Christmas is over and now things can get back to close to normal. I have much crap to clean up before we go to Deep Creek for New Year's

My cold got worse. It turned into my annual full-blown illness. Complete with chest congestion. I went to the Dr and got a Z-Pac and an inhaler. One of the downsides of this illness is that it gave me time to do nothing except to play poker. Unfortunately, either the medicine of the illness dulled my senses and I lost100 bucks playing like a wounded donkey. Call, call, call, show loose. I was not agressive at all, and it cost me. I was glad to get out of the week, albeit with a diminished bank roll. I will have to build it back up this week.

Also, because of the cold, I have not worked out this week.

A combination of playing poker last night, a cold and the fact that my wife came home at 11:30 smelling awful, that cooking club garlic aroma kills me. I did not wake up in time to crossfit this morning. I can still get to the gym on Thursday and Friday and still make my 3 days for the week. I'll see what I can do

I am addicted to crossfit

After reading the crossfit website over the last few days, I did one of the workouts on Saturday. It was fantastic. I did not get the form correct on the olympic lifts, and I will have to work on that, but overall, the workout was one of the best I can remeber. It worked so well that I did another crossfit workout. I think I will definately keep it up. I need to work on the olympic lifts. I will try them on my own, but if I cannot do them in a few weeks, I'll spent the $50.00 for three sessions with the Crossfit Pittsburgh guys.

My daughter is sick, so my wifes nerves are shot and Abby is a handful. My wife spent the day with her sister yesterday so I took care of the child all day. Of course, with my less than vigilant manner of watching my child, she flooded my wife's bathroom when she stuffed the toilet full of toilet paper and then flushed. She also stuffed the overflow of my wife's sink and turned on the faucet. Flooding the bathroom wasn't bad enough, the water came down through the family room ceiling. Once it drys, I can acess the damage. As I was cleaning up the bathroom, Abby was playing in her room. When I went in to check on her, she was pulling out and putting in the plug for her vaporizor. Great, the kid goes from playing with water to playing with electricity. She of course got the naughty chair for that.

The day was so nice, I was so jonesing to ride my bike, but I did not get a chance.

So I made it to the gym this morning. I did play some poker last night, but I got to bed by 10:30 so was able to wake up. I started with 3 sets of 4 pullups. I am really going to make a push ( a pull really) to see if I can do 12 by year-end, as I originally had as a goal. I have been researching crossfit lately, and I find the program intriguing. I may incorporate some of the WOD into my routine. Who knows, maybe I'll do it exclusively in January. I just need to get some rings.

I did play some poker last night. I only played until 10:30. I was at a good table with some loose players. I just couldn't get cards. I can still pull out a profit this week, but I have to be on top of my game this weekend.

I did it again. I had good intentions to go to the gym this morning, but my need for sleep encouraged me to stay in bed. Of course, this need for sleep was necessitated by the fact that I stayed up until 11:30 playing poker while convincing myself that I would indeed wake up at 5, unlike 99% of the time that I intend to do so. I know that late night poker is incompatable with my fitness goals. I know which is more important, so, I vow to myself right now, on gym nights, I will be in bed by 10 pm

The Act 1 tax panel made our recommendation last night to the school board. The one school board member that objected to my appointment also expressed disagreement with our recommendation. His objection was the same as for the reason that he did not want me appointed. He is opposed to the PIT and that was our recommendation. We had several senior citizens that commented that the where also against the PIT, even though they did not have income subject to it. I think it is just a case where some seniors just cannot figure our, or articulate what is going on. I do not know how it will end up, as the school board must make the final decision as to what goes on the ballot. I will make the prediction though that our recommendation will be what the school board supports. I think Joe, Allen, Roberta, Paul, and Herb will go with our proposal, that leaves Mike, Mary, Jan, and Lynn as unkowns. It may be close, but I think it will go that tax panel's way. What ever way it goes, I believe it will pass the referendum.

I again played poker too late and slept in. I am such a slacker.

I think I want to ride a century ride as my big challenge for 2007. I will concentrate on just getting back into the workout groove for December and then plan my 2007 big fitness goal over the New Year holiday.

November is Over

I have fallen into such an inert state. I don't know what the f is wrong with me. I just am unmotivated to do anything to change my ways. I know that I need to set positive goals and to formulate a plan to get there, but I just don't do it. Instead, I play poker late into the night, forgo my morning workout and then just slug through work. (at least that was yesterday).

I guess just knowing my weakness is a good first step. I will change. I will figure out my life goals. I will do all of this by Monday.

This is one of the problems of having a comfortable life. Once you achieve a certain level, it is difficult to get motivated to reach another. This is why it is important to set ever-higher goals. I am going to set a goal to set higher goals by Monday. I'll tell you all about it then.

Thanksgiving is over

Much has happened over the last 5 days. Two dinners with the wife's family, one 5k race, two class reunions and one trip to the zoo with my daughter. The dinners with my wife's family were almost unbearable events. I like structure, and the fact that I have to surrender it for a few hours in my own house disturbs me. Once the children get older, maybe it will get better.

I had one of my slowest races every. I can attribute this entirely to my lack of fitness. This is a correctable situation, and I can use this as a wake up call.

The class reunions were fun, but I drank too much. Having hotel rooms both night gave me license to go a little nuts. The wife's was fun and I enjoyed the spouses of her friends. Mine too was fun. A little tradition that we have at mine is to pick the hottest female alum. This years winner was a girl named Meghan. Just absolutely smoking hot. It's unbelievable how twenty years later she can look so freaking good. After the reunion we were hanging out in the bar talking about our high school crushes and Meghan told me in HS she had a huge crush on me. Her friends backed up the statement. Ah, had I only known that information 20 years ago...I guess that is all part of the process of learning. Looking back there were so many opportunities and the key is to select the ones that are slight stretches but offer the brightest prospect. I guess things really haven't changed, its just that it takes 20 years to figure this stuff out

The calf is healing nicely. I may just be able to run tomorrow. I took today off from the gym to give myself some rest. I will stretch twice today and get up early enought tomorrow to register for the race and to stretch out and warm up thoroughly. I think I will be ok. If not, I will just have to walk the remainder of the race.

I have sprung a terrible leak in my game. I am calling to much and not playing hands where I am in control. By fixing this little leak, I should be back to winning

I went for my long run on Saturday. I was running along just fine and was pretty sure that I would be able to finish the 5K on Thanksgiving. I was having a slight pain in my right calf, but I figured that since it wasn't too painful, I could just keep going. I was probably 1/2 from home went I experience a terrible feeling in that calf. It felt like the calf muscle pulled right off the bone. I had to walk home, and I iced my leg immediately. But, I think my plan to run on Thursday will now be cancelled. I really hate to think that I can't do it, but the pain is pretty strong still and I think I do have to not run. The worst part about this is that it is my own fault. My injury resulted from lack of discipline. It was my lack of discipline that force me to cram my training into a very short period of time. This was the real cause. Too much running following too little running. This is also the reason that I do not weigh the 140 pounds I had targeted for the class reunion. I just do not want it enough.

On the poker side though, I had another winning week, a small one, but a winning week none the less. I am 40 dollars away from a winning month. I might be able to pull it off, that is now my goal. I need two 20 weeks.

Yes, I am a slacker

I have now missed two days of my ambitious training schedule. Again it is for the same reason, I over-slept. I think it is because I have decided to play poker online instead of getting sleep. To compound the problem, I lost all of my weekly earnings and then some last night. Ugh, I need more discipline.

