'cause I ain't taking my laptop to Vega$, that's why. Bwahahahahaha
Jeez, I should just get Twitter, seeing as this post is nothing more than Twitter-worthy, if that.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
How Do You Go On Avatar Tilt In Three Easy Steps?
1. Julius Goat and Bayne offer up a fantastic and fun service for us bloggers.
2. In a fit of inspiration, these guys design the best avatar ever (at least one that's not wearing a gold jersey and football helmet):
3. Your Winblows Vista-disabled laptop won't let you overwrite existing avatars, no matter how many fucking times you make the file, the folder, the Full Tilt folder, the Graphics folder, or any other folder not read-only:
Uncheck and unapply "Read Only", go back and try to paste it in and...voila...nothing. It's like the custom avatar screen of death.
And no, I'm not in a position to deal with wiping the laptop and putting XP in (unfortunately). I still have my old XP desktop, but the whole point is not lot lock myself to my home office...
This Dude is having a rather difficult time abiding at this particular moment. Advice welcomed.
2. In a fit of inspiration, these guys design the best avatar ever (at least one that's not wearing a gold jersey and football helmet):
3. Your Winblows Vista-disabled laptop won't let you overwrite existing avatars, no matter how many fucking times you make the file, the folder, the Full Tilt folder, the Graphics folder, or any other folder not read-only:
Uncheck and unapply "Read Only", go back and try to paste it in and...voila...nothing. It's like the custom avatar screen of death.
And no, I'm not in a position to deal with wiping the laptop and putting XP in (unfortunately). I still have my old XP desktop, but the whole point is not lot lock myself to my home office...
This Dude is having a rather difficult time abiding at this particular moment. Advice welcomed.
Congratulations to the Biggest Bodonkeys Of Them All
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Wow, it's finally almost here -- start of the unofficial blogger weekend in Vega$, part one. The Good Doctor Mondo and I take off around 4pm tomorrow, and should be checking into the MGM around 6pm. If'n yer in the area, you may find me at a 1/2 table. Or 4/8L, haven't decided yet.
Anyway, I've been tossing around various options for the trip in my head, and I'd love to hear suggestions tonight, if anyone's around.
My original plan (and my desire), has been to play two tournaments during this trip. The WSOP is out, because I'm not rolled for it, and I don't plan on those two tournaments to be satellites.
I originally was going to allow myself to play two tourneys, a $180 daily at Venetian (8pm), and a $150 at Caesar's (7pm). Both are reasonable tournament values, though neither is deep-stacked.
I then saw that Friday's Casear Megastack event is a $310+30 (for 12.5k chips and 50 minute rounds), and my first instinct is to jump all over it. True deep stack poker, imho, especially for those of us who aren't on the circuit. But the buy-in probably precludes me from playing a 2nd tourney (assuming, arguendo, I don't cash).
On the one hand, I really want to play two tournaments. On the other, I have been running pretty badly lately, though I think that started turning around last night, when I won a $75 token frenzy (only to donk off the token later), final tabled a Limit O8 (for a smallish cash, because there were only about 110 runners), and cashed in the Bodog $5k guarantee (but again, not a very deep run).
My point being, I'd been running terribly, but think I'm slowly starting to come out the other end, even if I'm still losing out to a few runner runner perfect perfect catches. Aside from last night's Bodonkey, where I was already mathematically out of the Top 18, so was just donking for a chance at a bounty, I think I've played very well the last couple of days. I know I only played "okay to half decent" on Sunday, but I've played about 22 tournaments since, and feel better about my game, if not my suckout-avoidance abilities.
I very rarely make it to Vega$, and I desperately want to play a true deep stack good-sized field event, and the Mega Stack series fits the bill. The Venetian Deep Stack is definitely out for me, as the buyins during my days there ar $540 and $1060, and I'm definitely not rolled for that, unless I have a miraculous 4-5 buyin night to the good in my first MGM Grand session, which is more than unlikely, I'm sure.
One thing to consider is, the Good Doctor Mondo and I need to average 4/hr a day cash play at the MGM to keep our poker rate, and I was planning on playing 1/2NL instead of my normal 4/8, 4/8 with half-kill, or 5/10 limit, and I need to be prepared to potentially lose a buyin or two.
So my question to you guys is, what do you do? Do you suck it up and only play one tourney and make it the Caesar's Mega Stack series? Or do you skip the Mega and play a couple of $150 type tourneys? Or do you maybe play the Mega stack and them some bullshit $60 tourney elsewhere? (My last Vega$ trip, I took down a Sahara $62 daily, and never felt less skilled than those at my table.)
I'm looking for suggestions, though my present inclination is to play the Friday noon Caesar's, and a Sunday at Sahara.
To those of you going out this weekend, I hope to run in to some of you, and that you run hot like the wind. To those of you going next weekend, pffffffbbbbt...we'll have to wait until the Winter WPBT to sling chips. Stay awesome.
Anyway, I've been tossing around various options for the trip in my head, and I'd love to hear suggestions tonight, if anyone's around.
My original plan (and my desire), has been to play two tournaments during this trip. The WSOP is out, because I'm not rolled for it, and I don't plan on those two tournaments to be satellites.
I originally was going to allow myself to play two tourneys, a $180 daily at Venetian (8pm), and a $150 at Caesar's (7pm). Both are reasonable tournament values, though neither is deep-stacked.
I then saw that Friday's Casear Megastack event is a $310+30 (for 12.5k chips and 50 minute rounds), and my first instinct is to jump all over it. True deep stack poker, imho, especially for those of us who aren't on the circuit. But the buy-in probably precludes me from playing a 2nd tourney (assuming, arguendo, I don't cash).
On the one hand, I really want to play two tournaments. On the other, I have been running pretty badly lately, though I think that started turning around last night, when I won a $75 token frenzy (only to donk off the token later), final tabled a Limit O8 (for a smallish cash, because there were only about 110 runners), and cashed in the Bodog $5k guarantee (but again, not a very deep run).
My point being, I'd been running terribly, but think I'm slowly starting to come out the other end, even if I'm still losing out to a few runner runner perfect perfect catches. Aside from last night's Bodonkey, where I was already mathematically out of the Top 18, so was just donking for a chance at a bounty, I think I've played very well the last couple of days. I know I only played "okay to half decent" on Sunday, but I've played about 22 tournaments since, and feel better about my game, if not my suckout-avoidance abilities.
I very rarely make it to Vega$, and I desperately want to play a true deep stack good-sized field event, and the Mega Stack series fits the bill. The Venetian Deep Stack is definitely out for me, as the buyins during my days there ar $540 and $1060, and I'm definitely not rolled for that, unless I have a miraculous 4-5 buyin night to the good in my first MGM Grand session, which is more than unlikely, I'm sure.
