Done

That's it.

After the past week, I think I'm going to take a break from Full Tilt for a little while.

I've seen the most ridiculously bad run of cards ever within the past week. Continual set-over-set and aces cracked way too often, summed up by these bad beats within ten hands of each other.

Hand 1: I am UTG with blinds at 50/100. I have about 3200 - holding steady. I limp, there is a raise to 300 at UTG +2, SB pushes in 600 to be all in. I push over the top, and UTG+2 folds.

I flip over A-A, and SB flips over.....5-2. Offsuit.

Flop is 6-3-J. Turn is 3. River is the miracle 4 to take a chunk out of my stack.

I get moved about 2 hands after this and the break happens. Right after the break, I pick up 10-10. I decide to just call a small raise from the button (big stack). Flop is three undercards, all hearts (I have the 10h). Stack bets, I raise back with my overpair, he pushes all in with what I know is an inferior hand, and I call. He flips over Q-9 - with the Q of hearts - and the river brings the last heart, so I'm gone.

Dookie was PLO8B, Turbo. 45 runners. Couldn't do anything early on with any suited aces and then went out when my flopped set of kings fell to a flopped set of aces.

Spook is 6-max NLHE, shortstacked. I pick up K-K, and get called by A-10 with everything in preflop. The turn brings the Ace.

At least I got my writing done for my classes. Three two-page papers. At least something went right today, because not much else did go right. It was pretty awful from start to finish.

Poker Stars is being slightly more random lately, which menas that my hands as favorites actually HOLDING UP WHEN THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO. There is the occasional suckout, but not nearly as bad as FTP has been with bad beat upon badbeat upon bad beat.

I hope November is better, in many many ways.

Already?

Today is Halloween.

Alex is very excited about dressing either as Tow' Mater or as a dinosaur. I'm not sure which it will be.

Sammie will be dressed as a pumpkin, because we feel that we don't have enough ridiculously cute pictures of her yet.

However, over the last few days, Alex has ALREADY begun talking about Christmas.

It's just way too early to think about yet. I'm glad he's excited about Christmas - but it's two months away.

Math Pimp

Mondays at the Hoy....... I get to play it for once. We'll see how it goes.

UPDATE: Break #1, 82 started, 58 left, I am 52nd. I have some work to do.

UPDATE #2: Not the work I wanted. I ran J-J into A-Q and got knocked out. Blech.

Not surprised

A-Rod opts out.

Apparently $30 million a year isn't enough. He won't be back in NY.

Since Boston won, I doubt he'd go there.

Probably only LA or Chicago would work for his insane salary demand. My money is on Chicago.

He definitely won't end up in Atlanta, which is fine with me - the Braves need pitching more anyway.

Texas must be happy, since they'll get back about $21 million.

Moron.

Omacrack

I have no idea why they pushed in front of me - they were dead on every street. At least it made up for the lousy finish in Riverchasers (84th of 104).

Full Tilt Poker Game #3968522110: Table Mountain Spa - $0.10/$0.25 - No Limit Omaha H/L - 23:33:58 ET - 2007/10/25
Seat 1: KorishEmpire ($12.10)
Seat 2: CardsFan2006 ($20.80)
Seat 3: godzilla51 ($2.45)
Seat 4: SU2003champs ($26.80)
Seat 5: APOSEC72 ($20.40)
Seat 6: roonviag ($11.80)
Seat 7: The Madturk ($6.70)
Seat 8: nicalexis ($23)
Seat 9: snides2592 ($49.45)
nicalexis posts the small blind of $0.10
snides2592 posts the big blind of $0.25
5 seconds left to act
roonviag posts $0.25
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to APOSEC72 [4h As Kd Ad]
KorishEmpire has 15 seconds left to act
KorishEmpire folds
CardsFan2006 calls $0.25
godzilla51 folds
SU2003champs folds
APOSEC72 raises to $1
roonviag raises to $11.80, and is all in
The Madturk calls $6.70, and is all in
nicalexis folds
snides2592 folds
CardsFan2006 folds
APOSEC72 has 15 seconds left to act
APOSEC72: hmm
APOSEC72 calls $10.80
roonviag shows [9h 3d 4s Ah]
The Madturk shows [8d Tc Kc Ts]
APOSEC72 shows [4h As Kd Ad]
*** FLOP *** [Qs 3h 5d]
*** TURN *** [Qs 3h 5d] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 3h 5d 5s] [Ac]
roonviag shows two pair, Aces and Fives, for high
APOSEC72 shows a full house, Aces full of Fives, for high
APOSEC72 wins the side pot ($9.70) with a full house, Aces full of Fives
The Madturk shows two pair, Tens and Fives, for high
APOSEC72 wins the main pot ($19.70) with a full house, Aces full of Fives
roonviag is sitting out
The Madturk is sitting out
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $30.90 Main pot $20.70. Side pot $10.20. Rake $1.50
Board: [Qs 3h 5d 5s Ac]
Seat 1: KorishEmpire didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: CardsFan2006 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: godzilla51 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: SU2003champs didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: APOSEC72 showed [4h As Kd Ad] and won ($29.40) with HI: a full house, Aces full of Fives
Seat 6: roonviag showed [9h 3d 4s Ah] and lost with HI: two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 7: The Madturk (button) showed [8d Tc Kc Ts] and lost with HI: two pair, Tens and Fives
Seat 8: nicalexis (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: snides2592 (big blind) folded before the Flop

So there were, like, people there?

Apparently Emory people have actually begun to show up for concerts.

Tonight, that's not a very good thing.

Akon Concert Goes Awry; Canopy Collapses

Apparently that stage at McDonough Field has seen too many shows.

But it don't matter, right?

Apparently it does - the show was cancelled.

Maybe it don't matter, since he wasn't the one who got hurt....

Click for a donation

Click here to help donate to free mammograms.

We just found out yesterday that my oldest sister has Level Three breast cancer, but it may have been caught at an early enough stage, so say a little prayer if you have time.

Eroding Confidence

The storm is getting very, very bad for Absolute Poker and a LOT of people are withdrawing funds or withholding action from Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet (as they are now one and the same company.)

Tough Times for Absolute Poker

UB's seemed shady for a while from everything I've seen on there, but I've not had any bad experiences personally on AP. Still, it does not bode well for them.

Great news, of course, for competing sites who don't have any problems right now, which means Full Tilt and........well, that's about it.

South Florida Bull****

I give up.

If Ohio State falls on Saturday, I am going to laugh my balls off. I was joking about a Kansas-BC BCS game, but they could end up being the last two unbeatens standing!

I don't feel so bad about my picks anymore.

Searching for a slogan

It must be a slow news day.

Apparently, "Every day is an opening day" isn't too catchy, so Brand Atlanta has decided instead to use as Atlanta's slogan, "City Lights, Southern Nights".

I haven't heard yet how the new slogan will help with the extreme drought in the area.

I do wonder, though, if the affiliation with "Southern Nights" (NSFW) is really the one they want considering how much this place advertises on the radio.

Nice job, Shirley.

Flopping Kings in Queens?

Somehow, I don't see this getting anywhere, considering Rudy's and Mike's vigilance against NYC poker, but one can dream.

It's closer than Atlantic City, at least. Hopping on the subway to get to a poker room is better than 2+ hours on the Garden State Parkway.

A Casino in Queens?

Aussie Aussie Aussie (Oi Oi Oi!)

Al, you are the man. I'm cutting and pasting in full, which I don't normally do, because version 2.0 is FREAKING AWESOME.

Time for you to reload. I'd love to go to Australia in January - when it's summer there.

---------------

I fully intended to have a BBTwo up an running by now but I got far too busy planning drinker's get away down near Cuba. I wanted to have something running by now because I had a certain prize in mind that would require starting in late September, early October to complete a three month challenge. But I only thought of my needs and went about getting ready to drink my face off.

When I returned from vacation I began talking to Full Tilt Poker about running another BBT challenge and how much they wanted to be involved. Turns out they want to be really involved. Introducing Battle of the Blogger Tournaments 2: Aussie Millions Challenge.

Full Tilt Poker has given us an $18k Aussie Millions package to give away for our next challenge.
$18,000 Prize Package for you and a friend

The 2008 Aussie Millions Main Event begins Monday, January 14th and promises to be bigger than ever. Play for your $18K prize package, including:

* Aussie Millions Main Event entry worth AUD $10,500
* 10 nights stay at the luxurious Crown Casino Resort
* Round-trip airfare for the winner and a guest from Los Angeles to Melbourne
* $3,000 in spending money
* Winner & Pro golf outings, dinners, winery tours, seminars and a bounty tournament
Pretty god damn cool if you ask me and I was stunned when they brought it up. This was the package I really hoped to give away but thought was lost since I started so late on the planning. An opportunity to send a player and companion to the Land of Oz for 10 days with a $10k tournament thrown in there.

During the original BBT there was some positive and negative comments about the point system plus the number of people awarded points. For the BBTwo you won't have to worry about those points. We will be awarding the Aussie Millions package to the winner of a Tournament of Champions. So if you'd like to win the trip, you have to win one of the events during the eight week run. No worrying about making the points. No worrying about who made the most money during the challenge. Win an event and you are in the TOC and a shot at the Aussie Millions package.

So if you are interested in winning the Aussie Millions package, play them to win them.

But only so many people can win an event during this stretch so what about everyone else? We want everyone to play, enjoy themselves, and have a shot at winning something. Full Tilt Poker has given us the Aussie Millions Package but that's not all they're giving us.

FTP is giving us an entry into their weekly big Sunday guarantee tournaments whic we will reward to the Player of the Week. This is where that pesky point system comes in again. We will be using the same point formula as the last Challenge but this time around only the top 25% of players in each event will receive points. Whoever earns the most points during the week will get a ticket into the FTP Sunday Guarantee Tournament.

The point system will also be used to determine players to qualify for an end of challenge freeroll which is still being worked out.

There are just a couple more things to finalize and we'll get back to you with the details. I have an FTOPS Main Event seat to give away and we're just kicking around ideas of what to do with it. I also have an iPod Touch to give away courtesy of the folks at donkit.com. So many things to give away, so little time to figure out how to give them away.

So there you have it. BBTwo is about to kick off and it's time to reload your FTP account, start firing up those Token Frenzies, and strap in for an 8 week, 27 tournament challenge to see what you are made of.

We are going to kick things off on Sunday, October 21st with the big prizepool in Miami Don's Big Game. The rest of the Blogger Schedule will go as planned except now the Riverchasers events will also be weekly during the challenge. The challenge will run for 8 weeks ending on Sunday, December 16th with another Big Game.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in comments or shoot me an email.

Feel free to pimp your heart out. This is just the beginning, just wait until you see what happens in the spring. More details to come but I wanted to get the information out there. Start loading up on those tokens.

WBCOOP - Hanging Tough

I am sitting with T18000. We started at 10,000 times 1,337 runners. There are 350 remaining, and I am 276th with blinds at 500/1000.

In the BB, I've just gotten rockets and a walk on my blinds. It's been that kind of day.

Hopefully it has a good ending.

5:44: Blinds going up to 750/1500 with 150 ante. I'm at 19K. 234/274.

5:50: A new addition - surflexus is on my right.

5:52: I am now playing this tourney with a lightly sleeping infant on me. Hooray for multitasking.



5:59: Baby = good luck again. up to 115 of 236.

6:02: Table change. Sitting ar 46K.

6:10: Lightly sleeping infant is now heavily sleeping infant in crib. I haven't played many hands and I'm still around 46K in chips near the 3rd break.

6:19: 3rd break. I am 105 of 188 with T57,050. Average is 71K. Another 107 to go.....

6:35: Still hanging tough. 49K. Lost one hand I played from the BB that I shouldn't have played. We are down to 171.

6:43: Heading in the wrong direction - down to 40K with blinds at 1500/3000 and a 300 ante. My stack is getting a bit low for my tastes. 140 left.

6:55: Double up with AK vs. 8-8 when a King hits the flop. Up to 69th of 126.

6:56: Chip up with A-Q against A-4. Over 100K.

7:06: I am 53rd of 111. T107K.

7:19: Very few posts because I'm sharing yogurt with a three year-old on my lap. Still at 100K, 58 of 94.

7:22: Drop to 75K. 71 of 91. 10 to go.

7:24: Break #4. I am 67 of 91 with 75180.

7:31: Back over 100K.

7:45 Bubble time. Sitting at 90K.

7:46: Made it.

7:53: Shortly after bubble, I pick up A-Q. I call a preflop raise. Flop is A-7-4. I check, player bets, I raise all in, he calls and flips up A-K. Turn gives me nut flush draw, but the river bricks. On the next hand I lose with a pair of kings to Broadway and I am out in 71st.

At least I get a PokerStars duffel bag and a deck of cards. It's something. Too bad it's not the iPod, or the Plasma TV. But it's something.

Now what?

Well, it seems like every Saturday this year has been a "day of upsets". Damn near everybody's championship pick has lost one, two, or a bunch of games.

If you picked USF to win the BCS championship, you are lying your ass off.

My picks are already looking pretty damn toasty:

Big East: Louisville (4-3, 1-1 - eh.)
Big Ten: Wisconsin (I thought I had Michigan typed in here. Both of them are in bad shape.)
Big 12: Texas (Lose two in a row, that's probably shot)
Pac Ten: California (was looking good until two hours ago, but still alive for a conference title)
SEC: LSU (was looking good until seven hours ago...now they have to jump eight teams.)
ACC: Florida State (they lost to Wake and Clemson ALREADY?)
MAC: Northern Illinois (1-6, yeah, that's a good pick, dumbass)
MWC: TCU (4-3, maybe)
Sun Belt: Troy (4-2, 3-0 in conference, at least I got this one too.)
WAC: Boise State (4-1, this one's OK so far)
C-USA: Central Florida (3-3, 1-1 in CUSA)

Who;s left among undefeated teams? Ohio State, Boston College, South Florida, Kansas, Hawaii, and Arizona State.

If you picked more than two teams from this group right.........YOU'RE LYING.

So, we probably haven't seen the last of USC, Oklahoma, or maybe even LSU this year. Because there is no damn way there will be a title game between South Florida and Hawaii, or Ohio State and a patsy.

And the BCS rankings haven't even started coming out yet. They don't start until tomorrow.

Family Fun

Two big things this weekend:

1) Taste of Atlanta, in Atlantic Station. Saturday and Sunday. Would be fun to go to,if we weren't going to........

2) Georgia Apple Festival, in Ellijay. We've gone the last two years, and it's always been a lot of fun for the kids, between the rides, booths, and food.

Plus, there's some really good barbecue to be had at Poole's BBQ, complete with the Pig Hill of Fame.

Mmmmm......barbecue....

December WPBT......i wish....

I wish this were just a wee bit later, as in, not during finals, because that might block me from going before even considering it.

Apparently it'll be at the Venetian instead of the IP or Orleans - which I saw just now.

H/t to Falstaff for putting it together - I wish I could go but somehow it doesn't seem likely.

Damn.

December 6-10. Venetian.

I was a what?

H/t GSB.

This actually doesn't seem that weird. I'd much rather be a sailor instead of a shoemaker, though.

Your past life diagnosis:

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern USA South-East around the year 1775. Your profession was that of a sailor or shoemaker.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:Such people are always involved with all new. You have always loved changes, especially in art, music, cooking.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:There is an invisible connection between the material and the spiritual world. Your lesson is to search, find and use this magical bridge.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

Late last week, we managed to get infield tickets to Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans - 10 hours of racing goodness.

They were available from Kim's work through a partnership with their vendors.......and it was a lot of fun. We got to go to the VIP area for Ferrari, and got to go down to Pit Row. We even managed to be there for a pit stop and got to meet Nic Jonsson when he switched off with another driver for a stint.

I've been to a NASCAR race, but never a Formula One race.

Alex got a thrill when the #61 Ferrari pulled out of the garage to go back on the track - RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. He loved it - I wish we hadn't run out of film so we could get the look on his face.

We did, though, get these shots:

We've got our tickets!

Sitting in the infield with our own car (courtesy of the state fair)

Walking through vendor village and meeting a monkey at an exhibit - Alex was much more interested in the monkey that the halter-top tire girls. That will change soon.

AAACK! MONKEY IN MY HAIR!!!!!

From the VIP tent

On Pit Row, where they let us come into the pits.

Maybe my future career?

Nah. I need to slim down some more.

The #61 taking off from pit row.

Three-Day Bender

These aren't quite the condition on which I'd want to be drunk for three days straight. Besides, I haven't had vodka in years. Never could enjoy the taste.

Australian Doctors Use Vodka Drip to Save Poisoned Tourist's Life

H/t Kajagugu.

The Last Laugh

Karma sucks sometimes. Not for me, but for the company. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase set to announce $3 Billion in losses

I guess it's a good thing I'm no longer there or own any stock.

Besides, I needed a little pick-me-up before my test this afternoon - third mid-term of three, then I have two presentations to write tonight and tomorrow, plus a mid-term in a tax class.

It's a busy week. I doubt I will have much time for anything else, but I've always said that busy equals good.

Registration

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1150052

Some of you have already seen this on a bunch of other bloggers' sites, so here's one more.

Cracker

Went to BrainMc's for the latest league game last night, 13 of us to the felt.

Last time, I got my aces cracked on the first level.

This time, I didn't see a decent hand for five levels. I got 7-7 once and A-K once. That was it.

We are down to 8, and I push in my short stack with 8's, and get called by 4's.

After we lose a couple, down to 6 with 3 paying, and I've chipped up a little, I get K-J in the SB. Late position limp. Blinds are 300/600, and I have about 3000. I decide to just complete the blind, but was debating a push.

Flop came out k-j-6, and I call an all in from a bigger stack with......A-A. I've cracked them, and move up in chips to almost the lead.

The very next hand.....I get A-A. Same players pushes in preflop, and of course, I call. KK v. AA, and I think I will have a commanding lead - but to get me back, my aces are cracked with a K on the flop.

I am crippled again, and have to push soon after with J-7 diamonds against Q-J, so I finish in 6th.

Pocket Aces showed up 4 times last night for various players - and lost all four times. In both my times, I've had aces cracked, though this time was slightly easier to take.

The lesson here...NEVER play pocket aces :) 7-2 won more hands last night than A-A.

March 17th Is Just Another Day Next Year

I just heard this from Celtic Atlanta. H/t Gordd Cymru.

Apparently, next year, Easter will take place on March 23rd. This means that Holy Week will start on March 16. St. Patrick's Day next year will instead take place on Saturday, March 15, 2008.

In related news, the St. Pat's Atlanta committee is having a barbecue event in early November.

Mmmm.......barbecue.

Parental Advisory

Thanks to the lovely wife for the heads-up.

The FDA put out a warning about cold medicine for young children, in a concise 350-page survey.

Specifically, it deals with antihistamine and decongestant use in kids under 6.

For any parents out there who read this, it's pretty pertinent.

We now return to your regularly scheduled silliness.

Getting Even Worse

OK, this is starting to seem like piling on for Mets fans.

At least he won't be back with the team.........?

I will say, though - the one-game playoff tonight between San Diego and Colorado was one of the best I've seen in a while. Wow.

How did the picks from March pan out?

AL East: Picked NY, Boston won.
AL Central: Picked Cleveland - right.
AL West: Picked Texas, which was a stupid pick, because Anaheim won.
AL WC: Picked Chicago, it was NY.

NL East: Picked Atlanta. Oops.
NL Central: Picked Milwaukee (which wasn't too bad) and the CUBS??!?! win it.
NL West: Picked Dodgers, it was Arizona.
NL WC: Picked the Mets. Again, oops.

Bottom line, I should have used a dartboard. I only got 2 of 8 teams right. Somehow, I don't think I'm alone in getting so many wrong, though.

Sure to Last

It's good to see old-fashioned romance blossom.

Pam Anderson and Rick Salomon Obtain Marriage License

The money quote (for those that haven't heard the story):

"Anderson revealed she had fallen in love with a poker player who offered to pay off her $250,000 (£125,000) gambling debt for a night of sex. Anderson ... candidly told DeGeneres that she eventually succumbed to the rich fan's offer, explaining, "It worked out, I liked it... I paid off a poker debt with sexual favours and fell in love. It's so romantic."

Salomon is best known for 'starring' alongside Paris Hilton in sex tape 1 Night In Paris."

Total old-fashioned romance. The kids must love this. She found one of the few guys more fucked up than Tommy Lee.

Golly.