NDPT...n debt poker tour

It's all a blur

2010-07-25T10:20:00.001-05:00

It's all a blur... no really. Ever since the announcement from JR that he was moving to Austin,TX at the end of this month, it's like life's been kicked into overdrive for me. In addition to planning on a drive with him to Austin to haul his worldly possessions, his going away party which was this past Friday night, I've also found myself in the role of event planner for the Fraternal Order of Eagles. This was one of the many roles previously filled by JR that it just seemed logical that I'd fill. I have no regrets... BUT I would just say that he is owed a tremendous thanks for all the level of effort that he put forward to this, getting it off the ground in the first place with the original Pop Evil/Spider Rockets concert which he put together what seems like ages ago! It was a helluva trail he blazed so long ago, these will be some big shoes to fill but as I've continued to tell Big Ric of Results Radio and 103.1 The Bear, I will give my absolute best to make it all come together. Let's just all hope that my best is good enough! : ) If Big Ric tells me to do something... I'm doing it, without question or hesitation. So, if somewhere along the way I fail to explain my actions or get too demanding of those around me, let me apologize in advance... but know that I'm just trying to make these events as great as they've been so far, and just keep the ride going for as long as we can. Maybe even leave our new fan base BEGGING FOR MORE!!!

On the immediate radar for the continuing concert season, on July 30th, we have RED coming to play. This is on its way to be yet ANOTHER sold out event!!! JR will still be around for this one, but I'm shadowing him so closely at this point that if he stops too quickly I'm going to run into him! Beyond RED looming on the horizon is Bearfest Resurrection on August 28th. This is an ENORMOUS production! I don't think anyone can even fathom it, including all of us who are working to make it happen. There are 5,000 tickets printed for this outdoor concert! Big Ric has put together a lineup of national talent that is amazing. The fact that these bands are coming to Parkersburg, WV is mind-boggling! This is not a large town, but this is really happening people! Our current lineup includes headliner Saving Abel!!! Then, the others on the Main Stage include: Cavo, NonPoint, Bobaflex, Taddy Porter, American Bang, Black Sunshine, and Atom Smash. On the 2nd Stage, which will alternate during transitions: Noise Auction, State Your Cause, Zeroking, Jinx'd, and In Another Life. I'm looking at every square inch of available space to get people parked, fed, and sufficiently hydrated!!! Anyone ever given thought to exactly how much beer that many rock fans can put away in a 12+ hour event day!!! I have...

Virtually on the heels of this we are currently in negotiations for a mid-September concert (back inside the club this time, thank goodness.) I'm not at liberty to announce anything about that lest Big Ric, "...gut me like a fish!" (did i get that quote right?) There are also some glimmers out on the distant wasteland of the future that may bring some fantastic opportunities our way. These are indeed exciting times! I was always happy to be a part of it... just seems that my levels of intensity have been taken up a few notches! My adrenaline levels have GOT to be off the chart! I must confide, I hope I'm found worthy in the end (whenever that is.) I'm honored to be here... and honestly, I wouldn't change a damn thing about the situation, despite the fact that it's all a FRIGGIN' BLUR!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 Main Event, we have a November Nine!!!

2010-07-18T07:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a horrid, lazy, pre-occupied blogger! But it was my vacation and the beach and many beers took up ALL my time. Somewhere along the line with the aid of the sun I think I really have crossed a race boundary or two. The whole family, along with the Jacksons, Morrisons and Wolfes had a fantastic time! One day of rain threatened to keep us from the beach, but it cleared up and we still managed a few hours baking on the sands. Beyond that it was just beautiful! I got in several runs on the beach and just soaked in every once of sand and surf that I could. Clearly, I'm an ocean kinda guy... maybe there is something to this Aquarius thing after all. But enough about my beach-time.

When last I left off the WSOP was still weeding down the Tournament of Champion entrants in search of a winner... I'm ecstatic to report that Huck Seed emerged as the winner of the $500,000 top prize! An amazing victory in a stellar field of poker's best players. Congratulations Huck!!!

Event #49 the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em finally played down to a winner and crowned Michael Linn as its champion and coughed up the $609,493 top prize and bling! Congratulations!

Event #50 $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha found a winner in Chance Kornuth as he took down the $508,090 top prize money. A quick scan of the winners also reveals that Robert Mizrachi scored a cash and even Annette Obrestad managed to eke out a cash in the event. But congratulations to "Chance."

Event #51 $3,000 Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em awarded the top prize to Ryan Welch $559,371. He managed to best the 965 player field to bring it home. Congratulations on this first bracelet.

Event #52 $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed was not for the meek at that pricetag, but 191 ponied up the entry. In the end 21 year old Dan Kelly took home the $1,315,518 top prize and the bracelet! Another quick scan of winners and I see Daniel Negreanu managed to triple his cash in the event, finishing in 11th place. But congratulations to Dan Kelly on this victory.

Event #53 the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout found 548 players competing for the top spot, but in the end Brendan Taylor emerged victorious and $184,950 to the good, to go along with his new bracelet.

Event #54 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em crowned its weary champion Marcel Vonk who managed to best the 3,844 player field and take down the $570,960 prize and the WSOP bracelet. Big Congratulations!

Event #55 $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship found a familiar face to crown champion in Daniel Alaei. He takes home $780,599 for the victory and his third WSOP bracelet. Congratulations!

Event #56 $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em finally wound its way to a close and Tomer Berda took home the $825,976 top prize. Congratulations on the victory!

The $5,000 Ante Up for Africa Tournament was won by familiar face Phil Gordon who graciously donated his $130,641 win to the worthwhile charity! Out in the 2nd spot was Shannon Elizabeth... Congratulations to all who cashed and even more so to all those who gave it all back!

And then came the grand-daddy event! Event #57 the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship!!! It's still playing its way down to the final 9 as I write this... 7,319 players began the journey, only 747 of them would take any cash home for their trouble. They would play for days on end in hopes of becoming one of the final 9 and then disbanding only to return in November to play it down for all the world to see and provide the ESPN climactic spectacle on the air! And as I am here writing this I was reading that there were 10 players left but just now Brandon Steven has been eliminated in the 10 spot with only a $635,011 pillow to soften the blow of missing the final November Nine! Still remaining in the hunt which will resume are:

Jonathan Duhamel, John Dolan, Joseph Cheong, John Racener, Filippo Candio, Michael Mizrachi, Soi Nguyen, Matthew Jarvis, and Jason Senti. The top spot of $8,944,138 looms far out on the horizon for one of them. The 9th spot will offer roughly a $811,823 payday. Yeah, I think I'd very much like to HANG ON!!! Congratulations on coming this far in it guys. We will see you ALL in November!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Sick Puppies Concert 7-7-2010

2010-07-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

Fantastic show last night at the Cleveland, Ohio House of Blues by headliner Sick Puppies! Also appearing were My Darkest Day, It's Alive, and Janus. Thanks to the phenomenal hookup of 103.1 The Bear's "Big Ric" we got to do a meet and greet with not only the guys from Janus, but then later with the Sick Puppies as well! I was most impressed with the stage presence and performance of the Sick Puppies. Vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Shimon Moore (middle) delivered a charismatic, adrenaline soaked performance which had the whole jumping! Newest member/drums Mark Goodwin hammered the drumset from start to finish, with even a bongo-esque interlude in there for good measure. The lovely and talented Emma Anzai (surprisingly soft-spoken) delivered a blistering performance on bass and added her own heat to the stage! : ) The most memorable songs for me were Odd One with lyrics of "hey it's gonna be okay, hey we're gonna laugh at this one day!" There's a life anthem in there somewhere! Of course pulse pounding "You're Going Down" and the funny romp that Shimon delivered on a pseudo cover of Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" with some 'teeth' was just fantastic!

I had an absolutely great time and met some extraordinarily talented people last night and sincerely hope I get the opportunity to do it all again in the future!

Long, dark, lonely drive home included an unexpected detour and running the gas-tank down to just a few fumes. Good times, with good friends Jamie, Big Ric, and of course Uncle June!

I'll get caught up on the WSOP soon, I promise gang, but life has just been a blur lately! I leave late tomorrow night for a much needed Myrtle Beach vacation! Hope all is well with each of you!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Bittersweet

2010-07-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

We headed over to play poker last night at the Yanok's. Teresa and I both made points and some cash, I in the first game and she in the second. You know we have to spread it out a little! It was another great fun-filled night over there with all the great people we get to hang out with.

It was all a little bittersweet though since it was the last game that JR will be playing there, before he leaves for Austin, Texas and his new job come August 1st. He, Teresa, Cole, and I (and even JJ stopped by) yesterday afternoon at the pool to soak up some rays and drink some beer. It was a great day just hanging out and talking about good times. We all wish him well on this new adventure... and sincerely hope that one day he returns to the 'burg. JR, you are my best-friend, and I will miss you, but I understand that you have to do this. Just know that there's a lot of people here in Parkersburg, WV that love and care about you and that it's not going to change, despite the distance that will separate us! And now before I start blubberin' and getting the keyboard all wet from tears I'll end this post...

Take Austin by storm Uncle June!

Regards,

cheer_dad

And still MORE WSOP pokery goodness

2010-06-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

Sadly, my blogging efforts as of late have been dismal failures. Eagles conventions, concerts, summer, family, friends, and well... you name it, it has all taken a seat closer to the front of the bus than has my blogging. I am sorry. But sometimes kidlets, "dems da berries." SOOOO, picking up where I left off:

Event #28: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha has crowned its champion and awarded the $315,311 top prize to Miguel Proulx. Congratulations on the win! And I see now that blogger buddy SHAMUS covered that one. I enjoyed reading through your writing as always.

Event #29: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship has completed too, and awarded Matt Keikoan a 2nd WSOP bracelet. Way to go! Some other names I'm happy see make the money on this one, Brock Parker, Michael Mizrachi, and David Chiu.

Event #30: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em has completed and the $581,851 top prize and bracelet has been awarded to Mike Ellis. Congratulations on wading through the enormous field!

Event #31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. awarded $256,820 to Konstantin Puchkov. Congratulations on your new shiny WSOP bracelet!

Event #32: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed has crowned a champion and awarded a first bracelet to Jeffrey Papola. To get there he outlasted 567 players, and then ultimately came to heads up play with Men Nguyen, who certainly made him work for it. Congrats to him!

Event #33: $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha was awarded to Jose-Luis Velador. He lays claim to $260,517 and the WSOP bracelet. Congratulations.

Event #34: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship has ended as well and unfortunately I can't say that my good friend Vince got to the winner's circle. But he's returned from Vegas with a story or two to tell though. On the other hand a winner ultimately emerged in Harold Angle. He pockets the bling and $487,994 for outlasting the 3,142 players. Congratulations.

Event #35: $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship found its winner in Ayaz Mahmood. Congratulations to him. It's also good to see lovely lady Vanessa Rousso finishing in the #5 spot! : )

Event #36: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em has its champion in Scott Montgomery with $481,760 to go with his bracelet. Congratulations.

Event #37: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. I was really excited about this one. And when the dust settled the bracelet and the $329,840 went to one of my all time favorite poker players, Phil Ivey! Big congratulations!

Event #38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship has awarded the top prize of $627,214 to Valdemar Kwaysser. Congratulations on a great payday.
Event #39: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout finally awarded the $381,922 to Steven Kelly. Congratulations.

Event #40: $2,500 Seven Card Razz awards $214,085 to Frank Kassela and his second bracelet! Big Congratulations.

Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better has its bracelet winner in Steve Jelinek and $245,871.

Event #42: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Dean Hamrick takes it down wading through the 2,521. He takes the bracelet and $604,222! Congratulations!

Event #43: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship the $611,666 top spot was awarded to Ian Gordon. Congratulations!

Event #44: $2,500 Mixed Hold'em Day. AND at LONG LAST Mr. Gavin Smith has secured his place in the club of WSOP bracelet winners!!! Gavin bested a field of 507 players to take home his FIRST EVER bracelet, not to mention the $268,238 top prize! Congratulations Gavin!

Event #45: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Jesse Rockowitz laid claim to the $721,373 and the top prize, wading through the 3,097 player field. Congratulations.

Event #46: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better. The top spot went to Chris Bell with the bracelet and a tidy prize pool $327,040. Congratulations.

Event #47: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em continues to drag on with 9 players remaining of the starting 3,128 players. Sorry folks I'm sure you're all a great bunch a guys but I don't know a one of you... sorry...

Event #48: $2,500 Mixed Event crowned a winner in Sigurd Eskeland and gained him $260,497 along with a shiny new bracelet.

As of Day 2 of the WSOP Tournament of Champions we find 17 players remaining of the 27 who began. Mike Matusow is currently in the lead with 85,500 in chips. The top nine will take home a paycheck, but currently 17 remain.

Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em continues to roll along with 23 of the starting 2,543 players remaining...

Event #50: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Robert Mizrachi is currently on top of chip stack of this event. There are a total of 31 of the starting 460 players left.

Event #51: $3,000 Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em still has 189 of 965 players remaining.

On tap to get started today Event #52: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed AND Event #53: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout.

And with THAT lengthy recap... I'm spent! Thanks for coming by the blog.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Still more WSOP goodness...

2010-06-17T23:55:00.002-05:00

Event #20 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha John "Tex" Barch takes home WSOP gold and $259,919. Congratulations to him!

Event #21 $1,500 Seven Card Stud, Richard Ashby take home $140,467 and the bling. Congrats...

Now, the pictures on PokerNews.com truly reflect excitement in this next winner. Event #22: $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship. In this one Vanessa Hellebuyck takes down $192,132 and besting 1,054 other ladies... or pseudo/wanna be ladies... Congratulations.

Finally, Event #23: $2,500 Limit Hold'em / Six Handed, brings us a name we know and love. Dutch Boyd takes down his second bracelet and $234,065. Congrats Dutch!

Event #24: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em brought us a winner on Day 4 with Jeff Tebben coming out on top and taking home $503,389 for the effort. Congrats.

And HELL YEAH! I really should be following along much closer. Event #25: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship find Sam Farha coming out on top with $488,237! I like Sam, if you don't leave the blog... now!

Event #26: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed is now in the books and has Willam Haydon as the victor! A not too shabby $630,031 prize and bling for his effort!

Event #27: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better finds a winner in David Warga who finds a prize of $208,682 for the effort.

Event #28: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, is down to the final 7 looking for a winner still.

6 of 171 entrants remain in Event #29: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship. 425,969 still awaiting a winner.

Event #30: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em continues with 91 of 2,394 players remaining.

Event #31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.finds 72 of 828 still in the hunt. The last noted bustout was Tom Dwan!

Event #32: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed has far too many to speculate! 318 of 568 remain.

And finally I'll mention 2010 World Series of Poker
Event #33: $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha, which is for all intents and purposes "just" getting under way!

I'm dog tired! work, run, lift, and now eagles' convention is exhausting... Yes, I'm a delegate and so I will not be at work tomorrow, if anyone cares.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Continuing WSOP goodness, personal updates too!

2010-06-12T21:23:00.002-05:00

I know I'm WAY behind. There's just been a lot going on! But here's my WSOP 2010 catch-up post...

