1/23/09
Back To The "True" Grind...
I guess that's what you can call it. I started sending
another round of resumes when I got back from the Bay,
after the New Year. I really felt that I needed to get
back in the work mode after a months of grindin' it out
on the felt.
So whattaya' know, after a week back in Vegas, I get a
new contracting gig at AAA Insurance. It's like herpes,
once you been in the insurance business, you might get
rid of the symptoms for a little while, but they always
come back. That's a little tongue in cheek, but hey sometimes
it hints at the truth.
It's all good though, the poker economy at brick and
mortar casinos have been mirroring what the economy has been
going through in this nation. Online sites are probably doing
alot better, as it has made playing poker much cheaper. You
know, you don't have to drive to a poker room (saves gas),
don't worry about getting ready (like takin' a shower and
getting dressed), don't have to worry about what you gonna'
eat (the fridge is probably within arms reach from your laptop,
as you go all in with your mouse), and the list may go on. I
just haven't really got into an online poker mode right now.
Don't get me wrong, I would never regret the decision I made
last year, leaving my job in the South Bay. I think the
hardest thing to deal with was being separated from family,
friends and my girl, back home.
Playing poker here, has enabled me to do other things than
just win money (albeit, it ain't not as much as I would want
to). It got me to think about what truly someone needs in
life. I had the ability to write out my thoughts more. Share
my story with anyone who feels they need time to waste while
droppin' a deuce (believe you me, reading during those times,
does relax you, lol)...
It's been slow here during the beginning of the week, so
having a job will at least cure some of the tediousness of
the week. And in these times, it always fine to have other
income streams at your disposal. Anyway, I'll still play to
win when the tourists come in during the weekends - hopefully
there are some fish to bait in the Obama age, hehe...
That might have been my problem, I think I may have had a
different style of playin' when I held a full time job. I
guess the luxury of having a guaranteed paycheck week to week,
makes you feel a little bit more "invincible" on the felt. If
you lose your buyin or go on a little cold spell, that other
income stream could hold you down. When you play without that
luxury, the chips on the table seem to look more like loaves
of bread, a dozen eggs, your utility bill money, gas
expenses - it's a calculated risk that could affect your life
even deeper.
Maybe that's it...Hmmm...I still have my bankroll intact,
but fear could be the reason, I dunno'. I'll have to gauge
my play in the next few months to see if that theory is correct.
I'll definitely need to take a break from the tournys until
February, once the Venetian Deep Stack and Cesar's Megastack
tournys start up. Some of the poker homies will be down from
the Bay, it'll be more fun to see a few more recognizable peeps
on the felt.
There's always sports betting, lol.
My thoughts for now...
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
On Any Given Sunday, Part Deux...
1/18/09
On Any Given Sunday, Part Deux...
I wasn't even feeling like betting the football games this
Sunday. I mean, the small bets do add a bit of excitement
when watchin' the games on the tube. I was just gonna' hook
up at my buddy Ed's house to watch the games and maybe get
some grub later.
Anyway, I was sittin' in the barber's chair at Sportclips,
when I got a call from Ed asking me if I was going to put
a bet on the games today. I told him that I looked the lines
over on the games and really could not make a decision on what
parlay combo to bet on. I told him that I really didn't feel
like putting any money for today. We discussed it for a couple
of minutes and just told him that if he decided to make a bet,
I would be good for twenty, since I owed him a twenty anyway.
I was still a little up on the football bets too.
About five minutes later, I got a call back from Ed. He told
me that he contacted his cousin who was in from out of town
to put a bet down form Ed and I at twenty bucks each. Ed
chose to go with Arizona at +3 (underdogs at home), the
over points 47 total (Philly vs. AZ), Pittsburgh -6 and the
over points 34.5 (Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore). This parlay
bet would gross $260.00, if he hit all the bets. Not
bad for a twenty dollar bet. It does make it a little more
exciting to watch the games, hehe...
I got to Ed's house right before kickoff of the Philly vs.
AZ game. The first half was great. At halftime the score
was AZ 24 to Philly 6. Good point pace and AZ was killing
the spread. Just need to them to keep up the same pace and
we got this game. If you watched it, Philly started to come
back and snatched the lead 25 to 24. This actually was good
for us, we covered the over points and the spread still
favored AZ, but there was still more time to go. Luckily,
AZ scored the final touchdown and two point conversion at
AZ 32 to Philly 25. The clock ran out and half of our bet
was still alive.
We still had to sweat the Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore game.
