I Can't Believe I Ate The Whole Thing!

Well, the indomitable Sir Al Can't Hang has managed to convince a site to let us silly poker bloggers toss some fake chips around again!

Details are at his site, so I imagine anyone reading this has already read that, but that don't mean I can't point you in that direction.

The only issue for me is that it's this Saturday. I will be kicking back with a beer in hand on a gorgeous deck overlooking a beautiful lake in scenic Quebec cottage country at that time. Or I'll be in a hot tub. There's the small possibility I'll be prepping some German Potato Salad or Strawberry-Rhubarb Galettes at the time too, but those will more likely come later.

Point being, I won't be within easy access of a computer. But if I can get this going in some way, I'll be there to play terrible, terrible poker.

Because a cruise wouldn't suck.

After a disappointing home-game, saved only by a spur-of-the-moment winner-take-all second tournament that saw me break even, I came in a bit late for the BBT5 Invitational last night.

And promptly won back my blinded-away chips, doubled the initial stack, tripled it, and nearly quadrupled it over the next two hours.

I was getting hit hard in the face by the cardbat.

JJ, QQ, JJ, QQ, KK, mid-pair set, AK, AK, flush, etc, etc..

Was winning hands all over the place. Taking chips and names. Even the shit I folded would have won with top-two, flopped straights, and the like.

And then KK ran into AA, and I was done.

Not sure if it would have played any differently, regardless of how I played it.

I raised, got re-raised to around 2.5k. I had around 8k in my stack after having to hand some chips back to someone earlier. To test for aces, I'd have to put in 5k, and then what? Fold the last 3k if re-re-raised?

Or call and NOT get it all-in on a disconnected raggy flop? No ace or connecting anything came on the turn or river either, so I'd have been pot-committed the whole way I think.

No, I think I was going broke there anyway. Especially since I had been hit by a solid case of the run-goods to that point, and was supremely overconfident.

So out 36th... damn.

Poker from the Rail tonight? Methinks... yes.

Wow, that might have been the worst game of poker I've played in forever.

Card death? Let's see if I recall the decent starting hands.

KK won the blinds
88 won a small pot on the flop
22 was folded and missed a flopped set, but would have been crushed on turn flush
AK won blinds
AQ won blinds
AJ won a small pot

It didn't help that Joanne had position on me for most of the night, and she's taken to floating me to the turn and then popping me on the river. I'd stop her, except that (a) She's generally got something and (b) I usually have nothing when she does this. I think she's got the BDR superuser account tuned to me.

Couldn't get anything going. When I'd take a stab with air, I'd end up with multiple players. Position meant nothing with the crap I had and terrible boards that came. I think I folded all of ONE terrible hand that would have caught a winner.

In fact, I was lucky with my folds. I folded a bunch of hands that I might have considered for play, that flopped monsters and would have been killed by bigger ones.

But nothing going. Never above starting stack, never an opportunity to chase people away. Just awful.

And out 47th or so of 96.

Congrats to Tripjax for taking it down. Well-deserved sir. Now try and do it on a bigger screen.

See you Sunday. I'll be fresh from a home game, so I should be raring to go.

It's really not that hard to spell people.

The Mookie is tonight! In all its Mookieliciousness! It's Mooktastic! Mookerrific! Un-be-mookin'-lievable!

10pm ET, Full Tilt, private tournaments, pw: vegas1, yadda, yadda.

Anybody remember Mookie Wilson? Anybody other than Torontonians remember when he played for the Jays and was a fan favourite here? Yah, he wasn't always a Met.

/Tangent.

Okay, so my major problem in the BBT5 has been building enough of a chipstack to make a serious run in the middle-late stages. Making the final table with 1/2 the average is no way to win.

So why do I keep doing this? Because I'm not taking enough shots early on? Not paying enough attention to my opponents' moves? Just being card dead at the wrong times?

Probably all of those, plus lapses in positional awareness, and fear of the slowplay. I usually fall prey to chasing the wrong hand at least once and then having to walk away on the river when I've got a steaming pile of nothing.

