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Content

Funniest song lyric out there right now:

“Makes me think about Hank, how he played his songs, makes a long-haired, pot-smoking hippie want to sing along.”

That’s about all I can come up with right now. I really am trying, but the “where there’s a will, there’s a way” just hasn’t gotten it done lately. Nobody wants to read about my bad beats, hand histories etc. and one more $5 SNG win doesn’t do much for me either, to be honest.

I have still been playing, working mostly on the 1500 Frequent Player Points at PokerShare in order to unlock my $150 bonus. I am sitting at approximately 1430 points right now and should be able to comfortably clear the rest tonight when I get home from work. It’s been a long haul, full of several $200 and $300 swings, but if nothing incredibly bad happens tonight, I should still finish up the ring game play ahead of where I started. The $50 NL tables are wild and I have notes on probably 100 different players on the site. Most are one-word descriptions of their play…..”donkey.” Of course, with that much poor play, there are sure to be some bad beats mixed in and I have taken my share, but strict, tight play is definitely the way to go here. I’ve been sitting back, waiting to flop a monster and then cashing in. More often than not, you can drag somebody along to pay you off. Unfortunately, the same holds true when you flop a vulnerable big hand, there’s always going to be somebody chase you down with 10-8 off-suit. (This was not an actual bad beat story, had it been an actual bad beat story, my hand and the flop, turn and river would have been described in much more detail)

Playing with donkeys……


………and avoiding the urge to play just like them!

Having played the last three weeks or so on PokerShare almost exclusively, I’ve come to a few conclusions regarding NL cash game play at the lower limits. Nearly all of my experiences are at the $20 and $50 NL tables and they are nearly all at the 6-max tables, as well. First off, like most other sites at these levels, the players are horrendous., absolutely, positively horrendous. Within a few orbits, almost without fail, I have notes on at least one and usually 2 or 3 players at my table.

Most of these players are action players, they are looking for action, looking to gamble and almost always looking to take what they perceive to be a coin-flip in every situation. These are the guys that inevitably buy in short to the table. If it is a $50 NL table, there will be myself and only one or two others that have the full buy-in in front of them. The rest are what I call the “action junkies” looking to try and double up and double up in a hurry. They are usually raising every single hand and when they get played back at, they are usually at a complete loss of what to do next.

When I encounter this type of player, one of two things generally happen. I either A) fold a ton of hands in a row (not unusual for me, especially at these tables) or B) I trap them when given the opportunity with a big hand. One way or the other, they are going broke sooner or later, whether I get to bust them or another player at the table busts them.

The tables at PokerShare are inhabited with mostly European and Scandanavian players. I would say the break down compared to US players is 90% to 10%. About the only Americans at the tables are the tight, bonus-clearing types that are just like you, sitting back and waiting for the opportunity to bust the fish. These players are the ones to avoid confrontation with and are usually pretty easy to spot. Check their home town if it is listed. By moving your cursor over their name, it will display their home town information, if they gave it, and it is usually fairly easy to determine where they are from. Also, check their stack size. If they sat down with a full buy-in, chances are they are clearing bonus and not looking to gamble their entire stack on the turn of the cards. These are the players to stay away from and generally not to try and “make moves” on. I don’t make a lot of fancy plays at the table anyway, but the only person that is going to call you when you are “making a move” is one that has you beat.

There are plenty of the fish to go around at PokerShare, you just have to choose your battles carefully. After playing there for three or four weeks now, I have notes on probably 100 or so players and believe me, those notes come in handy. So far, only one of those notes says “solid.” The rest say “donkey” or “fish” usually.

The temptation with these types of players is to start playing more hands in an effort to try and bust these guys, but in my opinion, this is where you tighten up your starting hand selection even further. I realize that 6-max tables are filled with aggression and that these guys do NOT always have a hand, but as soon as you start calling raises with K-J, you will be chasing gut-shots and flush draws to the river and wasting those precious bets that are better saved for your raising hands.

Here’s a typical example of a hand I played recently with a “noted” donkey.

I raise in LP with Q-Q and the big blind (donkey) calls the raise. The flop is 7-4-7 and the donkey leads out a pot-sized bet, which I immediately raise. He calls and when the turn is a 5, he checks. I bet out the pot and he smooth calls. The river is a 6 and he immediately pushes all-in which is almost my entire stack. The scary board gives me pause, but the fact that I have already noted that this guy is an idiot prevails and I make the call and he turns over K-4 for a smaller two pair and I rake an almost $100 pot.

The fact that I had notes on this particular player is the ONLY reason I made that call with that board. Had I not had any notes on the player, nor seen him play anything else in a similar manner before, I would have probably folded my Queens on the river, fearing a made straight or the third 7. Instead, I trusted my read at the time and the fact that I had already seen him make multiple donkey plays and was rewarded with a double-up. The importance of taking notes on players cannot be over-stressed. It simply makes you money in the long run and if you are playing at a certain site a good portion of the time, it only makes sense to note poor play as the opportunity to meet up with the same players over and over again is simply too high, especially at the smaller sites.

Avoiding confrontation, especially when you are there to earn bonuses and clear bonus requirements, is the key to being successful in these ventures. You are there to make money, sure, but you are not there to continually take coin flips and gamble. There will be plenty of situations arise, especially at the lower limits, for you to get all your money in the middle with HUGE advantages, so why push the small edges that hard? True, you will get paid off when your hand holds up, because these folks will not lay a hand down, but this is also the situation where you get stacked due to suck-outs. Don’t take coin-flips if you value your stack. Be patient and wait for the opportunities when you KNOW you are a huge favorite.

What do you know? A little poker content, maybe things are looking up?

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:56 PM, ,




Rut

Back home from working in Texas, but still in my same old rut. Hope to be back to normal soon.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:07 PM, ,




DADI 8


Be there or be square!

posted by GaryC @ 3:55 AM, ,




Coming soon....

....blogging from Texas. Stay tuned.......

Live blogging a SNG from Fort Worth. That's right, I'm in Fort Worth, Texas for tonight and tomorrow night and I may have a serious problem making it home in time for DADI on Thursday night. I am going to try to haul ass out of here early on Thursday afternoon and get home in time, but I can't make any promises.

Anyway, here goes nothing....PokerStars, $5 + .50, one table SNG...

.....damn, haven't installed the update on my lap top yet, still waiting....

And we're finally off at 8:52 pm. Folded K-7 off-suit on the first hand.

