I Mean It This Time!
New Year's Resolution season is here! First let me take a look at my 2009 list of goals:
- Lose 30 pounds by June 1st...didn't make the 30, but I am down about 20 pounds from my high in January...I'm proud of my progress.
- Become a winning player at $5/10NL by December 31st...yeah, not so much! Still at $.50/1NL, but running at about 3BB/100 over my last 4,500 hands or so...more work to be done here.
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November...this one didn't happen, but I did cash in a $300 buy-in tourney at Mohegan Sun last month.
- Post at least once per week...lol...but it looks like I didn't post any less this year, either.
- Improve my position at work (or find a new job) by June 1st...10% unemployment rates didn't help me here, but I'm always looking around, keeping my ears open at work, etc.
And now for the 2010 goal checklist:
- Weigh 220 lbs or less by our next trip to Vegas (sometime this summer)
- Become a winning player at $5/$10NL by December 31st (not giving up on this one)
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November (...or this one!)
- Grow our monthly live tournaments at the Lounge (we're averaging around 12-15 entries, I'd like to see this up to at least 20 by year-end)
- Plan three major vacations (Las Vegas, Ocean City (MD), and To Be Determined)
What I'm already doing to accomplish these goals:
- Reducing my carb intake by eating less bread, pasta, potatoes, sweets, etc.
- Reading poker books, blogs, and articles (already 75 pages into Elements of Poker, which I got from my brother-in-law Steve for Christmas...thanks!)
- Reviewing prior poker sessions, talking over hands with Todd, sweat sessions, etc.
- Collecting cell phone numbers & e-mail addresses from new players, and sending out messages reminding everyone of the next tournament.
What else I need to do to accomplish these goals:
- Get back on the low-carb horse after New Year's...I behaved during Thanksgiving, but there was just too much good, starchy, sugar-laden food around me these last couple weeks for me to pass up!
- Get back to the gym...it's at the end of our driveway...c'mon man!
- Buy and read Treat Your Poker Like a Business...and then another poker book, and then another.
- Look into buying a membership to a poker training site...I've got tons of FPP's on Full Tilt I can use to pay for one.
- Play more "main event" qualifiers...Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, maybe even the EPT stop in my dad's birthplace of Dortmund, Germany.
- Send out e-mail recaps of the Lounge tournaments...I used to do this for the private tournaments we ran online, and I think it kept everyone interested...numbers went down when I stopped the recaps.
- Don't waste my sick/vacation days on so many Mental Health Days...plan days off & use them to play in live tournaments and for vacations.
OK now, let me hear a big 'Whoa Bundy' on three!
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A Bland Writeup of a Fun Weekend
Jen & I spent last weekend in the D.C. area to visit my bud Scott K & his man Jamison. Plans were to hit up a local steakery that Scott's been raving about for years, but nasty weekend traffic in New York & New Jersey delayed our arrival in Arlington, VA until after 9:00 Friday night (next time we're flying!). We settled for the always-solid Cheesecake Factory and called it a night rather early...the 7-plus hour drive wore me out.
We were up pretty early on Saturday, since a trip to this greasy spoon was on the agenda. We always hit this place up for breakfast when we visit Scott K...it's crowded, cramped, and loud, but they have good grub. I opted for my usual diner breakfast: bacon & American cheese omelet, home fries, toast, and coffee. Jen went with hash & eggs, and Scott K feasted on waffles with blueberry topping. It's the simple things like breakfast with "my crew" that make me happy.
The afternoon was low-key, highlighted by a trip to the local Harris Teeter supermarket for snacks and a couple bottles of cheap Australian cabernet. Scott K & I (well, mostly Scott K) polished off the wine while we kept tabs on our fantasy baseball teams. Jen worked on her knitting...yes, it's August and my 30-year-old wife is knitting herself a scarf!
I had a nice wino buzz by late-afternoon, which is needed if one is to endure an evening of Washington Nationals baseball. To make sure we were thoroughly primed, we first stopped at an Irish pub for a couple pints of Killian's. Then it was a quick train ride to their new, generically-named Nationals Park. As expected, it's a beautiful stadium, and boasts the largest HD jumbotron in the country...all the better to see replays of the Colorado Rockies beating up on the Nats. Twenty bucks each got us seats in the very top row of the upper deck behind home plate. I gorged on a chili cheeseburger, fries, and helmet sundae while the home team stumbled their way to a 13-6 loss. At least I got to see Troy Tulowitski rack up some points for my fantasy team. Scott K had beered himself into "Sloppy Scott" mode, so I drove us back to his place & we called it a night after watching Michael Phelps win his record eighth gold medal.
Jamison had spent the week in Oregon & Cali, and flew back just in time to join us for Sunday brunch at another Irish pub. They didn't have much variety, but they did have the best Shepherd's Pie I've ever tasted...along with some perfectly medium rare roast beef and standard brunch fare, I thought it was a good value for $15.
