This weekend the PQ and I decided to change things up a little. Instead of playing poker on Saturday we decided to play a tourney on Sunday afternoon instead. Maybe we were hoping to improve our results or maybe it was just a factor of her being sleepy on Saturday afternoon and me working some OT hours. I did drop by the Poker room on Saturday after getting out of work (my work is only a mile or 2 from Derby Lane) and played a little Omaha 8OB. Had a little fun though I didn't get to play long before the table broke. I made a few dollars and didn't feel like playing any holdem so I headed home a little bit ahead. Nice for a change.
Sunday we headed over there for the 4pm tourney. 6000 chips and 20 minute blinds so you get a bit of play but you can't waste too much time. I took down a couple of hands without showing and also got into one with 85 of clubs. Flop was 10-5-5. Oh yes. The big blind leads out and a guy 2 places to his left and I both call. Turn is a 3. Nothing scary, the big blind checks and I'm wondering how I want to play this when the guy left of the big blind bets out for 500. Now I'm a little concerned because the only thing I can put him on right now is another 5 or a big pair and since he didn't raise preflop I really couldn't see that. So I just call. River is a harmless queen and he bets out another 500. I really thought about raising to 1500 or 2000 but decided just to call. If he does have a 5 with a better kicker he is definitely calling there. The big blind flipped over a 10 and the other guy flipped over a 5 with another 8 so we split up the pot while I breathed a sigh of relief.
I had chipped up to a bit over 9K when the 3rd level started (75-150) and the poker gods decided to really uck with me. I had been watching the woman in seat 7 and she was not a tourney player at all. She was used to cash games and would stay in on almost any pair against raises. She had sucked out on one guy by calling a good sized raise with 3rd pair and catching trips but she had also managed to give it all back plus some and was down to a bit over 5K then. I look down at AK off in middle position and raise to 525. I get 4 callers including the woman in the small blind. Flop is nice K-7-6 rainbow. It's checked to me and I bet 1500 which is about 3/4 of the pot. Everyone folds but the woman in the small blind. I can see she has 3300 left and I figure on the next card I will put her all in as I'm sure she has a pair and I'm also sure she is behind. Next card is a 3. She looks at it and then says "I'm all in". That made me pause for a second. Did she play 4-5 and hit a straight or maybe K3. I would put either past her after watching her play but I decided to call her anyway. I flip over my AK and she shows K...................2!! Really? You think I'm betting this much without at least top pair and a lot better kicker than 2?? My joy is short lived as the dealer burns a card and puts a 2 up on the river. Fuck me.
Very next hand I look down at JJ. Seat 9 is under the gun and pushes all in for 1800. It gets folded to me and I push all in for 3600. Everyone folds to the big blind who thinks for a couple of beats before folding AJ. My opponent flips over A8 and I'm feeling pretty good about my chances, especially with one of his outs gone. Of course one of my jacks are gone too but I don't need to improve. The dealer burns a card and then flips over KKK. Oh boy, I can see it now, the fourth K on the turn or river and I lose to this clown and his ace. The turn is a J. Unexpected but no help with the 3 kings on the board. Still I only have to dodge the last K or the last A and I add back some of the chips I lost the previous hand. Of course the river is the last Ace. 3 outed and 2 outed on the river in successive hands. WTF, did the poker gods think my name was Lightning??
After that it was a struggle to survive. I won a small pot to move up to 2200 then got KK under the gun. I pushed all in and got 3 callers. The flop was AQ8 and I figure my day is done now but no one bets. Turn is a low card and the river is a blank as well. One guy to my left bets and is called and I'm packing up my stuff but no, the guy to my left has QJ and wins the side pot and my KK takes down the main pot for a quadruple up. So I'm up to 9K at the break which leaves me better than I was but not as good as I should be and a little below the average stack. After the break nothing went well but I hung in there. Got a break when I made trip sixes to beat a pair of 8s but my downfall came when my KJ was beaten by Q3 and I went out 13. Just once I'd like to be the big stack going into the last table or 2 instead of being short and struggling to get to average. But that was not how the gods saw it today. Maybe another day will be better.
I got one week more of work before I take a vacation. I am taking not just one but 2 weeks straight away from work. I need it. The first week the PQ, the daughter and I are driving up to Pensacola to help my niece move in to her college along with her sister and mother. From there, we are going to New Orleans for a few days of fun and games, just the PQ and the daughter and myself. We were looking to spend some time in Biloxi at one of the Harrahs properties but could not get a great deal on a room there (one day free but $150 after that) and so we checked New Orleans which is only an hour further down the road. We've never spent time in NOLa and Harrah's only has a limited number of rooms at the hotel but they have deals with other hotels around the casino so we will be staying for free at the Hilton right across the street. If we had gone to Biloxi we weren't planning on taking our daughter as there isn't really anything for her to do there and she is still too young to gamble but NO is another story. The PQ and I will do some gambling but we'll be doing other things too and we'll be able to do it all together. The daughter has always wanted to go there so this will be fun for her hopefully.
Well that's enough for me. Time for bed as I have a lot more overtime to work this week to get ready for this vacation. Stay lucky all you gamblers. And pray to the poker gods for forgiveness, perhaps sacrifice a goat or a lamb or even your first born. I may do all 3 except I'll probably have to substitute my 3rd born as the first born can probably take me. The way my luck is going, I must have really offended them. Those sacrifices may not be enough.
Random thoughts about my interests which include (in no particular order) poker, finance & investing, politics, football and whatever else I happen to see that piques my interest
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Fooling myself
I decided yesterday was a good day to head to the Hard Rock in Tampa and take a shot at the nitty old men at the Omaha 8OB table. There wasn't a table going when I got there at 11 but I was number 10 on the list and they opened a table almost immediately after that. I got a seat and sat down for a hopefully profitable session on the poker tables.
I should have listened to Styx on the way over there because Fooling Yourself fit perfectly. I sat there and dumped worthless hand after worthless hand for hours. I have had some bad sessions like that before but eventually the cards always turn and when they do they can turn big. Not yesterday. I dumped almost every hand that wasn't in the blinds preflop in the first hour. Every decent hand had lousy flops and there weren't many of those. I did showdown one hand with the nut flush but that was beaten by a boat. I expected it but the guy played so loose he could have had a set or a lower flush as well. A lot of loose calls especially preflop. A number of hands went 9 handed to flop, everyone but me. Of course most of them were getting better cards than I was too so that helped them but I was surprised by some of the winning hands.
