A valuable lesson learned last night. I was officiating a freshman boys basketball game. Team A lead Team B 38-36 with 6.5 seconds to go. I handed the ball in to Team A knowing there was going to be a quick foul. He throws it in, there's the foul, and I raise my fist and start blowing....problem? The whistle is not in my mouth! It won't make any noise that way. What an embarrassing feeling...we were able to correct the clock and the game finished reasonably. Sigh...
I'm loving officiating. I think I am doing pretty good calling the game. I just need to be more confident in my calls and I still need to continue to get my mechanics cleaned up. I think the coaches pick up on my hesitancy in my calls at times. Obviously, in my mind anyway, I need to work on my communication with the coaches as well. I notice as I work higher up the ladder that the coaches are a lot more vocal and demonstrative. They have a passion for the game as do I; I just need to make sure that I stay on an even keel and not let their "excitement" affect what I am doing.
As for Poker, our league just played our Main Event. 40 minute blind levels and 107,000 in chips on the table (10 guys). We had a ton of fun. I took a few bad beats, including the last hand (trips on the turn vs 2 pair, all-in; 2-outer full house on the river...) and got down to 1200, but fought my way back to 2nd before the 2 outer hit...I'm 0-5 in that tournament which really bugs me, but this was my best finish and I think I played really well. A couple of breaks, as opposed to runner runner beats, and I may have very well crushed the tournament.
One hand, I felt I set up really well. I limped in early position with 9/10 offsuit (yes that sounds stupid, but keep reading); I believe the blinds were still 50/100 (I probably started the hand with 10,000). One of the more aggressive players in our league raises to 300, 2 people call in front of me, so I feel like I am getting decent odds to call, so I do; there is one more caller. Flop is J Q 4. Checks all around. 4 of us still in to the turn. 7. Check, Check...hmmm...I bet 600, my follower calls and the other two players fold. River is an 8. Bingo! I'm trying to come up with a bet that he will call and put 700 out there. He thinks about it and says "All in." I check to make sure there are no flush possibilities or that I missed something and basically insta-call. He says "I got the straight." I say "So do I, we must be splitting." Nope, he had 5 6. He was very surprised by what I had. I believe he thought I had KQ or QJ. Tough hand for him as he was the host and he was out about an hour and 10 minutes in...
Anyway, that's about all I have. There were some other hands, but I don't want to just talk about my bad beats. On a side note, IU gets their two big guys back for the Butler game this Saturday, Hanner Perrea-Mosquera and Peter Jurkin. IU just got deeper! Mark my words: Jeremy Hollowell is going to go off some game this season for like 20-25 points and people are going to wonder where that came from. This kid is a stud.
Bum
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Officiating and Such
I read my last post again and, wow, I was a bit angry. I'm not saying it wasn't the truth, cause it was, but still it was pretty aggressive.
Anyway, high school basketball has started, which means I have started officiating again. I'm really enjoying it again. I have officiated 12 games to this point and I have 7 more games this week. I officiated my first boys game last week and as I have often said "somebody is going to get the first T." I didn't hand out a T all of last season. I should have, but I didn't. Well, I call a jump ball and 20 seconds afterwards (after the ball has rolled away from the 2 players) one of players jacks the other one back down onto the floor. Whistle, T. Then he comes over and says, "What did I do?" Really? I told him what he did and then I said "you know exactly what you did. Get away from me." I explain it to the coach and move on. It wasn't near as dramatic as I had anticipated. I was talking to one of the parents after the game from the same team as Mr. T. and I said, "I hated called that T." He said, and it meant a lot to hear this from a fan, "it was a good call right there." Nothing more than that. It was really nice to hear that.
To this point, I am only working Middle School, Freshman and some JV games (this is my 2nd year). I am very anxious to move up the ladder and see how far I can go with this. But, I need to make sure that I don't move up too soon. I gotta make sure I have my mechanics down and that I learn how to properly interact with the coaches first. It's hard to wait, but I'm enjoying learning. I have 3 Freshman Boys games this week and then my first JV Boys game this Friday.
My son ran 17:38 this Saturday at the Footlocker Midwest Regionals to set a personal best in the 5K. I was so happy for him as he has worked so hard. It was great to see the joy on his face that showed that all that work was paying off.
Poker? Eh...won my league again, but I was so blitzed that night that I can't really tell you much about it. I know that I had the nuts (and that I practically told the caller what I had) on the hand that I went out on (against my follower...) but he caught runner runner to beat me. Oh well, I am not sure I could have survived that tournament without making everyone mad anyway... :)
Otherwise, I have been watching IU basketball and boy do they have a depth of talent that I doubt any other team in the nation has. And, they are only going to get deeper! 3 games from now IU gets 2 of their big men back (6-8 and 7-0 Freshman) and sometime this month they get Elston back. Wow, where are all the minutes going to come from???
Anyway, high school basketball has started, which means I have started officiating again. I'm really enjoying it again. I have officiated 12 games to this point and I have 7 more games this week. I officiated my first boys game last week and as I have often said "somebody is going to get the first T." I didn't hand out a T all of last season. I should have, but I didn't. Well, I call a jump ball and 20 seconds afterwards (after the ball has rolled away from the 2 players) one of players jacks the other one back down onto the floor. Whistle, T. Then he comes over and says, "What did I do?" Really? I told him what he did and then I said "you know exactly what you did. Get away from me." I explain it to the coach and move on. It wasn't near as dramatic as I had anticipated. I was talking to one of the parents after the game from the same team as Mr. T. and I said, "I hated called that T." He said, and it meant a lot to hear this from a fan, "it was a good call right there." Nothing more than that. It was really nice to hear that.
To this point, I am only working Middle School, Freshman and some JV games (this is my 2nd year). I am very anxious to move up the ladder and see how far I can go with this. But, I need to make sure that I don't move up too soon. I gotta make sure I have my mechanics down and that I learn how to properly interact with the coaches first. It's hard to wait, but I'm enjoying learning. I have 3 Freshman Boys games this week and then my first JV Boys game this Friday.
My son ran 17:38 this Saturday at the Footlocker Midwest Regionals to set a personal best in the 5K. I was so happy for him as he has worked so hard. It was great to see the joy on his face that showed that all that work was paying off.
Poker? Eh...won my league again, but I was so blitzed that night that I can't really tell you much about it. I know that I had the nuts (and that I practically told the caller what I had) on the hand that I went out on (against my follower...) but he caught runner runner to beat me. Oh well, I am not sure I could have survived that tournament without making everyone mad anyway... :)
Otherwise, I have been watching IU basketball and boy do they have a depth of talent that I doubt any other team in the nation has. And, they are only going to get deeper! 3 games from now IU gets 2 of their big men back (6-8 and 7-0 Freshman) and sometime this month they get Elston back. Wow, where are all the minutes going to come from???
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
What a Day....
Well, despite Florida still being up in the air (surprise!) obama (no capitalization is intentional) has been re-elected. Part of the reason is that people apparently blame obama's failures on George Bush...Really? When does obama take responsibility for his own actions? Bush didn't put us $4 TRILLION more in debt, obama did. Nothing Bush did caused that stupidity. We now owe China $.40 of every dollar we have...well, that was last week, so it is more now. 4 more years of this and we will belong to China and have to ask them permission to use the shitter. Women for obama? What has obama done for women? Nothing. Women (a majority, not all) vote for democrats every time thinking they are getting some benefit. Of course abortion is only about women, it's certainly not about the child being murdered...but, again, was changing the abortion laws an issue at all? Absolutely not. Unions...the next time obama does something for the unions in this country will be the first time. Romney wouldn't have killed the unions; the unions are too busy killing themselves and too self absorbed to even notice it.
