High On Poker

Psst. Did you hear? Dr. Pauly has written a book! And it’s only $22 with free shipping in the US!

Now, most fellow bloggers and longtime readers know Dr. Pauly and his new book, Lost Vegas, but for those of you who’ve started reading my online diary recently, allow me a moment to steal an idea from Woffles and tell about how I first ‘met’ Pauly.

When I first started blogging, my main influences were a now-defunct blog and Tao of Poker. I found Tao of Poker accidentally, but I took to it immediately. When I decided to start my blog, I took a risk and emailed Dr. Pauly, author of Tao of Poker, to ask for some advice. He gave me some of the best advice I’d ever received regarding blogging. First, build content for about a month before you tell anyone about the site. Second, post every day.

Those two instructions taught me that Content is King. A blog is nothing if its content is non-existent.

Now, I’ve definitely moved away from the daily posts, more out of necessity than anything, but the axiom still holds water, Content is King, and Pauly has the best content around. He writes like a modern-day Charles Bukowski with a hefty sprinkle of gonzo journalism, ala Hunter S. Thompson mixed in. And probably most important to my poker playing readers, he’s become a part of the poker tapestry. He is not only in the scene, but of the scene and through his writer’s eye, he can share the realities of poker, Vegas and the WSOP better than anyone else I’ve read.

I don’t usually pimp things here, but this one is a standout. After reading a few pages of the preview on Lulu, I literally forced myself to stop reading. It was too good and I wanted to enjoy it all when the book actually reached my hands.

So, go take a look for yourself. Poker literature at its best.

This is NOT a paid endorsement.

Until next time, make mine poker!

So, by now you know I am completely geeking out about the addition of live poker to Pennsylvania, and specifically to the Bethlehem Sands, a mere 90 minutes from New York City. A couple of days ago when I resigned myself to online poker, I decided on a  whim to check out the Bethlehem Sand‘s website, only to learn that their projected table game start date is July 18th. Eureka!

Even though I reported on the new law months ago, its pretty wild that the reality is right around the corner. I sent out a text to three of my home poker crew, Roose, Ruff and bro-in-law Marc, and essentially confirmed with Marc that we would make a trip to Bethlehem on Saturday, July 31, to see what’s happening. Roose had to pass because of other plans. Ruff, however, brought up a good point, albeit one I would’ve rather ignored. You see, with only 12 poker tables in Bethlehem, the Bethlehem Sands may be a bit crowded.

One thing Jordan doesn’t do well is wait. I try to be a patient man, but I would be heartbroken to arrive in Bethlehem only to learn of a 3 hour wait. It’s a possibility too, given the proximity to NYC and the huge pool of players who will be venturing out to try the new rooms, particularly in their first few weeks.

All I can do is cross my fingers, wait for the actual opening, and see what the reviews have to say. My plan was to travel by bus ($28 roundtrip, with a $30 slot voucher), but that’d force me to play only at the Bethlehem Sands. If I rent a car, however, I may be able to check out some of the other poker rooms in the area (area meaning, within an hour of Bethlehem).

Time will tell whether Bethlehem is really the holy land I want it to be. In the meanwhile, I will block out the nay sayers and cross my fingers. If it means having to travel to Bethlehem in the middle of the night to avoid crowds, then so be it. One way or another, I’m getting my poker!

On an unrelated note, thanks to the fellow bloggers who offered to help me self-harm by depositing poker money online. I got it taken care of thanks to CK and the degens who are in Vegas for the WSOP. I guess it isn’t too surprising that some of the Vegas degens would be happy to have a quick cash transfer in exchange for PokerStars money. Here’s hoping that when the time comes, I’ll be able to get my money off of Stars.

Until next time, make mine poker!

O little town of Bethlehem*
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

The time is near for merriment,**
To celebrate the wise.
The land of Puritans have deemed,
That poker is not a vice.
And if it is, they still don’t care,
For tax money is tythe,
The lights that shine are not the Lord,
But casino-neon lights.

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

For Poker is born of necessity,
For tax and spending states,
Who used to frown on gambling,
While AC govs got paid.
And with the spread of legal poker,
The players shall come as well.
Particularly from New York,
Where poker laws are hell.

