You name it... I'm bloggin' it

Trips to the doctor are getting pricey.
Today, I had to go to the doctor, to see about a "funky" patch of skin on the side of my face. Nothing grotesquely disfiguring though when you've got so very little to work with in the first place... Anyway a prescription for some creams and then he whips out "the canister" of nitro and freezes the badboy right then and there. Freeze? HA, burns like hell! I know, I know suck it up cheer_dad! Anyway, of course I pay on my way out, just the co-pay, but the receptionist whispers to me, by the way your insurance "cough" BlueCross "cough" won't cover those prescriptions. Joy. This, all on the heels of yesterday's visit to the oral surgeon with my daughter, who at 16 will be getting her impacted wisdom teeth removed. CHA-CHING!!! Initial consult for the day, NOT included, I will need to come up with and fork over 1/2 of the total fee for the whole Extraction of Wisdom Teeth. My 1/2 equals $780, so you do the math. Oh and incidentally this particular doctor is not within the list of preferred providers of the almighty "cough" Blue Cross "cough." Still they cover somewhat. If I stay in the network of BlueCross's beautiful people then they pay 85% of the "allowed" fee. Meaning they set the total fee and then pay 85% of it. They muscle the doctor into accepting a lower fee than usual with the threat that if they don't play nice, they'll lose business. I get that some doctor's may willingly gouge the prices but not to this degree. The doc's got as much right to make a buck as do I. There I said it. But since this doctor's NOT in the network (which by the way NONE of Parkersburg, WV's oral surgeons are.) I can drive another hour to the west or to the south and find one, but wtf... Anyway, since the local/trustworthy/recommended doctor... the insurance company will pick up 70% of the accepted fee. I am directly responsible for the 30% more of the accepted fee AND any and all amounts in addition to the accepted fee. Aha, I didn't realize I'd visited the proctologist. How 'bout ya lube up there next time, big fellah. Ooof! Anyway, said extraction of teeth will occur in a week and a half. Brother can you spare a dime... a bankroll perhaps?!? I kidding... I'll survive or rob a bank.

Bodog account is just back over the 5 hundy mark. I had a minor setback just before Vegas that cost me during a night of play. Got some Big Sets crushed... the one that hurt the most was the frackin' QUEENS, which lost to the douchebag holding 3-6os, who called the preflop raise in the first place. There's a special place for you in hell, my friend. I'll refrain from posting the things I said and wrote about you that night. I'll keep the internet safe for the PG-13 crowd.

I've got poker this weekend on Friday at the Yanoks house. 2 qualifier games, which move fast and the chips fly. Then, on Saturday I've got the NDPT tourney at my house. I'm hopeful of a decent score somewhere in there. So, beware lil fishies! On the heels of that I'm feeling the urge to next week head down south to CrossLanes and play for the night in the poker room at the Tri-State Casino and Racetrack... call it an itch, call it Vegas withdraw, it is what it is... Let's see I need to work on the begging/pleading aspect to Big Red.

Cover me boys... I'm goin' in! Suppressing fire!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Found notes from Harrah's poker session

Okay, there's nothing incredibly insightful here, but I did have the common sense to a least pay some attention and take some notes while I was playing in my 2nd session at Harrah's Poker Room from last week in Las Vegas. Remarkably no one was complaining that I was typing on my cellphone when I wasn't in the hand. Anyway, for what it's worth here's the rambling nature of my note taking all the while hopped up on an inordinate number of cups of coffee!

• Third hand of the morning QQ, small win better than a loss.
• Jr takes hit when villain hits set of 7's on river.
• I call with AQos miss on flop fold to a bet.
• 2nd rnd of table i pick up QQ again raise mid pos get 3 callers flop is jack high i bet n win.
• Lot of chips flying at table many more than yesterday.
• So tight for an hour now at $22 up.
• In bb flop straight only take weak pot, still a win is a win.
• Hour n half in two hands in row i look down at AJs bet out miss first time on royal flush draw. 2nd time pair aces only... Wins me nearly a $200 pot! R U kidding me!
• 2 hrs in up $100.
• Seat 1 asian is loose... he needs to pay me off more. : )
• Alan Schoonmaker playing in room, writer for CardPlayer.
• There's the girls... and 3 hrs in... time to cash out! UP $146.

I know, I know... nothing earth-shattering there, just wanted to share and re-live.
Also wanted to mention... I REALLY liked having Jennifer as a dealer. She was very kind, knew her some 80's trivia, and kept the morning game moving right along!

And I wish I could remember the name of our cocktail waitress from that morning. She was a real dynamo, and kept up with not only everyone in the poker room and sports book, but later I saw she was also serving a hellish grouping of slot machines too! I hope the tips piled high for you during your shift.