So I've been prepping by playing a few games that I couldn't care less about. $1 SnG's. Some with regular blind levels, some super-turbos. The goal? To push around some players who I can be relatively confident aren't doing anything more than playing the cards in front of them.

No, I'm not saying all the bloggers follow this pattern. I'd hope that by now there's been some evolution. But it's to drive up my aggression and confidence a bit. This isn't a "raise or fold" experiment, but an exercise in table domination. The goal of these game is to grab a choke hold of the table and not let go. To strike fear into the other players. In the rare occurrence I run into another alpha at my table, I play with other strategies.

So far, so good. Let's see if it pays some dividends.

I fully expect to find myself at a table with every semi-pro big-game playing blogger in our group tonight... in which case, I'll just peddle some nuts.

Out 7th in the Poker From the Rail game. So I'm back to my highest finish in this series so far. 3 final tables, 2 min cashes, that's 5 cashes, no seats.

This wasn't a great game by me. I had a few moments of desperation aggression that worked out, but generally played cards, and won little.

I need to get out that rut.

Because I was the short stack when I went out. If I'd built up some damned chips, I'd still be playing, as I was taken out by the next shortest. Of course, it was T7h turning a flush that beat my pocket Jacks.

Mookie Wednesday. Let's see if I improve over the last time I finished 7th...

18th. Again.

At least the BBT5 has been cheap for me.

Last night was a tale of mediocrity, and ended as it should, with a mediocre finish.

I was playing a pretty tight game early on, and unfortunately had a table that respected that. Meaning that I didn't pull off much when I had the goods. How tight? Well, I folded KK to Joanada when she kept calling me down and then put out a good-sized bet after a flopped ace.

An otherworldly suckout against 1QueensUp1 with Q2h vs 55 on a Q53 flop gave me some real chips (runner-runner hearts), only to have James McManus take a chunk of my chips and move tables.

But I aggro'd my way back to a respectable position after that, only to then hit a run of counter-aggression from my table that led to me backing off for a bit.

After that, I never really got things going again, and the blinds caught up to me. I was ready to shove a few times, but not against other aggressors or with cards like 94o. KTc won me blinds and antes, and AJo ran square into McManus' AKo to KO me in 18th. MCMANUUUUUUUUSSSS!!!!

Seriously, loved the book, hated the being knocked-out. I believe I now have to send him a t-shirt.

Did I play badly? Not necessarily... but I played safely. Which was odd, because I was more focused on this game than any previous ones. No TV, no other games, no photo editing... just the game.

I need to adjust my mentality a bit too. I usually try to get to the late game with an around-average stack, and then play for first. I think I'll need to play for 1st from hand one now.

I'll try and fix that tonight in the Poker From The Rail game. Full Tilt, $26, 10pm ET, pw: 2010WSOP.

I'm exhausted today. Why? Because I in a foul mood for hours after the PftR game last night.

The evening started off poorly when I tried to get rush tickets to a doc I really wanted to see. My own stupid last minute change in plans and lack of compensating for the extra time resulted in my being too far back in line to have a chance. But I stuck it out anyway. Kicking myself on the walk back, I figured I'd soothe my mood by picking up some quality food if the Healthy Butcher was open. Nope, missed it by half an hour.

I cabbed it the rest of the way, and opted to turn just over a pound of ground elk into spaghetti sauce.

Caramelized some onions, softened up some yellow pepper and zucchini, all with a bit of salt and a mix of fats (vegetable oil, olive oil, butter, garlic oil, and bacon fat). Added garlic just before tossing in some ground star anise, and then browning the elk with it all. Shake some fish sauce on top (mmmm... umami), ground coriander seed, and more salt. Some canned tomatoes were added to the mix with dried oregano, smoked paprika, and a bit of cayenne. Bring to a simmer. Taste, added a mix of green peppercorns, black peppercorns, cubeb pepper, white peppercorns that were mortar and pestled. A splash of hot sauce, some spicy sundried tomato hemp pesto, and a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce finished it off.

