Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year My Peeps


There's just so much to celebrate kids!!! So y'all join in and do the Happy Dance with me!!! (Yes, you too!)

The end of the another year is upon us, and there are a lot of fond memories to look back on (many of them involving poker exploits of some sort or another.) And tonight we usher in a brand-spankin' new year that's just chock full of potential and the unknown. These are indeed strange and wonderful times in which we live!

I hope each of you has BIG PLANS for the New Year's Eve and that you've designated your DD for the coming libations. We have ours picked (thank goodness it ain't me) and if that were to fall through, hey the Eagles is less than a mile from home, I can always stumble that far... : )

Other reasons which are cause for celebration are a total (after this post goes up) of 288 posts to this blog for the year, 2008. Maybe nobody reads this tripe, but I enjoy writing it and Blogger just keeps letting me go on and on. I've made a lot of great online and offline friends as a result of the blog and that's more than I ever expected from it. And the N Debt Poker Tour (NDPT) just keeps feeding the poker addiction, too.

I've got the love and support of my family, happiness, and more material goodies than I can shake a stick at. Life is good, people! And if that's not enough need I remind you of the post which preceded this one? Uhmmm hello, Las Vegas... me... February 15th through the 18th. And oh oh oh... hotel reservations at Paris Hotel and Casino! Uhhh, "oui oui oui" or "WEE WEE WEE," take your pick; either exclamation sums it up just right!

Yeah, your ole pal cheer_dad's having himself one fantastic year. I'm glad you could be a part of it. But as I've heard said before, wait til next year, "you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

50% off Las Vegas flights!!!


Boys and girls, this could happen. Click the picture or this link if you don't believe me, but Southwest Airlines is offering flights to Vegas for 50% off!!! I already plugged in some dates and found round-trip, non-stop flights from Columbus, OH to Las Vegas, NV for $140! Couple that with the recent fliers from "Total Rewards" properties offering up FREE nights, plus some other goodies... this may be more than do-able. I'm awaiting the arrival of Big Red to the workplace, for a little chit-chat on the subject.

Everyone start sending me all the positive energy you can muster... together, we can make this happen!!!

***EDIT #1*** Big Red has arrived, discussed fully... tentative dates (at least for the two of us) are February 15 - 18 obviously on the "non-stops" from Columbus, OH. I've sent an email to some of the NDPT crew, to let them know about it. I'm waiting (briefly) for some response from some of them right now, but basically I'll be booking these within an hour or so. Is it wrong that I'm so cheap? Or is that just good bankroll management?

***EDIT #2*** Flight has been booked kiddies! Not only for Big Red and me, but we've already got company from the Brotherses' and Uncle June too! More to come, I'm sure. Now, where's that "Total Rewards" card so I can look up some room offers! And to think I thought today would just be a lousy/boring day at work!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sunday, December 28, 2008

I'm a WINNER...

Despite the fact that somebody said I was a "woozer" last night, I'm a WINNER! In last night's NDPT End-of-the-Year Extravaganza I miraculously took down the top spot. Although turnout was light we still played and had a great time. (14 players showed up to flaunt their poker prowess.) For a while there in the beginning, I was getting spanked by an unforgiving river card at my first table, and Jody was all too willing to stick it to me. She drew out on me a number of times. TJ commented on that, and it helped me keep my sanity in check for a while. But I managed to get myself back up to treading water level and I just hovered around the original buy-in level for a while. When the table got extremely short, I hit a few hands, which pumped me up a little higher than I'd been all night. I do have to say that a late position call into a family pot with Q-9os did wonders for my stack, when I hit QUADS and got paid with them. We went to a single table, when we went down to 9 players. I just don't like collapsing to 10 players, it seems too crowded. At any rate, I drew the small blind and it turned out to be the best place to be. Although, it didn't feel like it at the time. I nearly bubbled the tournament in 5th place. A couple hands before I got tangled up with Steve, when I looked down at pocket Queens, and I pushed hard preflop, for around 5X the BB. Steve called my all-in, all-in himself for less... His A-5os found a lucky Ace and had me reeling from the feeling! So, there I was with only one option left in the arsenal. I had only 375 in chips left and the blinds were 150/300. I had dismal cards until the BB rotated back around to me. I didn't even bother looking and just sat my total chips in front of me on the cards and declared that it would cost 'em the additional 75, as I was going all-in blind. I got two callers! The cards came down, and Steve missed, and TJ flipped over a pocket pair of 5's. So, now I had to look, and found a K-8os, but I had hit the 8 on the River! That helped... Scott finally went out in the bubble position, so now it was just time to see who would get paid the top spot. I started hitting cards, and some fantastic position bluffs too. There was some good fortune involved there... I guess Lady Luck thought I had it coming after the beat-down on the pocket Queens. Anyway, Steve, and then TJ went out leaving it down to Mike R and I. Mike had a chip lead on me, and at first when the cards were far below average there for a few hands, I thought I was going to fold my way into 2nd place, but then things turned around. I started hitting 2 pair on the flop. The final hand, I held J-8os and hit two-pair. Mike bet out on me, and I went over the top for all of it. Mike called with his J-4os, and was basically drawing dead. So, finally I put a good game in the "W" column and end the year on a positive note. Wahoo!

Thanks to all of you who showed up to play, and thank you for the great times that we've had throughout the year. I look forward to many more NDPT poker in the coming year.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, December 27, 2008

NDPT End-of-the-Year Extravaganza

It's here! The NDPT End-of-the-Year Extravaganza!!! Tonight is the final game of the year for the "N Debt Poker Tour" clan. Turnout tonight is going to be light, but the competition will still be fierce. Gametime is at 6:00pm here at my house. I won't be in as big of a rush as I thought, since I'm not taking Cole to his basketball game now. His Mamaw Flanagan is taking over that responsibility for the evening. That way I'll be a little more relaxed and not so stressed out when we shuffle up and deal.

Hope to see you all real soon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas


The living room now looks like a wrapping paper wasteland, and even the little guy is exhausted from ripping open his presents. Can I go before Congress to request my chunk of the Relief Package now?!? Oh wait... Santa bought all that, didn't he!

Hope this day finds each of you well, and with those you love.

From all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Timely



I know the image is small, but trying to give a screenshot of the timeliness of the friggin' email alerts around here. Buncha bullshit!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. enjoyed the Members' Party anyway!!! ; )

Merry Christmas Eve

Well here I sit... awaiting an impending (hopeful) early dismissal from the dismal (work.) It's Christmas Eve and the government does "usually" kick us to the curb around the noontime hour on such occasions. Then again, you just never know with some members of management. Regardless though, one way or the other, early dismissal or no... cheer_dad will be leaving early. I'll take the leave if I have to. Today beginning at 1:00 - 2:30 the Eagles is having their members' Christmas Party. I know that seems awful short for a party, but hey they close up the joint after that, and to soften the blow, they open up the bar and hand out free food and more importantly BOOZE!!! Oh yeah, I may just find out how much Jack Daniels can be downed in a single sitting. : ) Reacquaint myself with one of the 3 wise men (so to speak) during this holiday season. Okay, I can't get totally shnockered, I have to save some wiggle room for the Christmas Eve party tonight at the Brothers' house. I know I've lost time and killed brain cells at some of these previous parties. At my age I can't stand to lose much of either!

Saturday is the NDPT End of the Year Extravaganza at my house. Turnout may or may not be light. I'm fairly confident that I will have around 16 of you degenerate gamblers at the house to play. It's been a great year playing with each and every one of you, and I hope to continue it for many years to come. As long as you keep showing up, I'll keep dealing, that's a promise. As for Saturday game time is 6:00pm, although I may be in a rush, since I just found out that Cole has a basketball tournament at 4:30, so I may be hustling to get there in time for my own damn tournament. Go figure.

