High On Poker

I received this comment tonight:

Anonymous said…

You shoulda stayed at Salami. The tournament ended up being 2 tables as the big game merged into 1 table and then a 2/5 game started afterwards and went til the wee hours. We were also discussing who was this mysterious “High on Poker” dude, so you woulda fit right in.

7:47 PM

Mysterious High on Poker dude? Shit!

I’ve pretty much known that Dawn from I Had Outs was made at the Salami game. I remember a while ago her telling a story about someone at the club asking her about her site. However, I though HoP was able to remain below the radar. In hindsight, I guess this was bound to happen. After all, I’m linked up with the IHO girls, so its perfectly logical that someone would find me through her link or use our common codename for the club, aka Salami, to do a Google Search. That said, now that I know that Salami players are reading this blog, I’m a tad nervous. After all, I’ve just wrote about how I like the fact that most of my competition doesn’t read this blog, and therefore does not know some of my plays. Now, it seems like I’ve been exposed.

Ironically, even though people seem to know of HoP, they haven’t connected me to HoP yet. That’s freaking hysterical when you think about the fact that I have a god damn uniform, practically, when I play at Salami. I mean, look for the guy with the Buddha statue and you’ve found HoP.

I suppose it isn’t terribly surprising though. I don’t go to Salami often. Heck, I’ve only been there 8 times this whole half-year. Also, I’m not prone to giving out my name, mostly because there never seems to be an opportunity for me to say, “Hello, I’m Jordan. Nice to meet you fellow underground poker player,” without looking like a tool. I suppose my anti-social personality doesn’t help.

Oh well. Nothing will change. If I’m outed, so be it. Maybe my raises will even start to get some respect. Lord knows I’ll keep talking about the fishy action at Salami.

Until next time, make mine poker!

If you’ve been following along, I held an inner debate with myself last night about whether I should go to Salami to play in their tournament. I eventually decided to go to the club, but when I arrived, it was a very different scene than I expected. The place was packed, and they were in the process of starting a second 5/5 NL table. Notably, 5/5 NL plays like 10/20 NL at Salami Club. That’s why I only go there for the $60, $40 rebuy/add-on tournaments. Salami, being a small club, only has three tables. If you do that math, that only left one table for the tournament.

I hung out watching some of the 5/5 action, hoping that it wasn’t as aggressive as previous days. I saw a preflop raise to $50 which killed off any remnant of hope. As I stood against the wall watching all the commotion, I finally decided to make my exit. If the tournament did occur, it’d be a small affair, a mere afterthought to the real action around the room. I didn’t feel like being a second-class citizen, and I didn’t feel like the mood was right. So, I retreated to the subway and back to my apartment.

In the comments to my last post, LJ said that I should’ve went to the Nice Look Club (aka Good Look, aka Good Luck). The thought had occurred to me, but I resolved to call it a night considering my last post and the bad vibes from Salami. Even so, Nice Look is now my undisputed favorite underground card room, and the next time I’m going to a card room after work, it will definitely be Nice Look.

Once home, I settled in and finished this Sunday’s episode of The 4400. Amazingly, The 4400 was a precursor to the phenomenom that is Heroes. I LOVE HEROES. I mean, as a self-professed comic book geek, I really appreciate the mature look at the idea of superpowers, and I literally geek out as soon as I see a character enter a room on that damn show. The 4400, however, came out probably 2 years before and has a lot of the same concepts. It, too, is about people who develop super powers, but the show has a much weirder backstory. Rather than evolution, the initial 4,400 people who developed powers got it after they were abducted by the future over 60+ years and then returned to Earth unaged in 2004 or something. The people don’t remember anything between being abducted and returning to Earth, so the time displacement and superpower storylines make for an interesting mix. It still falls short of Heroes, though, due to the quality of writing and acting. Still, I’m a big fan.

So, after watching the end of the episode, I fired up the comp to see what was happening. I even looked at Stars and Bodog, where I have no money, to see what tournaments would be available if my money was spread out. Side note: I recently got an email from Bodog about a blogger tournament. It’s $10 buy-in, with about $125 of bonus money thrown in by Bodog. I don’t mean to sound ingrateful, but that’s really not a compelling tournament, and certainly not much thanks or impetus for bloggers to post about Bodog. But alas, post I am. And on that note, if anyone is interested in doing a $50 or $100 swap onto Bodog, Poker.com or PokerStars in exchange of money at Full Tilt or PayPal, send me an email at highonpokr AT yahoo. I want to spread the money around a bit to focus on some different tourneys.

