Happy New Year

My CPU is back up and running with a new power supply. I actually realized my laptop was pirating a signal off some weak network in the area and not thru my cable modem even though i plugged something into it. I have way to may cables, cords and plugs between digital phone and cable modems, printer, ipod, speakers, keyboard and mouse. For work i have a Verizon business phone line and roadrunner cable. I have a router for that although i am not wireless. I connect to work thru a VPN which is password protected so I couldn't hijack that signal for my laptop.

Snake is going to assist me on Friday after I finish my short 4 hour work day (the current plan) with getting the personal computer and laptop configured with my personal router that i have.

I normally am not a big New Year's Eve reveler. In the old days it was hitting up a MaxCreek show, followed by listening to the Dead on the radio for their typical New Year's eve gig they would be playing in San Francisco. BFF Kim and I had the idea of trying to hit up NYC for Government Mule but that would have meant her hubby would fly solo for New Year's eve as he isn't a JamBander like we gals are.

Instead I will be attending a poker party that should be last live tourney of the year (beginning at about 7:30 or 8PM), followed by the first live tourney of the year starting after the stroke of midnight. It's being catered!! I also plan to get some more live poker jones in by heading to my club for an early bird tourney at 2pm tomorrow.

I get to wear the football tiara until the fall of 2009. I won the bet between Snake and I. Our agreement for the final week was the person behind got to send their picks to the other last. I had a 3 game advantage going into week 17. He tried to pull a bluff on me by emailing me his picks first. I didn't look at them when I received them so I had no idea that he made picks to throw me off. When he got my picks he had only picked two games differently and hence there was no way he could win. So re-studied his picks and picked 9 games differently which was the only way he could win. It was over after the early games when I ran out 9 and 1 or 10 and 1. So he will be taking me to Carrabba's on a night still to be decided.

For Xmas I got the first two seasons of Heroes on DVD and Season 4 of LOST so I can catch up on the first two seasons I never saw of Heroes and I now have all seasons of lost which I will sit down to and watch start to finish sometime. I also got the first season of Saturday Night Live on DVD. I was 15 when SNL debuted and am looking forward to seeing the early years with Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Garrett Morris etc. Besides that I got 40 years of Rolling Stone (cover to cover) on DVD. Every issue of Rolling Stone from inception to like May 2007 even with the ads to read at my leisure. I'll get to read every Hunter S Thompson article ever written for RS. Over the last year I really got into reading Matt Taibbi's political coverage for Rolling Stone (warning warning warning: if you bend to the right side you will not appreciate/agree or like his political commentary).

I am currently reading: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not only to the Scandi's breed some great poker players, they also gave us a brilliant author in Steig Larsson. It is totally unfortunate that he passed away after delivering this book and the manuscript for two others.

Snow again here in Upstate NY. I'm getting too old for this snow malarkey. Considering my dad owned a ski shop during my teenage-college years and I skied for like 30+ years its pretty pathetic to utter those words. I did that what city best fits you thingee. I was expecting Boulder or Seattle to come back as my top choices of where i should live, but I actually got Honolulu HI as my number one pick, followed by NYC (I was born in the Bronx!!)

Merry Christmas

My CPU to my desktop personal computer is in the shop for a busted fan. May not have it for a few days. I do have my laptop hooked up (finally)and can connect to the internet thru may main modem. I'm not wireless yet as my work computer is wireless over a VPN and I have to figure out how to configure my personal laptop without interfering with the work computer.

The first thing I downloaded after checking email was pokerstars!!! Pretty pathetic right?

I hope Santa was good to everyone. I still have Xmas #2 with my sister & dad tomorrow afternoon/early evening.

Going into week 17 of my season long football bet with Snake5970, I have a three game lead. I told him it is the football version of being shortstacked!!! Its been close all season long but I think I held the advantage for 12-13 weeks over the course of the season.

Icestorm: Beauty in the inconvenience

Here is a picture of a tree completely encapsulated in ice of about an inch thick. I didnt take this one but its a good example. When I drove by Shenendehowa High School on one of my many frequent trips back and forth to check on my house this weekend, the rows of trees looked beautiful and cast a completely silver glow. Most of the ice has melted or is melting as temperatures have warmed to the low 50's.

Water to my condo was turned back on at the main line about 8 AM. Many are still without power. time to toss the contents of my fridge and go grocery shopping. Kind of nice to start fresh with everything!!!



Natures Artwork

Icestorm- No longer a Semi refugee

I just got gas and electric, my digital phone, cable and internet back after almost 60 hours without power. Still no water as we turned the main water line off to my condo which has 8 units (4 up/4 down) to avoid the pipes freezing and breaking.

At the lowest point this AM my condo was 30 degrees as it had dropped to 16F or so during the nite. When I came back tonite to feed Bailey and check out the situation it had risen to 34 with temperatures rising by the half hour. It is now 51 degrees at casa IG.

I have a fridge/freezer half full of food that needs to be discarded. Luckily I had done no holiday baking yet.

Cleanup begins.... luckily I only have a four day week this week and I wont have to go into the office to do it.


Ill write more when I can and I took pictures of the trees uprooted right out of the ground. One just missed my SUV.

Poker for the People

You asked for it you'll get it. My aim is to please my readers and apparently real men don't care that Izzy is having sex with a dead ghost on Grey's Anatomy.

Last Sunday, I played really bad online poker. At one point, Snake called me as he was heading out of the woods to ask what I had going on and to get a Turning Stone recap and my statement was. "I'm playing really bad online poker" It was a chip spew and I just couldn't help myself. Fortunately it was mostly double or nothings and a few small buyin tourneys. But I think I cashed in one of like 4 DoN's and that was after I had won 4 in a row over 4 days.

But let's back up a bit. I played Dr Pauly's turkey shoot. After doubling thru Hoyazo: my QTos out of the BB vs his 88 with a ace and a ten on the flop and Hoyazo making an aggro quick all-in bet on the river which signaled he didn't want a call, we wound up coinflipping for the chip lead. Me JJ Hoy AK.. I hit a set, I think but a four flush or runner runner flush for Hoy left me with under 1k chips and I went out in 11th. For some reason I really wanted to win the Turkey shoot. Belated thanks to the lovely ladies: Change100 and Katitude for cheering me on at the end.

I used to be afraid of Hoy. Let's face it he is aggressive and has results to match and he is a thinking person's pokerplayer. He constantly studies and thinks about the game as all good/great players do. So, i would avoid tangling with him as I felt he could always outplay me especially if he had position on me. I've just never had the confidence in my online game that I do with my live game. I realized after discussing this with Snake that I really shouldn't treat the two games any differently. The only thing different about online play is I can't see you and I was putting two much importance on that.

Which brings me to the Bodonkey on Tuesday night. First appearance of Season II for IG. What can i say, I'm a slow starter. First hand I look down to pocket AA in the BB. Nate Avenson 3bets from EP... Woot. it folds around to me and I repop him with a three bet. Reraise back and all the chips in the middle with a classic AA vs KK on the first hand of the tourney situation. The rockets hold (this is Bodog not Full Tilt) and I surge to an early chip lead which I manage to build on and hold for most of the tourney. I did finish 4th turning T$11 into $39.60 but missed the extra T$ which are awarded for top three finishes.

Thursday nite I made a reappearance and I went out 11th when I raced with my nemesis Hoyazo again late in the tourney for either the chip lead or a top 3 stack and my IG (pocket 9's) got cracked by his AK when he spiked a K on the turn. Hoyazo did go on to win that night. What was more fun was catching up with two of my favorite bloggers Waffles for the second time in the week and MiamiDon. Since I never play on Full Tilt anymore and I have been playing more live I never see or chat directly with anyone. But MD and I had a good catch-up session on the girly chat. I also probably had Hoyazo and anyone else who takes notes erasing every note they ever had on me as to my ranges. I open raised with 86os and took a nice sized pot off of 23skidoo who stayed tied to his pocket 5's. 23skidoo probably felt there was not a card on board that would be in a hand IG would play that could have hit me. Don asked me if I had gotten all loose crazy over the past months and I said no not at all with a laugh.

The day after Thanksgiving (after one hour of early AM Black Friday Power shopping), I ventured up to Turning Stone aka TROCK with Action Hank and Mike and we were met up there by Bev (a horse racing handicapper for the Times Union) and her daughter. Deep stacks of 15k chips with a 1500 dealer add-on and 40 minute blinds for $242 buyin (you have to buy a $2 poker room card each day you play at TROCK) brought out 379 of Upstate NY and Canada's finest. Originally Turning Stone was only planning on 250 or so and they had to scramble to find dealers. I believe 400 was all they would have been able to handle. As it was I had a 45 minute wait to register and the tourney got off a little late.

At my first table I had a bunch of frequent 2+2 posters including an entertaining Canadian Pro from Ottawa whose real name is Frank, who would raise just about every hand and then when people finally started three betting him he would state: OMG this is so sick. He made the table fun even though he bordered on falling asleep to all out ADD. I think a first break bong hit may have calmed him done abit. I even offered to trade him my Canadian for USD as Im still walking around with about $30 of canadian paper money and loonies from my trip to Eh-Vegas in February. Our original dealer was an older dude who wasn't fond of the F-bomb and Frank almost incurred a penalty after F-bomb two which was said in casual conversation to yours truly when I mentioned Waterloo and Nenad Medic and he stated: Nenad Medic isn't part of the actual crew there I dont think and most of the dudes who say they are from there are losers. The young guns did concur that TIMEX is a balla though even though he is from Waterloo!! I did play a few hands really really well at my first table (I actually busted a young gun) and was complimented by a few of the young internet pros on them, and only made two small mistakes which werent for a lot of chips but were totally avoidable. Always good to get feedback like that.

