Riverchasers Victory, Other Cashes ...

I picked up a Riverchasers victory tonight against a small but always "entertaining" group. Poor AlCantHang -- going all in pre-flop with K-K and getting called by Q-8 sooted -- and losing as a Queen hit the flop and the river was an 8. C'mon -- who calls an all in with Q-8 in the early part of a tournament, risking a significant part of his/her stack?

Hoy had a huge chip lead at the final table, but I went all in with 10-10 and he called with 9-9. That hand put me into second place and gave me a little breathing room. I had one suckout at the final table, calling and all in with Ace-rag against a pocket pair, and hitting a straight on the river. That was the one lucky hand needed to win the tournament.

Hoy and I had a rather short heads-up battle. I had the chip advantage when I was dealt pocket Jacks. As I recall, I raised, and Hoy went all in. I called. The result:

Yowsa! Sorry sir, but you do not crush this blogger. It feels good to get this victory not too long after winning the BBT3 Freeroll.

Other Cashes

I also played the Shark Home Game at Absolute tonight and finished in the money in 6th place. I was in first a large part of the tournament, but losing Q-Q vs K-2 (shortie all in) at the final table brought me back to the pack, and I struggled, as did everyone, with the huge blinds. I had HeadWaiter to my left, which really sucked. He put a lot of pressure on me, especially when I was in the small blind. In fact, I went out when I was in the small blind, pushing K-9 since there had been no calls or raises. Unfortunately, HeadWaiter had A-K and had me covered. End of story.

Cashed in a small HA tourney Wednesday night hosted by NYRambler. Also cashed at Full Tilt in an Omaha game. Funny thing -- I am beginning to like Omaha and Omaha 8.

Kobe, Tell Me How My Ass Tastes

Geez -- this has to be one of the funniest clips I have ever seen. Good guy Shaq making fun of the Colorado rapist. Bend THAT over a chair, Kobe.

Now ... Talk About Inspiring Stories ...

A recent issue of Sports Illustrated featured a story on the Fugees soccer team. It is quite an amazing tale of how sports can be a springboard for social action.

I recently became incensed (a little joke for my Catholic readers) over a financial contribution issue with my church. A response I received from my pastor made me vow to never again give any money to the church. It looks like the Fugees Family Inc might be a much better place for my philanthropic gestures.

My Shirley Temple Trip to Las Vegas

Is it possible for a long-time degenerate gambler to visit Las Vegas and not gamble? Sadly, the answer is yes.

My youngest daughter, Erin, has been my only child that has really taken an interest in my poker and gambling activities. Maybe it was from having her play an online slot machine years ago -- I don't know. However, she has always delighted in hearing my stories when I come back from Las Vegas. I had some free flight coupons and decided to take her out to Sin City as her fifth grade graduation trip. My wife started the graduation trip tradition with our other children. They got to take a friend on a trip to Canada, but I gave Erin the option of accompanying me to Las Vegas. She naturally junped at the chance.

We were in Las Vegas June 10-13. We stayed at Excalibur, which seemed to be the best fit in terms of child-friendliness, location, and cost. I have stayed at Excalibur a couple of times and have been satisfied with the combination of room and price.

The highlight of the trip happened after Erin selected Dick's Last Resort as a dinner choice instead of the Rainforest Cafe. Yes -- I taught her well. Our waiter was appropriately grumpy and rude, but the best part was when he made one of Dick's famous paper hats for Erin. She wore it proudly after seeing that he wrote "Princess" on the front. When the hat fell off, she was shocked to see that he had written "I eat my boogers" on the back! What a good time.

We visited the midway games at Excalibur and Circus Circus, Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat, the Lion Habitat at MGM, ... You get the picture. We also had a couple of nice swimming sessions.

TOTALS:

Poker hands played: 0
Slots played: 0
Other gambling activities: 0
Alcoholic drinks consumed: 0
Naked bodies seen: 0 -- but honorable mention to the woman in the pool who said "Oops - my boob fell out of my suit" and the woman who wore Levi shorts over her bikini bottoms and peeled off one layer too many when she got ready to swim.

Trips to McDonald's: 5

So yes -- I was in Las Vegas for over three days and did not gamble. Who would have thought it possible?

