Friday Poker

It has been awhile since I have been able to play at Jokers Casino. Yesterday afternoon I drove through the snow to get to the casino. I felt a little rusty and I knew not to expect too much but at the same time I should be able to play my game. There were 30 players at $35 buyin and we received T$10,000 in chips. I like this tournament with the 20 minute rounds.

It went really well for me through the rounds and I was always able to chip up each time. I did make some good decisions during the tournament. I made a big mistake towards the middle of the tournament for myself. I had KQ and the turn came 10-8-J. When I looked at the board I saw a 9 instead of an 8. I decided to 3Bet the flop and see if I could induce a call or take the pot down at that time. After the bet I then looked at the board again and found out I had read the board wrong. I was on a draw instead of a made hand. I ended up folding the hand and down some chips that I really hated to loose.

We went from 3 tables down to 2 and we started up again. With 16 players left and blinds at 500/1000 I looked at my hole cards and was holding QQ. At this time I had T$10,000 left in my stack and that was 10 Big Blinds to play with. I had made up my mind to slow play the hand and get a few people in and then go Allin on the Flop. The Flop came AxA and I decided it was time. Allin for the rest of my chips and was called. I looked at the other player and asked him if he had an Ace and he said yes. The only thing I needed now was a Q to get a Full House. It didn't come and I was out of the tournament in 16th.

Now I go through the process did I make a good move or should I have folded and held on to the T$7,000 I had left and hope for a better spot? I have been training myself not to go allin until I have to and this might not have been the spot.



This is the picture the other day. We are getting more snow as I speak. Roads are not safe.

This week will be very busy for me. I have a Dentist, Neurology and Diabetes visit with the Doctors. I hope they all go well.

BBQ Sauce

Wow, if you want some good BBQ sauce you need to try this. Go to Ron Reed's Signature Barbeque Sauce Co. online at www.reedsbbqsauce.com and get yourself some of this. I have tried all of them and they are fantastic. You will not be disappointed.

The sauces that are available are the "Original Brown Sugar" which is their mild tasting sauce. Has that good sweet taste. Now if you are a little bit more daring try the "Brown Sugar & Jalapeno" This has a medium taste and I love the jalapeno. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Now if you are into the heat you have to try the "Brown Sugar & Habanero" What a combination this is and is the hot one. This one will get you going for sure.

All of these are great on your steaks or even chicken wings. Give it a try I know you will like it. Each 16oz bottle is $6. You can't go wrong.

I don't usually do advertisements but this is just great. I am sure Ron will appreciate the business as well. Tell him Steve sent you.

This is the start of the holidays and I hope everyone is safe. I am looking for sunshine and warmer weather. I have a feeling it is right around the corner come Spring the first day of March.

Snow

We really got hit with the snow in the state of Washington. I went out to pick up my wife from work yesterday and I left at 3PM. I got home somewhere around 6:30PM. That was a long trip for about 10 miles. I really think if we had another bridge somewhere out in the north of town over the river it would sure help the congestion around here. It is either that or don't let everyone go home at the same time. If they would stagger the times that could help.

Something I have noticed lately that I find annoying is people still on their cell phones while driving. Today I was driving on 240 headed to Kennewick and this vehicle in front of me was not steering correctly. I noticed when I looked over at him that he was talking on the cell phone and at the same time had his hand off of the steering wheel. We have ice on the road and he is doing that. Where are the police when you need them. I wonder if I started turning in license numbers if that might help. It can be very annoying. And while we are at it what about these new cars that have this brown plastic over the license plate. I thought that was illegal as well. I guess if I have to follow the rules then maybe they should as well.

I have decided that as of this last weekend I am now stopping my visits to the store. You talk about rude people while shopping. Just can't deal with it.

Looks like I will have to wait till next week to play some poker. I have 3 different doctor visits next week. Crown, Neck discussion for surgery, Diabetes check. Sounds like fun. I figure we just need to get them out of the way the first of the month and then see how the rest of the month pans out.

Have a nice holiday. Don't eat too much turkey.

Decisions

Was the decision the correct one? I have to ask myself this question and then I start to question that decision.