I also had a blogger at my table, somehow the Bodonkey and Smokkee's name came up and a dude with a southern accent chimed in that he railed the table the night Rizen played but had to leave. I looked at him and said: I actually have met Smokkee and asked who he was. Turns out I had sometime blogger and Mookie winner JD Schellnut sitting right across from me. He was up for poker and some hunting from North Carolina. that loose aggro donkey (just joking :) smooth called 2+2er Rainetech's preflop raise with 74os or 75os. I three bet with QQ and JD called my raise after Rainetech folded. He wound up turning two pair on me and I lost the pot. I glared at him that it would not happen again next time we met up in a blogger tourney.

Anyway, I failed on my 2008 goal to cash in a live MTT with over 200 people for over 5k when I slowly oozed chips after my third table of the day. I finished 110th or so of the 379 with 40 paying. I was up early, then down then up then down down down all day. Never got anything going. Having AA utg twice early in a tourney is never a happy place. Hank had introduced me to another local: Ralph who I enjoyed chatting with after I actually got moved to his table. Ralph busted out a few hands before me. Also seated at this table was Canadian Pro Mark Karam, who apparently has had some great results on the EPT. He busted out before me and Ralph so I never actually really saw him play other then a few all in moves. A funny story from this table was about our local poker scene. Another Capital District local seated to Ralph's immediate left said he wanted to check out the local scene and how did he get in. I looked at him straight faced and said: "I or one of the club members has to sponsor you (this part is true) and we would take you there blindfolded and not take the blindfold off until you got there." The look on his face was priceless. I then winked at Ralph (who couldn't see the wink behind my prescription sunglasses) and said to the dude after a pause.... JOKING!!!! The old dude that busted me who had no chips when I got to the table and then became the chip leader at the table, was a mute with zippo personality who kept his head down and took forever to make a decision when it was his turn to act. I almost went TM (Tiffany Michele) on him and called the clock he annoyed me so much by doing absolutely nothing that should have annoyed me except taking too long to act.

I haven't been able to get down to the club lately, but hope to get back down once before Xmas or right after. I'm working Friday's now and have been since November 1st, rather then taking them off as I had been since June. I decided to try to carry 40 hours into next year so that will allow me to take almost every Friday off in 2009 after the first quarter is over and have two full weeks of vacation too. Amazing how much more time you have only working 4 days a week (36 hours for me in those 4 days)....So until then I wont be cracking AA with 9T of spades as I did last time at my first table. I turned trip tens (at first I put my opponent on AK or a small/mid pair with her preflop raise size at the blind level we were at. By the turn I knew she had a big overpair to the board). I got all my money in on a river with a possible flush on board but knew she didn't have the flush but she had to fear I did, (I had to laugh when my opponent stated: I forget shes an Internet player) and then on the same nite at table 2, I cracked this old grumpy ladies pocket KK's in the BB who screamed at me for calling her reraise. Heck she mentioned she was more of a cash game player then an mtt player (don't announce that to a table of skilled players lady) and she had just doubled up a short stack with a lame ass call of of the sb. I rightly pegged her as a defender who i could outplay and I was right. I then busted a luckbox calling station at the same table. When I got to the final table, one of the guys who had witnessed my 9T vs AA hand at my first table looked at this dude on my right and said " Watch out, if she hasn't tilted you yet she will!" I just smiled and said "I'm really really a sweetheart, all vicious beats have been on other women, they hate me you won't I promise!! I don't think I tilted the nice guy, I did bust him though!! Unfortunately it was Action Hanks birthday that day and I ultimately spewed my chips two him busting out third, Action Hank went out second and a young dude who was a newcomer who appeared to be a decent player took it down.

Truckin' - December 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 12

Check out the latest edition of Truckin' and all the back issues too. I'll let the good doctor do the rest as only a great storyteller can!!!

*********************************************************************************
By Pauly
Hollyweird, CA

And we're back with your favorite literary blogzine. We have a special year-end issue with a couple of Christmas themed stories. I contributed two stories this issue; a piece about my neighborhood in L.A. and the other is a dramatic Christmas story about a dysfunctional family that might resemble your own.



Truckin' - November 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 12

1. The Last Christmas by Paul McGuire
I adore the way you look. But your mother disapproves. It's that black shoe polish you have on your lips. When I was your age, the only people who dressed like that were the whores who stood on corners down in the Mission.... More

2. I Remember Christmas by May B. Yesno
I looked down at my cup, lifted a hand to the waitress for another coffee and started looking around the joint, noting the yellow brown walls a glass could stick to, if you placed a glass on it, and listened to the Christmas music being piped in... More

3. American Half-Breed by David Peterson
It is bitter cold and everywhere around me is ice and dirty snow. At my side is one of my prized possessions, an American Standard Fender Precision Bass Guitar. I don't want to do what I'm about to do, but I've run out of options. I open the pawn shop door and feel a blast of heat and the smell of tobacco smoke and desperation... More

4. Of All The Bars In NYC by Betty Underground
You know when you see someone and maybe it is the job you do or the frequency you travel to the same places, but you sort of recognize them and for some reason you can't put them in the context of where you are right then... More

5. Corner of Hopelessness by Paul McGuire
I have this odd fear that I'm going to get shanked by a gangbanger with a spork or mugged by one of the homeless people who live behind the dumpster and feast on half-eaten Jumbo Jacks and pieces of raggedly yellow leaves that they pass off as lettuce... More

Thanks to everyone for their support with Truckin' in 2008. I especially want to thank the writers from this issue and every issue this year. Your bloodwork is an inspiration to us all.

Don't forget to tell your friends about your favorite Truckin' stories!

PokerStars World Blogger Championship

It's back for another round and doing things a bit differently this year.

And while we are at it, Happy Birthday to Otis, of the PokerStars Blog, Up For Poker Blog and Rapid Eye Reality.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code: 626153

And if you read the fine print as to prizes it appears Pokerstars will be offering a spring version of its very successful WCOOP the SCOOP.

Grey's Anatomy - Plots that make you go HUH?

This is a short post to gripe. I didn't watch the early seasons of Grey's and missed the whole Izzy/Denny love story plot and the subsequent death of Denny.

So WTF is up with this Denny returning from the dead storyline with Izzy. Is Alex destined to be plagued with one nut job woman after another? He just got done with Rebecca. And what is up with Izzy having imaginary sex with a dead hallucination?

I'm just scratching my head.

I'd rather watch the Grey's interns practice cutting and stitching each other up which is at least more plausible. I also have no idea if the doctor with Asberger's syndrome character was a one shot story to make us forget about Erica being written out of the show or if she's to be a recurring character.

On an up note, I am really digging Sandra Oh's Cristina this year and am looking forward to seeing her and Dr McArmy's chemistry. Dr Bailey (Chandra Wilson) never disappoints either, she just always says the right things.

And maybe one day Mer/Der will have a normal adult relationship without a bunch of roommates, strays, half sisters, dead mothers diaries floating around. Too me they always appear to be two ships passing in the night. We need a little more focus on this core duo.

It's Tuesday Night and no ESPN poker

What's a girl to do now that the WSOP tuesday nite broadcasts are over and done with?

I get out of work too late for the high-rollers tournament at my club. SIGH

I could play the Bodonkey. (Maybe Thursday night or maybe next Tuesday night). I no longer jones for online poker.

I could watch 90210.. too late missed it.

Nope, I wrote the recap of my Michael Franti & Spearhead show over on Coventry. So go read it!!!

Music frees the mind and soothes the soul. Just what I need after a stressful day on the phones doing my day job.

Oh, and Snake and I are all tied up thanks to the Dallas win. I received a text message during the game of: I''ll let you get even with boys win!" He had made a bonehead move in the Philly/Giants game the previous week. He circled Giants in his NY Post but emailed me Philly as his pick. If I eek out a one game win at season's end it will be because of that game. But I made a bonehead pick earlier in the season too if I remember correctly.

Hey Now

I've been a busy beaver lately.

I had issues with my work phone which sent me into the office for two days. Oh the horror of working in an office. It's loud, it's noisy and it's distracting. But it was nice to see people.

I had two nice scores live on back to back weekends: 3rd and 5th. That made 4 final tables in 4 outings but only two cashes. On the week I limped to the final table and finished 10th, all hell broke loose when a club member was asked to leave for alleged cheating. I didn't see it myself so I'll hold to the old Lou Reed adage of "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see". I'm taking some of the winnings and using it for a buy-in at TROCK the day after Thanksgiving in their Deep Stack Series.

I was extremely happy with the outcome of the Election.

Snake5970 has a slim one game lead on me in our head to head death match. He took the lead last week for the first time all season. The Thursday nite games are killing me. Since I have to get my weekly picks in before i can study USA today's Friday section and look at the ESPN analysis, I feel hurried to make my pics.

I was rooting for Chino to take down the WSOP, Snake was rooting for Dennis Phillips. Snake came over to my house after spending all day in the woods and bagging his first deer of the season with bow and arrow. We ordered in Barbecue (no venison) and caught up and watched the final table. I of course already knew the outcome having spent most of November 9th following F-Train and Change100's excellent hand for hand coverage over on PokerNews, and the audio on Bluff. I woke up early Tuesday morning to see that Peter Eastgate had won (I couldn't help myself from looking). Snake hated the way Phillips played the Ak vs AQ hand and was disappointed in his overall play. I didn't know what the holdings were on that particular hand until the broadcast but remember reading it while following along on Pokernews (I hadnt pulled up the audio at that point) and agree 100%.