After shutting down Stars and Bodog, I logged onto Full Tilt in time to sign up for the 8:15 Razz MTT. It was a $24+2 (i.e., Token) buy-in, and 2k Guarantee. Within the first hour, I was in first place out of 81 players left. I remained in the top 5 until we were near the money bubble (16 places paid), when I lost a couple of hands due to good starting cards and bad cards on late streets. This is really the heart of Razz tournament poker. Luck plays a larger role because you are so dependent on later cards. Even if you had A2/3 to start against a player showing an 8, you may have to lay down your hand by fifth street if you get two bricks and he gets a 6 and 7. Luck of the draw. The bubble broke and I made it ITM. However, I eventually went out in 12th for only $41 after a couple more hands didn’t come through. It was disappointing not going deeper, but I was still happy about my performance. So close, yet so far.

During that tournament, I began chatting with GCox. We decided to play a $5 HORSE SNG. The buy-in is cheaper than I’d usually play, but since I was two-tabling with Razz, I didn’t want to invest too much. I played fairly standard poker in the HORSE SNG. Before I knew it we were down to 5 players, with G and I still in the running. No joke, 5 minutes later, the HORSE window pops up (I had the Razz MTT filling the screen and the HORSE SNG in the corner), and its just me, G and one other guy. ITM without even noticing. Ultimately, it was G and me heads-up, but he got the better of me. GG, G. It reminded me of old days.

Wifey Kim came home shortly before I busted in the Razz MTT. Once that was done, I shut down the comp and spent some time with her. After she fell asleep, I watched some Big Brother. If anyone else watches this show, lemme know. All I can say is that it may seem like just another reality show, but its just so much more involved. I mean, any show that has nightly three hour live feeds on Showtime is on another level. Raw feeds, btw, are the shit. Back in the day, the Real World on MTV was actually REAL. The people lived actual lives, had jobs, and were not attention-starved whores and man-sluts. In fact, you actually got to see how they acted. Now, you get a bunch of attention-starved models in a house alternatively making out and fighting, while they work at a cushy ‘job’ set up by MTV. The worst part is you don’t even see anything anymore. Instead, you see a person yell down a hallway “THAT WAS SO RUDE!” and then cut to an interview of the person saying, “I can’t believe Robert would bring that girl back to the house. I went in there and told them to off” I’m like, fuck her recap, lets see what really happened.

Ah, now I’m just rambling.

Until next time, make mine poker!

This morning, I was definitely in the mood. As I got dressed, groggy from the night before when I ironically got MORE sleep than usual, I grabbed my supplies from their usual spot and loaded up my bag. Poker wallet, check! Baseball cap, check! iPod, check! I even opted for the Moose roach clip/card cap that Katitude gave me at Okie Vegas, instead of my usual mini Buddha statues.

I figured it was Tuesday, and since my dinner plans with el Jefe and Dutchie were canceled for the second week in a row, I should take the opportunity to visit my friends and donators at the Salami Club, where I’ve won 50% of my tournaments, and bubbled in 50% of the tournaments I lost. The idea of playing was exciting. After all, I don’t get to play live often, and I truly love this game.

But then something happened. Work.

I’ve spent the last 2.5 hours researching possible insurance claims in a case we are going to bring in Federal Court in New Jersey. I’ve never tried a case in NJ Federal Court, never drafted a federal complaint in any state, and never had an insurance claim case like this. Understand, there is a wide variety of insurance-related litigation, but my involvement has been mostly when insurance companies are covering the defense costs and any verdicts. This, however, was a suit against a life insurance company, and it was and is all new to me.

After 2.5 hours of research, its hard to find ones bearings. Its sort of like searching through the woods for a particular tree. You may start the voyage with a mental image of that tree in your head, but while you are looking at all of the other trees and following all these possible paths and streams and other markers, that image fades away, until you suddenly find a whole slew of trees that look a whole lot like that tree you were looking for, but you just aren’t sure, since that mental image has faded.

That’s me. Lost in the trees.

That’s not to say that I’m lost. I have a good handle on the situation, and I expect it all to be a lot easier tomorrow when I come in with a fresh head and all these cut-down trees on my desk. But still, it put me in a bit of a funk, and I just don’t know if Salami is such a good idea anymore.