Blogger Drama

I think that just about everything has already been said. Blogger society is a microcosm of our world. Nothing surprising here -- just disappointing. Since I have never personally met either of the people involved in the latest controversies, I don't feel what some people are feeling. However, I can relate. The one online poker player I have met in person, who is a nice guy, showed that he can be a shitty friend when engufed in personal problems. Such is life.

Illinois Charitable Games

So ... I go to Las Vegas for three days and play no poker, then have to scratch my poker itch in ... Bloomington, Illinois? I had one heck of a time playing the ICG cash games on Saturday. My table had some people with quirky personalities, and there was a steady flow of fish entering the game. One poor guy was in way over his head and kept peeling off Benjis. You just shouldn't lose $500+ at a charity game, should you? Anyway, I made a nice profit. My biggest problem was keeping clean as I drove home eating a La Bamba super burrito. Gawd, what a mess I was.

Bodog

Bodog continues to be a good place for me. I felted some guy twice last night at the $1/2 tables with AA vs KK and with top two pair (Aces and Queens) vs top and bottom pair (Aces and 5's). He could have gotten away from the first hand. I raised pre-flop, he re-raised, I re-raised, and he went all in. He should have known. I am sure he was looking to get his money back on the second hand. Tough luck, bro.

My House

Yes, I still have a house on the market for 11 months and counting. I am instituting some realtor and buyer incentives, which will hopfully help me get the darn house sold by the end of the season. It really sucks to see money just flying out the window month after month.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Wow - too excited to think right now. Thanks to the people who railed and encouraged not only me, but the other tough bloggers at the final table.

I only suffered one big suckout and caught cards when I needed. The real trick, however, was ... Buddy Dank Radio. I was the only person putting in music requests for about the last two hours of the tournament. If you hated or loved the music -- yeah, it was me.

btw - I am the one who always requests The Candy Man. No reason -- I just did it.

Greetings From Las Vegas and the SOS Convention

Hello from Las Vegas to all my loyal readers. As much as I would like to give you the latest updates on what I am here for – up-to-the-minute up details on our annual Salami and Other Sausages (SOS) convention, I feel compelled to write about the crowd with whom I’m sharing my Las Vegas experience: this wild, crazy group of card players who have come to Sin City for their big event of the year, the World Series of Poker, or WSOP.

Talk about strangely dressed people … young tough guys (and they ALL wear sunglasses) with baggy pants and caps twisted sideways, guys wearing the funniest looking Hawaiian shirts you’ve ever seen (won’t find those at our local Wal-Mart!), women with … well, you know … hanging out all over the place. Wow – it is quite a scene.

I think that there are some religious overtones to this poker group, for just as I was about to leave my home base at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, a crowd gathered around some guy who everyone called “Jesus.” I must admit, the guy looked like every picture I have ever seen of Jesus, but I don’t think the Lord would come back as a poker player … do you?

I spoke with a rather friendly fellow from Arkansas who was here for the poker extravaganza. He regaled me with stories about colorful characters nicknamed “The Mouth,” “The Prince of Poker” (is that the musician who was renamed a symbol or something like that?), “Devilfish,” and other unusual names. I do think that there are some well-educated poker professionals in the crowd, however, since one tall player was referred to as “The Professor.” Maybe he was just here to lead a seminar – I don’t know.

I was irked to find that our SOS convention did not get prime convention space this year since the poker crowd is taking up all the normal ballroom and convention facilities. Instead of being in the Amazon Room, we were forced into small meeting rooms and told that the Rio was sorry, but they were “all in” for the poker convention. Some of the boys got a little frustrated and had some drinks in a place called the VooDoo Lounge. I did not go there myself since I do not believe in that sort of thing, but I do hope that they got free voodoo dolls and stuck a few pins in the managers of the Rio who have made us play second fiddle to the poker players.

Aside from the frustrations and inconveniences, it has been a tremendous learning experience for me. I had been known as a pretty good poker player in the war, and a gentleman working for a business called Full Tilt Poker pulled me aside and taught me how to play this game that everyone loves: Texas Hold Em. I just might try my luck against some of those guys wearing sunglasses. They can’t really see the cards anyway, can they?

Look for business to be back to normal tomorrow as I give you the latest updates from the braunschweiger and knockwurst caucuses, and the progress of Jenny McFadden, our nominee for National Kielbasa Queen.

