Van Halen Concert Setlist at TD Banknorth Garden, Boston on March 11, 2012 | setlist.fm

Van Halen Concert Setlist at TD Banknorth Garden, Boston on March 11, 2012 | setlist.fm

Absolutely awesome...Eddie is the greatest guitarist ever...they killed it. Dave screwed up a couple of songs and his voice is what it used to be but he was great anyway. After all is said and done...Van Halen with D.L.R. is my favorite band of all time.

Van Halen

Wow,....

Van Halen 'A Different Kind of Truth'

Every once in a while I do a music post on this humble blog 'o mine. It's usually when a band recreates some magic from it's past. This one is mostly to due with Van Halen's new album 'A Different Kind of Truth'. I'm always amazed that a band can come back sometimes 25-30 years after they release their first album and release an album worthy of their prime. I last did a post in '09 about this but their have been quite a few CD's that have been release since then that also qualify. Last time the catalyst was ' Death Magnetic' by Metallica. This time it's Van Halen...by the way....the latter two bands are in my top 5 of all time easily. By contrast we have a band like the Rolling Stones...who defy the odds again and again...but their CD's don't quite cut the mustard. The last good album from the 'stones was 'Tattoo You'....in '81! That was only 17 years after the first official record. If there was ever a longevity award that would certainly go to the 'stones...but I'm sorry....they haven't done anything worthy of their prime since '81. Since I last did a post like this there have been no less than 4 bands that qualify with 'Comeback of the year' efforts. Here is the wikipedia entry for the album...it includes all the stats and info.

I have to admit being biased here but releasing an album like A.D.K.O.T. an amazing 34 years after their debut album....just blow me away. I've been listening to the whole CD while going to the gym and it doesn't disappoint. I think the track I like least is their first single...'Tattoo'. I was expecting something like 'Hot for Teacher' or some high charged heavy boogie-woogie (you VH fans know what I mean) for their comeback single with D.L.R. I was also skeptical about their ability to handle the old harmony vocals which would be noticeable on their new CD...Right? I bought the whole thing on iTunes and took a few listens all the way through before declaring it a huge winner. I'm as impressed....probably even more so than Metallica's comeback album 'Death Magnetic'. I'll be able to get a feel for the band when I see them live at the Boston Garden on March 11th. First time I will see them with D.L.R. He does sound a lot older on the CD but what does anybody expect. I have to say they did a great job doing the background vocals and harmonies...we'll see what happens live. So since my last post there have been other big albums by some of my favorites...(by the way if this all sounds juvenile...well...it is...this is a blog a misc stuff and my dumping ground for poker and misc. stuff...so be it). I swear I'm not just kissing Van Halen ass here....but Eddie is playing like a man possessed. His leads almost sound like 'Dimebag' Darrell and Jimi Hendrix filtered through Van Halen fingers. The riffs....sure they re-recorded old songs.....that's what all bands do...it's called 'going back to basics' for a reason. They still give the fans what they want and they still sound like they are evolving their overall sound. Does Dave still sound like hokey-VegasLounge-Dave? Yes! I do expect that...that would be like Steven Tyler not sounding like a strangled cat in front of Aerosmith. There are just some things that need to be finished....and D.L.R. recording and touring with Van Halen is one of them. Another is my finally being able to see them live. I missed out in '85 when they broke up for the first time...I was 15 and just at the age when you can get to a concert by friends or neighbors. Although I saw Kiss in '81 when my neighbors brought me with their kids. The second time was there '08-'09 reunion tour....my daughter was born the day after the show that my wife bought tickets for...I had to give those away. The other night I just bit the bullet and bought them the old fashioned way......through a ticket broker. Fuck it...I always said when I was a kid I would buy tickets for any show I wanted because I would have the money. I'm not exactly rolling in dough but this is an opportunity that I won't pass on this time.

 MegaDeth has released no less than two albums ('Endgame' in '09 and 'Thirteen' in '11) that are very close to some of their best..their debut was in '85 and that wasn't exactly stellar. I almost made a separate post for Anthrax...who released 'Worship Music' in 2011...a full 27 years after 'A fistful of Metal' in '84. Joey Belladonna came back and they really blew me away with that. They have had a hugely similar career path to Van Halen with 3 different lead singers and fans who are fervent supporters of vocalist 1 Joey and vocalist 2 John Bush. I like 'em both but this last recording from them is certainly up there in their top 3 of their career. Motley Crue has a great recording worthy of talking about "Saints of Los Angelas' was a great throwback to their earlier and harder rocking years. That made quite a few fans take notice and now they are headed back to the studio again and have an ongoing gig in Las Vegas. The only thing slowing them down again is band health (Mick Mars is basically walking and playing with a debilitating disease and I'm sure one or two have hep-C or something). I would be hugely remiss in not mentioning Slayer. The CD 'Psychopathy in Red' was just a killer. When I was down in the dumps in '09....I listened to that CD all the time and believe it or not...it got me excited to get to work and have a good attitude. I am not sure that's what they wanted as a band but I was very impressed with that CD. I am sad to hear about Black Sabbath's latest comeback effort being hampered by cancer (Tony Iommi) and Bill Ward's lawyer/contract issues. Reunions should be a glorious return to form but they more often than not are hampered by megalomaniac egos and health problems. Those two reasons alone make it amazing for a band like Van Halen and some of the others in this post to be able to come out with such great music so long after they started their illustrious careers. Believe it or not I am huge fan of not only heavy guitar music but jam-band type music and bluesy music as well. I will be chomping at the bit for new albums from Phish, The Black Crowes, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Joe Walsh,,,,,the list contains to many to mention. I know after I post this I will think of a shitload more...but that's what comments are for. I wanna hear about it now.....'I don't wanna hear about it later'!!!! anybody get that reference????

