Holy shit what a blast

First off, congrats to Andrew on his engagement. Best wishes.

Despite the fact that I experienced the worst suckouts and took a brutal ass-raping at the poker tables, I had one of the best times in Vegas ever. Side-splitting laughter, great food, a really comfy roll-away bed, and even some hair-raising thrills. I'll only tell one bad beat story. The rest are pretty similar.
Ask Slacks or Andrew for an explanation of the Jack in the Box logo here. Funny story but not one for mixed company.

OK, the bad beat to start it off, then I'll restart at the beginning for the entire story.

We're at TI, where we started the whole gambling adventure. We got lei'd and had some drinks at the bar. I was pretty hammered after all the xanax on the plane (I'll tally the drink total later, I may have set a new personal record) So anyway, we're playing $1-3, and you are allowed to straddle for any amount. I get to the straddle position and make it $15...WTF, it's Vegas baby! Andrew and 1 other guy call ahead of me, and I look down at AK suited, so I put $50 on top. Andrew folds and this other guy calls. Flop comes Q high, rainbow. I am wasted so I go all-in for about $175 in a $140 pot. This idiot insta-calls me and flips over J3 suited...absolutely nothing. Andrew told me later that the dealer even snickered at the call. Of course, he hits his 3 and takes down a monster pot. I almost feel guilty about the berating I gave him. NOT!! what a dumbass. So anyway, that's pretty much how the poker went. I got 2 sets of Q's and a set of A's busted. Barely hit any hands anyway. 2 pair was a monster for me, and every time I had it, it was no good.

I'll have to make a few posts here with the whole story and pics.

NOTICE: I'll be out of town for a few days...

Viva Las Vegas

2 wakeups and we're off the ground bitches! Gonna be a blast.

Stopped by Ken's last night to warm up. It sucked. 15 or so pocket pairs and no sets. All small. Oh, I did have QQ and flopped a set vs Uncle Bob, but he telegraphed his readiness to fold so I checked it with him until the river ( I boated on the turn) where I made a small bet, and he folds. WTF? Guess I played that one wrong, cause UB usually will call with about any draw, but I dont think he had anything there. Sucks. Anyway, I lost 2 buy-ins.

The weekend never ends

Yawn...Mondays suck! But you know it was a great Saturday night if you still feel like shit on Monday morning. :)

Thursday at Bar Louie was a good time. We ate a bunch of tater tots and drank heavily. There was even a tot-eating contest. Pics to follow. Ended up being me, Slacks, JC, TK/Krina, Gail, Hip, and Homeless Sam even showed up. Thanks Hip for picking up the tab. Check out the pics. Skinny kid looked like McLovin. 

Friday was uneventful. I came really close to stopping out to Adam's cash game, but decided against it at the last minute. Keeping the $$ for Vegas in 4 days.

Saturday, I hauled the bike out to the towpath and started heading south. About 2 miles in, I stopped to take a pic of some wood ducks (which flew off before I got a chance), but I'm glad I did because I noticed the lovely hissing sound of my rear tire going flat. I immediately turned around and headed back to the car before it was fully flat. I put the bike back into the car and headed into Peninsula to Century Cycles where I got it repaired while I had a sandwich at the Winking Lizard next door. I then continued south for about an hour when I felt the first drops of rain, so I decided that was far enough for today. It was coming down pretty good by the time I got back to the trailhead, but I brought my raincoat so no biggie.

Went to Dave's and ran into AA again. 3 times! Those were about the only hands I played too, and I hit something on each one. Hopefully that streak is coming to an end. I didnt stay for the cash game because there were so few people there due to the big tourney at Ken's. Highlight of the night was snapping this pic of asscrack at the table next to me. Sick!

So after Dave's I hit the bars and ran into quite a few people I hadn't seen in a long time...Bob Smith, Ray Shreffler, Yvonne Cox,  Jason Christo... Lots of laughs, had a blast. Stayed up way too late and slept most of Sunday away.

Wed night out

After some more work on the rental, I decided to go out for a few drinks and grab something to eat. Met up with JC, Slacks, TK/Krina, Hip, and Vinnie on the patio at Tradesman. Nice night for it. All the bikers were out making noise. I had the meatloaf, which is pretty good there. Comes with mashed potatoes and a salad. I got some pickle spears on the side to scoop up the potatoes. Dont ask. Old habit from childhood.

Dont remember how the subject came up, but we started talking about putting a foot behind our heads, and Slacks gave it his best shot. See pics.

Tonight: Bar Louie, way the hell out east. Me and Tina are going to have a few then head back west to Backstage at Kamm's Corner where her sister works. That place has the best jukebox around...all live music from your favorite bands.

Misc crap (literally)

* I installed a new toilet at my rental property yesterday (after accidentally cracking the old one), which isn't all that difficult I came to learn, but being completely non-handy (except for computers of course) I was utterly amazed that it worked flawlessly on the first flush. Now I still have to repair plaster in the ceiling, build some stairs to the basement, and install a dryer vent. Fun stuff.

* Cleveland sports teams are painful to watch. Enough said.

