A good night for some Willy

Since my 6 year old nephew is visiting, it's a little hard to go to the bar. The Boathouse has another event booked downstairs tonight, so they're not having a freeroll there anyways. Instead, we're going to head to the IMAX theatre to watch "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I loved the original, but whoever wrote the story was definitely on crack.

I've heard mixed reviews on this movie, but the guy I share an office with says that it's worth it for the squirrel scene alone. He has a sick sense of humor, so I'm not 100% sure what that means. If they follow much of the original story, there will be plenty of opportunities to use the latest special effects. I'd hate to have it be a movie that ignores the story just to use the latest illusions.

As long as my nephew doesn't talk through the entire movie, this should be a whole lot of fun! I'll give a review tomorrow.

Cards and the AntiChrist

Busy weekend. Enjoyable but busy.

Played cards on Friday night. There were 7 of us playing, including Mom, Danielle, and Big Mike. We played and drank for several hours. We killed a case of 16 oz. beers between three of us, and I had Mom slightly tipsy on banana rum (brought back from St. Martin) and cranberry/pomegranite juice - awesome combination!

There were times I was laughing so hard I couldn't even see my cards! Here are some of the highlights:

- getting quad 9s in Crazy Pineapple. I was the one who called the game, too. I'm sure people thought it was rigged. 99T in my hand, 9 on the flop (discarded the T, obviously) then a 9 on the turn. So pretty!

- Mom getting 7 of a kind (5s) in Queens and What Follows (Follow the Bitch to some people, stud variation). Queens are always wild, and any queens dealt up make the next card to follow wild. She had a Q7 down, then a 5. A queen came up for her, making 7s wild. Getting a 7, another 5, then a another 7 down finished things off. She was laughing so hard, everyone knew what she had. (She was down a little, so we continued calling to help build up her stack again.) Since she could only use 5 cards, she used the 5 wilds for 5 of a kind, aces.

- $100+ pot for 4 of us playing Between the Sheets (a game like Acey-Deucey - you're dealt two cards and bet that the third card is in between). I know that doesn't sound all that big, but you have to keep in mind that we all bought in for $20, using $.10, $.25, and $1 chips. Everyone starts out by putting $1 (or whatever the dealer decides) into the pot to start off. When you win a bet, you take money out of the pot, and vice versa. We have a rule that if you hit the post (third card matches one of the first two), you pay double of what you bet. It happens a lot at our house. I actually saved BigMike from paying twice the huge pot. An ace for the first card, and he called it high (on my advice). A second ace came, which is always high. He glared at me, since having ace low/ace high is the best hand you can have. He could've taken the huge pot there and made quite a bit. He ended up thanking me when he flipped the third card and found another ace! He hit his one-outer... and not in a good way.

- Teaching new people all the crazy games we play. We'd say the names, and they'd look at us like we'd grown a second head. Of course, we only hang out with cool people and they picked up the games quickly.

- Only one hand of hold'em was played!

We also had a little scare when my sister called. A friend of hers had called to let her know that there had been some terrorist attacks in Egypt, near Cairo. Normally this wouldn't be a scare to the family, except that my Dad is over there working on a military installation until the middle of next month. Mom called his hotel at 4:30 AM their time, and my Dad hadn't heard a thing! I checked out the story on CNN and found that he was far enough away to be out of danger. Plus, my Dad sleeps like the dead. It could've happened next door and he probably wouldn't have heard it.

Saturday, Mom and I drove up to my sister Dee's house in Northern NJ. She lives in Lodi, up near the George Washington Bridge. It's crazy trying to drive over there. I had to fix up a computer for her, and we picked up my 6 year old nephew Tyler. He's a great kid, but he's very busy. Never sits still. EVER. He's a smart kid. (I think his vocabulary rivals G-Rob's. Ty could definitely out-argue him.) Al thought it was funny to teach Tyler to say "I am the AntiChrist" when he was a year and a half old. Ty liked to tell people that at the Catholic church where my parents attend mass and my Mom works. Score one for Al on the "going-to-hell" meter.

