Bonedoneskis

This is an explanation of a game I created, we amended, and now shall be known all over the world. It's first mention can be found in the entry Home Game Fun.

It was my turn to pick a dealer's choice game. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to play, since we had started the night playing Mixed, and had turned into gambling games like 3 Card Guts and Beat the Dummy.

"The name of the game, gentlemen, is Bonedoneskis. Here's how it's played. It's a six-card stud game, the stakes are one-two with a fifty-cent ante, and the low card brings in. Sevens face up are wild, and threes face up are a sell card if you pay the pot two-fifty."

And that was the start of Bonedoneskis. After a huge fit of laughter and light headedness, we got through the first hand. After we played the first hand, and after much discussion (and a bit of drunkeness/tiredness), this beautiful game was refined. If you're looking for a real man's game, read on.

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Bonedoneskis, a 6-Card Stud Game
$.50 ante, $1-2

The betting is the same as any stud game. Before the deal, every player antes $.50. Each player is then dealt two hole cards face down and one card face up. The lowest card must then automatically bring in for $.50 (wild cards count, so on a board of 7-8-10-A, the 8 would bring in since the 7 is wild and may count for an Ace). After the bring in, players must call the bring in bet, complete to $1, or fold. If anyone wishes to raise after someone has raised the bring in to $1, then they must raise in $1 increments.

After the betting round, each player still in the pot is dealt another card face up. The highest hand is then first to act, with betting increments in $1. After this betting round, one more card face up is dealt. The highest hand is first to act again, with the betting increments in $2 this time. If there is a red Jack or the Queen of spades dealt up on any player's board on fifth street, the game is then extended to a seven card-stud game.

If there is no red Jack or the Queen of spades dealt face up on fifth street, the sixth and final card is dealt face down and one more betting round occurs. The best five card hand, including wilds, wins the pot.

If there is a red Jack or the Queen of spades dealt face up on fifth street, the sixth card is dealt face up with a betting round following, and the final card is dealt face down, as in 7-card stud. However, if a red Jack or the Queen of Spades is dealt up on sixth street, the game turns into an 8-card stud game, with the seventh card being dealt face up, and the eighth and final card dealt face down. In each case, the best five card hand wins.

Now, that seems simple enough, but here is the Official List of Rules for Bonedoneskis:

1 – No Copies! – A "wild card" or "derived card" may not duplicate a card that is already in your hand. For example: If you hold the A♠-2♠-9♠-5♠-A♦-6♣ you may not use the 6♣ as an A♠, as the A♠ is already in play in your hand. (see rule #8)

2 – Stopped Dead – Any wild card or derived card may not take on the "power"(action) of the natural card. For example, if you use a wild card for a 3, you cannot use that wild as a sell card, even though it's representing a 3. (see rule #7)

3 – Stone Cold Nuts – The nuts in Bonedoneskis is 2's full of 5's. Any wild card may be used to make the nuts.

4 – 2 Hog – If a player is dealt the 2s, he has the option to take a 2 or a 5 from any player's board up until that street. The player who is stolen from does not receive a replacement card, nor must the stealer discard any of his.

5 – The 7's – 7's face up are wild.

6 – Black Jack – If a black J is face up in a player’s hand, the player must pay $2.50 to the pot upon it being dealt or revealed, or fold his hand. If a J is paid for, it is “activated” and becomes wild. If a player trades for or steals a black J after it has been activated, it remains wild.

7 – The 3’s – If a 3 is exposed, either dealt or through having a hole card turned over, you may pay $2.50 to the pot and replace your 3 with the first card off the top of the deck. If you pass your option to sell your 3 when it is dealt or exposed, you may not sell that 3 on a later street.

8 – Black 6’s – Black 6's are played as either that 6, or any Ace

9 – Red 6’s – Red 6's do not play, and are dead cards. They cannot be used to complete any hand, not even a pair. For example, if you have a red 6 in your final six card hand, your hand now contains only 5 cards.

10 – A Bonedoneskis – If a player has both red 6's face up on their board, the hand ends and the pot is automatically awarded to that player. Both red 6's must be the natural 6's (no wilds). This is known as a Bonedoneskis.

11 – Ace Option – Any Ace plays as that Ace or a red 6. For example: If you hold the
A♠-2♥-4♥-5♥-3♥-6♥, even though the natural 6♥ doesn't play, the A♠ could
play as the 6♥, giving you a straight flush, 6-high.

12 – Trade Cards – If a player is dealt the 9♦, 10♠, or 2♥ face up, that player MUST trade that card with any other player's up card from that street.

13 – No Retrade – If a player trades one trade card for another, the second trade is then void. For example, if you trade the 9♦ for the 10♠, you can not trade the 10♠ with another card.

14 – 8 Ball – If a player is dealt the 8♠, he has the option to pay $2.50 to the pot to trade the 8♠ with any card on any other player’s board, whether it was from the current street or a previous street. If a player passes on the option to trade when dealt the 8♠, that player may not use that option at a later time.

15 – Killer 4 – If the 4♣ is face down, that hand will be ruled dead at showdown. You may try to bluff with the 4♣ face down and win without showing down. However if the 4♣ is revealed in a showdown the hand is automatically dead.

16 – Dueling Snowmen – If the two red 8's are dealt consecutively face up, the game must stop immediately and the two players who are dealt the 8's must each pay $2.50 to a side spot. Those two players will then each be dealt three cards from a seperate deck and play war, best two of three cards, where the winner will then be awarded the side pot.The Bonedoneskis hand will then complete as usual. War can be instigated in between streets. For example, if the last card of third street is a red 8, and the first card of fourth street is the other red 8, a war is instituted.

17 – Queen of Hearts – If the Q♥ is face up, the person holding the Q♥ has the option to pick any hole card of any player, and then the person must turn that card face up for the rest of the hand. Once turned face up, that card may be turned face down once again as a result of the 4-tician rule. (see rule #19)

18 – The King’s Men – If a black King is face up, the person holding the black King must turn over one of his own hole cards. That person may pick which one he wants to turn up.

19 – 4-tician – When a red 4 is face up, either by being dealt or by having a hole card exposed, the person holding the red 4 may make any person turn one of their board cards face down. For example, if Player A holding the X-X-6♠-4♣-Q♥ makes Player B expose one of his hole cards, and he exposes a 4♥, Player B can then make Player A turn down the 4♣ and Player A's hand now cannot win at showdown.

20 – Codependent 2’s – If a player is dealt the 2♦ or the 2♣ on fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh street, he may then combine that 2 with the card on its immediate left while retaining the suit of the left-hand card. For example, if your board reads X-X-7♥-5♦-2♣, you may then combine the 5♦ and 2♣ to make a 7♦, wherein your board will now read as a pair of sevens. If you combine two cards, those cards can either play as the combined card OR the separate cards at showdown. For example: the hand J♥-9♥-5♠-9♦-2♣-J♣ does not read as J's full of 9's, only three J's with a 9 and a 5. You may not duplicate a card that is already in your hand. For example, you cannot combine the 8♣, 2♦ to make the 10♣ if you already have the 10♣ in your hand.

21 – I Got The Nine – If a person is dealt the 9♠ face up, every player at the table who is still in the hand must pay that player $1. The player must point out that he’s holding the 9♠ for the required payment to be valid. However, if a trade card is dealt in the same round and the trade is for the 9♠, no one must pay either the original 9♠ holder or the player now in possession.

22 – Schizo4nia – If the 4♠ is face up on:
third street, it counts as the 4♠ or the 8♠
fourth street, it counts as the 4♠ or the Q♠
fifth street, it counts as the 4♠ or a pair of 4's (4♠, 4 no suit)

23 – Fishing Hook in a Sailboat and a Liferaft – If a player's board shows both a Jack and 4, that player must pay $2.50 to the pot or fold. A player may be saved from paying this fee if there is an 8 (Liferaft) separating the Jack and the 4. For example: a board of X-X-J-4-8 would have to pay $2.50, while a board of X-X-4-8-J would not.

24 – The Krabler Rule – If a player is dealt the Krabler (K3) in sequence, that player must automatically bet if checked to, or raise if bet to, one time that round. For example: your board reads X-X-K and you are dealt a 3 on fourth street, and decide not to sell that 3, you must bet or raise one time on that betting round. Similarly, if your board reads X-X-J-3-K, you must also bet or raise once during that betting round. However, if your board were to read X-X-K-J-3, no action would be required since they were not dealt on consecutive streets.

25 – The River King – If a red King was origially dealt face down as a hole card, but is turned up either through the Q♥ or a black King, and remains up through the remainder of the hand, the river is then dealt face up to all other players.

26 – Straight Up Face Down Trade– If a player's board reads three cards in numerical order, either ascending or descending order, that player must trade a down card with the neighbor closest to the highest card in the sequence. The sequence may appear anywhere on a player's board. The trade must be a random pick from either player. For example: If you are dealt the X-X-6♣-5-4, you would randomly pick a hole card from the player to your left, while he would pick a hole card of yours. Similarly, if your board read X-X-4-10-J♥-Q♣, you would trade a hole card with the person to your right.

27 – Precedence – All “trade” actions take precedence over any other card actions and must take place before any “buy” option. For example, if the first player is dealt the J♠ and the second player is dealt the 9♦, the second player must execute the trade first. If the J♠ is taken in the trade, the player must act on the Black Jack rule. Similarly, if you must trade with a 3, you then have the option to sell that three.

28 – Precedence Pt. II – All other actions (such as trades, steals, reveals, or buys) must be executed in the order they are dealt, starting from the left of the dealer.

29 – Nighty-Night – It is known that any action or power of any card except for the trade cards may be slept. Sleeping a card means that if you don’t recognize your own card’s action, no one is required to tell you. For example: if a player is dealt the 9♠ and doesn’t ask for a $1, then no one is required to pay that person.

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Bonedoneskis. If the rules seem unclear, it is only because you haven't played the game yet. Once you really get the game going and ave a decent grasp on the concepts and rules of Bonedoneskis, you will understand the true poker strategy required to win the game.

