What a life...

Greetings and salutations!  I have been in the middle of living the life.  Just got my bonus and I did not get Chevy Chased, so I am now painting different areas of the house.  We finished the kids bathroom and now are working on the girls room.  Going to paint it pink and purple, their favorite colors.  What is it about the color purple?  I understand pink but so many females love the color purple almost as much as they love pink.  Moving along.  Got my review from my manager, who resides in Dallas and I crushed it.  The one opportunity is going to be an easy fix, it will involve a lot of hard work but when we get it going on a consistent basis...easy street!  Tax time was generous, my wife is going to college so we got to use that and it was good...of course in about three years we will have student loans to pay off.
Poker...had my second home game and a neighbor won it all.  I was in the chip lead but made a couple of bluffs as the eventual winner, who would not lay down after raising with 7-2, missing on the flop, firing on the flop and turn and having to fold to a significant river bet.  I was out two rotations later and watched him march to a very nice victory.  My wife hooked up the snacks, the fellas brought over the beverages and most left intoxicated and not hungry.  I had a pretty good talk with a buddy of mine who I met in the poker rooms and he now lives on the other side of the lake close to me, invited him over and he came over.  We talked about how these young ones are that much better because of the internet and how they are playing the person versus their cards and how well they get it.  We thought back on ourselves and laughed at how bad we were but thought we had it.  Still it is the dream and I will continue to chase it.  Playing pro football will not happen, but hey, poker, still a possibility.
Life is good.  Disney trip is coming sometime in May.  I am pretty pumped as I never got to go there but even more pumped because I can take my family. I might be able to get some real poker in sometime between this writing and the trip but I hope to be back on to blog about it.  Heh.  My little girl sat on an alligator and held it's jaws up...I would not do it...she's pretty awesome...well my whole family is pretty awesome.

No worries in that smile huh?

Alright, until next time.  You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Birthday, bad beat jackpot history and a little life.

Greetings and Salutations,

I write because I like it, sometimes it becomes a labor and something that I do not like to do because of the time it can take.  I would rather be a-Playing Call of duty, b-Playing Borderlands 2, c-Watching TV, D-working out(just got back into this in July).  I used to LOVE to write but when I finish I have to fix what I wrote and that takes a lot of time.  You see I am the kind of writer that writes what he thinks, sometimes it comes out the wrong way so I have to go back and correct it and make sure it flows for a reader outside looking in.  Maybe, one day I could be an editor...NAH!  I suck.

Okay, so I had my 41st birthday this past 27th of October and I asked for two things, hamburgers on Saturday and taco salad on Sunday.  Two of the many favorite dishes that my wife makes.  Now I am about to bitch because I am very disappointed but I do not want to do so to my wife because I do not want to put anymore stress on her right now.  She is AWESOME!  She is the mother to my four kids and we took in our 14 year old niece, so she cooks for all of us, cleans this house, pays the bills (she is the CFO of the family, I make it she spends it, I have to ask for a stipend, but this works and we are happy) and is working on getting her college degree while still being an awesome wife and mother.  I want to say something but I do not think it is worth it.  So I will put in on here...I have to get it off my chest.  So, on Saturday we had Halloween in my subdivision, I am on our advisory board (pre-HOA) and we fought about having trick or treating for the kids on Saturday or Wednesday.  We finally settled on Saturday which allows the kids to get it, come home and eat it and be sick on Sunday.  Well my wife along with two other neighbors decide to have a block party when the trick or treating was over.  So last Monday she met with a couple of ladies and they are going to have a hay ride, bob for apples, and food for everyone.  My wife volunteered to make chilli, a couple of dips, cupcakes and who knows what else.  I got a great break feast, as I normally do on Saturdays got to hang out by myself as my wife went out to buy a few things to prep for the party Saturday night.  When she got back three pumpkins appeared and she asked me to work with the kids to help carve them.  I didn't want to carve pumpkins but as parents, you do so to make your kids happy.  I started with them and of course all three were gone running around before they were done so I finished them off as I sat in my garage with the candy to start passing that out at about 6 pm.
(I just had to face book a lot of my friends on the east coast, just to make sure they were okay, funny thing is, now they are going to experience something that I did, when Katrina hit.  I was like them, it's just rain and wind no big deal, I learned a lesson and learned it well.  I hope they all stay as dry as possible, stay out of harms way and do not freeze to death.)

