Me and Yosh Nakano
Me and Ted ForrestLatest Scrabble Score:
Me: 339 Mrs: 315
So I'm talking with Ted Forrest...
More on how these pictures came about later, but here are a couple of pictures from a night that included an open bar, the Voo Doo Lounge, Light, Doyle Brunson, Dutch Boyd, The marketing manager for Pokerblue.com, Pamela Anderson, Gavin Smith, and many more.
Me and Yosh Nakano
Me and Ted Forrest
Latest Scrabble Score:
Me: 339 Mrs: 315
Me and Yosh NakanoMe and Ted ForrestLatest Scrabble Score:
Me: 339 Mrs: 315
Patriot Poker
so the other night I was playing a sit-n-go on Ultimate Bet. For those of you who haven't played on UB, you can select which country you "represent." Most tables are full of Americans, and an occasional Canadian. BO-RING. I like to mix things up a bit. Sometimes I like to represent the Isle of Mann, but lately I've been playing for the Holy See. That's right, I represent Vatican City. Why? Mostly for shits and giggles. And maybe for a little blasphemy thrown on top. Once in a while it's a conversation starter. People ask if I'm a priest. Do I know the Pope? etc. etc. I don't lie, I usually tell them that I'm not even Catholic.
The other night some guy starts harrassing me because I'm not representing the good ol' U.S. of A. I asked him if he was more of an American because he represents the US and he tells me that I'm less of an American because I'm not. wow. I was half tempted to change my country to Iraq but unfortunately I was knocked out. Next time.
The other night some guy starts harrassing me because I'm not representing the good ol' U.S. of A. I asked him if he was more of an American because he represents the US and he tells me that I'm less of an American because I'm not. wow. I was half tempted to change my country to Iraq but unfortunately I was knocked out. Next time.
I am a scrabble geek
SWMBO and I play a lot of scrabble. Since getting the Scrabble deluxe version last September, we've played 58 games, of which I've won 35, or 60%. I've never dipped below 60% actually. Why do I know this? Because I've kept a spreadsheet, of course. What kind of person, you may ask, keeps an excel spreadsheet of their scrabble wins and losses? me.
Tonight's match:
SWMBO: 273
Tank: 404
2 bingos for our hero.
Oh. And I won a 10-person sit-n-go at the same time. Woo hoo.
Tonight's match:
SWMBO: 273
Tank: 404
2 bingos for our hero.
Oh. And I won a 10-person sit-n-go at the same time. Woo hoo.
I've made it
One of the first poker bloggers I started reading was Linda G at Pokerworks.com. Not only does she post day in and out, she provides a unique perspective from the epicenter of the poker world.
So I went to Vegas. More on that later. For now i'll just say I finally got to spend a little time chatting with Linda and am now imortalized in the annals of Pokerworks:
http://table-tango.pokerworks.com/2006/02/20/690/#more-690
Oh, and I took 6th in a tourney over at Caesars.
So I went to Vegas. More on that later. For now i'll just say I finally got to spend a little time chatting with Linda and am now imortalized in the annals of Pokerworks:
http://table-tango.pokerworks.com/2006/02/20/690/#more-690
Oh, and I took 6th in a tourney over at Caesars.
So close
I'll be the first to admit that I'm a fairweather fan. But when your home team makes it to the Super Bowl, you have to watch. I didn't really watch much of the regular season since most of the time we didn't TV, so I was willing to believe the line on the game. Like my friends I watched the game with, I was just hoping for a good, close game. But that game just left a bitter taste in my mouth. You hate to blame the game on the officiating, but how can you deny that it might have made a difference in the outcome? The final score really doesn't do justice to the way the Seahawks dominated the first half. I just have to say, we're lucky we're not a lot of other cities because there would probably be riots tonight if we were.
Of course you can always say this when your team loses, but the Seahawks really have nothing to be ashamed of. Little consolation to the way they feel right now I know.
