It's a sad, sad day indeed

The forces of evil did conspire against us during our annual Labor Day Extravaganza, and allow the motley crew pictured to the left to bring the reign of the South Side to an end in the Volley Ball Championship of the World! For once the North Side emerged victorious. The 2nd game was a real nail biter and they poured on the heat in a late rally to win by two points 23-21. Despite my sour grapes I know everyone had a great time playing yesterday, and I'm sure a number of us have a few extra bruises and aches and pains to show for it. Congratulations to the North on the win (despite the fact that they did have to call in for family reinforcements this year from Bridgeport!)

The festivities began yesterday at 2:00pm with the cookout, all the while a number of pick up games of cornhole were played. The volleyball tournament got underway around 4:00pm. After the the North's victory the court was handed over to the younger crew, who frankly put us ALL to shame. They're all a bit more limber than we are. The volleyball playing didn't come to an end until the sun completely disappeared and the candles just weren't enough to see by anymore. People began then to say their goodbyes and headed back home. But a few of us die hards, undeterred continued on. The beer began to flow a bit more heavily at that point... and of course the cards and chips made their appearance. Somewhere just before 4:00am the ragtag group that remained playing poker finally called it a night. Big Red had to carry me and my small loss, and still she came out with a respectable profit of $50. I believe JJ was the big winner on the night, with a $80-ish profit, I think! Congrats!

In all throughout the day, we had 68 people at the house. I thank you all for making it a great day, and plan on it again next year. In the off-season I think I'll be working on a few more stretches. : )

Have a great Labor Day!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Labor Day Extravaganza approaches

Tomorrow there will be lots of this going on. Many of you will join in to play during our Annual Labor Day Extravaganza, but make no mistake the South Side will once again emerge victorious in this game as has become quite the tradition. Heck we might even do it, all the while remaining injury free. But that part, as always, is optional. No sacrifice is too great in the quest for victory. It's not just a game... it's another chance to win!

Also to be played tomorrow will be this little game too! Yes you all know it well. Everyone including the kids loved this game last year so it makes its return.

Of course there will be plenty of food and good times to be had, so come early and stay late. I'm sure as the day slowly turns to night, there might even be cause to throw together a little poker game too. You know on the off chance that some of our friends and family might wanna play that little game too. Yes, it usually doesn't take much pulling of arms to get a game going. : )

Most of today was spent getting ready, cleaning, mowing, and doing whatever Big Red told me to do, so y'all better show some appreciation. At least, you could buy me a beer!

I'll try to keep the camera handy to catch each of you at your best. I'm sure a number of candid moments will present themselves. Pictures of bodies in a twisted pile on the volleyball court are always a bit hit. And thus far, a year has never gone by in which that didn't happen eventually. So be sure to show us your best side.

See you tomorrow.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Here's the thing...

With that short phrase, Mike McDermott began many of the "lessons" set forth in Rounders. So, I'll let it work for me here as well. : ) For a long time, I've tried to think of the online and offline poker money as separate. To a great degree they are. Since I don't currently have money exclusively set aside that I only use to play poker. Somehow, I'd like to start. I grew very careless with the online roll there for a while. I just stopped taking it seriously. I was really getting tired of dabbling around. The whole .5/.10 NLHE was getting extremely dull, and I felt like I was just giving friggin' blinds away. It didn't feel much better at .10/.25 either. So, as I've covered the lure of quick easy money...led to the accursed blackjack table. No more...this time for good. It's just stupid...it's bad business. It loses you a good deal of money as well. Anyway...I've been playing this weekend, frankly quite a lot. Friday night was played at the Yanok's. Two games, both were qualifiers for the month in which they were finished. August 31st led into September 1st. The August qualifier was won by yours truly! Buyin was $30 including bounty and qualifier fees. I "think" I'm in the lead for the year-end race at the Yanok's. Unfortunately here at my own house, I'm on life support. Not impossible...just not probable. And you know my feelings on possibilities vs probabilities. Between the 1st and 2nd games...JR and I joked that I won the first one...so he would win the second, since he and I seem to both be running "hot" over there. We've finished 1st and 2nd, a number of times, swapping roles. I busted out early, when I neglected to acknowledge what Scott was likely to be holding. I just kept charging ahead, til my stack was in front of someone else. As fate would have it...JR did take down the second game. So he got the qualifier for that month. Why do I get the feeling that he and I are going to be sprinting for the win in the final game of the year? Once again butting heads with someone that each of us knows the other so well. Then, we put together a game on Saturday evening here at our house, after having the "Labor Day Weekend" picnic and volleyball game. The SOUTH did it again, in case anyone was wondering. In the poker game I donated $10, and started the cash game, but cashed out even, very early when I started feeling poorly again. This "thing" in my gut...is causing me some issues. Then the following night we went over to the Jacksons, and played cards over there too. $20 in and like $33 out or so. It should have been A LOT more. Not only did I drop some cash into a pot...but then I left it stranded out there, and allowed someone else to drag it in, without putting up enough of a fight for it.