A-A on the button...el busto with 5-5-5 to my A-A-A...up to 2590 chips.

Fold, fold, fold, fold.

Up to 2800 chips and in solid 2nd place. Doh! Laid down the hammer to a raise and would have flopped two pair.

Flopped the nut flush out of the BB and managed to milk about 700 chips out of another player.

Flopped a set of 3's and everybody folds to a smallish bet. Boo!

Fold, Fold, and fold some more.

Down to six players and it has turned into a blind-stealing, tight-box affair. I'm currently in third and haven't played very many hands lately. Believe that?

Finally lost another player, down to five now and I am third in chips and biding my time.

Wow, this is incredibly boring when you only play 12% of the hands dealt. I am four for four at showdown though. Four left and I'm in 2nd.

Down to three and I am short-stacked but in the money. Now to move up a spot or two....

Doubled up with 8-8 against 5-5 and have taken the chip lead.

Overwhelming chip leader now.

Called an all-in with A-5 soooooted and made a wheel against A-8. Down to two.

A-2 against the short stack holds up. Woot! I made my buy-ins for Mookie and for the DADI on Thursday. I just hope I make it home in time.

Dealer: Chabbajabba finished the tournament in 2nd place
Dealer: GCox25 wins the tournament - congratulations!

I'm out, see you later.

G

posted by GaryC @ 5:52 PM, ,




Stats

Top 10 Referrers to Low Limit Grinder:

1. Yo Soy Veneno
2. High On Poker
3. Vegas Miami Don
4. Dear Poker Diary (Surflexus)
5. Nickles and Dimes (Drizz)
6. Poking and Peaking
7. Iakaris
8. Poker In Arrears (TripJax)
9. LittleAcornMan
10. DNasty13

Thanks to everybody on this list and everybody else who has me linked and stops by here for a visit on a regular basis. I am working on some actual poker content, I promise. Soon!


I get a lot of hits every day from Google searches for such things as:

“PokerShare Monkeys”-apparently, PokerShare is trying to train a monkey to play at the WSOP as an advertising gimmick. After playing there for over a month, I say just pick one of your random low limit NL players from there and send them, although a trained monkey might have a better chance of lasting longer than their average fish.

“Low Limit Poker”-several of these a day and they nearly always spend 0 seconds at my site. Folks, it is called Low Limit Grinder for a reason, although I have to admit, the output has been less than optimal lately and strategy advice nearly non-existent.

“How to play a big stack”-I have to also admit to not having a ton of experience playing the “big stack.” My game does not allow me the freedom to bully people around very often, unless I happen to be getting run over by the deck. Given some good cards, I can and will be a table bully, but without decent cards, I seldom play this role and when I do, I normally don’t remain the big stack for very long.

“naturism”-not sure how this search even led to my blog, but I apologize now that I am not a naturist nor do I play one on TV.

“Low limit ridiculous”-I’m pretty sure I know how this one got here. We all know that the low limits produce ridiculous plays, beat, etc. on a nightly basis, sometimes an hourly basis.

“What does MIH mean?” – If you have to ask, you are missing out. Read back through my archives for this funny story.

“Bankroll SNG limits”- Do you really think anybody that is not a professional poker player or writer can give you any worthwhile information regarding bankroll considerations. That being said, I play the $5 SNG’s everywhere, because I do not have a very big bankroll, but I would suggest 10X the level that you plan on playing, at a minimum.

“How to beat low limit poker players” – First off, adjust your tin-foil hat to the proper tightness……not really! I’m sorry, but if you haven’t figured this out on your own, you likely will never figure it out. Trial and error and lots of luck.

“PokerStars tight low limits.” – Yes!

posted by GaryC @ 3:15 PM, ,




4 Day Hiatus


This is me in about 17 hours. I cannot wait to get out of town.

I'm taking leave tomorrow at Noon and heading down to the lake. I hope everybody else has as much fun as I plan on having this weekend. If you're playing poker, rake pots, please. Somebody has to do it.

Thanks to everybody for the kind words and for stopping by here. I'll be back sometime on Sunday but probably won't post again until Monday.

Have a good weekend!

posted by GaryC @ 5:48 PM, ,




Life Update


Okay, okay, so it isn't the Poker Jones Tournament, but the Mookie is still on for tonight, trust me on that. All the particulars are the same, so be there, I plan on it.

___

As I mentioned yesterday, I am in a rut right now. The heat around here has me down and not feeling like doing much of anything these days. I don’t want to blog. I don’t want to work. I barely want to play poker and I damn sure don’t want to mow the yard. I can live without working and mowing the yard right now, but blogging and poker, eh, not so much. I want to blog and I want to play poker, deep down inside, it’s just finding the motivation to sit down and take care of it that I’m having a problem with right now.

I do most of my blogging from work, in the form of an e-mail that I send to myself at home for copying/pasting later in the evening. It really sucks doing it this way, but unfortunately, my options are limited. I used to blog from work and whenever the mood hit me or an idea got stuck in my head, I sat down and banged it out. That worked really good for me, but alas, that is no longer an option, so I will go with what I can do for now.

The problem with that is this: Whenever I get a good idea for a post now, it seems I am always in the middle of something that I cannot get away from at work. I can’t stop to jot down the idea or bang out a quick e-mail due to work and it has definitely hampered my creative ability. I find myself banging out the exact same tripe day after day now and I am starting to tire of it, just as I am sure you are tiring of reading that I won $32 in a cash game last night and placed in two of three SNG’s. Who cares? Hell, I don’t even care about that any more.

The family is all doing well at this time, well, what family I have left. On my side of the family, I just have my Mom and my Grandma. (and oodles of Aunts, Uncles and Cousins) As I’ve mentioned before, my wife and I are both only children, hence no nieces or nephews on that list. My Mom and Grandma live about two hours from us and we don’t get over to see them nearly as often as we should. My Mother-In-Law lives about 5 miles from our house and my wife’s Grandmother lives less than a mile from us now, after they moved her to OKC from Arizona about 6 months ago.

My oldest daughter lives with her Mom full-time and comes over to visit us every so often. They live about 20 miles north of us, but she is 16 now and with her job, school-work and softball, she doesn’t have as much time with us as she or I would like. I understand this, of course, as it is the same thing I deal with in seeing my Mom. Life gets in the way, you know? My youngest daughter is now 10 and growing up faster than you can imagine. I just want to mention this to all you guys and gals out there with small children: Do not blink, because they will be 16 before you know it and you will be handing over the keys to a car to your baby. It is amazing that it takes us all our lives to grow up and become a responsible adult and it takes no time at all for our children to do the same thing, right in front of our eyes.