-tmo
Of course you can always say this when your team loses, but the Seahawks really have nothing to be ashamed of. Little consolation to the way they feel right now I know.
-tmo
Doctors and People who work in Las Vegas
What to these people have in common? I never know when to call them.
My friend is a doctor and my cousin works in a Casino in Las Vegas. With both of them, I never know when to call. With most people, I think calling between 9AM and, say, 9PM is acceptable. But doctors fresh out of medical school work crazy hours so I hesitate to call even at 1:00 in the afternoon afraid that she's just come off some hellish 24 hour shift and collapsed into bed right before being rudely awoken by me.
And my cousin works all different shifts so who knows when she's sleeping?
I supposed the same would hold true if I knew a firefighter or police officer.
-tmo
My friend is a doctor and my cousin works in a Casino in Las Vegas. With both of them, I never know when to call. With most people, I think calling between 9AM and, say, 9PM is acceptable. But doctors fresh out of medical school work crazy hours so I hesitate to call even at 1:00 in the afternoon afraid that she's just come off some hellish 24 hour shift and collapsed into bed right before being rudely awoken by me.
And my cousin works all different shifts so who knows when she's sleeping?
I supposed the same would hold true if I knew a firefighter or police officer.
-tmo
three-three
the last time I posted i was 32. Now I'm 33. Doesn't feel all that different. In fact, it doesn't feel different at all. Am I wiser? doubtful. Am I more mature? probably not. The only thing I can say now is that I'm a third of the way to 100. next stop I guess is halfway (unless you want to count 7/20 or 2/5). That is assuming, of course, that I'm going to make it to 100.
Since Monday was a holiday from work I decided to venture to a card room up north and play in a little daily tournament that they have. The structure is horrible, you start out with T4000 and the blinds begin at T100/200. By the time the second round comes around, the BB is 1/10 of your stack (assuming you haven't won anything). Ridiculous. You need to win your first hand or you're in trouble.
First hand of the toruney I get QQ and pop it up to T1000 and pick up about T500. The next hand I get 55 and pick up the pot after the flop comes 23J. I don't catch anything for a couple of rounds when I find KQd and raise it. By this time I had been blinded down so much that I should have pushed all in, instead like donkey I only doubled the BB and of course had the SB and BB come along for the ride. Flop comes A-K-rag and I know that one of them has an A and fold to the BB's bet on the turn. He folds to the SB's all in showing KJ. Had I pushed all in pre-flop there's no way the SB would have called with her A7o. After that I only had enough to cover my blinds and had to shove with crap at the same time that someone caught QQ. Chalk it up to a learning experience.
-tmo
Since Monday was a holiday from work I decided to venture to a card room up north and play in a little daily tournament that they have. The structure is horrible, you start out with T4000 and the blinds begin at T100/200. By the time the second round comes around, the BB is 1/10 of your stack (assuming you haven't won anything). Ridiculous. You need to win your first hand or you're in trouble.
First hand of the toruney I get QQ and pop it up to T1000 and pick up about T500. The next hand I get 55 and pick up the pot after the flop comes 23J. I don't catch anything for a couple of rounds when I find KQd and raise it. By this time I had been blinded down so much that I should have pushed all in, instead like donkey I only doubled the BB and of course had the SB and BB come along for the ride. Flop comes A-K-rag and I know that one of them has an A and fold to the BB's bet on the turn. He folds to the SB's all in showing KJ. Had I pushed all in pre-flop there's no way the SB would have called with her A7o. After that I only had enough to cover my blinds and had to shove with crap at the same time that someone caught QQ. Chalk it up to a learning experience.
-tmo
Don't get me wrong
I like NPR, listen to it every day. And today being MLK day here I've enjoyed listening to the recordings of Dr. King's speeches. The man was a great orator. At times as I'm listening I think "man, he's kind of rambling" but then all of a sudden he ties it all together and it hits you. It all makes sense.