Charity Tournament Win......

Or....Chop....
I went to the Elks Lodge in Wakefield on Friday night after work. I saw an advertisement for a charity tournament and figured I'd play since I haven't been able to in a long time. There were a few people I have seen there before and sure enough...I've played against them at Rockingham Park. Needless to say the play was a little wacky with some people who have never played before and some with a little experience like me. It was a charity tourney though and some of the worst play is quite common. The 75.00 entry fee was about all I can afford these days...so sad. The charity was advertised for youth baseball but ended up for youth hockey in Wakefield. Fine by me. I'd rather play a charity tournament in my town and have it go to something worth supporting. I think there were 5 tables that weren't quite full so I liked my chances. So after a couple of hours and a couple of breaks...we made the final table. No surprise that everybody that plays at Rockingham was also at the final table. I pushed a few times and everybody folded. The one hand that doubled me up to a big stack from one of the soon to be eliminated was my push with K-7o in early position. I was going to be blinded out in two more rounds which were going to happen quick. I saw one of the guys from the Rock in the BB and it looked like he would probably fold to my push but he called with K-J suited. I was done...until the river 7 fell...that all but guaranteed the cash. It always happens that way...I push and somebody calls. It usually works out for me..that's why it's so hard to call. It was getting down to 5 players and people started talking about a chop. The one guy that never played before was skeptical but once we carved out a 100.00 4th place finish....he was good to go. He did get knocked out 4th and when we got to three our stacks were pretty even. The other 2 guys were skeptical again...but I just said "Let's chop...we're even"....they agreed and we got a nice little 450.00 dollar chop between the 3 of us. I was happy after that river stinger that got me to the money. Thems Da breaks!
I went to Rockingham on Saturday night...I played a 40.00 SitNGo...I got knocked out when I raised from mid pos. with 10's. 3 callers called and one spike trips with his 7-6s. They are basically turbos and it took all of 10 minutes to be knocked out after I pushed and he reluctantly called. I held out for the 80.00 turbo that they have at 9 PM. I usually make the final table and I did again. Alas...I was the bubble boy when the blinds skyrocketed. I pushed with 7-6s under the gun and the big stack called with Ad-3d and river'd his flush. It was unreal the guy got A's twice at the final table in a turbo...and every time he called he turn'd or river'd the nuts. I could have held on to min-cash....maybe. I wasn't really going to hang around when the blinds were at 5K-10K and I had a stack of 30K. No big deal.....just a half decent weekend for a change.

Schadenfreude Central

It buuuuuuuuuuurns....oh it burrrrrrrrrns.....I have now watched the Patriots lose 4 SB's...and don't like it.

OK....the lowest of lows has crept back into the sports world in New England again. The last time was Sept. and the inevitable crash of the Red Sox. The thing that hurts most about the Patriots loss is that it was at the hands of the New Jersey Giants. It was horrendously bad to lose to them in '08. They could have made everyone forget about that with a SB46 win. The goddamn Giants practically asked them to take this SB and win. The Patriots just would not take multiple chances to put this away and take the win. They just couldn't come up with that one catch on that critical drive or that one stop on the Giants last drive. They couldn't avoid the costly offside penalty or the 12-men on the field at the most critical of times. They led for most of the game but the Giants controlled the football and killed the clock methodically. Let's face it...John Elway could get to multiple SB's on his own but not UNTIL he got the ability to control the clock with a killer running game and we'll say at least a 55% passing to 45% running ratio. The Patriots didn't have that this year or since '05-'06. That is when they played that poor excuse for a team the PhEagles. The major turning point in the game was the hit that Justin Tuck put on Tom Brady. Brady was basically setting a record pace for completions and QB rating until that one hit and he PLANTED Brady into the Turf...or more specifically his shoulder. After that hit Brady was a completely different QB....but still they had multiple chances and everybody dropped critical passes. The drop that hurt the most was probably the Welker miss that would have probably sealed a win. I'm not blaming him specifically because all phases of the game just weren't up to snuff. Usually 2 or the 3 phases of the game would probably win...special teams and offense did the trick the whole year. The defense came together with the old 'Bend don't Break' mentality. That's not good enough any more obviously. This was all pretty much Deja Vu from SB42....The Giants deserve it...and we have to eat it as fans. The AFC is probably going to be pretty lol bad so they may just get back once or twice more in the next 3 years. A few things may help the cause though :
1. Get Offensive and Defensive coordinators....and delegate like the Belichick of old...please?...or....
2. Get a General Manager and stick to Head coach and defensive coordinator with an offensive coordinator.
3. Use you fucking draft picks...you have two 1st rounders and 2 second rounders...there are lots of positions that need to be addressed..please for the love of god use 'em or trade UP for a change....(and please do not pass over the next freakishly good pass rusher...like that guy on Green Bay that you passed over).
4. You are going to be 20 Million under the cap...yes 20 mil. that could be used for real free agents...not OchoFucko (I love to tweet...yay) or Fat AlbertPaynseWorthless etc...etc..

