Another lousy Stars game

Sitting here waiting for the second game of the Stars blogger freerolls to start so figured I’d keep myself busy typing. May play a few other games tonight depending on how I feel. Already put a couple of seconds on the board in AP freerolls this afternoon.

One of the things I forgot to put in yesterday’s post was the fact I finally made it up to the gym yesterday, first time since the stroke, if anyone cares about the rehab. Was planning to basically work the legs but after a few miles on the bike and some weight work on the legs I decided to see what the arm could do, if anything. Started of with a seated chest press at minimum weight. That gave me some problems, not with the weight itself but pushing with my hand brought a sharp pain in the wrist. Not an auspicious beginning. Moved to the curls. They were a bit better. Couldn’t turn the wrist enough to get the usual grip on the crosspiece but was able to grab the runner up to that and so worked it that way. While only the 20# minimum on that also it was tough and had to use my good arm as the steadying force, the way a spotter works for a man doing a bench press. Arm work really seemed to be a long way. Moved to lat pull down after and things picked up a bit. It’s a split machine so that I could set it to just work my left arm. Started without any weight figuring the machine itself might provide enough resistance and almost wound up on my ass when it didn’t. Added 5# and that was better but still to light. Moved to 10# and that was better but might try 15 when I hit it tomorrow. Then moved to the dumbbells and found I could grip and hold a 2.5# one without much trouble so did some shoulder shrugs and then some curls with the bad arm. They felt good. Called it quits after that. Had therapy today and didn’t want to pus too hard. Hand was a bit swollen this am, probably from my cavalier treatment of the wrist. Therapist decided to see if we can start stretching that out when I told her. Also started me on the hand bike to start building strength when I told her I could grip pretty well now.

Stars tourney has started and find myself seated at Mojo’s table. Speak about inauspicious beginnings. Find myself halved early by a couple of slow plays. First I hit a K with a decent kicker and get nailed by an A-K who didn’t raise pre and was content to just call me down when I bet. Never suspected that A. Next hand had PP8s and called pre flop raise. Two lo and J hit and raiser checked and the raised my bet. Figuring he raised on PPJs or maybe even slow played an A-J. Either way couldn’t call with the 8s. Folded for awhile and thought I struck gold when I got A-A and 2 raisers in front of me. All in and both called and was against A-J and K-K. King thru the gate and I’m gone about a quarter of the way through. Just as I leave CK comes to the table so stick around to watch her and Double M for awhile. Oh well CK down. PP 9s against A-K and he flops the joint with T-J-Q.

Well time to go hunt up a few games to bore you with later. Thanks for the visit.

Having some fun

Ok, have to make this a quickie as it’s halftime of the Bird’s game. Have to see if they can find a way to throw it away. The end of the half showed they are capable of it. Andy, run the frikkin ball on 3 and 1 once in awhile, give the new FB a chance.

As for poker I seem to be on a bit of a streak, both with Omaha games and sponsored games. In sponsored games I am 3 of 4 in the last few days. Took down the Shark game on Friday night, one from Pokersluts on Sunday, for which I have to thank Goatlady for introducing me to, and the Tuckfard II tonight. Also bubbled the first Tuckfard. All 3 wins really shouldn’t have been either. In all three I was short at about mid game and got lucky when I was more or less forced into a push situation. Won those situations to keep me alive until the cards finally decided to become playable. Might have done better in the first TuckFard if Mojo hadn’t had such an acute sense of smell. He was raising preflop like a madman and I was pulling garbage most hands yet I actually pulled A-A 3 times and wouldn’t you know he folded all 3 times. I swear he smelled those frikkin Aces. OTOH, I will say I did take advantage of DonK in both games. In game 1 I called his preflop raise with a little pair and then took advantage of his check on an A hi flop to pot it. He folded, damning that A saying he had Ks. Sorry Don, I only had 4s. Later, in the O8 game he pots it but it only has 4 left so I make a donkey call with only a hi draw and hit it to end his game. That one I was sorry about, it was a bad call though not as bad as the hurt the Shockerkitten dealt him in game one calling a push and repush with 7-9s and spiking trip 9s. Just wasn’t Don’s night. Overall it was a fun night, a good substitute for not making it to the bar.

