Monday Morning...and its Sunny in Biloxi. (and a NEW RESTAURANT REVIEW!!!!)

....you know what THAT means!!???

That means my lawn, after three days now without rain, has finally gotten to the point where a mower can be pushed across it without disappearing into the depths of its murky morasse...I don't even know if that sentence just made sense. What I am saying is that its time for me to get off my ass and cut the grass, which has taken on a 'redneck living in the neighborhood' feel.

Yeah it's Monday. It was quite a weekend. Squirrel has a new schedule now at work, she is now OFF on Saturday and Sunday...which is kind of good, kind of bad, mostly good. Good, in a sense that I get to see her now more on the 'good' days. Bad, in that when I am dialed into football, and she wants attention...it just doesn't work. We'll figure it out.

Today is my little sister's 33rd birthday. She lives up in Wisconsin and is the Athletic Director at St. Mary's College. I am very proud of her. She also coaches softball. I was there the day she was born...and I can't believe how fast the years go by!

Me and Joe Cutler have been having some fun little 'lets sit down and play in MTTs on Stars together, trade 10% and see how it goes' sessions in the last week.

[in proofreading this saw the potential for some haters to spout off about that last comment. I should add that Joe is in the STATE OF NEW YORK, and I am sitting on my computer in the STATE OF MISSISSIPPI!!!!! Now, we are not colluding against the universe in MTT tourneys on 'Stars!!!!]

The other night we both nearly made the Final Table of the $11 one rebuy/one add on tourney with 1089 players. My AA got snapped, then 99 lost to AQ and I went out 11th. Sucked. He made the final table and got 7th, when his KK got coolered by AA. Ouch. But we both final tabled a $12/180 the same day. I had a $700 Friday, he had a $1200 day. Then he had a good Saturday too, while mine was so-so. I pulled an o-fer on a light Sunday yesterday. Haven't come close to locking up a PCA seat yet. A trip I really, really want to win...so I can be long gone and out of town when the next event is here at the Beau Rivage. Don't even want to be around. Then we are going to Seattle in the last week of January for a family get together and a possible trip north to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics.

Saturday night was date night for me and the missus. Usually we do something like a dinner and a movie and I had been wanting to try out this place for awhile...and as its close to our old standby, Outback...she was a little skeptical about it (she's addicted to Outback!)...but Squirrel is a team player and went along with it. So at halftime of the Alabama-S.Carolina game we headed on over to the High Cotton Grill.....http://www.highcottongrill.com/ over in D'Iberville. We walk in and its pretty full...we always like sitting in or near the bar...because that is where the TV is. Well, these guys have a big drop down screen...NICE! So we decide to sit at the bar. Good decision. We had a bartender named Jason, very cool guy. Very attentive, and made some great recommendations. The manager even came over to offer us a nearby booth when it opened. Nice start. I opened the menu and was totally blown away! Southern inspired menu...with everything I crave...oysters this, shrimp that...great po'boys, great salads, steak, seafood, pasta...everything. The music they play is off of a satellite radio station, and is southern classic rock mostly. Perfect for the laid back, intimate surroundings that make you realize exactly where you are. A semi-small place with about 30 tables maybe...really quite perfect. They have a waiter for about each 3 or 4 tables...so the level of service was great.

Well, I was deciding between the Buffalo Oysters or the Sauteed Oysters app. Squirrel was getting the Comeback Shrimp..which were very similar to the awesome Bang Bang Shrimp that the Bonefish Grill serves, only BETTER! Yeah! Well, Jason recommended I do the sauteed oysters app...and am I glad I did. Incredible, and the broth they came in got devoured after the oysters retired to my stomach! Then we feasted on a plate of Seafood Pasta with a little bit of everything in it...and a filet, with a side order of fried oysters...that turned out being a ridiculous portion of about 12 oysters! I was in heaven. She got Okra and Fries for side dishes, both which were really freaking good. The steak was cooked a PERFECT M-R, which is rare (no pun intended!) for us these days not to have our steak screwed up. Ruth Chris can't figure out how to NOT screw up my steak but these guys nailed it! I love it! And at a third of the cost!

The crowd in there was really nice. White folks, black folks...with and without kids. Just a very nice place, and setting. The manager worked the room but not in the obnoxious way that most managers do...you know the way? With their stupid manager keys always hanging around their waste and jingling as they walk? Wanting the world to know that HE IS THE MANAGER!!!! His were tucked into his back pocket. And the table-side conversation was genuine, not that contrived, patronizing babble that most managers throw at you when they come to your table.

Squirrel and I both LOVED this place. Everything about it was perfect. And the final bill? That was good news too. Only $75 and we ate our face off! We tipped the guy $20 and left feeling great and anxious to return! We had thought about going to see the new movie 'Couples Retreat' with my clone, Vince Vaughn...but watching the last few minutes of the Bama game made us late for that...so we made our way over to the Hard Rock to play some cash game. Tried to get Kai away from the table at the Beau Rivage to come join us...but he never would.