And what a sweat it was, hehe.
At halftime it was Pittsburgh 13 to Baltimore 7. The
overpoints were on a good pace, but the spread was a tie at
this point. Hopefully there would be more scoring by both
teams in the next half, with Pittsburgh leading the way.
The second half of this game was pure sweat again, with
Pittsburgh just scoring 3 points in the 3rd quarter and
Baltimore scoring zilch! Jesus, sweatin' twenty bucks.
That's about 18 Jack in the Box sandwiches, lol!
Well, to make a long story short - my prediction of
Pittsburgh 23 to Baltimore 14 came to fruition. After
Baltimore scored a touchdown halfway through the 4th
quarter, they had the ball again with about five minutes
to go. I shouted at the TV screen for the Pittsburgh
Defense to make a play against Flacco. Whattaya' know,
I guess Polamolu musta' heard me and picked off a pass
from Flacco and zigzagged into the endzone for a touchdown,
whoohoo!!!
The only thing I didn't like about that was it still gave
Baltimore about 4 minutes to run another series to try to
score. The Pitt lead was nine points and was covering the
spread. The Pitt Offense got the ball back again, but
still could not manage another first down.
Then the play happened. Baltimore running back Magahee
caught a pass with about three and a half minutes left in
the game. He received a nasty hit and fumbled the ball.
It was pretty bad. He had to leave the field in a gurney.
One thing about this game, I don't like seeing anyone
get hurt like that. My prayers out out to him and his
family.
That play gave the ball back to the Pitt Offense.
Still, Pitt could not manage to make another first down.
The ball went back to the Baltimore Offense with about
two minutes to go. Luckily, Flacco was intercepted with
about a minute and a half to go. The Steelers just need
to run out clock. Which they did to preserve their lead
at 23 to 14, covering the spread and the overpoints as
well...
So anyway, the football parlay bet won.
It's not bad gettin' paid to watch football. It would be
great every Sunday, lol...
I forgot to say...Leetz came into town this weekend for
his friend's birthday. Did a couple of Non Vegas things.
Met up with some of his friends from the Bay and went to
M and M Soul Food (got the smothered bbq ribs with yams,
red beans/rice, cornbread pancakes and washed it down
with Red Koolaid - dang, I had to water it down - it was
pure sugar water, hehe). After that, checked out the
movie Notorious. And no, it was not a Man Date!!!
My girl has nothing to worry about, lol...
Next stop, Hard Rock Casino NLHE tourny on MLK Day.
I see mountains of chips, I see mountains of chips,
I see mountains of chips.
The power of positive thinking...It doesn't hurt, ayt.
On Any Given Sunday, Part Deux...
I wasn't even feeling like betting the football games this
Sunday. I mean, the small bets do add a bit of excitement
when watchin' the games on the tube. I was just gonna' hook
up at my buddy Ed's house to watch the games and maybe get
some grub later.
Anyway, I was sittin' in the barber's chair at Sportclips,
when I got a call from Ed asking me if I was going to put
a bet on the games today. I told him that I looked the lines
over on the games and really could not make a decision on what
parlay combo to bet on. I told him that I really didn't feel
like putting any money for today. We discussed it for a couple
of minutes and just told him that if he decided to make a bet,
I would be good for twenty, since I owed him a twenty anyway.
I was still a little up on the football bets too.
About five minutes later, I got a call back from Ed. He told
me that he contacted his cousin who was in from out of town
to put a bet down form Ed and I at twenty bucks each. Ed
chose to go with Arizona at +3 (underdogs at home), the
over points 47 total (Philly vs. AZ), Pittsburgh -6 and the
over points 34.5 (Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore). This parlay
bet would gross $260.00, if he hit all the bets. Not
bad for a twenty dollar bet. It does make it a little more
exciting to watch the games, hehe...
I got to Ed's house right before kickoff of the Philly vs.
AZ game. The first half was great. At halftime the score
was AZ 24 to Philly 6. Good point pace and AZ was killing
the spread. Just need to them to keep up the same pace and
we got this game. If you watched it, Philly started to come
back and snatched the lead 25 to 24. This actually was good
for us, we covered the over points and the spread still
favored AZ, but there was still more time to go. Luckily,
AZ scored the final touchdown and two point conversion at
AZ 32 to Philly 25. The clock ran out and half of our bet
was still alive.
We still had to sweat the Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore game.
And what a sweat it was, hehe.