It was delicious, and served on some barolo-infused pasta that my best friend got me ages ago and gently reminded me I'd never opened. Also delicious.

Having cooked some tasty, I was back in a happy place, 10 minutes before game time.

I sat down, and on the 3rd hand I saw KJo. Buddydank put a standard raise out and I called in position.

Flop comes KdJdx. Okay, top 2. Buddy bets, I raise, and he calls.

Turn comes 3d. Buddy checks, I bet, and he thinks and pushes. I have BDR on, and he's talking about how he's putting me to the test here. I review the hand so far, and figure there's no what he turned a flush. The talk on the radio is obviously meant to make me think he's weak. But I figure he's fairly strong here. Knowing it's Buddy, I put him on AK and make the call, and am willing to go home now if he's got AKd.

He shows AdAx. Stronger than I thought, but for all intents and purposes, the same thing. Before I can say "here we go" the 4th diamond hits the river, giving Buddy the 4-flush and sending me to the rail as Gigli.

Sure, it was the first level, and I could have folded on the turn, but you have to go with your reads, or why bother playing? If I win there, Buddy's gone, I'm the chipleader 3 hands in, and I can loosen up BIG TIME and maybe build a significant chipstack early on. I can't be pissed with Mr. Dank, but I can be plenty upset about the river. And I was.

This hand covered everything I needed to do to up my game in this tournament. Trusting my reads, making a good one, and being aggressive. I just needed a touch more luck, and I'm off to the races. In the end, if you get the money in good, and the river kills you, that's poker.

Still, I was back to a foul mood. So I fired up Arkham Asylum and beat the crap out of Joker's goons. Then I quit and played angry super turbo SnG's. The $5 one didn't go so well, but I was HU in the $10 one before the 25/50 level was over. Properly revenged on poker, I called it a night.

Except when I hit the pillow, I couldn't sleep. Bad moods will do that. At some point, exhaustion won. Still, today's looking to be a foggy one.

18th.

9th.

7th.

My finishes from the last three BBT5 events I've played. I missed The Mookie last week, but my finishes have continued to crawl upwards with the Invitational last night.

Card rack? Maybe. AA 3 or 4 times. KK 3 times I think. A few AK in there too. Thing is, only a couple of those got paid.

One big suckout where 66 > 99 kept me alive at a key point.

Other than that? I tended to stay ahead of the blinds and upped the aggression in a few spots. But I fell behind in the wrong places. Near the final table bubble, and then with 8 left when I ran AQd into AKo. I should have really been pushing it after that, but just couldn't pull the trigger on hands like 83o and KTo with action before me.

I finally went down with A8o on the button running into the BB's AK. Unimproved for both = IGH.

I know what I have to do to step it up, and will aim to do so. But I'm not going to win anything unless I can get paid more on my big hands.

Tonight's the Poker From The Rail game. I'm already signed up, but there's a slim possibility my blinds will be up for grabs.

We're five games into the BBT5, and I'm showing a profit, but still without a ToC seat.

I've steadily improved as the series has progressed, both in terms of horseshoe powers and actual poker. I've rarely played a hand I couldn't justify (yes, even KO'ing Riggs with 89o.) I still need to up the aggression at key times, and need the odd "bounce" to go my way, but I like where I'm heading.

Sunday say me cash in 18th place, for a $36 profit. Last night's Poker From The Rail (which, when shortened to PftR reads like "poofter"... sorry, it had to be said, but does not reflect on Reverend Al, who is still da man) game saw me KO'd in 8th.

Last night was a case of lost races, bad position, and good decisions that had poor results.

AQ lost a couple races, including my final one. J9s on the button with a short stack isn't great, but enough to make me pause for thought. Until someone goes in before me. Of course, I would have won the hand and tripled up, but I can always console myself with good decisions, right? Right?