I did try to win a piece of Phillips in the final MDM tourney cashing for some cheese but no piece of him which required a top 100 finish. I had come close in my first MDM attempt trying to win a piece of Chino. From the sounds of it everyone had a piece of Chino!!!

The people who play the NLHE double or nothings on Pokerstars are the biggest nits. I still have not mastered winning a coinflip. And frankly if it becomes impossible to get money on and off online sites I will not shed a tear. I probably will sign up for one of those monthly fee sites like Bluff's for amusement and just play live. I have not played on Full Tilt since Waffles night back in October. I transferred all funds over to Stars and have been playing pretty much exclusively there or live.

I went out with BFF Kim Friday night. Vietnamese food to start and then Michael Franti & Spearhead concert for a girl's night out. Look for a post over on Coventry within the next day or so. Franti rocked the Palace theatre. It was my second time seeing him this year and he doesn't disappoint.

I went thru a ton of X-mas collectibles/ornaments/decorations I've acquired over the years and consigned them. Almost all of my Hallmark ornaments and all my Dept56 North Pole village accessories (I haven't decided to part with my buildings yet but they may go next weekend). I have no where to put the village up that would prevent Bailey from running amok thru it. And its just stuff I don't need. I've culled thru my vintage shiny brites and kept the good ones getting rid of the oddballs. I bought box lots of them on EBay or at garage sales and you get good with bad in a box.

I need the Dallas Cowboy's to win to draw even with Snake5970. He went against his team and picked the Redskins. He called me earlier for an update as he'd been holed up at a friends place since early Friday with no TV, internet or cellphone access. Saturday marked the first day of muzzleloading season so if you are a sportsman in Upstate NY Saturday was a holiday. Snake hunts on properties that are part of a consortium of landowners and hunters. The hunters not only hunt, they also actively monitor the deer population working with NYS DEC. Its sport but its also conservation. I know that sounds like a dichotomy but its true just ask Ted Nugent.

A Public Service Announcement-

I received this friendly reminder today:




I wanted to personally Thank You for pledging to vote through HeadCount. Your commitment to participate in the upcoming election is a meaningful first step - now it's time to follow through and VOTE on Election Day.

Together, we have a chance to truly make a difference.

If you have questions regarding your polling place, registration status, or anything else related to the election, please visit www.HeadCount.org or call 866-OUR-VOTE.

Thank You! See you at the polls.

- Bob Weir



HeadCount Mission:
HeadCount is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization dedicated to voter registration
and inspiring participation in democracy through the power of music.

I've exercised my right to vote each and every presidential election since 1980 which was the first year I could vote for president. I was attending the University of Colorado at Boulder at the time.

I'll be voting for CHANGE on Tuesday November 4th 2008.

Football week 7 and weekly recap.

I had a busy last few days. Mama IG had foot surgery to repair the toe next to her big toe last Wednesday and I had to take her to her post-op appt on Friday. She then took me out for a belated birthday lunch. I of course had to drive as her foot is in an elevated boot for two weeks until she can downsize to a flat foot thing. So I of course had friday off and ran first thing in the AM making it twenty minutes.

Thursday nite I got out of jail free; I mean work early as I had a dentist appt at 4:30 PM. there is no way I am coming home and working for an hour or two till 7PM when I'm off on friday. I am starting the weekend early and that means Starbucks trip. I had wanted to go play live poker but my mom requested I stay on stand by in case something happened and she needed me to respond asap. As it was she had a friend come over to keep her company for the evening. I watched my tv shows of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. I hadnt slept well the nite before and was tired so I'm glad I stayed home.

Jumping to Saturday, I ran in the AM again. I am up to twenty minutes and running 1.7 miles+ I'm definitely not down to ten minute miles yet but i added a long uphill into a new loop and i know im already covering more ground only a week into my "training regimen". I did errands in the late morning and prepared to head out to play the little "big' game. I call it the little big game because the buy-in was dropped a bit to $125 from its prior $140 to bring in more people at a new venue from where it previously was held. Poker report to follow.

Sunday I took mama IG to the Glenville Queen Diner where I had Eggs benedict and home fries my favorite. We then went down to Barnes and Noble and killed some time. My mom is not a football fan and she wanted to get some fresh air so I obliged. I also then brought in her hoses and dumped the dead plants and brought pots and plants in for her. When I arrived back home I went for some R& R which meant watching football, baseball and the Amazing race.

So IG's picks for the week were :

>> BUF>> CAR>> CHI>> PIT TEN>> MIA>> NYG>> DAL>> HOU>> IND NYJ WAS>> TB>>>> Monday game>>>> DEN POINTS - 45>>

Heading into the week the Snake vs IG challenge looked like this:
(IG) 56-32 (Snake) 54-34

Still holding my two game advantage.

Since its Monday I can announce early results . We we picked 4 games differently this week. Three of the games were early on Sunday. I swept Snake 3-0. We have picked tonights game differently. Me=Denver, he= NE. Can I run my lead out to 6 games?. Here's hoping so. I received a congratulatory text from Snake yesterday on my picks. I'm pretty sure he came right home from hunting and checked to see the standings. I did not rub it in when we spoke briefly post text message. He told me was in rough shape after two days of hunting and he could barely move. I jokingly told him he needs to get in shape and come running with me (not really possible since he has a steel rod in his upper back). He may run around in the woods a bit while hunting, but sitting in a tree stand waiting for a deer/turkey etc. to come by isn't exercise. I've already dropped 5 lbs from a diet change and from exercising (yeah i know its water weight).

I'm going to keep poker out of this post and reserve it for another one as there is too much to say.

NFL Week #6

Season record thru week 5:

IG 48-26
Snake 46-28

I won two of the three games we picked differently and moved back to a two game advantage. All picks are Straight up (SU) vs ATS (against the spread) in my three season long contests. This week Snake and I picked 4 games differently and they are all early games. I can sweat the games and then go play live poker.

California Rob's league looks like this:

JD 53 21 (has had two weekly wins this year)
JUNX 50 24
SOOZ 50 24
DOUBLED 48 26
GREER 48 26
IRONGRL 48 26 (yours truly... can hang with the boys on the field as well as the felt)
SAL 48 26
SBCCVAQ 48 26

followed by the rest of the league: DOM 47 27 JACK 47 27 TY 47 27 POPS 46 28 VELIO 46 28 RUMBLER 45 29 BIGD 44 30 51 43 31 JMW 43 31 RT 43 31 (California Rob & league commish himself) STEVEM 43 31 ZILLI 43 31 RJW 42 32 SCHOTTS 42 32 WILL 42 32 PMILLER 41 33 RAK 41 33 CU 40 34 LJF 40 34 V 40 34 MAYBE 38 36


I'm in a multi way tie for 14th place in the Tao of Poker league 5 games out of first place with 48 points. there is 1 at 53, 1 at 52, 1 at 51, 4 at 50 pts, and 6 at 49, 7 at 48 (includes me) there are about 82 of us who have picked all 5 weeks left.

My picks for this week:

WAS> CHI> HOU> BAL> MIN> NO> NYJ> TB> DEN> DAL> PHI> GB> SD> >
Monday game> > NYG > > POINTS - 45>

It's really really nice to be able to watch your alma mater play on national TV 5 of the first 6 weeks of their season. It is not nice to watch them lose three weeks in a row. CU lost to Kansas in a game that got away from them totally in the second half. Cody Hawkins was pulled by his coach who happens to be his father to give the backup QB Matt Ballenger some experience for the second week in a row. What i saw left me scared for the future. Where is Kordell (Stewart) or Koy (Detmar)? I flipped the channel in despair to watch the much better game of Texas vs Oklahoma.

Congrats to Texas (who beat up on CU last week) for beating Number #1 Oklahoma. I know all to well the anguish that was on the faces of the Sooner fans as they left the stadium late in the 4th quarter. I remember all to well the sea of Sooner Red and sea of Cornhusker Red in my stadium during my college years.

Although my hammies were sore today when i woke up, I took to them with a quick roll of my massage stick and I hoofed it out the door for another 15 minutes of slogging (I cant call it jogging just yet). My baby loop is 1.3 miles just about and I beat it down the line at about 11:30 mile pace. Short of stopping to double knot my shoe I have not had to mix jogging with walking. Tomorrow I will take the day off and be back at it Wednesday AM. I came back inside to watch an ESPN story on a San Diego triathlete who was killed in the first fatality in 50 years from a great white shark attack. Of course I had tears welling from my eyes. Read the compelling story here.


Yours truly the real Ocho Cinco (eat your heart out Chad Johnson!!!) at the West Point triathlon circa August 2002 or 2003. My arms and legs are both toned and although not as thin as when i was solely a runner I was in awesome shape. My goal is to achieve that body composition once again.

Inspiration move me brightly

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu- Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)


Maybe its because this is the weekend of the Hawaii Ironman World Championship in Kona which is streaming live at Ironmanlive.com as well as the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon which yours truly directed for 5 years from 2000-2005. Or maybe its because its a beautiful fall day with a nip in the air with the leaves turning. Or just maybe its because on Monday (10/13) I turn 48 and the my usually curvy boobs and butt are noticeably fuller and untoned and Ive developed a bit of a Buddha belly.