In an hour I'm down about fifty bucks and UTG in a kill pot where blinds at 6-12. I don't like being in a hand in this position without a really good hand but I look down at KQJ10 with the Q10 suited. Not great but an ok hand. I was just sick of folding and decided to play it. Flop is near perfect. AQ10 with the AQ of clubs. OK not perfect but I did flop Broadway. I bet out and got 4 callers. One guy was already all in preflop. I figure I'll lose to a flush but I'm gonna push what I got. I do have the club king but no other club in my hand. Turn is a nice safe 8 of diamonds. I keep betting and they keep calling. Hoping for a red 9 on the river but it's a jack instead. I figure I'm splitting this pot but bet anyway. Everyone folds so I take a nice sidepot but I split the main with the all in who also flopped Broadway. Beats a stick in the eye and gets me just back over my starting stack to boot.
The next 3 hours were more of the same without the nice hand to get me back to even. My stack dwindled and though I rebought a partial buy in as it got lower I just didn't want to throw in too much money, especially since I was gonna leave around 3 to head home and cook. I can't tell you how many times I saw hands with 5,7,9. Or I'd see 3 good cards like QJ10 and then get a 3. I fold fold fold waiting for something to turn but its in vain. Twice I did get AA in my hand and flop a set of aces and lost both times to a flush and a straight. The second was the worst as the guy kept pushing his flush draw, doing my betting for me while I reraised him. Then the river gives him a straight instead. So I decided 4 hours of this was enough and took my losses and myself from the poker room. I did manage to make it up playing a little 3 card poker so I left the building even. Beats leaving having lost everything. What was irritating was having an easy table to beat down and never catching the cards to do it. It's like playing holdem against a bunch of aggro donks who will call down anything with 3rd pair and raise on crap but keep getting 73 off and never hitting anything. Every once in a while you get AK and see 872 flops while you're idiotic opponents are calling you with 72.
I might go play some today but after yesterday's lack of luck I'm a little leery of hitting the tables. I know the PQ wants to play in a tourney tonight so maybe I'll get her to drop me at Derby Lane this afternoon while she naps then join her in the tourney. Anyway stay lucky people.
I should have listened to Styx on the way over there because Fooling Yourself fit perfectly. I sat there and dumped worthless hand after worthless hand for hours. I have had some bad sessions like that before but eventually the cards always turn and when they do they can turn big. Not yesterday. I dumped almost every hand that wasn't in the blinds preflop in the first hour. Every decent hand had lousy flops and there weren't many of those. I did showdown one hand with the nut flush but that was beaten by a boat. I expected it but the guy played so loose he could have had a set or a lower flush as well. A lot of loose calls especially preflop. A number of hands went 9 handed to flop, everyone but me. Of course most of them were getting better cards than I was too so that helped them but I was surprised by some of the winning hands.
In an hour I'm down about fifty bucks and UTG in a kill pot where blinds at 6-12. I don't like being in a hand in this position without a really good hand but I look down at KQJ10 with the Q10 suited. Not great but an ok hand. I was just sick of folding and decided to play it. Flop is near perfect. AQ10 with the AQ of clubs. OK not perfect but I did flop Broadway. I bet out and got 4 callers. One guy was already all in preflop. I figure I'll lose to a flush but I'm gonna push what I got. I do have the club king but no other club in my hand. Turn is a nice safe 8 of diamonds. I keep betting and they keep calling. Hoping for a red 9 on the river but it's a jack instead. I figure I'm splitting this pot but bet anyway. Everyone folds so I take a nice sidepot but I split the main with the all in who also flopped Broadway. Beats a stick in the eye and gets me just back over my starting stack to boot.
The next 3 hours were more of the same without the nice hand to get me back to even. My stack dwindled and though I rebought a partial buy in as it got lower I just didn't want to throw in too much money, especially since I was gonna leave around 3 to head home and cook. I can't tell you how many times I saw hands with 5,7,9. Or I'd see 3 good cards like QJ10 and then get a 3. I fold fold fold waiting for something to turn but its in vain. Twice I did get AA in my hand and flop a set of aces and lost both times to a flush and a straight. The second was the worst as the guy kept pushing his flush draw, doing my betting for me while I reraised him. Then the river gives him a straight instead. So I decided 4 hours of this was enough and took my losses and myself from the poker room. I did manage to make it up playing a little 3 card poker so I left the building even. Beats leaving having lost everything. What was irritating was having an easy table to beat down and never catching the cards to do it. It's like playing holdem against a bunch of aggro donks who will call down anything with 3rd pair and raise on crap but keep getting 73 off and never hitting anything. Every once in a while you get AK and see 872 flops while you're idiotic opponents are calling you with 72.
I might go play some today but after yesterday's lack of luck I'm a little leery of hitting the tables. I know the PQ wants to play in a tourney tonight so maybe I'll get her to drop me at Derby Lane this afternoon while she naps then join her in the tourney. Anyway stay lucky people.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Well I'm taking my time
I'm just movin on.
You'll forget about me after I've been gone.
Old fogies like me might remember those lyrics come from the song Long Time by Boston. I've always liked the song quite a bit, especially when they play it with the instrumental lead in (title on that is Foreplay) together. And as the song said, I'm taking a little time today and tomorrow for myself. Call it my birthday present to myself.
Yes Tuesday I passed another milestone and celebrated the 52nd anniversary of my birth. Every birthday seems to make me more reflective. Hell I have a lot more years behind me now than I have in front of me probably. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I had regrets. I gots plenty of those. When I was 25, I figured I'd know the answers by this time. Instead, I have more questions now than I had then. Whatever answers I've come up with don't really seem to matter. I hope I can be around for awhile and impart a little wisdom to my children as they get older. I really missed having that with my parents, that's probably one of my biggest regrets. But hell, I could spend my days off moping about what I didn't do or trying to do better in the future. After all time marches on. And it keeps on marching whether we want it to or not. That 9 year old in the picture is now 27, the 8 year old is 25 and the 3 year old is almost 19. I wonder if they'll look at me for answers to things they don't know. I wonder if they sometimes think I'm as full of shit as I sometimes know I am.
I had a good birthday though. My oldest son and his girlfriend gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. I turned that into a copy of this
I spent a couple of hours today reading it and remembering back to 2005-06 when I was reading the Tao of Poker religiously and for updates at the WSOP.
My other son and his girlfriend gave me an Amazon gift card. I haven't decided what to get with that but I'm leaning in this direction
because what's the sense in being a watch whore if you're not gonna do your best to live up to the name. But maybe I'll go for something else. Unfortunately my reader doesn't have a kindle app, though I'm checking on whether I can get one.
I got one other gift. A $950 bill from my mechanic. My old Ford Contour decided to blow out a power steering hose. Power steering fluid leaked all over the ground and it felt like driving a truck. Unfortunately the geniuses at Ford located the power steering hoses at the bottom of the engine and you have to take apart half the engine to get to them. 6 and a half hour job in a garage. Between that and the vacuum leaks I had, I put $1000 down and got 50 back in change.
