A walk through blogland

I have been busy doing other things instead of playing poker. With what seems like every episode of House on my DVR I may not play for awhile. Or tonight if I can finagle my way into getting tomorrow off so I can go on a nice bender and play some Razz in the Skills game.

So let's take a walk through blogland and see what is going on...

Drizz gets it going with being happy. Happy with the kids, happy with the wife, happy with PokerStars. I would make a wisecrack but Drizz is a good guy. Bad karma would set in if I said something bad. I would probably go into the liquor store and find out they had only vodka and Budweiser left in the place. I like good karma.

Speaking of which, Vinnay's buddy has had a bad beat on him. Go help the guy out. Always nice to see people rally to help a fellow player out. I spent some time talking with Vinnay about his Sabre tickets after the tournament in Vegas. Once I get home and get my Paypal account unlocked I will be making a contribution to the cause. Please consider doing so yourself if you have not already.

Pauly has his year in review up at Tao of Poker. That much stuff happened last year? No wonder Pauly doesn't sleep. He is too busy linking things up from the past. If you care to know every poker pro Pauly pissed next to you have it all at your fingertips.

His bro Derek actually had two posts in the span of 3 days! Must be that "Change" that everyone keeps talking about.

Waffles- wait, I am going to link in Waffles???- talks poker strategy today. How he is going to go againt the grain and do everything they say not to. Play big or go home. He says he will take out half of the winning on a regular basis. My guess is to pay the insurance deductibles for the oncoming ulcer.

Al has the teaser post up on the BB4. Guess all those guys who need to point at the standings and brag about how well they are doing will be happy. Until one of the prizes is booze I am not overly committed. Will be interesting to see what the story is this time around. I would say no more than 2 tourneys a week with mixed games but what do I know. I already mentioned I don't play much anymore.

Joe Speaker may be looking to take over BG's job at the former poker blogger turned handicapper. He made some money at the track while some bum who he bought a beer for tried to snag his chick.

Miami Don is all bubbly that the Dolphins. Not surprising. Parcells took half of the coaching staff from the Cowboys. They were bound to do well. I am happy to see Sparano succeed. Hope they do some damage in the playoffs as short lived as it will be.

BadBlood is still bragging about his Saturday afternoons with Pauly win. I know he plays more poker than I do. Especially those home games. You must have played some cards with the Trooper in town.

Iggy looks to still be on vacation. At least he posted that goofy pic before he left. You know it is Christmas when the wee kid is by the tree.

Hoy continues to play at UB and is crushing tournaments. Some talk has gone on about his playing on the crooked site. I could care less. He knows the potential risks. If he gets taken there is no one to blame but himself.

Poker Peaker seemed to get raped by variance this past weekend. Always suck when you can't catch a card or someone gets lucky with their 8 5 offsuit and hits the gutshot on the river. Nothing you can do but walk away shaking your head... and go straight to the Pai Gow table and get drunk. Works for me at least.

Dugglebogey is still as cantankerous as ever. Crying about how 2008 is fucked and how 2009 won't be any better. Of course it won't. Democrats screwed up the economy, Bush helped by jumping on the bailout wagon, and now everyone wants the government to save them. Somehow people failing because they lived beyond their means is not an option anymore.

Doc Chako has an interesting strategy post on.... the Wizard of Oz? Did he blowup his bankroll? His better half is still in holiday mode.

thg got suckered in by triple points and dropped some cash playing PLO. Ouch! Four card bingo can be a bitch.

F Train has a good post about chopping a tournament. Funny how he didn't make any mention of Asian hotties in this post. I thought that was his tagline.

Jordan continues with themes. He covers some basics that we all can use a reminder on. I know I have played at times when I really didn't feel like playing. Thankfully I don't play cash games after a night of drinking.

Finally, Bam Bam is talking about having his rear in view. Don't ask me. I am not sure what those weird Canadian customs mean.

That is all for now. I probably should do some work while being physically at work. Or I may go update this post. Everyone seems to want advice on what to eat before drinking.

How???

So FlipChip is reporting that the Sahara poker room got knocked off on Friday. How the hell does that happen?

An armed robbery took place at the Sahara Hotel & Casino last Friday.

Around 6 p.m. on Dec. 19, someone held up the poker room cashier and walked away with an undisclosed amount of money.

To get to the poker room cashier, you have to walk through a row of about eight poker tables on either side. And then back out.

No poker player was robbed, and no one was harmed.

So the cashier didn't yell or say anything as the crook walked away? Why wouldn't he alert someone that he had just been robbed? Or was the poker room that dead on a Friday? Sounds like an inside job.

