After the group met up again, boombox in tow, we went to the grocery store to pick up food and beer for the rehearsal dinner after party. There was an IGA in town but ti’s size was deemed too small for what we needed. It was decided that we would have to go to a ‘proper’ supermarket. Of course, all we needed were chips, dip, beer, wine and soda. Uh, doesn’t every supermarket have that? But I learned my lesson long ago never to get in between a bride and her plans. So off we went. The nearest decent supermarket was about 12 miles away (Hello? Civilization?) but it was fun driving with the group and meeting everyone. We picked up enough supplies for 63 people (that’s how many were invited) and made out way back. Back at the condo, there is a small boathouse which is used for the community’s parties. It’s right on the lake with a pretty woodsy backyard on the water, but no heat. The bride’s father set up space heaters and we all went about the task of unpacking everything and setting it all up. Our task done, I drove back to the condo hoping to catch a few z’s before the rehearsal dinner. I managed to nap about 20 minutes before I had to get up, shower and dress up for the event.
The dinner was at a local golf club, which like all clubs here, is absolutely beautiful. Set on a mountain (what else), the dining room is essentially a glass walled enclosure with nature on 3 sides. It was in this setting that the bridal party and the bride’s parents and friends sat down for a lovely meal. Drinks flowed, food was eaten and the conversation was loud and raucous. This is a good group of people! About 8PM, which was supposed to be the start time of the after party, we started to make our way out to greet people. There was a bit of miscommunication though, as another couple were supposed to be there but they ended up being sick or something and leaving. So for about 30 minutes, there wasn’t anybody there to greet people coming in. To make matters worse, the boombox was never left at the boathouse. Instead, it was in the bride’s brother’s room at the Bald Peak Colony club, where the wedding was taking place, and about 25 minutes from the boathouse. GPS to the rescue! I got the nearest Rite-Aid on the GPS and was able to secure an IPOD compatible alarm clock within 15 minutes. That GPS unit is a life saver. We were at the boathouse at about 8:45PM and due to a combination of people not showing up and no one being there to greet them, the final guest toll came to about 30. The bride was none too happy at this turn of affairs and the tension was thick (cue tension filled violins). Could this be the blot that ruins the wedding tomorrow? Stay tuned for more drama…
Monday, October 1, 2007
I'm a luck box (no poker content, yet)
Well, the good news is, my luck held!!! I got onto the plane (mentioned in the last post, read them in order!) and we departed the gate on time. True, it was a classic puddle jumper (jet-assisted propeller seating about 20) but I wasn’t nervous at all. We started to taxi for about 60 seconds and stopped. Dead. The stewardess got on the intercom and informed us, quite plainly, that there were approximately 50(!) other planes in front of us and we should prepare ourselves for what could be a 2.5 hour wait! Holy fucktardedness! My seatmate remarked that they obviously knew that we would be waiting put pushed out of the gate so they could mark an ontime arrival. Thank you Mr. Obvious. So I pulled out a book and started reading. Every few minutes, we’d move forward a bit, but after 15 minutes we suddenly started gaining speed. The stewardess got back on and informed us that somehow, through subterfuge or threats, we’d been moved to the head of the line! 2 minutes later, we were in the air on our way to Manchester, NH. Yay! My luck holds again!
The flight was completely smooth and uneventful which is somewhat surprising considering that I found out that the reason the other flights behind me had been delayed and/or cancelled was because of a major thunderstorm moving across Pennsylvania. In fact, when I landed, I found out that we were the *last* flight to take off from Laguardia to the NorthEast. All other flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the storm. Juuuust made it! J
Manchester Airport is somewhat small but delightful. Like all airports everywhere in the world (except for JFK, Newark and Laguardia) it is efficient and clean. When I got down to the carousel to pick up my luggage, it was already there! Renting my car from the Alamo kiosk took all of 4 minutes and there was only a slight bit of confusion as to where to pick up my GPS unit that I rented with the car. It turns out they have it at the booth leaving the airport. When I went to pick up my car, there were no more Compacts left, so I got a free upgrade to a full size Chevy Monte Carlo (more luck!). A word about the GPS unit (A Garmin in this case): They are the most wonderful and life changing inventions since DVR. Here I am, in a state I’ve never been in with absolutely no knowledge of the names of the major highways or even towns. I don’t even have a map with me. And yet I can program in the address I’m going to more than 70 miles away and the GPS takes me there unerringly and without any cause for concern. It’s been ridiculously invaluable the entire weekend. Anyhow, I got to my friend’s parent’s condo at about midnight and spent a few nice minutes chatting with him. Everyone was asleep at this point but we caught up and talked about the weekend plans. The weekend was extremely full of wedding activity and there was going to be a 10AM ‘war council meeting’ of the wedding party to talk about who was going to do what. I couldn’t think that far ahead but I knew I was going to have to get some sleep. Oh, but there was a small issue. I didn’t have my own room for that night. The bride’s brother was already asleep in the room (which thankfully had 2 separate beds). So the blogging that I had wanted to do on the trip would have to wait while I very quietly crept into bed. At least I got some decent sleep. The very thick and clean country air had done it’s job.
In the morning, I was up at about 9AM and was able to shower and dress without too many issues. Everyone was already up and having a quick impromptu breakfast. We managed to get a few people into a few cards and met up at the local Dunkin Donuts to ‘pow-wow’. It took…an…hour. There were 3 page schedules handed out with a list of responsibilities broken out by bridesmaind/groomsmen. WWII didn’t have this level of planning, for god’s sake. My job, it seems, was relatively simple. I had to do a reading at the wedding (a poem that was given to me) and I had to handle the rings and wedding license. In addition, it was my job to call the hotel where the bride and groom were staying after the wedding and see if I could wrangle some extra special treatment on account of their being newlyweds. Evidently, I am thought of as a world-class conniver. Who knew? This would also be my first chance to meet the entire wedding party. There was Doug, the bride’s brother. He is a very nice guy who’s married to a beautiful woman and they have 3 beautiful kids (all well-behaved and perfect). It’s quite sickening, in a good way. Oh, did I mention he’s an ENT surgeon? I chatted him up about my own nasal issues and was able to ‘wrangle’ some references. I guess I AM good. J Then there was Lynn, another doctor. This time a pediatrician. Lynn is funny, very funny. Then there’s Paul. Paul is…another doctor. Goddamit, I’m surrounded by smart people. I forget what his medical specialization is at the moment. It also should be note that Paul is gay, if only because it comes in handy later when I mention his very funny boyfriend Zac who is a scientist (for god’s sake!). Then there is Julia Roberts. Yeah, that’s right. Julia Roberts was in the wedding party. She’s beautiful, tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Not a doctor, but she *was* a wrangler herself at one point in her career and not of the ‘conniving’ kind. It’s safe to say I was quite taken. Finally, there was Aletia, the groom’s cousin. I’ve already met her before, having known the groom since I was in high school, but it’s important to mention her since she’s equally cool and possessed of a very cool tattoo of a dragon on her left arm. I digress…
After we had split up our tasks, it was time to talk about the rehearsal dinner and the casual party to be held afterward. It seemed like we need amplification for the IPOD that was loaded with the mix that was going to be used at the casual after party. It was up to a small group of us (myself, Aletia and Julia) to find that amplification. The problem was, we were in downtown Wolfeboro, which is extremely beautiful but devoid of anything even remotely resembling an electronics store. But Aletia had a good idea. “Doesn’t CVA carry stuff like that?” It’s true. I’ve always seen MP3 speakers and the like at Rite-Aid. But where to find that? GPS to the rescue! My Garmin system found a Rite-Aid with about 30 seconds of tapping on the screen. We walked over (it was only a half mile away) but when we got there, we got so entranced by the town that we decided to walk around a bit. Gary (the groom) was getting his hair cut, so was had a few minutes. We walked the length of the main drag and even bought some gourmet truffles (Dark Chocolate with Cayenne anyone?). As we were walking back along the charming little shops (fine cheeses, chocolates, coffee, yum!), we spotted the dock of the town and sat on them just looking out at beautiful Lake Winnapausakee (sp?). After 10 minutes of drinking in the view, Aletia got a call from the other group who were on their own mission. They found the boom box and bought it already!. Sweet!! We didn’t have to lay out the money! HAHAHA! J
I have sooo much more to write but since this is the first opportunity I’ve had to have internet access and it’s now Sunday night at 2:33 AM, I need to get some sleep. More to come…
The flight was completely smooth and uneventful which is somewhat surprising considering that I found out that the reason the other flights behind me had been delayed and/or cancelled was because of a major thunderstorm moving across Pennsylvania. In fact, when I landed, I found out that we were the *last* flight to take off from Laguardia to the NorthEast. All other flights had been delayed or cancelled due to the storm. Juuuust made it! J
Manchester Airport is somewhat small but delightful. Like all airports everywhere in the world (except for JFK, Newark and Laguardia) it is efficient and clean. When I got down to the carousel to pick up my luggage, it was already there! Renting my car from the Alamo kiosk took all of 4 minutes and there was only a slight bit of confusion as to where to pick up my GPS unit that I rented with the car. It turns out they have it at the booth leaving the airport. When I went to pick up my car, there were no more Compacts left, so I got a free upgrade to a full size Chevy Monte Carlo (more luck!). A word about the GPS unit (A Garmin in this case): They are the most wonderful and life changing inventions since DVR. Here I am, in a state I’ve never been in with absolutely no knowledge of the names of the major highways or even towns. I don’t even have a map with me. And yet I can program in the address I’m going to more than 70 miles away and the GPS takes me there unerringly and without any cause for concern. It’s been ridiculously invaluable the entire weekend. Anyhow, I got to my friend’s parent’s condo at about midnight and spent a few nice minutes chatting with him. Everyone was asleep at this point but we caught up and talked about the weekend plans. The weekend was extremely full of wedding activity and there was going to be a 10AM ‘war council meeting’ of the wedding party to talk about who was going to do what. I couldn’t think that far ahead but I knew I was going to have to get some sleep. Oh, but there was a small issue. I didn’t have my own room for that night. The bride’s brother was already asleep in the room (which thankfully had 2 separate beds). So the blogging that I had wanted to do on the trip would have to wait while I very quietly crept into bed. At least I got some decent sleep. The very thick and clean country air had done it’s job.
