Monkey Monday

Hey everyone!

Well, wow...what a weekend.

The bad news? I still haven't received word from the Beau Rivage people (Warren Mason) on if and/or when I can come back to the casino. While I sit and wait my buddy Rooster is in there chopping up the 20K guarantee on Saturday. That is just ridiculous. If I were there he would have been lucky to get his buy in back!

Alright Rooster....take it easy. In reality...I was on the phone with him the day before, listening to him whine about the bad beats he's been taking lately. We were in the middle of my telling him the story about all this bullshit with the 2+2/Western Union...Jonathan Little AIM scam....when all of a sudden he's mumbling under his breath..."hold on dude, this is a big hand"...he's playing 2/5 at the Beau.

This is what I hear next.....
"You what? I'm all in! Huh....what's he got? Oh my god! FUCK! I'm outa here!"

We then decided to discuss how he could have played this hand a little different. Guy raises UTG. Rooster looks down at QQ. He raises from $20 to $50. Other guy...who BTW is holding KK....smooth calls. Flop comes K-Q-7. Of course he thinks he's good here. Guy checks. Rooster checks thinking he's slowrolling the guy. OH..Rooster has $650 in front of him. Turn card is a 3. The first guy decides now to bet. He bets $100. Rooster....calls. The river is a K. Now this is where I think I might start getting nervous. The first guy bets $150. I think here, I look at the board and start thinking to myself...."hmmm, self, what is out there that can beat me?" A couple things...for sure...and the pot is already very nice. I think I better just play this one cool and flat it. Nope..not Rooster...he moves in. Cant beat QUADS with a boat. He leaves, indeed, and proceeds to talk about how bad he's been running this month.

This is the same guy who has clipped FOUR Royal Flushes in video poker this month. Went to Atlantic City and got deep in almost everything he played and cashed a 2nd chance tourney. The thing is...Rooster is getting spoiled by success. I understand that. When I first got started playing tourney poker, I was happy when I cashed. And if I cashed once a month..it was still cool. But the more you play and the more you win....hell, you expect to cash every tourney. And half expect to make every final table. Reality is such that...its just not that easy. There are way too many land mines.

The other bad news is that I am getting KILLED in my fantasy leagues. ALL OF THEM. ALL FOUR OF THEM! Every time I have a big week, the opponent has a bigger week! IN my Confidence Pool I am almost in dead last. IN my Survivor Pool...I am completely OUT of one guys. In my $25...my 7 entries are down to TWO! In the $100 Survivor Pool..my 5 entries are down to 2. I've taken rebuys on FOUR of them..so I am in for $900 in a pool that will pay about $15000 to win. I NEED to win! I am still in the NCAA SURVIVOR...and that is getting dicey too! All these upsets! What a crazy football season! I have NO IDEA who the best team is right now...in either league! I know one thing...I would do ANYTHING to see our AD at Washington fire Ty Willingham...its getting ridiculous. In fact, we are now the West Coast equivalent to Syracuse! Its not cool!

On that 2+2 thing...I just want to say thanks to all of you who either emailed me your support or even went on there and posted on my behalf. Wild Bill, Gene, Reid and a handful of others came in and said some very nice things. Thanks again. That was very trying...and I almost lost my mind for 24 hours there! It did bump up the traffic on here, that's for SURE! We went from an average of about 65-80 hits a day to over 600 the day it was all hitting the fan. Wow.

I learned a lot about people in those two days. I've never been a guy who sits and reads those forums. I don't know if its because I don't have time for it, aren't that interested, or just refuse to get wrapped up in the ugliness that those things seem to perpetuate. Its funny, back in the mid 90's, when chat rooms became all the rage on AOL...I participated for...not long. I would sit there, see what people were talking about..and noticed that inevitably the conversations would ALWAYS turn ugly. Someone would invariably say something that would piss someone else off, and then it was WAR! I don't know, really, what the reason for this is. Maybe because of the invisible barrier that the Internet and their computer provides. I think you find your quintessential COWARDS on those things. Guys who will say and think what they KNOW they could never say to your face. I have a pretty high opinion of human beings in general. But after a day and a half of trying to fight a war on that damn site, I was seriously losing my faith in people. I think the best thing for me is to completely stay away from those if I want to keep liking people!

This weekend was a total online poker weekend, and while I was spending a great deal of time breaking things around the house, I did finally have some success for a change. On Friday I won my way into Sunday Turbo Takedown on Stars. That thing is great. You can buy in for 5000 FPPS, which is a LOT, or you can try to satellite in. I did that latter, for 625 FPPS, ended up chipleader out of 485 players...20 got in. Well, I played that on Sunday...first place getting $100,000! The pay line ($90) started at 4000. With 4092 left, and players dropping like flies, I pick up 10-10 behind a raiser...but this guy is raising every other hand with a big stack...just playing bubble poker, in my opinion. Well, I am in kind of a bad spot. I have only 3800 chips, blinds are 600/1200...and I'm not really playing to JUST CASH...I need to take a shot at a double up. Even if I fold, I might not make it still. I am three from the BB. What the hell I move all in. He calls with AQ...a pretty good hand. First card out is a Q and Im out on the bubble. That sucked!