And go vote for Pauly. Change100 is acting as the poker equivalent of ACORN (except she isn't crooked) and encouraging everyone to sign in to Bluff Magazine's Reader Choice Awards and give Pauly the votes he damn well deserves. Change may even slip you a finsky the next time she sees you in Vegas.

Then head off to Human Head's memories of Vegas. He may be able to go swing for swing with Derek on trip reports.

That's bullshit! I have see Diehard!

I live by a simple rule of life. If you do not get a post up about your trip to Vegas before Derek does then why bother? Anything I write will pale in comparison to what D has to say.

Go read Las Vegas. December 2008.

No, I won't get into how I finished like 17th in the blogger tournament. It paid less than Gigli so why bother. I won't talk about how I broke even playing poker. I sucked at betting football because I didn't have the balls to take the Bengals straight up against the Deadskins.

What I did do well was rock out with Steel Panther. This has got to become a must stop for a trip to Vegas. The first thing you do when going to Vegas should be to hit up the Green Valley Ranch website to make sure Steel Panther is playing that Friday.

For the rest of the story, check out the Wife. She sums it up perfectly in Best New Tradition. Ever. Just seeing the waitress again has put a smile on my face. She was hot!

After the show I decided to head back to the IP with CA April. We had no idea where to find a cab in this place so we wandered around a bit. In the end we went where we were dropped off and found out they had to call the cabs from the hotel. Huh? Why not tell us where the hotel is instead?

As we stood around in the parking structure, we were pleasantly surprised to see there was entertainment. Security had just bounced a drunk guy from the casino. Guy had been at the SP show and was blitzed. Of course, he didn't want to leave. Two security guys were making sure he didn't try to get back into the casino while a suited gentlemen stood with him. Drunk guy is getting annoyed that they just won't leave him be. At one point he asks "Shouldn't you guys be looking for some illegal popcorn eating?" I just about lost it on that one.

Suited guy insists he will not leave until this guy gets into a taxi. As we wait, some other people come down looking for a cab. One is wearing a zoot suit. His woman, is standing a couple of feet back. Drunk notices her and makes a comment about her legs. Zoot suit doesn't like it and sounds like he is ready to throw down, telling drunk guy to stop looking at her legs. Really, you are going to drop this chump because he looked at your girlfriend? Suddenly the conversation turns to them all being from Michigan and how the guy shot his first buck. All was good in the world.

Then drunk guy goes back to the suited security guy and asks about the cabs. He is told there are 3 cabs coming, to which he replies "That's bullshit! I have seen Diehard!"

That left me in stunned silence before I busted out laughing. How cabs and Diehard come together is beyond me. Guess I have to get really drunk to figure that out.

Batted .500

I managed to do well in one of the tournaments last night. Squeezed my way into the top 3 of the Bodog Blogger Last Chance tournament to win an entry to tonight's Final Tournament of Champions. Click through to see pumpkin power in action.

Unfortunately I didn't do as well in the PokerStars Blogger series. Last night PLO8 game ended in a tilted manner. I had me a full house at the turn and bet pot. My one opponent thought forever and finally made a call. The K on the river gave him the nuts. He hit a friggin' two outer. That tilted me and I just imploded. I went from being 14 to out in 5 minutes. Just didn't care at that point.

Tonight's Bodog game will have the following people battling it out for 5 prizes. I hope to be among those left standing.
Smokkee
MiamiDon
TonySoprano
salex77
Newinnov
APOSEC72
nzgreen
CEMfromMD
CarnePicante
wilwonka
Waffles
Numenor80
Hoy

Post Vegas tourney

I missed both the Bodog Blogger and PokerStars Blogger Championship tournaments yesterday. I got stuck in Vegas on Monday. My morning flight was canceled. Thankfully I had called ahead to get the info instead of showing up at the airport and discovering I would be going nowhere. The bad news was I would have to wait until 6:30 (that later would would be delayed another hour) before I could get back home. It wouldn't be until 1 am that I would get home and crash.

Thus I was behind a day. My Tuesday felt like a Monday. I checked in on the PokerStars tournament 10 minutes after it started. Oops. I then fell asleep on the couch missing the Bodog festivities. Damn.

So today I was a bit smarter and double checked both tournaments. An email notified me I could play the losers bracket of the Bodog to play in the final tomorrow. I then checked PStars to verify when the PLO8 event started. I promptly entered both and was set. Now let's see if I can stay awake to do well in either. I was up early today shoveling 5 inches of snow. More is on the way tomorrow night so I better do well before I get snowed in. Up to 10 inches is on the way.

Vegas stories later maybe. The tournament was fun and interesting but there isn't much to talk about in cash games. I did learn to never play a blogger mixed game again. I rather put my money into slot machines. Like the Star Trek game but I digress.