In the morning, I was up at about 9AM and was able to shower and dress without too many issues. Everyone was already up and having a quick impromptu breakfast. We managed to get a few people into a few cards and met up at the local Dunkin Donuts to ‘pow-wow’. It took…an…hour. There were 3 page schedules handed out with a list of responsibilities broken out by bridesmaind/groomsmen. WWII didn’t have this level of planning, for god’s sake. My job, it seems, was relatively simple. I had to do a reading at the wedding (a poem that was given to me) and I had to handle the rings and wedding license. In addition, it was my job to call the hotel where the bride and groom were staying after the wedding and see if I could wrangle some extra special treatment on account of their being newlyweds. Evidently, I am thought of as a world-class conniver. Who knew? This would also be my first chance to meet the entire wedding party. There was Doug, the bride’s brother. He is a very nice guy who’s married to a beautiful woman and they have 3 beautiful kids (all well-behaved and perfect). It’s quite sickening, in a good way. Oh, did I mention he’s an ENT surgeon? I chatted him up about my own nasal issues and was able to ‘wrangle’ some references. I guess I AM good. J Then there was Lynn, another doctor. This time a pediatrician. Lynn is funny, very funny. Then there’s Paul. Paul is…another doctor. Goddamit, I’m surrounded by smart people. I forget what his medical specialization is at the moment. It also should be note that Paul is gay, if only because it comes in handy later when I mention his very funny boyfriend Zac who is a scientist (for god’s sake!). Then there is Julia Roberts. Yeah, that’s right. Julia Roberts was in the wedding party. She’s beautiful, tall, blonde and blue-eyed. Not a doctor, but she *was* a wrangler herself at one point in her career and not of the ‘conniving’ kind. It’s safe to say I was quite taken. Finally, there was Aletia, the groom’s cousin. I’ve already met her before, having known the groom since I was in high school, but it’s important to mention her since she’s equally cool and possessed of a very cool tattoo of a dragon on her left arm. I digress…
After we had split up our tasks, it was time to talk about the rehearsal dinner and the casual party to be held afterward. It seemed like we need amplification for the IPOD that was loaded with the mix that was going to be used at the casual after party. It was up to a small group of us (myself, Aletia and Julia) to find that amplification. The problem was, we were in downtown Wolfeboro, which is extremely beautiful but devoid of anything even remotely resembling an electronics store. But Aletia had a good idea. “Doesn’t CVA carry stuff like that?” It’s true. I’ve always seen MP3 speakers and the like at Rite-Aid. But where to find that? GPS to the rescue! My Garmin system found a Rite-Aid with about 30 seconds of tapping on the screen. We walked over (it was only a half mile away) but when we got there, we got so entranced by the town that we decided to walk around a bit. Gary (the groom) was getting his hair cut, so was had a few minutes. We walked the length of the main drag and even bought some gourmet truffles (Dark Chocolate with Cayenne anyone?). As we were walking back along the charming little shops (fine cheeses, chocolates, coffee, yum!), we spotted the dock of the town and sat on them just looking out at beautiful Lake Winnapausakee (sp?). After 10 minutes of drinking in the view, Aletia got a call from the other group who were on their own mission. They found the boom box and bought it already!. Sweet!! We didn’t have to lay out the money! HAHAHA! J
I have sooo much more to write but since this is the first opportunity I’ve had to have internet access and it’s now Sunday night at 2:33 AM, I need to get some sleep. More to come…
Getting there is 1/2 the fun
I’m on my way to New Hampshire for my friend’s wedding. Currently, I’m sitting in the lounge at Laguardia airport typing this because I got to the airport early, yet again. I’d love to time it so I get here with just enough time to check in and then board the plane, but it never seems to work out that way.
I ordered a car to pick me up at 6:15 from my apartment for an 8:30 flight. I don’t know how traffic is just after work! I would have thought it was heavy. Even though my cabbie, an old Jewish man with a bad hair weave, was a total nimrod who insisted on driving no more than 40 MPH the whole trip while mumbling to himself, I still managed to get to the airport in only 30 minutes. Okay, so maybe he’s a better driver than I give him credit for. You could have fooled me the way he took me through the local roads of Chinatown for 10 minutes.
When I got to the airport, I went to check in and there was, mysteriously, absolutely no line. I entered in my confirmation number into the checkout video thingy and it told me to please check in at U.S. Air. Uh, aren’t I here? I looked up and no. I told the driver to take me to United Airlines! My ticket confirmation email only had the initials UA on it, so I made a guess and I was wrong. That’s what happens when you travel too often in a month. You forget some of your plans. Ok, no big deal, right? I’ll just walk down the terminal to U.S. Air. Let’s see….Frontier, Continental, Jet Blue, ATA….USAir? USAir? Nope. Not here. Another terminal. Thankfully, I got there early. ;-) I flagged down an empty cab who was dropping someone off but he refused, vehemently to take me to another terminal. It’s against the rules to pick up off the sidewalk I guess. So do I have to wait for a cab on that enormous line just so he can flip me off for having him take me ½ mile? Nope. A kindly baggage handler took notice of my plight and directed me to walk to the other terminal. “It’s only a 7 minute walk,” he said. Hmmm… I have two very heavy bags with me and a laptop bag. But I braved it out and walked the ½ mile through parking lots and all the way around the back of the airport. I checked in with no problems and had a slice of pizza in the food court.
I am now 5 minutes away from boarding what is sure to be a very tiny propeller plane to Manchester, NH. For some reason, my flight seems to be the ONLY one on the entire Departing board that isn’t delayed by at least 20 minutes. Can my luck hold? Could be. I started the day in a very lucky way, by finding my missing sunglasses. My very expensive prescription Oakleys which somehow made their way into my guitar case!?!? Plus, I had a very excellent date last night and I got quads and a flopped royal flush in one night on Tuesday. Did I use up all my karma in 3 straight days? Tune in, loyal readers, for the rest of this trip….
