Warning – Do NOT Scroll Down If You Have a Weak Stomach

31 JAN 06

I’m no Iggy, but I know a damn good photo when I see one. Please heed the warning in the title. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here is the story:

An Australian sheep farmer was puzzled at the disappearance of sheep on his farm. After a few weeks of sheep disappearing the farmer decided to put up an electric fence. This is what he found!

Scroll Down for Photo...









Last chance to stop!!

"Only" a Super Geek

30 JAN 06

I am a Super Geek. What’s your score?

Time

27 JAN 06

How do you balance your time? Time to me is precious. I have many things that pull on my time, and I have always found a way to get everything done. I remember begging my dad for a few more hours of sleep when I was a teenager. If I could have been allowed to sleep for 9 or 10 hours a night, I would have been thrilled. In medical school, and, more specifically my internship, I learned to get by on 3 to 4 hours a night. I sustained that for a year. Now I’ve bumped that up to 5 hours a night. In fact, I really don’t like sleeping longer than that. If I get more than 6 hours, my back starts to hurt and I get all cranky. Even on the weekends, I often get up long before the rest of the family. It’s a great time of day – alone time. I surf the internet, play chess, and maybe watch a little TV. I stopped playing internet poker in the early morning because at 6 am here on the west coast, the only competition comes from Sweden, and those players are just too good.

As I mentioned in my last post, there is this little thing I'm going to start doing that promises to make me some good money. It may pull me away from poker, and I don’t know how to feel about it. I’m a little concerned that it may pull me away from family, but it’s something I can do before the kids come home from school and after they go to bed, so that’s not a big issue. My wife is a CPA, and I really don’t see her much this time of year anyway, so that shouldn’t be too bad.

I guess the real question is, how much are my hobbies worth? Can I put a dollar value on the time spent away from a sure (financial) thing?

How about you? Let say you have an expected return of 1 BB per hour at poker and you usually play 10/20. So, you expect to make 20 bucks an hour. If you could make $40 per hour at work during the time you were playing poker, would you still hit the casino? How about for $100 per hour? $300? More?

Why Do I Play Poker?

23 JAN 06

There are several authors that have addressed this issue. Good players should understand the motivations of the folks sitting across the felt if they want to maximize the amount of extractable money. So, what is my motivation?

Good question – made even better by recent events. You see, up until now, my motivation has been to make money. Pure and simple.

Here is the problem. Pretty soon, I will be guaranteed to lose money every time I play poker. Why, you ask? Have I decided to become an “official” donkey, instead of just an occasional donkey?

No. It’s not that simple. Please don’t think I’m complaining, because I realize how lucky I am. My problem is that I found away to make some serious money while sitting at home on my computer. Without gambling. The amount of money is so significant that I could never hope to get even close at the casino – even if I played 50/100 and won every time I went out.

So, I’m forced to ask – what is my new motivation for playing? I can no longer say it’s because of the money. Maybe just the competition will be enough. I hope so, because I really like playing, and I love winning.

Stay tuned.

78 thru 101

With great fanfare and eager anticipation, I give you the final installment of 101 things about me. As promised, I've included a picture of my kids at the bottom.

78. Science Fantasy is my favorite genre.
79. I have read nearly everything by Stephen King and Piers Anthony.
80. As I am typing this, my three year old son came into the room with his shirt over his head yelling, “I am the ghost of Hanukkah!!”
81. I played video games nearly every day as a child, and eventually worked in an arcade.
82. I once played a video game for 13 hours straight.
83. It was the only time in my life I had hallucinations.
84. My favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride.
85. Dr. Chako is a childhood nickname. I used to wash dishes in an Italian restaurant and the immigrant workers called me Chako. One day, they asked me if I planned on washing dishes my whole life. I told them I was going to be a doctor someday. As a joke, they started calling me Dr. Chako, as in, “Hey, Dr. Chako. Go clean up the vomit by the cash register.”
86. I ended up working with a physician actually named Dr. Chacko. She was my boss.
87. She never found out about my nickname.
88. The first blog I ever read was The Drudge Report. I rarely check it anymore.
89. The first poker blog I read was Dr. Pauly. It’s still the first blog I read every day.
90. I am obsessive about my hobbies.
91. My hobbies have been video games, Dungeons & Dragons, running, racquetball, golf and poker.
92. Now that I play poker, all of my other hobbies have been sorely neglected.
93. I will play in the WSOP.
94. I absolutely cannot wait for the next WBPT.
95. My wife is a winning poker player.
96. My wife consistently scores higher than me on IQ tests.
97. Those last two items may be related.
98. My wife is a CPA.
99. I have not written a check or paid a bill in over 3 years.
100. I married up.
101. I have thought of at least four things that I cannot put on this list. My wife knows about all of them.