So I haven't done much today. I was thinking about hitting the gun range and getting in a little recoil therapy today but decided I wanted to nap and wash some clothes instead. Going out to dinner tonight with the PQ and the daughter. Tomorrow I am thinking of visiting the Hard Rock in the morning and getting in some Omaha 8OB fun. If it goes well I'll probably be there for a good while. If it doesn't I'll probably come back home and then hit the range to take it out on some targets. Either way it beats the hell out of working all day on a Friday.
Last weekend I got out ot Derby Lane for the 6pm tourney. I played very tight but really aggressively when I did get in a hand. It helped that I caught some cards when I did get into a hand. I folded for the first 2 circuits or so before raising in mid position with a suited 4-2. Guy on my right is the only caller. Flop is KQJ and I make an almost pot sized bet. Turn is a 5 putting a 2 spades plus that straight draw on the board. Guy checks to me again and I bet 1500 which is about pot sized. He looks at me, thinks a while, starts talking to himself about moving all in then finally folds. I don't bluff a lot and I was really happy to get away with that one.
I limped in the big blind with A4 suited a bit later. Flopped the flush draw and then the turn gave me a gutshot straight as well. I also figured an Ace might win for me too so I called the flop and turn bets, almost reraised the turn but didn't. River bricked so I ended up dumping it and losing some chips back. The next hand I entered I raised with 99 on the button. Got one caller in the big blind. Flop was 225 and I really hoped he hadn't called with 7-2. I bet out 2/3 of the pot and he called. Turn was a 9. Can you say bingo? He checked and I checked behind. I really thought that would make him push in on the river but the river was a brick and he checked again. I bet a bit more than half his stack again figuring he might go all in on me. He at least made me happy by calling but I was really angling for to get his stack, maybe I should have bet more on the river. I flipped over my boat a bit angrily as I didn't play that as well as I should have. He had 88 and was surprised to see my nines.
I got to the break in great shape at about 13K in chips (started with 6K) but after that things went downhill and quickly. I got 99 again in late position and raised it. The button is on the shortstack and pushes all in. It was only 1500 more than my raise and I hoped at worst it was 50/50 but he turned up the dreaded KK. I was unable to Rob him and gave up some chips. Gave up more when my AK lost to A9 and before I knew it I was down to 6K again. There had already been some weird things at the table including the guy I bluffed getting it all in with KK and losing to 73 when the guy rivered a straight. I was in late position and had been biding my time for a bit when I got 10-5 suited and raised almost 4x the big blind. Everyone folded except for the big blind. We saw a flop of QQ5. I just looked at him and figured if he has a queen or a big pair I'm packing it up anyway so I pushed all in with my 5s. He called pretty quickly and I just murmured "uh oh" to the red sox fan on my left. I figured him for a pocket pair then when I was hoping he had something like AJ. He did flip over a pocket pair but he shocked me by flipping over 22. He had a little less in chips than I did so he put his whole tourney in on those deuces. He bricked the turn and river and it was good bye. I was shocked I was still in after that hand. When he called I was sure I was going home. 22? Really? I guess he read me with AK or something and figured he was ahead. He trusted his read. Much to his detriment. I'm sure he was shocked to see my 10-5.
I don't remember too much after that but for some reason my raises got a fair amount of respect even after showing down 10-5 and I was able to avoid trouble like when the guy next to me turned a straight with 3-4 when I had paired my ace. I kept building my stack a little at a time and made it to over 25K when we got down to 1 table. 25K at my table was a pretty good sized stack but at the other table that combined with mine 4 of 5 people had more. Since we were only paying 5 places I knew I had my work cut out for me.
I knocked one shorty out when my AK held over his AQ. 2 others went pretty quickly as well. Blinds and antes were going up pretty quickly and we just started trading chips back and forth. I was in 4th place but I could easily slip to 6th in a hand or 2. I dragged a few pots with well timed aggression but I wasn't getting anything much to work with. Finally the shortest stack gets knocked out and we're in the money. There's 3 really big stacks, another guy with a stack like mine and there's me. But I'm feeling pretty good and I know with a break or 2 I can double up and get into this. I'm in the big blind and get 99. Ok time to go to war. Big stack 2 to my left limps and the big stack in the small blind just calls. So I push all in. Guy on my left goes all in as well. Guy on my right starts thinking and finally folds AJ face up. He really wanted to call me but the other guy pushed him off. Guy on my left flips over A8 and I put down my 9s. I like my chances, one of the aces is gone, he is basically drawing to 2 outs and I've got 2 outs as well. Flop is JJ8 and the guy to my right is losing it. I breath a sigh of relief until another 8 falls on the turn. My 2 outer does not hit the river and I'm out in 5th. So I hit the money at least. It felt like like kissing a relative.
You'll forget about me after I've been gone.
Old fogies like me might remember those lyrics come from the song Long Time by Boston. I've always liked the song quite a bit, especially when they play it with the instrumental lead in (title on that is Foreplay) together. And as the song said, I'm taking a little time today and tomorrow for myself. Call it my birthday present to myself.
Yes Tuesday I passed another milestone and celebrated the 52nd anniversary of my birth. Every birthday seems to make me more reflective. Hell I have a lot more years behind me now than I have in front of me probably. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I had regrets. I gots plenty of those. When I was 25, I figured I'd know the answers by this time. Instead, I have more questions now than I had then. Whatever answers I've come up with don't really seem to matter. I hope I can be around for awhile and impart a little wisdom to my children as they get older. I really missed having that with my parents, that's probably one of my biggest regrets. But hell, I could spend my days off moping about what I didn't do or trying to do better in the future. After all time marches on. And it keeps on marching whether we want it to or not. That 9 year old in the picture is now 27, the 8 year old is 25 and the 3 year old is almost 19. I wonder if they'll look at me for answers to things they don't know. I wonder if they sometimes think I'm as full of shit as I sometimes know I am.
I had a good birthday though. My oldest son and his girlfriend gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. I turned that into a copy of this
I spent a couple of hours today reading it and remembering back to 2005-06 when I was reading the Tao of Poker religiously and for updates at the WSOP.
My other son and his girlfriend gave me an Amazon gift card. I haven't decided what to get with that but I'm leaning in this direction
I got one other gift. A $950 bill from my mechanic. My old Ford Contour decided to blow out a power steering hose. Power steering fluid leaked all over the ground and it felt like driving a truck. Unfortunately the geniuses at Ford located the power steering hoses at the bottom of the engine and you have to take apart half the engine to get to them. 6 and a half hour job in a garage. Between that and the vacuum leaks I had, I put $1000 down and got 50 back in change.
