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BadBlood on Poker    Friends

"You're Right, I Don't Have Spades"

Date: Fri, May 23, 2008

Instead of the opening scene of Rounders, it's the last hand of the night on a Thursday night. We're four-handed, playing 1/1 $100 max. It's a straddled pot (why wouldn't it be?), and all four players see the flop. I'm holding A6o.

As8h6s.

I've flopped two-pair. It's a pretty strong hand four-handed, but with the flush draw out there, I have to bet.

"Ten," I say as I toss two red chips into the middle.

"I call." My only opponent, Dr. Alan could very well be on a flush draw.

The turn hits, it's my money card, 6d. It gives me a fullhouse. But the flush draw hasn't hit yet, so I check my monster.

"Ten more," says Dr. Alan.

Hmmm, maybe not a draw, maybe a weak Ace.

"I raise. Fifteen more."

"Check-raise, huh? OK, I call."

Interesting.

River is the 9s. He made his flush, I've got him right where I want him.

"Are you gonna check-raise me again?"

I reply, "I'm not sure I can afford to let you check the river behind me if I don't bet."

I stack out ten red chips, cut them in half, and like a poker pro, spill the right half in an elegant display of my poker wizardry.

"How much is that?" he asked.

"Fifty even."

"I raise. Make it a hundred."

Let's see, uh...I got the 15, plus, uh, another 33 to um raise you um uh...Yeah, I'm gonna go all in, cuz I don't think you have the spades

"All in!" I figure to double up here, in fact I wouldn't be surprised to get a fold out of my raise. It's nearly a $200 raise.

Then I'm frozen. Dr. Alan insta-calls.

"Full house!" he says.

You're right Mike, I don't have spades.

****

Last year, Dr. Alan would have flopped a set of 8's against me and I'd have lost the $600 pot.

But.

It's 2008.

He had 86o for 6's full of 8's.

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Anti-Rigged

Date: Wed, May 21, 2008

Running good. It's a great feeling. And I know the trigger. The peculiar piece of happenstance that launches me into a streak of good fortune.

It's the "You ha' full house! You can' lose!" theory.

Recall that bad beat I had in New Orleans when I flopped middle set against top pair. I'll never forget that Asian gentlemen who sat next to me assuring me a nice sized pot would be coming my way.

Well, it happened again. But this time it was online and there was no talking during the hand. Just me launching a few expletives after the hand. But I couldn't get too mad, the hand occurred in a silly little sit 'n go.

I took a break. Had dinner. Put the kids to bed. And re-launched into some cash games.

Stats for the curious:

Hands: 310
Showdowns won: 23/26
PTBB won: 158

How? I got my hands in good. And as you can see, for the most part, they held up. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that this was at CAP NL. Capped. For the truly inept deepstack online players which I have sadly morphed into. But when you can eliminate some massive river mistakes from your game, which CAP NL does for you, then you can post some winnings. And post some winnings I have.

So. I ha' full house.

I can' lose.

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Can't Touch That Day

Date: Tue, May 20, 2008

I was scheduled for jury duty this past Monday. Not really knowing what to expect, I informed my boss that I'd be out for the entire day. Sometimes when you plan for the worst, it's easy to exceed your expectations. Pessimism. You should try it.

I had to state my name, my occupation, my marital status, and spouse's occupation.

"BadBlood, hot air balloon pilot, married to a professional poker player groupie."

"No, your honor, I don't play. It's illegal."

Those were the thoughts rumbling through my brain as I sat in front of the district judge. A small up tick in my maturity level prevented me from actually saying that, so I told the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So help me flying spaghetti monster. Or microscopic teapot if you're G-Rob.

****

I was elected to participate in three trials. My occupation as engineer was enough to sway two defense attorneys to excuse me from their juries, but I got nabbed for three anyway. There was time for me to go to lunch with the wife in between my first dismissal and my first trial. So I took her to a local sandwich shop and then to the mall. It's her birthday and I figured I'd get her some perfume for the kids to give to her. She likes the new Victoria's Secret stuff and who am I to refuse a trip inside a store where this woman is plastered all over its walls?

****

My phone rang. It was G-Rob calling from home.