It's very hard to keep Ty occupied for long. We're doing our best though. He sat down with me last night when I was playing hold'em on Full Tilt Poker. I told him I'd teach him to play if he wanted to learn. Since he and my Mom are here until Thursday or Friday, I'm going to try to get a few lessons in. Maybe in a few years, we can have a junior tournament with BadBlood's kids. I'm sure Lil'Otis, Lil'Drizz and a few others will be ready to play by that point, too.

BG - want to start running the lines on who will win that one?

Quote of the Day

I saw this in the chat last night as I played $25 NL hold'em on FTP. I wasn't paying that much attention, but I believe the hand in question had someone making an all-in bluff attempt on bottom pair and failing. Another guy on the table was giving him grief about his play. Here's what he had to say:

I didn't think I'd win with 9 2, I was thinking I'd win with a raise

Personally, I'd let the table think I didn't know what I was doing so they'd pay me off on my next big hand!

Home Game Tonight?

I think tonight will be a good night for some cards at our house. When Mom's in town, we usually have friends over and play a couple hours of cards. I'd say we played poker, but that's not 100% accurate. We play games with wild cards (queens & what follows, low in the hole, etc) along with games that have nothing to do with poker (fuck your buddy - awesome game to play drunk, not much thinking involved). Heck, even playing hold'em and omaha, you can't call what we do playing poker.

We're taking a road trip tomorrow to my sister's house near NYC. If we weren't picking up my 6 year old nephew at my sister's house, I'd try to hook up with Derek, Joaquin, and a few of the others to play some cards or hit one of the livlier spots in town. I don't get to see my nephew often, so I'm looking forward to it. Having my hyperactive nephew for a week should make sure Al never wants to have kids....

Al's friends from Minnesota are also arriving tonight. His friend Brad always comes home for his birthday, bringing his wife Debbie. They'll be here for the next week or so, so there will be lots of drinking and not much time for poker.

Here's hoping everyone has a good weekend!

The Best and Worst Hand

Pocket 6s were my best and worst hand last night. I was playing a $25 NL table on Full Tilt Poker last night. First hand at the table, I get pocket 6s. I raise to $.75 and I get a few callers. I flop a 6 on a rainbow board with an ace. I bet $1.50, about 3/4 of the pot and get one caller. On the turn which brings a 10, I bet $3.25 and then realize the other guy only has $2.50 in front of him. He folds for my first pot. We go around twice and play only one more hand in that time. Then, I get pocket 6s again. Guy in front of me raises to $1, and I put him on two high cards. We get one more caller, and the flop comes out 367 rainbow. He goes all in for $5, and I call. The guy behind me goes in for another $5 or so, and I call, putting the guy on a higher pocket pair who wants everyone out before any higher cards come out. I was right about the higher pocket pair - 7s. No help and I lose. Damn.

My bankroll on FTP was down to about $20, so instead of going to bed like I should have, I decide to play for a couple more minutes. I put the last of my money on another table. I fold several hands and then get QJs in LP. I raise to $1 and get 2 callers. Flop comes 7QJ, with 2 spades. I bet out the pot and only one caller. Turn comes, a rag. I go in for $7, and the guy goes all in. I'm guessing high spade flush draw, which was correct. I call. The 4 of spades that came on the river killed me. Damn, damn.

Not my night.

In the past, I figured my biggest problem was not being able to read people online. Tonight, I was amazed to find that I was actually getting decent reads. I'm hoping it's not just a fluke. I just wish I'd had the luck of the cards to start pushing more chips my way tonight.

Al's ordering some more poker books, and I've got a few that I want to get. I'm ashamed to say that I've only read parts of SuperSystem, and I'm way behind on the poker studying curve. I hope to remedy that soon so I can come back and tell everyone about the huge wins I plan to start posting. Come on, baby needs a mortgage payment!

All work and no play...

Things at work have been busy lately. Normally, I have time to update my blog during work, but there really hasn't been much of that lately. Right now, I should be finishing up my hardware chart for disaster recovery, but my heart just isn't in it. I need a break from looking at server specs for a little bit.