If I don't see you before... have a Merry Christmas. Hope Santa brings you everything you asked for.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Monday, December 22, 2008

2-hour delay

Yet another 2-hour delay in the Wood County, WV school system for the year. This time not a flake of snow on the ground, but frigid temperatures (at least for this area.) I'm not sure what the morning low was, but I know last night at 10:00pm the mercury had dropped to around 12 degrees! And don't even forget about the howling winds. With the number of students that ride buses and stand out in the cold, THIS was a good call on the part of the Board. Besides, it makes the kids less cranky in the mornings. Extra couple of hours of shut eye does the trick every time. Busy day on my day off. GRRRRR! Of course get the kiddies to school here in just a bit. Then, it's off to Marietta, OH to get the car serviced at the dealership, then back for some additional service (removal of a small dent by the "Dent Doctor." THEN, I have to get some last minute shopping in for Big Red. I know what I want to get, but just have to squeeze in the time for it, before it's time to pick up the kidlets from school. I don't know yet if Cole has practice or not. Whitney's on the other hand was CANCELLED! Yeah!!! Although, I would likely have let her drive herself. Of course, then I couldn't relax then either until she pulled back in the driveway safe and sound. Beyond all that, I'm sure there are details that I'm forgetting but they'll present themselves as the day goes on.

Time for the dad-taxi to pull out. Later all.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sumpin' sumpin'

Great time and Whitney and Brady's 16th Birthday Party! Hope you two enjoyed it! Whitney had JoJo and Becca and boyfriend Jordan over for a while. The girls spent the night, the bf did not. (Yeah, cheer_dad draws him some lines...) Up late, just wasting time watching the tube, and Teresa and some of the gang all hung out for a while afterward at the Eagles to chit chat. I stayed with the kids... and was happy to do it. Remember I was already tired. I slept in a bit today, and then got up and took Cole to his Rec league basketball game. Turns out he knows a lot of the kids, and one of them is even on the school team with him too. He did very well, and I can see that he has really begun to improve from last year, and is polishing some of the fundamental skills of the game.

After that, I foolishly agreed to go "shopping" (shudder) with Big Red for a few hours. The mall is packed and you know that's never my idea of a good time. Spent quite a bit of time in Victoria's Secret, which at least gives me a lil sumpin' sumpin' to look at. : ) I've said it before I'll say it again. YEAY Boobies!!!

I think we're staying in to watch movies tonight and just take it easy. Big Red invited Uncle June over if he wanted to, as we were driving home. When I got home I realized that he had texted me on my cell (that I'd left behind) asking if I was interested in heading south to play poker at the casino in Cross Lanes. Ahhh, makes sense now, his fiance is going in to work for the night.

I'm just blabbing here, I see now doing a quick re-read, so I'll bring it to a close and bid you adieu.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, December 19, 2008

Whitney and Brady's Birthday Party

The day has dragged on and on. Following an uneventful (no winning) night at the Eagles last night, I fired up Bodog as you know I tend to do, when the urge hits and it often does when I've been drinking. Indulged myself only for an hour, and realized I was falling asleep while playing 3 tables, which isn't exactly condusive to winning. But remarkably one table really paid off and made up for the losing going on at the other two. I cashed out for a little over $13. Not terrible for an idiot! The morning however came much earlier than I would have liked. I've been nodding off for most of today, and I've finally shaken the headache.

Tonight is Whitney and Brady's combined 16th Birthday Party. It sounds like there will be an enormous crowd there tonight to help them celebrate. I will be late to the whole affair, because we found out last night that Cole has a basketball tournament at Blennerhasset tonight at 6:45. I'm hoping I can get in a few minutes of shut eye between 4:00pm and gametime. Who knows what all else I have to accomplish over this weekend. I know there'll be shopping at some point. I gotta find something for Big Red for Christmas. Although she'll likely return it anyway. : ) Sorry baby!

I'm nearly done for the day, and it's about time.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

PokerStars Blogger PLO8 rambling

While there's a lull in the PokerStars Blogger Tournament (PLO8) I thought I'd throw in a quick post. Of the 396 who signed up, there are 239 of us left, at the 1 hour break. I'm currently in 22nd place, but know full well that this thing is far from over. Seems that so many players are forgetting the low end hands, and fail to capitalize on them.

I wanted to mention that I've tried to do some housekeeping on the listing of Blogs that I read regularly, over there on the right-hand side of the page. Mainly added some that I should have added a long time ago! But the time never presented itself. Then you start "hanging" with the bloggers and begin to feel like you should be doing a better job of things. If you don't see your blog listed and think it should be... drop me a line and say so.

***Wow, I should have raised there, although I made enough on that hand to put me in 12th place! Flopped a set of 7's, and got lucky when the board paired and gave me a boat, 7's full of Kings. Guess I need to up the aggression a bit. : ) ***

Well before I donk off this session, I'm going to stop typing now!

EDIT: Now just over 2-hours in, and the field is down to 112, with the top 72 getting their seats to the Blogger Final, Top 45 for some additional PokerStars goodies. I am currently in 27th place... we shall see...

EDIT part deux: cheer_dad crashes and burns! Greed apparently go the better of me last night, hoping to climb higher and into one of the extra special packages. With a mere 76 players left (4 away from a ticket to the final) I put my foot down when the guy 3 seats to my left decided to buy the pot. He had been muscling the pot for a while and the tactic was becoming obvious. I called his preflop raise easily when I looked down at AdAsQh2d. I liked the hand up and down in PL08. The flop came J-10-3 or something like that, and he bet out, but not big. I called and the turn was another low card. Now, I'm trying to piece this all back together in my head since it was so late, but here was what I think happened. The aggressor bets out pot, which is now steep, I look to see what I have behind, and opt to shove with still my pair of Aces, with great draws to the nut high and nut low, and if I'm not crazy I think I might have had the nut diamond draw as well. He called with a smaller pair than my Aces. But the river filled in a straight for him when he hit a black 9. This unfortunate incident sent me to the rail just prior to 1:00am EST, licking my wounds... and without a seat in the final. I was too tired to do a screenshot, I was too tired to post, so I just went to bed and attempted to console my ego and cry my silent tears... : ) I'll paraphrase Worm this time: "...how come all your moves are so noble (when speaking to Mike) and I'm always the worthless piece of shit?!" Maybe not entirely accurate but that was the gist of it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Blogger Tourney Exit


...and with that our "hero" takes his leave of the NLHE Qualifier of the Blogger Tournament being hosted this week by the fine folks at PokerStars. No blame to be assessed here. I raised from first position with the best hand I'd seen in several rounds, and was reraised. It wasn't even a matter of pot odds or ego. It just was. I got it all in with a great holding and it just happened to be second best. It's like 'Worm' said, "...hey I took my shot and I missed, it happens!" I went out in 152nd place out of the initial 559 who signed up. It would have been nice to score a seat to the Blogger Final, but I wouldn't change anything I did. I played a solid game. I'd like to say I should have loosened up, but honestly can't convince even myself of that. I stole a few hands, but just never really got chipped up to any comfortable level. Of all the tables that I could have been moved to, whadaya know, "wvwolfie" was sitting right across the table from me. Small world. Also BWOP (the black widow of poker) stopped by to say hey from the rail, and I thought that was really nice. Hey everyone likes to get noticed from time-to-time. : ) I had a really good time and it was nice to play amongst a few kindred blogger spirits, although I believe there were a few posers amongst the ranks! Up tomorrow in the Blogger Series is the PLO8 Qualifier at 22:00 EST. I'm hoping to make this one too! But you just never know how the day will shape up. Along these same lines, I really want to start trying to play in some of the Poker Blogger Sponsored tournaments. Very likely first on the list will be on Bodog, as I still have the bulk of my online cash there. But I have a few extra bills burning a hole in the wallet so I may migrate and branch out to a couple of other sites as well.

Have a good night folks...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Snow, a choir concert, and teachers?

Greetz my fellow penguins! As I was headed off to bed last night the weather hacks on our local tv station were calling for snow overnight, and treacherous conditions. I was skeptical as I fell asleep. I awoke this morning to initial alerts of a two-hour delay for school which was quickly upgraded to a complete cancellation. Generally speaking the kidlets are treated to more time off due to the predominant secondary roads in the outlying areas. Today, my thinking is that school officials were mostly concerned about the continued accumulation of the white stuff throughout the rest of the day. It's still coming down and I'm lovin' it!