A stint on Dancing with the Stars would certainly help me get in shape and I can dance. Although never formally trained in ballroom, I do have classical ballet and jazz and modern dance training in my background. Unfortunately, I am not even a D list celebrity (maybe a D-list poker blogger). I could join the likes of Chris Berman, Chris Carter, Mike Golic, Dan Marino and Marie Osmond (who I share a birthday with) and join the NutriSystem bandwagon.

But the surest fire way for me to get in shape is to get off my lazy cerebral, poker playing ass and begin running. The seed was planted earlier this year when i saw the launch of the Xterra trail running series held in conjunction with the Xterra triathlon series. It was further planted when I got together this summer with one of my oldest & dearest friends, Debbie up at the Saratoga racetrack and we talked about our old adventures and how we should have tried out for the Amazing Race (both of us are former running club presidents, race directors, snowshoe racers, trail runners). Debbie will always have a place in my heart for trying to teach me to Mt bike and laughing at me during my numerous falls off the bike including almost cracking my elbow. She didn't even blink an eye when I took a tumble off her $3000 Serotta.

I had even suggested a weight loss prop bet to Snake prior to his trip to Vegas. he begged off saying he couldn't start prior to Vegas. Instead i listened to his tale of overindulgence at Lawry's the Prime Rib and the Palm Steak House. I mean if Mike Matusow can lose 60 lbs, IG can certainly lose 10-20 lbs (15 is the goal). JLo completing the Nautica Malibu Triathlon further inspired me.


Today I laced up my Adidas trail runners and ran for the first time in a long time. I made it 15 minutes without stopping and wore no watch (my Timex Ironman is lost) but did carry my cell to at least have an idea of time run. I felt great then shitty, then great then shitty. Same as it always is. I wore no IPOD, I wanted to get my breathing in sync with the movement of the rest of my body. When I found myself running the tangents instinctively, I chuckled and decided to run the curves. I'm a pretty relaxed runner, i carry my arms relaxed and I'm pretty efficient but damn if my legs didn't feel like tree stumps! Not the same as when you transition from the bike to the run but towards the end they were leaden.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow. My goal is to run at least 4 days a week but I'll start at 3 days

October TRUCKIN' Pimpin

I've only been playing a little poker lately. As the Sheryl Crow song goes: "A Change will do you Good" . Instead, I've been reading and watching alot of the new TV season including college and NFL football. Something, I haven't done much of over the last four years.

When I am playing poker, I'm hungry and focused. I final tabled my last live tourney just about two weeks ago (cash bubble girl) and I finished 432nd of 13626 trying to win a piece of MDM (Million Dollar Man) David "Chino" Rheem. I missed a piece of Chino (top 100 get .01% of his winnings) but did convert 500 FPP's into $31.50 of cold hard cash. I'm about 70 FPP's short of trying for a piece of another MDM. My choice would be the Ruskie Ivan Demidov who did the unthinkable, he final tabled the WSOP Main event still to be played and final tabled the WSOP-Europe Main Event.

I noticed Pokerstars has these new double or nothing SNGs. Kind of like the bankroll builders on Bodog or Cake Poker. In this case no graduated payments for the top 5 instead top 5 finishers of ten earn just about their buyin back. Seems to me to be a +EV way to build a bankroll.

One of my favorite ways to spend a day off rainy or otherwise is in a bookstore. I'm a fast reader without utilizing speed reading techniques. When my attention span or lifestyle kept me from reading full length magnum opi, magazines and short stories could still command my attention. So it is fitting that for the first time I pimp Truckin' on my blog. Some of my favorite poker bloggers are regular contributers and show off their literary chops. If you enjoy the stories send Mr McGrupp an email to be added to the monthly ezine mailing list. You won't be disappointed.


Truckin' --- http://mcgtruckin.blogspot.com/

Truckin' - October 2008, Vol. 7, Issue 10

Welcome back to another issue.

1. Maisy Wednesday by Paul McGuire She always wore bright lipstick which brought out a little gleam in her lips. She frequently smiled, but never initiated any sort of conversation... More

2. Happy Anniversary by John 'Falstaff' Hartness As we stood outside the courthouse in our newly wedded bliss (which also somewhat resembled the look of people who have just survived a tornado, as it happened much faster than we expected) we decided that since Suzy didn't have to be at work for another couple of hours, we'd go have lunch. So we scraped together a few bucks and trundled over to a nearby McDonald's... More

3. A Lock of Bonnie Parker's Hair by Johnny Hughes They was real famous and in the newspapers and all robbing them banks, when banks were unpopular. I asked Bonnie for something to remember her by. We didn't have a pencil for an autograph. She pulled this little pair of scissors out of her purse and gave me this... a lock of her hair... More


4. Whiskey Kisses by Betty After Dark Held apart by distance and circumstance, brought together in soft voices, the pieces of who we are fill the room with every drink we pour. The gaps in our lives slowly closing as the light from the window crept into the room. There was something unavoidable that connected us, but the details were never as clear as they were this night.... More


5. What I Knew? by Dusty Rhodes Just walk up and ask her you idiot... You've been friends for four years... she doesn't have a date and either do you... Quit being a pussy and ask her... Christ dude... what are you nervous about... More


Peace!!!

NFL Week 5

My Week 5 picks:

>> TEN>> CAR>> CHI>> GB>> IND>> SD>> NYG>> WAS>> TB>> AZ>> DAL>> NE>> JAX>>>> Monday game>>>> NO>>>> POINTS - 40>>

Stats thru Week 4:

IG 39-21 (all three of my season long contests)

SNAKE5970 38-22

I'm hunkered down with Costco's yummo shrimp salad and a Trader Joe's Flourless Chocolate Cake.

CU (3-1) plays Texas (4 & 0 and ranked #5) at 7 PM on FSN.

I may try to win me a piece of David "Chino" Rheem thru the MDM thing on Pokerstars. I've played no poker since live Sunday.

I'm patiently waiting for my copy of Rocking the Cradle: Egypt '78 (2 Cd's and a DVD) plus Road trips IV From Egypt With Love. I ordered it as an early birthday present to myself thru Deadnet.

PHISH PHISH PHISH !!! to REUNITE

Go see Dr Pauly's post on Coventry

Russ Hamilton Named in UB Superuser cheating scandal

Click here for the Cardplayer Magazine article. The sum of 60 million has been edited to $6.1 million. Others to be named. And if anyone ever listened to the PokerRoad podcast with Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok we now know Russ Hamilton is a liar as well as a cheat.

But then again didnt he load his pockets up with cans to win a weight prop bet?

Hope they take his picture down from the Amazon Room.

Football picks week #4/week in review

Well I'm trying to do a weekly post on picks and my results, as I am the scorekeeper for the IG/SNAKE game and have to do it anyway. So here were my picks for all three leagues for the week:

CIN> JAX> ATL> DEN> NO> AZ> TB> TEN> SD > BUF> DAL> PHI> > Monday game> > PIT> > POINTS - 48

I had a blech week as you can see... 6-6 heading into tonites game.. The Snake vs IG challenge saw Snake pull within one of a tie for the season top spot. We picked three games differently and he won two of those three. Obviously this week saw me fall in both Tao of Poker and California Rob's league. I suppose I could call that the California techies/420'ers league as I'm sure most of them are techies (programmers, hardware and software developers etc) and I know at least one still smokes them if hes got them!!

I knew this was a week that the horrible teams would need to show they had a reason take the field for the rest of the season and there were some division leaders who look better then they are. That is the trick isn't it? seeing which of the match-ups would upset the apple carts. I went with the majority and picked favorites.

Sadly my 3-0 CU Buffs are now 3-1 as we lost to Florida State. Our QB Cody Hawkins, son of the coach threw a few interceptions in the early goings which put lots of points on the board for the Seminoles. And then penalties killed any hopes of CU gaining ground on FSU. It was such a disappointment for me and it ran for like 4 hours (that is with no OT!!) that i fell asleep in the 4th quarter and slept thru my concert. I was supposed to head over to Troy to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals but woke up too late and bleary to want to get myself together to see if i could catch any of the show. I think the change in the seasons is running havoc with my allergies and sinuses.

I finished 2nd in a little forum freeroll on Bodog a few nites ago. Two months ago i was second in same tourney. Thanks to LJ for staking me in the Mookie on Waffles nite. I played but went out really early on a typical FTP hand. I get nothing playable and when I do get a pair its an overpair to the board but a person in later position has a bigger overpair to the board and all the money goes in post flop etc etc. blah blah blah. Im always going broke on-line there. Live I can actually get away from those scenarios. I had withdrawn all my money off FTP and if it hadnt been for her transfer I wouldnt have played. I have no intentions of playing on FTP anytime soon so my appearances in blogger tournies will be NADA.

I played live last nite. I finally got it going on about three-four blind levels in. Then when my table broke, I got moved and my nice chip stack got depleted when I raised from EP with a strong hand and got reraised I think from one of the blinds or the button. I made the call and got away from the hand for a severe dent when I flopped air and I saw my opponent flash KK into the muck. Lets just say he had most of my outs there and AK sucks. I went down to a low of 4k from about 17k in chips in the course of a like two hands. I worked that stack back up to over 40k with some open shoves that no one called but I scooped blinds. Then a double up when I needed it when i flopped two pair(top and bottom) in a three way pot and checked first to act. A check behind and an all in from a bigstack with just top pair for him. I called and my two pair held. A few other big hands were raked in by me.

