I have had trouble sleeping this week. This has kept me from waking up and crossfitting. Last night I had trouble falling asleep and when I finally got to sleep at 1:30, I did not sleep very long until Abby woke up with stomach pain. I talked to her for a little while and then we went to the bathroom and she pooped. Anyway, by the time I woke up it was 6:30 AM. I have to get some sleep so I can wake up to work out.

I found two tractor tires at PV Park. I think I am going to attempt some tire flips with them this weekend.

After my last post, I made some adjustments in my play and it paid off. I played better and started winning again.

I ran the Turkey Trot on Thursday, and had a personal best. Well, not totally, but better than I have run in 3 years. Crossfit and cycling have really paid off. I took over 3 minutes off my time from 2006. Next year's target is sub-28 minutes.

We played poker at the Shuster's last night. I think I played well in the first game, but did not catch any cards. In the second game, I caught cards and was the chip leader for a while. Then, for some reason I called off a bunch of my chips on a draw. From an odds perspective, it was a good move, but from a tournament-play perspective, I think it was a mistake. I had chips so why risk unnecessarily on a draw. I don't know.

The goal for the week is to crossfit.

I have lost my mind

I cannot explain it, but I know how to play poker. I also know where my weaknesses are. I also know where I spew money in poor bankroll management situations. For some reason though I do not stop. I have heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again, expecting different results. So here I am, playing short-handed, playing two games at once, calling more than I should and expecting to win, when I never have under those scenarios. Also, I stay up late and then do not wake up for the gym. I repeat this pattern because either 1)I do not care about my poker bankroll 2)I think I can change the results 3)there is some addiction drawing me back to the unhealthy behavior. I am going to go with the addiction answer. Which is probably a combination of 1 and 2. I do care about my poker bankroll, and when I lose part of it, I desperately want it back and convince myself that I can win it back quickly. The truth is I cannot. I must stop this or my bankroll will be gone. When I play within my capabilities, I can win. I must start building my bankroll back up with smart play. I will start today. No more crap poker.

We have our big budget meeting tonight. This is my last one. I can't say that I am looking forward to it. I will have to endure the comic imbecility of Tony R and I will have to spend many hours with people that I really do not like. Tony set the schedule and it makes no sense. We have too much time between dinner and the start of the actual meeting. I told him so, but of course he did not listen. Also, he prepared a half-baked capital additions schedule that does not agree to our budget. I probably will get some perverse pleasure in watching him try to explain it. I really do get a kick out of Tony trying to explain things. He is so inept, and I take pleasure in it. That is truly a sign that I must go. In the meantime, I will at least get a free meal out of tonight.

I won 1st in a HORSE sng last night. I wasn't going to play, but a few beers with dinner convinced me to give it a go. I placed first. I was very happy with my results. I was patient and concentrated on reading my opponents. In all, it paid off. With some good play over the next few days, I can eke out another winning week.

I did not crossfit this morning. I set my alarm for 6:20 instead of 5:20, which considering the fact that I was up late playing poker is probably not a bad thing. I am really looking forward to my next crossit, a combination of rows and double unders. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

I am still playing the HORSE tournaments, but I am not doing so well in them. I am calling when I know I shouldn't. I think I will take a few days off and get back on it this weekend.

I won a $5 S-N-G last night. My play was pretty good, but basically it was just str8forward play that paid off. I also played a few HORSE S-N-G's, but I did not play too well in them. I found myself calling bets that just had no value. I knew better, but I just kept it up. Why, I do not know. I just need to focus on getting better. To that end, I bought a book on tells and a OHLO book. I will begin studying them after I finish Barry's book. I will then go back through Barry's book.

There is a manual carwash in town that is up for sale by owner. As it turns out, the owner works out at my gym. He is a real nice guy. I would like to discuss this opportunity with him to see if I can make some money. I always wanted to own a small business and this may be my first foray. I do have to wonder though why he is selling it if it makes money.

Movin on up...

Richard and I reached a deal. The money is there, so I am going to start working with him. We have not set a start date, but that will come next. This is a huge scary relief.

On Saturday, I played at a charity tournament. I played pretty well. Not great, but OK. The big mistake I made was not observing my opponents. I was stuck on level one thinking. I overplayed a flush and two pair and lost those hands. I lost a big hand with pocket kings that I thought I played perfect and my opponent made a mistake and called with AT to pick up 3t's on the flop. I then mis-played QQ. I raised PF only the button and the SB called. The flop had an Ace. The SB checked, and I checked instead of going for a continuation bet. The SB called and I folded, I was afraid of monsters under the bed. In limit, I would have probably bet out, but in this case after my Kings were beat, I was a little gun-shy. So, my main mistake was playing too passively. I guess the good point to all of this is that I know where my game is weak right now, I can improve it. I just need to think about what other players have.

Donkalicious

So after losing some money last night, I logged on this AM to play some poker. I sat at a SH limit poker game. I had AQ0 and the flop was A67 rainbow. I called a flop bet and a turn bet. I should have raised the turn bet as I felt the villain had a weak ace. River was a two and I was check-raised. Of course, he made Aces up with A2. I should have checked river sensing what he was up to. Later I had AA on the button . It folded around to me, so knowing that I should raise, I just called. SB completed and BB checked. Flop 445. Check, Check, so I bet. SB calls, BB folds. Of course here SB has either a 4 or 5, which I let him in with because of not raising PF (never, never pass up a raise with AA). Turn is a king. SB checks and I bet. I get check-raised here. So of course my earlier read was correct and he has a 4 and I am left with 2 outs and am getting about 5 to one on my money, but I need 7 to one. Of course I call turn and river. Villain has 45 for a flopped full house. My two major mistakes here were not giving my opponent credit. 45 may have folded to a raise PF. The weak Ace in hand 1 would not have folded and I don't think the call on the end was bad. I should have saved some money on the second ha

Last night was Halloween. I played the movie "Halloween" on my garage door and drank beer with my neighbor as we passed out candy. Afterwards, I went to a house party where I won the beer taste-off. I guessed the most beers correctly. The clincher is when I went against the grain and chose IC light instead of Coors Light for the light beer. I also made $15 through a side bet we made on the contest.