The weekend so far...

Last night I umpired a game for 4 innings, until the lightning flashes started and they called it. Before that happened though I took a few hard knocks from a baseball. Despite the guards and pads, the pitchers with the rocket arms definitely got a piece of me. I took a shot to my shoulder that made my whole arm go numb for a little while. Then not five minutes later, they hit the other arm, just above the elbow. Today the bruises are getting colorful. But anyway, I finished at the ballpark, and then got cleaned up and headed over to the Yanok's for the 2nd tournament of the night. I also drank HEAVY to kill some of the pain in my arms. I know, I know poker and alcohol is not the proper approach... but hey I ended up chopping it with Jerry at the end of the night. Yes, kids, cheer_dad wins MOBNEYS! Yeeeahhhh ME! We each got $150. Of course let's not forget Big Red, who in game one took down the top spot of $180!!! As a follow up to her success tonight (Saturday) she and I headed out with Rummer and Matt to a game we'd never attended before. I bubbled in both of them, BUT once again Red chopped in BOTH!!! She took down another $180! She gots her some crazy mad pokah skills! The game tonight could be a VERY profitable venue. A bunch of weak fishies. Lots of bizarre rules (or really a lack of them) that created some interesting circumstances. But I didn't argue with anything, and didn't try to turn into the Rules of Poker Nit, but wow they should pick up a book every once and a while. But as Matt put it... "when in Rome!" We traded looks and laughs throughout the night. It was a really good time, despite the fact that I merely donated my $40. Red carried us for the night! If I can't win... at least she does, so the evening isn't a total washout. Congrats baby!

But the weekend hasn't been ALL about poker. The baseball team had practice today at 11:30 for a couple of hours. It was a good time, and the boys really performed well for us, on the recent heels of a victory a few days ago. I'm hoping they continue to learn and grow as a team.

It's been a long couple of days, and I'm tired and actually starting to nod off a bit, so I should wrap up. Oh, but I will also mention that I finally hit the cash-out button on Bodog, to go look for some greener poker pastures for a while. Try my luck elsewhere, maybe chase a bonus or so.

Hope all is good with all of you!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Pokery Frustrations & Musings

As I said I hung out here at the house last night, with the kids instead of heading out with the poker collective to the Eagles tournament. Big Red actually cashed in the thing, doubling her money. She said something about her pocket Jacks getting knocked out by a straight on the river. It's always the river isn't it! I did take on some poker myself last night as well, out here on the aforementioned intertubes. It was a miserable down, up, down again experience. I took a $40 hit online last night. And you ALL know how protective I am of the little bit o' cash I have online. I might as well be playing in the nosebleed stakes with Durr and Hansen, about now. But looking back my impression of the night goes like this.

I don't know where the knuckle-dragging minimum raiser douchebags crowd came from recently out on Bodog, but I sincerely wish they'd go back to wherever the fuck it is they came from. Hell I should have just logged off when I saw their infestation of the tables. You know I play .10/.25 NLHE almost exclusively online (would love to move up, but that ain't happenin' as long as I keep rolling over the same dollars and cents of a stagnant/up/down/break-even bankroll.) But I'm watching over and over a whole slew of these guys showing up making a minimum raise at the table preflop, from whatever position they happen to be in. It's not pot building, it just slows shit down dick weeds! Sure from first position, you're pretending to straddle, but you don't get last action before the cards come out. And from the button, or one of the blinds, doing it, is just grinding the pace of the game down to a slow crawl. I'm playing four tables at a time... and frequently finding myself sitting there with my thumb up my ass, while the moron who seems to have the 9600 baud modem tries to learn which button of the mouse he's supposed to push. Hey numbnuts, stick your head in the oven! AHHHH, that felt good to get that out. I think now I understand the recent post, "http://katitude.ca/2009/04/because-its-been-a-while-aka-fuck-x24/" by Katitude over at her blog. She let the ole F-bombs flow... and you know it just feels good every once in a while to point out to the world in general that there are far too many fucktards sucking the very life out of us all!

So, yeah there was a DEGREE of tilt involved in last night's game. : P But the hands which cost me so dearly were things like a flopped set of 7's, being rivered by the guy holding the 8-4os. Special circle in hell, sir, special circle... Raising preflop with AQs, hitting Ace on the flop, betting getting called, then turning a queen, getting all giddy with my bad poker playing self, rammajammin' it up for the uber kill, only to get the insta call from the slow played pocket rockets who must've truly gotten wood from me betting and raising into him. Hell, why raise, I was doing his work for him. How is it, only I was getting involved with the monster hands, with NORMALLY very profitable hands. Instead last night the headline could have read, "this just in... Cheer_dad Steps On Dick!" I saw so many flushes and straights chased off the very ends of the planet to hit. I got my money in good at least three times with monster flopped top two pair hands only to get called by the guy with the luck sack gut shot straight draw decidin' he just felt lucky and didn't have any place else in particular to be. You sir, can keep company with the other dude in the special circle of hell.