A number of weeks ago the decision was made to move my Mom into an Alzheimers Care Unit. That decision also reflected that we were splitting up my Mom from my Dad. It was not an easy decision but my Dad was the one that eventually agreed to this because he knew he could no longer take care of Mom in the Assisted Living apartment they were in. She was in need of special care and this new home would give this to her.

Since we have done this Dad is having a hard time accepting the fact that Mom is elsewhere. I take Dad to see Mom almost every day. Every day it is the same thing. He will sit there beside her and not say anything and will start crying. He tells her he is sorry and then keeps saying over and over that he loves her. Sometimes I think that Mom understands and then there are days I have to wonder. When I sit with her I will make small talk and just let her say whatever she wants to say. Just conversation that doesn't have to mean anything. We end up being there about 30 to 45 minutes and then Dad will want to leave.

Today was the worst day that we have experienced with this. Dad only lasted about 20 minutes and then he just started sobbing uncontrollably and so he and I went outside and he told me that he wanted her back so he could take care of her. How am I supposed to react to this. I told him Mom was in a spot where she needed to be and she is getting the help she needs. Taking her back to the Apartment just wouldn't work. I have to question myself then by saying did we do the right thing? What if I got Hospice to come in and stay with her? Would that be enough? Then my next question is would Dad be able to handle the process of the Alzheimers getting further along?

I am getting close to my wits end. My physical problems are not going away and I am looking at surgery possibly this next month. Can I keep going and keep Dad going and stay strong for him. I am finding now that I will just sit at home and eat and I know that isn't good. No exercise, I am not playing the game I love very often anymore. I do well when I play and it does help to keep my mind off of the problems at hand but then the quilt starts because then I am not focused on Mom and Dad. I just don't know what to do? I know that if I could run away I would do it but it takes money to run away. Then again running from your issues doesn't help either. Somehow I need to solve this.

I wish there was an easy answer to this but I know there isn't and I need to stay positive but that is hard as well. We do have an evaluation coming up for Mom with DSHS and the care she is getting. Maybe if Dad went with me to this he would hear the things that they are doing for her and then he might understand why she is there. Or maybe not understand and he goes in saying he wants her back at the apartment. Then what? I can't be there for the care she needs just because he wants her there. Ok, now I am rambling.

Maybe the next post will be about poker.

End of the Week

Today is now done. It is nice to be going into the weekend and to be able to get some rest from all the madhouse stuff that has gone on for the week.

Today I spent an hour in the dentist chair. Thankfully my dentist gives me medication that allows me to sit there and they can then work on my mouth and get the job done. If it wasn't for the calming medication I would be on the ceiling of the place with all of the nice pictures of waterfalls and mountains. Everyone is really nice there and I do appreciate the staff allowing me to be wacked out during the procedure.

I played in a home game the other night and I came in 1st place. I started out and played a big hand right off the bat. I had QQ and on the board came AJJxJ. What a nice set of J's and I knew I was ahead and all I had to do was get him to put his money in. It all did go in and he turned over A8 for a bigger full house. Luckily it was a rebuy tournament for the first 2 rounds and I bought back in and really didn't loose any ground. I then played the way I was supposed to and waited my turn to shine. In the end I had the chips and the money.

I must say as well that I have been trying to get my money out of Full Tilt know that we are unable to play in Washington State. I did get the money and it came to my bank in about 4 days. I feel good about Full Tilt being able to get it done. Now the bad part I was able to find out who was basically responsible for the issue of not playing poker in WA State. Margarita Prentice is the one and she even states that poker players need to go get jobs pumping gas. Wow, I did pump gas back in the 70's and they work hard and for very little pay. I think Prentice needs to experience what it is like to not have a job so she can pump gas. She really needs to be voted out of office over there in the Seattle area.

I am presently watching the market and ready to get back in at the first sign of a positive growth. I just don't feel it is there yet. Possibly this next week. I am watching BYD, MGM, LVS, F. Not sure which ones I will play but keeping an eye out and watching the charts.

The Aftermath

Now that I have had some time to calm down about playing online poker I guess the next business at hand is to move my bankroll back into my local account. Mind you I didn't have a lot of funds in the online sites but I had enough that I didn't have to reload all the time. In fact I think I only reloaded on both accounts the amount of fingers on one hand. I was able to always keep myself going by placing in tournaments and not worrying about having to put more money in the account.

