Cross Lanes last night

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

WSOP 2009 Events 43 & 44 winners, updates for 45-48

Event 43 - $1,000 Seniors World Championship started off with 2,707 players and now only one remains, Michael Davis. He takes home $437,358 and the coveted WSOP bracelet. Congratulations.

The winner of Event 44 - $2,500 Seven Card Razz is none other than Jeffrey Lisandro. This makes the 3rd bracelet Lisandro has taken home in this 2009 edition of the WSOP. According to PokerNews.com he is the first player since Phil Ivey in 2002 to bring home 3 WSOP bracelets in one year. He takes home $188,370 for the effort. Congratulations.

Day 3 of Event 45 - $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Hold'em finds only 10 players remaining of the 275 who started. $633,335 awaits one lucky winner. John Kabbaj is the current chipleader, although how can I possibly cheer for anyone now that they've knocked out Vanessa Rousso in 15th place... (for $43,091.)

In Event 46 - $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better, only 17 of 424 players remain to go after the WSOP bracelet and the $229,192 top prize. Mark Tenner is the current chipleader.

Event 47 - $2,500 Mixed Hold'em is down to 67 players remaining of the 527 who began. $278,804 awaits the eventual winner.

Event 48 - $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better has been underway since noon PST, but no official counts just yet.

***Meanwhile, far removed from the sights and sounds of poker... our hero, cheer_dad has spent his day in the waiting/recovery rooms of the hospital following my wife's same day surgery. We are home, and she is in bed now sleeping and allowing the anesthetic to wear off. She is sore but feeling okay. I'm relieved that she is home again, safe and sound. Love ya babe...

Regards,

cheer_dad

WSOP 2009 winners in Events 9, 10 and updates 11-16

The winner of Event 9 - $1,500 Six-handed No Limit Hold'em is Ken Aldridge. He takes home the WSOP bracelet and a healthy $428,259 top prize. Of the 1,459 he was the last man standing. Congratulations!

The winner of Event 10 - $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha is Rami Boukai, picked up $244,862 along with the WSOP bracelet for besting the field of 453 hopefuls. Congratulations!

The players have returned today for Day 3 of Event 11 - $2,000 No Limit Hold'em. Currently 10 of the original starting 1,646 remain. The current chip leader is Michael Dyer, but this one isn't going to end quickly. Top prize in this event is $569,199.

Players have also returned to Day 3 of Event 12 - $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event. Currently there are 13 remaining players of the 194 who started. Currently the chip leader is Scott 'dorinvandy' Dorin, but there remain some tough customers in the mix including Huck Seed, David Chiu, and even Todd Brunson. Top prize yet to be claimed in this one is $492,375. Some notable cashes in the event include Doyle Brunson in 15th, "Miami" John Cernuto in 20th, Vitaly Lunkin (winner of the $40k buyin NLHE event this year) and Max Pescatori in 24th.

Event 13 - $2,500 No Limit Hold'em | Day 2 is also currently being played. There remain 144 of the starting 1,088 players. Top prize still to be claimed is $506,786.

Event 14 - $2,500 Six-handed Limit Hold'em is back today for its Day 2 as well. 71 of the original 367 players remain. The top 36 payout on this event, with $223,688 going to the top spot. Some notable players still in the running are Daniel Alaei in the chip lead, Barry Greenstein, Barry Shulman, Daniel Negreanu, and Maya Geller.

Today is Day 1 of Event 15 - $5,000 No Limit Hold'em. 612 players are still continuing to battle it out. 655 began the day. Only the top 12 will get paid in this event. The top spot is $692,658.

Lastly, today at 5:00pm PST Event 16 - $1,500 Seven Card Stud will get underway. Hope you are all enjoying the coverage by the great folks working hard for PokerNews.com, as much as I am. As always they're doing a fantastic job!

In some "local" news. Last night 35 players converged on the Eagles Aerie last night for a night of NLHE. When the dust settled, none other then my lovely and talented wife, Big Red, was the last man (errrr woman) standing. Congratulations baby! Sadly for me the night came to an end at the final table in the 7th position... no moneys. :( But a great night of poker, and we had a lot of new players and the word seems to be getting out about our "little" game. Y'all come back now...

Regards,

cheer_dad

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

Big Red Strikes Again

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

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

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

What a night!

