Last of the Mastodon Pics

I just found a few more...

My other favorite pic from the weekend. The things some people will do to win a prop bet. All Drizz needs is a 70's porn 'stache and and some bow chicka wow wow music...

The Mark surveys his creation. And it was good.

BG (who's last blog post was July 2009) tweeted about a short walk to Mary Beth's for a limited, but really good breakfast menu. He was right. Goat cheese scrambled eggs FTW.

Dr. Chako's Mastodon Weekend

Here there were many, many words. Fawning praise. Drunken revelry. General lunacy. Then Otis had to go do his thing and render it all meaningless. Or meaningful. One of those.

Go read what he wrote. It's all you really need to know.

For my part, it was all worth it. Any chance I get to associate with this strange, eclectic group of friends is time well spent. Now enjoy some pics.

One of my favorite pics from the weekend. This terrible twosome was to my immediate right at the final table. Collusion!

A look at the scorecard from our fantastic round of golf. Notice that the girls had an incredible rush, winning 4 holes in a row. Thanks to my partner, we squeaked out a half with his killer putt on 18.

I may or may not have been staring at CK's butt during this shot. And every shot, actually. Dammit, the only reason I played golf over frolf was because she promised to wear a skirt and tights. Who could resist?!

Bad Blood strikes a pose after winning a T-shirt from the great folks at Bustout Poker. Thanks again for the swag and overlay. If you ever need a team physician, give me a call.

Mastodonia

I am back from the land of Mastodonia. I drank too much, partied too hard and only embarrassed myself a little.

All totaled, it was the perfect trip.*

I hope to have a more detailed trip report in the next couple of days. For now, I need sleep.



*Having The Wife there would have made it perfect, even though she would have spent all her time flirting with my fellow Neanderthals.

New Motto

I read Scott Adams blog via Google reader. His post from today was funny because it's similar to discussions The Wife and I have. Even though we were both in the same place, we often have very different views on the event. He also talks about being a little nuts and hopefully fitting in, which lead to the final quote from his article. It's now my new motto (See above. For RSS readers, you may have to click through).

Speaking of The Wife, she's in Brazil (Or Chile. Or Argentina - it's hard to keep up some times. It's some place that's shaking a little). She's there on business and yes, she's traveling in style once again. I'm just hoping she gets back safe. I don't want to go to Mastodon Weekend with any guilt.*



*but I'd still go

I Don't Have a Job!

Meh. I knew it was too good to be true. The doctor who initially loved me doesn't have the heart to fire his current team. Oh well, back to the search.

My only beef is that he informed me of his change of heart via text message. Let me repeat that:

I GOT DUMPED VIA TEXT.

I rarely if ever use this, but FML.

(Edit: I still have my awesome job in Washington. I just didn't get the California job)

I Have a Job!

Well, let me qualify that and say that I think I have a job. Until I actually start working and get my first check, I won't breathe that first sigh of relief.

Searching for a job was never something I thought I'd have to do. It's a humbling experience. For years I've felt like a rock star. I get job offers weekly - sometimes daily - that would make your head spin. Unfortunately, they are usually in out of the way places. If I was the sole bread winner, we'd already be in Texas where they've been begging me to come for the last 4 years. Well, life had different plans and we are Palo Altoans. If you've ever been here, you know how beautiful this place is. You can also understand that, since it's such a desirable place to live, no one ever leaves. Plus, with uncertainty about Obama-care, hospitals just aren't hiring.

I enlisted the help of a recruiter. As recently as two to three years ago, this was the job to have. Recruiters get between $20,000 and $50,000 to place a radiologist and the good ones could place at least one a month. Well, these days some of them are looking to get into real estate, to give you an idea how bad it is. The first recruiter was a bust, so I got a second. And a third. At last count, I had 12 recruiters "working" for me. Just today, I had another recruiter call. He agreed to work for me as long as I paid him a $1000 retainer. I was almost desperate enough to do it.

A couple weeks ago I decided to take matters into my own hands. I googled for imaging centers around Palo Alto and just started cold calling. A couple places were so unprepared that I actually had to print out my CV and fax (!) it to them. Believe it or not, it was one of those faxed resumes that did the trick. We met today, had lunch and we really hit it off. I'll let you know in the 30 to 60 days it will take him to cut loose his current teleradiologists and get a contract together. I'll be a 1099 contractor, which is fine by me (thanks for our benefits HP!), and it will be a big pay cut, but I'll finally get to be with my family full time. There's almost no price in the world that beats that.

Here Comes the Sun

If you've ever written a song, you know that a lot goes into it. Working up a song in a group is even more challenging. Here's how two masters do it. I was especially struck when Yo Yo Ma (do his friends just call him Yo?) asked James Taylor, "Do you mind doing it a bunch of times?"

The Stuff I Use

Falstaff had a throwaway comment about using a note taking thingy (Evernote?) that interfaces with multiple programs. It sounds great and I'll probably see if I can get it for my MyTouch phone. That got me to thinking. What things do you use every day? You might assume everyone knows about the obvious stuff, but you'd be wrong.

