May is over. *Whew*

Deepest apologies to all 10 of you (yes the number has grown), that check in on this blog. I admit, my muse has escaped me for a bit, but that is due in part to the hell-month that is May for me work-wise. It's not unusual for me to go the whole month with 6-7 day stretches, while snaking a night off during the week for a card game at Irish Jim's. The hours pile up, the fatigue tries to creep in, but by the time I look up and try to tap out, the month ends.

Nice.

Another PGA Tour event, and 2 weekends of NASCAR behind me, I can now look ahead to a somewhat slower period (although there will be things that keep me hopping over the summer), and my vacation in July. Viva Las Vegas!



Let's see....where to begin....the race track.

I love me some racin'. Love it. The days are long at the track, but man, when those engines are at full song, and 43 beasts are charging down the track...unreal. I had the chance to see Yao Ming at the track (a very tall human indeed), NC Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Steve Lopez (a tae kwon do champion), and others during my time at the track. Very cool stuff, but I am there for the racing.

Snapped a few pictures which I have included at the end of this entry. Hope you enjoy.

As for poker-played at Irish Jim's a bunch this month (those extra hours allowing me to sneak away on a card night), and had some mixed results. Some good, some horrendous. Was trying to measure some leaks in my game, and I think I have spotted some, and corrected some things. Good thing, too, as TOC Saturday is just a couple days away. The TOC field is just sick. So many good players--nobody is there that shouldn't be there. I'm gonna have to play sharp to have a chance to win it.



Been tangling with the golf course of late as well, and it feels pretty good. I generally haven't played much golf in the past 6 years--I may have gotten out 10-15 times on average, but this year, I have the bug back, in a big way. I love playing golf (I played at a rather high level back in college and such), but work makes it tough to stay serious about the game. No time to practice, have to try to shoehorn a round in after the kids go to school, and before I start work. Tough to enjoy it when the clock is on you like that. Trust me, I am enjoying the game again.



OK--more poker in the blog going forward, and hopefully, I will have plenty of happy stories from the TOC.



And, uh, by the way, the 2008 World Series of Poker begins on May 30th.

"It's the most wonderful time of the yearrrrr..."

Pictures:Raceday traffic--I hate traffic.

Yao Ming alongside NASCAR driver Kyle Petty. Oh, and Kyle's not a short guy.

My buddy AB, and Mr. Excitement, Jimmy Spencer.

Our crew celebrating another great 2 weeks at the track.

One more week

One more week of craziness, and then life will slow down a bit. May is always hectic, but so far, this May has been better than normal. Been able to get plenty accomplished, and manage to get in some poker at the same time. For those that don't know, the guy on the left is Irish Jim. He (at long last) was able to make my on-again, off-again Sunday night game, and he was rewarded for it. No, he didn't win the tourney, but he hit his first Royal Flush. As luck would have it, he would hit it against me.


Irish Jim was short stacked when he decided he would make his last stand with A-6 off suit from the small blind. I peek in on K-7 suited, and his all in is another 2K in chips. Calling there wouldn't hurt my stack (I was chip leader -I think- with the blinds at 300-600). I made the call hoping my cards (and suits) were live, which they were. Flop (which you can sorta see) was 9d-10h-Jh, so now I have the nice straight draw...any Q gets me there. Turn is the Kh, which gives me the lead, and Irish Jim a royal draw, a flush and straight draw (watching his outs grow was like watching a plant bloom in time lapse). I say "any heart or ace wins the hand for him," as Klownboxer (the dealer), peels off the river card. Queen of hearts. I then say, "or a Queen of hearts makes him a royal flush."


Jim was shocked. I laughed. Out came the camera. So now Jim and I are even on Royals. I hit mine at his game, he hits his at mine. Very cool. NH.


Now, I know making a call of an all-in with K-7 suited is a loose call. We were 4 handed at the time, one more bust out, and the bubble bursts, so I gambled. Have to do that sometimes, and I turned the lead, but got rivered. Meh. At least he got the hammer hand in the end. The reason I decided to call, was that calling wouldn't hurt my stack, and if I hit, great. I was fortunate enough to hit trip kings a few hands earlier, turn a full house, get all in after the turn, and more than double up, so I could afford to make that call later.