Bodog makes the boo-boo all better with a $5.00 credit for points and time played. Gee thanks. Bandaids for gunshot wounds... works every time. Maybe whoever it was that sat their coffee cup down on the DOOM SWITCH for cheer_dad could maybe pick it back up and even give me a copy of their work shift, so I can schedule my play time for a bit more productive time period.

Anywho, so I'm frustrated, not dead, not out, far from it. Just tired of this endless sea on which I seem to be struggling to tread. I'll hang in there. I may actually consider however cashing out from Bodog for a while in favor of somewhere else, perhaps Poker Stars or Full Tilt. If for nothing else I could look for a good Bonus offer for which I could Bonuswhore for a while. Maybe I'm just a break even player, and that's the only way it'll be profitable. I can't really believe that, but I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I can beat this game of poker at will.

Hope things pokery, are going a bit better for you my blogladites!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Fickle Wench...

My mistress Lady Luck is a fickle wench. I returned to the tables later on in the night and watched as I merely treaded water in a sea of craptacular hands at all 4 tables. I stole from a few spots, and managed just to minimize the draining of my chip stack. Then, joy of joys, pocket Aces, in late position and I get to raise. I get one caller, a rather innocuous flop shows up and he rams and like an idiot I call. I figure he's either bluffing or not... man I'm a friggin' genius. Call... he shows pocket Jacks, which go nicely with the one that showed up on the board. I have a not flush draw, but it doesn't get there. You know though, what can you do. I could have been a complete wuss and dropped Aces, but there's no history to draw from on this guy to lead me in that direction. I've got no notes inscribed next to his name. I got nuthin' but my two RED ACES staring back at me. So, Lady Luck deals me a blow to take away some of what I bragged on her about earlier. But, you know, I've bounced back up from a few weeks ago. It's slow going, but being back over the $500 mark again gives me some leeway. A little more than a single buy-in loss is not devastation. It's barely a blip on the radar. Herein, lies the true value of bankroll management. All successful poker players regardless of the stakes at which they play, must acknowledge the fact that sometimes you just lose, despite your best efforts. Sometimes you lose because of your worst efforts too, and every other level of effort you can think of. But having a legitimate/sustainable amount of cash set aside for the purpose enables you to ride it out, and allows you to return to the table another day, and at some point you will begin to climb.

Regards,

cheer_dad

I'll take it!

Hey, anytime you can cash out up only 1 buy-in, despite the fact that you lost a hand with a full house Jacks full of Aces versus a Royal "diamond" flush... you count your lucky stars that you were four tabling and had your money spread around a bit! Oddly enough, it didn't even fell bad. I saw the possibility out there on the board of more than a few hands that could conceivably beat me, but the river bet was small from the villain, and perhaps mercifully so! I had earlier in the session spanked a guy with AK when my pocket sixes made their pact with the devil... and setted him into the felt oblivion. That might've stung him a bit. I know, it didn't help he'd flopped the Ace... To make it worse, he was doing all the betting, and I kept letting him. Lotsa position raising paying off, irregardless of my particular holding. It's been a few days since I logged on to play and this was a nice return to the tables. Thank you Lady Luck... I'll take it!

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #4 Results

Thanks to all who came out to play, but as usual not everyone can win, including me. But your winners for the night were Julie Wolfe in 1st, Eric Freed in 2nd, Big Red in 3rd, and Jenny in 4th. Only the top three were awarded "chips" toward the year-end-tournament. Currently they are 11 people who have qualified for the year-end game. Chip stacks range from 2,360 to 315, bearing in mind that the blinds start out at 10-20. There are still many more tournaments to come folks, and I'll remind you that at the Yanok game where this "method" began the short stack that showed up to play their year end game took it down, after a long fought battle. So, this thing is far from over.

Congratulations to the winners. The ladies made another brilliant showing. Thanks again to all who showed up to make it a great night.

I was able to minimize my tourney and cash game losses by winning about a buy-in yesterday in about an hour of play online on Bodog. Again, I've been noticing a crop of players that are new, or at least new to me. Some of my old rivals haven't been around. They've either gone busto... or moved up or down. But maybe they've just been on a break. I'll keep my eye out for them, and my notes on their play handy.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Stress Reliever...