So I haven't done much today. I was thinking about hitting the gun range and getting in a little recoil therapy today but decided I wanted to nap and wash some clothes instead. Going out to dinner tonight with the PQ and the daughter. Tomorrow I am thinking of visiting the Hard Rock in the morning and getting in some Omaha 8OB fun. If it goes well I'll probably be there for a good while. If it doesn't I'll probably come back home and then hit the range to take it out on some targets. Either way it beats the hell out of working all day on a Friday.
Last weekend I got out ot Derby Lane for the 6pm tourney. I played very tight but really aggressively when I did get in a hand. It helped that I caught some cards when I did get into a hand. I folded for the first 2 circuits or so before raising in mid position with a suited 4-2. Guy on my right is the only caller. Flop is KQJ and I make an almost pot sized bet. Turn is a 5 putting a 2 spades plus that straight draw on the board. Guy checks to me again and I bet 1500 which is about pot sized. He looks at me, thinks a while, starts talking to himself about moving all in then finally folds. I don't bluff a lot and I was really happy to get away with that one.
I limped in the big blind with A4 suited a bit later. Flopped the flush draw and then the turn gave me a gutshot straight as well. I also figured an Ace might win for me too so I called the flop and turn bets, almost reraised the turn but didn't. River bricked so I ended up dumping it and losing some chips back. The next hand I entered I raised with 99 on the button. Got one caller in the big blind. Flop was 225 and I really hoped he hadn't called with 7-2. I bet out 2/3 of the pot and he called. Turn was a 9. Can you say bingo? He checked and I checked behind. I really thought that would make him push in on the river but the river was a brick and he checked again. I bet a bit more than half his stack again figuring he might go all in on me. He at least made me happy by calling but I was really angling for to get his stack, maybe I should have bet more on the river. I flipped over my boat a bit angrily as I didn't play that as well as I should have. He had 88 and was surprised to see my nines.
I got to the break in great shape at about 13K in chips (started with 6K) but after that things went downhill and quickly. I got 99 again in late position and raised it. The button is on the shortstack and pushes all in. It was only 1500 more than my raise and I hoped at worst it was 50/50 but he turned up the dreaded KK. I was unable to Rob him and gave up some chips. Gave up more when my AK lost to A9 and before I knew it I was down to 6K again. There had already been some weird things at the table including the guy I bluffed getting it all in with KK and losing to 73 when the guy rivered a straight. I was in late position and had been biding my time for a bit when I got 10-5 suited and raised almost 4x the big blind. Everyone folded except for the big blind. We saw a flop of QQ5. I just looked at him and figured if he has a queen or a big pair I'm packing it up anyway so I pushed all in with my 5s. He called pretty quickly and I just murmured "uh oh" to the red sox fan on my left. I figured him for a pocket pair then when I was hoping he had something like AJ. He did flip over a pocket pair but he shocked me by flipping over 22. He had a little less in chips than I did so he put his whole tourney in on those deuces. He bricked the turn and river and it was good bye. I was shocked I was still in after that hand. When he called I was sure I was going home. 22? Really? I guess he read me with AK or something and figured he was ahead. He trusted his read. Much to his detriment. I'm sure he was shocked to see my 10-5.
I don't remember too much after that but for some reason my raises got a fair amount of respect even after showing down 10-5 and I was able to avoid trouble like when the guy next to me turned a straight with 3-4 when I had paired my ace. I kept building my stack a little at a time and made it to over 25K when we got down to 1 table. 25K at my table was a pretty good sized stack but at the other table that combined with mine 4 of 5 people had more. Since we were only paying 5 places I knew I had my work cut out for me.
I knocked one shorty out when my AK held over his AQ. 2 others went pretty quickly as well. Blinds and antes were going up pretty quickly and we just started trading chips back and forth. I was in 4th place but I could easily slip to 6th in a hand or 2. I dragged a few pots with well timed aggression but I wasn't getting anything much to work with. Finally the shortest stack gets knocked out and we're in the money. There's 3 really big stacks, another guy with a stack like mine and there's me. But I'm feeling pretty good and I know with a break or 2 I can double up and get into this. I'm in the big blind and get 99. Ok time to go to war. Big stack 2 to my left limps and the big stack in the small blind just calls. So I push all in. Guy on my left goes all in as well. Guy on my right starts thinking and finally folds AJ face up. He really wanted to call me but the other guy pushed him off. Guy on my left flips over A8 and I put down my 9s. I like my chances, one of the aces is gone, he is basically drawing to 2 outs and I've got 2 outs as well. Flop is JJ8 and the guy to my right is losing it. I breath a sigh of relief until another 8 falls on the turn. My 2 outer does not hit the river and I'm out in 5th. So I hit the money at least. It felt like like kissing a relative.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Lets get the scientists involved, thats the ticket
I often wonder how much we should listen to scientists and other so called experts about whatever it is they are researching. While never a big believe in man made global warming, I do believe the earth has gotten warmer over the past 50 years. I also think we'll get over it. At some point we will cool off again too. No one ever talks about things like the mini ice age that occurred before the industrial revolution. We obviously didn't cause the earth the get cooler then but now with all our machinery and cars etc we are making it warmer. I will hold out that this is possibly true. I will also hold out that NOTHING I have seen proves to me that we are the cause of it and when I read about how leading scientific establishments have fudged the data to make it fit their theories like here and here, I listen a lot less.
What brought this on you may ask. Well I just watched a program about cane toads and now I am watching one about the whale that blew up. I was hoping this was about the whale that was dynamited (yes blowed up see this story) in Oregon in the early 70s. It's a pretty funny story about combining TNT with a dead whale. But I was wrong. It was a bout a dead sperm whale, a 50 or 60 foot one, that washed up in Taiwan and after the geniuses decided to remove it to the local university across town for more study, they managed to take so long and foul up so much that the carcass literally exploded while on the flatbed trailer in the middle of town. Whale guts in the street, blood all over the cars across the road, in short some really funny shit since I don't live there.
This leads me into thinking of other scientific disasters. Like importing silver carp to control algae. I believe Ken and Lightning are familiar with these stories. People have to avoid jumping carp while motorboating in numerous lakes and rivers in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc. You're just minding your own business cruising down the river when a 30lb fish slaps you in the face. No picnic, for you or the fish. Here in sunny Florida we have the same issue with sturgeon jumping in a few rivers when they come in from the Gulf to breed but at least they are native species here. They also can grow to 8 feet long and 200 lbs. Oh boy doesn't that sound like fun? Definitely not what you want to run into on a jetski.