I've actually gotten to play some poker over the last two nights. After doing some yard work on Monday, I muscled Al off of the computer (actually, I snuck on before he got to it) and played a little NL. I was doing well initially, doubling up when I flopped an open-ended straight and caught someone trying to slow-play top 2 pair. After that, I just bled it away. I'd get some small pocket pairs, but couldn't play them after the flop. Big slick missed every flop, and I hate chasing. Depending on the bet I might stay in, but my opponents were all betting big and I had to fold. I did get to have a great talk with Iggy later in the night about pot odds and how to adjust when playing NL and limit, especially at the lower limits. For an english major, the midget has some brains! Iggy > Eva :-)

We played in the freeroll last night at the Boathouse, too. I started off well, knocking someone out early with pocket Qs. After a pre-flop raise, I had one caller. The flop came KQT, and he made a decent bet - I just called, since I had a feeling he either had the straight or on an open-ended draw. When a T came on the turn, he went all-in and I called. I was right - he had AJ, but it was no match for my boat. He had no way to beat me and was out. I made a couple more good plays, but then the cards went cold.

I'm proud to say that I made one of the better players lay down a straight on my bluff. I had AKo, and it missed the flop in typical fashion. Two clubs on the board. He checked, I made a bet 3xBB. He just called. Turn comes out with a third club - he checks, I bet big. He folded up - the turn gave him a straight, but he was worried about the flush. When I bet, he "knew" I had it so he folded. I mucked face down and let him wonder. It was killing him, I could tell. He asked me about it again over an hour later at the final table. Maybe I shouldn't have let him stew so long over it, because the was the one who took me out. I was short stacked and not catching much. He'd been building up and was one of the chip leaders. I got pocket 9s and went all in. He called with AQo and flopped a queen. Nothing I could do and went out in 5th. I felt good playing last night though. I'd gotten a couple of key hands to hold up, and I made a couple of good bluffs. Usually, the players are so drunk they don't understand a bluff - I got lucky with the table I was on last night.

No more poker planned for this week, but that doesn't mean I won't play a little here and there. I'm looking forward to Al cooking tonight. Yes, Al cooks. Actually, he's a very good cook. Very messy cook, but very good cook. He's one of those people whose cooking style is to use every dish, pot and utensil available. That won't be so bad when we have a dishwasher, but right now it's a little rough. I just make sure to follow 3 steps behind him and wash anything he puts down.

Al is making his (actually Emeril's) mushroom cream sauce for pasta. He'd had it at Emeril's a few years ago in New Orleans, and found the recipe when he got back home. Al's made it for me a few times, and it's some of the best stuff I've ever had. It's not the healthiest dinner since the sauce is comprised of butter, heavy cream, chicken stock and mushrooms, but I think it's been over a year since the last time he's made it. We're getting some fresh pasta (I like it with the spinach fettucine) and homemade strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream compliments of Mom. I'll be able to see my waistline expanding as I eat. I definitely know why I have weight problems...

Well, now that I'm thinking about all the great food I'll be eating for dinner, I'm going to go down to the cafeteria and grab a measly little salad for lunch. I'll probably end up getting a sandwich instead, since a salad by itself just isn't a meal. Then, back to the grind of server specs and O/S upgrades. Wahoo! What an exciting life I lead.

Weekend Recap

This is the third time I've tried to write a post for today. I'm having a bad day, and I'm tired and cranky. I'd love to curl up under my desk for a nap, but people won't leave me long enough. I keep deleting and starting over... Hopefully, this one won't sound as bitter and miserable as my last two tries.

We were in AC this weekend. Since my Mom was visiting, I didn't get to play any poker. She's an action junkie (no folding!) and tends to lose her money quick, so she doesn't play in the casinos anymore. She prefers the slots, and I couldn't let her spend the days alone. We played a ton of slots, and we all know how -EV that is unless you hit big. We didn't. We'd usually hit enough to keep us playing for a while. I was down until the guys got me playing four card poker out on one of the tables. I went up $100 to cover some of the slot losses, then played craps for a little bit and broke even there. I enjoyed the weekend, but I'm jonesin' for poker.

My next chance to play will probably be the Boathouse freeroll tomorrow night. It's not real poker since the people playing are worse than the fish on Party Poker, but it's something. Mom will play, too. I'm oncall this week, so I won't be doing much drinking anyways.