This helpful hint/kit goes out to my ole pal Uncle June. I'm not sure the instructions will help alleviate his stress, but it'll be a lot of fun for me to watch him try. I particularly like instruction #5! : )

In other news and observations... why do all roads lead to the Eagles. Big Red and I headed up to the Outback last night for what was to be a quick happy hour. Then, JR, showed up and then a little later Julie did too. Happy hour came and went and we still never ended up eating anything. Then, the car just kinda headed for the Eagles. It's like magic I guess. There we bumped into Chris and then we just sort of kept drinking. We are bad people. And I've been tired all day today as punishment.

I did play some poker on Bodog when I got back home and made $52 in an hour or so of play. Some different people were online last night and didn't seem to be able to give me their money quick enough. And I for one was ALL about it!

Work is nearly over for the day... and I foresee a NAP in my future. Man, I'm old...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Poker at the Yanok's house

The Yanok tournament is tonight. Well I guess it's actually tournaments, since we always play two games. It promises to be a lively crowd, I'll leave it at that! : ) Big Red and I are playing in both games, and I have little worry about the game going late. Not that it won't, but with as rainy and nasty as it has been here today, there's no way the baseball fields are going to be usable tomorrow morning for practice. I refuse to make the kids come out and wallow around in the mud. It's a game people, we're not solving world hunger here. Perhaps I'm not your idea of the uber-coach. Ask me if I care. I do this baseball coaching gig nearly every year, and it is NOT about the parents or to keep up with some testosterone infused coach on another team who is trying to relive his glory days. I'm there for the kids. I'm there for my kid. I'm hoping they're having fun while learning the game and staying active. If your idea includes winning at all costs, and verbally and mentally abusing the kids into submission, then perhaps we should just disagree from here on out. How 'bout it.

I will definitely be taking a power nap when I get home from work to prepare for the night to come. It's been a chore keeping the peepers open today at work. Sorry boss! I stayed up a little after the drawing last night at the Eagles and did a little four tabling on Bodog, and made $20. Still gotta climb outa my online hole, but it's NOT going to happen overnight. Wins come slow and steady. Losses happen like lightning! And unlike real lightning... it can and will strike the same spot twice.

Hope all is well with each of you, have a great weekend. Channel me your good vibes and luck for tonight's games. Unless of course you find yourself amongst the competition! In which case, "my vipers will feast upon your dead eyes!"

Regards,

cheer_dad

That was refreshing...NOT!

Despite my high level of optimism and promises of playing by the numbers and the formula for online poker which has always worked for me in the past... I dropped another 4 buyins in my last Bodog session. I should be tilted. You'd think I was during the session, but wasn't. I did however take some notes about the catastrophe that was. During the session of a few hundred hands. I ran pocket Kings preflop, all-in into pocket Aces. One buyin down... Less than a full round later at another table, I look down at said pocket Aces myself and rama-jama those bad boys into pocket Queens only to have the villain, hit another Queen... 'nother buyin down. Hell, he even apologized for that one. I think he was feeling my pain, from watching at the other table. "Dude yer runnin' bad!" Another couple of hands I failed to connect to my flush, open-ended straight draw combos, and that chipped away at me. Also a couple of AK hands bit me in the ass when the callers with Ace-rag, hit the same Ace I did on the flop, but pounded me when their rag hit the river. Runnin' bad indeed!

But, it is what it is. There's little you can do, there's nothing I could have done to change. I could whine and cry, and lick the wounds, but in the end. It's just like I said in my last post. I've just gotta get back out there, and just do it all over again. Nevermind the fact that I'm grinding across the same dollar amounts which I did a few months ago. Still amazed at how slow it is to grind out poker winnings, but just how fast the losses brutalize the bankroll. It's a little like working your ass off to trim a few seconds of your running pace, and getting in shape, ONLY to to be involved in an accident that causes you to lose a leg! Kind of a grisly analogy, but think about it, you've felt it haven't you. Pleez.... tell me you have, somebody, anybody. : )

But I'll attach the poker prosthetic and head back out soon enough. Likely won't be tonight, as Big Red and I and several friends are going to a Credit Union banquet/meeting. In the morning at OMG 9:00am I have baseball practice for my 9 and 10 year olds. That early, on a Saturday, oh you just know the little #*%$'s will be running for sure! But we'll all survive it. Rain could cancel the whole affair though, I'll be out tonight doing my lil rain dance. Dancing with the Stars, it ain't!