Regards,

cheer_dad

An Ode to the Pepper Rose

I WISH that it would never close

The deli called the Pepper Rose.

Sandwiches piled with meats and cheeses

The wondrous taste how it pleases;

The Reuben oh it made me cry

It was so good I thought I'd die;

The ham and cheese wow was it good

I couldn't believe and so I just stood

There outside the Harrah's Poker Room

The hunger I felt would meet its doom.

Dream of food perfection while you doze;

Run don't walk to the Pepper Rose.

All apologies to poet Joyce Kilmer and "TREES." http://www.bartleby.com/104/119.html

After eating at the Pepper Rose Delicatessen, outside Harrah's Poker Room, I was a believer.

http://www.harrahslasvegas.com/casinos/harrahs-las-vegas/restaurants-dining/pepper-rose-detail.html

Mmmmm, that's good eatin'. In fact, I think that sandwich may have been the only food I had all day. Alcohol however, is a story for another day.

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #2 February 28, 2009 @ 6:00pm

NDPT Tournament #2 will be held at my house on February 28th, 2009 at 6:00pm.
Sorry things shifted a bit, but we were in Vegas last week and we couldn't get things together for last weekend.

Anyway, same format as last month. Hope to see you all there!

Begin the RSVP'ing NOW!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

It's not complete until...

... you run yourself into Elvis and ham it up for the camera! Thank you... thank you very much.

But now that we're home, it's back to reality. Kids had to be taken to school, unpack, mountains of laundry, all the while jet-lagged.

Still, I wanted to go through some of the pictures I had, and this one made me laugh.

Have a great day everyone.

Regards,

cheer_dad

On the road again. Vacation really over now. 2 hour drive home is all that remains, other than a lot of great times and stories.
Regards,
cheer dad

Blackjack is evil! My buddy JJ can attest from past trips. Now JR can confirm as well. Losing session last night NY NY.
Regards,
cheer dad

Met Alan Schoonmaker playing at Harrah's, he's a writer for CardPlayer magazine. Nice man!
Regards,
cheer dad

Closing in on 3 hrs at Harrah's up a lil over $100. 2 loose players at table driving action... One of them sitting on about 1K.
Regards,
cheer dad

Headed back to the poker table at Harrah's to put in a few hours. Today's the day folks! Or not... : )
Regards,
cheer dad

Lady luck is cold hearted bitch... Card dead at the IP, escape with life and a few chips. Now at Margaritaville. YUM!
Regards,
cheer dad

Playing at the Imperial Palace... Sluggish game.
Regards,
cheer dad

Plan is for JR to play Venetian tourney this evening. I will be there prolly at the cash tables.
Regards,
cheer dad

Left Harrah's up but not where i was earlier. Flopped set of 7's i raise the bettor. He gets all in i call and he catches 4 cards to straight. Sigh
cheerdad

Playing at Harrah's poker room... 3 hours or so at the moment. Up a lil over $100.
Regards,
cheer dad

Spent last night and early morn downtown at Fremont taking in the sights. Giving $$$ away at the tables. Now... Back to it!
Regards,
cheer dad
cheer
cheer

On your mark, get set, GO!

A mere 5 Hours, 21 Minutes remain before our plane taxis down the runway. Next stop VEGAS! I'm herding Big Red toward the door right now. JR's already texting to see if we're on schedule. Dude, you're a junkie! Addiction is a scary thing. Whatevs... hang on tight folks cause here we go!

Regards,

cheer_dad

I'm so excited!

I can hardly contain my excitement! We leave tomorrow for Las Vegas! We leave in the morning around 10:00 to drive to Columbus, OH and hop our plane. Doubtful that any of us will sleep tonight, of course we won't be able to do much of that in Vegas either, so this is just practice right?

By this time tomorrow... the Vegas sites and sounds will be all around me. I'll be doubling down or shoving all-in depending on the table I happen to be at, at the time.

The plan is still to head downtown on our first night, to check out old Vegas, particularly for JR, who has never been there before. Beyond that, we're really playing it all by ear, but there will definitely be poker play at Venetian, and probably an obligatory stop at the Imperial Palace. I'll try to post up some of our goings on to the blog, and maybe you'll be able to follow along as we go.

Time to get back to packing.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Rode the 600

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Charge for the guns!" he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

~excerpt from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade

(most enjoyed as delivered by Alfalfa in Little Rascals, episode Two Too Young.)