One thing to consider is, the Good Doctor Mondo and I need to average 4/hr a day cash play at the MGM to keep our poker rate, and I was planning on playing 1/2NL instead of my normal 4/8, 4/8 with half-kill, or 5/10 limit, and I need to be prepared to potentially lose a buyin or two.
So my question to you guys is, what do you do? Do you suck it up and only play one tourney and make it the Caesar's Mega Stack series? Or do you skip the Mega and play a couple of $150 type tourneys? Or do you maybe play the Mega stack and them some bullshit $60 tourney elsewhere? (My last Vega$ trip, I took down a Sahara $62 daily, and never felt less skilled than those at my table.)
I'm looking for suggestions, though my present inclination is to play the Friday noon Caesar's, and a Sunday at Sahara.
To those of you going out this weekend, I hope to run in to some of you, and that you run hot like the wind. To those of you going next weekend, pffffffbbbbt...we'll have to wait until the Winter WPBT to sling chips. Stay awesome.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
BBT3 Post Mortem
In the end, 455 players took part in at least one event of BBT3 - Battle of the Blogger Tournaments, and more chips were slung than a day of hash at the Waffle House.
Congrats to the 45 or so who won their way into the Tournament of Champions, good luck all. I won't be joining, as the best I could pull out was one 2nd place and one 3rd place finish. Special congratulations go to TuscaloosaJohn, who won the overall points title, going away.
The biggest thanks of all go to Al, for putting this thing together (along with the Riverchasers tourneys) and getting such awesome prizes set up, and to Don, Hoy, Chad, and Mookie for making their events part of the series.
As for myself, I only played 13 of the 56 events, all of which were Blogger Skillz games, I believe. I just can't play online pokerz enough nights of the week to make a real go at it. That said, I'm happy with my performance, in relative terms. In my 13 events, I scored points 4 times, final tabled twice, and cashed twice. Overall, I finished 88th of the 455, playing less than 1/4 of the events. In addition, the two cashes were for more than my buy-ins, so it was even a bit profitable.
Maybe next time, maybe next time.
Tantalizingly close to a TOC seat, but with me in Vega$ this weekend, I probably wouldn't be playing, anyway. In fact, I won't be participating in the blogger freeroll portion of the series, either, as I'm pretty sure I'm not taking my laptop to Vega$.
Still, it was fun, and I hope a lot of you do continue to play blogger events with the rest of us.
Last Chance at Bodog Bloggerment Glory*
*Don't worry, the Bodonkey will continue every Tuesday at the usual time, with the usual tasty $Ts overlays, but the chase for the Main Event will be over.
Yup, tonight is the very last night of the Bodog Bloggerment series*, at least insofar as getting a seat into the 18-person final (with a WSOP Main Event seat up for grabs!)
There's also an extra special prize at stake tonight. $mokkee's ass. (aka the donkey's donkey) Well, his bounty, at any rate. He's already invited us to come get some, and I'm hoping to get mine.
The BIGGEST bounty ever in the history of blogger tournaments is on the head of $mokkee, the Bodog blogger tournament host, adding an extra T$270 in value to Tuesday's June 3rd poker blogger tournament! The lucky poker blogger to eliminate $mokkee will be rewarded with a seat in Bodog's WSOP* Semifinal 5 Seat Guaranteed Tournament scheduled for June 8 at 3:15 pm ET. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
BREAKING NEWS AT THE BODOG BEAT!
Poker Blogger Tournament Puts Bounty on $mokkee
http://beat.bodoglife.com/poker/poker-blogger-tournament-puts-bounty-on-smokkee-76486.html
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series where poker bloggers worldwide are gathering each Tuesday in the Bodog Poker Room. One lucky blogger will win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008. This tournament is open to poker bloggers from around the globe with a Bodog Member Player Account.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament and sign in with their Bodog account information. Once this is completed, you must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register yourself into the tournament series. Once this is done, look for the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register.
For assistance with registration, call Bodog's poker customer service at 1-866-909-2237 or email http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact
Please include your blogger screen name, Bodog Member Account ID number and your poker blog URL address.
I'm also pretty sure that Chad's hosting his Skills game again, too. However, with BBT3 being his-to-ree, turnout may be a bit lower. No idea what tonight's game is, and no idea whether I'm playing it yet or not, as I'm already registered for FTP's Mini-SOP Limit Omaha event tonight.
Yup, tonight is the very last night of the Bodog Bloggerment series*, at least insofar as getting a seat into the 18-person final (with a WSOP Main Event seat up for grabs!)
There's also an extra special prize at stake tonight. $mokkee's ass. (aka the donkey's donkey) Well, his bounty, at any rate. He's already invited us to come get some, and I'm hoping to get mine.
The BIGGEST bounty ever in the history of blogger tournaments is on the head of $mokkee, the Bodog blogger tournament host, adding an extra T$270 in value to Tuesday's June 3rd poker blogger tournament! The lucky poker blogger to eliminate $mokkee will be rewarded with a seat in Bodog's WSOP* Semifinal 5 Seat Guaranteed Tournament scheduled for June 8 at 3:15 pm ET. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
BREAKING NEWS AT THE BODOG BEAT!
Poker Blogger Tournament Puts Bounty on $mokkee
http://beat.bodoglife.com/poker/poker-blogger-tournament-puts-bounty-on-smokkee-76486.html
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series where poker bloggers worldwide are gathering each Tuesday in the Bodog Poker Room. One lucky blogger will win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008. This tournament is open to poker bloggers from around the globe with a Bodog Member Player Account.
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com Players are then required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament and sign in with their Bodog account information. Once this is completed, you must click on "REGISTER NOW" to register yourself into the tournament series. Once this is done, look for the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register.
For assistance with registration, call Bodog's poker customer service at 1-866-909-2237 or email http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact
Please include your blogger screen name, Bodog Member Account ID number and your poker blog URL address.
I'm also pretty sure that Chad's hosting his Skills game again, too. However, with BBT3 being his-to-ree, turnout may be a bit lower. No idea what tonight's game is, and no idea whether I'm playing it yet or not, as I'm already registered for FTP's Mini-SOP Limit Omaha event tonight.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Picture Book
At least it's a great Kinks song, but dammit if I'm not the unluckiest player in the blogoverse.
The money went in late on this beautiful cooler:
After betting the flop, I 3-bet all in, and this donk calls on the flop with the inimitable Jackace, through about 1/3 of the field in the $28k:
$3k guarantee $24+2 PL O8 (which I bought in for about 6% of my roll, after my token went bye-bye in the above pic. This donk called down 1/2 pot bet on flop and turn with absolutely nothing more than OESD and terrible low. Which, naturally, he hits. Both. Drops me to about 80 chips:
Finally, this speaks for itself in Midnight Madness (though at least I still have about 200 chips as I write this...):
And here...I go out of the $6k guarantee, all in preflop:
Well, the night ends this as it started, on a goddamn cooler.
