Horseshoe win...again!

Up $304 last night after 2.5 hours. Played well. Made 1 really good play on a $100 pot, I'll post the details after I write it up on the CPMG board.

Update!

Hot summer temps rage on! I love it.

Did the 2nd annual CPMG campout last weekend. Great time. Got a bit too loud for the neighbors (we had 14 people over 4 campsites, all in a row) but managed to not get booted out.

Had to tow my mom and her friend from the canoe. They got tubes and would have taken more than twice as long to finish the 7 miles. Got a little tired at the end, but had a lot of fun. Grayday was hilarious the entire trip. I made jambalaya over the open fire which turned out great. Played some $.25 poker, I think I lost about $8 over the weekend. OUCH. Lol, that's OK, I made up for it this past Sunday at the Horseshoe, finished up an even $200. 8-2 down there now!

Got the big 163-mile MS-150 Pedal to the Point coming up the first weekend in Aug. Looks like we are gonna skip day 2 due to some other obligations, and the fact that they changed the route. I think 80 miles on day 1 is PLENTY. Especially if it's hot. I'm glad we upgraded our bikes since last year. I got such a good deal on my Rapid I couldn't pass it up, and it's so much smoother than the Trek, although the Trek looked better. The Giant also fits better, and I get almost 2MPH better performance out of it.

Made whiskey peppercorn steaks this week. WOW were they good! Deglazed the pan with Makers Mark, beef broth, worcestershire, and cream. I've been trying a low carb diet the last couple weeks. Meh...no big results yet, though I'm down almost 5 lbs. I've been eating tons of veggies and keeping the meat to a minimum, but splurge a bit a couple times a week. Hence the steaks. Had fresh green beans and huge salad to go with them.

The other pics: JC celebrated his 50th b-day last week, and the other is the view from Lakewood Park during an urban assault bike this past weekend.

Vacation report

Played kickball, tried to go fishing, did some swimming at my apartment complex, took the dogs for a beach adventure, got together with friends, went to a private beach party, started a new low-carb diet, lost a little money at the casino in poker and blackjack, went on a couple bike rides, saw 2 movies: Savages and Moonrise Kingdom. Both were good, but I'd have to say Moonrise Kingdom was a bit better.

...more to come!

Vacation!

Off next week. Not doing much but I had to burn the time or lose it. Gonna do some biking, fishing, and poker playing. Looking forward to fishing more than anything else. TK might join me. Gonna hit my club.

Low stakes cash game at my place on Tuesday, and I'll likely hit the casino a couple mornings as well.

Meanwhile, it's HOT outside! I am not complaining, I'll take this over snow ANY day.

2 more winning sessions and an awesome Aerosmith concert

Up $420+ in 4 hours over 2 sessions going back to last week. Even hit a royal flush and nearly hit the BBJ for $60k! Nothing fantastic to report, just kinda grinding it out. Seems like I have to dig out of a hole every time though, except for session before last.

Mr John Coleman hooked me up with a free ticket to Aerosmith last night, and what a freaking show! Our original tickets were taken from the will-call booth from someone claiming to be Jennifer Coleman, John's wife, lol. So, he had to text Johnny B (Aerosmith's road manager that buys tobacco from JC year-round), and for our troubles, got us 2ND ROW SEATS! Wow. I think this was my 12th time seeing them, and despite Steven Tyler joining American Idol (UGH) and doing BK commercials, his voice is as good as ever. They played a couple new tunes from a forthcoming new album, and they sounded pretty good as well. They had some technical glitches and missteps on a couple songs, and Perry/Tyler seemed to bicker like an old married couple, but they held it together. I guess this was only the 2nd show on this tour.

Still undefeated at the CLE casino!

