Welcome Back

It has been almost two months since I put anything in this blog.  This quarter at college has been really time consuming and not letting me write on here. 

This quarter I have three classes and two of them are requiring me to write up to five papers per week and one of the instructors was requiring a research type of paper and at least one page for each.  On Friday I would write and then on Saturday night I would put them on Word and on Sunday I would do my final draft and then transfer to the college.  I have about two weeks left of this and then next quarter will have only one class and then will be finished with the Computer Science Computer Support program.  Time to find some type of job.

Poker has taken a back seat at this time.  I have played one tournament per month and that one is a special by invitation and at least I can see how rusty a person can get by not playing.  The last one I played I was out of the tournament within 15 minutes and was the first person out.  I have also been playing in a Blackjack tournament every Sunday now for six weeks.  It was free and the final is today.  I have a qualifier seat to fill the last seat at the table today at 4pm at the casino.  It pays $1,000 and it would be nice to get that.  This means I have to win both tournaments today and that will be a tough one.

I am hoping now that the college program is finishing up I will be able to get back to some more poker and will be able to do some more writing on the blog.  Stay tuned.

Have a fun day......

Unexpected Pep Talk

It is amazing how sometimes you will be going through the motions of your day and things will happen to you that will get your attention that you didn't expect.

Lately I have been feeling down about my education process and  why am I putting myself through this stuff as it seems futile to keep going knowing nothing will come of this.  I go to class each day and sit at the computer and push through the homework assignments and for what?  A good grade?  Making the teacher happy that they are teaching someone new things?  Do I really believe I will end up using this in a job when this process is done?  Some of these feelings have started a few weeks back since my funding is going away in a couple of weeks.  In fact since the government shutdown there are no more funds for me to continue.  I will have to come up with the money myself to keep on my path.  At my age is it possible someone will hire me?  So many questions and I continue on hoping at least I can finish what I started almost a year ago.

I was sitting in the computer lab working on my assignment on ,"the computer", that was due the next day when the door to the classroom opened up and a student walked into the computer lab.  He walked over to the row in front of me and he sat down at the computer directly in front of me. He sat there while the computer was going through the start up mode before setting up and working on the assignment he needed to work with.  As he was sitting there the instructor, for that time frame, walked into the lab.  The student noticed her walking in and he immediatey motioned for her to come over and talk with him.  What happened next not only surprisd me but I am sure the instructor has heard these before.  He started giving her excuses about the class he was working on.  She eventually stopped him and asked him if he wanted to drop the class. He then stopped giving the excuses and said "yes." I am sitting at my computer trying not to pay any attention to this as I am working on my own assignments.  I noticed the instructor looking at me and she said "Steve", I looked up at her and she continued speaking to me.  She asked me if I would talk with him about what he is about to do.

I looked at the student and he looked just younger than myself.  He explained to me that he was in the worker retraining program and he didn't feel like he could grasp the material in front of him.  I then explained to him that I am also in the same program having lost my job as well.  The reason the instructor wanted me to talk with him was because I had taken the class two quarters ago and would understand what it would take to finish the assignments.  I started talking with him about the class and the amount of time it would take to finish on time and I told him not to give up. I explained to him he was only in the second week and he hadn't given it enough time to make that decision. I restated to him that he should keep going and not to give up on the class.
  

When I was done talking and I sat back in my chair, it hit me like a ton of bricks, it sounded like I was giving myself a pep talk.

Have a good day.......

The BFT Nazi

You know about the Soup Nazi from that famous show?  Today, I met the BFT Nazi.

 

 A lady about my age got on the bus on the Pasco side of the bridge and when she got on the bus she was asking the bus driver a question. She got some type of response and then made her way down the aisle to sit in one of the seats and sat down in one across from me.

 

We then made it to the Richland side, of the bridge, and as we were approaching the turn to Columbia Point the bus driver announced, or should I say yelled, " Columbia Point Winco". We made the turn and as we approached the turn into Winco the bus driver started yelling "Pull the cord if you want to stop at Winco." She must have repeated this three times, and I looked over at the lady across from me and she said "What do I do? This is my first time ever riding a bus." I immediately showed her the cord and went ahead and pulled it for her.

