In Response

Otis' latest ramblings pose the question:

what mental/physical preps are you making?

Good question, good question. Do I have an answer? Another good question....

Like Otis, I too have been dabbling in Party MTSNG's (that's multi-table SNG's for the acronym-impaired). I tend not to have time for 3-tablers, so I've been doing the next best thing. Um, that's 2-tablers in case ya couldn't figure it out.

Results? I've won 1, placed 2nd in a miraculous turn of events in another and have two thirds to my credit. Not too bad, but it's Party Poker - not exactly a true test of tournament mettle. There's a bit of alliteration for you literary types.

I'm usually simultaneously hitting the $25NLHE ring games while playing the tourneys just so I can click fold more often. Results there have been decent of late too; usually I'm up 2-3 buy-ins, then some other bloggers join the fun and I just tread water from that point on.

I've been able to cash out some cash (what else would I cash out?) and have managed to save up some bankroll for the NON-STOP poker that will occur next Friday.

One of the fortuitous events that has enabled me to partake in this little Vegas jaunt is my budgetting practices. Like many others do, I get paid on a bi-weekly basis. As such, I budget my family's monthly expenses based on two paychecks. So every 6 months, there's comes what I call "Extra Paycheck Month." This extra paycheck usually occurs in June and December, with the latter usually going to Holiday presents.

However, every 14 years, the space-time continuum allows for a year with 3 EPM's. 2004 is one of those magical years. Much of this year's 3rd EPM is allowing me to go to Vegas.

I truly hope that I still play my game and don't migrate to limits above my head. I wish I'd been able to practice at the $50 or $100 NL tables at Party, but my online bankroll and the discipline required to complete my personal quest to recover my tilt-based losses chronicled above have prevented that. But I think I'm a better live player than online, so I won't feel too under-prepared to buy-in at a $100 NL table in Vegas.

Drinking wise? I don't usually get too lit up too often. Here's why: strippers. If I get too much alcohol in my system, I tend (OK, tend would mean I don't always, so that's a lie) to migrate to one of this area's many fine adult entertainment establishments. I have a hunch that there's places of a similar nature in Vegas, but never having actually been there, I can't be sure.

My drinking plans will be to acquire a slow steady buzz. Maybe. I hope. Unless AlCantHang gets a hold of me and suggests I step it up a bit. I am quite positive that I won't be able to keep up with the likes of G-Rob and Al, but I sure as hell won't be a stick in the mud either. One thing is for certain, I can't play quality poker completely shit-faced. A bit of the devil's brew is fine, in fact, it may help. But if I'm planning on some serious poker, serious drinking will take a temporary back seat. Maybe. I hope. Unless AlCantHang gets a hold of me and suggests we go to Club Paradise.

One thing is for damn certain. If I win the Holiday Classic (biiiiiiig "if") then I'm getting paid in $1's and we definitely are going somewhere to spend it.