Oh, one other thing. New Hampshire has some form of legalized bastardized poker, ala Florida. I fully intend on visiting some card rooms Sunday night into Monday as well as seeing some excellent foliage coloring. I’ll keep everyone updated as often as possible.
I ordered a car to pick me up at 6:15 from my apartment for an 8:30 flight. I don’t know how traffic is just after work! I would have thought it was heavy. Even though my cabbie, an old Jewish man with a bad hair weave, was a total nimrod who insisted on driving no more than 40 MPH the whole trip while mumbling to himself, I still managed to get to the airport in only 30 minutes. Okay, so maybe he’s a better driver than I give him credit for. You could have fooled me the way he took me through the local roads of Chinatown for 10 minutes.
When I got to the airport, I went to check in and there was, mysteriously, absolutely no line. I entered in my confirmation number into the checkout video thingy and it told me to please check in at U.S. Air. Uh, aren’t I here? I looked up and no. I told the driver to take me to United Airlines! My ticket confirmation email only had the initials UA on it, so I made a guess and I was wrong. That’s what happens when you travel too often in a month. You forget some of your plans. Ok, no big deal, right? I’ll just walk down the terminal to U.S. Air. Let’s see….Frontier, Continental, Jet Blue, ATA….USAir? USAir? Nope. Not here. Another terminal. Thankfully, I got there early. ;-) I flagged down an empty cab who was dropping someone off but he refused, vehemently to take me to another terminal. It’s against the rules to pick up off the sidewalk I guess. So do I have to wait for a cab on that enormous line just so he can flip me off for having him take me ½ mile? Nope. A kindly baggage handler took notice of my plight and directed me to walk to the other terminal. “It’s only a 7 minute walk,” he said. Hmmm… I have two very heavy bags with me and a laptop bag. But I braved it out and walked the ½ mile through parking lots and all the way around the back of the airport. I checked in with no problems and had a slice of pizza in the food court.
I am now 5 minutes away from boarding what is sure to be a very tiny propeller plane to Manchester, NH. For some reason, my flight seems to be the ONLY one on the entire Departing board that isn’t delayed by at least 20 minutes. Can my luck hold? Could be. I started the day in a very lucky way, by finding my missing sunglasses. My very expensive prescription Oakleys which somehow made their way into my guitar case!?!? Plus, I had a very excellent date last night and I got quads and a flopped royal flush in one night on Tuesday. Did I use up all my karma in 3 straight days? Tune in, loyal readers, for the rest of this trip….
Oh, one other thing. New Hampshire has some form of legalized bastardized poker, ala Florida. I fully intend on visiting some card rooms Sunday night into Monday as well as seeing some excellent foliage coloring. I’ll keep everyone updated as often as possible.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Season 4 comes to an end
That was a hella good finish to the 4th season of Wall Street Poker. It was down to the wire and it took a flurry of 4 tourneys at the very end to declare a winner. Wendy, who is consistently in contention, slipped up a bit last night to drop off, leaving Stephen, Jordan, Brian, Mary and Scott St. G. as possible winners.
Evite.com made things a bit interesting when they completely fucked up the invites and wiped out people's responses from Sunday night. In addition, some of the settings I had set, like the all important restriction on the number of players, were cleared from the invites. The end result is that people ended up re-booking themselves and for more players than I had seats for!!! Oy vey, what a pain in the tuchus. I apologized, and still do, profusely to all of the people who thought they had signed up but couldn't play (I mean you Darko!).
Play was tense Monday night at the first tourney because there was a lot riding on the outcome. I managed to be able to take a seat in the first tourney and promptly tightened up like a clam. Every bet was re-raised, etc, etc, boo-hoo. Then Adam A. felted me on two straight hands. The first, I made a straight with J8 on a 9TQA2 board and lost when Adam min-raised a small amount and I was forced to call to see his KJ. Brian admonished me about calling the min-raise but I had bet the minimum so the min-raise felt like a tweak of the pot with two pair and I had the second nut straight! Yes, there was a flush on board (the river made it) but I didn't feel it. The next hand, I get KK in the BB. It limps all around to me and I make a substantial raise, about 4X the BB. It folds to Adam who pushes all in on me and I call without hesitating, only to see him turn over AA. Mary apologizes to ADAM(!!!) because she doesn't think the Aces stand a chance, but that only works on other people. I'm no King magnet. So I lost on Kings, what else is new?
But there was plenty of other action too. The jockeying was intense because big wins in these tournaments meant some of the aformentioned players might have a chance of being crowned Season 4 champion. It was in this environment that Scott seemed to be steaming after pushing all in with A7 preflop after having lost half his stack on the previous hand. Mary hesitated in the big blind. She pondered and squirmed and she had a look of pain on her face. The look said, "I know I'm ahead if I call but I also know I'm going to lose anyway". She finally had to call when a bit of logic creeped back into her brain. She showed QQ and the table was stunned into silence that she really had thought about it for so long. But poker lost when an Ace flopped and Mary didn't improve. She got up to leave, knowing her season wasn't going to end in victory but she had one more blind left. No comeback story here though.
Meanwhile, Brian was calmly padding his stack and when the dust settled after the night was over, Brian had placed 2nd and 3rd in the two tourneys, vaulting himself juuuust over Stephen P. as the Season 4 leader. Mary had placed 3rd and 5th, which wasn't quite enough to do the trick and put her in contention. Brian had no intention of playing the next day, so his very very slim lead over Stephen looked to be good as Stephen wasn't scheduled to play either. But something funny happened...
We had a bunch of dropouts for today's tourneys including, might I add, an incredibly weak excuse from The Slayer who complained that traffic was bad around the U.N. so he wouldn't be able to get to me. Mind you, this was 10 minutes before we were scheduled to start the tourney. I reminded him of this marvelous invention that was guaranteed to get around traffic; The Subway. But he would have none of it, making further excuses that he was tired. What could I do? Anywho, since there were now open seats, Stephen P. secured himself a position. Jordan, who was also in contention, made an appearance as well. Jordan won the first tournament, giving him an actual chance of winning the season. Stephen P. didn't show up until the second tourney, setting up a tense showdown. Incidentally, I placed second in the first tourney on the strength of poorly played pocket Aces on my part that got saved. I was in the small blind and I only completed the bet against Abbie and the flop came a bunch of rags. I checked my strong pair and Abbie checked behind. The turn came a 7 and I bet out because of a flushing board. Abbie immediately re-raised me a significant amount. Every fiber of my being told me to fold. That I was behind to two pair, but the devil started whispering in my ear. "You can afford to call". "You can still catch up". I went into the tank but finally called. An Ace spiked on the river and I put Abbie all in for about 1/5 of the pot. She called with middle two pair (what else with the BB?) and my set of Aces was good. I played that like shiite.
So, after the first tourney was done, very early as it turns out, there was some mad calculations done to see who needed to place where to win. Jordan, it seems, needed another 1st place win to have any chance of winning the season. Stephen, to pull ahead of Brian and even a Jordan 1st place win, only needed to place 4th or above on a full table, which we had with a few last minute additions. Jordan sweetened the pot by placing a $10 side bounty on Stephen! About two hands in, I got 99 and flopped a 9. I bet out a moderate amount and got CK to call me. The turn was a Kc that made both a flush AND a straight draw. Oh, crap. Luckily, when I checked, CK checked too. I was certain that she was trapping with a draw she had just made. An easy read considering the Kc made every possible draw! But the case 9 fell on the river. I bet out a smallish amount and CK went over the top all in. "Uh, I call. Dems be Quads, bitches!" Carol was flabbergasted. She had the nut flush but was down to her last 50 chips. She promptly went all-in 4X in a row and doubled or tripled through every one! Sitting on a half-size stack now, she started playing again but finally got felted on a forgotten hand.
In the meantime, Jordan and Stephen weren't playing anything. Jordan started loosening up when his chipstack started to dwindle but Stephen was a rock, making just enough to keep himself afloat. I went through a long stretch of absolutely no cards at all (Quad 9's suck your karma). Jordan ended up busting out in 7th, promptly ending the bounty on Stephen! :-) I ended up bubbling after racing and losing 33 with a stack getting shorter and shorter. Stephen, in the meantime, not only hung in there with guts and determination, he won the tourney!!! Therefore, Stephen P. is crowned the new Wall Street Poker Season 4 champion!!! Congrats! It couldn't happen to a nicer guy and a fiercer competitor. Plus, he's getting married this weekend and he needs all the money he can get. As was said to him around the table, "This is tha last money you'll be making that will actually be yours!".