I actually love having my Mom visit. Most people usually aren't happy when the parents or in-laws visit. We're lucky. My Mom spoils us when she comes to visit. She needs a break from my family, so she escapes to our house. In return, she does my laundry and has dinner ready for us when we come home from work. It's great not to have to do this stuff when I get home at night. I also have someone to talk to when I get home. Since Al and I work at the same place, we talk on the way home. Then, he's online doing whatever and I veg out watching TV - or vice versa. Mom and I talk while washing dishes, or I take her out for ice cream at this cool place down the block, or we go shopping for whatever we need. It's nice having her around.

I hope I can shake the grumpiness before I go home. I'd hate to ruin her trip by being miserable. Maybe I just need a good night's sleep and some home cooked food.

Another Zip Code

I wasn't able to play any cards last night. Instead, I went to the bar to hang out with friends. I got into a couple of good conversations with my friend Andy, who I've known for almost as long as I've worked for my company. I started in October, 1996, and Andy started 6 months later. We worked in the same after-hours group, so we both had the same screwed up schedule. We also understand each other's personalities very well since they're so similar. This was perfect recipe for "getting in trouble". :-)

Andy and I would go to clubs on our nights off and wander in at all hours of the morning. We've taken random road trips to God-knows-where just because we had nothing better to do. Andy's also been to Mardi Gras with me. He's one of the closest friends that I have, even after all these years.

Since Al has been on various trips without me this year, I've decided to take Andy with me if I get to go to the conference in New Orleans. (I love my husband, and I'm still going away with another man. I just need a break. ...and I'm still sore that they caught sailfish without me in Key West. lol) It's going to work out perfectly. Andy will have to work Sunday through Tuesday of that week, and he'll fly down on Wednesday. I'll have one more day of the conference, then we'll stay until Sunday. That gives us 3 good nights of partying. When we're down there for Mardi Gras, Andy and I don't get back to the hotel until the sun comes up. It's going to be a great trip.

I'm sure I'll get some grief from certain friends about going away with someone other than my husband. Why? Do they think that sleeping with someone else doesn't count if we're not in the same zip code? (Damn, I forget what movie that's from...) If that was the case, Al and I would have had problems long before now. It will probably make Al feel better that I'm not out drinking by myself. He knows Andy too and knows that there's never been anything (or ever will be anything) between Andy and I.

Why do people think that just because a woman has a good male friend, they would sleep together? Many of my best friends have been male. More often than not, I'd rather hang out with the guys than the girls. Over the last few years (since I've been married), I've gotten more female friends. I love hanging out with the female friends that I have. Before that, I had very few female friends, but those that I did were my best friends. Am I that threatening? Trust me, I really don't want your boyfriend/fiance/husband.

I've found that women are the worst when it comes to suspecting something adulterous when it comes to male/female interactions. I was at a bachelorette party with 12 other girls including the bride. I was one of two married women, one or two others had boyfriends, but the rest were single. We stayed at the hotel next to a club called Seacrets we were going to in Ocean City, MD. (Anyone who's been in OCMD usually knows the place I'm talking about.) We walked in and found a place to hang out.

First off, we didn't get there until 10 PM or so because it took these girls way too long to get ready. I'd had several beers in our suite while we were waiting. By the time we get in there, the place is pretty packed. While walking in, one of the girls thinks someone groped her in the crowd (and they probably did). She gets all freaked out and doesn't want to be anywhere near a crowd. Good luck. We ended up being on the back patio in mid-May. Not the warmest place, and I'd worn a little short-sleeve shirt planning for a hot bar.

We do shots to warm ourselves up. The bartender is a good guy and takes care of us. He gives the bride a couple of extra shots, etc. While hanging out, a couple of guys come over and start talking to us. The bride-to-be turns into bridezilla and freaks out on them. I'd had about enough at this point, but it's not my party.

More guys come up and talk to us. I'm having a very nice conversation with a guy about being married (we both were) and he was telling me about his cute little 4 year old son. Very innocent conversation, I thought. I had to deal with the girls coming up and making passing comments about how I was married. At this point I was reaching the end of my patience, and my conversation partner saw it. He was going in to watch the band with his friends, and I agreed to join him. I let one of the girls know where I was going and headed inside to warm up.