Actually, the snow let me sleep in a bit. At first I was planning to take the kids in late to school for a two hour delay, but when they cancelled Teresa decided I could just drive us both to work. I usually start the day at 6:30, she not until 8:00-ish, after getting the kids to school. I only need the four-wheel drive in a couple of spots, but it was nice knowing it was there. Our office is supposed to be going to Logan's Steakhouse today for our Christmas Dinner, so that'll shorten up the day as well. : ) Of course making me fatter as well, but I did order the Mesquite Grilled Salmon, so I did "try" to eat healthy. I'll keep it down to only a couple of beer chasers! I need to fit in a workout today of some sort. I need to do both the bike and lift, but we'll see. I biked yesterday, which I've done now a few times since the knee has been bothering me so much. I'm a runner though and it's not my first choice, but honestly it hasn't been so bad, and I'll give the Bureau credit for buying some top notch Precor fitness equipment in the room downstairs!

No poker content today kids sorry. Last night was about getting Cole to and from basketball practice, Whitney from cheerleading practice, fed, and then back to her choir concert and then attending that along with my mom. So it was nearly 10pm when I got home and settled in. It was a fantastic concert! The music program at Parkersburg South High School is TOP NOTCH. The tradition of great music and support of the arts in general is very much alive and well in the Wood County, WV school district! The choir director, mentioned "my" old choir director last night and said that it had been her desire to continue the traditions and high standards of performance in keeping with the example which he had set, when she too was his student. I think of Dan Thomas (Mr. T) from time to time and remember him as a positive influence in my life. He taught me the values of striving for personal excellence BUT being part of a greater whole. He taught me to think for myself, and challenge conventional wisdom. All things which you wouldn't necessarily expect from a choir class. He is one of maybe 3 teachers which I remember fondly from my pre-college education who helped form the oddity that is "cheer_dad." In fact, those educators are: Mr. Thomas (11th-12th grade choir), Mr. Stout (9th grade English), and Mrs. Doherty (11th grade Humanities.) Thanks for giving me the tools to work with... (or should I say, "with which to work.") Sorry my prepositions still dangle every once in a while! ; )

Enough of the stroll down memory lane, get back about your business folks...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Yanok Poker-Palooza

The poker weekend with the Yanok's has now come and gone. Recall on Friday the December qualifiers were held there, to allow everyone to beef up their starting chip stacks which they would hold on Saturday's BIG GAME. Respective finishes throughout the year determined the size of your starting stack. I didn't cash in either game, but did "point-up" in one of them. I watched a lot of sick beats through the night. But the most treacherous part of the evening was actually the hill into their development! I did manage to get up it, but halfway up, was forced to stop and drop the truck into 4-wheel drive. Not a move I recommend on that hill. But I managed to get up. Then, I opted to drop off Teresa and Cole and drive back down to the lower level and park. I figured a slippery walk in the wee hours would be a safer "bet" than careening down the hill and plowing into some random house. That was likely the smartest thing I did all night. The cards just didn't really stack up very well for me. I had a few decent starting hands, that just never panned out. AK's and AQ's a few times which failed to connect. Too many people calling. There was a LOT of calling station action. Even by some people that don't even know it.

Anyway, we survived the drive home, after failing to cash, so we were out $120 total, $60 each. Ehhh... We arose the following day, and got ready and headed back to the Yanok's for the High Noon Year Ender! Chip stacks ranged from $1,400-ish to just under $200... I was in the 750 range and content. I was able to chip up to as high as $1,500 and felt pretty good about things, but then the cards dried up and I simply blinded away, and finally took a shot with Ace high from late position, and got spanked by my wife, with a much bigger Ace. She held AcJc and hit the nut flush. I only paired my measly 6, and my tournament life was over.

Then things got HAIRY! Not long after the group was down to the final four, the ones who were getting paid. Frank had managed to wrestle the chips to his side of the table thanks in part to a Hail Mary Play when he was down to his last $400 and called all in with a pair of 7's. Three other players were in it too! When they all flipped up, there were 4 pocket pairs! 77, 88, 99, and QQ!!! Frank boated by the river and Quadrupled up and a few rounds later found himself with a monster stack of chips. Scott Eddy had been chipped away for a while too, having started the final table with a monster stack too, but he was still surviving. Jerry and Teresa were also to be found, still struggling to survive. I watched as chips moved from person to person for quite awhile, and fortunes gained and lost by each of them. Jerry was the first casualty. Teresa battled her way back and played quite well, and hit some great hands to boot. She and Scott managed to wrestle away the chip lead from Frank. One key hand was between Teresa and he in which Teresa held AQos, to his A6. He hit a 6 on the flop, but Lady Luck dealt a fatal blow giving Big Red a much needed Queen on the River. Soon after Frank hit the rail, finishing in 3rd. Teresa and Scott played on for a bit, but not excessively until they got into a race situation that ended with Scott on top and with all the chips. Scott remarkably had started the day at the shallow end of the chip pool, with just over $200 chips in play, but had managed to outlast and chip up through the day to the eventual win. For his efforts he took down over $400, and Big Red happily settled for over $200 for the day. Not bad for a freeroll huh! So, she continues her winning ways and supports my poker habit. And you know what I'm just friggin' FINE with that!

Big Thanks to the Yanok's for hosting a fantastic time and we look forward to next year! Congratulations to Scott on the come from behind victory!

Also, one last note, I am considering CHANGING the day of the NDPT End-of-the Year Extravaganza to the 27th of December instead of the 20th, since there appear to be a lot of conflicts for that day. Please let me know your plans and if this works better for any of you that are planning to play in this $50 buy-in event.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, December 12, 2008

Big Red Strikes Again

Back on Friday, October 3rd of this year, I typed out a post for the blog (http://ndebtpokertour.blogspot.com/2008/10/it-really-must-be-red-hair.html) which detailed the luck and winning nature of my lovely wife... the enigma that is Big Red. In it I informed you, dear readers, that the night before she had hit the "winner-take-all" drawing at the Eagles for $1,400. Since then I'm certain I've posted a time or so of her other winnings on the slot machines. It's uncanny, her luck. Last night Lady Luck slipped her the tongue again. Last night's drawing at the Eagles went to none other than Big Red!!! She adds to her treasure cache an additional $1,100. (Attendance was down, she had to settle for a few hundred less.) Awww! Oh and now a new superstitious ritual will probably be in play from now on, she was wearing the same outfit both times. Hell, I may start wearing the damn thing now.

What must it be like to walk around and be so lucky? It's a thing I shall never know. Congratulations baby!

There's a line in the movie Let It Ride starring Richard Dreyfuss, in which he reads his fortune cookie. It says, "You could be walking around lucky and not even know it." But in the case of my wife... I think she knows it!

Tonight is the Yanok's December qualifier poker tournament(s). I'm hoping desperately to pad my year end stack, with a couple of good finishes tonight. I may even play a little sober. Then, on in to Saturday for the actual year ending tournament, which the Yanok's are hosting beginning at High Noon. (It's a 2-day poker-palooza!) This one is a freeroll, for all of us, probably 15-18 players or so, with $1,000 in the prize pool. It all comes down to this boys and girls. Bring the "A" Game, and let's get it on!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, December 11, 2008

I'm for it!


Stumbled across this article http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20245896,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines (yeah like I read the article...) All-American girl Jennifer Aniston takes a walk on the wild side with this latest GQ magazine cover. Whatever the reason she's doing it, I'm for it. Nothing like a great tie to pull the whole ensemble together!

~go ahead take another look, i'll wait~

Okay, well I didn't have anything more to say, just thought I'd give you the opportunity to look again. Now stop staring and get back to work!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Street Legal


My "baby" girl has become mobile. Even more so than before! Tighten up those seat belts, and check the brake fluid... my daughter Whitney passed her driving test last night, and is now behind the wheel! That's right she is now Street Legal. Of course that's something completely different than "dad" legal, so the solo joy rides will be kept to a minimum. When the little blonde girl asked, "well if I can't drive now whenever I want, then what was the point of getting the license?" Big Red summed it up simply by saying... " it's just something else we can choose to take away from you, if you aren't doing what you're told!" : ) I nearly bit my tongue off to keep from laughing!!!

