I Like To Be There When I Can

Well with all that's going down here in the G-Vegas underground, I felt it appropriate to round up the troops for a home game last Thursday. It went surprisingly well. We had seven players and one dedicated dealer to move things along quickly. The action wasn't huge, but it was decent. Players were relatively quiet and it was one of the more enjoyable home games I've hosted in a while. Chillin' may be the appropriate word to describe it. You know, like "With the Wiez'."

Last night, GucciRick resumed his Monday night big game and there were eight players at that game. So it would seem that there still can be some poker played here in town, free of risk, free of rake, but certainly not free of donking. Mainly because I was there both nights.

I'm going to assume that some of the rooms that were either forced to shut down or did so voluntarily will make attempts to resume operation at some point. That's just my opinion based on what I've read about games in other cities. It's like whack-a-mole. For yours truly, however, I have to imagine that the risk will prevent my participation regardless of the measures taken to prevent bustage and robbage.

So I'll do my best to establish a regular home game and try to keep that going. I used to dread organizing one. Calling players, setting up, tearing down, cleaning up. It was a drag. But that was before I realized that it's not really that bad given what can happen elsewhere.

This Thursday's game will be postponed until Friday however. I'll be heading up to Falstaff-ville for a little old-school Van Halen. Word on the street is that the rehearsals in L.A. were very well received, even with Wolfgang on base. I'm looking forward to this as my previous Van Halen concert was in 1987 at the Monsters of Rock tour with Hagar on vocals.

My vote for favorite under-rated, under-played Roth-era Van Halen song: The Full Bug

Strike Two

I'm reminded of the joke where a man refused to leave his house in the face of an upcoming flood. At first a police officer drove by and asked him to evacuate, but he said, "I'm OK, God will save me." When the flood waters hit, forcing the man to his roof, a helicopter flew by with rescuers ready to save him. He declined again claiming his salvation would come from above.

Unfortunately, the man ended up drowning. When he finally arrived at the Pearly Gates, he asked God why he didn't save him like he promised.

God replied, "I sent you a police car and a helicopter, what were you expecting?"

My take on this lesson? Don't ignore the obvious signs.

So if you've read UpForPoker this morning, you know that last night the game we folks have referred to as "The Gaelic Game" was busted. I feel like I've dodged a couple of bullets (both figuratively and literally) by not being at either that game or the one that was robbed a few weeks ago.

In an odd manner of coincidences, this week was the first week I had nothing to do on a Tuesday. No kids' soccer practice, no kids' baseball games. Nothing. In fact, had I won last Friday night when I played, there's a good probability that I'd have been playing last night.

Downswing? Hell, I'll trade a downswing for avoiding arrest and robbery any day.

As I was typing this, I got a phone call from one of the players who was at that game. He mentioned that 5 or 6 deputies followed an apparently oblivious player into the game from the parking lot outside. They had everyone show identification and put their hands on the table in front of them. For whatever reason, they had the dealer in handcuffs.

I don't want to name any names just yet because this is all second-hand information and I don't want to be unfair to anyone.

My source went on to tell me that one by one, they called players over to another desk where they offered them the following deal: Get a ticket, pay the fine, and leave all your money with them (wha???) or contest the ticket, go to court and potentially face a year of jail time for the infraction. My understanding is that most of, if not all, the people took the fine.

My first inclination tells me that the two incidents (robbery and bust) are somewhat intertwined. My guess is that even though no official police report was filed on the robbery at Black Stallion, word got out about what had happened. Most likely, the police know about the games around town, but as of late had turned the other cheek. But with the threat of violence apparently very real, they could no longer do so.

If anyone who reads this was there and wants to clarify anything of what was told to me, feel free to do so, either via the comments or privately.

Good gravy, what's next? Sadly for me, it's home game poker or no game poker.

Oh yeah, did I mention I'm crushing the one-table turbo's? Shazam!

Musings

When G-Rob complains about your posting frequency, then you know you have issues. I still maintain few people want to read about my downswings or even my upswings for that matter, as rare as they may be lately. The material has been done before; by me, by others, and if you're a blogger reading this, then most likely by yourselves as well.

Suffice to say that I've been playing well at times, not so well at times, all the while watching my live bankroll plummet to valleys not seen in quite a while. Oh well, happens I guess. I run goot in single table turbo's though. Shazam!

So I'm just throwing random questions out there that don't have much to do with anything.

- If your daughter is playing soccer and scores 3 goals in a game, is it appropriate to storm the field and throw your hat onto it in celebration? How about a dead octopus?

- If you go to a strip club and receive no lap dances, were you ever really there? (Apply tree falling in the forest logic if you wish.)