The guys were lots of fun. The bought me a few drinks, and we watched a decent band play. They got much better as I drank more. Towards the end, we were singing along with the music and dancing around. I thanked them for a good time and headed back out to my friends. When I got there, you would have thought that I just told the Pope to go to hell. One of the girls flipped out on me because she didn't know where I was. Since she wasn't my babysitter, I didn't think I needed to tell her. It seems that she thought I did. Whatever. We finish up a last drink and get ready to head out.

On the way out, one of the single girls stops to talk to a guy. Fine with me. The rest of the girls walk out and leave her there. All of them. I realized she'd been left and walked back. Luckily I did. She was so drunk that she never would have found her way back. The girls that left her were the same girls that freaked out on me for going inside to watch the band. I was furious. I guess since she was single, it didn't matter who she slept with (or got raped by) that night. I was the good friend and made sure she got back to the room safely.

Situations like these are the reasons why I like male friends. In college, my male friends kept me from getting thrown over the shoulder of a rugby player and getting drug home. [another story for another day] My male friends (usually) didn't think the same guys were cute and would get mad at me for talking to them. My male friends didn't get mad if I got attention and they didn't. I just can't deal with high-maintenance people.

I'm lucky that I have a husband that understands me. I still might catch grief from him about taking Andy to New Orleans, but that's only because he's not going. Serves him right for not taking me to Key West. I know it was a guys' trip. I should still get a vacation without him, though. He can listen to all the stories I'll bring back. I'll have to make sure I hang out with hookers and strippers, just to make it fair.

Cards for a Cause

It's time to do something good for others and show your support in the blogging community. Our friend and fellow blogger Charlie Tuttle passed away from cancer a few weeks ago. A tournament has been set up in his memory to show our support. Please think seriously about taking the time to join this tournament and play a game that Charlie loved.

Here's the info (from BG):

WPBT "Charlie" Tournament
When? Sunday July 17th, 6PM EST
Where? PokerStars - Private Tournament tab
How Much? Only $20, with all proceeds going to charity
What Do I Get When I Win? The comfort of knowing you're doing something good for someone else.

All proceeds to go to a destination of Charlie Tuttle's family choosing.

Please forgive the impromptu hiatus....

I rarely post on the weekends. I usually have something going on, and there's always time to write it up at work. Not really, but I'd rather take a break from work to write. :-) During the last couple of days, I just couldn't write though. I'm not a girlie-girl in most situations, but this month was rough to be female if you know what I mean. (I could spell it out, but I'd hate to lose most of my male readers talking about my period.) Needless to say, I was extremely grumpy and I figured that an incoherent, pissed off post could wait until I was actually pissed off at something specific and not the world in general. So here I am on Wednesday, with plenty of chocolate and Alleve, finally ready to write.

This weekend went well. We had our friend Becky's graduation party on Saturday. She'd just gotten her MBA, something that she's been working on the last several years while working full time. She rented the downstairs and back deck of the Boathouse, so we all headed over there mid-afternoon to sit in the sun. It was a mellow party, but the shots flowed and a good time was had by all.

Later in the evening, I start talking to a long-time friend Patrick who'd just had a birthday 2 days before. Patrick was a co-worker who helped me through some problems I had at work and became my personal trainer for a while. He was planning a trip into Philly for a little bar-hopping and dancing with another friend. I love to dance, even though I know I'm not the best at it. I entrusted Al to the care of Landow for a ride home, and off we go!

Patrick and I pick up David, a semi-pro soccer player who had tried out for Chelsea (and others, I'm sure) when he lived over in Europe. After another quick drink at David's house, we head into Philly.

I don't remember the name of the first place we went to. (I'd had many several drinks by this time, since Patrick had driven into the city.) It was hip, with dance floors on two different levels and a funky martini/olive motif. We danced and drank for a couple of hours. I didn't think it was fair to have Patrick drive after his own celebration, so I became the responsible one and started sobering up for the drive home.

