from $1+-$15+ on a bunch of different sites.

I think my lack of patience has made me more and more inclined to play in the turbo variety of SNGs than the normal ones. Don’t worry, I already know that a lack of patience is not exactly a recipe for poker success but I don’t think that once I am in a game, I am not being patient enough.

Anyway, I am wondering what you money makers out there play more often and what you find the level of play to be in each? I feel like in the turbo’s some players will rush it a bit and bust themselves out because they feel like the clock is ticking on them so they make bad plays. On the other hand, I find myself questioning some of my own decisions because I am constantly trying to decide if the big bet ahead of me is one of these donkeys that thinks they have to push with an inferior hand because of the time ticking.

Any advice out there? I feel like I am a better player than my result have indicated lately so I want to start keeping better track of my leaks and results. I might try and jump onto Huma’s bandwagon and track $100, but want to make sure I start in the right SNGs to maximize my chances. The $5 level of SNGs is what I have been playing lately anyway but I have been going between the $6+.50 and $3+.30 turbos on Pokerstars also.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

My first WWdN Invitational

After lurking around all the blogs and hearing about all the fun everyone had in the Wil Wheaton tournaments on Pokerstars, I decided to take the plunge tonight for the first time.

I played it pretty tight and got some nice cards throughout the night. There were 67 players and I hovered around the top 10 for a good amount of time. I was about 7th in chips when I got JJ in the hole. There was a raise to 1200 in front of me by Shane Nickerson who was in middle position. I reraised to 2000 and it folded back to him and he called. The flop came 10 high and he bet out 1200. I only had 2300 left so I pushed and he called with A 10 sooted. It all looked good until the river turned the A and I was out in 18th.

My wifey was shattered from her quiet evening of scrapbooking (her new hobby since she is now a poker widow) by my wails of pain and flying sofa pillows. Hahahahaha. Oh well. I can't complain because that is the game and I felt like I played pretty well. Didn't chase too much. Did donk off a few chips here and there but overall, played pretty well and was lucky to have AA, KK, and QQ stand up throughout the night. With all that, I can't complain about my cracked JJ right? Many would have died for my cards tonight.

Anyway, I had a good time. It was pretty intimidating for me playing with a lot of the players that I read about or at least read their blogs. It was cool to have Mean Gene at the table too. At this point, my blog sucks but I like the idea of learning what I am from everyone else's blogs and I am sure it will get better as time goes by.

Btw, it was pretty cool to be mentioned in Wil's live blog of the tourney when I took a nice pot with my QQ vs 10's. He liked the avatar I have on Pokerstars which me and my buddy used as our fantasy football logo this year. I will miss next week's tourney because I will be in Disney with the family but look forward to playing in future tourneys.

The end of the run was bound to happen...

But Ugh. That was an ugly way to end a great run for the Pats. I guess I will sound like the typical Pats fan, that everyone hates, in saying that our team lost the game. The Broncos didn’t even come close to beating us.

Anyhoo, the game isn’t even worth going over. Bummer for us.

Congrats to all those Steeler fans out there. I am actually happy for them and hope they monkey stomp the Broncos next week. I just don’t think the Broncos deserve to still be in the playoffs while the Steelers went into Indy and kicked the crap out of the big chokemaster Manning. For anyone that watched the game, you know that even the ridiculous calls made by the referees couldn’t take the game from the Steelers. They looked great and I am happy they get a chance at the Super Bowl.

I actually had the best time ever watching the AFC championship game last year between the Pats and Steelers. It was easily the most memorable football game to watch for me, including the 3 Super Bowls we have won in the last 4 years.

There were 12 of us in Vegas for my buddy’s bachelor party. I was the best man so I had put the plans together for the trip months in advance. I had no idea that it was possible that the Pats would be playing that weekend. We left Boston on Friday morning and the original reservations were for a return trip at 4pm (7pm EST) on Sunday. It turned out that the game was going to be played at 6:30pm EST on that night. We all had to change our flights for the redeye so we wouldn’t miss it.

We got a crazy deal to stay at the Imperial Palace (IP). The roundtrip flight and 2 nights hotel for $285 each. We ended up watching the game right at the IP in a big room they have right next to the sports book. We walked in and couldn’t believe the atmosphere. There were about 300 people in there (my guess) and it was split down the middle with Pats and Steeler fans. There was no mistaking what team you were for either. EVERYONE had their “that guy” gear on. It was a sea of Black and Gold vs Red White and Blue. The terrible towels were waving like mad.

For those of you that know the IP, the place is kind of a dive, but real cheap and a great location. Well sticking to their cheap roots, in that room, they had hot dogs, burgers, nachos, etc for like $2 or $3. The best deal was the bucket of 6 bottled beers for $10. With that deal, by kickoff, everyone in the room was lubed up pretty well.