The first one was Pokerstars and I didn't have very much in that account so I just transferred that money to a friend and lets hope he grows that money into something big. Rooting for you Johnny!!!! The account for FullTilt is a different story. I had decided to play in the biggest tournaments and cash games that I could with this bankroll and if I lost the money then so be it.

First off I started with the Cash game and after a couple of games I had doubled my bankroll. I was totally surprised since I was playing such low stakes games that I figured I was the fish amongst all the sharks. I was very happy with the double up. The last thing I did was play in a tournament that was 1/4 of my bankroll and I had a blast with the tournament. I came in second and tripled my bankroll. I guess I should have been playing at these stakes all along. I look at it as Risk and Reward.

Well, now that Fulltilt has closed my Live account I have asked them to send my money to me. I sent out the request and today I got the notification that it was approved to be sent and it is on its way to my bank. Lets hope there are no complications with this and when it arrives I will put this with my bankroll for live tournaments and continue to grow the account. I might even try to play some cash game of 2-20 Spread. Not my favorite but it is worth a shot to see if I can get the bankroll to grow. I will try not to be the fish swimming with sharks.

I was a little late getting into the stock market this time. I read the charts correctly and had an idea of what was going to happen and I sat back and watched it happen as expected. I ended up being a couple of days late and since I won't chase the stocks I will watch from the sideline this time and be prepared to get back in within a few days. Christmas season is coming and retail shopping is here. I suppose the markets will move higher until the end of the year. At least that is what I am looking for. I will be ready for the next move.

I did have the neck injection for the C7 Spine and to this date I have no relief. I am scheduled to visit with my physician in about three weeks and we may be looking at surgery. So hard to sleep at night.

Having Fun.......

Reflection

Now that the reality of Washington State not allowing individuals to play poker online is hitting home it has to make me sit back and wonder about how I am going to proceed for my quest in playing and learning poker. Being able to play online has helped me learn strategy and has given me the skills that I need to keep pursuing the dream. The options are very slim and of course I am unable to just get up and move to a different state. When you have family and jobs that does make it hard. I do know one thing and that is I will not give up on my dream.

Finding a good structured game here in this town is hard. When the rounds are 10 and 15 minutes it makes it hard to work skill and you end up hoping for luck. I prefer to make my own luck. If I wanted to spend my money on luck I would do the state thing of playing Lotto. Talk about ripping money away from the Washington people. At least poker gave us a chance of getting money back.

I suppose I will now end up finding games in this town that will cost a little bit more and try to find the structures that will benefit me. I wouldn't mind trying out the cash games but then I have to watch the bankroll as well. Live vs Tournament play. Where is the best opportunity? Of course one other item now I will try to accomplish is to get my money out of the online company. Hopefully that will go well.

We were informed yesterday morning that our Son, who was nominated for Sailor of the Quarter, had won the distinction. We are proud of our Son and even though he has not been to Iraq or Afghanastan the possibility is always there and I know he is ready to serve when asked. Last night we were at a party and I listened to a person talk down the award and basically made fun of it. I think that is totally wrong and especially not showing our service people the respect they should have. The award is something that our son did not go after, it was something that his peers bestowed upon him for the job he is doing for our country. My family taught us that if you can't say anything nice then don't say it at all.

This week is a new week in the Stock Market and I will be looking for some entry points. Looks like the market is correcting and that should help with some possible short trades.

Having Fun.......except online.

Sad Sad Day

This is another sad day for the state of Washington. Full Tilt has sent out emails telling all of the Washington players that they are no longer able to play with real money on their site. All of this happened after about a month since PokerStars had told their players they were stopping them from playing on their site. This is so wrong in so many ways. And to top it off if you are caught playing you are classified the same as a rapist. Does that make any sense? Washington you have it all wrong. This is totally wrong.

I have been able to play on both Pokerstars and FullTilt and I use the site for practice for my strategy for live play. I am not a professional so I don't have bunches of money on the sites. This gave me a chance to play very low limit games to better my skills in hope of someday making some big paydays on the felt. What is wrong with that? Now I am forced to go to casinos and practice where I am considered a fish amongst sharks. I will have to learn fast or my bankroll will be gone and then another person is lost playing the game they love.