Ok...so if anybody wants to add in the Camera-Gate deal...you should give it up...the Patriots have 3 SB's whether you like it or not. No moron Senator or NFL commissioner is going to give back restitution or a SB trophy ever. They simply picked the Patriots as an EXAMPLE to set a precedent of how they are going to punish going forward. The Patriots were merely one of half the NFL teams that were doing the same thing.....and they paid big time. I mean...did you see how they lost SB 42? That was fixed...and it was at the end of same season where the hammer came down from the NFL about Camera-Gate. Book it...Done....

Superbowl 46

Super Bowl 2012, Patriots Vs. Giants: Pats To Face Giants In Epic Rematch - SB Nation Boston

It's on.......

Joe VS. the Gronk-cano

It's going to be Joe VS. the Gronk-cano this week!!!!

God vs. Jesus

This may be the most watched playoff game...ever....

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

To everybody except the NFL football players who are going to lose my Fantasy Football championships...lump of coal for you bastards...

WPBT Weekend Part 3

Sunday : 10:30 AM....look at the clock..fall asleep again....11:00AM (no problem....I'll go over to Aria and meet up with everybody to watch the Pats. Take a shower...oh...I'm 3 hours behind ET....fuck......) By the time I got over to Aria to meet up with everybody at the sports book the 1:00 (4PM ET) games already started and I missed my opportunity for bets. That would be my mantra for the weekend..I had so much fun the night before that I stayed up until 5 or 6 or 7 AM and overslept. What can I say...I'm not a morning person. Never was...never will be...

1:30 PM
 Jordan from HoP and the fine people at Pokerist.com provided a damn nice looking/tasting cake with some food and pitchers of beer (Guinness and Stella among other beers) for the WPBT Sports book gathering..whatever you want to call it.

 

Photo credit : OhCaptain I think...or maybe this one

I talked with Lightning36 for a while and he decided to get out of there and go where Lightnings go...probably Ballys...

I had a few conversations with Grange95 and Pauly : Our conv. about the point shaving scandals, the infamous Tim Donaghy and my pestering Pauly about his upcoming projects are what I come to the WPBT for....fascinating stuff...and I'm not being sarcastic. After drinking some of the pitcher beer I decided to get a bucket of beer...a mixed 6 pack of great brews. I'm a pig so I gave away 3 and drank 3 myself...I WAS THIRSTY!!

4:30...One went to the Aria bar next to the poker room and hung out with a bunch of bloggers.....
"are you going to watch the end of the half marathon? .....mob mentality rules!" -StB
"....I'm getting hungry....haven't eaten in 10 hours again....sure...let's get more beers...."-Me
an hour later we see the bloggers that are running the half marathon walking out....
"They are actually going to run 13 miles in the cold desert winds...on purpose!"-Me
"The least I can do is go to the finish line and give these guys a hand"-Me

6:30 or 7:00....At or near the finish line after going with a group of bloggers through multiple casinos on foot.
apparently PokerPeaker, BadBlood, Otis, Mattazuma, and Doc Chako were running in this....much admiration your way dudes....I can guarantee I WON'T be joining you in this race but I have nothing but the highest respect to those who train and run in this race as I can imagine it being tough running against the wind in the desert...no matter how cold it is.

A side note...due to my washing my hands at an almost OCD-rate...my left hand was cracking...the cold wind and the hand washing were quickly drying out the back of my hand. I couldn't have gotten some kind of lotion but I had been drinking tons of water all day. I'll have to take care of that later...and EAT!! I forgot to eat more than a few stretches of time...sometimes...12 hours...no idea why...