A cash game broke out afterwards with CK, Darko, Wendy, myself, Paulie, David R and Abbie. I got a monster hand that I'll be pleased with for a long time. I'm UTG with JsTs and I decide to play like Wendy. Raise the suited connectors and hope you hit. We're playing 1/1 NL so I decide to make it $5 to juice the pot. I get two one and the flop comes...are you ready for it? How about QsKsAs!!! That's right, yours truly, after years of live play, finally flopped his first mythical Royal Flush, and a Spade Royal no less. Nothing to do here except hope they catch up, right? I check and CK, also in the hand, checks. The turn is an Ad. I check, hoping CK has an Ace, or perhaps a boat. She checks. Oh darnit all. The river is a rag, but I can't check again, right? I bet out $10. CK squeezes out 10 and nearly falls out of her seat in shock to see how beaten she is. Incidentally, she DID have a middle Ace and I have to give her huge props on not betting that puppy when it hit on the turn. In this particular case, my having represented and Ace or a high pair by raising pre-flop actually worked against me. Still, even though I didn't get paid, there is hardly a better feeling in the world than flopping the best possible hand in poker!
The rest of the game was fun and tense, with many fine players trading barbs and jabs. Wendy, in her aggressive fashion, started carving out a nice stack for herself. I held myself above water until about 30 minutes before we were going to leave. I ended up felting David R. on a puzzling hand that I'm going to chalk up to his being tired. I had 88 and I limped UTG. No one raised (or maybe there was a small raise) and the flop was 8d9d3c. I bet about $9 on my second nut set and David raises 15 on top. It folds to me and I do a little Hollywood. I really am trying to figure out what he has. Does he have the set of 9's I fear, or does he have the flush draw. Or does he have an overpair? Any of those make sense, or the smaller set, but I've obviously not worried about that. Finally, after deciding he had the flush draw, I ask him if he'll run business if I push. "I'll have to see what you have" is the answer. I decide then and there to make a conscious effort to get all his chips in so I raise $30 on top. This, I hope, will make it look like I'm trying to represent a big hand. Sure enough, he pushes all in on top of that for $50 more. I call and show my set. He has...Q90?!? Huh? He had runner-runner possibilites but they were uber-remote. Still, I'm a nice guy and I offered to run it 3X for him, which he promptly agreed to. But none of them came and David more than doubled me up. Sorry Dave. Hope you at least got good sleep tonight!
It's been a fun season and next season promises to be even better. We're going to a longer 6 month format and, as a result of the extra length, we'll be able to offer more cash games (NL and mixed Limit) as well as more nights of one tourny and cash and even some long format tourneys. Also, the long awaited HORSE tourney will make it's appearance sometime before the end of the year. Perhaps that will be my sendoff to Vegas?
Evite.com made things a bit interesting when they completely fucked up the invites and wiped out people's responses from Sunday night. In addition, some of the settings I had set, like the all important restriction on the number of players, were cleared from the invites. The end result is that people ended up re-booking themselves and for more players than I had seats for!!! Oy vey, what a pain in the tuchus. I apologized, and still do, profusely to all of the people who thought they had signed up but couldn't play (I mean you Darko!).
Play was tense Monday night at the first tourney because there was a lot riding on the outcome. I managed to be able to take a seat in the first tourney and promptly tightened up like a clam. Every bet was re-raised, etc, etc, boo-hoo. Then Adam A. felted me on two straight hands. The first, I made a straight with J8 on a 9TQA2 board and lost when Adam min-raised a small amount and I was forced to call to see his KJ. Brian admonished me about calling the min-raise but I had bet the minimum so the min-raise felt like a tweak of the pot with two pair and I had the second nut straight! Yes, there was a flush on board (the river made it) but I didn't feel it. The next hand, I get KK in the BB. It limps all around to me and I make a substantial raise, about 4X the BB. It folds to Adam who pushes all in on me and I call without hesitating, only to see him turn over AA. Mary apologizes to ADAM(!!!) because she doesn't think the Aces stand a chance, but that only works on other people. I'm no King magnet. So I lost on Kings, what else is new?
But there was plenty of other action too. The jockeying was intense because big wins in these tournaments meant some of the aformentioned players might have a chance of being crowned Season 4 champion. It was in this environment that Scott seemed to be steaming after pushing all in with A7 preflop after having lost half his stack on the previous hand. Mary hesitated in the big blind. She pondered and squirmed and she had a look of pain on her face. The look said, "I know I'm ahead if I call but I also know I'm going to lose anyway". She finally had to call when a bit of logic creeped back into her brain. She showed QQ and the table was stunned into silence that she really had thought about it for so long. But poker lost when an Ace flopped and Mary didn't improve. She got up to leave, knowing her season wasn't going to end in victory but she had one more blind left. No comeback story here though.
Meanwhile, Brian was calmly padding his stack and when the dust settled after the night was over, Brian had placed 2nd and 3rd in the two tourneys, vaulting himself juuuust over Stephen P. as the Season 4 leader. Mary had placed 3rd and 5th, which wasn't quite enough to do the trick and put her in contention. Brian had no intention of playing the next day, so his very very slim lead over Stephen looked to be good as Stephen wasn't scheduled to play either. But something funny happened...
We had a bunch of dropouts for today's tourneys including, might I add, an incredibly weak excuse from The Slayer who complained that traffic was bad around the U.N. so he wouldn't be able to get to me. Mind you, this was 10 minutes before we were scheduled to start the tourney. I reminded him of this marvelous invention that was guaranteed to get around traffic; The Subway. But he would have none of it, making further excuses that he was tired. What could I do? Anywho, since there were now open seats, Stephen P. secured himself a position. Jordan, who was also in contention, made an appearance as well. Jordan won the first tournament, giving him an actual chance of winning the season. Stephen P. didn't show up until the second tourney, setting up a tense showdown. Incidentally, I placed second in the first tourney on the strength of poorly played pocket Aces on my part that got saved. I was in the small blind and I only completed the bet against Abbie and the flop came a bunch of rags. I checked my strong pair and Abbie checked behind. The turn came a 7 and I bet out because of a flushing board. Abbie immediately re-raised me a significant amount. Every fiber of my being told me to fold. That I was behind to two pair, but the devil started whispering in my ear. "You can afford to call". "You can still catch up". I went into the tank but finally called. An Ace spiked on the river and I put Abbie all in for about 1/5 of the pot. She called with middle two pair (what else with the BB?) and my set of Aces was good. I played that like shiite.
So, after the first tourney was done, very early as it turns out, there was some mad calculations done to see who needed to place where to win. Jordan, it seems, needed another 1st place win to have any chance of winning the season. Stephen, to pull ahead of Brian and even a Jordan 1st place win, only needed to place 4th or above on a full table, which we had with a few last minute additions. Jordan sweetened the pot by placing a $10 side bounty on Stephen! About two hands in, I got 99 and flopped a 9. I bet out a moderate amount and got CK to call me. The turn was a Kc that made both a flush AND a straight draw. Oh, crap. Luckily, when I checked, CK checked too. I was certain that she was trapping with a draw she had just made. An easy read considering the Kc made every possible draw! But the case 9 fell on the river. I bet out a smallish amount and CK went over the top all in. "Uh, I call. Dems be Quads, bitches!" Carol was flabbergasted. She had the nut flush but was down to her last 50 chips. She promptly went all-in 4X in a row and doubled or tripled through every one! Sitting on a half-size stack now, she started playing again but finally got felted on a forgotten hand.