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

And the Pennsy land whose song we sing,
Is the land of Bethlehem,
Where God was King but now he’s more,
An Ace or two in hand.
Ninety minutes from NYC,
An ample group of players,
The clack of chips shall fill the town,
Drowning Amish prayers.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

But is that Christ? No, Ferguson.
The Other Jesus, fool.
And while he’s there
Come Jordan and his degen poker crew.
The date shall be July 31,
Though poker starts two weeks prior.
So come and join by car or train,
The walkers and the flyers.

O holy Poker of Bethlehem
Descend on us this day,
Spread our sin and soon we’ll be,
getting Pennsy paid.

* From the Christmas Carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem
** From the sick mind of Jordan.

Sorry for the long commercial break, folks. I spent all of last week sunning and funning in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where I seemingly jacked up both my knees on a two hour wave-runner adventure. Just lovely.

Being the good degenerate I am, I actually packed some cheap, plastic poker chips for the trip. I was traveling with my wife, good bud Roose and his wife, and figured that Roose and I may feel like playing heads up or could even find some like-minded players at the resort. Would you believe that after a full week, I didn’t even unpack the chips? We played cards, but mostly stuck with Rummy 500, Casino (Closed), 31, and a little bit of Israeli Poker. Oh, and if you are curious as to any of those games, just ask. I’d be glad to explain them.

So, literally not a lick of poker for the week. I did get a brief update about some of the WSOP action from an email from Dawn to the WSOP Pool I’m running. Let me just say how awesome it is to hear about a new bracelet for Ivey and, more excitingly, Gavin Smith’s first bracelet. Not only is he one of my horses in the WSOP pool, but I genuinely like the guy. I met him briefly at one of AlCantHang‘s previous Bashes at the Boathouse and he was both fun and friendly. Hell, he was kind enough not to give me too much shit for calling small ball poker small bet poker. It’s a small thing, but embarrassing (and alcohol fueled) nonetheless. So, Go Ole G Smith!

Incidentally, Roose is in the lead in the pool.

On an entirely unrelated note, aside from the pokerness of it all, it seems like its time for me to just accept that for the time being, its online poker or nothing. My live poker for the year has been minimal, especially with Tuna Club’s closing and the new game’s change to 5/5 (after it was supposedly closed, leading me to believe that there may be a change in ownership and/or a desperate move to make money quick by raising stakes and rakes).

This is where you come in, loyal reader. If you would like to contribute to my degeneracy, and by that, I mean help me facilitate the deposit of approximately $200 to either FullTilt or PokerStars, please leave a comment or email me (using the email link on the top left of the page). I will gladly send you $200 by PayPal (or mail a check if preferred). Canadians are particularly welcome, since I hear that anything goes in Canadia, whereas I am sure it is a lot harder for most Americonians to deposit.

What will you get for your help? Well, hopefully a bit more content. I mean, sheesh! You’d think this was a goddamn hobby the way I neglect it from time to time. You’ll also get that warm feeling from knowing that you are an enabler. And if you have a blog, I’ll link you up on the sidebar too. Take a look at that very exclusive sidebar. Don’t you want in? I know you do! All you have to do is help me get money online!

(Oh, and do me a favor. Let’s leave the government out of this. You know how they are about depositing money for online poker).

Until next time, make mine poker!

Thanks to the Poker News Bulletin, I learned that a Long Island, New York indian tribe, the Shinecock, has been granted official recognition by the Unites States federal government. Can live poker in the NYC area be far behind?

Over the last year, we’ve seen the expansion of live poker in the NE like never before. Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Delaware, to name a few, have recently legalized live poker and even New Jersey has considered legalizing online poker. But for NYC players, one assumption has been generally regarded as true:  the NYC-area was not going to see live poker any time soon. The recent decision by the federal government doesn’t necessarily change things, but it may lead to some huge changes on the horizon.

The Shinecock Indians are located near the eastern end of Long Island, New York, a less-than-ideal place for a casino, seeing as how it is a good two hours from NYC and there is not the infrastructure to handle a large influx of people. Living on Long Island is a lot like living at the end of an alley. There is only one way in and one way out. Now consider the increase in traffic that a casino would bring and the problems are obvious.

That doesn’t even account for the power and money that considers eastern Long Island and the Hamptomns to be their personal playground. You best believe Daddy Warbucks does not want a casino to attract the large, unwashed masses to his summer paradise.

