27 JUL 06
My mood has improved a little. I haven’t played a single hand of poker since Vegas - not sure how much longer I can hold out. This self imposed exile is starting to get on my nerves. It’s strange going to bed before 11 pm. Maybe that’s why I’ve been stressed lately – I’m getting too much sleep.
I used to be an 8 or 9 hour per night sleeper. I distinctly remember arguing with my dad about how much sleep was appropriate for a teenager. I figured it was at least 9 hours. If I had my way, it would have been “until my body wakes me up,” but dad was having none of that. We settled on 8 hours, and I remained pissed until I left home for college.
I’m still not sure what I’m going to tell my son when we have this same conversation.
Fast forward to medical school and internship. Those stories you hear about doctors getting very little sleep are all true, or at least they used to be. One month, while working in the medical ICU, I averaged 110 hours per week – 36 hours (at least) in the hospital and 8 at home before I started it all again. I got two days off that month. I actually fell asleep in the operating room once – a particularly disgusting story that will have to wait for another time.
The side effect of all this is that I now only need about 5 hours of sleep per night. Any more than that, and I begin to get ornery. Surly, even.
How much sleep do you need? How much sleep are you willing to sacrifice if the poker game is really good?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sorry ‘bout that
25 JUL 06
My apologies for yesterday’s depressing post. I was in a foul mood. Still, there was no need to take it out on you.
Go see Clerks II. If you are offended, it will make me feel better. When you are in a foul mood (like I am), all you really want is company.
If you laugh your ass off (like I did), don’t tell me about it. I want to keep this mood a little longer.
My apologies for yesterday’s depressing post. I was in a foul mood. Still, there was no need to take it out on you.
Go see Clerks II. If you are offended, it will make me feel better. When you are in a foul mood (like I am), all you really want is company.
If you laugh your ass off (like I did), don’t tell me about it. I want to keep this mood a little longer.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Reality Check
24 JUL 06
Right now it’s 12:37 pm. At 12:31 pm (six minutes ago), I told a nice young woman and her near-deaf husband that she has breast cancer. And it’s bad. She smiled and said she kind of expected it. Then, she turned to her husband and asked if he was okay. He looked stunned.
That’s when she started crying.
What were you doing today at 12:31 pm? I assure you, I wasn’t thinking about poker.
Right now it’s 12:37 pm. At 12:31 pm (six minutes ago), I told a nice young woman and her near-deaf husband that she has breast cancer. And it’s bad. She smiled and said she kind of expected it. Then, she turned to her husband and asked if he was okay. He looked stunned.
That’s when she started crying.
What were you doing today at 12:31 pm? I assure you, I wasn’t thinking about poker.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hello from Alaska!
Sorry I've been silent for a while. Not much poker to report. Still on hiatus.
I'm blogging from the Army hospital at Ft. Wainright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It doesn't get dark up here in the "Interior" this time of year, so sleeping has been tough. I'm helping relieve another radiologist who has been solo for most of the summer. I did the solo thing when I was in Germany, and it sucks. I'm glad to be able to give him a break. Besides, a week in Alaska sure beats a stick in the eye.
Played soccer yesterday for the first time in a long time. I'm so out of shape (for an Army guy) it's pathetic. To punish myself, I ran for a half hour afterwards. That'll teach me. We lost on free kicks in overtime. My total contribution was not throwing up and helping a soldier who popped his hamstring so loudly that I thought someone clapped their hands.
I'm still on Alaska Airlines-tilt after long airport delays and lost luggage, so maybe I'll be in a better mood when I next post.
As Seattle John says, be well, and I hope you are winning.
I'm blogging from the Army hospital at Ft. Wainright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It doesn't get dark up here in the "Interior" this time of year, so sleeping has been tough. I'm helping relieve another radiologist who has been solo for most of the summer. I did the solo thing when I was in Germany, and it sucks. I'm glad to be able to give him a break. Besides, a week in Alaska sure beats a stick in the eye.
Played soccer yesterday for the first time in a long time. I'm so out of shape (for an Army guy) it's pathetic. To punish myself, I ran for a half hour afterwards. That'll teach me. We lost on free kicks in overtime. My total contribution was not throwing up and helping a soldier who popped his hamstring so loudly that I thought someone clapped their hands.
I'm still on Alaska Airlines-tilt after long airport delays and lost luggage, so maybe I'll be in a better mood when I next post.
As Seattle John says, be well, and I hope you are winning.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
WPBT 2006 Trip Report
12 JUL 06
Yet another incredible WPBT. Huge thanks to April for setting this up. I can’t imagine what you went through to pull this off. We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude. And kudos again for the speakers. One of my complaints last year was that the speakers were out of control and droned on too long. Not so this year. The stories and readings were brief, entertaining and appropriate. Howard Lederer was angry and topical, but what a great forum to talk about the politics of poker, especially given recent legislation. Roshambo with Phil Gordon was hysterical. Was anyone surprised that Veneno won heads up?