Whitney is now part of the driving legion, and gets all the benefits to which she is entitled, like backseat drivers, senior citizens on a Sunday drives, with the left blinker on for days, road rage, flat tires, all the real joys in life!

But in all sincerety I am SUPER proud of her for passing her test, and I'll be the first to point out that the parallel parking spot that the drivers have to manuever into now is a helluva lot smaller than it was when I took the test. Of course, I was taking the test in an Oldsmobile at the time! Nonetheless, congratulations baby girl! Great Job!

As for me, I'm in some pain today. My right knee is "screaming" right now. It had been aching last week, so I took 3-4 days off to give it some recuperation time. I ran yesterday, without much problem, but then after the 3 mile workout was done, and just normal walking through the rest of the day, became a problem. Last night it was all I could do to climb the stairs at the house to get to the bottle of Advil! Today, I skipped the workout altogether, but I'm in some pain, from just sitting here most of the day. Big Red called the doctor who is working me in for an x-ray. Although I think I'm dealing with a "soft-tissue" problem rather than bone. But maybe they'll be able to see where bone and bone grinding is taking place. I've said it before, but man it really SUCKS TO GET OLD!!! I hope they can present me with some viable options to get me back on the running trail. It'd be a shame to have come so far, dropping some pounds, feeling better, etc... and then have it all screwed up by an injury, or worse, the body just giving out.

Still on tap for this week: Thursday Night is the Eagles drawing. A couple jack and diets will help silence that damn knee! Friday is Poker Night at the Yanok's for their December qualifier(s) and then followed up the following afternoon by their Year End Tournament. Big Red and I working out some conflicts with Cole's basketball and bowling schedules to try and fit these games in. The mother-in-law may get elected. I really hate to have to miss a freeroll with a $1,000 prize pool for around 15 players... but I will if there's no other alternative. The KIDS do take precedent. (He just better play his little heart out!) : ) Maybe the new driver in the house, can pick up some of the slack, AHEM!!! I mean Uncle June has already determined that she can now be a designated driver!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Point and Counter Point

My friend wvwolfie proprietor and chief bottle washer over at the Riversedge Blog (http://frankwolfe.net/?p=159) put up a very thought-provoking post entitled "Is the popularity of poker diminishing?" He's got some very good points in there and it's a good read, but I offer up some different thoughts on the subject.

First, I'll grant that the numbers were down for NDPT #18; but I can't blame it on solely on the popularity of poker diminishing. I acknowledge that the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) put a damper on online poker, but it's done more to clear out the online gambling holes of fish than anything else. The competition that you encounter online at even some lower levels is vastly improved from the days of old. BUT, back to NDPT #18 and its low turnout. Headed into the game Saturday Night, I had 19 people on my list as confirmed to play. Outside that number, I know of an additional 4 that were otherwise committed to attending the WVU football game. Also, the surprise turn in the weather, caused some of the die-hards to back out and not show up. Two of the initial sign-ups backed out for fear of what the iced roads might mean for them to get home. Another late cancellation came from a player who was still on the road returning from a trip to see a child away at college and found that icey roads were delaying them. Still one other NDPT regular was off to play in Las Vegas at the time, so he gets a pass for the night. : ) Now, some of the larger numbers that we've seen recently at NDPT tournaments have included some new blood. I did not include everyone from the Eagles in my invitation, as I should have, since this was still a bit of a home game. Not that I have anything against any of the players there but the home games have typically been about close friends and a very tight-knit core group.

I CAN agree with wvwolfie on the fact that "we might have even been guilty of over saturating our own players." That is highly likely, since a lot of people still believed that they needed to attend every game. BUT from the outset of this year, my goal was to provide a number of opportunities, in different venues: homes, Eagles, etc... on different days, so that others might be able to attend. I think we actually picked up some really dedicated, fun players as a result of this widening of the net, but in other areas we've lost some people. We all have lives outside of poker. Between my daughter Whitney's cheerleading schedule and my son Cole's basketball schedule I'll admit even I'm stretched. That's why more often than not you'll find me drinking a bit too much to blow off steam rather than concentrating solely on the game. : ) But also, the Yanok's have stepped up the frequency of their games too. This year, they had a qualifier every month, and I think they may have thrown in another game or so as well. Plus, in the last couple months they have made BOTH games of the night qualifier games and so more people have been playing in BOTH games each time. This increased personal costs. But actually increased family (husband and wife) each putting up $30 for each game for $120 expense on the night.

JR is hosting the Eagles game, and promised a monthly tournament to see how things shape up over there. And wvwolfie has also offered up his home as another venue for the NDPT membership. Even Shuman has routinely held more of his cash games this year as well, and those are "meaty" as always. Admittedly, each location though, picks up players that sometimes won't play anywhere else, and that's okay.

Also, I know several of our "regular" players routinely play elsewhere, outside of the NDPT scope. And I'm all for it. That's great! Am I offended at not being invited? Hell no! I've got more opportunities to play than I can keep up with now. I think even now more and more people are playing, and more and more people are hosting their own home games and tournaments.

I think there has been a great increase locally even of a lot of underground cash games, (ones that are raking the pot) here in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Not only have several new games cropped up, but higher stakes has become the name of the game. Let me go on record officially, none of the NDPT games is a raked game. (Tell the SWAT team to friggin' stand down!)

As wvwolfie also pointed out the "legal" brick and mortar poker rooms at Wheeling, Chester, and most recently Cross Lanes further opened the poker market, BUT I haven't really noticed a shortage of players there. At least every week I hear of someone who has made a trip to one of the local casinos to play and found them really busy. But, I think people are really branching out to play other places and with other people. And that's okay too. Recall a scene from Rounders in which a number of the New York Rounders find themselves at the Taj in Atlantic City seated with one another and one of them laments, "...if we wanted to take each others rolls, we could've just stayed at home." And then, the "fish" begin to arrive at the table and the fun begins for all!

All I'm saying is this (yes Virginia there is a point to cheer_dad's story!!!)
The N Debt Poker Tour (NDPT) has most certainly created and improved a lot of poker players here in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Within our ranks are some VERY crafty players. The skill level has most definitely gotten a lot higher. There have been a few people show up at our games and commented to their buddies that they were "gonna show us how to play this game" and we sent them packing, with an emptier wallet. We have NEVER fleeced anyone though! I'd like for people to come back and play (and bring more money.) BUT not just for the money, also for the friendship of the thing. I have made a lot of good friends playing poker and wouldn't trade the time and experiences for anything.

In closing let me say this... I didn't write up this blog post to argue with "wvwolfie," I think he has some very valid points in his post, again found here, http://frankwolfe.net/?p=159 and besides that, he's a good friend of mine. But I can't subscribe to the point-of-view that in the area of the popularity of poker that "...we are about halfway down a long downward slope." Instead, I offer up that instead of a linear path, that poker in our neck of the woods has branched out in a lot of different ways. And that with the larger numbers of games and places to play, that some competition for the players time has been introduced. I for one can vouch for the fact that I've played a lot more live poker this year than I ever thought possible, and I didn't host 1/2 as many times as I did in previous years. I even turn down some games, in favor of others. Although, I still play online, my time in front of the computer screen has been reduced because of the large numbers of options at my disposal. There is a lot of variety out there, and I don't think things are going to dry up on us anytime soon.

Besides, my kids will be heading off to college before you know it, and not only will I have additional free time to play poker, but hell someone's gotta help me foot the bill for their tuition, and the wages my Uncle Sam is handing out are probably going to come up a bit short. So, dear poker fishes... Plea$e $end Monie$!!!

Let me know what you think gang... sound off in the comments section of this post.

