Overheard In The Office
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
As promised I ended up playing The Hoy last night. I flamed out when down to the final 3 tables by CALLING an all-in by cmitch with 33. I was short on chips with only 10 BB's left and cmitch was in similar shape. This is not a play I will make often, but I was in serious double-up or die trying mode, so I went with it. I know the best I could hope for was a race, but I was willing at that point take that risk. He ended up having 77 and my suck out skills are a tad rusty, thus only minutes later I was in pillow heaven. Not a terrible place to be when you really need the sleep.
How about that? A full paragraph about poker!
This just in...I went by cmitch's blog and see that he ended up winning the damn tourney last night and a TOC seat. Guess the hand I mentioned above was the spring board for his winning it all. That means he has me and only me to thank for winning the tourney. Without my tarded all-in call, he would have flamed out only minutes later. Yeah, that's it.
The following are things overheard at work recently:
"Let me know if I can help you any less."
~ A dude to his assistant.
After I heard this one I turned around prepared to join in the laughter, but I soon realized the dude was serious. Or to be more precise, he is an idiot and didn't realize what he said. After he walked away I looked at the assistant and she rolled her eyes in disgust. I said, "did he mean help you with anything else?" She confirmed my suspicions with, "no he's just an idiot."
"We have a sizeable size of these products."
~ Speaker in sales meeting.
Okay, so those were pretty lame...sorry. Still I might try and make this a regular spot on the blog as people say the retardedest things. Like saying retardedest.
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 11:41 AM,
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Where Is TripJax
Monday, April 28, 2008
I got a girly chat from GCox over the weekend that said, "Where is TripJax?" It was a valid question. I guess my only answer of late is every where but the poker tables. Work has been keeping me full on busy, which has virtually destroyed any chance of blogging or reading. At night by the time 9:00pm rolls around, I'm dog tired and just not motivated to start out a tourney when sluggish. I could probably play well for the first few hours, but no one should enter a tourney with plans to play well the first few hours. You have to be in it for the long haul and I haven't been of late.
As for the weekends, I've stayed pretty busy with trying to finish this deck. I'm very excited about the prospects of sitting on a deck I built within the next 2 weeks. We have completed the decking and now only have the steps and railing to complete. Before I started, I figured a 15X20 deck would be a decent size, but nothing too much. Now that we have framed it out and put down the decking, I am realizing this is a huge deck considering the size of our back yard. I'm hella excited to finish it up.
All the above duly noted, I plan on playing The Hoy tonight and I hope you will join me.
My princess turned 3 on April 16th and I just had to share at least a couple of pictures from the party...
posted by TripJax @ 11:02 AM,
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Resplendent!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I'm a shitty poker blogger. I've barely been able to make any blogger events lately, but on occasion I do still find time to sling chips with terards. Take this past weekend for example. I was just thinking today that I was quite sure I played poker over the weekend, even though I didn't actually recall a single hand I played. I had to go to the tape...
46469776 Apr 20 03:13ET $22 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go $22 + $1 2 1 $44
46469645 Apr 20 03:10ET $11 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $11 + $0.50 2 1 $22
46469537 Apr 20 03:09ET $11 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $11 + $0.50 2 1 $22
46467670 Apr 20 02:56ET $2 + $0.15 Heads Up Sit & Go $2 + $0.15 2 2 --
46467796 Apr 20 02:36ET $33 + $1.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $33 + $1.50 2 1 $66
46466870 Apr 20 02:29ET $33 + $1.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $33 + $1.50 2 2 --
46467311 Apr 20 02:28ET $22 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go $22 + $1 2 1 $44
46467128 Apr 20 02:26ET $55 + $2.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $55 + $2.50 2 1 $110
46466723 Apr 20 02:18ET $33 + $1.50 Heads Up Sit & Go $33 + $1.50 2 2 --
Be sure to start from the bottom and work your way up. If you see -- at the end, that is apparently the international sign for loser. If you see a dollar amount at the end, that is what I made. Interestingly, I never once chose a specific amount for a reason. I just scrolled up and down on the heads-up list and if I saw someone waiting for an opponent, I was their huckleberry. I do recall trying to keep it under $100, but I could have been moved had I seen a taker. I don't recall specifics of a single hand I played. Such is late night post bar poker...terrible for the bankroll, but great for...well...I'm not sure what it is great for...but it happens...