Random thoughts from Vegas:
I stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget. I was in their newly renovated North tower. It was… nice. I guess. I will forevermore stay on the strip, if for no other reason than it took almost an hour on the “Deuce” to get from the Nugget to Caesar’s Palace.
Random conversation heard on the Deuce. I was sitting in front of a father/son combo. The son (Timmy) sounded like he may be 5 or 6.
Timmy: Dad, what kind of birds do you like?
Dad: I don’t know, Timmy. I guess I like colorful ones like parrots or fast ones like falcons.
Timmy: No Dad. I meant do you like alive ones or dead ones.
Pause.
Dad: I guess I prefer the live ones, Timmy.
Timmy: I like the dead ones.
Dr. Chako gets off the bus.
Random cool occurrences:
I got a hug from Veneno. I belong, baby.
I played one table over from Shannon Elizabeth at the Venetian. Geeaahh.
I played a live game with Heather. As I said below, sorry I stormed off. Like I’ve said before, I’m prone to tilt. BTW – on that hand you said I had a huge tell, I was semi-bluffing with middle pair, weak kicker. Sorry.
My friend Dr. C won 10th place in the blogger tourney. She didn’t know until afterwards the quality of players she was up against.
Okay. I’m a geek. I admit it. Still, it meant a great deal to me that both Dr. Pauly and Otis remembered me (and even remembered my name)!
I got to shake hands with the thricely confirmed Bobby Bracelet. I called him over to my 2/5 NL table at MGM and we chatted briefly. It wasn’t until I saw him at the tournament that he noted that I was playing next to Laura Prepon from That 70’s Show. He laughed about it because he thought I was calling him over to introduce him to Laura, but in fact, I just wanted to shake the hand of the famous Playboy Mansion dweller. Who cares about some overly aggressive actress (she actually played decent poker), I met Bobby, dammit!
I shook hands, met or saw all my blogger heroes, including Speaker, Al, Iggy, Felicia, Grubby, Dawn Summers, Sir Waffles, Bill Rini, Pii (who started to my right in the tourney and placed 2nd), Joaquin (who started to my left), Michael Craig (seen here with Jennifer Harman courtesy of ccexplore, who is moving to Pokerworks, which is blocked on my hospital computer), DoubleA’s, Linda Geenen (also at Pokerworks and therefore blocked), and Amy Calistri.
Franklin (at least I think it was Franklin. His last post says he wasn’t planning on going to the WPBT Summer classic) got the stethoscope bounty, and F-Train won the thing. Well done to all the finishers.
I wish I spent more time playing donkey poker with bloggers as opposed to throwing my money at morons in the NL games. Only once did I get my money in with the worst hand, and now the BR is going to need some serious nursing before I’m ready to crash the tables again. Don’t worry; I’ll be back.
It just might not be until the next WPBT.
Yet another incredible WPBT. Huge thanks to April for setting this up. I can’t imagine what you went through to pull this off. We all owe you a huge debt of gratitude. And kudos again for the speakers. One of my complaints last year was that the speakers were out of control and droned on too long. Not so this year. The stories and readings were brief, entertaining and appropriate. Howard Lederer was angry and topical, but what a great forum to talk about the politics of poker, especially given recent legislation. Roshambo with Phil Gordon was hysterical. Was anyone surprised that Veneno won heads up?
Random thoughts from Vegas:
I stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget. I was in their newly renovated North tower. It was… nice. I guess. I will forevermore stay on the strip, if for no other reason than it took almost an hour on the “Deuce” to get from the Nugget to Caesar’s Palace.
Random conversation heard on the Deuce. I was sitting in front of a father/son combo. The son (Timmy) sounded like he may be 5 or 6.
Timmy: Dad, what kind of birds do you like?
Dad: I don’t know, Timmy. I guess I like colorful ones like parrots or fast ones like falcons.
Timmy: No Dad. I meant do you like alive ones or dead ones.
Pause.
Dad: I guess I prefer the live ones, Timmy.
Timmy: I like the dead ones.
Dr. Chako gets off the bus.
Random cool occurrences:
I got a hug from Veneno. I belong, baby.
I played one table over from Shannon Elizabeth at the Venetian. Geeaahh.
I played a live game with Heather. As I said below, sorry I stormed off. Like I’ve said before, I’m prone to tilt. BTW – on that hand you said I had a huge tell, I was semi-bluffing with middle pair, weak kicker. Sorry.
My friend Dr. C won 10th place in the blogger tourney. She didn’t know until afterwards the quality of players she was up against.
Okay. I’m a geek. I admit it. Still, it meant a great deal to me that both Dr. Pauly and Otis remembered me (and even remembered my name)!
