(Long) Weekend Events and Past Events

Gotta love Massachusetts...I have "Patriot's Day" off from work....good for a lazy day of watching the Sox and laughing at the Boston Marathon runners as they roll into Boston. They stagger to the finish line as all of the Sox fans stagger out of the ballpark because of the 10 16-oz beers that were consumed before the 16 draft-beers in Fenway.

I used to go to the Patriots day game often..I think I went 4 years in row ending with the 2001 game. One of the games I went to...I think it was the '99 game went from incredible to downright scary in the span of a few hours. I was partying with friends from 8:00AM to about 4:00PM and I sort of lost my head. I left my jacket at the Cask'n'flagon (bar outside of Fenway)...With my keys in it! I was drinking constantly all day long and was out of my mind...by that time everybody wanted to leave...you know...Because they wanted to get home to sleep so they wouldn't be extremely hung-over for their day at work the next day. I was like..."no way I'm leaving now...look at all the hot chicks here"....my friends were all leaving and I was not having it. I was just getting out of a relationship at the time...it was a four-year waste of time. This is all pre-wife and family of course. So anyway...I start talking to some girl and it seems to be going fine...friends start to leave one by one and I am constantly asked if I want to go with them...I refuse to leave. Soon enough all my friends were gone and I'm absolutely stewed...three-sheets-to the wind...wasted. I stagger out of the bathroom and the girl or girls I was talking to were also gone...No doubt due to my slurred speech and frat-boy like attitude. I think to myself "oh well I wasn't going to get lai....wait a minute!....where is my jacket?!...fuck!...My keys!!!" I stagger around the bar and realize I can't find my jacket/keys/brain/friends or anything else. Although I did have my wallet and some cash...I still felt lost. I thought...well we did take the train into Boston and my car is parked at my friends house. I know...I'll just take the train back to Woburn (suburb of Boston) and call my buddy (more like wake him up out of a drunken stupor) to come and pick me up. (I was also living at home at the time with the parents due to my recent break-up with my ex.....living at home with parents for a couple of months when you are in your late 20's is also known as the 9th plain of hell to those who've been through a similar experience). So after I look around the party at the bar for my favorite jacket and my keys I come to the conclusion that it is just flat out GONE! My plan at the time is just to get on the train and get back to Woburn where my car is at my friends house. At that point I accept my drunken fate and hop or stagger to the train. After looking around for the right commuter rail I get on and try not to pass-out. I get to Woburn and find a pay phone...no I didn't have a cell-phone at the time! I was not a cell phone type o' guy until later. My buddy...we'll call him Dudley..picked me up at the Woburn train station and was laughing at me for not leaving when everybody else did as well as losing my jacket and keys. At this point it's about 8:00PM now...I'm thinking.."I'll call my father and ask him to bring my extra set of keys to Woburn so I can drive home...but I'm too drunk...so I'll get him to drop me off tomorrow morning before work.!" I call and it's immediately a mistake...my parents start fighting on the phone. My father is yelling at me like I'm a 15-year old punk who got drunk for the first time. (I did deserve it but at the time I was pissed off due to the fact I just needed a ride home and to get to sleep ASAP...after all I did have to go to work the next day!) The next revelation is the real bad one...my "other" set of keys is gone...I left it at the ex's house when I broke it off with her and moved out. FUCK!! Now I'm out two sets of keys and there is no way for me to get my truck out of my friends house...I'm living at home with my parents...who are pissed off and have to come pick me up...who now think I'm "On the drugs!" as my mother would say......I'm now starting to get a bad hangover....and I have to go to work the next day!
....As I am typing this up...the Red Sox come from behind and win in the 9th on a Mark Loretta 2-run homer off of "everyday" Eddie Guardado....
The next day I get a ride to my buddies house...I have to call a locksmith to make me a new key for my truck (150.00 bucks for un-locking and new key making services)...I'm obviously late for work...I have to go to work and start my week of hungover and miserable...and my parents lost that much more respect for me...as I am "On the drugs!" The thing is...that I would have been fine if I left the party when everybody else did! I am now known for this day....I'm infamous for losing my keys at the Sox game and being too drunk to think. The people I went with after that were watching me to see if I would do something stupid again. I am happy to report that I didn't create anymore Opening Day/Marathon Monday stories.

On Saturday I was driving back to my house with my wife and daughter from my friends daughter's birthday party. It was at one of Chuckie Cheese-like places where there are two-thousand rugrats running around in their socks and screaming bloody murder. I've never seen so many kids getting hepped-up on Goofballs and sugar. As I was saying..I was driving home and I saw a Poker tourney being advertised on the sign outside of the "Sons of Italy" club which is half a mile from my house. I look at my wife and say..."charity tourney honey....I think I'm in.." she looks at me and says "of course you are honey". I'll spare the details on this one...but it was a 100.00 dollar buyin for the tourney. The money that was donated went to scholarship funds so it was worthy. The prizes for the tourney were good. 5 paid places split the 1800 dollar leftover. I think there were 36 players. I placed 5th...for my 100.00 back...it actually goes to a buy-in for the next tourney in June. I got called by some lady who had ace-rag and I had pocket Q's. She of course rivered my with an ace and I was out soon after that. I was so close to getting some real cash but hey...I sucked out on somebody on the river before that to survive and get to the final table anyway. I had A-8o and the guy who called had A-9o....8 on the river appears and everybody watching freaks out....

The more final tables I make the more I find that aggressive play gets you killed. But, then again it is like starting the tourney over and starting a new STT. So my aggressiveness deserves to get me killed. Sit back....let everybody else knock themselves out..and then go in for the kill if you're in the last 5. It didn't work on Saturday..but I was sucked out on when I held a high pair. So I don't think I would play it any different. Damn Pocket Q's...Hilton Sisters...Bitches!!

As for the rest of this weekend..I did the Easter family thing with my wife and daughter yesterday. I'm hungover on food and beer. Also trying to play off that PartyPoker bonus that requires 700 raked hands or something like that.

Last nights WPBT circuit "Hammer out Cancer" tourney was a a great time for a great cause. I am always up for a charity tourney. I've seen plenty of Cancer in my family and some close friends so I was all over this whether it was for the WPBT or not. I got knocked out at 26th..I was short-stacked and it was folder to me before the button. I had Kh-7h so I push...I knew someone was going to call and they did...with K-8o! What a call...Congrats to FrankL66 and DrPauly for 1st and 2nd place respectively. I'm still in 5th in the WPBT POY standings and this is a ridiculously tricky field of players. I'm pleased with my overall play so far.....