His last speech ("I've been to the mountain top"), the one he made just days before he was killed, was really eerie. Maybe it's just coincidence, but his last paragraph almost sounds like a challenge to those who are plotting to kill him. If I knew there was a plot to kill me, I don't think I could stand in front of all those people and deliver such powerful words.
So I'm listening to this speech and when it's over NPR decides to play "In the name of love" by U2 as a musical interlude. huh? I like the song. But in that whole song there's one mention of MLK. Of all the songs they choose to play, that one? Kind of put a damper on the whole thing.
-tmo
His last speech ("I've been to the mountain top"), the one he made just days before he was killed, was really eerie. Maybe it's just coincidence, but his last paragraph almost sounds like a challenge to those who are plotting to kill him. If I knew there was a plot to kill me, I don't think I could stand in front of all those people and deliver such powerful words.
So I'm listening to this speech and when it's over NPR decides to play "In the name of love" by U2 as a musical interlude. huh? I like the song. But in that whole song there's one mention of MLK. Of all the songs they choose to play, that one? Kind of put a damper on the whole thing.
-tmo
No ark
Of course as soon as I posted about the rain it stopped. SWMBO was very excited at the prospect of a rain free day while I was hoping it would rain. I mean, we were less than a week away from breaking the record of continuous days of rain (33). Maybe it rained somewhere else in the city today so the streak is still on. I have to admit that it was pretty nice with the sun shining today, but still....
start building the ark
it's rained for 26 days straight here and there's no sign that it's going to let up. I don't really mind it but the missus is not digging it. If it's raining, that means the temperature is at least in the 30s. And you don't have to dig rain.
-tmo
-tmo
unsung
You'll never see my name in the credits, but in some small way I associated with the Iron Chef America. My friend J works at the Food Network as a researcher for the show and every so often he asks me to help with an obscure ingredient that one of the Iron Chefs requests.
Not that I'm even a big fan of ICA, it lacks that certain passion that the Japanese Iron Chef show had, but I like the challenge of trying to figure out what these foods are.
The first challenge is trying to figure out what they hell the IC is asking for. Apparently his English writing skills are pretty bad, because the ingredients are invariably misspelled.
One of the latest ingredients was called "shutou," (originally spelled "syutou" when given to my friend) which after some searching I discovered to be the "salted offal of bonito."
uh.
From dictionary.com:
"offal:
n : viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal often considered inedible by humans"
Often considered inedible. But apparently not always, because someone had the brilliant idea of salting it and eating it. Supposedly this is something that is often consumed with copious amounts of alcohol. I know I would need to be very, VERY drunk to even consider eating this. I would need to be so blitzed that when someone told me I was about to eat offal I would need to hear "Waffles" and my brain would need to be so far gone that I could not recognize salted fish guts sitting in front of me. And hopefully if I was drunk enough to eat this, I would have already passed out.
-tmo
Not that I'm even a big fan of ICA, it lacks that certain passion that the Japanese Iron Chef show had, but I like the challenge of trying to figure out what these foods are.
The first challenge is trying to figure out what they hell the IC is asking for. Apparently his English writing skills are pretty bad, because the ingredients are invariably misspelled.
One of the latest ingredients was called "shutou," (originally spelled "syutou" when given to my friend) which after some searching I discovered to be the "salted offal of bonito."
uh.
From dictionary.com:
"offal:
n : viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal often considered inedible by humans"
Often considered inedible. But apparently not always, because someone had the brilliant idea of salting it and eating it. Supposedly this is something that is often consumed with copious amounts of alcohol. I know I would need to be very, VERY drunk to even consider eating this. I would need to be so blitzed that when someone told me I was about to eat offal I would need to hear "Waffles" and my brain would need to be so far gone that I could not recognize salted fish guts sitting in front of me. And hopefully if I was drunk enough to eat this, I would have already passed out.
-tmo
it's funny....
