The Flying Disk

I have been getting into this Disc Golf and having fun with the challenge.  I played golf for years and never got good at it and when I started having feet problems and had my neck surgery I gave up the game.  I never liked riding a golf car around and enjoyed the walking.  Now that I found disc golf the holes are not as long and throwing a disc isn't that hard on me.  I enjoy walking the course and the challenge of not losing the disc. 

I have only played four rounds so far and par for this course is 54 shots.  My latest is now at 80 shots.  Seems like my golf score all over again.  The discs are really interesting.  I purchase one disc to start out and as of today I am an owner of five discs.  Each one is different in what it will do when you throw the disc.  I am now reading up on each one and trying to figure out what I need so I can purchase a few more that will enhance my game.

Now, I am not giving up on poker to do something different.  I can enjoy being outside right now since the weather as started to cool down.  I start classes again in a month and then I should get back into poker if I can find a good cash game.  I really enjoy sitting down and just playing without trying to worry about the blinds moving up and I can play my game.

Have a fun day.....

Poker Tournament

I was invited to play in an invitation only tournament Sunday afternoon.  This tournament is played on the third Sunday of every month.  The premise is for everyone to have fun and even though you play to win you are having fun even if you lose.  Prizes are given out for the first person to bust out of the tournament and then if you reach the money bubble, and go out, you get a prize as well. 

You start out with T$3,000 in chips and you can increase the amount to T$5,000 by bringing two cans for the local food bank and if you show up early and get signed in on time you get more.  This last one we brought school supplies and if you brought a certain amount you increased your chips.  It was fun and we started with fourteen players.

I got myself short stacked and had to struggle to get back to the starting stack of T5,000 and that is where I pretty much stayed and eventually made it to the final table.  I eventually went out in seventh place.  I had so many all-ins that I was pretty much prepared to go home at any time.  At least I lasted until then. 

Playing poker has taken a back seat right now since I really want to play the cash games but not the ones around here.  I am thinking about taking a weekend and travelling north and playing either the 3-6 or the 4-8 limit games.  I would like to get involved with an Omaha game around here but just haven't done it.  They have a Wednesday and a Sunday game. 

School will start towards the end of September for me and having our house painted and re-roofed was important.  I have been working on the new fence in the back and that takes time as well.  So much to do when you are the home owner.  I keep looking for the landlord but can't find him.

Have a fun day......

Professional Poker Playing

I know the title is just  little bit misleading.  No, I am not a professional poker player and I don't know that I would want to be one.  I have tried to play as much as I can and around here it just wouldn't work anyway.  I don't know of anyone around here that only plays poker for a living.  The games are very clickish and I understand that if you did want to get into the one game of 2-20 spread you would just be eaten alive by the six guys that play together all the time and like to see someone new come in to play.  I wonder if they decide who gets the spoils from the day.  Maybe they take turns depending on the day.

My thought today turns to a guy named Tony.  I found his blog probably over a year ago and I have been following him on a daily basis.  He doesn't blog every day but I do keep up with the comments and I follow him on Twitter as well.  I find it interesting that he is homeless, has around $1,000 to his name and plays poker and likes to play the VBJ machine in Jean, NV.  I have commented a few times to him my thoughts when I thought I had something good to share. 

I believe he would probably do well just playing poker but he likes the machine.  He seems to do well in Omaha and will play the NL games when he feels he has enough money.  Still he will end up playing the VBJ machine and will not do well over the long run.  I believe sticking with poker would be the best.  A couple of weeks ago he had his bankroll up to about $2000 and then left California to head back to Nevada and started playing the machine again.  

My thought is it is a minus EV way of trying to build the bankroll.  I started out playing in the casinos years ago and would play table blackjack.  I love the game but then when I got introduced to poker it was better and now I will only play poker when in the casino.  I don't understand why anyone would want to play a game that benefits the casino.  Yes, you have to look at the rake and the game you are playing but still the pits are house games and they make their money from there.  Of course, if we all played just the non house games then why have the casinos.  To each their own.

I read an article yesterday where a person decided to help a homeless person and gave them an option of $100 or they would train them to be a computer programmer.  The homeless person took the opportunity for education and now is being mentored by this person every morning for an hour and also gave him a laptop computer and three books to study from.  I found it nice to be able to read something good for once and thought what this person is doing is fabulous.

