A flop, turn and river

Haven't sat at a table since the last league game, so very little in the way of poker in this entry. Couple things:

1-Fall CANUSA went the way of the Americans, a 7 shot win. The field was trimmed from 24 to 16 over the span of 2 days as the Canadians lost 4 players due to varying reasons (1 had a business trip come up, another a family emergency in Toronto, another suffered a separated shoulder, and one other...well we don't really know). That left the USA Captain (me) with tough decisions. Luckily for me, one of our guys had a family emergency (his wife's father passed away--condolences to Cathy), so that took Randy out of the mix, I had to tell our poker buddy Sly we couldn't use him, and there was some confusion with 2 other Americans, so we cut them too. Once we played, I was reunited with my longtime buddy Darren. Darren is the guy that got me involved in this thing 7 years ago, and has it been a blast. Darren has since relocated to Upstate New York, and rarely gets a chance to play golf with us. He came down, and we partnered up for an even par round of 72. He made everything on the greens--it was sick. Truly an enjoyable day of catching up with an old friend, and sharing plenty of laughs over 18 holes of golf.

2-T-minus 5 days until I hit 38. It's been this way for a while--try and shoot my age for 9 holes of golf. Once I hit 40, I will look to be lower than my age, but for now, my age would do just fine. I know 38 isn't a milestone birthday, but still. 38? Just seems old. I know there are those of you that read this that are older--this is my dilemma, not yours! Kidding. Looking forward to Saturday, as we have a decent size field ready for some hold 'em. Don't know what the starting stack will be, but it could range from T10K to T25K. Still mulling and waiting to see just how many players we actually have.

3-Congrats to Red Sox Nation, winners of the 2007 World Series. I was amazed at just how well those cats played against Colorado. I sill maintain that having the Rockies sit idle for 8 days was a huge disadvantage for them. They hadn't had 8 straight days off since before spring training. That's just too long for baseball players to not play baseball, once they have gotten into their routine. Anyway, Boston was the better team, in my opinion, and deserved the ring. now if only the White Sox would get some of that hunger back....ugh.

4-Back to the birthday....what do you ask for if you are 38 years old? I have no idea. I always love new playing cards, and I have had my eyes on the KEM WSOP decks from this year's WSOP--the red/black backs looked so nice on TV. I wouldn't mind a setup of those ,but of course, if it's linked to Harrah's, it will carry the Harrah's ridiculous price mark-up. It's like $40 for 2 decks of cards. I don't know. Plus, if you know me, you know I am a big hockey freak, and love pro-weight jerseys. Well, the NHL changed the jersey style this season, and pro-weight NHL jerseys now go for like $250. WAY too high....did find a place that has some of my preferred style from last season for $120, but tough finding my size. The search continues.

Hope you have a great week, and weekend. Will TRY to leave another post before the weekend, but don't hold me to it. If not, something Sunday or Monday after the festivities will be in order.

Good luck and good cards,
~M

How lucky can one guy be?

Wassup....been feeling a bit run down lately, only because I am not sleeping all that well. Long hours at work, and I just can't bring myself to call it a night before 2a.m. usually. Need to get more sleep, so I feel better throughout the day. I know, this isn't what you jumped over here for.

Yes, pokah, pokah, pokah....Haven't played since the league game last weekend, which is fine. I have a birthday coming up in a few days (Nov. 3), and the lovely Mrs. Chipstack has granted me the go-ahead for a tourney at the house that evening! Awesome! The word has been put out amongst our league folks, although response has been somewhat slow. It will be capped at 30 max, but I doubt we'll approach that number. Depending on the number of players, we will go with 1 of 2 starting stacks, either T10K or T25K, with blinds set accordingly. I am looking forward to it, since it will be a night with friends, playing tournament poker.