Start playin it, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we now do. If you have any questions on the game or the rules, leave a comment in this entry.

Until next time, play on.

Small Update

The promised post is coming soon, I'm just ensuring that the rules and rights of the game are going to be protected once published.

For the time being I got my new laptop delivered tonight, it's sick! I'm havin some fun with it already, and when I get it set up to my expectations I can't even imagine what it'll do for me.

Anyways, sit tight. I'll hopefully have the Bonedoneskis thread published soon.

Home Game Fun

"No! The trades HAVE to go first!" - I'll explain later, when I blog about Bonedoneskis

Over the weekend, I realized one thing. If there isn't chicks in my life (and sometimes even when there is), the only thing that makes me happy is playing cards. I've been in a mental slump for the past couple weeks. I've been pretty depressed for no obvious reason, and I haven't been able to snap it. I was hoping that havin a home game would help, and for the most part it did.

Joe and I invited over a few friends to play a 6-handed mixed game. One of those was Darsky, so right away I knew I would snap out of my depressive shell at least partially. I bought more chips for the occasion (we all need more chips, right? Just ask CT.com), and had them shipped to my work. So they arrived, and I left early, eager to face the night ahead.

It'd been a long week, so I was looking forward to this in more than one way. I hadn't really played cards since the week after I got back from Vegas in December, and it's killed me. I played in a dealer's game a few weeks back, and played wild and loose and dropped a little bit there. I was hoping it wasn't gonna be the same this time. We were only playing $2-4 Mixed, but it was more for the fun and the good game than the money this time around.

We invited Lucy and Nema, a couple that Joe and I met from Chumash, and who Joe also knows from UCSB. Nema took down the last big tourney at Chumash for $100k, so he knows how to play some cards.

Darsky showed up around 4PM, and Joe, he, and I sat down to start off the action. We played 3-handed until about 7PM, when the three other players showed up almost simultaneously. We all ate pizza, knocked back quite a few brews, and had a great game going. The six of us all know poker and are pretty serious players in understanding, yet we're all pretty relaxed and friendly in attitude, so it made for a fun, aggressive game.

I was playing pretty well for the most part, but irritated myself when I played an entire round of Omaha Hi like a complete knob. I consider myself a decent Omaha player, and probably one of the better ones of the people I play with (besides Manny). But for some reason I assed off about $50 in one rotation of $2-4. I was able to keep afloat with the Hold'Em and Razz rounds, but I knew I was playing under my level.

One guy had to leave early at around 10PM, and the three of us played mixed games for another hour or so. After the action started dulling, we decided to switch over to $1-2NL. The action picked up almost instantly, with all of us facing all-ins pretty much every other hand. Lucy busted when Joe caught her on a bluff. So Joe stacked pretty quick. I dropped a $130 all-in when my flopped top set got rivered by his double belly-buster a couple hands later, and I rebought.

On semi-tilt I started playing uber-aggro. I ended up jamming against Nema on a flush draw w/overs on the flop, and got called with top set. Turn blank. River flush. Oops, nice hand sir.

I was almost even, and calmed down. I started playin back a little bit and at about 1:30Am, this hand came up.

Joe had limped UTG, Nema popped it from the button to $6, and I flat called from the SB with AKo. Joe called and we saw a flop of 5-3-A, rainbow. I checked, Joe bet $10, and Nema flat called leaving himself about $40 behind. I didn't think Joe was strong, and I didn't know what to put Nema on, considering he's a tricky player.

Nema could have raised with an Ace and flat called, hoping to double up on the turn in this aggressive short-handed game. It's a play that's in his arsenal, but he definitely knows how to mix it up. If he had raised the button with a weaker Ace, I was gonna wait till the turn to get his money in. I would re-evaluate Joe on the next card. This wasn't completely in line with my style, but I decided to play this hand a different way this time.

One the turn was a Kd, putting two diamonds on board. Again I checked, and now Joe bet out $26. As soon as he bet out I put Joe on A5. He could've bet out any A, but the way he bet made me think he had Aces up. Nema flat called behind, leaving himself basically all-in, and at this point I put him on a flush draw with a possible 4.

I decided to raise to $60 straight, and Joe went into the tank. I was almost positive with my read. He mucked after a couple minutes of thinking, and Nema called off the rest saying "I need a diamond or a four." A blank peeled off and I scooped the pot. Joe told me he had A3.

I was back into the black for the game and finally felt good after donking off a whole round of Omaha Hi in the earlier stages of the evening. Unfortunately the hand also felted Nema, and Lucy and he took off shortly after.

It was a little after 1:30AM and the three of us didn't feel like going to bed, so we decided to bust into gambling games. We played Beat the Dummy, 4-Card Guts, and Kings and Littles for a little bit. Then, in an instant of brilliance, I created the game now known around the world as Bonedoneskis. I'll tell you all about that one tomorrow.

Darsky flat out dominated Joe and me, winning the first pot ever in the history of the game, and didn't slow down the rest of the night.

We ended up amending the rules to and playing Bonedoneskis until about 6:30AM before we all finally crashed. I went into a small bit of depression half-way through thanks to a brain-racking phone call, but I still had a lot of fun. The night was definitely a boost to my recently lacking enthusiasm for life.

On Saturday, we woke up around 1PM and quickly jumped into a game of Bonedoneskis yet again. This time I came up a little bit, and Dar came up yet again. After the extended session, Dar and I hit up the Brew Co. for a couple foods and beers. We headed over to Q's to see if we could get a table, but it was packed (of course.) O'Malley's had a line down the street, and so we headed back to Brew Co's extension, the Lounge.

We grabbed a beer and sat and talked for a little bit about life and business before we were finally able to snag a table. Darsky's a good pool player, so I knew I didn't stand a chance. He went an understandable 4-0 on me, and was able to throw me a couple pointers while nicely handing me my own ass on a beautiful silver platter.

We finished our last game as they were locking up, and headed back to my place. Dar and I tested out how well Bonedoneskis would play in tournament format, since the game had originated as only a $1-2 game, with many rules pertaining to the limit of $1-2. I went on an insane rush, letting Darsky only win three hands the whole time.

He took off shortly after in a fit of rage (hahahah), and that was that.

On Sunday I watched the Bears make short work of the Saints, and stared in awe as the Colts made in improbable comeback run against the Pats. I was positive from the start that the Pats were goin back to the Bowl this year, but Manning was able to quiet his critics with a wonderful run and a powerful display of clutch throwing.

Congrats Colts, the year is yours.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I get my laptop and I blog about Bonedoneskis
Until next time.

Why Oh Why is the World Trying to Piss Me Off

Here’s something I really don't understand. I had to call an 800 number to activate my newest credit card. Fantastic, automated messaging systems are creative and save a bundle on human resources.

But if you're gonna make me sit through a 20 minute automated session with me punching in all of my personal information, don't put me on hold 20 minutes later and make me repeat it to a small asian woman that can't understand more than three words of English.

Here let me reenact this for you ("X"s have been used in place of names and numbers in order to protect the innocent and/or retarded):

Welcome to XXXX's automated credit card activation. If you'd like to continue this call in English, please press one.

< 1 >

Thank you.

Please enter the sixteen digit number located on the front of your credit card.

< XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX >

Thank you.

Please enter the last four digits of your social security number.

< XXXX >

Thank you.

If you'd like to take a moment to create a four digit personal verification number so that you may access cash using your credit card at various ATM locations nationwide, please press one. If you wish to skip this option and you would like to create one at a later time, please press two.

< 2 >

Thank you.

Please hold while we transfer you to a representative.

Huh?? I wait on hold for five minutes.

Thank you for holding. All representatives are busy, and we thank you for holding while one is being contacted. Your call is very important and we will return to you as soon as possible.

I wait on hold for another five minutes and get the same message before someone picks up. It's an asian chick that talks as formulaic as the automated voice answering system, so imagine her pronouncing every word one syllable at a time, and only saying one word per every three seconds when you read this.

"Hello. Thank you for calling our credit card activation center. Your call may be monitored and recorded for security purposes. May I have your sixteen digit credit card number please?"

"Um...okay. It's XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX..."

"Thank you. May I have the last four digits of your social security number please?"

"Haha, yeah...it's XXXX."

"Thank you. May I have your name as listed on the credit application please?"

"Yeah it's Christopher XXXXXXX."

"Thank you. Can you please spell how your name is printed on the credit card?"

“C-h-r-i-s-t-o-p-h-e-r X-X-X-X-X-X-X.”

“Thank you. Can you please tell me your address?”

At this point I start to get irritated, since I already punched in my card number and social when I was battling against the machine. But I tell her my address, and then get this.

“Thank you. If you’d like, you can create a four digit personal identification number so that you may access cash using your credit card at various ATM locations nationwide, you can do so now.”

“Um, no thank you.”

“Okay. Thank for you for calling to activate your card. Before the activation is finalized, would you like to add credit security to your account? In the event that you lose your job uncontrollably, are hospitalized, or in the event of your immediate death, we can offer you protection against your account having late penalties or…”

At this point I fell asleep. She was talking like a robot, but it was like a robot that couldn’t catch its breath. She was actually accentuating the pause between every word, which is something that I didn’t know the human vocal box could do.

After eight minutes of holding the phone to my ear and daydreaming about that teacher I had my sophomore year in high school (you know, that younger one that always smiled at you and "loved" having you in her class, the one that you wish would've handled you and showed you the wild ways of the sexually mature), I heard the words "for seventeen percent of your balance every month" and snapped out of it.

“No thanks I’m not interested.”

“But sir, in the even that you lose your job uncontrollably, are hospitalized, or in the even of your immediate death—“

“Noooo thaaaanks not interested. Thank you.”

“Thank you sir. If you'd like to create a four digit personal identification number so that you ca--"

Oh look at that I hung up. Oh well.

At that point I couldn't believe that I actually got some lines repeated to me three times using the exact same verbage, and almost exact same voice tone, from both the automated system and the human operator. It truly blew my mind and I was completely baffled.

It really put a damper on my whole day, and although I now have a bunch more of someone else's money that I accrue interest on (seems fun, doesn't it?), I'm not in the mood to spend it after having to deal with that.