In an effort to find some cool stuff, I'm willing to open up my geekiness so you can all see what a troglodyte I am. Keep in mind that common things I hear about like Digg, Torrent and someone named Doctorow (EL?) are foreign to me. Sure I can Google them, but I already have a lot of stuff. Do I need them in my life?

Here is what I use every day:
Google Reader - especially weather and movie listings
Google Maps
iTunes and my iPod
Gmail
MyTouch phone - especially Phit Droid (mindless game), Instant Messenger and a cool ap called Guitar Tuner
Motorola H721 Bluetooth earpiece
Twitter
Facebook
FerrariChat (duh)
Sony Vaio laptop (POS, but functional)
HP desktop (yay, HP!!!)

What am I missing? What one thing would enrich my life?

Crazy Doctors - The Reveal

Once again, if you need to catch up, start here.

Then read this (the cool post with the CT scan).

And now (drumroll please), your answer.

In this case, I noticed that her upper lungs had fibrosis. Fibrosis in the lungs is a rare and bad disease, but it usually only occurs in the lower lungs. It's generally called interstitial lung disease (ILD). Very few things cause upper lobe fibrosis AND exclude the lung bases. One of them is chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP), which is the diagnosis in this case. Congratulations if you got it right.

CHP has a variety of causes. One well known cause is exposure to exotic birds, but it can happen with any birds, actually. It's probably exacerbated by an unclean environment. In this case, her morbid obesity is preventing her from adequately cleaning up after her animals. Unfortunately, even if she sells all the chickens and ducks and moves into a totally clean environment, the damage is done. Hopefully it wouldn't progress any further, but you never know.

Thanks for playing along. FWIW, I have a ton of similar cases. If you're interested, I could probably post one a week.

Crazy Doctors - Part II

Thanks for stopping by. If you need to catch up, start here.

I had no idea people were this interested! Truly, every day in radiology is like an episode of House (without the attitude*).

Rather than simply tell you what it is, let me show you what I saw. These images are from her CT scan (obviously, all patient info has been removed. We are a teaching institution and there is an expectation that people will learn from you whenever possible).

Any ideas?

*Hopefully

Crazy Doctors!

Crazy day today. I was looking at a CAT scan while the patient was still on the table. In this case, I went and talked to her as she was getting off the table. I asked her, "Do you have exotic birds?" She said no and my techs were all looking at me like I was crazy. Then she replied, "But I have chickens and ducks."

Well, they're killing you.

One Month Down

Well, I really buckled down during January in my attempt to Detox (as discussed here). My goals were two-fold: Stop drinking Diet Coke and attempt 30 workouts in 31 days.

I'm proud to report that the Diet Coke experiment was a success. I haven't had a single Diet Coke the entire month. I wonder if I had any effect on this:

SmarTrend identified a Downtrend for Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) on January 07, 2010 at $56.06. In approximately 3 weeks, Coca-Cola has returned 3.4% as of today's recent price of $54.13.

Sorry Coke.

As for the 30 workouts, well, I didn't quite get there. Still, 20 workouts in 31 days was pretty good. I slowed down at the end of the month for some reason, but my early momentum gave me the confidence to try something new. I signed up for and ran a 10K in Orinda, CA called The Dam Run. I even posted a pic of the starting point on Twitter.



My time was terrible, but I finished and I wasn't last. The course was cross county, which was new for me. All my previous races have been on pavement. This one took us though single track trails, across soggy meadows and up huge hills. Seriously, I'm talking about hands on the knees, walking and grunting hills. The good news is that the 3.1 mile turn around point was much higher than the starting point, so most of the run back was downhill.

There was another factor contributing to my slow time. Since I gave up Diet Coke, I substituted a lot of sugar drinks. Even though I worked out quite a bit, my weight has actually gone up. I'm not too worried about it. My plan for February is to continue with the same plan. The absence of Diet Coke wasn't as hard as I thought. Now I just need to imbibe more carefully.

Wish me luck.

Late Night - with Johnny Carson

I'm Registered - Why Aren't You?

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers, you too can take part by registering on WBCOOP

Registration code: 210061

Stack - Part II (the one with math)

MHG challenges his readers occasionally with math problems. This one should be easy. In this picture from my Stack and a Story post, how much do I have? The blue chips are $2 and the white chips are $1. You should be able to give an exact amount, even with this limited information.

Winner gets the stack.*

*Well, maybe just an autographed picture of the stack. It's all I have left anyway.

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!

PLO - Part II

Or this one?

PLO

Running well in PLO, although I have no idea what I'm doing. This is a good starting hand, right?

Security!

I sat down last night in my new favorite place, Freddie's at Fife. They are getting a semi-regular 8/16 LHE game and there is a perfect mix of rocks, pros and idiots to keep it profitable.* There can also be a high variance.

My first buy-in was gone on the 3rd hand I played. No worries - he hit his set of 9s on the river when I flopped two pair with my AQ. I want him drawing all the way there.