"I have some exciting news for you," he said.

"Cool, spill it."

"I'm taking a nap."

For literally only a millisecond, I wondered why that was exciting news. But only a millisecond.

"Surely someone of your intelligence can figure out why that's exciting," he continued.

"Ah ha! You're going to play poker at Rick's tonight then go straight to work afterward."

"Bingo."

****

I was about to pay for the perfume when the Mrs. pointed at the sales clerk about to come over.

"Check out this woman's boobs," she said, "they're gigantic."

"If you say so."

Oddly, I'd seen them before.

I know what you're thinking. Otis thought the same exact thing when I told him about the encounter. The sales clerk took my credit card and said, "You look familiar. Where I have I seen you before?"

Expect the worst. Hope for the best. The whole truth, nothing but the truth.

"The gym," I responded. You may not believe me, but that was really the case.

****

The jury trial scheduled for that afternoon turned out to be a traffic violation. Illegal lane change. Why on earth was this infraction escalated all the way to trial? I could think of only two reasons: One, the defendant was so sure he was in the right, he was willing to go to whatever lengths to ensure his side of the story was recognized as truth. Two, he had too many points on his license and this ticket would be just enough to get it suspended.

After hearing both side's testimony, we adjourned to the jury room.

"Guilty."

****

Poker was odd last night. I was all-in twice with pocket Jacks, each time with roughly 50% equity. The first was on the flop against Otis. The board was 972, two hearts. He held the 68 of hearts for the 15-outs twice scenario. We ran it twice as is often done on huge pots. I won the first and lost the second on the river. It was somewhat exciting, but we split the pot in the end.

The second time, I was all-in pre-flop as a somewhat short stack. I was up against KQ suited, a early position, re-raise, "move" from Gucci Rick. We ran that twice too. Again I won the first and lost the second on the turn.

I expected the worst. So I wasn't too displeased with the results.

Then I folded away for about 2 hours. Discipline.

****

Things go in streaks at the poker table. Right now, I'm in a streak with G-Rob wherein he doubles me up at some point. I doubled him up at my birthday party cash game. He's returned the favor twice in return. Last night's double up put me in the profitable zone for the first time all evening at about 11:30. It can pay to wait sometimes, hard though it may be.

It was after all exciting news. Playing poker with your friends just can't be beat. Especially on a Monday.

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Stimulizin'

Date: Mon, May 12, 2008

As Ric Flair once may have said, this past weekend I was stylin', profilin', and stimulizin'. My economic stimulation package came via electronic one's and zero's into my checking account Friday. What better way to spend it, than invest it for the future. LOL, did I just say that?

What I meant was, "Welcome home, my new Samsung 52" LCD. Welcome home."

Granted, I have no 1080p source to feed its pixels, but eventually I will.

So here's a question for you gamer-types, a group in which I used to firmly reside in my LAN party days:

Why on earth would you buy a Blue-Ray DVD player when they cost $399? Because you can buy a Playstation 3 for the same price. And it has a built-in Blue-Ray DVD player. Seems kind of odd to do otherwise.

Now if a PS3 makes the right sense to you, what games should come with it?

And, one final question: Assuming I make such a purchase, how do you tell your video game prodigy son that he can't play it when Daddy's not home?

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ELP - Track #6

Date: Mon, May 5, 2008

Saturday I awoke with one of those purely content feelings. Sadly, I sometimes have to reconcile my mood with my poker results. I'm not 100% sure what that says about me now, but with positive poker results under the belt, it's much easier for my mind to be vacant from negativity. Quite a contrast from last year when each losing session made it easier for me to focus on the general day-to-day shortcomings that simply occur naturally for everyone.

By this time last year, I had already lost two four-figure pots with AA vs KK all-in pre-flop. It's just the way things went. It's not like I was playing badly those hands, nor really was my opponent. It's just simply a poker given. The hand played out in very standard fashion.

Friday night at my homegame, the same hand occurred. This time, my AA held up against G-Rob's hand. Again, standard poker. As such, my results this year are astronomically better than last year. So much so, that someone finally accused me of running like God. It would be hard to disagree.