Event #11 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em has been won by Simon Watt, who dashed the hopes of Tom Dwan's first WSOP bracelet. Congrats to Watt for taking home the bling and the $614,248 top prize.

Event #12 $1,500 Limit Hold’em found Matthew Matros as the eventual winner taking home $189,870 for besting the field. Congratulations.

Event #13 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em has also crowned it champion in Stephen Gee who pocketed a nice $472,479 sum.

Event #14 $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball found Yan Chen coming out on top of the players, and taking home the gold and $92,817. Yeah, I know it's not a whopping amount of money, but it'd sure put a dent in the ole mortgage! Congratulations to him!

Event #15 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship has its champion in Frank Kassela, who walks away with the WSOP bracelet and a tidy $447,446 prize for first! Others who found there way to a decent payday in the event were Allen Kessler in 2nd, Jennifer Harman Traniello in 3rd, Steve Zolotow 4th, John Juanda in 5th.

SHEESH, I really AM behind on the series recap, huh!

Event #16 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed found a winner in Carter Phillips. $482, 774 was a nice payday for him, congrats.

Event #17 $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em was won by Jason DeWitt. He takes home $818,959 for his trouble! Big congratulations to him!

Event #18 $2,000 Limit Hold'em... and the winner is Eric Buchman who takes home $203,607. Yes, you'll recall Buchman as one of the November Nine from last year's 2009 WSOP! Congratulations on a game well played.

Event #19 $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship's $294,314 top prize payday goes to David Baker. In reviewing the folks who got paid in this one. Baker is to be congratulated even more: Eric Cloutier, John Juanada, Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Andy Block, Yan Chen, and even Peter Gould. Nice job!

Event #20 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha is down to the final 4 at the time of my catching up on my reading! Nenad Medic, Trai Dang John Barch, and Klinhammer Thibaut are all that remain all in search of the bracelet and $256,919.

Event #21 $1,500 Seven Card Stud has 6 players remaining of the 408 who started. $140,467 awaits the eventual winner.

Event #22 $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship continues on with 71 of the original 1,054 remaining. $192,132 awaits one lucky lady! Of those remaining in the game I quickly recognize: Liv Boeree, Mimi Tran, Linda Johnson, Evelyn Ng, and Lacey Jones.

Event #23 $2,500 Limit Hold'em / Six Handed has 49 of the original
384 players remaining.

Event #24 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, 640 players remaining from the 1,931 who began the journey.

Event #25 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship is just getting underway.

Sorry guys, I just have little to say. Despite being off work for a couple days this week, I have been incredibly busy. Even on the days at work, I've been hitting overtime hours that I could do without, but seem somewhat essential.

The Black Stone Cherry concert at the Eagles was a phenomenal success on Wednesday, with more than 800 people in attendance. Fantastic show by both BSC and JINXD who opened for them. My son got to meet the members of both bands. I hung out with a number of them myself. What a great bunch of guys and I see great success in their futures! Any group with such talent and a great dedication and work ethic has what it takes to go the distance.

In personal poker news! Last night Big Red and I played cards at the Yanok's house. I bubbled the money on game one (got points) and then in game two, Big Red and I chopped the 2 payout spots. Lighter than usual turnout but a GREAT time nonetheless. I drank a lot... too much of course and got to bed way too late. Then, at 9am my dad showed up to continue working on the screening in of our back deck. We worked on until 7pm! The first couple of hours I know my sweat had a beer foam to it! I survived and the deck is looking GREAT! I'll try to get some pix up of it.

Tomorrow I have to mow, and work some more on the deck. But by 9pm tomorrow night my backside will be firmly planted in front of the TV for the Season Premiere of TRUE BLOOD!!! Don't call me at that time... I will END you! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 Event #s 9 - 15

2010-06-06T18:57:00.000-05:00

Event #9: $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em congratulations to James Dempsey, for taking home the WSOP gold a hard won $197,470.

But then there was Event #10 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. Let me say a BIG congratulations to Men "The Master" Nguyen for taking home the gold and a cool $394,800! This marks Men's 7th WSOP bracelet!

In event #11 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em only 17 players remain going at it for the top spot and a cool pay day of $614,248. And continuing to prove his worth in the poker world, and the current chipleader is Tom Dwan.

Event #12 $1,500 Limit Hold’em also continues to grind its way toward a final table. 10 of the original 625 players remain. The top spot still up for grabs of $189,870. And on top of that one... hey I know and read that guy's blog, no not that one, the other one... Terrence Chan! Congrats and hang tough as always!

With quite some distance still to go, Event #13 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, continues on with 590 players remaining of the starting 590.

Event #14 $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball, has 42 of the 250 starters still in the hunt, and only 28 ever see the green... Top prize of $92,817 and don't forget some WSOP gold and the bragging right that go along with it!

And it won't be long before the start of Event #15 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship.

Thanks again to the PokerNews.com writing team!

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 continues Event #s 8 - 14

2010-06-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

Event #8 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em was not the magic one for Phil... instead Pascal LeFrancois came up with the top spot, the bracelet, and the $568,974. Congratulations on coming out on top of the pack of 2,341 players.

Event #9 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em continues on with only 6 players remaining: James Depsey, Steve Chanthabouasy, Mark Babekov, Scott Haraden, JJ Liu, and Armen Kara. Hanging around til the last man standing will garner WSOP gold and $197,470.

Event #10 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship continues on with only 9 of the original 150 players remaining. Top spot is $394,800 while going out next at $38,676 is at the very least guaranteed. Still in the hunt I see some familiar names, Brandon Adams, Men Nguyen, Steve Billirakis, and there's Michael Mizrachi too.

Event #11 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, 151 of the starting 2,563 players remain but hey 270 players get paid! Of course much less than the top spot of $614,248. Hang in there!!!

Event #12 $1,500 Limit Hold’em still has 119 of the starting 625 remaining, all seeking a top prize of $189,870.

Event #13 $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em and Event #14 $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball are just getting under way as well. Way too early to even think about a leader...

Regards,

Brian
x7716

WSOP 2010 Event #s 2 - 10+

2010-06-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm very far behind in my recap of the 2010 WSOP... but rather than belabor the point let's get on with it shall we!?!

BIG Congratulations to Michael Mizrachi on winning the Poker Player's Championship (Event #2) at this year's World Series of Poker! He bested the 116 players who ponied up the whopping $50,000 entry, to take home a cool little WSOP bracelet and not to mention the $1,559,046 top prize! Fantastic effort!

In Event #3 $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em the winner is Aadam Daya taking home the $625,872 top prize and the WSOP bling! It took 4 grueling days of grinding through the 4,345 player field! He is to be commended... congratulations!

In Event #4 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better the new bracelet winner and pocketer of $237,140 is Michael Chow. Congratulations!

In Event #5 $1,500 No-limit Hold'em, we have Praz Bansi coming up with the bracelet and $515,501 for the top spot. He too waded through an enormous field of players (2,092) to claim the title!

The 358 player field in Event #6: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout was also reduced to the last man standing and we find Joshua Tieman taking home the bracelet and $441,692! Congratulations to him!

Peter Gelencser lays claim to the bracelet and $180,730 in Event #7: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Congratulations!

Event #8 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em is still underway with only 25 of the original starting 2,341 players. One heavy notable still in the thick of it... Phil Hellmuth. You just gotta love to hate the guy! He is entertaining though!

Event #9 $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em now has only 65 players remaining from the original 650. Top prize in this one is $197,470. Stay tuned.

When I pulled up the page for Event #10 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, I thought I'd misclicked and checked myself again! But low and behold, there is Michael Mizrachi's name AGAIN. No, it ain't over but he is currently on top of the chip counts with 88 of the 150 starters still remaining. But this won't be easy and that war is probably FAR from over with the likes of Doyle Brunson, Men Nguyen, Nick Schulman, Brandon Adams, Greg Mueller, and John DAgostino also appearing in the Top 25.

Scheduled to get underway today, June 4th are Event #11: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em, Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em, and Event #13: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em. Lots of pokery goodness still to come in this year's WSOP. Stay tuned, and please continue to follow along with the great writers of PokerNews.com, http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2010-wsop/.

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 Action continues Event #s 2 thru 7

2010-06-01T16:47:00.001-05:00

And the action at the WSOP continues. Event #2 the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship is down to the final 8 players! On top of the chip counts is Robert Mizrachi with 3,125,000. Also still in the hunt are David Baker, John Juanda, Mikael Thuritz, Michael Mizrachi, Vladimir Schmelev, Daniel Alaei, and David Oppenheim. As I said before, I can't wait to see this one play out...

Heading into Day 3 of Event #3 $1,000 NLHE, there are only 41 of the starting 4345 players left. Congrats to them all, thy've all made the money! Can't say I'm overly excited about any of the names which remain... I'm sure they're all great people... just not "my" people! : P Top spot of $625,872 awaits one of them at any rate.

In Event #4 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, there remain 26 of the initial 818 starters. Again, everyone left now, is in the money... Top spot payout $237,140 and some little bracelet of a trinket. : ) A quick look at the players remaining and I see Ylon Schwartz, Jeff Madsen, and Huck Seed. And oh NOOOOOOs where are you???!!! Say it ain't so BWoP!!!

In Event #5 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 223 players remain of the 2,099 who began. Only 216 of those will be walking away with anything at all... with the top spot at $515,501.

Event #6 $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout is just getting going with a total of 122 players. Too early to get excited about anyone in this one but a quick look at the top 10 in chip counts, and you see Chris Ferguson on top, with Jeffrey Lisandro, Daniel Negreanu, Todd Brunson, Justin Bonomo, and Johnny "frickin" Chan to do a little name dropping! Good luck/skill guys!

Event #7 $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball will commence later tonight at 5pm Vegas time baby!

Thanks to all the coverage being provided the the talented writers at http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/... You guys make it possible for the rest of us to live vicariously through you!

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 Event #1 Winner

2010-05-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Hoai D. Pham, who became the first bracelet winner of the 2010 WSOP. He bested a field of 721 players over 3 days to finally take it down. Pham collected $71,424 for first place.

Michael Mizrachi continues to hold a tenuous lead over the field in Event #2 The Poker Players Championship $50,000 buy-in. This high-stakes event drew 116 players this year, up from last year's 95 player field. These are your elite players. The field is now down to the final 21 players. The format of play demands experience in nearly all poker variants and disciplines. It is a mix of Triple Draw 2-7, Hold'em, Omaha /8B, Razz, Stud, Stud /8B, No Limit Hold'em, and PLO... In addition to Michael Mizrachi, some of the other players I recognize in the dwindling field are Daniel Alaei, Robert Mizrachi, John Juanda, Nick Schulman, Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, David Singer, and Eli Elezra. I'm looking forward to the ESPN coverage of this year's event, with so many big names in the field. Top spot in the event...$1,559,046.

Event #3 the $1,000 NLHE drew 4,345 players of which only 481 remain. Top spot payout in this event is $625,872. Still a lot of thinning of the herd to come in this one.

Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better began drew 818 players. of which 274 remain.

Event #5 $1,500 NLHE is just getting under way...

Continue to follow along either here, or for the real quick scoop head over to PokerNews.com and their live reporting!!!

And back here on the homefront... Teresa, Cole, and I went out the wilds of Gilmer County to do some camping and four-wheeling and had an absolute ball. Along for the adventure were the Jacksons, Allmans, and Uncle June did make a showing... along with several other friends and family of his. Fantastic time was had by all, and Big Red in particular surprised me with the good time that she swears that she had! We will definitely be returning for future trips!

Hope all is well with each of you and that life is going your way!

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2010 Event #1 has begun!

2010-05-28T14:32:00.000-05:00

WSOP Event #1 (Casino employees $500) is now underway. Poker madness has now begun! Next up later today will be Event #2 the Poker Players Championship ($50,000 buyin.) This year to later be broadcast by the ESPN minions! Last year they left it out and the numbers dipped. Somehow they continue to be convinced that people don't want to watch any poker other than no limit hold'em. Idiots! Good luck to all of you who are making your way to Las Vegas over the course of the next 7 weeks to try your hand at a tournament game or so. No, I'm not going to make it out there, again... Work, family, life... all keep getting in the way! : ) So, I'll live vicariously through the antics and plays of poker's elite.

To the PokerNews.com covering crew let me just say THANKS in advance for the fantastic job I know you'll do again in covering the WSOP for the world to read and enjoy! I have a feeling my work productivity may once again suffer, for a few weeks. C'mon boss, cut me some slack!

Regards,

cheer_dad

How'd I get THIS far behind!

2010-05-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

The 2010 edition of the World Series of Poker starts tomorrow people!!! How in the world did all of this creep up on me? Oh wait, I remember now. Friggin' WORK has taken over my LIFE!!! AHHHHHH!!!! But, I'm taking some definite time for me out to enjoy one of my true passions and joys in life, Poker! Don't even try to get in my way.

For what seems like forever, the NDPT blog is going to get back to its roots people... POKER! Event #1 the $500 Casino Employees NLHE event gets under way TOMORROW. Where did all the time from the end of last year's series up until now go? Let's try not to let it all get away from me like this again.

To all my friends, family, and most of all the NDPT Blogladytes, here comes the World Series of Poker 2010! Hang on for the thrill ride, it never, ever seems to let us down. Stay tuned, as always for the best of the best of the live coverage over at PokerNews.com!

Time to get all obsessive again.

Regards and Shuffle Up and Deal,

cheer_dad

Rock on the Range 2010

2010-05-24T14:36:00.000-05:00

What a great time at Rock on the Range 2010! Teresa and I met up with Frank, Chris and Uncle June then the music and mass quantities of alcohol began. Even Teresa had a good time! Today she was retelling the stories of the "crowd surfers," and said, "I'm 41 years old and that was my first mosh pit!" I'm a little achy after all the tosses of the random bodies that were flying overhead! What a great day! We left a little earlier than planned but it was probably for the best since I had a dental appointment earlier this morning to get to. I made it. Of course the pricetag was extreme... getting a couple fillings replaced that were giving me fits. I'll be working some serious OT to make up for those!

While at Rock on the Range, we met up with other friends and made some new ones too. Even bumped in to Doug from local band Jinx'd! Always good to see him and the other guys. I really liked some of the lesser known bands, including Shaman's Harvest which I found to be really good and bluesy. I'd have to suggest them for a possible opening act at say an Eagles concert...? : )

Really enjoying the Summer concert circuit that just kind of happened this year! I will defintely be going back to ROTR, and really am convinced that I'm going to become a basic concert regular from now on. There's just something about the crowd and the music that really makes me feel good! Next up, we get our "country" on, by going to see Brooks and Dunn for their farewell tour!

Time to get Cole ready for baseball at Mineral Wells tonight. Have a great night everyone.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Exhaustion...

2010-05-22T18:38:00.000-05:00

Finally sitting down today and beginning to feel just how tired I am. I went out to start mowing the grass at 10:30. Finished that, weedeating and then thought I'd start trimming the landscaping and just spruce things up. Just as I was looking forward to finishing up... my mom and dad show up. They've picked today to continue working on the garden for Cole. Not really the gardening part, but the building of the "box" and the chicken wire structure that has to be built around it to keep the wildlife of the neighborhood from tearing it up... So if that confuses any of you... it should. Suffice it to say that my workday was not complete. At 5:30 we picked up the tools and I finally headed in to take a shower... remembering that I meant to put on some sunscreen at some point that never seemed to arrive. Now, I'm tired, achy... and wondering if I fall asleep in the midst of this posting would anyone even notice, or care.