On Saturday..after going O FOR FREAKING 14 in SNGS to start my glorious Saturday...I bought into the $9.90/360 tourney. Then I bought into the $3 rebuy. I bought into a couple other ones and next thing I know...I have $3.63 left in my account. Great enough for ONE rebuy in the $3 rebuy. Somehow I discovered the eCHECK thing on Stars...and get an instant $100 deposit. NICE! $100! That $100 quickly becomes $33 as I take on ridiculous beat after another. But at the same time I am getting very deep in those other two tourneys. I make the Final Table of the $9.90 tourney...$861 for first. With 6 left...my ALL GAME LONG nemesis calls my raise like he ALWAYS does with A9 suited. The flop comes 6-7-8. Not bad. He checks. I bet. He calls. Turn card a 10. NICE! He bets now. I raise. He moves in. Well, duh, I call. He has 77. A set....no, god no..dont do it. RIVER? 8! Full HOUSE. Im out. $145. Dammit! On to the 3 rebuy. Dude keeps moving in on my BB from the SB....like EVERY time he has a chance. I just keep folding. He does it again. We are in the money... but not REAL deep...at around 100....we started with 3834. I see 10-10. Screw this guy. I call. He has AK. YIKES. Flops an A. Turns a K. Damn...nice game guys. Then I notice there are 4 hearts out there and I have the 10 of hearts, right about the time a heart hits the river giving me the flush...and a double up to about half a million! Awesome!

Well, we get to 27 players. First place is $5400. I am starting now to get very excited. Cheryl comes home from work...wanting to go out with her friends. Yeah...Im staying home, sweety and trying to win $5400. She would later go out and lose her phone. Good night for her! 27 left...and I pick up AK. I raise 120k (blinds are 20/40k) Shortstack goes all in for 200K...I HAVE to call him. The jackass in the SB who has been reraising all night with shit like A4, A8, K10...goes over the top all in! Lovely. NOw, typically I would fold AK here...but because its THIS CLOWN...I have to call and hope I can at least BEAT HIM....even if small stack beats me. Its a perfect situation when I call and see the hands. Small stack has AA. Yikes. But donkeyboy has AQ. NICE. Assuming small stack wins...I am still going to make 300K on this hand and chip up to about 1 million and be in the top 3. Cancel those plans! Flop comes J-8-10..turn J river.....NINE. Donkey beats me AND the other guy. I go out and pocket a HUGE $120. I was so pissed. But at least it felt good to cash deep in two tourneys on Saturday...the day I NEVER cash on that site. Followed that up with a win in a $12/45 sng later that night...so it was a pretty good day on Stars for a change!

Meanwhile...Sunday I went and picked up our new puppy that Cheryl found through her e-mail network. Kind of mutt I guess...kind of looks like a black lab, with some pit bull and great dane in her? Yeah...picture that if you can! She's very sweet and loveable though...and I think a great playmate for Jasper, who was clearly lonely and missing Tuesday a lot. I love dogs.

Cheryl is off today...she just got home from getting her new phone. She is tapping her foot and wants me to quit writing this and take her to sushi. So I guess I better, huh? I will probably grind away on here...every day, at least till I hear from the Beau. In two weeks we head to Seattle for two weeks to help my Mom move...then come home and play the IP tourney...I hope to GAWD they have fixed their structure, they are touting it with "ALL NEW STRUCTURES" so I hope that is what they are alluding to! Then after that...straight to LAS VEGAS for the deepstacks at Venetian! Can't wait for that!
One of the guys who reads this frequently researched through Cardplayer who had the most final tables this year in the world...and I am in SECOND FREAKING PLACE with 8. I guess CUB has to be in first, doesn't he? Wow, that is pretty freaking awesome..two good 'ol boys from the sticks leading the world in final tables! I think with IP coming, and about 15-20 tourneys at the Venetian, I should be able to squeeze at LEAST another 4 out of this year. Even if being #179 in POY isn't that noticeable, if I can get 4 more final tables and get into the top 50, and lead in Final Tables...that would be something to be proud of I think!

Okay...she wont stop whining...and I can't stand that more than anything there is. So I will bid you guys adieu. Happy trails!

PS: Finally took a chance to sit and read GENEd's Blog..and I have to say...dude is funny. Met him for the first time up in Tunica. He was very cool. I had seen his face a lot but never made the connection on here. He has some very funny tales to tell in his blog..if you haven't read it, you should check it out...definitely good for a laugh or two!