Probably the most famous importation that went bad was the Africanized honey bees that were imported into Brazil by scientist trying to make them less aggressive because they were such great honey producers and much stronger than European bees in the climate there. A group with a queen escaped into the wild and they've been proliferating ever since. Back in the 70s articles started coming out that they were moving north and would eventually get to the US and it would be Bugmageddon then. Well they're pretty established in the Southwest now and have been found from Lousiana to California with some pockets in Florida probably stowaways on ships. While not as terribly dangerous as earlier articles suggested, around 20 people have been killed by killer bees here in the US. Fortunately after the initial invasions, the bees tend to interbreed and bee keepers manage to dampen the more aggressive strains so that they are not as threatening. Also they tend to not do well in cold weather so they are not expected to establish much further north than Maryland or so. Then again the experts have been wrong before.
Then there is the cane toad I was watching a little while ago. They are from Central and South America and because they eat the bugs that infest cane fields, they got the name cane toads. Back in the 30s a bunch of them were imported to Australia to control the cane beetles there. But it was hard to catch the cane beetles and there were numerous other bugs there so they started eating everything else around, small rodents, bugs, snakes, etc. What makes them so bad is they have no natural predators in Australia and they have poison glands in the skin. Almost anything that eats them, dies. Even crocs are sickened by eating them (apparently caimans in South America are immune to their poison however) so the natural predators that bite or eat them end up dying. They are also prolific breeders and both their eggs and tadpoles are poisonous as well. So fish and birds can't control them either. Now they've spread through more than half of Australia in 70 years. They were imported to the sugar fields here in the 30s as well. One night about 5 years ago I ran into one. I thought it was a can of beer sitting on the ground at first but when I got closer I saw it was a giant toad. Didn't touch it at least.
So when I hear about scientific experiments on this or that and genetic manipulation I start to cringe. Yes a lot of great things have come from these experiments but damn, a lot of bad thinsgs have as well. While their experiments are usually done with the best of intentions, I think Dante was right when he wrote "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". So I try to take all these great plans with a grain of salt and look for the bad things that could happen as well.
Sorry for the lack of poker content. I did go play last Saturday night. Went out 8th in the tourney. Made the right decision and pushed in on the river. Guy had an overcard and a gutshot draw on the river. Filled the gutshot. Same guy should have been on life support but a few hands earlier he'd beaten KK and A10 with JJ when he four flushed them on the river. Another Robbery, especially after an ace hit the flop. It just pays to be a lucktard sometimes. I'm gonna give Omaha a try again today. Broke even last week in that. So I'm off. Hope y'all have a great weekend and get lucky.
What brought this on you may ask. Well I just watched a program about cane toads and now I am watching one about the whale that blew up. I was hoping this was about the whale that was dynamited (yes blowed up see this story) in Oregon in the early 70s. It's a pretty funny story about combining TNT with a dead whale. But I was wrong. It was a bout a dead sperm whale, a 50 or 60 foot one, that washed up in Taiwan and after the geniuses decided to remove it to the local university across town for more study, they managed to take so long and foul up so much that the carcass literally exploded while on the flatbed trailer in the middle of town. Whale guts in the street, blood all over the cars across the road, in short some really funny shit since I don't live there.
This leads me into thinking of other scientific disasters. Like importing silver carp to control algae. I believe Ken and Lightning are familiar with these stories. People have to avoid jumping carp while motorboating in numerous lakes and rivers in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, etc. You're just minding your own business cruising down the river when a 30lb fish slaps you in the face. No picnic, for you or the fish. Here in sunny Florida we have the same issue with sturgeon jumping in a few rivers when they come in from the Gulf to breed but at least they are native species here. They also can grow to 8 feet long and 200 lbs. Oh boy doesn't that sound like fun? Definitely not what you want to run into on a jetski.
Probably the most famous importation that went bad was the Africanized honey bees that were imported into Brazil by scientist trying to make them less aggressive because they were such great honey producers and much stronger than European bees in the climate there. A group with a queen escaped into the wild and they've been proliferating ever since. Back in the 70s articles started coming out that they were moving north and would eventually get to the US and it would be Bugmageddon then. Well they're pretty established in the Southwest now and have been found from Lousiana to California with some pockets in Florida probably stowaways on ships. While not as terribly dangerous as earlier articles suggested, around 20 people have been killed by killer bees here in the US. Fortunately after the initial invasions, the bees tend to interbreed and bee keepers manage to dampen the more aggressive strains so that they are not as threatening. Also they tend to not do well in cold weather so they are not expected to establish much further north than Maryland or so. Then again the experts have been wrong before.
Then there is the cane toad I was watching a little while ago. They are from Central and South America and because they eat the bugs that infest cane fields, they got the name cane toads. Back in the 30s a bunch of them were imported to Australia to control the cane beetles there. But it was hard to catch the cane beetles and there were numerous other bugs there so they started eating everything else around, small rodents, bugs, snakes, etc. What makes them so bad is they have no natural predators in Australia and they have poison glands in the skin. Almost anything that eats them, dies. Even crocs are sickened by eating them (apparently caimans in South America are immune to their poison however) so the natural predators that bite or eat them end up dying. They are also prolific breeders and both their eggs and tadpoles are poisonous as well. So fish and birds can't control them either. Now they've spread through more than half of Australia in 70 years. They were imported to the sugar fields here in the 30s as well. One night about 5 years ago I ran into one. I thought it was a can of beer sitting on the ground at first but when I got closer I saw it was a giant toad. Didn't touch it at least.
So when I hear about scientific experiments on this or that and genetic manipulation I start to cringe. Yes a lot of great things have come from these experiments but damn, a lot of bad thinsgs have as well. While their experiments are usually done with the best of intentions, I think Dante was right when he wrote "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". So I try to take all these great plans with a grain of salt and look for the bad things that could happen as well.
Sorry for the lack of poker content. I did go play last Saturday night. Went out 8th in the tourney. Made the right decision and pushed in on the river. Guy had an overcard and a gutshot draw on the river. Filled the gutshot. Same guy should have been on life support but a few hands earlier he'd beaten KK and A10 with JJ when he four flushed them on the river. Another Robbery, especially after an ace hit the flop. It just pays to be a lucktard sometimes. I'm gonna give Omaha a try again today. Broke even last week in that. So I'm off. Hope y'all have a great weekend and get lucky.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Making good choices
One of the things my wife would say to our sons before they went out with their friends at night - back when they still lived with us - was "make good choices". Just about everytime they went out she would tell them this. Seems to have worked as they are doing pretty well for themselves and I'm still not a grandparent. Which brings us back to poker because really isn't that what it's all about? Taking the available info and making the best choice?
Last Saturday the PQ and I headed over to Derby Lane for the 6pm tourney. It's a relatively quick tourney with a $50 buy in and $5 add on for 2000 more chips. It's fun and we like it plus if you bust out fairly early you can play the 8pm tourney.