When I hit a few runs of cards, I got mostly blinds, or boards that crushed me. QQ looks great until you're up against an all-in and the chipleader. A9 won that hand, but I was smart enough to get out of the way before it cost me more than the cost of the flop. JJ went down to AA for a solid chunk of my stack, and I never really recovered from that one.

But my biggest problem was the guy to my left. Hoy, the eventual winner of last night's match, was there for the last half of the game. This wasn't such a big deal when our stacks were the same size. It became a problem as he built up a mountain of chips.

Hoy may lead you to believe he played only quality hands. In reality, he used his chipstack wisely. He made a few calls with suited connectors, A-rag, and other hands that he would have folded if the bets he was calling were any sort of threat to his stack. But they were catching. He also applied pressure at any sign of weakness. I can think of at least twice where he bet to put me all-in on the river and I was POSITIVE he was weak, but I was still weaker, so I had to let it go. Nor could I be sure I could have pushed him off whatever he had if I'd gone all-in before him. 9k vs 50k isn't really a contest in that case.

This position kept me from being too aggressive, and from being able to tell any sort of story that could get me a fold. Without cards, you have to rely on selective aggression and convincing your opponents you have them beat. Especially when you've got just enough chips to have some fold equity.

But a final table and back-to-back cashes ain't so bad. Here's hoping I keep the streak going. I'm not sure I'll make The Mookie this week, so I'll have to drag out that momentum a bit longer.

BBT5 Event #3 is tonight - Das Mookensteiner! I bombed out of the PftR game on Monday, and haven't really been playing optimal poker lately.

By "lately", I mean for the past year.

But I played a $5 rush tournament and the $35k last night, so I should be well-practiced for tonight! Right? Right?

I expect we'll see a big turnout. Full Tilt. $11. 10pm EST. Password: vegas1.

I also expect to be in the right state of mind. I've got a few chores to knock off post-work, tasty leftovers that are easily reheated for dinner, and by the time 10 rolls around, I should be ready to kick back with no worries and focus on the game.

I expect to gigli the thing,

The BBT5 kickoff was last night, and I went down somewhere in the 20's. I'd blown my load of good cards early on, and had neither the cards nor the balls to build a stack afterwards. But hey, I had fun and it didn't cost me a dime, how can I complain?

Tonight is event numero dos - The Poker From the Rail game. 10pm, $26. Much like Mondays at the Hoy from back in "the day", this has the potential to be a great tournament. A noticeable amount of cash invested, and a ToC seat for the winner only. Lots of people playing to win, myself included.

Be there - 10pm, Full Tilt, PW: 2010WSOP

Don't have $26? Go play a token game to win your way in for $8 and change.

If you haven't checked out Al's post with all the details yet... you should.

$50,000 in prizes. 3 WSOP Main Event packages! A whack (that's a lot... about $14,000 worth or so) of $2000 freerolls and bracelet race packages!

I'll be doing my damndest to make every tournament. That would include the invitationals on Sundays @ 7, The Poker From the Rail games on Mondays at 10, and of course, the venerable Mookie on Wednesdays at 10.

I'm actually most stoked about the new Monday games. I've long lamented the loss of The MATH tournaments and their $26 buy-ins. The higher price brings with it a smaller field and better play than the $11 Mookie (but I still love the Wednesday staple). The Sunday games could turn out to be some of the most interesting though.

And the best part? This starts this Sunday and end in just over a month! No 3 months of slogging through fields. No points-whoring. It's quick, and you have to win to get in to the ToC.

I bombed big time in the last BBT after 3 consecutive ToC appearances. I intend to get back into the groove on this one. So be wary of my pre-flop raises (it means Aces), and turn check-raises (also means Aces).

Yah... I'm pumped for this!

And once again - Al is da man.

I failed to make it into the TOC for BBT4. First time in 4 BBTs I didn't manage to get spot. In fact, this was by far my worst performance in these series to date.