Am I really that much of a different player this year than last? I don't think so. Do results seem to snowball whether they're good or bad? Yes. Absolutely they do. When you're running well, you don't think about losing. You don't focus on how you could have played a hand differently, because you won it. When the opposite is true, too much of your focus is lost on previous hands, previous results and how you simply have to change things drastically to improve. Well, I'm here to say that sometimes you don't have to change, at least not as much as you think you do.

Maybe it takes a while. Maybe it takes a four to five month losing streak to let you understand how even good players can run bad. Losing makes you question yourself for so long and for so hard. It takes a special kind of confidence to overcome, a confidence in yourself that flies in the face of far too much data accumulated over the course of dozens of losing sessions.

The contentment I awoke with on Saturday spilled over into other facets of my life. I truly felt lucky to be where I am in this world. My family is happy and healthy. I'm gainfully employed. I have to admit, on the inside, I tend to be a pretty selfish person. It's a me-against-the-world philosophy that I've inherited from my parents. For me to succeed, you have to lose. But that's not really the case. There are times when everyone can win.

My wife teaches 3-year olds at a church. There are a lot of families that attend that have difficulty making ends meet. There are several programs there that accept anonymous donations so that help is given where it is needed. I've decided that some of my good fortune this year should be spread out, even if only a small bit. So that's where some of my poker winnings will go later this week.

I am a lucky man.

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Ramblings To Up My Post Count

Date: Fri, May 2, 2008

Luckily, I have no monthly constraints on my posting frequency (nudge to the ribs of some friends). So I can throw up posts like this one and not care a whole helluva lot about its quality. I know it's crap, but we can't all be Pauly's.

On the way home from Vegas, I watched There Will Be Blood on my iPod touch. Unbelievable performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. Most powerful acting I've ever seen. Not that I'm some kind of movie aficionado, but even I could recognize his brilliance there. "I. Drink. Your. Milkshake."

Closing out April, I had a decent month in live poker but a negative month in online poker. Still up overall for the year in both, but the online ring game still haunts me and frustrates me. I'll do very well in Turbo SNG's but then get bored and try my hand at ring games. Then I'll do well, get bored, and lose more than I've won in a frustrating frenzy of donkism. Do people always have monsters these days in 6-handed NLHE? Apparently against me, they do.

You've seen me shred, but as of last week, G-Rob bought an acoustic guitar. I figured what the hell and did so as well. Now I can play all metal intros because the cliche'd acoustic parts rule. To wit: Battery from Master of Puppets. I'm also considering covering all Spinal Tap songs acoustically. I have most of Tonight I'm Gonna Rock Ya (Tonight) properly arranged.

Kids are good. Wife is good. Work is work. Monday's continue to be the highlight of my week. I've managed to gather enough folks for a home game tonight and am looking forward to that. It's been a while since I've played on a Friday. G-Rob can play, which is both good (company-wise) and bad (pot-size-wise).

I leave you with one joke from Thursday night's game last week, courtesy EasyE. A man lays by the bedside of his wife, who's been in a coma for months with no response whatsoever. Undeterred, the husband sits by her side every day looking for a sign, a glimpse of movement that would indicate she someday might improve. One day, while reaching his hand up to stroke her hair, he accidentally brushes one of her breasts. At that point, her eyes begin to flutter a bit and he thought he could detect some minor movement. He excitedly tells the doctor what happened. The doctor says, "This is a definite breakthrough. This may sound odd, but I want you to try something. The nurses and I will leave the room, after which I want you to try oral sex with her. That just might be enough to trigger a response." The doctor and nurses leave the man unattended with his wife. Not five minutes later, the monitors at the nurses station indicate that the woman is flat-lined. Shouts of "Code blue! Code blue!" fill the hallway as the doctor and nurses rush into the room. "What happened???" asked the doctor. The husband, with a puzzled look on his face could only respond, "I think she choked."

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

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I'm A Groupie Too

Date: Tue, Apr 22, 2008

Spent some time on Monday being a huge fan boy. Took a trip to Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas. When first meeting me, Forrest said, "You are by far the most talented mixed martial artist that's never been trained in any discipline." Well, he didn't say that really. But I'm pretty sure he was thinking it. 'cause it's TRUE!