Beyond that, tomorrow night is NDPT #3 (regardless what Frank said in his email subject line) and it is being hosted by Frank and Julie at their house. Now, if I make final table on this one, then maybe I should really re-think my poker focus. Since the cash games are killing me lately while the tournaments have gone VERY well. I won the December game at my house. Chopped w/ Uncle June in January, Scored in BOTH of the Yanok tourneys that I last attended, and then made the final table at the Eagles, although I didn't cashout, because I didn't play it safe running my AJ in Vince's QQ. I didn't lose though, as I had picked up plenty of Bounty chips. So, my tournament life has been good. But the thought of multi- SNG'ing it online on Bodog, makes me throw up in my mouth a little. I really used to like this poker thing. That would likely ruin it forever for me.

But only time will tell, and months down the line I'll be back on top of the variance curve mocking those who ever doubted including myself. So the best advice I can give myself is: turn that frown upside down, tell all your troubles to your ole buddy Jack Daniels and have a nice day cheer_dad! That'll make it ALL better.

Regards,

cheer_dad

I've been here before...

This same sad little stretch of road. But it's not a road, it's the same dollars and cents area of my bankroll. I feel as though I've won and lost the same tattered and torn bucks several times at this particular level. I dropped those same 2 buyins I dropped back on the 10th, when I was whining about poker last. I had climbed up, and was nearly breaking on through to the other side until last night's session. I got a boat sunk when the villain flipped over his quads. Whilst on the other table I get it all-in good and another villain hits his 3-outer on the river. In both cases they instantly left the table. Hit 'n Run baby! No, I'm not saying it was rigged. It just happens that way sometimes. And "sometimes" it happens too damned often! Sigh... and back to the old drawing board. Maybe when I grind out a few wins to get those buyins back, I'll get it in "new money" instead of those old moldy dollars!

One final thought... errrr question... Why is it that when I win at poker, it is slow and steady grind, and it inches upward, BUT when I lose at poker it's a few buyins gone? What I mean is, playing at my typical .10/.25 nlhe tables, I'll play for a couple of hours, multitabling and incrementally increase the stack, generally shy of a buyin. Yet, generally speaking when I lose it's in the realm of a buyin or two? Feels like... grind, grind, grind, SPLAT, grind, grind, grind... I know, I know, "shut up cheer_dad and git back in yer hole!"

That is all...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Be the grizzly...

The Nickelback concert was great last night! And you just couldn't beat the company... And we were REALLY close to the beer area, and I never waited more than like a minute or so in a line for anything. The Nationwide Arena also offered up a pleasant facility, very spacious, and high ceilinged. Remarkably my ears aren't ringing today, like they do after most concerts that I've attended, and this was due to the setup of the arena. Yeah, it was loud, but it just seemed that the high pitch sounds weren't nearly as piercing as I've experienced in other concert halls like Charleston's Civic Center for example.

I'll be adding a lot more of the songs that I heard last night to the old iPod in short order. Not only did Nickelback sound great but so did the boys from Seether and Saving Abel. There were definitely a lot of tracks that will be great for my afternoon runs on the treadmill. Gotta keep the heart pumping!

I did have to take Cole to school this morning, so I groggily dragged myself out of bed and got him there, and then came home and went right back to bed! Remember I took the whole day off, knowing exactly how I'd be feeling. X ) hiccup...

I played some poker on Bodog for about an hour or so, and made a little over $18. Which in all honesty feels like a million bucks since I took some real kicks to the head at the tables. A lot of really crazy hands went down in that short time at the tables. Take for example that preflop I got it all-in with pocket Kings, when a villain raised my initial bet. He called and he was holding the Cowboys too! AND I almost LOST the friggin' hand, when the flop came out with 3 diamonds, and guess who was NOT holding the Diamond King?!? Whew... avoided that one.

Then, came this pleasant hand, which threatened to send me down the uber-trail of tilt! I call a small raise preflop from late position with pocket 7s. I flop my set with AQ7 on the board! The turn is another Ace, and now I've got the sneaky boat. I bet out hard, get raised, and I shove and get called. The pot is now $42, and this on a .10/.25 nlhe table! Come to poppa! He flips over AK... So, he's got 7 outs! Unfortunately, one of them got there, when the river brought him a King to the rescue. Ouchie... gut wrenching! I briefly consider taking up Solitaire as my new hobby... But I've still got 20 minutes before it's time to pick up Cole from school, and I've still got the 3 other tables I'm playing at. One of which I've nearly doubled up on my initial $25 buy-in. So, I ake the deep cleansing breath and press on, and stick to the same game plan, brutal beats be damned. Hell, some of the guys were at all my tables and had seen what just happened and figured I was babbling nonsense to myself by now and was easy pickin's! Think again kids!