And some people wonder why I get so irritated with the world sometimes...

Until next (hopefully happier) time.

No More Neteller for US?

Sweet mother of god. If you haven't heard already, ex-Neteller execs got nabbed by the goons, prodding the fire that has come from the UIGEA. I thought everything was going to be under control with Neteller still, but I ran across this thread at 2+2 today.

Now I'm usually all for the US government. I think it's a wonderful thing, and am hardly out of agreement with the systems and laws in place. This one, however, really put a hamper on my good, light-hearted views. Particularly because I'm a poker player and this is affecting me personally, but also because these assholes can run around cheating on their wives with hot young interns, or dressing up like priests and ravaging underdeveloped little boys, yet they think they have the right mind in pulling the plug on internet gambling?

I'm also pissed that the Congress's majority is Democrats now, but that's a subject for another conversation. I guess what pisses me off the most is that now that I've finally thought about playing online, it's becoming more and more difficult every day to do so.

I used to love Neteller for the couple short times that I had played, and Instacash was the shit. No hassles, no bullshit, just take my money and put it here. As of hours ago Neteller is no longer offering the Instacash option, which means it could take days to fund your poker account through them.

That is if you're lucky enough to get in before they close. It looks like they won't even be accepting transactions with US accounts within weeks. What the hell is going on here...

Yes there's other options, but it's just a pain in the ass. The reason that online poker was so awesome during the boom is that it was CONVENIENT. You could put money on and be playing within minutes. It looks like that might become a commodity of the past in the online gambling world in the US of Adultery.

I finally got my laptop ordered last night, and it is currently being built which is exciting me beyond belief. I've been wanting to get one for the longest time, but I haven't pulled the trigger until last night. So the fact that I went through and did it is making me quite a happy guy. But I can't help but pay attention to this small part of me that was planning on playing poker on it that is now pretty pissed off.

When the time comes to put some money online, of course I'll find a way to do it. But I will not be pleased with it! You can guarantee that.

/end rant


In other news, I hate flakes. We've been meaning to get a game going for quite some time now, and have a list of players who'd said they'd be "ready to play anytime, just give me a call!" Of course half of that list can't make it, and half of the rest of them say yes and mean no. It's aggravating.

99.8% of the time, if I tell you I'm going to do something or be somewhere for a certain thing, I mean it. Getting to work on time is different, so don't talk to me about that. But if you tell me you're gonna have a game, and I give you my number and tell you to call me that friday with directions, you can bet your ass I'm gonna show up like I said I would.

Whatever, there's still hope

/end rant 2


Plans are coming along for Vegas in a couple weeks. The rental car's in motion, and I'm already planning on what day Darsky and I are gonna hit up the Rainforest Cafe. Haha, yeah you know want it Darsky, don't lie to yourself.

Also, there's been a bunch of hype for 300, which is getting me just as excited as all those blurred out teens from the Girls Gone Wild commercials. I loved Sin City, and although I haven't read the 300 comic series yet, I can only think that this movie will do nothing but meet every expectation that it's created for itself.

Mitch has expressed interest in taking a night out to go to Vegas and see it there, and hit up some BJ tables on the way out of town, which may sound good to me. We'll see where that goes.

And today I got news that I might have to do some real work tomorrow, so I'm frantically sweating, and am thinking about running away so that that can't happen. I'll let you know how it goes.

Until next time.

Vegas Is In My Sights Again

Sweet.

Darsky and I are booked at the Flamingo for the 26th-28th. The last weekend of January marks the start of a year-long goal by the two of us to go to Vegas for a poker weekend at least once a month this year. So we have our room set up, we just need to find a way to get there now.

We are in driving distance, yet neither of us want to put our car through the torture of the journey. Having put over 2600 miles in my car in the past five weeks, I'm even more inclined to NOT drive mine out there. And Darren respects his car (as he should, the thing's a beauty) so we won't be taking his either. It looks like renting a vehicle is gonna be the standard MO on these trips.

I haven't really decided if I'm gonna stick to playing the $8-16 to $10-20 games yet, or if I'll play NL more heavily. I really liked the $8-16 at the Wynn last time, so I'm gonna have to give that game a shot again. But if I can dominate the $2-5NL, then I'll just have to do that instead until I get enough bank to move up.

As the situation stands right now, I'm in a weird place. Paying $150 a night for a decent room is a decent portion of the stakes I'm actually playing for. Obviously if I could take $400 to a table and turn it into $2,000 every time, then I wouldn't have a problem with paying for airfare, hotels, etc. But by only playing $8-16, and only for a limited time of three days a month, it puts an interesting spin on things.

If I could manhandle the limit games every minute of every session I play out there, then things might be different. But variance is a bitch, as they say, and I can't really count on quadrupling my money every time I sit at a low-mid-limit game. All in all, I need to play and plan on playing more than just the one weekend a month, so I might be alright. Unfortunately Chumash is dead and LA is a decent drive, which I don't particularly like making every weekend.

I've thought heavily about putting some money online (again), even though we all know that I absolutely despise playing online. But since Party closed down and Full Tilt has picked up a lot of action, and since I've had varied amounts of success at FT, I'm thinking of throwing a little cash on there and working it up. Well, we'll see how that one goes...

In related news, the original founders of Neteller have been arrested in the US, even though they are no longer affiliated with running the company. They are major shareholders, but still. As far as I knew, Neteller wasn't going anywhere because of the UIGEA, and I highly doubt they're going anywhere now.

It looks like just a major show of cock and balls by the government to let people know that internet gambling is breaking apart families, and destroying the lives of the retards who can't control themselves from depositing their baby's diaper money to see if they can chase down an invisible electronic jackpot on a computer-generated slot machine spinning reels of imaginary creatures and mermaids.

But if this scare tactic actually causes some commotion within the US Neteller operations, I guess I won't have to decide if I can conquer the online poker demon. I wouldn't even be thinking of playing online if there was any legit action going around here, but Chumash has been completely dead lately. The last rush I went on there was a blackjack rush, because I drove a half an hour out of my way to find four dead tables, and I needed some excitement to compensate for the $43 tank of gas.

We're most likely gonna have more action at our 6-handed homegame on Friday. We'll probably be playing mixed games, unless the three fishies want to play NL in which case we'll have to accommodate them.

And I realized today that I haven't posted Pt. III of my December Vegas trip yet, so I'll get that one pumped out. My CPU is still broken, and I'm still lazy, so it might have to wait a couple days. But it's coming, promise.

Until next time.

The Used, The Abused, and the Howling

I finally scouted the first show I'm gonna go to this year. It's gonna have to wait until February, but it's gonna be an amazing show. I'm lookin at the Taste of Chaos Tour which will be hitting LA next month on the 22nd. We got Senses Fail, 30 Seconds, and a couple others, and it's being headlined by theUsed.

Some people think that The Used are no good live, but the last time I saw these guys it really was a great show, and I'm really eager to get back to see them again. Ever since these guys came on the scene years ago I've been a really big fan, and this is one of the only bands that had a new style when they came out with their last CD that I actually liked the new style as much as the old. It's fixin to be a good time.


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I'm barely making it through the day today. I feel like death....or sleeping. Sleeping sounds good right now. I did a good job last week of not getting plastered on a daily basis. I was actually quite impressed with myself, but I ruined that all on Saturday. It was expected though.

I went downtown to hang out with a few buddies from work to watch the Philly game. I was getting a bunch of props from the SoCal Eagles fans as I walked in sporting my McNabb jersey, and I jokingly got denied by two different Giants bartenders. One of the guys we were meeting is a huge Saints fan, so we knew it would be a blast. And what a blast it was, right Reggie?



First play of the game, and you can guarantee that the entire population of State Street felt that one. The entire Brew Co. exploded as the Philly fans were cheering and the Saints fans were fucking shocked. That's the biggest hit Bush has had to take in his career playing football. Welcome to the NFL.

Of course Philly dropped the game by three points so I have nothing to say. It was actually a pretty good game, and like I said before, the Eagles were gonna have to play better than they did against New York to win this one. The defense definitely stepped it up, but except for a couple big plays, the offense just wasn't playing with enough intensity to get the job done. They completed on a fourth and ten when trailing by three with five minutes left, but a false start flag negated that and the game was practically over.

I actually saved a bunch of money on the game though, and no it wasn't by switching to Geico. My usual bet maker couldn't get my bet for the game, which ended up being good. They were giving Philly +5, so I would've won if I took the points, but I thought the Eagles were gonna step it up so I was gonna take them straight up. But I missed the bet and I ended up saving money. So I ended up spending $120 on food and drink for our crew. All in all it was a good game and a good time.

After that I went home and was feeling a little down, so what did I do? I did what any sensible, drunk, depressed sports fan would do. I did a little slumpbusting. If you don't know what slumpbusting is, don't ask. That's the end of the Saturday story.

On Sunday I was on to go down to the valley and hit up Howl at the Moon with my cousin and bunch of her sorority friends. On the way there, I stopped by Dell to have Casey build me a laptop. I'm excited to get this friggin thing, partially because my CPU is busted and I'm too lazy to fix it, and partially because I want a laptop for no other reason than the fact that I enjoy buying shit that I don't necessarily need. But what does "need" mean really?

I'll be getting a pretty decent Inspiron 1505 for a pretty decent price, so I'm stoked and I'll enjoy the hell out of this thing. The last gnarly thing I bought was pillows, and that just doesn't satisfy my spending urges. Ok I bought a car too, but whatever. I'm a guy who likes to shop, sue me!

So after I had a little talk with Case, I took off to Simi to meet up with Tasha and Mike. We headed out, and I didn't really know what to expect. I'd heard of this place, but had never been there. Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano bar, and it's pretty sweet. There's two piano players that run the main of the show, and for a little bit they fill out with a drummer and guitars. There's a rotating group of musicians that take turns playing everything and singing, and they're all fuckin amazing.

