Of Hawks, Cubs, and Sox

Despite a great effort, the Chicago Blackhawks lost game two to Detroit 3-2 in OT, thus falling behind 2-0 in the series. Could the Blackhawks win four out of the next five against the defending champs? Highly improbable.

Afetr missing the playoffs for so many years, the Hawks are actually about two years ahead of schedule in their rebuilding plan. They have played well in the playoffs, but they just don't have the talent that Detroit has -- yet. Still, they are on a great run and have finally returned to being a relevant team -- something that has not been the case for over ten years. All Hail Rocky Wirtz!

The Cubs are just three games behind the Brewers -- not bad, considering that they started off so slow. I still expect them to win the division. But the playoffs? Arrggg. Getting ready for the ol' grabbing of the ankles ritual.

The White Sox are in trouble. They are six games below .500 and have lots of questions in their lineup and rotation. A few more weeks of sub-standard play might start a rebuilding movement that has been waiting in the wings for a few years. It's still early, though. I'm not giving up on them yet.

On the Real and Virtual Felt ...

I played some live poker this past weekend in town at an Illinois Charitable Games event. I played the 20 Dolla' Holla', a real donkfest with blinds that went up every eight minutes. I got only one hand and had to push with A-7, which I ran into A-K. 'nough said. In the cash games, I lost a chunk of money early while playing three-handed, which I normally would not even play. I made what I thought was a big laydown, only to learn the guy was a total idiot. If only I had known ... Anyway, I fought back to only take a small loss -- not good, but better than losing a buy-in, I guess.

In the BBT4, I have been terrible. I just have not been able to get things going, and I have not caught a break when I needed to. Only a few TOC seats are left. Time to cowboy up.

At this summer's World Series of Poker, I play on playing the Seniors No-Limit Hold’em World Championship -- Event 43 on June 22. I expect around 2,500 entrants. There should be some benefits you get when AARP starts sending you invitations, right? I decided to enter a tournament where I would be one of the youngsters instead of being one of the "more senior" players. It should be very interesting.

I plan to be in Las Vegas June 18-24. I hope to meet a few fellow bloggers there.