Anyway, I will continue to follow Tony and hopefully he gets his life to where he wants it to be.  We all want to have that life of not working for the MAN.  If I could play and earn an income or at least earn enough to keep going it would be enjoyable but for now I will continue on my path of trying to find a job and going back to school to earn my certificate in computer science.

Have a fun day......

Painting the House

Just a few weeks ago we had the new roof put on the rest of the house.  Two years ago we had enough money to be able to get the front half done. 

One of the things we have done since around 2007 is have no credit cards and pay for everything we need with cash.  If we don't have it then we don't purchase the items.  We can get by with little food since it is only the two of us and we are not trying to feed children. 

We do the same with our house.  We look for the things that have to be done and then we work on getting the money available to finish the jobs we have planned.  Sometimes it takes longer than what we expect.  As in the roof it took two years to be able to complete the job but it is now done.  We also have the painting done as of this week.  Two big projects.

My wife was looking for a "Toupe" color and she was not very successful.  Some of the houses around us have also used this color type and we wanted to be a little different.  We drove around to some of the newer housing areas and looked at the colors people were using.  We found a very nice light greenish color that would go well on the house as well in the neighborhood. 

Yesterday was paint day.  I left to go into town for about three hours and when I arrived back home the house was done but in the brown color.  I was not expecting this and walked into the yard and said it is the wrong color.  We laughed and I said it should be more of a green than the brown.  I figured maybe the green would show up when it dried.

After the painters left I went back out to the side of the house where the paint was located and looked at the labels and found out the main color was wrong.  It was definately brown and not the right number.  Then my wife comes home and she really did not like it.  I called the owner of the paint company and he called the store where he bought the paint and sure enough the paint store did not have the right color listed.  Whoever took the phone call did not write the proper number down.

Now by the end of the day we will have the correct color on the house and everyone will be happy.

I really need to go spend some time playing Disc Golf or play some Poker.

Have a fun day......

Taking Up New Sport

I decided to try something new this past week.  I have some friends that play Disc Golf and I will go out and sit in my truck and watch the players throw the disk around this course.  It didn't look to hard and the course is shorter than a golf course.  How hard can this be?

I drove up to the store that had these discs and decided to purchase one.  These players are carrying around twenty of them, if not more, and I just knew that each disc did something different.  I asked the guy at the register which one I should purchase if I was new at this game.  He pulled down a Mid-Driver and told me I could use this one to get started.  So, with my new purchase I headed out to the course.

I stood at the first tee, not knowing where to throw the disk, and figured it would have to be in this certain area.  Hopefully I could find my way around this course, especially with no one else around to ask questions.  I threw the disk like I would throw a frisbee and it didn't go very far.  I was just hoping no one was watching me trying to learn.  I picked up the disk and could see a pole with some chains on it and threw to hit.  Again it did not go very far. 

As  I was playing the eighth hole I saw one of my friends playing the second hole.  He asked me to join them and he let me use his Driver and then I would use the Mid-Driver for the closer shots.  There is a difference in the disks and they fly different.  Hence the numbers on the disk to let you know what it would do in flight.

I ended up playing about fourteen holes that day and learned quite a bit.  When I got done I asked about the disks and what should a beginner like me use.  My friend told me what to purchase and I went back to the store and purchased a Driver, and something called a Pug for a putter.  So now I have three disks, a driver, mid-driver and a putter.  I am anxious to go back out and try out my new disks.

The house is being painted this week and I have been working on putting up a new fence.  Not a good time to go play some disc golf.

Have a fun day......

Thats a Whole Lotta Years

This past weekend was our Anniversary.  We have been married for 38 years.  We had a two year courtship and so it has been about forty years that we have been together.  I saw her in my Junior year of High School and we went out on one date.  Wasn't a very good date so I figured I would not see her again.  When the Senior year started we started dating.  She is the most beautiful girl in the world.

We decided to head to the ocean and spend our anniversary there.  On our honeymoon we went to the rain forest and traveled to the ocean.  When we got there we could hardly see the ocean due to the fog and the clouds.  Thirty eight years later things haven't changed a bit. 

