Has the Worm Turned?

Perhaps, or perhaps not. But the horrendous bankroll slide seems to have stopped for now. "Horrendous" is a strong word, considering how micro I tend to play, but half a roll is half a roll, ya know?

But the last week has ultimately been pretty good. I only played two sessions, focusing mostly on non-HE action of varying types. Lots of HORSE, LO8, Omaha, etc., to a set of pretty good results, including at least three final tables. For once, I didn't go out 9th, 8th, 7th, or whatever. And the greater irony is that my best success this week came on Full Tilt, normally the scene of most of my ugliest crashes. In fact, I managed to nearly triple my FTP roll to get out of the danger zone, thanks to taking 2nd in a Rush PLO tourney, and chopping heads up in a $5.50 LO8 tournament.

No real hands of note there. Mostly, I found good spots, hit draws, and scooped more than I chopped. Though this one felt pretty good, because I was fairly certain I was only pulling the low:




What's the danger zone? Oh, a two digit roll that requires me to play no more than like a $2 buy-in. Or just put the whole damn thing on black.

That LO8 tournament was fun, but perhaps I should have played it out. Got to a 2:1 chiplead at one point before giving half of it back. Nevertheless, it was 12:30am here, and I really wanted some sleep before the Red Sox came to town for a three game set. I'll probably blog about that a bit later, but I managed to attend all three games, and we pulled off a series victory that feels a bit like a loss all the same.

I can only hope this is the start of something better.

Good luck on the felt ya'll.

Looking Back

For the Good Doctor Mondo and I, this week has become both a time of reflection, and of celebration. It was a year ago yesterday, that my darling, sweet, wonderful, caring, generous wife went into the hospital with what was first diagnosed as pneumonia -- only to become a five month ordeal of comas, intubation, code blues, decisions about DNRs, hypoxia, neuropathy, re-learning how to walk, rehabilitation, and more and more fear, sleeplessness, PTSD, and emotional exhaustion than anyone should ever have to endure.

And seven months' time of constant forward progress since...rapid early on, and much more incremental now.

So here we are, a year later, and things are looking up. Way up. The Good Doctor's recovery continues, and we continue to be blessed with the love and support of many friends, family, therapists, and an entire community of well-wishers. I look at her every single day and know just how fortunate we both are to still have each other, and to grow even closer to each other each moment. I look upon each step she has been able to take towards health and independence with great pride, from when we got to give up the wheelchair, and then the walker, and now next week, we get to give back two of the four massive tanks that have supplied the Good Doctor with life giving oxygen, given how much lung operation she's recovered.

There is still a lot of uncertainly going forward, and an awful lot of healing left. But while I wouldn't wish this last year on anyone, and would do anything to set the clock back and somehow stop all of this from ever happening, I would not trade the effect this year has had on our relationship for anything at all.

Good Reason To Be Lazy

Yeah, for the last couple of weeks or so, I've been meaning to dash off one of those typical bad beat posts. You know, the kind that come after 2-3 weeks and all sessions of nothing but losing to river 2- and 3-outers, every KK getting cracked open like pistachios, going out on absolute bubbles on 70-30s, etc.

Because, truth be told, it certainly has been like that lately. In fact, my bankroll's down about half from the start of this year, which is pretty much the height of ubersucktitude, from where I sit.

But then came the last lil' crumbs thrown my way.

Last night, I managed to win a Badugi MTT, of all things. Ya, Badugi. Whouda thunk it. Actually, my heads up opponent and I chopped heads up, because it was getting late for me on a Sunday, and after playing down 300 fricking hands just to get to heads up in a 45 man tourney...jeez. But I was marginally ahead in chips, so got the credit for the win and the TLB points, yay me.

Of course, it was a $2.20 buyin with a small field, so ship the whole twenty-five bucks.

This was at the same time as I made the final table in Stars' nightly $330 triple shootout. (Of course, 88 < 33 AIPF, thanks to the flopped trey, but this is not going to be a bad beat post, after all.)

On the one hand, yeah, my bankroll is still down 50% from January. On the other hand, I've actually made three final tables in my last three tournaments, so at least it kinda sorta feels okay at the moment. Of course, it's never in the tourneys that actually pay decent money, but sometimes, you have to dine on the crumbs you find on the ground, ya know?

Good luck on the felt, ya'll.

What's Next, Deliverance?

I have no idea what is more embarrassing for the hickish town of 90,000 in which I live...Longmontucky, the fact that Dog the Bounty Hunter nabbed some local coke dealin' drug dealer in town yesterday (who had basically been couch-surfing in town for the last several months), or the fact that Dog the Bounty Hunter's capture of some local coke dealin' drug dealer in town was the front page story of today's Longmont Times-Call.

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?

I've never seen Dog the Bounty Hunter, but my first impression is that BP's tried a junk shot on his hair and wardrobe.

BP Spills Coffee

Gotta love the Upright Citizens Brigade. Let's get Kevin Costner on the phone, stat.

To borrow from Goat, your daily does of awesomeness.

A Worthy Cause, Donkin' For the Kids

In what is perhaps a beneficial fit of approaching middle-age self questioning (I keed, I keed), fellow blogger
Oh Captain has worked together with Full Tilt to put together a charity donkament for next Wednesday, June 16th.

So one last time, here's the details:
Date: June 16
Time: 9PM CDT (Same time as Mookie)
It will actually be running in place of the Mookie. BDR will be broadcasting it.
Charity: Ronald McDonald House
$5 + $5(Tournament, charity)
Password= vegas1
Tournament#= 164273435

Tossing around a few chips for a great cause, you can't beat that. I'm planning on being there, won't you join us?