Regards.

cheer_dad

Sunday, December 07, 2008

NDPT #18 Aftermath

Things always look more bleak when you drink.
It's not so bad! : )

Anyway NDPT #18 Matt Hensley wandered back to the game and came out the big winner last night. And as hard as it is for me to type this out. Steve "All-In" Allman is the NDPT Points Champion of 2008. Seriously though, Congratulations!!!

I went back and figured my win/loss from last night, and despite turning belligerent and exiting the cash game post haste, I made a few bucks. Of course I didn't cash in the tournament, but I did pick up 2 bounties for $10, and then cashed out for like $52 in the cash game. So, I paid in $25 + $20 and ended up with $62, for a $17 profit for the evening. Then, I decided to throw caution to the wind and fired up Bodog! I three tabled at $25 buyin, full-ring NLHE, and made another $21. So, like I said it wasn't too bad of a night after all. Yeah, I should prolly drink less when playing huh! : )

Anyway, time to call this a post, I gotta head to the store and pick up supplies for todays football game. Steelers vs. Cowboys! Big Red says I gotta cheer for the Cowboys!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

deal

Somehow cheer_dad always fucks up... go figure.
There is no winning.
Life is pain.
deal...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, December 06, 2008

NDPT #18 approaches

Soon the degenerate poker hordes will converge on our house to get NDPT #18 underway. The cards will be in the air at 6:00pm, despite the thin layer of snow and ice which covers the landscape. The slickest place I found today was the parking lot at Krogers when I went to pick up beer! Nearly fell there a couple of times, which felt great on my already aching knee. Friggin' physical fitness, running, and such! Anyway, to those who make their way here tonight, poker awaits, bring the A-game.

And tonight's the night, All-In Allman is dethroned from the points lead!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, December 04, 2008

PokerStars, World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

Online Poker

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

The WBCOOP is an online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers.

Registration code: 857867



Regards,

cheer_dad

Well it "started" as a quickie post

I'm working on my ambidextrous skills... not so much by choice. I'm a rightie, but today I'm switching my computer mouse over to the left hand. I've begun (again) to have pain in my right wrist, which hasn't gone away now for about a week or two now. It's a dull, nagging ache and is likely due to the repetitive motion of mouse clicking, the dreaded carpal tunnel. A few years of swinging a steel framing hammer in my younger years probably have had an effect on my wrist as well. I'll see if through "switch-hitting" I can give it some much needed down time. The click and select isn't giving me problems as much as copy and paste keyboard shortcuts are. I've always used the left hand while the right is occupied on the mouse, and the damned CTRL+C or CTRL+V just doesn't flow as freely using the right hand. I suppose I could remap, and really screw myself up! Yes, it sucks to get old.

Another haunting pain is a direct result of renewing my running routine. Since I started back up very seriously a few months ago on the treadmills here at work, I've come along further than I thought I would. I'm back up to running a little over 3 miles in a 30 minute time frame about 5 times per week. I've lost a little more than 20 pounds. : ) Another 20-30 to go and I'll be carrying a stick to keep all the babes away. NOT!!! The unfortunate side effect is of course another source of pain. This week it's my right leg, to the inner side of the knee. Inflammation, ache, and now I'm finally living better through chemistry, sucking down the ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and make it less painful during continued running. Yes, I am continuing to run on it. As with all runners, if we didn't run, when we had a little pain, we'd soon be walkers or worse, couch potatoes! It's funny to feel a pain start up in one leg and slowly migrate itself around your body until it finally exits out the opposite leg. Someone once joked about that to me, but it is true. The body will overcompensate to favor the uninjured body part, but in the process put undo stress elsewhere causing additional problems and pain. YEEEEEAAAAAAH running!!! Anyway, I have loose goal of eventually getting down to around 175. From there I'll re-evaluate. But 175 is totally doable! At the height of my running in my past life, when I was putting in 30-40 miles per week on the pavement, and running a few long distance races, I got down to 148 pounds. BUT, Teresa reminds me that she didn't like how I looked at that point. More sickly than she cared to see me. Although the spandex running shorts and pants did garner a bit more of her attention. (How U Doin'!) I feel pretty motivated this time, despite the fact that I haven't been running outside this time. I decided to treadmill it so I would keep track of myself better, know the kind of pace I was keeping, and take the excuses of inclimate weather out of the equation.

I've also been lifting weights regularly 3-4 times per week, in addition to the 5-ish days a week of running 3 miles. But none of this stuff happens overnight though. It took time to pack on the weight, it'll take time to offload it as well. Regardless, I feel better, and from some of the comments I've received lately from some friends I hadn't seen in a while, they told me that I looked like I'd lost a lot of weight. That made me feel pretty good, and put a little extra spring in my step the next time I climbed on board the treadmill. But in the end, I'm doing this for me, and for no one else, and it's all about personal gratification. I'd say I'm "pleasuring myself" but that'd be a completely different topic that I just don't wanna cover! : ) Probably another possible cause of the carpal tunnel, huh!!!

Oh, and I promise some poker content will show up on this here poker blog... soon. I just haven't had time to play online, and live play has been merely a fond memory. Saturday though, the crew converges for NDPT #18 at my house, so there will be some cards in the air that night. After such a long hiatus, I'll likely bust out first...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Meanwhile back at the "poker" blog




back at the ole "poker" blog...

Yes, boys and girls once upon a time this was a blog about all things poker, at least in the low stakes, not very good at it; sense of the word. From time-to-time I meander off topic, but the few poor saps/devoted fans of this here blog seem to keep coming back. And eventually I get back on target with a post on that game we all love to hate, poker. I thought about posting my thoughts up about the 60 Minutes airing of the piece on the UB/AP (Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker) cheating scandal, but honestly that's been done, and quite well I might add by some others. Go check out Shamus' synopsis here: http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/2008/12/on-60-minutes-cheaters.html or you might even just read the transcript for yourself over at CBSNews.com: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/25/60minutes/main4633254.shtml. Either way, you can formulate your own ideas and opinions. For my sake and your own sanity though, just avoid the gloom and doom hypesters who are running about screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!" Honestly, get over it.

I won't say that some things won't change over time in the poker world, but I don't know how much sway the show 60 minutes actually has over the populace anymore. Let's go back a bit and look at some other things that have happened in the past few years that were thought to be a death blow to online poker. Neteller was muscled out as the premiere online payment processor for all us degenerate gambler types, and various yaahooo's promptly started wailing and moaning. In the end, however we migrated elsewhere. Party Poker then pulled the plug on its U.S. operations and focused elsewhere and this was talked about around the virtual water coolers on various forums as a nail in the coffin of online poker. Now, there were a number of other online poker room casualties which opted to abandon the U.S. market, around this same time. But others stood fast, and to boot, a new crop of poker rooms sprung up as well. The numbers went down, but I rarely find myself waiting for a game online, even playing over at Bodog, which isn't recognized as the heaviest of hitters in the online poker community. The UIGEA (boo hiss hiss) was analyzed, debated and cried about when it came out, and still we were put on hold awaiting enforcement guidelines, etc... Well those came out... and they were late and continue to be argued. Now, many it seems blame this whole "poker-thing" on the Bush administration and seem to think that President Elect Obama's going to fix it all up. I very seriously doubt that too. If poker's the only thing he's got on his mind right now, we are in some sad shape indeed people. What I see are just the normal obstacles that seem always to crop up. I don't think there's a cure all for any of it. In the end American's are an ingenious lot, and we tend to find a way of working around a lot of government stupidity. We sometimes thrive despite it. I think there is still a long haul ahead, but eventually I think things will eventually turn around. The U.S. market will re-open its doors, and ultimately online poker will re-emerge from the shadows. Once again, I'll be free to risk the pennies, nickles and dimes that I've been risking all along, without concern for a pack of jack-booted thugs to come storming in guns-a-blazin'! Okay, that's bit over the top. You see, this is why I stay out of the arguments and discussions about poker and politics for that matter.

I've run off at the mouth long enough though.