 

As I looked ahead at the driver and at the next stop, "Winco", there were three people waiting for the bus so the bus had to stop anyway. I know the bus driver must have seen that as we were getting close. The driver stopped and the lady got off thanking me for the help.

 

Wow, BFT driver get a grip!!! Maybe she was having a bad day but that was not called for. If I was an extrovert I would have pulled the cord when we arrived at the last stop, Richland Knight station, to let her know I wanted off. Since I don't like conflict I did not pull the cord. I will say though that don't dare me next time. I might do it.

 

Have a fun day.....

My Blog Post

When I started this blog back in 2009 is was something I wanted to use to keep track of what I was doing with the stock market and then it moved to my poker playing.  It has pretty much stayed there since then.  I have tried to add a few other things in this blog just for the interestet sake and see If I could write about other things that go on in my life.

I am more than just a poker player and a stock playing person.  I have written about golf, family, disc golf, work and assorted other things.  Having not played poker in a while and unable to play online poker specifically I am finding it harder to write about just those items.  Today I was thinking about opening it up a little bit and write about my thoughts on subjects unknown.  I should inteject here that not all things I write about are the believes my me.  I may write just to get a reaction about an item.

At this time I am back in school going to college for this quarter.  As you know I lost a job in poker and was declared a "Dislocated Worker" since my job is not in demand I am eligible for worker retraining into anther field.  This is were it gets sticky.  The Poker Dealers in this area are in demand but there are no jobs.  So the state looked at this and decided to change their designation and put Poker Dealers not in demand in this area and that moved us to being able to get the "Dislocated Worker" trainging.  During this time we are able to draw unemployment and am now into Tier 2 and will lose that in about three weeks.  On my own after a year and still trying to get through the education part.  I am taking Computer Science classes that will hopefully land a job as a Customer Support at a Help Desk.

Now that the government is shut down I will continue to receive my unemployment but the cost of school has been put on hold.  I have to pay for this education on my own now ad If I don't pay for the cost then that means I will have to pay all of the back money I received from the state for not finishing.  Who's fault is that one?  I guess it is mine according to them.  Tough Luck Charlie comes to mind.

My question now is Do I have a right to College, Do I have a right to Health Care or Do I have a right to Housing?  We will see what happens.

My plan is to not only write about my poker play but to write about whatever is on my mind at the time.  I really don't want to start another blog unless it is necessary but my goal is get to back to all things poker.

Have a good day......

Study Time

This is already and rough week and I don't see it getting any better.  Trying my hardest to get out of the box early and get ahead in my classes.  At first I didn't think having on-line classes would be good and especially the procrastination of waiting till the last minute.  I have gotten used to that and do a lot of my school work durng the morning when I am fresh and then in the afternoon will try to do some reading. 

I do have one class this quarter that ended up being one that I have to go into the college to attend.  In fact I will have to use their computers for the homework assignments since we are having to work on the virtual machine with the server.  Will have to do all of my prework from home and then spend afternoons on Tuesday and Thursday in the classroom on the computer.

I decided that I did not like disc golf very much so I am going to sell my equipment.  I do have someone interested in purchasing the discs and bag.  At least I can get some money back.

No poker for a couple of weeks.  One of the local casinos has decided to open up a 3-6 and a 4-8 limit game in town.  Now I wish I had the time to play in those since I like those games and do well in them.  Hopefully they will get a nice following and then when I can I will try to play in one of them.

For now I am studying and will continue to keep my eyes and ears open for a job. 

Have a fun day.....

Fall is Here

The weather has been changing around here.  In the past week we have had a couple of storms roll through here and it has cooled down quite a bit. 

C ad I were sitting outside in the front of the house.  I looked south of us and saw this massive brown cloud.  I figured it was smoke and we were trying to figure out what it was.  The cloud kept getting closer and closer to us and it did not smell like smoke.  Right before it got overhead the wind started picking up and then it hit.  It was a dust storm along with the lightning and thunder.  We quickly shut all the doors to the house and when the cloud passed it started to rain.  Never had anything like that here.  I have seen pictures of them in Arizona and they looked massive.  This one was somthing to watch.

