Nice Day, And A Nice Finish

Thought I'd try one or two more quick Bodog tournies before bed, and I'm glad I did. This was a $7+1:





All in all, I managed to add around 50% to my Bodog roll today, and maybe 18% to my PokerStars roll, so no complaints out of me for a while. While I'm certainly no high-rollin' baller in these parts, I've finally managed to reach what appears to be a high water mark of the calendar year. And yeah, it feels good.

Better to be lucky than good?

Sometimes, you just never know quite how lucky you've got to get, to get what you've got.

PokerStars Game #33040822484: Tournament #195646742, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (125/250) - 2009/09/19 15:09:57 MT 2009/09/19 17:09:57 ET
Table '195646742 214' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: illhustler (2983 in chips)
Seat 2: Mondogarage (4965 in chips)
Seat 3: lee trum (8530 in chips)
Seat 4: MrAura (8535 in chips)
Seat 5: sudnik (1101 in chips)
Seat 6: KaiLee04 (29865 in chips)
Seat 7: saldorf01 (9603 in chips)
Seat 8: Daigger (9315 in chips)
Seat 9: I'm a fn sta (4265 in chips)
illhustler: posts the ante 30
Mondogarage: posts the ante 30
lee trum: posts the ante 30
MrAura: posts the ante 30
sudnik: posts the ante 30
KaiLee04: posts the ante 30
saldorf01: posts the ante 30
Daigger: posts the ante 30
I'm a fn sta: posts the ante 30
saldorf01: posts small blind 125
Daigger: posts big blind 250
HOLE CARDS

Dealt to Mondogarage

I'm a fn sta: folds
illhustler: folds
Mondogarage: raises 500 to 750 (low pair, but open limping is weak)
lee trum: calls 750
MrAura: calls 750
sudnik: folds
KaiLee04: folds
saldorf01: folds
Daigger: calls 500

*** FLOP *** [8c 4d Ts] kaching, pays me my monay!

Daigger: checks
Mondogarage: bets 750 (only straight draws here, but figured overcards or pairs would call)
lee trum: raises 1750 to 2500 (?????????)
MrAura: calls 2500 (?????????)
Daigger: folds
Mondogarage: raises 1685 to 4185 and is all-in (not going anywhere, so get it in now)
lee trum: calls 1685
MrAura: calls 1685

*** TURN *** [8c 4d Ts] [4s] (GIN!!)

lee trum: checks
MrAura: checks

*** RIVER *** [8c 4d Ts 4s] [Qs]

lee trum: bets 3565 and is all-in
MrAura: folds
Uncalled bet (3565) returned to lee trum

SHOW DOWN :
lee trum: shows
(a full house, Tens full of Fours)
Mondogarage: shows
(four of a kind, Fours)
Mondogarage collected 15950 from pot

Oh SNAP! Really, who could have known I was drawing to one freakin' out. I don't think I would have played the hand any different under any circumstances. And I can probably count the number of one-outers I've ever caught on...well...one hand.

Nice triple up, just the same.

I ended up going out in this event around Level 16, when EP raised, I shoved QQ, he called with A7o (naturally), and the flop came 77J (also naturally). The A on the turn was just a gratuitous turn of the knife...

Today's been spent pokering it up in Jenn's ICU room, and I've actually managed to cash four times today, out of about seven events. None deep, except for turning $14.70 into T$162 in another one of those juicy Bodog $100k satellites. I really wish I felt like I had the bankroll to play the $100k itself, but right now, that would represent 20% of my Bodog roll, and about 15% of my overall online roll, so keeping the $T makes more sense.

Still, I haven't played a Sunday major on any site in at least two years...sure would be fun.

Clearing Out Some Cobwebs

(BANG BANG BANG)

There. That's better.

The more time passes, the more many things stay the same...and time continues to trudge forward, with good things on the horizon, but seemingly further and further out every day.