53 thru 77

53. I have lived in New York, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Georgia, Wuerzburg, Germany and Washington State.
54. I’ve been to 19 different foreign countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Vatican City, France, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Jordan and Egypt.
55. My favorite city outside of the US is Prague, in the Czech Republic.
56. I have run two marathons. The best was the 2003 Paris Marathon.
57. The best way to see Paris, France is jogging for 26 miles around the city.
58. I drive a beautiful BMW convertible, but I look at Ferraris on eBay almost every day.
59. I have driven a Ferrari 360 Modena Spider with F1 paddle shifters. It was better than I thought it would be.
60. I used to own a Saturn.
61. I am an Osteopathic physician.
62. Those last two items are related.
63. I cried when I read this post, because it made me remember my mom’s death. I can’t remember the last time I cried.
64. I wanted to go to my 20th high school reunion just to rub my success in the face of at least 10 different people.
65. Just typing that embarrasses me.
66. I didn’t go.
67. The first girl I asked to my senior prom turned me down and ended up sitting at my table with her date, who happened to be her brother.
68. I had a woobie as a child. It was an NFL blanket with a satin border. I used to rub the satin between my index finger and middle finger for comfort.
69. I can’t resist the urge to rub clothing between my fingers when I walk through a department store.
70. I celebrated my 10th birthday in the hospital.
71. I have a 10 inch scar on my left flank. My dad has a matching scar on his right.
72. I have never tried cigarettes, pot or recreational drugs.
73. I used to pour out my beer at parties when no one was looking.
74. I developed a taste for single malt scotch when I was in Scotland.
75. I am intimidated by golfers that wear black gloves.
76. I am intimidated by anyone wearing a “doo-rag.”
77. I have only been intimidated at poker table once. It was the first time I played 10/20.

26 thru 52

Feel free to scroll down to my previous post for items 1 thru 25 of this epic "101 things about me" post.

26. I have correctly predicted every next president one year prior to the election.
27. My two Clinton predictions both got me thrown out of an Operating Room.
28. I am a losing poker player, but I believe I can turn it around this year.
29. I am tiltable.
30. I have only been playing poker seriously for 8 months.
31. I’m proud to say I was born in Brooklyn, NY even though we moved upstate when I was one year old.
32. I miss the Catskill Mountains in the fall.
33. My 8 year old son has my gift for numbers. When it was time for his friend to go home, my son had to tell his buddy his mom’s cell phone number.
34. The only job I was ever fired from is when I was a telemarketer. I was fired for taking off too much time from work.
35. I was interviewing for medical school at the time.
36. The telemarketing firm asked me to come back two days after they fired me because I was the most productive salesman for the month.
37. I don’t know what that says about me, but I don’t want to think about it.
38. My dad is blind. He’s had 3 heart attacks. He has diabetes and a host of other medical conditions.
39. My dad is not disabled.
40. I have been to invitation-only parties with P Diddy and Usher.
41. Me and my two buddies were the only white guys in the room.
42. Usher’s babes are better looking.
43. I do mammography, and I think I’m very good at it. I know I have saved dozen of lives by detecting breast cancer early enough to do something about it.
44. If I lose my license to practice medicine, it will be because of mammography. Up to 50% of breast cancers are visible on the prior mammogram.
45. I hate mammography.
46. One of my favorite anatomical locations is the gastrocnemosemimembranosus bursa. It’s behind the knee.
47. I do a finger trick where I do the Vulcan sign \\// with one hand and the “reversed Vulcan” \!!/ with the other, then I switch back and forth rapidly.
48. I had way too much free time as a kid.
49. I jumped out of an airplane with 95 pounds of gear in total darkness. Airborne!!
50. My chute did not deploy right away. I was too busy bicycling my legs for my life to flash before my eyes.
51. When the chute finally opened, I got the best view of the Hale-Bopp comet on the planet.
52. I believe in God.