But it's been a good, and rewarding day. Lots of stuff accomplished!

Tomorrow, Teresa and I are heading to Columbus, OH for Day 2 of Rock on the Range!!!
In the lineup tomorrow are Five Finger Death Punch, Theory of a Deadman, Slash, Seether, Rob Zombie and Limp Bizkit! I see massive quantities of beer in my future as well. Uncle June, Frank, and Chris are already there baking their bodies in the sun, pickling their livers and well, you know just having a great time.. I'll try to report back on the antics, and if possible to avoid obscenity laws, maybe even post a few pictures.

Have a great evening all!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Good weekend

2010-05-16T10:12:00.000-05:00

Quiet morning... Whitney spent the night with her cousins. Cole went back with my parents so he could hunt again this morning, so it was just Teresa and I this morning. Slept in, I then went to get us coffee and bagels from Tim Horton's. Just an enjoyable time...

Enjoyed the poker game on Friday night at the Eagles. No, we didn't win... but wow what a crowd of 59 players. I got a lot of good compliments on the way this tournament is run. Straight, organized, and none of that "rebuy" crap that they all hate so much. hehe! Walt asked me if I would serve on the Finance Committee this year at the Eagles, and I told him I would. Then, he approached me again and asked if I would serve as an officer (Chaplain.) I'm not sure about the latter yet, but I'm leaning toward doing it. There are certainly some good things going on at the Eagles that I'd like to see continue on, and I think my support (and that of a lot of the rest of you Eagles members who read the blog) is most certainly needed. Otherwise the club is going to fall back into some of the old ways. There is no future in that. Later that same night, I talked to two of the guys from Jinx'd who showed up and were hackin' it up doing Karaoke. They were having a good time, and everyone else enjoyed it too. Thanks for the unexpected entertainment Doug and Luke.

Yesterday had mowing to do (actually got a little too much sun) as the shoulders feel a little tender this morning. Also, had dad show up to setup Cole's garden box. His plants are almost ready to go in the ground. We'll see how his little farmer experiment goes. But he seems really excited about it all.

Heading for a cookout later on with friends... and then I'm sure there will be a grocery run somewhere in there as well. Oh well... all good things and weekends must come to an end.

Regards,

cheer_dad

This is a Monday?

2010-05-10T13:27:00.000-05:00

It just can't be... a Monday, really? No, the statement doesn't suggest that I've "lost time" in some drunken binge or other. Although I could totally back that up. But the reason is, so far this has been a great Monday, and we all know my typical loathing for the beginning of the week. Now, I was off work today (gotta love the AWS day) but I have a sense of accomplishment. I got up, hopped out of bed and went for a run from the house to Fort Boreman Park and back again. I didn't even pause (long) to enjoy the view from the overlook, I was enjoying the run so much. It was under an hour's run, and it felt good. I probably still look a bit like a Penguin Runner but hey there's a whole bunch of us out there. Mock us if you will as you drive by in your shiny cars, and point. But this is about me... I feel better for having starting my running regimen up again and then further coupling it with some weight training. It makes the poker games and copious amounts of Miller Lite I indulge in from time-to-time feel a little less bad.

I got a text from Uncle June, asking if I could take care of getting posters made up for the next concert event at the Eagles, featuring Black Stone Cherry and local favorite JINX'D. Surprisingly, that was a QUICK errand to run! Went to Sir Speedy and got fantastic service... okay she was a brunette. : P (i kidding big red, i kidding!) Great design courtesy of JINX'D bandmember Luke! The concert is scheduled for June 9th (Wednesday) at 8pm. Be there people, I promise you a fantastic rockin' time!

Getting ready to pick up Cole from school, take him to the dentist, and then later to his baseball game. The day seems to have had purpose and I've enjoyed it. Monday is throwing me for loop here folks. Maybe it's been my attitude all along??? Nah, it couldn't be that. Anyway, I hope your day is going along smoothly too.

Regards,

cheer_dad

With only a slight deviation from sanity,

2010-05-06T22:17:00.000-05:00

I return. Hello NDPT'ers! The week is drawing to a close, only a Friday to face. The work week has been trying. (We'll leave it at that.) But a quick 9-ish hours of work tomorrow, with a noon-time 3 mile run and the weekend is mine. Friday night I'll be at the Eagles for the SOLD-OUT concert for rock recording artist Pop Evil, opening for them is another touring band Spider Rockets, AND as an added bonus a local favorite JINX'D. It promises to be a phenomenal, profitable Friday night for our local Eagles Aerie. And you know me, I love me some music... in all its many forms. Hope you've got tickets and if you see me there please say hello, and feel free to either buy me a beer or call me a cab! : P

Speaking of music I'm ecstatic to also report that among my other concert go-ing activities include for the summer/fall season... (the tix are purchased, the credit card's drawing interest)

Brooks and Dunn's farewell tour
Rush, the Time Machine Tour (full Moving Pictures era concert)
AND
Pink Floyd's, Roger Waters Epic performance of THE WALL!

I am truly and ever shall be comfortably numb.

Life... wow!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. In pokery type news... Tournament(s) Saturday night at the Yanok's, 7pm.
Sunday night at 7pm, the Shriners host (at the Eagles) their fundraiser tourney, 7pm.

Then, finally May 14th, the Eagles regularly scheduled tournament which has been consistently holding above the 50 player mark! Fantastic, exciting times abound... if you just go looking for the upside of things!

It's been THAT week...

2010-05-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

you know the one from hell, that you feel used and abuse. Road hard and put away wet. Taken advantage of, getting it from both sides, rock meets hard friggin' place. Well the hell with all that. Bring it bitches! The cheer_dad's not gonna roll over like some punk. I've been rolling around on this mudball far too long to take much more of your bullshit. My breakpoint always seems to be that hazy spot far out on the horizon but back there where you blinked, yeah we got there. I'll be doing the driving now, sit back and relax!

The workplace has definitely got its pound of flesh for the week already. The "upgrade" tangent we've been on is beginning to resemble the death of a star. A massive surge of energy and light and then utter collapse, darkness, void, and vacuum (and yes it sucks too!) BUT, the brilliant minds didn't need our help to look stupid. They did it all on their own, unfortunately dragged us along for the ride.

I got a little bent out of shape the latter part of today over it all, and then reached a point of peace. You know... I'm remembering something... they still need me for this pile of monstrous work they've amassed. The break neck pace to satisfy my own sense of worth and ability will continue at the pace I DECIDE. I will work to the best of my ability. No one but I can make that happen. Their urgings and outlandish demands in hindsight as I'll show them all have only dragged down the pace. Whatever IT is, we'll do IT in spite of them. And maybe even to spite 'em just a little too.

I'm takin' the ownership back, the cheer_dad has spoken.

Regards,

cheer_dad

2010-05-02T18:25:00.001-05:00

Big red decides last minute to come play hold'em at the eagles! Here we go kids...don't get scared now.
Regards,
cheer_dad

Dorothy "Beulah" Fluharty

2010-04-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

When I was a week (and a half) my mom went back to work, but she entrusted me to Mrs. Dorothy "Beulah" Fluharty. From that day through the end of the 3rd grade for 5 days a week she took care of me in her home. All the other kids who came and went always called her Grandma Fluharty... to me, she was just mom. She cared for and loved me, of this I am certain. Today, I helped her family and friends lay her to rest. She was 87 years old. I hugged and cried and even laughed today with her "real" children, who were all older than me. The youngest of them 9 years my senior. I remember seeing Dennis and Connie still in the house when I was growing up, and how great they were. Thinking back now, I think I really thought of them as my older siblings. Their other sister Carolyn had already married but she was never far away either, and her children Kelly, Danny, and Chad were all my sisters and brothers too. I think maybe that's why I've never really thought of myself as an only child. After all, I had such a large family; at least they were family to me, blood or not.

Of course, over the years we weren't always this close. We all had lives of our own and we all lived them. But from time-to-time our lives continued to cross. I stopped in to visit a few times, and I think my real mom even sent her pictures of me every now and again. When I got married it was by Beulah's husband Reverend Warren Fluharty. It was wonderful having them both there.

Connie (then a nurse at the hospital) checked in on my wife and I at the birth of our first child Whitney. I introduced my daughter years later to Mrs. Fluharty, but she was still "mom" to me. I attended a gathering to celebrate her retirement from childcare, and so many "kids" were there who had been raised and loved by her. All of us were a testament to a life well lived, and full of love. About 12 years ago, I was there to say goodbye to Warren when he passed away, and now today I did the same for her. There is a deep ache tonight in my heart. I remember her, I remember the family, I feel a sense of loss... But a full and beautiful life was celebrated today and I know she is in a better place and probably still watching over all of her children. Rest in peace Dorothy "Beulah" Fluharty... I will miss you "mom."

Regards,

cheer_dad

Take your kids to work day...

2010-04-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well for once Whitney and Cole got to attend "Take your kids to work day." They didn't come along with me, but instead with their Papaw. I've been in class all week, or just busy as all HELL and really just couldn't bring them along. I'm certain that they had a much better time with him. I did get to see them a couple of times throughout the day, so that was kind of nice too. Plus, hey they got off school for a day... as a kid you LIVE for those moments!

Class goes on for one more day, and Scott, the instructor promises it'll be a short one at that. He's clearly streamlined the fluff of the Domino Bootcamp. He's been a great instructor and I hope to see him return in the future!

I have to take Cole to baseball practice here very shortly, and watch... It's been different so far this year not being out there as the coach. For all those times that I had doubt's about myself as a coach, or my overall ability to work with the boys... having witnessed others doing it, I was no slouch as a coach! I showed up (on time) paid attention to my team, and tried to teach them a thing or two. I'll leave it at that... But this year Cole is once again doing a lot of catching and really excels at it. He has the size and has no fear of the fastpitch aimed at his face.

Work has been busy. I'm putting in a lot of OT, lately. I'm worn down, and they just keep heaping it on. But I continue to learn and survive, and am feeling like I'm starting to get up to speed on supporting a system that was completely foreign to me when I took this job. Of course I'll get it all learned and moved to something different, again...

Poker, what's that, is it a game? Sounds fun, maybe I can try it someday! That part of my life's been lacking a little. But there's just a lot going on. My family (wife and kids) come first, then job. There's of course bowling and baseball and softball and I had to create a dance/cheer mix for Whitney and Hannah to teach to a Jr. High School squad. I'm continue my running at lunch time, putting in 3-miles per day, plus some on the weekend too. Then at least 3 days a week I'm lifting weights too. I'm feel better, I'm being forced to tighten the belt! : ) Yeah ME!

Hope all is well for each of you. I miss my blogger friends... I try to stay up on you all, but I don't check in as often as I'd like just because it's the nature of things.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Pop Evil coming to Eagles

2010-04-17T15:07:00.000-05:00

Last night it was good to get together with friends at the Eagles and drink a few beers and relax. We attended the Comedy Show which honestly was just so-so. I liked the comedians that they had last time. But, you can't always have the same comedians every time. You have to try some new people. I think in the future that some additional review should be done before booking a comedy act. On the plus side, they had a drawing for Pop Evil tickets and I won one of them. The Pop Evil show will be May 7th at the Fraternal Order of Eagles here in Parkersburg, WV. The club will be open to the general public!!! Tickets are currently available for $10!!! In addition to the headline band, another of our local favorites Jinx'd will be opening. This is definitely something new that the Eagles is trying to do to attract new people to our club and hold events that people are excited about coming out to. And no, of course this music may not appeal to everyone, but judge for yourself. Here's a link to "100 in a 55" by Pop Evil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcfmwfY2GOE

Or for a little more on the thrash side... : ) "Hero" at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_6n2KJlSPw&a=xwg4b4wpKxo&playnext_from=ML

Enjoy!

Good Saturday

2010-04-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was busy and a lot of fun with family and friends. A lot of bowling action during the day for Cole. He bowled a 203 (his personal best) in the singles tournament yesterday! Not bad for an 11 year old, with a 114 average!

Later we all went to the Yanok's for some much needed poker. I finished 1st in Game #2, and actually got points in both games, so my year end stack continues to grow! : P

We're all having a lazy day now, just lounging around. Have a great day all!

Regards,

cheer_dad

In the dark on the details

2010-04-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

So, I'm still a little in the dark as to my wife's antics of last night... I had previously mentioned getting the chips ready for last night's poker game at the Eagles, but I didn't end up playing. I took Cole to baseball practice, and actually Whitney was at softball practice on the next field, so I migrated back and forth a bit. Then, when we got home and we ate. Then, I knuckled down and got in my weight lifting workout at around 9PM. So, I never made it up to the Eagles at all. Big Red called to inform me around 10PM that she was out of the tourney, having been felted by Uncle June. Preflop the guy in front of her goes All-In for 550, Red looks down at pocket Aces, and shoves for 650. It folds around to Uncle June who makes the call saying it's prolly a stupid play, but what the hell, right? The flip over, first all-in guy, with KK, Red with AA, Uncle June 3-4s. Flop 5-6-7. DOH! I had to laugh! So, she wants to know do I want to come up and play now and she'll come home. But I know today's gonna be a busy day for me so I tell her to go ahead and hit the cash table.

...Flash forward...

At around 3:30AM, I roll over in bed to what seems like a strobe light flashing, and bleerily make out Poltergeist is on the television. I realize Red is not there. I chuckle and then a few minutes later I hear the garage door and then the tip-toe steps of my beloved. She starts in with "I'm sorry." But I told her I didn't care as long as she was having a good time. I listened to a few words from her before nodding off. I think I heard that she won back her buy-ins plus like $10 for the night. Hey, it's a profit! : P Anyway, maybe I'll get details of her excursion later, when she has caught up on sleep. She did say she thought they had over 50 players again, with a lot of new faces! Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all of you who showed up!

Bowling went quick this morning. I even took a call for support from the Help Desk, from Frank "iamwolfie." Network cut-overs are always a joy on a weekend. I leave in a few minutes to head over to Emerson Lanes for more bowling starting at 1PM. Doubles tourney and Singles after that. Cole picked up his 2nd place team trophy from last week's tournament.

Tonight, I will DEFINITELY be ready for some rest and relaxation. You may all see a little "drunken poker" played LIVE this time from your ole buddy cheer_dad. I'll lay aside the role of Super Dad for another day. Really considering not being there for tomorrow morning's maintenance window at work.

I'll see many of you tonight at the Yanok's tournament(s.) I'm hoping for some music to sing-along to, and that'll go well with the lampshade on my head!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Nothing matters so much as...

2010-04-08T23:13:00.000-05:00

Nothing as so very satisfying as the stacking of chips. Tonight I got the chips ready for tomorrow night's Eagles game. Not chips I'd won... just the simple stacking and counting of chips. The touch and the sound of poker chips as they are stacked and shuffled... there is just something about it. I wish I could explain or describe, but my faithful blogladytes will know exactly what I'm attempting to say. I may not even get to play tomorrow, but there are priorities like my son's baseball and my daughter's softball practice. What's the line? "Nothing matters so much as family... all the rest are merely strangers!"