I'm pretty sure I have nobody to blame but myself. I generally played too weak-tight. True, I was also fairly card dead, seemed to have my cards face-up most of the time (I'd play a hand one way, and everyone would fold, I'd play another hand the exact same way and get 3 callers and a re-raiser, but that's poker). The thing is, I think I played alright yesterday, but QQ < KK in the end. Hell, I even folded KK pre-flop when every bone in my body screamed I was being lured into AA. Don't know if Lightning36 wants to confirm that or not though. Yah, like I said, weak-tight... even Don's got more balls than me.

I made it home just in time to be 1 minute late for the late registration for the Brit Game earlier in the day. The home game only had 6 people turn out, and I went out in 3rd. Dammit.

I went out somewhere in the teens in The Big Game Mulligan when I stopped caring and just wanted to get some sleep. Having the split flopped straight with TBA go down to his rivered 4-flush kinda took out what little wind was in my sails at the time.

So all-in-all, a shitty Sunday for poker. The flu I had all weekend (and still have) didn't help matters either.

But still, a huge THANK YOU to AlCantHang for putting this whole clusterfuck together for us unworthy degenerates. I sincerely hope that whichever two donkeys take down the WSOP ME packages USE them for their intended purpose - to PLAY IN THE WSOP!

I have just enough left in my FT account to cover the Skillz game tonight and the Big Game on Sunday. Man, did I ever stink up the last couple months. I could have taken the roll I'd built up in the beginning of the year and given it to a crack addict so at least someone was having fun.

PPI/Riverchasers last night sucked. At least the menonite-style sausage with carmelized onions, baked sweet potato fries, and tomato and cucumber salad was good.

I'll likely make The Mookie on Wednesday too (because I'll reload), but am kind of hoping I miss it due to other plans. I doubt that will happen though.

And barring a colossal ousting from the regular home game on Sunday (the one I dominated last year, but have missed the first 3 of this year), I'll miss the Brit Game.

So that means 2 or 3 chances left for yours truly to make the TOC. My chances at taking down the Skillz tonight (Stud - Full Tilt, 9:30pm ET, pw: skillz) are minimal, but stranger things have happened. Taking down The Big Game wouldn't be the first time I won my seat in the last event (also a Big Game).

I don't even know if I CAN go to the WSOP (but if I won, I'd try my damndest), but I haven't missed a TOC yet, and I really don't want to start.

The Mookie was last night, and I may as well have not signed up.

Let's backtrack a bit.

My condo's annual general meeting was last night. I was on the fence if I wanted to go or not, as there were no major issues being brought up, no items that needed voting on other than a building rep, and I generally don't like the meetings and the endless bitching. The only thing I'd have to contribute would be my usual call for a green bin program or some means of dealing with organic waste other than tossing it out with the rest of the trash. (FYI - Toronto has a city-wide organic waste collection program, but older condos and apartments haven't been forced to abide by it yet for various logisitical reasons).

In the end, I stalled until my mind would be made up for me. Then my brother called from the street below, ensuring that I wouldn't be going as he wanted to stop by and kill some time. We watched Cecil get demolished in the 5th by Boston (4 home runs in one inning? There's a post in there), and he left around 9.

Thing is, I had originally wanted to get a few things done if I didn't go to the meeting. There were some chores that needed doing, and the ingredients for a lemon meringue pie coming up on expiry. After he left, I decided the pie was the important item on the list.

So I got to work on that around 9:15, figuring it wouldn't take too long, as I already had the dough made and the rest was fairly easy. 10:00 and The Mookie rolled around and the crust was pre-baking while the filling and meringue ingredients were just being assembled. I opted to sit out and work on the pie.

I checked in from time to time, saw I'd been fairly card dead, and got back to work. It's no secret that cooking and baking relax me. I may get stressed during the process, but it's a pressure I enjoy as things come together. Once the break rolled around, the pie was in the oven and I was relaxed, albeit surrounded by a messy kitchen.

I decided to split playing and dishwashing, sliding between laptop and sink as my cards showed up. This isn't anything new, as The Mookie, especially in the first hour or two, doesn't really reward complicated play.