And obamacare? What a piece of crap that is. Every healthy American will experience their cost for health insurance skyrocketing in 2014 so that Health Insurers can protect themselves from all the sick people they will be required to take on as "customers." Health Insurance companies will also have to pay a $8B fee just to exist...really? Why? I thought this was a capitalist nation? So, health insurers aren't allowed to continue to bring in that 5% of profit huh? Oh, don't confuse health insurers with hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies...these organizations will be able to continue to post profits in the 40% and upwards range. Apparently, these organizations lined obama's pockets enough to be ignored in his "brilliant" plan for socialized health care. Oh, and don't think obama can pay all the subsidies within his current budget. Taxes will have to increase to upwards of 40%-50% to cover these costs; or, I guess we continue to sell ourselves out to that communist nation...
Thanks to all of you lazy ass Americans that couldn't be bothered to think before you voted. Or maybe you thought that the only chance your lazy ass had for help was to vote for obama? Here's a thought: get off your lazy ass and start working like our forefathers did! Quit using our Constitution as toilet paper. It was meant to be a guide for how this country operated forever, not just until it got a little difficult. What a bunch of pussies this nation has turned into. When I was a kid, my parents would have worked 3 jobs before suffering the indignity of asking the government for help! Now, obama voters see how much they can game the system to screw the government out of money that they were not owed. People like this are an embarrassment to themselves, their families, their race and to our country. This country was founded on Christian beliefs and should remain grounded in those beliefs. I don't care what religion or non-religion anyone practices as long as they are not allowed to change how our country operates and is grounded. Take God out of our country and you will have a country that exists without God's grace. This country has been the recipient of God's grace throughout the last 200+ years; why throw that out the window now?
If you want to live in a Socialist State, there are plenty of countries that will take you. This country was formed as a FREE country and should remain that way. The Socialist party gave up running long ago because the Democratic party was doing their job for them.
Well, there, I've said more than I should, but it still needs to be said. Someone said today that we should all be united and accept obama as our "leader." I laugh at that. obama is not my leader and never will be. Besides, 20 years from now, or whenever it happens, we will find out who is backing obama and I guarantee the people that voted for his ignorant butt are not going to be happy. I mean, seriously, what non-political job has he held since college? Where did his money suddenly come from? Yeah, great role model; we elect a guy who has never worked a day in his life in a real job. On top of that, only the democrats have to bus the least educated Americans to the polls to win; if they had an education and understood what was going on and what the issues were, they wouldn't be democrats then would they?
Alright, alright, I'm done. Basketball season is upon us and I would expect some basketball blogs if I were you. IU just lost 2 players for 9 games because a guy who donated $185 20 years ago (before said players were born) was considered a booster (because of the $185 in donations over a 7 year period, 20 years ago) and paid for travel expenses for two foreign players while they were in HS here in the US. Yes, NCAA, that is what is wrong with college basketball...idiots.
And obamacare? What a piece of crap that is. Every healthy American will experience their cost for health insurance skyrocketing in 2014 so that Health Insurers can protect themselves from all the sick people they will be required to take on as "customers." Health Insurance companies will also have to pay a $8B fee just to exist...really? Why? I thought this was a capitalist nation? So, health insurers aren't allowed to continue to bring in that 5% of profit huh? Oh, don't confuse health insurers with hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical companies...these organizations will be able to continue to post profits in the 40% and upwards range. Apparently, these organizations lined obama's pockets enough to be ignored in his "brilliant" plan for socialized health care. Oh, and don't think obama can pay all the subsidies within his current budget. Taxes will have to increase to upwards of 40%-50% to cover these costs; or, I guess we continue to sell ourselves out to that communist nation...
Thanks to all of you lazy ass Americans that couldn't be bothered to think before you voted. Or maybe you thought that the only chance your lazy ass had for help was to vote for obama? Here's a thought: get off your lazy ass and start working like our forefathers did! Quit using our Constitution as toilet paper. It was meant to be a guide for how this country operated forever, not just until it got a little difficult. What a bunch of pussies this nation has turned into. When I was a kid, my parents would have worked 3 jobs before suffering the indignity of asking the government for help! Now, obama voters see how much they can game the system to screw the government out of money that they were not owed. People like this are an embarrassment to themselves, their families, their race and to our country. This country was founded on Christian beliefs and should remain grounded in those beliefs. I don't care what religion or non-religion anyone practices as long as they are not allowed to change how our country operates and is grounded. Take God out of our country and you will have a country that exists without God's grace. This country has been the recipient of God's grace throughout the last 200+ years; why throw that out the window now?
If you want to live in a Socialist State, there are plenty of countries that will take you. This country was formed as a FREE country and should remain that way. The Socialist party gave up running long ago because the Democratic party was doing their job for them.
Well, there, I've said more than I should, but it still needs to be said. Someone said today that we should all be united and accept obama as our "leader." I laugh at that. obama is not my leader and never will be. Besides, 20 years from now, or whenever it happens, we will find out who is backing obama and I guarantee the people that voted for his ignorant butt are not going to be happy. I mean, seriously, what non-political job has he held since college? Where did his money suddenly come from? Yeah, great role model; we elect a guy who has never worked a day in his life in a real job. On top of that, only the democrats have to bus the least educated Americans to the polls to win; if they had an education and understood what was going on and what the issues were, they wouldn't be democrats then would they?
Alright, alright, I'm done. Basketball season is upon us and I would expect some basketball blogs if I were you. IU just lost 2 players for 9 games because a guy who donated $185 20 years ago (before said players were born) was considered a booster (because of the $185 in donations over a 7 year period, 20 years ago) and paid for travel expenses for two foreign players while they were in HS here in the US. Yes, NCAA, that is what is wrong with college basketball...idiots.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Conflicted...
Interesting week to be honest. I will jump to some poker stuff first. Been playing on Black Chip Poker on-line. Can't get money on there because now they take no credit cards and I'm not doing Western Union. So, been playing some free rolls and such to try and get so I am playing for money that way eventually. Tough row to hoe! Playing several Punta Cana tournaments which if I finish in the top 5 I get an entry into another $1.10 Punta Cana tournament and if I win that one I get an entry into the $5.50 Punta Cana tournament; I have made it that far as I won one of the entry events and then on my 2nd try I won a $1.10 event. I haven't played the $5.50 event yet, but I believe that just moves me up to a larger dollar event. I am hoping at some point this leads to some real money...the poker in these events is pretty mediocre, so barring bad luck, which I have certainly experienced, one should be able to move on through. I have also been playing a $200 free roll that "hands" out real cash without much luck; it moves much faster and while the play is worse the variance is much higher. I played the PL Omaha event and much like PL Omaha I got my money in good with the nut straight on the turn only to lose to a full house on the river...sigh...but alas, it is fun and hopefully I will see some further progress soon.
As to being conflicted, I find that as I advance in age things get complicated. People get intertwined in your life and then something happens and you have to untangle that "intertwining." I don't want to be specific here but I have several situations that have come up this week that have really put me in the middle of things that I don't want to be in the middle of. It's hard not to take sides and it's hard to keep people happy. I don't have an answer for it. Sometimes I know one side is right but I'm still "intertwined" with the other side which leaves me in a difficult situation with difficult decisions to make. Like next spring, I want to play softball, but there's a situation where my best friend on the team may not be asked to play...I'm not going to play if that happens, but is that fair to either of us? Yeah, yeah, I hear you people out there saying that I need to retire anyway, but, hey, I have a blast playing. Maybe they will come to their senses and realize they need a pitcher...I don't know, that's not even the most annoying/serious of the issues this week, but it's the only one I can share.
