Poker Season

Good morning everyone.  I had lofty ambitions regarding writing yesterday (making an entry in all four of my blogs), but I did finish my chores and catch up on some sleep, and since I'm still up when I shouldn't be, I thought I'd give you a post here.  I should be sleeping because the 2017 World Series of Poker begins in the morning (for me anyway).  Following an early buffet breakfast at the Rio with my friends Joey and Brian, I'll be watching this year's first bracelet event, the Casino Employee's Event.  I played this event back in 2006, only to watch my pocket aces get cracked by queens when a sinister lady arrived on the river.  Later this morning, I'll be watching Brian and hundreds of other players chase a coveted bracelet while I get my first look at this year's WSOP setup.  As I've said before, I can enjoy watching the action and learning as much as playing myself, and I'm sure that there will be a few (hundred) cash game tables available should I get the itch.  The best part of this time period that the WSOP is running (now through mid-July) is that there will be more games (cash and tournaments) all over town.  I like to refer to this time of the year in Las Vegas as 'Poker Season.'  #pokerseason  Here's a recent photo from the Flamingo, as the poker players started returning to the desert over Memorial Day Weekend...

Even if I don't play a single hand at the Rio this summer, I'll be playing poker after my most of my shifts at work, and I'll have a multitude of games to choose from.  My current plan is to watch and play as much poker as possible in the next 1 1/2 months, and then to use the following month and a half to get ready for betting the upcoming football season.  If you're ever looking for me this summer, I'll be the one wearing the Texas State gear.  Wearing my Bobcat gear at the poker tables over the last few months has already initiated several conversations.

Football...  I contacted Joey and my brother Pete today, and they confirmed that they'll be joining me once again in making weekly football predictions this fall at my 'Coach's Parlay Card' blog.  My smart-ass brother asked me if I needed his Week 1 picks soon...  :)  Pete predicted the exact score of the Super Bowl correctly, so I guess I'll let it slide...  Anyway, in case you're not already aware, I enjoy predicting the outcomes of football games and wagering a little money on them, so I'm looking forward to the games kicking off late this summer.

I'm going to stop for now since I'll be waking up in just over four hours, but I'll have plenty of words for you throughout the summer.  Thanks again to all of you who are regular visitors here.  This blog just surpassed 115,000 total pageviews (quite a trick when you almost never write)...  ;)  Have a great week and I'll see you soon!



  

They're Back...

Good morning everyone.  There have been several times in the past where I've said that I intend to write more often (in this blog, and in the others listed at the top of this page), so I'm not going to go into some big diatribe, but hopefully I'll begin to churn out more words for y'all to read in the near future.  This is my second blog entry here in the past three days, if you can believe that (no one believes it)...

Poker.  Depending on the minute/hour/day/week/month, my grand/ideal/dream plan for making my fortune shifts between playing poker, betting sports, working forever, or some combination of any two and/or all three of those.  NOTE:  One of the best things about owning your own blog is that an English teacher can't make you (me) rewrite that previous sentence.  Anyway, I hadn't played poker for a little more than a month because I had run into some cold cards, and before April 18th I wasn't sure how much I was going to owe in federal taxes.  I tend to wait until the last minute to file based on the number of times that I've had to pay Uncle Sam in the past.  It's not that I've had to pay a lot, but why pay early is my motto.  Well, as it turns out, I actually received a small refund instead of having to pay, and there are only two weeks until the World Series of Poker hits town.  For those of you who haven't been to Las Vegas during the WSOP, there are poker players all over town during those seven weeks.  Tonight I decided to stop by the Flamingo after work to see what was happening, and I saw many unfamiliar faces, which is good.  The poker players from around our great nation and the rest of the world are starting to trickle back into town, which means that Las Vegas locals don't have to settle for playing against mostly other Vegas locals.  I put my name on both the 2-4 limit list and the 1/2 no-limit list.  Each list had about 6-7 players on it, and the ideal scenario came to fruition - I was seated in a brand new game, 1/2 no-limit.  If given the opportunity, I almost always prefer sitting in a game that is just starting as opposed to joining one that has been going, unless I've spotted particular players that I want to square off against.  Well, long story very short, I sat for one hour and made 97 dollars.  WHEEEEEE...  I've stolen Antonio Esfandiari's "WHEEEEEEEE.." several times now, and should really settle on just one spelling.  Anyway, I limp/re-raised with pocket kings, got two callers, and doubled my stack through one of them (plus picking up the dead money) when I flopped a set of kings.  Go work your shift, and then make another 97 bucks in one hour - not a bad way to fly.  Anyway, I had a player sitting to my left wearing shades and doing "chip tricks."  During the course of an hour, he lost a chip on the floor, and couldn't see me check when we were in a hand together, so the "cool kids" are indeed back in town...  :)

I'm going to stop right here and continue some more notes for what I hope will be NUMEROUS posts in the near (and far) future.  Thanks to all of you who continue to stop by and read my ramblings, especially when I take the big breaks between making posts.  I have some great friends and a loyal following that deserves to see my drivel on a more consistent basis.  :)  Have a great weekend and I'll see you soon!

