Ummm...

Does anyone need a slightly used and recently unemployed radiologist?

Ferrari

The Wife keeps asking why I love Ferraris so much.

It's because of the flag.

Carlin Dead

June 23^rd, 2008

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/06/23/carlin.obit/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I’m upset by this. Probably more so because I’m drinking. I have “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops" in my bathroom right now. I can recite the 7 words verbatim. I saw him in concert once, back in the 80’s in New York. The original 7 words had expanded to over 400, and they had power.

Mongolian Cluster Fuck

See my beard
Ain’t it weird
Don’t be scared
It’s just my beard

R.I.P. George. Today’s philosophers are called comedians. You were among the best.

Post #500

June 21^st, 2008

First of all, let me start this epic post with a shout out to Dr. Pauly. Not only is he the hardest working blogger in the business, but his writing has never been better (and I’ve read just about everything he’s written in the past 4 years). Not only that, but despite what sounds like a massive car accident yesterday, he still made his way to the Rio so the rest of us can live the WSOP vicariously through his eyes. Well done, man.

So, what do I have to show for 500 posts? I’ve certainly made a small imprint on the intertubes. I have loyal readers, which, even for someone with as big an ego as mine, is still humbling. I have a place to brain dump and vent. I have a reason to join the bi-annual WPBT gatherings. I’ve made some great friends who’ve made me reflect and laugh. Other times they just leave me shaking my head.

So, I guess I just want to say thanks for sticking around and wasting your time getting some small pleasure from my musings. The next 500 will be better, I promise.

Now, please permit me to update my 101 Things About Dr. Chako post.

#9 – It’s now been over 36 years that I’ve played guitar. I’ll be changing this to say “my entire life.”

#14 – I talked about being a soldier and a doctor. In a few days, I’ll be officially out of the Army for good. I’m changing, “I’m fiercely proud to be both” to “I’m fiercely proud to have been both.”

#15 – I’m changing this to say, “I was in the Army for almost 22 years.”

#16 – I was actually promoted twice – my Lieutenant Colonel promotion came with one year left on Active Duty.

#19 – Obviously I need to change this one. I most certainly have been in combat, having served one short tour in Iraq.

#20 – I’m very proud of my Good Conduct Medal, but now I think I’m just a little more proud of the Bronze Star I received for my combat tour.

#26 – 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 last November I figured she was unbeatable.

#30 – I’ve now been playing poker seriously for almost 4 years. I’m still a losing player (lifetime), but I’m up this year and I still believe I can turn it around.

#38 and #39 are about my dad, who died this year. This will need some serious editing, but I’m not even sure where to begin.

Table Selection

June 20^th, 2008

Quick post today. Played some short-handed 20/40 at Diamond Lil’s. I’ve always prided myself in being very observant at the poker tables. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been distracted lately, so that’s my excuse for not recognizing Seattle John when he sat down across from me (no linkage because he was forced to take his site down, ala Bobby). It was great to see him again. Unfortunately, the table was breaking up. I was up 1.5 buy-ins and about to cash out when some gently applied peer pressure, plus the idiot notion of wanting to test myself against the best, had me sit right back down. Now, I’ve never claimed to be a great short-handed player, but I know about position and how to be aggressive. Shannon was to my left – she of the nut straight vs. my flopped set. It’s strange not being the most aggressive person at the table.

I laid a bad suck out on her pocket Queens when I turned a naked Ace, but she got it all back when she did the same to me, this time rivering an Ace into my made pair with a flush re-draw. Fortunes change fast at this level, but when we were all forced to join a 10-handed 20/40 game, I was still up. Soon after I arrived, I almost got felted in two consecutive hands against some bad suckouts, but managed to fight my way back to even.

I consider it a win.

My next post will be #500. I’ve got some ideas brewing. Hopefully, I’ll also be able to give you all some good news.

Random Musings

June 18, 2008

I’ve been on a very turbulent run at the tables lately. Up and down like crazy. As I review specific hands, I realize there have been several places where I could have won one or two more bets. There are also a few places (too many, in fact), where I didn’t need to lose a few extra bets.

For instance, I flop a set of 7s on a board of 3-5-7 with 2 spades. There are 6 players in the pot that was raised only once pre-flop. I bet, get raised by the best player at the table (a local pro named Sharron), and I (along with everyone else) call. Perhaps I should have raised? Make your decision before you read on.

The turn is a Queen. I lead out. Sharron raises. It’s just the two of us now. I re-raise and she caps. The river is a King that is not a spade. I bet out. Sharron raises. I put her on K-Q, or maybe As-Qs. I was all-in for this buy-in, so of course I called.

She tabled the stone-cold nuts and dragged a huge pot.

I’m sure I could have saved a few bets there. I’m also pretty sure that the combination of flopping my one and only set of the day, combined with my ultra-short stack, clouded my judgment.

I also wonder if the stress of what’s going on in my life right now has me in the right mind-set to be playing poker. I have all this free time right now to play poker because I’m waiting to hear about my potential new job. Today is the day the bidding closes for the contracts. After 4 pm today, they will gather all valid bids and award a winner.

I hope we win. Send some good vibes our way if you think about it.

Father’s Day 2008

This is my first Father’s Day without my dad. I don’t want to get too melancholy here, so I won’t. I got two Father’s Day presents yesterday.

Here is #1:

Ecco brand shoes. They are the "New York Bicycle Toe" if you are interested. Most comfortable shoes out of the box I’ve ever owned. Most expensive, too.

#2 may have been even better. I heard guitar music coming from upstairs, only to discover my youngest entertaining the troops with his rendition of, “I Love my Doggy,” an original composition. The best part was that he was using the very guitar that Dad used to teach me over 35 years ago.

Happy Father’s Day!

WPBT Summer 2008 – Vol 3

12 June 08

See recaps of our WPBT experience here:

Volume 1

Volume 2

News Flash: We interrupt this Trip Report for three quick hands from my last session at the Muckleshoot, the first two playing No Limit and the last playing 8/16 Limit.

Hand #1. I raise to $20 UTG with Q-10 spades and get called by a young pro-wannabe. The flop is A-2-4 with two spades. I lead out for $50 and he calls. He does this a lot because he feels he can outplay anyone at the table. The turn is a 10, giving me 2^nd pair and a flush draw. I bet $100. He calls. The river is the 8 of clubs. All I have is a pair of 10s. I give up and check. He now bets $100. What did I do?

Hand #2. I have Presto in the big blind (5-5). MP (the same “pro”) raises to $20. 6 (!) callers and we see a flop of 4-7-8 rainbow. Check to the raiser who bets $20 into this $120 pot. I call with a pair and a gutshot. So does the short stack sitting between me and the pro. 3 of us see an Ace on the turn. Check. Check. Check. The river is a miracle card – the 6. I now have a straight and bet out $40. Short stack goes all in for $80. But wait, the “pro” now goes all-in for $600! I have $500 behind. What did I do?

Hand #3. It’s 8/16, but it’s a 16/32 Full Kill pot and I have Js-10s. Joyce, one of the dealers, is sitting in the game and raises UTG to $32. I call. The button re-raises and Joyce caps. I call two bets and the button calls one. The flop is K J 10. Joyce bets. I raise with two pair. The button calls. Joyce re-raises. I call and the button calls. The turn is the worst card in the deck – the Queen. Joyce bets again. What do you do?

We return now to our hero as he and The Wife conclude an awesome Vegas weekend.

Sunday was brunch at the Wynn (well worth the cab ride over since the buffet at Caesar’s sucked) followed by spa-ing at Qua, which apparently didn’t suck according to the Wife. What’s a guy to do when his other half is being pampered – poker of course! I hopped a cab out to the Rio in the hopes of seeing Pauly and the gang. I ran into John Caldwell from Pokernews who told me that it was Ladies Event Day and Pauly was taking the morning off. Oh well. I played a short session of 20/40 where I made two really bad plays and had one horrible bad beat, but only lost $400. Believe me, that was nothing in this game.

The good news is that this was truly the best WPBT ever, made even better because both The Wife and I had such a great time. You should see her beam when she cashes out after a winning session.

Can’t wait to do it again, guys!

WPBT Summer 2008 Trip Report – Vol 2

11 June 08

When we left our hero, he and a small but swarthy contingent of bloggers were headed to the Spearmint Rhino. We join the action soon after the 5-some are seated in what will come to be known as, “the area of invisibility.”

Seriously, I have never been ignored by so many beautiful women since high school. You’d think that three middle aged white guys with two hot chicks would scream, “We have money!” but you’d be wrong. We literally had to grab the arms of strippers as they sauntered by – including one epic swing-and-a-miss by F-Train.

Finally we get a few choice dances for our lovely ladies. I like a lap dance as much as the next guy, but nothing beats hot girl-on-girl action. It’s a good thing we found some willing dancers, because I think The Wife was about to start grinding on BWOP. She probably would have made huge cash, too. I think the mouth-breathers across the way would have paid through the nose to see that. I know I would have.

Saturday found The Wife and I with no set schedule, which is the best way to do Vegas. We decided to book a show (Zumanity at NY NY) and then set off for whatever trouble we could find. Our only trouble was at the poker tables in the MGM. The Wife again insisted that I not sit at her 2-4 table, so I donked off $700 at the 3-5 NL table.

After cashing out, I decided to throw some dice while waiting on The Wife. There was an open spot, so I sidled up and asked the guy to my left if the spot was open. I did an actual triple-take. The stranger was none other than my great friend Josh, who also happens to be the President of the corporation I started. Talk about small world! He had just come from a $4000 cash as the blackjack table and was looking to donk off some of his hard earned cash at the dice game. We even got The Wife to toss the dice for us. Whatever happened to the old adage that a first-time female shooter can’t lose?

Ummm, she can.

Zumanity was excellent, if a bit disconcerting. There is nothing stranger than an overly muscular dwarf plummeting towards your head from 50 feet in the air. Well, other than the transvestites and homoerotic cage match, that is (perhaps I’d already had enough man-on-man action for the weekend). The Wife loved it. I guess I did, too.

Tune in tomorrow where we finish out an incredible weekend with high-stakes poker at the Rio, high-end spa action for The Wife, and a great dinner with a good friend.

WPBT Summer 2008 Trip Report - Vol. 1

9 June 08

Chronological order seems to work best for these reports.

We arrive Friday night into McCarran airport as expert travelers (meaning no checked bags). There is no taxi line (!) and we are whisked away to Caesar’s Palace. I’ve wanted to stay at Caesar’s for some time. All my favorite shops are there, and if you are really lucky, you get to stay in the rooms that over look the Bellagio fountains. We got an upgraded room, but our only view was of a rooftop with the mountains in the distance. Fortunately, we wouldn’t spend much time looking out at the great beyond.

Since we knew the bloggers would likely gather at the MGM, off we went. We got there early enough to catch a nice dinner of appetizers at Nob Hill. Just smashing. We shared the fondue, the seafood plate and some raw tuna. The tuna came with an exquisite mushroom which I promptly put right into my mouth. It was only then that I realized there was only one mushroom and I had to endure the raw glare from The Wife. It was a really good mushroom.

We get back to the poker room and, while waiting on a table, I decide to make a run to the little boys room. I’m not gone more than 5 minutes, yet when I get back, I find The Wife chatting up a handsome young man by the name of John. Now, I know there are tons of bloggers I haven’t met, and I assumed this must be one of them.

Nope.

He was just some random Vegas guy who saw a hot chick in a tight leather skirt and decided to take a shot. Apparently taking a shot these days involves the early mention of non-standard skills like toe-sucking, but I’ll let The Wife try to explain that one.

Finally, we get us a mixed game with some true bloggery goodness. There is nothing better than a table full of drunk bloggers, fresh from the Hofbrauhaus. How is this for a line-up?

Seat 1: Pokergrump

Seat 2: The Wife

Seat 3: Falstaff

Seat 4: Easycure

Seat 5: Special K

Seat 6: StB

Seat 7: April

Seat 8: Zeem

Seat 9: Your Hero

We played ORSE (because no one wanted anything to do with Hold ‘em) while CK distracted the whole table by letting her hair fall all over The Wife as she rubbed her shoulders. It was awesome (the ORSE and the hot girl-on-girl action). I finished even and The Wife won big (what else is new?). I won’t bore you with hand histories, other than this one.

It’s Stud High and I’ve got a pair of aces showing. Falstaff picks up a second 6 around 5^th street and bets into me. I raise. He re-raises. I call. He bets again on 6^th street. I call. He bets on 7^th street. I now have aces up, but there is no way he’s afraid of my aces, so I fold my Aces and 9s face up. He proudly turns over a pair of 6s.

That’s it. Nothing else.

It’s been a long time since I was outplayed that well. My hat is off to you. The byproduct of this is that Falstaff’s mad poker skills so excited The Wife that she kissed him full on the mouth. Not to be outdone, I ran around the table and did likewise.

Falstaff may never be the same.

Next, 5 intrepid bloggers venture out to the Spearmint Rhino.

WPBT Summer 2008 Preview

9 June 08

I’m working on 2 hours of sleep. Here is what’s coming after I get some shut-eye:

- Best Vegas trip ever (seriously)

- Blogger Mixed-Games at the MGM

- I didn’t pay for drinks the entire time

- The Wife kisses another man right in front of me

- I kiss another man right in front of The Wife

There’s so much more, but I have to go wash my mouth out. Again.

Vegas Here We Come!

The Wife and I are off to Vegas in a few hours. We are both taking our laptops in case there is something blog-worthy, although I doubt we'll have time. Feel free to call my cell if you have it.

We're staying at Caesar's and we have no real agenda, although we'll probably stop by the Rio at least once to say hey to Pauly and the gang.

See you there?

Cubicle Flip-Out

I just got this from Iggy. Wow.

Obligatory Poker Content

3 June 08

I’ve been playing No Limit in anticipation of heading out to Vegas in two days. As mentioned numerous times in the past, I am a horrible NL player.

One area I’m trying to improve is River play when I’m sure I have the best hand. In the past, I’ve just tried to “get paid off.” I usually throw out a small bet and proudly turn over my set or whatever. Now I’m actively putting my opponents on hands and betting appropriately. It seems to be paying off.

Hand 1: I have been playing a lot of hands, and have a loose table image. I have pocket 6s. The flop is 6-2-2 with two diamonds. Schwing! LAG 1 bets $15. Lag 2 raises to $30. I get cute and raise to $45. They both call. The turn is a third diamond. Double schwing! They both check to me and I bet $45. Only LAG 1 calls. The river is a blank. He checks. There is about $200 in the pot. How much do you bet here?

Hand 2: I have pocket 4s. The flop is K-4-2. Say it with me - schwing! 1st position guy, who is fairly tight, bets the pot - about $30. It folds to me and I raise to $75. He just calls. The turn is a blank. He checks and I check behind, but not before telling Jason (sitting to my right) that the guy has K-Q. The river is a Queen. He plays with his chips for a bit and then checks. How much do you bet here?

San DiegoTrip Report

1 June 08

I could bore you with thousands of words from our trip to San Diego, but I'll let the pics do the talking.

The view from our beach house living room

Memories that will last forever. This is our youngest with a Lorakeet eating nectar while pearched on his arm.

More memories. Our oldest feeding his new best friend.

Another pic taken from our balcony. That's me with the football - surrounded by our tripmates.

And, despite the fact that the beach was RIGHT THERE, the Nintendo still commands attention.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. I may have been a little worried about being couped up with twin 2 year olds, but they were never a bother. Quite the contrary, in fact. Everyone had a blast and we'd all do it again. What more can you ask from a family vacation?