I went to my first basketball meeting last night in preparation for the upcoming HS basketball season. I am a basketball official if you have forgotten. It was interesting. The points of emphasis are on elbows and excessive contact. At this point, the powers that be are trying to turn basketball into a non-contact sport. I understand that there are too many fights and too many head injuries, but c'mon this game was meant to be a physical game in some instances. When I played, you got real physical with your opponent and then shook hands afterwards. You respected the fact that they didn't back down. Also, there weren't many cheap shots; it was clean, hard basketball. Now...sigh...it's just not the same anymore, but I still love officiating basketball and being part of the game I love. Hopefully, in some small way, I make the game better while I am on the court.
Thanks for reading follower(s)!
Bum
As to being conflicted, I find that as I advance in age things get complicated. People get intertwined in your life and then something happens and you have to untangle that "intertwining." I don't want to be specific here but I have several situations that have come up this week that have really put me in the middle of things that I don't want to be in the middle of. It's hard not to take sides and it's hard to keep people happy. I don't have an answer for it. Sometimes I know one side is right but I'm still "intertwined" with the other side which leaves me in a difficult situation with difficult decisions to make. Like next spring, I want to play softball, but there's a situation where my best friend on the team may not be asked to play...I'm not going to play if that happens, but is that fair to either of us? Yeah, yeah, I hear you people out there saying that I need to retire anyway, but, hey, I have a blast playing. Maybe they will come to their senses and realize they need a pitcher...I don't know, that's not even the most annoying/serious of the issues this week, but it's the only one I can share.
I went to my first basketball meeting last night in preparation for the upcoming HS basketball season. I am a basketball official if you have forgotten. It was interesting. The points of emphasis are on elbows and excessive contact. At this point, the powers that be are trying to turn basketball into a non-contact sport. I understand that there are too many fights and too many head injuries, but c'mon this game was meant to be a physical game in some instances. When I played, you got real physical with your opponent and then shook hands afterwards. You respected the fact that they didn't back down. Also, there weren't many cheap shots; it was clean, hard basketball. Now...sigh...it's just not the same anymore, but I still love officiating basketball and being part of the game I love. Hopefully, in some small way, I make the game better while I am on the court.
Thanks for reading follower(s)!
Bum
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I folded the nuts, etc.
Hey "All"
The Poker League got together Saturday to play two tournaments: Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold'em. We played Omaha first. I was involved in several interesting hands but will go over a few.
First hand: I have AA7x, 2 hearts. It's early, so the blinds are 25/50 (we start with 5000) and there are 6 people seeing the flop. I did not raise because this early in the tournament most people will call anyway and I don't want to create a big pot at this point in the tournament when my aces may very well be worthless after the flop (this is a 10-person tournament); obviously, as the blinds increase and the number of players decrease, then I become much more aggressive with AA in Omaha.
Flop: A 9 J (two hearts): pot is 300 before any betting. Checked to me. I'm way ahead here. I bet 200. 2 callers.
Turn: K (not a heart): Yippee...pot is 900 before any betting. I check. Lefty bets 600 and Buffy calls; I sigh on the inside and call; I still have outs afterall and I'm getting 3.5 to 1 on my money with the nut flush draw and full house and quad draws.
River: shit (not a heart): this sucks...Pot is 2700 before any betting...I don't know how the betting went but Lefty bet, Buffy called after trying to figure out how his nuts could get beat and I folded quickly. Nothing I could really do here, it's just PL Omaha and that is just the way it is; extremely volatile game.
So, then I end up a bit short, but I turn it around partly on one huge bluff on a straight board where I just had a pair of 2's and the other guy had 2 pair. 2 pair suck in Omaha and with a straight staring you in the face it is tough to call. I had a pretty good read on him and if he called I was going to be amazed.
Later in the tournament we were down to 3 players and I was probably the big stack by then and getting bigger all the time.
My Hand: A 8 9 10. Blinds are 400/800 I think. The dealer folded and I called; BB checked. I had been raising a lot so I just tried to sneak in here.
Flop: A A 7. Check, Check.
Turn: 9: Yahtzee right? Not so fast. 1600 in the pot before any betting. I bet 1200. He bets pot which makes it 2800 for me to call and when I look at his stack, I know it's either all in or fold...you say "fold? You have the nuts!" Yeah, yeah, but I was overthinking and not thinking at the same time. I knew I had 3 aces and I knew I had a straight draw. However, I did not connect that my 9 that would help me with a straight also made me a boat...I asked if he would show. "Sure." I folded after convincing myself that he had a boat, making my straight draw worthless and he flips A 4 5 Q...I say "nice hand," a little annoyed that he didn't have the boat but had a higher kicker than me...The dealer looks at my hand and says, "You just folded the nuts!"
Well, the good news is that I eventually won the Omaha tournament and I have won 4 of the 5 Omaha tournaments we have played this year. Wow, I have never done that before and next month we play PL Omaha 8 which can be much more confusing than just standard Omaha. I hate making that mistake, but I think I learned from it and it certainly added to the fun of the evening.
It's 9/11; Let us never forget!
Bum
The Poker League got together Saturday to play two tournaments: Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold'em. We played Omaha first. I was involved in several interesting hands but will go over a few.
First hand: I have AA7x, 2 hearts. It's early, so the blinds are 25/50 (we start with 5000) and there are 6 people seeing the flop. I did not raise because this early in the tournament most people will call anyway and I don't want to create a big pot at this point in the tournament when my aces may very well be worthless after the flop (this is a 10-person tournament); obviously, as the blinds increase and the number of players decrease, then I become much more aggressive with AA in Omaha.
Flop: A 9 J (two hearts): pot is 300 before any betting. Checked to me. I'm way ahead here. I bet 200. 2 callers.
Turn: K (not a heart): Yippee...pot is 900 before any betting. I check. Lefty bets 600 and Buffy calls; I sigh on the inside and call; I still have outs afterall and I'm getting 3.5 to 1 on my money with the nut flush draw and full house and quad draws.
River: shit (not a heart): this sucks...Pot is 2700 before any betting...I don't know how the betting went but Lefty bet, Buffy called after trying to figure out how his nuts could get beat and I folded quickly. Nothing I could really do here, it's just PL Omaha and that is just the way it is; extremely volatile game.
So, then I end up a bit short, but I turn it around partly on one huge bluff on a straight board where I just had a pair of 2's and the other guy had 2 pair. 2 pair suck in Omaha and with a straight staring you in the face it is tough to call. I had a pretty good read on him and if he called I was going to be amazed.
Later in the tournament we were down to 3 players and I was probably the big stack by then and getting bigger all the time.
My Hand: A 8 9 10. Blinds are 400/800 I think. The dealer folded and I called; BB checked. I had been raising a lot so I just tried to sneak in here.
Flop: A A 7. Check, Check.
Turn: 9: Yahtzee right? Not so fast. 1600 in the pot before any betting. I bet 1200. He bets pot which makes it 2800 for me to call and when I look at his stack, I know it's either all in or fold...you say "fold? You have the nuts!" Yeah, yeah, but I was overthinking and not thinking at the same time. I knew I had 3 aces and I knew I had a straight draw. However, I did not connect that my 9 that would help me with a straight also made me a boat...I asked if he would show. "Sure." I folded after convincing myself that he had a boat, making my straight draw worthless and he flips A 4 5 Q...I say "nice hand," a little annoyed that he didn't have the boat but had a higher kicker than me...The dealer looks at my hand and says, "You just folded the nuts!"