We arrived at Seaside and it was cloudy and foggy again.  Couldn't see much of the ocean.  We went to Ocean Shores and the same thing.  Our room was facing the ocean and other than the sound you couldn't tell you were at the ocean.  It was fun anyway.  We spent time together and had some good food.  Normally you go to the ocean and have seafood.  We went and I had steak both nights.  On the third night I finally had some Copper River Salmon.  Amazing food at some amazing restaurants.

On our third night we travelled inland and stayed in Auburn and I was able to go to the Muckleshoot Casino and play in the 4-8 limit game.  There were about five to seven tables going.  I wanted to play in the 3-6 limit but they only showed that as an interest game and they had the 4-8 games going.  They started a new table and I immediately sat down in the nine seat.  I played for two hours until the table started to break up and I decided to leave.  I was up in $$ anyway and figured I don't do well in short handed games so leaving was not an issue for me.  It was almost 11pm anyway and I was getting tired.

I haven't been playing very much so this felt good to be playing again and playing a cash game this size was an experience and I would like to do this on a monthly basis.  Maybe go to Northernquest and play in a 3-6 or 4-8 game.

The next day we made our way back home and into the heat of the summer.  I was able to see Mt Rainier as well and that made my day.

Now back to the grind.

Have a fun day.....

More Summer Updates

Once the Re-finance, of the house, was completed it was time to get the two most important jobs done to the house. We decided to finish the roof and paint the house. Two years ago we had the re-roof started and now we can get it done. We have lived in this house since 1992 and have never repainted so now we will get that done as well. I called some contractors to put in their bids and now we will get this done. The roof was first and it looks nice having the whole thing looking the same now. Painting starts next week. Since we didn't get the whole amount we wanted in the re-finance we are limited in what we can accomplish and will work on the rest of the stuff as we go along. I kept telling my wife that I don't snore. She says otherwise. I have been so tired and sleepy for a long time and figured it was all the diabetes. I finally told my doctor about how tired and fatiqued I was and he referred me to a sleep lab. I really didn't like the thought that someone would be watching me sleep. I am glad I did. I was told on the first night that they got some really good information and that I would probably be called back in for another to set up the CPAP machine and sleep with that. I was called a few days later and the next appointment was all set. I went in for the second night and was set up on a machine and the next day I felt pretty good. It was different sleeping with the machine and at times I felt I wasn't getting enough air but it worked out and I wasn't afraid of sleeping with something on my face. My appointment with the doctor was the following week and he came in the room and said I had hit hall of fame numbers for apnea during the night. I had apnea spells as long as 1 1/2 minutes. Wow, no wonder I was tired the following day. I have my machine now and he started it out with minimum pressures to see how I will do with the machine and how I will feel. Today I am headed over to see my Dad and maybe take him to lunch. It all depends on how he is feeling. Have a fun day......

Summer is Here

It has been hard for me to just sit down and write for this blog. I have had a number of things happen and I did not end up putting them down on paper to get it into the blog. The last item I shared was the Poker League I was playing in on Wednesday nights. It was fun and I continued to have some good nights. The second week I ended up going out real early so that brought me back into the field as far as my points. The next three weeks I did much better and got myself into fourth place for the final week and I needed to have a good game, to get myself into the money, which was paying down to third place. I was able to outlast the person in third position but the person behind me outlasted me and I ended up staying in fourth and just missed the money by one spot. I did get money for the first night and that paid for one of the evenings. The end of the quarter came around in June and I was happy to see the summer arrive and I would now get the summer off and start up again in September. Because I am scheduled to continue my classes I will not have to look for work yet. With all of the government stuff going on I will have to pay for my next quarter and will be reimbursed sometime in October or November. I am hoping the state will keep up with their end of the agreement and I can finish what I started. Finding a job will be the hard part when this is done. With all of this going on I have not played poker like I wanted to do during the summer. I missed out on the Summer Wildhorse Casino tournaments as well. Too much going on and the money has not been there for me to play like I wanted. I am hoping to play more live cash games and not play the tournaments. I just have to decide where and when to play. I like the 3-6 limit games and have not looked at anything higher. I may have to take a weekend and go to Spokane to sit in their games once a month. I know that doesn’t get me playing very much but unless I sit in the 2-20 game in town I won’t find what I like or am comfortable with. The other item that has been taking up some time has been refinancing our home. It took us over a month to get this finalized. I ended up redoing the master bathroom so we could get the refinance accepted by the mortgage underwriters. This was my first time doing something like this and I think it turned out alright. I have always stated I am not a construction person, but then again, I did get it done in a week with some help from family members. I am having issues posting pictures and will have to post later. Have a fun day……

Poker League Play

After not playing for about four weeks I have fiinally decided to get going again.  I have been putting money together so that I will have some type of bankroll to start playing again.  The decision was whether I wanted to play Live or stay with Tournament play.