These guys were playing everything. You tip for requests, and no matter what it is, they can play it. They played everything from Elton John to Rage Against the Machine. If one of the guys didn't know it, he'd take a second to listen to the other guy, and then jump right in. They put on a really good show altogether, and they're all crowd oriented which makes for a great time when you're there with a group. Being there with a bunch of perky 20-somethings would have been fine at any bar, but it was definitely fun to be there.

And to top off the night, at about midnight I looked over, and who do I see walk in? Wayne from CFF. Swear to god. Made my night. And again, if you don't know what CFF is don't ask.

Anyways, time to go back to work. Until next time.

Nastiness

On a side note, I'd just like to say that Julia Roberts has never looked better than she did in Pretty Woman. I dunno why, but it probably has something to do with the male gender's fascination with slutty women. There's just somethin about it...


In other news, ever since I've gotten over being sick last week, I've had this weird taste/smell that's just constantly in my head. I don't necessarily taste it every second of the day, but whenever I walk into a room it seems like there's this weird stink that's hanging around inside the room, even though I smell it everywhere.

I don't know how to describe it, it's kind of a musty, old, dirty stank. It's almost as if it's a hellish smell mixed with something that tried to clean it, yet failed miserably and just got tangled with the stench. It's always in the back of my nose and it doesn't usually hit me until I walk into a room. Then I get smacked in the face and almost throw up every time.

And now when I'm eating certain foods, I get this stupid taste in my mouth. A couple foods that I used to enjoy taste different, and some beverages that I used to find oh so refreshing, now taste like balls. Not that I know what balls taste like, but I'd have to assume they taste somewhere around the nastiness that I'm experiencing.

It just seems like every time I take a swig of a Corona it tastes horrible, which is weird because I'm a total Corona kind of guy. But lately it's like it was made with dirty mud water or something, which obviously may be true because it's Mexican beer. But even when I go to pound a Mountain Dew like I used to do before three weeks ago, it seems almost tasteless. It feels like the entire inner workings of my tongue and throat has been changed, which is really dumb because I love to eat and smell things.

Don't judge me.

Of course it's entirely possible that I'm making this up and it's all in my head. And as for the smells, for the past couple days the entire town of Santa Barbara has smelled like an open container of fish guts baking in a Summer heat. Every time you step outside you smell a little bit of somethin close to death and seared flesh and fish.

My head's kind of been in a business mode lately, and this whole new world of smells and tastes is pushing me towards creating a new line of fragrances, which will creatively be called "Hellish Smells". Any investors?

Now now I know it may not sound like a great idea, but think of the world we live in nowadays! With the vast world of the internet and intertube surfers, there's a market for everything. If I can open up a shop online, I'm sure I'll be a millionaire before the year's end. And at that point I can even bottle up these ridiculous tastes and get a line of Hellish Smells beverages called...get this..."Aftertaste". Holy crap think of the possibilities! I'll be waiting by the phone for any interested monies.

In the meantime while I'm still working for someone else, the fucker in the next room over keeps listening to the same three songs over and over again, and they just so happen to be the gayest songs that man has ever created and recorded. I keep trying to keep the door closed, but for some reason he finds it wildly fascinating to open it back up every three seconds. Go to hell, I officially hate you.

Haha, oh man...good ole' office workings. I think I'm gonna tuck myself away for the rest of the day. I definitely am having a case of the Thursdays. I gotta get outta here.

Until next time.

Sacrifices Must Be Made

It came as a harsh realization when I figured out that I wouldn't be able to make it to Paul's home game this Saturday. It's the first of the year and he's trying a new format and schedule, which is an improvement over last year considering his "schedule" wasn't too much of one.

I'd already made plans with a few buddies in Santa Barbara to head downtown and drink up the Philly game, which will be made all the more exciting since one of the guys I work with is a huge New Orleans fan. I'm lookin to get a little...feel good...as you might say. And whether drunk or sober it's already a highly anticipated game around these parts.

Unfortunately I've been telling Paul that I'd be at his place for like the past month now, and he's gonna be quite disappointed when I give him the "Hey Paul, look..." phone call. Oh well, gotta do what you gotta do for Philly. I actually feel worse for someone else, cuz I was supposed to bring another guy who's been itchin' to find a regular home game to play in. I was gonna take him this weekend, but better luck next time...

Although it might work out because Paul does run two tournies, but I highly doubt I'll be ok to drive the hour out that way after the end of the game. But...perhaps if I do make it out there on Saturday night Darsky will want to head down to LA for a little all night fun at the Bike?

I've been craving to play so bad since my return from Vegas. Darsky and I made a pact to go to Vegas at least once a month every month this year. We're looking at January 26-28th this month, and the wheels are currently in motion to set up lodgings. The Flamingo is looking like where we're headed, but who knows. The IP might just fit the bill in terms of the hours-in-room:nightly-room-rate ratio. We'll see where it takes us.

John offered to let us sleep on his floor at his place in Henderson, but after the mondo discount he gave us at the Aladdin last month, I feel bad taking him up on that, especially since we barely saw him last time we were out there.

Also, we're fortunate in the fact that we're in driving distance, but damn is that a pain in the ass drive. Yes it's only a small portion of the cost of flying, but dammit it's an insanely dry, uneventful ride. Last time at least we had Mitch Hedburg to help us through it, but he'd only got so much material released before his tragic death.

Anyways, I'm gonna go play cards and get blitzed with a couple of the poker dealers from Chumash tonight, so it should make for some good times. I'll hopefully have some stuff to write about tomorrow thanks to it, so I'll see you all soon.

Until next time.

Eagles Win.....Eagles Fan Loses??

Fuckin' Philly. Sunday was supposed to be a good day. I was planning on heading to watch the Eagles take the Giants in the first round of the playoffs. 60" HDTV. Comfortable seating. Gravy fries. What else could I want? Oh yeah...an extra 4.5 points.

I took the Eagles -6.5 points. I was sure they could do it, and they could've! The first half was closer than it should've been, as Philly has a bad habit of winning, but not dominating. The defense let the first drive of the game slip, and after that they were champions. Then it was the Eagles' turn to show what they were made of. With an answer back touchdown and field goal in the second quarter, it was looking good.

Then the Giants took a field goal to tie it at 10-10. It was looking ok, but not necessarily good. They had more than they were showing, and that was disappointing. However, that's the Philly way. They went up 17-10 before the fourth and I was starting to look happier.

Then I was looking really happy. With the Giants at 1st&30, I had a glimpse of victory. Then on 2nd&30, Manning got a pass off. No worries, 3rd&12. Well Burress erased that set of downs, and NY was ready for the red zone.

Of course, if Philly were to hold them to a field goal and get the ball back, they had five minutes to get their own field goal and to hold the 7-point lead. And money in my pocket. But nope.

Philly plays loose coverage, let's the TD go, and puts themselves in position to win with a last second field goal. BUT THREE POINTS IS NO GOOD! Don't these bastards check the spread before they hit the field? What are they doin to their fans here??

I'm sorry for NY fans on either side, but dammit am I mad that the Eagles didn't do more when I know they're capable. In any case I'm glad they advanced. They face the Saints in New Orleans and that should be a good game.

The one thing with Philly that makes their games sketchy is the fact that they've proven to be winners, but there are many games when they skate by, even though they're worth so much more. There's no way Philly can take the Saints if they play like they did against the Giants.

I'm confident though. Even with a list of injuries, they have some great backups. Sheldon Brown went out in the fourth with a dislocated shoulder, and isn't expected to play against NO. Luckily, Roderick Hood is his back, and Hood has played as well as the rest of the starters when he's gotten a chance, so hopefully he won't get burned.

I see Philly taking this game by six points in my head, so hopefully the spread will keep in line with my thoughts on the game. When Philly wins this one, I'm hopin that I'll win as well this time...

As for the rest of the playoff picture, I'm seein Chicago over the Hawks, the Pats over the Chargers (sorry Darsky), and I'm actually gonna take the Colts to overcome Baltimore. In the end we're lookin at a Philly - New England Superbowl, a la Super Bowl XXXIX. Maybe Philly can tie up the record this year? Here's lookin for the best.

Until next time.

Saturday Morning

The Ugly Aftermath

And I still haven't figured out how to put captions on pictures....



Anyways, the brutal decisions of a Saturday morning never get old. You wake up once at 7AM and then you turn over and go back to sleep until 10. When you wake up you're kind of angry cuz it feels like someone just sat on your face, which may or may not have actually happened the night before. You walk out of your room trying not to trip over the crap strewn across the floor, only to find a couple lumps hidden under blankets and sleeping bags.

And then you see the bag of chips on the table. Yessss. Here, chow a couple of these. They're delicious.

You breathe in a big lungful of musty, beer-filled air. It smells like we must've had a good time, no? But enough messin around, the day is starting. People start waking up out their semi-unconscious, even though they woke up ten minutes ago just like you. Then bedroom doors start opening, and everyone converges to the living room. Small talk breaks out, spitting a couple quiet laughs about the events that took place but ten hours ago.

Then you realize it. You're fuckin starving.

Now there's obviously two choices in this situation. You could abandon any hope of getting anything done on this very fine Saturday by going to breakfast at a variety of breakfast bars where you can string a line of shots to cure your hangover. If you go this route you won't see your house until 2AM the next morning. After breakfast you obviously have to make the run down State St. to see how many bars you can hit before 5PM. Then when 5 comes around, it's the usual night time adventures. The only problem with this option is that this particular scenario is usually a Sunday thing.

Of course instead of that you could head down the street to Taco Bell. You can all get in the car and go get a few delicious Mexican food entrees, return to your place, chow down while you watch any number of movies, and eventually start cleaning up so that the pad is clean for another night that's about to happen. Then in the morning, you can partake in option #1.

A crunchwrap supreme really does sound pretty good right now. Looks like my decision is made this time.

Goals are Coming

As I said before, I'm not one who usually has resolutions around this time of year. Most often I just notice when I'm doing things that I should change or if I realize that I want to start doing something, I just do it. I change when I need to change and I add things to my life when I feel like it.