Until nex time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 12:25 AM,
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Obamaha
Monday, April 21, 2008
Obamaha is played like Omaha with the below CHANGES.
- Once all 4 cards are dealt to each player face down, each player must CHANGE one card by discarding it face up for all to see. The dealer will then CHANGE out the old card for a new card face down to each player.
- Flushes can only be made with black cards (spades and clubs), but you must CHANGE the suit in order to complete the flush. As an example, if you have two clubs in your hole cards, then three spades on the board will complete the flush for you. Black cards gotta work together in Obamaha.
- When a 3 and 7 come on the flop as the first two cards off the deck (must be in that order), this is known as The Bowler. In this instance the game CHANGES to add an "Extra Frame," meaning a 6th community card will be in play. The community cards will come out as follows...three on the flop, two on the turn and one on the river.
- Once you receive your 4 hole cards, including your new changed card, if you hold 2727, you have a RODHAMmer and your hand is immediately a loser. You must lay it down face up for all to see.
Please leave any other suggestions for game changes in the comments section.
"Obamaha ~ Change you can bet on."
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 10:26 AM,
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Not Too Late For Some Bodonkadonk
Thursday, April 17, 2008
I was chatting with the Bodog poker blogger rep on Tuesday after fonking my way out of the Bodonkey and she mentioned next Tuesday they would be having another pro play in the Bodog poker blogger tournament. Some of you may recall Josh Arieh played with us a few weeks back and had a $100 bounty on his noggin'. I tried to get her to spill the beans on who the pro was for next week, but she wouldn't budge. She would only confirm that it would not be Arieh. I'm looking forward to playing in the tournament and seeing who the pro will be.
If you don't already know, they are giving a ton of cash and prizes away, including a $12,000 WSOP Main Event seat. You simply have to finish in the top 18 in points to have a 1 in 18 chance at the coveted seat as well as other prizes. I don't know about you, but I likes dem odds. If you are concerned that it is too late to start playing in the series since it is about half over, forget that yo! I've played in less than half of the tourneys so far and only cashed in two of them and I am in 14th place on the leaderboard. I had been as high as 6th I think so that is proof you can move up the leaderboard quick and with only a few cashes.
Okay, enough pretending to be Smokkee for me. I hope to see you for the remaining Bodonkeys and I hope I wax you in the finale! Just remember, three out of four doctors agree, the Bodonkey is good for your colon.
Toodles and as always...
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 12:08 AM,
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Morning Wood
Monday, April 14, 2008
My lack of poker play continues as I barely played any last week and managed only one heads-up SNG over the weekend. I must really be rusty as I was trying to play a $20 heads-up No Limit Hold'em match and ended up in a heads-up Pot Limit Omaha match that I ultimately won. Okay replace rusty with drunk and the ultimately won with decidedly lost and the story gets a tad more accurate.
I hope I can make some BBThree tourneys this week, but I'm just not sure at this point. If I'm there, I hope you'll join me. If I'm not there, I hope you win. Really I do...yes you...the one reading this right now...I hope you win. So you've got that going for you.
Back in February I wrote this post about my plans to build a deck in our back yard. It took a while to get rolling, but I finally made the decision to build the deck on my own instead of hiring professionals. To be more specific I have a buddy helping and, though I made the decision on the type and size of the deck, he is really the brains of the project. Prior to this weekend we had done all the prep work, which was really the shitty part of it all. We put the ledger board up which required going under the house, then we put up the posts which involved mixing concrete. Completing those items took the most time and I'm glad to have them behind us.
Yesterday morning Lowes delivered all the wood (hence the morning wood title...i know...hardy har har...) and we ended up tearing through a good portion of the deck build. We are close to completing the framing and joists and will soon be laying down the decking. That's when I know we will be well on our way to completing this thing. I can't wait to sit down and have a beer on my brand new deck. I also can't wait to get to landscaping the backyard. Right now it looks like Iraq back there.
I realize most of my readers could give two shits about me building a deck, but I did have a few comments from that previous post that mentioned wanting to know what we ended up deciding, so I figured I would give an update. It is definitely a lot of work for two newbie deck builders, but I'm really enjoying the project, saving a ton of money by doing it myself and really just happy to get some experience under my workbelt. All in all I think it was a good decision to build it myself. Once it is complete I'll let you know for sure if I still feel that way. I'll be sure and post some before and after pictures for all to see.