When the bar closed at 2 AM, we headed to another place right down the street called the Mansion House. There was a bit of a waiting line at the door, but David and Patrick knew the owner. We walked to the head of the line, the guys made their greetings, and we were escorted in directly. Sweet!

This bar is actually an old house on a corner. It's an amazing place, with the staircase looping in the center with rooms jutting off at staggered levels. It looks like they kept all of the original wood railings, window sills, and moulding. (I forgot to look up to see if it still had a tin ceiling.) I immediately fell in love with the place, but we'd arrived too late to find a place to sit. Patrick and David had another drink and mingled with friends. We finally decided it was time to go. Luckily, it was a quiet drive back. I think I finally got home around 4:30 AM or so.

I tried playing poker on Sunday, but I was getting my butt kicked online. I did play Razz with Derek for a little bit, and I made a couple of dollars there. I've been getting slammed in hold'em. Always second best hands. Big slick, big raise pre-flop, flop top two pair, much raising until the river. No straight or flush draw. I lost - to a flopped set of 4s. Something I couldn't predict. I'd seen the same person play a similar style when they had top pair mid kicker. I just didn't believe it.

Boathouse had their Tuesday freeroll last night. I had the idiot-savant seated at my first table. He was so bad, he not only didn't know how to deal hold'em, he didn't know how to shuffle! He also caught cards like a world's champion. Runner, runner cards for a flush with 4 diamonds on the board. He beat pocket Js with A4o, when he caught an A on the river. Calling any bet or raising. Silly stuff. I went out with pocket Qs when the board came up J high. I went all-in after the flop, and ran up against slow-played pocket As. The deck will need to starting hitting me incessantly if I'm ever going to win that tourney.

We're heading to Atlantic City on Friday and staying for the weekend. If anyone is going to be in the area, let us know. Maybe we'll see you down there!

Recollections from Last Night

I curse Danielle. Not because I was up late last night. Not because I didn't get much sleep. Not because I have a slight hangover this morning. I curse Danielle because I'm dealing with these things alone! Normally, I call Danielle at work and we commiserate and somehow I make it through the day knowing that I'm not the only one. Danielle's on vacation this week. Damn her! I'm sure she's sleeping right now... I think it's time for a heavily sweetened ultra-strong coffee from the Starbucks-style place in our building.

Last night was fairly uneventful. They have karaoke at the bar on Thursdays, and somehow I always end up singing. This is not a good thing. When I've been drinking, I think I can sing. To some degree, I can. Not well enough to be amplified so everyone can hear. This is the true essence of karaoke. It's a way to amuse and torture your fellow drinkers at the same time...

I've also found that I may have a new addiction - video golf. One of the guys got me playing it last night. I think I played for about an hour and a half. I really liked it... I'm definitely not good at it though. My best score for 18 holes was +21 or so. I'd only ever played once before, and I was on a team where my parter told me everything to do, so it didn't have the same appeal. This time, I was completely on my own! I had some good shots, I had some 4 putts. I'm sure I'll get better.

There's a group of guys that always come to the bar on Thursdays, and we used to hang out with them on a regular basis. They're fun to hang out with, but here's the problem. One of the guys continually tries to get me to sleep with him. I can handle myself around the guy and it's never become a problem, but I can't understand why he keeps doing it. He knows I'm married, and he's married with two kids. At first I thought he was just joking around, but I really think he's serious. One night, I was sitting and talking to him and he starting hinting about sleeping with him again. I looked him in the eye and asked, "What's wrong with your wife?" He has a beautiful wife that he says he loves very much. (His friends agree that his wife is attactive and a great person.) He says that there's nothing wrong, and he just wants to sleep with me. It just doesn't make sense. Male point of view on this one?

I get to pick up Al at the airport tonight. Jerk. At least I got to play some poker while he was gone. Before I went out with Danielle last night, I played a quick single table SNG. My first hand, I was dealt pocket As. Second hand, pocket Js. I didn't take anybody out, but I went up quickly. Less than 15 hands later, I had another set of As. By this point, nobody would get into a hand with me. Then, I had a bad streak of icy cards and had a bunch of second-best hands. My last hand ended up being a pocket pair/2 over coin flip and I lost. It will be fun to see where the SNGs take me (and my bankroll).