I only read a few blogs regularly, and even then, I read a lot fewer since we got our house. So I was reading the Tao of poker and decided to randomly click on a few links and see what's out there in the world of poker blogs. The first one was a 404. The second one was a guy whose last post was July 2005 and the next was even earlier then that. The second blogger began with "it's been a while." It's kind of funny because I've been there too. Probably 80% of us bloggers start and then eventually give up. Just like keeping a journal. Which makes those who keep it up week after week really amazing.
-tmo
-tmo
My first dream and a good start
2006. Wow.
The first dream i remember having this year was of getting a speeding ticket. I hope that isn't an omen of the year to come.
Something I do hope is an omen of things to come is taking 4th in my first online sit-n-go tourney this year. Sure, it wasn't first, but in the money isn't bad.
Happy New Years to all.
-tmo
The first dream i remember having this year was of getting a speeding ticket. I hope that isn't an omen of the year to come.
Something I do hope is an omen of things to come is taking 4th in my first online sit-n-go tourney this year. Sure, it wasn't first, but in the money isn't bad.
Happy New Years to all.
-tmo
I'm a champion
OK, so I didn't place in the tourney at Rascal's, but I did come home to challenge T at scrabble (one thing that Paul Phillips and I have in common) and Q at Gin at the same time, emerging victorious at both. I've just learned Gin, but I'm enjoying it. Gin has a lot in common with poker; putting your opponent on a hand, strategizing and remembering what they've discarded are all things you must consider.
Like the big geek that I am, I've been tracking my record against T in Scrabble and tonight's 194 point margin of victory was my largest since I started keeping track. 2 bingos helped me break 400.
-tmo
Like the big geek that I am, I've been tracking my record against T in Scrabble and tonight's 194 point margin of victory was my largest since I started keeping track. 2 bingos helped me break 400.
-tmo
to the brick and mortar
I was just leaving Home Depot when my cousin K called me. He's in town for Thanksgiving and was heading down to a little card room to play in a $30 tourney with a buddy of his. After getting the green light from the Boss I headed South to Rascal's. The name should really be "Bandits" for taking a 20% cut (25+5), but no one seemed to mind, they were there to Gambool. In the first round I saw two baby flush draws call all in bets after the flop and knock out TPTK and two pair when they caught their flushes. Neither of them were drawing to the nuts mind you, nor did they have over cards.
Blinds double every 12 minutes so it was little more than a crapshoot. The only thing that didn't make a pure crapshoot was the fact that they gave you T4000. I don't think I exagerate when I say I didn't have a pocket pair for the whole tourney. After the fourth round I had won two small pots and K was still looking for his first win. After slowly bleeding away, I got moved to a table under the gun. With T3400 and the blinds at 800/1600 (meaning I would be left with T1000 after the blinds passed me), I shoved all in with KJo. Guy to my left calls, as does the BB. K on the flop and I'm ahead. Unfortunately I'm all in so I can't push out the BB who has AQo and catches an A on the river to send me home.
K, on the other hand, went on a little rush and caught some nice cards to make it to the final table and then go on to win the whole kit and kaboodle. Pretty exciting. K is mostly a limit cash game player but I think he's getting bitten by the no-limit bug. It would exciting to see him at a final table some time.
-tmo
Blinds double every 12 minutes so it was little more than a crapshoot. The only thing that didn't make a pure crapshoot was the fact that they gave you T4000. I don't think I exagerate when I say I didn't have a pocket pair for the whole tourney. After the fourth round I had won two small pots and K was still looking for his first win. After slowly bleeding away, I got moved to a table under the gun. With T3400 and the blinds at 800/1600 (meaning I would be left with T1000 after the blinds passed me), I shoved all in with KJo. Guy to my left calls, as does the BB. K on the flop and I'm ahead. Unfortunately I'm all in so I can't push out the BB who has AQo and catches an A on the river to send me home.