Day 2

I woke up a little late this morning, but I still managed to get to the gym and do my running on the treadmill. Maybe I can do this thing. Tomorrow, I will press to run for a full 20 minutes on the teadmill. (Today I ran 15 walked 5 ran 8 and walked 2)

Last Night I participated in the public hearing on the ACT 1 Tax Panel public hearing. I was happily surprised to see a few (12) people, including some you people(2). The panel is going to vote tomorrow on the recommendation that we are going to deliver to the District, and I will miss that meeting, but I will make my thoughts known today via memo and if the vote ends in a tie, we can hold a special meeting where my vote breaks the tie.

I played a little 1/2 hold'em last night, and got off to a horrible start quickly losing 28 dollars. Through patience and observation, I was able to rebound and finished ahead 13 dollars, it could have been more, but I played stupid at the end. Catching quads and getting paid off was the best part.

Day 1 of my 10-day training period

Day 1 of my Turkey Trot training regimen went well. I ran on the treadmill at the gym. I hate running on that thing. It seems much harder than on the road. I will run on it four times this week, once each morning T-F. I would like to get some speed work in, but I don't think it will happen. I just want to finish the race without embarrassing myself now. I can run long runs on Saturday and Monday morning, do a one hour bike ride on Sunday, and then run on the treadmill on Tuesday, which will give me 48 hours of rest before the race. I will buy some recovery drink, and my legs should be decently rested for the race.

My poker play has greatly improved as of late, or at least my results have. I can attribute it the the Killer Online Poker book I purchases. It forces me to really pay attention. That was the one area that had recently fallen off.

Recovery

Friday I lost 66 dollars in two miserable sessions. Luckily, I managed to climb my way back out of the financial whole by Sunday night and finished the week up $10.00. I bought Killer Online Poker 2, and I attribute my run to that book. The premise of the book is really to pay attention to opponents and take copious notes. That was the one area that was probably lacking. I still have to get a concise form of abbreviations, but that will come. I will just focus on paying attention to my opponents.

I was off on Friday, so I took my daughter to the Children's museum. She had a good time. Not much to report there.

Her birthday party was Saturday, and we had a house full. I think she had a good time.

I ran on Saturday. I am pretty out of shape and I hope I can finish the Turkey Trot. I will run several times before Thanksgiving, so I will see what kind of shape I can get into in a week and a half. I will chronicle my progress right here on this blog.

Disastrous weekend

First the fitness front. I did nothing for exercise. I should have went for a mountain bike ride on Saturday morning, but I am too lazy. I used the excuse that I didn't want to wake up my daughter, but the truth is that I was just too lazy to get out of bed. I then thought about hiking yesterday, but instead just slothed around. I am going to have to tread mill for today's exercise, and maybe the jump rope tomorrow. I know that I want to be a fit person, I am just too lazy to do it.

My weekend started off pretty good. I played a 657 person Omaha Hi/Lo tournament and was in 28th place with 200 people left. It paid the top 63, so I was in pretty good shape. I lost 1/2 my stack when my nut str8 got rivered by a flush, and then continued to donk off most of my stack shortly thereafter. I managed to limp into the second break and was getting close to the money. I was pretty short-stacked when I was deal A223 double suited and went all in, I think this was a good move as I didn't have enough money for one rotation and I figured that this could double me up and get me to the $. Alas, it wasn't and I went out in 69th place. Still I was pretty happy with my finish, although disappointed that I didn't cash.

It quickly went downhill. I had a disastrous day at the Breeders cup. I couldn't win a race. That's a lie really. I did win two, but for small amounts. Overall it was a loser.

I then forgot how to play poker. I am having trouble adjusting back to a super-tight style after I had to change for Las Vegas. I entered too often pre-flop and I call too often post flop. I need to re-evaluate my play, and try to salvage the month. I will make an effort this week to play better.

Yes, a positive month

Poker in October really came through for me. Online I won $50 (not huge, but the first positive month since spring. I also won 309 in casinos and 700 in home games, so I am over a grand for the month. All it really took was tightening up just a bit and paying more attention to my opponents.

Poker went well for them month, but investing and fitness trailed off. I have to really get on the stick towards my goals. That is my goal for November.

Slacker

I slept in again... boy I wish I could get out of bed for my workouts everyday. I need to find a way to get motivated

A positive month

Finally, a positive month. It looks as though I will have positive earning from online poker for the first time in several months. My main mistake was playing too many hands. Online play is usually fairly tight, and I needed to accommodate. I need to make it through 2 days, but I will only play possibly once, so I should make it.

On the fitness front, I have not kept up my plan. I am such a slacker. I just really need to set my mind to it.

Vegas Baby

I just returned from a conference in Vegas. The subject matter of the conference was CPA stuff, so I won't bore you with it (as if anyone actually reads this). I will just leave it that the conference was pretty good. I, of course, only attended this specific conference because of the location.

I landed on Sunday and was picked up by my friend Troy who was on his last day with his wife and sister-in-law. I spent Sunday afternoon in Old Vegas with them and watched the Steeler game. They dropped my off at 3:30 PM and I checked into Bally's. I played some poker and lost $65 (not a good start). During dinner, a Reuben and onion rings, I diangosed my play. I realized that live low-limit play was much different from on-line play. There were more people in each pot (typically 7) and most people were not aggressive. I then decided to make the following moves in my next session 1) limp with play any pair 2) limp with any suited connector or 2 gapper 3) raise with any pair 9 or higher 4) raise with any suited 2 ten-point cards. I played the Flamingo on Sunday night and won $91. I think I have it figured out.

On Monday I went to the pool and ran. I played poker again at Ballys. During the day I figured out that I needed 10:1 to take one off at the turn with two overcards ( I folded them on Sunday). I again booked a win. It was then off to Ellis Island for some black jack. I don't like that game anymore, now that I have a better understanding of odds and EV. So I went back to Bally's. There was a smoking hot girl from Vancouver at my table. She was so freaking hot, gorgeous face and nice body. She was a pretty bad player. I again booked a win.

The weather on Tuesday was cloudy and my legs hurt from Monday's run, so I went to lunch at a sports bar in the Alladin. I stopped in their poker room, but they only had tournaments at that time so I went back to Bally's. There was a very drunk player at the table. He was filled with Long Island Ice Tea's. He would raise every hand. Again people at the table did not know how to handle him. I continued my regular play, but on my premium hands, I got more aggressive and would cap more hands than normal. Towards the end of the session he was actually showing me respect and would back down. He even told me that I must be pretty smart. I was up $135 from that session. I went to dinner at 9 Fine Irishmen at NY NY and then went to the MGM cardroom. The room was very nice and the Admiral (an 86 year-old former British Navy Rear Admiral) was there. It was a very difficult night for me and I quickly found myself down $50. I managed to fight my way back up and ended with a positive $10 win, but it took almost 5 hours. I did have a heated exchange with the Admiral, he did not like a joke I made about how the Royal Navy counts that occurred after he misread the board thinking he had a str8.

