Other things have been on my mind lately, so blog posts are coming less frequently. I have to admit to all of you that I have a severe addiction to No Limit Texas Hold'em poker. I don't know why now, but lately I've become obsessed with it. I've been interested in the game since I saw the movie Rounders years ago, but just never took the time to learn all of the ins and outs. Then a nobody accountant with a master's degree (sounds a little bit like me) named Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003. I knew I would have to learn how to play this game eventually.
Growing up I was always playing baseball, basketball, or football. In college it was football, rugby, and billiards. I had an outlet for my competitive nature. I haven't had that as an adult, because I don't have the desire or the hamstrings to play anything that's too physical. I like video games, but getting dominated by an 8 year old while playing Halo 2 is a humbling experience. So poker, it is. Poker it must be. Or maybe I'm just really bored waiting for football season to start up again. We'll find out I guess.
Micole got me a poker game for my Sony PSP for Christmas. I play it while riding on the bus to and from work. For a long time even though I played it daily, I still didn't understand all of the intricacies of the game. How much should you bet and when? What strategies don't I know? When is a good time to bluff? There are so many angles to the game. The game requires skill if you're going to have any chance to win in the long run.
I've been devouring books on the game for the last few weeks now. So after gaining years of knowledge on the subject in a matter of weeks, I entered my first No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament this past Sunday. Played pretty well, if I say so myself. I didn't win, didn't get any money. There's skill but luck is also involved. I put myself in a position to get lucky, but luck would not have it.
You see in a poker tournament, the betting structure for the tournament doubles every round so you start off betting a measly $5-$10 and suddenly 4 hours later you have to have bet $150-$300 in chips per round to stay alive. Increasing the minimum bets like that really speeds up the action. Every players starts off with $400 in chips, which I had steadily turned into $1050. We were nearing the end of the $150-$300 round and I knew I had to get some more chips if I were to have any chance in the next $300-$600 round. A guy went all in for $650. I looked at my cards, King-7 of hearts. Not a great hand, but I knew the other guy didn't have a great hand. He was in the same predicament as me. Either double up or die. Any two cards can win in Texas Hold'em.
I called him. He flips over Queen-Jack of clubs. I'm ahead a little better than a coin flip, about 54% to 44% with a small chance we can tie on a straight draw. The flop comes down 7-8-2 all black with one club. The odds now have me ahead 58-42. Next card is a club, so he could draw a flush and win, but I'm still favored to win by about 2 to 1. Final card comes down, Queen of spades. He's got the Queens to my 7's, I lose. Now I'm left with a small (read: tiny) stack of chips. I go all in on the very next hand and I lose. I really had no choice left but to go all in.
If I just get that hand, I make the final three tables with enough chips to do some damage. If I can get lucky one more time or get good cards, I have a good shot at making the final table and finishing in the money. If I could get lucky two to three more times I might even have won the whole thing. At work this week I find myself randomly muttering things like "I was a 2 to 1 favorite going into the last card!". So close, yet so far. It still stings. True, I could've played a little better and maybe I wouldn't have had to play it that way, but...but... there's another tournament with a $50 buy-in this Friday at the local American Legion. I hope to put that bad beat all behind me.
Baby cousins.
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Video SharingI blog tonight per Grandma Stella's specific instructions. I know I'm getting lazy with the blog, but like I said I now have another passion besides blogging. When they invent some neural computer typing Wi-Fi interface, I'll blog more because I'll just think about it and it'll be done. I seriously still think about lots of things I want to post. When I actually do sit down to blog, I suddenly forget everything I had in mind to blog.
Cooper, the 15 month old version of said child, gets into everything. That's nothing new of course, but I suppose I accept it more now. I try not to inhibit his rampant curiosity unless he's making too much of a mess or he has a high risk of severe electrocution. It is an interesting time around here to say the least.
He learns things so fast now. So much of it is simply accidental. Like last night he found a vacuum attachment. He put his mouth up to it and started screaming into it. Must've been the funniest thing I've ever seen him do.
Last week Micole got a little burn at the pool, so she had me put some aloe on her back. Cooper watched me squeeze the aloe onto my hands and rub it together and then he imitated the rubbing motion. The next day he had the bottle and was acting like he was putting it on his hands and then he rubbed them together. He picks up on things very quickly.
Micole asked Cooper yesterday if he loved his Mommy. He said "Yeah!" and then gave her a hug. She called me at work to tell me about it. When I got home I had to ask him if he loves his Daddy. It took a minute to get his attention, but he said "Yeah!" and then gave me a hug.
I'm sure there are things that have happened that I've forgotten about that I wanted to remember, but there's enough things to blog about. Each day Cooper's personality comes out a little more.
I'll dedicate my next post to Colton. I don't want to forget about the little guy, as if we can call him little. He's changing so fast.
Those are some puffy cheeks.
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Video SharingMicole yelled for me to bring the camera to get this shot.
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Video SharingMicole had to put him in this outfit before he outgrows it next week.
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Video SharingTake me to your leader.
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