Regards,

cheer_dad

2010-04-03T20:16:00.001-05:00

the words have not been typed in many moons my faithful blogladytes but.......... tonight...... yeahhhhhhh boobies!!!
regards,
cheerdad

Busy day

2010-04-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

Getting ready to take Cole to bowling league this morning at 10:00. Then, he has a tournament to bowl at 1:00. Following that, I get the "pleasure" of coming home to mow the yard for the first time of 2010. Unbelievable how much the grass has grown. Wonder what difficulties the ole mower will give me?

Tonight of course we'll be watching the WVU vs Duke basketball game! Let's GOOOOOOO Mountaineers! I don't know that we'll be going out anywhere tonight, since it will have been a busy day already. Besides, I have to get up in the morning for work. Server maintenance once again. Hopefully some of the preparation here will provide us with some information following the next service crash. We really need some good root cause analysis to point us in the right direction. We might even keep the "wolves" at bay! But then again I'm not so sure that everyone has the same agenda...

Baseball season has started, at least the practice phase has. And so far, I think Cole is enjoying himself! That's the only part I even care about. That and I'm actually enjoying "not coaching." It is definitely less stressful.

On the fitness front, I'm averaging 12-15 miles a week, running (which is low from my "past running life") but I'll take it. I'm also averaging 3-4 weight training sessions a week. Focusing primarily on upper body, since the legs get their part with the mileage... I feel better. And perhaps even look a little better too. I know, let's not get carried away.

As for poker, on this poker blog... (i know, haha) that feels like a game I "used to" play. Life has it's ways of moving you in different directions that's for sure. BUT, the next game is scheduled for April 9th, 2010 at the Eagles Aerie in Parkersburg. Registration begins at 6:00pm, and gametime is 7:00pm. We had a record 54 players last time, and we look forward to even more. Hope that YOU are one of them!

Time to head out the door to the lanes.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Spring has sprung

2010-03-29T12:44:00.000-05:00

Everywhere I look I'm beginning to see the signs that point to the fact that Spring is here, or is at least ramping itself up for an explosion on the senses. The grass is greener, fuller, in need of a first mowing of the year... VERY shortly. The daffodils in the front landscaping are already reaching for the sky, and will be blooming any day now. There's been rain, but it's of a sort that holds the promise of growth and a general cleanup of impact of Winter. Another sure sign that Spring is upon us, is of course my allergies are flaring up, worse than before. But it's a give and take thing I guess.

With the coming of Spring, Little League baseball will get under way. Cole finally committed to another year of lacing up the cleats and oiling up the mitt. For once... I'm not coaching. I'm going to spectate, and just enjoy the time. Cheer when he plays well, and offer comfort and encouragement when he doesn't. I'm looking forward to some positive "stuff."

Also, even though there's still a lot of school time left, you already get the sense that it's coming to an end, and that the promise of Summer vacation is on the way. Summer is my favorite time. Hands Down! Sun, heat, outside, pool, ocean, sand, cooking out, time spent with family and friends. There is NO better time!

I've been sticking to my workouts. I'm running around 15 miles a week, consistently, and I'm lifting about 3 times a week as well. I feel better, and think I look a little better too. The belt has tightened a few notches and even a few people have made some comments. AND not obese or fat-ass! : P Shut it Uncle June... just shut it!

I've played some poker, but not obsessive. It's been ages since I've fired up the PokerStars client to donk around, but I'm sure I will again. Life has it's seasons, and all things have their time. In the end though, it's all my time to do with as I will. I'm glad to have shared this and many other things with you all.

Enjoy life, go one, get out there.

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. The next Texas Hold'em Tournament at the local Eagles Aerie is scheduled for April 9th, 2010. Registration at 6pm, game time 7pm. $20 gets you started. Bring more for the cash games to follow, for your adult beverage of choice, and of course don't forget to tip your bartenders!

Thanks for the Stanwick's hospitality

2010-03-21T19:53:00.000-05:00

Thank you Chris and Jill for welcoming us into your home once again for a night of poker! Jill you should have played, but you were whipping up lotsa great stuff in the kitchen, so who were we to argue! I played game one and chopped with Jim for 1st and 2nd. Big Red had earlier been rivered, and was knocked out late in the tourney. Knowing I had to work the next day I prepared to leave after pocketing the cash, but I handed a buy in to Red for game 2 and told her to play. I made my departure. Next morning she tells me that she chopped the 2nd tourney with Jerry! Good night all around for the Murrays!

The server upgrades at work went fine today, despite some network and proxy issues, and even phone switch upgrades too. Email continues to flow and no one had to die to make it happen. One of these days we'll actually finish this upgrade... and then what'll we do with all that "free-time?" Yeah right, like that will ever happen.

Enjoyed a rare nap today on the family room floor, when I got home. The kids enjoyed the peaceful sawing of logs, interrupted their tv watching. : P Who's yer daddy!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Daylight Savings Time indeed

2010-03-14T06:04:00.000-05:00

Well here I sit at the computer screen on an early Sunday morning, before 7am. I have to laugh just a little over an honest mistake. My loving wife set the alarm clock last night for me to get up for work (Sunday maintenance window) and took care of the "spring forward" hour too. It seems however that the fancy, shmancy alarm clock, with its internal settings adjusted itself, as well... by timezone... Not sure, but suffice it to say, your ole buddy cheer_dad's up an hour earlier than needed! On the plus side, some quiet ME time, and a much needed blog post huh...

Work still is pushing the limits of existence, but I'm surviving it. We'll see what today holds...

On a positive note congrats to the WVU Mountaineers on a fantastic nail-biter of a victory last night in the Big East Championship! Facebook is absolutely littered with celebratory remarks from my friends.

Hope all is well with each of you!

Regards,

cheer_dad

into the vortex

2010-03-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

Another day (specifically a MONDAY) sucked once more into the vortex of time. To call it mind-numbing would be an understatement. Nearly everyone in this area was in the process of moving to a new spot in the cubicle farm. Those who weren't moving today, are moving tomorrow or the next day (like me) and so have been fully engaged in packing up all the crap they've accumulated over the "x" number of years our backsides have called these desks, home. With all that shuffling about, there's been little in the way of required actions. I instead took the opportunity to catch up on some mandated training that is coming due very soon. But talk about your real yawner of a day. All the more reason to despise me some Monday!

The beginning of the weekend was spent in a pokery bliss. Friday at the Eagles. Chris and I played host to the 54 players who showed up for the Texas Hold'em Tournament. Becky took down that top spot, with a fantastic run of cards, the likes of which I'd love to just have happen to me once in my pathetic little poker experience. just once... Then, the following night we played at the Yanok's house. I made 4th in game one, and got my money back, minus the $5 year end qualifier fee. Of course, I donated it back into the 2nd game. But I can't fault bad play. I went out on a KJ, called by Jerry's 3-4. Trip 4's will tend to win that! : ) Hey it happens and he had the stack to make the play.

Sunday morning came a little early for the "slightly" inebriated! I had to head into work for our standard server/application maintenance window. We FINALLY got to begin the upgrade process! The delays imposed upon us, were pointless. It went off without a hitch! A big thanks goes to the team! This process will continue over the rest of this month, and bleed on into April as well. Baby stepping our way to brand-spankin' new email!

Sunday afternoon involved laundry and lounging, and more of the latter than the former. (snore)

I've been trying to be a little more frequent about posting to the blog and I find that I've really missed these little rambling sessions. But lotsa extra hours at the workplace have left me a bit drained. But some of the dark clouds are beginning to lift, both figuratively and literally. Can you believe it, there's actually been sunshine! The snow is gone. C'mon springtime!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Today is a good day NOT to die!

2010-03-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

Brief pauses in the rotation of the merry-go-round of life, make this whole thing not only bearable, but once again something that I don't want to miss...

Life with its many conflicts and trials is just priceless. Time to savor and drink it in. When particularly tough... focus on the "drink" part. No... no... but seriously know that friends are the BEST medicine ever.

Regards,

cheer_dad

egg on my face

2010-03-03T21:14:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I amaze even myself. The complete and utter dunderhead that I am. It takes a random act of idiocy to snap me around a bit and force me to take stock in myself and just how a lousy attitude is a force which will feed and fuel itself. That is until you reach the point of meltdown and snap at the exact wrong time. That time was tonight for me. Worse the object of my rage was some kid who was watching the same basketball game that I was. Now... what he was doing I have absolutely NO USE for. In an elementary school basketball game there is no place for making distracting noises when the opposing team is shooting foul shots. And doing so every time is a real big no-no for me too. These kids are playing their hearts out. They deserve our attention and respect. This kid who I later learned was 12 did it just one too many times right in front of me. His mother who sat a few feet away opted to let it continue. Me... with the lousy couple of days I've had unloaded both barrels and yelled and told him to "shut up!" In hindsight... not one of my classier, better moves. Of course mama bear came to the defense of her cub, the boy child who had already launched into his best "I'm bad" act... Already my mind is racing, what the hell did you just do? Are you an idiot? Clearly I was and am not proud of the moment. I can offer only as a reason a few bad days bottled up, but it's not an excuse. The incident has caused a bit of a re-evaluation. Maybe I shouldn't focus on the negative as it simply leads to more negative emotion, and the inevitable blow up. So, I've got egg on my face, shame on my mind, but in the end laughing at myself for being such an idiot. Kid, whoever you were... my apologies for my mouth, but take your own inventory... As for mom, you were right to defend, I suppose even your son... however, belaboring the point through the rest of the game to try and showcase it for your adoring friends and family... it was then that I understood the boy. Good luck to you kid.

But I suppose no one died, and it didn't come to blows, although I think Big Red was about to break out a can of whoopass (in MY defense), as my own flare of temper was fizzling out. To those of you who know me... that just ain't me, and it isn't exactly characteristic. Although, I have had my moments! Live and learn...improve.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Paint it on

2010-03-02T20:56:00.000-05:00

It may be the only thing you can grab to hold on to your sanity, but you've gotta dig deep and smile. All this under the gun bullshit is getting old and I mean quick! But, you know, take heart in the fact that they keep coming to you with it, because you get the job done and they damn well know it. Seems no one bothered to tell them that you keep going to your stars you will eventually burn them out. I gotta tell you I'm in need a good stoking.

But tomorrow is a new day. They can't take away your birthday, and you can laugh at them all as their folly takes them down. Even the laws of variance apply to donkeys in the workplace! So, bray it up... I'll still be here. You may have beaten me down for a time, but I'm foolish enough to believe that I can outlast you and get back up in the end of this fight.

Today was Tuesday, more like my Monday, thank goodness tomorrow's Hump Day. Then, Thursday and Friday... leading into a great poker weekend for me and the rest of the NDPT crew. Friday night is Poker Night at the Eagles, registration at 6:00, and gametime is 7:00. Be there, and plan on around 50 players. Then, as if last weekend wasn't enough, and this Friday too, but the fine folks at the Yanoks bring us yet another night of poker debauchery on Saturday!. Bless you two! The cheer_dad is in need!

For now, I've got the smile painted on...

Regards,

cheer_dad

FRIDAY! : )

2010-02-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, !t's def!n!tely t!me! The workweek is over. Bring on a MUCH needed break. Somebody best fetch me a LITE! (hiccup)

This may be the last coherent statement you'll hear from me for the duration of my 3-day weekend.

Oh but wait...I just realized (thanks to the wonderment of Facebook) that tomorrow (Saturday) is the birthday of one BWoP!!! So, I've determined to take part in some celebratory drinking despite the fact that I'm not even in the same timezone. And remember lady... it's not older, just wiser and better! Happy Birthday BWoP!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. See many of you tomorrow at the Yanok's for Poker Night!

i can feel it...

2010-02-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

it's coming to take me away from this. Work tomorrow but the promise of a short Friday, and then a 3-day weekend. Saturday night at the Yanok's for poker night. It promises to be a very good night. I can sense a lampshade may be in my future. There will be BEER. It will wash away the mire of the workplace. It will restore me... it will sustain me... I need some unwind time to just...be! To avoid solving problems, being dedicated, putting others first, and just for a change think of absolutely nothing but where the next card is coming from, and when finding a lousy hand finding peace in the fact that I can grab another cold one. No, this weekend will not bear witness to my ability to play the game, or my ability to carry on a coherent conversation. This one is about forgetting. About sloughing off the muck of the job, and considering it a job, and not life.

I feel better... just knowing that a lost weekend approaches. I think the blood pressure might have even dropped a few points. I'm becoming me again. To those who gather together Saturday to play the game, I look forward to your company, toward spending time and losing ourselves to it.

"Out here we is stoned. Immaculate."

Regards,

cheer_dad

Top Dog

2010-02-22T16:05:00.000-05:00

When you're large and in charge, the command decisions you make have far reaching effects. That happened here today in the mere form of an email. There were a lot of forward thinking plans talked about, and new directions are for certain in store for our little Bureau. My team in particular will most definitely be going down some paths that we'd not even considered. But it's the nature of IT, to change... but this one is abrupt, and included some VERY agressive timelines. But it's good to be the Top Dog, and that's why they pay 'em the big bucks. Right?

It's certainly going to make things interesting around here for quite a while. Am I concerned with my continued employment, not in the least. Will life in the workplace change... oh you betcha! Is everyone happy about it what's in store, well that'd be a no! The gnashing of teeth will continue for quite some time. Hang on for the ride people, there's no telling where this roller coaster ride may actually take us!

It all makes some of the odd stonewalling on decisions lately around here, make a helluva lot more sense. Secrets for the sake of having secrets, people c'mon what are you like FIVE!?!

I gotta head to the house...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Pause for station identification

2010-02-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

Let's go off the air, or at least pause for station identification or better yet detach from the daily insanity of the workplace. Those of you have visited my blog on any sort of regular basis have noted that lately my postings have been far and few between. They've been erratic. If you could see me as I've banged them out on the keyboard you would note the tightening of the jaw, the quickening of my breath, the ever-present scowl. There is developing in me (and it's in the latter stages) an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. Or helplessness at being hopeless... Well, you know what, that sounds like a victim talking. And in the words of an old movie character friend, Worm, "...fuck all that!" Yeah, he said it, go back and watch Rounders if you don't believe me. Also uttered in the scene were (by Mike) "I can't lose what I don't put in the middle." And later on (by Worm) "grinding it out on his leather ass." These are NOT the sentiments I want to feel the need to express about my work. FFS, life on this mud-ball we call Earth is much to short. Why spend it being miserable? Well, all have responsibilities, and we love our respective families and want the best for them, and so sometimes we just suck it up and take it. But I'm really reaching that point at which I'm giving every ounce of my being into doing a good job, providing well-researched, wise decisions for my little nitch of the organization... only to have them die on the vine. I wouldn't mind so much being informed of a different office politics agenda, but having ideas dashed just "because" on a whim by parasites, well it just doesn't sit well. I've uttered (or muttered) it before, there are those that do work, and then there are those that profit from the work of others. In this case, it's even worse... Some people just need to get out of the way, and let progress... PRO-GRESS!