MeMe

1. I am married to my best friend - edit: I WAS married to my best friend. Now we're just great friends.
2. I have really cute kids (I resisted the urge to say they are cuter than yours, because I’m trying to be a better person. I will post their picture after the last installment and let you be the judge). - edit: I no longer have the van Dyke, but I still have really cute kids
3. I am a college dropout.
4. I have gotten three legitimate job offers for over 1 million dollars.
5. I occasionally pick my nose.
6. I swam in the Red Sea.
7. I floated on the Dead Sea.
8. The war in the Middle East disappoints me for selfish reasons. I’ve been to Petra, Jordan. I want to take my family there, but I’m too nervous. You’ve seen the Treasury building in Petra if you’ve seen the 3rd Indian Jones movie.
9. I’ve played guitar my entire life.
10. I’ve played guitar in a club with a half-naked woman sitting on my lap.
11. I have an 11 handicap.
12. I played golf at St. Andrews 3 times and never shot better than 95.
13. I got a hole-in-one. It was especially sweet because I was playing with my ex-wife at the time.
14. Men’s Journal magazine did a survey and found that the most trusted profession was being a soldier. The second most trusted was being a doctor. I’m fiercely proud to have been both.
15. I left active duty in the US Army after 21 years without any retirement benefits.
16. In 21 years I was only promoted twice – my promotion to Lieutenant Colonel came with one year left on Active Duty.
17. I was extremely underpaid by the Army for what I did, but I probably made more than you think.
18. I volunteered to go to Iraq and Kosovo.
19. I was in combat in Iraq. Three days before I left, a soldier who was 50 feet away from me got shot in the shoulder.
20. I have received some very high awards during my military service (including the Bronze Star), but the one I’m most proud of is my Good Conduct Medal. It’s the only award that says I was enlisted before I became an officer.
21. I am a Pro-Choice Republican.
22. I’m often embarrassed by my political party.
23. Despite my embarrassment with Republicans, the Democrats are too disorganized to lure me away.
24. I don’t take enough interest in politics to be an Independent or Libertarian.
25. I have never voted in a Presidential election – all for legitimate reasons. During the two GW Bush elections, I was otherwise engaged with military commitments.
26. I have correctly predicted every next president one year prior to the election. EDIT: I finally got my first presidential prediction wrong. I figured Hillary was a shoe-in. Mind you, that’s certainly not what I wanted, it’s just that in November 2007 I figured she was unbeatable.
27. My two Bill Clinton predictions both got me thrown out of an Operating Room.
28. I am a lifetime losing poker player, but I believe I can turn it around this year. - edit: the last two years have turned this around in a big way, mostly due to switching to NL.
29. I am tiltable.
30. I have been playing poker seriously since we moved to Washington State in 2004.
31. I’m proud to say I was born in Brooklyn, NY even though we moved upstate when I was one year old.
32. I miss the Catskill Mountains in the fall.
33. My oldest son has my gift for numbers. When he was 8 and it was time for his friend to go home, my son had to tell his buddy his mom’s cell phone number.
34. The only job I was ever fired from is when I was a telemarketer. I was fired for taking off too much time from work.
35. I was interviewing for medical school at the time.
36. The telemarketing firm asked me to come back two days after they fired me because I was the most productive salesman for the month.
37. I don’t know what that says about me, but I don’t want to think about it.
38. My dad was blind. He lived through 2 heart attacks. He had diabetes and a host of other medical conditions. My dad was not disabled.
39. He died suddenly the day I was scheduled to come home from Iraq.
40. I have been to invitation-only parties with P Diddy and Usher.
41. Me and my two buddies were the only white guys in the room.
42. Usher’s babes are better looking.
43. I do mammography, and I think I’m very good at it. I know I have saved dozen of lives by detecting breast cancer early enough to do something about it.
44. If I lose my license to practice medicine, it will be because of mammography. Up to 50% of breast cancers are visible on the prior mammogram.
45. I hate mammography.
46. One of my favorite anatomical locations is the gastrocnemosemimembranosus bursa. It’s behind the knee.
47. I do a finger trick where I do the Vulcan sign \\// with one hand and the “reversed Vulcan” \!!/ with the other, then I switch back and forth rapidly.
48. I had way too much free time as a kid.