I got to shake hands with the thricely confirmed Bobby Bracelet. I called him over to my 2/5 NL table at MGM and we chatted briefly. It wasn’t until I saw him at the tournament that he noted that I was playing next to Laura Prepon from That 70’s Show. He laughed about it because he thought I was calling him over to introduce him to Laura, but in fact, I just wanted to shake the hand of the famous Playboy Mansion dweller. Who cares about some overly aggressive actress (she actually played decent poker), I met Bobby, dammit!
I shook hands, met or saw all my blogger heroes, including Speaker, Al, Iggy, Felicia, Grubby, Dawn Summers, Sir Waffles, Bill Rini, Pii (who started to my right in the tourney and placed 2nd), Joaquin (who started to my left), Michael Craig (seen here with Jennifer Harman courtesy of ccexplore, who is moving to Pokerworks, which is blocked on my hospital computer), DoubleA’s, Linda Geenen (also at Pokerworks and therefore blocked), and Amy Calistri.
Franklin (at least I think it was Franklin. His last post says he wasn’t planning on going to the WPBT Summer classic) got the stethoscope bounty, and F-Train won the thing. Well done to all the finishers.
I wish I spent more time playing donkey poker with bloggers as opposed to throwing my money at morons in the NL games. Only once did I get my money in with the worst hand, and now the BR is going to need some serious nursing before I’m ready to crash the tables again. Don’t worry; I’ll be back.
It just might not be until the next WPBT.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Early WPBT Report - More to Follow
I’m typing this from the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. Poker was a bloodbath, yet I had a blast with all the bloggers. Congrats to my friend Dr. Maricela C. for cashing in 10th place, and congrats to Franklin for knocking me out (even though he was severely dominated) and collecting the stethoscope bounty.
I hope to post more thoughts and a trip report in the coming days.
Oh yeah – Maigrey – sorry you had to witness the huge mega-tilt when that moron called my $100 raise with pocket 4s. I should have at least said goodbye before I stormed off. I enjoyed meeting you and it was fun chatting about NL strategy with a pro.
I hope to post more thoughts and a trip report in the coming days.
Oh yeah – Maigrey – sorry you had to witness the huge mega-tilt when that moron called my $100 raise with pocket 4s. I should have at least said goodbye before I stormed off. I enjoyed meeting you and it was fun chatting about NL strategy with a pro.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
WPBT Baby!!
6 JUL 06
T minus 24 hours until lift-off.
I am standing here beside myself.
(Name the movie for an added bonus).
T minus 24 hours until lift-off.
I am standing here beside myself.
(Name the movie for an added bonus).
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Ozzfest Recap
1 JUL 06
What an experience!! Read here for a recap of how I got VIP Ozzfest tickets and what I decided to do with them. I picked a winner and he went and had a great time.
I listed the tickets for free on Craigslist, and got tons of responses. Since I didn’t want people wondering if I chose them or not, I decided to send everyone an email. Here is that email with my additional analysis – free for your reading enjoyment.
Thanks for asking about my tickets to Ozzfest. UNFORTUNATELY, if you are getting this email, it means I didn’t pick you.
The decision was MUCH harder than I expected. I got over 100 requests. Here are some of the best:
I would piss myself and stay in those pants for 3 days just to hear System of a Down for 1 minute – Clearly the most outrageous, but a little difficult to verify. Would he come to my house every day?
This may be my last chance to see Ozzy solo before I (or he) die. - Too true, but I hear Ozzy was quite up to the show.
I work in a Women's Support Shelter – There are so many things wrong with giving this woman an Ozzfest ticket, I don’t know where to begin.
My daughter’s last name is Osborne, so it’s meant to be. – This one got serious consideration and was in the top 5.
I will ride my bmx bike with no breaks all the way down to south Seattle or wherever you live. – Dude. I’m a doctor. While I think the exercise might be good, I don’t want anyone injured.
I’ll trade you an iPod for them – I actually got a lot of these offers. Can you listen to NRP on an iPod?
Today is my b’day. - Happy birthday!! No tickets!!
100 pounds of Starbucks coffee – I was called a COMPLETE IDIOT for not taking this one. Now, if it was 100 bottles of Diet Coke, I may have reconsidered.
An upright piano – Huh?
I will trade tattoos for the tickets. - Tempting, and clearly outrageous, but I’ve gone 39 years without a tattoo, I don’t think I’ll start now.
1 1/2 hour heated stone massage with aromatherapy – Also very tempting, but I’m guessing no “happy ending,” so no tickets.
I will eat any thing you put on the plate as long as it is not harmful to me. – I loved this one and it was also in the top 5, but again, I just can’t see driving over there with a plate of (name your favorite Fear Factor disgusto-meal here) and knocking on his door.