I tried to get this posted earlier, but as luck would have it, more nitwittery prevailed, and time was lost again. Just more minutes that I'll never get back.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy President's Day

2010-02-15T14:12:00.000-05:00

Waiting for 3:00pm to roll around. Big Red and I along with the Brothers'es' are going for Mexican. We've texted the Wolfe-pack, and Uncle June, but clearly we're dead to them. sniff, sniff, single tear! There's still time for them to join the fun and possible debauchery.

Whitney is busying herself about today preparing a belated Valentine's Day Dinner for Jordan, the boyfriend (no, not the cousin.) It's beginning to look like Betty Crocker and Julia Childs had some sort of bake off here in our kitchen. That bitch Martha Stewart showed up but they sent the skank packin'. : ) But seriously the daughter is really domesticating herself. Of course Red had to add that if we could get her as interested in cleaning as she has been lately in cooking things would be GREAT! Dare to dream Red, dare to dream.

The snow is once again flying here in the 'burg. We're rumored to be getting another 6-8 inches by Tuesday. Scruffy the dog may have difficulty hiking a leg very soon on anything. Maybe he'll get lost in a snow drift... but then again I'd have to be the one to go and dig his little furry butt out, so let's skip that.

Hmmm, Cole is going to Drew's house to play, amazing that he didn't bother to ASK if he could go, and Shel just showed to pick him up. But then again, like it really matters, he would've been allowed anyway. Hey, it's his holiday too. Yeah, Happy President's Day... did you all decorate and put up a TREE decorated with white, powdered whigs, and filibusters?!? I know we sure did! : )

Clearly this is rambling post and I'm glad you could all share in it. Oh and don't forget that the boys from Jinx'd will be entertaining the Eagles and BPD crowd this Friday night. It's always a good time and hope to see you all there! I should get ready to head out the door now...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Dude, I think u got hacked!

2010-02-09T20:54:00.000-05:00

Well I suppose these things are inevitable... but today my email account was compromised, hacked if you will. I noticed (at work) around 2pm today that I had sent myself a message from my Hotmail account. Well, I thought, how nice of me... knowing something was wrong. So, away I go to check it out. While logging in, I get another email from a friend at work, with a subject of "Dude, I think u got hacked!" Yes, you would be thinkin' right. I get logged into Hotmail and there they are, 3 extra messages in the ole sent folder, systematically sending out a link (for Viagra) I think to 10 people at a time, in order from my Address Book. How quaint. Lucky for yer ole buddy cheer_dad that his work email has been among the recipients of my Address Book for years. So, I was among the first to get it. About 5 minutes after the first message went out, I get logged in and change the password and all my other security info. It would appear that a bot was at work, rather than a human being. But some of the other techno geeks at work and I tracked it back to an IP Address in Poland. All I could think to say was, "I wonder how many of them it took..." Okay, I saw the shot and had to take it. Sorry if your ethnicity has just been trounced. Go ahead make an Irish joke to spite me. We shall rain down upon ye from the highlands and ye shall be smitten. Okay, that's the best I can do on short notice.

For those of you who've followed my exploits on Facebook, you'd know that work has been a bit of a bear of late for me. The boss out of town, me in class, and picking up a lot of slack. I think I exhausted the keys on the Blackberry trying desperately to stay in touch with the office. Now that things are starting to get back to normal, some of the lingering pieces of work to be done are beginning to frustrate me. I'm not sure who knows it... I'm not sure who cares... I'm hoping to catch a break anytime soon.

Not much in the poker world for me lately. Red did play last Friday at the Eagles in the charity tournament. I stayed home with my son, for a night of XBox and such. I guess we had a small cash game on Saturday. I think I made $10 and got a helluva hangover to carry into the next day. There is another of the monthly Eagles games this Friday night at 7pm. I hope to make it to this one (hint RED) but there might be a basketball game to attend to. As always the kids come first.

Hope all is well with each of you. Maybe when the dust starts to settle around here, I'll get back to a little regularity in the posting schedule around the NDPT Blog. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by and holding out hope that I'll bang out a few lines.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Round 1

2010-02-01T19:04:00.000-05:00

work 1 cheer_dad 0!

I'm just really tired... and it's only Monday, are you kidding me. 4 more days of class to go. In addition still having to juggle the workload and the lobs of idiocy that keep getting winged the way of our little team.

Stayed tuned for Round 2... like Rocky, I'm more of a late round fighter. Ah hell who am I kidding... I just wear them down by letting them beat the hell outa me. So far, the first half of the plan is working.

Regards,

cheer_dad

The answer is 42.

2010-01-22T13:53:00.000-05:00

I sat down to play some late night poker and ended up dropping a little over 2 buyins at my uber lowness on PokerStars. Rammed everything into the middle preflop on one of my four tables with pocket Kings. Called by an AJs. He hit 'em both... So there went 1-1/2 buyins (since I was up on that table at the time. Then pocket J's got me slapped, when my read was that the player was pushing my buttons from last position. I guess he thought AA was good button to be pushing. Seat open table 1! No waiting! Sigh. I remained oddly calm, but won't deny that old familiar feeling was at play, tilt was bangin' on the door, and I really did want to get even. So, I played on for a while longer, but just recognized it as being tossed around by the waves. So, I called it a night. I'll get 'em back... like usual, but I just tire of counting those same damn nickles and dimes again! To those of you who may have won 'em from me, could you at least shine 'em up a little before sending them back across the ole virtual felt!?! : P

Heard last night that there is a poker tournament this weekend, being hosted by the Shriners which Big Red and I may drop in on. It will be at the Eagles Aerie, where we usually play, but this is supposed to be a different crowd. Who knows, we might get to meet some new people...AND take their money! What could be better! They're playing Sunday afternoon at 2:00pm. I'm not sure on many details though. So, we may be winging it. HAH, winging... eagles... get it!?! : )

In other news hmmm, oh there was something on my mind, oh yeah... today's my BIRTHDAY! I'm 42. Yet another year above ground is ALWAYS a plus, I'm fond of it. Recall the importance of the number from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as "the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything."

Hope all is well with each and everyone of you!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Here I sits...

2010-01-21T10:33:00.000-05:00

Not only do I continue to "watch" I've gone catatonic in the process as well. There are a number of processes in the job which require simply observation and witnessing of an event. You know, my human viewing of an automated process not only confirms that it works but keeps the blasted computers at bay, lest they eventually become like the Terminator robot overlords! SOOO, here again I "sits" on the conference call awaiting the inevitable.

I think my eye is beginning to twitch...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Paperwork time

2010-01-18T10:53:00.000-05:00

There is much paperwork to be done today by the wife and I. But today's the day, and we've put it off too long. Time to brush up on the writing skills and draft up some real persuasive magic. What are we doing? Writing up her job application for the Bureau... I don't like writing up my own, let alone someone else's, but it's got to be done.

Where's the weekend gone?

Wish us luck on the writing and on her successfully landing the job! But, it's always been easier looking for a job when you've got a job. This one could just be a lot better for her. Anything that makes life for my baby better, or easier... well let's just say I'm for it!

Regards,

cheer_dad

I have ARRIVED!

2010-01-15T14:03:00.001-05:00

You know your blog has REALLY ARRIVED when your employer's internet proxy coughs up one of these babies!!! This may be one of the proudest moments of my "Adult/Mature" life! : )

But thanks to friends in low places (thanks Uncle June & Del) I was not only alerted to the issue, but was also able to rectify the problem. So now my blogladytes... feel free to return to your basking in the glow of cheer_dad's wanton disregard for moral turpitude and ~~shit~~ SHOOT! Actually, I'm a little confused I haven't ranted profanic at all recently, not so much as a "dubya-tee-efff"...!?! Haven't used the word boobies, in like forever! (Oh ~~damn~~ it... I mean dadgummit.) BUT, you know this high moral fiber that's holding this great country together is important to me, so I'll do my part to get back on the ole straight-and-narrow. (Maybe it was the spammer who was posting the links to the Asian porn sites on my old blog posts until I went all moderator-ish on his ~~ass~~, I mean heiney... Okay, okay, I'll stop now. Interestingly though, the filters didn't get hung up on "Gambling!" I can't tell you the number of the poker blogs that I read regularly who've been banned as Gambling sites and get a similarly phrased denial message... Not that you can place a single wager on a one of them, but just key words of "poker" or "vegas" and it's like "THE MAN" puts up a "Road Closed" sign on the information super-D-duper highway. Or as Shamus might say, these here intertubes! There oughta be a law agin it!

Looking forward to the long-weekend, although we have no plans to do anything or go anywhere. It'll just be nice to get away from the job for a while and cuddle for warmth with the wife. Hmmm, maybe even a little online poker debauchery is in order too. : P

Time to run kiddies... just a little under 2 hours and you can call me outa here!

Regards,

cheer_dad

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker, 2010 edition!

2010-01-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! PokerStars.com is the home of Free Online Poker Games, bloggers can play for free in the exclusive WBCOOP tournament, register here to play: WBCOOP

Registration code: 196827

Regards,

cheer_dad

No, really?

2010-01-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

C'mon... 7 degrees?!? That shouldn't be legal for Monday. Then again Monday's themselves should be outlawed as well. Yes, it was a cold morning here in the 'burg. Snow and ice still covers the ground, but at least I'm not committed to 4-wheel drive for the morning commute now. But, I heard there is more of the white stuff in the forecast, so hunker down and pray for spring.

The first game Eagles' Texas Hold'em Tournament of 2010 treated me good. I finished 2nd to Eric Shuman on Friday. As Uncle June mentions over on his blog http://jrruble.blogspot.com/ we were pleasantly surprised by the turnout of 30 players, despite the snowfall. Thanks to everyone who showed up for the game and we sincerely hope everyone had a good time. I drank excessively (yeah go figure) and sloughed off the work week burden. I was boss-less last week (and again this week) and so I've been inserted into the mix for a few extra duties. They're not so bad in and of themselves but not when coupled with everything else on the plate. But, this too shall pass.

Saturday (skip ahead to evening) since we slept in. Big Red took her position in front of the TV to cheer her beloved Dallas Cowboys on to their first playoff win of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles. Like I posted to Facebook, it would've made life rough around our home for a while had they not won.

The kiddies of Wood County should be headed back to school today, after nearly a week of snow days last week. I'm sure the homework will flow... Also, Cole's basketball games and practice will finally get underway and there will be all those makeup games to tend to as well. The first game is tonight, which reminds me I need to leave a little early to get him there on time.

Next up on the Poker front...Frank's wanting me to head up with him to Wheeling Island on the 18th for a WSOP NLHE Super Satellite. Buy-in is $130. The "points" winner of this and the 3 prior events will receive the added bonus of playing heads up against WSOP 2009 final tabler Darvin Moon, in what Wheeling is billing as the Ultimate Challenge. Check out the website for additional details on this event and all the other promotional tournaments being offered. http://www.wheelingisland.com/Poker-Tournaments.aspx?mainpageid=31&subpageid=35

The Yanok's will play host at the end of the month January 29th, with their start to the 2010 Yanok's Poker Season. I believe he said every game night will feature 2 tournaments, with both being qualifier events for the year end extravaganza. I mention this only because I'm now the defending champion! : P

Beyond that, also keep on your radar February 5th at 7:00pm at the Eagles Lodge where a charity Hold'em Tournament is scheduled for the Relay for Life. The organizers are hoping to draw a sizeable crowd for this one, so please come out to play and help out this worthy cause. $20 tournament +$5 donation.

One week later on the February 12th, will be the next regularly scheduled Eagles Tournament. So there's plenty of games set up for our immediate future. Almost enough to quench even my poker thirst. I'll be seeing you here, there, and everywhere!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Work week done, see y'all at the Eagles for Poker tonight!

2010-01-08T15:03:00.000-05:00

You can call me missing from work, very shortly. It's my short day, and perhaps I'll take the short bus home, but I digress. Long week, and the kidlets made out like bandits on missing school due to Snow Days. Man I really miss those days!

I've got to get Cole at the house and take him to Pre-Bowl. Immediately following that, my mom is picking him up, as he is staying with them tonight, so he can go hunting again in the morning. This time is muzzle-loader season. The kid is really turning into quite the hunter. Like a little Elmer Fudd! : P Sorry Cole, buddy, had to take the shot!

Beyond that tonight Uncle June insists that it'll be GAME ON tonight at the Eagles at 7pm! So bring your $20 to get in on the Texas Hold'em Tournament, registration starts at 6:00pm. Bring some extra just in case you feel like contributing to the obligatory cash game which will certainly ensue (cheer_dad's gonna need a BEER FUND!)

Hope to see everyone there, and I hope to see Aces!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Cut and Paste

2010-01-05T10:36:00.004-05:00

It's like someone hit ctrl-c and ctrl-v, for the rest of the workweek! Or so says my Google widget...

Today, the kiddies got to remain snuggled in their beds since Wood County Schools in WV were closed due to the snowfall. I had little trouble getting to work in 4-wheel drive, but I'm sure the backroads might have presented some challenges for the buses. Might as well ease them back into school after a long Christmas break anyway. : )

I'm not exactly looking forward to today's treadmill run, having slacked off a bit while I was off on my extended break. But, I did bring the clothes to head down to the gym at lunch. I'll be happy to get in the 3 mile "run" as a jog, jaunt, or crawl. Prolly still sweat out some of the Corona had from New Years Eve... or some of that Wild Turkey liqueur. The good news is of course that there was no back-talk from the liver!

There's been little activity on the poker front for ole cheer_dad. I would have put in a few hundred hands yesterday online if the wife hadn't put me to work on stripping wallpaper yesterday. Grrrr! But the long dry spell from pokery goodness will most certainly come to an end this Friday, January 8th, 2010, since Uncle June has sent out his notice of the Texas Hold'em Tournament at the Eagles. Game time is 7:00pm, registration begins at 6:00pm, along with my alcohol consumption. An even $20 gets you in the tournament this time, as Uncle June made the executive decision to stop making change for everyone. (hehe) It'll just leave a few extra bills in your pockets for the cash games which always follow. Recall from a previous post that the last one got pretty beefy for a local game, especially since it was only a .25/.50 blinds nlhe game. All hail the multi-rebuyers!

Beyond that coming up on the 29th of January the Yanok's will be doing their fine hosting job to get the year going in the right poker direction for us all. I look forward to many late night weekends with you all!

Good luck, good skill throughout the year 2010!

Regards,

cheer_dad

As we usher in 2010...

2009-12-31T14:33:00.003-05:00

Take a few moments to reflect on the year that has been 2009 as we pass joyously into the new year. I'm grateful for family and friends and time well spent among them all. I'm thankful for our individual prosperity in troublesome times. While like most of us I could use to shed some additional poundage, I've been blessed with continued good health, and I remain active.

I think about those who've gone on before, and are no longer a part of my daily life... but I recall the manner in which each touched my life, and have contributed to who I've become and even will be in the future.

Tonight, is indeed a time of great celebration and good will as we usher in the new year. Look forward to great things if for no other reason than to bring about self-fulfilling-prophecy! There's a picture/sign that my wife has hung here in our home, which aside from all the others speaks volumes to me... and I hope I can strive to achieve its message throughout the coming year and through all my remaining days:

...live...laugh...love...

Happy New Year to one and all!

Regards,

cheer_dad

In 3D Where Available...