KK was the best hand I saw all night. Had QQ, JJ, 10-10, 99, 88....a good number of pocket pairs, but I connected on more than my share of flops, too. That doesn't hurt. I was able to pick up some pots when I flopped air, which was also nice.


In all, a good night, and with the win, that made it a great night. There were other hands that I was able to win that put me in position to take the top spot. A flopped wheel out of the big blind, for instance. It was actually quite funny.

I'm the BB, get 2 limpers to the button, SB completes, I check.

Flop:
A-4-2 rainbow
All check


Turn:
6c

Check to (then) chip leader, who bets 500. SB calls 500, I shove for 1375 more (I honestly forget the blind level at the time--I need to get better at that for this blog). The original bettor says--and I quote--"I think I have you beat. I think I have the best hand here. I call."

I say, "if you have 3-5 beat, you win," as I flip over the 3c-5s. he showed J-2 (suited?).


Drawing dead, he looks at me as confused as anything.


I love poker. Poker's nice.

~M

From an aisle seat...

Sitting here watching "Naked Gun, From the Files of Police Squad" (the first one), I realized I forgot to write up a review on "Lucky You," the poker movie that is making the rounds on my cable box these days.


First off, "Naked Gun" is STILL funny after all these years, and the countless number of times I have seen it....but I digress.


Lucky You.

Many folks didn't really like it or appreciate some of the things in it. In fact, in this week's Poker After Dark, Howard Lederer and Jennifer Harman were discussing the movie, and the bit part Harman plays in it (she goes broke in 3rd place in a WSOP ME Super Sat event). Lederer saying the reviews were a bit negative for actor Eric Bana, who plays the main character Huck Cheever. I thought Bana was decent, but I didn't care for the way his character was written. It sorta took the "rogue gambler" persona like, way too far, in my opinion. To me, this character was more a mix between Mike Matusow and Gavin Smith. 2 guys that never met a prop bet they didn't like, and weren't afraid to take it. I hope that those outside the poker community that saw the film won't associate ALL poker players in that light. That wouldn't be fair.



I liked the movie, because there was a TON of poker in it--with varying games too. They showed the pseudo big game--the mixed game at the Bellagio where plenty of big names sit and play at ridiculous levels (ridiculous by my bank account anyway).

Loads of pros given screen credits (some even had lines, like Sam Farha). Pros I spotted--Negreanu, Jason Lester, Doyle Brunson (in the Main Event), Harman, Antonio Esfandiari, Minh Ly, Chau Giang, Cindy Violette, and more. Lester and Brunson (if I recall) were both given credit for being the poker consultants to the film, and it showed. By the way, that's John "World" Hennigan next to Robert Duvall at the Main Event in the movie.


The underlying conflict throughout the movie, is Huck's hatred for his father (played by Duvall) for past indiscretions. It all culminates in the Main Event tournament, which was run at Binion's (using the 2003 year as the backdrop for the poker--that of course, in reality, was the year Moneymaker won it, and jump started the poker boom). I won't go into more detail about the film for those that haven't seen it, but suffice to say I liked it, and will keep an eye out for it to watch again for other subtleties.


As for poker of my own, Wednesday was a good night, as I was able to take down the top spot at Irish Jim's game. Been a while since I had some success there, as I started out ablaze in my early appearances in his game. Nice to end the drought with a heads-up win over the homeowner himself. Had a night were I had a couple of tough beats (not bad ones, just tough), but made some of my draws, bluffed a few pots away from others, and had a basically good night while seeing just enough in the way of good hands to make the night interesting. I won't go into more detail on some of the hands, as the TOC is coming up in a few weeks, and spies abound (HAHA!!!!), but I will say that I felt good about HOW I played, and not about the results. That was a good feeling for me, as I haven't felt that way in a few months (after the March league event with my 5th place finish).


It feels good to be back.