With 2 minutes to go, and I'm already planning to cut my losses and log off, but I find from middle position a pair of 9s, just as I'm ready to go and opt for just "one-more-hand." Go ahead and shudder, you know you've been there too! It gets raised preflop... and three of us decide to come along for the ride. The flop comes AQ9! Sweet! There's a bet in front of me, but I pop it up with a pot bet, and then another reraise back to me, and I decide if it's the day that my flopped sets are just gonna get pounded, then so friggin' be it. If you're gonna be a bear, be the damned grizzly! Here we go! We gots us a $41 hand here... The money's all in the middle, nothing to do now but watch. Another Queen on the turn, oh shit, here it comes, I can feel it!!! River is... the case 9! My opponent's cards show AK suited, which are no match for my QUADS! I sit back, feeling the need for a cigarette, even though I haven't done that in many years now. Wow what a ride this game is! A lot of ups and downs and a mixture of emotion was rolled up into this little hour long session. All that to show only an $18 profit, but trust me I'll take it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

The ducks...

I log on for a quick 300 hands or so on Bodog tonight, and bounce back a buy-in from yesterday. Once again the difference between success and failure for a given session ultimately coming down to one hand in particular. Yes, there were little ups and downs throughout the session but for the most part the bulk of the win came from flopping a set of 2's. Huey, Dewey and Louie. Thank you boys! They particularly made the guy who shoved on the river w/ his A-7 (having hit what he believed to be a winning sneaky two pair) a little quackers! Ahh poker...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Am I a motherless ****!?

Sometimes despite the best of moves the pot goes the wrong way. I dropped just shy of a single buy-in last night at the tables on Bodog. Although I was four tabling and put in roughly 400 hands quite honestly one hand was the make or break point. From late position I limp call with a 10-Jos. Four of us to the flop, which comes out A-Q-K rainbow. Sweet! There's a $1 bet out from the first to act, which gets a single caller before it gets to me. I make it $4 to go. The original bettor mashes the all-in button, the other guy drops out and of course I call. I flip my straight, he flips two pair Kings and Queens. Bodog didn't leave me long to anticipate, as the turn is one of his 4 outs, another Queen, and my stack is all but gone on the table. And so I watch the $45 pot going the wrong way. Nice hand sir... I don't go on tilt, I'm not overly upset, just stack poorer. It did make me think back to a hand from a few rounds before in which I won a decent pot and felted a short-stack on the same table. He unleashes a short volley of profanities on me for having "sucked out" on him, albeit his profanities don't have a shot of getting through the Bodog filter. I didn't bother to engage him or point out that he overlooked the fact that he called a preflop raise by me, with my KK, and he in mid-position called with the mighty Q-10os. He hit a Queen on the flop and therefore felt compelled to call my ever escalating pot-sized bet. And then he found a 10 on the turn, for his two pair, at which time he mashed the all-in button for his last $3... which by this time isn't even a 1/3 of the pot. Uhhh, yeah I'm calling now if for no other reason than morbid curiosity. The river pairs the board but not his Q or his 10, but instead a mighty deuce. So I suckout on him with Ks and 2s. How can I play so poorly. Most of the "censored" things he said about me are probably true, but I'll never know since I can't read the asterisks. But I probably am a motherless ****! And even a stupid ****-******! I'm just not quick-witted enough to have passed along these terms of endearment when it happened to me. I just made a player note and sighed. Okay, I did go so far as to write at the bottom of the player note... "he's just keeping that $45 pot warm for you cheer_dad. It'll come your way next time." I know, such a scathing remark.

It is kinda comical how wound up we can get over these paltry sums... but then again it is the beginnings of a bankroll. But I can absorb the hit and take it in stride. It stings maybe a little more since my previous "failed Bodog session" cost me a couple buy-ins to, and I have myself to blame for those. Yesterday's session was supposed to be a rebuilding day, not a dig deeper into the roll day. But the previous session was on me. I played too long, and too buzzed for my own good. So, now I pay the price for it. So now the the Bodog bankroll is at $515 instead of escalating passed $700 as I had planned. But for a few key hands and that's where we'd be today boys and girls. I reviewed my play after yesterday, and found nothing to scoff at, nothing for which I was to blame. Just a dry session for the most part. But it does shine a glaring light on the fact that I can ill afford foolishness during any other and future sessions. It's something to remember. The roll is to be cherished and protected, and not ventured and wagered in folly or jest. Perhaps I'm overly serious about this wading around in the kiddie pool of the poker water park, but I think now's the time to develop habits, and I mean good ones, which will carry me on forward to success. Now, if I could just find more time in which to make good on these best laid plans. : )

In other news... my daughter Whitney had all of her wisdom teeth taken out yesterday. I'll be checking in on her throughout the day, to see if she's feeling alright. Today she'll likely be much more sore than she was yesterday. But she's tough and it won't keep her down for long.