Yes, I decided to let my wife take the kids around the neighborhood and I would take care of the candy.  It was cool, got complements on my kids pumpkins.  Check it out:

So at about 8pm nobody is left and I have a bowl full of candy left.  My subdivision is about four years old and most of the construction picked up in the last two years, we are at about 70% finished, 90% brings in the HOA and then we pay dues...weeeee!  Okay, so after that I go down to the block party that has become one house as it got cold,  but it was cool had a couple of birthday shots and drank my first moonshine.  Did I get my hamburgers?  NO!  I did get two hotdogs, a bowl of potato soup and some nacho chips.  Oh, I did get a birthday cake, carrot cake, it was good, but no happy birthday song. Not really bitter about it though.  So Sunday comes around and we go to church, I come home and lay in bed with my wife, she eventually leaves...no boom boom for me.  HA!  But I got to sleep until the Cowboys game, but I was hoping to get either hamburgers or taco salad.  My wife tells me we are going to have gumbo.  For the love, now do not get me wrong, her gumbo is fantastic but my mind was set on burgers or taco salad.  I got nada.  So 41 was not as sweet as 40,  I know that I should not expect a lot but I did request two things, neither came through and I was put to work most of my birthday.  Alright, that is off my chest.
I got to go to the new casino in Baton Rouge, L'auberge, fantastic casino.

Nice poker room with seven tables, they spread, on the weekends that is not sure about the week, two 2-5 nl games, 3-1-2 nl games and 2-4-8 limit games.  All juicy!  Well I left because the list was monster long, came back at about 1am to play and later that morning they hit the bad beat jackpot, so I was part of history first day opening, of course technically, it was into the second day, but I was present when the very first jackpot was hit that day, check it:

Four of a kind, 10's, were beat by a heart royal flush!
I went a few more times, got snapped off, broken off in after a 10 hour session, felted in one hand...feel like it was my fault.  We are short handed, six people, I have 10-8 off, I limp under the gun.  Two more limp and lady, who I have some history with during this session, opens to $12.  Big calls, I call and one of the other two call.  Flop comes J, 9, Q, two clubs.  She LEADS out for $60 big folds, here is mistake one...maybe...I min-raise to $120, next guy folds she says, "Are you drawing for the club?"  She calls, turn card is a red Q.  She bets $100 into me.  HUH?  Now I know you don't have a full house, I know you don't have K-10...are you drawing to the club and trying to block me?  I think so, so I shove for another $280 on top.  I think it took her 10 minutes to call.  Then she says, I was priced in.  You didn't have enough to make me fold.  I think she is right as she showed the AK clubs for the win on the river as a club hit, but why did it take you 10 minutes to decide, maybe it was more like five but felt like 10.  Either way if that was an easy decision call quicker, right?  I do not like it when they try to reason like that, she had trouble calling because it would have left her with about $100, that was why it took her so long to call.  They must eat this lady up at the 2-5 game!  That one hurt only because I had been playing for so long, so yeah, maybe I should not have played it but I did and SNAPPAGE!  What do you think?
Finally, I got back into the gym in July, free monthly pass, hit it for about two weeks all together and decided to join.  Found out my insurance covers my membership at a lower rate so that was a cool bonus.  I have been working out consistently since late August and am stronger, getting tighter in places but still have a long way to go.
Overall, I have an awesome life.  To get pissed at not getting a burger or anything that I wanted that day is very selfish but I am in a place where I can afford to be, I've worked my butt off to get into a position where I can take care of my family, got my wife a beautiful home and she does not have to work right now.  So yes, life is good but...