Well, I had ordered dinner some time during my second hand. When it arrived (a nice appetizer of bacon wrapped shrimp with Bearnaise sauce - 1/2 price for poker players!), I decided to take an out button while I finished my meal. When it was done, I got up to wash my hands. Now keep in mind, there is no money in front of me. I told the dealer to hold my seat and I got up.

When I came back, my seat was still vacant, but the receipt for my dinner was gone. Had someone paid it? Odd, but whatever. I looked around for Diana (the hot waitress with the really impressive cleavage), but she wasn't around. As I was sitting back down, I noticed two huge security guys coming my way. I didn't think anything of it as I reached into my wallet for the next buy in.

I happen to glance up as I'm pulling out my cash. I see the guards. They see me. We freeze for a moment.

HOLY CRAP. THEY THINK I WAS GOING TO STIFF THE TAB!

Just then, Diana comes back out of the kitchen. As she comes around the guards I asked her about the tab. She stammered something about not knowing if I was coming back. I was in disbelief!

I tipped her generously and went back to the game (finished up over $500 for the night).

And to think, I could have gotten away with it.


*Not sayin' which one is me.

Razz vs. PLO8 / Cash vs, Tourney

After receiving all my mobneys from the prop bets, I decided to parlay them into big bucks. Since I'm a masochist, I fired up two Razz cash games and an 18 player PLO8 SNG at the same time.

I've always felt Razz is my best game (some day I hope to be as good as this guy), but tonight it kicked me in the junk. Repeatedly.

PLO8 is not my best game, but I do love the tournaments. I also love being the dominant chip leader for most of the game.

I also like this:

Thoughts on Veteran's Day

First off, I had an absolute blast on FT last night with blogger mixed games. We played a 7-game rotation with MHG, Penner, Matt C. and yours truly (sorry for the lack of linkage, but I'm in a rush. See the full write up here). Blogger mobneys are the best mobneys!

***
Now to answer a question I've received a couple times already. No, I did not know the Ft. Hood shooter personally. That said, the Army doctor community is pretty small, and I'm literally surrounded by doctors who knew and trained with him. There is no new insight I can add to what is already in the media - this just brings it home a little extra for me. It's especially disconcerting because I was stationed at Ft. Hood from 1987-1988 and I'm having flashbacks to a similar massacre out there in 1991.

***
Pres. Obama will be attending the services. Good. That said, he probably should be in Berlin. Instead he sent Hillary. That decision was made a while ago and it was a mistake. The military funeral will provide a nice cover as to why he isn't there in Germany.

***
Finally, as I've said many times before, I did not serve in the Army for 16 years for your thanks, but to those of you who have thanked me in so many ways, YOU'RE WELCOME!

I Am the Fish

Congrats again to The Wife for her 10th place cash in the big tournament. Once again, you prove that your tournament skills are light years beyond mine.

***

Omaha is not my best game, but I do love it. When I busted early from the tournament, the cash game started right up and it was dealers choice. There were several good players at the table and just enough newbies to keep it interesting. The newbies were easy to spot. Regulars bought in for $100 -$200 using $100 bills. Newbies bought in for $20 or $40. Sometimes with $1 bills.

The game is PLO8 with no cap. I'm on the button with AA34 suited in clubs. It's raised to $6 by the uber aggressor in early position and there are 4 limpers before it gets to me. Mistake #1 was not re-potting it here. Both blinds call.

Seven of us see a flop of 10s-8s-6c. Not the best flop for my hand. Blinds check. Uber dude bets pot. MP1 calls, MP2 calls all in. MP3 calls. Now it's on me. I have about $150 behind. There was $42 in the pot before the betting. Now there are 4 more bets of $42 each making the pot $210.

What do you do?

Saying Goodbye

No poker here. If you are looking for my response to the last post, I put my comments in the comments section. In case it wasn't clear, he had QJ and we chopped.

***

Last night I said a final goodbye to an old friend. It was far more emotional than I expected.

I met her a short 5 years ago, back in 2004. She was a little older and showing her age, but still beautiful. Seriously, people would see her and couldn't help staring. Little kids would comment! You ever meet someone that was so uniquely attractive that you felt obligated to say something? It seems awkward after the fact; "Has anyone told you how beautiful...?" If you are the recipient of such a compliment, how do you react? She always responded with silence, but I could tell she was beaming inside and out.

High maintenance doesn't begin to describe her. You know some women who are so naturally beautiful that they don't need make up? Yeah, that wasn't her. In fact, I know she had over $70,000 in surgery just to stay beautiful. Unlike Michael Jackson, every dime spent made her better.

She began wasting away from the inside about 5 months ago. With barely any substance left, she gave up the rest last night. As I lay there saying goodbye, I reviewed all the great times we had together. It is with sadness and love that I said goodbye.

Then I turned off the lights for the last time on Casa Chako, Federal Way.

Another Interesting Hand

Had a profittable session again last night. I could get used to this. I tried to sabotage it by playing 4/8 while waiting for a 3/5 NL seat. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I was on my 3rd rack (or was it 4th?) before I got called.