Wednesday was my last day. I went to the Flamingo to play, but the wait was too long and I ended up back at Ballys. The Admiral was there as were many of the nice people that I had met thus far this week. It became a social atmosphere. I again was stuck around 50 by 8:01. I told the dealer and the table that I had 29 minutes to get my money back and to get four aces. Everyone had a good laugh and then, I got dealt pocket queens that held up, pocket kings that got busted, Ace King suited that didn't flop any help, pocket 8's flopped a set and won a big pot, pocket kings than flopped a set and didn't win much money, but I was certainly on a rush. At 8:29 I informed the dealer and the table that this was my last hand, and I wanted my 4 aces. The dealer dealt me a pair of aces. A player raised under the gun, there was one caller and I re-raised. UTG and the other player just called. The flop came AAK ( OMG, I just flopped 4 Aces) UTG came out betting and the middle player called. I asked the dealer how much was in the pot because I wanted to be sure that there was $20 so I could win the HH jackpot. He couldn't tell me, but the table now knew what I had and they assured that there indeed was 20 so I re-raised. Both players called. They both checked the turn and I bet. UTG folded and the middle player called (he was there for a Curves convention). River came and I bet, the middle player called and I flipped over my 4 aces. Everyone at the table erupted in cheers and we had a good time. The dealer called over the cardroom manager and he made me sign a form and he gave me a stack of red chips. I gave the dealer $10 and end up $85 ahead. Man what a hand.

Post ban, and I haven't noticed much difference. I cannot play on Paradise or Party, but I can play on a host of others. I am going to sign up for Full Tilt and Poker Stars.

I am playing well, but not winning. It is just a rough run of luck, that will get better.

In order to jump-start my weight loss for my class reunion, I have made a conscious choice to actually train for the Turkey Trot. I started this morning and I quickly realized that my 7.5 MPH on the treadmill may be a little ambitious. I will tone it down a bit and see how it works out.

It's the end of the word as we know it and I don't feel fine.

This is my presumably my last hand at Party Poker. They came on and booted us all while they did "server" maintenance. I wanted to be there for the end and I was. Now I must go back in this afternoon and see if I can cash out the rest of my money.

Here is the lobby, we are all blocked out. I am sad and outraged.

The Bell Tolls

Today is the day that the Ban goes into effect. I have given much commentary, wrote the President, and my Senator. There is nothing left that I can do to stop it. Here is a link to a good political blog that expresses my thought pretty well blog. So now what is left to do? I must adapt, that is what strong people do. Here is my adapting plan

1. Transfer money out of Party Poker after they lock me out. I am going to log on at 9:45 and play a little to see if they kick me out at 10 AM
2. Open up a Full Tilt and Poker Stars account this weekend.
3. Work to somehow get online poker legalized
4. Use this opportunity to improve my game and round out my life
5. I will go back to playing poker only 4 times a week, and spending more time exercising and investing.

Dr Mister President

I am writing again to ask the President to veto the Port Security Bill. I urge his veto because there are provisions in the Bill that do not protect our ports. Specifically, there are provisions in the bill that seek to curtail internet gaming (except for horse betting and state lotteries). I am against these provisions as I am an avid online poker player and I do not want my ability to play online poker limited. While there are some problem gamblers out there, laws should not be enacted to limit everyone's ability to participate in online gaming just to protect the few. This is not the way that alcohol and tobacco laws are fashioned, I am not sure why we should treat them differently.

Poker is a part of the American fabric. People have played poker for many years in this country. I have been a part of these games since my childhood, either in the format of home games with relatives and friends, or public card rooms. My great aunt, Sabina Gallegher taught me to play poker when she came to live with us when became an octageneraian. In recent years the expansion of internet poker has allowed me to play in the comfort of my own home. By playing at home, I could spend time with my wife and daughter and then log on and play a little poker when my toddler went to sleep and I finished the household chores with my wife. This legislation is being touted as supporting family values. I don't see it that way. My family life has not been negatively affected by online poker. There are millions of other Americans just like me. We like our families just the way they are.

The real reason that this legislation is included into the bill is that the pendulum has swung to the other side. This is a naturally occurrence in politics. The body starts moving in a direction that ultimately veers too far in one direction for the majority of Americans who have moderate views, so they bring in another party to bring it back the other directions. That party then takes it too far the other way, and they are voted out and replaced my the party of the first part. The Kennedy era lead to the Nixon era which lead to the Carter era which lead to the Reagan era which lead to the Clinton era which lead to the Bush II era. We are at that point in history again.

By attaching this gaming legislation to the Port Security Bill, the Republican leadership has shown they have arrived at the point where they care more about imposing their minority social opinion than representing the American people. If this is the case, I have no choice but to do my part to swing the pendulum back. I will vote liberal Democrat until the pendulum swings back too far the other way.

Please Mr. President, veto this Bill, have it re submitted sans the pork. By doing so, you will show that the pendulum is not too far to the right.

Bad Run

Just when I thought I had this game figured out.... Last night I was back to my old habits. Calling instead of raising, calling too many hands, yada, yada, yada. I lost 23 bucks and then decided to enter a S-n-G. I finished 4th in the S-n-G. My play wasn't horrible, it was just bad. Particularly in the beginning. I should have done better.

With the ban coming in a few days, I want to play on Party until the end. We'll see what happens.

All birthday weekends should be this good

The weekend got off to a stellar start. I won $700.00 at poker at Tommy's house. My wife didn't even seem to mind my coming home at 6:00 AM. Must have been the $100.00 that I gave her.

We had our annual bonfire on Saturday night. The wild game I smoked was a little dissappointing, but hey, we gave it the old college try. The Elk just didn't taste too good, the boar ribs were a little under-done, but the boar bacon was pretty good. The beer and the munchies were good. The friends were excellent. We had more neighbors than Betty and Bob's. I guess that this is a trend that will continue. That is not a bad thing, as we have some pretty cool neighbors that have moved into Heather Highlands recently.

Day 4 of the ban

Now that the ban has sunk in, I have written letters and sent emails, to see if I can get this crazy thing stopped, maybe, just maybe, I can help. Realistically, I do not think I can. But realistically, I don't think things will change that much either. I cannot figure out why Party Poker is pulling the plug on the US business. They either have a plan, or are complete idiots. I just hope 2 things:1 That I can play my 90 raked hands to clear my bonus 2 that I can be online when they flip the switch.

The jester stole his thorny crown

What a weird weekend. I started playing Friday night and read my email telling my about the anti-online gaming language inserted into the Port Security Bill. As I played poker, I watched CSPAN and saw the Bill pass. I think it is terrible that this has happened. As the weekend progressed, I started to feel a little better thinking that the Bill won't work. But this morning, I was notified that Party Poker will be shutting out American players. I still think that this is a knee-jerk reaction, but I cashed my money out of that site. At least Ultimate Bet and Paradise Poker will keep allowing American Players. I guess we have to take a wait and see stance at this point.

Mistakes

Even though I wasn't going to play poker last night, I finished everything else that I had to do and decided to play 1/2 hour of poker. I played on Titan Poker, even though I do not seem to have much luck there. After a bit of time I was down a few dollars, but nothing major. After an hour I decided that I needed to stay a little longer to win back the $3.00 I was down. Just then, the table got down to heads up. I was going toe-to-toe with a guy and we seemed to be just passing chips, when another played showed up with $5.00. This guy then proceeded to dismantle me and the original player. I knew I was out classed. I also knew that I should just leave, but I didn't. I eventually lost my entire buy-in. I think this loss was caused by the following mistakes
1. Poor table selection - I couldn't win, and I knew it, as the competition was better than me. I should have left when I noticed that.
2. Playing when not at my best - it was late and I was tired. I should have been sleeping instead of playing poker

Man camp

I went for a 3 day camping excursion with Chris, Al and Andy. We camped at Andy's cabin along the banks of the Allegheny river just below the Kinzu Dam. It was a great trip. Here is the report.