2009-12-28T13:17:00.003-05:00

On the heels of my 3D Avatar experience I've already started craving to see another 3D movie. I've seen them before, but on vacation of course where it was usually also in IMAX. But for the most part those were documentarian in nature or thrill ride-ish. Avatar however was a movie, with plot, and effects, and things that blow-up too. The movie was enhanced by being shown in 3D. It wasn't just thrown together and some effects inserted for folks to gawk at. The added dimension was thoroughly embraced... and I for one enjoyed and appreciated it! Anyway, I've digressed... I started looking around for other 3D movies on the horizon for the coming year. I stumbled across http://www.3dmovielist.com/list.html, which provided a number of other links which to visit for specifics about each of the movies I've listed below:

http://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/ We saw the trailer for this one on the beginning of Avatar, and everyone expressed interest in coming back for it. Clearly the family is on board with my 3D fascination.

http://www.thehotticket.net/kennychesney/ Oh yeah, this goes without saying that at the very least Big Red and I will definitely be going to see. Hell, we might even be in the footage for all I know!

http://www.shrek.com/ Well duh, of course...

http://disney.go.com/toystory/ And uhhhh, ditto!

http://www.despicable.me/ This one, I don't know, we aren't exactly members of Steve Carell's fan club.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/tron/ I may have to see this one by myself... this is all uber geek for the rest of the cheer_dad clan. But the original movie was strewn with effects and you know a new one would be as well. Also, many a quarter was sacrificed to the almighty Tron arcade game back in the day! If I'm really quiet, I think I can still hear the music blaring from the machine's speakers! Oh wait maybe that's my tinitis acting up again.

But I've found something new (to me) to hold my attention for a while, at least until someone installs a 3D IMAX theater somewhere close to home! : )

Fear not this momentary fascination will not erase my love (or hate) of poker! Nor will it skew the focus of the blog. Game on! There will continue to appear all manner of pokery goodness!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Avatar

2009-12-27T20:05:00.004-05:00

The family and I just got back from watching Avatar. If you haven't seen it yet, what're you waiting for?!? Run, don't walk! The movie was absolutely amazing. The effects, scenery, plot, cgi, it was all amazing. Also, if you do decide to go, please see it in a theater which offers it in 3D! You'll thank me. I was really blown away by this movie, and so was the rest of my family. We talked about it all the way home from Athens, this evening. Kudos to James Cameron on an epic vision realized!

Really why are you still reading my crummy blog, go see Avatar already!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Some days...sheesh

2009-12-26T20:08:00.002-05:00

It just doesn't pay to sit down at the online table. While waiting for Big Red to get ready, I set down for a quickie PokerStars session. I called it DONE after 250 hands (i was 4 tabling.) During the session I just couldn't put anything together on any table, I posted the following Facebook, as a comical rant:

"needs the 'L' tattooed on forehead... quick online cash session. set of K's busted, then, A9 (flop 2 pair, but he hits set of 9's), AA vs K4os, he hits boat KKK44, KK vs K5 he hits straight w/his 5, and finally AQ vs KQ, and he hits flush. and i play this game for fun! : )"

But there are just those days that you feel like you can't hit water if you fall out of the fuckin' boat! Still, remember Doc Schoonmaker's mantra to look at yourself for the reasons for your losses. In the latter part of the session, after most of the damage had been done, I got loose, and my open attempts to limp were hammered by those paying attention. That cost me a few extra nickles and dimes... I notice that when I get behind that my thoughts do drift toward just liking to get even, but I try to resist, and don't allow myself to play on through a "bad luck streak." They are inevitable. They happen... and most certainly to me! : ) Now, now... in time, those 3 buy-ins will find their way back to my lil poker fold! Just sucks to lose 'em and I'll miss 'em whilst they are gone.

It wasn't bad luck, star alignment, sun spots, or anything else, it's just the way the cards felt. Well and I think Lady Luck mighta given me a "wet willy!" : )

Heading out to meet Uncle June at the club... and I'm sure there will be others.

Merry Christmas to you all!

2009-12-24T19:07:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to everyone. May your holiday season be filled with joy, family, and friends.

Here at the house of cheer_dad, I think we've actually got everything wrapped up and ready to be ripped open in the morning. I can't wait to play with some of this stuff too! : )

We're heading out the door now, to make the Christmas party rounds, next stop the home of Chris and Laura (and Megan too!) See you soon!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Follow up to the Eagles Game

2009-12-22T07:16:00.002-05:00

I guess I never followed up with anything more about the Eagles Game, on the through the night as I continued to imbibe... : ) Eric Shuman takes down the top spot in the tourney with a nice payday on his return to tournament poker play after a bit of a hiatus. Congrats to him! I of course busted out when I got called by the guy with the monster 10-6! I swear he actually looked everyone at the table in the eye and said, "but they were suited, I had to call!" and he wasn't kidding, having called my $250 allin. He was amassing quite the chip stack... only to give it all away, leaving him to wonder, how he came up short... and why did he lose... To be honest I got a kick out of it all. Although, I wish some of the rest of you at the table weren't instructing him on how to play better, sheesh! Okay, tips on dealing and etiquette, and not being an obnoxious douche-bag are fine to relay to people... but not how to play the game well. Let a donk, continue to be a donk!

But, I moved on to the cash game, where I found myself seated across from Harry Knopp. Then, there was the other guy, whose name escapes me, who was absolutely bleeding money! We were all buying in for $20. But he did so, several times, and even bought for $40 once or so. When he finally had enough and left... the game started to whither. I cashed myself and the rest out not long after. Harry left with over $300, having bought in for maybe $40 (maybe $60.) I cashed out for $80, having bought in with only $20. So, made back my tourney buyin, and cash, and made some spending money for Cole's basketball tourney for the rest of the weekend. : )

Among other things on the weekend, Sunday evening I was called to drive Uncle June and Chris home when an officers' Christmas party at the Eagles found them both unable to spell car let alone drive one. But that was good times for me. But how sad of a day is it when you have to call on ME to be the DD?!?

Played some cards online yesterday on PokerStars. I cleared a teeny tiny profit of a few measly cents... but felt okay, having recovered from an allin preflop with Aces, and got beat by pocket Kings, when he flopped another cowboy on me. I won't complain... since later in the session I was a set hitting fool and pounding some opponents' over pairs into oblivion. Had it not been for the early hit... it would have been a profitable session indeed.

Back at the grind today, working for the man. I've got some late afternoon meetings that will likely put me on tilt! But, hey, what could possibly go wrong? Hope all is well with each of you. Stay warm and safe, and get that Christmas shopping completed! Buy me sumpin' nice!

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-12-18T23:46:00.001-05:00

Oddly enuff right here in WV at our usual eagles game we r graced by WPT final tabler harry knopp! Enjoyed it...and he's a good guy too!

regards,

cheer_dad

2009-12-18T20:54:00.001-05:00

Now i go on a suckout rally! Hitting absolute shhhhtuff on everybody on my steal attempts. Game on...

regards,
cheer_dad

2009-12-18T20:11:00.001-05:00

Mr bucholtz takes one of my legs out from under me in this december eagles tourney. My ak hits the ace on the flop but not nearly as good as his set of 6s!

My wife is right...again

2009-12-17T06:58:00.004-05:00

I have to hand it to my wife, when she's right... she's right. It seems with the advent of social networking site Facebook and other notification methods, although I did "post" results from the NDPT 2009 Year End Tournament elsewhere I failed to do so HERE on the NDPT blog! I even need to get the original website updated to reflect that too. (Hmmm, wonder if I can even remember the account information for that!?!) Been awhile since I've even touched that html!

BUT without further delay, the results of the tournament which we hosted on December 12th, 2009 are:

Eric Freed 1st
Teresa "Big Red" Murray 2nd
JR Ruble 3rd
Vince Post 4th

A "loser's" honorable mention goes to yours truly cheer_dad, for bubbling in 5th. : ( Yeah, thanks DEAR!!! Now you know why she wanted to see a post, dontcha, AND likely why I "forgot." hehe!

But, it was a great night, with great friends and some great card play. Thank you all for continuing to feed this poker degeneracy in me!

Regards,

cheer_dad

That time of year

2009-12-15T16:35:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again, in which despite our best intentions and my warnings at work that WAY TOO MANY PROJECTS get put off til the end of the year, or had planned to culminate with the "first of the year!" Do the buffoons not remember this from year to year? It's always the same. A limited staff struggles to perform in the absence of a lot of people trying to do their Christmassssy type stuff, and use up all of that "use or lose" leave before January 1st! Stressful situations ensue. Tempers flare, and fuses ignite... I have all that to I suppose but this year an added bonus is that the projects I have on my plate all have additional idiots who are stalling the overall progress. Yes, the ones who remain on site... and slowing things down this year. Go figure.

So, I'm opting to burn some leave up myself and get myself in the holiday spirit. Or drink some spirits around the holidays... errr, oh you get the picture. There's always misery to love company with!

In other news don't forget this Friday, December 18th at 7:00pm at the Eagles... we're playing Poker again. Last months attendance record of 54 could get shattered, and I'd like to be there to witness it all over again. Hope to see you all there!

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-12-10T18:55:00.001-05:00

brrrr! sitting here waiting for cole's bball practice to end and the temp reads 23... and i'm not talkin' celsius.
regards,
cheer_dad

NDPT Year End Tourney Dec 12th, 7pm

2009-12-08T17:46:00.004-05:00

Seeing as there are so many things going on this year, I've made the decision to forgo the December qualifier for the NDPT Year End Tournament and instead just have the Final Tournament. Below is the listing of EVERYONE who accumulated points throughout the 2009 NDPT Poker Season... Congratulations! The money that each person paid in to this qualifier has yielded us a pot of $550 that we'll be playing for. The number next to each of your names, signifies the number of chips that each of you will of course will be starting with. The blinds will be in line with the original NDPT blinds schedule (where everyone would normally start out with $1,000 in tournament chips.) This tournament will be held at my house, where it all began. This is a smaller group and a little easier to manage here...

The date will be Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at 7:00pm. (YES, that is THIS weekend!!!) Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be attending. If there are conflicts I may have to make a change, but I'll let everyone know as soon as possible. Depending on the actual number of people that show up to play, we will be playing for either 3 or 4 payouts.

JR Ruble 2,940
Teresa Murray 2,280
Eric Freed 2,130
Brian Murray 2,040
Del Minturn 1,985
Julie Wolfe 1,930
John Johnson 1,700
Steve Allman 1,625
Vince Post 1,550
Matt Hensley 1,050
Mike Westbrook 953
TJ Sellers 630
Julie Miller 480
Dennis Rempel 315

Hope to see you all here!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

We are the Champions...

2009-12-06T09:57:00.003-05:00

Uncle June and I seem to be making this particular outcome into a habit! December 5th, 2 tables of poker miscreants gathered at the Yanok's house at High Noon, to play out the Year End Tournament. Over five hours of play ensued...With lots of ups and downs for us all. This tournament has people starting with dissimilar chip stacks in proportion to their level of wins throughout the year. We had each paid in $5 for every tournament we had participated in throughout the year. Usually 2 per month, since Yanok began holding "double" qualifiers for the whole year. Matt finished in 4th, Steve in 3rd... and Uncle June and I chopped 1st and 2nd... To determine the winner of the championship and the coveted YSOP (Yanok Series of Poker) bracelet, we played it out and I ended up with the BLING! It all sort of erases any and all bad poker mojo throughout the year. Don't think I'll be able to claim anything like "I never win" or that "I'm running bad" without having someone laugh at or slap me in the face.

Great time, great friends, and an incredible hosting job by the Yanoks. Thank you for inviting us into your home time and time again! I look forward to many games to come with you ALL!

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-12-04T18:24:00.001-05:00

Poker night at the Yanok's! Wrapping up the rest of the week's chaos... ready for the lost poker weekend ahead.

Regards,

cheer_dad

The REAL bad "wobot"

2009-12-03T07:33:00.004-05:00

Okay, so whomever the Numb Nuts is who has setup to drop his links on my older blog posts... I've resorted to inconveniencing the rest of my visitors who opt to leave legitimate comments. I hope you're happy Asshole! I've grown tired already of removing your "comments" (which are nothing more than porn links to your website) in the short time that I've been removing you. So, to help flush out the problem, when someone comments they will from now on be required to copy verification text into a box. That way if Mr. Numb Nuts is a spam robot, then he can go bang a toaster for all I care. As for the rest of you, sorry for the added step!

Of course if this doesn't work, I'll have to begin moderating all comments, which flies in the face of how I've always treated the blog. But sheesh at least stay somewhat on topic.

Not that I'm opposed to the beauty of the female form in all it's wondrous glory... you have all oft seen/heard my battle cry of "Yeah Boobies!" In short... I'm for them! But hey, this is my blog, my choice, my links, my shit... No means NO big fella! Go away, bad "wobot!"

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-12-02T16:51:00.001-05:00

Long week and we've only just finished hump day. Same time it's been good, and somewhat gratifying. Purposeful is a good word for it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

A little cleanup is necessary

2009-12-01T21:19:00.002-05:00

I'm just getting started, wading through the blog clearing out all the garbage postings left by the various spamming scum of the "undernet" who have latched on over time to the ole NDPT. Yes, I've noticed you posting (if you're even human) but haven't had the time to cleanse your filth from my little blog. I'm getting started and won't likely stop. I'd hate to have to lock down my commenters... I'm a free speech, free love kinda guy, but I'll do it if the current wave of garbage continues to plague me. The funny part is most of these leeches are tagging on to OLD posts. Even last year's WSOP. That is like SOOOO last year!!! To all who have remained faithful to my ramblings, thanks... to the blood-sucking-ne'er-do-well-ish-leeches. BITE ME!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Cross Lanes last night

2009-11-28T16:49:00.003-05:00

A little +EV and positive outcome last night at the Mardi Gras Poker Room in Cross Lanes, WV. The tight game and aggressive when necessary paid off in the end. I even got spanked around a bit with pocket Kings. Man there are truly some horrid players out there in the wild! Action junkies get paid off far too often than should be legal! I made a nice pot with pocket Aces for once, so I can't trash talk them in the future. I thought I'd announce it here to tell it to the world. Anyway up a couple of hundred after a good night at the tables. Hope to do it again soon. Nice seeing some of the typical morons getting pounded by their own sloppy play for a change.

Tonight, dinner with my lovely wife, for her birthday (Sunday.) Lotsa friends coming along. See you all soon. Happy Birthday Big Red!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:03:00.002-05:00

Wishing you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Be safe in your travels, enjoy the company of friends and family, and eat yourselves into a turkey coma! Let the feasting begin!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Mommy is Gone

2009-11-23T15:37:00.000-05:00

Mommy is Gone

My sympathies go out to Daniel Negreanu on the passing of his mother. He writes a heartfelt dedication/testament to the life she led and the family she touched.