Before all that, I have the 3rd and final CANUSA Cup tournament for 2007 this weekend. Gonna be a quick trip in and out of Raleigh--I drive up late Friday after work, golf in the late morning, then drive back to home afterwards, since I have an NFL game on Sunday to cover. Wish I had more time to hang out with my buddies, but duty calls. Hate that I have to leave, because my friend Darren is coming in from New York, and I haven't really seen him since I moved out of Raleigh. He's a great guy who I played hockey with, and he's the one that got me hooked up with these CANUSA fellas. I have made some pretty solid friendships as a result, so I owe alot to Darren.

We shall defend our nation's honor this weekend--even if it rains!

Good luck and good cards,
~M

Riding the Rollercoaster

Chips are down. Then they are up. Then down. Then I'm out.

That's about the way things ran for me in our League event Saturday. Not a complaint. I dusted off a bunch of chips early, starting with 3K, down to 1125 at the break. Went on a nice rush and worked the stack to around 5K, and then 2 hands bit my ass.


Blinds 100-200, 25 ante, I'm in BB.

Early position raiser makes it 600 to go. I have Kc7c. I flat call to see a flop. My opponent, at the time, was playing relatively tight, not mixing it up too much without some kind of decent starting hand. My pre-flop read, because he was chatting me up before I made the call, was JJ or QQ. My suited cards gave me the thought to take a flop for 400 more, and if I whiff it, I get out.

Flop:
K-2-4, rainbow

Hmmmm....top pair. I check, opponent checks. He fears the K (I say to myself).

Turn: 4.

I bet 1200 into the pot. He shoves all in (I have him covered). Now this move made me pause and think what could he have that has me beat? AK? Maybe, but not likely. I had him on a pair, not a big ace. JJ or QQ seemed more likely, and I thought the all-in was a shove to drive me out. I tank for a minute or 2, and decide to make a crying call, knowing I still have outs to win the hand.

He rolls over 22, for a boat, deuces full of fours.

In unison--"MISREAD!"

LOL. I still had outs, although very few--any K or any 4 makes me the better hand, but the river was a 10. Ugh. Stack cut to 1250 (I think). My read was partially right--I had him on a pair, just not 22. Nice hand, VP.

VERY NEXT HAND, in the small blind, I had AQ, and a mid-position player goes all in, for 1350. I have to call there, as I am only dominated by AA or KK. All in player shows 10-10. I know you hear all the time...."players always seem to hit the Ace when they need it, but not me..." so I'll spare you that, and just say, I didn't improve, and went out in 14th place.

Picked up 2 points (WEEEE!), but still the night was so much more than that for me. Had a blast (as usual), playing with our group--I won't say it enough, we have some damn good people in our league. People I proudly call friends. My favorite in the league, though, was able to put behind him a horrible week, and take home the top prize.

Vito shook off the passing of his father-in-law, and played some of the most amazing poker I have seen him play. Sure, he got lucky a couple times (some I did not see, but heard about), but when he wasn't getting lucky, he was playing his ass off. Truly a sight to behold. It was certainly emotional for him, as well as me. I'll admit, when he won the tournament, I started choking up inside. I have not suffered the loss of a parent yet, and my ex-wife's father passed away when I was living in Texas. I was never close to him, so it didn't affect me too badly. Vito took his FIL's passing to heart (as mentioned in the previous post), and to see him get away from his grief and play as hard and as well as he did....it was beautiful.

So, we are now idle until next month, and I am planning on hosting the event. My folks are coming in from Vegas that night, and they are fully aware of the league and its doings, so they are looking forward to finally meeting my fellow degenerates. Oh, and if any of my league fellows wish to have a reading while she is in town, my Mum will likely hook ya up with one....but remember, ya gotta take care of the host!

Make it a great week--I know I'm gonna try!

~M

The Friday Notebook

Don't have one topic or anything, just feel the need to jot some things down--hope I don't bore you to pieces.

