Crazy Cristmas at Foxwoods

So, the wife and I went to Foxwoods on Christmas night. We had spent enough time with the family...so...don't go and get all high and mighty on us now. It took a while to get there since there was some traffic...I thought there might be no traffic but there is traffic 24/7 these days. I think we got there around 3:30 or so. My mother-in-law wanted to spend time with our daughter and told us to "go have a good time". Far be it from me not to have a good time at Foxwoods. We had plenty of time to kill...so we went straight for the bar. I thought this may be a good time to bring up the WPBT during the summer. She has the summer off...being a teacher and all. I figured I haven't gotten to one yet so this may be a good time. July is the next one I think..but I also read some blogs where they said that "all good things must come to an end..." wait.....I haven't gotten there yet!
We had reservations at the restaurant 'Al Dente' at 6:00. So after some drinks and some quality time alone we head down to the restaurant. We ordered food....wine....and then a family of four comes through the door and talks to the host. I look over...then I look at the four seat table next to us....I said "There sitting here next to us"....my wife is like "no way". Soon enough we have a family of four with a 15 mo. old toddler and a 4 year old sitting next to us. Sure enough the 15 mo. old is throwing stuff around and causing chaos. They order a bowl of noodles or something.... Why are you bringing your kids into the low-light/high-end restaurant when there is a family restaurant right next door? I don't get it....some people are clueless. No offense but if we didn't have a 20 mo. old toddler ourselves I would have asked to move. I mean they were nice...the kids were nice...but you're ordering a bowl of $20.00 noodles for gods sake.
Gamble time. My wife heads for the slots...for a while then goes to bed at 8:30. I'm going to the poker room thank you. I signed up for the 1-2 NL...as usual. This table had a full mix of amazingly loose-aggressive asians, a couple of fat white guys like me, crazy Koreans, ridiculous Russians, and Pot-Jamming Jews. I noticed this before I even sat down! I bought in for 200.00 (max is 300 now..used to be 100). Few people left the table over the course of the next 6 hours...I may have been there longer. For most of the night the table was as follows...to my left was two guys who switched seats with each other in the 5th and 6th seats. I was in the fourth seat across from the dealer. One guy was a loose-aggressive Korean? The other guy who switched seats with him a couple of times was a chunky Hispanic looking kind of guy. I realized later the reason they switched seats was due to the fact that they had to visit the ATM more than once and they would switch seats to change their luck....it didn't work to well. Next to them in the 8th seat was this skinny white guy with sun glasses...he was good. He didn't say a word all night (had a scar on the side of his face)...but he was tight-aggressive. Next to him was crazy-loose Asian guy in the 9th seat. Not to sure about this but I think Kim Jong-Il was in the 10 seat. There was a fat white guy there earlier who was a pretty good player but he went home and Kim (North Korean dictator) took his place. I say this because he looked exactly like him. Earlier in the evening a young kid from Conn. was sitting to my right and I was joking about Kim Jong-Il sitting across the table...he had no idea what I was talking about. I asked him if he had seen 'Team America'...he says "yeah"....I said he was the "Korean dictator who they made fun of the whole movie"...he says "Osama Bin-Ladin"? Jeez...Kids today. I'm 36 but this kid made me feel like a wise old genius. I told him to look up 'Kim Jong-Il' when he goes on the Internet....check into some current events dude...OK! Anyway, the guy in the 1st seat was another white guy who "lives 2 miles away". He was a funny guy. During the course of the evening a Russian guy sat down at the table in early position. He had these other two guys looking over his shoulder. They were all really well dressed...almost like some Russian Mafia types. He got knocked out pretty quickly...as he was walking away I quoted a line from a movie. I said "In my country...we cut ov fingerth" in my best Russian accent...the guy in the 1st seat says "What, mine of yours"? in his best Chevy Chase (Spies like Us) impersonation. We started howling and high-fiving each other across the table...fucking hilarious. We stopped laughing and all that stuff when all 3 Russian Mafioso turned around and looked back at the table....oops!...they walked away...I don't even think they heard us...but..they were all built like linebackers so both of us just shut up. I have to say it's frustrating when the wait staff can't come by the table with regularity. They come by 5 times in an hour then 1 in hour....it sucks. In the 2nd seat was this other Russian guy who was there for a couple of hours. He was a calling station and I got into it with him with my K's. This is how the hand went. I had K's under the gun...I raised to 10....guy a couple of seat over from me raised to 20. The Russian guy calls. Everybody else folds. I called and a flop of Qx-6x-7x falls. The Russian guy goes all-in for about 35-40 more...I called. The guy that raised me folded his pocket J's. The Russian guy calls a raised and a re-raise with Qx-7x.....crazy but typical in 1-2 NL at foxwoods. An 8x falls on the turn and the beautiful 6 falls on the river....I win with the higher two pair! He walks away and is replaced by a bunch of people throughout the next few hours. A Bunch of people filled in the seats 3 and 4 in the next few hours but one of them was a crazy raisin' Asian. He was loose-aggressive but Kim Jong-Il busted him and a few others after raising and pushing into to many pots. I did get Aces at some point during the night. I raised everybody out but the calling station. I preceded to make him pay me off in a big way on each street. You know its a good night when your K's and A's don't get cracked. I got paid off in a big way from both. There were these two Israeli looking guys who sat to my right for a while. One left after playing every hand...he played them well but the other guy got knocked out by Kim Jong-Il as well. Two black guys came to fill in the table when seats opened up. One of them kept pushing to double-up but to no avail. Both were sent home soon enough. At around 4:00AM I started to lose concentration. I left at +130 so I had fun. I walked into the room at 4:30 and my wife was just getting up. She tends to get up at 5:00AM whether she has to or not. She goes to the slots at 5:30 and precedes to hit a 650.00 dollar pot on a 1.00 slot machine. We both ended up leaving with much more than we went with so this Christmas was excellent!
I can't believe how much foxwoods is growing..I checked out the progress on their expansion....it's probably going to be done in the spring. The place is so big...I walked by the bingo hall at 4:15AM....the place is like a football field. Rumours were flying about a dealer strike on New Years eve also. I asked a couple of dealer in the poker room and they said that it was true. They've been getting 100% benefits for a long time and Foxwoods wants to cut them to be a little more competitive with the norm. They better be careful of they will lose their dealers to Mohegan Sun in the Spring. BTW Mohegan Sun is opening a highly rumored new poker room with expansion this Spring also. I will have to check that out...I suppose it will be impossible to go unless it is during a week night though.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody

Aces to you all......I hope everybody can enjoy the Holidays..........................

I Bubbled again...

This time in the WWdN. I'm on a bubble streak like never before. 4 tournaments in the past month including one live charity tourney. It seems like there is one critical mistake that does me in each time and dooms me to the dreaded bubble. This time I had 'Astin' sitting to my right...I had 9x-4x0 and a flop of Qx-6x-Qx fell. I was in the BB so I had to check. He/She checked and a 9x fell on the turn. I checked just in case and 'Astin' went all in with about T4,500 to my T4,200. I figured the button was coming soon and 'Astin' may be slow playing a Queen. I folded. Big mistake. 'Wigginx' raised just about every hand after that. I lost a pot and was down to 1,800 soon after. My last hand I had Ah-3h..inst-push into the BB. He has As-Ks...and I am toast. Out 6th on the bubble. This was extremely frustrating and I shut the PC down and crashed in bed. I couldn't stick around for the 'ITM' play and after....I was sick and tired. I thought I played well but that's poker. Easy money some of the time....Dead money some of the time....never easy money all the time. I see that there are a couple of players from the N.E. area on these tourneys...I know about 'Hammerlovers' blog but I wonder if xlm25...something or other has one. He's from Nashua, NH...give me an email. (vze2tbkc@verizon.net) Maybe someday we can venture out to Vegas for the WPBT summer classic or something. I really want to get out to meet some of these other bloggers....and I don't want to look like a total fucking Noob that doesn't know anybody.
My daughter was still awake for the first hour and I couldn't fully pay attention. It's another one of my 'Don't do' list of things for Poker. That is play poker while the daughter is sick or not sleeping. She fell asleep well before the first break and I was able to concentrate. I don't do this often...especially lately since she has been sick with another ear-infection. The past two weeks have been interesting and tough. This is the second ear-infection in the past 6 months. The last time my wife and I were at the hospital until 4:30 AM. This time however we at least knew what we were in for. So anyway, since she was feeling better I was really looking forward to this tourney. I was playing very well after the first hour and soon made my way to the final table. I doubled up at the final table but a bad bluff and a non-call sealed my bubble-fate again. I think every tourney player must go through this phase...before they start winning them. Money is a little tight lately also so I'm not sure if I'll be playing on PStars until the holidays are over. I've been playing a lot of UB tourneys but funds aren't exactly being replenished with a healthy win rate.
I'm breaking tradition this year for Christmas....I'll be at foxwoods! My wife is from the south shore of Mass. and usually we go from her mothers house back up north to my parents house on the way back to our own house. BUT NOT THIS YEAR!!! My daughter will be able to spend quality time with her grandmother and my wife and I will be headed for the Woods! I'll see my whole family on Christmas eve anyway...why see them all day for two days in a row? If anybody is looking to play some poker at foxwoods on Christmas night then send an email and I'll meet you in the poker room eventually (probably after 8:00PM).
Miscellany : Red Sox (spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave) have been making the right moves for this season. Bullpen improvement-Top notch. Outfield improvement-Very nice (if Nancy Drew's shoulder is medically sound and can play more than Trot). Starting pitching-Top Notch! Lineup-Top Notch! Defense-not so much (but it didn't do much for them last year or the year that they won the World Series. Spend away! It's not my money....and it already is the most expensive seat in MLB. I really like the fact that the Sox are making in-roads to the Japanese market. The Dice-Man cometh!!! The Pats are looking good and headed to the playoffs again. Once again...I trust Bill. He has earned the right to make a couple of mistakes. He is to football what the Dice-Man is to Japanese baseball.....DOMINANT! I haven't played any live poker for a while (except of course the Rebuy tourney that I bubbled at Rockingham Park in NH) and I am looking forward to playing the degenerates that will be at Foxwoods on Christmas night (except for me I'm no degenerate just dedicated). I guess it's been a while since I last posted. There's just so much interesting stuff to read on the internet/blogs etc. Check into that Brandy Hawbaker/Capt. Tom Franklin/'Dutch' Boyd fiasco....fascinating stuff....perfect fodder for Pauly to elaborate on.