At least it was one past the bubble, so what...I min-cash in 1 of 12 tourneys tonight, and have pretty much fuckall to show for being the anti-Astin. I honestly no longer know what to do. My bankroll is 30% gone, I'm playing good poker, but if you have less than 4 outs, you're guaranfuckingteed to catch if I'm in the hand. Hell, you may need runner runner perfect perfect, and it's alllll yours. I can flop quad AAAA, and if you're on a draw, you're going to catch it. Come get what little bit there is of my roll, everyone else is.
The money went in late on this beautiful cooler:
After betting the flop, I 3-bet all in, and this donk calls on the flop with the inimitable Jackace, through about 1/3 of the field in the $28k:
$3k guarantee $24+2 PL O8 (which I bought in for about 6% of my roll, after my token went bye-bye in the above pic. This donk called down 1/2 pot bet on flop and turn with absolutely nothing more than OESD and terrible low. Which, naturally, he hits. Both. Drops me to about 80 chips:
Finally, this speaks for itself in Midnight Madness (though at least I still have about 200 chips as I write this...):
And here...I go out of the $6k guarantee, all in preflop:
Well, the night ends this as it started, on a goddamn cooler.
At least it was one past the bubble, so what...I min-cash in 1 of 12 tourneys tonight, and have pretty much fuckall to show for being the anti-Astin. I honestly no longer know what to do. My bankroll is 30% gone, I'm playing good poker, but if you have less than 4 outs, you're guaranfuckingteed to catch if I'm in the hand. Hell, you may need runner runner perfect perfect, and it's alllll yours. I can flop quad AAAA, and if you're on a draw, you're going to catch it. Come get what little bit there is of my roll, everyone else is.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Much Ado About Nothing
Got a bit of a late start, so skipped Dushanbe, for yummy paninis at The Buff instead.
Up to the hill, registered, picked up a nice early 2/5 pot while waiting for the tourney, and promptly ended up down when flopping top two pair (QJ on the button) gets destroyed by the MP player who figured 64o out of position was a nice hand. Well, it was when he caught a 3rd four on the river.
The tournament? Gack. Went set mining five times and was out before the 1st break. Only picked up two pots all day. The first was when I raised AKdd to 1200 (blinds 200/400), called by SB. On a 977 flop (two diamonds), I thought of checking behind, to see the free card, but decided to bet out 1200 into the 2800 pot. The SB folded, and I heard him mention AK. Anyway, I tried to steal from the cutoff the very next hand, with A7s, and the same player called, now from the button. I folded to his 1200 bet after I checked the 8-high flop (with one of my suit). Was that too weak tight of me?
Anyway, as a bit of backstory, I lost the only three pots I played to the river, when I was outkicked by one each time. Two of these were to the same player, the guy on my immediate left (who is the same guy from the previous paragraph). Two hands after my last laydown, I pick up JJ. With two limpers before me, I chose to simply call. I was already down to 10k (from a 15k starting stack), and none of my bets were getting any respect. The player on my left bumps it to 1600, and everyone folds to me. I figure him for AK, or maybe a mid pocket pair, and I elect to call. Not so much to set-mine, but to try to try to get into the same type of situation where he folded his AK to my AK a few hands previous.
Flop comes 887, and in a way, I couldn't ask for a better flop, given my read. But this time, being out of position, and just having the two pair with no draw, yet thinking I was ahead, I chose to check. Well, villain bet out 3k into a roughly 4k pot. I'm sitting on about 8k behind, and I have to raise or fold. If I fold, I'm down to 50% starting stack, less than 20BB, and the shortest stack at the table. So I chose to shove, and learned just how bad my read was when opponent turned up AA. (At least the 3rd AA at our table in under 50 hands...none mine, of course.) I get no help, and I go home. Fucking bummer, too. JJ, 66, 55, 33, 88, all no good for me, and I couldn't even make it past the 3rd level.
I'm pretty certain I did not play my best poker, but I don't think I played too badly, either. Somewhat unlucky when every one of my PP not only didn't flop a set, but in each case had terrible flops for me, such as three paint, or flush/straight combo draws that I didn't have. Really, I lost my way when I lost two pots previous, getting outkicked by one each time. If I don't lose about 30% of my chips in those, I think I can get away from the JJ v. AA hand. If I slowplay my AKdd and hit my flush, maybe I stack the guy who ultimately took me out.
It wasn't a bad day all around, though. I finally got to meet a couple follow members of the Poker in Colorado forum (we each ended up having 10% of the other two, though one of us three went down QQ to AA before I went out). As for the Good Doctor Mondo, she's set. She managed to double her 2/5 buyin in about 90 minutes, eventually giving a few chips back, but finishing up with an 80% profit for the day.
In the meantime, I keep running the opposite of good.
At any rate, this was not what I was looking for pre-Vega$, but nothing I can do about it now, but I worry that perhaps the best thing I can do in Vega$ is not even step in a poker room right now, and I can't postpone the trip. I hate trepidation.
Up to the hill, registered, picked up a nice early 2/5 pot while waiting for the tourney, and promptly ended up down when flopping top two pair (QJ on the button) gets destroyed by the MP player who figured 64o out of position was a nice hand. Well, it was when he caught a 3rd four on the river.
The tournament? Gack. Went set mining five times and was out before the 1st break. Only picked up two pots all day. The first was when I raised AKdd to 1200 (blinds 200/400), called by SB. On a 977 flop (two diamonds), I thought of checking behind, to see the free card, but decided to bet out 1200 into the 2800 pot. The SB folded, and I heard him mention AK. Anyway, I tried to steal from the cutoff the very next hand, with A7s, and the same player called, now from the button. I folded to his 1200 bet after I checked the 8-high flop (with one of my suit). Was that too weak tight of me?
Anyway, as a bit of backstory, I lost the only three pots I played to the river, when I was outkicked by one each time. Two of these were to the same player, the guy on my immediate left (who is the same guy from the previous paragraph). Two hands after my last laydown, I pick up JJ. With two limpers before me, I chose to simply call. I was already down to 10k (from a 15k starting stack), and none of my bets were getting any respect. The player on my left bumps it to 1600, and everyone folds to me. I figure him for AK, or maybe a mid pocket pair, and I elect to call. Not so much to set-mine, but to try to try to get into the same type of situation where he folded his AK to my AK a few hands previous.
Flop comes 887, and in a way, I couldn't ask for a better flop, given my read. But this time, being out of position, and just having the two pair with no draw, yet thinking I was ahead, I chose to check. Well, villain bet out 3k into a roughly 4k pot. I'm sitting on about 8k behind, and I have to raise or fold. If I fold, I'm down to 50% starting stack, less than 20BB, and the shortest stack at the table. So I chose to shove, and learned just how bad my read was when opponent turned up AA. (At least the 3rd AA at our table in under 50 hands...none mine, of course.) I get no help, and I go home. Fucking bummer, too. JJ, 66, 55, 33, 88, all no good for me, and I couldn't even make it past the 3rd level.