If you remember the game, the Pats came out smoking and got a nice lead but late in the game, the Steelers made a little run. The result was really never in jeopardy but the crowd went at each other with a vengeance. It was great. I can remember standing on a wooden railing pumping my drunk ass fist when the Pats scored at one point and seeing all my brethren doing the same. The Steelers fans that were sitting right in front of us were a little older but just as into the game. They had their towels and their annoying blinking Steeler logo hats going from the start.

The Steeler fans that were there that day earned some respect for the way they hung in until the end of the game. As rowdy and drunk induced as the action was that day, everyone left after the game with a respect for the other team, which I thought was really cool. That is why; I am really pulling for them to take it home.

Not something that I could ever say in the face of a series advance of the Evil Empire in NY.

On a sidenote, the wife didn't really like that game. Oh that's right, she missed that game because, while I was in Vegas (and 70 degrees in January), she was locked inside the house for 4 days with the kids, after a blizzard dropped 38 inches of snow on America's hometown. Ouch.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

No Budweiser for me

Well, got a little boot to the groin last night at the free poker night. The APL had Budweiser sponsoring a 6 week tournament where the top 100 players from each region qualify for a bigger tournament. Basically, they accumulated your points over the 6 week period and if you were in the top 100, you qualify to play against the others, with the top 5 finishers in the big tourney getting a trip to Vegas in February. There are 10 regions so there will be 50 players in Vegas in that tourney, with the top 2 players winning a trip the next week LA to play in the WPT Celebrity Invitational tourney.

I missed the first week because I was away on business so, when I looked and saw that our region consisted of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, I figured I was dead already. Turns out that the only places that the APL is really played right now is in Massachusetts anyway, out of those states. Also, turns out that by my town, there are 3 bars that host these free tourneys so there were some opportunities for me still.

In the first week, I got some points so I started to think of the possibilities of playing a little more during the six weeks so I might qualify. There were people playing like 4 nights a week to accumulate points, but as they started to post the results online, I had a hope. They started hosting the game a new bar that was even closer to my house while this was going on, so I decided to go to that one to. To be honest, I had heard that there were fewer players, so getting in the points would be a lot easier. The first night I went, there were only 24 people and the top 16 get points. So for 3 weeks, I played both Sunday and Monday nights to try and qualify and ended up doing ok.

As I saw my name rise in the leader board, I started to look into the rules more closely. Basically, the six week phase, which was level one, ended on December 24th. After all the points were tallied up, the top 100 would play in the level two tourney at a TBA venue with a TBA date, between January 7 and January 27. Uh, oh. Going to see Mickey with the family from January 21-January 28. That's ok, I probably won't make the cut anyway, and plus, what are the chances it will be at the end anyway right?

Well, of course, the next week, I won the damn Sunday night tourney at the new dive. There were something like 25-30 people and I won what was the monthly venue championship. Woohoo, that gets me a lot of points. I end up 33rd on the list while a few of my buddies are also qualified. Just have to wait now for the date to be announced for the level two tourney.

January 21st!!! 8:00pm. No Bud tourney for me. The real kicker though, was what I got in the mail. I saw a Bally's Las Vegas envelope one night last week. Opened it up and it was an offer for a poker tourney January 24-January 27. $99 for an entry into the tourney and 3 FREE NIGHTS HOTEL at Bally's. Dammit, the kids better have fun with Mickey that week. Oh well, hopefully when I go to Vegas in June, I can get an offer like that one.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Red Sox Jimmy Fund Event

Before I went to the Pats game yesterday, I brought my older 2 sons to Boston for an autograph event with some of the Red Sox players. The Jimmy Fund, which raises money for cancer research, was having the event from 11:30-1:30. I got an email from them earlier in the week and thought the event sounded like something the kids would love.

For $100 you could bring 2 people, plus yourself to the event and get a baseball, a priority spot in line, and autographs from the 8 players that were there. The players were all either just breaking into the big leagues or were still in the minors. The guys that were there were Bronson Arroyo, Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen, Brandon Moss, Jed Lowrie, Charlie Zink and Lenny Dinardo.

Since I had been invited to the game, and it takes an hour to get home from Boston, I knew it was going to be close. We got to the place about an hour early for the 11:30 start time. This guy we met while we walked over, Sean, who was a volunteer for the event was great and tried to get us in a little early but they weren't ready for us. It is amazing how dead the area around the park is on a Saturday morning in the winter. The difference is really something, even the kids said it. We took a brisk walk under the Monster seats outside the fabled left field Fenway wall but it was freezing out so we sat in the car for about a half hour.