Cole's basketball season is nearly over. The school/county league is over, and just the tournament remains to be played in the rec league. That will come to a close the weekend after next. Bowling continues every Saturday. His average was at like 76 when he had league this weekend. He bowled a 93, 101, and 119 for his series. The 119 game didn't start off so well, and he was beginning to "tilt" but then out of nowhere, he rolls 3 strikes in a row for the turkey! Nice going.

By the end of March, my free-time is going to disappear. Looks like I'll be coaching a baseball team again this year. Time to get the arm limbered up. The skills demo is this Saturday the 14th and then the next week is the draft. From then on through June/July I'll be at the ball fields all the time. I'll try to keep up on the blog, but you'll have to cut me some slack, okay?

Regards,

cheer_dad

Notes from a Bodog failed session

These are the comments I left myself in a notepad window while playing last night. Funny to come back and see them this morning.

"...and so poker begins again...

oof kings shattered by pocket queens... minor setback, checks table one.

successful bluff w/ the shuman hand. (63os for the uninitiated)

seems only hands that are working are the bluffs tonight,
rough on the big hands tonight.

kings cracked again... man that stings.

final insult of night kq meets kk and i hit two pair to his set and i lose a $60 pot. calling it a night. Down $72."

Last night was a much more aggressive game for me, and I was down the whole session unable to put anything big together. Some big hands and pots really took the wind out of my sails. It could've been worse I suppose, but I guess all there is to do now is start the slow steady climb back up.

Regards,

cheer_dad

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

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

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

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT 2009 begins tonight

The new NDPT poker tournament year will officially get under way tonight at the house when the 25 signed up miscreants and malcontents show up and we get the cards in the air! Uncle June has predicted victory for us, in the form of him in 1st place and me in 2nd, as it was last year. And I think the year before (at least for him.) This has been a trend for him/us since we started celebrating our birthdays at the first NDPT gathering of the year. Today is his birthday, yesterday was mine, and we got in some serious celebrating last night. We even had a shot called a "Chocolate Cake" that was VERY tasty! I'm gonna have to find out how to make it. After drinks and appetizers at the Outback we headed to the Eagles for the weekly drawing, which none of us won. That's okay, though I'm saving up my luck for tonight. : P

Today has been long and I'm sorta dragging, but there's no time to let up now. There's a lot to get done! I leave work at 3:00pm. Pick up my daughter at the high school at 3:20pm and take her to the house. I'll have a few spare moments to maybe set up the tables for tonight in the basement, and count out some of the chips. Leave to pick my son up by 4:30 from basketball practice, and take him to the bowling alley, so he can pre-bowl tonight, in advance of Saturday morning, since he just learned that he's in a basketball tourney all this weekend. He must finish 3 games by 5:30, since another league starts. Then I get him home, and changed and packed up because he also plays the first basketball tourney game tonight at 9:00pm! Thank goodness, the mom of one of his friends is taking him, since we already had the card game scheduled. So she will be stopping by later to pick him up.

Then, if that weren't enough, Whit has a basketball game to cheer at tonight at 5:15pm, then immediately following that one of her girlfriends is having her Sweet 16 party, so Whit is driving a friend and herself to the party. Who knows when she'll return! I'm kidding, she's a responsible young lady, when she wants to be.

Somewhere in the midst of all this turmoil and rushing around, I've got to get ready for the tourney and all you happy people. So, if I'm running a little behind cut me some slack. Regardless, there will be a card game running at the house TONIGHT!

Oh and another thing... drunken online poker is somehow profitable to me. I three tabled latenight again on Bodog and moved up another $35 at the .10/.25 NLHE level. Was 500 hands too many? : )

Regards,

cheer_dad

Long day

Congratulations to last night's winners at the Yanok's game, Matt in game #1 and Big Red in game #2. I still a wooser!!! I had a great time and it was good to get together with ALL of you and lose money. : ) After returning I was of course still a bit buzzed and was still itching for some poker satisfaction like always. So, I logged on to Bodog...again. 3 tabled for a while, and honestly I don't remember how long. : P Anyway, I made note in my poker log of the fact that I added another $40 to the online roll. Go figure!