We started Friday morning at Al's house. Al first had to get his car because he had left it at the bar on Thursday night. He was in terrible shape and his wife was not too happy with him. Once we finally got his car, we loaded our gear and our 3 bikes onto it and headed north. We had lunch (steak hoagies and beer) in Warren, dropped our gear off at the cabin and headed to the ATV trail for some mountain biking. We did see a bear on the way into the cabin (the first of two bear sightings of the weekend). The ride was awesome, but by mile 8, I was not too happy with my choice of Genesse beer or a steak sandwich. We rode 10 miles in about two hours. The downhills were fun, the were smooth with banked turns. We drank some beers in the parking lot and then went back to the cabin. Chris cooked steak and potatoes as I fished and drank beer. After dinner we played a .25/.50 game of Hold'em to prepare for Saturday's excursion to the casino. I couldn't get a draw to come in to save my life and lost 7 dollars.

Saturday morning, we just kind of stumbled around in a hung-over haze until around noon. Chris and Andy went golfing and Al and I went into the forest to shoot shit. We blasted some cans and a box with a .22 a 12 gauge and my 380. Before we left, we drank a beer and then shot the bottles. We then went to the warehouse for lunch where we finally found the elusive Bloody Mary. We had a couple of beers and watched the Penn State game. We then went back to the cabin for some more fishing. I caught a few bass and we headed to the casino. My luck continued as it had Friday night. I played for 2.5 hours before I won a single hand. I then started to pick up some hands and I felt momentum shift my way when Al decided he wanted to leave. I had promised him that I would leave when he was ready, so I did not protest, even though I really wanted to stay.

We packed up early on Sunday and made it home pretty quick. The next time I go to the Allegheny Forest, I may drive that way. 79 - 80 -86 -62-59-321

I was on my way to a winning week until Saturday afternoon. There was a complete donkey that raised from the button. I was in the big blind with KK. Flop came Q-rag-rag. I checked, he bet and I just called. Turn brought another rag and I checked raised him. He reraised and I capped. I now had him figured for AQ and in no A or Q hit river, I would cap again. River=3. I bet, he raised, etc it was capped, and he showed Q3s!!! He reraised on the turn with a Q terrible kicker. This put me on tilt, and I never recovered. By the end of the night, I lost $60.00. Man that sucked.

Big Time

I have finally made the "big time". I am mentioned in the blogosphere. I would reference the particular blog, except for the fact that I intend to remain anonymous. Linking to the blog, would certainly blow my cover. So, here are the facts. Our school district must appoint a tax study panel according to a state law. I applied for an appointed onto said panel. I also contacted all of the school Directors that I knew soliciting their support. As I had contact with many of them through the election process and a few other civic endeavors, I figured I would get the support. One director eagerly gave his support until I told him that I was against his position. At the school board meeting where they were to vote on the panel appointments, he raised considerable objections to my appointment. A few of the other board members stuck up for me and in the end, my appointment was approved 8-1. The newspapers, liking a good controversy, made sure to cover this story in depth. I have been on record as opposing an increase in our municipality's earned income tax and this is one of the issues that we will be covering for the school district in the study panel. Well a blogger that covers my community made a blog entry covering the panel vote.

I have played NL hold'em at Titan Poker this week with terrible results. I just can't seem to win. Truthfully, I think it is because I am much better at limit. Although, at limit on Titan I can't win either. I think I am going to restrict my play on that site to tournaments only. Last night I took second in the limit O8 sit-n-go

Good Weekend

Friday night we went to the Irish Festival. We had a good time. My daughter was afraid of the music at first. She seems to be really afraid of loud noises. She calmed down after a bit and she thus had a good time. I was able to convince my wife to stay later than we had originally planned because she was drunk. So, I got to see Gaelic Storm after all, which was cool. I got to chat with some friends too, so it was good.

We stayed in on Saturday and I watched the Texas OSU game, which turned out boring after OSU took such a big lead.

I went for a nice road ride in the morning and then took my daughter fishing and hiking. We had a good time. The hike wasn't really planned. I went to some parkland our community has where a group of volunteers is putting a mountain bike trail. The group has been trying to get me to see it as the park may be sold and the want me to vote against it. I decided to walk the trail for myself. I met up with another dad that was exploring the trail with his 2 kids for the first time. The five of us started exploring and walked too far when we were not sure if the trail looped. Luckily, Abby did well and I did not have to carry her too much. We ended up meeting up with one of the trail volunteers who pointed our way out. The trail did loop. The trail volunteer immediately recognized my name and now it looks like I will have to tour the property with him. I will definitely ride this trail on my mountain bike.

I started to chip away at my poker losses from last week throughout the weekend until I played last night at Paradise. The table was much looser than what I have become accustomed to on Party. I lost to a 5-outer on the river and tilted off most of my $20, which sucked, but overall I played well for the week. I will seek to have a winning week this week.

A week of nothing

I did not make it to the gym at all this week. Even though I had good intentions, I slept in each of the 3 days I planned on going. This sucks, I just have a weak fortitude I guess. Oh well there's next week.

Actually, I have missed most of what I had planned to do this week. I think I am just floating by. I have little direction and little motivation. I guess the problem is that I really do not want anything bad enough to be working hard for it. I say I want health, but I haven't done anything to get it. I say I want wealth, but I haven't done anything to get it. I have turned into the ordinary person, and I don't like it. I must use this weekend to refocus.

how about a little discipline...

It just amazes me how at one minute I can be totally on top of my game, and then a few days later be totally under it. After my performance on Sunday where I was on fire playing poker, I took a turn in the wrong directions. On Tuesday, I donked off $15 playinge like a complete moron. By now any reader will know what I did. I played too many hands. A caller never wins!!!! I must remember that. So I then did what any good donkey would do, I played online blackjack. After losing 40 dollars, I just knew I could get it back. I did get back to a 5 dollar loss and was going to leave, but I just knew that next bet would get me back to even, so I posted it and lost it. I kept chasing until I was down my 40 again. How stupid of me. That game has a negative expectation, yet I continue to play it. Just dumb

I did manage a second-place finish in a sit-n-go. Unfortunately, it was my second of the evening after I wasted my first. In the first one, I played crap hands like crap. In the second one, I played well ( I did everything I should - play alert/good cards/position etc.)

This morning, I donked off another 6 bucks playing like a fish again. I need to tighten up.

Back from KY

We just got back from a visit with friends in Kentucky. All in all it was a great trip. We did a distillery tour (Woodford Reserve Bourbon), and took a trip to Keeneland Race Track. I highly recomend both.l The distillery is very small, they only make 17 barrells of whiskey a week and sell most of it at the gift shop. Keeneland was a wonderful track. We missed the training rides (dawn until 10:00 am) but did manage to watch some simulcast.

On Sunday our friends had a party, for which we smoked some ribs. The ribs were great.

It's like that doughnut...

I had an algebra teacher in high school, I can't remember his name, which is not that unusual as in college I didn't know the names of many of my professors even during the semester. Most of my friends would pick classes based on professors, trying to always take the easiest ones. I, on the other hand, picked classes almost exclusively by time. So, I would have no reason to look at a professors name. Sometimes in the middle of the semester someone would ask me who I had for a particular subject, and I could not honestly tell them. Well back to high school algebra. This teacher was terrible. He repeatedly got in trouble for telling in appropriate jokes (he once showed us the movie Porky's in class). He told the principal that telling those jokes was like having a Danish in the refridgerator at night. He said that sometimes you lie in bed knowing that you shouldn't get up to eat it, but you do. I have always remember that story as I think we all do things that we know shouldn't. Yesterday I played Omaha HiLo for the first time in months. I know that you must play super tight and go only for scoops in that game, but on the contrary, I kept calling with crap, and even going for only 1/2 the pot with only one other opponent. The entire time, I knew I was playing like a donkey, but it was just like that doughnut....