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

Happy 40th Birthday Big Red!!!

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

I think I can make it through this week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Regards,

cheer_dad

Cole made the Basketball Team!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great weekend all.

Regards,

cheer_dad

NDPT #16 approaches, and oh my Anniversary!!!

Registration will begin in just under 2 hours from now, as the collective gathers at the Eagles at 2:00pm today for NDPT #16. Registration begins then, and we get the cards in the air at 3:00pm sharp. At least what passes for "sharp" with our little ragtag group. We're hoping to pick up some additional Eagles members and "outsiders" for this game. JR has worked really hard at putting this and past games at the Eagles together and he is to be commended for his efforts. So, give him a pat on the back when you see him today.

Hope to see you all there, but for now, I've got to get a few things done here at the house before gametime. I'll try to give a recap of the action if I can stay sober enough for the whole affair, which frankly "I doubt!" But I'll tell what I remember anyway.

Oh and today is mine and Big Red's 17th Wedding Anniversary!!! It seems like... well forever. : ) Just kidding babe, put down the knife! I still love you after all these years, and looking forward to many more. And yes, we are playing poker on our anniversary, how's that for degenerate gamblers!?!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Where ya been boy?!?

It's been a while people. I haven't posted in a very long time for me. BUT, remember I was on vacation and then I got back, and then there was Big Red's family reunion to attend in the hills of Ellenboro, WV. Yeah, we drove through a lot of BFE, if you get my drift! In fact, one wrong turn forced us to ask for directions. The response came... "ummm, yup, you done made a wrong turn, ya need to go back thataway," from the man with but a few remaining teeth in his mouth. Big Red of course nodded in agreement, politely; all the while with another onlooker of questionable intellect, sporting the latest fashion, a pink pajama bottom print, coupled with a Make 7 Up Yours t-shirt. All I and the kids could read from behind her, was "Up Yours!" We took the advice, and then got the hell out of there. We did eventually get where we were going. All the while my 9 year old son showed wisdom beyond his days... with the statement, "you should never ask a redneck for directions. That's brilliant.

Anyway, we got to see Teresa's cousin Mike, in from Florida again. We really like spending time with him. He's a talker and just good to be around. In fact, as the reunion ended, we invited he and his son to come with us later that night (Saturday) to go to the Wolfe's for NDPT #10! The both came that night to play and despite not winning, we all had a great time. Although, of all people to take me out at the final table, you guessed it Mike. My A-9os to his K-7os, and he drew four cards to the King high straight. Argghhh!

Sunday was a wash, as I didn't feel real chipper the next day, likely due to too much libation, though I admit nothing. I was off on Monday and my honey do list was more than enough to occupy the day. I had to seal some cracks in my concrete block wall of the house. Nothing major, just unsightly. Of course the grass needed mowing, and unfortunately the landscaping had gone native on me as well.

Now I'm back to work, but very busy. The big boss is once again on a warpath related to Configuration Management of servers. Inventory sucks. And if it weren't for the convoluted method in place, it wouldn't be such a problem or an annoyance. Hate is a strong word, but applicable here. Another work oddity was that IE7 was inadvertently pushed to all the computers in the office, without proper security settings, and we couldn't change 'em. Long story short, no https addresses were working anymore for me, and even though they pushed a "fix" for the problem and large number of us are still dead in the water. BUT, on a positive note, I downloaded Firefox for the first time, and now find that I'm surfing just fine! Case-in-point, I was able to get back out here to Blogger to say hello.

But duty calls and its time to get back to it.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know I haven't fallen off the face of the planet.

WSOP Day 4 up to the dinner break

Once again, posts such as these prove that the guys playing in the Main Event are a lot like the rest of us twisted poker degenerates:

Posted by MeanGene Refer to Your Tournament Director's HandbookNo doubt quite a few players were out last night celebrating the fact that they cashed in the Main Event. One such player is sitting at Table 6 and looking a little green around the gills, and he asked the dealer, "If I throw up on the table, is that a penalty?"

Just over 5 hours ago Robert Mizrachi's Main Event journey came to an end. He got in in with the best of it but was rivered by his opponent.

