Seattle to Biloxi to Tunica

Yep.

They got me again!

After October I said I wasn't coming back here again. But alas, three or four phone calls from some of my boys and I couldn't resist. The structures are great, the fields have been huge, and they have altered the payouts to where they are not so damn top heavy.

I was set to come home from Seattle...sit there in Biloxi for a week, hang out with Squirrel for a while...try to train that damn dog Molly to chill the hell out, then leave for Vegas on Monday. Had Allie Prescott all ready to pick me up and get going on the Venetian Deepstacks and drive over with him and Brady to play some L.A.P.C. events.

But, no no! All that has changed. Instead, I decided...hmmmm...I will drive to Tunica, play the last week of those events, try to satellite into the Main Event that starts on Tuesday, a $5K event...and if I don't play it...go home, chill with Squirrel, go with her to our next Baby Doctor Appt, where we get to see another sonogram. The only way I wont make that appt, is if I am sitting at the Final Table on Friday of the Main Event. She can deal with that!

So I am sitting here in my hotel room, which I am sharing with Brandon Jarrett, who busted out earlier in the Main Event at Borgata...zipped down here...got us a room while I was driving up here...and now is sitting here 5-tabling 10/20 cash play on Full Tilt and giving me a rambling play-by-play as I attempt to make this entry. Good luck. I finally have met my match in the rambling play-by-play department! Tomorrow's event is a $340 buy in...which I think should be a big field. I will just buy in direct. After I get done ripping this thing off...I am going to dive into my current novel, "THE ASSASSIN" which comes on the heals of my recently concluded "THE TRAITOR" by Stephen Coonts. No poker for me tonight....I actually got my fill driving up here. That's right. Some people find that scary. Some think its hilarious. Some people understand its great for killing time on a long boring ass drive. Final Tabled a $12/180 on Stars and pulled another $225 on two .25/.50 cash games. A profitable drive north. Loving the VERIZON wireless Internet card!

Well, my 14 days in Seattle was relatively pleasant. Drank all but two of those bottles of Pinot Noir. Saved the best and brought them home. Helped my Mother around her house a lot. She is in pretty good shape after the surgery. I felt bad leaving her...I know she is going to get pretty lonely all alone up there. I finally discovered the poker room at the local casino. Things started great the first time I went there. Ran 300 up to 1200....before the damn wheels fell off. Had a couple of freaks at my table. This old guy they called Smokey...who was sporting about 3 and a half teeth...never missed a flop or failed to suck out. One very huge loss for me came on a multiple called $10 hand. I had KQ. The flop? What else? A-10-J. Rainbow. By the time we got to the river....'Ol Smokey and I would manage to get about $425 of our chips in the middle with another $120 from other players. The last two cards were A-J. Smokey's cards? A-Q. Perfect. It ended in me leaving with $3, enough to tip the valet.

My next session there was a rollercoaster ride. In for $300. BOOM! In the first 20 minutes I flop a set of 3s. Yeah...it all gets in there against the guy who flopped a set of 8's. Nice. Put in another $300. Run that to $750. Drop to $400. Up down, up down....until finally I run it up to $900. Look at my watch and it is freaking 6:30am. Jeezuz. I leave. As I crawl into bed...the girl who has come to stay with us...happened to bring her dog, PACO....who was apparently previously owned by an abusive male, because every time I walked in the door, he would start barking incessantly. So much for trying to sneak in! Well, then she goes out to the garage at 8am, with my Mom, and starts re-arranging everything in the garage! My bedroom? On the other side of the garage wall. Awesome. My punishment for coming in late I guess.

Never mind that I took this dog jogging with me twice. And that he even came and climbed in my bed one night. Okay, granted, part of the reason was that I was holding FOOD! Still...the bonding efforts were there and should have gotten me excused from the FREAK OUT BARKING episodes every day! NOPE! So yeah... one really good thing about this trip was that I started running again. FOUR TIMES! Wow, to feel the blood flowing through my body again, to feel SWEAT...actual SWEAT..rolling down my face, was pretty invigorating! Need to do more of this. So I don't keel over from a heart attack at a poker table!!!

ON DAY FIVE in SEATTLE (Snoqualmie, specifically) I finally got my Mother to QUIT forcing me to watch NANCY FREAKING GRACE every night!

Never quite made it on getting her to quit forcing me to watch the lineup of JUDGE SHOWS! Do you people realize that their are somewhere in the neighborhood of 38 Judge Shows on television now? Its out of control!

So I got home on Sunday night late. "Caught up" with Squirrel and called it a night. We slept in til 3 the next day...awesome! Sleep! Then we decided to go see the movie "MARLEY AND ME." Wow...great movie. Sort of. It was sad. If you have ever owned a dog, especially a lab...this movie is for you. Of course, a lot of you have probably lived this movie. I know we have. We both cried for the last half hour. It touched a lot of nerves. Made me really anxious to go home and hug my own dogs. Suddenly it got us to feeling like Molly really wasn't such a bad dog after all. Earlier in the day I had gone and run some errands, including taking her to the vet to get those CLAWS of hers clipped. It was a nightmare. They had to get two 'techs' in there to hold her down. But we finally got them!!! Jasper...he's awesome...got in my bed with me this morning and didn't move for three hours. He is so sweet. I love my dogs. I miss them so bad when I am on the road. But I am glad they are at home to give Squirrel their affection. Dogs are great!

The Super Bowl is coming, the Super Bowl is coming. Look, here it is. Monkey's prediction. ARIZONA 27- PITTSBURGH 16. I have been doing these Super Bowl Squares for 6 years now. So much for a bad economy. I have sold a record number this year...and am still filling boards. 4 separate $25 boards, 2 $50 boards, a $100 board. Going to be giving away a LOT of money this year!!!!! I cant wait for the game to get here!!!

Well...that's about it. I'm tired now. Its 2am, and I want to read a little. Hope you all are having a great year so far. I really, really hope I make a final table or two while I am up here! I'll keep ya'all posted!

Oh by the way...my Monkey arrived in the mail, that one that is from Pokerstars, and has the FLAT STANLEY-like promotion attached to it. I will be looking to get the Monkey into some cool photo-ops while I am here!!!!

MONKEY

www.gulfcoastpoker.net