Does this ever happen to anybody else? I get home from work usually 30 minutes before my wife does and I almost immediately log on for a few hands of poker. She gets home and immediately starts in with the happenings of her day……while I am still peeking out of the corner of my eye at the computer screen. I inevitably lose a pot while her story is going on and either I make a noise or a facial expression that lets her know that my attention is diverted and I apparently have no interest in her day at all, which is absolutely not the case. What I have done to combat this is to immediately hit the “sit out” button as soon as she hits the bedroom and turn completely away from the computer screen. I don’t know if she has noticed this or not, but I am trying to be the caring husband (which I am, regardless of whether or not I always show it) and to pay attention to what it is that she has to say. It’s a tough balancing act, between family and addiction, er, hobby, but it is one that we all will have to face at some point. I know I have to work at it continually or face the wrath of my girls when it gets out of hand.

My wife is very understanding about all of my quirks, addictions, hobbies, etc. With me, a hobby turns into a full-blown addiction almost instantaneously. When I first started playing on-line poker, it was easy, there was no money involved and I played for a couple of hours a night, at most. But, when real money became involved, it turned into four or five hours a night very quickly and I had to step back and try to remember that I am not a single man and that my habits affect my family and my wife as much as they affect me. Tough lessons to learn, but lessons worth learning, nonetheless, if you value your marriage. And I do value my marriage. My wife was and is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I would never do anything to screw that up intentionally. I think(hope) she knows that.

So, what to do to get my ass out of this rut that I’m in? I don’t have an answer for that right now. Last night, I logged off at 7:00 pm, ate dinner with the wife and we sat down and watched a movie together in the living room. Our daughter is staying at my Mom’s until tonight, so we had the evening to ourselves and decided to buy a movie on Pay-per-view and enjoy each others’ company. It was a nice evening and a decent movie. (Jarhead with Jamie Foxx) When it was over, we went to bed, a bit early for me (10:00 pm) and without playing much poker at all. Funny, I didn’t even miss it last night.

I am planning on playing in the Mookie tonight if I get my yard mowed in time. That’s right, I HAVE to mow the yard tonight, since I am leaving at Noon on Friday for the lake. My wife is taking the daughter and one of her friends to Dallas this weekend for a trip to Six Flags and I will be tooling around the lake on the jet ski’s by myself. (after, of course, mowing the yard at the lake, as well) I’m looking forward to the peace and quiet that is my lake place and who knows, maybe I will come back with a refreshed attitude toward life and not just poker.

That’s where I’m at right now, not too good, but not too bad either. I can live with it.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:52 PM, ,




Dog Days Of Summer

Much with baseball players entering the hottest, hardest parts of their schedules, I find myself dragging ass these long hot days of July. We are confronted with a devastating heat wave across Oklahoma this week that is seeing temperatures soar to well over 100 degrees every single day with no breeze or wind to help with the stifling heat.

I’ve been to Vegas in the summer and I lived in Phoenix for more than a year and all this tripe about “it’s a dry heat” is a bunch of bull-shit. When it is 130 degrees, it is 130 degrees, I don’t care how dry the heat is, it’s fucking hot. Now, here in Oklahoma, we have the added benefit of 100% humidity to go along with whatever the temperature outside is, we get a wonderful term called the “heat index.”

What that term means is that when it is 105 degrees outside, the humidity is factored in and it “feels” like it is 110 degrees. All of this means only one thing, it’s fucking hot! Much like Phoenix or Vegas in August, it is almost unbearable outside and means that a simple chore like mowing the yard can completely dehydrate you to the point of passing out. People are dropping like flies here when they spend too much time outside. Sunday, we had some drag boat races in the river near downtown OKC and 10 spectators fell out while sitting in the shade, watching the races, WATCHING the races, I say. It’s fucking miserable hot right now and is causing all kinds of problems for me and any outdoor activities.

As I said yesterday, I’m headed to the lake at Noon on Friday this week and I am really looking forward to hitting that water. There will be much beer consumed by yours truly and much gasoline consumed by my jet-ski’s. One quick tip for you from here in Oklahoma, Do NOT fill up your jet ski’s at the marina on the water, if there is any way in hell to avoid it. $87 when I filled them both up on July 4th weekend. Of course, I was stuck on the wrong end of the lake and would not have made it the 4 miles back to my trailer, so I was stuck….and they knew it. They are big fun, but with the price of gasoline skyrocketing as of late, they may have to be shelved for the rest of the year unless we get a bit of a reprieve on gas prices.


Poker? Yeah, I’ve been playing a little bit of poker lately. It’s hard to convince myself to do anything outside these days, so I’ve been loading up the cooler with beer and hitting the tables pretty regularly lately in an effort to unlock my deposit bonus at PokerShare. Results are completely mixed right now. I had a great run early on and nearly tripled my original deposit. Since that time, a combination of poor play by me, a little luck for my opponents and in general, pretty cold cards have led to a bit of a downswing. I’m still well ahead for the promotion, but I still have around 400 hands to clear the bonus and retrieve my $150 bonus. I’m back to grinding and looking for opportunities to add to the bankroll along the way, as well as clearing the bonus.

I hadn’t planned on playing in the MATH tournament on Stars last night, but when I logged in and checked it out, Hoyazo had mistakenly made it a $10 + 1 tournament, instead of the normal $22 buy-in, so I thought, what the hell. I joined and played with a virtual who’s who of poker bloggers. A lot of the big boys were out and it made for an interesting table, to say the least. At one point, I checked my stats and had played 6 of 111 hands. To say I was playing tight would be a huge understatement. I was lucky enough to get JJok to push his K-Q into my A-A and doubled up somewhere in the second hour and held on loosely to make the final table. I also ended up busting in 8th, when my 8-8 ran into K-K. Occasionally, you have to give somebody credit for a hand, slick, and I finally did….from the rail. NH, sir. I was still relatively happy with my play and very happy to make the final table, even though I made no money and was no factor at all the entire time. Thanks, Hoyazo, I enjoyed it and will try to play again in the future.

Okay, I’ve been threatening to write these two occurrences up for quite some time so I thought today should be the day. These are a few of the cash game nuggets I have picked up on the last three weeks or so at PokerShare.