K, on the other hand, went on a little rush and caught some nice cards to make it to the final table and then go on to win the whole kit and kaboodle. Pretty exciting. K is mostly a limit cash game player but I think he's getting bitten by the no-limit bug. It would exciting to see him at a final table some time.
-tmo
driveway moments
I admit it, I listen to NPR. It's the source for most of my news since we don't have a TV and I get up too late to read the paper in the morning.
Every time they have a pledge drive they talk about "driveway moments," those stories so captivating that you sit in your car in the driveway unwilling or unable to turn off the radio until you hear the end of a story.
Yesterday I heard perhaps the most riveting story I've heard this year, and perhaps ever.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014080
You just have to listen to it to understand. The really quick version is that this man goes in search of the truth, something that has plagues him for almost all his life, the feeling that something had happened to him. This isn't some alien abduction story, it is far worse. In fact, I think it would be less disturbing if aliens had perpetrated something on him, but instead it was another human. The truth is that when he was 12 years old, he had a "transorbital lobotomy" performed on him. I mean, I can't even begin to imagine what I would do if I learned something like that. It was amazing.
On a much, much ligher note. My friend Daniel was on the boob tube. There he was, "Mike Hanson," on CSI: NY. Daniel has been in LA, and before that NY, pursuing his dream to be an actor. It's great to see him doing what he wants to do. I'm hoping he hits it really big so i can be interviewed by E! or ET or anyone else and I can tell embarrassing stories about him.
-tmo
Every time they have a pledge drive they talk about "driveway moments," those stories so captivating that you sit in your car in the driveway unwilling or unable to turn off the radio until you hear the end of a story.
Yesterday I heard perhaps the most riveting story I've heard this year, and perhaps ever.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014080
You just have to listen to it to understand. The really quick version is that this man goes in search of the truth, something that has plagues him for almost all his life, the feeling that something had happened to him. This isn't some alien abduction story, it is far worse. In fact, I think it would be less disturbing if aliens had perpetrated something on him, but instead it was another human. The truth is that when he was 12 years old, he had a "transorbital lobotomy" performed on him. I mean, I can't even begin to imagine what I would do if I learned something like that. It was amazing.
On a much, much ligher note. My friend Daniel was on the boob tube. There he was, "Mike Hanson," on CSI: NY. Daniel has been in LA, and before that NY, pursuing his dream to be an actor. It's great to see him doing what he wants to do. I'm hoping he hits it really big so i can be interviewed by E! or ET or anyone else and I can tell embarrassing stories about him.
-tmo
sticking it to the man
I had to perform the unpleasant job of paying a parking ticket today. So I parked within 15 feet of a fire hydrant. Big Deal. The probability of a fire happening when I was parked there is tiny. And it's not like I was right in front of it, I was a good 5 feet away. AND it was on a corner so if a firetruck needed access, it could reach it. It wasn't even a particularly noteworthy apartment building either. I'm sure if it had burned down, some developer would have put in some much nicer (and probably much more expensive) units.
Before I wrote out my check I noticed that I could pay online. Saves me 36 cents AND I get airline miles. Not to mention, the city has to pay some credit card processing fee so they end up getting less. HAH!
I'm such a rebel.
BTW, my friend Daniel is going to be on CSI: NY this week. Not sure what his character is, but I know the episode involves poker so I'm there. Unfortunately we still don't have a TV so I'm going to have to crash my friend's house. I'm actually a little bitter that he didn't call me to come down and see the taping. I could have been a consultant or something. Apparently the show hired some pro poker player to consult on the show but I still think I could have added some imput. I could have told him how to handle a suckout or how to order cocktails (two things I do with frequency when at the Casino).
Speaking of poker. I just crashed and burned at a 30-person sit-n-go. I only have myself to blame really. Too much fancy play syndrome. oh well.
-tmo
Before I wrote out my check I noticed that I could pay online. Saves me 36 cents AND I get airline miles. Not to mention, the city has to pay some credit card processing fee so they end up getting less. HAH!