Hoops, Chips, & Broken Ice

Good morning everyone.  Well, it's 3:30 in the morning, and I've got nothing better to do...  ;)  I've found a B movie on cable (more like a D - film), and I figured that I'm once again overdue for a blog post.  Let's start with hoops, since that's what the title says.  If you know me at all, I'm a little bit of a sports guy and a Spurs fan.  Have you heard of the Spurs?  My team has only won five championships since 1999, but never gets any credit or respect.  The Warriors finished with the best record in the league this season, and the Spurs finished six games behind them.  The Rockets finished six games behind the Spurs with 55 wins.  After the Rockets, the Celtics had 53 wins, and a group of four teams (Clippers, Jazz, Raptors, and Cavaliers) finished with 51 wins each.  If you watch mainstream media, you would NEVER guess the Cavaliers were here in the pecking order.  We're not even going to talk about how the Cavaliers play the weaker Eastern Conference schedule...  Anyway, the Spurs find themselves in the Western Conference Finals once again.  Ho, hum...  One of my friends and former student-athletes stepped up for us Spurs fans in Game 1 of the series versus the Rockets, as some of her friends and family were among those who absorbed the blow of Houston's best punch of the series, before the Spurs rebounded to STUN the Rockets without Kawhi Leonard or Tony Parker, ending the series in Houston.

Did I mention that Bianca and her crew were recognized on the court, appeared on the Jumbotron, or that she went to a Tom Petty concert the next day?  Punk...  :)

Chips...  As May passes by here in the desert, the World Series of Poker is rapidly approaching.  I'm looking forward to the WSOP for several reasons, the top one being that there will be no shortage of players and games in town for a seven-week period.  The WSOP announced a major change for this summer's Main Event, as there will no longer be a "November Nine."  Long story short, when the series finishes in July, we will have a Main Event champion.  Also, more of the Main Event will be "live" (30-minute delay) broadcast this time around.  Not only have I been neglecting my blog-writing, but I haven't played much poker in the past month either.  I know that the games will be good in two weeks, and I'm really looking forward to the fresh faces arriving in town.  In all honesty, I can also watch the professionals play at the Rio and enjoy railing the action as much as playing myself.  I'm also protecting my bankroll to some extent, in case I hit a run of cold cards, because I'm going to be more than ready for the wagering that the new football season will bring.  I was hired for my new job just before last season kicked off, and in the interest of keeping that job and doing my best, I hadn't studied up on my football near as much as I plan on this time around.  In unrelated news, Phil Steele's College Football Preview issue will hit the newsstands on June 27th...  :)

Broken ice...  The NHL playoffs are also going on right now, and with four teams remaining, there seem to be a wide spectrum of Finals possibilities.  If Pittsburgh plays Anaheim for the Stanley Cup, we'll have a matchup of the defending champion Penguins against the large t.v. market Ducks (Los Angeles/California).  However, we could get a Cup battle matching Ottawa verus Nashville, a possibility which I think must have the executives at NBC cringing...  How many U.S. viewers tune in to watch that final?

As I watch the NHL Playoffs, on more than one occasion, I've been watching a scoreless game, and then when the initial goal is scored, the announcer has talked about the "ice being broken..."  I find this ironic, since hockey is played..., on ice.  I'm not going anywhere with this, but I just wanted to point that out.  :)

I had another visitor come to town recently as my friend Annie was kind enough to treat me to lunch at the Bellagio's poolside cafe.  It seems that a lot of my friends are finding the Bellagio, doesn't it?  :)  An obscure fact about me is that I have yet to visit a hotel/casino's pool in Las Vegas.  This is especially sad considering that I can utilize some of these pools for free with my work I.D.  Anyway, the Bellagio has several different pools, and Annie and myself could see different parts of them as we dined by a window.  Thanks again to Annie and all of my friends who take a minute out of their vacations to say hi when they visit the desert.

Now it looks like it's time to tell my little story about Anishika...  :)  Anishika, another former student-athlete and friend of mine relayed a story on Facebook recently.  When you're old like me (100 years old), you think that you've heard everything, but trust me, you've NEVER heard anything.  While on this tangent, someone was climbing the Eiffel Tower in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino a few days ago, but I digress...  Back to Anishika.  Once upon a time, a guy had been chatting with Anishika at her job.  The guy and his wife had recently filed for divorce, and the converation had been normal for the most part.  THEN, the guy says this:  "I think I'm gonna stop dating extremely beautiful women and start dating more regular types of women, kinda like you..."  *crickets*  Oh, the CHARMER...  :)  For a moment, pay no mind to the fact that Anishika is attractive ("beautiful," "hot," and "gorgeous" are some of the other adjectives that can be found in the comments section to her little story), but WHO is out there saying things like this?!  I guess it gives me thing to write about though...  :)

I'm going to sign off for now, but hopefully I'll do another post before winter comes...  :)  Have a good one and I'll see you soon!