We saw Peakr for a second...he breezed by but that was when we first got there on the rail....Blood came in after that to a hell of a roar from the crowd...then Otis...he was going nuts...it was cool to see those guys go by.
After this we went back to Aria after going to drink a couple at the Excalibur Sports book...or was it the Monte Carlo Sports book...yeah I think it was the Monte Carlo...I followed a crowd of bloggers led by Pauly and his bro Derek....who has a great post up at the moment by the way. Following the brothers McGuire through the casinos is like trying to catch up with the fastest of run-walkers in the history of run-walking. I was lagging way behind...hungry...drunk..tired....I was on the way up the stairs and they already realized they were going the wrong way and were passing me on the downstairs..."we're going that way dude"-everybody...."huh" *points the opposite direction* "ok"-Me...dang NY City speed walkers..

8:00...or is it 9:00
By now we are back in Aria Sports book and after walking 1,000 miles through casinos and connectors..I'm hungry. I almost successfully convinced a few people to go to the Hoffbrau house...but we decided on 'Lemongrass' in the Aria instead. Noodles...I can do Noodles...I'm so effin' hungry. We go over and sit down and get some appetizers to start out...
"Jellyfish...why not? I've never tried it...if you're gonna eat Jellyfish why not in Vegas?"-StB
"How can I argue with that...?"-Me
The Jellyfish was pretty good believe it or not...a little like Cucumber-flavored-chewy-jelly-spaghetti and some other pot sticker appetizer as well. Good stuff..but I need some kind of beef seeing as how I haven't eaten anything in 10 hours. I got the 'Pepper beef Udon' dish. It was just what I needed..I couldn't go the 'burn your face off noodle dish' the other guys ordered...I just needed noodles and beef...I will try the Noodles and seafood next time. Grange95 and Metsfan/GeekandProud and StB were all sufficiently stuffed and went to say goodbye to everybody. For some stupid reason I didn't say goodbye to everybody or anybody....I figured...I'll see them again tomorrow morning or something...completely ignoring my inability to get up early and my tendency to oversleep...and the impending Vegas intoxication/gambling/mayhem to come.
I guess I'll just have to see everybody next year.....


10:30 Head back to the I.P. StB had an early flight Monday in the AM so I'm basically left to my own devices again. I'll find the Lightning....I sent a text and he was haunting Harrah's Poker Room. I can stay up all night and just take a nap tomorrow. That was my thinking. I go on my way to Harrah's and find L36 in the Poker Room. I quickly jump on the one of the two 1-2 NLHE tables. By now my left hand a gnarly rawhide cracked skin bloody mess that resembled a velociraptor claw...a bloody one. Besides that I was feeling great...I can stay up all night...get some sleep...wake up for breakfast....take a shower....gamble a bit...then head to McCarren airport and take my plane home at 5:00. Plenty of time to spare....right?

Drinks...drinks...beers....beers....drinks...drinks...Bud Light and screwdrivers....all night long....

1:00AM
Turbo nightly 25 buy-in at Harrah's poker room. These blinds are lightning fast....push or die. Ironically I played only a few hands but I was soon at the final table. I forgot to bet Lightning36 on a last longer...which I would have killed! I had a pretty good stack at the final table but I was concentrating on getting 1,000 bud lights delivered and drunk in orderly fashion. The blinds were up to 2000-4000 and I had 16,000...some dude pushed on my BB...I looked down and had A-6o...I called...he had pocket 10's. He won...had me covered....I couldn't fold that just to limp into the money..it was a 25 dollar turbo.

2:00AM Beer...drinks....beers...drinks...feeling it now....bloody claw is now permanently in curled bloody clutching mode...only a bud light or a screwdriver drink would fit. There is now only one NLHE 1-2 table left. I jump back in and join the Lightbulb.
Me-"Where the fuck did everybody go?!...I need another screwdriver..FUCK!!!"
Dealer-"Sir please refrain from swearing"
Me-"Ok...."
Lightning36 comes back from the bathroom.."I think I'm gonna take off"....
Me-"No Fucking way!...get back in here...there is still one seat left:
Dealer-"SIR....Please...I'm going to give you a warning..."
Me-"oh yeah..OK...OK..OK....Jesus man what's the story...nobody else is complaining about this..."
Dealer-"It's my discretion...blah...blah...blah...."
I know it's the dealers discretion...but nobody was complaining...as a matter of fact..everybody was having fun at this one table...but when he was there....STOP! I was pretty drunk by now...there was music playing on the speaker in the room. It was a great classic rock radio station playing some good stuff...

I started singing....Poker Karaoke....Pokeraoke....my invention....if I can't swear I'll sing to that FUCKFACE...and totally annoy him...it was actually pretty damn fun. I must say that my voice is stellar...ask anyone in that room that night....the man with the bloody hand....and the Golden voice....