And not long after he made his exit, Mountaineer qualifier Brian Schaedlich made his final stand with A-9os, he was called down by Darren Grant with a Q-7os. A queen came up on the turn and Schaedlich makes his exit in 456th place and $27,020 in his pocket. Not a bad return on a $135 tournament entry fee back at the Mountaineer Casino in Chester, WV. : ) Congratulations to him!

According to postings at PokerNews.com the first level of play on this Day 4, has taken its toll on the field. They have averaged a bustout a minute throughout the level.

Wow, Table #6 in the green section doesn't sound all that fun, at all! Five hours ago, Jeremy Joseph found himself there, with two empty seats that were filled by Alexander Kostritsyn with 900,000 in chips, and Johnny Chan joined soon after. ESPN setup shop, soon after!

Oh there's a surprise, Phil Hellmuth has a blow up after losing a hand with a great big pot... and openly berates his opponent.

Just as Round 17 was about to begin, the T500 chips are no longer required and the color up took place just before a quick break. The price of poker is going up! 350 players remained.
Maya Gellar-Antonius was eliminated in 331st place for a $32,166 payday. Congratulations, and hubby Patrik should be proud!

Hevad Khan was busted by the lovely Tiffany Michelle, and makes it up to 660,000 chips! Did I say lovely? Okay, yeah... I did.

Just over an hour ago another lovely and talented lady makes her exit from the Main Event. Evelyn Ng has been eliminated, but congratulations on her deepest finish yet in the Main Event!

An hour ago, Gus Hansen was moved to Mike Matusow's table, amid cheers from the spectators.

And oh look another blowup by Phil Hellmuth. You know he really is an ass...

And the stack of Jeremy Joseph just keeps growing and growing, an hour ago, he was at 2.5 Million!

And with that, or there abouts, the players head off for dinner break. Upon their return at 9:30pm PDT, they will play one final level before calling it a night.

The field now stands at 218. Still much poker yet to be played, but with that I'm calling it a night. We have 2 baseball games tomorrow, the first of which is at 9:00am. By the way, tonight the boys won, against "Tubby's" Team, Nate and Kevin know what I'm talking about. We pounded them, 30-6 before they finally cried uncle at the end of the 3rd inning. That is the boys first win in tournament play, against a team that beat us previously, that we just knew we could beat! : ) Cole may not be of much use in the games tomorrow, since he was injured running to 2nd base. His ankle is pretty swollen and stiff, but he seems to be getting around, albeit slowly and a bit tender. Sorry buddy.
As soon as the games are over, cheer_dad and family will start the drive SOUTH to Myrtle Beach!

Regards,

cheer_dad

P.S. Oh and one other really cool item of interest, Big Red's mom (the original Big Red) called us while we were at the baseball game all excited. Seems she was at BINGO, and playing the tips, and she was playing my son, Cole's birthday numbers, and she hit for a COOL $9,000!!! $6,500-ish after taxes!!! Since it was his numbers, does that mean he gets splitsies?!? Yeah like he wouldn't anyway from his Mamaw!

Sure honey let's go on vaction...NOW!

My wife, the lovely Big Red... will one day send me to my grave. Probably sooner than later! When she gets an idea, damn the girl can run with it! You've all obviously been up on current events in my life, which I've inter mingled in the words about the WSOP and other pokerosity. I'm talking about All-Star baseball and my life as a dad, coach, husband, blahblahblah... Well we're playing again tonight in Belpre against South Parkersburg "B." Plus a couple more games tomorrow.

Here we gets tricksy.

The Morrison clan (including Jeffrey who's on the team with Cole) have a beach trip that starts tomorrow. So, we've known he wouldn't be there to play, but no prob, we've still enough kids to play. Then, somehow the conversation emerges about, "hey, why don't you guys join us in Myrtle Beach, SC?" That conversation fired up maybe a day and a half ago. It was sheer talking out loud. I wasn't even involved in it. Fast forward to this morning... and I'm checking with my boss about taking a week off beginning NOW, shuffling some other duties, sorting out baseball since I won't be here to coach, and a million other things. Meanwhile, my wife's on the phone booking a room for yup tomorrow night. She's already figured out we'll stay for tomorrow's game (maybe) and then get the hell outa Dodge! Yes, she's worked all this out in her head while on hold with the Beach Realty company. AND she got dropped on the call once, put on hold twice, and one lady tried to charge her about $500 more for the room than she quoted, when the "system" mysteriously crashed in the middle of the transaction. Sadly, said lady had NO IDEA she was dealing with Big Red. Not only did a demand for a manager ensue, and when she was conveniently disconnected and left dangling on hold for 20 minutes, she grabbed a 2nd phone line, and gave 'em what for and got a room for the price originally quoted. And this lady in the same office, said yes it was a madhouse, but she wasn't aware of any system crash. Hmmm. Manager's Special, my ass!