Anyway, in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas, there's a lot of poker playing on tap for my fellow NDPT'ers and I to participate in. And in addition I hope to wade back out there on Bodog and reinforce the walls of the ole fledgeling bankroll. But next up on the agenda is #18 (last of the regular NDPTNDPT points season games) on December 6th at my house. The following weekend the Yanok's are pulling out ALL the stops and hosting their December qualifier(s) on December 12th, followed by the their End of the Year freebie tournament, where close to a Grand is on the line, and making me salivate right now. The following weekend again the action will shift back to my house, for the NDPT Year End Extravaganza, our annual $50 buyin game. A win in this one, could turn the whole year around for some lucky bastard. And I'm hoping to resemble that remark!!! Dare to dream cheer_dad!

I'm mulling over another post that I hope to put up tonight, but there are some pending actions which need to occur before I can do it the way I want. Hey, if it all works out, you'll know later tonight. If not, just pretend I never mentioned it. You didn't hear nuthin' 'bout nuthin'!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sunday, November 30, 2008

What a night!

Thanks to ALL of you who made it out last night to help celebrate the 40th birthday of my wife, Teresa. You all made the time very special and she really enjoyed herself. The band, JINX'D was great and really put on a terrific show for us. We killed the first keg and headed into a second one. And Santana, our bartender with the the bottomless bottles, really helped to get the party going! Teresa really enjoyed all the gifts, including the "over-the-hill" variety which we all got a good laugh out of. She recalled this morning that at some point during the night she started selling "kisses" for a buck! I don't know if Laura will ever be the same!!! Too bad I don't have pictures of that to share... (if someone does I'd love to have 'em.)

I hope each of you had a wonderful evening. Thanks again for making it so special for her.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Happy 40th Birthday Big Red!!!


In just a few short minutes we'll be heading out the door to go to Big Red's 40th Birthday Party up at the Eagles banquet room. The room is decorated, the cake picked up, the band's all set, and the kegs been chillin' since this afternoon. There's no "old age" to be concerned with here... there's gonna be one helluva party tonight! So, put on your dancin' shoes and we'll see y'all real soon.

Teresa, I love you! I hope you have a great time on your big night... Even at 40... you're still lookin' good to me!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, November 28, 2008

Tick... tock...


The hourglass might as well be floating around in Zero-G right now. The sands are not moving in the right direction to make this day go away. The day after Thanksgiving here is always really slow, there are likely only 10% of the people even in the building today that are normally present. Those remaining are simply doing their best to clog the incoming bandwidth in search of something to pass the time on the internet. You can in fact find the end of these here intertubes. It is a sad stagnant place. I guess it beats the alternative, at least from this "guy's" point of view, I could instead be out there wandering aimlessly like the rest of the zombie hordes in search of an elusive good deal on Black Friday. So, there is some solace to be had there, I suppose. Still, it doesn't make the clock tick any faster at all.

Don't forget tomorrow is Big Red's 40th birthday, and party begins at 8:00pm at the Eagles... It's going to be a great time! Make plans to be there, you won't want to miss it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


I wish you all a most Happy Thanksgiving Day. Remember to be truly thankful for friends and family and the time spent together.

And aside from all the sentimentality...

May you Gobble til you Wobble!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Drunken and crazed

After an alcohol induced stupor courtesy of the Eagles and a group of friends/all-too-willing participants Big Red and I headed to the house on what was Thanksgiving Eve. Buzzed as I Wuzzed... I fired up the Bodog client, and after the dust settled on 120 hands in 45 minutes... cheer_dad finds himself in strange uncharted Bodog territory. I've crossed another "hundred" marking and find myself at $324.00. Go figure. Tempted as I am to continue on, I'll savor the experience and call it a night.

Oh, and the other night, when JJ got me in trouble at NDPT #17, keeping me out much too late. One of the tips that I got at the Eagles, ended up as the winner. Ship the $100 beeyatches! Okay DeeJay, got tippage. So the night was by no means a total wash.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

NDPT 2008 Series coming to a close...


Well gang, the N Debt Poker Tour (NDPT) 2008 Series is coming to a close. I want to say thanks to each and every one of you who have made this a fantastic year! From the looks of things one of three people will be taking down the Points Race for the year; Steve, Vince, or JR. Steve is currently in the lead with 190 points (by a margin of 4 points to both Vince and JR who are tied at 186.) Big Red and I are tied at 176, but I think a stray lightning bolt would have to take Steve, Vince, and JR out right after I announced "shuffle up and deal" at the next tournament for either of us to have a prayer of taking it down. Good luck to you all, and I'll be checking the Weather Channel for the extended forecast...

I'm going to go ahead and make the announcement for NDPT #18 to be held December 6th at 6:00pm at my house.

And also, the Year-End-Extravaganza $50 buyin game will be held on December 20th at 6:00pm, again at my house.

You may begin RSVP-ing to either one or both of these games now!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Like looking into a mirror, loud shirt and all!


One of the many blogs I follow posted the following: http://gadzooks64.blogspot.com/2008/11/south-park-character.html.

And although it says this used to be all the rage, once upon a time, I had never tried it out before. But now, I'd like to report that I have successfully created myself as a South Park character! Go try it out for yourself... run, don't walk! http://www.sp-studio.de/index.htm


Regards,


cheer_dad

I think I can make it through this week

Greetings all! I probably should have jotted down a few lines yesterday out here on the blog, but it was a lazy day and I didn't want to be the one to change that. We had our NDPT tournament on Sunday afternoon, and JR (a.k.a Uncle June) took down the top spot. We had a good crowd of around 24 players. I couldn't really put anything together, and the cards just weren't coming my way, so although I was able to outlast some of the field, I was never able to capitalize on anything and just survived until the end and donated the last of my chips on a feeble attempt at a steal, with A2 suited. JR put me out of my misery! : ) Earlier in the tourney I did however make a laydown of pocket Kings, preflop, which proved to be the right move. I was first to act, with blinds at 10-20, I make it 80 to go. It is immediately raised by Del to my left All-In for 200-ish. It heads on over to JR, who repops it to $500 straight. His range has now shrunk, significantly. He advertises it, and plays it full on. I drop... He turns over the rockets, Del has the A-10os. Neither hand really improves, and my King would have never hit. It sucks when your greatest talent is your ability to fold! : )

Then, as the beer continued to flow... I sat down at the cash game and got tied up in a hand that I should have let go. But hey it's only money right? I held top two pair, on the flop, and was betting full on, until the river brought the 3rd diamond. And I should have known Steve had chased it down, but my stubbornness and the Miller Brewing Company wouldn't let me fold it. So, $25 down in the tourney, followed by another $20 in the cash game. Then let's not forget another $13-ish bled out of the Bodog account later that night. Okay, so I've had better days. Then again, I was havin' a ball! The tourney failure was just bad cards, for too long. The cash game, went well for a while, but I far exceeded my reasoning abilities by then. The Bodog thing, ehhh, we'll call it "seed money" all those folks I lost to at the 3 tables will be convinced I'm a complete idiot.

Today, I'm back at work. Yesterday was my AWS day, so today's MY Monday. But I think I can survive this week. Work 2 days, then off for Thanksgiving, then come back for Friday, which they might as well write off. This place will be a ghost town, and NOTHING even resembling work will be accomplished on that day. And then another weekend awaits. OH, and don't forget Saturday, November 29th at 8:00pm, the festivities and celebration begins of the 40th birthday of my beloved wife, Teresa (a.k.a Big Red.) Mark your calendars now folks, you don't want to miss this one. Again, this will be held at the Eagles banquet room. There will be keg(s) and snacks for all. There will also be a cash bar for your other indulgences. The local band JINX'D will be performing from 8:00pm-- 1:00am for your listening and dancing pleasure. Hell, there might even be a deck of cards somewhere in the crowd. We do ask that you pony up $5 to help cover the cost of the band. Come one come all...

Also, of note is another milestone birthday in the home of the cheer_dad. My lovely daughter Whitney will be 16-years-old one week from today!!! That's right folks she'll be street legal. I think she wants to take her driving exam THAT DAY! There'll be no stopping her then. Well at least until she stalls the VW bug on a hill that is. Hey, you know it's happened to us all at some point in time, and we all lived through it right?