But over the past couple days I've had some things on my mind. A few things that have happened over the past couple weeks have kind of made me take a look at my life and I noticed that there are indeed things that I want/need to change, long-term things. And it's not a few specific things that have happened so I guess I shouldn't phrase it like that, but it's moreso the way my life's been going.

I've noticed that since I got back from Vegas I've been real uptight. I haven't been the enjoyable, affable, fun-loving person that I usually am. I haven't had a smile on my face and it's really been showing. Things haven't been going the way I want them to lately, and for whatever reason I've been a real asshole about life.

Normally I'm not that way; I just shrug my shoulders and move along, thankful that I have other things. Sure I shake my fist at the old lady in front of me at the stop sign who's too busy dying to go when it's her turn, and sure I yell at the illegal immigrants around me when they don't speak English and they think it's ok to pee on the sidewalk. But usually I do it for fun and I go right on ahead laughing and having a good time. But lately I've carried that outward animosity around and have been showing everybody what it's like to be on my bad side. It's time to go back to having fun.

Also since I've been back I don't think I've done a single iota of work. I've been daydreaming and dazing off every time I'm at my desk. As soon I walk in the door of my office I just instantly shut off until 5PM. I fell into this state of wanting to get away. It's not that I've necessarily been wanting to quit to play poker full time, but it's been more of a reach out to do something fun, anything!

But since we've been back from New Year's I've actually been doing diligent work. This year is going to be a good year for me. I'll be taking on double responsibility by the end of it, which only leads to and results in good things. I'm definitely ready for it.

And in doing better work, I'll have a more clear mind in my off time to play more cards! As stated in my last entry, this is definitely a top priority for me this year. I need to spend more time with Darsky talking, living, breathing poker, and that will definitely help me. I foresee many trips coming up this year.

And when I'm not playing cards, I really want to get back into snowboarding. I was snowboarding for about three years, and, for various reasons, stopped boarding three years ago. I went up to Big Bear this weekend and had a blast. Tearing down the mountain, carving around the amateurs laying on the floor (not to say I didn't fall at all), and just the overall feel of the crisp, cold air on my lungs really pumped me up. I'm hoping to get a whole new setup sometime in the next month, and I really want to get as much as I can out of this snowboarding season. It's something I miss, and something I should really do.

Another thing that I didn't do a SINGLE TIME last year was go to see a concert. I love music, it's a big part of my life, and I didn't go to a single show last year, which saddened me. I'll be taking multiple trips to LA and to San Diego hopefully this year, and hitting up a few shows in town too hopefully.

Along with all this comes traveling, not necessarily long distance, but traveling more than an hour away at least. With a couple different snow spots a few hours away, and Vegas being within driving distance, I definitely can have a lot of fun in the car with friends. I'm hoping to hit up Hawaii for a week in July or August, and I'm looking to get to New York sometime in September or October to see my parents.

Of course I already have a bundle of brochures and info from the casinos in the surrounding area of upper state New York. I'm gonna have an awesome time going up there, and spending the days hangin out and drinking, and spending the nights and mornings away in a casino playing cards sounds like a dream.

And no matter what I end up doing or not doing this year, I definitely need to spend more time with my friends. I've been couped up and working and spending too much time inside in the past year, and it hasn't been good. It wasn't fun or exciting, it was pretty much downright boring. And I hate boring crap, so that needs to go.

And lastly I really want to write more. I'm going to try to keep on top of this blog every day, and if not at least every other day. I think I fixed my computer at home....hopefully I did anyways....so I can spend some time writing there again. And I'm hoping to get a laptop before the summer, so I should be able to keep up from the road.

But now it's time to start planning my January Vegas trip, so I gotta go. But stay tuned, it's going to be a great year!

Welcome to the New Year

Waking up this morning gave me an odd feeling. It was a refreshing sort of feeling. It wasn't a refreshing feeling like when you finish cleaning your house after you let things build up for a month, nor was it a refreshing feeling like downing half a liter of Mountain Dew in three seconds. It wasn't even a refreshing feeling like when you take a leak into a stall in a cold, frosty bathroom and get the kickback heat warming your lower body. What it was was hard to explain, but it was definitely a refreshing in a mental sense.

As I stood in the shower, already ten minutes late for work, as is usual, it came to me. All my worries, all my troubles, seemed to disappear. I still felt sick physically, as I have for the past two and half weeks, but my brain seemed clear. This mental dilemma I have been suffering through for the past couple weeks flowed down the drain with the shampoo being rinsed out of my hair. As I lathered and cleansed myself my work problems felt washed away. And as I got out and dried myself off, it came to me.

It is a bit of a shame, however, cuz I have no idea what "it" is. I don't normally feel any different when New Year's rolls around. When the ball drops and the drinks are had and the kisses are shared, everything always feels the same as it did only moments before. I never have resolutions because I'm always a work in progress. I evaluate myself constantly and feel like it's a good trait to have.

Going into New Year's Eve I felt the same as I do every single year. What's your New Year's resolution? They would ask me that for sure. I tried to think of a premeditated answer I could automatically spit out before they even finished asking the question. Maybe I could tell them.....nah. Or maybe I could.....nah.

Hmph. Oh well, same ole same ole.

There was no use in trying to come up with a resolution that wasn't true. I'd just tell them the same old crap, "I don't really have one...."

What a dunce.

I waited for it. I sat and drank my vodka and beer as I warmed up for the New Year's bash, but the weirdest thing happened. The ball dropped, the wine and champagne were had, the kisses were shared, yet no one had asked me that stupid question. I didn't have an answer, so I didn't really mind it, but how weird it was not to have to hear it.

I was out of town until last night, and had felt the same as I usually do....until this morning. I felt pretty relaxed as I rolled into work. I immediately waltzed myself over to the coffee machine so I could soak in my brown liquid drug habit, and headed to my desk. I stared at the mountain of paperwork that was strewn upon my desktop, and then I realized what it was.

This year, for the first time in a long time, I have a resolution: play more poker! Last year my life was all over the place. My living situation wasn't set, my job was supposed to be better than it was, and my car was a clunking, smoking piece of shit. At the very end of the year I finally got everything settled.

I got a new apartment, a raise, and a new car. The problem with all that being that the money from my raise went to a new apartment and a new car, so I had no spare cash to play. Going to Vegas in December was a treat, and I had a little bit of cash to gamble with, and when I ran out I was lucky enough to have back in the poker games and was able to get my losses covered for the trip.

Now it's time to really play the game. This year I forsee quite a few Vegas trips and a lot of playing time. I know I have what it takes to play it well, and I have a small bankroll now that I feel that I can really turn into something. I haven't spent nearly enough time playing poker, drinking, and gambling as I should have. I haven't done enough blow or seen enough ass in my day, and it's time to turn that around.

I have a decent job with a great boss, and I love the area I live in. I somewhat enjoy security of a regular paycheck, but there are just too many times when I get in these zones and moods where I don't ever wanna step foot through in this office again. And it's not that I don't like my job either, I just often wonder if it's what I really want. And if it is, is it what I really want NOW, at this point in my life?

I don't really see myself quitting to play cards right now, I don't see it happening this year, and I don't particularly see it happening anytime soon. What I do know is that I need to start playing more for my own good. Even when I lose and I get pissed, somehow it relaxes me at the same time. It's the only thing that gives me the rushes I feel that I need in my life, and playing only leads to good things as far as I'm concerned.

I also need to start writing more. It's something that I enjoy doing and it's something that I could really get good at if I did more of it. Reading people like Dr. Pauly's blog inspires me to write and hopefully I can learn a thing or two about it by keeping up on reading his....

In other news after a year and half of living in Santa Barbara, I finally feel like I'm starting to LIVE in Santa Barbara. Part of that reason is my little chick friend. She really puts a smile on my face and no matter what's going on in my life I always feel good when she's around. If I can find a perfect balance between work, cards, and relationships, I might just be alright in this world.

Often enough I find myself not being content with the world. People piss me off, laws piss me off, and sometimes I really don't even feel like going outside. Other times I love everyone. Hopefully with enough balance in my life in general, I can find a way to relax and get back to a state of being happy constantly. I'm close, I just gotta get the wheels moving.

Until next time.

"Oh Yeah, I Forgot...the Rodeo's in Town" Pt. 2

Saturday

I finally had a chance to sleep, as Darsky was sleeping when Mitch and I got back to the hotel room after our blackjack run. I passed out, while Dar got up and went to go play the $5/10NL at the Bellagio, raking in a pretty good score while I was sleeping. Around 11AM I woke up and took a shower and saw that Dar had awoken.

I called up Uncle Pauly, and then Darsky and I took Mitch's car to go pick him up. When he had told me he was staying at the Circus Circus the week before I thought he was just joking around. But.....nope. If there's ever been a more horrible casino, I'd like someone to point it out to me. As soon as we walked inside it felt like a place of death.

When we found Paul he was in a $40 tournament, being dealt to the world's most crooked rejects by a 80 year old dealer who couldn't quite move the pot around without sweating, and suffering from what appeared to be a series of minor heart attacks. We had to wait around and fear for our personal health until he busted out and we could leave.

"What the hell is wrong with you Paul?"

"The cheapest room I could find for this weekend."

"Oh yeah, I forgot...the rodeo's in town."

"Oh is it? That's why I keep seeing all these cowboys, huh?"

"Let's get out of here before I puke. It smells like feces."

Of course I had to dump $80 bucks at the $5 Let It Ride table before we took off. Come on....how can you pass up a $5 table....

We sprinted back to the car and took off towards the MGM Grand. Don't ask me why, but for some reason I have a rabid affection for the Rainforest Cafe. I had it at the MGM with my dad the first time I ever went to Vegas when I was younger, and that might be why, but for whatever the cause may be I HAVE to go there every time I go to Vegas now. I've been to the one in downtown Disney, but it wasn't the same.

Unfortunately for them, Dar and Pauly don't like the Rainforest Cafe as much as I do. Oh well! It was my birthday.....errr month..... and we were going whether they wanted to or not! I ordered the usual Chicken Fried Chicken and a huge glass of iced tea. Ah god it was so good! If I were Homer Simpson (if only life were that good), the Rainforest Cafe would be my donuts.