There was a lot of HBL'ing (high blind limping) going on. And I actually love it although I try not to be the first to do it because if i do I only do it if its a hand i may call a raise with depending on the number of people still in the pot. HBLing builds pots and if you flop a monster in position you get paid off. Only the real aggro guys 3-Bet so that is a tactic reserved for the final table But at the final table there was really no HBLing, that i could take advantage of and i was miserably card dead (92os three times in my big blind doesnt help and if i hadnt been raised out of one of the hands it would have flopped a boat!!!) There were 281k chips in play so with my 40k plus stack I was up near the chip lead, but there were probably 4 of us with about the same and maybe one with a little more. The shorties were shoving for their lives and some people pushed others out of hands when the correct play would have been to keep other strong hands in to knock out someone. I saw my chips dwindle and when I finally called the BB with 107os (the Negreanu) and hit trip tens on a board of TT6 I checked. Marilyn who is a very good player shoved and of course i called with my trips only to see she had flopped a boat with pocket 66's. I couldnt catch the case ten or a 7 for a bigger boat and IGH. Out 8th on the money bubble as they chopped in 7th place.

No poker for me for a few days probably. Heroes, my newest favorite show is on tonite, as is football. Thursday I will be out of town for the day and Friday I am going out to dinner and to see Le Grand Cirque as an early birthday outing (my bday isnt till the 13th but the show is a touring Cirque and only here October 3rd-5th). I have never seen one in Vegas so am looking forward to it.

And the financial debacle this country is in has made me cautious as far as spending any money. Fortunately one of my former employers who I have a pension thru was taken private when American Express sold parts of Shearson Lehman Hutton off in bits and pieces and is now part of Goldman Sachs. THEY LIVE!! I have a little blog post planned on some history I was round about part of in an outsider kind of way when i have some time.

Weekend End

First go wish Dr Pauly a happy birthday. I happened to be catching up on PokerNews yesterday. The lovely Change100 is covering WSOPE over in merry old England, handling live blogging duties (as well as also covering WCOOP for the Pokerstars blog). I knew she hadn't posted on Pot Committed in a bit and when I went to her blog I saw her post for the good doctor. The stinker kept it quiet and didn't even mention it on Tao of Poker/Pauly or Coventry. Nor did he drop it casually in an email I got from him (we are both Wall Street alums or rats who left the sinking ship that is our financial system).

Here are IG's Week III football picks. Remember they are straight up not against the spread:

> ATL> BUF> NYG> NE> TENN> TB> AZ> CAR> DENVER> SanFran> SEA> PHILLY> BAL> INDY> DALLAS> > Monday game> > SanDiego> > POINTS - 45

Congratulations to local phenom Shaun Deeb for taking down the WCOOP Event #25 - PLO w/rebuys for a cool $144k.

Big thank you and props to Waffles

I know a lot of folks were recently burned by lending money to other bloggers (or one in particular). That didn't even dawn on me when I asked to trade Pokerstars for Full Tilt. Waffles was the first and only blogger to respond to my plea. We exchanged a few comments and when I got home from Starbucks Thursday night the money was in my Stars account without me having shipped to him on Full Tilt. We didn't even have a girly chat going. I promptly shipped him what i had on full tilt ($13 less due to a Mookie buy-in) and the balance back on Stars.

Normally Snake5970 is who I do business with but he hadn't played on Full Tilt in months ( WSOP Main Event multi-seat giveaway was it) and has no desire to do so at least for the present time so a plea to someone who plays mostly on Full Tilt was going to be my best shot.

So thank you Waffles for not only helping me out but for posting those nice remarks on your blog about my trustworthiness. I know there are a few others out there who can vouch for me but they aren't part of the normal blogger crew who plays on Full Tilt.

So my FTP balance is now at Zero. It is easy to get money on to the site but difficult as all hell to get it off. I mean you have to fax in ID and do a bunch of other calisthenics and for what I had on there it wasn't worth it . I have plenty of money on Bodog (horse racing winnings) and plenty of $T on Bodog to last me till next year for poker buy-ins but had decided I wasn't going to redeposit onto any site. Plus you cant do player to player transfers on Bodog. I prefer playing on Pokerstars vs Full Tilt for numerous reasons. Plus its easier to withdraw. I mean they send you a check without you having to provide proof of who you are and its to you in a few days and they never bounce.

As for the IG vs Snake Pigskin Challenge I maintained my two game advantage thru week II. We picked 5 games differently and split on 4 of them. The other game was the rescheduled Baltimore vs Houston game. So I maintained my week I lead.

Current standings: IG 20-11
Snake 18-13

(BTW I can hang with the experts over at Bristol University and then some. I think they need some girl power in their expert analysis).

I keep getting these delusional emails from Snake that I better start bowing to the king because all my homework is/will be for naught. He also wanted to know how much I paid Ed Hochuli for that blown call in the Broncos-Bolts game as I had picked the Broncos. I mean really he must be joking right???!!!! He knows I take my football as seriously as I take poker (at least the live version) and this is going to be 17 weeks of tough competition.

And how about them CU Buffs!!!! I will admit it was a little hokey listening to John Denver's Rocky Mt High whenever they featured CU and Country Roads when they featured West Virginia. But there can't be a more beautiful setting for a college football game. I'm just jealous we never had Thursday night games broadcast on ESPN when I was attending CU. Of course ESPN much like MTV was in its infancy when I was attending school. Besides my Buffs were horrible circa 1980-1982 and would never have been featured on a national prime time broadcast. I mean Jim McMahon was attending BYU at the time and passed for a gazillion yards each time he had the ball when BYU played CU back in 1981. How horrible were we: 1980-1981 record was 1-10, 1981-1982 record was 3-8, 1982-1983 record was 2-8-1 (a tie is a win right?).

**IG graduated CU in May 1983 earning two degrees (Business & Psychology which serve me at the poker tables today) . I attended Boulder for three years, my first two years were at the University of Vermont.

I''ll have my week III picks up tomorrow.

Meet Ralphie V (aka Blackout)

She's a beauty but at only about 500 lbs she hasn't reached top weight which can be up to 1300 lbs for a female bison. Ralphie IV is still alive and well but is semi-retired.

Here is V at her Spring Debut. She slipped her harness and all but one of her handlers

For the histoy of Ralphie's I thru V click here.

FTP to Pokerstars swap anyone?

Contact me by email or send me an IM. Or leave a comment. I want to move what I have on FTP over to stars. Its only $122.74.

I'll do the transfer with any of the regular blogger crew.

NFL Week 2

My CU Buffs are off till Thursday night when we play ranked West Virginia, but I am gearing up for the OSU Buckeyes vs the USC Trojans which should be a ballgame. I know this gal will be rooting for her Buckeyes.

The Minnesota Vikings rivered me as usual and I wound up falling to third in California Rob's league. I told him he iced me when he emailed me to wish me luck and that he had a feeling I would take it down. His reply was: "Nah, you can't ice a real roll, your fate has already been decided, we're just gonna find out what fate's decision was tonight."

I did take a two game lead on Snake5970 in our heads=up season long challenge and I finished in a multiway tie for second in the Tao of Poker's ESPN pick-em league.

I'm not going to be as entertaining with my analysis as this dude or this dudette. In fact I'm not going to provide any witty or deep analysis at all. Here are IG's picks for this week:

CIN> JAX> KC> IND > CAR> GB> NYG > NO> TB> SEA> NYJ> DEN> AZ> HOU> PIT> > Monday game> > DAL> points 43 for Rob's league and vs Snake5970, 44 for Tao league.

Congrats are in order to Action Hank. His horse: Battle of Britain won (and broke her/his maiden) at Delaware Park on Tuesday. BoB was stabled at Saratoga during the meet but never ran and I know Hank was disappointed about that. Per Snake5970 he went off at about 4:1 odds. Snake's horses have still not left the barn but one may debut in October.

How about the "I hit bottom pair so will call a pro's post flop bet and suck out two pair with 62os on him move" during Tuesday nights WSOP broadcast by Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. That was the most painful poker I have watched. I almost didnt want to mention it because he could kick my ass but ZOMG!!!

Observation/rhetorical question while railing some WCOOP (because its much better watching a pro get two outed on riverstars then it is being two outed yourself). Does AK ever win against a rag ace on pokerstars? Inquiring minds want to know.

Time to plate up my deli sandwich (from Gershon's) with kosher dill pickle and shrimp and settle in for some football.

Football Musings

So it looks like the Patriots have lost Tom Brady for the season. I'm not sure if California Rob loves the Pats (and Red Sox for that matter) more then Phish. It may be too close to call there but my condolences to him if so. I read an interesting tidbit in USA today I believe, that for the first time in a long time Brady was not listed on any injury report leading up to Sunday's game, meaning he would start. Maybe that was a curse. I know he didn't take a snap at all in preseason. Maybe he was a bit rusty.

How about Brett Favre? I mean I have to get excited about a 40- something scrambling around on a football field (I mean he is hot in that Wrangler's commercial!!!). And being a NYer I do root for the Jets and Giants (and have been to quite a few Jets games).

As for my football results, I'm in the hunt for the weekly win for California Rob's pool. I need Minnesota to win and then it will go to the Monday nite game points tiebreaker. One dude is 11-3 right now. I'm tied for second in a three way tie. We all picked Denver to win. I am the only one who picked Vikes over Green Bay. I'm also in a multi-way tie (before tonights games) for 2nd in Dr Pauly's Tao of Poker ESPN pick-em league. VinNay is in a tie for first. My guess is he picked the Bills (being a western NYer) and that was a big win for the Bills over Seattle. Seattle does not look like a super-bowl contender after that loss. As for the Snake5970 vs IG steel-cage heads-up challenge I currently have a one game lead. If Denver wins make it two. We have decided that the winner takes the other to dinner at Carrabba's at season's end. Just another game in our mixed game rotation. I missed out on Miami Don's survivor league and I'm playing no pure fantasy football leagues with drafts etc.