Later on, 'The Claw' would meet us over there and we ended up having a great little $1/$2 table. Through 4 hours I was down about $150. Didn't even care, we had a fun table, everyone was friendly, we were all drinking a lot. I think for the first time, Squirrel realized that I could actually go out, play cash game...lose money, not care, not freak out, not piss her off...that my demeanor really has/had changed. In fact I never got even slightly annoyed until SHE pissed me off. Holding 99 I had raised preflop, and she called me with what she tried to tell me later (after changing her story twice!) that she had my favorite hand K9...on a flop of 9-k-Q...I bet into the flop. She raises the crap out of it...and every else folded. I give her the stink eye. She mutters..."what if I have my favorite hand?" which is J-10....."oh okay sweetie, then you would have the nuts right now, but I have outs!" And it WOULD be like her to call a raise with J10. Her excuse for calling was that she was 'offering me protection'! Yeah whatever dear. She loves to use MY expressions to defend her plays. Well, I called to see the turn. One thing about the two of us in cash game. We will NOT hesitate to felt the other one.

The turn is a 10, further complicating my hand. I check. And she fires out this ridiculous bet. WTF? Now I am glaring at her. I finally fold. She won't show. But now changes her story and tells me she had K9. Whatever. I got over it. But that was really the only time I got irritated the whole night....well, til Omar Hickary showed up. Omar...that little bastard.

He is now dating one of Squirrel's friends, Ashley 'Taco' Longoria. When Omar shows up, its always with much fanfare. He always presents me with the 'special embrace' that only Omar can provide. Now Omar has this thing he does that I hate. Let me preface this by saying this....I love Omar. I like hanging OUT with Omar. We had some fun times in Vegas this summer. And he is just the nicest kid. Serves his country well in the Air Force. Lots of reasons to love the kid. When it comes to cash game however? I hate Omar. You all KNOW this guy.

There is only one other person on the planet who compares to Omar...and a lot of you know THIS guy too...and feel the same way about him as I do. Terry Lake Garner. If you read the Monkey Blog...you know the role he played in my life about a year ago at the Beau. You also saw him make an appearance in this year's Main Event in Vegas on ESPN recently, in his ultra annoying typical fashion. These are guys who like to sit down at a 1/2 table..and despite that the table has been playing very conservatively (for hours sometimes) and having fun with each other...and not playing huge pots...drop as much money on the table as they can get their hands around (often times 2k or more) and start terrorizing the table.

Well, Omar pulled this shit. And it immediately polarized the table. When, on his 3rd hand he decides to play 'powerball' with the tightest kid at the table, a young kid who was obviously on a fixed budget...and holding KK...Omar keeps firing...preflop raise, re-raise, fire, re-pop post flop...he would get all the kids money in the middle and gutshot his ass on the river....holding 2-7 offsuit. The look on the kids face said it all. And I really became pretty furious. Before that had happened, another kid that liked to raise with good face cards...had raised to $10 on a $5 straddle hand. Well, I looked down at AcQc and said that I was going to raise...but wouldn't probably now. Well, Omar starts looking at Claudia's hand...this was before he had even sat down at our table. He talks her into making a $50 raise. I know from just Omar's presence that he has coached her into a squeeze raise...and its pissing me off, because I am NOT folding, but the fact that I have to call $50 just to see a flop has me fucking irritated. Well, the first kid...he shoves all in! Great. Thanks Omar. Fucker. Claudia gives off that face...you know the one? The "Whoops, bad time to squeeze raise, can I please get away from this (take your pick of garbage hands here) hand now!??" face. She folds.

So where does that leave me? Anyone remember that hand down in Aruba? Almost the same situation? Where I folded AQ? Suited? And made two pair on the river? And would have dragged over $1100? Well, now there is even money odds to call. And I am thinking that he must have KK. Almost 99% certain of it. I ask him if he has KK? He as much as says yes. I had already called this kids hand three other times. He thought that was pretty impressive. I told him I had to call now. The flop came Q high, so either way, he was going to get paid off. He did, in fact have KK. And it held, and I shipped him $120 more. Whatever. Fucking Omar.

So now, Omar has just felted that kid. With 2-7. Omar raises in early position for $17. Sigh. I look at 2c7c and almost make a spite call, just for the chance to beat him with his own piece of shit hand. But I dont. Two others do. The flop comes 10-2-7 rainbow. And he fires out for $30. Shit. That would have been fun! So now I am a bit more tilted towards him.

He continues pestering the table with his stupid overbets. The tension is growing. Our fun little table on 'date night' is turning into a nightmare. Then it happens.....

With a live straddle of $5....Omar makes it $25 in late position. Of course he does. And I look down at AK. Oh, I forgot to mention that I had reloaded. Why? Because when I DID hit something, I wanted a full payoff. I had $625 in front of me now. So what do you people who know me well think I did next? You already know the answer.