1-Getting a weird feeling about our league, in that, I don't know if people still REALLY want to do it. It's becoming harder and harder to get commitments out of some folks if they are playing from month to month, and there are some grumblings that players aren't having nearly as much fun as they used to. I really want our league to succeed and be fun. I truly enjoy to company of all of players in our league, and I am willing to help keep this thing going. We've had lots of laughs, fun, and cards together. I hope we haven't run the course with the league, as it's something I look forward to each and every month.

2-Got smoked at work on Thursday. I mean SMOKED. Was at a basketball game, when one of the players fell out of bounds and I ended up getting hit in the melon with a camera. I felt fine at the time, but really wasn't. Rest of the day is somewhat of a blur, but I do remember feeling very lethargic. I don't want to use the word concussion, but if I didn't have one, I was as close as you could be to having one. Not fun at all. Much better today, after a good night's sleep (and plenty of Advil).


3-Life could be changing in a big way in the near future. My parents are ready to move out of Las Vegas, so once they sell their house, they are likely going to be moving in with Mrs. Chipstack and I. I don't fear that. I welcome it, and truth be told, my wife was the one pushing for it. She was insisting on it, so that's fine with me. My folks need to get out of Vegas--bad place for them. It will be good to have them here--they are visiting at Thanksgiving--so they can see what life is like in our little burgh, and then they can plan accordingly.

4-The flipside of parents moving in, is parents leaving us. I don't mean abandonment, I mean death. One of my very best friends, lost his father-in-law this week. My buddy is a fine man, father, and husband who simply "gets it." He is a big reason why I am so much in love with the game of poker as well. His father-in-law put him, and his family, through some really tough and trying times over the past couple of years, as health and strength were failing him. Yet, in the face of it all, my pal managed to keep a smile, keep grinding, square his shoulders and lean into the challenges. That's just what he does. I am proud to call Vito my friend. I hurt for him during this period of loss. I do know that Vito is a better man for knowing his father-in-law, and I am a better person for knowing Vito.

Good luck, and good cards.
~M

Johnny Sez..."How about 2?"

OK, so that's not what he's saying there, but for me, it sounds good enough. League game this weekend, and I will hunt for my 2nd win of the season. I played a bit fast and loose last month, a feat which I do not plan on repeating.

Played a nice 7 handed game Sunday, with rebuys. I busted on the bubble, and I deserved to. I didn't play very well throughout much of the night, but went on a nice rush and before I knew it, had a bunch of chips. Lost a chunk here, and a chunk there, and finally got it all in (again--I survived 4-5 all-in's before), with Q-9 off, vs. AK off. Hit a Q on the flop, but turn and river brought spades, putting 4 on the board. AK held a spade, and I was sunk. Ack.

Been working a bunch--really feeling the effects of this fall routine, with NFL Sundays, our annual Fall trip to the Speedway. Been running ragged, and need a break. I get one this weekend--no NFL game. Good chance for us to get the little guy's birthday party in. He turns 8 on the 22nd, so party time is Sunday. Taking a group bowling, so I will be doing some keggling.

I just hope that I have a pocket full o' cash from the night before!

Good luck and good cards!
~M

I am SO good

I can't even begin to describe it. I STEAMROLLED the table at Irish Jim's, playing flawless poker, running bluffs, raising with the nuts. My reads were dead solid perfect, and man, I just know that I can run with the big dogs.

OK, that might be a bit of a lie. In fact, the only truth in the above statement was that I won Tuesday night.

I busted TWICE (thank heavens for the 2 max rebuy rule), and was severely short stacked at the end of the rebuy period. I did use some very well timed aggression to win some pots, but overall, this was by far the luckiest I have ever been at the poker table. Hands down. I really didn't start "playing poker" until I was in a zone where I could actually play. I was so short stacked that I was in all-in or fold mode for nearly 3 levels. I did pick my spots pretty well, but got lucky when I outflopped a better hand once, and held a better hand in an all-in.