My Colorado Buffs won over the Eastern Washington University Eagles, who I dont think we ever played before. I just checked and I'm correct we had never played EWU. Next week things get a bit dicier as we play West Virginia (another 1st time game) currently ranked in the top 25 (24th or 25th depending on the poll). I'm excited about this because it will be a Thursday nite game broadcast on ESPN on September 18th.

I did not see any of the VMA's. From what I have heard on various message boards Russell Brand, the Brit host (a former junkie well lets just make him an addict ) was unfunny. Of course Brit humor is an acquired taste so I dont know if this is true or not. The new issue of Rolling Stone has an article on Brand titled Stand-Up's New Bad Boy.

I do not watch the Hill's I caught a clip where Spencer called Heidi (yes I know who they are thanks to their frequent appearances in EW and other weekly magazines) down to his car while she was working to address an issue. First of all, I would never have left my job on company time to hold court with a boyfriend. Okay, I forget that this is" reality TV". The issue was that Heidi's older sis is crashing with them and she erased three shows of his that he had TIVO'd. Oh, the horror. So, I found him completely annoying and the male version of a dumb blonde. Another annoyance for regular Hill's viewers was that MTV had all these banners up for the VMA's during the Hills and it covered up half the Hills dialogue and stuff that was being posted at the bottom of the screen.

Yesterday was the clamsteam poker tourney. When I sat down I decided to adjust any expectations for the day. I felt like I was playing a senior citizen's version of no limit holdem. I decided to just have fun and just roll with it by not taking the game seriously. Snake5970 was having issues of his own at his table. The dealers, folded themselves out of turn at his table, and didnt act as table captains. Snake even said to me, about one person at his table who I had taken several huge pots off of the Friday nite before and given him my dead on assessment of... 'That woman you told me about, is a miserable bitch." I reminded him that she was just as miserable the one other time we all were seated together at the former APL location. There are some good solid players amongst the older then me set ( Action Hank and Marilyn) but they were outnumbered by the weak tight, no foldem holdem, chasers (who shall be unnamed).

We started with 6k in chips, 20 minute blinds (vs the usual 10k chips Shane's tourney's usually start with) since we had to be out of there by 8PM and had about an hour break for our dinners. I figured if I bust out early I can go suck down more raw clams. I could get nothing going. When a new player got moved to our table and raised, I shoved all in with AKc since I only had about 4k left and I'll shove when calling a raise amounts to 25% of my stack. Into KK I ran and i was down to scraps. From a low of 375 chips I quaded up on the next hand with AJ, and got back to 4k+ after three allins in a row with AJ, AQ, 88. With the blinds at 300/600 and me in the BB an early position player raised to $1600. Again that was more then 25% of my stack so I shoved again with AQ ran into QQ and to the rail I went. I mean I'm not going to waste my time and wait for a hand or blind a way to nothing. My motto is chip up or go home!!. As Chad and I said there is no difference in going out first, 15th or on the bubble. I'm playing to put myself in position to win. So this was my first none final table in my last 5 outings. Got it out of my system and Ill be ready to roll again come this weekend.

A lovely day off for IG. I went over to Border's and browsed thru the magazine racks. Spending time in a book store has to be one of my most favorite ways to spend an afternoon off. I sat down latte in hand and combed thru ESPN the magazine and Rolling Stone. I had a desire to read MAD magazine which I loved as a kid but couldn't find at my smallish Border's. I made a list of some books I want to read, one being The Road by Cormac McCarthy which Dr Pauly himself just read. I also checked out Eat Love Pray which LJ just read.

On Saturday at Target, for $19.99 I picked up the first season of a show I loved: Millennium. Does anyone remember that show starring Lance Henriksen? It was by Chris Carter of X-files fame. It appears that a millennium movie may be in the making. I also just found out that next month all three seasons will be released in a box set.

Soon it will be time to order a pizza and wings and settle in for some Monday Night Football. Does life get any better?. I suppose if I had a flat panel Big screen TV with a Bose sound system to watch it on it would be. Add in a profitable night of poker and chocolate cake and it would be enough to curl my toes!!!!

Poker & Clams, Football and Ponies

There is joy in IG-land. My CU BUFFs opened with a win against our in-state rivals the CSU Rams which in recent years has been our traditional season opener. Then the defending SuperBowl champion Giants opened with a win over the Redskins last night. Funny in all the years that the Giants have held summer camp at the University at Albany, I have never attended a training camp session. I have however, run by their practices and thru a calvacade of occupied Giants SUVs while marathon training on the University of Albany and State office building campus grounds.

I'm entered in Dr Pauly's Tao of Poker free ESPN pick-em league which operates much the way California Rob's football pool runs. I'm entered in Rob's league once again and carry the honors of being the participant who lives 3000 miles from everyone else. Mostly a bunch of techie guys that Rob works with or worked with. We pick the games without the spread. Snake5970 and yours truly are also having a season heads up death match. Will I be able to pick football better then he can pick horses?

On Saturday I pulled a rabbit out of my hat. Albeit it was two horses in the Forego stakes race during the last weekend of the Saratoga meet. I happened to read an online Times Union article about a horse out of Mr Greeley. They also mentioned another horse. On a whim i decided to box those two horses along with the favorite in a $1 exacta box ($6 total). Well dang the two horses came in and my $6 bet paid $276. Of course i regret not having $12 or more invested for the big score. I have to play hours of poker to get a score like that. Much easier to throw darts at two horses names and only sweat for 2 minutes or so!!!!

I am looking forward to this Sunday: Lots of football, plus a poker tourney and clambake combo at a local venue. Most of the regulars I play against will be in attendance and Snake5970 will also be making a local appearance. We never teamed up on any superfectas so Sunday may be the day as OTB is only a hope skip and jump from the picnic grounds.

My buddy Ringtone Rich was up in Canada over the Labor Day holiday visiting his fiance and emailed me this article about a shooting outside the River Cree casino while a major poker tourney was in progress. You can check out the article here.

Mohegan Sun's new poker room is now open. I got this email from Casino City Times about the new state of the art poker room and Casino of the Wind. Mohegan is hosting a full slate of daily tourneys. October will offer their first major event with a $750k guaranteed superstack tourney. The buy-in for this is only $1000 which is a far cry cheaper then Foxwoods Mega-stack series or Borgata's Deep Stack tourney.

While on the subject of poker. Go send congrats to Evy on her final table and 20k score at the $300 buy-in Borgata event. WTG girl!! If it weren't for the clambake tourney I probably would have been headed to AC for one of the Borgata events.

I ran into two friends from the old running days in the Hannaford parking lot in Clifton Park today. I have known Dick and his wife Teresa since I was a young spry fast filly of 31 (16 years) . While catching up with Dick we heard "I know you two!!" and it was another running friend Joe who is a 70+ runner now and still going strong whereas Dick and I are off our feet. Both men have endured some pretty serious health issues but look great. One of these years it will be time to get moving again.

I watched America's next top model (cycle 11) the other night. Hats off to the real lady of the bunch Isis. She is the first transgender (pre-op) contestant on the show. While the other girls are worrying about her being there and if she should be there and going on the model version of tilt. Isis is behaving with class and dignity. Hope she rises above the fray much like Heather did last year.

I also caught most of the new 90210 last nite. I loved the original one (what gal didn't love Dylan McKay?) and Melrose Place. Rob Estes, who was on Melrose and who is now on the new 90210 makes it much easier on my eyes. Is it me or did he get better looking as he got older. I'm also looking forward to Christian Slater's show debuting as well as the return of Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty.

Be sure to read the Pokerstars blog during WCOOP. CK is working for the blog while F-train toils away on the other side of the world in Macau.

A trip to Starbucks is in order before I watch me some shorthanded WCOOP no limit holdem. Sitting out live tourney action tonite as I have to get up early to get my hair colored (meaning my touch of greyness touched up).

Politics

I watched zippo of the conventions. Although I usually consider myself a tree hugging/left leaning hippie chick who loves to recycle I feel both major parties are out of step with the American people. BFF Kim and Mama IG were moved off their socks by OBAMA. My fondest memories of the Reagan Administration was that I was out on Dead tour for most of the decade of the 80's and its mostly a blur. I cant say the same about the W years.

This guy recently weighed in on the conventions. Quite the uproar from the left leaning bloggers in the comments. This guy (who is an awesome writer) summed up precisely why I feel the way I do about our current administration and the legacy the past eight years will leave:

Goat Quote follows:

I don't know if I am "the left", but I'm angry because the president has acted with astonishing arrogance in the past eight years. I'm angry because he claimed and was given a habeas corpus exemption. I'm angry because he has been found to have been illegally wiretapping the citizens of this country with an illegal program that is illegal, and continually lied about the extent of that program.

I'm angry because so many people who allegedly want a small, non-intrusive government support this yahoo, and don't see the irony.

I'm angry because we went to war under false pretenses, and stayed without ever defining the mission. I'm angry because we went from surplus to record deficits in record time through. I'm angry because my kids are going to have to foot the bill.

I'm also sad. I'm sad because our leaders these many years now lead those of us that they still lead, not by inspiration toward a common theme, but by the nose, using our own fear as the ring. "Be afraid, be very afraid" indeed.

