Sigh

Aw, so sad that as the World Series of Poker ends (or at least goes on the 4-month hiatus) visitors to the blog start dropping off. "Sigh..." I'll miss you all. To those of you who continue to wander through my musings thanks for stopping by and sharing time with me.

In my real world (at work) things seem to have settled down a bit, but I remain guardedly optimistic. I don't need someone dropping he proverbial garbage can on my head.

I'm still busy with Cole's football practice. We are still practicing 5 nights per week through this week. Next week (on Wednesday) the kids all head back to school so then, the boys will get some relief, with only 3 nights a week. But something else will no doubt fill the void.

Whitney is looking for a part-time job. She hopes becoming a wage slave will fill the hours spent last year cheering. Yes, kids the lil blond girl is NOT cheering this year. It's a long story and I won't dignify the coaches with a long drawn out explanation. You know whatcha did... and you know it was wrong... and my daughter stepped up and told you both to "get bent... I'll go my own way!" I'm proud of her. I'm proud of the effort she put into it all, over the years, but I guess the real lesson she's learned from me is that she doesn't have to take a lot of shit from anyone. Some... yes of course, life sometimes serves it up, but there is a limit to what any one of us should endure. Knowing that limit, and reacting appropriately when it is crossed defines one's character. And right now, my daughter stands tall and proud. I'm very proud of her, and the young woman she has become. Anyway, my apologies for the extended recap... wish her luck in finding a good job to earn a few bucks.

Don't forget POKER this Friday at the Eagles Aerie 2307, starting at 7:00pm. Registration begins at 6:00pm. $25 gets you in on the action. Cash games to certainly follow... Hope to see you all there.

Regards,

cheer_dad

Can I Still Call Her My Baby Girl?

If my daughter Whitney continues to grow up and become an exquisite young woman, can I still call her my baby girl? Regardless of whether I should... I will and you all know it! Not that I'm biased, but isn't she lovely? She is shown here preparing to head off to Parkersburg South Prom 2009, with the "boy-child" oh okay, he's boyfriend Jordan. Alright I'll cut him some slack too. He is quite the gentleman and a very nice young man. He didn't show up at the door to find me cleaning a gun or anything.


Here's another shot of Whitney along with one of her friends Lexi, also a very lovely young lady! They are shown here overlooking the Ohio River from Fort Boreman Park here in Parkersburg, WV. The building shown to the right (just above the stone wall) is the building in which I spend my workweek.

Finally, of all the pictures from the "pre-prom" posing, this one, I think is my favorite. Unrehearsed, without the pose, laughter, emotion captured. They're having a good time, and that's what it's all about, isn't it? There's not enough joy in the world, today... but I think my baby girl found it here in this moment of time.

I thought maybe some of you might relate. I thought I'd just take the time to show off my daughter, and share... a father's pride!


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

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

Stick shift... no big deal! : P

Super News!!!

Whitney can drive a STANDARD now!!! I took her out for her second lesson behind the wheel of her car today. I let her drive around in the same parking lot again for a while and then got her out on the street (with very little traffic) and get some more speed and as high as 3rd gear, before coming to a stop again. Then, after that went well, without many "stalled" attempts we did some more adventurous stuff. She even pulled into a parking spot, reverse, and even the dreaded taking off from a dead stop when your sitting on an incline! She did so well, that she got to drive us back home from the practice lot. Once she got out in the real world she thought less and less about the shifting and clutching process and just did it like she was an old pro. When we got home, I asked her with a somber/straight face, "so do you think you'll be able to learn to drive a standard now?" The smile and the laughter told the story! She knows she's got it now, and that given more time she'll only get better. I told her the most important thing is just not to panic, and just pay attention to the task at hand. I'm very proud of her, and glad that she's picked it up and doesn't feel frustrated about it anymore.

This will rank up there among some of the best father and daughter memories that I'll remember and try always to treasure. Great job baby girl!!!

Regards,

cheer_dad