Once we got to 4 handed, paying 3, I had this hand UTG: K-10o. I was still the short stack, so I push, and get called by the BB who has KJo. Flop comes Q-J-10, ugh, but with 2 clubs, I have the Kc. Turn is 10c, giving me a set, river is 4c, giving me a flush. Lucky. Not a string of skill in that, just plain ole luck. That doubled me, and had me on my way. Flopped 2 pair with A8, and was able to trap my buddy Klownboxer, and that broke the bubble. Tracy knocked off Jason to get us to heads up, and in HU, we saw the blinds hit the 2000, 4000 with 400 ante level. Lots of chips in the middle before you look at a card. Gladly was able to outlast him there, even though he did double through me one to make it interesting.

Track this weekend, cards again on Sunday.

Maybe sometime in the next month, I will sleep.

Good luck and good cards,
~M

20 year reunion was a lot of fun. I know I would have had even more fun if the wife had come along, but circumstances, etc. Saw and caught up with a lot of old faces, that, unfortunately, I will likely never see again. I got the sense that 10 years from now, there won't be much interest in gathering as a group, but who knows. For the few hours we were all together, it was nice to kick open the doors of those days at our alma mater, and relive some of the moments we had long forgotten about.




I will say this--there are several of my fellow classmates who look very much like they did when we got dressed up in cap & gown. There are many that do not. Still, the people are still the same, and THAT was most enjoyable. Some conversations picked up where they left off at the 10 year reunion. Others had to be jumpstarted. No biggie.



A big thanks to Ron and Jacki (our organizers), as they were the ones that put this whole thing together. I got to see their kids play in the JV and Varsity games (by the way, we got smashed 56-0 on Homecoming-Ugh), and I saw a side of them I didn't see in high school--the parental side. These 2 had a baby in HS, but never did I see them as parents until Saturday. They are very good at raising their kids--very respectful, and very nice. Good to know good people.



POker--back on tonight--Irish Jim's--I head over there in about 45 minutes. Cards Sunday. League next Saturday. I got the itch, and Imma gonna scratch it!

~M

One thing that won't be said about me...

...is that I welch on bets. If I make a bet, I honor it if I lose, or collect if I win. If I shove my chips in the middle behind, and lose--you get my chips. If I push with the best and win, I get your chips. I am an honest person, and when I agree to something, I follow through.

In June, I pushed all in that a certain baseball team would not make the playoffs. I had the best hand at the time. My opponent was drawing very thin. He had a starting rotation that was shaky, they had an offense that wasn't lighting the world on fire, and a first year manager that hadn't exactly been the second coming of Joe Torre.

Once the river card of the baseball season peeled off, it was obvious that I was the one drawing dead. They had done the unthinkable, in my eyes anyway, so, now it is time to pay up.

Nice hand, sir.

This sucks.



























Its sucks because I am a Chicago WHITE SOX fan. I hate the Cubs. My head is burning in that picture, and what's worse is I have to wear that hat ALL DAY during the upcoming CANUSA Cup matches in October. Good thing for me is, the magic of the Cubs run appears to be running low, as they trail Arizona 2-0 in the best of 5 series...but don't think I am counting them out. They went runner-runner on me to win the NL Central....they could suckout on Arizona too.

~M

Goin' Old Skool

In honor of my trip to Chicago for my 20th reunion, I went to pokertube.com and dug up these beauties. They don't have the 1987 WSOP on the site, so I went deep into the wayback machine for the 5 installments of the Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder narrated documentary of the 1973 World Series of Poker. It's definitely worth the 40 minutes, or so, of viewing on your computer.

Enjoy!
Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

Enough! Enough!!

OK, the lull has turned into craziness. I need to get back to a table. Been away long enough, need a game. Likely won't get a game until Tuesday night of next week, which is fine, considering today is Thursday. I have a busy weekend ahead, and then the function Monday night which will be fun also. The break felt good, it was nice to get away--mind you it was only really about a week and a half--but still, time away is good. Now it's time to get back.