You hear that the poker game is luck and not skill. If you believe that then you should try the game. It is very much skill and you need to learn all the facets of playing the game to get better. What about horse race betting? Of course the lawmakers will keep that going. So much skill in that game. I am just saying it is just wrong to make this game illegal. What about the Lotto? Is that luck or skill? How much money is spent on that one and people loose big time hoping for the big cash. Addiction? If the state wanted to they could tax poker and that would help the coffers for the state. I don't think we are saying not tax the game but to just let us play the game we love.

Come on Washington State lets get this corrected and do something right for a change.

Time Change

I really do not like the time change. Two times every year we have to try and get our internal clocks changed as well as the actual clocks around the house. It is a little bit better for me now since I am not working and I am not trying to run a routine like I did before. It would be nice to just leave it alone at whatever was the original way.

I didn't get to play poker on Friday. I got a call from my Mom's Assisted Living place and they thought she had broken her arm. I met her at the emergency room and sure enough when she fell off the chair Monday we didn't realize she also fractured the arm as well. They took the CT of the head but no one even thought about arms, hips or whatever. This trip to the ED they did the arm and also did a hip to make sure. She is doing well and today we are taking her to the Orthopaedic Doctor to see what they want to do with the arm. The fracture is pretty high on the Humurous Bone.

I did get to watch the WSOP on ESPN3. That was great and I am glad we now have an opportunity to watch some poker tournaments on the internet. They are long but I really think I can learn something by watching the table play. I am a very visual person so watching something being done helps my play.

I am not sure if I will be able to play this week since I will have some minor surgery ( Injections ) in my neck for the C7 spine issue. I am having an issue sleeping at night and sitting for long periods of time. The Fall Poker Roundup is currently going on at Wildhorse. I have been looking forward to playing this tournament but with the issues with my Mom I have decided to not play this session. I will play again in the Spring when it comes back around. I just need to continue to play here at Jokers and continue to get better with my play.

My Stock Trading is going well this week. I finally decided to start acting instead of watching the market and put some money at risk. I am up at this point and will continue to follow. I need about 3 more stocks I can follow and trade. If I have a few I get to know well I think this will do fine instead of constantly trying to find something to trade.

Having Fun.....

All things Poker

I got to the Casino on Wednesday prepared to play in a tournament. This tournament is $35 with T$20,000 in chips and has 10 minute rounds. I really do not like the 10 minute rounds. It does make for a fast tournament but doesn't allow you any time to work the table. It makes you get involved with hands too early and I even think it makes people stay in with hands they wouldn't normally stay in with. I try to play my usual game and that was not working for me. The first one was KK and I sort of slow played them but the flop came with a good flop for me so I did a continuation bet thinking they would fold. Nope they came right on along. I bet with the turn and the river thinking I was still good. They turn over a set that was reached on the flop.

The rest of the tournament for me ran the same way. I would have a hand and the person would have just one hand better than I. Ok, how about some wine with the crackers. I kept at it throughout the tournament and finally when I got down to about T$7000 left I pushed it all in with my pocket 6's and lost to a flush. That was my night.

Today I am ready to play again this afternoon at 3PM. Better setup with 20 minute rounds. This is the usual and is a better tournament for me.

Last night we were driving home from dinner when I noticed in someones living room a Christmas tree was set up. I can't believe people already doing Christmas and we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet. Come on people, get with the program.

Have a good day...

Decisions

It is amazing to me that we all have the same thing in common everyday. That would be decisions. We all make them. Some are harder than others and some seem trivial but they are all important to each of us. You have to think back on some of the harder decisions you have had to make and what would have happened if you had made the opposite decision.

I enjoyed watching the EPT Vienna Main Event over the weekend. Watching poker is like watching golf. Nothing happens and then all of a sudden a hand that there is something happening and you need to pay close attention to the decision that is being made.

Watching the hand with DN and two others yesterday was interesting. They each had decisions to make for the chance to continue with the tournament and take a commanding lead. I was sitting watching this and trying to figure out what each person had with the cards on the table. Who had the set, pairs, straight. In the end when all was said and done one person was eliminated, one person went from chip leader to short stack and one person went to chip leader. I must say that was exciting to watch.

We all have the same decisions and some are not as important. Before you act today on a decision think about it and make the correct call.