Is there a new man-rule that says: If you are in the small blind and it folds around to you, you have to call the big blind and then fold immediately to aggression???? Okay, I’m a bit of a believer in defending your blinds, but to repeatedly call that extra .25 cents and then fold to a raise or a bet after the flop is just insane in my mind. For God’s sake, raise my big blind, you freaking lemur! You’ll come closer to winning the hand by doing that than you will by just calling and waiting to see if you hit the flop. I’ve seen this time and time again, the small blind continually just calls the big blind and then folds to either a raise or a post-flop bet, over and over again. Save the .25 cents, meat-head.

Here’s another strategy (I hesitate to call it that, but I suppose it is their strategy) that I’ve seen a lot lately. I raise in LP with a decent hand and get called out of one or more of the blinds. No matter what comes out on the flop, the caller then leads out with around a pot-sized bet. This threw me off a time or two and I folded what were superior hands at the time, until I finally saw them have to show one of these hands down. Apparently, they think that by simply leading out, the pre-flop raiser is going to lay down his hand. I have taken to re-raising here almost every single time, whether the flop hits me or not and more often than not, I take the pot down right there. I don’t understand this strategy, but apparently, they feel like leading out here every single time is the play to make to try and steal the pot, regardless of the flop or my holdings. It’s most often easy money, if you make that re-raise.

That’s all I got for today. The Dog Days Of Summer are affecting everything about me right now. I’ll try to do better later.

G

posted by GaryC @ 2:59 PM, ,




Zippo

That's all I could come up with today. Not entirely clever, but I really have nothing today. I spent the weekend painting ceilings at my Mom's house and the heat is unbearable here right now. 105 degrees today in the shade and absolutely no hint of a breeze.

I got nothing, I tell you, nothing.

I'm headed to the lake this weekend on Friday afternoon for some water activities in a lame attempt to stay cool. The wife and kids are out of town to Six Flags in DFW, so I will be a bachelor at the lake. Luckily for me, I can handle that. I have the beer on ice and the whiskey already loaded in the truck.

I hope for better tomorrow. Go here or here to check out the DADI 8 details and then go sign up, damnit.

G

posted by GaryC @ 4:02 PM, ,




Pimp

I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so here are both banners. Stay tuned for more details....







posted by GaryC @ 11:10 AM, ,




---Insert Title Here---

Before I get started today, I have to send out an apology to Marxst1 for last night’s shenanigans on PokerStars. I finally broke down and joined the Mookie again after about a two week hiatus. I just felt the need to get in there and play some poker with people whose company I enjoy, so I did it.

The results were, as usual, mixed. I got lucky twice fairly early on and unlucky once. The first hand involved pocket 8’s against Marxst1 and I caught an 8 on the river to make a full house and his well-disguised set of Kings went down. (LLL #1) The next hand, I’m sorry, but I forget the name, I decided to gamble it up and indeed, I was way behind after the flop. He had flopped a set of 7’s and I had the 2nd nut flush draw. Had Marx called ahead of me, I would have saved 1500 chips or so, but he folded and I called. I made the flush on the turn, but a full house was made on the river, dropping me to 800 chips. (UUU #1) The old suck, re-suck, which was a prevalent theme, as always, throughout the tournament.

I managed to chip up to around 1500 or so when the following hand occurred. I’m in the big blind and look down at Q-Q. An EP raiser pops it and then Marxst1 pops it again. I honestly thought I was ahead when I pushed, but looking back after the hand, I probably should have known that I was behind. Anyway, I see no better chance with any better hand in the near future to more than double up, so I pushed and was called by two people. I flopped top set and held on to beat out Marx’s K-K and suddenly had 4900 chips. (LLL #2)

Anyway, back to the apology. It appeared that I was really out to get him and that I got lucky against him twice and indeed, I did get extremely lucky twice, but it was nothing personal, just PokerStar’s way of pumping me up for a bit, before the inevitable knee to the nuts. My bad, Marx, you will get even with me soon, I’m sure and again, it was nothing personal.

I ended up going out around 14th or 15th, near the bubble, when Hoyazo called my short-stack all-in and made a straight. (UUU #2) So very typical of PokerStars and my luck right now. Oh well, back to the cash games I go for the time being. They are still treating me rather well and I am getting closer and closer every day to unlocking a free $150 from PokerShare. Couple that with my profits thus far and it has been an extremely profitable adventure, not to mention an extreme boost to my confidence level.

I also want to send a shout-out to my boy, DNasty, who has been on quite a roll lately on the tournament trail. We were at the same table for a long while at the Mook and I could tell by the way he was playing that he was going to go far. Just far enough, in fact, to win the whole damn thing. Nice job, D.

Mentions have been made about another possible 45-person SNG Challenge. Drewspop appears to be the ring-leader this time and my participation depends on a few different factors. First of all, I have to get over the inevitable feeling of doom I get every time the hands are flipped over at Stars. I’m well aware that this is something in my own mind and that I have to deal with it, but I’m in a bad spot, attitude-wise, and if it doesn’t improve, I will not be joining the challenge. I would, however, recommend to anybody out there reading this to join up in this challenge. It’s always a good experience and you get to know other bloggers a bit better during these types of things. I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to get my money in there, if things work out between now and the start of the challenge.

Another event, planned for a couple of weeks away, that is nearly ready to be announced is DADI 8:The Rebuy in July. Keep an eye out here and here and here and, well, here for the announcements, they are coming soon, I promise.

___


Isn’t it funny how things come and go and then come around again? When I was around the age of 12, the price of gasoline nearly doubled at one point and there were huge lines at the filling stations (that’s what they were called back then) and even some places that ran completely out of gas. Panic nearly set in around our part of the country at not only the prices, but the remote possibility that we wouldn’t be able to get gas in our vehicles. After a while, when it was apparent that the prices of gas were not going to go back down, my Dad and Mom made a sensible decision. They were driving nearly 40 miles a day to and from work and my Dad drove a big truck and my Mom drove a four door sedan of some sort.

When they figured out that the prices were here to stay and being the sensible penny-pinching types that they were, they immediately went down to the local Chevrolet dealership and traded both of their vehicles in on more fuel-efficient models. My Dad drove home proudly in a new Chevy Luv, circa 1976. It was a beautiful(?) bright yellow color, but when he told me that it got nearly 45 miles to the gallon, I realized his rationale. Next comes Mom, in a shiny new Orange Chevy Vega Hatchback. Again, same type of mileage, but with one catch. They were both stick shifts and my Mom wasn’t a shifter, if you know what I mean. They were both horribly ugly vehicles and horribly riding vehicles, but the fact that they were saving as much on gas a week as they were, allowed us all the little extras we had become accustomed to having on a regular basis.