As for the Omaha streak, two of the above wins were in Omaha games. I also cashed a couple of bigger Omaha tourneys though just barely. Winning the smaller ones is nice but would love one of those big paydays. Only blotch on the Omaha record the last few days was the Poker Stars freeroll this afternoon. Sucked at that one. Well, can’t have everything. Still more chances there however. Another thing about the streak is that it has been scattered over 4 different sites so that no one bankroll has been increased by a significant amount. Put anywhere from $15 to $60 into 4 playing stacks. Maybe one of these days I’ll get one up enough to withdraw something. OTOH however two of those rolls started out from a $10 cash on AP freeroll so I shouldn’t complain.

Oh well, this one went longer than a quickie though I did it during commercials. Time to stop boring you, watch the end of the game and Thank You for visiting.

Frustration

Getting tired of paired boards. Was having a mini run this weekend. Though I don’t play a lot of MTTs as a rule, usually confine myself to SnGs and ring games and limit the MTTs to blogger and league games, I gave up ring this weekend and played some MTTs and did decent. Started off with a few cashes in SnGs on Fri afternoon. Then won the Shark game on UB that night with a few more SnG cashes, including a win on Tilt. Saturday saw me cash a few multi tables, not for huge amounts because only getting smacked by the deck at opportune times enabled me to keep alive in them but I tripled my money which is a hell of a lot better than losing. That combined with some more SnG cashes, including throwing my last $3 on Stars into a SnG which I won made for a decent day. Overall was up about $120 for the 2 days which ain’t bad since I’m not one to put a lot of money into online games. In fact on some sites I’m playing with found money, banks I’ve started with freeroll winnings. Which brings me to today and my opening statement.

Actually it started yesterday but then it only cut my winnings short. Today it’s killing the winning totally. The paired board is killing me. I’m flopping two pair and losing to pocket pairs when the odd card winds up pairing giving someone a higher two. My mid pairs are getting destroyed when the board winds up double pairing and I lose to the guy who just can’t fold that A. I t’s wiping out my stacks and today has killed me when I was chip leader in 3 SnGs. Finally signed up for a PLO tourney to try and break the streak. We’ll see.

Finally got my ticket for the Stars blogger games. First is a PLO tomorrow afternoon. Verizon is coming in to install TV service around that time. My luck they’ll have to shut down my Internet connection to do it. Think I have an aircard around here somewhere. Better try and find it in case I need it. Can’t wait till TV service gets installed. The way Comcast has been nibbling away the channels, while raising prices, was beginning to think antennae would be better.

Thought I was going to get out to an RPT game tonight but nephew is hollering sore back so guess it happening. Combined with the fact that my usual game, the Trappe on Mondays, is probably off tomorrow because the Birds are on the tube means a lot of online poker unless I just go to bed.

OK, enough boredom, time for some PLO and a few more SnGs to try and break the streak. Thanks for stopping by.

Wine and a win

Sat round all day yesterday playing cheap poker and POed since I wasn’t in Vegas, that and it was just a miserable day all around. Poker wasn’t much better. Up until the end of the night it was basically a wash. Win a few bucks here, lose a few there. Was going to play the Donkament but with everyone in Vegas, no one signed up so that killed that idea. While entertaining that idea I was looking at my email and noticed one from the Shark Tour. Now I used to ply games from the Shark Tour years ago when it first started up and it was basically a few freerolls and some $5 buy ins. After awhile I just stopped and they have grown during the time I was away. Lot more events, website with message boards, whole nine yards. Nice setup. Looking at the email I noticed there was a small buy in rebuy on Ultimate Bet at the same time as the Donkament. Since I like to multi table in tourneys to keep me from being bored I figured I would indulge after all these years.