The problem was that since I'd been auto-folding for an hour, it apparently created a tight image. I saw KK, AA, and a few A-face and suited paint that I decided were worth a raise, and got nothing but blinds. My stack was far from healthy, and a few necessary laydowns hurt it more. In the end, my AK flopped top pair while the 77 I was against flopped a set. Another A on the river didn't really help any, and IGH.

Oddly, there was only a tweak of caring. I was upset that I'd wasted a BBT4 TOC shot so needlessly, but I was in a good place. The poker had been terrible on my part, and rushed, but the mess around me was clean and the cause of that mess was cooling on my counter.

And tonight I'm going to one of my favourite places for food and beer before watching three of the funniest guys on the planet go acoustic with songs like "Old Joe's Place", "Break Like the Wind", "Stonehenge", "Never did no Wanderin'", "Bitch School" and others from the Folksmen/Spinal Tap catalogues.

This weekend will be spent sipping wine while eating food paired to it, spotlighting fresh herbs in one the more picturesque areas of my province.

Can I really get upset about donating $11? Besides, Smokkee won again, shrinking that TOC field even more. Every time a seatholder wins another spot, I want in even more.

Al seems to have caused confusion with yesterday's post. For those that missed his correction - there are TWO weeks of tournaments left, meaning 7 games.

The other issue is the Big Game, I'm pretty sure it's NEXT Sunday, no? The 31st? I don't have access to a Full Tilt client to check, but that's when it was scheduled. Then the TOC the week after that. I'm pretty sure the plan was to end with The Big Game...

In case you're panicking that there's only 3 shots left and have to win that token before Sunday.

Mookie tonight! Full Tilt, 10pm ET (9pm CT, 8pm MT, 7pm PT), pw: vegas1. 7 shots at BBT4 TOC seat left! Chances of me making the Brit game on Sunday are below slim, so only 6 shots for yours truly.

Skillz went horribly last night... largely because I had a huge case of "meh" going on and didn't give a rat's ass. Oh, and because my trip aces with a better kicker got riverboated.

Tonight? Condo general meeting, which is always aggravating and boring at the same time. At least they're not installing 800k worth of A/C on the roof this year. I should probably open and read the package sometime. Mookie after that, and I may, possibly, be riled up.

Jays lose 2-1 to the Red Sox last night. Pitcher's duel, with Wakefield coming out on top... barely. Tallet continues to impress.

Wings go up 2-0 in the series against the Hawks. Chicagoans, ask yourself honestly - can the Hawks win 4/5 against Detroit?

Speaking of Chicago - I've got an invite to head down that way in June or July for a weekend with a bunch of friends. Still debating if I can swing the time. There's also the possibility of a weekend at a cottage closer to home which is slightly more appealing (nothing against Chi-town, I just like relaxing next to a lake with beer, and seldom get the chance)... I'd ideally like to swing both.

Spinal Tap/The Folksmen - Unwigged and Unplugged tomorrow night! Should be a good show... Tap acoustic could be interesting, no idea how you turn an acoustic performance up to 11.

I've been playing around with High Dynamic Range (HDR) a fair bit these days, some might say too much. But then again, I don't go to the completely unrealistic extremes some do out there. For some reason, I particularly like this shot. It's right on that border of hyper-real and looking computer generated. I like the almost bump-mapped look of the pavement too.



Alright, enough ramblin' for now.

It was a long weekend up here in Canadia, where we celebrate the roving birthday of a long-dead lady with a crown. It seems she celebrated it every May, on the last Monday before the 25th.

I love long weekends. Who doesn't? Workoholics I guess, but I never acquired a taste for workohol.

A lot of home PC work filled up my weekend, but now my friend's computer is running well again, and mine is feeling fresh and error-free. Nothing like a format and reinstall to fix what ails ya.

BBQ on Sunday was uneventful, but involved copious amounts of food and fireworks.