The Shinecock’s new status will allow them to build a small gambling facility on their land, but the real excitement surrounds the possibility that the Shinecocks will be able to build a casino elsewhere. Elsewhere, as in closer to NYC.

The article suggests that the remote location may still be in Suffolk County, but Suffolk County is a long county, and its nearest point is probably only an hour train ride from Manhattan.

A long while ago, I heard a rumor that seems to be more likely true now that this news has broke. The rumor was that some Suffolk County Native Americans planned to push for a casino in Suffolk County, merely as a way to get the local rich people to fight for the Indian’s rights to build somewhere else. In other words, “Hey Daddy Warbucks. I’m planning on building a casino across the street…unless you want to throw some money and power towards our cause for a Queens, NY casino.” It’s actually a pretty sound gimmick, and if the Shinecocks can pull it off, there are some great locations in the NYC area fit for a casino.

Of course, a lot of this is months if not years away. Still, with the trends in the NE, it’d be of little surprise if NYC eventually gets its own poker haven in the next four years.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Here is a fun hand from a No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo game.

I had 2,815, slightly less than the 3k starting stack, and the blinds were 25/50. Preflop, UTG+1, Jared (3620), min-raises to 100. It folds to Bobby, the button (6000) who calls. I then call in the SB with 2 Q A 8. The big blind, Shop (3000), calls.

The flop is K 7 K. It checks around.

The turn is 6. It checks around.

The river is 3. I bet 250 into the 400 pot. It folds to the Bobby who pushes all-in for 6k. He has me covered. I fold.

So, is this a no-brainer fold? Was there a better way to play this hand on the flop, turn or river? You decide, because I’m clueless.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I have to admit, I don’t usually participate in poker-related charities. I usually can’t help but feel a tad suspicious about the charity, mostly because I’m a suspicious guy. But this time around, I have to spread the love, because the charity in question, Ronald McDonald House, is actually a fantastic institution.

Some of you already know this, but as a lawyer, I represent a lot of children and infants in medical malpractice cases. I’ve come to specialize in several areas, including Erb’s Palsy, a fairly uncommon condition. One of the best places for treatment for Erb’s is located in Philadelphia, and I have encouraged several clients to travel to Philly for medical care (the facility there is free to all injured children). When my clients have had financial difficulty, Ronald McDonald House was there for them. They provided a place for the family to stay while away from their home seeking medical care for their child.

Therefore, without further adieu, presenting:

Oh, and if someone can remind me who is organizing this little soiree, it’d be greatly appreciated.  For some reason, that info has eluded me, even though I think I responded to the initial post about the event. [EDIT: Of course, it's OhCaptain!]

Until next time, make mine poker!

I’ve been mulling over the Kimmy Kurse, where I seemingly always lose any hand during which wifey Kim calls me on my cell phone. I still don’t believe in superstition outright, but I do believe that some of the intangibles in this world affect us in ways we do not realize. In other words, breaking a mirror will not bring you 7 years of bad luck because superstition is nonsense. But if you break a mirror and then go around expecting problems, you’ll find them. It may be things that were always there that you are now associating with the mirror. For instance, you break a mirror and then find out you were fired. Well, the mirror likely had nothing to do with it, but the mental association occurs. Besides this selective association, I also think that the expectation of a problem sometimes brings about a problem. So, if you break a mirror by accident and are overly worried that you are going to be blamed, and then go around in a defensive manner, people may pick up on your defensiveness and blame you, much in the same way you feared.

So, as applied, there are likely one of two things happening (or a combination of both) when wifey Kim calls me during poker. One, its just mere coincidence and/or I ignore all the times she calls and I succeed because those stories are boring and don’t stick with me. Or, Two, after she calls, I expect to lose and then subconsciously make it happen.

I was thinking this over recently as I caught up with some PokerRoad podcasts. I was listening to the first podcast of the 2010 WSOP with guest Phil Hellmuth. He is espousing a new Phil Hellmuth, based around PEMM, initials for Positive attitude, Exercise, Mediation and being in the Moment. Granted, its a pretty douschey acronym, but it is Hellmuth, after all. Something else that caught my attention was an idea from Joe Sebock; Sebock considered shutting off his cell phone during future tournaments to prevent the distractions that inevitably come.