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Belle of Baton Rouge

Took a drive over to the Belle of Baton Rouge to play a little poker.  I thought they would open a 2-5 NL game but they did not.  I sat in a 4-8 limit game and it was bonkers.  Everyone thinks it is okay to chase you down, it got so bad I started to do it.  I had to rebuy and that brought me back to reality.  This is what $500 looks like in a 4-8 limit game.

I got aces three times and won with them, I got kings once and lost with them, a pretty big pot, it looked like it ended up being about $180.  I got AK twice, and won, made a full house on the river on the last time I got it, but I didn't need it.  Guy raised me on the turn, where I make two pair, I popped it back and he just calls, then I river the king, he checks I bet, he calls.  He mucks. I have to be able to focus in on the hand I am in, I lost track and missed a couple of tells that would have told me I was in trouble but I did miss them.  I did pick up certain things as these folks did not know how to bet while in position, for example we had a flop that came K, J, 4 at one point, five of us were in the hand.  I was the small blind, I checked and it checked all the way around.  The turn is an 8, I bet I get two calls, hi-jack and the button, the river is another king, I check, hi-jack checks and the button bets...'huh'? You don't have a king or a jack, a missed straight, I call, the hi-jack folds, button shows me Q-9 as he folds, I show my A8.  Send me the pot.  Overall, I got hit in the face with the deck, I was blessed.  This was my best, low limit session ever!

The Belle has four tables, I think when the new casino opens at the end of August it is going to hurt them even more they might lose those tables.  I do understand that the Belle has a $50 NL hold 'em tournament on Sundays that starts at 10 am, 1000 in chips and 15 minute levels.  The dealers were okay, now there may have been one or two that take their time dealing, I believe one of the regulars counted SIX hands...wow!

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello.

WORK THROUGH

I got most of our mezzanine lighting replaced today, pretty happy with myself, however I did not get the highest point, three light structures that had to be 18-19 feet up.  I would have had to get on the top of the 14' ladder to replace those bulbs...so not going to be this guy, plus it said not to get on the last step as it is unsafe, so I did not.  It was our month end and I believe we hit our numbers for the month, pretty exciting as I believe the company is doing much better than last year, whew!

The 14' ladder on my little Pontiac Vibe.

Finished the day off at about 12 noon and headed home.  Then I got to see this as I was heading down I-10.

It didn't end up being that bad, got underneath this storm and got out in about two minutes.  When I continued north on I-55 it got a little hairy, but we made it to the crib.
I was looking forward to playing a little poker this weekend but I had to make a decision and be a grown up about it, even at my age, outside of work, it is tough trying to be a mature adult!  One day I will grow up, I need to grow up.

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Iowa and all that CORN!