I'm such a rebel.
BTW, my friend Daniel is going to be on CSI: NY this week. Not sure what his character is, but I know the episode involves poker so I'm there. Unfortunately we still don't have a TV so I'm going to have to crash my friend's house. I'm actually a little bitter that he didn't call me to come down and see the taping. I could have been a consultant or something. Apparently the show hired some pro poker player to consult on the show but I still think I could have added some imput. I could have told him how to handle a suckout or how to order cocktails (two things I do with frequency when at the Casino).
Speaking of poker. I just crashed and burned at a 30-person sit-n-go. I only have myself to blame really. Too much fancy play syndrome. oh well.
-tmo
satisfaction
There are few things more satisfying than coming back from a huge chip deficit -inflicted, by the way, by a suck out- and winning a match heads up. Granted, this was only a $5 + .50 sit-n-go, but none the less, I felt good. Maybe not as good as winning the WSOP main event, but every great journey starts with a first step.
Even more satisfying, and restoring my faith in grand scheme of the universe, was the fact that in all the key hands heads up, I always went into it with the best of it.
-tmo
Even more satisfying, and restoring my faith in grand scheme of the universe, was the fact that in all the key hands heads up, I always went into it with the best of it.
-tmo
Rainy Days
100% chance of rain. It must be so easy to be a Weather forecaster in Seattle. Between November and February all you have to say is "100% chance of rainy today. Highs in the 50s, lows in the 30s. Mostly cloudy."
So I notice that Anderson Cooper is replacing Aaron Brown as CNN's Prime time newscaster. Sad day for those of us who remember Aaron from back in the days when he was a local newscaster. I guess standing out in hurricane winds wasn't for naught. I still would have liked to have seen Cooper been hit upside the head with a palm frond or something.
Not much poker lately (the last two days). Been busy firing a Soda kiln as part of this Soda fire class I'm taking at Pottery Northwest. It's a great place for anyone who wants to take classes. There is something very appealing to a pyromaniac about something that exceeds 2200 degrees F.
On Rain. I like it when I can sit inside and listen to it hit against the window. I don't like hiking in it. and I much prefer it over snow. My mantra is "you don't have to shovel rain."
-tmo
So I notice that Anderson Cooper is replacing Aaron Brown as CNN's Prime time newscaster. Sad day for those of us who remember Aaron from back in the days when he was a local newscaster. I guess standing out in hurricane winds wasn't for naught. I still would have liked to have seen Cooper been hit upside the head with a palm frond or something.
Not much poker lately (the last two days). Been busy firing a Soda kiln as part of this Soda fire class I'm taking at Pottery Northwest. It's a great place for anyone who wants to take classes. There is something very appealing to a pyromaniac about something that exceeds 2200 degrees F.
On Rain. I like it when I can sit inside and listen to it hit against the window. I don't like hiking in it. and I much prefer it over snow. My mantra is "you don't have to shovel rain."
-tmo
thoughts about newscasters
I was sitting there waiting for my bacon cheeseburger and watching Hurricane Wilma coverage. Two guys from CNN were out in the wind and rain trying to report. Dumbasses. What are they trying to prove? Do we really need to see them getting lashed by wind and rain to know that it's really blowing? Do we really need them to tell us that they are having trouble hearing the other report standing not more than a foot from them to understand that it is REALLY windy?
I'm just waiting for the day, waiting mind you, not hoping, that one of these reporters is going to wind up with a 2x4 imbedded in their skull, most likely on live TV, for these guys to realize what dumb sh*ts they are being.
I write this now so that when it does happen I can say, "didn't I tell you this was going to happen."
I'm just waiting for the day, waiting mind you, not hoping, that one of these reporters is going to wind up with a 2x4 imbedded in their skull, most likely on live TV, for these guys to realize what dumb sh*ts they are being.
I write this now so that when it does happen I can say, "didn't I tell you this was going to happen."
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