Maybe I'll see some of you on the tables! You can't miss me on FTP - MrsCantHang. (Can you tell Al set up the account?) Until then...

SNGs are good!

I played 3 SNGs last night on FTP. Small ones - $5.50 buy-in. I think I might have to stick with these for a while. Out of the three, I made money on two. One first place finish, one second place finish. I went out on the bubble in the third when AKo went up against pocket Ks. I made $19.50, after all was said and done.

This might be a good way to fix up the bankroll and practice my tournament play. I never did pick up the book last night though.

I made a mistake while signing up and ended up in a limit tournament when I thought it was no limit. (This was the one I placed first in.) I didn't think it would ever end. I did unintentionally suck out on someone though. One guy had pocket 7s, and I had Q8c. Flop came out 878, and I kept betting. I'd seen this guy play complete crap before, and I didn't think he had pocket 7s. I caught my Q on the river. He proceeded to curse at me and tell me how stupid I was. I guess I'm growing donkey ears. Oh well. Other people had seen him play crap and wouldn't give him any slack, so he ended up going out next. Too bad, so sad, bye-bye. :-)

Still one more night of uninterrupted poker if I want it. I may just call Danielle and see if she wants to go out instead. Her boyfriend was very sick on Sunday morning, and he just thought it was a hangover. Looks like it might be Lyme's disease, so they're not able to go on the road trip they were planning for this week. I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't take her out and keep her spirits up.

Wish me luck, regardless of which activity I end up with tonight!

I guess I should put up some sort of poker related post...

Online poker has not been kind to me lately. Neither has the freeroll at the Boathouse. I'd lost quite a bit of my buy-in on FTP, and I'm working on making it back. Slow process. I don't feel like my plays were the cause of my bankroll drop - I played good poker, but I just had second best hand every time.

Luckily, the tourney at the Boathouse is free. Out in 12th last night. The play that knocked me out was one of those 50/50 hands. I had pocket 10s and was one before the button. I had a decent amount, but blinds were getting up there and there were some pretty big stacks at the table. I raise all-in for T100. The guy on the button said he called, but didn't realize how much I'd had. Since he said he called, he put in the money. It was a race between AQ and 10s. He got an A on the turn, and I lost the race. It didn't make me feel any better, but the guy said that if he knew how much I was putting in, he would've folded.

My tournament play is passable, but definitely not as good as I need to be. I tried a couple of MTTs and was knocked out about mid-field both times. I'd done well in the SNGs on Pacific Poker, but I hate their GUI. I might try a couple of SNGs on FTP this week, now that I'm single until Friday. Maybe I'll curl up with a good poker book and see if I can't learn anything.

I've also been invited out by BigMike and my friend Danielle while Al's gone. Maybe I'll have some more interesting stories to share on that front, too. :-)

Better than twice-confirmed huge junk?

Whenever I go out drinking, strange and interesting things always happen. I had one of those nights when I went out in Bloomsburg last weekend. I had witnesses in Vegas where we had 2 random guys buy our drinks for the rest of the night. I have many more stories where that came from... but first, this weekend's story.

I went out with Danielle and her boyfriend Mark on Saturday night. Al had a rough work week and didn't feel like moving off the couch, so I went without him. This is not an uncommon occurrance. (He thinks weekends are for amateurs.) It didn't start off any differently than any other night.

I met them at Weso's, our favorite little dive bar. Danielle had gotten me to join a bowling league last year, and we'd hang out at Weso's every Thursday night after we got done. We know the bartenders quite well and are very comfortable there. I walk in the door, and Mark's talking to some random people on the corner of the bar there. I make small talk with Mark and a guy in a yellow shirt, then wander over to the section of the bar where Danielle's sitting. She had a beer waiting on the bar for me - good girl! They're playing good music on the radio, and I'm singing along to the ones that I know.

One of the girls Mark had been talking to was giving another guy a backrub. Of course, I think I'm funny and say that I'm next. To my surprise, she comes over and gives me a pretty good back rub! We had the entire bar laughing when she made me turn around and put my hands up against the wall (think cop frisking suspect style) to do a quick pummel on my back. I thanked her and bought her a beer. (Remember this. Important to the story later.)