Flash forward to July 2006 and suppose you are driving a 1998 Dodge 1500 and getting, say, 14 miles to the gallon. It costs anywhere between $60 and $70 to fill up the entire tank in the truck and you are pondering trading in your truck, even though it is in impeccable shape AND is completely paid for, for something a bit more fuel efficient. Add in the fact that your wife is driving a Tahoe and her mileage is not much better than yours, but her fuel is all paid for by her employer, so that problem is not nearly as bad, except on personal trips.

Assume you are pondering out loud to your Mom about the possibilities and the first words out of her mouth are “do NOT buy something yellow or orange.” Thanks Mom, I spit coffee all over my computer and even snorted some back up through my nose. Thanks a lot. It made my day though.

See ya sometime on Sunday.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:10 PM, ,




It's All About The Peoples

First things first:



Be there or be square. I think I'm ready to jump back into the fray. See you there.

___

When I first started blogging, over a year ago, I was motivated by a couple of different things. I was reading all the time at work back then and had recently played one of Iggy’s tournaments on Noble Poker. I happened to end up at the final table beside The Devil’s Advocate Of Poker Bloggers and another fellow, known throughout the blogosphere as One Jack Short Of Quads. I didn’t know either one of them at the time, but Jordan’s smack talk at the table caught my attention and I immediately added him to my daily reading. Everybody already read Almost-Quad-Jacks back then, because a visit to his blog meant a visit to the best template on the net back then.

What really sealed the deal for me was reading all of the Vegas trip reports from last summer and the December prior to that. Damnit, those folks enjoyed the hell out of that trip and you could tell it in every single write-up that came out. I wanted in on some of that, because I could tell that these friendships were going to be solid for a very long time. That’s why I started pounding away here every day in the first place and sitting here this week reading all the trip reports from last weekend is killing me all over again.

Having done the blogger thing a couple of times now and met some terrific people, as well as poker players, I know what they are all talking about. It’s not so much about the poker or the tomfoolery, it’s all about the people. Here is the short list of folks that I have met that take part in the same endeavors on a regular basis that we all undertake.

Miss Maudie – Having now met and played cards with her three times, I feel like I know her a bit better than some of the other bloggers and I can tell by the tone of her voice in her posts that she absolutely loves these meetups. I can also tell by the way she speaks of some of the other bloggers, there is a tremendous amount of respect there for not only their poker game or their writing ability, but also a respect of the type of person that they are.

DuggleBogey – I met Duggle on the very same nights that I have played poker with Maudie.(3 times so far) Although he some times comes off a bit rude (imagine that, www.goberude.blogspot.com) I know what type of guy he is and once you get to know him, you will realize the same thing. That’s all I’m saying Duggle, so don’t go getting mad this time. It has always been my pleasure to play cards with Duggle and believe me when I say, he can help your game just by watching him (while spending three or four orbits folding, well, that’s what I do anyway)

MiamiDon and Carmen - I know that DrewsPop and Mookie already knew this before last weekend, but I’m sure there were multiple bloggers that can back this claim up now. These two live in Vegas full time and are wonderful hosts if you decide to take a trip out there. They hadn’t been blogging very long at all when I went out to visit in April. I believe I was the first meet-up for them and believe me, it was all my pleasure. They are both very nice people and very good card players. I realized this first when sitting beside Carmen at the tournament at the Sahara and then again, when all three of us were seated at the ½ NL table at the MGM. I had a great visit to Sin City made all the more memorable by meeting these two great folks and I know that there are many more of you that can vouch for that claim now.

TripJax – my twin (and much younger) brother from a different mother. When I got to the airport awaiting his arrival for Okie-Vegas a month ago, I suddenly found myself worried that I wouldn’t recognize him when he walked through the terminal gate. That notion was quickly put to rest as soon as he turned the corner, saw and recognized me and the ear to ear smiles broke out on both our faces. Of course, the three Jacks I was holding in my hand and the copy of SuperSystem he had under his arm were dead giveaways, as well. I had no doubt that we would get along great after 6 or 8 months of IM discussions during tournaments and cash games, but after spending nearly 5 full days with him, I would call us close friends. In fact, if he and his family ever want to come to OKC, they certainly don’t have to worry about a place to stay. Mi casa, su casa, amigo.

SteelerJosh – Josh was in the first group of bloggers that I got to know virtually, because we were all in the original SNG Challenge, put together by Mr. HighOnPoker, himself. I had chatted with Josh several times, but we really hadn’t played that much poker together and I wasn’t sure what to expect at the tables. Let me assure you, he is not just a great guy, he will bust your ass at a poker table rather quickly if you aren’t paying attention. I developed an immediate respect for his poker game and he and SteelerSteph are welcome back in Oklahoma any time they want to visit also. He’s not only a great guy, but a great poker player, as well.

TenMile – Mr. Mile was a bit of a surprise for me when he showed up. Not that I didn’t believe he was coming, but he was having a hard time with things around the house that he had to be sure were taken care of before he could leave. Needless to say, when he pulled into my driveway, I felt like I was meeting a good friend again for the very first time. On-line personas are one thing, but when you’ve had multiple comments, e-mails and discussions with somebody, you really start to feel like you know them a little bit and that was definitely the case with Mile. He was as kind and sincere as anybody you will ever meet and I was honored to have him as a visitor in my house and to play cards with him at the casino.

I think that does it for all of the bloggers that I’ve had the pleasure to meet in person so far. I kept them in the order of meet-up more as a way to help me remember the time line than anything else. They were all great folks and no matter where they were from. East Coast, West Coast or Midwest, they all fit in these surroundings like they’ve been here all their lives.

So, that’s my take on it and I echo everything that everybody else says, “It’s all about the people.” If you think about it, we are all doing a lot of the same things on a nightly basis, we can’t help but be a little bit alike. The fact that we all feel the need to write about it on a daily basis is just another common trait amongst bloggers. Some write about poker more than others, but the fact that we write about anything on a daily basis ties us together as much or more than this wonderful game that we all have in common.