Scott K had 4 free tickets to the Nats/Rockies series finale (complete with free food & booze vouchers), but I didn't feel like getting home past midnight and have to drag ass into work on Monday, so Jen & I hit the road around noon. We hit more traffic on the way home...I HATE gridlock! Made it home 7 long hours later.
Hated the drive. Loved the food, drink, and baseball-fueled weekend.
Jen & I spent last weekend in the D.C. area to visit my bud Scott K & his man Jamison. Plans were to hit up a local steakery that Scott's been raving about for years, but nasty weekend traffic in New York & New Jersey delayed our arrival in Arlington, VA until after 9:00 Friday night (next time we're flying!). We settled for the always-solid Cheesecake Factory and called it a night rather early...the 7-plus hour drive wore me out.
We were up pretty early on Saturday, since a trip to this greasy spoon was on the agenda. We always hit this place up for breakfast when we visit Scott K...it's crowded, cramped, and loud, but they have good grub. I opted for my usual diner breakfast: bacon & American cheese omelet, home fries, toast, and coffee. Jen went with hash & eggs, and Scott K feasted on waffles with blueberry topping. It's the simple things like breakfast with "my crew" that make me happy.
The afternoon was low-key, highlighted by a trip to the local Harris Teeter supermarket for snacks and a couple bottles of cheap Australian cabernet. Scott K & I (well, mostly Scott K) polished off the wine while we kept tabs on our fantasy baseball teams. Jen worked on her knitting...yes, it's August and my 30-year-old wife is knitting herself a scarf!
I had a nice wino buzz by late-afternoon, which is needed if one is to endure an evening of Washington Nationals baseball. To make sure we were thoroughly primed, we first stopped at an Irish pub for a couple pints of Killian's. Then it was a quick train ride to their new, generically-named Nationals Park. As expected, it's a beautiful stadium, and boasts the largest HD jumbotron in the country...all the better to see replays of the Colorado Rockies beating up on the Nats. Twenty bucks each got us seats in the very top row of the upper deck behind home plate. I gorged on a chili cheeseburger, fries, and helmet sundae while the home team stumbled their way to a 13-6 loss. At least I got to see Troy Tulowitski rack up some points for my fantasy team. Scott K had beered himself into "Sloppy Scott" mode, so I drove us back to his place & we called it a night after watching Michael Phelps win his record eighth gold medal.
Jamison had spent the week in Oregon & Cali, and flew back just in time to join us for Sunday brunch at another Irish pub. They didn't have much variety, but they did have the best Shepherd's Pie I've ever tasted...along with some perfectly medium rare roast beef and standard brunch fare, I thought it was a good value for $15.
Scott K had 4 free tickets to the Nats/Rockies series finale (complete with free food & booze vouchers), but I didn't feel like getting home past midnight and have to drag ass into work on Monday, so Jen & I hit the road around noon. We hit more traffic on the way home...I HATE gridlock! Made it home 7 long hours later.
Hated the drive. Loved the food, drink, and baseball-fueled weekend.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Blunder Of It All
Got out of work early today, so the wifey & I drove to Foxwoods for a cash giveaway (Jen won the guaranteed minimum of $25, no new car for us). Against my better judgement, I decided to play a little $1/2 NL. Bought in for $200, and watched the middle-aged doofus of a guy to my right check/call all the way with pocket fives on a T-T-9-x-x board, and win. Also saw him call a flop bet, then push his chips in front of his cards - but not across the betting line - on the turn before the guy in front of him could act. It was obviously an attempt to get the other guy to check and see the river for free, so I set my sights on this angle-shooting loser(ASL).
A couple of hands later, ASL raised to $8 pre-flop, and I looked down at A-Q (I feel Hurricane Mikey, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey all cringing as they read this, lol). I popped it up to $23, hoping to get heads-up, which is exactly what happened...nice.
The flop was a beauty: A-Q-9, rainbow.
ASL checked, and after thinking for a couple seconds, I decided to check my two pair as well. This was a huge mistake, since he'd probably call a bet with a lot of worse hands, and I'm only losing to A-A/Q-Q (not likely since I have A-Q) or 9-9.
The turn brought an eight, putting a second heart on the board. ASL checked again, and NOW I decided to bet the $30 I should've bet on the flop. ASL instantly said, "All in," without touching his chips.
I thought for a minute...does he have J-T for a straight? Maybe. Does he have a flush draw? This is a possibility, since he made such a huge raise (he had more chips than me, and I started the hand with about $230). I usually read over-raises as some sort of semi-bluff/drawing hand...plus he didn't move in his chips, which I also read as a sign of weakness. He could also have A-8 for a worse two pair than me, so I decided to call.
Or he could have pocket eights for a set. And of course ASL slow rolled me, showing just an eight, then sliding the top card over to show the other one underneath.
After he hit his two-outter, I missed my four-outter on the river and had to payyy the man heees money.