Well, the good news is that I eventually won the Omaha tournament and I have won 4 of the 5 Omaha tournaments we have played this year. Wow, I have never done that before and next month we play PL Omaha 8 which can be much more confusing than just standard Omaha. I hate making that mistake, but I think I learned from it and it certainly added to the fun of the evening.
It's 9/11; Let us never forget!
Bum
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Poker
Well, it's been awhile since I wrote in this blog. I kinda missed it.
Friday night our poker league finally got back together after about a month and a half layoff. We had 7 of our 10 members there and a couple of subs. Unfortunately, a couple of our members are dropping at the end of the season and are basically unavailable during the rest of this season making organizing these events difficult. One is moving to KY, which sucks cause he's as good a friend as I have and the other plays in a band that keeps him busy every weekend for the most part.
Anyway, first tournament. Relatively early in the game (4th level I believe: 100/200). I am either the chip leader or pretty much right there. I have raised relatively frequently, enough so that one of the subs has even commented on it. Anyway, I believe I was in the cutoff. There are 2 calls to me, one from the sub (let's call him Karl) that commented on my raises and has proven to be pretty aggressive to this point and one from a member (let's call him Toby) who is a relatively aggressive player that could have called with just about anything. I look down at AA. I would like to get down to just one player, so I raise to 700. Karl insta-calls and Toby thinks for a minute and then calls as well. (pot is 2400)
Flop: 8 5 2 (rainbow)
Dream flop for me it seems, right? Karl checks. Toby starts counting chips, which makes me happy initially and then he does something different than normal. He says, "I'm all-in." He's not short stacked in the least. I rub my hand through my hair and ask for a count. "5700." Really? I go into the tank. Normally, it wouldn't be surprising for Toby to try to steal here but he would usually make a large bet just under the size of the pot. This is different. Everything about this seems different. Now, I've played in this league with Toby for 2 1/2 years, so we have probably played 45 tournaments against each other, easily 160+ hours of play...after a few minutes, which is long for me as I usually don't take more than 30 seconds even on hard decisions. Seriously, other than having an A hit the flop, what could be better than that flop? But, I gotta quit thinking about that and think about what just happened and how it happened. Something tells me I am way behind here: 8-5? surely not. It's gotta be 22 or 88, right? All this time and Karl still has to act behind me. I imagine all my gyrations made his decision pretty easy. It just kinda dawned on me that somehow Toby knew I had a huge hand and he figured with that flop I couldn't lay it down. So, I asked if he would show if I folded and showed him after the hand was over. He said he would. I show a lot more than I should and sometimes it pays off in situations like this.
So, I say "fold" and drop my cards by my chips and Karl quickly folds. I flip over AA. He shakes his head and says something like he can't believe I folded that and shows 55. The whole thing is weird. I had him covered by a couple of thousand maybe but with that flop, I don't know how I convinced myself to fold. I somehow knew I was beat. Maybe it was a betting pattern or maybe he made some facial expression or gesture or something that I picked up. But I got to wonder what I did to tip off how big a hand that I had that he was that confident to make that bet, cause you don't make that bet with that hand unless you are confident your opponent is calling. I mean I had raised previously with Q8, K4, A5, etc, so it wasn't like I had sat there and done nothing and suddenly jumped out of my skin. I will have to think about this one for awhile and attempt to fix whatever I did. This isn't the first time that I have felt that Toby had a read on me. He will probably read this and laugh but somehow I think I tipped my hand a bit.
On a side-note, I ended up winning the first tournament and then took 5th in the 2nd. I know there were other interesting hands and such but this one I just haven't been able to get out of my mind.
Outside of poker: the Reds are kicking buttocks which is awesome. They have been doing so without Votto. Dusty said "nobody is better than Rolen at 3B." Uh...Todd Frazier is!
Friday night our poker league finally got back together after about a month and a half layoff. We had 7 of our 10 members there and a couple of subs. Unfortunately, a couple of our members are dropping at the end of the season and are basically unavailable during the rest of this season making organizing these events difficult. One is moving to KY, which sucks cause he's as good a friend as I have and the other plays in a band that keeps him busy every weekend for the most part.
Anyway, first tournament. Relatively early in the game (4th level I believe: 100/200). I am either the chip leader or pretty much right there. I have raised relatively frequently, enough so that one of the subs has even commented on it. Anyway, I believe I was in the cutoff. There are 2 calls to me, one from the sub (let's call him Karl) that commented on my raises and has proven to be pretty aggressive to this point and one from a member (let's call him Toby) who is a relatively aggressive player that could have called with just about anything. I look down at AA. I would like to get down to just one player, so I raise to 700. Karl insta-calls and Toby thinks for a minute and then calls as well. (pot is 2400)
Flop: 8 5 2 (rainbow)
Dream flop for me it seems, right? Karl checks. Toby starts counting chips, which makes me happy initially and then he does something different than normal. He says, "I'm all-in." He's not short stacked in the least. I rub my hand through my hair and ask for a count. "5700." Really? I go into the tank. Normally, it wouldn't be surprising for Toby to try to steal here but he would usually make a large bet just under the size of the pot. This is different. Everything about this seems different. Now, I've played in this league with Toby for 2 1/2 years, so we have probably played 45 tournaments against each other, easily 160+ hours of play...after a few minutes, which is long for me as I usually don't take more than 30 seconds even on hard decisions. Seriously, other than having an A hit the flop, what could be better than that flop? But, I gotta quit thinking about that and think about what just happened and how it happened. Something tells me I am way behind here: 8-5? surely not. It's gotta be 22 or 88, right? All this time and Karl still has to act behind me. I imagine all my gyrations made his decision pretty easy. It just kinda dawned on me that somehow Toby knew I had a huge hand and he figured with that flop I couldn't lay it down. So, I asked if he would show if I folded and showed him after the hand was over. He said he would. I show a lot more than I should and sometimes it pays off in situations like this.
So, I say "fold" and drop my cards by my chips and Karl quickly folds. I flip over AA. He shakes his head and says something like he can't believe I folded that and shows 55. The whole thing is weird. I had him covered by a couple of thousand maybe but with that flop, I don't know how I convinced myself to fold. I somehow knew I was beat. Maybe it was a betting pattern or maybe he made some facial expression or gesture or something that I picked up. But I got to wonder what I did to tip off how big a hand that I had that he was that confident to make that bet, cause you don't make that bet with that hand unless you are confident your opponent is calling. I mean I had raised previously with Q8, K4, A5, etc, so it wasn't like I had sat there and done nothing and suddenly jumped out of my skin. I will have to think about this one for awhile and attempt to fix whatever I did. This isn't the first time that I have felt that Toby had a read on me. He will probably read this and laugh but somehow I think I tipped my hand a bit.
On a side-note, I ended up winning the first tournament and then took 5th in the 2nd. I know there were other interesting hands and such but this one I just haven't been able to get out of my mind.
Outside of poker: the Reds are kicking buttocks which is awesome. They have been doing so without Votto. Dusty said "nobody is better than Rolen at 3B." Uh...Todd Frazier is!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
In case you missed this!
Lisa Loeb 2 weeks ago doing one of her hits (er, her one hit; whatever): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS-Cb8UGay4
Started reading the 2012 Baseball Rules Book today so that I can take the test to become licensed to umpire HS games in that sport too. Still frustrated by the lack of resolution regarding my banning...Anyway, work is killing me and I don't have much to say. Enjoy Lisa Loeb, maybe I will have something to say later...
Bum
Started reading the 2012 Baseball Rules Book today so that I can take the test to become licensed to umpire HS games in that sport too. Still frustrated by the lack of resolution regarding my banning...Anyway, work is killing me and I don't have much to say. Enjoy Lisa Loeb, maybe I will have something to say later...