So anyway, I went from Thank God It's Friday, to feeling like I'm going into OVERDRIVE!!! So, thankfully this is my short day, and I get off work at 2:45pm. I can rush home, and break out the lawnmower and get that done, before changing and going to the baseball game in Belpre, gotta be there by 5:15pm. Hopefully, done by 8:30-ish. Go home, clean up, eat, attack the laundry with a vengeance, pack, organize, make a couple of plans, check up on the status of the WSOP Main Event. Get to bed, get up the following morning at the crack of dawn, and get ready for baseball game, be there by 8:30am! Finish that, and then we'll either hang out for the other game at 1:00pm or say fuggit and head SOUTH! Oh I haven't mentioned, that we're also taking along JoJo, at least my daughter Whitney is checking on that right now. No wonder I'm fully medicated for stress and anxiety.

Oh and let's get one other thing outa the way, I am not prepared for the beach. I'm likely to have a herd of Eco-Tree-Hugger types trying to help coax me back into the water when they find me laying on the sand (if you get my blubbery drift.) My man titties may actually lactate in the heat. I dunno...

Someone sympathize, just a little. Maybe I'll follow the lead of SirAlCan'tHang and go to a bar when I get to Myrtle Beach and just do dial-a-shots all day! I just hope I don't need a vacation AFTER this vacation to recuperate!

Well that's all I got folks, I'm tapped, spent even. I wonder if this complex will have wi-fi? Laptop, balcony, mass quantities of alcohol and an already dwindling online bankroll. Oh yeah I see great things happening! At least there'll be some great bad beat stories to be told after the fact!

I'll try to continue to blog, even if I have to drive around w/the laptop to find a hotspot!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Last night at the Wolfe's

Thanks to Frank and Julie for taking on the hosting gig for this month's tournament. It was great to see you all, and hope everyone had a nice time. My tournament life was short lived when I hit a rough patch. The first hand I shoved a chunk of my stack pre-flop with pocket 7's and ran into Frank's rockets. Oops! Then, in an effort to re accumulate some semblance of a stack I had to make some moves that weren't characteristic of my typical game. I even shoved all in with my least favorite hand, in the effort, the ole J-K off! Unfortunately I didn't scare anybody all that much, and picked up two callers. I was in trouble... when I saw Del turn over A-Jos, yeah I'm dominated here. I've only got 3 real outs. So, let's just say I didn't get there. : )

I lost a little more in the cash game too, although I'm not really sure on what. I think it was to the guy who looked a lot like the lead singer of Rascal Flats. (Sorry, I've forgotten your name.) But lucky for me the lovely and talented Big Red had my back for the night. She took down the top spot on the night! She and Vince battled out heads up briefly then finally chopped it, but Teresa will get the top billing for the night in the points race. So, once again, she has to bail me out of my losing ways! : ) Congratulations baby!

I'm pretty sure, Vince took over the points lead last night. I "think" I'm still in 2nd place, but a few others are beginning to get too close for comfort. I guess I better start bringing the A-game. Might help if I wasn't suckin' down more than my fair share of the keg last night, I suppose. But then again... I do love beer.