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Two Minutes To Midnight

Date: Mon, Apr 21, 2008

"Always play two-six suited," said Kirk. He was bald, like me, so maybe that's why I listened. If there's one thing I do well at the poker table, it's look for a way to win a hand. Turns out I was dealt two-six offsuit. "Close enough," I thought. I called a raise in position.

I normally fold two-six. Shouldn't we all? But I looked down at the clock on my iPod. It said 11:56. I needed to be in a hand exactly at midnight. Exactly as my biological clock ticked past a meaningless milestone. Meaningless to most everyone but me.

"Re-raise," said the small blind. He made it $35 to go. The original raiser called the raise, but I folded. There went my big opportunity. Sometimes, my conservative self takes over and guides my actions. I still have a tough time letting go.

The flop came down T34. Rainbow. The small blind fired off a $50 continuation bet that was called by the original raiser. "Don't put a five out there Kurt," I pleaded. It's bad poker to pay 25 big blinds to catch a gutshot. He didn't know I folded his favorite hand.

The turn was a 5.

I could have tripled up off of pocket Aces and some other random hand. But I didn't, because I folded. It's proper poker to fold that hand in that spot. But maybe once in a while, it's OK to gamble. I'm only turning 40 once.

****

I had met TheTrooper in the deli prior to sitting down. He's an Iron Maiden fan and that's a positive in my mind. His nickname comes from a song made famous by them. It's the only song I could beat TheMark on in Guitar Hero. There's a poker hand that also goes by the same name. It's nine-seven.

I was a bit disappointed after folding my two-six. But sometimes, we're given second chances.

Officially, it wasn't yet my birthday. The previous hand only took two minutes. It was 11:58. And I was dealt nine-seven off suit.

I limped.

****

Prior to playing poker that night, the wife and I took our first beating at blackjack. She was running well, I was playing profitably too. But we got hit hard in our last session and when TheTrooper arrived at MGM, we closed the session down.

Right after I limped, the Mrs. tapped me on my shoulder. She had lost some more money at blackjack and needed more cash. I didn't mind, we're here to spend money and have a good time. Stop losses are for people who can't let go.

I fished out another hundred dollar bill from my pocket just as the flop came out. 987. Two spades.

With her re-buy in hand, the Mrs. didn't wait around to see the outcome of the hand. Perhaps that's why when it was checked to me, I bet at the pot. I was called in three places. I immediately put people on either draws on top pair. I felt I was ahead.

The turn paired the 7. I'm pretty sure the clock struck midnight exactly at that moment.

****

Of course, someone had flopped the straight. And when I fired the turn after the board paired, that guy felt it would be good to go all-in. Call when ahead, raise when behind. I was apologetic after I stacked him.

"I got lucky there on the turn," I offered.

"Yeah, ya think."

Luckily for me, someone else said it.

"Hey man, it's his birthday."

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My Wife, The Poker Groupie

Date: Sun, Apr 20, 2008

First some comments. Gavin remembered me from Al's bash. Cool. Patrick, yeah, whatever. I look like him. Except he's taller.



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Hey I Brought A Laptop

Date: Sun, Apr 20, 2008

Random quick updates since it's 1:33 AM local time and the Mrs and I just had to order room service because we haven't eaten in over 9 hours. It's no wonder why I lose weight in Vegas. Forgetting to eat FTW!

Met up with Uncle Ted Friday night.
At the Excalibur Sherwood Forest Bar.
It had to be there.
I dropped $100 at video poker. The Mrs. dropped $20. She's better.

Played drunken Pai Gow at the Excalibur because it was lower limit heaven for us.
The Mrs. lost $5.
I lost $200. Because my last $100 bet pulled a Q-hi Pai Gow.
The Mrs. is better than me.

Slept.

Woke up way too early and had a way too expensive bagel.

Was OK with waking up because the Mrs. wanted to play poker. Say no more.

We sat at the same 1/2NL table. I lost $14. She lost $116. I'm better. But not by much.

Met the Armbrusters's at Planet Hollywood for lunch. He's a GucciGame regular. Lunch was superb, great company, great food, great drinks. Tony the Tiger approved.