Recently I was in Iowa on business and found out that they have poker rooms all across that state.  I found myself at the poker room outside of Des Moines, Prairie Meadows.  I got there in the early afternoon and they had lists for the 3-6 limit game, a 1-2 no limit game and a 2-5 pot limit omaha hi/lo game.  It was not until 2pm that I sat down in a 3-6 game.  I made $40 in an hour.  I moved to the newly opened, and short (4 men) 1-2 no limit game and left three hours later up a buy in.
The dealers were pretty good, they moved the game quickly, the rake was max $4 a hand, there was not a time rake ( I was very happy to see that) and though there was every reason to deal slower than normal those dealers did not.
At one point I was playing with phone ring tones through the Zedge application and played a Samuel L. Jackson ring tone as the next dealer sat down, the ring tone said this, "Shut the F&%K up Fat man!" The dealer looked like Santa Clause, the white beard and large frame...I felt like crap for the round and tipped more than normal whenever I won.
The funny thing about this place was you knew who was good, who was average and who were the fish, and the locals did not tap on the fishbowl at all.  I made so many mistakes, I missed bets, I checked down with the best hands, I basically let the cards play and could have made another buy in.  One of the locals who sat down with $200, was sitting with over $1000 as I left.  He picked the right spots and the right fish to snap off and I will tell you those fish were not believers, they called down with the second best every time, chased the one outers and snapped off the average players only to give that money to two of the better players at the table.  I was not one of them, but I kept my distance as I was still trying to re-learn how to ride the bicycle.
Prairie Meadows only downfall is that the poker room is on the third floor.  They have about 12 tables, other than that, there is decent action, if you abc it you will win.  The dealers are excellent, but I did get a bit upset with one of the dealers who heard me playing the ring tones for most of his down but when one of the better regulars got in the game, "Sir, please don't do that during a hand in progress."  It pissed me off only because he should have said that the first time I did it when others were in the hand.  Was I the only black guy in the room, yes, but never felt like that was a problem and I won't say that this was why he did it but I think he got some back bone because he wanted to show out for that regular.
I played later at Riverside out side of Iowa City, much bigger poker room about 20 tables, only three were going when I got there, (a soon to be busted) 2-5 no limit, a must move 1-2 and a main 1-2 nl game.    I continued my streak of playing bad but it got worse.  I called a $112 bet with $74 in the pot with pocket 8's, with one card to come, the board had a 7, 9, 6, 2 on the board.  I had 10 outs, but did not fold. J on the river he tables aces.  Not a bad beat, me being a lunchbox and paying this kid off.  He played it well and got me to make a mistake, what upset me four hands later was how he played his pocket jacks.  So four hands later he is in middle position and there are two limpers to him, he pops it to 12 a 2-5 player from the broken game calls and another player in early position calls.  The flop is 664, early checks, he bets $25, late (2-5 player calls) so does the early position player.  Turn is a 5, early checks he bets...$25!  Late calls, so does the limper.  River is an 8.  Early checks, HE CHECKS, river bets $75, early folds, pocket jacks shoves for $225.  Late takes some time thinks it through and eventually calls, he hit a freaking straight on the river, of course this kid is upset because he thought is jacks should have won.  What happened to protecting that pot on the turn?  Any way, I make another bad call with AK suited on a paired board when my suit gets there on the river.  He had a full house.  My last mistake was to not price a kid out of an open ended straight on the turn, he hit the river against my set of jacks.  All mistakes by me, myself and I.  'nuff said.

Iowa was fun, and there is a heck of a lot of corn!

Just wanted to give a huge shout out to Poker Monkey and an awesome finish in the WSOP main event, he gave me something to be excited about since I could not be there, checking on how he was doing while walking around with my cell phone this weekend.

Alright, you all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

My first homegame

This past Saturday I hosted my first home game in my new home.  It was to be more of a social gathering for neighbors but we did have a $20 buy in tourney with 20 minute blinds.  My wife, who is AWESOME, cooked.  She made meatballs in bbq sauce, meatballs in marinara sauce, smoke sausages, dip, and Jambalaya. Then she left, with the kids, to hang out with the wives of the other fellas that showed up.  I am not an alcohol kind of guy, but usually during social gatherings I'll have some, so I picked up a bottle of seagram 7 and a case of bud light platinum.  Both would survive the night as the fellas came loaded with Crown Royal black and two other whiskeys I do not recall.

We got started and had nine players,  someone asked about re-buys (I smiled), yes, in the first four levels, you may re-buy.  We had three re-buys.  I split the purse and three spots would be paid, third started by getting their money back but after the rebuys that doubled.  We got four handed and I think I was second in chips when I limped with k 4 suited.  The big stack min raised, we were at 500-1000, I was last to act and called.  We took the flop of A 8 4, I had been playing with, Animal (his nickname), for a couple of hours and had a good read on him.  His read was he did not like this flop but with everyone else he would always bet if they showed weakness, so I checked in hopes of making a check-raise to represent the ace.  He checked behind.  The turn was a 2, I lead out with 5k, he thought about it and called.  The river was a 10, I bet 5k again, trying to make it look like I wanted a call and was extracting value, and maybe this bet would get him to fold.  Well he asks, how much do I have, I counted out 15k.  He takes a very long time to make a decision, I would say two minutes...he calls and turns over pocket sixes for the win.  I say good call.  He replies, if you would have bet more I would have folded but you only bet 25% of your stack so I figured you didn't want to lose anymore.  I nod, he's a guest and I didn't want to get into a deep conversation on that hand, but it gave me more information and how to get him to fold for now on.

