Neighborhood Poker League Standings

The final results for the year. I made it to the Tournament of Champions, Yay!

The Ups and Downs of Poker

Kajagugu and I traveled a little north to 23skidoo's place Saturday night. We were joined by some fellow bloggers and out of town guests. I think I played very well until I made 1 big mistake when I was in a pot with Surflexus. I had just doubled my stack and probably shot to #2 or #3 with 7 of us left. The shorty pushes from early position with about 4 times the BB. I have A,Q offsuit and just call. Surf is in the BB and also calls. The flop comes out and I check, but Surf pushes. Hmmmmm. I had 2 overs to the board and a double gut shot for the straight. Calling and losing would take over half my stack, but winning it will put me in second for sure and we lose 2 players. I think for a while and finally call. Surf already has the lower straight and takes away one of my outs and the overs don't mean shit against his hand. I thought I was getting the right price to call, but that was incorrect because I didn't accurately take in to account what he was holding. It was a really bad call because I know Surf wouldn't do that unless he had a lock on the hand. I was lucky enough to still have enough chips to limp in to the money, but I shoulda done better. It was good to see Butch, Francase, Sham, Surley Poker Gnome, and Trips Bro. Congrats to "Doogie the Card Rack" for taking it down. He was kind enough to try to tip me for dealing when they were three handed. Since he is a regular at the PokerCatArena, I told him I'd just take it from him playing nickel / dime games later. At least my string of live game cashes continues.

We are about to have our last game of the Neighborhood Poker League for the year and I had the unfortunate task of letting some folks know that we no longer had room for everyone. I really hated doing this, but our game is getting too big and we had to cut those that weren't long standing "regulars" so we could still fit in the host's house. This finalized my decision that I won't be running the league for '08. I will still host games and will open the field up when I am the one hosting, but I have to respect the desires of others when I'm not hosting. I didn't enjoy being the "bad" guy though.

Good Run Lately

I wasn't able to do anything in my last neighborhood game, but since then, I'm cashing 4/4 this past week. It started with a good finish in the Mookie for a little scratch.



I followed this up with some single table action at Kaj's home game. I finished 1/9 in game 1 and 2/8 for game 2. I had a great time as usual and this is a game I look forward to every month. It's not just my success, but I also enjoy his neighbors. They're always good for some laughs.

My return to the Monkey Tuesday night netted me 3/9 for close to a double up on my buy-in. That was one of the longest 3 handed sessions I've ever seen. Since the chip leader was distracted with another tournament, you could do a ton of stealing but rch60 and I just kept swapping chips until I pushed with second pair against his trip Queens. Yay me!

Let's hope my Poker Mojo is still in full effect this weekend. Kaj and I are riding up to 23Skidoo's to meet with the other ATL bloggers. I am so stoked for this weekend. We've also got the last stop for our Neighborhood Poker League next week and maybe I can shore up some live poker funds to go in to the New Year.

I hope everyone had a great time in Vegas and I still have to catch up on the trip reports.

Just Add Alcohol

Wow, I was having a great time until I show up on someone's radar last night and get called out as a cheating wannabe (and I don't mean at poker.) Drunk or not, that was not cool at all. I meet some bloggers earlier in the year and make a congratulatory call later in the year to one and all of a sudden, I've got some drunk ex calling me out on the "radio." I guess it's a good thing I'm not heading out this weekend because apparently I'm after something outside of my marriage. What a raving idiot! From now on, I'll stick to calling Hoff about cars and leave comments on male blogs only. That's a shame. At least Smokkee was cool with me talking to Tina. Err, I guess he is.

A House Divided

Let me start with a little background information. I am an avid and emotional Clemson football fan. I have been since I was about 5 years old, which was about the same time I decided I was going to go to school at Clemson. I went to my first Clemson game at 8. My family got season tickets, and I was at every possible home game from that time until 4 years after I graduated from Clemson. I no longer have season tickets, but I still go to games when I can and always watch when they are televised. It is something I am very passionate about. Seriously. You have no idea unless you have witnessed it. I get so nervous I get sick to my stomach. I get so excited I can't contain myself. I get so pissed I want to throw things (and sometimes do). I know this isn't a pretty picture, but I am passionate about Clemson football. It is in my blood.

In 1998, the same year we were married, Clemson and Auburn met in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. This was the first time the two teams had played in decades, and it was right in our own backyard. Everyone assumed we would go to the game since our two teams were in it, but we knew better. We didn't want to pay $100 plus for a guarantee that one of us was going to be on the losing end and unhappy. We watched from the comfort of our apartment and since we were newly married, I tried to be on my best behavior. I guess I didn't scare him away because Clemson lost, and we're still together.

Well, here we are almost ten years later and once again Clemson and Auburn will be battling in Atlanta in what is now the Chick-fil-A bowl. Over the years that we have been married, I have become an Auburn fan, and Brian has become a Clemson fan. We always pull for each other's school. We have common enemies that we love to hate. We are two tigers in a house united... until December 31, 2007. Our house will be divided. Two tigers fighting til the death. Well, maybe that's a bit strong, but you get the picture. It's not going to be a good New Year's Eve in the tiger household. We're going to be routing against each other. Dundee is going to have to choose a side. No, it's not going to be pretty. All I can say is Clemson better win!

Good Weekend for Poker

The neighborhood got together for a game Saturday night and we were joined by Surflexus and 23Skidoo. Thanks again for coming out fellas. I was much more relaxed at this game. Since the host had us pretty much set up and I wasn't needed as TD too much during the game, I was back to enjoying poker. I didn't cash, but I'm pretty sure I secured enough points to make our Tournament of Champions in January.

Katitude introduced me to the Sunday BritBloggerment tournament. I like the timing, Sundays at 4, and the 5.50 buy-in is great for the budget. I had one huge suckout that kept me from being eliminated, but otherwise I think I played well and took 2nd. It was a long heads up match with HullJimi and we exchanged the chip lead more than a dozen times.




To all of you that are heading to Vegas this week, have a great time and I'm jealous as all get out. I look forward to reading the trip reports.