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