I also have to figure out when to insert a game in to the mix for our final regular season NDPT tournament. Right now I'm leaning toward December 6th. But I'm just no sure... There's just a lot of other things to work around. Then, the year end game is yet to be decided. I could let it lapse beyond the first of the year, but we'll see.

Also, check out the latest NDPT points update here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ptNl6_cpXDHlDaBaHIU7NVA&hl=en

I'll figure out the rest of the year's poker schedule and get it posted SOON!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Weekend update

We took Cole out for his celebratory dinner last night, for making the basketball team. So Cole, Whitney and her friend Jo Jo, Teresa and I all piled into the car last night and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings. We met the Brothers clan, Chris, Laura and baby Megan. Cole played some video games, we ate some wings and drank a lot of beer. Okay, not Cole and the other kids. But the adults indulged, blowing off some of the steam of a long workweek which had come to an end. AHHHHH.... We came back home, and Big Red and Laura decided to head up to "spin" at the Eagles for a bit. She was gone for a while, and I stayed here with the kids and played some online poker. It was good to sit down and relax, with a beer or so and 3 tables on Bodog to occupy the time. I made like $11.00 for the evening. Would have been a little more but I took a hit from a "flush vs. higher flush" hand. It set me back a few bucks but nothing to steam or tilt about. Hey, he had the hand and took it down. I don't mind that. No suckouts to speak of. I was on one table that everyone seemed to be playing scared. I was winning pots with air, all too frequently based solely on my position plays. I never really caught anything substantial on the table though. I had some hyper aggressors at another table, that controlled things for a while but they were soon parted from their money by some of the more savvy/patient types at the table... yours truly included. I enjoyed the time alone, and thought it was very relaxing.

This morning I took Cole to bowling at 10:00 and then came home, and thus far I've been kind of veggin' around the house. It's cold and dreary, so it's the perfect day to do nothing. I do think we are going to go to the movies tonight. Big Red is dying to see Twilight. She read the whole series and really wants to go see it now. I've just started reading Twilight and figure okay, I can go see a flick with romance overtones (a.k.a. chick flick) as long as there's vampires in it. And we used to go to the movies all the time, when we first started dating and in fact later on earlier in our marriage. We were/are movie buffs! Kids and life in general have curbed the entertainment. Well that and I tend to download a lot of stuff to watch as well. : ) shhhhh!

I have to work for a couple of hours in the morning, applying some patches to some of our servers at work. But it should be too taxing on me at all. Later, we'll be heading to the Eagles for the NDPT tournament which starts at 3:00pm. Not sure how many people we have coming, but what's it matter. Cards, beer, good friends and good times. The simple things in life. Hope to see you there tomorrow. Oh, and All-In Allman MUST go down!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, November 21, 2008

Cole made the Basketball Team!


My son, Cole was SOOOOO proud last night, when I picked him up from basketball tryouts! It was a little strange at first, since none of the boys was telling whether or not they made the team as they exited the gym one at a time. In fact, Cole and I headed outside immediately for the truck. I was a little cautious, and didn't want to ask him if (you know) it was bad news. Then, I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye, and he was sneaking a peek over each shoulder to see that no one was around. Then, he said, " hey dad ask me if I made the team."

I said, "oh I didn't know for sure if they were going to tell you tonight. So, did you make the team?"

He smiled really big and said "Yeah, I made it!" He went on to tell me that he didn't know who else made the team yet, since the coach had told each kid individually as they left the gym. And they were instructed not to talk about it in front of anyone else. I thought that was right decent of the coach! Also, he was honest with each boy that made the team as well, and gave them an indication of how much playtime they could expect. Obviously, the older boys and those who have greater skill are going to be playing. This isn't like REC league. This will be Cole's first year, and so he will likely ride the bench more than the others, but he said he didn't care. He recognized that making the team, he would be practicing and warming up at games, and would get some late game play time as well. He understood, they he has room to improve his skill in basketball and he openly admits that there are people that are better than him, BUT he saw this as an opportunity to get better. He said he tried his absolute best, and tried to show the coach that he could hustle and that he really wanted it, and I think in the end it showed. Of the 33-ish kids to show up for tryouts only around 13 kids made the team.

I'm really proud of the level of effort and intensity that Cole put into this and I told him so. I only look for him to improve throughout the season, and very likely continue on and make the team again next year, where with his size and power, he will be a formidable player. Great job son!

We're taking him out to dinner tonight to celebrate...

In other news, Big Red hit for $450 on the slots last night at the Eagles. Her luck on those damned things is just insane! And really she doesn't play them all the time. Usually just on Eagles night, and other times when she takes off with her mom. But most certainly she has won much more than she's lost. I on the other hand, am just staying away from the accursed contraptions.

Have a great weekend all.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Lots of stuff going on...


So, there's a lot of stuff going on. We are perched on the edge of the extended holiday season, what with Thanksgiving being next Thursday. (I swear the day after Halloween I walked into K-Mart and they already had their Christmas MUZAK tracks going.) What the hell! I hadn't even stolen all of the Reese's Cups out of Cole's Trick or Treat bag yet, and I'm listening to the sounds of Christmas already!?! C'mon people, this is nuts. So, there's Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and don't forget the Christmas shopping. I'm really contemplating this being the year of me shopping ONLY online! Why not, anything I buy, will likely be returned anyway. (Sorry Big Red, had to throw that out there!) : P

Then, don't forget work. It seems that "everything" gets put off until the end of the year at work to be accomplished. Right at the time, that everything else has to be done, and when everyone is trying to use the remainder of their "Use or Lose" leave balance and taking extra time off from work to spend time with their family and friends. I try to be a decent lead to my team and not hog the days surrounding the holidays. I like to think I'm pretty decent in that respect.

Also, there are a lot of poker games going on. Shuman is having another cash game on Friday. JR is hosting on Sunday at the Eagles our latest NDPT tournament. Then, December hits and we will be trying to fit in another regular season tournament for the NDPT, and then the follow-up Year End $50 tournament. Also, the Yanok's will have their December Qualifier on the 12th, to be followed the next day by their Year End Game, which is a freebie to all who have contributed throughout the year to the pot and scored a win/points. The prize pool will very likely be $1,000 for a max of like 16-18 people playing! Not too shabby!

And, don't forget Big Red's 40th Birthday Party on November 29th to be held in the Eagles banquet room, with JINX'D performing and kegs... Then, I have Whitney turning Sweet 16 on December 2nd. I think she'll be demanding to take her driving test that day too. Hello insurance rate increase!

Cole, is also trying to get in on the busier side of life. He's trying out for the basketball team at his Elementary School. He attended the clinic, and now he is in tryouts for going on the 3rd night tonight. The field has been narrowed from 33 kids to 17 now, and the coach is keeping 12. Keep your fingers crossed for the little guy, he's been hustling his little heart out! He told me last night, that if he didn't make it he'd be "crushed" and that's a quote! I let him know to do his best, but that if it didn't work out, we'd keep working through the off-season and keep on trying.

And speaking of basketball, now that football cheering season is over, basketball cheering season begins. And it's no secret they play a helluva lot more basketball than football games. Who needs a life anyway.

Finally, to help put me in a festive state of mind, I had a "run-in" phone conversation with the high school principal, complaining about how Geometry is going. Not just whining for my daughter, but this seems a problem apparent for almost all the kids in the class. I'm sure there's bound to be a chess geek in there who's getting it all, and bored, but he's not my problem, and will likely never get laid anyway. : ) The principal and I were doomed never to see eye to eye when during the course of the conversation he brought up the ole standby analogy of the Bell Curve. I immediately shut down. He might as well have cracked my Aces, with a 7-2os. I despise the utter concept of the Bell Curve. The idea that curriculum cannot be taught and some will excel, some will fail and the majority will exist in the curve of mediocrity. Well, fuck that! I don't subscribe to your point of view. To quote Stand and Deliver "...the students will rise to the expectation of the teacher!" However, the teacher MUST get the point across. I don't completely fault the teacher though, but the methodology and curriculum itself. There is no discovery in the methods of many of the subjects being taught today in our schools. Learning based on raw memorization of facts, and in the case of Geometry of postulates, and theorems, provides no means for discovery and understanding of concept. They preach logic, but do not teach logical thinking. You cannot read about it... you must experience it and also learn by 'great' example. There's got to be a better way, than how it is being done today, and how they were doing it nearly 25 years ago for me. Man... I feel old. But I'll stop on the GEO rant now! Before my blood pressure caps.