I can’t wait for my opportunity to meet up with and sling chips with more people that I read and respect on a regular basis. I plan on doing everything in my power to make the trip in December or at least, next summer. I can’t guarantee anything yet, but if things continue to go well on the virtual felt, I am going to try to sneak out to Philly in September, as well. That flight is a chunk of change for me, but the opportunity to hang out with this group of folks is entirely too enticing to pass up, if there is any way in hell I can make it happen.

Keep the great trip reports coming, folks, at least I can live vicariously through you.

See you at the Mook tonight.

G

posted by GaryC @ 2:59 PM, ,




Cash Game Tidbits

From an experienced, semi-professional .01/.02 player.

Having met with a bit of success lately, I thought I would discuss the single biggest winning hand that I have witnessed at the .50 NL tables. By far, the single, winningest hand for me has been A-A. I know, I know, “it’s easy with Aces.” The trick seems to be not in winning the hand, but in playing it well enough that you extract maximum value with it every single time. How do you go about that?

First off, I raise with A-A every single time I have it without exception. Every.Single.Time. I will not be the guy that slow plays Aces and finally shows it down in a big multi-way pot, only to be beaten by 7-8 suited. I have slow-played it lately post-flop a couple of times and got maximum value (entire stacks) simply by playing a huge hand slow after the flop. Every time that has happened lately, I flopped my set and that is virtually the only time I can advocate slow-playing pocket Aces, even post-flop. If I flop an Ace and the rest of the board is not very scary, I might either check or just toss out a small bet, maybe half the pot, to see if I can entice the other player into a bluff.

Last night was a prime example. I had A-A in the big blind and the small blind raised to $3.00. I re-raised him to $8 which he dutifully called. The flop was A-x-x and he checked. Most times, I would take this pot down right now with any type of bet at all, but I checked behind, leaving myself open for the suck-out. The turn was an 8 and he bet out half his stack. At this point, I want all the money in the pot and I re-raised him all-in, which again, he dutifully called with a set of 8’s. My set of Aces held up and he was stacked.

Had I not checked after the flop, in this instance, he probably would have never caught his 8 on the turn to make him think he was ahead. Slow-playing can be your best friend and your worst enemy from hand to hand and I do not recommend trying to slow play big pocket pairs on a regular basis unless you have a very strong stomach and can take a beat without imploding, because inevitably somebody is going to be in that hand when you decide to slow-play and flop two pair or a straight on you to crack your Aces. Be forewarned.

Now let’s talk about hands that I do like to slow-play, especially at these .50 NL cash tables. Suited Aces, especially big Aces are a perfect hand to call a raise with or to see a cheap flop with occasionally. They are easy enough to get away from after a horrible flop and they offer the opportunity to flop a monster. I called a pre-flop raiser last night with A-K in late position and ended up stacking him when an Ace hit on the flop and he got a little carried away with his Ace-Queen. I don’t often like to get my money in the middle in that situation, but I had notes on this guy and I knew that he overplayed his medium Aces on a regular basis.

Knowing that about my opponent offers the perfect segue to another hot little tip for you at the cash tables. You’ll remember that I mentioned last week about using the note option to tag opponents that display fishy tendencies on a regular basis. Well, consider this another one of those super-obvious, everybody-already-knows-that type of helpful hint. Do NOT show your cards at the cash tables unless there is a showdown. If you give this information away on a regular basis, somebody at the table will use it against you, I promise. It might be me.

Seriously, there are very few times that I feel the need to show down any cards when I don’t get called down. Say you have just bluffed a good player off a hand with nothing. Why would you want to show him you had nothing, so he will call you down next time? Or, suppose you have a monster and have set a beautiful trap for the unsuspecting opponent, but he makes a good laydown. Why show this hand down? All you are doing is giving everybody at the table more information about how you play strong hands, bluffs, etc. This is information that is best kept to yourself, even at the on-line tables. You would be surprised what types of reads you can develop on other players simply by seeing the cards that they consistently show down. You don’t want your opponents to have that type of information on you.

About the only time I will show down a bluff when it wasn’t called is when I know that I have a short stack nearing tilt and I want to push him over the edge. I wouldn’t do this in a tournament situation or live for that matter, but it can be a useful play in a short-handed cash game on-line, because so many of these players buy in for the absolute minimum, hoping to double or triple their buy-in in just a few hands. They are classic examples of players that want to go on tilt. They are playing for the big score immediately and are not concerned with who their opponents are or what types of players are at the table. These are exactly the types of players that I love to see sit down at my cash table, especially when I already have a large stack in front of me. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

I talked about tagging players that show fishy tendencies, but does anybody else tag solid players as well? That is something that I hadn’t thought of until the last few evenings, but I have run into a couple of players consistently that have impressed me with their play. They have a simple note on them as well, solid. I presume they are there clearing bonus requirements as well, because they are always on two or three tables at the same time and always at my levels. Obviously, if they were great poker players, they would be playing much higher limits, but they are both solid players that do not get out of line very much. Their raises need to be respected and they definitely have a grasp on position as it applies to the poker table. These guys are not very difficult to pick out, because they play a lot like I play, fairly tight-aggressive at these tables. I checked my stats last night and for the entire almost-900 hands now at PokerShare, I am seeing a total of 19% of the flops. Do you think anybody else there has any idea of that statistic when I throw out a $3.00 raise?

On to another topic, I am absolutely green with envy that I missed the blogger get-together in Vegas. Damn, I have got to try to make it to Philly in September. Keep the trip reports coming guys, so far so good.

I also want to say thanks to Mowenumdown for the comment to my last post. Thanks, Kelly, it's nice to be back.

That's all I got today. Good luck on the tables.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:10 PM, ,




Back On Track

Thankfully, it appears that Tilt-Fest 2006 has subsided. I knew that it was just a matter of time, but man, that feeling sticks in your craw and I just couldn’t seem to shake it there for about two weeks or so. The 5 day break coinciding with the July 4th holiday has done me wonders and that, coupled with the change of scenery over at PokerShare has me back to actually feeling good about my game again.

I’ve had a good run while clearing the PSO bonus on PokerShare and plan to continue there on the NL tables in order to unlock the $150 bonus that I have waiting for me at 1500 hands. I’m nearly halfway there after grinding it out all weekend. As you may or may not have read this weekend, I won my biggest pot ever in on-line poker this weekend. $240. I also lost the biggest pot I’ve every lost on-line ($150) when a particular player hit a two-outer to take my chips on the river, after all the money went in immediately after the flop.