Make no doubt about it, Jordan is a hermit. Or a would-be hermit, more accurately. I find a definite comfort in my home, and in the past this has caused me to avoid socializing with friends or even running errangs. Its 10% lazy and 90% content in my life, but its 100% problematic at times. Part of me just wants to go home tonight, skip the tournament and relax. Maybe I’ll finish the episode of The 4400 on my DVR or finish the last episode of Rescue Me from the Netflix DVD of season 3. Maybe I’ll play the Monkey Tourney on Stars or play a bunch of games at Full Tilt. But whatever I’m doing, it ain’t live poker, and that’s what concerns me.

Am I being smart by not playing when I’m not in the mood, or am I limiting my possibility of profit by not playing at all? I can tell you now that I’m still not sure what I’m going to do. My one concern with playing is that I don’t want to get antsy during the tournament and donk it up.

Ah, who the fuck are we kidding. I gotta go now so I can make the game. But only ONE buy-in…and maybe the add-on.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Not much here today, but I wanted to get that legal post off of the top of the page. I played the Hoy last night, but went out fairly early when Kajagugu repeatedly re-raised all of my bets. I, in turn, repeatedly folded, and therein lied my losing strategy. The entire time, I was trying to figure out if Kaja actually had the goods or if he was just utilizing position and his knowledge of my game. In the past, I have heard of fellow bloggers refusing to post strategy posts, for fear that they will give away their game. In response, I have always maintained that (a) the pool of poker competition compared to my reader base is so small that teaching my readers should not significantly hurt my abilities to win money, and (b) I should be able to adjust to players who know my general strategy. In hindsight, the repetition with which I play these blogger events, and therefore the frequency with which I play with potential readers minimizes (a), but (b) is still indisputable in my mind. And by indisputable, I mean I SHOULD be able to adjust, but not that I AM able to adjust all of the time.

Alas, I did get an opportunity to play some small stack poker, and as a Small Stack Specialist (SSS), I tried by best to make the most of it. Here are a couple of fun hands where I can demonstrate why deep stack tournaments work well for an SSS.

In this first hand, I was able to pick up a good 30% or so of my short stack by paying close attention to the way that the hand played out.

I was down to 915 from the 3k starting stacks after Kaja repeatedly forced me to fold. I wasn’t too worried at the time because the blinds were still 25/50. While I do not consider almost 20x the BB a short stack, compared to the rest of the table (most had over 3k, the second lowest stack after me had 2525), I was effectively working the short stack in reference to the table conditions. Fortunately, when you are at the high end of ShortStackVille, its easier to push players off of hands. Their logic states that you wouldn’t be pushing all-in with garbage if you have as much chips as you do. So your logic should be, When can I make it look like I have the nuts by pushing all-in? Of course, this trick works every time but once, so you really have to pay attention to the action to determine when its time to strike.

With 915, I was dealt 36o in the SB. I considered folding, but Iakaris (3105) decided to limp in the CO (the Button was sitting out), so I decided to call the 25 into the 150 pot. The BB, Kaja with 5425 (most of which was from me), checked. The flop was A76 with two diamonds. I had bottom pair, second worst kicker. I knew I couldn’t bet out here. It was all too likely that someone would call me and I had no information on my opponents’ cards. So, I checked. Kaja checked too. Iak, of course, bets 120, which is slightly under the 150 pot. Now I took a moment to think. Iak was in position. He could have an Ace. But he just as likely was trying to take down the pot with any two cards. He had also waited for the 15-second warning before he acted. What was he thinking about?

The 120 LOOKS like a value bet. And that, along with his wait, led me to believe it was anything but a value bet. If he took so long to think about how to play his monster Ace, wouldn’t he had either bet pot to push out diamond draws or bet very low to try to get action? If he doesn’t have a strong Ace, then what can I do about it. I only had 865 after the 50 BB preflop, so I really had two options, fold or raise all-in. I couldn’t raise anything less because I would be gambling with too much of my stack and using too little leverage. The pot was 270, and his bet was 120, so the most effective raise to scare him off would be to push all-in. That would require him to call 745 into the 1,100 pot. But it would also be coming from a check-raise from a blind. I could’ve had 67, A6, or A7. I could’ve had 89d or another flush draw. My range is crazy wide, and it looks like I set a trap, check-raising. My only fear was that Iak had a set, two-pair, or AK/AQ. Anything less could get a fold. AT, for instance, might be played in position for a limp, and then have to fold to the check-raise. The same is true for 88 or 99. But frankly, Iak could have KJ or any two cards, since he was in position after two checks when he decided to raise. Ultimately, I took a gamble, but it paid off. After he got his second 15-second warning, Iak folded and I took down 255 in profit that I would have missed if I folded my rags preflop or failed to check-raise on the flop.