Banked another win last night. Up $92 after 6 hours. Went deep early, getting KK and AA cracked by J3 suited and QJ suited respectively. Guy with QJ called $75 preflop. I made it $12, he made it $25, I bump to $75. I shove $140-ish on the J-high flop. He tanks a while. I consider showing him my AA, which I should have done. Q on the river. Some will say I overplayed the hand but this guy was in there splashing around on every hand, and I wanted him to fold. That was no value bet. Guys like that make it worth it to play there, but they are gonna hit now and then.

So this is what I have recorded there so far... about 2 hrs of the 4th session is $2-5:

Up $231/7.5 hours
Up $214/3.5 hours
Up $123/3.5 hours
Up $11/8 hours
Up $92/6 hours

$671 over 28.5 hours = $23.54/hour. Nothing huge, but wins are wins. Made my car payment with poker money!

I am beginning to see why the rake is a factor. I have yet to sit at a table with a number of big stacks. I'm still not driving to PA to get away from it.

OG CPMG sighting of the week: Five Dollar Josh was there playing PLO. He's still a dick.

Prometheus...good movie!

Thumbs up for Prometheus. Visual effects were fantastic, had a few good thrills, and plot wasn't incredibly watered down. You don't see many R rated movies any more.
If they make another comic book movie, I'm gonna puke. How many times are they gonna remake Spider Man?

Savages looks like a winner. http://youtu.be/KC2zbOwbeEs

We also saw a preview for The Possession. It's based on this story http://www.dibbukbox.com/ but it looks like they really embellished and screwed with the story. They should have stuck to the "real" accounts, they seemed much creepier. I learned about this thing from the Mysterious Universe podcast. As I was listening to it, on my way home from work, a bird smashed into my windshield.

$11 win at the casino!

Played some this week, got WAY deep, but still scraped up a $11 win. That puts me at 4-0 down there. Played $2-5 for a few hours to get it back. I may have to play more of that. The players were no better than the 1-2 crowd and the rake doesn't kill you as much.

I finally managed to hit quads down there. Q-10 in my hand, flop was 10-10-x, turn was a 10. Got a guy's stack when he thought his pocket 9's were good.

Funny wig night for kickball tonight! We have the late game. Pics to follow. I might be pitching. I'll lead the team much better than the current pitcher. He rarely covers home or first if needed, never moves fielders to better spots, and just doesn't guide anyone, which is very important.

Prometheus man-date coming up Tuesday. Looks like a fantastic flick.

Last day of school for our teachers today, which means we will be busy for the next 3 months. Not gonna be as crazy as last year but we have plenty to do.

I have some vacation time left to burn, so we'll be planning something very soon. The poker group heads to Vegas next week, it should be an epic trip. I think there are about 30 people going. I just haven't had a big desire to go back. I want to see some other great places, not sit in an air conditioned hell hole for a week.

Weekend report

No kickball on Friday, we got rained out, so we all went to Amvets and cooked up some food. I got to play around in an industrial kitchen for the first time in quite a while. Felt like home.

Chili Peppers were great! Very good show. Those dudes still pack some energy. We ate at Greenhouse Tavern before the show. They have a really crazy menu for being somewhat hippie. Pig's head, lardo, etc. I ended up getting the ratatouille, which was excellent, though the portion was smallish. Padron peppers appetizer added to that. Top it off with a Burning River from GLBC...mmmmm!

Got my Jeep back yesterday, at 1/3 of the cost of the original quote! Turns out it wasn't the clutch, but severely worn U-joints. It now runs better than it ever has. I am hoping it also fixed the rattle I used to get when the temp dropped under 40 degrees. It feels like it'll be gone.

Picking up the bikes today, they were in the shop getting some gear issues fixed. I played around with them quite a bit but couldn't figure them out. We need to put in some miles! Did I mention I sold the road bike? Used the $$ to pay the Jeep repairs.

RHCP!!

Got tix to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers tomorrow. Gonna be a great show.

Looks like my Jeep needs a new clutch. Gonna be almost $500 to fix. There goes most of my poker profits for the past couple weeks! Oh well, at least it's not out of my pocket.