Two weeks ago, I might have broken something, but yesterday, I was in complete control. I let out a quick “mother-fucker” but quickly re-loaded and went right back to my game. The guy even apologized. Oh well, that’s poker, right? If we won every single hand that we were in dominating position, we would all be in Vegas full-time, right? I played the hand perfectly and just got out-drawn and, if the situation occurred again, I would play it exactly the same. That’s the thing that I had been failing to take into account and something that harkens back to Greg Raymer. I don’t remember the exact quote, but it is something like this: “It’s not the results, it’s the decisions. Make the best decisions that you can make over and over and you will be a winning player.” It would pay to keep that in mind, because as I can surely attest, you don’t ever want to go where I was a few weeks ago.

I’ve also continued my personal SNG challenge at both Full Tilt and (Gasp!) PokerStars. I had to re-load a little money there in order to pay off the last longer bets from DADI and when I did, I thought, what the hell? I’ll just jump in a SNG while I’m here. All of the SNG’s I’ve played have been at the $5 + .50 level, so you have to take that into account, but my numbers are pretty good right now.

7 of 11 in the money. 64%
2-1st place 18%
2-2nd place 18%
3-3rd place 28%

ROI – 69%

They could be a little better, as there are two bubble-boy finishes mixed in there, but a couple of times, I was lucky to sneak into 3rd as well, so they would probably balance out. I’m very happy with the results and am looking forward to mixing it up in some smaller MTT’s in the future as well. I can’t promise that I’m ready for blogger tourneys just yet, but I may give one of them a go this week, if things work out the way they’re supposed to.

Okay, that’s enough of that bull-shit. Two weeks of pity party and now a week and a half of Yea me! Whoop-ti-shit! Suck it up and get back in the game, you freaking whiney ass lemur.

I’m going to leave you with two hand histories. Not actually a histories, but recaps. I know that I played them as well as I could possibly play it and I’m not looking for confirmation. I simply throw this out there for anybody looking for a new NL cash game site. PokerShare rocks.

#1
I have A-A and raise a “known” donkey to $4 pre-flop. The flop is A-9-9. He checks and I check behind, hoping to instill confidence in our boy. The turn is a blank and he checks again. I bet out $5 and he raises to $20. I used up most of my time and finally flat-called him. The river is a Jack and he pushes his remaining $100 or so dollars out there. I call and he turns over J-9 soooted for the miracle full house on the river. Of course, my 2nd nuts rakes a $240 pot or so. (I think I got the logistics of this hand wrong on Saturday night, forgive me, it was early and I was giddy. I think I missed the check-check after the flop and I truly think that is what won me the hand, well, that and the pocket rockets. “It’s easy with Aces.” The Devil’s Advocate of Poker Bloggers)


#2
I have A-A and re-raise an EP raiser to $10 straight. He has me covered comfortably and does have the little note thingy containing the word “Donkey” at the bottom of his avatar.

The flop is K-x-x and he leads out $5. I really don’t want to see another card, especially if that flop helped him, so I push my remaining $65 into the pot. He insta-calls with A-K and hits his two-outer on the river to relieve me of my stack. Oh well, that is the guy I want at my table, right?

One other thing. Mookie, if you are coming through OKC and have some time to spare, hit me up on the girly IM chat thingy and I will get you my numbers. I would like nothing better than to play a little live poker with a fellow blogger. I might even be able to talk the lovely Miss Maudie into joining us. Let me know.

I’m out.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:02 PM, ,




Revenge of the donkeys!

Well, as usual, this fickle game we play decided today to give back to the fish.

It wasn't too bad, but I lost a little bit today. Thankfully, I stayed under control and logged off twice after particularly bad beats.

A-A vs A-K on a King high flop and, of course, he catches the two outer on the river for a $150 pot. Tough one to take, but I handled it pretty well this time.

SNG Stats:
7 for 11 in the money with two 1st places, two 2nd places and three 3rd places. Still hanging in there and doing pretty good.

Hope everybody has a good week.

G

posted by GaryC @ 7:01 PM, ,




Tales Continued

One more hand from a "new" buddy at PokerShare.

First off, just let me mention that if you are not using the notes option at all the sites, especially new sites, you are screwing up. I use it whenever I see a particularly fishy play and my notes are simple. "Donkey"

Early in the evening, while 2-tabling .50 NL, I saw a gentleman raise to $4 pre-flop and have to show down 7-9 off-suit. Now, it's not that I don't see this type of play continously at my levels, but this brain surgeon did it from under the gun. So, I clicked on player notes, and simply typed "donkey" into the box. He left rather quickly, but would return later in the night.

Somewhere around 10 pm my time he re-surfaced. I would have never remembered his screen name, but sure enough, that little note that I had typed up drew my attention. And, sure enough, he was right back to his Maniac-LAG play. So, I waited patiently. He was seated immediatly to my right and soon enough, he raised his small blind into my A-A in the big blind.

A little bit of review first. When I sat down at the table, I bought in for the max, $50 and so did he. By this time in the evening, I had about $120 in front of me and he had already stacked two people and had me covered. Now, on to the hand of destiny.

I re-raise to $6 in the big blind with my A-A and he calls. Now, right now, there is no other person at the table that I would rather be in a hand with than this guy, let alone the fact that I'm holding pocket rockets.

The flop: 9-9-A.

Bingo! I spit beer out and nearly fell out of my chair and believe it or not, this fellow leads out $15. I used up alot of time and finally flat-called.

The turn was a blank and he checked and I checked behind.

The river was a Jack and he immediatley moved all-in. I insta-called and our buddy turns over J-9 and I rake a $240 pot, by far, my biggest pot to date.

I do love PokerShare right now.

Use the player notes on every site you play. Trust me, it does pay off.

SNG Experiment update:
I have played five now since I started the "experiment" and all of them are only at the $5 levels, but so far, I am five for five "in the money." I have one 1st place finish, two 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place finishes. Back on track and my attitude seems to be in exactly the right place for now. The break was indeed a good thing. For now, the experiment continues!

G

posted by GaryC @ 9:01 PM, ,




Fish Tales

Okay, here's a hypothetical for you. Let's say for a second that you are a NL poker player on PokerShare from, say, some Scandanavian country. It seems most of these players are either European or Scandanavian of some sort and to be quite honest with you, the play supports that fact.