First time since May

I put together back-to-back winning weeks for the first time since May. I think this was accomplished by tightening up pre-flop. Let me see if I can extend the streak to 3 weeks.

I hosted a home game on Friday that went quite well. Everyone had a good time and I won 40 bucks. I smoked some ribs that turned out a little under-cooked. They did not fall off the bone. I was low on charcaol, and thus I could not get the right tempurature. I fixed them on Sunday by cooking the leftovers in the oven wrapped in alumium foil for 1.25 hours.

As I prepare for hosting a poker night, I decided to play one sng last night (even though I should have just went to sleep, see yesterday's post). I made one particularly bad play drawing to a flush with only one opponent early in the tournament. I figured if I won, I could stack him, but I should have just let it go as those type of draws have too little chance of paying off, especially early in the tournament. I managed to climb back up and with 6 players left I was was short-stacked with about 10 BB's. Big blind was 150 and UTG raised it to 450. I had KK, so I pushed all in, it was folded around to UTG who called my $600 raise and showed 9dTd. I liked my 78% chance to double up until the flop gave him a four flush and oesd and putting him as the favorite. The turn, Tc, gave him a pair as well, but this put me in the lead again, until the river brought the Qd. Oh well I lost, which sucked, but I got my money in as the overwhelming leader ( was was 3.5:1 to win).

I played a bit this morning. I posted on my first and was dealt 4h7h. The flop came 6d5d4c. For some reason I though I flopped a str8 and bet and raised until the end. The reast of the hand was As Jd. I figured that I could only lose to a flush now, which was possible, but the pot was $48, so I wasn't going to fold for a $2 bet. When the pot got pushed to trip jacks I was thoroughly confused until I reviewed the hand history to reveal that I only had a pair of fours and NOT a str8. That is twice this week that I mis-read the board for a non-existent str8. Must pay more attention.

I finished last week with a positive in the poker column and a positive in the stock market column. But I also finished the week with a negative in the job-hunt column and a negative in the fitness column.

I know my biggest leak is that I am not patient enough and that I stay in unprofitable hands too long. I am slowly adjusting to that. I must keep in mind not to play drawing hands with only one opponent, it is usually not worth it. After starting off the week cold, I ran hot on Saturday morning making back the money I had donked off earlier in the week. I still find that Saturday and Sunday mornings work best for me as 1 I am well rested 2 most other players are not. The only problem with this is that this is the time that I would like to spend on my bike. Maybe I should compromise and play online Saturday and bike on Sunday.

In the market, I bought some Merck options after the had two unfavorable decisions returned on the Vioxx cases. They have made me some money already plus some of my other investments had nice runs last week. I had good returns, but I still think I need to spend more time on investing.

I missed the gym for most of the week. This can be attributed to the fact that I lost money early in the week at poker and was attempting to make it back so I could have a positive week. While I accomplished that goal, I missed fitness. I obviously have mixed priorities. I must shift focus away from short-term goals and towards long-term goals. I did manage a bike ride on Saturday afternoon, which was cool.

I did not make any forward progress towards my job hunt. It is as simple as that.

The main problem is that my priorities are out of whack. I must start acting in quadrant 1 activities

MIlf's and money

We went to the Wiggles show last night. I was amazed at the number of Milf's. But, it goes along with my general theory of wealth and beauty. I'll explain it below.

Ugly people do not make as much money and good looking people, this is just fact. If you have two identical applicants for a job, but one is better looking, you will pick the better looking one. As you move up through the ranks of an organization and the competition gets tougher, the winners get better looking. So all of the better jobs go to better looking people, and thus the money follows. These good looking people have money to spend on their kids then and take them to places that cost money, while the ugly people have less money and then take them to places that costs less. This is coupled with the fact that these well-heeled parents want their kids to also be well-heeled so they take them to places and events that will make them so.

So then it follows, you will see more Milf's at the Science Center or Wiggles show that at the Butler County Fair Demolition Derby on $1.00 off night.

Sucked in again

I had said yesterday that I was going to take a few days from poker. So guess what I did yesterday, twice,...yes I played online poker. The first attempt I actually made a few bucks only to lose most of it to calling with a weak hand when I was probably beat (it turns out I was). The second attempt was a O8, which I know how to play, but made dumb mistakes of playing hands that I know I shouldn't. I lost money on 08, but made it all back at blackjack. I of course know not to play blackjack because it is -EV. Maybe you see a recurrent issue here. I play poor EV bets. This must be corrected.

Hot pork, cold cards

I posted a while back that smoking a pork shoulder is like doing crack. The first time you do it right is pure euphoria. Every time after that, you are trying to recreate that wonderful first time. Saturday's pork was no exception. It was so tasty that one of the wife's cousins actually wrote down the rub recipe from "Smoke and Spice" and was contemplating opening a BBQ joint with me. I will briefly go over the smoke details. I bought the 15 pound shoulder at Wal Mart (it was on of those cryovac packages that I usually buy) On Friday morning I applied a generous amount of yellow mustard and Worcestershire sauce slather to the pork and then rubbed it with my standard bbq rub. At 9:10 PM I lit the coals in the chimney starter. At 9:30 I put the lit coals in the smoker using the minion method, using a mix of cherry and pecan chunks. At 10:00 PM I put the pork in the smoker. I checked the temperature a few times before I went to bed at 1:00 AM, but I had it under control around 220 degrees. At 8:30 am it was still holding pretty good. At 10:30 AM the pork was about 165 degrees, so I figured I would make 190 in good time. I had planned to finish the pork on the grill wrapped in foil, but didn't need to. I added some charcoal to the smoker and opened the door for a while to get it lit and that did the job. The pork hit 190 at around 2:30 PM, so I wrapped it in foil and put it in the cooler. I pulled it a 4:30 using a fork and a cleaver. I poured a drizzle of cider(1/2), cider vinegar (1/4), vegetable oil (1/4), and rub over the pork and then wrapped it up again. It was outstanding, probably my second-best ever.

Cards on the other hand, are treating me horrible. My VPIP is around where I want it to be, but I cannot win a hand, my last 250 hands have a winning percentage around 5%, which is less than half of usual. I know that this is a small sample and is just statistical variance, but it sucks. I was hoping to have a winning week, but my streak at the end of the week ruined that chance. I just couldn't win a hand Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I am going to take a few days off and read "The Theory of Poker". I know that this is something I should do anyway, read books or watch videos to help my game, but now I have an excuse.

Leaks in poker, leaks in life

There is conventional wisdom that says that many bad poker players are decent poker players but have a few leaks in their game and some good poker players are otherwise poor because of leaks in their lifestyle (Stu Ungar, for instance). Maybe I fit into both categories. Let me explain.

In poker, here are the leaks I see:
1. Calling raises/bets with inferior hands
2. Being passive
3. Entering hands from early position with marginal hands

In life, here are the leaks I see.
1. I play too much poker- for instance, last night I should have went to bed at 10:00pm so I could get to the gym, instead, I played poker until 11:00pm and did not wake up this morning for the gym.
2. I do not actively pursue what is important. Really it is part of one, as all I seem to do now is play poker.