'Got me under pressure'
3:00 AM
I got warned one last time...the dealer heard me say 'FUCK'...and he motioned to the poker room manager.
Dealer-"this guy won't stop swearing...I have repeatedly asked him to stop..he is creating an atmosphere or animosity"
Me-"Can I get a waitress...uh...sorry I won't swear again...I swear it!...Ha ha....ooops...."
Poker Room Mgr.-"cut it out...I won't kick you out but it is his.."
Me-"DISCRETION....I know..I know..sorry sorry...dealer (bitch)...I won't do it again"

Back to playing cards..and Pokeraoke.....
Lightning raised in early position....I look down at Ad-10d? in the BB I don't know...something to that effect...I know he's either got a high pair or A-K....somebody else called as well....I call in the BB

Flop Ax-Jx-Xx...I bet out....Lightning goes in the tank and raises...prob. 3X my bet...just then the song 'Got me Under Pressure from ZZ-Top is piping over the speakers in the poker room....
At the particular moment they are waiting my move and in unison with the song I look at Lightning and sing...

"You got me under pressure......ba daba daba daduh...got me under pressure.....bup bah...."  I'm singing this out loud in unison to the song and playing guitar and drums all at the same time....
The table erupts in laughter....
"WAITRESS to table in Poker Room please...the only table that is...."

A couple of hands later the song 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago comes on.....
A guy in late position raises my blind...
Me Singing in unison with the song again...."IF You raise my blind I'll raise you mooooooooore.....I'll pump it up to 25 or Sixty-fourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....bada bada bump...bada bada bump...bada bada bump...bada bada buddda budda...."
Guy looks at me and the table erupts in laughter again...at this time I'm sloshed...everybody is having a great time...chips were slinging....I was Elvis....Stu Ungar...and Redd Foxx all rolled up into one...
Lightning disappeared...he snuck out while I was in the bathroom and took off....

5:00AM...no problem...I'll just jump into this 25.00 turbo and then take off...
First hand....Ac-10c...I push...get called....by a guy with Ax-Kx....I'm out....
Back to the 1-2 NLHE table...by now I've had approx. 1000 bud lights and 1000 screwdrivers....I played for a while...maybe two hours...then decided to head back...or rather...stagger back to the I.P.

7:00 AM....I see Lightbulb bounding out of the I.P. with this brother who was like Howard Hughes that weekend...never saw him until then...I shook his hand and went to take a quick nap...or so I thought...
Lightning36-"You wanna go to the buffet with us?"
Me-"nah...I'm gonna grab a quick nap...I'll get something later"
*shuffle...stagger...crawl...crawl...rolll...shuffle*

2:00 PM
*BANG BANG BANG*...what the fuck? *BANG BANG BANG*
"Room Seviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccceee"
Me-"FUCK!!!! OK...I'm going to be out of here soon....FUCK it's 2:00PM!!! FUCK!!"
I grab a quick shower and head downstairs to check out...I was hung over..but not sick hung over...
I negotiated a deal with the I.P. Checkout lady....22.00 bucks for 3 hours and a shower before getting on a plane for the rest of the day...a win for me....I jumped on to the shuttle at 3:00 and was on my way....
The airport had a couple of surprises for me....my luggage broke open...the zipper broke...I had to buy a M&M nylon strap and wrap it around my luggage just to keep it together. Then I went to Wendy's...I forgot to get something to eat again...I had the best burger and fries in 5 minutes flat...It was the best ever.
Oh yeah..I can't stay up until 7:30AM and get up early...not a chance....

See you guys next year!!

WPBT weekend Part 2

9:00 AM
Got up....went to Starbucks in Harrah's....which is attached to the back end of the I.P. There is friggin' cowboys everywhere...especially in Harrah's where Toby Keith's bar is like the Mecca of Cowboy bars....even at 9:30AM Its funny but there where whole cowboy families milling around. I didn't really notice too much until Sat. morning. Took my time getting ready for the WPBT winter classic

12:00
I haven't played any live tourneys for a few months...feeling a little rusty...found out you can't register without an Aria/MGM card. registered just in time for the tournament to start after a long walk from the I.P.

First table for a couple of hours :
Seat 1 : Change100
Seat 2 : California April?
Seat 3 : Penner or Metsfan or Geek and Proud
Seat 4 : PokerGrump?
Seat 5 : Blinders
Seat 6 : C.K.
Seat 7 : Shelly?
Seat 8 : Grange
Seat 9 : Me (I did prove to be rusty...a bit nervous for whatever reason...I am also probably wrong about this starting table somewhere)