Well he crushes the other two guys and has me out chipped 25-1.  We play 10 hands, six of those hands we gave up and sent the blind over, I went all in three times pre-flop just won the blinds and played hand number ten from under the gun with a limp, with AK.  I hit my king on the flop and check hoping for a bet, nope, he checks.  The turn is a 3, I push all in and he hesitates a bit and calls...he turns over 7-3 and says geez, I thought you were bluffing as a 7 hits the river. That hand would have gotten me even and then I think I would have crushed him from that point, but it was good that I didn't I don't want those guys thinking I am that good (believe me I'm not) and not want to come back.  So I, happily, take second place money and paid Animal his loot.  We then gambled and played "in between"  freaking fun card game, but if you can count cards you can crush it.

Wild Bill is in AC trying to get a "W", so good luck to and prayers to him.

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Headache, taxes, Obama Rant...but life is good!

I squeezed my eyes shut hoping that the burning sensation at the pinch points would dissipate and remove themselves from my eye lids.  After several attempts it started to work.  It is not often, no, I cannot remember the last time I had a headache that hurt this bad!  It is one of those pains that burn the temple and you are rubbing at it ineffectively but for some reason, you think it feels better...NOT!  I took some sinus medicine as I think it is a sinus issue and got some Excedrin from the store manager.  I am still walking around smiling but this really hurts!

Well we got our tax assessment back and we are not happy.  We bought a house last June and we are going to get less back than from 2010...maybe this is part of the headache effect?  I want to say this is because of the Obama administration, but I can't do that without any proof.  Speaking of Obama, what has he done to help better the country?  Obama care(mandatory healthcare), got Bin Laden(inevitable), won the Nobel Peace Prize, and...what else?  Sorry, just frustrated that people are okay with our government telling us what is good for us.  Seat belts, by now, it has been burned into us that we need to wear them, or else you go to jail.  Common sense tells us we should wear them for safety purposes.  Sometimes they get it right but is it right for them to tell us what we should do?  It will, promise you, get to a point where we will be run by the government and not running the government, because the government is for the people.  I cannot say that a republican is better than a democrat but I have two good examples...Reagan and Clinton.  Reagan got us back on our feet after Carter put us in a hole and Clinton made money as our President, heck the only bad thing I can remember about him was the Lewinsky issue.  Reagan worked with both sides and got things done.  Clinton did the same and balanced the budget.  Bush screwed up but Obama knew that, don't continue to blame, we know, FIX IT!  So seriously, what has he done?  Please don't say he is being obstructed, he had it all when he came in, that is why democrats lost all those seats, they got too big for their britches.  Argh! let me get off my soap box.

Now my return to the felt may be delayed as I was hoping to use some of this tax money to play, but according to the CFO, my wife, it ain't looking good.  No worries, I have some other things in the mix to make sure I get to that felt and it should and will be glorious!  E-bay anyone?  I got action figures, comic books, and sports cards to sell.

Bobba Fett and Stormtroopers at attention.

I really don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to complaining about life.  All my complaints are selfish because I want something.  My family is healthy, other than my four year old who has bronchitis, but she is getting well.  I have given my wife a beautiful home and things are good.  Of course we got a little stretched thin because we went crazy with credit but we accept that responsibility and will get it fixed.  I guess what I am saying is that this blog is for me, for me to put more of me out there to maybe...get it off my chest(as I shrug my shoulders), that I will have to continue to work hard, raise my children and be a great husband.  Even though wanting to play poker, more often, tugs at me.  Yes, I like to ramble.

Wild Bill made a final table in the 6-max in Tunica, SWEET!  I hope he hits another and hopefully does work in the main event.

Short and sweet...you all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!