Walked back to MGM realizing we hadn't won shit all vacation. Figured we'd change it up.

Blackjack. Because Bobby Bracelet plays it.

I won $150. The Mrs. won $100. Felt good.

Cabbed it to Treasure Island for Mystere. First Cirque show. Really was fantastic and worth the money. Had some popcorn, thinking that might be dinner. It was.

Convinced the Mrs. to play the 10pm Treasure Island tournament for $65. She busted. Odd tournament. They limit it to 2 tables, 20 players. But wait. Alternates too. No rebuys, but re-starts are allowed in the 1st hour if no more alternates are waiting.

I won some hands. Pushed a couple of times and didn't get called. Flopped the nuts once. Never got AA, but got KK twice.

Final table.

Only 4 pay though.

Got 6-handed and I doubled up a guy just so I could get short-stacked and make my decisions easier. Well, that wasn't really my reason. It was because I felt pot committed after raising with KQ.

Pushed when needed to.

5-handed, shortest stack open pushes. I wake up with AJ suited. Monster. We all know that.

I over push.

Folds around.

He shows ATo. Not a monster. But it's the Gooch. Six people know what that means.

I'm ready to bubble.

But this is live, not online. I flop an Ace. Brick, brick. In the money!

Stacks even - 4-way chop suggested. I don't mess with karma and agree.

$324 which I'll happily take.

But where'd the Mrs. go?

Oh.

To play more blackjack.

Great. (sarcasm)

"How you doing?"

"I'm up $200!"

Great. (no sarcasm)

Ship it holla!

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Returning the Favor

Date: Mon, Apr 14, 2008

It had been quite a while since my last (and only) visit to casa de Falstaff. Two weekends ago, he and his crew made the trek down to G-Vegas and collectively crushed the tournament and cash games. Word on the street was that Bobby Bracelet was hanging near Charlotte, NC for the weekend and would be a guest of honor at their weekly poker game. That was all the motivation I needed to drive up there for an evening; that, and to take back a little bit of G-Vegas pride from those pesky North Carolinians.

I arrived a bit early and found the afore-linked duo playing some Chinese poker. I joined in and promptly lost 4 points in about 4 deals. With the exception of the first hand, it was as if I were playing Pai Gow. I show 9-hi, Q-hi and a low flush. Yay.

SpecialK would join us as would Jimmy The Knife.

No need to bore you with poker hands, it was a night of fun. My pocket Aces did actually hold up both times, once against Q-hi and once against A-hi. I run goot.

The worst part? Unequivocally, the drive back to G-Vegas from 2am to 3:30am. If I didn't have such allergies to cat hair, I'd have crashed there. But still, it was absolutely worth it, especially with the Bracelet's attendance. Word on the street is that he may be moving to the Charlotte area, so future renditions of Saturday night are sure to occur.

Would G-Vegas ever recover from a visit from the Bracelet? We hope to find out soon.

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Tower of Piza

Date: Fri, Apr 11, 2008

I'm on such life tilt that I can't even think straight.

Some days at work are non-stop I-need-help-from-you-fests. Granted, I'm responsible for many things and many people here at Imaginary Company. But some days, when it's a barrage of questions directed to me by people from all over the world with no break in between, I become slightly peeved. There are times I get up from my chair to go to the bathroom only to come back to more I-need-help-from-you emails, phone messages and the best of them all, instant messages. Because people need help from me NOW. Not later. But now.

Yesterday when the work day ended, I drove my rental car (yes, rental car) to the Honda dealership to pick up our mini-van. It needed a new alternator and some fluids replaced. Hell, I need some fluids replaced right now. Or at least lovingly extracted. Or not even so lovingly.

Where was I?

Oh yes. On I-need-your-help tilt.

I finally get home and relieve my mother-in-law from babysitting duties while the Mrs. is at class. No time to unwind there - the kids need help with dinner. Then they need help with homework. And after that they need help getting snacks before bedtime.

So finally, FINALLY, TheBlood sits down to a couple of SNG's on the poker machine in a what will become very futile attempt to forget all about the previous 12 hours.

It doesn't work.