I'm pretty certain I did not play my best poker, but I don't think I played too badly, either. Somewhat unlucky when every one of my PP not only didn't flop a set, but in each case had terrible flops for me, such as three paint, or flush/straight combo draws that I didn't have. Really, I lost my way when I lost two pots previous, getting outkicked by one each time. If I don't lose about 30% of my chips in those, I think I can get away from the JJ v. AA hand. If I slowplay my AKdd and hit my flush, maybe I stack the guy who ultimately took me out.
It wasn't a bad day all around, though. I finally got to meet a couple follow members of the Poker in Colorado forum (we each ended up having 10% of the other two, though one of us three went down QQ to AA before I went out). As for the Good Doctor Mondo, she's set. She managed to double her 2/5 buyin in about 90 minutes, eventually giving a few chips back, but finishing up with an 80% profit for the day.
In the meantime, I keep running the opposite of good.
At any rate, this was not what I was looking for pre-Vega$, but nothing I can do about it now, but I worry that perhaps the best thing I can do in Vega$ is not even step in a poker room right now, and I can't postpone the trip. I hate trepidation.
Live Poker Prelminaries
The Good Doctor Mondo and I are headed up to Black Hawk today. She for some $2/5 action at the Lodge, with their tantalizingly tasty $175,000 Bad Beat semi-sorta up for grabs, and myself at the Golden Gates for their noon $100 tourney, starting with 15,000 in chips, but with a first level of 100/100. Definitely not deep, but not bad for us low rollers in Colorado.
Hoping for a deep run and a nice trip report, but if I bust early, I'm told there's often an Omatard table running at the Gates. No fold'em Omatard8 can't be any worse than No fold'em Hold'em, right?
Of course, this is all just practice for the unofficial WPBT, Part One, which for moi starts Thursday.
But before all of that, we're off to a bit of brekkie on the way, at one of the most exquisite places that we've always wanted to go, but haven't -- the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. The Dushanbe Teahouse, while not exactly historical, will be one day.
From their website,
In 1987, during his first visit to Boulder, Mayor Maksud Ikramov announced that Dushanbe planned to present our city with a Teahouse to celebrate the establishment of sister city ties. From 1987 -1990, more than 40 artisans in several cities of Tajikistan created the decorative elements our Teahouse, including its hand-carved and hand-painted ceiling, tables, stools, columns, and exterior ceramic panels. Often these skills are handed down from generation to generation within families. Lado Shanidze served as chief architect.
Tajikistan gives us an exquisite tea room, and we give them a cyber cafe in exchange. At least you can probably play Party Poker in Tajikistan, so they may have come out ahead, in the end.
Anyway, that paragraph hardly does the Dushanbe Teahouse justice, so here's a few pics:
Of course, none of that means that Sunday brekkie will be any good, and breakfast is truly my favorite meal of the day. I mean, it's possibly no better than a Denny's Grand Slam, but the place was once featured on Road Tasted, hosted by the Deen brothers, on the Food Network, so it probably won't be quite like a Waffle House. I may wish it were, but I think I'm going to have the Indian Curry Omelette (Green chile and herb omelette, cut into strips and stewed with tomatoes and Indian curry, served with pita)
Good luck on the felt, and don't forget, tonight is your final chance to pick up a BBT3 Tournament of Champions seat and Miami Don's Big Game -- get your Tier 2 tokens ready.
Hoping for a deep run and a nice trip report, but if I bust early, I'm told there's often an Omatard table running at the Gates. No fold'em Omatard8 can't be any worse than No fold'em Hold'em, right?
Of course, this is all just practice for the unofficial WPBT, Part One, which for moi starts Thursday.
But before all of that, we're off to a bit of brekkie on the way, at one of the most exquisite places that we've always wanted to go, but haven't -- the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. The Dushanbe Teahouse, while not exactly historical, will be one day.
From their website,
In 1987, during his first visit to Boulder, Mayor Maksud Ikramov announced that Dushanbe planned to present our city with a Teahouse to celebrate the establishment of sister city ties. From 1987 -1990, more than 40 artisans in several cities of Tajikistan created the decorative elements our Teahouse, including its hand-carved and hand-painted ceiling, tables, stools, columns, and exterior ceramic panels. Often these skills are handed down from generation to generation within families. Lado Shanidze served as chief architect.
Tajikistan gives us an exquisite tea room, and we give them a cyber cafe in exchange. At least you can probably play Party Poker in Tajikistan, so they may have come out ahead, in the end.
Anyway, that paragraph hardly does the Dushanbe Teahouse justice, so here's a few pics:
Of course, none of that means that Sunday brekkie will be any good, and breakfast is truly my favorite meal of the day. I mean, it's possibly no better than a Denny's Grand Slam, but the place was once featured on Road Tasted, hosted by the Deen brothers, on the Food Network, so it probably won't be quite like a Waffle House. I may wish it were, but I think I'm going to have the Indian Curry Omelette (Green chile and herb omelette, cut into strips and stewed with tomatoes and Indian curry, served with pita)
Good luck on the felt, and don't forget, tonight is your final chance to pick up a BBT3 Tournament of Champions seat and Miami Don's Big Game -- get your Tier 2 tokens ready.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Go Ahead, Twist My Arm
I just know $mokkee did this just. for. me.
Okay, I keed, but just when I was deciding to bail from playing any more Bodonkeys until the end of the WSOP chase, along comes Bodog with their biggest bounty offer yet:
The BIGGEST Bounty EVER in the history of blogger tournaments will be placed on the head of $mokkee, the Bodog blogger tournament host on Tuesday June 3, 2008.
That's right, Bodog is adding an extra T$270 in value to Tuesday's June 3rd blogger tournament!
The lucky poker blogger to eliminate $mokkee will be rewarded with a seat in Bodog's WSOP* Semifinal 5 Seat Guaranteed Tournament to be held on June 8 at 3:15 pm ET.
Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
Bloggers from around the globe are invited to participate!
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com
So what are YOU waiting for?
Sign up today and may the best poker blogger take the bulls eye on $mokkee!
Tune into Live Poker Radio for live tournament recaps and updates while you play at http://www.livepokerradio.com
There's just too much here to resist. I was fortunate enough to collect one of the two pro bounties previously given up in this series (thank you Bobby Bellande!), and just maybe, I can make it two out of three. Truth is, even if I win the bounty, I'll probably have to unreg and take the $Ts for now, just because I'll already be in Vega$ on the 8th, and I didn't go to Sin City to play intrawebby pokerz.
Have a great weekend on the felt. $mokkee...start doing some chin ups, 'cause you're gonna have to be in shape to outlast my chipstack next week.