At halftime it was Pittsburgh 13 to Baltimore 7. The
overpoints were on a good pace, but the spread was a tie at
this point. Hopefully there would be more scoring by both
teams in the next half, with Pittsburgh leading the way.
The second half of this game was pure sweat again, with
Pittsburgh just scoring 3 points in the 3rd quarter and
Baltimore scoring zilch! Jesus, sweatin' twenty bucks.
That's about 18 Jack in the Box sandwiches, lol!
Well, to make a long story short - my prediction of
Pittsburgh 23 to Baltimore 14 came to fruition. After
Baltimore scored a touchdown halfway through the 4th
quarter, they had the ball again with about five minutes
to go. I shouted at the TV screen for the Pittsburgh
Defense to make a play against Flacco. Whattaya' know,
I guess Polamolu musta' heard me and picked off a pass
from Flacco and zigzagged into the endzone for a touchdown,
whoohoo!!!
The only thing I didn't like about that was it still gave
Baltimore about 4 minutes to run another series to try to
score. The Pitt lead was nine points and was covering the
spread. The Pitt Offense got the ball back again, but
still could not manage another first down.
Then the play happened. Baltimore running back Magahee
caught a pass with about three and a half minutes left in
the game. He received a nasty hit and fumbled the ball.
It was pretty bad. He had to leave the field in a gurney.
One thing about this game, I don't like seeing anyone
get hurt like that. My prayers out out to him and his
family.
That play gave the ball back to the Pitt Offense.
Still, Pitt could not manage to make another first down.
The ball went back to the Baltimore Offense with about
two minutes to go. Luckily, Flacco was intercepted with
about a minute and a half to go. The Steelers just need
to run out clock. Which they did to preserve their lead
at 23 to 14, covering the spread and the overpoints as
well...
So anyway, the football parlay bet won.
It's not bad gettin' paid to watch football. It would be
great every Sunday, lol...
I forgot to say...Leetz came into town this weekend for
his friend's birthday. Did a couple of Non Vegas things.
Met up with some of his friends from the Bay and went to
M and M Soul Food (got the smothered bbq ribs with yams,
red beans/rice, cornbread pancakes and washed it down
with Red Koolaid - dang, I had to water it down - it was
pure sugar water, hehe). After that, checked out the
movie Notorious. And no, it was not a Man Date!!!
My girl has nothing to worry about, lol...
Next stop, Hard Rock Casino NLHE tourny on MLK Day.
I see mountains of chips, I see mountains of chips,
I see mountains of chips.
The power of positive thinking...It doesn't hurt, ayt.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Again Close, But No Cigar...
1/9/09
Again Close, But No Cigar...
Today I entered a NLHE tourny at Sahara which started out with 25
players.In short, I was the bubble boy at 6th place, which did
not pay. Dang...
I actually had to rebuy early in the tournament. In this hand, I
hit a King high flush on the turn and bet about a third of the
pot. Another guy reraised about 3 times the pot. I thought to
myself, if he hit the nut flush (the Ace high flush), wouldn't
he want to just call my bet and try to milk me. I kinda felt he
may have hit a set or was on a draw to the nut flush, so I decided
to go all in which would put him all in as well. Well, he called
and showed that he hit the nut flush as well. Not my day today.
It was actually the second hand of the tournament for me.
Oh well...
After my rebuy, I worked my stack up to above average throughout
until we got to the final table. I had to put my stack all in a
few times and was able to outlast a few of the other players.
My bustout hand was when I went all in in the cutoff with pocket
Fours. The button called with Ace/King OS and the big blind
called with Ace/King OS, as well. That's about the best scenario
for me here, as the other 2 players shared cards, which lessened
their outs. Unfortunately for me the door card was a King, which
paired both players. The turn and river failed to give me another
Four, so I was out in 6th place. The bad thing is that I just
busted right out of the money.
Oh well...hehe...
My basketball parlay bet hit 4 out of 5 as well...Damn Lakers
Defense! (meaning the lack of it)...
Again close, but no cigar...
At least there's football this weekend, lol...
Again Close, But No Cigar...
Today I entered a NLHE tourny at Sahara which started out with 25
players.In short, I was the bubble boy at 6th place, which did
not pay. Dang...
I actually had to rebuy early in the tournament. In this hand, I
hit a King high flush on the turn and bet about a third of the
pot. Another guy reraised about 3 times the pot. I thought to
myself, if he hit the nut flush (the Ace high flush), wouldn't
he want to just call my bet and try to milk me. I kinda felt he
may have hit a set or was on a draw to the nut flush, so I decided
to go all in which would put him all in as well. Well, he called
and showed that he hit the nut flush as well. Not my day today.