Two routes to the same place, inner peace when wifey Kim wants to talk during a poker tournament.

By following Hellmuth’s advice and keeping a positive attitude, arguably those “bad luck” moments won’t stick in my head, and the curse will naturally dissipate. By remaining in the moment, I won’t be thinking about wifey Kim or the call when the hand plays out, something that I was actually doing in the AA v. 78o hand in the tournament. Exercise, well, that’s another story, and meditation sounds great on paper, but it isn’t something I have been able to adopt. But perhaps an attitude adjustment and keeping in the moment is one way to counteract the self-fulfilling bad luck that is a call from wifey Kim.

Ironically, while it is a lot harder to change one’s mental/emotional outlook, it may be even harder to follow Joe Sebock’s idea. When I play poker, usually the only person to call me is wifey Kim, but there are a lot of occasions where my buds are also playing the event or are in the poker room and cell phones are the obvious way to find each other. Then there is the idea that poker is not so important that I should let it literally put my blinders up to the rest of my life. If there is an emergency, I suppose I should be available. Should. But nonetheless, my goal is to try this technique at my next session. Phone off, with a text message to the wifey beforehand that I will be unavailable and a call afterward to let her know I’m available again.

Of course, all of this will require my pimp hand to be super strong when the time comes to pull that line. First attempt will likely be Saturday at the I Had Outs tournament.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I don’t usually believe in superstition. I mean, I do, but I don’t. For instance, I often play with a buddha statuette card cap. Actually, I usually play with one and have a backup in my pocket. I’d taken to switching the buddhas if luck wasn’t going my way. Yet, when people ask me if its my good luck charm, I usually reply that it better not be, because it’s not doing its job.

In reality, I know that the card cap has nothing to do with my luck. I’m not blinded by superstition, but I do find that I get into comfortable patterns that can help me focus on the task at hand.

It’s the other type of superstition, though, that really confounds me. I can’t find a nice way to put it, so I’ll just lay it bare: Wifey Kim is bad luck. It sucks and its obviously not true, but the results sure feel that way.

The whole Wifey Kim Kurse probably started a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago, when I was still throwing homegames as my main source of poker. I just remembered that when wifey Kim was around, I’d be took focused on her, and my poker game would suffer.

After a while, I stopped playing at home, but I still found that when wifey Kim called, I was overly distracted. Perhaps it wasn’t even that. Whatever it was, I began to joke that wifey Kim was bad luck. It was just a bit of the ole shtick, intended to get the table loose and comfortable. Wifey Kim has been largely supportive of my poker, but its more fun to say things like, “Good news guys! That’s my wife on the phone, so I’m guaranteed to lose this hand.”

It was with this thought dancing through my head as I sat in the 2 seat in the second Harrah’s tournament of the night, last Saturday in AC. I was in town for a bachelor party, and when I arrived very early, I had just enough time to get into a 10am, $70 turbo bounty tournament. I had busted in 12th out of about 35-40 players, but Roose had taken down about 10 bounties, mine included and was in great shape at the final table. After I busted, I went to the room to drop off my stuff and stopped by the pool to say hi to our other friends. When I returned to the poker room, I saw that a 1pm tournament had started, $125, no bounties, and decided to join slightly late.

So, there I was, trying to make magic happen in the 1pm while Roose was till plugging away at the final table of the 10am, when I get a telephone call from none other than wifey Kim. It was just after a hand, so I got on the phone and had a brief conversation with my drunk wifey (to be fair, she was at a bachelorette party at the LI wineries). After we hung up, I considered making the joke about bad luck, but bit my tongue when I saw the two glorious vowels staring at me, A and A.

We were at 100/200, so I decided to raise to 600 after a limper, only to end up with three callers on my left, including the SB. Post flop, we saw a 783 flop, with two spades, so when it checked to me, I bet out 1200. It folded to the SB, who took some time and then raised 5k on top. This was 10k stacks, so that was a big bet, so I had to decide whether to push all-in over the top or fold. The thoughts of wifey Kim were somewhat present, as was my loss earlier in the day, so perhaps I was not analyzing with all of my faculties, but as I saw it, my opponent could easily be on an overpair like 99 or TT (not as likely, but JJ-KK, too), a flush draw or a straight draw. True, he also could have 88 or 77 or 33, but I figured it was far from a lock that I was behind. I decided to push, having seen some of the quality of play in these tournaments, only to learn that my opponent had 87o. He called, I lost. GG.