Euphoria

It is such a good feeling. You make it through the day, surviving those last couple of hours, zoning out, thinking more about your vacation than the work you are supposed to be doing. The last 2 hours seem like 5. They drag on.

But you reach the finish line. As you change your voice mail message a shot of adrenaline shoots through your body. You click the "out of office" function on your email just before shutting it down. You grab your stuff and head- no run- out of the building, smiling.

People ask if you are staying in town or going anywhere special. You say one word. Vegas. You smile a bit more as the look of jealousy comes across their face.

In a euphoric state you walk to your car, feeling the stress of the workplace melt off of you. Your thoughts are of raising the douchebag with the sunglasses in the 3 seat or yelling Pai Gow at the top of your lungs instead of what the Dow does or whether some dipshit has completed their training. No snow for a couple of days. No shoveling. No waking up early to drive to work in the cold.

Just some time away to be carefree and happy.

See y'all in a couple of hours.

Who needs to prepare?

So the wee one has a bounty on his head tonight? Ig, just between you and me, lay the chips my way so I can collect the bounty and I’ll catch ya a couple of drinks this weekend in Vegas. Deal?

Bodog tonight. Be there to see if the field suddenly skyrockets with the bounties in play.

In less that 48 hours I will be in the air towards Sin City. Weather permitting that is. A storm is blowing through right now with winds blowing the snow around. So far I have been spared any serious accumulation at my house. It was actually raining when I left for work with about an inch of slush on the sidewalk. Could have up to 4 inches by the time I get home from work waiting for me to shovel. That isn’t too bad but with the temperature hovering around 32 degrees, any snow that does fall will be the heavy stuff. I may be shoveling 4 inches of slush which will wipe you out.

In preparation for Vegas I have read a book, played some cash games, refreshed my brain on basic blackjack strategy, study Pai Gow, relearned craps odds, charged the portable DVD player and read about Grubby sharting. Yep, very little prep work. Playing poker is like riding a bike, right? You can’t get hurt at the MGM or Imperial Palace with what you know, correct? That is the theory I am going with. It is like Rock Band. You can play and play but sometimes you hit a wall you just can’t get by. So you don’t pick up the drum sticks for a couple of days and play guitar instead. When you go back to the drums you pick up right where you left off and play even better. That is my game plan for the weekend. Sure it may not be the best but it is what I have to work with. In I can avoid donking away at the mixed games I will be fine.

Remember, Steel Panther at the Green Valley Ranch on Friday night. Metal heads unite for a fantastic show. Or just join us on a trip to GVR. They have poker out there too.

Must go and restretch the liver. Can't wait to reconnect with some old friends and make some new ones.

Fragments of what used to be

I actually had some time to read some blogs yesterday and came across the latest on the Bodonkey series on Bodog. I was a bit surprised to see it would soon be wrapping up. Wrapping up already? I know I missed a couple of weeks but why was it so short? It is a good series and I was happy that Bodog brought it back. Unfortunately for me work was cold decking me from playing. And now it would soon be over?

I looked at the email reminder I had received earlier in the week and noticed they were running two a week. Tuesday and Thursday. Oh. Now it makes some sense. So I figured going in late to work with a hangover on Friday is old hat and I might as well hop into the fray.

Wednesday isn't a good day for me to be sluggish at work. It will sound like an excuse but I tend to lose interest on Tuesday nights because I need sleep and can't do a shitty job on a Wednesday. The awfukkits take over and I bounce myself on out. But a Friday is different. I can put in 50% of the effort and cruise into the weekend.

Long story short, I finished 5th. I ran my Hiltons into Hoy's aces. Never saw it coming. My gut said to not shove but my brain said put the pressure on. Hoy slowed played the hand well. I wouldn't have put him on ace the way he had played it. He would later finish me off by hitting his OESD on the river. Always hurts when it is on the river.

Having not played much hold em as of late, it felt good to get back in the game. To actually try and play hard. I felt like I was at a disadvantage when we got to the final table. I had an idea of what the tendencies of some of the players were but it also felt like they were running circles around me. Plus there were the new guys that I had no read on. To a small extent, I would be playing basic poker. I would have to use my aggression wisely (that didn't happen!) and keep it simple. There would be no big call on the crap push because I knew how they played. I did play back a couple of times with nothing against some blind steals but didn't make it a habit.

I am happy with it. Sure I would have liked to won but I had some rust to shake off. It was a good little warm up for the hijinks scheduled for next week. I probably should get in some practise on cash games. Or at the very least pull out the winner's guide to Pai Gow.