Bum
Monday, February 13, 2012
Banned?
Officiated 6 games this weekend. 2 games Saturday at the "Old" Hobart Middle School and 4 games at St. Mary's. Saturday's games were uneventful; keep that in mind as that will come into play later. The 4 games at St. Mary's were all MS girls games (CYO, Catholic Youth Org). These are the scores: 26-9, 18-0, 10-5, 30-10...4th game, the losing team couldn't pass, dribble, shoot or play defense, which left them at a bit of a disadvantage to say the least; so, they resorted to football. Pushing in the back on layups, tripping and slapping on every shot. Legitimately the other team committed and was called for fouls as well. After the game, 2 Moms came across the court to where we were to tell us how terrible we were. Apparently, I'm assuming it was the losing team but they never said, their kids were kicked in the head and punched in the ribs and that was the worst officiated game they had ever witnessed. I kind of chuckled thinking about a variety of responses that I could have said: have you ever watched a Big 10 game? Is this the first game you have ever seen? Where do you work, I would like to come yell at you at your job (ok, maybe that is not fair). My partner said: "Call the CYO office, we are not allowed to give you our names. Have a nice day ma'am." I think "madam" would have been funnier. This is the problem with MS games, the parents don't know their place. They can yell at me from the stands all they want, but don't come into my area, you have no business there.
Anyway, I get to work today and I have an e-mail from my assignor asking if there was something that went on during Saturday's games...Remember? The games that went smoothly. Apparently, me and my partner have been banned from officiating at Hobart ever again...Naturally, I asked why. Well, all he got was that all 4 coaches complained that the games were out of control and one game we only called 5 fouls...OK, well, the games weren't rough at all and I don't keep track of fouls and I didn't know I was supposed to call a certain minimum number of fouls...Seriously? These kids were having their first practice right before the games...some of these kids (5th/6th coed) had never played basketball before...The coaches never said a word to me or my partner and the guy that paid me was very friendly when he handed me my money, which at $23 per game is not worth the drive unless I love what I'm doing, right? Hell, he said, "I gave you some singles in case you go get a lapdance." Does that sound like something you say to someone you are going to ban from ever coming back?
I do this because I love it, I do these particular games just for experience. I work on my mechanics so that someday I can do the varsity games. I am never going to get rich officiating HS or MS basketball as there isn't any money in it. I do it because I love it. Getting banned bothers me, mostly because it is wrong. Sure, I could call 50 fouls, but then I would stop the game every 5 seconds. He wants the games finished in 55 minutes. What would these kids learn from that? You gotta let them play unless it starts to get out of hand at this level. You tighten up the games as they get older and they understand what they are supposed to be doing. Then they learn more. So frustrating....
Bum
Anyway, I get to work today and I have an e-mail from my assignor asking if there was something that went on during Saturday's games...Remember? The games that went smoothly. Apparently, me and my partner have been banned from officiating at Hobart ever again...Naturally, I asked why. Well, all he got was that all 4 coaches complained that the games were out of control and one game we only called 5 fouls...OK, well, the games weren't rough at all and I don't keep track of fouls and I didn't know I was supposed to call a certain minimum number of fouls...Seriously? These kids were having their first practice right before the games...some of these kids (5th/6th coed) had never played basketball before...The coaches never said a word to me or my partner and the guy that paid me was very friendly when he handed me my money, which at $23 per game is not worth the drive unless I love what I'm doing, right? Hell, he said, "I gave you some singles in case you go get a lapdance." Does that sound like something you say to someone you are going to ban from ever coming back?
I do this because I love it, I do these particular games just for experience. I work on my mechanics so that someday I can do the varsity games. I am never going to get rich officiating HS or MS basketball as there isn't any money in it. I do it because I love it. Getting banned bothers me, mostly because it is wrong. Sure, I could call 50 fouls, but then I would stop the game every 5 seconds. He wants the games finished in 55 minutes. What would these kids learn from that? You gotta let them play unless it starts to get out of hand at this level. You tighten up the games as they get older and they understand what they are supposed to be doing. Then they learn more. So frustrating....
Bum
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Uh...I don't know...
Listened to Lisa Loeb today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9mCmx9Jhs
I also listened to her version of the "Disappointed Pancake." I wouldn't recommend that one unless you are 5 or somehow obsessed with Lisa Loeb...
Refereed 4 games this past Saturday. All Middle School girls. 3rd game: 6th grade...called my first Flagrant 1/Intentional foul...6th grade girls...her idea of defense was to put both hands on the girl's midsection while she was shooting and push her as hard as she could. Later, she hipchecked another girl into the chairs that represented the bench...Her coaches, two women, laughed and complained about the call. Actually, they had been laughing every time one of their girls knocked girls on the other team down...I looked at the coach and said: "are you talking to me?" She said she was talking to one of the girls. I said, "you better be, because I have had it with this crap. Your team is playing like it is a football game. It's ridiculous." She just looked at me like your wives do when you talk indepth about sports that they don't understand. I just walked away. 4th Game: 5th grade girls. I came oh so close to "T-ing" up one of the coaches as he griped about calls the entire game while losing 18-9...how about expending that energy on actual coaching, huh?
Officiating my first Freshman Boys game tomorrow; should be fun! I find this newest "job" of mine to be rewarding. I love it. Even those games above. They get the blood flowing and get me moving and get me back involved in a sport I love. I spent a major potion of my childhood and early adulthood playing basketball. At times when I was a kid, I probably spent upwards of 10 hours a day playing basketball at the park with my friends or even just shooting in my driveway (gravel).
Saturday, I headed to Bowman Academy to see Bowman play Ft Wayne Luers. James Blackmon Jr, son of James Blackmon, is sophomore on Ft Wayne Luers and has already committed to Indiana. Bowman destroyed Luers 101-74. Luers couldn't handle Bowman's height, strength, quickness or their press. They were just outmanned in this one. Blackmon demonstrated a sweet shot. He is also really strong for a 6'2" sophomore and he did a really good job of handling the basketball. He's a better passer than advertised. He doesn't play much defense however; kinda stands around on that end looking bored. 2 1/2 more years to get better; I can't wait to see him play again!
On a side note, I joined the Biggest Loser here at work for the next 90 days. My team consists of me and 5 skinny people...They act like they just won the lottery with me on their team! They will be lucky if I don't eat them!
Bum
I also listened to her version of the "Disappointed Pancake." I wouldn't recommend that one unless you are 5 or somehow obsessed with Lisa Loeb...
Refereed 4 games this past Saturday. All Middle School girls. 3rd game: 6th grade...called my first Flagrant 1/Intentional foul...6th grade girls...her idea of defense was to put both hands on the girl's midsection while she was shooting and push her as hard as she could. Later, she hipchecked another girl into the chairs that represented the bench...Her coaches, two women, laughed and complained about the call. Actually, they had been laughing every time one of their girls knocked girls on the other team down...I looked at the coach and said: "are you talking to me?" She said she was talking to one of the girls. I said, "you better be, because I have had it with this crap. Your team is playing like it is a football game. It's ridiculous." She just looked at me like your wives do when you talk indepth about sports that they don't understand. I just walked away. 4th Game: 5th grade girls. I came oh so close to "T-ing" up one of the coaches as he griped about calls the entire game while losing 18-9...how about expending that energy on actual coaching, huh?