I will trade u 2 tickets for the PINK concert this Sunday – Uh, maybe if I don’t like Ozzy, I’ll like Pink?
$200+ - Even though I said “no money” I got several offers for outright cash, and probably could have gotten over $300 for them. The way poker has been lately, I probably should have taken the cash.
The winner is a guy named Jamie who was willing to write me into the credits of his upcoming CD. I asked for the most outrageous offer, and that was clearly it.
He just sent me this email.
Good Morning! I'm tired, sunburned, and poor... but I had an awesome time! My friend did as well. The seats were pretty great, just above the pit level. It was so nice getting to park in the VIP area and get free water and such in the VIP tent. That was a life saver.
Ozzy was fantastic... not just a couple smiles here and there... it was the entire time he played. He still gets around and gets into the music a lot which is great to see.
I met a couple of very flirty, very attractive young ladies there too, which was nice. They even took my camera phone with them into the girls VIP bathroom area and took some interesting photos together for me.
Anyway we had a wonderful time, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
-Jamie (Proto-Leviathan)
PS: What did you think of my CD??
He gave me a “rough draft” of a CD from his band. They sound really tight and probably could have played right along with System of a Down and the other groups at Ozzfest.
All in all, a great experience. I highly recommend it to anyone with a similar situation. I got tons more enjoyment out of this than an extra $200 would have gotten me.
Now where are those damn camera phone pics?
What an experience!! Read here for a recap of how I got VIP Ozzfest tickets and what I decided to do with them. I picked a winner and he went and had a great time.
I listed the tickets for free on Craigslist, and got tons of responses. Since I didn’t want people wondering if I chose them or not, I decided to send everyone an email. Here is that email with my additional analysis – free for your reading enjoyment.
Thanks for asking about my tickets to Ozzfest. UNFORTUNATELY, if you are getting this email, it means I didn’t pick you.
The decision was MUCH harder than I expected. I got over 100 requests. Here are some of the best:
I would piss myself and stay in those pants for 3 days just to hear System of a Down for 1 minute – Clearly the most outrageous, but a little difficult to verify. Would he come to my house every day?
This may be my last chance to see Ozzy solo before I (or he) die. - Too true, but I hear Ozzy was quite up to the show.
I work in a Women's Support Shelter – There are so many things wrong with giving this woman an Ozzfest ticket, I don’t know where to begin.
My daughter’s last name is Osborne, so it’s meant to be. – This one got serious consideration and was in the top 5.
I will ride my bmx bike with no breaks all the way down to south Seattle or wherever you live. – Dude. I’m a doctor. While I think the exercise might be good, I don’t want anyone injured.
I’ll trade you an iPod for them – I actually got a lot of these offers. Can you listen to NRP on an iPod?
Today is my b’day. - Happy birthday!! No tickets!!
100 pounds of Starbucks coffee – I was called a COMPLETE IDIOT for not taking this one. Now, if it was 100 bottles of Diet Coke, I may have reconsidered.
An upright piano – Huh?
I will trade tattoos for the tickets. - Tempting, and clearly outrageous, but I’ve gone 39 years without a tattoo, I don’t think I’ll start now.
1 1/2 hour heated stone massage with aromatherapy – Also very tempting, but I’m guessing no “happy ending,” so no tickets.
I will eat any thing you put on the plate as long as it is not harmful to me. – I loved this one and it was also in the top 5, but again, I just can’t see driving over there with a plate of (name your favorite Fear Factor disgusto-meal here) and knocking on his door.
I will trade u 2 tickets for the PINK concert this Sunday – Uh, maybe if I don’t like Ozzy, I’ll like Pink?
$200+ - Even though I said “no money” I got several offers for outright cash, and probably could have gotten over $300 for them. The way poker has been lately, I probably should have taken the cash.
The winner is a guy named Jamie who was willing to write me into the credits of his upcoming CD. I asked for the most outrageous offer, and that was clearly it.
He just sent me this email.
Good Morning! I'm tired, sunburned, and poor... but I had an awesome time! My friend did as well. The seats were pretty great, just above the pit level. It was so nice getting to park in the VIP area and get free water and such in the VIP tent. That was a life saver.
Ozzy was fantastic... not just a couple smiles here and there... it was the entire time he played. He still gets around and gets into the music a lot which is great to see.
I met a couple of very flirty, very attractive young ladies there too, which was nice. They even took my camera phone with them into the girls VIP bathroom area and took some interesting photos together for me.
Anyway we had a wonderful time, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
-Jamie (Proto-Leviathan)
PS: What did you think of my CD??
He gave me a “rough draft” of a CD from his band. They sound really tight and probably could have played right along with System of a Down and the other groups at Ozzfest.
All in all, a great experience. I highly recommend it to anyone with a similar situation. I got tons more enjoyment out of this than an extra $200 would have gotten me.
Now where are those damn camera phone pics?
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