The Good Doctor Mondo continues to get better. As of two days ago, when she was fitted with one of these, she can actually speak for a few hours a day. This has probably been the single greatest heartwarming development of our entire ordeal. I have no idea who Passy and Muir are/were, but I thank them.

Still, we're on day 85 in the ICU, with what appears to be another week or two in front of us. Still, we progress. The Good Doctor now undergoes physical therapy twice a day, instead of once, and we can see the results in her movements, and feel the slow return of a certain level of muscle tone. She even wriggled her toes for the first time a couple of days ago. Her arms and hands have come much much further, though she's still extremely fatigued by the least amount of work.

But we move forward.

Poker's actually been pretty good to me lately. I've only played once or twice a week, but usually manage to get one nice outcome per session, whether it's turning $10 into $T109 in a Bodog satellite, or final tabling a $4 FLHE MTT...at least I've been able to stop the bankroll bleed and even get it back up to where it was around 3-4 months ago. Which still isn't much, every so barely into the 4-figures (of which FT is still at a rollicking $20, lol). Mostly, it's been fun to restore some confidence in my game.

I've really enjoyed the nightly $3 triple shootout NLHE at PokerStars. I think I've cashed five of the last eight times I've played this (including one 2nd place finish). And the last three times I didn't cash, I went out heads-up at the first shootout table. Last time, I ran a rivered set into a turned gutshot, oh well. But I seem to be either just running pretty well in the shoothouts, or getting a better handle on how to play them. Oddly enough, I can't seem to turn that into success at true single table SNGs.

One thing I haven't talked about much this year is my beloved Colorado Rockies. Probably mostly because I've been hanging out at Purple Row and getting internet-talkin'-'bout-baseball over there. And partly because of our medical situation, which has limited me to attending only six games this year, all but one prior to June 23rd. But we're having a hell of a year, and are currently 87% to make the playoffs.

Still, how many of you have had AA go down to 66 after an all paint flop multiple times. That's why we play the games.

I've got very mixed feelings about going to any playoff games this year without my Good Doctor. She tells me I should go, but it just doesn't feel right. I'll have to sit and dwell on this one.

Either fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on your perspective), I will likely have to once again miss the Winter Blogger Gathering, of which I have never ever ever made one. Why? Well, it's actually a reason I don't mind in the least...see, based on present developments, the Good Doctor should be home some time early Novemberish, and she's shooting for her first public outing to be my firm's annual holiday party, as it's one of her favorite dress-up events each year. Which just happens to fall on the Saturday of the....yup...Winter Blogger Gathering.

So if I'm not there this year, it's because she's home, she's healthy, and out on the town. That's okay by me. I was truly looking forward to trying to get there this year, though....

For Richer and For Poorer, In Sickness and In Health

Tomorrow marks the Good Doctor Mondo's 72nd day in the hospital, all but two of those days in intensive care.

Tomorrow also marks the 4th anniversary of the date we ran off to Vega$ to get all wedded and such, during our glorious "classy yet trashy" first sojourn to sin city as a couple. Between the chauffered limos and ultra luxe Wynn stay, and the midnight wedding in Chuck Taylors, with Elvis as escort, we could not have asked to have enjoyed ourselves any more.

I could not have imagined, not even a few months ago when this started, that not only would we not be home together for our anniversary, but that the Good Doctor would be continuing to face complications and hurdles that threaten to extend her life-as-ICU-patient untold weeks into the future. Still, we celebrate.

We celebrate that still have each other.

We celebrate that we are surrounded by friends and family who love us both dearly.

We celebrate that her prognosis has improved daily since the devastation of last week.

We celebrate that she may yet still be home before what we actually consider the more important anniversary of January 2nd - ten years to the day from when we first became a couple.

As one of her nurses reminded me on Sunday, just two days after everyone felt we were losing her, "at least you *will* have an anniversary". Kinda puts everything into perspective.

In sickness and in health.

Speaking of anniversaries, something my lovely wife and I can only aspire to is to match the 15(!!) years of wedded bliss of fellow pokah bloggah GCox and his lovely wife. Please stop by and wish him continued happiness.