We went back around 11 and they let us in to get our ticket and baseball and told us that we could go up at 11:30 to see the players and spend more cash on other fund raising things like bowl a strike for an autographed ball and raffles, etc. We saw Sean and he let us sneak up the stair about 5 minutes ahead so we could get right in without a big line. We were the first to get into the room where they had the lanes set up for the players.

I was really surprised how nice the players were. Mind you, none of them have made the big bucks yet, but each of them were very nice to my boys and asked their names and how they liked the Red Sox, etc. Not sure what I was expecting but I guess I was just pleasantly surprised by this. I almost expected an assembly line with them signing with their heads down, just moving the line along. I don't go to many of these autograph things because the adults drive me nuts. You should have seen all the people with tons of crap with them so they could get it signed and, most likely, resell it. My kids were both really excited to get the players autographs and talk to them for a minute and I think the players react to that a lot better than to the goofs that do it just to resell it to make a buck. To each his own I guess.

Brandon Moss was probably my favorite player based on his interaction with us. He was very friendly with the kids and encouraged them to come over and talk to him. He asked their names etc. He was the first guy we got to, so they were a little bit awestruck at first. The way he was with them helped loosen them up though. My older son brought his "autograph ball". I caught a foul ball in Colorado 2 years ago when I went to Denver to see the Sox play the Rockies. John Henry, Mike Timlin, Lenny Dinardo and Nomar (that is a story for another day, but my son got his autograph at Fenway one day) had previously signed the ball. When my son handed Brandon the ball, he took the time to look at each read each one. He was cool about signing the same ball as Nomar. It was pretty funny.

Overall, both of my boys loved it and it was for a good cause. The best part, was my renewed faith in some professional athletes. Hopefully, all these guys remember to be the same way if/when they make the big time.

And of course, I was home with a half hour to spare to be picked up by the funbus for the Pats game.

Poker and the Pats

Had 12 guys over on Friday night for some poker. We ended up starting with 2 tables of 6 in one tourney format for $20 each. It was a good time. I got some luck and played pretty well (had at least 1 saving laydown) and managed to get to the final 2 in both games. I split both pots, first one to get the next game going and the second time because it was 2 am and the dude I was playing with was pretty drunk and I was done playing with him basically.

One of the guys offered me a ticket to the Pats game last night in Foxboro when he came over for Poker on Friday. He said they were leaving at 2 pm for the 8 pm game. This dude bought an old, banged up shuttle bus with seating for 12 for like $800 then put a tv and stereo system in it that cost at least the same. The funbus is the only way to tailgate man, I'm telling you. Had a great time. We got there, started the homeless fire in the trash can and the gas grill by 3:30. Plenty of booze and food and then some Einstein decided to bust out the poker chips and card table. It was like 5:30 and about 20 degrees out, but of course, the game attracted 7 addicts to the table. We even had some guy jump in from the party next to us. He buddies said they were looking for him and then noticed the table out. They figured he had to be there. They were saying something about an intervention or something. Anyway, it was easily the fast poker game ever. Looser than Pamela Anderson after the boat trip.

As for the game, as you know, we dominated. The Jags really had no chance. The defense was stifling. The offense really didn't do too much, which was disappointing but made the plays they had to. We'll see what happens next week against the Colts or the Broncos. Either way, it will be a real tough game, but I like the fact that both teams have beat the Pats this year. We have a lot of faith in Belichick around here and it is tough to beat him twice. The biggest concern was the fact that Bruschi dressed but never played a down. They didn't end up needing him this week but we definitely will next week.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Going to Disney World

The family and I are going to Disney World in a couple weeks. I had been stalling on buying the park tickets because they were so expensive but decided I better get them. I ended up buying them just before New Year's because someone mentioned that they might go up. Lucky I listened for once. I just checked the prices again and the 2 tickets that I bought for my wife and I went up a total of $100! I can't believe how expensive that place is.

We go every year because we have a timeshare up here that we got cheap and we swap out for a place in Orlando. We save tons of cash on a place to stay but there is no way to get around the park tickets. It is crazy how expensive it is.

I was down there in November for a conference and realized how whacked the whole Disney World thing is. We are always so excited about our trip every year. Can't wait until it gets here. As soon as we leave, we are bummed that we are home in the crappy winter weather again and always miss it so much. I'll tell you what though, while we are there, the fun and misery is usually about 50/50.

I noticed while I was there alone in November how everyone is like this. You see whining crying kids, parents yelling at them, everyone rushing around to the next attraction. It is crazy. We agonize over getting there, spend gobs of cash, and don't even fully enjoy it while we are there. I am making it a resolution of mine this year to enjoy it while I am actually there, rather than thinking back about it and wishing I had.