I also now have one of these, which of course means I'm trying out a bunch of homemade soda syrup recipes. So far, cream soda is a piece of cake, and I'm tempted to pick up a few oils to try a cola. I was rather annoyed when I found out that even the non-diet syrup options from the company had a whack of articifical sweetners. Simple syrup is your friend (2:1 sugar to water, boiled and cooled).

I almost forgot about the Riverchasers game last night, since it was a long weekend and "Monday" didn't register. But I signed up, and got annoyed.

I jumped up early with a river suckout when I misread wwonka's hand terribly (he had two pair, I put him on air, but rivered the set). After that, I maintained with selective aggression, but when I made the right moves - isolating with the best hand, drawing in weaker hands, etc. - I got nailed by the RNG. At one point I was down to 850 chips and 25th place out of 25, but I got 3 successive pairs (33, KK, 77) that held up or scared away opponents to get back in the race. In the end, I got in with AQ vs KJ and the rivered J bubbled me out in 10th.

Story of my week in poker. It's enough to make one thing decision-based poker can kiss one's ass.

Limit Hold'em tonight in the Skillz Game, 9:30pm ET, Full Tilt, password: skillz. I'll be there, and I plan to chase every draw I can. I think there are but 8 games left in BBT4, and there have been plenty of multiple winners to thin the TOC herd. I really want a spot in that.

Oh - and an unoriginal thought re: the economy to finish this off. The phrase "worst economic crisis since The Great Depression" is tossed around less now, as people keep trying to fool everyone into thinking we're pulling out of it (we're not). Please bear in mind this: The Great Depression ended with WWII. The reason it did was because the majority of European and Asian industry had been literally destroyed. Factories bombed, cities levelled. North & South America were relatively untouched, and as such were the ONLY providers of manufactured goods and aid in the world. There's a tiny fraction of that production capability in industrialized nations now, and the US hasn't actually been a producer of things in years. So how do you pull yourself out of this one?

... is to have something to focus on. Without a goal, there isn't much sense to be made of the steps.

And I realized today that this was part of what I was missing in my recent poker play. Sure, I WANT to win, but I was really aiming for that. I was playing to stay alive until I got lucky and doubled up and then went back to survival.

Poker isn't unlike stereograms. If you look at the picture itself, you just see a scrambled mess of dots, and perhaps see some vague pattern. But if you focus beyond the picture, the image pops into view. I've been looking all around, straining to see the final product, without letting all that blur while staying fixated on the goal at hand.

Tonight, I'll sit down at The Mookie with 1st place in my sights from moment one. I expect to be out around moment two.

5-1 Jays win last night. Halladay dominating. Burnett losing control at exactly the right times, and the good guys capitalizing. A-Roid showing what a weak 3rd baseman he is. 43,737 fans yelling, "Yankees/A-Roid/AJ sucks!" repeatedly throughout the night while going apeshit for the Jays. A full-stadium wave going around 4 or 5 times.

12,500 same-day walk-ups for the game. There were seats filled in sections I forgot they had open.

If the Jays keep winning, this could be the game that kicks off the resurgence of their popularity in this town. I haven't heard a crowd this loud in the Dome since the back-to-back years in the 90's (okay, the 20k fan that were in attendance when Fernandez hit a late-game grand slam on his retirement tour came close, but that was only for the slam, not the whole game). Helluva time. And this was a TUESDAY game!

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I hope everyone's watching the NHL playoffs. 3 game sevens in round 2. Washington-Pittsburgh tonight, then Detroit-Anaheim and Boston-Carolina tomorrow. This is some serious hockey, and possibly the best overall playoffs I've seen. Gotta pull for Detroit and Boston to win their games. Chicago-Detroit in the Western finals? Boston-Detroit/Chicago in the cup? Those are some sweet matchups.

And I find myself cheering for Pittsburgh in the other game, not entirely sure why.

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It's Wednesday - that means Las Mookie tonight - Full Tilt, 10pm ET, pw: vegas1. BBT4 is winding down, and I've been playing terribly. I'll still be throwing my $10+1 at the game tonight, but I suck, so I doubt much will come of it.