Officiating my first Freshman Boys game tomorrow; should be fun! I find this newest "job" of mine to be rewarding. I love it. Even those games above. They get the blood flowing and get me moving and get me back involved in a sport I love. I spent a major potion of my childhood and early adulthood playing basketball. At times when I was a kid, I probably spent upwards of 10 hours a day playing basketball at the park with my friends or even just shooting in my driveway (gravel).
Saturday, I headed to Bowman Academy to see Bowman play Ft Wayne Luers. James Blackmon Jr, son of James Blackmon, is sophomore on Ft Wayne Luers and has already committed to Indiana. Bowman destroyed Luers 101-74. Luers couldn't handle Bowman's height, strength, quickness or their press. They were just outmanned in this one. Blackmon demonstrated a sweet shot. He is also really strong for a 6'2" sophomore and he did a really good job of handling the basketball. He's a better passer than advertised. He doesn't play much defense however; kinda stands around on that end looking bored. 2 1/2 more years to get better; I can't wait to see him play again!
On a side note, I joined the Biggest Loser here at work for the next 90 days. My team consists of me and 5 skinny people...They act like they just won the lottery with me on their team! They will be lucky if I don't eat them!
Bum
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Restaurant Review and whatever else...
My wife, son and I went to Sage in Chesterton for lunch Sunday for my birthday. I thought it was a seafood place. It's not, it's an Italian restaurant. They do have some seafood dishes however. For an appetizer we ordered the Mussels and Sausage (it says they make it there). While it was really good, for $10 we got 3 mussels and some sausage. They brought out bread with a couple of spreads: hummis and an olive spread (had some fancy name that I can't remember). I really liked the olive spread and my family seemed to like the hummis. I ordered the Sea Scallop special and they do a fantastic job with the scallops....I got 3 of them...Everyone's food was really good but the portions were kinda light. I don't know if they have a different menu for dinner and different portion sizes? Overall, the food is excellent but if they don't have a separate dinner menu then I will probably pass in the future.
You know, I have been avoiding ranting about politics, and then I saw that "president" on TV last night and promptly threw up in my mouth. How embarrassing that we are "lead" by this man that has no interest in the United States of America. He has no interest in our history or how we built this country. I have no doubt about his citizenship, I question his heart. I have yet to have anybody tell me what he has done that is good. He doesn't know diddly about healthcare or running a government funded healthcare system. He attacked an industry, health insurance companies, that average probably less than 5% profit while ignoring pharmaceutical companies that routinely show 40% profits. Why do you think health insurance costs so much obama? I don't want to get started on that, he's putting me out of a job. What jobs has he added? He bused all the poor and minorities to the polls to vote for him and are they working? Nope, they are still going to the welfare office monthly not doing anything, and they aren't looking to do anything either. Again, obama, how did the good ol' USA become so strong? Hard fucking WORK! Not through more entitlements. And how nice is it that the deficit has tripled under obama? You know while the rest of the USA should be tightening its collective belts, obama's admin has opened the floodgates on spending. I have a friend, a good friend, and I care for him dearly, but I get tired of hearing him say, "Well obama (he capitalizes the name for some reason) didn't really have control over that." You know what, that's a cop out! Plain and simple. He did have control and he blew it over and over again (that's what she said...). Seriously, when do the excuses and finger pointing stop before we hold HIM accountable; Bush is not to blame, so get over it. I have to go, lots more to say follower(s?), but the train is firing up and I need to go bowl.
Bum
You know, I have been avoiding ranting about politics, and then I saw that "president" on TV last night and promptly threw up in my mouth. How embarrassing that we are "lead" by this man that has no interest in the United States of America. He has no interest in our history or how we built this country. I have no doubt about his citizenship, I question his heart. I have yet to have anybody tell me what he has done that is good. He doesn't know diddly about healthcare or running a government funded healthcare system. He attacked an industry, health insurance companies, that average probably less than 5% profit while ignoring pharmaceutical companies that routinely show 40% profits. Why do you think health insurance costs so much obama? I don't want to get started on that, he's putting me out of a job. What jobs has he added? He bused all the poor and minorities to the polls to vote for him and are they working? Nope, they are still going to the welfare office monthly not doing anything, and they aren't looking to do anything either. Again, obama, how did the good ol' USA become so strong? Hard fucking WORK! Not through more entitlements. And how nice is it that the deficit has tripled under obama? You know while the rest of the USA should be tightening its collective belts, obama's admin has opened the floodgates on spending. I have a friend, a good friend, and I care for him dearly, but I get tired of hearing him say, "Well obama (he capitalizes the name for some reason) didn't really have control over that." You know what, that's a cop out! Plain and simple. He did have control and he blew it over and over again (that's what she said...). Seriously, when do the excuses and finger pointing stop before we hold HIM accountable; Bush is not to blame, so get over it. I have to go, lots more to say follower(s?), but the train is firing up and I need to go bowl.
Bum
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Poker and such...
Well, we had our first poker league action of our 5th season. This season we have the same 10 guys that played last season. I am the 4-time defending champion....I had the worst month I have ever had in the history of the league...I finished 9th and 10th in the 2 NL Hold'em tournaments. I don't think I played horrible, well, one horrible hand to go out 9th in the first tournament, but other than that hand, I thought I played relatively well. First tournament, as Dealer, everyone folds around to me, I have A7, I raise from 100 to 350 I think. Seems pretty standard, I might steal the blinds or the blinds might think I'm stealing with a worse hand than what I have. Either way, I have position. Small Blind calls, BB folds. Flop: 10, 9, 8 (two clubs); eh, straight draw, he checks, I bet 600, he raises to 1200...pot now has 2600 and I have to call 600. I worry about JQ a little but as quickly as he called pre-flop I'm thinking more like JJ or QQ or heaven forbid a set...I call. Turn = 6 (non-club); yahtzee! I bet out 1500 an have about 2500 left. He thinks about it, I tell him I will show him or call an all-in, either way he gets to see it! :) He thinks for a while (and maybe I should have just kept quiet) and calls. River = 10 of clubs...uh...not what I wanted to see for quite a few reasons...Here's where there are so many choices: I bet 1000 to try and see what that did for him. He called and flipped pocket 9's over for a boat...sigh...I don't think I played that badly and I stayed in the game only because he thought I might have 10's or 10,9...
Hand 2: I have AA, blinds are 100/200 (2nd tournament), my stack after running into AA twice is at about 3700 (started with 5000). 3 people limp in front of me, I am the cutoff (1 short of the dealer), I raise to 800 thinking that will shrink the field. Dealer calls, BB looks like he is going to raise (which momentarily makes me happy on the inside...) and decides to calls, call, fold, call...so 5 to the flop with a pot of over 4000...sigh, not exactly what I wanted. Flop= 10/7/2 (two hearts). BB goes all in for 1850, everyone folds to me...I thought that since he about re-raised pre-flop that he probably had AK, KK, or QQ...so, I went over the top all-in. Dealer reluctantly folds (had 99). BB flips AJ hearts...sigh...I know I have no chance to win here...and just for entertainment purposes, both the turn and the river are hearts...again, "I don't think I could have done anything different there," it just worked out poorly for me.
In a nutshell, those two hands pretty much describe my night at the table poker-wise. We did have fun though. It was my birthday, which makes you think that the cards could have been nicer...there was plenty of jawing back and forth and tons of jokes flying. A few shots of Jack Daniels Honey made it that much sweeter. It's going to be a fun season and I think the battle for the title is going to be wild to say the least.
Other things of note: I am officiating 7 games this week. woohoo! I love it. It's so much fun for me.
IU won a game...Wisconsin coming up Thursday, not a good matchup for IU.
Friday night heading to Bowman Academy to see them play Ft. Wayne Luers and James Blackmon (sophmore and future Hoosier).