Regards,

cheer_dad

My wallet shudders

While Cole and I were trying to stay warm last night down at Tri-C Baseball fields, my wife and daughter were out shopping on a whole other scale. The subject of a new car has been breached in the "casa de cheer_dad" and it's been brought up in casual conversation. Now that Whitney is of driving age (she has her permit now) she's eventually going to have to take the driving portion of the test. None of us were particularly looking forward to her taking the test in either my Dodge 1500 pickup extended cab, or Big Red's Durango for that matter. Frankly the friggin' Hemi is just not something that I think she'd find conducive to the stress of the test, and don't even think about the parallel parking portion of the test. And I'm not real interested in having her drive either of our current tanks out and about in the teenage world. Let's not even get into my blood pressure here folks. Suffice it to say we're wanting to go smaller, yet comfortable. Miles to the Gallon of gas is also a HIGH priority here people. My meager poker earnings just aren't covering the cost that OPEC keeps shoving down our throats. ANYWAY I've gone around the block with my story. So my wife and daughter go to "look" at cars last night. When I return home, nearly frostbitten, and aching from a baseball to each shin, and one to the ribs... out comes the new car brochure for the Toyota Camry. Suddenly I'm gettin' chatted up, something fierce. I know where this is all headed. I know yet another major purchase is looming on the horizon for me. So, I humor her and let her talk, not letting on that I've already spotted the pricing sheet that's already been worked up with her "Jane Hancock" clearly visible at the bottom. Folks what we have here is a done deal. It's all over but cheer_dad's crying. There's a Toyota Camry in my future. This has been further confirmed as of today, when I went down to visit my lovely wife at work (Credit Union) downstairs in my building and find her pouring over the paperwork, finalizing loan forms, a fax coversheet all but sealing my fate.

Okay, I'll quit my whining about it now. Much of this has been in jest after all anyway. I don't particularly like the Durango. My truck on the other hand is like my mostest favoritest vehicle ever! Although I offered to part with her... I wasn't looking forward to having to give her up. Luckily (I think) a compromise has been reached! Whew! And honestly this is a good looking car, that I think we can all be happy with. Now I know some of you way in the back are wondering in your male chauvinistic way about how I could let a "woman" go pick out and buy a new vehicle without having me around. Those of you who would even think it have never really gotten to know my beloved Big Red! Salesmen beware... you've bitten off more than you can chew. Go huddle at your friggin' sales tower and beg for the help of the Sales Manager. She'll take him on too. I wasn't present for the purchase of my last 3 vehicles. Once I showed up just to sign a paper and then left the showroom. The last time I did get to opt for the color that I wanted... and signed the papers and once again left the showroom floor. Trust me, I know my place. I bow to her supremacy in these matters. I just hope the poor salesman eventually recovers. So anyway, I'm sure by the weekend we will have completed the deal.

Like I said it looks to be a beautiful car. I'm sure my wife and daughter will enjoy driving it. I'll never even get close to the steering wheel. : ) Of course I haven't even factored in the exponential increase that I'll be seeing soon in my insurance premiums, thanks to having a new young driver in the family. Ain't parenthood grand.

Guess I better get back to the poker tables and improve my game by at least 10 fold or I'll never be able to afford it.

You there in the back!!! Stop laughing at my misery!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad

Greetings from Vegas

The adventure continues... we were checked in before 10:30pm PST last night, flying in on a Saturday night is different. Our plane was just over 1/2 full, so there was room to move and breath. Oddly enough, we were chastised when we boarded because they insisted that we should have checked in 15 minutes prior. They were actually calling for the Wolfe's and Murray's over the airport intercom. Hey we were just next door at the bar. Anyway, no one was left behind.

The shuttle from the airport to the Imperial Palace was quick and painless. After checking in and stowing luggage, we grabbed a quick bite and then headed for the casino floor. Frank and I headed for the Poker Room while the Snappers headed for table games over at O'Sheas for some reason.

The Imperial was VERY busy last night. VERY!!! It took a while to get a seat at a table, and when that happened it was a $2/$4 Limit table. I heard later that it took nearly 2 hours for the guy that signed up at the same time as I did to get seated at a $1/$2 NLHE table. Like I said it was busy. Frank just reminded me that the poker room actually RAN OUT of $1 chips and was actually putting the orange-ish $4 chips in common play. Folks were showing up with those exclusively in their racks, when first getting seated. The dealers and poker room manager all said that THIS had never happened. One dealer who was just starting his shift, asked "What the hell are all the $4 chips doing on the friggin' table?!" Yeah I think he actually said friggin'.