MrsBlood gets home and immediately asks for help getting pictures off the digital camera onto her laptop. All the while, I'm 2-tabling with headphones on trying my best to escape into the world of calm and relaxation. Right after I told her I was on I-need-your-help-tilt. But guess what?

Cue Shannon Sharpe: "It don't matter!"

Well, hellfire. Some days, my needs don't matter one single bit. Sure I yelled, and sure I was a jerk (aren't we always dear readers who happen to be husbands?), but I HELPED everyone who needed it yesterday.

Beyond my normal capacity to withstand aggravation, I left the house and drove to my favorite dealer's choice Thursday night donkey game.

Wherein I got my Aces cracked two hands in a row by the same player.

I need help.

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Wealth

Date: Tue, Apr 8, 2008

Let me say this: I had a great time Saturday and was excited to see everyone who could make it. The North Carolina contingent showed up in full force and even though Jim the Knife took me out of my own tournament, it was still worth every second.

We had 21 players Saturday and thanks to a very surprising and generous gesture, I would be free-rolling my own tournament. Otis had managed to gather up enough scratch from everyone else to fund my buy-in. Thanks to TheMark, a few two-dollar bills from G-Vegas' primary exotic establishment found their way into the prize pool. Not that I needed any additional motivation to win, but there it was.

My tournament performance, however, was just a matter of bad timing. I flopped the nuts once early and didn't get paid. I flopped a set later, but someone flopped a higher set. Only a 4-straight on board saved me my remaining chips. Finally, with an M of near 3, I pushed my big blind with ATo. The aforementioned Jim called after he had limped with JTs. Based on previous tourneys with Jim, I knew I stood no chance. Thankfully, just like he did at Caesar's last winter, he took my chips to a money finish. So I feel I contributed in some small way.

Good 'ole Shep was there and brought a signature 4 ft. sandwich. Some folks brought some wine, but most importantly, many others brought some vodka. I believe I'm covered for the rest of the year after Otis, GucciRick, and B-roc all supplied me with plenty of Grey Goose and Kettle One.

I managed to win in the subsequent cash game, a .25/.50 affair with Falstaff's absolute kick-ass, envy-inducing, ASM hourglass mold Black Sands chipset. However, in order to continue to have fun with a kid-less house, I had to fund Mrs_Blood's poker experience for the day. That didn't go so well, but as Shannon Sharpe likes to say with his mouth full of marbles, "It don't matter!"

I was having too much fun.

So much so, that I didn't want anybody to leave. But sadly, the NC crew had to drive back, which must not have been too bad since Falstaff and Jim took 1st/2nd in the tourney and their buddy Brian did well in the cash game. We tried to keep going 6-handed with Me, Mrs_Blood, TheMark, MrsAllIn, GucciRick and Otis; but after a brutal set over set hand destroyed the mood, we all felt it was time to pack it in.

I really can't say thank you enough to everyone, you guys made my Saturday one of the best days I've had in a while. We'll have to do it again.

Soon.

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XL

Date: Fri, Apr 4, 2008

If you've been paying any attention whatsoever to this blog, you'd realize that I'm about to turn the magical age of 40. And by magical, I mean Gandalf-like old. Sometimes I hesitate to mention it because I'm not a big fan of drawing attention to myself. Still, mention it I do; but I'm always leery that I bring it up far too often.

Because really, people get tired of those who constantly do that.

So this should be the last time I mention it.

Because I'll be in Vegas on my birthday proper, tomorrow a few friends are coming over the house for a poker tournament. I'll probably put a bounty on my head so that I'll have less fold equity. Who needs that to win a donkament? Cash games will hopefully ensue afterwards and my wish is that everyone who shows up has a great time, regardless of the bad beats I'll lay on you. (You reading this Falstaff????)

I'll take pictures and put them up for posterity. To a person, every one who's coming to the house tomorrow I've met through either poker or blogging about poker. This post is just meant to be a preemptive "Thanks" to those who can make it.

I'm getting the sense throughout the other poker blogs that some of the A-List, Inner Circle rockstars are finding that the true measure of their poker winnings is the friends they've made from the game and not the financial net to their poker bankroll.

Here's a secret: I knew it long ago. But I forgot about it last year. Thanks again to everyone who helped me remember.

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