Thanksgiving is Over

Thanksgiving is over, the turkeys were fried and eaten, the tequila was shot, the wine was sipped, the beer was guzzled, and the gravy bound it all together. The blogging and poker took a back seat to family and tradition. I have much to be thankful for.

A selfish list topper is this: I’m going to Vegas in 8 days, baby! I am so jazzed to be going to Vegas now. The excitement level has really just kicked up 10 fold. As I read the other blogs, I’m seeing the same thrilled impatience repeated by my WPBT peers. It reminds me of being 7 years old on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa. It’s a similar, but more adult emotion. It has to be more adult, because I’m thinking of gambling and getting shitfaced. I mean it is juvenile, but it is more adult than 7, right??

Meanwhile, to cope with the expectations of our upcoming trip, and to get back in the groove after a Thanksgiving Hiatus, there is a game at G-Rob’s house on Friday. The all-star cast includes G-Rob, Otis, Shep Tiltstein, The Mark, BadBlood, Quillayute, and Wes the Pirate.Gamecock maybe?? Even CJ is even going to make the trip up. I am such dead money. Although I have held my own in BradOWeen’s past, I can’t help but think this Friday is –EV for me in a major way. But I need the warm-up if I plan on doing well at all in the Winter Classic. I think I may fold every time CJ is in the pot.

Otis is My Hero

OTIS AND POKERSTARS RULE!!!! If you’re in the WPBT Winter Classic, go read upforpoker!

As if you stumbled here first.

Shootout in the Desert 3

I absolutely sucked in the Shootout in the Desert this Sunday.  Or at least my cards did.  I got AJs twice, came in for a raise, was reraised, called, and saw horrible flops.  Big post flop raises put me out.  I lost a few limps with hands like KJ and QTs when I realized to NEVER EVEN TRY TO LIMP in a WPBT event.  Raise or fold.  And if you raise, you better have something and raise a hefty amount.

Then I got to see The Hilton Sisters in EP and raised 4XBB with two callers.  Flop is ragged with two diamonds.  I bet about 2/3 pot and got a caller and a minimum reraise from either Gracie or FactGirl (I can’t remember).  I put them on an Ace high diamond flush draw.  Here’s where I decided not to push, but call.  Mistake?  The other caller (I think it may have been BadBlood) got out. The turn is, of course, another diamond and I check.  Female reraiser pushes all in and I have no choice but to lay them down.  There goes over half my stack.

My only winning hand of the night comes soon, when it is folded around to me on the big blind. Woo hoo.  That one ruled. I won a small blind.

Eventually, with a low stack and escalating blinds, I push all in with Pocket Tens and am outdrawn by Big Slick in a pitiful 26th place.  The only saving grace was that G-Rob was out before me.

Maybe next time.  Congrats to a dominating Royal and FactGirl.

Beveraging.

I’m ready to play in the WPBT Shootout in the Desert today, but otherwise have nothing of value to say about poker.

Which leaves me with Liquor.

We have a new store nearby named “Total Wine”. As they were building it, I thought how upscale/pretentious this store must be. I mean, I love wine, but those serious wine people are just a little much.

Well, 1). I was being a little snotty myself,
and B). This store is GREAT,
and 4th). It’s not just wine.

This is a fantastic Liquor, Beer, Wine, and more store. They give you a catalog with all the prices in it when you walk in the door. The prices and selection are about the best in town.

So what did I buy on my first trip to Total Wine, the store I assumed was snotty and pretentious, and over priced?? I bought a delicious bottle of Francis Ford Copolla’s Pinot Noir. Oh my god, that was a good wine.

Which brings me back to poker. I have found that beer is a little slow, liquor a little strong, and wine works about right for helping my poker game. It adds a little “Liquid Courage” to help with weak-tightedness, while not fucking me up so bad that I become King of the Donkeys.

For those of you who drink while playing poker, what is your beverage of choice??

I Finally Did It

Like the world needs another poker blog. Especially from someone who hates writing. But the truth of it is, I've seen the improvement in the games of all the bloggers I know. Their writing has helped them learn this game, and helped them learn themselves. Or at least I like to think so.

Could be they are just better than me. Anyway, I've been thinking about doing this for a while as my own little therapy, and see if it helps improve my game.

I've been labeled as a "Serial Commentor" by G-Rob, and have always preferred the one-liner format. It just goes with my personality. But, who I really blame for me having to do this is Daddy. He, and others, have turned off commenting for nonbloggers. If I were to remain a Serial Commentor, I'd have to create a Blogger account. And if I go to that trouble, well, I might as well write something up. My comments were starting to get a little longwinded anyway.

So, I'll try to keep posting. And add a bunch of links. And try to get linked to. Hopefully I won't suck too badly. And hopefully people will check this out on occasion. Maybe I'll even talk about Poker. Or Liquor. Either way, I'll see you other poker bloggers in Vegas for the WPBT.