Car problems

Ugh...first my brakes fail on a highway exit ramp, and now it seems my clutch is dying. I've had the Jeep in the shop most of the week. Managed to talk the mechanic down quite a bit on the brake job. Not a huge fan of Conrad's but they do good work. For only 71K miles, this Jeep is pretty awful mechanically.

I was able to sell my road bike yesterday, hopefully it will cover most of the repair.

You know what's funny? THIS

More poker wins, kickball win on opening day

I am now 3-0 at the new casino after about 16 hrs of play down there. Nothing exciting to report. I played terribly in my last session but managed to scrape up a win. Flopped a Q-high flush with QJ, bet it all the way after a flop of 7-8-x and then the board went 7-8 on the turn and river. Guy had K8 off suit, going runner runner for the boat. I actually didn't even see/recognize the 2nd pair on the river. He was first to act and shoved his last $136 on the river and I pretty much insta-called. If I had paid better attention, I think I could have gotten away from it. Oops.

We ate at the little food court. I had the cavatelli from Rocco's. Meh. Pasta was a tad doughy and they don't serve bread! At an Italian joint! Luckily it didn't cost me anything. The deli/sandwich place looks decent, and there's a B Spot for burgers. Have yet to see the buffet, but Meats says it's good.

Kickball was fun as always. I had a great game. Went 2 for 4 with an RBI and I caught a ton of fly balls, including what could have been a real game-changer in the last inning. It was a sweet sliding catch where I skinned my knee and everything. Awesome.

Pics: my pasta salad for a cookout Sunday, and the kickball team preparing for battle. We're talking about forming a 40+ league. Those young punks are tough to beat.

Horseshoe Casino CLE grand opening and weekend fun

Quick casino summary...

Only waited 20 min in line to get in, though we didn't actually get in line until 1:30AM. Headed right to the poker room, where there was open seating for $1-2. A few dealers were a bit green and very slow, but still better than Nautica. Got crushed at the table for about 6 hours. Went $740 deep. Went on a run, cashed out $971 at 9:30 AM.

Lots of Nautica regulars and about a dozen from the CPMG were there. Decent buffet review here

Card room is world class as far as comfort, size, and selection of games. Once the dealers and cashiers get up to speed it's gonna be fantastic. The entire place looks fantastic.

Saw an old co-worker on the way out. He owns a deli/restaurant across the street and was checking the place out.

Went to see Jim Gaffigan Saturday night. What a great comic. Totally clean comedy.

Took mom to Pier W for dinner on Mom's day. Lobster bisque is just outta this world. Had salmon cooked on a wood plank. Mom had lobster and pasta that was amazing too.

Week before, went to Put in Bay for the Spring Fling party. Saw some old HS friends, hopped from bar to bar, then got the last ferry (7PM) back to Tomon's on Johnson's Island. Caprice and I each put $25 on Derby horses and she picked the winner. Paid 16-1. Nice. Grilled steaks, celebrated Hip's birthday with a penis-shaped cake ala Caprice, watched the super full moon rise, and just relaxed. Good times. Looking forward to SlaxFest this year.

Misc pics from the last few months

POKER!

I actually played poker at Nautica last night! I think I've played like 5 times so far in 2012, and didn't even make it to the chili cookoff, though my chili did. People on the CPMG board are starting to treat me like Slacks and eRock, who almost never play. eRock does live in Chicago now anyway.

Banked a $314 win last night! Wanted to make it my last trip there, ever, and wanted to win. Played decent, got cocky, showed some bluffs, showed some nuts, and dragged some pots. Had a few beers with Grayday. Not sure how he did, I left well before closing.

Looking forward to the casino opening.

Not much else to report other than that. Kickball season starts soon, and we have practice tonight. Got to the gun range this week to test Caprice's new PT-22. Great looking little gun but it either needs some break-in or needs to be serviced. Had a few failure to feeds. We will see. It did shoot pretty straight though, as you can see.