Oh yeah, I'm playing the $100 15000 chip noon tourney Sunday at Golden Gates -- will try to have a trip report after the fact.
Now, $100 for a starting stack of 15,000 chips sounds really deep-stacked, no? Well, it's really not. Blinds start at 100/100, then go to 100/200, to 100/200/25, etc. It's still one of the best values in Blackhawk, but with the missing levels (including a couple in the middle stages), it's not really deep-stacked. Still, at 30 minute levels, it's not a bad deal.
Bye!
Okay, I keed, but just when I was deciding to bail from playing any more Bodonkeys until the end of the WSOP chase, along comes Bodog with their biggest bounty offer yet:
The BIGGEST Bounty EVER in the history of blogger tournaments will be placed on the head of $mokkee, the Bodog blogger tournament host on Tuesday June 3, 2008.
That's right, Bodog is adding an extra T$270 in value to Tuesday's June 3rd blogger tournament!
The lucky poker blogger to eliminate $mokkee will be rewarded with a seat in Bodog's WSOP* Semifinal 5 Seat Guaranteed Tournament to be held on June 8 at 3:15 pm ET.
Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
Bloggers from around the globe are invited to participate!
If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com
So what are YOU waiting for?
Sign up today and may the best poker blogger take the bulls eye on $mokkee!
Tune into Live Poker Radio for live tournament recaps and updates while you play at http://www.livepokerradio.com
There's just too much here to resist. I was fortunate enough to collect one of the two pro bounties previously given up in this series (thank you Bobby Bellande!), and just maybe, I can make it two out of three. Truth is, even if I win the bounty, I'll probably have to unreg and take the $Ts for now, just because I'll already be in Vega$ on the 8th, and I didn't go to Sin City to play intrawebby pokerz.
Have a great weekend on the felt. $mokkee...start doing some chin ups, 'cause you're gonna have to be in shape to outlast my chipstack next week.
Oh yeah, I'm playing the $100 15000 chip noon tourney Sunday at Golden Gates -- will try to have a trip report after the fact.
Now, $100 for a starting stack of 15,000 chips sounds really deep-stacked, no? Well, it's really not. Blinds start at 100/100, then go to 100/200, to 100/200/25, etc. It's still one of the best values in Blackhawk, but with the missing levels (including a couple in the middle stages), it's not really deep-stacked. Still, at 30 minute levels, it's not a bad deal.
Bye!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Hit and Run
And no, I'm not talking about scooping a large 4-way pot and then fleeing the table. Nor am I talking about recent Britney driving escapades. Rather, today's post is very short...
Tomorrow, the 2008 World Series of Poker begins. Of course, you already know that, unless you live under a rock, or have come no closer to a poker table than FLDS grandmother has ever been.
54 events, gobs of pros and spectators, and more news than you can shake a Weekly World at.
But have no fear...there's really only one place you need to go for all the best stories, best blogging, and coolest features for the month. Once again, Dr. Pauly leads the way:
Where are you getting your news from this year?
At this point, I don't know whether the Good Doctor Mondo and I will make it over to the Rio to live rail any of the events on our trip. Docket's getting full. In fact, I'm trying to work two tourneys into the schedule, and not sure if I can work it when I consider the poker rate hours we gotta put in, too. We'll see.
Oh yeah, Ultimate Bet's finally come out with a statement on what they're going to do in the aftermath of the long running superuser scam. You can find a copy of the e-mail they sent to users here (Thanks, Falstaff!). I'll try to have some comments on it later tonight or tomorrow. That said, I'm having a hard time seeing a way for this to be anything other than a lose/lose for Ultimate Bet.
Tomorrow, the 2008 World Series of Poker begins. Of course, you already know that, unless you live under a rock, or have come no closer to a poker table than FLDS grandmother has ever been.
54 events, gobs of pros and spectators, and more news than you can shake a Weekly World at.
But have no fear...there's really only one place you need to go for all the best stories, best blogging, and coolest features for the month. Once again, Dr. Pauly leads the way:
Where are you getting your news from this year?
At this point, I don't know whether the Good Doctor Mondo and I will make it over to the Rio to live rail any of the events on our trip. Docket's getting full. In fact, I'm trying to work two tourneys into the schedule, and not sure if I can work it when I consider the poker rate hours we gotta put in, too. We'll see.
Oh yeah, Ultimate Bet's finally come out with a statement on what they're going to do in the aftermath of the long running superuser scam. You can find a copy of the e-mail they sent to users here (Thanks, Falstaff!). I'll try to have some comments on it later tonight or tomorrow. That said, I'm having a hard time seeing a way for this to be anything other than a lose/lose for Ultimate Bet.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
A Glimpse Into Opponents
Okay, not really, but sorta. I've seen two other folks point me to this video today, so I thought I'd share it with you:
Kinda reminds me of the type of player who's been taking me out of most tournaments, lately, just the same.
Kinda reminds me of the type of player who's been taking me out of most tournaments, lately, just the same.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Live Blogging Tuesday
Here we go again...
I'm in the Bodonkey, what do you know? I like giving up chips.
7:04pm - Starting table of myself, Lightning36, Donkette (the other Donkette), Newinnov, Mofo_69, Raisydaisy22, and CEMfromMD...
7:06pm - Also playing in both Daily Doubles, where my AQ held up against three others to go up 25% early. Raised 3.5pf, called smallish flop and turn bets, with flush and straight draws on the board. Probably a weak play, but no real reads yet.
7:10pm - Awesome. Out of Daily Double B. UTG raised to 60, I repopped to 215 from button with KK. Small blind called, UTG shoved all in (had me covered by a few). I put him on AK, or JJ-99, not AA there. Duh. He flips AA, and I'm done. No double cash for me...I sense lots of tilt tonight on my part. Awesome start.
7:17pm - InstantTragedy playing the role of Gigli tonight - at least it's not me, though I'm sure I'm the nightly stand-in.
7:30pm - Tough Skillz opening table - Kurokitty, Drizzdj, ScottMC, Astin, dwal, Shabazz Jenkins, and some randoms...
8:04pm - Near crippled at break. As usual, RaisyDaisy catches yet another river 3-outer, making AK <<<<< AJo. Down to 454 chips (29th of 29), but at least I'll be button-ish.
8:06pm - Soooooooooooo motherfucking awesome. Table chipleader in Bodog $10 $5k tries yet another steal from me, blind versus blind. I have A7, so fuck it, I shove, he calls with KJo, and naturally, turns a straight. This is less of a blog, and more of a fucking deathwatch blog, because I'm about to bust a cap in some fucking RNG programmer. Keep me away from Kanawahke, seriously.
8:16pm - Fuck Bodog, fo'real. 70/30 hand? Read that at 3/97, at best.
8:40pm - In an amazingly shocking stroke of luck, my AKo managed to win a 3-way versus QQ and AT in the Skillz game. Wow. Near the chiplead, and the one bounty I took was my first cash of any type today.