49. I jumped out of an airplane with 95 pounds of gear in total darkness. Airborne!!
50. My chute did not deploy right away. I was too busy bicycling my legs for my life to flash before my eyes.
51. When the chute finally opened, I got the best view of the Hale-Bopp comet on the planet.
52. I believe in God.
53. I have lived in New York, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Georgia, Wuerzburg, Germany, Washington State and California.
54. I’ve been to 21 different foreign countries, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Vatican City, France, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait and Iraq.
55. My favorite city outside of the US is Prague, in the Czech Republic.
56. I have run two marathons. The best was the 2003 Paris Marathon.
57. The best way to see Paris, France is jogging for 26 miles around the city.
58. I used to drive a beautiful BMW convertible, but I look at Ferraris on eBay almost every day. EDIT: I am now the proud owner of a 1988 Ferrari 328 GTS! Edit #2: The Ferrari is gone, replaced by a stunning 1967 Mustang Fastback.
59. I have driven a Ferrari 360, 430 Spider and 458 Spider. They were better than I thought they would be.
60. I used to own a Saturn.
61. I am an Osteopathic physician.
62. Those last two items are related.
63. I cried when I read [another bloggers] post about her mom, because it made me remember my mom’s death. I can’t remember the last time I cried.
64. I wanted to go to my 20th high school reunion just to rub my success in the face of at least 10 different people.
65. Just typing that embarrasses me.
66. I didn’t go.
67. The first girl I asked to my senior prom turned me down and ended up sitting at my table with her date, who happened to be her brother.
68. I had a woobie as a child. It was an NFL blanket with a satin border. I used to rub the satin between my index finger and middle finger for comfort.
69. I can’t resist the urge to rub clothing between my fingers when I walk through a department store.
70. I celebrated my 10th birthday in the hospital.
71. I have a 10 inch scar on my left flank. My dad had a matching scar on his right.
72. I have never tried cigarettes, pot or recreational drugs. EDIT: I tried my first cigar when I was 43 years old. I managed 4 puffs before I got lightheaded and a little nauseous.
73. I used to pour out my beer at parties when no one was looking.
74. I developed a taste for single malt scotch when I was in Scotland.
75. I am intimidated by golfers that wear black gloves.
76. I am intimidated by anyone wearing a “doo-rag.”
77. I have only been intimidated at poker table once. It was the first time I played 10/20.
78. Science Fantasy is my favorite genre.
79. I have read nearly everything by Stephen King and Piers Anthony.
80. As I am typing this, my three year old son came into the room with his shirt over his head yelling, “I am the ghost of Hanukkah!!”
81. I played video games nearly every day as a child, and eventually worked in an arcade.
82. I once played a video game for 13 hours straight.
83. It was the only time in my life I had hallucinations.
84. My favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride.
85. Dr. Chako is a childhood nickname. I used to wash dishes in an Italian restaurant and the immigrant workers called me Chako. One day, they asked me if I planned on washing dishes my whole life. I told them I was going to be a doctor someday. As a joke, they started calling me Dr. Chako, as in, “Hey, Dr. Chako. Go clean up the vomit by the cash register.”
86. I ended up working with a physician actually named Dr. Chacko (note the extra "c"). She was my boss.
87. She never found out about my nickname. EDIT: I finally told her my nickname in 2009 when we met at RSNA in Chicago. Even though we no longer work together, I was still a little nervous about revealing my nickname to her.
88. The first blog I ever read was The Drudge Report. I rarely check it anymore.
89. The first poker blog I read was Dr. Pauly. It’s still one of the first blogs I read every day.
90. I am obsessive about my hobbies.
91. My hobbies have been video games, Dungeons & Dragons, running, racquetball, golf and poker.
92. Now that I play poker, all of my other hobbies have been sorely neglected.
93. I will play in the WSOP. Edit: I played a $1500 LHE event in 2012. Got knocked out 9 places out of the money. 
94. I absolutely cannot wait for the next WPBT.
95. My ex-wife is a winning poker player.
96. My ex-wife consistently scores higher than me on IQ tests.
97. Those last two items may be related.
98. My ex-wife is a CPA and a vice president with one of the largest tech companies in the world.
99. I have not written a check or paid a bill in many years. Edit: Um... divorce is a great teacher.
100. I married up. Edit: I still think this, even though we are no longer married. 