The decision was fairly simple and came about a week ago.  There is a group that has been playing league poker for about a year.  The poker league has been five weeks at a time.  They have a group that is about fifteen strong that play every Wednesday evening.  They put together a package and pay for a tournament in the WSOP.  On this one they are not specifying that you need to go to the WSOP and can claim your money in cash.  Sounds like I should try my hand at this.

I have about seven weeks to go before my summer off but the classes I am taking right now are doing well and I am about a week ahead of schedule on all of my assignments and tests.  Nice when they are done at home and I can spend the time working on the assignments to get them completed.   I decided since this all was happening lets go for the opportunity.

Last night was the first evening of the league.  I showed up early and waited for the beginning of the tournament.  I know being a new person showing up in their event I would have to bide my time and learn how each of them play.  I decided to come in with a plan and play very tight to see what each of the players would do and what their ranges would be.  With the experience these guys have and playing at the WSOP and Wildhorse I hope I can also learn something from them.

The first hand I played was pocket 2's.  The flop came out with xJJ and betting took place.  I decided to stay in and another J came on the turn.  With the full house I checked and the villian bet and I called.  x came on the river and another round of betting and he took the lead in betting.  Any bigger pair would beat me and that was my thinking.  I ended up putting about 50% of my chips in and he turned over xJ.  Ok, what a way to start.

I was very patient and my stack started to increase a little bit at a time.  I was starting to hit some cards and the players were reluctant to play against me.  I quess going all in with my short stack and them not wanting to double me up was some of it.  I don't remember how many times I went all in during the evening but this next week I will need to figure out how to play post flop and beyond and not try to get out of the tournament by running into something bigger than what I have.

It was nice that I made the final table and from there I worked the chips and was the chip leader at one point.  From there I was able to get to a third place finish and put a nice 1st week number up on the board.  Now if I could keep this up and put some good finishes up for the remaining four weeks  I should be fine.

I do need to study for the next weeks tournament.  Also I can't forget about my computer studies as well.

Have a fun day...... 

Still Playing Poker

I have been very busy studying that having time to blog about my poker playing has taken a back seat to everything. Well, actually playing poker has taken a back seat as well.


I have been trying to play one day per week just to keep myself going. I don’t want to get to rusty in my thought process. When April came around I really backed off since school has gotten to be my number one priority. I just need to get through this semester and then will start to play some more when I get to the summer.

The tournaments I have played in have gone well for me. I did chop one tournament and then played in the tournament of champions for the casino here in town. I have also set up a night where a few of us can sit down and play a .05 - .10 LHE game. The max buy in was $10 and we had a blast playing for about three hours and then I cashed everyone out and cleaned up the room. I would like to continue with that if I can fit it into the schedule.

I have also been playing a $1.50 SNG tournaments as well as some .01 - .02 NL cash games and since I started with $0 money I have been growing this bankroll as of this moment.  I am presently at $9.87. 

Have a good day.

Weekly Poker Tournaments

Now that I am basically playing one night per week I try to play the best that I can in the tournament that I am playing.  I chose to play in the tournament at the Pub where we all take turns and deal.

This week I decided that I would not play in that one and stay closer to home.  The Casino is only about a mile from my house and it is easier to go down there instead of driving twenty minutes.  The cost of the tournament is the same so the cost of gas is the difference.

We had thirtytwo players starting out in the tournament and we each started with T$1,000 in chips and we have 10 minute rounds.  It goes quickly and you have to make plays early to start building your chips.  I was able to get to the final table and went out in 5th place.  I bubbled the cash payout.