Well as it went, I had a few glasses of wine while playing last night and due to recent circumstances I had throttled my usual consumption of alcohol way down. After all, when you have a weak leg and semi useless arm giving you balance issue it don’t seem too smart to put something in your system where the main effect seems to be to screw up your balance. IOW, I’ve been on the wagon for the last few months due to the stroke and the unaccustomed alcohol combined with red wine’s natural effect of making me sleepy were doing their thing. When I checked and saw only two others registered for the Donkament I decided to pull out. Since I was giving up there and feeling tired I was ready to also pull out of the UB game but decided what the hell. Good decision. Though only a small field, about 20, I decided to play and made a triumphant return to the Shark Tour. Thanks to a friendly deck at the proper times, a few judicious steals and semi bluffs, a couple of good reads and basically two really good guesses on “what the hell, if I’m beat I’m beat” situations I wound up taking it down to add a few bucks to the UB account. Felt good to win against some decent players. Heads up got a bit scary. I went in with a better than a 10-1 chip lead and some good heads up play by my opponent with a bad guess or two combined with a couple of good guesses and bad boards allowed my opponent to bring it back to almost even.

Situation didn’t last long there though as, on the final hand we both got a bit tricky and I was a bit trickier, and luckier. I caught K-Qs in the BB my opponent either just called or min raised. Rather than raise I decided to see what the flop would bring deciding to take it from there so I just called. Flop was A-x-T and I checked. My opponent bet the minimum and I figured it was worth the price to play the gutterball so called. Turn was that beautiful J and I checked again hoping for something other than the min bet. He obliged, I raised and he shoved followed by my call. He had, as I said, been playing tricky, holding A-K, hoping to trap and got unlucky. River added insult to his injury by bringing a K and giving me the victory. Enjoyed the hell out of myself as tired as I was, play was very good. Going to have to start paying more attention to the Shark events. Sorry no one was around for the Donkament however.

Enough boredom. Enjoy Vegas people and think of us little people who couldn’t make it.

Half assed book review

Was going to hit the sack after getting knocked out of a tourney on Tilt when my tens lost to 3s when he spiked a set but Turner Classics came up with a movie I like at the moment so decided I’ll stat up and watch and do a bit of writing. Played some with Goatlady tonight and had a great time. Hope to see her at the tables again.

This post however is going to concentrate on my recent reading. As I said in previous posts I have acquired a new supply of reading materials and have actually gotten to read some of them so decided to give my opinions on some of them and hopefully convince some folks to pick up a book.

Think I will start with Watchmen by Alan Moore. Watchmen started out as a comic book series but has been collected into a graphic novel. Now of course there will be those snobs who look down on “comics” but Watchmen is not your ordinary, everyday comic. Not that I have anything against them, I enjoy the hell out of them, but if you take away the graphic format you have a book that is every bit as relevant as any great piece of literature and more so than most. Written back in the 80’s the subject matter was very relevant to the times and even more striking, some of the subject matter relates very much to the attitude of many in the upper echelons of the US government over the last 8 years, almost prescient. On the whole it is thought provoking, including the comic within the comic and especially the ending. The movie version is due to be released in March of 09 and I wonder how they will handle it?

I’ll try not to let out any spoilers but I can’t guarantee what will happen when my fingers go on a roll. Watchmen, like many comics, is based on costumed heroes but, except for one of them, they do not possess super powers. They are masked vigilantes, more of the Batman type, and rather than super pure fighters for truth, justice and the American Way, they are all too human with the faults and foibles of normal people, except for the one guy who is actually a superman, and as things progress he goes in the opposite direction, finding it hard to relate to humanity. It’s these characteristics that lead to the thought provoking scenarios that unfold.

The setting is also not your typical comic setting of the world at large, though I have heard that modern comics have gone to the alternate universe extreme to kill off characters and bring them back. Watchmen is set in an alternate universe where the US has a decided edge over the rest of the world due to “control” of the one actual super being, Dr. Manhattan, but the Russians aren’t exactly kowtowing so that the Doomsday clock is set at 5 minutes to midnight. Also, instead of running free a law has been passed which requires “heroes” to register, and be under the control of, the US government. Due to this most of them have retired though a couple work in sanction and one at least doesn’t give a rat’s patoot and is an actual vigilante, operating outside the law.

The book opens with the murder of a man, which is nothing strange, until the one true vigilante discovers that he was one of the “heroes” working in sanction with the government. This leads him to contact the others who have retired with the backgrounds and attitudes of these people framing the situation in their own terms. As the story progresses it also regresses as much of it is back-story on the history of the masked crime fighter in the world. It dwells on motives and actions and the fate of many of the vigilantes. The story leads us down paths as to what happens to people when they stray into the realms of the unusual. Add in what happens when the level that people care, or don’t care, and the methods they use to show it and there are conflicts galore. The author draws no pat conclusions and does not ram morals down your throat. You are required to think to make any sense of this story and anyone seeking pat answers or stories that make you feel warm and fuzzy will probably not like it. If you like a challenge to your mind however it is a recommended read. I have no idea how Hollywood is going to handle this one without wrecking the entire story but will be interesting to see what they have done.