Sometimes, reading the board is just as important when you are looking for opportunities to chip up. I was at 1135 in the BB at the 25/50 level when I was dealt Q9o. LeftyLu (5635) called (does he have a blog? anyone?) from MP, and the SB folded. I checked.

The flop was 4T7 with two diamonds. I bet out 100. He folded. This is a very simple hand, but don’t mistake the simple action for simple thought processes. The check preflop was standard. Post-flop, I could’ve checked it, but I could guarantee he would bet once it got to him. So, rather than give him that chance, I opted to bet out 100, which was approximately 10% of my stack. That’s a pretty penny, but I’d gladly lose it if he bets out. I just didn’t want to hand him the 125 pot. After all, he didn’t raise preflop, which makes me think he has a drawing hand like a high Ace, and the flop doesn’t look like it hit him. I’m always looking for these opportunities. I can pretty much guarantee I was behind, but it doesn’t make a difference if you tell a believable story (something Hoy has mentioned in the past). This believable story was that the BB got lucky and hit his cards.

That’s all I have for you now. I’ll be heading to Salami tonight probably, so wish me luck. If you care to join, drop me a comment or email. Thanks for reading.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I had a fun/weird experience today at work. I had about 5 motions (requests to the Court for an Order directing something to occur) in a particular case. I had appeared at Court hoping that the motions would not be adjourned for a 4th time. As it were, the motion was originally set for a hearing in February. However, the defendant had done everything in his power to delay, delay, delay. As part of his delays, he stubbornly or absent-mindedly forgot to put in his opposition papers. As some background, opposition papers are a MUST. First off, I could have won on default for his failure to oppose my motion. But otherwise, opposition papers are needed to appeal any decisions. So, by failing to provide papers, it looked like I’d have a slam dunk, assuming that the motion wasn’t adjourned again.

Out of the 5 motions, I only cared about one, my motion for summary judgment. If I won, it would be like winning the case without a trial. The trial would still occur, but rather than having to prove that the defendant was liable, all we would have to prove is how much (i.e., $$) the defendant was liable. These are big stakes, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so if I could win summary judgment, it would be a great coup.

I arrived at Court and shot the shit with the other parties, all of whom shared my dislike of the defendant. As part of the defendant’s delays, he brought in about 5 other parties, claiming that they should cover his litigation costs and any recovery by the plaintiff. I didn’t want these other parties in the case, and they didn’t want to be in the case, so we had a sense of comraderie, solidified by the defendant’s dilly-dallying. Once the Judge took the bench and called our case, the defendant asked for another adjournment. I took this opportunity to recite the 6 month, 3 adjournment history of the case, and to my delight, the Judge decided to hear our motion.

After waiting our turn, we approached the bench. While the defendant had no opposition papers, the Judge decided to have oral argument. I succintly explained why we should win the case, and the defendant set forth a B.S. defense. The Judge saw right through it, and I won.

After this, I headed to the subway, ready to return to the office. On the way, I called the head secretary at the firm to tell her the good news. She was going to tell the Big Bossman as soon as he got back from wherever he was at. As I waited for the train, I loosened my tie and undid my first button. I took off my coat and rolled up my sleeves. It’s hot as hell waiting for the subway, and I was done with Court for the day. Just as I hit play on my iPod, I saw three people walking toward the platform, the Big Bossman and two coworkers. They were at a deposition nearby and coincidentally bumped into me.

When we entered the train, Big Bossman asked what I was up to. Some more background. About two weeks ago, I fucked up big time. I missed the time for a motion and as a result, we lost our opportunity to request some stuff. Even before that, I was taking some ribbing from the Bossman. He knows I play poker (but does not know of the blog). During my first year at the firm, I was at least partially responsible for over $3 million dollars worth of verdicts or settlements. From that, I got the nickname, the Closer. After my recent Vegas trip, where I lost money, and my quiet year, the Bossman took to jokingly refering me as the Loser (Closer, without the C).