After eating we headed across the floor to the poker "room". For anyone who hasn't been to the MGM, the poker room is a sectioned-off area in the middle of the casino floor. It's not in the middle of the slot machines or anything, it's actually conveniently away from the gaming tables and is surrounded by cafes and stores, so it's very secluded from the gaming floor noises that drive some players crazy. It's large enough to hold around 25(?) tables, and has the cage in the middle.

On this day I was really pleased to see the poker tables buzzing with action. Last time I had been there, they had just finished redoing the poker room and there was maybe three tables going total. When we were there after lunch, though, there were only about five tables not running games.

I was the first of the three of us to get in a game, opting to take the $4/8 while waiting on a decent interest list for a $6/12. There were plenty of $1/2NL games going, some $2/5NL, and a $5/10NL going. I wasn't in the mood to play NL, but going to Vegas I really wanted to get into a decent limit game, since the only thing that ever goes at Chumash is a $3/6, with an occasional $4/8. I wasn't too happy with only being able to play $4/8, but a seat was open and it was time to start trying to beat whatever game I was in as I was planning on playing poker for the rest of the trip.

I took the open seat while Dar sat at the $5/10NL and Paul eventually got a seat at the $1/2NL. After a few rounds the $6/12 finally started up and I started taking control of the table. I was talking it up, playing, and raking pots. I got into a verbal squash with a loudmouth, trash-talking kid who apparently lived in Vegas and was too cool for school. The guy was a total ass-clown and I made him feel like a little kid when I backtalked him off of the table within a half an hour of sitting down. The whole table was cracking up cuz for every word he had I had two more to throw back at him. He dropped about $50 and racked up and left, leaving the rest of us on the floor laughing at his rediculousness. The game only lasted for a little bit, but I was able to pick up $300 before the table broke.

We were able to fill the table back up by making it a $4/8, and I sat dead for a while while Dar was raking it up at the $5/10NL. I picked up another $50 and racked up. Dar and I took off, leaving Pauly and one of his buddies who had met him there to fend for themselves. We went back to the hotel room for a sec to see how much Mitch had learned to love the hotel room, and then it was off to see if anything was happening at the Palms. Of course the Palms was filled with tons and tons of hot women, but not even a glimpse of good poker. The Wynn was next on the list.

By this time Dar was starving so we needed to find food, and fast! As soon as we arrived at the Wynn we headed over to the Red8, a chinese food restaurant. It was friggin delicious, and I was starting to see a theme of good food in this wonderful city. I had the chicken chow mein, and I would have it every day for every meal if I could! If there's one thing I love more than poker in this world, it's food. I love eating, and I love enjoying a meal. I'm not a big guy (6'0" 190lbs), but I can sure put away some food, and I could see that the food was quickly becoming one of my favorite things about Vegas.

After the delicious self-gratification experienced at the Red8, we made our way over to the bustling poker room. I gotta say, I love the Wynn's poker room. They play ten-handed, which is normally a cramp. But the Wynn's poker tables are about foot wider than a normal 4.5' table (at least on the bottom level, Dar said the upper level tables were average). If there's one thing I hate when I'm playing cards, it's playing cards when there's no room for my legs to fit under the poker table thanks to the slobs and fat men sitting to either side of me. But thanks to wide tables and supremely comfortable chairs, the Wynn was completely awesome to play at.

I bought in to the $8/16 for $300 in brown chips and took a seat 6-handed. A couple hands after I sat in this Asian guy came into the 7s. Immediately he looked like someone who was gonna piss me off. I love it when I'm right. He bought in for one rack and within the first hour of play had turned it into just over three. He was not folding preflop, and seemed to be catching everything on everyone. I was glad it wasn't just me, but it was still very annoying.

The game finally filled up, and I was sitting on only $100. I rebought another rack to fill me back up, and quickly went on a small rush. I finally started winning pots against the jackass in the 7s, and was able to win a couple pots against the rest of the table as well. Just as I had pushed over the five-ball I was in for, Darsky had come up and said that his game was no good. I didn't wanna leave, as the game had just started to liven up, but I can't leave my best wingman hanging like that. Plus, there was money to be had wherever we went, it was Vegas baby.

Having been in a soft game earlier, Dar suggested we go back to the MGM. We went back but this time the action was less than optimal. So instead of staying to play cards, we decided to do the one thing we were equally good at: drink! We went back to the hotel to rescue Mitch from his hotel room jail cell and the three of us went downstairs to search out comfortable spots at the quarter machines at the bar.

I took an early lead in the drinks, taking on multiple rounds of Jack and Cokes. We were all involved in a heated session of Battle Keno, and Darsky was so involved that he fell to dead last in the drunk race. Being the best alcholer out of the three of us, I had expected him to come out strong. But he neglected his drinks at the beginning, and at the end of the night was the only one with any money left in the machine. He was also the only one getting free drinks after about an hour.

Bastard.

After a few hours of watching Darsky splitting two 10s against a 9 for a quarter at a time playing video blackjack, we retired to the room. When we got there I had this brilliant idea to order ice cream sundaes? It was probably around 1AM, and supposedly ice cream sundaes triple in price at that of the night, cuz it was like $40 for three of them.


That was the end of Saturday. I'm still sick, and I'm pretty tired at this particular morning, so I'm not gonna finish the whole trip right now. I'll write up Sunday and post a Part 3.

Watch Out for the Tissues on the Floor

No no......not those ones.

And don't trip over the empty box on the floor over there. That's my Tylenol Cold with "Instant Cool Burst Sensation". There's nothing instant about this crappy medication. I still feel like hell. And they only put 24 caplets in a package, can you believe that? I guess you're not supposed to eat them like M&Ms, but candy coatings are delicious so whatever.

All day my nose has been messed up. One minute it's blocked beyond all hope, and the next minute it's like a switch is clicked inside my head that opens my nasal passages to let a flood of snot and sickness come flowing out of my head. Back and forth and back and forth. I'm blowing through tissues in phases, and it is supremely annoying. Make up your mind dammit. Either be runny or be stuffy. Stop fuckin around, Nose.


I've half thought of pulling back and giving myself a swift punch to my face, in hopes to break my own nose and stop this apparent decisional dilemma it's encountering. Don't think I won't do it. But then I'd have to weigh the cost of getting my nose fixed to the cost of all these tissues that I'm using. Hmph.

Of course I could just skip the tissues and the broken nose altogether, and use my mitts. I could build up a dry, glistening trail of mucus across the back of my hands. The only problem there being that I'd have to look at it while I'm on the computer all day.

Bring back the tissues.

All day at work my nose has been suffering from this metronomic rythm of snot flow. It's damn annoying and, in my eyes, completely unneccessary. If my pussy immune system would just do its job and keep things like this out of my body then I would be fine. But nooooo. Although I guess all is fair in life. I got blessed with extremely good looks and an insanely awesome personality, yet my body can't defend itself against a cold virus. Sounds like a fair trade if you ask me.

I'm gonna go admire myself in the mirror for a little bit and then lay down and throw on the tube. Hopefully these 24 candy medicines will kick in soon and help me out. I'm taking a bucket and a drill with me to bed anyways, just to be prepared for the back and forth that's gonna occur in my nasal area all night.

And I have just about half of the rest of my Vegas trip already written up, so I should be able to complete it and post it tomorrow night. Have patience folks. Adios.

It's Cold!!

Anyone who's a blogger must already know about the Brandi Hawbaker story over at 2+2. No? Well if you haven't, imagine LonelyGirl15 taken off the webcam and thrown headfirst into the depths of the poker world. This one's got every character you need to make a good, old-fashioned suspense/mystery. A Captain with a pokey penis, a schizophrenic played by Dutch Boyd (what is it about this guy that I think is so badass, maybe it's the bandanna?), and a smokin hot petite brunette with a rack that'll send you to the stars. When I look at and listen to Brandi's story, I can't help but be reminded of Michelle Monaghan in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, only in the fact that she's a troubled, young, superbly hot female. I'm excited to see how this one ends.

And of course all this went down the weekend AFTER I was in Vegas. And unbeknown to me, the Bloggers' Convention was in town that very same weekend. Eh...whatever. But had this whole thing been uncovered two weeks earlier, I would've loved to have seen and heard the commotions and the going ons at the Bellagio when I was down there. Talk about good stuff...and especially if Brandi's gonna keep prancing around with her boobs hanging out. There's a good excuse to bust out my new camera. Bust out.......hmph.

I don't know what's wrong with my brain. I have some incomprehensible fascination with crazy chicks who just happen to be utterly attractive as well. Nobody wants to deal with crazy chicks. They're more trouble than you think they are at first, they'll take the life out of you, and in the end you end up just as crazy as they are for having to put up with their consistent insanity.

But I'll be damned if the craziest ones aren't the hottest. You can't tell me that if Harmony Faith Lane came up to you in person and wanted to take you to a hotel room, that you wouldn't take her hand and follow her to wherever it was that she wanted to go so that she could handle you. Well, you probably wouldn't, but I would. Maybe some people have that self-control, but I sure as shit don't. I would try to resist, I really would. But how could I manage to turn down that crazy broad if Robert Downey Jr. couldn't? EXACTLY, I don't think I could. Perhaps RDJ and I should form a club. But then again I'd have to get hopped up on a bunch of drugs first, or else our club wouldn't be real solidly founded would it?

Ok so scratch that.

I've noticed so far in life that this particular fascination is one that's bound to get me into trouble. It's that exact personality flaw that's gotten me into the situation I'm in now. The hot, petite dirty-blonde who I know is the worst news imaginable. She's the one who will crush my soul, yank my beating heart right out of my chest, and steal the wallet from my lifeless bloody corpse. Those eyes though! How do you not just fall in love with her the second you see her eyes?! She'll feed me lies, she'll feed me lines, and I'll unwillingly listen to every one. Damn me, damn me.......but I'm falling for her. Uh oh, wait a minute. I almost made myself throw up from that last line. I'll knock it off.

