"Life is Poker"

I find it amazing the similarities between life and poker. When bad beats happen they tend to happen in a wave. The key thing is how you handle the bad beats. I think one of the reasons I have survived online poker is my approach to those negative runs of cards. I just continue to move forward one hand at a time. I have had two huge negative runs on PartyPoker, but I also had some positive ones. My wife on the other hand would not be a good poker player. Bad beats are cumulative in her mind. Every single bad beat adds to the next until the volcano erupts. We have had a series of bad beats recently.

9/20 I lost my job!
10/19 Our AC went out and the weather was in the 95 degree range ($450).
10/20 The van breaks down, needing alternator and battery ($500)
10/22 An elderly gentleman backed up twice into the side of our 2002 Honda Accord ($2500+)

It was a good thing that I happened to also be at Sonic when this happened. My wife was speechless and angry. I dealt with the situation, but now we wait to see what hand we were dealt. I hope it is a winning hand. Unfortunately we do have some compassion for the elderly gentleman and we are not sure how the hand will be played.

Speaking of hands, I played in a nice tournament yesterday. I must say the Alpha Omicron chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha did a fantastic job running the tournament. I played fairly well and made it to the final table. The tournament was paying the top five. My chip stack was probably third from the bottom.

A side note is that I had the pleasure of playing with Matt Dean, the 7th place finisher in this years WSOP. He definitely made the game fun! Great personality and an absolute pleasure to play with. I also want to note that anytime someone was eliminated they left the tournament with a huge round of applause. Super job!

Now to quickly get to my demise. Hind sight I should have never made this play, but my rationale was that I simply was not getting any cards. Blinds were $150/$300 and my stack was around $2K. You can only muck so may two's, sevens, three's, and nines. I knew I had to make a move and many of the players folded on any bold move. I was under the gun with KQ off suit. I went all in! Everyone folded but one player. He thought for a long long time then called me. He turned over pocket Jacks. I still had a reasonable coin toss, but my paint card never materialized. I was knocked out 8th or 9th. The move haunted me all evening. Perhaps if I just played conservatively I could have made it to the money. My objective however was to win!! By the way it was Matt's brother who called me with JJ. Later that evening I read a post online were Matt stated he had to go All-in a couple of times during the WSOP with pocket Jacks and his hand held up several times. Makes sense his brother would also prevail. Hee Hee!

Again super job to the Pikes! I played a ton of dealers choice back in my day at the University, so it was great to play again. I was the only old timer at the final table, so perhaps that is a victory all by itself. I had a fantastic time. I also completely enjoyed seeing folks that I had not seen in 20 years and also meeting new folks. Last time I went to the Pike house I felt unwelcomed, but this time I felt right at home. Thanks!

Congratulations to Matt Dean! He is definitely a class act! Perhaps some day I too will experience the gut wrenching struggle of competing in the WSOP.

Play on says "Crazy" Carl!

"Coaching errors!"

Watching my favorite baseball team in the playoffs and I must comment. Backe was pitching a super game. They pull him and bring in Qualls to pitch to Rolen. I started jumping up and down and cursing it as a bad coaching error. I was right! Now the Astros are losing 7-4. Backe owned Rolen early in the game and Astro bullpen lost two key games against the Braves. I am not giving up, but these coaches need to get their act together! Take a chance on a young enthusiastic pitcher. My money was on Backe to take Rolen down and get out of the inning. We will never know.

Speaking of money I am still unemployeed. Seems like I should be writing every day, but I have a long list of chores I would like to accomplish while I can. I primed the garage today and will paint it tomorrow.

I did watch about 30 seconds of the debate. My only comment is that two candidates said the same exact BS as they stated in the first two debates. Boring! Lets really talk about the issues!

One poker tidbit! I learned a valuable lesson today at Dynamite. They give $100 to the highest holdem hand of the day. I was playing a .25/.50 holdem game. I got a Royal Flush. I bet .50! Everyone folded, so the hand did not count as the high hand of the day. Figures! Next time I am going to check! My luck I am sure there was another reason the hand may not have qualified. I am sure that is my only Royal for 2004!

Play on!

"The Big Gamble Fails Again!"

For the past 4 years I have been playing the big gamble. The gamble is working for a start-up software company in hopes of making those stock options pay off big. Well on 9/20 the big gamble failed again! The CEO calls a meeting and tells everyone that the company is being sold, so here is your two weeks severance. Wahooooieee! Sweat equity results in a grand total of 2 weeks severance. Now the big question is do I gamble again? I think working for a start-up software company is like hoping for the inside straight draw on the river.

Speaking of poker I was in a $1/2 game yesterday. I got pocket Kings early and pressed the betting to the max. The board showed three fours. You guessed it! At the show down the "A" man turned over pocket aces. I lost most of my $40 buy in in one smooth smack. I hung in there until the host decided to switch to a round of no limit holdem. I had AQo. The board flops an Ace, but three hearts. I bet $10, which was half my stack. I get called by the "D" man. The turn is the king of hearts. I have to take a peek at my hole cards. I beg - Please be the Queen of hearts!! Sure enough it is, so I have the nut flush. I go all-in. "D" man calls my $11 wager. Yes! Rags to riches story! I had been down as low as $8. I ended up leaving an hour late to the ire of the Mrs.. I did profit a grand total of $12 after paying for my Guinnesses!

Thanks to Wiggy for hosting and providing the delicious venison sausage and fajitas! This week I will have to make the decision once again on the big gamble. Tough one when you do not have a read!

Play on!