Early on it looked like one or both of us might be hitting the 8pm tourney. The PQ was down early while I started off well but then got whacked when a shorty pushed with 6-6 against my AK suited that I raised preflop. I didn't put him on a big hand and called. A 6 on the flop ended my chances on that hand and cost me 1/3rd of my chips. After that it became a struggle to make anything happen. One hand I was in late position. One guy limps in early position with a medium stack. I decide to steal with 22. The big blind makes a healthy reraise and the original limper pushes all in over the top. Ok, I give up. I put the all in guy on aces or kings but the big blind did not and called for almost all his chips with AK. Limper flips over AA. Neither improves but a 2 on the flop meant I could have played like an idiot and won a monster pot. Figures.
It took forever but I finally won a few pots to get myself up to an average stack. The tourney only started with 42 players or so and only payed 4 spots. I really wanted to chip up so I could get to the final table with a big stack but it wasn't happening. One gal at the PQ's table was hitting hands right and left. She had over 40K in chips (started with 6K) at the first break. She managed to give a bunch back though. We got down to 2 tables and the blinds and antes started really going up. I wasn't gonna wait to get blinded out but kept running into big hands when I'd raise. Or completely whiff with AQ. Got all in with a shorty who had J10 and of course he hits 10-10 on the flop. That hurt. I really got a bit irritated when the button who was sitting on a decent stack made a big raise preflop. I had AQ and pushed all in which he called with A10. Flop was nice A44. But of course the turn was a K and we split the pot. At least it wasn't a 10 to take me out but still, I should have had a nice double up.
I kept tangling with this same guy. Next orbit I get AQ again. The guy pushes all in before it gets to me and I call. He turns over JJ but this time I actually win the race when I flop two pair and he doesn't get his 2 outer or fill the straight. That was a good time to double. Very next hand I get 44 and he pushes all in again. He has me covered still but I figure maybe I'm running good here so I call him again. I turn a 4 and double up again. Now I'm feeling ok. Not a big stack but not small either. Soon after this we get down to 10 and combine to the final table.
I was placed 2 seats left of the PQ which was a good place to be. She was a shorter stack though the guy I tangled with was the shortest and first one out. The big stack lady from before had given up half her chips or more, most of them it seemed were in the stack of the guy on my immediate left. Lets say I gave him some leeway but he played pretty tight and we never really tangled. Any time he raised I got out of it. He wasn't giving chips away needlessly like the lady did but he wasn't pushing his stack around enough either. The PQ told me the lady kept calling shorties who went all in and losing with marginal hands. I saw her play a couple of hands that made me raise my eyebrows but never had any cards to tangle with her. People start dropping and the lady went out 7th when she ran 77 into AA all in preflop. Buh bye.
With 6 left and 4 being paid I was about 4th in chips but well behind 1-3. I really looked for a spot to double up. I let the PQ push me out of one hand when I flopped mid pair. Good thing as she flopped top pair. She was in 6th when we gto down to 6. The other shorty who had about my size stack lost some so I probably could have played really tight for a min cash but I wanted to win this thing. A little later I'm in the big blind with J2 suited. Pretty crappy but that's the way I'm running here. One of the big stacks calls preflop which to me meant a mid Ace or something like it. The flop is J-10-9. Not great but still I have top pair. I check and he bets 3500. I put him on a draw or maybe a 9 or 10 at that point. So I pushed over the top for another 13K. When he starts thinking I feel pretty good. There's 24K in the pot and he has to put in 13 for a bit less than 2-1 odds for him. I didn't think I was giving him odds there but I don't mind a call because I really want to double up and have a chance to win this. If he folds I still pick up a quick 8K which is a nice pot there and easily puts me in 4th. Then I can afford to make a few plays.
He does call and doesn't like my J as he has K-10 for middle pair and an inside straight draw. The next card is a damned K and I'm drawing to the last 2 jacks. Which I don't get and go out 6th. I thought about the hand and I could have played it different by pushing all in after the flop. Maybe he dumps his hand then but I only pick up a little and I'm really looking to double up. With blinds at 800-1600 and holding only 10 big blinds, I cannot afford to wait around long.
I was really afraid that the PQ would go out next and we would be 5-6 and both miss cashing but she managed to punish those guys for taking me out. The other shorty got knocked out 5th and then she went on a tear and ended up knocking out the big stack to my left in 4th. She went from 5th to first or 2nd in chips and ended up doing a 3 way chop at the end for a nice cash. So she made even better choices than I did and since I paid her way in, I got a bit back as well.
Since it's Saturday again, she wants to go back and play the same tourney. I figure on leaving here in a few minutes to see if I can't get into an Omaha game before the tourney while she and her sister and our daughter are at the mall. Oh good, if anyone comes back with anything, you can guarantee the daughter will have it.
I've got the tv on in the background and the current program is called Wild Wives of Africa. There's Lauren, Victoria, Cathy, Mariella and of course Josie. Here is a pic of Josie.
Yes I am watching Nat Geo, not the Playboy channel. Lauren is a lioness, Victoria is a cheetah, Cathy is a hippo, Mariella a giraffe and Josie is a baboon. She's kinda slutty too as she likes to mate A LOT. Lauren is pretty picky about mating but then she goes at it every half hour for an entire day and night. Damn. Victoria is almost a nun and only does it at night. Probably Catholic. And here you thought this was about swingers in Cairo or Johannesburg. Well I'm off to chase some cards. Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and stay cool folks. Whoda thought that Tampa Bay would be one of the cooler areas in the country with our highs of 91-92 everyday. And here in Pinellas County there is almost always a decent sea breeze. Of course we get about 6 months straight of this weather. But it could be worse. Stay lucky you nuts, luckier than me.
Last Saturday the PQ and I headed over to Derby Lane for the 6pm tourney. It's a relatively quick tourney with a $50 buy in and $5 add on for 2000 more chips. It's fun and we like it plus if you bust out fairly early you can play the 8pm tourney.
Early on it looked like one or both of us might be hitting the 8pm tourney. The PQ was down early while I started off well but then got whacked when a shorty pushed with 6-6 against my AK suited that I raised preflop. I didn't put him on a big hand and called. A 6 on the flop ended my chances on that hand and cost me 1/3rd of my chips. After that it became a struggle to make anything happen. One hand I was in late position. One guy limps in early position with a medium stack. I decide to steal with 22. The big blind makes a healthy reraise and the original limper pushes all in over the top. Ok, I give up. I put the all in guy on aces or kings but the big blind did not and called for almost all his chips with AK. Limper flips over AA. Neither improves but a 2 on the flop meant I could have played like an idiot and won a monster pot. Figures.