Hand 2: I have AA, blinds are 100/200 (2nd tournament), my stack after running into AA twice is at about 3700 (started with 5000). 3 people limp in front of me, I am the cutoff (1 short of the dealer), I raise to 800 thinking that will shrink the field. Dealer calls, BB looks like he is going to raise (which momentarily makes me happy on the inside...) and decides to calls, call, fold, call...so 5 to the flop with a pot of over 4000...sigh, not exactly what I wanted. Flop= 10/7/2 (two hearts). BB goes all in for 1850, everyone folds to me...I thought that since he about re-raised pre-flop that he probably had AK, KK, or QQ...so, I went over the top all-in. Dealer reluctantly folds (had 99). BB flips AJ hearts...sigh...I know I have no chance to win here...and just for entertainment purposes, both the turn and the river are hearts...again, "I don't think I could have done anything different there," it just worked out poorly for me.
In a nutshell, those two hands pretty much describe my night at the table poker-wise. We did have fun though. It was my birthday, which makes you think that the cards could have been nicer...there was plenty of jawing back and forth and tons of jokes flying. A few shots of Jack Daniels Honey made it that much sweeter. It's going to be a fun season and I think the battle for the title is going to be wild to say the least.
Other things of note: I am officiating 7 games this week. woohoo! I love it. It's so much fun for me.
IU won a game...Wisconsin coming up Thursday, not a good matchup for IU.
Friday night heading to Bowman Academy to see them play Ft. Wayne Luers and James Blackmon (sophmore and future Hoosier).
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Well, my Follower(s?) was upset that I hadn't blogged recently...I haven't played poker recently...I did officiate 3 games this past Saturday: 5th-7th grade girls...Very exciting. I tried not to blow the whistle, but really they didn't foul that much. 7th grade game got a little catty but otherwise pretty standard stuff...stand in the lane and throw it at the basket until the backboard gives in and the ball falls through the net...no, surely it was better than that!
Season V of my poker league starts this Saturday. I have won the first 4 seasons, yet I have never placed better than 4th in the Main Event...I know it would be best for the league if someone else won the league, however, I am way too competitive to let anyone win. But, it is way too early to think about that. I spent the last half of the season last year protecting my points. It's now time to cut loose and play poker and see where that takes me. We have the same 10 guys we had last season. We have 4 guys still from the beginning of the league.
Our league consists of probably 2 pretty aggressive players, 1-2 rocks, and a several players in between. I am not going to categorize myself as I feel that I am often mis-categorized; however, that can be used to my advantage at times. Are there soft spots in our league? Eh, nothing real soft. As a matter of fact the play just gets better every season. Players that have played together for years and should know certain consistent plays of their cohorts and still our NL Hold'em events were probably averaging over 5 hours this past season. And when you play 2 tournaments a night, that becomes an issue, especially for some us older guys. We start with 5000 in chips and 20 minute blinds which should keep the game going...This season, we installed a rule that takes us down to 10 minute blinds when we are down to 3 players. ShortStacks will be pressed a little harder to force the action late in tournaments this season. I think that will speed things up a bit but there will be some bruised egos with the forced action and the resulting suckouts and such which are inevitable.
We are all so competitive that we fight over small $$ amounts like it means everything. And by "fight" I don't mean fisticuffs. It just gets real intense sometimes and we say stuff like "I can't force you off AQ huh?" repeatedly. Or "1200 isn't an amount that you can call with AJ." My favorite retort is "fuckin' John." But alas, those generally end up with a knuckle bump and a "sorry about that, you played it well." Except for the "fuckin' John;" that one gets left in the air! You see, we are all friends and for the most part we all respect each other's game. To be sure, we respect each other and in the end it's the friendship that means the most in these events. On a side note, I would put the competitiveness and the talent/play in our league up against any league. I think it would really be hard to find a game with better poker play than ours; and we don't just play Hold'em; our games also include PL Omaha, PL Omaha 8, Limit 7-Stud along with Limit in the Omaha games.
I think several of the players in our league have the talent and patience to play in the World Series and WPT events (not to mention the Heartland stuff) but for most of us, right now our world revolves around raising our families in this tight economy. Could I take $1000 and fly to Vegas and play in a World Series event? Sure. But right now, with the economy the way it is and Obamanation running things, I prefer to choose to be a bit more conservative with my cash. I would love to take a shot at a few events in the World Series but I think it is going to be awhile, if ever. And I'm ok with that.
So, I have rambled on a bit and I'm sure my Follower(s?) has fallen asleep from boredom (I never said I was good at this by the way). I can't wait till Saturday to get together with the guys and play some poker. We will have fun, that's for sure!
Bum
Season V of my poker league starts this Saturday. I have won the first 4 seasons, yet I have never placed better than 4th in the Main Event...I know it would be best for the league if someone else won the league, however, I am way too competitive to let anyone win. But, it is way too early to think about that. I spent the last half of the season last year protecting my points. It's now time to cut loose and play poker and see where that takes me. We have the same 10 guys we had last season. We have 4 guys still from the beginning of the league.
Our league consists of probably 2 pretty aggressive players, 1-2 rocks, and a several players in between. I am not going to categorize myself as I feel that I am often mis-categorized; however, that can be used to my advantage at times. Are there soft spots in our league? Eh, nothing real soft. As a matter of fact the play just gets better every season. Players that have played together for years and should know certain consistent plays of their cohorts and still our NL Hold'em events were probably averaging over 5 hours this past season. And when you play 2 tournaments a night, that becomes an issue, especially for some us older guys. We start with 5000 in chips and 20 minute blinds which should keep the game going...This season, we installed a rule that takes us down to 10 minute blinds when we are down to 3 players. ShortStacks will be pressed a little harder to force the action late in tournaments this season. I think that will speed things up a bit but there will be some bruised egos with the forced action and the resulting suckouts and such which are inevitable.
We are all so competitive that we fight over small $$ amounts like it means everything. And by "fight" I don't mean fisticuffs. It just gets real intense sometimes and we say stuff like "I can't force you off AQ huh?" repeatedly. Or "1200 isn't an amount that you can call with AJ." My favorite retort is "fuckin' John." But alas, those generally end up with a knuckle bump and a "sorry about that, you played it well." Except for the "fuckin' John;" that one gets left in the air! You see, we are all friends and for the most part we all respect each other's game. To be sure, we respect each other and in the end it's the friendship that means the most in these events. On a side note, I would put the competitiveness and the talent/play in our league up against any league. I think it would really be hard to find a game with better poker play than ours; and we don't just play Hold'em; our games also include PL Omaha, PL Omaha 8, Limit 7-Stud along with Limit in the Omaha games.
I think several of the players in our league have the talent and patience to play in the World Series and WPT events (not to mention the Heartland stuff) but for most of us, right now our world revolves around raising our families in this tight economy. Could I take $1000 and fly to Vegas and play in a World Series event? Sure. But right now, with the economy the way it is and Obamanation running things, I prefer to choose to be a bit more conservative with my cash. I would love to take a shot at a few events in the World Series but I think it is going to be awhile, if ever. And I'm ok with that.
So, I have rambled on a bit and I'm sure my Follower(s?) has fallen asleep from boredom (I never said I was good at this by the way). I can't wait till Saturday to get together with the guys and play some poker. We will have fun, that's for sure!
Bum
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Jeremy Hollowell - Bowman Academy
I drug my son to Gary again last night. We went to watch Bowman Academy lace them up against Lawrence Central (top 5 team in the state with Jeremy Hollowell, IU recruit for next season). Well, first off, I didn't get directions to the High School...I ended up driving up and down 6th Avenue right in downtown Gary for 25 minutes before stopping at the Family Dollar at 5th and Jackson-ish...after we came out of there with directions, my son said, "my hands were shaking the whole time we were in there." I said, "they were very nice to us." He said, "yeah, but I was still scared."