- With so many stupid people in this world, is it necessarily a crime to make money off their stupidity? If not, do you have any suggestions?

- If you're running bad in poker and have to move down in stakes, does it depress you to realize that running good at the lower stakes is only half as profitable as you would have been had you stayed where you were?

- If every man has a dark side, should he try to abolish it at the risk of it becoming uncontrollable or should he acknowledge it if it meant keeping it under proper restraint? If I, show you my dark side....(R. Waters)

- If you could play one song on any instrument in front of a live audience, as part of a band or solo act, what song and what instrument would it be?

- If you were a writer on the TV show Heroes, could you invent a super-power that hasn't been done before in either comics or movies? Are super-powers subject to copyright infringement?

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In other random news, I'm going for broke by trying to host a home game this Thursday. Phone calls and emails will go out today and tomorrow.

On the musical side, the metal album of the year right now is The Absence - Riders of the Plague. New Arch Enemy comes out soon, but they have their work cut out for them if they hope to top the latest from Tampa's best extreme metal offering. There is a cover tune of Testament's Into The Pit that is done just about perfectly. It's Extreme Metal of 2007 meeting Classic Thrash Metal of 1987. How can you go wrong with that?

Thursday's at Blood's

For the next several months, I'll be stuck at home on Thursday nights. Kids with soccer, kids with baseball, and as of last week, the Mrs. at night class.

Playing live poker is still one of the things I'd like to continue to do, but lately there's been some things going on that have been detrimental to that. Robberies, busts, and moronic wrestling matches. (What's my age again?)

So since I can't go out on Thursday's until next May, I'm going to start regularly hosting a game on Thursday nights at the house. If people want to play, they can show up. Perhaps some nights we'll have a tournament. Some nights could be HORSE. Most nights will probably be 1/2NL, but hell, PLO is not out of the question.

In fact, the number of players who show up won't matter either, as long as it's less than ten. Ten will be my max just because of space limitations. If just one person shows up and wants to take my bankroll in a headsup match, so be it.

Anyway, an email to my distribution list will be going out soon. I'd like to start up on Thursday the 20th.

There won't be stupid drinking or stupid antics by yours truly. Just another home game hopefully rising from the ashes of its early demise.

Karma, For She Hath Forsaken Me

So I busted the slow-roller last Friday night....

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I'm not sure what it is. They do say nice guys finish last, and maybe, I'm perceived as being a nice guy. Possibly because I tend not to actively be a prick towards others. Still, because of that perception, I tend to get crapped on. At this stage in life, I probably won't change very much. Trying on a new personality will be a fruitless endeavor, so I'll just keep up with my old ways, being nice, finishing last, taken advantage of.

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No worries though. It just happens when I play poker.

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I managed to flop a flush on Friday night. I had position on the slow-roller and he just kept leading into me, every betting round. Finally on the river, he went all in. I called.

He tabled his garbage hand.

There it was. My opportunity to get him back for the trash-talk. To get him back for the three consecutive slow-rolls.

I didn't do it.

I tabled my hand quickly and raked in the pot. I chose the high road. But it led over a cliff. Into a pile of poo.

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Holding AJ in mid position, I flopped trips on a KJJ flop. I bet. I got called. Wash-rinse-repeat. On the river, I finally realized I doubled my opponent up, who held KJ. I don't mind the hand, the same action follows if he had QJ or JT. Those things happen.

Not two minutes later, the guy got up to leave. Hit and run? It looked as much. But to be fair, he said it wasn't. The guy happened to be the person who got hit the worst at the robbery at Black Stallion. Something about the game right then and there spooked him enough such that he felt he had to leave.

Having never been involved in such an event, who am I to judge? It was unfortunate for me is all. But still, thanks karma.

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Later on, I flopped trips. On the turn I got my opponent all-in with his naked flush draw. He hit, of course. They always do.

And then he did a dance. Right there at the table, he did the old "Churn the Butter." I did not enjoy the rendition. Karma must have however. She'd schedule a repeat performance soon enough.

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I made a big call. This time someone pushed on the turn. I had only a pair of fours and the 2nd nut flush draw. But I thought I was good.

I was.

Opponent had no pair, but the nut flush draw.

An innocuous card hit the river and I still thought I was good.

I wasn't.

The card filled a highly disguised inside straight.

More dancing.

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It was past 3am and I new I was in trouble. My curfew is a more than reasonable 3am and I was going to be late. Sure enough, I was late and caught the requisite AND appropriate ration of shit from the Mrs.

Later that morning after she further expressed her disappointment in my later than normal return time, she said, "Are you even having fun playing poker lately?"

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Karma is having fun. I, on the other hand, had to answer truthfully.

"No, not lately."