* Speaking of fun stuff, this is mind-blowing for a techie... Click here

* I sure hope my tax refund gets here before Vegas. If not, it's gonna be a boring trip.

Ugh...

Went to Dave's on Saturday. Even talked Fish into coming. I lasted a bit longer than he did but busted a little less than halfway through the field. Ran into AA a couple times. Made 1 bad call vs. Data that cost a ton of chips. Played OK overall. Check out the pic of the early cash game. Now those are degenerates. They're sitting on the floor.

Cash game sucked. Ran into AA 2-3 more times. Cracked them once. Hip Hop had them twice against me, or was it 3 times? I flopped a set of 4's the first time and he turned his set to stack me. I won with some junk hand (4-5 I think).

Vegas awaits. 11 days. Slacks tells me that Venetian now has an afternoon buffet in the poker room. I may have to hit up Noodle Asia anyway. It's almost a tradition now. A couple things I want to do...Stratosphere. Cheap blackjack. Late night $1-2 with the drunks at IP. Anything outside would be great. I've had cabin fever for months.

Good times at Hoopples

Excellent drinkup attendance last night. Me, Slacks, JC, Hiphop, eRock, Danielle, Vinnie, Greg, and even Tradesman Gail was there with a friend. Unfortunately, the kitchen was closed (WTF???) We hooked a guy up with Pizza Pan's # and told him how to get the 3rd pizza by saying the delivery was to a business, so he gave us a full pie.

Glenn's first couple of sets were purely instrumental and totally kick ass. The drinks kept coming and we had a great time. I'm going home now to crash for a few hours. Not!

Tradesman

After an urban assault bike ride (I stopped at my crazy cousin's, had about 4-5 beers, then had to race home on my bike) I headed out to Tradesman for dinner/drinks. All VE...me, Dohar, TK/Krina, Slacks, and JC. Didnt stay very late, and I couldnt finish my paprikas, so I got a to-go box, then left the fucker on the table when I left.

Another Glenn Schwartz night tonight...that'll be 4 in a row for me. I still need to file my freaking taxes.

More poker

Woo hoo! 2 wins in a row. About time. I finished $40 ahead at Ken's last night. Not much but a nice boost for my confidence before Vegas.

I played one hand particularly well. I had AQ and put in 8 or 10 on top preflop. There were 3 callers. I'm in mid position. Flop was AA4, and I checked, and it checked around. (This is a passive table mind you, so a bet here would have scared anyone away, especially Jen the lawyer and Dave the quiet mouse) Turn is a Q giving me the nuts. It checks around again. River brings a 7, and Dave leads with $25. Jen Folds. I think for a minute and push with $125 on top. Somehow I knew he'd call. He agonizes for a few minutes, asking if I have a boat, then calls, showing pocket 7's. Double-up!

I later misplayed AA (didnt raise enough preflop) and JJ (I had the over pair but there was a flush out there on the board and someone flopped it) but overall I played well.

I mixed up some draws pretty good too. I had several flush draws, and instead of just calling, I lead with a bet, check-called, and even check-raised. Only the hand where I lead out actually hit, but I took in a decent pot anyway.

Nguyen was there and playing rather tight. WTF? Dont know what happened after I left, which was by 12:30.

UPDATE! Apparently Nautica's indoor poker facility is going to be a year-round deal. They have opened NL tables as well, for $20 an hour. I have been told that they have chips for the cash games now. That is a HUGE positive move. A NL table with cash would be ridiculous.

Sunshine and warm temps

Winter might actually be over, although I won't believe it until July. I actually got out for a bike ride yesterday which was pretty cool. Felt great to get the blood pumping. I'm gonna do it again today if I can. I also stopped by the club I belong to to check it out. Should be a great place to hold a CPMG anniversary party and small tourney. July should be good for that.

Finally...a tourney cash

Weekend recap...Went bar hopping in Elyria Fri night by myself. Always interesting. I stopped into a little redneck joint downtown and there was a 300 lb. female DJ playing heavy metal and hiphop. Spooky. She cranked up Metallica to ear-damaging levels and then gyrated next to here little DJ station. Like something out of a David Lynch film.

Saturday was freaking beautiful. The longest winter EVER seems to be over. I cleaned up around the house (open house on Sun) and took a drive. Stopped at the old Hayseed Tavern in Ridgeville to grab a beer and half slab of ribs. Not bad. Picked up Tina and we stopped for a few more at Keno's out her way. Nice place. Tina had a burger that looked pretty good.

Went to Dave's and I actually cashed in the tourney and even made a few bucks in the cash game. Have to rebuild some confidence before Vegas. 18 days to go. Gonna be a good time.

Thursday at Major Hoopple's

After being out pretty much every night this week, we decided Hoopple's was in order. Lots of freaks there this week, including the hat guy in the pic. He had the brim down to where he probably couldnt see a damn thing. Kinda reminded me of this other guy from the movie Dark City. Glenn Schwartz started going off on some girl in the front about how she has sex with animals and carries the AIDS virus. The bartender actually cut him off and cranked up the jukebox for about a half hour.

Slacks had a corned beef sandwich that looked kick-ass. I'm gonna have to get one soon.

I found a great website where you can make your own "motivational" posters... Click Here.