That was Thursday night and then on Friday I decided to play the afternoon deepstack.  I like this game better as we start with T$10,000 in chips with 20 minute rounds and the cost is $40.  I end up playing different people during this tournament.  These players are more advanced in their play and will play accordingly.  Overall better players. 

For some reason I got myself sidetracked with my thinking and I was out of the tournament in 20 minutes.  I did not make it through the 25-50 round.  That was bad.  I know I play better than this and I really did not play attention to what I was doing.  I decided to make another run at it on Sunday and played in the next deepstack of T$10,000 in chips with 15 minute rounds for $40 buy in.  The tournament is not as deep as the one on Friday but still it is a good tournament.

I ended up getting down to the final table and made it down to three of us left in the tournament.  We all had about the same amount of chips when we decided to chop the prize pool three ways.  I was glad I decided to play in this one as it more than paid for the weekend and I made some money to keep the bankroll active.

I did decide to play some online and was able to increase that bankroll as well.  It is slow going at the .01-.02 level but I will take the $1.00 increase anytime.  At least I am over the starting amount.

This week is test week again at the college so I am in the books again.  I will play again on Friday if everything looks good.  I guess you have to say I need to make sure my priorities are in order.

Have a fun week..... 

Poker Play

I would enjoy playing the game a little bit more but the hours of studying have been taking its toll.

I look forward to the Thursday evening tournament now. It is the same $15 bounty tournament. Last week I did well and chopped 1st and 2nd place and this week I made it to the final table again. That makes three weeks in a row. I was able to cash in this tournament as well when one of the players asked if a chop could be made. The five of us agreed and we all went home with $40 each. As long as I keep the bankroll growing this allows me to play the tournaments. I have not played any live games.

This next week I will be putting on my monthly home game. I am hoping I can get three tables. It was fun and everyone enjoyed getting together.

I have been reading a blog from a person who is about ready to go broke by playing poker. It seems he lost a lot of money on the poker machines. It just makes a person reading this think that you have to stay away from house edge games and make sure you are playing in a game that fits where you have an advantage.

Money management is so important when you play poker. I had a bankroll that was up to $2500 and when the casino here closed down and I pushed my money into live games and big tournaments and the money left in a hurry. I wasn't thinking about what I needed to do but just trying to get the money back. It never happened. Now I have a small bankroll about $200 and I use it to play some small tournaments and continue to get the bankroll to grow slowly.

I play weekly right now and studying to get through school. This summer I will have more time to play a little bit more. I continue to read the poker books when I can and then play a little bit online. So far I have built that one up over $6. We are on the move now. I have to look at this as recreational as well. I don't put in the time like I used to so I have to be patient and work a little bit harder to make sure I make the proper plays. Nothing fancy for me.

Have a fun day.....

Playing Pub Tournaments

The last two weeks I have been playing in a Pub on Thursday evening.  It is different than playing in the casino with dealers taking care of everything.

The tournament is a bounty tournament with a $15 buy in.  We get T$3,000 in chips to start but the blinds are 20 minutes in length.  It does move well since they did take some of the usual levels out of the middle part of the tournament structure.  It takes about three to three and a half hours to complete the tournament with the eighteen players.  We each take turns dealing the cards so we don't see as many hands during the levels but the increased time does help make up what we loose in dealer time.

Last week I made the final table and then went out in 8th place.  This week I again made it to the final table and this time I had the chip lead with two players left.  It was now 10:30 and both of us were ready to go home after the three and a half hours sitting and playing.  I was up about 2 to 1 against him and probably could have finished it but instead I told him that I was willing to chop the money and we both could go home happy.  He looked at me and told me it was an offer he couldn't refuse. 

As it turned out I didn't lose any of the money I would have gotten anyway for first place because of the amount of bounty chips I had in front of me.  Overall it was a good night.

I will play this tournament again next week.  In the meantime I will try to play some online when I get the chance.

Weekend Poker

This past weekend I had a group over to play tournament poker and afterwards started a live game.

 I am trying to have one home game every month where we can all get together and play some tournament poker, and then see if anyone wants to sit and play a .05-.10 NL live cash game. The last time I did this we had one table and we played almost four hours. It was fun and we played with a max buy in of $5. This time I opened it up for any amount.