Well, I got me seat immediately to the left of a very straightforward player who has a little wider range of preflop calling hands and is pretty much a calling station after that.

I have AQ UTG and raise to $20. Yes, you could make an arguement to fold or raise higher, but I chose $20. Deal with it.

One random MP caller and BB also calls $15 more. Pot is $63.

Flop: Q-3-3

BB checks. I bet $45. MP folds. BB flat calls. $153 in the pot. We are heads up.

Turn: 6

I lead out again for $80. BB thinks a while and flat calls again.

River: 3

BB checks again. What do you do?

Level 3 Thinking

Here's another interesting hand from my 3/5 NL game tonight.

It's my last hand of the night. I'm comfortably up (a nice change). UTG, I limp with A-3 off-suit. 5 callers is typical for this game and it doesn't disappoint. BB checks and we see a flop:

Ks-3s-3d

Sweet. I check my trips. It checks all the way around to the BB who bets $20. I call. Everyone else folds.

Turn: Qh

First off, let me tell you about BB. He's a better than average player. I watched him extract maximum value on a previous hand against another decent player. He's tight and aggressive. (Edit: He checks here) I bet $30 into this pot of $70. BB now check-raises to $90. We each have about $600 behind. What do you do? Before you answer, what do you put him on?

I elect to call. Before you call me out, I know this is a bad move. At this point, it's push or fold.

River: 6s

Now the board is paired and there is a spade flush out there. I check.

BB now bets $250. What do you do?

Batshit Crazy

Poker content: I played last night. Lost $20. Watched a drunk suckout-artist run up $1000. At 4/8 LHE. I need another break. What the hell am I doing playing 4/8 LHE anyway?!

Life content: This morning on my way to breakfast, I encountered one of the IT techs in the hallway. He's normally a little quirky, but today was different. Today he was talking to people that weren't there. He kept asking, "Why is it so quiet?" It would get louder. Then he'd twitch. At one point he recognized me and smiled sheepishly. Then he started singing. I had a feeling the singing was a feeble attempt at trying to mask the fact that he was acting crazy. See, I wasn't talking to myself. I was just singing this song. Not crazy at all. Move along. Here's the weird thing - I've done that.

I bet you've done that, too.

Define the Problem

(Editors Note: This is how I decide to spend my 700th post?)

Actual conversation I had with The Wife this morning:

Dr. Chako: Ahh! I threw out my back in the middle of the night!

The Wife: You should try my stretching exercise where I lay on the ground and lift weights.

Dr. Chako: That won't work! I need a small Asian woman to walk on my back.

The Wife: Well, we don't happen to have any small Asian women just walking around the house.

Dr. Chako: And that's been the problem with our marriage from the beginning, if you ask me.

The Wife: ...

So yes, I get to spend my son's 7th birthday and the day of my 700th post limping around like and old man and gasping in pain whenever I look down. This does not bode well for golf. Or my ability to attract small Asian women for that matter.

Tip of the Day

I heard this tip the other day and it's brilliant in its simplicity. I fly all the time between Seattle and Palo Alto and I always park at the Thrifty lot, but I can never remember the space number. Now all I do is snap a photo with my handy phone camera. Problem solved.

You're welcome.

Millionaires

Despite what you all may think, The Wife and I are not millionaires. We will be (someday), but when is anyone's guess.

I was thinking about millionaires as I jogged through our neighborhood here in Palo Alto. Depending on how you look at the numbers, every single one of my neighbors is a millionaire. So how can a doctor and VP with no debt be the poorest people in the area?

The answer of course is "home value." The smallest home on my street is about 1700 square feet and right now Zillow lists it around $1.5 million. It's an older home, and I'm assuming the people that live there own it outright. It's not an unreasonable assumption. It's a beautiful area with very little moving in and out. So why are they driving a beat up 1990s Toyota and not a Ferrari? Well, some of them are, and I bet it's not because they are independently wealthy. It's because banks wouldn't hesitate to give them loans. See, on paper, they are worth a mint. The bank sees that home as collateral of a million+ and it's free and clear.

What they failed to account for was two fold:
1. No one could or would buy that house if the bank took it as collateral.
2. It's a bit overvalued*


If you want to see what's wrong with home values in America, it's right here in this photo. And on this street. Maybe we're not so poor after all.

* A "slight" exaggeration - home prices here are about $800 to $1000 a square foot. 15 years ago they were about $100 to $150 a square foot.

On Bicycles

I fancied myself a bit of a daredevil when I was a kid. We used to ride bicycles around the neighborhood looking for things to jump off of. Or over. It got worse when Billy Wenz started getting paid to ride his bicycle. He was amazing. The kids would all gather around and watch him do tricks. There was a low hill with a hedge on it and he'd ride straight up into the hedge, flip-turn his bike 180 degrees and come back down smooth as silk. Sometimes all the kids would lie down in the street and he'd jump right over us. No ramp needed. This was circa 1976, before anyone ever heard of X-games.