9:46pm - Picked up another bounty when A8 reshoved my AQ. 4th of 27, let's see what she says...
9:52pm - Out of the FTP $8.80 177 runner tourney, when my turned straight (slowplayed) let the stealer catch runner runner gutter on the river, gg me.
10:24pm - Out of the Skillz on an impossibly fucked up hand. Money went all in on the turn:
I really think I need to leave online poker for a bit. I've now dumped 1/4 of my bankroll since my win a couple weeks back, and while I've made the occasional bad play, most of my losses have been on such colossally fucked up hands like the one above.
The most motherfucking shiteating junk-diseased part of it is, it's almost always within one table of the money, unless it's in the first five hands. One or the other. I will serious start throwing shit at laptops soon. I'll be taking at least 4-5 days off poker completely, and possibly off this blog, as well. I've got to get away from online poker for a bit before I cause real damage to something.
12:26am - Almost forgot. I actually managed to pick up two extremely minor cashes, going out 9th in the $5 Limit O8, and go out 205th (216 pay in Midnight Madness, when some cocksucker who raised 75s from the button thinks instacalling calling my all in on a Q86 rainbow board (none of his suit) is an awesome idea. Of course, he hits his miracle 5 on the fucking river. As mcfucking usual. I see how he got his stack now. Call from behind every time and catch. To his credit, he's got a 5% ROI on the $3.30 90 player SNGs, but most of that was in two tournaments. Hell, as I typed that sentence, he's lost 90% of his stack by overplaying KJ, so fuck him, too. Most folks who luckbox into my chips lose them very shortly afterward, because they simply suck hind tit at poker. Of course, that doesn't stop me from dropping $100 in buyins tonight, only one time getting my chips in anywhere close to behind....
Yeah, I'm taking a few days off, so that I don't cockpunch the first person I see calling my raise in Vega$ next week with A8o, out of position.
I'm in the Bodonkey, what do you know? I like giving up chips.
7:04pm - Starting table of myself, Lightning36, Donkette (the other Donkette), Newinnov, Mofo_69, Raisydaisy22, and CEMfromMD...
7:06pm - Also playing in both Daily Doubles, where my AQ held up against three others to go up 25% early. Raised 3.5pf, called smallish flop and turn bets, with flush and straight draws on the board. Probably a weak play, but no real reads yet.
7:10pm - Awesome. Out of Daily Double B. UTG raised to 60, I repopped to 215 from button with KK. Small blind called, UTG shoved all in (had me covered by a few). I put him on AK, or JJ-99, not AA there. Duh. He flips AA, and I'm done. No double cash for me...I sense lots of tilt tonight on my part. Awesome start.
7:17pm - InstantTragedy playing the role of Gigli tonight - at least it's not me, though I'm sure I'm the nightly stand-in.
7:30pm - Tough Skillz opening table - Kurokitty, Drizzdj, ScottMC, Astin, dwal, Shabazz Jenkins, and some randoms...
8:04pm - Near crippled at break. As usual, RaisyDaisy catches yet another river 3-outer, making AK <<<<< AJo. Down to 454 chips (29th of 29), but at least I'll be button-ish.
8:06pm - Soooooooooooo motherfucking awesome. Table chipleader in Bodog $10 $5k tries yet another steal from me, blind versus blind. I have A7, so fuck it, I shove, he calls with KJo, and naturally, turns a straight. This is less of a blog, and more of a fucking deathwatch blog, because I'm about to bust a cap in some fucking RNG programmer. Keep me away from Kanawahke, seriously.
8:16pm - Fuck Bodog, fo'real. 70/30 hand? Read that at 3/97, at best.
8:40pm - In an amazingly shocking stroke of luck, my AKo managed to win a 3-way versus QQ and AT in the Skillz game. Wow. Near the chiplead, and the one bounty I took was my first cash of any type today.
9:46pm - Picked up another bounty when A8 reshoved my AQ. 4th of 27, let's see what she says...
9:52pm - Out of the FTP $8.80 177 runner tourney, when my turned straight (slowplayed) let the stealer catch runner runner gutter on the river, gg me.
10:24pm - Out of the Skillz on an impossibly fucked up hand. Money went all in on the turn:
I really think I need to leave online poker for a bit. I've now dumped 1/4 of my bankroll since my win a couple weeks back, and while I've made the occasional bad play, most of my losses have been on such colossally fucked up hands like the one above.
The most motherfucking shiteating junk-diseased part of it is, it's almost always within one table of the money, unless it's in the first five hands. One or the other. I will serious start throwing shit at laptops soon. I'll be taking at least 4-5 days off poker completely, and possibly off this blog, as well. I've got to get away from online poker for a bit before I cause real damage to something.
12:26am - Almost forgot. I actually managed to pick up two extremely minor cashes, going out 9th in the $5 Limit O8, and go out 205th (216 pay in Midnight Madness, when some cocksucker who raised 75s from the button thinks instacalling calling my all in on a Q86 rainbow board (none of his suit) is an awesome idea. Of course, he hits his miracle 5 on the fucking river. As mcfucking usual. I see how he got his stack now. Call from behind every time and catch. To his credit, he's got a 5% ROI on the $3.30 90 player SNGs, but most of that was in two tournaments. Hell, as I typed that sentence, he's lost 90% of his stack by overplaying KJ, so fuck him, too. Most folks who luckbox into my chips lose them very shortly afterward, because they simply suck hind tit at poker. Of course, that doesn't stop me from dropping $100 in buyins tonight, only one time getting my chips in anywhere close to behind....
Yeah, I'm taking a few days off, so that I don't cockpunch the first person I see calling my raise in Vega$ next week with A8o, out of position.
Holiday Recap
Baby Mama - fun movie, predictable yet abrupt ending, but the funniest bits are all in the TV commercial anyway
Colorado Rockies - oy vey, what can I say? Never mind the 20-5....we attended the one weekend home game the Rox lost. Last year, they couldn't lose when the Good Doctor Mondo and I were at Coors Field. This year, they can't win.
Poker - took down a bar tourney pre-bands on Friday night. I know, I know, I swore off bar poker, but had a couple hours to kill, and took it down with hours to spare before the bands I wanted to see.
Online Poker - only played last night, and, except for a barely cashing of the Bodog $3k $10 rebuy (went out 18th of 18 pay spots), I truly got kicked in the junk. Lost two 50/50 satellites (no more of those for me until my FTP rolls grows), went out of a $6k when TT caught his river 2-outer against my QQ, and pretty much got abused everywhere else.
Of course, my getting kicked in the junk online can only mean one thing. That's right, it's Tuesday, which means:
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series where poker bloggers worldwide are gathering each Tuesday in the Bodog Poker Room to earn points for a spot in the final tournament. The winner of the TOC will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
This tournament is open to poker bloggers from around the globe. If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com
To register, players are required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
For assistance with registration, call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or email http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact
Please include your blogger screen name, Bodog Member Account ID number and your poker blog URL address.