Anyways Winter's finally here now. As I'm writing this it's about 20 degrees in the office and I'm pretty sure that my feet are going to have to be amputated. I keep trying to turn on the floor heater that's right under my desk, but every time I hit the On button the power gets knocked out in this icy hell that is 406 Haley St. *Sigh*......fuck it's cold. Haha I don't know why I'm complaining though, I'd rather it be 20 degrees than 90 degrees. Sweaters go a lot further than fans do ya know!

Also, as is usual for this time of year, it's Tuesday and I haven't even started Christmas shopping yet. Worse yet there's no mega-malls in Santa Barbara, which means I gotta go downtown and hit up State St. Honestly, that doesn't sound too appetizing to me. I'll just hit up the mall in the valley when I go back to the family on Sunday night. Stores are open on Christmas Eve, I'll be fine.

If there's one thing I mastered in school, it was how to procrastinate like a champion. Although that was primarily in my English courses, but English...Christmas shopping...practically the same. Plus from what I hear, the longer you sit at work neglecting your job the better ideas you come up with for presents. And at this rate everyone's gonna love me come Christmas day.

Thankfully I'm getting my writing rhythm back. I stopped writing for a little bit of time, but I got some things in my life that inspire and require me to write now, so hopefully I'll be on this writing thing for a while.

Until next time.

PS - Vegas, P2 is coming, be patient with me

New Camera!! Yessss!!

I got my Casio EX-Z850 today in the mail. Thankfully I was able to get it shipped UPS, as I have two other packages waiting to come to me via USPS that will probably never make it here until after February sometime, nevermind the fact that they shipped out weeks ago. Shit I hate Santa Barbara's postal service.......

Oh yeah, and I'll have Pt. 2 of my Vegas trip up tomorrow, probably night time. There's poker in this one, you'll all enjoy it I swear :)

"Oh Yeah, I Forgot...the Rodeo's in Town" Pt. 1

Another gem from the quote machine......

After work on Thursday I packed up my bag and headed out to Ventura to meet up with Mitch, where we'd take off to LA to pick up Darsky on our way out to Vegas. For the past month or so Mitch had been complaining about not having enough money for this Vegas trip, his credit cards are maxed, blah blah blah. I walked into his room on Thursday night, and the first thing I see is a brand new PS3. Good job Mitch. He said he had opened up a Best Buy card the night before and got the PS with a bunch of BluRay DVDs. It's a friggin sweet lookin console....I'll give it to him....but self control man, SELF CONTROL!! My fault for bringing a broke, impulsive-buyer to Vegas?? Perhaps.......

After about half an hour of me playing Resistance: Fall of Man on his Samsung 56" 1080p DLP, I'd had enough and was ready for Sin City. He packed and we left. We stopped in the valley for a little bit first to stop by my dad's and we were at Dar's place at around 10PM. We started the trip with an extended conversation about TVs and resolutions. I like to think that I like electronics and that I know a little bit about the subject, but damn these guys are like tech gurus. I could sure use some advice from these guys along the road of purchasing electronics...

We stopped in FREEZING Baker for gas, and arrived in the city at about 5AM. First order of business: food! We went to a restaurant in the Bellagio for our first meal, which consisted of iced tea and $20 eggs benedict. We stared at the jumping water fountains in the plants for a couple minutes, then we decided to go on a trek to find a $5 blackjack table. We went to the Barbary Coast and found a table with one guy who was playing pretty by-the-book, which is great news cuz around here at Chumash the only people playing blackjack are retards who don't know what a blackjack is.

We all started off decently, but time took its toll on us in different ways. Darsky got reamed pretty hard pretty quickly, while Mitch started slow and was able to make a couple-hundred dollar score. Mitch had a total of $300 dollars for the whole four-day trip, which was hilarious in its own right, but he deserved the win and could have used the money more than Darsky or me. I broke dead even after like 2 hours, so....go me. That's a win in my book when it comes to blackjack.

By the time we were done it was only 9AM, and we didn't have check-in until 11AM. Unfortunately I was ass-tired, as I had to wake up at 7AM Thursday morning, and Mitch was pretty tired, too. Dar was good to go, and I knew I would end up in a card room with him before I even saw a pillow (priorities man!). Mitch was pretty dead so we decided to head to the hotel to get an early check-in. Then, as we stepped out of the door of the Barbary Coast, I noticed an oddity in the streets. Pretty much 80% of the people walking around were wearing flannels, spurred boots, and cowboy hats. Anyone who knows Vegas knows that it was definitely Rodeo time. I had totally forgotten about it since hearing about it weeks ago, but I wouldn't be allowed to forget for the rest of the trip, as I saw more hats and lassos this weekend than I'd ever seen in my life.

We got to the Aladdin to face a long line of check-in...ers? Thankfully the desk staff was competent and I didn't have to wait long. We got the obvious front desk upgrade, which was free when she noticed us getting the employee discount in the first place. Whether or not it would've been free is questionable, but we got for free in any case so that was just fine. It was a quarter to 10AM by this point, and John said that he might have been dealing the 10AM tourney at the Aladdin room, so Mitch went upstairs and Darsky and I headed straight to the poker room.

When we showed up there was only one 1/2NL game going with a noticably loud drunk foreign guy. There was three tables signed up for the tournament. It was a $60 buy-in, started with T1500 at twenty-minute levels. I was pretty dead, played a few small pots, and eventually pushed in with JJ for 1100 at 100-200 and got action from A10. An Ace on the flop and that was that. Nothing disappointing, actually almost expected. I was still feelin pretty tired, but noticed a small 3/6 waiting to get started. I bought a rack and took a seat, and we started playing shorthanded.

John had missed dealing the 10AM, but had come in to help set up for and deal the 1PM. He stopped by my seat and we had a quick chat. He made a few trips over to my table to watch me donk around in the 3/6, and I got a chance to thank him for the room.

After about half an hour I was down about $40 and Dar came over after he busted out. We started with our usual banter with each other when we sit at the same table. We made quick "friends" with Lisa, a middle-aged detective who was a pretty decent player. She maybe thought she was better than she was, either that or she was playing against Darsky and me, who eat 3/6 games for breakfast (it was about 11AM....that's about right).

Then the game died.

So we decided to play double-flop hold'em heads up. Lisa had sat out to wait for the game to fill, but dropped another rack to the two of us when we goaded her back into play. Then she left again, and we continued heads up. A short time later we had interest in starting back up the 3/6 and were glad to have the seats filled. I was still dead tired, but fell into my low limit limit hold'em drone. I started with Coronas and ended up at the end of our 5-hour session with coffee. We eventually had a full game going, with players and chips and everything. It was quite a welcome change to the earlier morning. Lisa was still in it, and still rebuying. I took multiple pots off of her with bluffs, and she ran into my nuts a few times (can I say that??) when she had the guts to call me down. GG Lisa.

Then there was this damn old guy in the 5s who kept pissin me off by catching his mediocre draws and backing into winning hands. It was nothing unusual, but pushing me on a 30-hour no sleep session was putting a frown on my face. At around 3PM we decided to go grab food, since we hadn't eaten since 5AM and I needed energy. As we were racking up, the dealer called over the floor person and had him comp us at the buffet for keeping the game together, and being pretty much the only players talking to and tipping the dealers since we had been there.

Around that time John was getting off his tiny shift, as he had really only come in to deal the 1PM, so he joined us and (obviously) got in on the comp. We headed down to the buffet, which was delicious. I saw seafood and was hesitant, but John insisted that it was good, and indeed it was! I had the seafood, the Italian, and a small bit of Chinese, and it was all very delicious. One thing that has me peeved about Vegas is the rising prices of foods and amneties. In the past, one of the bigger draws for Vegas was the $5.95 buffets, and if you want that now you gotta head to places that people don't wanna necessarily head to. Although the food is quite better in comparison, the prices are catching up with the quality. But we got a $75 trip for free, so I can't really complain.

The food was good, talking with John was better. I hadn't seen him since before he left Ventura for Vegas. He's a great guy and a fun person to hang around. I didn't get to see him after this for the whole trip, which sucked, but next time I go out there it's on the list of important things to do. He didn't even get a chance to meet up with Mitch since he was passed out at this point. Next time, we gotta.

By 4 I had had enough and we took that horrible, bastardly trip back and forth from the casino to the parking garage to grab our bags. I'm telling you right now that the devil was in charge of the layout of the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood - Desert Passage combo. In order to get back and forth from the parking garage and the casino/hotel you need to take a two-day trek through random retail stores and restaurants, cleverly disguised in a pseudo-desert surrounding. I'll give 'em that the Desert Passage mall is a work of art, it's an awesome place and it's a fun outlet. I'll also say that it's completely unneccessary to walk through the whole damn thing to get something out of the car. K we got a good deal on the room so /end rant

We headed up to the room and it was sleep time! I ended up getting three tantalizing hours of close-eye, and by then Mitch was ready for a night of gambling with his newly won "wad". I got up at around 7PM and took a shower. Then we hit the strip. We were gonna walk as we were in great position on the strip, and we decided on the Monte Carlo. We spent a few hours there playing blackjack and drinking Jack N Cokes. We each dropped a few hundred there over a couple hours, with the usual ups and downs of that damn game. I decided to toss a bill at the 3-card poker table for shits and giggles and picked up 2 hands the whole time. That went as planned.

From there we took a walk over to the New York New York cuz I enjoy the scenery. That probably sounds pretty gay, but I WAS an art major and I enjoy art of the physical kind, so I really enjoy themes, props, scenery, etc. Anyways, while playing there I was able to grab the Snag of the Trip for this trip around (I'm also a poker chip fanatic, for those who don't know). The dealer had a whole rack of them, and I was able to grab a pretty much mint snapper from the NY NY. And I know I know, but I have a new Casio EX-Z850 coming on Monday, so take it easy on me.

Anyways the drinks were still flowing as Mitch blew pretty much all of his money. On the first night out, that was expected. Let's just say that for next two days Mitch grew to know the ins and outs of our hotel room. He probably even learned the Bellagio's waterballet schedule thanks to our Bellagio fountain view.