There was a big hill behind the cemetery which backed up to my house. We called it the sky jump because you could jump off it and land in a pile of soft dirt. The short free-fall was quite the rush. One day, I had the hare-brained idea to see if I could jump my bicycle off it. Of course, all the kids gathered round (see, even then I loved being on stage), mostly to see the carnage. It was worse than you think. The jump and free fall were great, but I gauged the landing wrong. My back tire hit too hard, forcing my front tire hard into the hill. It must have hit a rut because the handlebars spun 180 degrees and I went right over - face first into the one spot on the hill with no soft dirt. I think part of my face may still be embedded in that hill.

Fast forward to 2009. I'm no longer the daredevil I once was. I am; however, a 42 year old doctor who let himself get out of shape over the last year. Recently I took up Dacia on her offer of some company during a short 13 mile trot around Napa. That means I have to get into some semblance of shape. My runs have increased in distance and speed, and this morning I ran for 46 minutes. I still had some energy, so what did I do? Out comes the mountain bike!

I got some clip on shoes that nearly killed me before I figured out that you could loosen the clamps. It's been a while, but how hard can it be? It's like riding a bicycle, dammit.

Long story short - I fell off my bicycle while still clamped in. I was on a foot bridge over Highway 101 and landed hard into the fence rail, hurting my left thumb and bruising several ribs.

I'm a daredevil again!

Vegas (Photo) Trip Report

Just back from another amazing trip to Vegas. This one started out as a guys trip with my good friend Dr. Moist. It's not the best nickname, but he sweats a bit so I guess it makes sense. He's also one of the best trip planners EVAR and no one has ever had bad time on a trip from Moistman Tours.

(Note: Because I'm still a blogger newby, these photos are out of order. I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Tough noogies.)

If you know me, you know that no trip to Vegas would be complete without a glass of Macallan 18 which I raised in your general direction.

He we find your hero ready to brave a tiny helicopter. It was certainly the highlight of the trip, although I may have fallen asleep (ala Steel Panther) due to my 6 am previous session of poker. The flight was smooth as silk and the views were breathtaking.

We landed right in the grand canyon (about 30 minutes after takeoff) for a picnic lunch. Here I am with Dr. Moist and his non-identical (but scarily similar) brothers. Moisty is the one with hair.

This was simply amazing. This is a view of the Hoover Dam as well as the partially finished bypass bridge. If you've ever been to the dam, you get an idea of the scale of the bridge. It's awesome.

Lake Meade from the heli as we swing towards the canyon.

Earlier in the day we drove out to the dam, so we had the chance to see it from the ground (and the inside on the tour) prior to seeing it from the air. Highly recommended approach.

This is a view of the bypass bridge from the dam (which is behind me to the left).

Yes, I know this was very touristy. I refuse to feel guilty. I played plenty of poker and even germinated a new business (details in a future post). I also saw Penn & Teller, Ka and ate fancy food. All totaled, this was one of the best non-blogger Vegas trips I've ever had.

Now I'm extra ready for Steel Panther and some bloggery goodness. I may even stay awake this time.

Collusion

As promised, here is the short version of my collusion post.

After waiting a good while, I finally got my dream seat. I was one to the left of a Crazian I've played with once before. He's only got one gear and I love it. In this particular hand he limped and I raised in MP with 8c-7c. The flop smacked me in the face: 8h-6c-5c. Top pair with OESFD.

He bets out. There are three players behind. What do you do? Answer before you read on.

***

I chose to raise, and here's why. It was a very loose table, and while I really like the drawing potential of my hand, this is a draw-heavy board and I probably have the best hand right now. No need letting a nekkid Ace of clubs hang around.

As soon as I raise, a quiet TAG Asian player (who knew there was such a thing) in the 8 seat says to the dealer, "I want to see all hands." The only reason he says this is because he suspects I'm colluding with the Crazian.

The turn improves my hand - it's another 8. Crazian now checks. I bet out. Everyone folds and I drag the pot.

Here's the question for the blogosphere: Do you show TAG (and the rest of the table) your cards in order to dispel the accusation of collusion, or do you keep them guessing?

More Ferrari

I could care less if my Ferrari fetish bores you. It never gets old for me.


The Bay Area seems to be a mecca for Ferraris. I would see one occasionally in the Seattle area, but not often. Here I see them on a daily basis. This color combination (Grigio Silverstone with Cuoio interior) is the absolute best of the 430 IMHO. In the 360, I still prefer Rosso Corsa (Red) with the tan interior.

Truckin' is Out!

Another issue of Truckin’ is out. Go read it while I'm working on my next post about collusion. I would have posted it already, but I'm tilting from losing with AA, KK, QQ and JJ in one damn session (no, I won't pay you a dollar).

-DrC

September 2009, Vol. 8, Issue 9

Welcome back to the September issue of Truckin’.