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 11:19 AM,
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Peaker Pwns
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
I've played zero poker lately and just haven't had a lot of time to spend writing here, thus I haven't. During BBT and BBTwo, I HATED missing even one event. During BBThree, I've lightened up a bit and just play when it feels right. For example, normally I would have played The Hoy last night and watched the NCAA Championship game from my couch, but instead this time I went to a buddies house and enjoyed the game with friends. There is something to be said for walking away from poker at times. I guess this is just the natural progression of a poker blogger who has been at it for quite a while (in blog years that is). Watch out, I might just write about politics all the time next! I keed, I keed.
I lost my bet versus Rock Chalk Peaker Fawk, when Kansas trounced UNC this past weekend. That game was brutal, brutal and brutal. I'll send you the $11 Mookie buy-in next time I log into Full Tilt Peaker (tonight or tomorrow). Bastage! Congrats to your boys for taking down the whole thing. That was a crazy game last night.
I have to apologize to you all out there in poker blogger land. I am so far behind in my blog reading I don't know if I'll ever catch up. Sometimes I wish every blog had one of these so I could catch up when I get way behind. I'll try and get back to reading so I'm not clueless as to who now hates who and who made a donk play against who.
Random question that goes out to the Atlanta poker blogging crew (and really anyone for that matter). Do any of you recognize the name Furman Bisher? With the 2008 Masters upon us, I was reading his Wiki page (linked above) and this jumped out at me...
Bisher, who is nearly 90, holds seniority over the hundreds of golf reporters and other sports journalists who descend on Augusta, Georgia, each April for The Masters Tournament. During the 2006 tournament, The Golf Channel profiled Bisher as the "dean" of Masters journalists.Furman Bisher is ChickJax's Great Uncle (her grandfather's brother). Just thought that was kind of cool.
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 1:36 PM,
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Last Man Gambling
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Lets Light This Candle
Last Friday started well enough. I still had to wake up early, but at least I was NOT going to work. Instead I was headed to Biloxi for some gambooling with my buddies Tron and Krull (names changed to protect the terarded). Things took a slight turn for the worse when a delay was announced for our 10:20 a.m. flight. Krull's response to the delay was simply, "Cocktails!" By 11:00 a.m. Tron and I were polishing off our second 20 oz Sam Adams Lager while Krull was murdering his second bloody mary. Lets light this candle indeed.
I lost the over/under on when the Skybus plane we were set to hitch a ride on would touch down. I don't remember what side of the bet I was on or when it touched down, but I do remember handing the cash to Tron with an evil eye. As we settled into our seats in the last row of the plane, we got more bad news. Skybus was cancelling the Greensboro/Biloxi starting in April. We would end up being one of the last round trip flights for that route. Apparently they were not getting butts in the seats quick enough to support the rising fuel charges. More over, apparently I hadn't put out the word that I was headed to Biloxi and my throng of fans should follow (hardy har har).
We tapped into a few more $5 cans of beer during the flight - helping the fuel charges Skybus was paying - and in no time were landing in Biloxi (herein referred to as The Bo). Not long after we were getting even more disappointing news. The hotel I had made reservations at, The Palace, no longer had a poker room. When I booked the trip they supposedly did, but for whatever reason it was gone. We contemplated complaining and requesting to get out of our obligations, but since we were only there for two nights, it wasn't worth the time/work.
Quad-raplegic
After spending 8.3 seconds throwing our bags in the room, we were on our way to The Beau Rivage, where we would spend the bulk of our weekend. It wasn't long before I was playing $2/$5 NL. I had originally wanted to play $1/$2 NL, but that list was uberidiculous. No better reason to increase your limits than a waiting list 5 deep in 2/5 and 30 deep in 1/2.
I wish I remembered hands the way Jordan from High On Poker seems to tell them in his trip reports. Alas I was drinking and just having a good time, so I didn't submit many hands to memory. I do recall winning the first 2 or 3 hands of $2/$5 I played. On the very first hand I played, I had JJ and tossed out a $25 chip. I immediately realized I had fucked up and did not announce raise. No one called me out, but I could see the dealer was prepared to advise me that it was just a call. I made out like I waned to only call and proceeded with the hand. It came down Q 8 X offsuit and I threw out a continuation bet after it was checked to me. A quiet player who was relatively active raised my 3/4 pot bet. I thought for about 20 seconds and did a pot bet. He quietly folded. It was one of the few moments of the trip where the adrenaline was rushing inside me and I felt great about my play.