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT 2009 Points Race, and Year End Planning

2009-11-16T20:02:00.003-05:00

Greetings all fellow NDPT'ers! The points race for the 2009 year has nearly drawn to a close! We have only one more qualifier tournament left for the year, which will coincide with the Eagles Tournament in December. You know the drill the extra $5 that has been collected from the members of the NDPT. We need to begin planning now for when we will hold the Year End Tournament. I know that the holidays get VERY hectic for us all and I don't want this to sneak up on us and leave anyone out in the cold! So be thinking about when you would like to have it. This tournament will return to OUR basement. The points that are shown below are the current standings, and reflect what each of you will be issue in tournament chips. Of course the December qualifier will add to this as well, so the totals are not yet carved in stone. We will be playing for an approximate $600 prize pool. That's not bad for a total of 14 qualified players! So, plan on being there! If you have some preferences on time and dates for this little game, please start replying here or to my email. I want to be sure to dodge the many other games and other holiday type functions too. Remember only those who have paid in and qualified will be playing in this event. Thank goodness I qualified for my own tourney!!! Check out the points standings below:

JR Ruble 2,940
Teresa Murray 2,280
Eric Freed 2,130
Brian Murray 2,040
Del Minturn 1,985
Julie Wolfe 1,930
John Johnson 1,700
Steve Allman 1,625
Vince Post 1,550
Matt Hensley 1,050
Mike Westbrook 953
TJ Sellers 630
Julie Miller 480
Dennis Rempel 315

Regards,

cheer_dad

In training... and it's Monday

2009-11-16T08:19:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note... heading off to training in a couple of minutes. I'll be out of touch from the world. A lot of taskings this week, and a lot of outside appointments later in the week, and a whole slew of meetings on the calendar too. So, of course I'll accomplish very likely ZERO! Looking around here, I wonder if I can request maid service?

Oh and UGGGGGHHHHH, it's Monday! Gotta run gang...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Eagles Poker Tournament TONIGHT!

2009-11-13T14:51:00.004-05:00

Don't forget folk and folkette, that tonight is the Eagles Poker Tournament. Registration begins at 6:00pm, and cards get in the air at roughly 7:00pm. $25 gets you in the game. Uncle June forecasts attendance to be VERY high tonight (yeah, he's got crazy mad prediction skills!) So, don't be late!!! If like me, you find yourself "felted" early, don't get all dejected because JINX'D is playing tonight, and they ALWAYS put on a fantastic show for us. Songs sure to be sung, will be "I hate my life..." and the EVER popular "Crazy Bitch!" Hmmm, there's a telling statement in there somewhere, I just know it.

The work day is nearly over for me. I have to make a quick run by the high school to pick up Whit's assignments that she's missed while oinkin' it up with the FLU. So not only has she been sick, and dealing with my smart alec remarks, now she gets to do school work over the weekend. Yes, baby girl, daddy gives... because he loves! : P

I'll see Y'ALL tonight.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Follow up questions...

2009-11-12T09:45:00.003-05:00

Well, one reply did come in from Uncle June (look down below to the longer of the previous postings.) I started a follow up comment to him, but then recognized that some of these additional thoughts were at least curious (to me) and worth sharing, and doubtful that any of you might actually wade through all of the comments out here. So, here's what I ended up saying in response to his comment:

No, I didn't feel that I was beat at that moment. (It became abundantly clear when he rolled over his pocket 6's though, for a flopped set.) I'm just trying to decide if this was my rookie mistake or if it was just one of those situations where I was destined to lose a lot of chips (which I did.) BUT, if I'm suggesting that when you bet out TPTK after the flop (with a hand you raised with preflop too) and get raised post flop, that you should be folding... I'm afraid that sounds as if I'm playing like too much of a NIT! Or should I always assume that to be at that point a weak holding when raised?

I don't want to rationalize this away if I screwed up, I'm really trying to heed the lessons of Alan Schoonmaker's book, Your Worst Poker Enemy. Losers will continue to blame bad luck and rationalize away their own poor plays. Those trying to become winners, will analyze and reflect and learn from mistakes. Here, though I want to make sure I'm learning the correct lesson.

I don't want this "story" to come across as a bad beat story (it wasn't,) or that I always lose with a particular hand or good cards, because frankly of course I always lose with good cards, as I try not to play trash hands in the first place. I also win with good cards.

BWoP, if you stumble across this mess of postings, I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on this, if you're willing to share. My reason... I think you have more cash game experience than a lot of folks. You're not the type to offer up cure-all poker advice which we all know doesn't exist in the first place, as the answer to most questions continues to be "it depends..."

Also, in other unrelated upcoming events:
Don't forget tomorrow night, November 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) its yet another installment of the Eagles' Poker Tournament. Registration begins at 6:00pm, game at 7:00pm. $25 gets you in it, to win it! Also JINX'D is playing starting at 9:00pm, so those who bust out early will have some great music to listen to while they console their egos with copious amounts of adult beverage. Hope to see you all there! Be warned cheer_dad's looking to replenish the bankroll. Only with your help can I make that a reality! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-11-11T20:17:00.001-05:00

Thanks for listening and for living with the broken posts but sometimes i ramble beyond the confines of a text message.
Regards,
cheer_dad

2009-11-11T20:14:00.001-05:00

Now if i am rationalizing MY bad play say so! I use the analysis and re-hashing of hands to try and get something positive of something that went badly.

2009-11-11T20:11:00.001-05:00

I think if i had resized my betting i would have avoided getting it all in on the flop...but by the river i think if he had any sense at all he owned me.

2009-11-11T20:08:00.001-05:00

Well he was and he wasn't. In hindsight i believe he would have been equally capable of making that move with rags. Just this time he had the goods.

2009-11-11T20:06:00.001-05:00

A pair is not the hand to put your entire stack at risk for, albeit tptk. My analysis leaned more toward the assumption that he was pushing me around.

2009-11-11T20:03:00.001-05:00

It worked to eliminate 2 of the callers. But the guy that hits is the only one who calls here. The raise should have given me more pause than it did.

2009-11-11T20:01:00.001-05:00

Further contemplation on the hand that broke me. Him hitting his set of 6s was good fortune. My bet post flop was pot sized designed to get take it down now...

It went downhill

2009-11-11T12:54:00.002-05:00

You see a few of the mobile texting posts from yesterday, as I had joined Frank and headed south to the Cross Lanes Poker Room. The tournament brought me stale cards, but I had glimmer of hope briefly when a stolen pot beefed me back up. Unfortunately the blinds and antes just slowly chipped me out. No pairs, connectors, or face cards for that matter. Busted out 33 out of 95 players. sigh...

Then, on to the cash game. It was VERY loose. Suckout city... So, I played cautious. First hand I got involved in from the button, was 7-8os when it was only $5 to the flop, with EVERYONE in. Why not. The board shows two sevens on the flop. Ooooh goodie for cheer_dad. It checked around to me, so I fumbled around and threw out what looked like a steal for the pot. I got a couple callers. The turn was an 8. I think the table rose a little on my end of it. But the guy in front of me throws out a $20 bet. I feign to throw away (yes, transparent to most players but not these guys.) Then frustrated looking I throw in a raise. He called very slowly... more shrewd than I gave him credit for. He tables his 7-9s for trips. I table my 7s full of 8s for the win and a very nice pot. He had called from early position with a 7-9, in fact I think he's the one that made it $5 in the first place. Hmmmm. BUT, life is good, cheer_dad's actually up for the trip now, despite busting out of the tourney. I order a beer... You can see where this is going. Then, comes the hand. I'm in the small blind, and the whole table is limping in, it rounds back to me, and I finally look down at my cards. I have AQos. I make it $15 straight to go, just content to take it there. Instead I get 3 callers. Oh goodie...BUT as luck would have it, the flop comes out Q-6-4 rainbow. This is a great flop for me. So, I bet out $60, still just wanting to get this done and over... 1 fold, then 2, then wait... WTF, he pauses and looks doubtingly at my cards seemingly challenging that I have a queen in my hand. So much so that he grabs a boat load of greens (far more than enough to put me and my measly stack all in. I think he threw like $200 out there, where I had a lil under $100 left. Everything here pointed to him buying it, the pot had swollen now, a call by me is going to make it in the $360+ neighborhood. I've lost track, my mind, and as you can tell, I'm about to lose all my chips too. I make the call with my top pair top kicker, convinced that he's bullying me, like I've seen he and the other players doing so far tonight. I call it, and he says immediately I "just" got middle set... 666, the mark of the beast. I've just been owned. Nice hand sir, I'll call it a night after that. No, sense throwing good money after bad.

To any of my readers, where did I go wrong on this... other than actually showing UP in the card room in the first place? Did the chips inevitably end up in the pot, no matter? Anything I could've done? Was I just destined to lose it all here? Should I just suck it up, and quit the bitching, or what do I actually "learn" here? I await any comments you may have...

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-11-10T20:44:00.001-05:00

Wow... First win of the night for me with j9os. Wins me over 2,000. Bluffed after the flop... Level 5. 54 of 95 left in. Gettin' 'spensive

2009-11-10T19:04:00.001-05:00

Frank ever the bad influence convinces me that cross lanes poker room is the place to be on this tuesday eve leading into the holiday... Tourney starts now!

2009-11-10T09:49:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Joe Cada on winning the 2009 WSOP Main Event! He claimed the title after an 87 hand heads-up battle with Darvin Moon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP Final Table (Day 1)

2009-11-08T07:57:00.004-05:00

Action as promised got back under way yesterday at the Rio. Thus far, the players have been at it for over 16 hours! Yes, you read that correctly! Poker is indeed a sport, if you consider Raw Endurance as a sport... I feel for you guys. Hang in there. And "hang" they must as the goal is to play the final 9 down to the final 2, before anyone can call it a day. When play resumed on this "Day 1" of the Final Table, here's the tale of the chip stacks:

Seat 1: Darvin Moon (58,930,000)
Seat 2: James Akenhead (6,800,000)
Seat 3: Phil Ivey (9,765,000)
Seat 4: Kevin Schaffel (12,390,000)
Seat 5: Steven Begleiter (29,885,000)
Seat 6: Eric Buchman (34,800,000)
Seat 7: Joseph Cada (13,215,000)
Seat 8: Antoine Saout (9,500,000)
Seat 9: Jeff Shulman (19,580,000)

And now many hours later... the number of players has been reduced (at this time when I awoke to start reading up and post my own blog entry) down to 3 players left. As I read back through the coverage provided by PokerNews (no I didn't stay up to read and listen along, sorry cheer_dad's just not that dedicated from here in the hills of WV) here are some of the things which catch my eye and interest, including the names of those who have been eliminated thus far. So, if you want to keep it a surprise until it airs on TV... stop reading now! I'm serious, here we go... Last chance...

It was nearly an hour into play before a Turn and then a River card were even seen, at Hand #28. It was a check-down hand between Jeff Schulman and Eric Buchman. Buchman came up with the winner.

Just under 13 hours ago, James Akenhead was eliminated in 9th Place and thus finally lays claim to 9th place prize money of $1,263,602. Although, recall that everyone was already paid roughly that amount before the big break. Congratulations on having come so far Mr. Akenhead! And then there were 8.

Just over 12 hours ago, on hand #68 - Kevin Schaffel was eliminated in 8th Place ($1,300,231) with a gut wrenching hand! Schaffel got it all-in with his pocket Aces and found himself up against the pocket Kings of Eric Buchman. A gut wrenching King came out on the flop, only to have the only other King in the deck arrive on the TURN! Yeah, I think Quad Kings are good here! Ouch! Still, congratulations to Mr. Schaffel. And then there were 7.

This snippet update from PokerNews.com's "donpeters" made me laugh,
"Ivey Color Blind?

Phil Ivey just found an orange T5,000 chip mixed in with one of his stacks. Those chips were colored up a while ago and are not in play anymore. Ivey simply took the chip off the table and gave it to the tournament staff. Who needs an extra 5,000 anyway?"

At the Dinner Break (9pm Las Vegas time) they were still at 7 players and Eric Buchman was now in first place in the chip counts, instead of Darvin Moon, for a change of pace.

Tournament Directory Jack Effel reminded the crowd that it took 169 hands to get the final table down to a heads up match at last year's WSOP. Clearly that record is going down...

Hand #175... ugh! Two of my favorites come clashing together. Phil Ivey gets it all in only to be called by Darvin Moon. Phil rolls over AK to Darvin's AQ. Unfortunately for Ivey a Queen would peel off on the flop and that was all she wrote... Phil Ivey is eliminated in 7th Place ($1,404,014.) Congratulations to Phil, I know it's not what you were looking for and I had high hopes, but it happens. The crowd in the Penn and Teller theater begins to disperse. And then there were 6.

Not long after on hand #187 Moon would once again thin the field. And again he has AQ! Darvin would move all-in and get a snap call from Steve Begleiter, who rolled over QQ! Another gut-wrenching card rears its ugly head this time on the river as an Ace is displayed, dashing Begleiter's hopes and putting Darvin back on top of the chip counts. Steve Begleiter is eliminated in 6th Place ($1,587,160.) And then there were 5.

Things tightened up a great deal after Begleiter's departure, and snails were seen zipping by...

It would be hand #236 that would claim another victim, this time in the form of Jeff Shulman who was unfortunately eliminated in 5th Place ($1,953,452.) This time, Antoine Saout's A9 goes up against Shulman's pocket 7s. Again, fate is sealed when a stray 9 hits the board on the flop and Shulman doesn't improve. Congratulations to Mr. Shulman.

Hand #271 would claim another casualty. Eric Buchman was eliminated in 4th Place ($2,502,890) when he gets it all-in versus Darvin Moon. Buchman with A5os vs Moon's KJs. This time a King peels off the deck on the turn, sending Buchman to the rail. Congratulations to Mr. Buchman, but then there were 3.

It should be noted that last year's WSOP ran only a total of 275 hands, including heads-up play.

Hand #276, would bring things to a close for the Day 1! Antoine Saout was eliminated in 3rd Place ($3,479,670) at the hands of "21 year-old-youngster" Joe Cada. Saout would shove all-in with pocket 8s and get the call from Cada's AKos. This time, suspense reigns and a King comes off the deck on the RIVER! The crowd (full of Cada's supporters) goes wild. Congratulations to Mr. Saout on having come so far. And then finally there were 2.

And now... we are down to heads up and things wrap up quickly as two clearly weary players will now get some deserved rest (well maybe.)

Chip stacks of the two are now at:

Joseph Cada 135,950,000
Darvin Moon 58,850,000

Go get some sleep guys, honestly! Don't even think about the difference between 2nd place and 1st place, although it's $8,547,042 to the winner and a mere $ 5,182,928 for the other guy... Oh and don't forget some shiny jewelry!!!

My personal special thanks goes out to the phenomenal blogger/reporters of the PokerNews.com Team, who continued their coverage of Day 1 for 17-1/2 hours. They have done an outstanding job with their coverage of the WSOP 2009 and I for one greatly appreciate ALL their efforts!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Who's BEST for poker?

2009-11-06T15:10:00.002-05:00

A very good article over at PokerNews from yesterday: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/11/pokernews-op-ed-the-november-nine-who-s-the-best-for-poker-7490.htm I know, I know I'm behind. Work has truly kept me hopping as of late. But idle hands and all that... The article by Nicole Gordon discusses which of the World Series of Poker's November Nine will be BEST for poker. It's an interesting read, check it out.