Ok, enough rambling on about nothing for now. Sorry about that.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Poker at the bar

Funny hand on Monday night at the bar I play at. It is the free tourney that they have every week and we were down to about 12 people. Blinds were at 1000/2000 and I am UTG with 5000 left. I get AQo so I push. The dude to my left calls his last 3000, the guy after him looks over at me and smiles as he pushes with like 20K, and it folds to the big blind who calls his last 2000. I thought the smiler thought I was just full of crap so I told him I did have a hand. He actually annoyed me with his big grin, like "I can read you. You are just trying to steal. I'm calling your ass!".

So we have 3 all-ins including me. The smiler pulls back the rest of his chips, we set the 3 pots and everyone turns their cards over. My left has me dominated with AK. DAMN! Then the smiler turns over AA! WTF. Next, the big blind almost cries as he turns over KK. I then turn over my 4th best hand, AQ for everyone to see.

Flop comes out with rag, rag, Q. Turn comes rag. River comes Q. Lalalala!!! I actually crack AA, KK, and AK in the same hand. Woohoo. Thought that crap only happened online. Anyway, it really only helped me for a little bit as I came in 5th after my AK got beat by K5. But a memorable hand, that is for sure.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Can I get some advice here?

So my 8 year old is telling me how one of his football buddies has been snubbing him lately. I ask him why and he said, "I don't know, it might have been because I yelled at him for smashing into me at the Christmas party. I was getting beat by a girl and he was getting in my way so I kinda yelled at him."

This was a neighborhood party and the kids were all playing some basketball shooting game in the basement. I asked him who was beating him and he said Paige. I said, well at least she is cute right? He said yeah but her sister looks just like her and she is my age. I figure ok, he kinda likes this girl. "So you kinda like Hannah?" "Well, kinda, but I like Kaylee more, it's just that...". "It's just what?"

You have to understand, my son has come out with some doozies over his short lifetime so I really didn't know what to expect. My buddy has been telling me I have to keep a journal of his material so I guess this is really my first, although I will try to recall more later.

Anyway, he hesitates but I press him. "It's just what?" "Well, she doesn't even have enough money for school lunch", he says kinda sheepishly. Phew right? I have an opportunity to teach a nice lesson, blah blah blah.

"Well, that's ok, who cares about that, as long as you like her and she gets to eat right?"

"Well, yeah, she gets to eat but, "she'll take my money, when I'm in need, yea she's a trifflin, friend in deed"" he says with a big grin on his face. For those of you who don't know, those are lyrics to a Kanye West song playing right now called Gold Digger. He set me up (i think?).

WTF is my 8 year old thinking about that for? How does he even connect the dots? What the hell am I doing wrong? Wow, I suck at being a parent.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

I like poker again; kinda

Just went on a little run on Poker Stars. Won a $15+1 SNG and then a 2 table $6+.50 SNG. Figured I wouldn't write about it though because you know how those poker gods are. Well, I guess the rule isn't just about talking about. Can't think that you are going well either.

As soon as I won the second one, I jumped into another $6+.50. First hand, I get pocket Aces. I raise to 140 where the big blind is 20 since about 6 people were in. I get a couple callers. The flop is a 5, K, and 6. I bet 200 and get one caller. Next card is a J. I bet 400 and he calls again. Last card is K. I check and he goes all in. Now that is why I checked, to see what he would do. He went all in. Why the hell did I call it anyway??? Oh, that's right, because I suck at this game. He had K10 and I am done. Oh, well, it happens right. So one of the other guys at the table says "that is a tough beat", which I agreed, but didn't say anything. Then ding dong that chased me down, says "been there". Umm, yeah, of course you've been there. You suck worse than I do. I didn't say anything but just closed out the table and decided to whine some more.

So how was everyone's new year's eve? The wifey and I got a babysitter and went to dinner with some friends. Kind of expensive but it was new year's eve so we decided, since the babysitter was available we would do it. The restaurant was close by and we wouldn't be too late anyway.

We went with our friends that have no kids. Thanks to our night, they will most likely never have any either. After the first 4 courses of the meal was done, and we were waiting for the main course, my cell rings. Uh-oh my wife says. The place was kinda loud so I stepped out into the snow and answered the call from home.

"Umm, hi, umm, the baby woke up and threw up in his bed. He got some on his jammies and he is awake and so is Jack." I looked through the window to my worried wife and waved like hell to get her out there. We obviously had to leave but I wanted her to have to make the final call. "Ok, hold on, here is Tracy".

The restaurant packed up our main course and we got home just in time to clean up the puke while the ball dropped on 2006. Happy New Year everyone!

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