We're down to the last three weeks, and I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of coming in the top 18. But I like pain, so I signed up anyway.
The Skillz game tonight is Pot Limit Hold'em. I'm undecided whether to play or not -- I'll probably give the Daily Doubles a go, instead, if only because I'm not really involved in BBT3, and enjoy the Skillz games more when they're Omatard or Razz-based.
Colorado Rockies - oy vey, what can I say? Never mind the 20-5....we attended the one weekend home game the Rox lost. Last year, they couldn't lose when the Good Doctor Mondo and I were at Coors Field. This year, they can't win.
Poker - took down a bar tourney pre-bands on Friday night. I know, I know, I swore off bar poker, but had a couple hours to kill, and took it down with hours to spare before the bands I wanted to see.
Online Poker - only played last night, and, except for a barely cashing of the Bodog $3k $10 rebuy (went out 18th of 18 pay spots), I truly got kicked in the junk. Lost two 50/50 satellites (no more of those for me until my FTP rolls grows), went out of a $6k when TT caught his river 2-outer against my QQ, and pretty much got abused everywhere else.
Of course, my getting kicked in the junk online can only mean one thing. That's right, it's Tuesday, which means:
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series where poker bloggers worldwide are gathering each Tuesday in the Bodog Poker Room to earn points for a spot in the final tournament. The winner of the TOC will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
This tournament is open to poker bloggers from around the globe. If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com
To register, players are required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
For assistance with registration, call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or email http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact
Please include your blogger screen name, Bodog Member Account ID number and your poker blog URL address.
We're down to the last three weeks, and I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of coming in the top 18. But I like pain, so I signed up anyway.
The Skillz game tonight is Pot Limit Hold'em. I'm undecided whether to play or not -- I'll probably give the Daily Doubles a go, instead, if only because I'm not really involved in BBT3, and enjoy the Skillz games more when they're Omatard or Razz-based.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
An Addition to Ye Olde Blogroll
I recently received a comment from a newish blogger, whose blog I thought some of you might enjoy: Vortex of Hate
Don't let the name deceive you, this is just a good ol' fashioned poker blog, where author Mike Casalena track his progress and analyzes his play as he tries to move up from a small initial deposit, up to the future nosebleed levels.
As Mike writes, "I started this project on Stars with a mere $125. My first goal is to build my roll to $5000 without despositing any additional funds to help. With $5,000 I should be able to play $200 NL comfortably."
Well, Mike, I wish you luck, and lots of readers.
As for myself, I haven't played a lick of cards the entire weekend, other than taking down a short bar tourney on Friday while waiting for The Omens and Dario Rosa to play. I've got enough free Bowling Bucks in my car now, to fund my own league team. Maybe I should start spending them, I guess.
By now, I suspect these two are nearing rolling into Vegas for the summer. In two weeks, the Good Doctor Mondo and I will be there with them. Actually, we'll be at the MGM Grand, but you know what I mean.
Don't let the name deceive you, this is just a good ol' fashioned poker blog, where author Mike Casalena track his progress and analyzes his play as he tries to move up from a small initial deposit, up to the future nosebleed levels.
As Mike writes, "I started this project on Stars with a mere $125. My first goal is to build my roll to $5000 without despositing any additional funds to help. With $5,000 I should be able to play $200 NL comfortably."
Well, Mike, I wish you luck, and lots of readers.
As for myself, I haven't played a lick of cards the entire weekend, other than taking down a short bar tourney on Friday while waiting for The Omens and Dario Rosa to play. I've got enough free Bowling Bucks in my car now, to fund my own league team. Maybe I should start spending them, I guess.
By now, I suspect these two are nearing rolling into Vegas for the summer. In two weeks, the Good Doctor Mondo and I will be there with them. Actually, we'll be at the MGM Grand, but you know what I mean.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Please Wish A Fellow Blogger Well
Everyone's pal PokerPeaker's pretty much ground zero with regard to today's Windsor/Greeley tornado...
Please post when you can and let us know you and yours are alright.
The local pictures are devastating, and it appears the house of one of my co-workers was hit.
I'm hoping Peaker's just being severly overtasked covering the storm for the Trib, and that everything's okay in his neck of the woods.
Good vibes, man, good vibes.
Please post when you can and let us know you and yours are alright.
The local pictures are devastating, and it appears the house of one of my co-workers was hit.
I'm hoping Peaker's just being severly overtasked covering the storm for the Trib, and that everything's okay in his neck of the woods.
Good vibes, man, good vibes.
Speaking of RNGs
Non-poker content
Okay, no poker content, but an extreme one-outer.
So my iPod presently has about 9900 or so songs on it, from at least about 800 different albums. Since some of what I've picked up over the years are various Rhino Nuggets-type box sets, compilations, and such, I couldn't even begin to guess the total number of artists, but the number has to be at least 1100 or so.
Now, we've all got our favorites, and I have mine. There are a small number of bands for whom I have pretty much their entire catalog on my iPod, which means there are rare instances where I may have two versions of the same song by the same artist, but from two different performances (never mind other weird things such the seven different versions I've collected of the instro-surf classic "Squad Car" by seven different bands, and never mind this terrible run-on sentence). There are other instances where I may have two versions of the same song by the same band, but only have a handful of tracks by that band on my iPod, in total.
Well, I hit the ultimate one-outer on the way to work today. Here I am, crusing down I-25, to the badass strains of the Afghan Whigs' most-excellent track "Debonair", from their album "Gentlemen" -- this being a live version recorded at the Howlin Wolf and released on a short run EP, back in '95 or so. At any rate, what happens immediately afterwards? Obvious. The very next song played on my iPod is "Debonair", this time, the studio version from their album "Gentlemen". 'natch.
The kicker is, because the screen on my iPod has gone to shit, my iPod is set to play 100% randomly. No playlists, no ordering, strictly random. The same song. By the same band. From two different recordings (the only two versions I have). Consecutive. About 9900:1 odds. Who'da thunk it. The Apple and JokerStars RNGs were clearly written by the same guy.
Oh yeah, Afghan Whigs were truly one of the great bands of the 90s, pretty much the perfect combination of indie/grunge/soul. Greg Dulli is now, and has always been, the Curtis Mayfield of indie rock, in my book, and much more so in his present incarnation as The Twilight Singers, but I digress.
Something else of mild interest, the live version of "Debonair", in addition to quoting Dean Stockwell's "Ben" (from Blue Velvet)....is played approximately 10bpm faster than the studio version. Huh. The slower studio version is actually a bit more menacing.
Their live set I saw in 1996 is still one of the greatest single sets of music I've seen, and one of the few to top it was Dulli's solo show at DC's The Black Cat...2003, I believe that was. Okay, digression's gone far enough for one post.