This week I will start up again at the local college to finish the computer science program.  I will be taking three classes and then will have one left for the winter.  It will be nice to have this finished.  I am not sure how much poker I will play.  In fact the work I have been doing on the house will be slowing down as well.  We will see what happens.  So many things to try to get done before winter sets in.

I have been busy selling items on Craigslist as well.  Trying to make some room in the garage.  Trying to finish the sheetrock and will try that on the weekends while it is colder outside.

Have a fun day......

Not a good night for sleeping

I really tried to sleep.  I took my sleeping pill and put the CPAP machine on and then laid back to wait until my eyes would shut and I would sleep the night away.  Didn't happen.  I could not get myself asleep at all even with the sleeping pill. 

I got up and came into my office and sat down to play some poker.  Maybe it wasn't a good idea to be on a sleeping pill at the same time.  I played 2cent/5cent for almost 2 hours and started with $6 and ended up with $3 left at 1AM.  I was getting no cards to play and with the 57 hands I played I won 10 of them and lost more than I won.  My good hands were even getting beat.

I was watching the percentage wins with the RNG and wonder if that works playing live.  Now if I was playing in a tournament then I know it does make a difference.  I tend to work the percentages more than what cards I have in my hand.  You can at least figure out when you are supposed to play the cards and against whom.

Finally at 1am I was getting tired so I headed off to bed and fell asleep.  One of the bad parts about that is when it gets to 6 or 7 am I am awake no matter what.  I am used to 8 to 9 hours of sleep and this 5 to 6 hours is just not going to hold me for the day.

I decided to put some stuff on Craigslist today and see if I can barter for some new items.  My son was able to barter a motorcycle (Crotchrocket) for a nice BMW last night.  Looks and runs good.  You just never know what you will find and what people are willing to trade.  Maybe I can start small and trade up for a Motorhome.  Wouldn't that be fun.

Have a fun day.....

Tournament Play

It was that time of the month to play in the invitation tournament that is put on once a month.  It is fun to play in this one and be able to contribute to the food bank and get prizes as well.

Today was Football month.  We had to wear a jersey, hat, or t-shirt signifying the team you like.  I went wearing my Rams hat.  I had my jersey but forgot to put it on in time and so wore my hat to the tournament.

Normally we start out with T$3,000 in chips and with my hat on and bringing cans for the foodbank and being there early to sign up I was able to start with T$4,500 in chips.  The casino has three tables and two of them were being used for a $2-20 cash game and so we had to start one of our tables out in the pit area on the blackjack table.  That was interesting and getting 10 people to sit at this table was interesting to say the least.  It took us awhile to get down to 8  and get more comfortable.  It was nice losing two at the same time.

I started out really well catching a flush right off the bat and then two hands later I picked up a straight and was able to add to my chips pretty fast.  During the tournament I picked up JJ and then QQ and was running very well on the table. 

Then the well ran dry and I couldn't get a hand at all.  I played fairly tight and picked up what I could to see if I could get to the final table.  When I finally made it to the final table and more comfortable chair I had T$6,500 left and the blinds were at 500/1000.  I went through the blinds and was now down to T$5,000.  I was sitting waiting for the best hand to show up and give me a chance to double up.  With ten players at the table and it looked like 4 short stacks it was going to be ruff for the all-in move.  I had then chip leader on my left which also made it hard to know when to make the move.

My last hand was AKo and I decided this was it.  I moved in my T$5,000 and had two callers.  I was up against JJ and 1010.  When the flop came out it was x10x and that did it for me.  I was out of the tournament and headed home.

The casino gives out a free play in the pit of $5.  I put the slip of paper down and my cards in blackjack showed up as 48.  The dealer had a 3 up.  I went ahead and hit and a 7 came out for me.  I sat and then the dealer showed a 9 for 12 and then proceeded to but with the next card.  I got my $5 and headed to the cage to cash.  Should have let it ride but $5 is better than nothing.

Have a fun day.....