I'm sad because we seem so eager to toss the real freedom of the Constitution in the name of our safety and comfort, and we call it "resolve", not realizing that true resolve would be to accept the danger that our freedom brings us, and hold fast to our ideals.

Either we are a nation of principles or we aren't. Right now, we aren't. If a nation can have a debate over whether or not torture is OK, that nation has lost it's way.

I'm hoping we find it again.

That's why we blah blah blah yammer yammer yammer about hope all the time.

Get it now?

Well Said Julius Goat. Very Well Said.

Turning Point with Online Poker

I had two live final tables this weekend Friday nite 8th place and Sunday nite 10th place but alas no cashes in them. Regardless the fact that I can consistently achieve these results proves that I can definitely play live. Without a doubt when i sit down in a live MTT in my local area i fully expect I can win.

Online is a different story. After bouncing out of the Sunday nite game in 10th running 99 into QQ when I open shoved I went home and fired up Pokerstars. I blew thru some coin there and yesterday same old same old on full tilt. Nothing to speak of and my accounts are $150 or so lighter between tourney fees and money lost in PLO8. I bubbled two sngs in 4th and went deep in the 32k on stars and the $22 deepstack on stars but nothing to speak of.

So I decided that I may ban myself on stars/Ftp for awhile and just stick to live play. My stars balance is down to like high $4 and that was after a miniscule cash which amounted to a double up of my account in a PL08 tourney. I was down to under $3.

I dont want to be a player who bleeds money and maybe once in a blue moon wins a big one to get them unstuck or slightly unstuck. I honestly believe I would need to win a sunday major to ever be an in the black MTT player online. I think that is true for most of us. I honestly think most of us delude ourselves into thinking we beat the online game.

I need real chips, real people and real cash in hand to make this game work for me it seems.

High Heels Poker Tourney - Turning Stone 08/23/08

I went out on a brutal river beat (when down to three tables in about 27th place) when blinds were 400/800 with Ante $100 and I had position. The hand would have given me just about twice the average chip stack and I would probably have been one of the chipleaders. I called the $2400 raise with AQ and it was a three way pot. The flop came QJx. The woman first to act in the hand led out for 5k (I think she was a TROCK dealer) . A local woman called and after tanking a bit I repopped to 10k. The "dealer" lady shoved with KJ (2nd pair) and rivered a K to knock me down to T2400 and scoop a 40k pot. Ouch and its still not sitting well with me this morning. (Flopped quad Kings and Queens on pokerstars in my satellite for the 200k are not making me feel better)

Snake5970 couldn't make the trip but he called me after I texted him by bust-out. He thinks I should have just shoved the AQ. Regardless, I would have gotten the call and the outcome would have probably been the same.

Regardless, I had a good time meeting both Lauren from High Heels Poker Tour and Robyn from PMS Pokerwear and chatting with them. Robyn was at my first table and was out early after her turned flush was run down by the Ace high flush. There were about 8-9 local (meaning Capital District) ladies in the tourney. Let's just say there are a few whose play I respect (unfortunately they went out earlier then I) who I consider a challenge when I sit down with them, a couple of average players and the rest are calling stations/chasers and have no clue as to pot odds, or position but they will pay you off. I had three local ladies at my starting table. Since we don't play with an ante locally and many of these ladies don't play online I knew the ante was going to be a surprise and it was. One woman didn't know that once it kicked in it had to be posted every hand.

There were a total of 59 entrants with only 6 to pay. First prize was about $4400, 6th place about $600 Two men entered the tourney (one of whom chopped with Snake last month). They had bounties placed on them by Lauren. The appearance of men upset some woman alot. I could have cared less about it and didn't let it affect my game at all. One of the local gals, Dorothy earned $100 for taking the dude at our table after she got moved to it. When I told Snake that the dude he chopped with (the dude was the one who exposed one of his cards to Snake while in a hand in the late stages of the Deep Stack turbo because he was tired) Snake asked me why he entered. I had only heard that it was on a dare.

While our tourney was going on the $5200 buy-in Championship event was also running in the same room (62 entrants). I think the average age of the tourney was about 21-23. Jimmy Fricke (now just Gobbo), Shaun Deeb, Adam Junglen, and a host of other young stallions were all playing. Shaun is a local boy whose family owns 4 local fish fry restaurants (yummo) as well as being an online ace. I haven't met Shaun and when I was chatting with Jimmy we couldn't find him in the room so I could introduce myself. Jim told me his tourney was one of the toughest tourney fields he has faced. I didn't see Jim in the room when I left so not sure if he was busto or just taking a break. From the looks of the 2+2 thread Jimmy is busto but Shaun Deeb is still alive with a first place prize of $100k

I did qualify for the $200k guarantee on Pokerstars. And not only did I have quad Kings and Queens, I rivered quad jacks after flopping a boat!!! I've unregistered from the tourney taking the $T. Got some stuff to do. I think I will pass on live play tonite also.

MOOKIE WIN 8/21/08

Off the Blogger Schneid!!!

More after I rest my sleepy head.

Tuning up for TROCK

Another lunch time quickie!!

I went back at it Sunday nite Live. As we all know it is my preferred form of play where you actually handle chips, cards and interact with people. Real Poker!!!

I tried for back to back wins. I did my darnedest. I accumulated chips early and was able to hoover my way up to a final table chip stack within the first three-four levels. And I held on too my chips and maintained.

It got dicey at the final table with everyone pretty even stacked and no real M to speak of. I managed to money in 6th (we paid 7 again) to recoup my loses at the racetrack from Thursday. My buddy Ringtone Rich sucked out a 5 when he shoved A5d and I called with the hated ATos 6 handed. 3 clubs hit the flop I held the Ace of clubs but couldnt hit another club or ten on the turn or river and out I went.

I continue to run goot live and am confident heading up to TROCK saturday.

Winner Winner - Live tourney win

Quick lunch break update. I played Friday nite, busting out first from the final table in 10th with 6 paying.

I went back at it again Sunday nite live, because online poker is so rigged and I'm trying to tuneup for a the Empire State Poker Championships at TROCK which starts end of this week.

After one hour of heads-up, and about 7 hours of total play, I took down a live tourney for $700+ profit after tipping the dealer for his multiple Doyles, hammers etc, and cutting in the 7th place finisher.

My opponent was frustrated and I heard him say: "I can't get a read on her" which means I am doing what I've been working on: Keeping my demeanor the same.

Winning hand was 79s I called on a flush draw knowing full well that I could blank but had my opponent covered. He had k high I believe. But with 15 outs twice I figured its time to end this and gambled. Winner!!! Never worried about the money difference between first and second. I played for the win and it paid off. But I reckoned I had a ton more heads-up experience then most of the final table players.

Will hopefully edit this for a fuller recap later.

Tao of Poker - 5th Birthday Party!!

The winner of this special event will also receive two nights at the Borgata Hotel & Spa in Atlantic City and entry into the $5,000 buy-in NL tournament during the Borgata Poker Open on September 12th.

Dr Pauly will be covering this years Borgata Poker Open which if I am correct is where it all started for the good doctor.

If you cant open your blog

This is a public service announcement:

Just a quick note if you cant open your blog. Removing sitemeter did the trick for me. Not sure what is going on with that. Sound's like a ask Nat Arem issue!!!

Turning Stone Trip Report 7/27/2008

Now my little poker predicament was that I had been running bad and playing about as poor as I can remember especially in NLHE online. I mean I don't think I've cashed in anything to think of except a small cash in the Mookie since March, maybe a SNG here and there but nothing to speak of. I was also running bad in turbos at Omaha8 but had earned some cash in O8 ring and MTTs. When I stopped playing turbo O8's my Omaha 8 stats started improving. I had been doing a lot of reading during my downtime and worked on sealing some leaks. I knew what they were, namely I had lost my aggression component online. As I've mentioned, Live I was running really well till the action dried up. I think the last 10 MTTS I played live I final tabled 8 and cashed 5 with two bubbles. Clearly I'm no joke live.

I tuned up for my trip with a SNG win on Pokerstars, running over the table Saturday nite. That was preceded with a #2 finish in a private MTT on Bodog out of about 90+ on Friday nite. I felt like my old online self circa spring/summer 2007.

So Sunday AM, I met Snake5970 at exit 12 Park and Ride, which is the halfway point between our houses and we headed the back way to TROCK: out rte 67 thru Amsterdam to pick up the thruway there. I had brought muffins from a country store that are really good. I brought frozen water(so that it would be cold when it melted and we were thirsty later in the day) and I chilled some Pepsi's for us. When I arrived at the Park and Ride we opted to drive my SUV out, but I let Snake5970 do the driving. It's about 1 hour 45 minutes to Trock. but the drive flew by as we hadn't actually seen each other since end of April and had tons of non poker stuff to catch up on.

We registered for the deep stack turbo.... 22k starting chips, 20 minute blinds start time 10 AM. We killed some time in the poker room and then headed to the event center. The doors were still closed 10 minutes too ten. I mentioned to Snake that the PokerNews crew and Pauly commented that dead money arrives really really early. We were by no means too early but we weren't late.

I took my seat at table 9 in the two spot. Ray was at table 2 seat 2. I hate the deuce seat and prefer sitting across from the dealer. Literally the tourney started right on time and there were only 4 seated. By the time the first orbit was complete we were 9 handed at my table.