We made it to Bowman High School about 2 minutes before tip-off. Perfect. Bowman came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 22-13 lead in the first quarter with their suffocating full court trapping defense. DeJuan Marrero, who is supposed to be their star, picked up 2 fouls in the first quarter and sat all but about another minute in the first half. Lawrence Central took the lead at halftime 38-37. 2nd half, Marrero immediately picks up foul #3 and heads back to the bench. Insert arrival of Carlos McCormick for Bowman who went off for 18 of Bowman's 25 in the 3rd quarter as Bowman took a 62-53 lead into the 4th quarter. Apparently LC had decided to ignore Hollowell in the 3rd quarter and let the guards handle it...That quarter proved to be LC's doom as Hollowell took over the 4th quarter but Bowman matched him point for point and held on for a 84-76 win.
Jeremy Hollowell: by far the best player on the court. Ridiculous talent! He hit at least 7 3's in the game and I really believe it was closer to 10. He is listed at 6'8" and he probably weighs in 210 range. He has great hands and is athletically out of this world. He appears to be super laid back, which has caused some to say he is lazy. I didn't see any laziness. He beats people to the ball, he is super quick off his feet, and he is lights out shooting the ball. He seems smart enough to stay out of foul trouble. For the game he had 38 points (18 of them in the 4th quarter). He probably had 3-4 blocks and 2-3 steals. He also had several rebounds but I wasn't counting. To be honest, I don't know if I have ever seen a better High School basketball performance or a better High School basketball player. He's out of this world talented. I can't wait to see him in an IU uniform.
All that aside, I am very thankful that my son has taken on a similar love for basketball (and Oregon football!) that I have. I know that when I was 15 and on into my 20's, my Dad and I had very little interest-wise in common. Pretty rocky time period between my Dad and I. I really am enjoying the time I am getting to spend with him as we go to games together and talk about the players and the play on the court. We also talk about the officials and now that I am one, I oftentimes have a different perspective than most "fans" do.
If all works out, I think my son and I are headed to Laporte this Friday to take in a game with LaLumierre and Hanner Parea, another IU recruit for next year.
Bum
We made it to Bowman High School about 2 minutes before tip-off. Perfect. Bowman came out firing on all cylinders, taking a 22-13 lead in the first quarter with their suffocating full court trapping defense. DeJuan Marrero, who is supposed to be their star, picked up 2 fouls in the first quarter and sat all but about another minute in the first half. Lawrence Central took the lead at halftime 38-37. 2nd half, Marrero immediately picks up foul #3 and heads back to the bench. Insert arrival of Carlos McCormick for Bowman who went off for 18 of Bowman's 25 in the 3rd quarter as Bowman took a 62-53 lead into the 4th quarter. Apparently LC had decided to ignore Hollowell in the 3rd quarter and let the guards handle it...That quarter proved to be LC's doom as Hollowell took over the 4th quarter but Bowman matched him point for point and held on for a 84-76 win.
Jeremy Hollowell: by far the best player on the court. Ridiculous talent! He hit at least 7 3's in the game and I really believe it was closer to 10. He is listed at 6'8" and he probably weighs in 210 range. He has great hands and is athletically out of this world. He appears to be super laid back, which has caused some to say he is lazy. I didn't see any laziness. He beats people to the ball, he is super quick off his feet, and he is lights out shooting the ball. He seems smart enough to stay out of foul trouble. For the game he had 38 points (18 of them in the 4th quarter). He probably had 3-4 blocks and 2-3 steals. He also had several rebounds but I wasn't counting. To be honest, I don't know if I have ever seen a better High School basketball performance or a better High School basketball player. He's out of this world talented. I can't wait to see him in an IU uniform.
All that aside, I am very thankful that my son has taken on a similar love for basketball (and Oregon football!) that I have. I know that when I was 15 and on into my 20's, my Dad and I had very little interest-wise in common. Pretty rocky time period between my Dad and I. I really am enjoying the time I am getting to spend with him as we go to games together and talk about the players and the play on the court. We also talk about the officials and now that I am one, I oftentimes have a different perspective than most "fans" do.
If all works out, I think my son and I are headed to Laporte this Friday to take in a game with LaLumierre and Hanner Parea, another IU recruit for next year.
Bum
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
2012...Happy New Year and stuff!
Happy New Year reader...er readerS! I thought everything from 2011 got left in 2011? My cold carried over...my debt carried over...and my job carried over...yeah, on January 2nd, a national holiday to celebrate the new year and to sleep off the New Year's first hangover for some, and to watch football, I was at work...yep, a company paid holiday. Yeah me! I did get to watch the Oregon game (cause I had my son dvr it; and yes dvr is a verb!). I also saw the end of the Oklahoma State "win" over Stanford...My advice: Stay aggressive and don't rely on kickers unless you have to! Oregon is awesome; I can't think of a college football team that I would rather watch play; so much fun!
By the way, that crappy team from Bloomington delivered a beat down to what used to be "the" Ohio State University! What a game! Who woulda thunk that while Zeller played only 5 minutes or so in the 2nd half, that IU could have not only beat Ohio State but basically shut down Sullinger the last couple of minutes? Let me get this out there: At halftime my father-in-law and I noted that Craft had 3 TO's; I said (and I will quote people or person) "if we (IU) get 3 more TO's from Craft in the 2nd half, we will win this game." Naturally, my father-in-law saw the wisdom of my statement and agreed. Well, by golly, I just looked (a few days after the fact) and Craft had 6 TO's in the game (now I know why VJIII had 6 TO's, he was trying to keep up with Craft!), which just proves that sometimes I might just know what I'm talking about...well, maybe, still, you can give me this one. On a side note: who would have thought that Derek Elston could sack up and hold Sullinger down the last 2 minutes of the game??? Tremendous! Very exciting to see those kids step up without Zeller and win this one; just shows how much these guys have improved!
Note: IU got their 3rd 2013 commitment in Luke Fischer, a 6-8 Power forward from Wisconsin. Latest video of him (he's number 40; number 3 is going to walk on at Wisconsin): Luke Fischer
Michigan is next on Thursday (ESPN2)
Bum
By the way, that crappy team from Bloomington delivered a beat down to what used to be "the" Ohio State University! What a game! Who woulda thunk that while Zeller played only 5 minutes or so in the 2nd half, that IU could have not only beat Ohio State but basically shut down Sullinger the last couple of minutes? Let me get this out there: At halftime my father-in-law and I noted that Craft had 3 TO's; I said (and I will quote people or person) "if we (IU) get 3 more TO's from Craft in the 2nd half, we will win this game." Naturally, my father-in-law saw the wisdom of my statement and agreed. Well, by golly, I just looked (a few days after the fact) and Craft had 6 TO's in the game (now I know why VJIII had 6 TO's, he was trying to keep up with Craft!), which just proves that sometimes I might just know what I'm talking about...well, maybe, still, you can give me this one. On a side note: who would have thought that Derek Elston could sack up and hold Sullinger down the last 2 minutes of the game??? Tremendous! Very exciting to see those kids step up without Zeller and win this one; just shows how much these guys have improved!
Note: IU got their 3rd 2013 commitment in Luke Fischer, a 6-8 Power forward from Wisconsin. Latest video of him (he's number 40; number 3 is going to walk on at Wisconsin): Luke Fischer
Michigan is next on Thursday (ESPN2)
Bum
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