Let me elaborate... The hand goes down like this. I'll not tell you what I cards I had, or my lone opponent until after I lay out the board. I call a preflop raise from late position. The flop comes 8-8-6 with two spades. My opponent bets out $2, and I raise another $5 and get called. The turn is a 9 of spades. My opponent immediately looks at the hole cards...and checks, for some reason so do I. The river brings a 2 of spades. So there is four to the flush on the board. The player bets out $10 immediately. I know we're talking about flushes here, for both of us. The betting pattern leads me to believe AK or pocket Kings to be a likely holding. And in all likelihood the Ace or King is coming my way. I folded..........my pocket Queens, one of which was the spade. I was pleased with my play until the opponent proudly displayed the hole cards......pocket J's, with one spade. Yeah...mull that over. I led through the hand. The whole hand...and read it wrong. BUT, I've replayed this over in my head several times now...and think I've learned something very profound. What I was reading was the confidence level of the player, who thought that the hand was monstrous. Had I mustered the balls to call/raise it, my hand would have absolutely blindsided them. Their though process didn't even run the gamut of the A-K-or the Q of spades. It was simply a spade. I was a fool, I suppose. I applied my own logic and superimposed it on to my opponent. That was a mistake. One I'll try not to repeat again. Still I cashed out on the "+" side. Good hand....JODY!

Then, today after copious amounts of laundry and a trip to Wal-Mart, I sat down for a UB session. It started poorly. I was down like $60 early on...and unfortunately I think I was being bullied. BUT, my reaction then, allowed me to capitalize later, once against "B_Doyle" and "Soccer Dad" later. I'm bought in for like $156, and cash out being up like $45, and considering what the session started out as, THIS was one for the WIN COLUMN. On the other hand, I was fascinated by B_Doyle. The max buy in at the table was $100, for .50/1.00 NLHE. When he cashed out, he had over $500. He played more hands than I...and pushed a lot more...but I also saw him call down a lot of things. Maybe at some point I can capitalize on this. I made notes on others at the table, and hope they'll help me in the future. I just wish, just once I'd have a profit session like B_Doyle did. I just won't do something stupid. I try to play it smart. Not pushy. But I'm learning that the push, is somewhat artistic. The guys at these tables though I don't think are artists. I think they're just mimics of what they've seen on TV, and very dangerous. I just need to relax and ride it all out. The weekend positive cash flow then was in the neighborhood of $150 to the good. This makes the $200 Carbon fiasco a little easier to stomach. Now, if only I had been able to pocket this into one bankroll. But I can't, until I separate it that way. The .50/1.00 NLHE game is definitely meaty. There's money to be made. If I can just see my way into being the one to make the money. I have much yet to learn in this game.

One more day off from work. Whew! I don't know what I'll do with my time. Yeah, I do...and you know too. See ya real soon.

Regards,

cheer_dad