Okay, no poker content, but an extreme one-outer.
So my iPod presently has about 9900 or so songs on it, from at least about 800 different albums. Since some of what I've picked up over the years are various Rhino Nuggets-type box sets, compilations, and such, I couldn't even begin to guess the total number of artists, but the number has to be at least 1100 or so.
Now, we've all got our favorites, and I have mine. There are a small number of bands for whom I have pretty much their entire catalog on my iPod, which means there are rare instances where I may have two versions of the same song by the same artist, but from two different performances (never mind other weird things such the seven different versions I've collected of the instro-surf classic "Squad Car" by seven different bands, and never mind this terrible run-on sentence). There are other instances where I may have two versions of the same song by the same band, but only have a handful of tracks by that band on my iPod, in total.
Well, I hit the ultimate one-outer on the way to work today. Here I am, crusing down I-25, to the badass strains of the Afghan Whigs' most-excellent track "Debonair", from their album "Gentlemen" -- this being a live version recorded at the Howlin Wolf and released on a short run EP, back in '95 or so. At any rate, what happens immediately afterwards? Obvious. The very next song played on my iPod is "Debonair", this time, the studio version from their album "Gentlemen". 'natch.
The kicker is, because the screen on my iPod has gone to shit, my iPod is set to play 100% randomly. No playlists, no ordering, strictly random. The same song. By the same band. From two different recordings (the only two versions I have). Consecutive. About 9900:1 odds. Who'da thunk it. The Apple and JokerStars RNGs were clearly written by the same guy.
Oh yeah, Afghan Whigs were truly one of the great bands of the 90s, pretty much the perfect combination of indie/grunge/soul. Greg Dulli is now, and has always been, the Curtis Mayfield of indie rock, in my book, and much more so in his present incarnation as The Twilight Singers, but I digress.
Something else of mild interest, the live version of "Debonair", in addition to quoting Dean Stockwell's "Ben" (from Blue Velvet)....is played approximately 10bpm faster than the studio version. Huh. The slower studio version is actually a bit more menacing.
Their live set I saw in 1996 is still one of the greatest single sets of music I've seen, and one of the few to top it was Dulli's solo show at DC's The Black Cat...2003, I believe that was. Okay, digression's gone far enough for one post.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Live Blogging Bloggerments
7:03pm - got Bayne, ScottMC, Lightning36, BrainMC, KJTech, Smokkee and Gary Carson at my starting table. This is gonna be tough.
7:35pm - Ok, Gary Carson slow played his AA, and I'm out. I'm through playing the Bodonkey, as I now officially consider myself out of the running. Good luck, no need for me to keep donating in this particular series, seriously.
7:58pm - Out of Skillz. Fuck it all.
Oh yeah, and this happened in the Fiddy Fiddy:
Bet my set like a man, and get punished on the river. Goddamn poker hates me tonight. At least I still have 1/3 of a stack in that that fucking open pus sore of a tournament.
9:35pm - Finally went out of the 50/50, around 262nd or so. Struggled along for a bit by stealing, but couldn't get moving after that brutal suckout early on. Given subsequent developments in the tourney, I can't help but think I could have cashed in this thing if my trips could have held one time.
7:35pm - Ok, Gary Carson slow played his AA, and I'm out. I'm through playing the Bodonkey, as I now officially consider myself out of the running. Good luck, no need for me to keep donating in this particular series, seriously.
7:58pm - Out of Skillz. Fuck it all.
Oh yeah, and this happened in the Fiddy Fiddy:
Bet my set like a man, and get punished on the river. Goddamn poker hates me tonight. At least I still have 1/3 of a stack in that that fucking open pus sore of a tournament.
9:35pm - Finally went out of the 50/50, around 262nd or so. Struggled along for a bit by stealing, but couldn't get moving after that brutal suckout early on. Given subsequent developments in the tourney, I can't help but think I could have cashed in this thing if my trips could have held one time.
Decent Start to the Evening
Even if the Good Doctor Mondo gets to start calling me "Almost", again:
Sadly, I blew a pretty substantial chiplead 3-handed, though at one point HU, we were almost dead even.
One other thing I tried was to take my first ever shot at a satellite for the nightly FTP Fiddy Fiddy:
Now, I could cash out the $Ts for a bit of bankroll building, but really, for me, the whole reason to play sats is to get into tournaments that are outside my roll, so I'm going to play this event for the first time ever, and see what happens.
Sadly, I blew a pretty substantial chiplead 3-handed, though at one point HU, we were almost dead even.
One other thing I tried was to take my first ever shot at a satellite for the nightly FTP Fiddy Fiddy:
Now, I could cash out the $Ts for a bit of bankroll building, but really, for me, the whole reason to play sats is to get into tournaments that are outside my roll, so I'm going to play this event for the first time ever, and see what happens.
Tuesday Night Bloggerment Pimpage
Yup, we're coming down to the very nub of it, the horses have rounded the corner, and there's scant few weeks to earn your WSOP Main Event seat via the bloggerment path.
Bodog is proud to host the Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series where poker bloggers worldwide are gathering each Tuesday in the Bodog Poker Room to earn points for a spot in the final tournament. The winner of the TOC will receive a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a $12,000 WSOP* prize package and be a part of Team Bodog 2008. Details at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com
This tournament is open to poker bloggers from around the globe. If you are new to Bodog, please sign up at http://poker.bodoglife.com
To register, players are required to go to http://www.bodoglife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament and sign in with their Bodog account information in the upper right hand corner. Once this is completed, they must then click on "REGISTER NOW" to register themselves into the tournament series. Bloggers will each have to do this once in order to play in the series. Once this is done, they then need to find the "Online Poker Blogger Tournament" in the software and register as they normally would each and every week.
For assistance with registration, call Bodog's Poker Customer Service at 1-866-909-2237 or email http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/contact
Please include your blogger screen name, Bodog Member Account ID number and your poker blog URL address.
So what are YOU waiting for? Sign up today and may the best poker blogger win!
I'm down to 31st, after a couple of non-points weeks, and a full 127 points out of 18th, which means I really do need a win, or at least two top three finishes. Here's hoping I can duplicate my effort from Saturday.
Also, don't forget Buddy Dank is again running Live Poker Radio broadcasts for live tournament recaps and updates while you play at http://www.livepokerradio.com
And now, you can even bet on which poker blogger will win the most money at the WSOP Main Event at http://www.bodoglife.com/sports-betting/poker.jsp
I'm not much of a sports-betting man, but at 60:1, I may just have to dump a bit of railage on $mokkee. Too bad they're not running this guy at 200:1, or I'd definitely bite.
Also, tonight's another edition of the Blogger Skillz Series, and the flavor of the day is No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, so I can pretty much guarantee an appearance by this drunk northerner. Lots of fun, knockout bounties and big stacks. See ya there!
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