I was pleased to find that the IP had gone hi-tech. For those of us who have played at Wheeling Island, you'll feel right at home. The electronic tables, with the auto shufflers, and dealers LED display, and card swiper are all identical. I talked to some of the dealers last night about them, and they said they really like them, and are a vast improvement over the old ones. Everything is tied in to the computer system and they have a flat panel display to let you know where you are on the waiting list, and what games are currently being spread. They've also expanded the bad beat and high hand bonuses. Between 8 and 11 AM each day, if you get Aces cracked you'll get the $100 bad beat money, or $50 for Kings. There are progressive payouts for high hands as well, such as quads, straight flushes and royals. The highest one currently on the board is the Club Royal Flush, which when I last saw it last night in the WEE HOURS was at $2,987. Frank, got up this morning before the rest of us, since he wussed out early : ) and headed for bed. He got his Aces cracked and took down the $100. That'll work.

Last night, I played $2/$4 and drank, alot, and decided the drunk was more important than the poker and decided the cards were just something to do. From 11:00pm to around 5:00am I was in the poker room. I was up for a while, a modest 40-50 bucks but I was tippin' and drinkin' and havin' a great time. There was a preponderance of eye candy to behold. How do they get such little tiny Asian girls, with big boobs. Must be in the water... Anyway around 4:00am Big Red stopped by to tell me she was still on the casino floor, playing and was UP, but didn't wanna jinx it by counting yet, she said not to leave without her, and she flitted off again. Shortly after that I got my Kings cracked (sadly no bonus) by a guy with a pair of Jacks. Then I proceeded to have Big Slick busted twice, once by a J-3os, ick... I would win with crap like Q2s, and lose with the biguns. I missed hitting open enders about 7 times in under an hour, and watched the stack begin to dwindle. So around 5:00am I decided to cash out down $68. Not bitter, just getting bored. I found Big Red at the 3-card-poker table, still continuing her winnin' ways. I sat down and played too. Had a few Jack and Cokes each and just enjoyed the table and some really great dealers. I sat with $100, cashed out for $200, even after dropping some RED tips to the dealers, who continued to hand me 6 to 1 straights! Around 6:45am we decided a few hours in bed would be a good idea.

Oh, and Big Red finally decided to let me in on her winning streak. Between Let It Ride, BlackJack, Crazy 4 Poker, and 3 Card poker all night, she was up a whopping $500! Hell yeah!!! Lady Luck is a fickle little bitch though so she's not gonna do anything stupid and blow it all. Yeah we'll see.

Won't be long til we head down to NYNY. Yeah I know, we're behind schedule, so bite me, I'm on Vegas time baby! We're just about ready to go though, so I'll wrap up now. I've gotta call a few of you, to put you at ease. We did make it, we're not in jail, and so far will not need a shot of penicillin to take care of any anomalies.

Stay tuned.

Regards,

cheer_dad

tick...tock...

It won't be long now. We are now SUB-FIVE HOURS from taxiing down the runway headed for Las Vegas!!! Just killing time, waiting for the Wolfe's to get here, and then it's off to the airport. Palms are sweaty, heart is racing, generally jittery. I'm ready. We're all ready! This is going to be a great trip, I can "feel" it. If I can get the Red Snappers in that "I can 'feel' it" zone of thinking, you just know it's gonna happen. How many of you have been busted out of an NDPT tournament by one of them when they called you on a friggin' FEELING! I rest my case.

Can't wait to visit the new Palazzo Casino, which I mis-understood/reported earlier in the blog. This is the latest/greatest addition to the strip. Another one of the uber decadent destinations that you just have to see. Today is the last day of their Grand Opening Event. So, I'm sure we're going to miss some of the beautiful people, but you never know who might be out and about.

Big Red's been scurrying around here, with more cleaning power than Mr. Clean! But I had sense enough to stay out of her way. I stuck to laundry...I was lucky that she didn't have me washing the curtains. But this is her vacation prep. It's all part of the system. We'll get her good and liquored up soon!

Like I said before, keep an eye on the blogs, I'll try to keep it up to date with commentary, pictures and video.

...tick tock...

Regards,

cheer_dad

DUDE...it's gettin' close!!!

I don't know if I've mentioned it lately (oh ya know darn well ya have) but it's almost time for VEGAS baby!!! Let me fire up the ole iGoogle countdown gadget and...

Hehe that'll put a smile on your face. Well at least on mine anyway. : ) I'm excited! So, is Big Red, she just doesn't know it yet. She's lucky to have me to prod her along.