And then I really thought about wifey Kim’s call. I should’ve just folded the AA face-up, preflop.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Wifey Kim and I flew to Chicago on two free flights we earned through ThankYou.com and Citibank. On our flight to Chicago, storm conditions resulted in a 5 hour delay, but at least our flight was not canceled. On the way home, though, we experienced what was easily the worst flight situation I ever experienced.

The first debacle arguably occurred before we even left for the airport. I was aware of weather reports of storms in NYC for some of the afternoon, so I checked United.com to see if our 3:05pm flight was delayed. As of 12:40pm, it was not, which was somewhat surprising to me. I had, on my own, checked to see if the incoming flights from NYC to Chicago were delayed, reasoning that the flight arriving in Chicago at 2:30 was likely the same plane that would take me back to NYC at 3:05. The 2:30 arriving plane was already delayed almost 2 hours, but since the 3:05 flight was marked as on time, I assumed that perhaps I was wrong about how the plane situation worked.

Wifey Kim took a train to the airport, which was easy enough. We arrived with about 90 minutes before the flight, which was utterly ideal…until we cleared security and learned that our flight was delayed. This began a series of delays, that culminated in a final departure time after 7pm.This was debacle #1. I knew about the delay before the god damn airline could figure it out.

Meanwhile, the 2pm flight from Chicago to NYC was delayed but got in the air, and the 5pm flight from Chicago to NYC was delayed but was still expected to leave before our delayed 3pm flight. And then…our flight was canceled.

Ridiculous! There was a flight an hour before and two hours after that got out, but ours was canceled? It was sunny outside in Chicago and New York, but the airline claimed that it was canceled due to weather and air traffic control. BULLSHIT. It was likely canceled because they scheduled too many flights and then decided that they had to cut one. So, debacle #2, a canceled flight due to weather, even though a flight one hour before and two hours later got off without issue.

Wifey Kim and I got on the huge line at the customer service area while I simultaneously called United’s customer service line. I was told that the first flight available was for 9pm on Tuesday. I bargained with the Indian woman on the phone and arranged for a flight leaving around 10am from Chicago, connecting through Cincinatti, to Newark, instead of the direct flight to LaGuardia I had planned. Debacle #3, no decent flight options to get me home before my 9:30 am court hearing on Tuesday.

While we waited, a woman was walking down the line handing out vouchers. We explained her situation and she gave us a voucher…for discounts on hotels. Not a free room. Not free food. Discounts! And the discount amounted to $40 after I compared the rates online. The reason why we were not getting a free room: the flight was canceled due to weather. LIARS! Debacle #4, they make me pay about $100 for an overnight hotel room and offer me a pittance of a discount for the inconvenience.

The next morning, when we returned to the airport, we were dropped off at Terminal 2, where our new flight was leaving. At the kiosk, the machine told me that I had to use the designated phone to speak with a customer service rep. I picked up the phone and an Indian woman told me that because my destination changed (not by choice!) I had to get a ticket from a ticket agent. Ok, only there were no ticket agents in the terminal! I had to rush with wifey Kim over to Terminal 1 just to speak to a goddamn human being, even though Untied had flights leaving from Terminal 2. Debacle #5, if you move my flight to another terminal and you force me to change destinations, don’t make me jump through hoops to get my tickets that YOU CHANGED!

At Terminal 1, I waited in a long line before being directed to a different long line for people in my situation. I finally got to the counter 45 minutes later and learned that for some reason, when my ID was put into the computer, the tickets that were associated were for “Scott” with final destination in Cincinatti. WTF! To be clear, I did not give any confirmation info, just my ID. How could my ID be associated with someone else’s tickets. Debacle #6.

30 minutes later, I had tickets. We made it to Cincinatti and then suffered an hour delay to NYC. The gate agent announced after an hour that he had no new information about the delay, but that he would start the boarding process. I got nervous we’d be stuck in the tarmac, so I asked the guy, “Are we really taking off?” His response: “Definitely. If we don’t get this plane to Newark, someone is going to die in New Jersey.”

So, the major lesson I learned is that if I want to fly United, I need to donate an organ to ensure timely service.

Until next time, United can suck my dick!

This all changed when