Getting In Some Poker And Ready For Vegas

I was able to get in 2 nights of live poker this weekend. Friday night was in Kajagugu's hood without the Kaj or Surflexus. I figured this would increase my odds, but nooooo. I was the first one to bust out in the first game and then bubbled the late night second game. I should have just come home after I busted, but I wanted to stick around for another game. I liked my play, I just got unlucky against a very loose call. I had no idea it would take so long to get to the next game. I enjoy hanging out with the usual folks, so its a good night with friends.

On Sunday, "Main Event" Mike invited me to game he was going to that evening. It had a much higher buy-in than I usually do but I wanted to get a little action before my guys trip to Vegas next Friday. We had 16 people for the tournament. There was some wild action, but I kept a low profile. Mike went out on a brutal beat when he hit his set on the flop while holding pocket Aces. His opponent put him all in and showed 3,4 or some shit for middle pair and a gut-shot straight draw. This guy was running supernova hot and of course hits his 4 outer to knock out Mike. He was crushed and called it a night. I was able to hold on and pick my spots to move chips and finished 3rd for a little cash. It more than made up for my losses on Friday night. They were having a big cash game for the bustouts, but it was getting late and I didn't bring the bankroll for a 1/2 game of no limit with Omaha rotated in every 3rd orbit. When I asked about the game, the host warned me that the Omaha pots could see $1k. Yikes, that's a little much for a weekly home game. I'm only good for about 2 of those a year unless I'm in a casino.

Speaking of casinos, Mike, Mike, and I are heading to Bally's next week for a 4 day weekend. I plan on playing cash at Bally's, MGM, and maybe checking out the poker room at the Golden Nugget. Tournament wise, I may do Caeser's again or possibly the Venetian. This time, I hope to play more than 2 hands before I go busto with pocket kings.

I will play one more neighborhood game before Vegas and we are lucky enough to have Falstaff join us while he is doing his Atlanta gigs. It won't be a big game, but we should be able to get 6 handed maybe even a full table.

2 In One Day

Wow, 2 of pop cultures biggest icons died on the same day. They both died fairly young. Farrah Fawcett was 62 (February 2, 1947 - June 25, 2009) and Michael Jackson was only 50 (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009).





Man I loved this poster. I was between 6 and 8 when it first came out, but I do clearly remember being very interested in Farrah. It made me feel funny, you know.....down there. This is why I don't write obituaries.

Earlier last week I wanted to get a t-shirt with this picture on it for a new poker shirt. I found it on her website so I thought why not? I'll tell you why not. The damn thing was 100 bucks. Screw that, I guess I'll try and get some bootleg version. Of course those probably tripled in price today.

Turning 40

First of all I want to thank my wonderful husband for a great birthday week. This was the first time I've ever had my birthday celebration last a whole week. Gifts aside, I truly appreciate the thought and effort that he put into making this birthday very special. About the gifts... he really outdid himself. I love everything he gave me, and I did get a ring. I know most women think I'm crazy, but I'm not a big jewelry person. I wear a watch and a plain gold wedding band. I have other jewelry -- rings, necklaces, earrings -- I just rarely wear them. So every time we have talked about or looked at diamond anniversary bands, I've talked myself out of it. I just could never see spending so much money on something that is really no big deal to me. But this time I did it. It's nothing outrageous or excessively expensive, but I love it. It's a three diamond anniversary band with not so large diamonds but just the right size for me. My small hands can't pull off big honkin' rocks. But my new ring is perfect for me! Thank you Brian!

Now on to turning 40 and what it means to me. Some people dread 40; some people hate it when they get there; some people even get depressed over it. I must say that I have never dreaded it or been bothered by the thought of it. In fact, I've looked forward to turning 40. I look at it this way: at 40 I am wiser, stronger, and more comfortable than I was in my 20s or 30s. That's not to say that I have it all figured out because I know there are still plenty of life lessons to be learned, but I've taken to heart all I've learned so far. There are also some physical changes that go along with aging, but I've chosen to take a positive attitude about those too. The lines that are starting to form around my eyes are from years of smiles and laughter. The small aches and pains that are new to my body are from years of fun and activity. Best of all, the fact that I turned 40 means that I'm still here, alive and kicking and enjoying a wonderful life. I have been truly blessed with a fantastic husband, a great mom, wonderful friends, the best dog ever, and a comfortable lifestyle that allows us to do things we enjoy. I am embracing 40 and looking forward to what's to come!