After Omar gave me that "wow, Monkey, you're gonna hate me" facial expression, and muttered those two words that you either LOVE or HATE.....( "I call" )....the dealer put an ACE on the flop....and I watched him melt in his chair...knowing he had KK....and seeing him flash KK to Claudia...and pushing $625 into the middle. I didn't gloat. I didn't even feel bad, really. I told him he deserved it. That he has been deserving that for a long time. Which Squirrel thought was fucked up of me to say to him. But she doesn't 'get it' when it comes to my argument on that matter. She might now, after it all shook out. Well,what happened next was very uncool, and actually DID piss Omar off. A guy down the table, who wasn't even in the hand...gets all stupid and demands to see his hand, because he flashed it to Claudia. Omar reached into the muck to get them and angrily turn them over for the guy. Like what? The guy thought Omar was dumping me $600!??? Very uncool. Omar lost it...he had $45 remaining in his stack..and he just flung it all at the dealer and told him to keep it, and bolted out of there.

I felt a little bad about the whole thing...but on a limited level. Then Omar would text me later and explain that he wasnt mad at me or about the hand...but at the guy for demanding to see his cards. Was glad to hear that from him. Omar is a really decent kid. But his cash game bullshit? I hate it. I think if you want to play THAT game...take it to the 2/5 or the 5/10 game. If you come up on a table of people who are obviously just wanting to have a little fun, not lose too much money and just play some fun poker...well, you leave them the hell alone. Let them play their small pot poker with the occassional decent pot now and then. Don't come in and destroy their game by acting like a bigshot or a high roller. No one likes that.

We ended up playing till about 6am. Yeah, it was a late one. I cashed out for $1500. But I was into the game for $900. So a $600 profit. But Squirrel was in for $600 and only had $250 when she cashed out. So I refunded her back up to $600...which meant for the 8+ hours we played I booked a total profit of $250, which when you took out dinner...I made $150 on the night. Hey! I'll take it! Then we went home and pretended to love each other! Just kidding, we really do!

Some of you may notice the little pissing match that is taking place on the message boards here between Brandon Jarrett and some of my loyal readers. A lot of you are emailing me asking my opinion of the things that are being said. Its kind of a testy situation guys. Brandon is my friend. Granted there are some things about him that drive me nuts. He knows that. He is definitely a guy who likes to sprinkle the names of people we have all heard of around the water-cooler conversations that take place on blogs and Facebook. And he is a master in the art of self promotion. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing is it? Just depends on your point of view I guess.

Me? I've just never been one to 'blow myself up' to others. It just feels awkward. If someone asks me if I am a good poker player (usually asked by people who don't play) my typical response is that "I win just enough to keep my backer happy and continue to play without having to get a job! I'm not the guy you see winning a million bucks on ESPN...but I feel good about my game, and am lucky enough to get to keep playing!" And that is about as much in the way of 'bragging' that you will EVER hear from me. Poker has an incredible ability to humble even the most confident/cocky people in the world, and if it DOESNT? Well, then they are just incorrigible. (sic?) On days when I am lucky enough to have all my cards hold up, and am able to somehow pull a few bluffs without getting looked up, and win a couple coin flips...to take down a tourney, I am just happy as hell to be sitting there, looking at all the chips in play, sighing that wonderful sigh of relief and happiness that comes after you have won a tournament...basking in it, and hoping that day comes again sooner rather than much later! To me, its just NOT a reason to go around peacocking to others.

Watched football all day yesterday and monitored my various fantasy teams and pools. The upsets by Oakland and Buffalo knocked a quarter of the pool entries from my $25 and $100 Survivor Pools...but this is the LAST week of rebuys...which means we just juiced the prize pool a little more! Good for the game when everyone loses! Meanwhile, I made the stupid play of the year...when I saw the snow in Foxboro, and recalled that Tom Brady hadn't been exactly lighting it up lately, I gambled and replaced him in my lineup with Matt Hasselbeck, who had flung 4 TD's last week, and was home against a pretty pourous pass defense in Arizona. Good move Monkey. Yeah, Brady only threw 6 Tds, 5 for an NFL record in the 2nd quarter alone...before coming out of the game in the 3rd quarter early. Yeah...the 35 pts that I trail the guy Im up against? Brady covered that single-handedly by 10 pts. Clever move. And oh yeah...Hasselbeck gets killed and plays his worst game in three years. Stellar fantasy day!

So what else? Played some of the big tourneys on Stars yesterday. Got a lot of chips in several of them early. But alas, the Pokerstars weekend jinx would strike. My AA vs. KK to be chipleader in the $11 MTT with 25,000 players in Level 5? That would have put me up to over 26,000 chips? Guy hits a king on me. Of course he did. Nothing went right. I would cash nothing. Ended my last session at 7pm, and just decided to watch football. Had a lot at stake on the Atlanta-Chicago game last night....so sat and rooted for the under...which hit. Thanks boys!

Seems like a good place to wrap this up! Gotta get out and get this lawn mowed. Its out of control. Either that or start parking our cars in the lawn and grow a mullet!

MONKEY