I guess to remedy this, I need to play less poker, keep moving forward with my life work, and play well when I do play poker.

How quickly we forget

As quickly as I had regained my prior form last week, I lost it this week. I seem to have forgotten how I dug myself out of my losing rut last week. I did so by playing selectively aggressive poker. So what did I do this week to continue, I played loose passive of course. I have been playing on Titan Poker to clear a bonus. Traffic on the site sucks, but they had a good sign up bonus so I have played. The sign-up bonus will take forever to clear, UB's is even easier. It seems to be looser than the other sites I play and I have made the mistake of loosening my play too much. A loose table does allow starting hand requirements to be relaxed a bit, I have taken it to the extreme. I need to tighten up and get back to 25% of flops and below, even on this site.

Went to a Kenny Chessney concert last night. I am not sure what was more entertaining, the singers or my drunk brother-in-law. He got so drunk, he fell in the isle and couldn't get up. It is amazing what alcohol does to some people. I guess it does it to us all, but we tend to ignore it.

Anyway, the show was awesome although it was 1:30 when I got home. Working on 5 hours sleep can be tough.

I finished the week with winnings from poker. That is something I hadn't done in the six previous, so I am pumped. I think I have gotten the problem straightened out.

The Mojo is back

I finally have put a winning streak together after a few weeks. Small potatoes as of yet, but a win streak none the less. I analyzed my play and realized that I only needed to make some small adjustments which were:1.Fold more often 2. bet/raise more often 3.fold more often. Let us analysis.

1 Fold more often. I was playing too many hands out of position (not many, but a few 1 hand every two round adds 5% to your VPIP). So I just tightened up my starting requirements in early to middle position. I pretty much stick to the recommendations in SSHE.

2 Bet/Raise more often. I had gotten passive. The key to winning is selective aggression. Now when I think I have the best hand I bet or raise. I had been value betting before, but now with betting and raising, I am also able to get information

3 Fold more often. After reading the King Yao (or whatever his name is) book I started to call bets when the board didn't quite hit me well. I think this is because of his treatment of hidden outs. I realize, as he stated, that there is some value in a back-door flush or straight. But, I was overvaluing the extra one or two outs. I now fold most of these as the pots are generally not big enough to justify the call

Now if I can just get back on the fitness track.....

Back from vacation

I am back from my week at the beach. While it didn't rate in the top 5 vacations ever, it was ok. The problem was that the last two were fantastic. This trip lacked in a few areas, notably
1 The fishing was less than good- I spent 12 hours and $350.00 to no even touch a rod off-shore fishing and it wasn't until Thursday that I even got a bite in the surf
2 The accommodations were no as nice as years past
3 I missed the friends that accompanied us in prior years

I did a lot of reflecting while away, and that was good. I realized however that I had become very inert and was losing ground in the game of life. I am not reading enough and I am not paying attention to investing. Mostly because I have become consumed with poker. I must spend less time playing and more time concentrating on making something of my life.

I HATE POKER

My recent down-trend continues. I have now put three consecutive losing weeks together. I feel like the Pittsburgh Pirates. I think I can attribute it to playing too much, playing too many hands, not observing other players, and not playing aggressively. The problem is that the more I lose, the more I want to play, even though my mind is not in it. At the same time, I keep thinking that there are more productive ways to spend my time. I have four days to play this week before I leave for vacation. I would like to put together a winning week before my 9 day poker hiatus. If I can win again next Saturday when I get back, I can have 2 winning weeks, although short weeks.

I am getting pumped up to fish at the beach. I will do both surf and off-shore fishing. There is also a stocked lake in our resort, so I will fish there as well.

Curse of the Str8 flush part II

Last summer I went through a period after I saw a straight flush where I couldn't win. The losing streak was long and deep and ended when I saw another one. A few weeks ago, I saw another one (this time it was in my hand). I have been losing since then. It must be another curse. Ha, if only it were that easy, I saw one again this morning, as I went on to lose $17.00, after I lost $40.00 last night. No, the real curse is that I am seeing too many flops, I'm close on this one, but still giving up edge, and I am drawing too thin. A back-door anything is only gravy on a draw that might get there, it only adds 4% on the turn, stop counting it except where it is close. In limit, you have such a small edge, do not squander it.

The annual cookout was pretty good. Lots of good friends and too much beer, at least I didn't play poker afterwards.

I put the pork shoulders in the smoker around 2 am, but they didn't get to 195 by 4:00 pm. Next time, I will put one piece on top and one on bottom, I will also start earlier, 11:00 pm. They were cooked, but only to about 170, which meant that they didn't pull. Smoked pork is like crack. Once you do one to perfections, everyone thereafter is not as good. You spend the rest of your smoking time trying to recapture "that one shoulder". I can remember mine, it was the labor-day shoulder that we made and took to the Gledhill's. Anyway, I will try again.

The fatties were awesome. Good smokey flavor. I think I should stuff them more next time.

Cards are treating me bad, that's all I'll say or else I may puke

The bad luck continues on the felt. I wish I could gain my February/March form again. It was so easy to win then. Now, I can't put two winning weeks together. I have to wonder if the herd has been thinned consistently now that I have dropped to the classification of one of the weaker members. On the African plains, a lion only has to out-run the slowest gazelle in order to eat. As the slowest gazelles are culled, the lion must chase faster gazelles, thus he needs to be faster as well. I may have come to that point. I don't necessary think it is true, but I do need to make a few adjustments. 1, I need to pay more attention to players, 2 I need to tighten up slightly on my starting hand requirements. I am going to review some hand histories today to check for some bad habits and will try to improve this weekend.

I started my pork shoulder last night by injecting it and rubbing it. I will put together a schedule for tomorrow later today. I also took some pictures of the smoking process and plan to do so throughout the entire smoke. I am then going to make a powerpoint. I may even post it here

After my debacle last week, I hoped to make up some lost money over the weekend. Unfortunately, I played 2 $11 sng's, which put me $22 in the hole. I am not sure why I played them, as I am not a good tourney player. I usually do play them on the weekend, so I guess that is why, and I figured that if I hit one, I could make back a big chunk. I did flop a straight flush with a probability of 1 in 230,414 or odds of 230,413:1 against. I did win some money on that hand as well. Overall though, I played many hours and netted only $12.00 for the weekend. On
Sunday night, I realized that I had spent too much time playing poker for too little money while I left unattended many other useful endeavors, so I imposed a 2 day poker hiatus. So far into the hiatus I have played 1 hour and won $36.00.