Okay, so you are the average OLAF from Norway or wherever and you are sitting at three .50 NL tables at PokerShare, trying to clear your bonus requirements to unlock your bonus and some guy from, let's say, Oklahoma City is sitting at all three of your tables. Hmm, you think to yourself, what a coincidence that is. You suddenly are involved in a hand where said player from the States raised pre-flop, something he rarely does. Okay, you think to yourself, what does this fish have that my J-3 sooted can't catch up with??

After losing a few hands to this player, it suddenly dawns on you that this guy is still at all three of your tables and jeez, he sure doesn't play many hands. Oh well, I'm still not going to let him bully my blinds pre-flop, I don't care if he is under the gun.

This gentleman allowed me to stack him at two of the three tables before he finally left all three tables that we were playing on. This is just a sample of some of the donktacular play I've witnessed on a regular basis over the last two weeks at PokerShare. This little update is not meant to be a learning tool to any of the fish out there, so by all means, if you don't understand anything being discussed here, just ignore it and I will go away.

Oh, and the fact that I was at all three of your tables was pure coincidence, buddy. I promise.

Have a good weekend and thanks for stopping by.

G

posted by GaryC @ 1:11 PM, ,




Quickie tonight

I’m headed out to our AAA team, the Oklahoma Redhawks, home game in just a few minutes.

MMMMMmmmmm, dollar beers on Thirsty Thursday! Here's a picture of our ball park, located in Brick Town, which is just adjacent to downtown Oklahoma City. As you can tell by the pic downtown Oklahoma City doesn't rival many big cities when it comes to size, but Brick Town is an amazing place to spend a day.

The Redhawks used to be the 89ers, but with the new ballpark came the name change and they are still the AAA affilliate of my favorite Major League team, the Texas Rangers. The Pacific Coast League always puts on a good show and watching it for free in a ballpark as beautiful as this is just icing on the cake, oh, that and the $1 beers!




___

Last night was a good night overall. I finished up about 16 bucks for the evening and continued clearing raked hands toward my PSO promotion at PokerShare. I broke even for the entire 3-4 hours there, grinding away at the .50 NL tables. I continued at my SNG challenge at Full Tilt last night also, playing two more games and now have 3 for 3 in the money. Results below:

1) 5 + .50 – 10 person SNG – 2nd place - +$8.00
2) 5 + .50 – 10 person SNG – 2nd place - +$8.00
3) 5 + .50 – 10 person SNG – 3rd place - +$4.50

ITM – 100% thus far.

Results are good so far and I’ve been extremely patient, waiting for the others to knock out most of the players. This has left me short-stacked in all three SNG’s going into the final three players. In the last one I never had a chance to move up a spot, as the luckbox with the horseshoe jammed up his ass held the all-powerful J-3 sooooted when I moved all in with K-Q. He made the flush, but again, I made the money and at this point, my goal is always to make the money. I worry about pressing and pushing once we get in the money, but until that point, I am extremely patient and play very few hands. (Can you believe that?)

Small steps and small successes are okay by me right now. After the roller-coaster ride I had during the last two weeks, I am plenty happy with small steps toward my meager goals.

Good luck to everybody and hopefully I will see you on the felt some this weekend.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:17 PM, ,




Poor Attitudes And Poor Decisions

Okay, I’m back from break and the piss poor attitude I have exhibited as of late is a thing of the past. I took four days off from our Mistress Poker and the break was exactly what I needed. If only I wasn’t so freaking hard-headed, I could have probably save my self $100 or so, but I am stubborn, if nothing else.

The break could not have come at a better time for me both physically and emotionally. I was tired and it was affecting everything in my life, from my work, to my family and yes, even to my poker. Of course, the tired didn’t really go away over the break, as we went hard Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night. I did finally get to take a little nap yesterday afternoon after packing up at the lake and hauling everything home, but the rest was not the important thing. It was the getting away from a lot of different things that helped more than anything.

I didn’t play a single hand the entire time I was on break. We had several sets of friends join us at the lake over the holiday and spent a lot of time on the water and in the bottle, but not one deck of cards came into play. Sunday night at the bar, I could have gone and played in their local game, but with all of our friends down, I veered away from temptation and drank instead. I had to get up and drive into work on Monday morning anyway, so it was good to stay away.

I didn’t face one all-in call where I knew I was ahead and looking at dodging outs. I didn’t have to worry about getting sucked out on one single time the entire four days and it was a much needed break. I just wish I had been smart enough to do it sooner.

So, what now? I got my feet wet and back to the grind for a few hours last night, working on finishing my PSO promotion at PokerShare. I started out with some donk-tastic drawing hands that didn’t come through and finally realized that I was joining the rest of the lemurs at the table and chasing everything, so I tightened up and went to work. I finished the night ahead almost $50 following two donkeys calling me all the way down and my pocket Kings holding up for a sizable pot.

I’m better than halfway toward finishing the PSO requirements and noticed a little something else in My Account last night. I have a $150 sign-up bonus sitting at PokerShare that requires 1500 raked hands. The PSO promotion will be done at 500 hands, but that free $150 is awfully tempting and as long as the horrible play is still there, I will be mixing it up with them at the .50 NL tables in an effort to earn that $150. I’m ahead of my original deposit about $130 right now, so I see this as a +EV situation, as long as I can continue to find tables filled with the same types of players I have found there lately.

I’m going to be playing NL SNG’s exclusively on Full Tilt for the time being and keeping accurate records of my finishes there for a while. I played one last night and finished in 2nd place, so I am one for one in the money thus far.

So, for the immediate future, my cash game will be going strong at PokerShare and my SNG challenge will be taking place on Full Tilt, even though I think the competition is pretty good at Full Tilt, for the most part.

I won’t be joining any blogger games for a bit, but I will be back soon. I do need a break from Stars and am taking this opportunity to stay away and build up some money elsewhere.

Later folks.

G

posted by GaryC @ 3:03 PM, ,




Back From The Brink


Or the break, as it were. Happy Fourth of July to everybody.

I got a nice little (as in 3rd degree) sunburn after spending more than my share of time on the water this weekend. We rode the jet ski's and partied with the Redneck Yacht Club all day on Sunday, after riding for a couple of hours on saturday as well.

Many beers consumed and very little sunblock used, I'm really smart like that.

I'm glad to be back home today and I feel renewed. Here's hoping the poker gods agree.

See you out there.

G

posted by GaryC @ 1:24 PM, ,