I saw no cards for about 4 levels. I had 32os twice, T2 2-3 times and every version of a jack rag os, except a pair of them. I played one pot when I called with J8 in a limped pot. I bet my 8 that hit the flop as second pair after it checked around and a dude wearing a Heartland poker tour shirt called after checking. The flop was a card I didn't want to see as it put a straight out there. the dude who had checked fired and I mucked. He told me he turned a straight which was pretty obvious. I did take down a hand with Ax blind against blind. I played one hand with 57os just to see a flop in a limped pot and mucked.

Finally I knew they were coming: JJ. After literally every offsuit combo of a Jx offsuit 8 and lower, the Johnnies were bound to invade my hand. I gave them a knowing look as if to plead... Please don't get me in trouble. A dude limped I raised 3x BB. Dude to my immediate left Dante (who played at my club in Albany) 3-bets me. I decide to take a flop and call the three bet, primarily for set mining since we were deep stacked and because you cant fold to every reraise. The board came all babies and I fired. Dante either flat called or raised but I called stupidly at that point if it was a raise. Board paired deuces, check check. So I know he doesn't have a two which would now be quads. River is a Q... I don't like it but figure if i am going to win this hand I need to bet. I fire he tanks after stating he doesn't like the Q and he calls. Dante KK, IG JJ. I lose a good sized pot. Not a great start but Poker Happens. Dante tells me he was afraid of the queen because he figured QQ was in my call a 3bet with range.

Some young dude wanders over to the table and asks if I was just in Vegas. I said "No didn't make it this year because I wasn't funded for the tourneys I wanted to play for the amount of time I wanted to be in Vegas for". Another guy had just gotten moved to my table with a monster stack and nods his head and states. "I tell lots of people with WSOP dreams to take that 10k and use it for something else/tourneys with better value". Something about this dude tells me he is the real deal and to tread with caution. And somehow I mentioned I play under Irongirl/01. At that point about two dudes heads picked up and said. "You're Irongirl???!!!??? I read your blog when I'm bored at work! Another dude knew of me as he played in the league in Saratoga, and when I mentioned who I had come with, he said "I know that name. "I see it on some emails from the Saratoga league and I know Steve and Karen." (which Snake didn't play in either, but he was cc'd on some tourney announcement emails from that league).

I earn some chips when I 3-bet a raiser with AA. Dante smooth called and the initial raiser called. the flop came down Kxx and the initial raiser bets $600 into a pot that had at least $3600-$4000 in it. I shoved, Dante folded. The other dude folds after thinking a bit. Dante thanked me for my bet as he had QQ. So, I chip back up to about 13k. Shortly after I call a raise to $450 with 99 (the IG) fold on a flop that comes TQK. worst flop for pocket 99's. Then I get dealt AJc. dude raises to $600. I think there was one caller, I call. The flop comes AJ2, I forget the suits.. initial raiser bets $3000. I cant put him on a set here. I figure TPTK and protecting against any draws. I have two pair and if I call I only have $6000 behind so I shove...... IG two pair to the dudes AA.. never thought he had AA, as I figured he would have check raised me rather then leading out. Nice trap and IG is out about 150th of 169. A very uncharacteristic early exit for me in a deep stack structure. Like I said, Poker Happens and I think because it had been a month since I had played live, I was too hasty on some of my decisions and I wasnt really reading well except on the second hand of the tourney where it was obvious the dude turned the straight.

I wandered over to Snake told him I was busto. He had built up some chips with some nice hands and was up to about 35k. I decided to try my hand at cash since it was only $100 max for $1/$2 NL and i might as well entertain myself since blackjack is certainly more expensive. The 12 PM sat for the Ladies event next month was cancelled because of the Continental Poker Championships.

I donk thru $100 in a little over an hour. Once again AJ got me in trouble I called a shorties post turn all-in on a board of A73, 6 .. I knew he didn't have two pair nor did I but I figured I was good. Unfortunately, a young Crasian had hit a str8 with 45os and repops me all in. I fold and am down to about $37-40. after I had just gotten my stack back up from $70 to almost even. I have to fold another hand after I raised with a pocket pair and failed to hit a set and had to lay down. Finally down to $16 I shove to a reraise in a pot that has a bunch of players money already in it. I am holding 87s figuring rebuy time if I buts and if its a big pair I'm live and can hopefully catch something.. I run into QQ. Board almost ran out all clubs for a split pot but I go out when a red Q gives the dude trips!!!.. Second casino live cash foray = busto again!!! I decide to take a break and go back to sweat Snake and be a social butterfly.

Snake is down to just about starting stack. He shoves with KQ postflop and gets two callers. One has TT one has 66 or 99. He looks at me and says you are going to lecture me I know it. I say no your actually a slight favorite. Overcards to the board and no set for them on flop and sure enough a beautiful Q rivers to triple him up.

I check on the big stack from my table. The dude is still accumulating, I give him a thumbs up and he smiles. Still no idea who he is. I go introduce myself to the TD Mike who was kind enough to answer my question on the two plus two threads he creates on tourney action at Turning Stone. I talk to Gobboboy a bunch of times throughout the day as he is railing his buddies still left in the CPC Main Event. Jimmy, is a really nice well spoken young man. I have some lunch (which TROCK nicely spread subs and Pizza) and contemplate challenging Gobboboy to a throwing things prop bet ala Dr Pauly and Otis as they have little spears securing a cherry tomato to each section of these mombo subs. I don't but make my spear throw into the waste basket.

The food runs out before Snake can get any. He was still involved in his final hand before the break. They send us all out for a 45 minute meal break. He gets some lunch at the food court. I know 100% that he will opt for something fried. Unfortunately I cant bet anyone on this. I of course am correct: southern fried chicken is his choice.

When we get back upstairs to the hallway outside the Event Center, we talk to an older guy who had been at Ray's table but who busted. Snake had told me about a hand that he was involved in with the dude on a previous break. Ray had a straight flush and the guy told Ray "You would have been busto had the A come" as he would have had the nut flush. Ray had told him no you would have had the second nuts and the dude couldnt figure it out. I believe Ray told him eventually that he hit the str8 flush on the turn. This guy has been around a long time (and Ray actually mentioned the old guy was a good player) and introduces us to the Big Stack dude from my original table as Jim. I had pointed Mr big stack out to Snake and said watch out for that dude if he gets moved to your table. Jim mentions as we are talking that Poker has been really good to him and the older dude mentions a big win. I of course figure I can go home and google this tourney win as it was the Ultimate Poker Challenge in 2004. Lets just say he downplayed this as his biggest win. Based on his stats in the Hendon Mob data base he has over $2.8M in career earnings and is 94th on the career money list. Funny I must have missed his WPT final table. Anyway he is a really nice guy.

I am asked if Snake is my husband about three times from three different people. One guy states, your husband is fortunate to have a wife who knows and plays poker and is supportive. Snake has come back to me several times to discuss some hands and the dude must have just assumed we were married. When he see's me look and cackle and wave my ring hand, he states the obvious: Oh, your not married to him?. I shake my head and don't offer any more info. Not sure, if that was an Oh, cool I should move in on you now Oh or another Oh. I of course tell Snake this. Maybe because we are such good friends and get along so well we act and look like a happily married couple. And maybe that is the key to a happy marriage. Dont get married stay friends!!

Anyway time moves on tick tick tick. He makes the second dinner break. We get dinner at the buffet but have to speed eat dinner as it takes forever to seat you at casino buffet as they make a ritual of the paying, and seating procedure, when there are a gazillion open tables. While in line I start talking about when hes taking me to see his horses work out. As one may actually race at Saratoga this year. The dude in front of us looks at Snake and says? You own horses? I used to own part of a standard bred. His wife makes a remark that it was the stupidest purchase her husband ever did. We get seated and go get our food. When I return Snake tells me the gentleman had found him and wanted to talk horses with him. And snake says did you see the look on his wifes face and hear the tone in her voice?

The turbo structure really goes full throttle and play grinds to a halt as the money bubble approaches. Snake is alive and bound for at least a bottom cash. Jim is at Snakes table and gets moved to the other big stacks table. Snake's table is not sad to see Jim go.

I talk to the look alike ex-wife of Carlos Mortenson who is railing her husband and who donked out before me (they are from Toronto area). I talk to another Canadian dude who doesnt work but plays live cash in Ottawa for a living and who staked a dude at the final table who is a Pstars supernova sng grinder and whose first live MTT it is. And I talk to another girl whose boyfriend is at the FT and who exposes a card to Snake when Snake says: Id really like to see one of your cards as he is contemplating shove or fold. The dude almost gets a penalty for it but since he was playing poker for 12+ hours doesn't and has to show everyone. Snake folds. I state to Snake after the commotion is over. "That is your expert persuasive powers of interrogation as a (retired) CO. The dudes brother on the rail with the girlfrind, says "OH, my dad is a correctons officer too, at the same time the A of spade flasher tells Snake the same thing.

On break, Snake asks me about chopping (when they are now down to about 7 and everyone has at least 4 figures) and should he if the subject came up. I suggest since he is now short not to mention anything. I figure someone else will as it is now 11:30 PM. Sure enough Jim VA does and they chop 5-way for $4600 each with 4 of them throwing $400 each to the chip leader. The chipleader had a monster stack. He had been on a roll ever since calling an all in with K8 and busting the dude without thinking a minute about it. Just prior to that Snake had run his AK into the same guys AA which launched the guys run from shortie to chip leader.

That was Snake's biggest live cash and made up for his poor tourney showing in Vegas this summer. We got back to our cars a little before 1Am after a great poker day. Even though I played poorly and was out early, I had an enjoyable day. And there is the High Heels Poker Tour at TROCK for me next month.