In the meantime, Jordan and Stephen weren't playing anything. Jordan started loosening up when his chipstack started to dwindle but Stephen was a rock, making just enough to keep himself afloat. I went through a long stretch of absolutely no cards at all (Quad 9's suck your karma). Jordan ended up busting out in 7th, promptly ending the bounty on Stephen! :-) I ended up bubbling after racing and losing 33 with a stack getting shorter and shorter. Stephen, in the meantime, not only hung in there with guts and determination, he won the tourney!!! Therefore, Stephen P. is crowned the new Wall Street Poker Season 4 champion!!! Congrats! It couldn't happen to a nicer guy and a fiercer competitor. Plus, he's getting married this weekend and he needs all the money he can get. As was said to him around the table, "This is tha last money you'll be making that will actually be yours!".
A cash game broke out afterwards with CK, Darko, Wendy, myself, Paulie, David R and Abbie. I got a monster hand that I'll be pleased with for a long time. I'm UTG with JsTs and I decide to play like Wendy. Raise the suited connectors and hope you hit. We're playing 1/1 NL so I decide to make it $5 to juice the pot. I get two one and the flop comes...are you ready for it? How about QsKsAs!!! That's right, yours truly, after years of live play, finally flopped his first mythical Royal Flush, and a Spade Royal no less. Nothing to do here except hope they catch up, right? I check and CK, also in the hand, checks. The turn is an Ad. I check, hoping CK has an Ace, or perhaps a boat. She checks. Oh darnit all. The river is a rag, but I can't check again, right? I bet out $10. CK squeezes out 10 and nearly falls out of her seat in shock to see how beaten she is. Incidentally, she DID have a middle Ace and I have to give her huge props on not betting that puppy when it hit on the turn. In this particular case, my having represented and Ace or a high pair by raising pre-flop actually worked against me. Still, even though I didn't get paid, there is hardly a better feeling in the world than flopping the best possible hand in poker!
The rest of the game was fun and tense, with many fine players trading barbs and jabs. Wendy, in her aggressive fashion, started carving out a nice stack for herself. I held myself above water until about 30 minutes before we were going to leave. I ended up felting David R. on a puzzling hand that I'm going to chalk up to his being tired. I had 88 and I limped UTG. No one raised (or maybe there was a small raise) and the flop was 8d9d3c. I bet about $9 on my second nut set and David raises 15 on top. It folds to me and I do a little Hollywood. I really am trying to figure out what he has. Does he have the set of 9's I fear, or does he have the flush draw. Or does he have an overpair? Any of those make sense, or the smaller set, but I've obviously not worried about that. Finally, after deciding he had the flush draw, I ask him if he'll run business if I push. "I'll have to see what you have" is the answer. I decide then and there to make a conscious effort to get all his chips in so I raise $30 on top. This, I hope, will make it look like I'm trying to represent a big hand. Sure enough, he pushes all in on top of that for $50 more. I call and show my set. He has...Q90?!? Huh? He had runner-runner possibilites but they were uber-remote. Still, I'm a nice guy and I offered to run it 3X for him, which he promptly agreed to. But none of them came and David more than doubled me up. Sorry Dave. Hope you at least got good sleep tonight!
It's been a fun season and next season promises to be even better. We're going to a longer 6 month format and, as a result of the extra length, we'll be able to offer more cash games (NL and mixed Limit) as well as more nights of one tourny and cash and even some long format tourneys. Also, the long awaited HORSE tourney will make it's appearance sometime before the end of the year. Perhaps that will be my sendoff to Vegas?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Booked for Vegas!
It's going to be the bestest Christmas ever!
My spectacular Vegas trip is booked (at least the airfare and the car rental) for Dec. 21st through January 1st. New Year's in Vegas promises to be da bomb!
My spectacular Vegas trip is booked (at least the airfare and the car rental) for Dec. 21st through January 1st. New Year's in Vegas promises to be da bomb!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Rocks on the brain...and in my head
I got an email from Viv a couple of days ago that started out innocently enough. "Who wants to do something other than poker?" Sounds interesting. She forwarded a link to a local organization that gets outdoor activities together for small groups of people. The event she was interested in was called "Giant Steps on the Palisades - Day Hike and Intro to Rock Scrambling". Well, that sounds like something I can do! Notice the word 'Intro', by the way. It will come into play in this conversation later.
Well, since I have been telling myself all summer that I should do more poker-related activities, I said I would go. Darko joined up as well and we got the itinerary from Viv. The first thing that caught my attention was the time the bus left to go to Pallisades Park (just north of the G.W. Bridge); 9:45 AM. Now, the day before is Yom Kippur and I knew I would be fasting that day and spending most of my day in temple. In addition, I would be gorging myself afterwards by breaking my fast at my cousin's place in Merrick. After all that, would I really want to wake up at 8:30 in the morning and go hiking? Well, my guilt over not having done enough outdoor activities took over and I said yes.
8:30AM came today and I hit the snooze on my alarm. A thought occurred to me: "The tickets are only $45 for this soujourn. I could go back to sleep now and only be out $45". I wrestled myself out of bed, semi-disgusted by my own thoughts. I showered and went about the task of dressing myself. Now, I didn't know how hot it would be and I didn't know what kind of terrain i was in for, so choosing clothes was not a small thing. If I wear shorts but we do a lot of rough trailblazing, I would be infested with bugs and bitten up something fierce. But if I wore pants and we were in the sunshine the whole time, I would cook. I opted to wear long shorts and a white T-shirt. Footwear was another sticky issue. I have hiking boots, but they're heavy. Depending on what kind of terrain we were going to be going over, they could be valuable or a huge hinderance. I opted for my old running shoes instead.
Once I was up and out of the building, I noticed how magnificent the weather was. Cool and sunny, it would remain that way for the rest of the day. We got very lucky on that account. I stopped off at a bagel shop for a little light breakfast of an egg on a roll and a few bottles of water. I met up with Darko and Viv and was relieved to see that everyone else in the group (there was a full rented van for transportation) was dressed similar to me. Whew! The trip up to Pallisades Park was uneventful but full of excitement as we got worked up for the experience.
We disembarked at about 10:45 and stretched. We were at the top of the Pallisades cliffs (near Englewood Cliffs I would imagine) and the view was majestic across the Hudson. Darko couldn't quite get his camera working but finally changed the batteries and set the date and time and was soon taking pics. Finally, the group got going. There were about 20 of us, another van having met us at the site. We walked for 5 minutes along the cliff top and turned right onto a trail. The terrain was basically flat with a slight decline and the canopy of trees was providing great shade. I was thinking this would be a great day. But then the trail started getting rockier. And rockier. And steeper. We soon found ourselves on stone stairs cut into the cliff face going down to the river. As we descended, the flat and smooth trail gave way to rough stones and a very uneven walking surface. It was getting more and more difficult to walk and I started to notice that my sneakers, with their completely work down tread were having trouble gripping the rock surface. I counted at least 6 times that I nearly slipped and fell. That would have been bad. Very bad. Mostly because most of the trail didn't have guard rails of any sort. One bad slip and you were over the edge of a 200 foot drop. I was starting to think this was a bad idea. At least the rocks weren't wet though, which might be the only reason I'm alive today.
Meanwhile, most of the group, experienced hikers, were practically skipping through the rocks. There were some real beginners, at the back of the pack with me, and we were taking our sweet time about it. After about 45 minutes of this, we arrived at the river and found ourselves at the base of a pile of boulders. The boulders were obviously the product of some long-forgotten rockslide and encompassed about 2 acres, rising about 150 feet from the river to the top. Yes, we were supposed to climb these! It was actually easier than I had thought. The rocks were very craggy with plenty of places to grab on to. Not at all like the movies where there's a sheer cliff. Instead, try to imagine a bowl of ice cubes, tilted on ege. "3 points of contact!," yelled Igor, our group leader. We scrambled up the side of this rock wall and by the time I got to the top, I was feeling very winded. I sat to catch my breath, but there was no time as the group started moving horizontally across the rocks at the top. I assumed that there was a trail at the Top Left of the wall, but when we got to the corner, the group started climbing DOWN the other side!! Are you kidding me? We're going up AND down? Oy Vey. Down, as it turns out, is harder than up, mostly because you can't see what the next step is. There's a lot of putting your ass on the rock (hey, 2 points of contact right there!) and stepping carefully onto another boulder. It took me 10 minutes to climb up and 20 minutes to clambor down. When we finally got to the bottom, we immediately took off down another path, which was strewn with similar boulders to what we had just climbed. We went probably around 500 yards on this path, but it felt like 10 miles because every single step had to be negotiated with care. My legs were starting to feel the burn and my gait was getting shakier. I asked how much longer the hike was going to go and got a laugh. "We're not even half way through". Uh oh.