It was actually the second hand of the tournament for me.
Oh well...
After my rebuy, I worked my stack up to above average throughout
until we got to the final table. I had to put my stack all in a
few times and was able to outlast a few of the other players.
My bustout hand was when I went all in in the cutoff with pocket
Fours. The button called with Ace/King OS and the big blind
called with Ace/King OS, as well. That's about the best scenario
for me here, as the other 2 players shared cards, which lessened
their outs. Unfortunately for me the door card was a King, which
paired both players. The turn and river failed to give me another
Four, so I was out in 6th place. The bad thing is that I just
busted right out of the money.
Oh well...hehe...
My basketball parlay bet hit 4 out of 5 as well...Damn Lakers
Defense! (meaning the lack of it)...
Again close, but no cigar...
At least there's football this weekend, lol...
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Post Holiday Blues...
1/5/08
Post Holiday Blues...
Right now, I'm about 30,000 feet up in the air, on my flight
back to Vegas. Kinda' wishin' that my flight was cancelled and
that I would be stuck in the Bay for another day. But then,
I would wish that again the next day, and the feeling would
never stop. It's hard, I'm already missing my family, my girl
and friends back home.
I do have to go back to work too I guess, lol...
Well, I probably won't step into a casino until Thursday or
Friday. The beginning of the week is slow on the green felt,
when the tourists go home and the locals chill until the fish
fly back at the end of the week. Is that an analogy?
We'll have to see what the new year brings. Hopefully a rush of
cards for more checks in the win column. Maybe a new business
plan may be in the works as well. I get tired of grindin' out
the chips sometimes.
Havin' a quick flight to Vegas, flying over the ridge into the
city at 50 minutes on the dot. Great, turbulence - will shut
off the laptop for now...
I need to get at least a part time gig as well. Helping out my
dad manage his properties in Vegas takes some time out of the
monotony of the week, but it can only do so much. Maybe I can
get a gig at the new City Center on the Strip. It would certainly
help out to have some steady money comin' on the side, but also
with getting more friends and contacts out in the network. I'll
never know if I need a free steak dinner at Nine or Blue Man
Group tickets, ya' know...With this economy, it can also be about
the trading and bartering of certain effects. And I miss getting
health insurance for free - it is a luxury that I have to pay
for, hehe...
Okay, now I'm back home on solid ground.
Some of the pics' from the last week:
Magic Mountain and some other random LA pics...
Nuttin' like fried chicken and waffles!
Hot dogs are an art form at Pinks...
New Years Celebrities...
The trip seemed too short...
Anyway, see y'all on the green felt...
Post Holiday Blues...
Right now, I'm about 30,000 feet up in the air, on my flight
back to Vegas. Kinda' wishin' that my flight was cancelled and
that I would be stuck in the Bay for another day. But then,
I would wish that again the next day, and the feeling would
never stop. It's hard, I'm already missing my family, my girl
and friends back home.
I do have to go back to work too I guess, lol...
Well, I probably won't step into a casino until Thursday or
Friday. The beginning of the week is slow on the green felt,
when the tourists go home and the locals chill until the fish
fly back at the end of the week. Is that an analogy?
We'll have to see what the new year brings. Hopefully a rush of
cards for more checks in the win column. Maybe a new business
plan may be in the works as well. I get tired of grindin' out
the chips sometimes.
Havin' a quick flight to Vegas, flying over the ridge into the
city at 50 minutes on the dot. Great, turbulence - will shut
off the laptop for now...
I need to get at least a part time gig as well. Helping out my
dad manage his properties in Vegas takes some time out of the
monotony of the week, but it can only do so much. Maybe I can
get a gig at the new City Center on the Strip. It would certainly
help out to have some steady money comin' on the side, but also
with getting more friends and contacts out in the network. I'll
never know if I need a free steak dinner at Nine or Blue Man
Group tickets, ya' know...With this economy, it can also be about
the trading and bartering of certain effects. And I miss getting
health insurance for free - it is a luxury that I have to pay
for, hehe...
Okay, now I'm back home on solid ground.
Some of the pics' from the last week:
Magic Mountain and some other random LA pics...
Nuttin' like fried chicken and waffles!
Hot dogs are an art form at Pinks...
New Years Celebrities...
The trip seemed too short...
Anyway, see y'all on the green felt...
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