After some relatively good play by me and an up and down stack, I was eventually felted by quad Kings for my entire stack. I would like to say I recall details of the hand and that I played it well, but neither was the case. I only remember trying to push the guy off his hand with my good hand, then seeing him flip over a great hand. I could have rebought and kept at it, but I did not feel good with the table and felt it better to cut my losses. It was one of the few smart choices I made on the night.
Next up was the nightly $200 freeze out. I was out before the first break when a guy pushed on the flop after I had pot bet with my middle set of sixes. I called figuring I was up against TPTK or a flush draw. It ended up being a flush draw and he hit on the river sending me packing. Ho hum.
After some PaiGaw and Craps, I was back at the poker tables, this time for some $1/$2 action. It was after 2:00 a.m. and the list was much easier to get through for $1/$2. Early on I played well and built up my stack, but you'll never guess what again did me in? Quads. Quad Fucking Fives to be exact. I again was attempting to push a guy off a hand after he had been aggressively working on me. We had been in several hands during the night with me typically getting the best of him, but on this particular hand things went sour. I again don't remember details other than it being a SB vs. BB hand and I again had a decent hand to play with. As he flipped over quads I knew my time at the poker tables was done for the night. I walked away and decided to go enjoy the rest of my time for the night (morning at this point) at the table games. After waking up at 6:30 am Friday morning, my head would not touch the pillow until after 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning. It was indeed a rough night and I was down way, way more than I had planned to be. I guess no one ever plans to be down, but I was bummed about the day and my play, but I remained in good spirits about the trip in general.
As I faded into sleep, I was telling myself I would crash until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and then get to gambooling again after some much needed rest. For whatever reason my body wasn't having it and I was wide awake by 10:15 a.m. I guess my body knew that time is money and I was only there for a short time so I should take advantage accordingly. After a quick shower we were back at the PaiGaw tables - this time at The Palace - until we could decide where to eat. Soon after we resolved to get back to The Beau Rivage, grab some grub, then have at it again. At the time I didn't know it, but I would not play a hand of poker the entire day (not until well into Sunday morning that is).
Last Man Gambling
I had a helluva day playing BlackJack, Craps and PaiGaw. I was running goot and getting back a decent chunk of the change I had lost the day before. It was hard staying away from the poker tables, but I just wasn't feeling it for poker so I stuck with what was working at that time. It was probably stupid to forego a game I feel I am good at and can take advantage of in order to play table games, but I was there to have fun and that's what was doing it for me. I was really getting into Craps, learning the nuances of the game, and trying to figure out my strategy (yeesh that sounds so stupid to say).
One of the highlights of the trip was taking an extended break at 9:00 p.m. to enjoy the UNC basketball game. It was a tough game, but My Heels found a way to win (yeah I'm one of those guys that claims a team by saying My Heels). I think we were the last people in the bar to watch the game because 6 seconds after the game was over, the lights went out and they were asking us for our bar stools. It was about to turn into a night club and there was a waiting list to get in. We could have stayed to hang out with the rave dancing crazy mofo's, but we still had gambling to do.
As the a.m. reared it's ugly head, I still had not played a hand of poker on the day. Krull walked up at some point while I was at the Craps table to let me know he donked off his stack at the poker tables and was down to less than $200. He was on a mission to donk the rest of it off at a game he barely knew how to play - Three Card Poker. He figured he could finally go to bed if he lost the rest of what he had in his pockets. Only minutes later I heard a girlie shreek, but wasn't sure what it was. As I looked up, I saw Krull with a huge smile on his face. He won the first hand he played at Three Card Poker, then on the second hand hit trip Q's. He had $25 at each of the betting options and ended up winning over $1000. I don't really understand Three Card Poker, so that explanation will have to suffice. Needless to say, he was ecstatic about his win, which brought him nearly even for the trip. Lucky fucker.