It took forever but I finally won a few pots to get myself up to an average stack. The tourney only started with 42 players or so and only payed 4 spots. I really wanted to chip up so I could get to the final table with a big stack but it wasn't happening. One gal at the PQ's table was hitting hands right and left. She had over 40K in chips (started with 6K) at the first break. She managed to give a bunch back though. We got down to 2 tables and the blinds and antes started really going up. I wasn't gonna wait to get blinded out but kept running into big hands when I'd raise. Or completely whiff with AQ. Got all in with a shorty who had J10 and of course he hits 10-10 on the flop. That hurt. I really got a bit irritated when the button who was sitting on a decent stack made a big raise preflop. I had AQ and pushed all in which he called with A10. Flop was nice A44. But of course the turn was a K and we split the pot. At least it wasn't a 10 to take me out but still, I should have had a nice double up.
I kept tangling with this same guy. Next orbit I get AQ again. The guy pushes all in before it gets to me and I call. He turns over JJ but this time I actually win the race when I flop two pair and he doesn't get his 2 outer or fill the straight. That was a good time to double. Very next hand I get 44 and he pushes all in again. He has me covered still but I figure maybe I'm running good here so I call him again. I turn a 4 and double up again. Now I'm feeling ok. Not a big stack but not small either. Soon after this we get down to 10 and combine to the final table.
I was placed 2 seats left of the PQ which was a good place to be. She was a shorter stack though the guy I tangled with was the shortest and first one out. The big stack lady from before had given up half her chips or more, most of them it seemed were in the stack of the guy on my immediate left. Lets say I gave him some leeway but he played pretty tight and we never really tangled. Any time he raised I got out of it. He wasn't giving chips away needlessly like the lady did but he wasn't pushing his stack around enough either. The PQ told me the lady kept calling shorties who went all in and losing with marginal hands. I saw her play a couple of hands that made me raise my eyebrows but never had any cards to tangle with her. People start dropping and the lady went out 7th when she ran 77 into AA all in preflop. Buh bye.
With 6 left and 4 being paid I was about 4th in chips but well behind 1-3. I really looked for a spot to double up. I let the PQ push me out of one hand when I flopped mid pair. Good thing as she flopped top pair. She was in 6th when we gto down to 6. The other shorty who had about my size stack lost some so I probably could have played really tight for a min cash but I wanted to win this thing. A little later I'm in the big blind with J2 suited. Pretty crappy but that's the way I'm running here. One of the big stacks calls preflop which to me meant a mid Ace or something like it. The flop is J-10-9. Not great but still I have top pair. I check and he bets 3500. I put him on a draw or maybe a 9 or 10 at that point. So I pushed over the top for another 13K. When he starts thinking I feel pretty good. There's 24K in the pot and he has to put in 13 for a bit less than 2-1 odds for him. I didn't think I was giving him odds there but I don't mind a call because I really want to double up and have a chance to win this. If he folds I still pick up a quick 8K which is a nice pot there and easily puts me in 4th. Then I can afford to make a few plays.
He does call and doesn't like my J as he has K-10 for middle pair and an inside straight draw. The next card is a damned K and I'm drawing to the last 2 jacks. Which I don't get and go out 6th. I thought about the hand and I could have played it different by pushing all in after the flop. Maybe he dumps his hand then but I only pick up a little and I'm really looking to double up. With blinds at 800-1600 and holding only 10 big blinds, I cannot afford to wait around long.
I was really afraid that the PQ would go out next and we would be 5-6 and both miss cashing but she managed to punish those guys for taking me out. The other shorty got knocked out 5th and then she went on a tear and ended up knocking out the big stack to my left in 4th. She went from 5th to first or 2nd in chips and ended up doing a 3 way chop at the end for a nice cash. So she made even better choices than I did and since I paid her way in, I got a bit back as well.
Since it's Saturday again, she wants to go back and play the same tourney. I figure on leaving here in a few minutes to see if I can't get into an Omaha game before the tourney while she and her sister and our daughter are at the mall. Oh good, if anyone comes back with anything, you can guarantee the daughter will have it.
I've got the tv on in the background and the current program is called Wild Wives of Africa. There's Lauren, Victoria, Cathy, Mariella and of course Josie. Here is a pic of Josie.
who are you calling slutty?
Yes I am watching Nat Geo, not the Playboy channel. Lauren is a lioness, Victoria is a cheetah, Cathy is a hippo, Mariella a giraffe and Josie is a baboon. She's kinda slutty too as she likes to mate A LOT. Lauren is pretty picky about mating but then she goes at it every half hour for an entire day and night. Damn. Victoria is almost a nun and only does it at night. Probably Catholic. And here you thought this was about swingers in Cairo or Johannesburg. Well I'm off to chase some cards. Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and stay cool folks. Whoda thought that Tampa Bay would be one of the cooler areas in the country with our highs of 91-92 everyday. And here in Pinellas County there is almost always a decent sea breeze. Of course we get about 6 months straight of this weather. But it could be worse. Stay lucky you nuts, luckier than me.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Raking it in
I guess I've been running good lately at least in some areas. Last night I got to use the Rays tix I won last week to see a very enjoyable game. The PQ, my middle child and his girlfriend joined me at the game. I expected the game to be low scoring as David Price and Justin Verlander were pitching. Not to mention the Rays are not scoring in bunches right now.
Verlander was not sharp. He threw a lot of balls, could not get his breaking stuff over consistently and did a good job just giving up 4 runs. He was very leery of pitching to Carlo Pena - not sure why as Pena isn't hitting his weight - and Ben Zobrist who has finally gotten his batting eye back. Verlander threw 30 pitches in the first inning while giving up a run and 25 more in the 2nd though no runs came in. Price was sharp getting a lot of pitches over with good movement. Almost no one hit a ball hard against him. He threw 78 pitches in 7 innings but his back tightened up and he left at the start of the 8th. Hopefully not serious. But if this game is anyone's story, it belongs to Desmond Jennings
Everyone expected Jennings to come out and be a star this year. But an early season injury knocked him out of the lineup for about 20 games and he hasn't gotten his swing back yet. His defense on the other hand has been excellent which is more than I can say for most of the team. In the top of the 3rd he chased down a flyball into foul ground and went over the wall to make a terrific catch. Made it onto ESPN's top plays. He came up to bat to lead off the bottom of the third and took the 2nd pitch over the left field wall. In the 5th inning he made a nice running catch at the foul line of a Prince Fielder fly ball then came up in the bottom of the inning and crushed a fastball for his 2nd homer. Hopefully he has his hitting eye back and not a moment too soon. With their top two hitters on the DL (and no one knows when or if Longoria will come back now) they need to be able to score more than 2 runs in a game. Luckily Zobrist seems to be heating up finally. He was hitting around 200 most of the year but in the past few weeks has raised his average to 250. Monumental by Rays standards. He crushed a homer last night plus a single and a walk. When you see guys like Cabrera and Fielder batting you think how great it would be to have a guy like that on your team. We do but he hasn't played since May 1. If Longoria doesn't come back by the All Star break or a little later I don't think the Rays make the playoffs. They just don't have consistent hitting and their fielding, because of all the people they have to move around, has been horrible. No errors last night which is a first for them and 3 nice double plays. Even with Longo, the AL East is so tough that they might not make it. Doesn't help when 2 of your starting pitchers are also out. At least they are not short of pitchers unlike say the Yankmees. With ole man Pettite out for 8 weeks and Sabathia now on the DL they had better out hit some teams cuz they won't out pitch them too often. Looked like Phil Hughes was getting it together for a while but he got lit up his last outing as well.