The tournament started at 6:30 and we had eighteen players. I set the tournament up with T$5,000 in chips and 15 minute rounds. I wanted to make sure the levels were good and everyone could put in enough time to play. The tournament ended up going three hours with the final four chopping the prize pool. I was very happy with the results.

I was also able to get a live game going before the tournament ended. Once the tournament players got to the final table the other table was then set up for live and away we went. There were eight players going and when the players started busting out of the tournament they wanted to play live as well. When the group chopped the prize pool that opened the second table and we had two live tables running. The live game went about 3 hours before players started getting tired and decided to call it a night.

It looks like I will need to build a third table to keep up with the amount of players that want to play in this game. I enjoy putting the games together and watching everyone have fun.

I will play again on Thursday evening in a Pub that has a weekly game going. They are looking for dealers for their game and I might do that to keep up my skills in dealing. I don’t plan on looking for a job again as a dealer but doing this on the side would be fun.

Poker Play

The only poker I have played in the last week has been on the computer. I am playing a .01-.02 NL game and trying to build up from the $5 that is on there. I have been working the percentage theory to see if it really is true. I see all kinds of cards and if I get premium hands, I am not going to win even if I do the raising, and try to get someone off of their hand. I basically wait till the percentage of wins equals the 10% mark and then I wait to see who has been winning hands and will try to play against that person. So, now it is not so much what cards I have but when to play them. I am not sure I like this style of play but if it works then I will keep doing the same thing. I have never heard of anyone working this in their strategy and it would be interesting to see if anyone can see the same thing I do. Right now it seems to be working. So far I am down .97 cents but the last session I had I moved up $1.03 so not bad in 34 hands. I was trying to play at least 100 hands per session but now that I am trying to grow this bankroll I will take the money and run and then wait till the next session. It also depends on the players as well. If you get a lot of new players coming in you have to be careful of the equity rule as well. I am setting up a Home Game this weekend and will have a group playing a tournament and then afterwards we will play some live .05-.10 NL. It should be fun. We played in December and had a good group of players here and we played till one in the morning. This time I am going to stop the game at midnight because it just got to be late cleaning up the house.

Online Poker Play

A few years ago when playing online poker was somewhat “legal” I was playing on Pokerstars and Fulltilt. I look back now and those were fun years when the opportunity to build a bankroll was good. Now I am left trying to make it happen in the casino’s here in my area and once in a while being able to travel to a bigger casino and play in their games. It was before the “Black Friday” event that I would be playing a tournament online and would find myself being knocked out of the tournament by an inferior hand. It was common for me to lose hands that I thought should have won and I could never figure out why it would happen. During my time playing online poker I had made friends that lived in other parts of the United States. We would email back and forth and discuss hands and we would talk some strategy. One day I received an email about a booklet that was discussing something that we found interesting. This booklet was describing how to win at online poker and how the computer programs operated. It mentioned the term Random Number Generator (RNG) and how it worked. Now this was interesting, since I figured all computers would be able to do the big calculations and put out the required amount of possible hands. I learned that this is not possible unless you have a big government computer. At least it would have to be big. From there the booklet got more interesting to me because then it started talking about the Net Win Percentage (NWP) and the Overall Win Percentage (OWP). I really started to get interested in this information. This also meant, to me, that playing poker live in the casinos is definitely different than playing online. My friends and I decided that we would try out this new information for ourselves and see if it would really work. We made sure we had the proper NWP when hands were played and we also threw hands away that, even though would be premium hands, would allow our OWP to be in a certain percentage. This also meant we had to keep an eye on all the players at the table. By letting someone win then we were allowing our percentage to drop and prepare us to play hands that would maximize our chip stack. What we found with this knowledge was that we were able to approach this online poker game at a different level and play the percentages more than playing the cards. Remember I said that we didn’t get very far with this because of the “Black Friday” event but I wonder if this is still appropriate. Have things changed in the computer industry that this is no longer working and more combinations of hands are available? When I picked up the booklet the other day it brought back some memories and made me go back and read it again. I must say I miss playing live online poker.

Coming Back to this Blog

I have not been very impressed where I have moved my blog too. I am going to revive this one and just put my poker related stories on here. I will use the other one for different stuff. Just could not take it any more.