Saturday's with Pauly is scheduled for today even with Pauly south of the border. All the info is at the Tao. I shan't be able to play. I have committed myself to checking out the local roller derby scene with some friends. Yep, roller derby. Hey, there are a bunch of chicks in tight outfits on skates and they serve beer. What else do you need?

Blogger History: Myth or Legend?

There are a lot of stories handed down from generation to generation. The tales get twisted in different ways, becoming more outlandish every time they are told. Some of these stories are true. And HIlarious.

I give you the legend of Drizz as first told on December 14, 2006 at the super fantastic blog, While Drinking, I...

The following is my recollection of what went down early Friday morning at the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas. The time? Not quite sure but I believe it was between the hours of 4 and 6 am. The name of the fallen will not be used to protect the drunkencent. Yes, I said drunkencent. New word. Drunk + Innocent. Ok, so anyone getting face down in a public restroom isn't innocent but protecting the name is the thing to do. And no, I am not saying a "friend" had this happen to him to protect my own identity.

I was moving all about the IP on Thursday. I ran into Pauly, Derek, and Change 100 after checking in. I had placed the successful roulette bet for a friend and had finished giving him the blow by blow on his victory. Upon doing so I moved down a couple tables to get my Pai Gow on. After squeaking out a small profit, I would be out to the poker room for some hi jinks before hitting the Geisha bar for more booze.

Time can fly when you are in Vegas. I recall many a time sitting down to play blackjack just to get up what seemed like a couple of hours later just to realize it was 10 and the sun had come up. That is how things flowed at the Geisha bar. Friends from all over were arriving and the greetings, hug, kisses, etc. were flowing. I recall at one point going back to the Pai Gow table with Pablo. Then to blackjack. And then back to the bar.

It was there that security approached us. My first reaction was that someone thought we were a bit too boisterous and they were going to ask us to keep it down. Instead, they asked a question.

"You guys friends with Dale Ezgt?" (how is that for a made up name?)
"Um...yeah"
"Well, he is upstairs in the men's room, on the floor. Can you guys help him get up?"
"Uh...sure"

It was Biggestron and I that would go up the long escalators and down the hall to the mens room. Sure enough, there he was. On all fours. Calling for Ralph to help him. Well, the great porcelain telephone didn't connect his call but me and Big were there to help. We got him up and on his feet which wasn't an easy feat. Dale is a big boy. Even with us under his pits, dragging dead weight is not an easy nor fun task. But we did manage to get him to the elevator and down to the lobby, up the steps and into a minivan cab.

It was down the back of the strip we were going, on our way to New York New York to get our friend back to his room. Things seemed pretty good. Until Dale insisted we pull over cuz he was gonna puke again. Normally I would say no and tell the cabbie to keep on going. But I was in the back with him and didn't need to get yakked on. The cabbie found a parking lot and pulled in. I pulled Dale out and he stumbled forward before collapsing on the pavement. He heaved a bit and then began to pass out. Shit! We quickly got him up and back in the cab.

Upon our arrival at NY NY, he poured himself out into valet parking. The attendant on hand looked at him and told us to let him be a bit. He would call security and they would bring a wheelchair. See, that proves what a classy establishment the NYNY is. They give free wheelchair rides to those who are walking challenged. Unlike the IP where they require human crutches to move someone.

It took security a while to get down with the chair. All the time I kept Dale propped up against my legs. Why? I have no clue. I think I saw something like this in a TV show or something. Security showed up, got him in the chair, and got him up to the room. I don't know how we got his room number out of him but we did. Security did call to verify he was a registered guest and called his wife to make sure she would allow him in. I am not sure if she had to sign a waiver or a statement saying she wouldn't beat the hell out of him.

I tell you one thing I learned that night. Getting a friend back down the strip to his room when they are blotto can be a sobering experience. I felt sober by the time I got back to the Geisha bar and really needed another drink.

I admire how the NY NY staff handled the situation too. In Milwaukee, Dale would have probably been picked up by the police or taken to a hospital. In Vegas, I guess they deal with it everyday. The way the parking attendant and security took care of the situation so non chalantly was perplexing to me.

"Another drunk? No problem. Get the chair out again Joe!"

So what have we learned? Simple. Get drunk and you get free wheelchair rides. I will have to try that out next time I am in Vegas and don't feel like walking back to my room.

Oh, and hope that those who come get you don't have camera phones. I do have pics of someone praying to the great sewer gods.

Just as you get back from Vegas...

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

All bloggers can play in this exclusive online poker tournament.

Registration code: 530579

PokerStars is at it again. This time it looks like a series of games, not just hold em. The 8 game mix could be especially interesting.