New Look same content

What do you think of the spiffy new template for the blog? Who am I asking? I think maybe one or two people may see this...anyways....

I got sick of the old look on Pokerandmisc so here you go. Go tell everybody...PokahDave is ready! Ready to post the same old bad beats and miscellaneous crap. I've been playing a lot of low buy-in tourneys on UB and PStars. I tried the 3 RB on PStars last night...I didn't make the money but I lost some of course. I also bubbled the 1.00 RB on UB...out at 61....60 get paid...but only 6.30 or something. I had A-10c....and I was the short stack...what the hell else am I going to do? Fold? Lately i've been trying to blast through the bubble...it's nerve wracking without a big stack but I used to fold to the money. This is where I need some improvement...play around the money bubble. I do think that one final table in a big tournament is worth a hundred small cashes so we'll see how this turns out. I guess I'll be able to play quite a few since I'm NOT IN VEGAS! I actually may be at Rockingham Park this Sunday to get in some live poker. I bubbled the 40.00 rebuy last time I was there...6th place out of 50-5 places paid...sigh. Just remember 1 final table in a large tourney is better than 100 ITM's.

Well looky here....

I didn't know the bounty last week was going to go to the donkey that is Dave......

What's that saying? Life's a bitch.....

Then you marry one.....

You Better You Bet

When I say I love you you say you better
You better you better you bet
When I say I need you you say you better
You better you better you bet
You better bet your life
Or love will cut you like a knife

-Pete Townsend

I saw 'The Who' on Saturday at the Boston Garden. They did not disappoint this self-professed sucker for classic rock. I also found a web page that has Pete Townsend's diary thing on it... he's talking about Zak Starky (Ringo Starr's son....Zak.....blows him away on the drums...seriously....he gives the Who energy that they need) the drummer for 'The Who' among other bands. The new album translates well 'live'. I heard it on the radio and thought it sounded a lot like 'Classic' era stuff. The fact that they sound so good over 40 years after they started is nothing short of miraculous. There are plenty of 'YouTube' videos that will back that opinion up. I get goosebumps when they break into 'Amazing Journey/Sparks'. If you haven't heard the most powerful performance by any band then go listen to the remastered version of 'Live at Leeds'....it's incredible.
I haven't been doing much in the poker world. I can't go to the WPBT winter classic and that shouldn't surprise anyone. I want to meet these people who keep stacking me in the WPBT tourneys and the WWdn.not. I also want to meet the people who's blogs I read all the time and reduce my workplace productivity....but I can't. I'll just have to settle for the smaller buy-in tourneys that I can still afford. If I didn't have two mortgages and ten-thousand other bills I would be able to play a hell of lot more. I made my financial situation so...stop bitchin' Dave....
I've been playing a lot of low buy-in PL Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, and Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo tourneys. PokerStars is getting better at offering these types of tournament for the low-limit poker hack. There is a 1.00 buy-in HORSE tournament every night that packs 'em in...lots of fun to be had with these tourneys. I should make a Friday night tournament on PokerStars. Maybe I'll call it the 'FriDave'. I'm usually not going out anywhere on a Friday...especially during the Winter months. I just don't know if anybody will show up. I guess I'll check into it....maybe get a DS NL tourney or something.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! There I said it....PC people be damned! This should be the best Christmas ever...my daughter will be 19 months old tomorrow.....man did that go by fast! This post doesn't make much sense but neither does anything else in this humble blog. I should call it 'Poker and lots of other shit' or something like that. Nah, that's already taken. It's just a place for me to blow off steam. Feel free to correct any grammatical errors.