I don't know why...I was nervous....I'm sure it showed. I haven't played a 100.00+ buy in for ages. This was 100+25...or was it 30? Then the last longer team bets...5.00. My team was myself, Yestbay, and Lightning36...we would be named 'Imperial Phallus'. So with the best team name in the books it was time to go to work. I built up a small amount with a couple of blind steals and early position raises and continuation bets...nothing substantial. Most of the action involved C.K., Metsfan, and PokerGrump? I believe. The guy hosted the announcements was also the tournament director and I have to say I'm quite impressed. He was damn funny as well..."yes people...there are still no bust outs...you know..the point OF a tournament is to build your chips and take others away!" etc. He had a couple of good ones in queue. There were some pretty sweet bounties to be had for knocking out some people. I grabbed a small bottle of 'Tums' on my way....that was my pathetic bounty...but at least somebody could use it at the final table.
C.K. had the best bounty at the starting table..it was a tall ceramic mug that had the logo of a Black Widow on it. Just after the second break Grange took the sweet bounty and then there seemed to be a slew of knockouts on the rest of the tables. The hand that had me nervous was of course Aces. I raised in middle position to T350 Bs were 50-100....I figured everybody would fold per usual...but when I limp with aces I get slapped...hence the raise. I was playing a little tight but not anything noticeable. So unknown to me on the other side of the dealer Change100 raised to T1000. Everybody folded around to me and I thought everybody folded and the measly blinds were taken....I held out my aces as I was about to muck them...then I pulled them back and realized I'd been raised. I had a headache from the night before and it was around 3:00 PM so no drinks were to be had yet...that's why I probably got a little nervous. So I pull back my aces from almost mucking them and I tried to calmly re-raise. I should have called but I bumped it up to T3000. Change100 looked over and studied me for a minute and folded...then the table broke soon after.
I walked over to her and kind of apologized for what I thought looked like a 'Hollywood' move...or pretending to fold only to raise....I genuinely didn't hear her on the other side of the dealer after she raised. I almost mucked my aces. This is a huge tell...she says..."I didn't care about that...I folded because your hand was shaking like crazy when you re-raised me!" I was a little hung over and a little embarrassed...I thought to myself...."She's GOOD". When the case is that I actually SUCK...I thought I'm going to have a to get a drink to soothe my nerves a bit. I was about to leave the table and move to the second table with about 15K in chips. The tables consolidated after that and we all moved. The new table I was at was loaded as could be expected.

Seat 1 : Penner/Metsfan/GeekandProud
Seat 2 : Ryan/Absinthetics
Seat 3 : Pebbles of Pebsn'BamBam fame
Seat 4 : Me
Seat 5 : Dan/Poker Peaker
Seat 6 : Otis
Seat 7 : Hoodie Sunglasses dude - made final table
Seat 8 : Jordan/HighOnPoker
Seat 9 : Special K
Seat 10 : BadBlood

So I get to my second table and I know I'm not going to be long for this tournament unless I double up...at this point I only have 15K and the blinds were rising fast. There were probably less 50 left...people were getting knocked out fast though. I think that we went down to 30 pretty soon after this...or maybe because I started to pound Sam Adams lagers it seemed to go by fast....what the hell....1$ tip for a Sam Adams...gimme until I fall over. This is where I got wind of three of the participants at the table were running in the half marathon on Sunday....Otis or Brad(who I had no idea at the time that his father passed away very recently....My Condolences sir..can't imagine the grief but condolences nonetheless), Dan or PokerPeaker and BadBlood (who didn't know that the 'Gin Blossoms' the band was a huge influence on the band 'Skeleton Witch'...LOL).I would push with Ax-Kx and folded to most all pushes as well. There are a couple of hands that yo-yo'd my stack. all 3 in Team Imperial Phallus was still in.
The action on the table was predictable....the big stacks were pushing around the short stacks...I needed a double up and I got it....Pebbles who fell victim to my Aces. I got aces twice in the tournament and this time they paid me off.
I had Aces in the BB and Pebbles apparently had Ac-Kc....Special K raised in mid position with 7's.(I found out later on the cab ride over back to the I.P.) Peb's raised all in from the SB and I insta-called with my aces. Special K really tanked for a while...then folded. the flop was Xc-Xc-Xh....she flopped two clubs! The board ran out with two rags and I dragged a large pot and now I had doubled but there was quite a while to go. I got the sweet sweet Peb's bounty...I forgot to take a picture but it was a Pebbles pin and a wind-up Pebbles that actually crawls when you wind it up...much fun would be had with that for the next 12 hours or so.
After there were probably 20 more bust outs and tables consolidating I had 16-17BB's left and Ryan pushed all in with 7's in the SB....I looked down and saw A-Ko and insta-called. Much to my chagrin I didn't spike a K or A so I went down to about 8BB's. There was 25 left and I pushed a few more times.
There was a raise in early position by Jordan and I pushed...we had a banter between us but that was before I knew who he was and I don't think he knew me either. I pushed with A-Ko again and tried to get him to call but he tried to steal the blinds with 'the Hammah"! I was genuinely surprised when he flipped over the 2-7o but didn't call. (Later he came over and said..."hey your PokahDave?...if I knew that I would have pushed you all in every time you were in the Blinds!") I think everybody did anyway so...somehow I survived. Apparently Jordan also got some sweet deal from the website 'The Pokerist'...here is a description on April's blog about the website and all the sweet things they added for the WPBT.
I was fueled by Sam Adams at this point and NumbBono came over and introduced himself. I am currently 9-3 in both my FF leagues on ESPN going into this weekend and it looks good for playoff mobneys!. CaityCaity also made herself known as my opponent last weekend...and she was also running the last longer pool money. Also at this point I was the last man standing in the LL pool. I would have had to win to also get that money.
Some guy by the name of Tim...or Timtern as it where sat at the table and I was running good against him..I won multiple races against him but I was still running on Sam Adams and fumes when it got knocked down to 18...and we also moved/consolidated tables.