That big hand for Krull signaled the end of the night for he and Tron. It was creeping towards 3:00 a.m. at that point. I, on the other hand, was not ready to end the festivities. I had gone on a heater for the day and was still ready to push my luck. Around 5:00 a.m. I had one of the most interesting situations arise. I was at the $10 minimum Craps table with about $300 in front and most everyone else had about the same amount. There was maybe one or two people with between $1000 - $3000 in front. Right about that time a guy walks up next to me and plops down approximately $65,000 in chips. He starts betting huge amounts and just having a good time. Turns out his daughter goes to UNC and his son was at the Elite 8 game earlier in the night. He was the type of guy who should have been in the high stakes room, but obviously just wanted to show off at the $10 table. It was exciting watching him bet thousands of dollars right next to my $10 and $20 bets. I had a great time talking with him, even though he was sort of a cockpiece to the staff.
Before I packed it in I took one last twirl by the poker room and finally decided to put down some coin. I'm not sure what I was thinking as I had been at it since Friday morning with only 4 hours sleep, but I was still ready to work it. I played for about an hour, but the action was dead as most players at the table were like zombies. I finally decided to call it a night and headed back to the room. I layed my head down as the clock neared 7:45 a.m. Unfortunately I was up by 9:00am in order for us to get ready for the flight. I was dog ass tired and ready to be home.
I ended down for the trip, but still had a great time. I regret not playing more poker, but I actually had a great time at the other tables. I enjoyed the hell out of some PaiGaw, but also really had a fun time at the Craps tables. I left so many good moments out of this trip report, but so many things happened it is hard to soak it all in. My favorite exchange of the weekend went something like this.
After having tried - and failed - at getting reservations for dinner at two other restaurants in the casino, I tried one more time at the Olives restaurant.
Me: Do you have any times available to make a reservation?
Hostess: Let me see...well our earliest available time is when we close.
Me: I'll take it!
She looked at me like I was retarded, but we were hungry and desperate. I was obviously joking so I just chuckled and walked away. Luckily we ended up finding a place at their bar/restaurant in time to watch the game.
I guess I should now explain the title of this post. I have a friend who, in college, garnered the name Last Man Eating as he would always destroy food when they went out. He could eat anyone under the table and still have room to eat more. I should mention he is not skinny or portly, just your average run of the mill white boy. When Tron, Krull and I made it back to The Bo airport, they both settled in at the uncomfortable seating, while I found a corner and laid my ass down. Tron took a picture of me as I was hurt up and sent it to my buddy MTW. MTW replied back to the text picture with, "No Dice," to which Tron replied back, "Last Man Gambling." It was an excellent exchange to sum up my weekend as it came to a close.
I can't wait to get back to The Bo.
Until next time, may the felt be with you.
posted by TripJax @ 9:04 AM,
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What The WTF?
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
I made it back alive from Biloxi, though I was a zombie Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully I took Monday off for recovery. I have a trip report pending - it's all festering up in my head - but I have too much going on at work to put pen to paper (or keystrokes to keypad I guess it should be).
In the meantime, I have to drop this quickie post. It's amazing the mentality change that occurs when you go from life as usual, toss yourself into Vegasesque life for a short period of time, then push yourself right back into the everyday routine. I offer an example.
On Friday I played a $200 tournament and a shit ton of cash games - primarily $2/$5 NL. On Saturday I mainly played table games with an average bet size between $10 & $25. Yesterday I went to the grocery store and almost made the bagger go check a price when the drink I was purchasing rang up $4.19, but the tag said $3.99.
What the WTF am I thinking? One day I'm betting significant amounts of money on the turn of a card or the toss of dice and the next I'm Mr. Anuswad over $.20. I know that things like that basically come down to principal - they listed it as $3.99 so I should be charged $3.99 - but sometimes you just gotta put things in perspective. Did I really need to waste every ones time for $.20? I decided no and moved on, but I got a quick chuckle out of it as I was standing in the line. I had to remind myself to occasionally lighten up. I felt much better for it.
Before I get a ton (read: 2) of comments about it being WTF instead of What The WTF...I know. I personally hate when acronyms are misused - just read this old post of mine and you'll see - so I've decided to just screw them up as often as possible going forward. This is one of my personal favorites to screw up and now most of my friends are saying it. I get a kick out of hearing it that way. What The WTF? What The What The Fuck???
Until next time, may the felt be with you .
posted by TripJax @ 1:35 PM,
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