1. Tangerine Rockets by Paul McGuire
Lennie was an international legend. His father walked away from a plane crash and passed along some of those good luck genes over to Lennie…. More

2. The Red Pill by Sigge S. Amdal
She dropped the face and began to cry, as tensions rose around me. The waiters stopped waiting tables, people stopped talking; they were just exchanging knowing glances and judgmental comments… More

3. Fine Tuning by Milton T. Burton
He looked perplexed. I slipped my hand beneath my coat, came out with the little silenced .22 Magnum auto, and shot him right in the center of the forehead. The hollow-point bullet exited the back of his skull, making a colorful little jet of blood and brains as it went… More

4. On Scoring by Human Head
One look at the eyeliner, eyebrows, gold hoops and herringbone chains, and I knew this was the Angel we were supposed to see. As she drew closer to the door, the tattoo’s left little doubt. She didn’t say anything. She just looked at me… More

5. The Joys of Gambling by Johnny Hughes
Saratoga Springs, New York in August was the gambling capital of America in the 1920s, with the horses, the spa waters, large and ornate casinos, and America’s wealthiest citizens in a gilded age, when money and wine were treated like water… More

What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been…

From the Editor’s Laptop:

The September edition of Truckin’ marks the return of the Human Head after a four year hiatus. I’m enthralled to have him back in the mix. Everyone’s favorite Norwegian word wanker, Sigge, returns for a second month in a row. We also have a couple of Texan scribes in Johnny Hughes and Milton T. Burton. And of course, I have a story inspired by a recent trip to Colorado.

California's Great Adventure

As amusement parks go, this one was pretty good. It's bigger than Wild Waves (which was 2 miles from our house in Federal Way, WA), and it's got some pretty cool rides. Their wooden roller coaster (The Grizzly, I think) was so rickety I thought I'd have blood in my urine this morning. It reminded me a lot of the Cyclone at Coney Island.

The kids had a great time. It's a good thing, too. Season passes were only 5 dollars more than the regular day pass, so we have something to do for the rest of this year and all of 2010.


Of course, no day at the park would be complete without an injury. Mine came due to a viscous blind sided attack... by one of the horsies on the carousel.

Guess What I Did Today?

Alas, I'm still dreaming at this point. This dealership is only 8 miles from my new home. Omen? I think so.

What Would You Do - The Reveal

I love strategy posts like this one because, 1. it let's me see how ya'll think right before we go to Vegas, and 2. I actually know the outcome of this hand.

For those who need a little catching up, start here. I feel like I gave you enough information to arrive at a decision.

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I didn't to anything too hasty. That's a big leak in my game. In this case, I deliberately replayed the hand in my head. Yes, he pre-flop raised. Yes, he's been very tight. No, I had not seen him get out of line in the 2+ hours we played together.

I actually asked him, "Will you show me if I fold?" I seriously have no idea what information I'm supposed to get from this question. I see pros ask occasionally (heck, Lee Jones asked the same of me after a PLO8 hand), but I'm not sure if it helps me make a decision here. Does anyone else use this tool?

In any case, he said that no, he would not show me. In the end, I heard Doyle Brunson ask me, "Is this where you want to get in all your chips?"

I mucked.

I really enjoyed the analysis from everyone who commented. I got responses of insta-muck, raise all-in and even call.

Well, guess what? He actually did show me his hand. He flopped a set of aces. Yay me!

In the end, though, it doesn't matter. That's results oriented poker. The decision was sound, and like MHG said, if he showed me AK, I'd still be happy with my decision. As for BLAARGH, it sounds like you won the hand you described (with your set of 3s), so I'm a bit confused. PoH, I can't help you. Drizz, MHG, Shawn and BadBlood, I want you on my left. Shrike and Hoy, I want you on my right. PoH and BLAARGH, I want you anywhere at my table. :-)

What Would You Do?

Playing 3/5 NL last night. The table was unusually tight with a lot of limping preflop but insta-folding to any flop or turn bets, something I was using to my full advantage. The one thing that stood out to me was that there was little regard for bet sizes, especially on the turn and river (i.e. draws were constantly being priced in, raises would be more than half their remaining stack, etc).

The player to my right was even tighter then average. I'd only seen him pre-flop raise once, but didn't see the hand because there was no showdown.

I'm on the button with 6-7. Two early position limpers and cutoff guy on my right raises to $20. I call assuming that both limpers will call, and they do.

The flop is Ad-7s-6d. It checks around to me. I'm pretty happy with my bottom 2PR, but I don't like the straight and flush possibilities. I bet $75 into this $88 pot.

MPs both fold over to captain tight-pants in the cutoff, who min-raises me to $150. He has $350 behind and I have him well covered.

What do you do?

Life...

Our uncle Jerry died today. One of the finest human beings on the planet. He was in his early 50's. Melanoma.

Hug your loved one and give some love to The Wife if you get the chance.

-DrC

Prepare for the Ice Age!

Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address.
- Lane Olinghouse

Many of you already get the quote of the day on your Google frontpage, so you've already seen this one. It very appropriate for most (if not all) of my readers, especially those of you who are already dreaming of Vegas (just a few months away!).