Another milestone of sorts here at the old NDPT Blog. This is the 600th post! I don't know if it even comes across your radar of observation, or if it's an event of note at all. Still, it's a pretty big deal to me! Thanks for continuing to visit me here, and I hope (at least on occasion) I write something worth reading. Regardless though, the thing does me good.

Today's a busy day, Whitney has to cheer at two basketball games today, at both high schools. Cole has bowling in a few minutes, followed immediately by Rec League basketball. Then, Big Red and I will be cramming clothes and cash into a suitcase in preparation for tomorrow morning's flight. Ring...ring... It's VEGAS calling! We've got a lot of things to get done before we leave, but we'll be there soon.

That's all for now... there's just no more time. The day begins...

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. Just as I'm wrapping up my post... the door bell rings with a delivery for Whitney. A dozen red roses for my baby-girl from the boy child who fancies himself to be her boyfriend. Okay Jordan I'll cut you some slack, you're a good guy and you seem to treat my daughter very well. Thank you for that... but let's keep it that way, shall we? : ) Nevertheless, kudos on the flowers. And Happy Valentine's Day all!

Ooops my geek is showing!

Yeah, go figure I take a quiz... it likens me to a little green guy, although I'm not feeling all that Yoda-like this morning. Never saw him get all bent outa shape about anything. I did just this morning over a friggin' email. But I did say my peace... punctuated it with a few expletives.

But now I'm meditating quietly in my little corner finding bliss in the fact that I leave for Vegas in 5 Days, 5 Hours, 33 Minutes! The non-technical management overlords can get bent!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Goody, goody gum drops!

It was a crazy weekend. Saturday night Big Red and I headed out to meet JR and Nikki, and what seemed to be a cast of thousands of other family and friends, from Nikki's side... All great people. The evening started out at the Eagles, of course. : ) We quickly migrated after the band just wasn't "doing it" for the younger ones among us. We headed over to Six Pence where there was an enormous crowd crammed all around the central/sunken in bar. The band was good, and did an on-going jam-style session, which just never seemed to end. They were a talented bunch. Anyway, pitchers, buckets, shots (chocolate cake) and sundry mixed drinks rounded out the evening. I'm sure everyone had a helluva time, a few might even remember. Big Red and I took our leave from the group, late... and as you'd know it I fired up the Bodog client for a little late night drunken poker. As I posted last time, this session didn't go well either. To the tune of a higher dollar amount unfortunately. Okay, so it was only like 23 bucks, but I hate to lose. The loss came at the hands of Queens. The table is tight, too tight for its own good, and it was hard to generate any action at all. I call from LP with Q-10os, and hit trips on the flop. Bet... called by one other guy. The board fills in a couple of bricks, and we get it all in there on the river. He turns over a Q-5os, for a "turned" full boat. Oops, maybe cheer_dad should call it a night. And I did. So, the two losing online sessions, were for under $35 total. Still I don't like it.

The next day, involved sleeping in. Then taking care of the laundry and getting the kids situated. This was the day of the Eagles Poker Tournament. We were concerned about numbers early on, but then surprisingly we had several new faces show up. I think around 22 in all, despite having a number of our regulars absent. The first hour or more was frankly a yawn-fest for me as the cards weren't there at all. I looked down at Q-7os AT LEAST 8 times, I kid you not. I had pocket rockets once and barely got paid at the first table. The majority of my money came either from pushing hard with a high card, or in one case 2nd pair, to a guy who called me down with 3rd pair. That helped. I headed to the final table with like $1,600 in chips. Part of that came from my buddy JR, who called my all-in raise, when I was holding A8c. He had A-10os and I was dominated. Unfortunately, "puppy paws" always seems to get there, or at least so I've heard somewhere out there in the blogosphere. Yes, it was Suckout City, but we all need the sucker bite from Lady Luck every now and again.

The blinds escalated and I went card dead again. I stole a couple of pots, with late position raises with absolute air. I was nearly out of the game when I shoved from early position, with nothing more than double the big blind, as my bet. My bounty chip must've looked scrumptious and I garnered two calls. This time though, I wasn't nearly as full of shit as I can be at times, I had Big Slick on this occasion. I hit trip Aces and I was back in it. A few rounds later... another hand that got a lot of attention. The table folds around to me (on the small blind.) I barely glance at my cards and shove. The Kwazy Kowean (as he calls himself,) John, is left staring at me from the bb and looks upward for divine intervention. After a long time, and a lot of discussion he still can't decide to call or fold it. I finally offer up, "will it help if I show you after we're done?" That seems to do it for him, and he folds his pocket Jacks up to me. Unfortunately this hand got in his head for the rest of the game, I flipped over my horrendous hand Q2h. He really did think I had a good hand. I hadn't even considered him having anything before making my move to steal. In the future I'll need to be wary of this move, against my old friend. He is very liable to ram those Jacks where the sun don't shine next time! Of course it wasn't all that bad, he and his wife gave me a ride home.