I just realized the next 10 days are gonna be very whirlwind-ish. Work Thurdsday, and Friday. Friday the biggie with the 2 shows in one night. Up early Saturday to fly to Chicago for my reunion. Fly home Sunday AM. Monday day-shift at work, followed by charity night. Golf Tuesday, rounding Tuesday night. Day shift Weds, which starts at 9am with a function. Host the Jeff Gordon Foundation event Wednesday night. Thursday night, qualifying at the track. Friday, normal 2 show night. Saturday, race night at the track.

Inhale....exhale....

There will be a game Sunday at the house with Klownboxer being in town. Must get the shopping and other details finished, but likely 5pm start. Will conflict with Panther game, but until they show me something, I'm not getting too worked up over them. We'll see how they handle New Orleans this week.

More later,
~M

Quick Hitter

It's Tuesday. Meh.

Haven't played poker in a bit--kinda maddening, but at the same time, the break has been good (believe it or not). I know in my last post, I bemoaned the "lull." It's actually been kinda nice not thinking about poker as intensely as I have. I needed a break--a chance to decompress. I'm about there, and I suspect I will complete the journey this weekend. HS reunion on Saturday, and then fly home Sunday to watch football and do some odds and ends. I'll get back into my "Vegas" mode on Monday night at an NFL Alumni Charity night. Oughta be fun, just gambling with monopoly money, all for a good cause.

Gonna finally get to play some golf on Tuesday--the 2nd day of the NFL Alumni function, and then Wednesday, I'll be hanging out with NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon with his Foundation dinner. I think this makes 3 straight years I have worked with Jeff on this project, and I can't say enough how super a person he is. I know he is hated by tons of NASCAR fans, and that's fine. The person I know is the same guy that drives the car. He's very cool, and his PR director has said he wants to play some poker with us sometime. I told him, Jeff has to come along too, and said sure--but that was before Jeff and Ingrid (his wife) had their baby. The invite still stands.

Keep watching the WSOP Main Event coverage on ESPN. With all due respect, Humberto Brenes needs to be muzzled, and Hevad Khan needs to take his meds. Brenes and those friggin sharks are embarrassing. I don't care if he uses them to "help him make his decisions," but when he starts the whole routine of shouting and crap in front of players who are about to hit the rail, that's nuts and very disrespectful. I have said alot of things at a poker table, but NEVER taunted a player when they were about to be busted out of a tourney. It's just wrong.

As for Khan...wow. Too many red bulls, and not enough interaction with humans as a kid explains a lot of his goofy behavior. Not as annoying as Humberto with the sharks, but shouting "BULLDOZER" when he drags a pot, the idiotic looking monkey dance (or gorilla dance--I forget)....deserving of a smack to the chops. There was one hand I did enjoy watching between Khan and another player who was either partially or totally deaf (advantage to that guy playing Khan). The hearing impaired player had KK, raised, Khan with A6o re-raised (he had the big stack at the table at the time), hearing impaired guy shoves, Khan has to call, since he's priced into the pot. Hearing impaired dude scoops the pot, and then....this is the part I loved....places his left foot on the rail, and begins imitating a fisherman as he is reeling Khan in! The guy isn't yelling, or screaming, and while I would frown on such antics, it makes me happy to see the loudmouth guy get a taste of his own medicine.

Other thoughts:

* VH1 Classic in the morning-solid. "We are the 80's" is quality music in the morning.

* Wife and I painted the bedroom in anticipation of my parents visit over Thanksgiving, and my daughter's possible visit this month. Sorta sage green. It's bad ass. Pics will follow once the room is completed with furniture and stuff. Wife and I managed to not strangle each other during the project--another project where it went smoothly. Convincing me even more that we are perfect together.

* CANUSA Cup Golf--part 3 for 2007 on tap for Oct. 27. Gonna be a quick trip for me--up late Friday night, back Saturday night with NFL commitments on Sunday. Couple poker league boys gonna play in this one, as we are short handed on Americans for some reason. Very weird, but I hate to think the CANUSA is losing its lustre. You can check out the website by clicking right here.

Good luck and good cards,
~M