Aggressive at the Table

I went down to Jokers casino yesterday and signed up for the $40 tournament.  I like this tournament or the one they have on Friday.  You get T$10,000 in chips and in this one it is 15 minute rounds.  On Friday you get 20 minute rounds.  That makes Friday more preferable but I will play either one.

I sat down in the number 7 seat and I get a loud person who is on his way to drinking too much.  In fact during the tournament he saw someone walk into the casino and he yells across the room that he is an a..hole and flips him off at the same time.  Nothing is done about this outburst in the room. 

This guy in very loose aggressive and on the very first hand I get Q10.  With the table calling and being in position I decide to go ahead and play.  The flop comes x10x.  The ten was the highest card on the board.  Seat 6 bets and I call his T600.  The turn comes and a Q shows up.  He bets again and I call.  I know have two pair and a spade flush draw.  The river shows a spade and I now have the flush.  He bets I call, should have raised but with the Q10 spades but he might have had a bigger flush.  I turn over the flush and he mucks his cards saying he had two pair as well.

All the way through this tournament I was having to wait for the best hands or when he wasn't playing then I would go ahead and play.  He almost went out of the tournament which would have been good for me.  

On the last hand we were at 1000/2000 blinds and I had QQ in my hand.  I was in the BB and with 7,000 left I went all in.  He called and he turned over AJ.  He started to complain about my pocket pair when the dealer turned over the flop AJx.  This didn't look good and when the turn showed a J I was done.  The river was x and I got up to leave.  

I don't feel bad because I felt I played the cards correctly and waiting for the loose aggresive player to throw his chips away.  Sometimes they just get lucky.

Maybe next week.

Have a fun day....... 

That didn't go Well....

On Tuesday I decided to go play some poker here in town.  The tournament started at 1PM and cost $5 with an add on of another $5 I was able to get T500 more in chips.  That meant I had a total of T$1,500 in chips to start.

I played tight enough that everytime I would enter a pot the flop would come out and not be anywhere near what I had in my hand.  Makes it hard to even play position when the flop is completely in the opposite spectrum of what I had.

I was able to get to the first break and I added on another T500 in chips and just hoped the cards would turn in my favor.  My last hand was J10 offsuit and I decided to go ahead and push all in since I knew I couldn't get anyone out of the pot by just betting.  Sure enough the person next to me called my all in.  The flop was very good to me in that I now had a straight draw.  The straight was completed on the turn but the other guy got a full house when the board paired. 

On Wednesday I decided to go play some $2-4 limit before the tournament and I sat down at 11:45am with $25.  I was getting some good cards to play but the flop again would take me out of the pot.  This time I was dwindled down to nothing and ended up going home after 15 minutes of play.  Not my week to try and play some poker. 

Headed to the west side of the mountains tomorrow afternoon.  Will not have time to play any poker as we will be headed back this way on Saturday afternoon for a wedding reception.  One of those quick trips but we are at least spending the night and not driving all day.

Have a fun day......

Fall is On Its Way

Fall is in the air and the temperature should be in the 80's soon.  We had some thunder and lightning last night and we should have another storm come through on Thursday and then we will start to see the temperatures in the low 80's.  I see a prediction that we will have a day in the high 70's this week.

I have been pretty busy this last week getting the fence done.  Now I will have to clean up the yard from all the old wood left over from the fence.  I am pretty pleased with the finished product.

I have purchased my new books and have been reading the first chapters in the three classes I will start on September 23.  I like to get the head start and if I maintain that I can finish the classes ahead of schedule.  All of my classes will be done online and that always helps.  I don't know what the homework assignments are yet but I should be ready when they show up.  I am taking a computer ethics, computer security and a class in Sharepoint.  Only one more class for winter and I will be done with school and will see if I can get back into the workforce.

I am going to try and play a poker tournament today.  I am not a fan of these $5 tournaments but it will get me out of the house and do something different.

The other day I went out and played disc golf and lost the disc that was given to me to try out.  I don't like hole 14 where the grass and trees are in abundance and I just couldn't come up with the disc after I threw it out trying to get inbetween the trees.

Have a fun day......

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......