I built a bbq table on Saturday. It actually turned out pretty good, considering my lack of building skills. I will put the table to good use this weekend when I smoke a pork butt for our cookout. I bought an injection syringe for the elk I plan to smoke in July, and I think I will inject the pork but this weekend, just for a change

At least I wasn't drunk/Tilt

I usually have a good grip on my emotions, especially when I play poker. I sometimes do get upset, but it is not too often. I say usually, as there are always exceptions, such as week 26 when I lost 200 on the table and then 200 playing blackjack, of course I was fill with Powers, but that is not excuse. Last night though WAS one of those exceptions. I sat down to play a little poker and noted that I was a bit tired, (breaking rule # 1, play only when can play A game). I sat at a 2/4 table, which is higher than my normal limt, but no too much so. After a few hands, I noted that the table was a bit looser than I liked. This increased my implied odds, but added to my varience. For instance, my set of 5's was beat by a flush on river. Because there were 5 of us in the hand, the villian was getting the right price to draw. I did not make an adjustment for this level of play. I also violated rule # 7 by playing every day this week. Anway. I was down about 60 when I was dealt a playable hand from the SB Q8. Of course there were 5 of us that saw the flop. Flop was Q83 rainbow, so I flopped 2 pair. So I be out. The game was loose, but it was passive and I wanted to get as much money into the middle as I could. Everyone called, so the pot contained $20.00. Turn was a K. I checked, figuring that someone surely had a King and would bet. A middle player bet, button called and I raised. MP and Button called, pot now $44.00. River K. The worst card for me, as now I am pretty sure one of the other two has trip K's. I check, MP Checks, and button bets, pot is now 48 and it costs me $4 to call my pot odds are thus 12:1, which means that I need to be right 1 out of 13 times for this to be a correct call. I call and button shows K3o. I lost, and for some reason lost my mind, even though I knew I lost. I think it was the fact that no one should have entered the hand in the beginning with K3o. Instead of being rational noting that, in the long-run, I would get chips from maniacs that play those cards, I went insane that I lost the money. Of course this is on top of the other beats I received earlier which were not necessarily bad beats per say. When I went insane, I raised and called to river just hoping to give away my money, which I did do, instead of just calling it a night.

Oh well, it will take me a few weeks to wing this back, but I shall by following my manifesto, at least until I don't...............

I am back from Orlando. That place is Hell as far as I am concerned. At 6:00 AM, the resort was filled with think people in very good shape. They were running/walking or excercising in the gym. By 10 AM all the fatties were out. Many Americans are fat, but most people that go to Disney are. The conference was good. It was nice to not be involved in the BS portions like I had been as an officer.

With the beach 4 weeks away, my fitness plan has escalated. My abs are starting to show. I would like to be 5 pounds lighter, but we will see how it goes.

I have actively started my job hunt. My current job is boring me to tears. I have had one interview (well maybe two, I had a phone interview and a face-to-face interview with the same company) they offered me a job, but it was a project consultant job. Some parts of me would really like the gig, other parts of me would not. I think I want to stick to a more traditional working arrangement. On the one hand, if there was no current project, I could collect unemployment and research stocks or play on-line poker. On the other hand, I do not really want the uncertainty associated with that life style. I will keep looking and see what happens.

From a poker stand-point. Last week was horrible. I have been card dead since Florida.

What a great weekend!!! The two picnics were a smash. Saturday's food was great. The ribs I smoked may have been my best ever I smoked them for about 5 hours in the WSM with the temperature right around 225. Controlling the temperature was pretty easy just using the bottom vents. My baked beans were fantastic as well. They smoked for about 3 hours. The beans are a pretty simple recipe, but I am always told that they are the best baked beans. The magic ingredient is the pepper bacon and the smoke. Even my Asian Slaw turned out well. For Sunday's picnic, we had leftovers and hot dogs/hamburgers, which are ok.

Yesterday it was balls hot. I think it was too hot for my daughter. We tried to take her to a parade in the AM, but she wanted no parts of it and she cried for about 10 minutes so we put her in the car and took her home. Later in the evening we took her to the park, but she was lethargic and did not seem to enjoy it too much.

Managed to ride my mountain bike an hour this weekend and found a sweet little trail with a few creek crossings. At this point, I do not think I will make my 100 target. Hopefully I can reach 50 hours at this point. I need to get back to riding on Saturday mornings.

Big Memorial Day weekend coming up. We are having two cook-outs. Saturday we will have some friends and then Sunday we are having my family and my wife's parents. I can finally use my new weiney roaster, which should be a gas. Saturday will be beer can chicken, smoked beans, and Asian peanut slaw. I am still working up Sunday's menu.

A funny thing happened over the weekend, I won back everything I lost earlier in the week plus a few dollars. Funny thing though, it was through horse-betting instead of poker. I won race 11 and 12 at Pimlico. Race 12 was the Preakness and my 12-1 came in. It was a shame to watch what happened to Barbaro, but that is what makes horse racing so intense. Horse-racing takes an emotional toll like no other sport because of the humanization of these beautiful creatures.

I made most of my money back from the Preakness, but I did cash in a 1,314 person poker tournament. I like to play these as they help me work on patience. I also won in a few ring games. As I was winning in those, I could feel my mojo working, whereas last week as I was losing, I didn't "feel" it.

I am entering day 2 of my self-imposed poker hiatus. Day one went well, I suspect I can make it until tomorrow night.

I think it was Mike Caro that talked about the Threshold of Pain, where losing one more dollar does not feel like losing a dollar. I think I am there. After running good for 4 weeks, I am running TERRIBLE. Through bad play and bad luck, mostly bad play I think, I have lost 75 big bets. This downswing is not as big as some I read about on 2+2, but considering it came at a time that I moved up in limits, it sucks for me. The first night I lost $100, I could hardly sleep. The second night, I was pissed, but only lost an hour's worth of sleep. Last night's $100 loss made me chuckle. That is when I knew I crossed the threshold. I am going to take a break and not play poker or read about poker until Friday. On Friday I will run my hand histories, review them, and then I will move down in limits and get back on this train.

I took my daughter fishing this weekend. We went to a pond belonging to a friend of mine. It was better than my abandoned fish hatchery. This was a stocked pond with a garbage can of fish food on the dock. Daughter even reeled in her own fish. I was so proud of her. It was a truly amazing site.

Spent some time in the saddle on Sunday. Went for a nice 1 hour ride. I felt pretty good considering that I have slacked on my fitness lately. I am trying desperately to get back into it. I just need more focus.

I took a terrible beating yesterday. I lost 40 dollars during lunch playing 2/4 hold'em and then burned through $100 playing 2/4 Omaha hi/lo. The $100 loss was a combination of bad beats, and playing out of my element. At least $50 of the loss was beats at the river, but I felt uncomfortable the whole time at the table. I should not have played at that limit. The damage is done. Now I would like to win back $70 by week's end. This will get me to 0 for two weeks, but it's better than where I am now. I will refrain from playing tournaments as well.

Meat Fest III is over. We had ribs, pork shoulder and leg of lamb for 14 of our friends. More friends were supposed to come, but there is an illness going around, or people don't really like us. Anyway the event started when I left a home poker game, that was quite lucrative. I started the smoker and had the pork shoulder cooking by 3:00am. Went to the OTB at 10:00am and bet most of my winning from Friday on a couple of mules. Oh well, I still have $3.00 for the bankroll. The leg of Lamb was put on at 12:30. I rubbed the lamb with olive oil and garlic first, and then with a rub of rosemary, sage and mint. The pork cooked for 14.5 hours and the lamb for 5. The pork was good, not my best, but still pretty good. The lamb was good. It was my first so I have nothing to compare it with. I want to try elk next. The party wrapped up around 10:30.

As far as poker, I am doing something terribly wrong in S-N-G's. I just can't seem to win. I think I am too loose at the beginning, and then not aggressive enough at the end. I need to watch my DVD again. I seem to have my cash game mojo back, as I am consistency winning again.

My fitness is a different story all together. I am back into the habit of staying up late to play poker and then sleeping later and thus missing my morning workouts. Also, I am not running/biking after work as I wanted to. This wouldn't be as bad, but I am playing poker instead of reading, thinking or doing what I really should be doing with my life. I think my wife is right, this hobby is consuming me. (woe, time to back off)

I posted another winning week. Yahoo!!! I was a net winner at ring-games and a net loser in tournaments, as per usual. Overall, though, I won more in ring-games than I lost in tournaments. The key is patience and observation. These two are also perhaps the weakest components of my game right now. The $1.00 large tournaments are a big help in getting practice.