There was another rock wall in our future before we finally broke for lunch. The half way point. We found some flat areas in the shade at the top of the wall, but I wasn't hungry. More to the point, I was afraid that eating would be the *last* thing I would want to do. I did, however, suck down water like a camel at the beginning of a trek through the Sinai. Lunch was about 20 minutes, and I got some energy back, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't want to do another rock wall. So i was relieve that when we got to the third and last one, there was a trail to go around it. Darko, Viv and I all took the trail, which was hard enough by the way. We got to the end of the trail and it was time for the climb up to the top of the cliff again. A man and his wife got to the bottom of this trail and informed us that there were about 340 steps for us to climb. I was starting to feel sick. Igor gave directions to a group of two that were planning on going ahead of us. The directions involved going up, finding a fork where you go under a tree and then turning right. I listened carefully, which bore fruit a little later.
As the group started to climb, I immediately started to feel that I wasn't going to be able to keep pace. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes of steps going straight up (rock steps by the way, not proper steps), I needed to rest. I had fallen to the back of the group and every 20 steps or so, the lactic acid in my legs would force me to stop and rest. Before I knew it, the last person in the group was out of sight and I was all alone. I had ascended about 300 feet when I encountered a couple descending the mountain. "How much longer," I asked. "Oh, a long way," came the answer. It should be noted, by the way, that many times along these treacherous paths, i came across couples in their late 60's or older, sometimes with small children and dogs, LAPPING me like I was standing still. Clearly, city life has taken it's toll.
Anyway, I finally got to the point where I had to go under the tree and I took the right turn like Igor had advised. This led to more rock stairs and more wheezing and panting from yours truly. But after falling behind the group by at least 20 minutes, I got to the top of the trail and it felt unbelievable. BUT, there was a road in front of me and I had no idea where to go from here. Igor appeared like an angel from heaven behind me at that precise moment and led me to the car. He had gone back to find some of the others and managed to come up behind me on the trail. Seriously, that guy was a mountain goat. It was another 10 minute walk down the road and there it was. The van. I've never been so happy to see a vehicle in my life.
Viv and John, though, were nowhere to be found. It turns out that their little group hadn't heard Igor and when they got to the tree, they never made the right turn. So they showed up 15 minutes after I did even though I was 20 minutes behind. I was pleasantly eating my lunch in the shade when they arrived.
The drive back was about 10% of the energy level as the drive there. Viv fell asleep and I had a nice conversation with Lori, a 47 year old woman who was in better shape than nearly anyone I've ever seen. We sat in the back together, reading our Sunday Times and commenting on the articles to each other.
Viv asked if I would ever do this again. I'm torn really. It was an insane workout and my body feels great...now. But it was way more intense than I had anticipated. I would hate to see what a complete beginner, in worse shape than me (if that's possible) would have done with this. As much as I want to get out of the city on nice Sundays, maybe just a nice walk along a leafy shady trail would be better next time.
One last thing: I have two words for any woman who wants to go rock climbing in any lycra/spandex pants: Camel Toe.
'Nuff Said. Peace out.
Well, since I have been telling myself all summer that I should do more poker-related activities, I said I would go. Darko joined up as well and we got the itinerary from Viv. The first thing that caught my attention was the time the bus left to go to Pallisades Park (just north of the G.W. Bridge); 9:45 AM. Now, the day before is Yom Kippur and I knew I would be fasting that day and spending most of my day in temple. In addition, I would be gorging myself afterwards by breaking my fast at my cousin's place in Merrick. After all that, would I really want to wake up at 8:30 in the morning and go hiking? Well, my guilt over not having done enough outdoor activities took over and I said yes.
8:30AM came today and I hit the snooze on my alarm. A thought occurred to me: "The tickets are only $45 for this soujourn. I could go back to sleep now and only be out $45". I wrestled myself out of bed, semi-disgusted by my own thoughts. I showered and went about the task of dressing myself. Now, I didn't know how hot it would be and I didn't know what kind of terrain i was in for, so choosing clothes was not a small thing. If I wear shorts but we do a lot of rough trailblazing, I would be infested with bugs and bitten up something fierce. But if I wore pants and we were in the sunshine the whole time, I would cook. I opted to wear long shorts and a white T-shirt. Footwear was another sticky issue. I have hiking boots, but they're heavy. Depending on what kind of terrain we were going to be going over, they could be valuable or a huge hinderance. I opted for my old running shoes instead.
Once I was up and out of the building, I noticed how magnificent the weather was. Cool and sunny, it would remain that way for the rest of the day. We got very lucky on that account. I stopped off at a bagel shop for a little light breakfast of an egg on a roll and a few bottles of water. I met up with Darko and Viv and was relieved to see that everyone else in the group (there was a full rented van for transportation) was dressed similar to me. Whew! The trip up to Pallisades Park was uneventful but full of excitement as we got worked up for the experience.
We disembarked at about 10:45 and stretched. We were at the top of the Pallisades cliffs (near Englewood Cliffs I would imagine) and the view was majestic across the Hudson. Darko couldn't quite get his camera working but finally changed the batteries and set the date and time and was soon taking pics. Finally, the group got going. There were about 20 of us, another van having met us at the site. We walked for 5 minutes along the cliff top and turned right onto a trail. The terrain was basically flat with a slight decline and the canopy of trees was providing great shade. I was thinking this would be a great day. But then the trail started getting rockier. And rockier. And steeper. We soon found ourselves on stone stairs cut into the cliff face going down to the river. As we descended, the flat and smooth trail gave way to rough stones and a very uneven walking surface. It was getting more and more difficult to walk and I started to notice that my sneakers, with their completely work down tread were having trouble gripping the rock surface. I counted at least 6 times that I nearly slipped and fell. That would have been bad. Very bad. Mostly because most of the trail didn't have guard rails of any sort. One bad slip and you were over the edge of a 200 foot drop. I was starting to think this was a bad idea. At least the rocks weren't wet though, which might be the only reason I'm alive today.
Meanwhile, most of the group, experienced hikers, were practically skipping through the rocks. There were some real beginners, at the back of the pack with me, and we were taking our sweet time about it. After about 45 minutes of this, we arrived at the river and found ourselves at the base of a pile of boulders. The boulders were obviously the product of some long-forgotten rockslide and encompassed about 2 acres, rising about 150 feet from the river to the top. Yes, we were supposed to climb these! It was actually easier than I had thought. The rocks were very craggy with plenty of places to grab on to. Not at all like the movies where there's a sheer cliff. Instead, try to imagine a bowl of ice cubes, tilted on ege. "3 points of contact!," yelled Igor, our group leader. We scrambled up the side of this rock wall and by the time I got to the top, I was feeling very winded. I sat to catch my breath, but there was no time as the group started moving horizontally across the rocks at the top. I assumed that there was a trail at the Top Left of the wall, but when we got to the corner, the group started climbing DOWN the other side!! Are you kidding me? We're going up AND down? Oy Vey. Down, as it turns out, is harder than up, mostly because you can't see what the next step is. There's a lot of putting your ass on the rock (hey, 2 points of contact right there!) and stepping carefully onto another boulder. It took me 10 minutes to climb up and 20 minutes to clambor down. When we finally got to the bottom, we immediately took off down another path, which was strewn with similar boulders to what we had just climbed. We went probably around 500 yards on this path, but it felt like 10 miles because every single step had to be negotiated with care. My legs were starting to feel the burn and my gait was getting shakier. I asked how much longer the hike was going to go and got a laugh. "We're not even half way through". Uh oh.