I'm putting the finishing touches on our itinerary for the trip, which honestly has little bearing on what will actually happen, but it's always good for a few laughs, and maybe it'll give us a few ideas too. I do try to make it useful and include the times for a large number of daily tournaments that are taking place. I'll try to get it uploaded to the blog tomorrow, I promise. Stay tuned.


Still no absolute definitive answer on whether JR will be coming along for the trip though. "Uncle June" it won't be the same without you, but if you opt out of the trip, I do understand. And let me clear it up for all of you, it's got nothing to do with the lady in his life! Nikki's great and we all really like her. So put that idea out of your mind. Still buddy I gotta say it... hangin' drywall, playin' cards for 5 days straight. One more time, hangin' drywall...playin' cards. Yeah, hmmmm, that's a toughie! Seriously though, I get it and I admire the work ethic and the thinking ahead. Still, it's Vegas... and our BIRTHDAYS!!! : ) Okay, beating a dead horse.

"I kidding, I kidding why you not know joke!?!"


I've been grinding it out in a much different and less enjoyable way lately. I find myself not at the poker table but in CLASS. Argh! Earned Value Management, Project Management. It gives you that feeling in the pit of your stomach like watching your opponent hit his One-Outer on the friggin' river. Yeah, it's exactly like that. I hear long dormant brain cells screaming out in anguish, "DUDE, wtf, you're almost 40 what the hell are you trying to learn? For all you know these could be your twilight years." Hmmm, trying to be funny, and present myself with a cold hard reality. : ( Ouch, but it's okay, the dementia will soon take care of it for me.) Now where was I...


I've got to head out now to pick up my daughter from basketball, and taxi her to her next appointment. Big Red can she start drivin' YET!!!


Regards,


cheer_dad


P.S. pssssst JR ya hear that? it's VEGAS callin'!!!

Big Red shows how it's done...

Regards,

cheer_dad

Santa will be here soon!

I wanted to thank Frank and Julie for a great evening on Saturday. Getting together, eating drinking, playing games, and basically making with the merry is always a great plan. Red Snapper complaints that we could have been more organized are irrelevant. A good time was had by all. Thanks for hosting!

Tonight, we're heading over to the Brothers' house for Christmas Eve. They're rumoured to have picked up the delicious nectar Wild Turkey Liqueur thanks to one Mrs. Linsell! What was it 20 miles out of your way to pick it up. Muchos Gracias!!! Too bad after I drink enough of it, I won't be able to remember who brought it.

Just in time for the holidays our oven went on the fritz. I need one of these (ignitor) to make it work again. Of course NO ONE is open through the holidays who carries one of the little gizmos. BUT, I had no cooking plans in mind for the holidays, so I think we'll survive.

Of course, I will have to figure out to get the sucker out and the new one back in, but how bad could it be...right? Okay, dad's always waiting in the wings to lend a hand. If the ignitor's not the problem, the whole thing may end up in the back yard!

Frank sent me an invite to join up with this site, and it seems pretty cool, and I'll give anything a shot, so I signed up. Check it out for yourself! Tell 'em wvwolfie or cheerdad sent you. Hey if for no other reason, I signed up because they were hosting a private freeroll on UltimateBet, that was getting ready to start. I made it halfway through the tournament. I only remember two hands. The one that crippled me, when my AKos called a relative shortstack's all-in, after he got spanked on successive hands, and I knew he was a tilt monster. He turned over A8os. SWEET! Of course the 8 hit on the turn, and I got him back in the game, by handing over 575 chips. Then, I had to ratchet down and wait for a hand. On the big blind, I look down at pocket 8's, and push all-in, after a minimal raiser came in. He insta called with his pocket Q's, and he hit another to boot on the flop, so he sent me packing. That hand was a mistake on my part, but I was so short at that point, and I don't really think I was going to turn it around. Oh well, there'll always be another game. I honestly haven't played a lot of online poker as of late. I kinda miss it, but tis the season!

I'm hoping Big Red likes the present that I got her. Click the image, unless you're Big Red, in which case do not click til Christmas! If she doesn't I know I will, and Whitney's already let me know she plans on using it one way or the other. Anyway, I'll see many of you tonight, and we'll get in the holiday spirit with some holiday spirits! But, if I don't get to see you before Christmas, I wish you well, and hope Santa brings you everything that you wanted! Merry Christmas all you NDPT'ers, and visitors to the blog.

Regards,

cheer_dad