The weekend weather was great. I managed to get ahead on my yard work too. I was overwhelmed at the onset of the weekend with how much I had to do in order to bring my yard back into shape considering the infestation of whatever weed appears to have taken over Murrysville and the damage done by the water break. Thanks to a new sprinkler, I have grass growing where the water break was, and I put weed-n-feed on the lawn and I think the weeds are showing distress. With some rain this week, we'll see what happens.

My fitness program is at a standstill now, as I can't seem to get out of bed in the AM to get to the gym, I know the solution, I just need the commitment to adhere to it.

All-in-all, last week was a good week. I made money in the stock markets (my purchase of FCL generated much of the gain), I rode both of my bikes, I cooked on the grill, and I won money in both ring games and tournaments.

As far as the stock market goes, I think I could be the next Warren Buffett if I just put more time and money into it. My strategy is simple. I look for stocks that have a low P/E, low debt-to-equity, and increasing cash flow from operations. It seems to be work.

Yesterday, I spent about an hour turning the cranks on the road bike. It felt great as always. I rode a new loop with many hills. I will have to make it a regular course.

We had Hawaiian Chicken with Persiuto wrapped scallops for dinner. The chicken was over-cooked and the glaze for them didn't thicken like the cook book said it would. I will have to work on the recipe, but the scallops made up for it, man they are good.

My poker is back on track. I am again able to concentrate on the other players at the table. That, I think, is the whole key to winning for me.

It's April 17, 2006 and I just put my taxes in the mail. My last client will be here in an hour to pick-up his return. Now I can work on getting back in shape. The last couple of weeks have been busy and I worked and slept late thereby missing my morning work-outs. It is now time to remedy that. I will do mostly weights in the AM as the weather is nice enough to do cardio outside after work, biking and running with Abby.

My poker skills may have deteriorated as well as my fitness level. I had another down week. A bright spot is my tournament play has improved, but my ring game results have been bad. Some of it is bad beats like:

AA- I re-raised villain who capped the betting pre-flop, figuring villain had big pair, maybe KC. Flop came 8d 2h 2s. BB bet out, villain raised, I re-raised, BB called, villain re-raised BB and I called. (here I was a little worried about possibly 88, but do not think it too likely) Turn 7s, BB checks, villain bet, I raise, BB call, villain raise, I reraise, BB calls, villain calls. (Here I am stumped, it is still likely that villain has big pocket cards, but what does BB have to be staying around). River 6s. BB checks, villain raises ( with BB checking, I figure he is giving up on the hand) I reraise, BB folds, villain re-raises, I re-raise ( at this point I think I may be beat, but villians actions speak to big PP, unless he had 88, but I do not think he would have capped PF with it. Anyway, villain shows As3s for the runner-runner flush. I couldn't believe it, I was ahead the whole time what was he raising with it.

In a raised preflop pot, I was dealt 44 and floped 4A9. Giving me bottom set. I be and was not raised, so I was hoping villain had weak Ace. Turn K, I bet villain raised I reraised, villain capped. I though villain had possible AK and was betting heavy now with 2 pair. River was a blank, same betting as before. villain showed KK for 3 k's beating my 3 4's.

Then there was just poor play such as when I had 88 and called an all-in bet with the board 5 7 9. Of course my pair didn't hold nor did I catch my gutshut.

Well it's back to the drawing board. I will keep studying, but my mojo seems to be gone. I wish I knew what I did in March that I am not doing now.

The greatest time of the year

I love this time of year.

Tax season is almost over. A few more returns to push out the door, and another one is behind me. It gets to be a drag in mid-March. But, now that it's April and my pockets are filled with cash, it makes it all see worth it.

I am off to fish tomorrow. Danny is a pain in the ass and if it were not for fishing, I do not know how much time we would spend together. He is a good guy though, and I do like to get away. Maybe I can get a poker game of some sort together.

The Blue Grass race occurs at Keeneland as one of the final Derby prep races on Saturday. I am going to try to get to the OTB in time to watch it on my way home from Danny's camp.

I guess the best part about this time of the year is the stuff I have to look forward to combined with the fact that I am usually flush to do it all with.

I'll let you all know how it works out.........

We played poker at Tommy's house on Friday. I won two NL tournaments, one $20 and one $5, so I netted $80. I played reasonably well, but was a little too timid in the final tournament.

One interesting event from Friday was when Rick was all-in against Chris. Rick had KK and Chris had AT. Chris flopped an Ace to take the lead in the hand. Turn was a blank. Tommy was dealing, and kept looking at the next card in the deck. He laid down a king for there river, which would give Rick the pot and keep him in the tournament. I was watching the deal, and noticed that Tommy had not burned a card and since there was not betting on the round, I informed the table that Tommy had not burned a card and the King should be the burn card. Of course the reason I said anything was that it would knock Rick out of the game and guarantee me money. Chris was the one who lost the hand, and he should have been the one to report it, but not everyone pays attention I guess. Anyway, Rick left angry and I won the tournament. Chris and I ended up heads-up again, and this time I did not offer to chop. He was not playing his best. We are 3-1, with me in the lead.

Saturday I took Abby to and Easter Egg hunt. Really not much of a hunt. More like Easter Eggs in a field. She had fun none the less.

For the week, I won 120 playing poker.

Had a Council meeting last night. We just hired a new Chief Administrator, and it turns out that I know his father-in-law. I sure hope it works out. I think he has the potential.

Played a few hands of poker last night, and I am on the positive side of variance. My bankroll is building again.

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The difference between winning and losing

Well I finished the week with a negative in the poker earnings column. In fact, I lost everything I had earned this year plus 8 dollars. Some of it was terrible play, some of it was just bad luck. I would have to think that most of it though was bad play.

The odd thing is the way it made me feel. I am truly bummed. I hate losing. This is a central theme in my life. I avoid doing certain things, like bowling, because I am not good and don't want to lose. On the flip side, when I set out to do something, I put an inordinate amount of effort into it so to give myself the best chance to "win" (or accomplish whatever my mission is).

After 2 months in 2006, I was at my earnings goal for 2006. Now at 3 months I am back to zero. I think I can get to my goal by December. I just need to keep working.

My fitness goal of 100 hours on the bike may be a different story. Year to date I have 1.5 hours, including a great 1 hour ride yesterday. Road biking rules.

Played a little limit hold'em last night. I won $11.00, yahoo. Still negative for the week, but overall a much better play from the debacle from this weekend.

I am reading SSHE and trying to incorporate it into my play. I think my main problem is post-flop play. My VP$IP seems right, between 12&18%. So I am strarting off well, but after the flop I get into trouble. After I read some more tonight, I will try to incorporate some of the lessons into play.

Did yoga last night and made it to the gym this morning. If I can get a run in this weekend, I will have acheived my fitness goal for week

Tax season is comming to an end and again I find myself behind the 8-ball a bit with too much work and not enough days until April 15th. Hopefully this weekend I can get some work done

Initial Post

I have heard all they hype regarding blogs for some time and figured I'd give it a shot.

I have a well-paying job, a beautiful wife and daughter, I hold a local political office, I am in good health and am financially secure. But, even with all I have, there is something missing. Maybe by posting my thoughts I can find what I am looking for.

Beginning

This is my first attempt to create a blog