So the Rays took down a 4-2 win that resembled many of their wins from previous years, good defense, enough hitting and some excellent pitching. Price served up one gopher ball to ex Ray Delmon Young but he completely shut down Cabrera and Fielder. The other run was just bad luck as he had 2 strikes on Santiago and threw a nice tailing fastball away that Santiago threw his bat at and managed to push it right down the rightfield line for a double. Cabrera and Fielder both hit hard grounders to advance him home. Outside of that I don't think any baserunners got to second. And the home team fans went home happy. The guy a few rows in front of me was not so happy as he said, "everytime I come to see Verlander pitch, he loses". I thought Verlander battled hard but just didn't have his best stuff. He threw 120 pitches in 6 innings then took a seat. Against a lot of teams he probably wins a 6-5 kind of game as one of his monsters mashes a 3 run homer but Price really didn't give them a chance.
I said I had been running good this week. Besides the Rays tix I also managed to score a $50 gift card to Amazon. There is a cooking show my wife and child sometimes make me watch called "The Pioneer Woman". She cooks a lot of homestyle and ranch type cooking (she and her hubby own a ranch in Oklahoma) and puts a healthy spin on most of them since she is cooking for her kids and family. I like to cook but I really don't care much for cooking shows by and large. Hers is tolerable. She also has a blog and the daughter clued me in that a trivia quiz was being run Wed night and this one was all about Spielberg movies. The first to get 100 on the quiz won a $250 Amazon gift card, 2nd got $150, and 3 other names were drawn of people who got 100 for a $50 card. Mine was drawn
and hello gift card. Now what do I buy? Some more poker book downloads is possible. Also a watch I was looking at, watch whore that I am. Though I'd still have to pay a portion out of my own pocket as well. The daughter said when she found out "Now you can buy me that shirt". Uh no I don't think so, I spent enough on her the past 2 weeks I think.
Well that wraps up the week. We do go and play some poker Saturday. Maybe I'll post about that.
Verlander was not sharp. He threw a lot of balls, could not get his breaking stuff over consistently and did a good job just giving up 4 runs. He was very leery of pitching to Carlo Pena - not sure why as Pena isn't hitting his weight - and Ben Zobrist who has finally gotten his batting eye back. Verlander threw 30 pitches in the first inning while giving up a run and 25 more in the 2nd though no runs came in. Price was sharp getting a lot of pitches over with good movement. Almost no one hit a ball hard against him. He threw 78 pitches in 7 innings but his back tightened up and he left at the start of the 8th. Hopefully not serious. But if this game is anyone's story, it belongs to Desmond Jennings
Everyone expected Jennings to come out and be a star this year. But an early season injury knocked him out of the lineup for about 20 games and he hasn't gotten his swing back yet. His defense on the other hand has been excellent which is more than I can say for most of the team. In the top of the 3rd he chased down a flyball into foul ground and went over the wall to make a terrific catch. Made it onto ESPN's top plays. He came up to bat to lead off the bottom of the third and took the 2nd pitch over the left field wall. In the 5th inning he made a nice running catch at the foul line of a Prince Fielder fly ball then came up in the bottom of the inning and crushed a fastball for his 2nd homer. Hopefully he has his hitting eye back and not a moment too soon. With their top two hitters on the DL (and no one knows when or if Longoria will come back now) they need to be able to score more than 2 runs in a game. Luckily Zobrist seems to be heating up finally. He was hitting around 200 most of the year but in the past few weeks has raised his average to 250. Monumental by Rays standards. He crushed a homer last night plus a single and a walk. When you see guys like Cabrera and Fielder batting you think how great it would be to have a guy like that on your team. We do but he hasn't played since May 1. If Longoria doesn't come back by the All Star break or a little later I don't think the Rays make the playoffs. They just don't have consistent hitting and their fielding, because of all the people they have to move around, has been horrible. No errors last night which is a first for them and 3 nice double plays. Even with Longo, the AL East is so tough that they might not make it. Doesn't help when 2 of your starting pitchers are also out. At least they are not short of pitchers unlike say the Yankmees. With ole man Pettite out for 8 weeks and Sabathia now on the DL they had better out hit some teams cuz they won't out pitch them too often. Looked like Phil Hughes was getting it together for a while but he got lit up his last outing as well.
So the Rays took down a 4-2 win that resembled many of their wins from previous years, good defense, enough hitting and some excellent pitching. Price served up one gopher ball to ex Ray Delmon Young but he completely shut down Cabrera and Fielder. The other run was just bad luck as he had 2 strikes on Santiago and threw a nice tailing fastball away that Santiago threw his bat at and managed to push it right down the rightfield line for a double. Cabrera and Fielder both hit hard grounders to advance him home. Outside of that I don't think any baserunners got to second. And the home team fans went home happy. The guy a few rows in front of me was not so happy as he said, "everytime I come to see Verlander pitch, he loses". I thought Verlander battled hard but just didn't have his best stuff. He threw 120 pitches in 6 innings then took a seat. Against a lot of teams he probably wins a 6-5 kind of game as one of his monsters mashes a 3 run homer but Price really didn't give them a chance.
I said I had been running good this week. Besides the Rays tix I also managed to score a $50 gift card to Amazon. There is a cooking show my wife and child sometimes make me watch called "The Pioneer Woman". She cooks a lot of homestyle and ranch type cooking (she and her hubby own a ranch in Oklahoma) and puts a healthy spin on most of them since she is cooking for her kids and family. I like to cook but I really don't care much for cooking shows by and large. Hers is tolerable. She also has a blog and the daughter clued me in that a trivia quiz was being run Wed night and this one was all about Spielberg movies. The first to get 100 on the quiz won a $250 Amazon gift card, 2nd got $150, and 3 other names were drawn of people who got 100 for a $50 card. Mine was drawn
and hello gift card. Now what do I buy? Some more poker book downloads is possible. Also a watch I was looking at, watch whore that I am. Though I'd still have to pay a portion out of my own pocket as well. The daughter said when she found out "Now you can buy me that shirt". Uh no I don't think so, I spent enough on her the past 2 weeks I think.
Well that wraps up the week. We do go and play some poker Saturday. Maybe I'll post about that.
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