There was another rock wall in our future before we finally broke for lunch. The half way point. We found some flat areas in the shade at the top of the wall, but I wasn't hungry. More to the point, I was afraid that eating would be the *last* thing I would want to do. I did, however, suck down water like a camel at the beginning of a trek through the Sinai. Lunch was about 20 minutes, and I got some energy back, but that doesn't change the fact that I didn't want to do another rock wall. So i was relieve that when we got to the third and last one, there was a trail to go around it. Darko, Viv and I all took the trail, which was hard enough by the way. We got to the end of the trail and it was time for the climb up to the top of the cliff again. A man and his wife got to the bottom of this trail and informed us that there were about 340 steps for us to climb. I was starting to feel sick. Igor gave directions to a group of two that were planning on going ahead of us. The directions involved going up, finding a fork where you go under a tree and then turning right. I listened carefully, which bore fruit a little later.
As the group started to climb, I immediately started to feel that I wasn't going to be able to keep pace. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes of steps going straight up (rock steps by the way, not proper steps), I needed to rest. I had fallen to the back of the group and every 20 steps or so, the lactic acid in my legs would force me to stop and rest. Before I knew it, the last person in the group was out of sight and I was all alone. I had ascended about 300 feet when I encountered a couple descending the mountain. "How much longer," I asked. "Oh, a long way," came the answer. It should be noted, by the way, that many times along these treacherous paths, i came across couples in their late 60's or older, sometimes with small children and dogs, LAPPING me like I was standing still. Clearly, city life has taken it's toll.
Anyway, I finally got to the point where I had to go under the tree and I took the right turn like Igor had advised. This led to more rock stairs and more wheezing and panting from yours truly. But after falling behind the group by at least 20 minutes, I got to the top of the trail and it felt unbelievable. BUT, there was a road in front of me and I had no idea where to go from here. Igor appeared like an angel from heaven behind me at that precise moment and led me to the car. He had gone back to find some of the others and managed to come up behind me on the trail. Seriously, that guy was a mountain goat. It was another 10 minute walk down the road and there it was. The van. I've never been so happy to see a vehicle in my life.
Viv and John, though, were nowhere to be found. It turns out that their little group hadn't heard Igor and when they got to the tree, they never made the right turn. So they showed up 15 minutes after I did even though I was 20 minutes behind. I was pleasantly eating my lunch in the shade when they arrived.
The drive back was about 10% of the energy level as the drive there. Viv fell asleep and I had a nice conversation with Lori, a 47 year old woman who was in better shape than nearly anyone I've ever seen. We sat in the back together, reading our Sunday Times and commenting on the articles to each other.
Viv asked if I would ever do this again. I'm torn really. It was an insane workout and my body feels great...now. But it was way more intense than I had anticipated. I would hate to see what a complete beginner, in worse shape than me (if that's possible) would have done with this. As much as I want to get out of the city on nice Sundays, maybe just a nice walk along a leafy shady trail would be better next time.
One last thing: I have two words for any woman who wants to go rock climbing in any lycra/spandex pants: Camel Toe.
'Nuff Said. Peace out.
Friday, September 21, 2007
H.O.S.E. on Wall Street
Last night was the H.O.S.E game at Wall Street. $2/$4 limit all night and rotation amongst the four games. I had been convinced by Jesse to rotate the games after two rotations of the button, but the presence of a few players new to the games convinced me to set a 45 minute time limit on each game.
I was able to eke out the big profit at the table ($92.50) which just beat Carol for the big money win. True, she had given Paulie $.50 to cover an all-in bet a few minutes before, but I go by the numbers baby! :-)
I'm starting to get convinced that I'm playing more and more limit when I can because I'm somehow losing the stomach for no-limit. I don't know why that is though. Yes, I took a big loss at the SOHO room a few weeks back ($300) but that's laughably small in comparison to the losses my compatriots have taken in the past. I don't know what it is, but it feels like when you have writer's block. I think some more time will get me past this road.
One other thing. I'm not happy with the turnout at the cash game. After having 10 or 11 signed up, we only ended up with 8 after a bunch of last minute dropouts. And 2 of those were unexpected arrivals who hadn't even signed up at all! Thanks to Jordan for risking marital failure to come by and boost attendance.
Oh, I just remembered something else I wanted to blog. I had a question for the table regarding Carol's ROI question on her blog. My question was, how do you define ROI at a Limit table? After all, your buyin is kind of irrelevant after a certain point. So, for example, if you make $200 profit off a $300 buyin at a 5/10 game but someone else makes the same $200 profit off of a $250 buyin; is the second person really a better player? In limit, after all, the amount of money you have on the table past about 10 BB bets is irrelevant. Alceste's solution was to count your profit as a ratio of the number of BB's you win. This seemed to be a sensible solution to the issue. But it begs another question, how do you reconcile that with your No-Limit play, which isn't counted in those factors?
Also, thanks to Jordan for a mention of the this game and the one the night before.
I was able to eke out the big profit at the table ($92.50) which just beat Carol for the big money win. True, she had given Paulie $.50 to cover an all-in bet a few minutes before, but I go by the numbers baby! :-)
I'm starting to get convinced that I'm playing more and more limit when I can because I'm somehow losing the stomach for no-limit. I don't know why that is though. Yes, I took a big loss at the SOHO room a few weeks back ($300) but that's laughably small in comparison to the losses my compatriots have taken in the past. I don't know what it is, but it feels like when you have writer's block. I think some more time will get me past this road.
One other thing. I'm not happy with the turnout at the cash game. After having 10 or 11 signed up, we only ended up with 8 after a bunch of last minute dropouts. And 2 of those were unexpected arrivals who hadn't even signed up at all! Thanks to Jordan for risking marital failure to come by and boost attendance.
Oh, I just remembered something else I wanted to blog. I had a question for the table regarding Carol's ROI question on her blog. My question was, how do you define ROI at a Limit table? After all, your buyin is kind of irrelevant after a certain point. So, for example, if you make $200 profit off a $300 buyin at a 5/10 game but someone else makes the same $200 profit off of a $250 buyin; is the second person really a better player? In limit, after all, the amount of money you have on the table past about 10 BB bets is irrelevant. Alceste's solution was to count your profit as a ratio of the number of BB's you win. This seemed to be a sensible solution to the issue. But it begs another question, how do you reconcile that with your No-Limit play, which isn't counted in those factors?
Also, thanks to Jordan for a mention of the this game and the one the night before.
Side bet action
I have a few side bets going right now. I've got $20 with "No-River" Brown that says the Yankees will win the division. I've also got a dinner at Le Bernardin with my brother that says that either Hillary or Obama get elected President. "No-River" actually had the nerve to ask for 2-1 odds on the Yankee bet!
I know that F-Train is having a running bet on a 17 pound weight gain. Anyone else got interesting side bets out there?
I know that F-Train is having a running bet on a 17 pound weight gain. Anyone else got interesting side bets out there?
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Extra big blind club?
Are they still around? Someone called me today asking if I knew if they were still open. Anyone?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Another word about tipping
LJ and I share a common dislike, namely the proliferation of industries which now feel it necessary to beg for tips from patrons. The practice is growing more widespread and I find it particularly insulting both to customers and employees alike, both of whom have to live with an undue societal pressure to conform to this inanity. This is my screed to the world about it.
I’m no historian, but as I understand it, tipping started in this country, as a practice, in food service industries. I will do some research into why this was, but I will hazard a guess and say it was due to successful lobbying from the restaurant industries as a means to subsidize what is a labor intensive manual process. As cities increased in size in the late 1800’s and rural dwellers fled to the cities, eating out became more and more of a necessity to sustaining city life. As a result, the number of restaurants, and the service industry supporting them, grew exponentially. Couple that with the passage of the minimum wage act (the ‘30s?) and you have a bit of an issue for the average restaurant owner. Food service and preparation, by it’s nature, is a low margin business. How then, do you maintain a decent profit while simultaneously employing a large number of people in a field expanding with competition. The answer, of course, is to encourage tipping as a practice and then get an exemption to the minimum wage act to allow paying these food service employees a lower wage.