~M

A mid-week how-do-ya-do

Have today off. nice feeling, considering I went 9 straight over the past week. Back to the grind for 2 more on Thursday and Friday, but a nice breather will be enjoyed today.

Been slow getting moving, but after finishing this, the grass gets cut, the bushes (that were left undone by Mrs. Chipstack in my absence) will get trimmed, and then it's off to the gym for a bit of a sweat and maybe a swim. Have to be back home by 3 for the kidlets, so a short window of time remains for me. Yeah, I know I should have done it earlier, but hey, I took some time to chill out, after a week's worth of running.

I'll get a little reward tonight, as well, with Irish Jim shifting his game to tonight...I can actually attend. I am looking forward to playing some hold 'em, as it's been about 2 weeks since I last played. I was thinking about this the other day--I am coming up on 5 years of poker. Yeah, I'm a part of the Moneymaker boom, but still, has it really been 5 years? I mean there was Chris, then Raymer, then Hachem, then Gold, then Yang....yeah....5 WSOP's, with the 6th beginning at the end of this month.

In 5 years time, I have gone from a total novice to a semi-decent player, and I have a long way to go before I get to decent. I have played in 2 WSOP events, and can not wait to get back in. Hoping for 2009, but that is subject to change. I have learned so much about other games--games I didn't even know existed before I immersed myself in this beautiful game. Omaha, Razz, 2-7 triple draw. I was playing dealer's choice games on very random occasions (Follow the Queen, Chicago, 7-stud hi-lo split), but hold 'em became my game of choice after watching the WSOP.

Now, I can't get enough of it. My buddy Big Vito introduced me years ago to a fella that is now making the rounds as a professional player. He had a huge run (I believe) at Festa al Lago at the Bellagio. I haven't seen him in quite a while, and yes I am leaving his name out of this for my own reasons. I'll just call him C. I saw C playing in the main event last year (saw him at the table for just a few moments), and heard he went broke in a hand where his set was 2nd best to another set. I would love to pick his brain a bit, and find out just what he did, and had to do to get where he is today. I know he's a solid player, and that's where it begins, but he's a damn good guy, too, and that certainly doesn't hurt him.

Anyway, enough for now, time for landscaping, then working out, then POKAH BABY!!!

I love poker. Poker's nice.

~M

What a week

It isn't often I can walk away from a week where I peeked at exactly zero hole cards and say "what a week," but here I am.

Got to watch a young man win his first PGA Tour event this week, and I am blown away. A 22 year old kid held his nerves together like a steely-eyed warrior, and blistered one of the best fields in golf by 5 shots.

5 shots.

Incredible.

Anthony Kim is an effervescent young lad from Los Angeles, but plays golf without fear. No regrets. No second-guessing. He hits it, likes it or doesn't, walks to it, and hits it again. Never letting people see his true emotions (at least not while he was winning the tourney), until it's all over.

He punched the air after rolling in the winning putt, and you could hear the wind wince. It was beautiful. It was the stuff that I dreamt about once upon a time. Playing on the PGA Tour, rolling in a tournament clinching putt (usually for The Masters), and celebrating with the gallery. Luckily for me, I never chased that dream, thanks to my moment of clarity when I was younger (that moment when I knew I never would have the game to play at that level). Kim is a nice kid, and has a bright future ahead of him, and his win on Sunday is one I'll never forget.

OK, poker talk. I AM NOT WORKING WEDNESDAY!!! And that means, a seat at Irish Jim's (if he has one available). I am looking forward to peeking at some hole cards, and check-raising away some chips (and I have that person in mind if they show up). The time between games has been too long for my liking (as it always as at this time of year), but I will take full advantage of a well earned day off.

League TOC Saturday is on the horizon, and I can't wait. I want that bracelet (which I have to purchase for the league-oops), but I know I will have to earn it. An uber-strong field of 16 players will be seated in that event, so I know I'll have to be at my best. Hopefully Wednesday will be the first good tune-up for that.

More poker when I actually get to play some!

~M

**photo courtesy www.wachoviachampionship.com