Had to get up today and take Cole to bowling. Normal league play was a little tedious for him, but I do want to mention that one of the other boys on his team had an ALL-TIME high score today. His average is around 90, I believe, BUT today he was on FIRE! Griffin bowled a 232!!! It was unbelievable. Everybody came over to watch. What a day for a 10 year old kid! Cole decided that he wanted to play in the tournament at 1:00pm. So we ended up back at the lanes. He did much better on that round. Cole has a 70 average, but in game one he rolled a 113! His handicapped score for the day was 640! Way to go, we'll find out next week how he stacked up against everyone else. I think he did very well, and I was proud of him.

Then, it was off to play two basketball games. They won the first and lost the second only by a couple shots. So it was a very good game and a lot of fun to watch. My boy is handling the ball MUCH better than he was only a couple of weeks ago. He is becoming aggressive and really fights for the ball. Particularly he is running and dribbling 100% better than before. Good job, way to hustle boy! I've had a really good day with him today... he's a great kid!

It's been a busy day... and now I'm going to vegetate on the couch, and count the cracks in my eyelids.

Regards,

cheer_dad

I'm still havin' fun!

Tonight is poker with the Yanoks! Game time is 7:30pm. I'll see many of you there tonight. Somewhere between now and then I could use a nap, but I don't see much chance of that happening. It's my short day... and then I pick Whitney up from school. She has to cheer at the basketball game tonight, but her bf is going to be there and they are going out on a date afterward. Cole will of course go with us, to play with the other kids. Other than me winning both games tonight, it sounds like everything's all mapped out huh!

Good luck to the Wolfe clan who are opting for a trip to Cross Lanes instead. She-Wolfe is going to match wits with many of the fairer sex tonight in the Ladies Tournament that they host in The Big Easy Poker Room. Wolfie plans to continue his winning ways at the cash tables. Bring some back!

My Bodog play has been fun lately. Yeah, it's more fun when you're winning. Whoever said that first is friggin' genius. At my micro levels and for my micro skills I'm happy. I'm actually beginning to get some breathing room to play, and I'm not as likely to get all worried if I have a bad night at the virtual felt. Some might encourage me to move up to the next level, but I don't think I have the bankroll for it yet. By the logic I'm subscribing to I don't think I'm truly supposed to be playing at the .10/.25 NL tables, BUT honestly I just couldn't bring myself to play lower. Call it a weakness, I don't care. Heck some of you call it a weakness that I'm not playing higher than I am. But I've really tried to stay true to my gameplan here. I actually want to be adequately bankrolled online. I am right now $53 bucks away from having 20 buy-ins for the .10/.25 level. I'm willing to camp myself out at this level for a while. I still err on the side of caution, since I'm not just playing one table. Each table is of course independent. But tilt is tilt, and a bad run of cards is a bad run of cards, no matter how much I try to flatten it out over the landscape of multiple tables simultaneously. In my mind when I hit $500 I will be legitimately at 20 buy ins for the level I'm playing at. I cannot then legitimately make a move higher to the .25/.50 (max $50) until I have $1,000 squirrelled away in the Bodog account. I'm counting this money as separate from the few hundred that's holed up in my sock drawer. I'm going to try to stick to my guns on one other point and not be tempted to pull any money out from Bodog until after I've crossed the GRAND threshold. My typical play time allows me to login and play for around an hour or more on occasion. I 3-4 table it from the get go and try to put in a minimum of 200 hands, whether I'm running good or bad. I have played on for around 400 hands, but at that point at least for me, it's time for a break. It'll also keep me outa hock with the lovely Big Red! : )

Consider this, I know my wins are minuscule, but not measured against the risk undertaken. Most generally (knock on wood) I win in these sessions. Not necessarily on every table. But the session as a whole levels it out nicely. I could play live, but in that case I'd only be able to play one table at a time. Very likely getting in only around 30 hands per hour. Arguably I'm maximizing, by seeing the the hands online that would be equivalent to like 6 or 7 hours of live play. Albeit at lower stakes. But the experience is priceless too me. Not only do I just enjoy the game, but I see things now. I remember things about people I play. I make moves that I didn't used to in my poker infancy. (I'm merely a toddler now.) I'm getting better. I'm accustomed to seeing the bad beats and suckouts and they don't bother me so much anymore. They happen and it's a good thing, cause they sometimes happen to my benefit! But either way, I grow accustomed to seeing it happen, and very few things surprise me anymore. I don't get blindsided very often at all. I might let you shove me off a hand every once and a while, more so than another fish might, BUT just plan on keeping my chips warm for me pal... I'll be back this session or the next to collect 'em from you. Hopefully the notes I've taken on you, will allow me to collect mine and have them bring some of yours with 'em.

Still the single most important thing about playing poker now... is that I'm still having fun doing it. I wonder over the course of a few years, will I find myself playing ever higher, or will I be contented to play in the catacombs of the micro limits forever!