Things here have been good, all things considered. On the bad side, we are losing our Au Pair due to some very unfortunate personal circumstances on her end. We've been so lucky with our three Au Pairs. I hope our next one is just as good. The Wife just got off the phone with a young French girl who's current family is demanding a rematch (meaning they are firing her). I'm a little nervous about that history, but we're pretty easy going. Unless she beats the kids*, she'll probably do fine.

We flew our oldest son's best friend down to California as a birthday present. It's been awesome so far. Our oldest had school yesterday, so instead of having his buddy just sit around the house all day, I took him with me to the golf course. I showed him the finer points of carrying my bag, and voila, I had a caddy! I had to help him a few times ("Dr. Chako, why is my head pounding?"), but he did great. I even paid him for his efforts, much to the consternation of my son. Maybe he'll be so jealous that I'll have a permanent caddy from now on. Why else have kids?


I shot an 88, but at one point I had 5 pars in 6 holes. This was only my second round of the year, so I'm pretty happy about that. Had one drive of 280 yards and 4 legit chances at birdie puts. Bring on Vegas!

*Beats them more than me.

Blaargh! is the Greatest Comedian of All Time!

If you aren't reading Poker Blaargh!, you're an idiot. I mean seriously, this guy may be the greatest comedian of all time. When I think of the greats; Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kineson, now I will add Blaargh to the list - right at the top.

For those who may be a little lost, I refer you to the Summer Bankroll Challenge. This started last year as a contest between MHG and myself to see who could build the bigger bankroll over a set period of time. We both failed miserably, but I failed worse and prostrated myself before the winner. This time we opened the challenge to anyone interested and had 7 runners. Beside pure BR building, we added prop bets. In one such bet, whoever made the funniest post won. I crafted a dialogue post that even made me laugh while I was writing it, but it was no match for the awesomeness of this YouTube video.

I was thinking of something pithy to say (because my ego still thinks my post was funnier), but damn, that video cracked me up. It was so good in fact, that I was certain he just pasted someone elses video just to win the bet. It was only on the 3rd viewing that I heard the narrator start out by saying, "This is Blaargh."

Well done, man. You earned this one.

QOTD

Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.
- Brendan Gill

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. (Am I the first person to apologize for lack of posting? I think so). I just had to share this quote. Lately I've been accused (several times, in fact), of being eternally happy. I've been eating Koibito at lunch and Sun, the lovely sushi maker, always greets me with a smile and asks me how I'm doing. I give the standard reply, "Excellent!" The other day, I switched to "Very good." She asked me how come I'm not excellent? Something must be wrong.

I've been on a good run in poker and in life. I've got a great job and a wonderful family. The other day I received a wonderful gift from my sister. She sent me my School Days books from when I was in grade school, complete with pics. I was a cute kid, although I remember thinking I was ugly with huge ears. It was an interesting time in my life and I have fond memories, mostly of my dad, from around that time. When I posted some of the pics on Facebook, a ton of folks from my youth commented and it made me feel great.

Despite the fact that I'm missing my family terribly, I know this is only temporary and I'll be with them soon. This Thursday in fact. Not soon after that it will be permanent, I'm sure. In the mean time, as I posted on Twitter, life is pretty grand when you are sitting with a full house and not one, not two, but three people push All-in into you. In a cash game.

Pic Dump

"May you live in interesting times." - Chinese Curse (more here on Wikipedia)

Life has been pretty topsy turvy lately (as an aside, how come we don't use "turvy" in every day speech. Work on that). Here is just a little of what I've been up to:

Despite my boycott of MLB (going strong since 1994), the chance to see Dr. Pauly and the lovely Change 100 was too much. Please enjoy this rare shot of me at an actual major league baseball game. I half thought I'd spend the entire time with my back to the game in protest, but the seats weren't amenable. I also thought about purchasing time on the jumbotron with a note saying that I'm still waiting for my apology for 1994, but that would mean more $$ for baseball, and that ain't gonna happen.

We had amazing seats in the Terrace area down the 1st baseline courtesy of the great Brandon Schaefer. It was cool meeting you, dude. I hope to read more of your travels as you search for the elusive 8th continent.

Not only did I get to hang with some of my favorite bloggers, but another semi-blogger happened to be working the stats that night. Here, Dr. Pauly is telling Zeem where to find the bathroom. Or maybe not. Too bad SeattleJohn couldn't make it out. Next time.

Last Thursday, I packed the whole family (dog included) into the van and drove 14 hours straight to Palo Alto, CA. We got there just in time for the moving van to arrive and dump all my stuff in our new bedroom. The place is amazing. Thanks again, honey. You done good.

Of course, we had to do some touristy stuff and took everyone down to see the harbor seals. They didn't disappoint, although the highlight for me was driving along Highway 17. I can't wait to do it in the convertible.

Zucchini

This is the zucchini picture I tried to post yesterday, but couldn't figure out how to do it from my new MyTouch phone (which is otherwise awesome). It's growing in my California backyard and it's going to make it into a salad in the near future.

Make sense now?

New Home

Siting here in California amidst boxes. This place is amazing. Zucchini is ripe!