6:00 PM

So we moved down to two tables and I didn't last too long after that. I basically had to push with Kh-Jh under-the-gun and got called when girl next to me had A-Ko...she pushed all in and everybody folded and I got knocked out 18th (which comes with a whole lotta nuthin'!) I stuck around and talked to Numb and Astin who was staying at Aria and soon after came over with a handful of 100's after he won 900.00 on a 5cent slot...lucky bastard. So the final three chopped the pay 3 ways and then played for the trophy...it was Some lady that AlCantHang brought who won the trophy...not sure what her name was. A guy named Dave from St. Louis (Chilly's friend), and Timtern who couldn't knock me out but finished in the top three so good for him and his wad of cash! The hoodie dude from the table I was on before that had 1 BB left after a race and the guy actually came back to bust out 5th or 6th? He tripled up twice and then doubled after that to get back to a normal stack at the final table...it was pretty incredible and gave new meaning to the phrase "a Chip and a Chair is all you need".

6:30
So after the tourney we headed back to the I.P. for massive amounts of drinks and cards...I jumped in a cab with Shelly, BrainMc, Heather aka Pai Gow princess , NumbBono and, Special K. I met most people last time I was in town for the WPBT in '07 but I didn't meet BrainMc and Special K before that....come to think of it I didn't meet Shelly either. Everybody wanted to play some more poker...I was needing more card games but I had enough of NLHE Poker for the day.

I missed another meal so I was starving....I went straight for the Hash House A-Go-Go as soon as I went to the I.P. I got this freakin' incredible fried chicken sandwich...this was almost as good as the BBBLT I had the day before. I could have fell asleep after that...but I got my second wind soon after. I'm trying to think of how many beers and drinks I've had up to now but I was feeling it...I went to the Pai Gow table...soon after I was joined by Heather, Chilly, Dave friend of Chilly who chopped for almost 2K and did not care about the trophy...I mean...why would he?, and a few people who stopped in to say Hi. I ordered a thousand beers after this and was doing pretty well on Pai Gow for my second time playing. Heather was spillin' drinks and cussing up a storm and had us all laughing. She managed to piss off the waitress who looked at me...pointed to her massive fake boobs and said "by the way...they are fake!"....I said "...and they are beautiful....can I have another Bud Light please?" She didn't seem to mind too much and I didn't have to sit on the toilet after she may have pulled that old waitress trick for obnoxious drunks...you know...add a little Visine to the drink and you get to sit on the toilet for 24 hours after. So anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....the bar was rockin' at the I.P. somebody bought me a shot of SoCo...I bought a few shots for a few people. I look up at the clock and suddenly it's 12:00!

I played Pai Gow for 4-5 hours at the I.P.....my chips were floundering...I didn't care...was having fun. Pretty soon after everybody moved out of the I.P. and I found myself ready for a solo rager. I went over to O'Shea's and walked around a bit. There was a bunch of beer pong tables but I just kept walking...I figured I wanted more Pai Gow so I went over to Harrah's. This is where...things get a little foggy.....I somehow lost the Peb's bounty when I wound it up and sent it crawling to the dealer at the first Pai Gow table I went to...not sure what happened but I was wearing Cargo pants and I thought I kept it.....somebody probably STOLE it! After a hundred more beer and bankroll killing games like 'Crazy 4 Poker' and 'Texas HoldEm Special' and some craps...I went back the Pai Gow table AGAIN! Next thing I knew it was....

6:00 AM...Oooops....I'll get up in time for the WPBT/Pokerist football at the Aria Sportsbook tomorrow...noooooo problem!!!

WPBT weekend Part 1

I got up at 4:15 AM and drove to Manchester airport in N.H....parked the car and was good as gone at 7:00AM on Friday.

Isn't this the John Lithgow/Twilight Zone Movie freak out seat?

I arrived at 10:30 AM Vegas time...friend sent a text asking if I wanted to see the Allman Brothers at the Orpheum in Boston...."yes...but I just landed in Vegas" I sent..."fuck off...have a great time...you fuck" sent back by friend.