I also remember doing a dial-a-shot with BadBlood and a few of the guys at his house. It helped to warm me up for the rest of the evening.

While finishing up my second beer, I look across the bar and notice the guy in the yellow shirt is staring at me. I knew I was making a spectacle of myself by singing along and dancing, but it doesn't bother me. Right after, the bartender comes over and lets me know that guy across the bar has bought my next beer. Being polite, I wave and say thanks. Yellow-shirt-guy takes this as an invitation to talk and wanders to our side of the bar. I let it be known very quickly that I am married, but he still talked my ear off for a while. Luckily, a woman I know from my company comes over, elbows yellow-shirt-guy out of the way and saves me. Her friend the backrub girl comes over and wanted to know if we wanted to join them at another bar. It was a bar with a band and pool tables, so we went.

They weren't sure if I could start a tab at the new bar, so we stopped to get money from the gas station on the way. By this time, Mark has had several drinks (which was why I was driving them to the bar) and he gets a little silly when he's been drinking. Danielle and I walk in to use the ATM, and he needed the restroom. He walks by the guy at the counter and says, "You need to call 911. These girls have kidnapped me and I'm their prisoner." (Mark is 6'1", shaved head w/goatee, and looks like a mean biker.) Counter guy laughs and says, "Must be tough." Danielle is done first and goes back out to the car. I'm getting my money out of the ATM when Mark comes out of the restroom. When he gets to the counter, he asks the guy "Are they still here?" Counter guy peeks around the rack and says, "Just the blonde one." Mark comes back with, "Damn, she's the mean one!" We laughed all the way to the next bar.

We walk in and there's a decent number of people. The band's playing music that belongs at a wedding reception. We get to the bar and Mark starts singing the current song to the bartender - have I told you lately that I love you. She didn't find him that funny. We did. The other two girls show up and we're drinking and having fun. I make friends with the guy to my left since he keeps looking over at us like we're nuts. The guys across the bar are laughing at us too. Danielle picks at me as one of the guys across the bar buys me another drink. Backrub girl buys me a drink too. I'm just happy to get free drinks.

We start playing pool and shuffleboard bowling. The other girl has taken a liking to the guy who sat next to me. Around 1:30 AM, we all decide to go back to Weso's. The bartender tries to give me someone else's $150 bar tab, but I straightened it out and I paid the $14 that I owed. Maybe I should've taken that tab and the gold card that went with it...

On the way back to Weso's, Danielle, Mark and I decide we don't need any more beer and food's more important. We stop at the diner on the corner and grab a bite to eat. I drop them off at their car in front of Weso's, and the rest of our friends are still there. I walk in to say hi and hang out until they kick us out.

Here's where it gets crazy. The guy that they brought back with them has a very nice new Corvette and he offers to let her drive. They take a drive, which leaves me with the backrub girl. Out of the blue, she starts hitting on me and tells me that she wants to sleep with me. She says it will only take an hour and nobody will know. I'm a little creeped out at this point, but as she tries to reach for my hand, the test drive is over and they pull back in the parking lot. When the guy offers me a test drive, I quickly accept!

The car was awesome to drive, and after refusing to take a tour of his house, he drops me back off at my car. Luckily, the long drive home was uneventful.

I'm sure I put myself in strange situations, but somehow they seem to happen too often to really be my fault. If nothing else, I only spent $25 that night and had a blast. Maybe this is better than twice-confirmed huge junk. I get all kinds of free drinks and amusing stories to tell in the process!

From the FTP Fishtank...

Playing a $25 NL table last night:

Raise to $.75 preflop. 2 people in. Flop comes As 2d 8s. Guy who raised (guy #1) bets $1.50. Other guy (guy #2) raises to $3. Guy #1 calls. Turn comes, Ah. Guy #1 bets $4. Guy #2 thinks and thinks and finally folds. Nothing special about the hand.

The funny part is guy #2 in the chat right after - I hope you had it because I folded my set of 2s. Just a set of 2s? I had to tell him that he just folded a boat...

These are the people I like having at my table. :-)