Lucky

Demetrai was on a heater. We were playing 4/8 at the Muckleshoot while I was waiting on a seat in the stupid 3/5 spread game. Other than a huge suckout on the first hand when I made my straight on the river against his trips, he had my number. I had Aces; he stayed with K3 and flopped trips. I flopped a set; he rivered a straight. The worst was when I had Ac-8c. Four of us see a flop of 9-9-9. I don't like it, but I imagine no one else does. It checks to me and I take a stab. Demetrai raises from the button. Okay, he's got a small pocket pair for the full house. Easy muck for me. One non-believer takes him to the river where he shows his FLOPPED QUADS.

Yes folks, not only was he on a heater, but he was a moron as well. Who the hell raises quads on the flop? (Demetrai, that's who).

Well, I was feeling lucky too. Sure enough, two hands later and I raise from the BB with JJ. The flop is 8h-9h-Jc. I don't like my top set with this draw-happy table so I bet out. 4 callers and I get a turn of Js. I bet out again hoping no one believes and sure enough they all call. Unfortunately the river does not fill any straights or flushes, so when I bet out, no one calls. Fine by me because not only do I win a big pot, but there were 2 minutes left on the high hand (previously owned by Demetrai). $250, thankyouverymuch.

But it's not over. Two hands later and I raise with Ks-10d. The flop is Q-10-10. The turn? Another 10. Believe it or not, but my second quads in 6 minutes was good for the next hour's high hand. Another $250 in the pocket.

Now I get called to the 3/5 game. I half thought I should go home (I hear The Wife screaming YES!), but it was early. I proceed to lose a big pot on a stupid hand. Two hands later I pick up AA. I raise to $20 and an honest producer calls me. He was an absolute ATM and by the end of the night, he donated over $1000 to that game.

Anyway, the flop is K-6-5. I bet out $50 and hope he has AK. Sure enough, he raises to $120. I go over the top for all I have left and he insta-calls with his flopped set of 6s.

River? Ace of crubs.

That's right, baby. Even I can hit a two-outer now and then. From there I didn't look back and ran over the table, causing (or at least contributing) to it's eventual break up.

Variance is definately on my side these days. Let's hope it lasts a little longer. This is fun.

New Record!

Looks like I spoke too soon yesterday

100 Degrees in Seattle!

This is just nuts!

Poker Content!

I actually have some poker to discuss!

First off, thank again to Dr. Pauly for hosting an encore edition of his Saturdays series on PS. It was my first time, and I guess because of beginners luck I managed to run deep and take 2nd. I'm happy with my play. I made some big laydowns and few if any bad decisions. My big hands held up, which is unusual at PLO (it'll break your heart, right Pauly?) and my reads were good.

My backer, the lovely Kat was there too, but she busted early. That was okay with me because I'd feel odd if I took out my backer. Plus her bustout meant she was able to concentrate on railing me, including some timely advice about switching from Steely Dan to AC/DC late in the tournament. You can't be aggressive listening to Steely Dan.

Wanna know my secret to going deep? I'm a pussy. I actually folded AAxx to a raise and a re-raise from the chip leader (I would have chopped) and I folded KKxx to a big raise from the chip leader. Not once, but twice. Does anyone else fold big hands late in PLO tournaments? Seriously, I'd like to know.

The 2nd place finish was enough to rocket me to first place on one of the side bets for the Summer Bankroll Challenge, which is a pretty cool deal.

I've been on a rush since then. After my cash in the PLO tournament, I celebrated by going to Diamond Lil's to punish the 8/16 game. Even with several bad beats, I'm managed 3 nice winning sessions. All sessions started with me in a serious hole, but I managed to dig out all three times. I even went back to the Muckleshoot (despite my self-imposed banishment for my horrible behavior last time) and booked a nice winning session at 3/5 spread limit.

The 'shoot session was interesting if only because I had no right to the win except that variance broke my way for a change. I pissed away 2 buy-ins at O8 prior to moving to the 3/5 table. Then I proceeded to piss away another $350 playing like a timid idiot. When I finally buckled down, I actually got lucky.

I have Kd-Jd in the BB. 4 limpers see a flop of 2d-3c-5d. I'm not thrilled with my 2nd high flush draw so I check. It checks to the button who has been very aggressive (and winning - go figure). He bets so I figure it's a good time for a check raise since he has nothing. I raise to $30. MP dude, who has been quiet, pumps it to $100. He has about $100 behind. Everyone else folds to me. I put him on A5 for TPTK and guess he might fold to a big re-raise so I go all in. He insta-calls with his nut straight.

Qd on the river and I'm back in this thing!

From there I didn't look back and finished with a nice score. I also had the opportunity to talk with Devin who was the dealer during my outburst. I was nice to be able to tell him that I really respect him and that he didn't deserve the abuse. For his part, he told me that I was justified in my actions. I disagree, but it's nice to know there were other opinions of how events unfolded.

Finally, congrats to Ron for taking 5th place in the $270,ooo poker tournament at the Muckleshoot. Nice score.