Poker Update 7.7.06

Last night was a late night for all of us. So today's poker game was a little slow pokey. My production company had its wrap party last night at Saddle Ranch at Universal. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get there, the food was terrible, but we still all managed to have a lot of fun. I rode the mechanical bull for more than 12 seconds...twice! And Carrie sang three songs for karaoke! The boss gave out $100 for the best singer and $200 for the worst singer. The guy who got the $200 and the worst singer title was an Asian guy in IT who sang "She Bangs." I can't remember what the best singer sang, but Kedj won that one. I think it might've been a Pearl Jam song.

So in today's game...the players were Patrick, Carrie, John, Bob, David, and me. John was first to bust, then Bob, then Patrick, then David. Carrie and I were heads up for quite awhile, and eventually it got hot outside...so I started to just go all-in...not caring if I won first or second. Carrie wasn't biting half the time, until she just got tired and called one of my all-ins. I had 6-8 off-suit. She had 5-8 off-suit. My cards held up. Nice. The crazy thing about this game was...I got 9-2 off-suit about 10 times! Also, Carrie sucked out on me TWICE! Both times, I had her dominated...but both times, she got the miracle Jack on the River...to win with a straight!

Dad's Birthday and Poker

My dad introduced me to poker. He actually started showing my brother and I how to play cards as soon as we could hold cards in our little hands. My mother is the one who never played cards, and sometimes she didn' like my dad showing the kids how to gamble. But since Saturday, July 1, was my dad's birthday...I decided to pay his buy-in at Casino Morongo's No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Tournament. We got there around 9 in the morning and signed up. Then, we went to eat breakfast, take a walk by the enormous pool (have to come back for this!), and sign up for a member's card. The lady at the members card desk flirted with my dad (ewww!) and gave him a t-shirt for his birthday! The tournament started at 11 a.m. We were seated at the same table, and luckily, I was not picking up any cards. Meanwhile, my dad was running the table. He seemed to have the goods every time he showed, and he was building up a monster chip stack. When the first break came, we were separated to different tables and the blinds jumped considerably. I found myself completely shortstacked, so I started to make a couple of big all-in moves. After playing for a bit, my dad busted out of the tournament. Finally, I made it to the final table! The blinds had really jumped again, and I found myself short-stacked once again. But not as short-stacked as two or three of the players. One player only had two chips left. All of the final table players made it into the money, so I didn't really care anymore. I was planning all-in moves left and right. The stacks who were shorter than me busted out fairly quickly. The old guy on the respirator to my left was extremely tight...so whenever it was his big blind...I'd raise or go all-in, and he'd normally fold. If he had a hand, he'd play, and I knew to get out. I eventually took him out and took the chip lead. From there...I just kept going...aggressively putting my opponents all-in...and if they had a hand, they'd call. If not, they mostly folded. Eventually, I won $1000. Not bad for about 3 1/2 hours of playing. I wished my dad would've placed into the money too, but my brother and I bought him dinner so it all worked out well.