The final table, finally dwindled down to a heads up match, with Del and Me still in it to win it all. It was back and forth. Big hands were obvious among us, and there was just a lot of jockeying for position. Then, the final hand of it all, Del open raises it to my BB. I reraise, he shoves, and I insta call. Del turns over pocket Queens... I turn over pocket Kings. They hold and I take it down for the day. Nothing he could do, well played Del. The tournament ran longer than expected but I still had a ball.

So, buy-in for $25 cash out for $240 (including bounty chips.) That took some of the sting off the Bodog loss from earlier. It also infused some strength back into the offline bankroll. The money clip in my dresser drawer was feeling neglected. The next time I play any cards will be next Sunday, early evening. But I'll be changing venues baby!!! Our flight from Columbus, OH departs at 2:40pm destined for the bright lights of Las Vegas! I've got WOOD just thinkin' about it! I cannot friggin' wait! Win or Lose... there's just nothing like Las Vegas!

Our plan at this point is to head downtown to old Vegas on our first night. Some of the group has never been down there, and in the past every time we've planned to head down there to show it to them, we've just never got around to it, so this time, it is part of the Day 1 plan! Maybe some poker, but cheap Blackjack and Let It Ride will definitely be part of the plan. The 2nd day we will be doing some casino hopping on the Strip. We'll spend a lot of time at Paris (where we're staying) and Bally's I'm sure. Gotta blow some of the money where you're staying to get 'em to comp the room this time and again in the future. Yes, I'm a cheap bastard. Our poker playing plans are going to include the Venetian on high recommendation from bwop and others. As well, for the "fun atmosphere" we'll definitely end up at the Imperial Palace.

As I wrote in my last blog post, I have mobile blogging setup, so I'll be able to post to the blog from my cellphone at anytime. I'll try to keep it relatively current, if any of the Las Vegas resident bloggers would like to insert themselves into our plans, please feel free to. It would be a welcome encounter! I'd be more than happy to meet you all!

You know, this doesn't feel like a Monday at all! : )
Hope you're all having a great day!

Regards,

cheer_dad

This is a mobile blogging attempt. cheer_dad ups his geek quotient again!
Regards,
cheer_dad

New position

For once drunken poker was a loser for me. : ) Oddball beats and the almighty river put an end to my idiotic streak. BUT, I'm only down a little over $11, and considering that I was probably an additional $50 in the hole at one point, trust me sports fans your ole pal cheer_dad's just fine with it. Too bad I hit a couple bad hands early on, because on one of the 4 tables I cashed out for nearly $73. The night which led up to the few hundred hands of poker was a crazy time. Big Red and I , Chris and Laura, and JR, and even John and LeeAnn made it to the Eagles for the drawing. The alcohol was a flowin'! Laura and I today tried to reconstruct the amounts. Still not positive but somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 pitchers were downed, an inordinate number of Jack n Diets, and don't forget the tall beers that started it all off at Buffalo Wild Wings. Degenerates each and every one of us. I think I'm just now beginning to sober up.

Okay not as bad as all that I suppose. Work had the typical Friday boredom, except for the fact that I was informed that I'm getting a new boss. And I'm going to be doing something completely different at work, due to our reorganization. I could get all upset about it, but you know it's just a job and it's work that I'll figure out in time. I'm going to be a Team Lead still but over another group of guys and on something that I've never done before. What a day... over the next few coming weeks, I'll be assuming the new role. Step one... figure out what they hell they even do. Learn it, love it, own it.

I'll cover the new position as I find out more, but right now I'm as in the dark as everyone else is. Oh well, I learned how to do what I do now, I guess I'll figure this out too.

Regards,

cheer_dad

What a way to start the day...

This morning a minor dusting of snow was waiting for me on my truck, but nothing too bad. I just started it up, while the dog wandered around the yard sniffing, and then I went back inside to check the email real quick. After a few minutes the truck was all clear, and so I hopped in and started off. It was then that I realized how close to the "E" the ole gas gauge was! No problem, plenty of time to whip it into the gas station for a fill up. It wasn't until I had the truck refueled and replaced the nozzle that I realized I had a problem. I reached to my right rear pants pocket to get my wallet out. Huh, that's odd. Probably in my truck seat or some such silliness. No, no such luck there buddy. Then, it really hits me, 'I gots no moneys and the lady behind the register's gonna want paid!' Ah hell... no time like the present march on in and tell 'em what's up.