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #1 January 23, 2009

I have scheduled NDPT Tournament #1 for January 23, 2009 all you folk and folkette! I've dropped the bounty from this year's format. In it's place, is an optional $5 per tournament which will be used to create a year-end tournament pot. Only those who pay the $5 up front AND cash on that given night, will be eligible to play in the year-end tournament. Your chip stack for this final game will be in proportion to the amount of your winnings throughout the year when you paid the $5. This is an idea borrowed (shamelessly stolen from the Yanok's game) which I and others really like. Nay-sayers can opt out, or kiss my ass whichever they prefer. So for some the price of poker will remain the same. For others I guess they're getting a $5 rebate. I don't know that I explained it very well, but it'll make sense after the first couple of tournaments for the year. I guess I get around to too many other poker games out and about and have become accustomed to the myriad ways that people host their games. Having played host now for a few years, I most generally keep my mouth shut about things when I play elsewhere. There are times when the host will look to me for a ruling or at least an informed opinion, and I can tell you more often than not my reply is... "It's your house, your word is law!" I've found this to be the best approach, never to contradict. Go with the ebb and flow of the game. Ultimately encourage hosts to read up on the subject. Over the years, I've taken the most of my cues for running a poker tournament at my house from HomePokerTourney.com. I used to be active in the forums and had several "friends" but work and other things took priority and so I've become more of a lurker. BUT, routinely come tournament time at cheer_dad's house behind the Tournament Clock window on the laptop, I've already fired up the browser and have the HPT site up and running, always at the ready with Robert's Rules of Poker, Payout percentages, and many of the other finer points of tournament play. There's a wealth of information there and I encourage you to check it out and use it for yourself.

Now, a detour from the tournament discussion. I played a little (okay Big Red would say a lot or even too much) online night before last, on Bodog. I was 4 tabling it in the kiddie pool section... okay it was .10/.25 Full Ring NLHE, max buy-in per table $25. I had been up earlier in the session, but dammit I'd planned on playing some cards and rarely will I quit before logging at least 200 hands or so. I ended up finally cashing out at around 350+ hands for the evening. For all my hard work, I was up only a couple of bucks and I was exhausted! This had to have been one of the most frustrating and trying sessions I've ever had at the tables. There were 3-4 players at the tables that I was seeing throughout the 4 tables I was playing. They were the loose-aggressors. They were having their way at the table. Obscure stuff too. Early position raises, with garbage despite the fact the 4-5 players were seeing the flop. I was watching preflop legitimate bets being thwarted by reraise All-Ins all over the place. Yeah, SB .10, BB .25, under-the-gun makes it .85 to go, and then WHAM some one in mid-position shoves for $25 or much more. Not just a one time thing but often. So, that was something to watch for. Then, I can't tell you how often I had pocket Aces!!! The odds of looking down at Rockets are like what, 220:1. I played around 350 hands and I know I saw 'em at least 7 times among the 4 tables! The kicker is... on 2 of those I was the BB, AND it folded back around to me, when every other hand normally had 4-5 players to a flop. Or my minimum raise got too much respect. I started having to play in a much more deceptive manner. I lost a big chunk at one table when I flopped a K, when I was holding AKos. I failed to keep the pot smallish, with just a pair. And I was at the mercy of the guy in front of me, who I couldn't really decide if the ever escalating bets were merely continuation or if he really had the goods. I've noticed lately a greater online move by players to go for the All-In jugular much too often, but more often than not they got the goods to go with it. SO, I was erring on the side of caution. Maybe that night, I was the fish... maybe. I didn't lose money, but for the level of effort it sure felt like it. I guess it could have been worse (a lot worse) but I had then sense to finally call it a night and hope for a better session the next time. There are things that I would like to try, should I run into those same players ravaging the tables again, which given their assessment of me on the night, could become profitable to me should they fail to re-evaluate my play, and stick to their guns. So, this one session was merely part of the "metagame" you know that one long poker game that we play throughout the course of our lives. Where not just the cards and chips in front of you are at issue, but the thing you did that one time, two or three sessions back against that same guy, or some other guy, that comes to mind. ALL of this ultimately influences the next move and then the next and so on.

I'm making my head hurt... but in a good way. Again, ya buncha degenerates NDPT #1 for this year is January 23, 2009 7:00pm at my house. The Yanok game precedes me on January 9th. Yeah, you'll all see me there too. Gotta build the bankroll for Vegas Baby!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Whitney and Brady's Birthday Party

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

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #18 Aftermath

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

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

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad