Stack and a Story

Bad Blood had this idea about telling a story about a picture of your stack. I'd kicked the idea around for a while, but since I rarely had a stack, it was difficult to be inspired. No one wants to hear a story regarding the last 3 chips of my 4th buy-in.

Last night ended a long weekend of being on-call. We had some horrific traumas including one young kid with a complete fracture through his skull. Seriously, you could follow the fracture line from his left temple through his right ear. He'll do fine, but it was rather time consuming and frankly tiring, especially after 48 hours of being on-call.

To blow off steam, I went to my local card room (Chips in Lakewood, WA). I get no kick backs from this, but let me tell you that this is the best card room in the country. All card players, whether you are playing 3/6 or 8/16 get dinner comped (and not just hot dogs either. I had salmon fillet yesterday and a shrimp and rice dish before that), the dealers are all very professional and the floor occasionally buys drinks for the entire table. They have a robust Monte Carlo (yes, I know this comes from the rake) and a high hand every two hours. If there is no money on the board for your quads, the house chips in $50. Free roll once a month pays top 20 at least $100.

It's good.

Anyway, I proceeded to donk away $700 by playing, well... like a donk. Had AA cracked a few times, started drinking, and... you know the story.

Tonight I brought my A-game. Or so I thought. I had a read on Yang, a regular, that he was calling weak. I fired three bullets on a board with an Ace. He called all the way and beat me with KQ vs K10. Neither of us with a pair.

This turned out to be my best advertising and I ran up the stack you see. The best part was when I cashed out. I was carrying 6 empty racks back to the table. A guy from the 4/8 game asked if he could have a couple of the empty racks.

No, I replied. I need them all.

Detox

I might as well come out and admit it - I'm guilty of substance abuse.

I know you all were thinking that my life was too good to be true - rich, hot wife, cool cars, big house, perfect kids. There had to be a dark side, right?

Well, there is. I've been abusing my body for years now, and it's got to change. Starting January 1st I'm going cold turkey. God help my system. It won't know how to deal with clean living.

That's right folks. I'm going on a Diet Coke hiatus for the month of January. I'm prepared for headaches and misery. Withdrawal, even. People won't recognize me without a bottle in my hand. It will be weird.

I'm also contemplating hitting the gym again. Part of me wants to be super ambitious and go for 30 workouts in 31 days. I've done it before. Heck, I may even swear off fast food for the month, too. Why not?

Who's with me?

Hanukkah Clues

It's a tradition in my family to leave clues for each other when searching for holiday presents. We delayed the last day of Hanukkah until today so I could celebrate with my family. Indulge me this one post because it will only make sense to The Wife. One of the numbers below will reveal where her present is hidden. There were other clues that lead up to this point. If anyone's interested, I may share them in a future post.

The real trick will be if she can figure out how to read the clues.

1. In the van

2. In the dryer

3. In the mailbox

4. In your nightstand

I Knew She Was Good...

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) hired my wife in June 2009. Since then HP has continued to improve. Coincidence? You decide.*






*This praise has nothing to do with her mentioning something about me getting a Ferrari in the near future.

WPBT 09 - Trip Report - FINALE

Alas, WPBT memories are fading fast. I'm sure some of that is from the alcohol, but it's also due to the time. I'm mostly left with the pleasant afterglow you get from a really good romp. Still, there are some additional thoughts I'd like to get out here for posterity.

I failed to mention a couple people in my first post. Let me correct that here. I had a fantastic conversation or two with Katkin, both before and after he was snogging with The Wife. If she's got a thing for Spielberg lookalikes, who am I to get in her way? I also chatted a bunch with my fellow doctor in crime, Dr. Pauly, who really tries to make time to not just talk with everyone, but have real substantive conversations. There just isn't enough time, but bless him for trying. Iggy is the same way and I always enjoy talking to the little guy (even after finding out that The Wife really wants to pet his hair).

As many of you know, The Wife is a bit of a hedonist. It's not a sexual thing (mostly), she just loves touching and petting (yes, kissing too). I'm not the jealous type (mostly), but from all her interactions, one of my favorite was watching her cuddle on the couch with an equally hedonistic CK. They didn't mind the attention. Frankly, I don't think they cared who watched. Let me say this - I know I wasn't the only one taking a mental snapshot of the two of them for later "use."

There were so many other things:

-I deperately wanted a seat at the famous Table 16, but I was only able to snap a picture of the devil (AKA The Mark).

-Walking into Lagasse's and seeing Yestbay chowing on a massive pizza. I was going to ask for a piece, but after repeatedly pounding on him in the tournament it didn't seem right.*

-Watching Galaga competition from the sidelines. That's my game!

-Being summarily dismissed from an intimate conversation between The Wife and Kat.

-Massively overtipping the Geisha bartenders, for zero extra service.

-Forgetting my pants.

-Running back through the Bellagio because The Wife forgot everything in the safe (on our way to the airport no less!)

-Rehashing college memories with my buddy Colin (best line of the day was from Colin. "You got more pussy with that guitar than an ugly guy like you has any right to.") Agreed, buddy.

-Hitting a drive on #10 so far that no one else even bothered to hit.

-Chatting with the lovely Caity about life, her PhD and poker.

-Watching The Wife and Drizz as she took her lumps in the lost prop bet.


-Getting a hug from surprise guest therealdawnsummers.

-My horrible tournament, where I played like a pussy and folded AJ and AQ to pressure, even though I'd committed a significant portion of my chips.

-Seeing the reaction from F-Train when I handed him my bustout prize (an Army cap I wore in Iraq). Priceless.

AAAAAAH! There's so much more, but you know that. You were there.**

I love you guys. Bring on #wpbt2010

*I didn't pick on him nearly as much as F-Train, but I was probably more noticeable sitting immediately to his right.

**Unless you weren't, in which case, why not?

WPBT Trip Report - Winter 2009

Once again, another World Poker Blogger Tour gathering has come to a close. This trip was notable for many things. The Wife and I realized as we headed for the airport that she didn't spa, we didn't see any shows and we didn't do any fine dining. That's a first for us. The upshot is that it allowed us to spend more time with good friends. That's what this weekend is all about.

Some highlights:

• Having a real conversation with Drizz at the Geisha Bar. This din was at riotous levels, yet he was able to hear me just fine, even when he wasn't watching my lips move. That meant we could have a conversation on a much deeper level and it was awesome. DQB!
  

• Hugs, hugs and hugs. I'm pretty sure it got to groping levels with Maigrey, Kat, Pebbles and CK. They didn't seems to mind. In turn, I think I got groped by Falstaff and BamBam, but at least there was no man-kissing this time. Well, at least not on the mouth.

• Golfing in the bloody cold with my college roommate Colin and the assembled (mostly Canadian) bloggers. Blogger mobneys are the best mobneys!
  

• Shooting pool with Special K and Da Rooster at Lagasse Stadium while we watched the bacchanalia. I would have run the table but for scratching on the 8-ball in my first game with Rooster. I still got mad skillz.

• Huge thanks to Pokerstars for their insanely generous addition to the prize pool. Why are you playing anywhere else?!

• Another shout out to Lagasse Stadium. If there is a better man cave out there, I've never seen it.
  

• Steel Panther. What can I say? If you were there, you know. If you missed it, don't let it happen again.

• Watching The Wife, resplendent in her purple regalia, take her lumps with pride and dignity. Well, maybe not dignity (she did show her purple panties to anyone who asked).

• Taking a group pic in the bathroom at Lagasse Stadium. Mirrored ceilings in the crapper FTW!

• Getting apologies from Otis and Rooster. Multiple times. None of which were necessary.

• Twitter. When I first started coming to these gatherings, Twitter wasn't even invented (you know, back in the day). Now I can't imagine going without it. It's amazing how witty people can be in 140 characters. Plus, it's a great way to see where everyone's at. If you doubt it, search #wpbt and just read along.

• Really getting some quality time with new and old friends including my buddy Josh and his friend Dan, as well as Law Chica, F-Train and Oh Captain. You too, Peaker.*

• Saying goodbye to Kat. 'Nuf said.

• Leaving with more money than I started with.
  

But most of all, I enjoyed spending some real quality time with The Wife. Yes, I know much of that time was spent watching her snogging with just about everyone who came within range, but who am I to get in the way of her fun (especially when the snogees were of the bendy or luscious variety)? The Willis sandwich was hysterical and will be talked about for ages (see: Steel Panther). And despite all the nonsense, she still comes home with me. Beat that!

WPBT 2010. Are we there yet?

* I'm still watching you...

WPBT 2009

It's that time of year again. It's time for the World Poker Blogger Tour. This will be my 4th winter gathering. It would have been 5 but for that little Iraq thing. I've sure come a long way from the shy poker blogger who didn't realize until too late that you really could walk up, sit down and just hang with all these superstars. Don't be that guy.

Stay tuned here for trip reports and other nonsense if I manage to survive to the other side. My liver enzymes are primed and ready. Anticipation meter is pegged. Boarding pass is printed.

Bring it on!

Quick Notes

Just got back from Chicago and the largest meeting of it's kind, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Those of you following me on Twitter may have been a bit confused, but one of my tweets actually won me a $25 lunch. Twitter pays!

Speaking of pay outs, you probably know (and are most likely joining us) that The Wife and I are headed to Vegas for a little poker tourney called WPBT and the various nonsense that surrounds it. Huge thanks to Pokerstars for their "little" add on to the prize pool of two grand. Also thanks to the bloggers who helped arrange it.

Finally, I was just hitting balls in preparation for the golf tourney in Vegas (hit like crap). In the parking lot were 8 Porsches, two Land Rovers, tons of Lexi, an Aston Martin Vantage and a Tesla Roadster.

Gotta love a municipal course in Palo Alto, CA!