101. I have thought of at least four things that I cannot put on this list. My ex-wife knows about all of them.
101a. (I couldn't make this 102 because it's called 101 Things About Dr. Chako. Duh.) - I am madly in love with a woman who still can't tell if a flush beats a straight. She's also a physician and she's scary smart. What can I say, smarts is hot. 

Aren't they cute?! Just ignore the ugly guy in the middle.

Moving to Holland

12 JAN 06

Okay. I’m not really moving to Holland, but this might make me change my mind:




Daunting for sure, but I think I’m up to the task. The real question is, after I conquer the mountain, where do I stick the flag?

Anyway…

No poker last night. Instead, I had to listen to hours and hours of poker stories from the dear and patient wife’s Vegas Chick Trip. Now I know how she must feel listening to me when I come back from the Boy’s Trip.

I kid.

In fact, their trip was a rousing success. I have been encouraging her to take a Chick Trip to Vegas for years. I’ve been going once or twice a year since residency, and it’s always been a blast. Unfortunately, I've always felt a little guilt (intended?) because she stayed home with the kids while I was playing. Now I can truthfully say that she has been to Vegas more recently than me.

Hand, baby!! (Obscure Seinfeld reference. You know: I’ve got the upper hand. Never mind.)

I’m sure she’ll find a way to quantify our Vegas experience (I’ve been 5 times without her and she’s only been once without me), so I’ll lose that one too, but deep inside, I know I have hand. Besides, if she wants to push it, I’m headed to Holland (see above). The email I got with the picture says she is 7' 4" and 320 pounds. Maybe Qantas has cheap flights. They fly to Holland, right?

Final thought: Guys, if it's within your means, send your better half to Vegas on a chick trip. Forget the hand thing for a moment. It’s a great thing to do if they go with the right people (thanks sis!), and it may make it easier when you start the begging process for the next WBPT.

Unusual Problem

11 JAN 06

I actually heeded my own advice, and played two SNG’s. The lure of the online ring game was strong, but I resisted. Actually, I was doing some filing while I played, so I had a distraction. I wonder if I played fewer hands because of it…

Anyway, I busted out early in the first game, largely due to a perception issue. Most people playing the $15 turbo SNG’s are playing at Level One. They only care about what cards they have. They rarely care about playing styles of those around them unless someone is clearly over the top.

Here is the problem. I was dealt a succession of fairly good starting hands. In one orbit, I was dealt KJ, AJ, A8s, 10 10, and 5 5. Now this was the early rounds, so the blinds were at 15 / 30. There is no way I’m laying these hands down. I even tried to mix up my play by coming in with between 2 and 5 x BB. Well, when you play a lot of hands, you get no respect. When I got the 10s, the flop came A J 9. I bet to see where I was and got called. The turn brought an 8 giving me an OESD and a pair. I bet again and got called. The river was a blank. I check and he checked, showing his J 4. How do you cold call two bets on that board? How do you call the flop? I’ll tell you how. When it’s coming from someone you don’t respect, you do like Mike Caro says and call the bluffer to the river. I think he was referring to limit play, but if the bets aren’t big enough, it may be worth a call, if for no other reason than to send a message.

