Happy Birthday!!!!!

I want to take today to wish my Mother a very happy birthday! She reads my blog...in fact, looks forward to them now. I just want to tell her how much I love her...and how much I appreciate everything she does for Cheryl and I...as well as the rest of us 'kids.' She has developed a wonderful relationship with my wife that I absolutely cherish. This is a picture taken of Cheryl and I, along with my sister and her friend and the boy they adopted, Chase...when we were out in Seattle on a recent visit. We love you Mom!!!!

I am in a mega rush today because I slept all afternoon with the idea of playing the $350 at 4pm instead of the one at noon, rumors have it the field will be bigger, and I needed some sleep. This is the 'ever-elusive' trophy I have now become obsessed with! It escaped me on Sunday by 3 spots...and in yesterday's $350, I started by losing 60% of my stack in the first half hour...but rebounded to make the Final Table...and my roomie Josh JUST missed the final table, running AK into 10-10 and flopping a king but seeing the other guy hit a 10. Buzz kill for Mr Palmer.

I got a huge double up with AJ vs. 1010 and was cruising right along with a top 3 stack and 3 other shortstacks, with $11,000 for first being within my grasp. But...then it happened. One of those hands you just CAN'T fold. The chipleader limped in from UTG+1 as he'd been doing a lot. SB called. And I checked with A3h. The flop came As-2h-4h. Wow! SB bet out 30k. I raised to 75k. And the original limper shoves. Whoa. I had 190k left in my stack...but I just decided right then and there that this was where I would take over this tourney or go out trying.

I called. He had flopped a set of deuces. Shit. I needed a 5 or a heart. Thats it. I didn't catch either. And I was out...in 8th, for a meager $1025. But hey, at least it was another Final Table on this trip, my 2nd...with a full week of tourneys left. Matt Savage and the WPT crew showed up today to get things set up for their big week ahead...bigger buy ins, actual sng satellites, and a bigger poker room, the theater here called Hard Rock Live. Matt informed me of the news about Pokerstars and Full Tilt announcing that they were going to be paying everyone very soon. Wow...awesome! Bet that puts a lot of your minds at ease, right!

Okay I really got to run.

This is me in happier times....when I still had chips at the Final Table. Yes...that is me sporting the Bustout Poker gear...the latest, 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' t-shirt. If anyone is interested in buying some Bustout gear...click on the logo to the right...and check out the store. Anyone putting the word 'monkey' in the discount/coupon space at checkout gets 20% off their purchase!!!!!

Okay...I'm off...hope you all have a great day!!!!

MONKEY