5 years and 3 things

First things first….

Happy Anniversary babe.

I can’t believe we’ve been married for 5 years already. When did we get so damn old?

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I’m a week late on my 10 (minus the previous 7) things no one knows about me. So here they are:

8. I spent the majority of my senior year in high school playing Euchre in the cafeteria. I had almost all my required credits, and a lot of free periods. I am a wicked Euchure player....although Banky thinks he's better.

9. I’m addicted to audio books. I commute an hour to work each way, and just last year discovered downloadable audio books. I can’t believe I suffered this commute for 8 years without them. Right now I'm listening to The Reincarnationist

10. I’m a contributing author to an HTML instructional book written in 1999. An old MSN colleague was on a deadline and in a bind, so I wrote 2 chapters for her. Now in it's 6th edition, my name no longer appears on the chapters....but I still remember how cool it felt to get my copy of the 1st edition with my name in black and white on chapters 44 and 46.

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I feel discombobulated today. With some changes at work I have a new boss, a new desk, and arrived at work today to see a brand spanking new laptop where my old dinosoar used to sit. I knew it was coming “soon” – but was surprised to see it today.

I’ve spent half my morning readjusting all my settings. If that’s not a good use of my time, I don’t know what is.

Lame catch-up post

It’s 5:30 on Friday night and I’m still at the office. The only other noise I hear is the cleaning lady emptying recycling bins. Work has been chaotic for the past few days while half the department moved cubicles. Oh the joy of packing up all your crap just to haul it 20 feet down the hall.

I wish I could get excited about my new, bigger, cubicle. But a cubicle is a cubicle is a cubicle.

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I played a lot of poker this week. Sitting at home on Tuesday while Banky and I got our windows replaced allowed for a lot of online poker. I decided to play some micro-limit NL on FullTilt, and I actually had fun. I also played some O8 and Stud H/L. Again, low limit, but lots of fun. The biggest difference in these sessions... I turned off chat.

I’m a pretty social person. I’m not the best ‘mingler’ there is, but I enjoy (most) people, and I love a good laugh. But after my recent post about feeling so ‘blah’ at all the degrading and rude things people say at the tables online, a few people suggested I turn off the chat…and it made a huge difference. I didn’t feel like I had to justify myself to the rude people, I didn’t get titlty because someone was acting like an ass…it really helped me focus on the game.

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BamBam over at TuckFard Poker tagged me in a “10 things you don’t know about me” thingy…..since I already wrote 7…I figure I’m only on the hook for 3 more…but now it’s 5:42, and I want to get home to Banky, so those will have to wait!

You cannot hide your inner geek!

I received an email today from Amazon promoting products that are “Recommended for You”. The products featured were 3 boxed sets of various seasons of Stargate SG1, the latest Harry Potter book, Stargate Atlantis the complete 1st season, and the Planet Earth DVD series.

Cleary, Amazon knows that I am a nerd.



I’m a tired tart this morning. Banky and I stayed up a little late last night watching Big Brother and celebrating my 2nd place finish in the season ending tourney for the Thursday league.

It took me awhile to get into the celebratory mode, because I was really disappointed not to win. I was On. My. Game. last night. It was one of those games where you're totally in the flow. I was making correct decisions, and things were flowing my way. Despite not making any ‘huge’ hands (trips, straights, flushes), I was the chip leader (by a large margin) after the break. I was making good bets, raises and reraises, and I felt like I was in control of the table.

Unfortunately I had to call Banky’s all-in when I held AK (he was short stacked and went all-in with A9). It's never fun busting your husband, but sometimes it has to be done.

My downfall came when we were 4 handed, and the blinds were incredibly high. I got two back-to-back good starting hands (AKs, and AJo). In both cases, I raised preflop and was called (by the same player), and made continuation bets when I missed, only to get raised both times. I gave up on the flop…but those bets both cost me a good percentage of my stack. The player I bet into is a very good player and giving him so many chips was a mistake. I couldn’t not play those hands – but the second time around, I think I could have forgone the continuation bet.

I ended up heads-up with that same player, and he had me at about a 6:1 chip disadvantage. We only played 5 hands heads-up. I won the blinds twice (once with KJ, once with AQ), folded twice, and lost when my pre-flop all-in with 88 lost to J10 when a 10 hit on the flop, followed by a J on the turn. Had my 88 held up, it would have been a very good heads-up match. But it wasn’t meant to be.

I’m pleased with my second place finish – but at the time I was disappointed to have come so close to a win.

Ding Ding Ding...followed closely by Wah Wah Wah

Saturday afternoon I decided that instead of using my $75 token on a satellite into a bigger game, I’d use it for a 9 person SNG. My decision proved to be a good one…since I took the sucker down! Woot!

I’ve won and lost bigger amounts in live games....but this was my biggest online tourney win to date….and let me tell you, it felt great.

I decided to try my hand at the token tourneys again on Sunday. And I lost every one I played. 4 for 4. Bah.

Then at Woody’s last night, I rebought twice before going out in 6th place. The hand that lost me the tourney was when a shortstack went all-in before me, and I pushed in over the top with AK. The shortie had pocket sixes, I caught my ace on the flop, but he caught runner, runner flush cards. Ouch.

I went all-in shortly after with 1.5 BB. I had A5s, got called by QQ and KK. Q on the river knocks out two of us.

Banky hasn’t written about the night yet….but I’m sure he will – he had a worse run than me. Some games at Woody’s, you can just feel that you’re going to get fucked. Last night was one of those nights.

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The new issue of Truckin' is out. If you haven't read Truckin' before, you're missing out. Reading it inspired me to write again.