When the blind were at 25 / 50, I saw a free flop from the BB with 9h6h. The flop was 963, all diamonds. I bet ½ the pot and there were 4 callers. The turn was the Ace of clubs. I bet the pot for the Ace bluff, but I was hoping that someone had a naked Ace, or was still drawing and might fold (yeah, right). I got one caller (?). The river was the Queen of diamonds, putting four diamonds (edited) on the board. It’s down to me and one other guy who I have outchipped by 2:1. I put him on the Ace, but no hearts. I go all in, and he thinks for about 30 seconds before calling with pocket 6’s for the set. Am I the only one who folds a set here?

Anyway, I busted out soon after that, and went back to filing. One more SNG, and I had no such problem with early good hands. I tripled up when the blinds were at 50 / 100 with JJ against AQ and KQ and coasted to the final table. I made one great all-in heads-up call with AQ when he had K9. Bottom line:

No Limit Hold'em - $15.00/$1.00
You finished the tournament in 1st place. $108.00

Back to form? Almost. I let you know after a few more SNG’s.

BTW: I was thinking about this post from Joe Speaker while I played. Thank you, sir. I was not a pussy.

Banished!!

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Test

More Useless Stats

10 JAN 06

No Limit Hold'em $15.00/$1.00
You finished the tournament in 2nd place. $81.00

No Limit Hold'em $5.00/$0.50
1452 players - You finished the tournament in 39th place. $21.78

No Limit Hold'em $15.00/$1.00
You finished the tournament in 2nd place. $81.00

No Limit Hold'em $15.00/$1.00
You finished the tournament in 3rd place. $54.00

No Limit Hold'em $6.00/$0.50
45 players - You finished the tournament in 4th place. $30.00

No Limit Hold'em $15.00/$1.00
You finished the tournament in 3rd place. $54.00

Finally – I always wanted to do this…

Seat 2: DrChako (1920 in chips) Seat 4: machobeb3 (1455 in chips)
Dealt to DrChako [8s 8c]
*** RIVER *** [2d 7d 8d 8h] [3s]
DrChako: shows [8s 8c] (four of a kind, Eights)
machobeb3: shows [As Kc] (a pair of Eights)
DrChako said, "dem quads beeches"

Final thought: STICK TO THE SNG’s, DAMMIT!!

You Sat on What?

Second post today, but I was inspired by Lady Falcon. Here is one of my better x-rays.



-Dr. C

Tilt Resurfaces

9 JAN 06

Just a short woe-is-me post. I tilted again last night, and I’m upset about it. I was playing online (as opposed to at the Muckleshoot Casino, since the dear and patient wife is living it up in Vegas), and I went back to my old stand-by – the two table turbo SNG. I love these, and have had great success in the past. I have probably cashed in 40 or 50, and it’s one of the few areas of my online play where I’m up overall. If I could just avoid those ring games…

Anyway, in the first touney, I busted out 7th with AA, when the chip leader hit his set with pocket 9’s. In the second I busted 5th out with QQ when the AQ fill his straight on the river. No big deal. I’m used to that.

But I guess I was still smarting when I started the $10 + 1 Limit Hold ‘em Re-Buy tourney. As I’ve mentioned before, my wife is a better limit hold ‘em player than me, but I’ve cashed in a few so I was feeling pretty good. We started with about 160, and with re-buys, first place was just over $1000. The top 18 cashed.

In hour 3, I’m sitting on 25,000 chips. The tourney leader is one to my left (isn’t that always the case?) with about 50,000. I’m dealt 88 in the SB. Blinds are 600/1200. I raise to 2400, and he calls after a short pause. The flop is A J 4. I bet and he calls. The turn is a 2. I bet – he calls. The river is a Q. I check. He checks and flips over his J 6. I busted out one hand later in 30th.