When I told him I won, he turned to me and did the “L” hand signal, shorthand for my Loser nickname: “You are no longer this, then,” he said. And then, to my amazement, he said, “You are this now” and made the sign of the devil. \m/ Fuckin’ A! The CLOSER is back.

Not much to the story, but I just had to recount how my Boss, a guy in his 50s who enjoys highbrow art and golf, flashed me the sign of the devil. AlCantHang would be proud. ROCK ON, people.

Until next time, make mine poker!

As arranged by HUC5 Commissioner, Fuel55:

Number of Players: 32* (first pay, first served)

Entry Fee: $30 (paid in advance to Fuel55 at FullTilt or Stars)

Places Paid: 4 (1st thru 4th will be paid $432, $288, $144 and $96, respectively)

Structure: Preliminary rounds will be best of 3 and Final 4 will be best of 5

Organization: Players will have 5 days per round to organize and complete their match – the winner will give me the match results

Suggested games: Poker Stars HU SNGs with NO blind increases** – these games are the true test of skill and don’t ever create “shootout” situations. Of course each pairing can determine the game/price point that best suits them. And, of course, side bets are encouraged.

* If the response is particularly overwhelming I will consider increasing the field to 64 players.

** These SNGs come in a variety of entry price points ($105, $52.50, $31.50, $21, and $10.50)

Once you pay please email me your full name, blog, user name on Stars and Tilt so that I can compile a player database. As always my email is fuel55 at veltheer dot com.

You know I’ll be playing…
================================

And while I’m pimping, check out Blinder‘s Fantasy Sports Live site. I’d check it out myself, but my sports knowledge is nil.

I lived with my older brother for three years after college. While he was making his way through the world of actual employment, I was a wayward law school student, finishing class at 1pm and sitting on my ass the rest of the day. It was during this time that I really took to poker. I had just watched my first WPT broadcast (my thoughts when I turned it on is, “Who would watch poker on television?!”, but by the time I had to leave the apartment, I was setting up the VCR to catch the second hour), I had heard Howard Stern speaking about Golden Palace Poker, and I was starting to have friends over for $20 tournaments.

Once I started playing online, my play was nightly, and this went noticed by my brother. At my bachelor party in AC (where I spent more time in the Showboat poker room than anywhere else), he was kind enough to slip a Gam Anon pamphlet or three into my bag. When I wanted to discuss wins with my mother, I was conscious of the way I sounded, the excitement in my voice and the fear shared by my parents that I was going to leave the world of law after 7 years of school and become a gambling degenerate.

This morning, I was emailing back and forth with my brother when poker came up. I mentioned that wifey Kim wanted me to go to a private pool in NYC with her and her friend, but I had really just wanted to go to Nice Look for their 1/2 game that afternoon. This led to the natural jokes about being an addict, but when I reflected on the subject for a bit, I came to the complete realization that while I may have been somewhat addicted, those days are long gone. I now control the beast, rather than let it control me.

There is a thin line between interest and addiction. I love poker. Love it. If given the choice, I’d play it more often than not. I would even consider the fact that I used to be addicted to poker. But now, I’ve got it under control. In fact, in a certain way, I’ve gotten used to poker, and its less of the puppy love that I once had. You know the type. You meet a chick and she’s just awesome. You want to spend every waking minute of your time with her. A few months later, you realize that she can sometimes be annoying. You still love her, but you’ve learned her flaws and some time away (not a lot, mind you, but some) can do both of you some good. You are still in love, but it is based less on that idealistic view you have of that person, and more on the actual qualities that you can appreciate. [Note: When discussing puppy love and so forth, don't read into it. I'm just giving an analogy.]

But, hey, don’t all addicts start with denial? Just to make sure, let’s take a look at some objective criteria to determine if I’m addicted to poker.

According to HelpGuide.org, which must be an altruistic organizations since they have “Help” in their name and have an “org” address (!), the following are the ten diagnostic criteria for determining gambling addiction, with my responses in bold brackets:

• Preoccupation – Preoccupied with gambling (e.g., preoccupied with reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money to gamble) [Uh oh. Bad start. This log is nothing but preoccupation.]
• Tolerance – Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement [So far, not really. I want to increase my bankroll and move to the next level, but I don't increase my amounts too much, and it isn't for the desired excitement as much as for the achievement of succeeding at lower stakes. I'm going to say no on this one.]
• Withdrawal – Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling [Nope. When I'm away from the game, like on vacation, it isn't an issue. I don't really try much to cut down or stop, mostly because there is no reason to. But when I do feel that I need a break, it doesn't make me irritable or restless.]
• Escape – Gambles as a way of escaping from problems or relieving dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression) [Sorry. No dice here. In fact, when I feel that way, I avoid gambling.]
• Chasing – After losing money gambling, often returns another day in order to get even (“chasing one’s losses“). Chasing is a classical behavior pattern characterizing pathological gambling. [Pass on this one too. Last night I won a $20 HU SNG, lost a $30 HU SNG, and when I thought about playing another, I decided not to chase losses. I got this one under wraps.]
• Lying – Lies to family members, therapists or others to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling [This might be true, but only because when I see a family member and they ask what's going on, and I think about my recent session, I know they don't want to hear it, so I don't share. I'll call this a yes, just to be fair.]
• Illegal acts – Has committed illegal acts (e.g., forgery, fraud, theft or embezzlement) in order to finance gambling [Sorry. I finance gambling the old fashioned way, through selling friendship bracelet lanyards.]
• Risked significant relationship – Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job or educational or career opportunity because of gambling [Maybe this blog threatens my career, and I have threatened to cut wifey Kim for stopping me from gambling, but otherwise no...and those were both jokes.]
• Bailout – Has relied on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling [Hell no! I'm very cautious about not letting losses affect my or wifey Kim's life.]
• Loss of control – Has made repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop gambling [Hmmm...This one is a yes. I have tried to cut down online before, only to be back the next day.]

Gamblers Anonymous offers twenty questions that will help you determine if you are addicted to gambling. Shall we? Let’s:

According to Gamblers Anonymous, if you answer ‘yes’ to seven of more of these questions, you most likely have a compulsive gambling problem.

Shit. 7 exactly. Looks like I’m a “compulsive gambler”, too now.

So, what have we learned. We learned that maybe I still am in denial. Or we learned that organizations like Gam Anon choose stupid questions that any gambler would say yes to in order to unfairly widen their definition of “compulsive gambling”. I mean, by going to AC for my bachelor party starting on a Friday afternoon, I had to answer Yes to missing work for gambling and Yes for celebrating something with gambling. Or, I’m in denial.

So, are you addicted?

Until next time, make mine rehab!

While the poster may be from the US Air Force, circa 1944, its message is apropros to us all as poker players. Remember, Practice and use the type of attack that suits YOU best!

I love myself some side games with bloggers, whether it be Chess, or prop bets on the WSOP, or a Challenge of some sort. To me, its all about the poker blogging community, and for you newbies out there, its a great way to get a bit more involved and meet some likeminded people. For you experienced and jaded bloggers, its a great opportunity to rub elbows with each other and frankly, have a good time. So without further adieu…

I’ve got to spread the word about 23Skidoo‘s NFL Pick’em pool, mostly because I like wasting my hard-earned money on foolish sports betting. But alas, we need more players, so if you are interested, do the following, taken verbatim from Skidoo’s site:

Pickem’ info:

In order to join the group, just go to Pro Football Pick’em, click the “Sign Up” button (or “Create or Join Group” if you are a returning user). From there, follow the path to join an existing private group and when prompted, enter the following information…

Group ID#: 14591
Password: hammer

Please sign up with your FT or PS screen name.

Please send me an e-mail or post here if you are interested in the Fantasy league. I’ll create the league once I have an idea how many teams we’ve got.

So, if you like football, sports betting, or rubbing elbows with your fellow bloggers, sign up. I think he is shooting to arrange a $10 to 20 buy-in for the season, but you can join the pick’em league and skip the sports betting if it ain’t your thing (i.e., if you are an axe wound). And feel free to check out Skidoo’s site, with his new, super awesome banner!

Also, rumor has it that someone might be taking on the mantle as the Commissioner for the Fifth of the Heads Up Challenge. If that is the case (nothing is finalized), you’ll know that I’ll be all up in that shiznit and you should too. Once again, gashes need not apply.

The Chess Challenge sucks. Haha! To be more accurate, I suck at Chess. But I had a great time losing all 10 of my matches. The finals will be held between MeanHappyGuy and my good pal MattyEbs. Good luck to them both.

I’m still kicking around the idea of having a one-shot DADI tournament. But its still in the kicking-around stages. After all, there are enough blogger tournaments already…or are there?! (That was meant to sound ominous. I don’t think it was terribly effective.) Still, I think there is a blogger tournament niche that I’d like to fill with this one shot. Once I’m beyond the thought-stage, I’ll make a more formal announcement.