Routinely busy

Been even a longer break between posts since last time. Wonder if my fan(s) are worried? Wonder if I actually have any fans? Does it really matter. Actually it’s been a combination of 3 factors, nothing really exciting going on, doing a lot of things (just not anything exciting) and, the last few days having to repair my network which ain’t so easy to do one armed.

Finally went out and got that new recliner. Not actually the one I wanted, that is still on the back burner since it’s an 8 week delivery time but found a great bargain at Lane’s going out of business sale. It’s huge, sturdy, sits up about 3-4 inches higher than most of the other furniture, comfortable as hell, was about 65% off and we got it loaded in the van and home the next day. Been spending a lot of time in it and it doesn’t accommodate a laptop well with only one arm, so it’s time not spent on the computer. Need to get one of those slanted type chair tables. Debating on the second recliner. I really want the Berkline I saw, awesome chair and reclines to 180 degree flatness. Maybe I’ll replace my bed with it. OTOH, they got another Lane just like the one I got and the cost of that and the one I got is the same as the cost of the Berkline alone. Decisions, decisions.
A nice poker win would make the decision easier.

Doctors have also kept me busy. Checkups and more checkups. Got approved for fulltime work right after the New Year so will be back there then. Just as I’m starting to get used to lazing around. Oh well. Went to the eye docs while I’ve been making the rounds. Got some new specs. They are another reason I’m keeping the recliner on the back burner. Could have furnished the whole house for the price of new glasses. Am glad that new materials have given me options besides tortoiseshell coke bottles but damned they have gotten expensive. Vanity, thy name is poorhouse. Look good tho and actually can read a lot better with the new bifocals.

Trees finally arrived last weekend and got some of them in before the rains hit again. Arbor Day society forgot my Japanese maples tho. Seems this property is not destined for Japanese maples. This is the third time there has been a screw-up with them. Last time someone was replacing some trees they had to cut down and asked what we wanted and they were told red maples, since Japanese maples have red leaves all year round. Well we now have two red maples in the yard. In fact actually there are three since the last Arbor Day shipment included a free one. For that matter so did this one but that is one of the ones I haven’t gotten planted yet. Got the hollies, the walnut and one of the cherries in. Still have the firs, another cherry and red maple to get in. Again, a lot of work with no notion of whether it is any good until the spring. Not a game for the immediate satisfaction crowd.

Pokerwise haven’t been doing a lot of playing either live or online. Got in a live game at the Snakster manor the other Saturday. Started off hot and was up about $80 the first orbit. Felt really good when I fired pre, flop and turn bets with the hammer and actually got these guys off the hand. Not my usual style of play but just had to try. Good thing Miller was late to the game because his response to my raise would be a reraise no matter what he has. He then usually sucks out on me. The good luck disappeared in a flash however on two hands when I caught top two on both and Pops, the Snakster’s father-in-law, caught a straight and then a flush on me. Most of my winnings shifted his way. Pops don’t usually walk away a winner though so was not about to begrudge the suckouts. Ground out a few bucks in winnings over the course of the rest of the night so it wasn’t as if I donated out of my own pockets. Other than that and a game or two at RPT venues my poker has been taking a backseat to my reading. (BTW Goat lady, my handle at Tilt is Wolfshead. My handle at most sites is Wolfshead or some variation thereof, usually Wolfshead56 if the plain name isn’t available) As for the reading I picked up a number of paperbacks, which are a lot easier to read right now than my usual hardbacks and so have been spending a lot of time getting reacquainted with the written word.

As far as the one handed situation things are improving slowly but surely. Arm strength is getting a lot better as is range of motion and control. Wrist and hand are getting there though a lot slower. Finger dexterity is the real bitch. Two hand typing still a while away.

Speaking of typing this hand is getting a bit tired of boring you for now so we will say adieu and thank you for listening. More in the near future.