In retrospect, it was worth a call preflop, and maybe even one bet on the flop, but why battle with the tourney leader at this stage? Perhaps I should have folded preflop? I think it was the tilt that caused me to bet the turn – I should have let the hand go at that point. In fact, he should have folded at that point, but donkey’s always draw – especially when they are the chip leader, I guess. I don't think I had the table image as a bluffer. He was risking a big part of his stack, too. I guess I made a decision and went with it.

My final though has nothing to do with this, but it made me smile when I read it: A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

Poker and Drugs

6 JAN 06

Okay, so I’m not the first one to come up with the idea of playing poker on drugs. Hell, I’m not even the first person to write about it. It’s blog-worthy because I won while on drugs. I may have to try it again, dammit.

The first thing you should know is that this isn’t as degenerate as it sounds. I’m a goody-goody. Besides, since I’m in the Army, I get drug tested all the time. They said it was random, but in December I had to take a urinalysis 4 times (as an aside, I’d rather have a hot stick shoved in my eye then piss in front of someone).

Dr. Chako: Do you have to stare at my penis while I do this?

Sergeant: Yes sir. Pretend I’m not here.

Dr. Chako: It’d be a helluva lot easier if YOU WEREN’T STARING AT MY PENIS.

But I digress.

So my powerful drug was actually Excedrin Migraine. I’ve taken them only once before, and, strangely enough, I had an improved ability to remember useless trivia. (I used to kick ass at Trivial Pursuit before the study of medicine rotted that part of my brain).

It was while doped up on this miracle drug that I headed to the Muckleshoot for a little 10/20. Unfortunately, there were no open seats, so I sat at a 6/12 game. 6/12 at the ‘shoot is worse than 4/8. 6-way action is the norm, and pocket pairs only means you have to pay all the way just to have someone suck out the flush at the river. Two consecutive hands got rivered on me, and I was stuck my $200 buy-in. Re-buy!

As soon as the new rack of pink $2 chips landed in front of me, a 10/20 seat opened up. I changed the pinks to reds and came in for my usual $500. Long story short – it was one of my best nights ever. Almost every read was correct, and I won the coin-flips that I normally lose. Here is the best part.

15BB per hour!!

That’s right. I averaged 15 Big Blinds per hour of play. I’ve never even come close to that. I’m usually happy with 1 to 2 BB per hour. 15 is unreal. I wished I didn’t have to get up so early this morning. The game was so perfect that I never wanted to leave. Two quick funnies:

1. I played one hand horribly. I slow-played AA in early position, got raised by the button (a weak tight player). I reraised, and HE CAPPED. I know he has KK. The flop is K J 8. He bets, and I raise. So far so good (he could have AK, but I doubt it). He reraises (because there are flush and straight draws out there). Here is when I made my mistake. I should have folded here. But I called. The turn is a 10, giving me the gutshot and an over pair. I check. He bets and I call. The river – Ace, baby. I bet while looking right at him. Before he can act I say, “You are going to call me with those kings, aren’t you?” He does, and I rake the pot. But here is teh funnay – he says, “Do you play here a lot?” The meaning is clear. He is saying I hope you play here a lot because you suck and I’m going to get your money. I’m not normally cocky (my wife may disagree). Perhaps it was the drugs talking but I said, “You know how when you play online and you find a real big fish? You put him in your buddy list because you want his action. I’m that guy. Big fish.” I don’t think he was too amused, but the dealer got a chuckle.

2. I’ve got 76 off-suit in middle position, but I’ve been on a rush. I’ve got the cards in one hand ready to fold, but my other hand is on the chips. I look at Rob (the dealer) and say, “The voices are telling me to play this hand.” Quick as a wink he replies, “One player to a hand, please.” The whole table fell out laughing.

I’m not all the way back, but I’m headed in that direction.

Happy Friggin’ New Year

3 JAN 06

So, I decide to start off the New Year with a big cash. Yeah, right. I’m all set to blog about my worst night (and biggest single-day loss) ever, when Mr. Speaker beats me to the punch. Basically, if you want to know what happened to me, read his blog.

Shit.

I guess it gives me a goal to overcome as the New Year progresses. Stay tuned.

Final thought: When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. - Helen Keller