My prediction (or who's my pony in this race?) Phil Ivey... I just like the guy. I enjoy watching him play. That vacant stare, and the darting eyes. There's a cold-calculating mind in there but I really think the guy is truly a phenom! He's an incredibly intuitive player. Phil is unfortunately on the short side of the stacks... If not Phil then my second pick for WSOP glory would be Darvin Moon. He's somewhat local! He hails from Maryland, but earned his seat by winning it at Wheeling Island, right here in West BY GOD Virginia! It makes for one of those great stories, of "Local Boy Makes Good!" Of course I can openly root for Jeff Shulman as well, he's well known in the poker community and it'd be a good thing if he took down the win too. Of them all, Phil would be BEST for poker's image. He's a talented, charismatic personality and a win by him would indeed elevate the idea that skill does indeed play an enormous part in poker and he'd be a good candidate to sell it to the world. I agree completely with the author's assertion there. As for one of the "unknown"-ish NOOB's winning it and sparking yet another poker explosion... I don't know. The game is very much alive in the U.S. although the UIGEA did put a big lid on it for folks. But I can't tell you how many games I can still find every week right here in my own hometown, far removed from the Vegas skyline. The specter of poker illegality simply put a dent in online poker for a season. I like many others still believe that at some point the laws will be repealed or just fade into obscurity. I have a lot of friends that don't play poker... and they could care less if I choose to do so or not. It is that which gives me pleasure and joy. And sensible human beings I think respect that and won't throw their weight and support behind the silliness that the UIGEA introduced. All that said, though I don't think a poker-splotion is in the cards again. Moneymaker truly did give hope to the huddled masses to climb to greatness in the poker world, but really all it did for me was get me logged on to a computer to play some micro-stakes. I haven't plugged any sort of hole in the poker economy. I guess some others did way back then.

Wow, but I've rambled on... Uhmmm tonight there's cards to be played at the Yanok's! Gametime 7-ish. Always a good crowd, always a good time. Big Red and I are still on the fence about going, since she has been sick for a while, albeit no longer contagious. I'm feeling like 70% that we'll be there, since she's going STIR CRAZY from sitting at home all this time. She's gonna want to go back out into the world if she can stand it. So, I hope to see you all tonight, but if we don't make it play your hearts out gang!

Oh and don't forget the WSOP's Final Table does come back together starting tomorrow at High Noon, Vegas Time! Leading up to a much anticipated/hyped showdown among the nine, which will culminate the 10th of November on TV. Yes, of course I'll be watching... but thanks to the fine folks doing the Live Blogging at PokerNews.com, I really won't need to now will I! : P

Regards,

cheer_dad

Splat, and some poker announcements too

2009-11-03T12:04:00.002-05:00

Somedays even the coffee gets the better of you at work! Off to a wondrous start this morning, with one too many dramas to deal with. Everyone really gets overly freaked out over things that just don't get me all that excited. Folks, ain't nobody gonna die if this service isn't running for about a minute and a half. FFS, it even fails over to it's counterpart. BUT, I digress. Just a minor bump in the road, but unfortunately the "team" didn't all see eye to eye on the subject. But hey as the lead, I opted for words of wisdom, from Mike McD himself. "Yeah, it's one me!" Of course now who in management will likely by "Gramma" or "TeddyKGB" I have no clue. The thought does give me pause... mighta even thrown up in my mouth a little there! : P

Work is work people... it's just a job... don't let it define or encompass you're very existence. If our work defined us, we all most certainly have very short dictionary entries.

In other more positive pokery type goodness, the Yanok's are hosting this Friday, at 7-ish I think!?! Me thinks there will be Crown. Time grows short for additional qualifiers to pad the chip stack for the year end game. See you all there!

Also, Friday the 13th (November) the Eagles Hold'em Tournament is scheduled. Registration at 6, game at 7. $25 gets you in for all the fun. Limit of 50 players (for now.) As an added bonus Uncle June tells me that Jinx'd is playing in the Main room. Any of my erstwhile Facebook fanatical followers can attest to the "good" time I/we all had on Halloween when they played at the 5th Street Pub. The things I've seen, the things I've heard... Thank all your lucky stars that I'm pretty sure I lost some time there. There are some details that are pretty fuzzy. Anyway, I hope to see you all come out for the game. I needs a big win... and YOU can make it happen! : )

Regards,

cheer_dad

On 6, 6 down...

2009-10-30T10:43:00.003-05:00

And again from the well of drunken poker, I goes for 6 tables o micro variety, and hand over $6 to the poker overlords... who jeered and sneered in my general direction. Prolly lucky to have escaped with what I did sans my dignity. I did hit quad 7's last night and actually got paid with the little beauties, when I just limp called the whole way vs one other player, and then I mashed the all-in button after his river bet. He tanked for a while before making the call, and pulling the fuzzy session for me out of the toilet. He was holding cowboys and frankly played a bit weakly with them. (or so sez i, dee poker drunk...) The pot there actually pulled me back from the abyss. Sleep and boredom finally had me close down the connection to PokerStars.

I really gotta quit that shhtuff! It does SOOO cut into my beauty reshhhhht!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Quarantine

2009-10-28T13:55:00.003-05:00

Day... what is it like 3 now? I've been at home with the boy, who has been sick. Flu of some variety. pig like, bird like, monkey for all we know. Doctor just told us to stay at home, control the fever, rest, relax, and get better. You know try not to DIE!!! But I'm happy to report that he is getting better. Fever has subsided, so the contagious phase is prolly over. Still some headaches, and a nasty cough, but Cole is thankfully on the road to recovery. I was concerned this morning that I might be getting the bug myself. The jury is still out but I'm leaning more toward a sinus/allergy thing in my case. The sore throat has passed.

I'd like to say that I'll be happy to get back to work, maybe tomorrow, but I'd be lying and you ALL know it, don't you!

Waiting around to see if Whit needs picked up from school... when the heck is that VW part going to get here so I can get her back on the road, and I can stop carting her around! Okay that last part was an exaggeration!

I did play a little poker I think back on Monday, and made a few dimes and nickles... very few. But I did experiment with 6-tabling on PokerStars and didn't find it too disturbing or taxing. When time permits again, I'll give it a shot.

Hope all is well with each of you, and if any of you find yourselves under "quarantine" at this point due to some iteration of the flu... take care and get well soon.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy 18th Anniversary!

2009-10-26T15:16:00.003-05:00

Happy Anniversary Baby! 18 years ago today Teresa and I were married. Through the good and even the bad we've made a wonderful life together, have two great kids, and have the rest of our lives to look forward to. I wouldn't change a thing... well except for that thing... that time... with those people... u remember! : P

I love you Teresa and am so very glad that you lost your good sense and agreed to be my wife! You truly make me want to be better than I am, and so I strive each day to become the man which you deserve.

Tell her congratulations today, if you see her... or maybe tell her how sorry you are if you really know ME.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Follow your bliss

2009-10-23T14:06:00.003-05:00

I'm winding down the day, with a little B-52's, happen on the Follow Your Bliss track off of the Cosmic Thing album. No lyrics, just a slow melodic undercurrent, that if I just let go would drift me off to sleep. And the randomized Media Player psychedelic animated display swirls and pulsates to the music. Dude, the friggin' colors! But it won't be long now.

We had a fun time at the Eagles last night. Of course I spent most of time huddled around the stupid Word Dojo machine with JJ and Jim trying to break thru the elusive high score. Earlier in the day Whitney called when she couldn't get her car so start. And of course I'm the who has to help, although I don't know the least little bit about automobiles. But the problem yesterday seemed somewhat obvious. I found a blown fuse, which sits in a fuse box over the battery. There was also some meltage of the surrounding plastic. We replaced the fuse, but it still would turn over, not until we popped the clutch. Then it started and runs til you turn if off. Then it won't come back on at all. Today I've spent a lot of time looking for internet advice to help me. I think I know what has to be done, which will required a trip into the shop for little Yellow Turbo, the VW bug!

No poker to be played this weekend I don't believe. We do have a bonfire tomorrow at the Eagles, so there's that. Beer and Combustion... : ) Also, Big Red and I will be celebrating our 18th Wedding Anniversary over the weekend! The day is October 26th, Monday... but we'll do some things together over the course of the weekend. Happy Anniversary Baby!

I foolishly played some after Eagles poker last night, and just gave it away. I got to pushy early on, and ran a flopped set into the Nut Flush on the River. I knew better than to shove there, but got cocky. I then tried to get it back, and failed and just ended up giving more back. I know you'd think I'd learn. But, it was all tiny stakes, so no real harm done, except for priced.
As the day marches on, my eyes are getting heavier. I'm looking forward to heading home and take a catnap. Plug your ears, the snoring's about to commence.

Later all!

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT Points Race update

2009-10-18T07:01:00.002-05:00

I have updated the NDPT Points Race here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkU945DT3QQ5cHRObDZfY3BYREhsLXJVQmxnZDlmT1E&hl=en

For those of you unable, unwilling to click here you go.

JR Ruble, 2940
Teresa Murray, 2280
Eric Freed, 2130
Del Minturn, 1985
John Johnson, 1700
Steve Allman, 1625
Brian Murray, 1590
Julie Wolfe, 1330
Matt Hensley, 1050
Mike Westbrook, 953
Vince Post, 800
TJ Sellers, 630
Julie Miller, 480
Dennis Rempel, 315

Since our "regular" game has migrated to the Eagles, I will likely discontinue the points race after this year. It's been fun while it lasted but it's been like running a tournament within a tournament since obviously not everyone participated up there. Plus, even many of the regulars have changed. At any rate we'll be battling it out for prolly just under $600 by the end of the year.

We'll need to discuss options for the End of the Year game, likely at next month's tournament at the Eagles. I will post all the information here to the blog, so stay tuned. I will most certainly coordinate it to stay out of the way of any other scheduled pokery type events!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Gettin' the green light

2009-10-15T13:54:00.004-05:00

In an hour I'm getting the "go ahead" for an early weekend! I moved my AWS day to Friday this week so I'm out of here come 4:00pm. Okay, I'm staying in the building after that to go get in a treadmill workout, but it's all MY TIME at that point. On the heels of a run, and heading home to help out on the homework front for the kidlets, tonight is most assuredly a DRAWING night at the Eagles folks. I've threatened to drink my body weight in adult beverage. Yes, likely a pipe dream, but what a way to go huh!!! : P

I'm struggling in the last hour here. Although this has been a short week indeed, I've crammed a lot into it. I've done more than enough meetings to last a lifetime, and even had to give a presentation of sorts today, just before lunch. I think I did fine and it went off at least as somewhat informative. But I think I'll really pep up, once my work day is over.

There will be no football for Cole this weekend, as he spent a couple days missing school from strep throat, and I'm not going to put him outside in the cold/rain/sleet/possible friggin' SNOW on Sunday. Uh uh... no way, not gonna happen. Last game of the regular season, and he was taking too much of their bullshit anyway! Plus, not being there will keep them safe as well, as I would normally work chain gang, and in my current attitude toward them would likely shove the down marker up someone's ass anyway. So, it's really all about the Win-Win situation after all.

I actually finished wading through the HUNDREDS of Google Reader posts I've been behind on from all the many bloggers out there. I've missed your antics. I should have realized all along that I could have used the laughter which you create on an every day basis and stuck with it even during some rather dark times. Hell, you all even encouraged me to get my ass back on line and playing some poker! And enjoy it, win or lose. I'll try not to forget it in the future.

I hope all is well with each of you. If you're here local, stay bundled up and try to stay warm. To those of you in warmer climates, not only am I deeply jealous right now, but hate you immensly. Okay maybe it's not so bad as all that.

OH, and don't forget TOMORROW NIGHT October 16th at 7:00pm at the Eagles, it is Poker Night, Texas Hold'em! Registration starts at 6:00pm. In Uncle June's absence I'll be carrying the hosting torch. 25 dolla make u holla! Be there... I'm looking forward to it!

I leave you with a final quote, similar in nature to the many I've entertained with on Facebook:
"...it takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, be yourself no matter what they say..."

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy Columbus Day

2009-10-12T14:36:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone is having a Happy Columbus Day. This is that one holiday of the year that adults typically get that the kids do not. School is in session, but my son was up most of the night not feeling well and isn't feeling so hot today, so we kept him home with us. The rest will do him some good.

Red and I had a nice weekend. Friday night was of course Cole's birthday, but after that he spent the night with mamaw and papaw to go turkey hunting the following couple of days. That perhaps explains his cold now. But on Saturday we went out to eat with the Brotherses at Los Agaves (the old Stoney Creek Restaurant.) Very good Mexican food... and Red and Laura really seemed to enjoy the margaritas. Afterwards we headed to the Eagles for a beer or so... okay there were buckets involved. Good time was had by all.

Sunday, with Cole returned we headed out to the football field at Belpre. Our Bullet boys did us proud and put one up in the W column. Congrats! After the game we all headed over to the Yanok's house for a special late afternoon Hold'em tournament! Brian Yanok took down the top spot, followed my Red, then Jules (Snapper time) and I brought up the rear to cash out in 4th. I had a great time and hope that you all did too.

Speaking of poker I wandered back out to a little online play the other day. I had a notice from UB that they had deposited $10 so I decided to go try my luck at a SNG. I was out in 5 minutes, before the blinds even went up, when my AA ran into J-10, and he flopped two pair. Yeah me... But take heart since I later logged on to PokerStars and managed a small profit, despite this loss. Once again, the online ring game was kind. Oh ye poker gods... why must ye tempt me?

Regards,

cheer_dad

2009-10-08T17:46:00.001-05:00

Once more down at the football field for practice... again. Cold and wet and generally (cough) unpleasant. Is that a sniffle?
Regards,
cheerdad

Let's Go Bullets!

2009-10-04T10:59:00.003-05:00

Once more down to the fields again today, as the Tri-C Bullets play host to Ravenswood today. Cole is primed and ready and itching to plow over a quarterback. It's been a long weekend all around and it's nice to be winding it down. But got to keep up the intensity for just a little while. Teresa already headed down to work the gate, I'm going down with Cole at 1:30 and I have to work the chain gang during his game. So, it's a family affair sorta day, not just Cole.

Early morning texts from Uncle June imply that he's been involved in a little offensive/defensive action himself. Love is a battlefield, baby! So, I say when the officials aren't looking, CHEAT! jk

Tomorrow I have to interview for a job that I won't get, at a time that normally finds me already heading for the house, 4:00pm. BUT, that's how it goes. I'm confident I know who's getting it, and honestly he's a good guy and frankly one who I believe has rightly paid his dues. Either I believe all that or I'm a tremendous suckup, since after all he will become my boss. Yes, I applied for the recently vacated position of my own boss. I guess it's time to let 'em know that I'm even interested in moving above the lead spot. Although, I have like another 19 years to go til retirement or something like that. Shudder... all of a sudden I'm depressed.

But that's all for now, I'll see some of you today at the fields, while others tomorrow in the AM at work. Have a nice Sunday gang.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Saints and Sinners Comedy Tour

2009-09-29T20:05:00.004-05:00

This Friday, October 2nd at 8:00pm at the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Parkersburg, WV The Saints and Sinners Comedy Tour is coming to brighten your night with laughter. The comedy duo of Matthew Lumpkin and Patrick Jolle are certain to entertain the crowd. The public is welcome! Tickets are $10 per person. Don't miss it!

Also check out the sample YouTube video below of Matthew Lumpkin performing...

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,

cheer_dad