After I lost a little bit there, we headed back to the Aladdin, being that Mitch now had no more money to play. I got crushed to the tune of another $200 on the way up to the hotel room as I saw an open BJ table and thought I could take her. Wrong answer!! Still love that game, though...I knew that since Mitch was done it would be straight poker for the next two days, and damn was I ready.

Next time I'll talk about the Red8, the big names, and the big bluff gone horribly good.

Until next time.

Quotes Are Great

"What will you do if you win the million dollar first prize?"

"Well, I guess I'll probably pay off some bills and some debts."

"So what will you do with the rest?"

"Well, I guess I'll just tell them that they have to wait."

-Interviewer questioning Thor Hansen before a final table

Hahahahaha!


And I'll be updating with my Vegas trip report tonight. Keep cool my babies...

Departure Is Upon Me

I didn't think I was ever gonna get off work today, but damn it feels good to be home! Or should I call it a docking station. Or should I call it a launch pad. Whatever the hell it is....it's gonna be behind me in about two hours. It's Vegas time!

The countdown began at the beginning of the week and it felt like there was no end in sight, but alas it's here! We'll be heading out from Ventura at around 8:30 tonight. We're probably gonna roam around until we can check into our room in the afternoon, and then the fun begins. Five days of pure excitement and non-stop action.

This is what dreams are made of.

Birthday Weekend

If another day had passed by without a game of poker in it, I might not still be here. I might have perished off the side of the Earth. I might have spontaneously combusted and there might have been no noticeable remains of my body left. I might have fallen into a black hole in the ground, only to get eaten by the planet and never be seen again. But thankfully Darsky had a hankerin' for that good ole' Chumash so I'm still alive and breathing.

Suffering through a horribly boring Friday night, I sent an SOS to Dar to come up and play some Chumash poker. He responded with a "tomorrow night" and that was that. He arrived, we ate, we played. We took off to Chumash at about 5PM and showed up to only ONE 2/5NL game. The 1/2NL had four tables going, of course, so we were at the mercy of the poker gods to open up some new 2/5NL games. Fortunately for the both of us two new tables opened up within twenty minutes and we both took seats at different tables.

I felt good going into it (of course, as I wouldn't go if I didn't). I got off to a quick decent start by catching a small straight for a small pot, but after that I just couldn't get off the ground. I was getting outflopped, caught on, and getting unlucky. My first big pair was QQ, which I raised to $20. I got called in two places behind me, one seat being a tight-ish player I'd seen before, and it folded back around. The board came up A-K-x, and I checked to the two callers and a betting war ensued between the both of them, each chopping up with AJ. Two hands later I picked up KK and raised it up to $20 again after one limper. Both blinds called as did the limper, giving me position. The flop came up 7-7-10. The small blind bet $25, the big blind called, and the limper raised it up to $70. I thought for a second before letting it go in light of the action, and there was a chop again with each of them holding A7.

So needless to say there was major action, and I just needed to catch a hand and I would get action on it all the way down. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I ended up widdling down to around $100 when I looked down at AKd on the button. There was a raise to $20, a call from a kid sittin on around $800, and I pushed with my $100 in position. The original raiser folded, and the kid called if off with the 56h. The board came up 4h-6x-7h, making me about a 10-1 dog. I turned the A, but was still facing major outs. Another 6 hit the river and I rebought. Over the next three hours I just couldn't get anything going. I picked up JJ and QQ, but couldn't play after the flop on either of them. Widdling down again I got caught with a bad kicker on my Ace and decided to take a walk.

I hit the casino floor for a couple minutes to take a breather, and headed back to the poker room ready to go one more buy. I waited to get a seat at Darsky's table, since we always have a blast playing the same table and our styles of play allow us to stay out of each other's way. He was up, and we started to have a good time. I was down to about $150 from my $200 buy, and finally caught a hand. I checked off my 99 in the big blind after four limpers, and had a beautiful looking A-9-3 flop. We got three way betting action, and a 3 on the turn filled me up. I ended up doubling and half up on that hand and finally had gained some ground. Unfortunately, the fun wouldn't continue long.

I ended up working my way to around $500 when I picked up AA. I raised it up to $20 and had two callers, one who was sittin on around $120, and the other who was sittin on $200. The board came up 10-high and the 1s pushed in. The middle seat called off, and I reraised to put him all in. He ended up calling with 99. The turn was a 9 and that was another hand lost to bad luck. I ended up getting QQ and KK one more time, letting the Qs go to an Ace-high board facing action, and I won a small pot when I flopped a third King. Darsky had been stale since building his stack to around $900 earlier in the night, and we decided to leave. I was sittin on around $350 by this point, and raised it up to $15 with the 45s and got two callers. The board came up Qs-xs-xs, and I bet out $45. I got called twice. The turn was, of course, the 2s, and the small blind pushed all-in for $1,000. I racked up my remaining $200+ and took off, disappointed in the night's occurances.

My buddy Mitch was up at Chumash as well, and ended up coming back with Darsky and me. We called up Joe on the way back and the four of us went to go grab some food before returning back to my place where we all crashed at about 5AM. Then in the morning, it was my birthday! Darsky took off and Mitch and I went downtown to go to this Mexican place for brunch. We met up with my little lady friend and her friend, and had all-you-can-drink margaritas and mermosas until 2 o'clock.

After that we we to a couple more bars downtown, and drank the day away. We headed down to the Lounge to play some pool, that which I was doing horribly. I'm usually ok, but when I'm drinking I don't think I can make a single shot. Oh well...it was still fun and then we parted and Mitch and I headed to Ventura. I dealt a small $5 tourney at Mitch's house, and then I tagged along with the group as we headed down to the bowling alley. We got a few pitchers of beer and bowled for a few hours. All around it was a good time, and Mitch and I bet on most of our games. We all left the bowling alley at around midnight, and we ordered some pizza before I took off back to Santa Barbara at 2AM.

All around the weekend was great and I had a lot of good company. Next weekend will probably be even better, as Darsky, Mitch, and myself are all headed out to Vegas! We'll be there from the 8th-11th thanks to John, who got us a cheap, cheap room at the Aladdin.

Until next time.

Where Have I Been? Where Have YOU Been?!

Yes yes, I'm still alive. It's hard to believe, but it's true! As a matter of fact, I might be more alive than I've ever been, but then again who knows......Every day I think that new things mean things that they don't. Is it life or is it mundane bullcrap? Is it love or is it a lie? Are things ever going to improve, or does life just ride along like a train on a track, taking you down the same path day after day, night after night...

It's been a difficult time since I stopped playing and started working, or I should say started putting 100% of myself into work. I've gone through many socalled "epiphanies", and perhaps that's a big reason why I stopped writing. I hate writing about things that I'm going to do or going to stop doing that I end not following through with. I said I was gonna stop playing, I didn't. I said I was gonna save up a bunch of money for a roll so I could start playing seriously. I didn't. I kept saying I was gonna write and blog multiple times a week, and we all know how that's been going.For the past year and a half I've been telling everyone, and telling myself, that a new car was coming. It hasn't been.

Well I finally leveled out. I stopped playing cards about three months ago. I've played sparingly when being backed, but haven't put my own money up for some time now. I think I still have the skill to make money, I just finally realized that I'm not in the situation to put my own money up. It affected the way I played, and more importantly it affected the way I acted outside the card room.

Through a raise and promotion at work after months of hard work, I was able to finally afford myself this

Being on the verge of my December Vegas trip, it hurt from a gambler's POV to put money into this car at this point in time. Two weeks away, and $2,000 dropped from my Vegas funds in half an hour. But from the personal side, damn does it feel good. For too long I've been driving around a broken, beatup, old piece of crap car. It hurt to drive, it hurt to listen to, and it was really damaging to my self-esteem knowing that it was my only option to drive. I can say with full honesty that driving arounda nice new car really can affect a man. For the past week I've been walking (driving) around with the biggest smile I've had in years.

Of course the car isn't the only reason for the smiles. Life can't be lived without love. Love? Eh who knows what love is. I don't know, and that's the damn truth. I thought I did once, but the more and more I get to know, the more and more I realize that I don't know much at all. And whether or not it's love that I'm trying to know now, I know that it's fun in any case. Got it? Yeah that's enough on that subject for right now....

Moving along, thanks to my buddy John, I got a room at the Aladdin from Dec 8-11 for very, very cheap. Mitch and Darsky will be joining me for that one, and it'll be a fun one. I'll be playing poker for sure, but I'll also be hitting up multiple gaming tables, and I'll also be enjoying every second of Vegas's lights and extravagances, which I never seem to get enough of.

So now that life seems to be back on track, I'm startin to feel better and better about things. Hopefully for this blog, that means I'll be writing more again, at least a couple times a week. I would say to wish me luck, but for once, things seem to being going in the right direction already...

Whattup Tasty Readers

Just a quick update, and I know I've been treating this blog like a bastard. Hopefully I'll be in the mood to write later.

News from the homefront! I can't even explain how much I've been working lately, partially because I don't think I've ever actually been in a situation where I've had to. I've been putting in a lot of hours in the office for the past three weeks, workin lots of 12 hours+ days, and damn I've been tired. But thankfully our new system is up and my job should require fewer hours from me, which is good and bad. Good because I'll have time to do stuff. Bad because for the next two weeks I'll still be getting paid for overtime.

And this weekend was.....productive? I acquired a new couch and coffee table, which is sweet cuz my previous living room was pissing me off. And to go along with that I also got Tiger Woods 07, and Joe and I put about 12 hours into it this weekend alone.....we're sick I know. I had realized a couple weeks ago that I missed the entire summer's worth of golfing, and was really feeling down about that. Soooo.......enter Tiger Woods! I love this game, and if you've played it and don't like it then there's definitely something wrong with you.

Next on the list is to get my XBOX 360 and my 60" 1080p DLP Samsung.




K that will probably have to wait, but I'm patient.

And I have my Vegas trip coming up in December, and am probably going to stay at either the Mirage or Bally's, or (hopefully) I'll be getting hooked up at the Aladdin, which is fine by me. More to come later.