Changes

Things change and I am changing again. I have decided to move my blogging to another site. I now own the domain name of the site and it will be better to access. I hope everyone will make the change as well and follow me to my new site. Let me know what you think of it and keep the comments coming in. This new site will also allow me to categorize each blog and you can look at just the ones you want to read and not all of the posted things I will write about. The new site is: www.mysevenfouroffsuit.com Hope to see you there......

Things are Looking Better

You have those times when you don't think that anything is working for you and you have to wonder what you are going to do next. The last two months have been like that for me. I am talking about unemployment and worksource. When the casino closed down, on September 24, I felt lost and not sure of what I would do next. I did know that I wanted poker to be a part of whatever I continued doing. I didn't need to deal poker but I wanted to continue playing and getting better at the game. The next day I did apply for unemployment benefits since I had enough hours and getting something while I looked for my next income source. When the unemployment got approved it was a relief to be able to get something each week. Now I would have to search for three jobs per week. My problem then was what do I apply for? We as dealers knew there were no jobs available in this area so I started to apply for whatever was available in retail working in the customer service area. I started working with Worksource as well and finding out we were dislocated workers we had more avenues opened up for us. I went to the local community college to see what there worker retraining offered and was signed up for some computer classes that I could take at Worksource. I was also signed up to go through their program and see if I could take short term classes to get a certification in a subject that interested me. This last week I was approved for the classes and will be going to the college for one year and will achieve a certification in Computer User Support Help Desk. At the same time I was also approved for extended unemployment while I am going through the program. Now I am working with Worksource to get the funding to complete the program for the year. The help I have recieved from the employment specialist has been great. She has pointed me in the right direction and will be following me throughout the year. At the end of the year she will again help me to find employment if I don't come up with something on my own. I will be putting on a poker home game this Friday evening. This will be my first one and I hope to have one or two each month. I would like to see if we could do a seat in the Wildhorse Roundup or something else that will encourage play. Have a fun day...... Bankroll = $280

Final Nine Poker Event

The last nine weeks the Joker's Casino has been holding a Freeroll tournament in the bar area. This has not been connected to the poker room except that we have been given cards that allow for added money when playing in the poker room. This has been fun and because it is a freeroll the players are not all poker players that spend a lot of money on poker. I woke up this morning knowing that today is the day. Having the nine of us play with the opportunity for a part of the $1,000 prize pool. I started getting a little nervous also knowing that we all could have spent the nine weeks of playing and may not end up with any of the money at all. I worked out an option that would give everyone money and still leave a lot of money for the top three players. I wanted to talk to the players at the beginning and see if everyone would agree. I approached two of the players and told them my idea and they informed me that one of the players had told them that he would not agree with anything. That told me what I needed and knew that it would come to playing the cards and working hard to get into the money. I knew I was going to play a TAG type of game at the beginning. I normally do this anyway and I would wait to see who was going to be aggressive. The guy in seat 7 next to me was the best player at the table I figured. I was in seat 8 and had the best position on this guy. He also came out tight and a couple of players, one in seat 9 and the other in seat 6 started playing rather loose. Having seen these two before this was not unusual for them. The person in seat 2 also was playing a little tight and I haven't seen him do that before. I was saved on the river from elimination with my KK near the start when I went up against the player in seat 9 with QQ. He got a 7Q7 on the flop for a full house and on the turn was a blank and the river gave me a K for a nice full house as well. Wow, survived that one. I had JJ on another hand and I threw them away and someone had a better hand at the end. When we got down to five players I presented to the table the proposal of giving 5th place some money. Everyone agreed on the $50 for fifth and we continued on playing the game. I became card dead at that time and a couple of other short stacks came back and was able to build their stacks up and I then was the short stack at the table. I got 33 and decided to make a stand and went all in with this hand. The person in seat 8 had raised it T$600 and then I went all in and everyone folded and before he decided to make the call I had a brain fart and turned my cards over. He looked at them and now it was up to him to decide to call or fold. Mistake on my part for sure. He said he figured he should call and he turned his cards over and had A4. On the flop he got a 4 and I didn't get any help with the pocket pair. I was out of the tournament in 5th place. It was fun and I will do this again when they start up another freeroll tournament. Have a fun day..... Bankroll = $280