This is Herman Goodfellow saying goodbye and good evening. May all your sausages be spicy, and may all your deli pickles be crunchy.

Las Vegas, Here I Come

Welcome from Las Vegas, home of gambling, drinking, whoring, and of course, the World Series of Poker. The 2008 WSOP should prove to be quite a year as the gold rush of poker doesn’t seem to be over just yet.

My journey started two days ago as I gassed up my 2000 Mustang convertible and hit the interstate system from the belly of Illinois. My trips to Las Vegas have usually been by plane, but I decided that this year I would get the complete Las Vegas poker experience – one mile at a time.

I wish I could tell you of all the exciting things I saw along the way, but I must admit, traveling through Iowa and Nebraska by oneself does not lead to a plethora or interesting stories. My mind wasn’t on the scenery or the surroundings – “just focus on the road, baby.”

The hours spent driving through Colorado and Utah were just a beautiful blur as I struggled to keep awake, a cold Red Bull always at my side, the sounds of classic rock blaring through the Mach speakers.

The sun was blisteringly hot as I entered Las Vegas. I got nostalgic as I cruised the strip, seeing the ghosts of the Las Vegas I used to know: Westward Ho, Frontier, Sands, Desert Inn, hell -- even the new Aladdin. I settled in at my suite at the Rio and got some well-deserved rest.

Waking up bleary-eyed and grumpy, I stumbled down to the convention center to check out the action as a wave of enthusiastic and hopeful poker players engulfed the registration area. I was reminded of a rather huge woman I saw at my local Sears store, trying to fit size nine feet into size seven shoes. Some things just don’t fit no matter what.

I heard that the line now stretched several hours, and I certainly decided that I could wait to register for one of the low buy-in events that welcomed donkeys like me.

I left the congested area and ran into Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, who was chowing down on a monster slice of pizza. When I asked what kind of a vibe he was getting from the crowd, he answered, “Good mojo, good mojo, Light. I’ve got a feeling that the final table has a little sign saying “Mikey” right at seat number one. I can feel it …”

The Mouth then took off to meet up with some fellow Full Tilt cronies, and I decided to answer nature’s call. Who should be standing next to me but Phil Ivey. I was going to ask him his take on the Main Event, but he had just lost a huge prop bet and gave me “the stare.” Okay – maybe I’ll ask next time.

Clonie Gowan agreed to meet me for drinks in the VooDoo Lounge in 15 minutes. I certainly have my priorities in order, so it is Goom Bye for now. Catch you a little later – if my heart does not fail me …

Is this a new month? A new week? Thank goodness -- maybe some things will change.

My weekend got off to a poor start when my home game was canceled for lack of players. That meant that not only was my in-person poker jones not going to be met, but that my bankroll wouldn't have a chance to go up the way it usually does from the home games. I cash almost every time.

On Saturday, the Bodog Mini-SOP Event #2 was going well as I cracked the top 100. Only 27 places were being paid and I felt like I could make a run at it ... until I ran pocket 10's into pocket Jacks. I put my opponent on a medium-strong Ace, which would have been ideal with the low rainbow flop. The wrong guess here put me on the sidelines.

Sunday's Big Game was going well in the first hour, as I was in the top ten for some time. I was 11th at the first break. A failure to hit any flops started eating away at my stack, and then I unfortunately ran my Q-Q into A-A. Crippled and with about 1,000 chips left with increasing blinds, I went all in with J-10, figuring that I would have two live cards and at least a shot at doubling up. My opponent had A-Q. What a joy to see the flop, turn, and river give my opponent quad Aces. What a way to go out. At least no one sucked out on me.

It looks like I finished the BBT3 in 20th place, so at least I'll get a FT jersey out of it. Of course, I am still waiting on my FT shirt from felting Scott Fischman in a blogger tournament.

Tuesday night's Bodonkey could be sweet. smokkee has a $270 bounty on him, but I need to concentrate on a big finish to have any chance of making the Bodog finals.

Sunday will be the freeroll for bloggers who pimped FT. At least I have one final chance to get a WSOP minor event buy-in from that season.

I believe that I will play blogger tournaments sparingly now that the big competitions will be over. My schedule did not allow for a whole lot of other tournaments, so I will be glad to have a little more freedom in choosing my methods of self degradation.