Happy Birthday Stacie!

My baby has a milestone birthday today. I did it a little different this year by making it her birthday week. I had a different gift each morning for her. They weren't very extravagant, but I tried to put some thought in to little things.

Sunday - I went to Church with her. This is something she always wants me to do, so I got up earlier with her and told her I was going to tag along.

Monday - I got her 2 planted pots full of bright orange Asian lillies. When they are done blooming, I will plant them beside the concrete bench in the back yard.

Tuesday - I bought her a CD from The Fray.

Wednesday - She received a gift card for a hour long massage.

Thursday - I'm getting her Clemson tag put on the front of her car this weekend. This has been on my to do list for only 8 years. I tried to do it before, but it involves drilling in to the bumber and with my luck, I would hit some airbag sensor or something crazy like that. We are getting a brake job on Saturday, so I will have them put on the tag plate holder while they've got it.

Friday - We are actually going to the movie theater. She's on vacation today and I'm leaving work a little early. We are going to go to an early show of The Hangover followed by a casual dinner. I think this is the 3rd movie we have seen in the theater in the past 2 years. We are keeping the day low key. She said she didn't want a party. She would rather just she and I go out for the night. Her other gift for the day is a trip to the jewelry store when she is ready to get the ring she keeps talking herself out of buying. I still doubt she will get one, but we'll see. Before you tell me to just buy it for her, that ain't how it works with the moneys in our house. I still scares her to spend that much money on something like jewelry so I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't end up buying it until our 20th wedding anniversary.

Is Twitter The New Drunk Dialing?

I joined Twitter so I can follow the WSOP action and of course added other bloggers in the process. I'm loving the first person behind the scenes viewpoints. It was funny following Daniel last night. I really got a kick out of how he did for day 1 compared to Phil. Phil is playing "absolutely great poker" and is "perfectly calm" while Daniel started off the night getting hammered at the NHL awards event and ends up with over 3X Phil's stack. His middle tweet was the funniest. It reminded me of some college night drunk dialing. The only thing missing was "I love you man."

I Love Blazing Saddles, Just Not Sitting On One

There are many, many days that I miss owning a motorcycle. Today is not one of them. If you are properly dressed, sitting in suburbia traffic at lunch time when it is in the 90s with ball sweating humidity is no fun. It will be even hotter and muggier by Friday. Hello Summer, aren’t you a little early?

Magnum Solo, p.i.

Must share awesomey goodness!

Losing Some TV Shows And Watching Some Great Movies

It looks like a few of my favorite shows won't be back in the Fall: Life, The Unit, Sara Connor Chronicles. Chuck got another shot and although Medium was dropped by NBC, it is owned by CBS and will be moving there. I wasn't sure if The Cleaner was coming back, but I see it starts back up on June 23rd. Stacie and I borrowed season 1 of How I Met Your Mother and we are about 7 episodes in to it. It is a good show to watch during dinner and it is starting to grow on me. When it originally aired, I didn't like the pilot enough to keep watching but apparently it has gotten much better so I'm giving it another shot. I'm also watching Generation Kill from Netflix. My quick opinion of it after 2 episodes is that it is Band of Brothers in Iraq. I loved Band of Brothers, so hopefully this will turn out as good.

We watched Slumdog Millionaire last night and I thought it was fantastic. Stacie enjoyed it but I liked it much better. I was really impressed with the story and thought it was very well done. I agree with her that it was very hard to watch at times but that made it terribly interesting to me. I thought the music fit very well, but I could have done without the music video at the end. It was very distracting and didn't fit with the rest of the movie. I think you would have more profound feelings after finishing the movie if the Indian Macarena number wasn't there. Just make it an extra on the DVD but finish the movie with some more of the great score.

Another good movie we watched last week was Seven Pounds. It wasn't as good as Slumdog, but I thought it had a great story as well. I think that is it for serious movies for a little while. It is back to comedies and action/sci-fi/fantasy for the next few movies with a chick flick or 2 thrown in for date nights.