I checked into the I.P. around 11:00...went up to my room...sat down on the bed and...fell asleep...I was tired!
1:30
Hooked up with John aka Lightning36 and Dave (I love the band YES)...aka Yestbay/Westbay to check out the Pinball H.O.F...promptly kicked ass on the KISS pinball and another couple called Kings and Queens and on the Family Guy one as well. Lightning got lucky on the Bubble-boy hockey when my left defenseman was rendered useless by a bum stick controller...he moved to this one when the other one was working fine. I think he has been here before and wanted the advantage...well there you go. We saw Iggy there with the girls....Caity, DawnSummers and April

After that we went to a cemetery.....why? to see some gravestones of course! Two legends...one was Redd Foxx and the other...none other than the greatest NLHE tournament player ever...Stu Ungar! Here are a couple of those pics...It seems like I took a lot of pics but I really didn't...the first day I did...the rest of the weekend...not so much.

That was at Palm East Cemetery or something similar to that name....was a couple of miles away from the Pinball H.O.F and since John rented a car...why not?
6:00
After this I realized how I didn't have anything to east since about 7:00 PM the night before...almost 24 hours!
We headed back the I.P. and went straight to the Hash House A-GoGo (I highly recommend this place for any meal...I got the BBBLT....it was the best BLT I ever had bar none). I would go back many times during the weekend...I went long periods of time between meals for some reason.

8:00 :
We met back at the Geisha bar before going to Aria that night for some 1-3 NL and some Limit mixed games...couldn't get to the limit mixed so I played at the 1-3 NL game for most of the night. I was in the 1 seat. Kat was in the 2 seat for some of the time...then C.K. Brother of Luckbox in seat 4 (name escapes me at the moment..I remember you not being offended by Bro Of Luckbox so I must have filed that in my pickled brain)....C.J. the Luckbox in seat 5.....April in seat six....Falstaff (who also writes books..check 'em out)  in seat seven......a couple of people sat in seat 7 for a while...Joe Speaker (Congrats by the way on your news...I overheard) among others in seat 8....Lightning36 in seat 9 and Dave Westbay in seat 10 for a while. This table was a little crazy after an hour or two....after C.K. moved to my left in seat 2. "Pims cup!!" was repeatedly yelled. This looked like some kind Long Island Ice Tea with fruit. Somebody may have elaborated..."it looks like the stuff from the bottom of the sink after the dishes are gone"....or something like that. Whatever it was C.K. went on a tear....I saw many a suck out and a few people leaving the table...with no chips. I lost a semi-large pot with a raised A-Ko on the button...Falstaff called with A-9s....flop was 9x-9x-Kx...a few raises and a bad call by me on the end resulted in a lighter chip stack. Lightning took that stack a little while after that...one of the many 500.00+ pots I saw the Lightbulb take this past weekend. I would get a lot of my chips back by hitting some cards later. I'll remember this table as the 'Pims-cup-Push' table....as C.K. rolled over the table with a Crasian Steamroll. :-)

12:00 AM
Joined everybody at the bar at Aria after that...met (met again as I haven't been to the WPBT weekend since '07) lots of bloggers and twitterers formerly known as bloggers. Good times. I congratulated Pauly on his highly entertaining books (Jack Tripper Stole My Dog, and Lost Vegas buy and support the man like I did). I also talked to Kat for a moment and was impressed with the cover design on 'Jack Tripper...'. I talked to Drizztdj for a moment but he lost his voice...d'oh! I've been expanding my beer selection by getting on the website 'Untappd'. I mention that because StB08, Chilly (on the now defunct I.D.S.N), and OhCaptain joined and let me just say.....bloggers know beer. The WPBT weekend was in full force.
1:00 AM
Decided to head back towards the I.P. with Lightning and OhCaptain....I should have listened to Tim and went back to call it a night...but noooooooooooooooo. I decided to take what was left of my chips to 'Ballys' and play some 1-2 NL. Lightning walks through there like he owns the place...for good reason...because he runs good there. I was getting really tired by now....but I decided to sit in anyway. I witness another Lightning pot...he really ran great...especially at Ballys. I got felt'd when I got into with two other players...I flopped a flush draw and a straight draw and pushed...got called and didn't hit. I think that was how it went down...maybe John can correct me. I decided to put my 23 hour day to bed at around 3:00 AM.

WPBT trip report delayed...

Gimme a break...I have to put the pieces back together and relive one of the best long weekends ever. Epic! I'll need a couple of days....

WPBT

I am going this year...I am playing in the WPBT winter classic this year....and of course I am going to win said tournament this year. OK?
1. I would like to see the pinball H.O.F
2. I would like to know if anybody wants to eat/drink at the 'Hoffbrau House'.
3. I will take my WPBT winnings in 100's and 20's please.
4. I hope to win the last longer challenge with one Lightning36 and Yestbay....(with a team name like Imperial Phallus...how could we lose?).
5. That is all.
edit : I just got 'Jack Tripper stole my dog'...and I will have read and enjoyed it by the time I get to Vegas. Sweet!

Edit : I found the Hammah! Given to me I believe by Iggy 4 years ago at the Friday night meetup at MGMGrand. Obviously this bodes well for the WPBT Winter Classic!!!!

Happy Turkey Day