*Note: This is all complete speculation on my part. I’m on a plane right now and have no access to materials to research. The reason I’m writing this will be made clearer later*
In my opinion, and in many other people’s, I find it abhorrent that the wage of a restaurant worker, to use this example, should be even semi-dependent on tips. It is nothing more than a hidden tax on patrons who end up subsidizing the income of the employee. To those who use the argument that tips allow patrons to effectively ‘grade’ employees or businesses, I say the act of eating at an establishment serves this purpose more effectively. If I receive poor service at a particular establishment, I can choose to not patronize that establishment again. This loss of revenue should, if used en masse, translate to the restaurant either increasing their service to attract business or closing down. Punishing the employee responsible is only effective if the employee themselves is responsible for the poor service. But what about all those times we have poor food, poor lighting, dirty forks, rude matre’d’s? Should my service person be punitively damaged for circumstances beyond their control?
I would much rather be charged a market rate for the food I am served with the proper living wage of the employee built into the price. I’m paying it anyway, if I’m tipping appropriately. It’s time for our country to end this ridiculous practice. Europeans get along fine with this system. Tipping is only 5-10% in most European countries, and even then only for extraordinary service. Of course, European waitstaff are not dumb, and they know that Americans are used to tipping 15-20%. How fortunate for them. But they get paid a living wage to begin with. In our own country, it is not uncommon for finer restaurants to also pay their wait staff a real living wage. Peter Luger’s has waiters on staff who have been there for 25 years or more and put multiple children through college.
So yes, I disagree with the principle of tipping. But I do it anyway because that is the current custom and it would be unconscionable to deprive hard working waiters and waitresses of the ability to pay their rent and/or food bills. What I am even more concerned with in this country is how the practice of tipping is spreading like a cancer to other service industries.
Taxi cabs, for example, have long been used to the practice of tipping. Even though it is completely voluntary under New York City rules (and even printed in each cab), it is ‘expected’ to tip a taxi driver. Oh, but these drivers are badly paid as a result of their renting out the cabs from medallion owners and forced into a revenue sharing scheme. So we overlook it and subsidize their income. People from other cities marvel to me how cheap New York City cab fares are and yet this hidden cost is borne with nary a complaint.
So what about other service industries then? Well, about 10 years ago, we started to see tip jars appear on the countertops of take-out food establishments. From Chinese to burgers to Taco Bell, it is now standard to see a tip jar for jobs that normally worked only for wages. In fact, these jobs, unlike wait staff, are already paid minimum wage or more! Why are we tipping them? Because the jar is out there, true, and we don’t want to feel cheap. But instead of pressuring our government to raise the minimum wage standards, we swallow the cost and move on. Workers are going to get there needed money one way or another. Either people are going to tip them to supplement the anemic minimum wage, or restaurant owners are going to raise food prices and raise wages as a result. I would much prefer that these workers receive decent worker’s benefits than have their income be decided by the ‘generosity’ of their patrons.
But not just food service industries have been affected by this scourge. Haircuts, home improvements, the cable guy, movers, the list seems endless. All of these industries which, up to a decade ago, worked for nothing but their bill at the end, have all started ‘gratefully’ accepting gratuities for their work. I certainly don’t blame the workers for asking for it. I blame the business owners with using their worker’s wages as a way of increasing their own bottom line. If the wages are being paid anyway, raise the cost of labor and demand that customers don’t tip. What I think you’ll find is that by paying higher wages, you’ll be able to attract better and more skilled workers and defray that cost by the increased quality of your business offerings. Customers will gladly accept a 10% hike in prices if it means they don’t need to pay a 10% tip at the end of a job. It all evens out in the end.
A personal note: What got me started on this rant was my flight from Dallas, TX to New York, NY that I am on right now. It is an American Airlines flight, for the record. When the snack service was started and the announcement was made that it was starting, an addendum was made that, “tips are always appreciated.” I was appalled.
I’m no historian, but as I understand it, tipping started in this country, as a practice, in food service industries. I will do some research into why this was, but I will hazard a guess and say it was due to successful lobbying from the restaurant industries as a means to subsidize what is a labor intensive manual process. As cities increased in size in the late 1800’s and rural dwellers fled to the cities, eating out became more and more of a necessity to sustaining city life. As a result, the number of restaurants, and the service industry supporting them, grew exponentially. Couple that with the passage of the minimum wage act (the ‘30s?) and you have a bit of an issue for the average restaurant owner. Food service and preparation, by it’s nature, is a low margin business. How then, do you maintain a decent profit while simultaneously employing a large number of people in a field expanding with competition. The answer, of course, is to encourage tipping as a practice and then get an exemption to the minimum wage act to allow paying these food service employees a lower wage.
*Note: This is all complete speculation on my part. I’m on a plane right now and have no access to materials to research. The reason I’m writing this will be made clearer later*
In my opinion, and in many other people’s, I find it abhorrent that the wage of a restaurant worker, to use this example, should be even semi-dependent on tips. It is nothing more than a hidden tax on patrons who end up subsidizing the income of the employee. To those who use the argument that tips allow patrons to effectively ‘grade’ employees or businesses, I say the act of eating at an establishment serves this purpose more effectively. If I receive poor service at a particular establishment, I can choose to not patronize that establishment again. This loss of revenue should, if used en masse, translate to the restaurant either increasing their service to attract business or closing down. Punishing the employee responsible is only effective if the employee themselves is responsible for the poor service. But what about all those times we have poor food, poor lighting, dirty forks, rude matre’d’s? Should my service person be punitively damaged for circumstances beyond their control?
I would much rather be charged a market rate for the food I am served with the proper living wage of the employee built into the price. I’m paying it anyway, if I’m tipping appropriately. It’s time for our country to end this ridiculous practice. Europeans get along fine with this system. Tipping is only 5-10% in most European countries, and even then only for extraordinary service. Of course, European waitstaff are not dumb, and they know that Americans are used to tipping 15-20%. How fortunate for them. But they get paid a living wage to begin with. In our own country, it is not uncommon for finer restaurants to also pay their wait staff a real living wage. Peter Luger’s has waiters on staff who have been there for 25 years or more and put multiple children through college.
So yes, I disagree with the principle of tipping. But I do it anyway because that is the current custom and it would be unconscionable to deprive hard working waiters and waitresses of the ability to pay their rent and/or food bills. What I am even more concerned with in this country is how the practice of tipping is spreading like a cancer to other service industries.
Taxi cabs, for example, have long been used to the practice of tipping. Even though it is completely voluntary under New York City rules (and even printed in each cab), it is ‘expected’ to tip a taxi driver. Oh, but these drivers are badly paid as a result of their renting out the cabs from medallion owners and forced into a revenue sharing scheme. So we overlook it and subsidize their income. People from other cities marvel to me how cheap New York City cab fares are and yet this hidden cost is borne with nary a complaint.
So what about other service industries then? Well, about 10 years ago, we started to see tip jars appear on the countertops of take-out food establishments. From Chinese to burgers to Taco Bell, it is now standard to see a tip jar for jobs that normally worked only for wages. In fact, these jobs, unlike wait staff, are already paid minimum wage or more! Why are we tipping them? Because the jar is out there, true, and we don’t want to feel cheap. But instead of pressuring our government to raise the minimum wage standards, we swallow the cost and move on. Workers are going to get there needed money one way or another. Either people are going to tip them to supplement the anemic minimum wage, or restaurant owners are going to raise food prices and raise wages as a result. I would much prefer that these workers receive decent worker’s benefits than have their income be decided by the ‘generosity’ of their patrons.
But not just food service industries have been affected by this scourge. Haircuts, home improvements, the cable guy, movers, the list seems endless. All of these industries which, up to a decade ago, worked for nothing but their bill at the end, have all started ‘gratefully’ accepting gratuities for their work. I certainly don’t blame the workers for asking for it. I blame the business owners with using their worker’s wages as a way of increasing their own bottom line. If the wages are being paid anyway, raise the cost of labor and demand that customers don’t tip. What I think you’ll find is that by paying higher wages, you’ll be able to attract better and more skilled workers and defray that cost by the increased quality of your business offerings. Customers will gladly accept a 10% hike in prices if it means they don’t need to pay a 10% tip at the end of a job. It all evens out in the end.
A personal note: What got me started on this rant was my flight from Dallas, TX to New York, NY that I am on right now. It is an American Airlines flight, for the record. When the snack service was started and the announcement was made that it was starting, an addendum was made that, “tips are always appreciated.” I was appalled.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