1. Monk's Siberian Dream by Paul McGuire
Brain dead. Deep into the sixth day of a foggy bender, I had forgotten the day of the week. Frisatursunday? I’d successfully lost time. The demoralizing result was that my conversational skills had dwindled down to a few muttering sentences... More

2. The Rubber-less Traveler by Brad "Otis" Willis
Breathless, confused, and sick to my stomach, I arrived at the British Airways gate and looked at the departure board. The flight was delayed for an hour. This is how I travel. I run to nowhere to fly to somewhere where I see little, do much, and find myself asking questions like, "Why do they sell condoms in airport bathrooms?" ... More

3. It's Not Like I'm Dishonest; Honest by May B. Yesno
I'm a private investigator. A damn good private investigator. I have a wife, a very expensive wife. She likes the good things in life. We're matched. I like good things too... More

4. Coming Home by B Kemp
Some of my former friends think that she is using me for my money. It doesn't seem right to them that a man my age would "throw it all away," leaving my career for a life of unpredictability and adventure. My old friends are naturally suspicious of younger women wanting to spend their money, rightfully so I suppose... More

5. The Confetti of Life by Sean A. Donahue
I read the love letters that my grandfather sent to his wife. I could see the tears in my grandmother's eyes as she read them, touched them for one last link to him. I shed many a tear today, ones that no one saw, because I left the room before they fell... More

Diamonds are a tart's best friend.

Is it wrong to be happy when you suckout a flush to a made straight?

I came in second in the final league game of the season last night – but I should have been out in the second level. I was on the button with Ad9d and called along with several limpers. The flop was 9c, Qd, 10d. Checked to me so I bet with my pair & nut flush draw. The BB check raises me.

As Banky discussed before, there’s not a lot of play in the league structure. If we were deeper stacked, I probably would have just smooth called with position. But a call here was more than a 3rd of my stack. If the diamond doesn’t come on the turn, I have to fold to another bet. My opponent is a smart, sometimes tricky, player – and I thought he could be doing this move with a straight draw, as well as with 2 pair or trips. I’m losing to the stronger hands – but with the exception of the made straight, I could see him folder.

As I thought more about it, I really felt that I’d rather bust here, than call and be crippled, or fold what is a strong(ish?) hand. So I pushed. He insta-called with the J8, and my diamond came on the turn.

There was a lot of talk about what a suckout it was – but I feel like it was the right move at the time.

I maintained this big stack for quite a few more levels. I was determined not to lose my early lead like I usually do. When it was down to 5 handed, my big stack was now average, and I lost a chunk of chips with AK (preflop bet, missed flop, continuation bet got called by tight player – had to fold when he bet out on turn). I was shortish – but doubled up when I went all-in with Jh10h, got called by AJo (yikes) but flopped a flush.

Unfortunately, I ended up heads-up with a strong player who had a major lead on me. I doubled up once, and then a few hands later, had an open-ended straight flush draw on the turn when he pushed all-in. I called. He had two-pair, and my gazillion outs didn’t come through. I don’t regret the call.

I really enjoy the league and the people I’ve met there. But I’m not sure if I can continue going. The games have gotten really small – we’re lucky to get 9. And with the prize pool being split 3 ways, it’s very hard to break even. Before last night’s game – Banky had 2 wins, a 2nd, and a 3rd out of 12 games – cashing a third of the time – and he’s barely breaking even. I’ve cashed 3 times a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd, and I haven’t broken even. We still have a chance to make some money next week with the “free roll” ($10 per player, per game comes out of the prize pool each week…at the end of the season, we play for that money). But without a cash there, this season will be a bust.

It was different when the games were bigger, and we had a lot of new people coming in and out of the game. But now the game has gotten stale. I know Banky and I aren’t the only people who feel this way…I’m not sure what the prospects are for the future of the league.

At least the friendships will live on. That's gotta be +EV ;)

The curtain of anonymity

I’ve been dabbling again in online poker at FullTilt. Mostly playing OHL, but also the occasional tournament. On Friday afternoon I played a token frenzy tourney and won a $26 token – on Monday afternoon I played a 2-table $26 tourney to win a $75 token. I ended up winning the token…so now I have to find a good $75 game.

Despite having two successful games though, I left the game feeling…I don’t know what the right word is…not unhappy…but disappointed? It feels like every time I play online, I get heckled by at least one other player at the table. I’m sick of the venom that is so easily spewed by other players.

The heckling in question on Monday came after I made a marginal call on the turn when I had the second nut flush draw, and a gutshot straight draw. The 9 of hearts on the river made the straight and the flush for me. My opponent bet out into me – which gave me pause. I thought my call on the turn gave away the fact that I was drawing, so when she bet into me, I was concerned she may also have a flush – but I couldn’t fold the second nut flush, so I just called. I won the pot (she was betting a made straight – a move I still don’t understand). She called me “%^$#%ing donkey”.

Then later, I made a pre-flop raise with a mid-pair, got called by the blinds. The flop brought 1 over card, they checked so I made a continuation bet, only to have the BB go all-in. When I folded (remember, the point of a token tourney is not to win, it’s just to get into the ‘money’), she wrote “hahahahaha %&%^ing idiot”.

It’s not that I care about what this particular person thinks of me. It just bothers me that people have no sense of decorum at the table. They think nothing of saying something so rude to another human being – all over a game of poker that costs less than a trip to the movies.

I’ve been called worse than a donkey. I’ve seen things typed into chatrooms that are truly horrific. It really makes me sad that people can debase other human beings so easily.

I remember when I first started playing online on PartyPoker, when people would say “nh”, and the person who busted on the bubble in a SNG would say “gg” and “gl” to the players remaining. I guess those days are long gone.

Revenge can still be sweet though. My friend, who was so quick to criticize me, went out 8th (when 6th people got paid), when she raised from EP and got called by the BB. The flop came King high and she went all in with AQ. The button had AK. She got no help, and went out without a word.