As you can see there's a lot going on, and I know there are some things I've left out. I'll try to keep up with the blog, and hope you keep stopping by to see what's up. But let me apologize in advance for my potential failure.

See several of you tonight at the Eagles. I'm in need of a little liquid sanity!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Here there be snow!

Things are "delayed" today, at least as far as my kids are concerned. Schools for the most part are on a 2-hour delay today in our area as a result of the first real snowfall of the year. Maybe they'll be less grumpy. I'm getting them to school today, so I'm still at home, waiting for "go time." I'll also be late for training, but I've already called ahead to the office and I guess it's to be expected during this time of year.

I thought I'd snap a couple of pictures since I had the extra time.


In other poker related news... this Friday at 7:00-ish Shuman will be hosting another cash game at his house for all you action junkies. Omaha and Pineapple get more game time than Hold'em at that gathering. The swings are great and the stacks of chips are high! And JR will play host on Sunday at 3:00pm to the next NDPT tournament. It will be held at the Eagles, since his basement is still functioning as a wood shop for the time being. Registration begins at 2:00pm for anyone who hasn't already signed up via the email listing. Please come and take part in one or both of these great games. Bring money!


The VW Bug will not be venturing out today.

Hope all is well in your respective necks of the woods... Stay warm!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Parkersburg South Patriot's End of the Season

Although they battled furiously against the Bridgeport High School Indians, the South Patriots came up short in their football playoff game. The scoreboard which showed Parkersburg South 35 Bridgeport 42 doesn't do the game justice. It was a nail-biter from start to finish! The Patriots were first to get on the board, having shut-down the Indian offense in its first drive and taking over after the punt. They drove the ball even opting to risk a 4th down conversion, which paid off and got us on the board. Unfortunately, the Indians came alive and were able to get a touchdown up on us, and despite a late rally by the Patriots, there simply wasn't enough time left on the clock to make it happen. Going into the 2:00 left in the game mark, it looked like we were headed for an overtime session, but the Indians punched through the line a couple more times and with around 37 seconds remaining got one more TD on the board to break the 35-35 gridlock. The Patriots were unable to bounce back, and the final buzzer sounded, ending the playoff hopes and the season. But, the Patriots have much to be proud of for this football season. They had a great run and have the admiration of us all! Fantastic Job guys! You've made us proud! As always... LET'S GOOOOO PATRIOTS!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Friday, November 14, 2008

Broad spectrum of topics

So I started this long, in-depth analysis of the "Final Rule" submitted by the Federal Reserve System and the Department of the Treasury providing policy and regs related to the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act.) I was up to page 30-ish of the document which appears to be like 121 pages long and I've already created my own commentary that's just scrolling off the page, and suddenly it hits me. WTF!?! Why are you bothering!? The Act was crap, it was enacted in a shady fashion, it's been argued, beaten, commented upon, ignored, revised, and now this "final rule" gives us the regs for how to get it done. In short, this is just furtherance of crap. I immediately deleted my diatribe on the finer points of the most recent document. Look folks, we're beatin' this dead horse... and keep giving it new life, somehow. I'm not suggesting ignore it, but it seems the regs are here to stay at least for a while, until someone or something else comes along which renders it impotent or we just find a loophole to work around. I read Shamus comment in which he says he's sorry for the mushroom cloud picture and inciting a panic, but honestly I think we all know he wasn't suggesting that the end is nigh. He went on to cover I. Nelson Rose's comments which I think are spot on. Life will go on for poker and we who play her. However, the economy of the thing will suffer. What I mean to say is that the harder it becomes to "move" money about online for poker purposes, some folks simply won't bother. And a lot of those folks are fish and so you are going to continue to find yourself engaged in tougher and tougher games online. I'm not looking to deposit any time soon, if ever, since I have a comfortable sum online that I play with now. (I'd like it to get bigger, but I don't want it to rely on me depositing money to get there.) But with less new money flowing into the poker community, the skillset of those you will encounter is only going to improve. Only the strong will survive and the weak will not bother with a redeposit if they have to put too much work into it. So, I think Shamus has it right in this respect. The poker boom online owes much of its success to the ease with which you could get money online. There will be an impact, I'm certain, but I have no idea to what degree.

Anyway, I'd like to tell you I've been playing lotsa poker, but that'd be a lie. I did excavate and pour a concrete driveway extension to accommodate a third vehicle in the cheer_dad clan. Recall the yellow volkswagen now sitting out front in the belong of my daughter, Whitney. Two days of back-breaking work and chilly weather now behind me. The muscle aches and pains still bear witness to the feat though.

I'm tired, and now reviewing the log file from my phone it looks like I may have been called by the school (shudder.) Very likely in response to an email that I sent to my daughter's Geometry teacher, telling her that I think some changes are in order in her teaching approach. Okay, maybe I was a little more diplomatic than that. I can do that when I write. Not so much when cornered on the phone or in person. Diplomacy can then take the backseat... an argument will shortly ensue. But we shall see... and I shall blog.

Oh and don't forget... tonight we travel to Bridgeport, WV where the South Patriot Football Juggernaut faces off against Bridgeport High School in the first of our playoff games. Keep those fingers crossed! Let's GOOOOOOO Patriots!!!

Later all, it's just that kinda day.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Thursday, November 13, 2008

42nd Annual CMA Awards

Country Music had its big night last night and as you can imagine at "Casa de cheer_dad y big red" the tv was tuned in for the duration. Admittedly, my wife is the bigger country music fan, whereas I waffle among many different kinds of music. Okay, I'm fickle... My iPod is a real mish-mash of jazz, soundtracks, country, rock, pop, and even some metal. (No friggin' RAP though!) I'm talking about "music" here. But I digress, back to the CMA's!

The show was hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley, both of whom were showered with awards throughout the evening themselves, in addition to their presenting and performing duties. Carrie took down the Female Vocalist of the Year and Brad garnered the Male Vocalist of the Year.




My wife of course took great pride in the fact that her man Kenny Chesney took down the coveted Entertainer of the Year accolades for the 3rd year in a row, and 4th time overall. She called it before the envelope was opened, stating, "he's the only one who can fill up the stadiums!" Chesney was truly humbled again by the award and exuded gratitude upon receiving the award which was presented to him by the lovely Shania Twain. She remarked when she took the stage that it was good to be back and that we would be seeing a lot more of her. Perhaps this suggests a return to the country music scene for Shania following her split from Jeff "Mutt" Lange. As I said in a previous post... what an idiot! Despite the reasonings for her return, it's nice to see her back in the spotlight.

Some other not surprising awards throughout the night. Rascal Flatts took home Vocal Group of the Year, Sugarland took Duo of the Year and front lady Jennifer Nettles also took home top honors for Song of the Year for "Stay." I really like the song, and her heartfelt performance of the song in the simplistic video is absolutely stunning. (I do really wish she would return to her long hair though.) : )

An appearance I can always do without is Nicole Kidman. I like to hear Keith Urban perform but something about his missus really annoys me. Is she never out in the sun, with that pasty complexion, and I keep waiting for the fangs to come out and for her to lunge at Keith's neck. Okay, I'll quit now...


A surprise appearance for me to see was Darius Rucker (former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman) performing at the CMA's. I hadn't realized that he'd crossed over, and didn't realize he was the artist that sang this song “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” until he performed it live last night. Very good performance.

If you missed the CMA's you can check out all that happened and see a lot of pics and clips over at http://www.cmaawards.com/2008/.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Regards,

cheer_dad