My usual routine after losing is to go for a long walk around the casino and think about why I lost. Of course the first thing I thought was I should've bet the flop and been happy to take down a $50 pot. But maybe he calls anyway and I still lose my stack, making for an even more lividing exit from the poker room. But I'll never know since I didn't make the correct play in the first place.
So what's worse: playing a hand wrong and losing; or playing a hand right, getting unlucky, losing, and going on tilt? I know the answer is to play every hand correctly, but for some odd reason I don't feel as bad about this hand since it was my mistake to not bet the flop.
The rest of my day at the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation went just fine, as I had dinner with our friends Dennis & Kathy at California Pizza Kitchen. Jen was on a "hot streak" at the slots, and is notoriously never hungry when in a casino, so it was just the three of us. Food was good as usual, I had penne in a pesto cream sauce with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes...yum! We yapped for a while, trading old Vegas and bowling stories. I got to tell them my tale of woe from the poker table, and they were kind enough to listen and give me some much-needed sympathy. I was definitely in a better mood when we left CPK.
I also managed to hit a couple of four-of-a-kinds on video poker, slashing my losses in half. Jen ended up losing too, but we stayed well within our budget for the day.
I just finished my nightly online poker session, and made an unimpressive $15...but at least it wasn't another three-digit loss. The fact that I'm not too upset over the last 24 hours worth of poker badness is a good sign...I'm controlling the tilt factor, which I think is a needed trait if I wish to make consistent money playing cards.
We'll see what tomorrow has in store for me...
Got out of work early today, so the wifey & I drove to Foxwoods for a cash giveaway (Jen won the guaranteed minimum of $25, no new car for us). Against my better judgement, I decided to play a little $1/2 NL. Bought in for $200, and watched the middle-aged doofus of a guy to my right check/call all the way with pocket fives on a T-T-9-x-x board, and win. Also saw him call a flop bet, then push his chips in front of his cards - but not across the betting line - on the turn before the guy in front of him could act. It was obviously an attempt to get the other guy to check and see the river for free, so I set my sights on this angle-shooting loser(ASL).
A couple of hands later, ASL raised to $8 pre-flop, and I looked down at A-Q (I feel Hurricane Mikey, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey all cringing as they read this, lol). I popped it up to $23, hoping to get heads-up, which is exactly what happened...nice.
The flop was a beauty: A-Q-9, rainbow.
ASL checked, and after thinking for a couple seconds, I decided to check my two pair as well. This was a huge mistake, since he'd probably call a bet with a lot of worse hands, and I'm only losing to A-A/Q-Q (not likely since I have A-Q) or 9-9.
The turn brought an eight, putting a second heart on the board. ASL checked again, and NOW I decided to bet the $30 I should've bet on the flop. ASL instantly said, "All in," without touching his chips.
I thought for a minute...does he have J-T for a straight? Maybe. Does he have a flush draw? This is a possibility, since he made such a huge raise (he had more chips than me, and I started the hand with about $230). I usually read over-raises as some sort of semi-bluff/drawing hand...plus he didn't move in his chips, which I also read as a sign of weakness. He could also have A-8 for a worse two pair than me, so I decided to call.
Or he could have pocket eights for a set. And of course ASL slow rolled me, showing just an eight, then sliding the top card over to show the other one underneath.
After he hit his two-outter, I missed my four-outter on the river and had to payyy the man heees money.
My usual routine after losing is to go for a long walk around the casino and think about why I lost. Of course the first thing I thought was I should've bet the flop and been happy to take down a $50 pot. But maybe he calls anyway and I still lose my stack, making for an even more lividing exit from the poker room. But I'll never know since I didn't make the correct play in the first place.
So what's worse: playing a hand wrong and losing; or playing a hand right, getting unlucky, losing, and going on tilt? I know the answer is to play every hand correctly, but for some odd reason I don't feel as bad about this hand since it was my mistake to not bet the flop.
The rest of my day at the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation went just fine, as I had dinner with our friends Dennis & Kathy at California Pizza Kitchen. Jen was on a "hot streak" at the slots, and is notoriously never hungry when in a casino, so it was just the three of us. Food was good as usual, I had penne in a pesto cream sauce with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes...yum! We yapped for a while, trading old Vegas and bowling stories. I got to tell them my tale of woe from the poker table, and they were kind enough to listen and give me some much-needed sympathy. I was definitely in a better mood when we left CPK.
I also managed to hit a couple of four-of-a-kinds on video poker, slashing my losses in half. Jen ended up losing too, but we stayed well within our budget for the day.
I just finished my nightly online poker session, and made an unimpressive $15...but at least it wasn't another three-digit loss. The fact that I'm not too upset over the last 24 hours worth of poker badness is a good sign...I'm controlling the tilt factor, which I think is a needed trait if I wish to make consistent money playing cards.
We'll see what tomorrow has in store for me...
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