Hell, and since they could use more players, next Tuesday, check out the Monkey Tourney on PokerStars, a $10+1 NLHE private tournament hosted by ISS Spock at 8:30 EST. And while you are there, check out the 2nd Chance tourney, a random non-NLHE $5.50 tournament, Tuesdays at 10:30 EST. The password is monkey.

Oh, and my RSS feed was messed up, so I’m republishing this to see if it works.

I didn’t play much poker last night, instead spending time with wifey Kim. After a long day at work, wifey Kim and I met up in Murray Hill, a NYC neighborhood known for the slew of Long Island rich kids whose mommy and daddy pay for thier overpriced apartments. I know, because I lived there for a few years during law school. What Murray Hill lacks in diversity, it makes up for in great restaurants and decent bars. In fact, wifey Kim and my favorite restaurant, Baby Bo’s Cantina, is located a scant block away from my old apartment on 34th Street in Murray Hill.

Last night, we decided to head to Italian restaurant Bistango, which was across the street from my second Murray Hill apartment located on 29th Street. Interestingly, the actual 29th Street neighborhood is known as Curry Hill, a takeoff of Murray Hill, due to the plethora of Indian restaurants all around. It should also be no surprise that a major taxi office is located in the center of Curry Hill. Yes, the stereotypes are still true. If you get in a cab in NYC, you have roughly a 95% chance of having a foreigner driver, either from Africa, the Middle East or Asia.

Dinner was great, helped by the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc drank mostly by me. When we were looking at drinks, wifey Kim was only going to get a glass, but when I saw the price per glass ($10) compared to the price per bottle ($30) I had to go for the whole shebang. Wifey Kim protested that she was only having one drink, but I knew that I could drink two easily, so the bottle would pay for itself. For dinner, I opted to go with the Caesar Salad and Calamari Bistango, essentially sauteed calamari with tomatoes and basil in a spicy tomato sauce. They were both appetizers, but the recently shortened menu failed to excite me and I remembered that the Calamari was delicious.

When we left the restaurant, I was near stumbling. Wifey Kim had more than her one drink, but I took the lion’s share of the bottle and enjoyed every second of it. If you are not a wine lover, Sauvignon Blanc is the way to go. Its usually dry and crisp, and goes down cool. Its perfect for the summer. That is not to say that I don’t love wine. I do, and I love it more every day. But Sauvignon Blanc is wifey Kim and my favorite, and it comes highly recommended.

After our quick cab ride home (it was too hot to wait for a bus or subway), we settled in. We watched some random TV until wifey Kim received a phone call and left the room to chat with her friend. In the meanwhile, I looked at the computer, where slb159 IMed me about the Monkey Tourney Sec0nd Chance, which was apparently hosted by Budohorseman. It was Stud Hi, a game I had not played that often in tournament format outside of HORSE games.

I checked out the room and saw only 3 players registered. That was ridiculously low, but I suppose not too surprising since the WWdn no longer exists, and hence Wil Wheaton‘s drawing power was gone from the tourney. Add in the fact that all of the other blogger-based tourneys moved on to FullTilt, and the Monkey Tourney (which replaced the WWdn tournament) is obviously hurting for players. This is not a reflection of the game or organizers. Its just a reality. Still, I’m all about helping my fellow blogger, since I know from my DADI days how difficult these things can be to organize. So I signed up for the Stud tournament and got ready to play a 5-handed MTT.

After donking it up for a while, including one hand where I called expecting an 8th Card, I heard wifey Kim call me from the other room. I told the table, “BRB”, but I never returned. Wifey Kim was in bed getting ready for sleep and she asked me to join her. Generally, I stay up a good one or two hours later than wifey Kim. It’s part of my insomnia (or general hatred for sleep), along with my loner personality. Yet, when wifey Kim asks me to join her, its like a reminder that sleep is good and spending time with wifey Kim was even better. I thought about the tournament and contemplated sneaking out when wifey Kim was snoring, but before I knew it, I was sleeping too.

So, my apologies to Budo, slb and the other players. I didn’t mean to sit out of a 5-person tournament, but I had to choose between wifey Kim and poker. It was an easy decision. Oh, and for what its worth, I bubbled. That’s twice in a row now.

Until next time, make mine poker!