So, I muster up the sad puppy dog eyes as I head through the door. The bleary eyed clerk who's been there all night, glances up from her register and a fresh stack of powerball winning numbers. Okay, here we go. "Uh, hi ma'am (emphasizing the southern drawl a bit, and flashing the baby-blues) I seem to have a problem, I don't have my wallet." Sheesh, the sound of my own voice, do I really sound like that big of an idiot? Prolly. I have an instant thought, that I should offer up some sort of collateral that I'll come back to pay. I grab for my cell phone and hold it out to her, and explain that I just live about 5 minutes away and I'll be right back. Without hesitation, the clerk takes my phone and just smiles an impossibly kind smile for this hour of the morning, and says simply, "it could happen to anyone dear, it's okay." Wow, that was easy, almost pleasant. So, obviously I head home as quickly as possible, feeling like a complete idiot, and when I get there, yeah of course there's my wallet right on the dresser where I left it. And of course, I startle Big Red who is still getting ready for work, and have to relay the morning's story. She laughed... I rolled my eyes, and headed back out. I get back to the gas station, same clerk, same smile, and she takes my card and says, "so just the gas... and a phone right?" She winks, I blush, she finishes up and hands me my receipt and phone. "You have a good day hon," she says... and as bad as it started and as horrid as the typical bullshit at work was, you know... I remember a smile and kindness and understanding from earlier in the day, and it made it all just a little bit more bearable.

There are still a few decent people still in the world... and I met one of them this morning. There may be hope for the human race after all.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Monday, Monday

Turns out the Steelers were the better team in yesterday's Big Game. Although the "safety" they had called on them, made things seem a little weak... Sadly, had the Steelers not screwed that up and held the Cardinals where they were at 14 points, and the Steelers had gone on to score their next touchdown, and end things, Big Red would have won around $400. So, at one point she was hoping for a Steelers win, which JR pointed out mercilessly. We had a good time at the Eagles, and I think all told I bought a single pitcher for the night, but there was plenty of extra beer for free with each TD scored. So, I was rooting for the BEER TEAM!

While we sat there at the bar, I joked with JR that I had not played poker in a while and thought I might just go home and play some of my notorious online drunken poker. Well actually I did, fire up Bodog a little after I got home. I pulled up 4 tables, .10/.25 NLHE, and after about an hour cashed out up over $42. As I've said before... go figure. JR insists that when we hit Vegas, he's going to keep me drunk the whole time, since it seems to affect my winning in a positive way. I told him, that the task wouldn't be much of a burden.

The kidlets were back at school for the first time in quite a while, due to the snow and ice. In fact both of them are back there right now at 6pm too, since Whit had to cheer at a basketball game and Cole had basketball practice. So, I have this short lull in the action in order to crank out this post, as I'm sure you are all eternally grateful.

The notice for this Sunday's Texas Hold'em Tournament at the Eagles at 2:00pm was sent out earlier today, and as a matter of fact the trustees opted to publish it in the local newspaper. We may all be in the slammer before it's over. Someone just squirrel away a deck of cards so we'll have something to do while we await bail.

It'll be back to the ole grind tomorrow for me, and I'm just not looking forward to it. I just keep hanging on to the promise of Las Vegas on the 15th! I can make it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Bowling continues...final, and some other sporting event

Day #2 of the City Tournament for Cole found yours truly at work applying OS patches instead of cheering him on to further bling. Instead Big Red took up that duty. I did make it there, to see him win another trophy for 2nd place in the Doubles handicapped score (yes the score not the kids.) He did well, but even he said he was better the day before. Shiny trophies I suppose soften such blows. I've seen enough of the bowling alley for a spell though.

Today there is some other sporting event I believe... oh yeah, the Super Bowl starts really soon! In fact as soon as I can get the wife ready and moving we're going up to the Eagles for the 1st half. Free giveaways, drink specials, food stuffs, drink specials, socialization, and did I mention drink specials. I think the one I had my eye one was "free beer" after each touchdown! May this be the all-time high scoring-est Super DEE-DUPER Bowl ever. That would make me SHHHHOOO happy! I'll confess I'm silently rooting for the Steelers! Shhh, don't tell Big Red. She still wincing from the fact that her beloved Dallas Cowboys won't be trotting out onto the field tonight. Hope to see some of you up there.

I'll also have to get a "trip-report" from JR, Frank, and Erik who headed down to Cross Lanes last night. There's always a story...ALWAYS! Whether it's a bad beat, a great win, or just more sad-sack stories of chucking beer bottles at the interstate signs. Whatever may have happened I'm sorry I missed it guys.

Anyway, it's nearly game time... GOTTA GO!

Regards,

cheer_dad