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Decker's Journal    Friends

Boyd Hill Nature Park

Date: Thu, Apr 12, 2007

As a child, my dad used to take me to Boyd Hill nature park several times a year. I came to love the place. Even at such a young age the peacefullness of being surrounded by nature appealed to me. It still does.

It's been years since I been back, but today after painting a bedroom, I took a ride out to the 245 acre Boyd Hill nature park, and killed a few hours. I think it's the first time I ever went by myself, and it was nice. It was largely unchanged from the way I remember it.



There was very few people out there lots of "wildlife" noises coming from the bush. I took this picture thinking that "this eerily reminds me of Warcraft", but alas, no monsters jumped out and attacked me.

I did run into this little fellar and a couple of his friends. his friends were on either side of the trail eating whatever gopher tortoise eat. This one was a bit bold and as I approached on the trail, he turned and begun lumbering towards me at an equal pace. I moved to the right, and we passed each other without incident.


MY favorite place at Boyd Hill was was always the steep trail that led up to a cliff that overlooked a medium sized lake. Here, my pop and I would sit and chat, and climb rocks, and wonder out loud(as I smack a mosquito off me) why Mom wouldn't come with us. It was quite clear, to even an 8 year old, that this was man country, and women weren't much capable of keeping up on the treacherous trails. We'd both take a break up here and just talk. He liked to meditate, and this was a perfect place to do it.

Today, I noticed that The Cliff has changed a bit. Here is what I first saw upon approach:



Do not climb the armadillo? Well, this was new. What armadillo? And why can't I climb him? So I turn and pace a few more feet up the cliff and there's my Armadillo:



Just between you and I - I fucking climbed him. With my camera slung over my shoulder, I climbed and conquered!

From my perch I could oversee this



I eventually moved to the other side of the lake for a closer look, but a sideways glance and deep growl convinced me that discretion was the better part of valour. I moved on.

It was a beautiful day and according to the map, I traversed about 5 miles. This little excursion brought back a lot of childhood memories. It was melancholy. And it was a good time.

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Don Imus, Hardrock, Poker

Date: Tue, Apr 10, 2007

Who will pick up Don Imus? XM or Sirius? My guess is XM, only because Howard Stern and Imus have a very bad history, and although Stern has shown he can mend fences to further his career, as he did with Bubba The Love Sponge, it is unlikely Imus has the character or class to do the same thing. He'll end up at XM and will most likely have miserable ratings. This is all assuming he ends up getting fired, which I am predicting will be the case.

Side note, what do you think about Opie and Anthony drawing 0.6% rating shares in two major markets? They suck...

++++++++++++++++

Stayed at the Hardrock in Tampa Sunday night. I had two respectable sessions at the $2 limit holdem tables (stop laughing, I live in Florida damnit!). The late night session was especially good and I was lucky enough to be seated at a table with nary one asshole. That is rare.

My biggest issue with live play is that I have little tolerance for loud mouths and assholes who constantly chatter and try to hard to be funny. It's rare that I don't find myself irritated by at least six players at my table. If you have to try to be funny - you're not. Trust me.

At my table was an over dressed Athletic Director from Academy Prep in Tampa, Former NFL running back Rabih Muhammad (played for the 2004 superbowl Patriots and had a brief stint with the Buc's). Two college kids who were drunk but pleasant, and a couple old coots.

I stood up around 1am. The wife had already retired to the room after blowing her roll on video poker. I wandered the floor for a bit, surprised to see so many degenerates gambling away on Easter Sunday. I sat at the center bar for awhile and ogled the bartenders. Finally I bought my last beer and staggered up to the room.

Oh yes, around 11pm I got up to take a piss. I wasn't paying any attention and as I walked in the restroom and unzipped my fly, I saw out of the corner of my eye a woman with her back to me, putting make up on in the mirror. You'd think that would kind of be a red flag for me, but I walked right by her. As I stood befuddled looking for a urinal and trying to figure out why there was a chick in here, she said "errrr, wrong one- heeeeeheeeee". Without making eye contact, I uttered a sincere apology, spun around and exited. She laughed and said it was the best thing that happened to her all night. If that's true, she must have not been having a great night. I was mortified, and half afraid that security saw me and would boot me. They didn't.

Here is a pic of the Ford Amphitheatre as seen from the parking garage at the Hardrock:

fordamp

I've pretty much given up on ever again being successful online. I can't consistently beat any game anymore, except micro limit sit&go's. So I've decided to just play MTT's, recreationally, and let luck takes it course. Obviously, it will be -EV, but if and when I ever score, it will be a decent score. This is not a decision I made out of frustration or disgust, it's just reality. I read a shitload of poker blogs, some (ok most!) written by players far better then I, and none of them are beating the online games anymore. So I'll have fun playing tourney's and hopefully write about a big score someday.

play online poker U.S. Players Welcome!
Play Online Poker


PS: This happened as I wrote that last sentence:



This is nothing new. It happens a lot more then the odds would dictate. My allin opponent hitting a gutshot on the river is common place, and it no longer comes as a surprise to me, or pisses me off. Well, maybe just a little....

PPS - Rebuilt up my stack and might just cash in this thing...

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Amazing Derby Lane story

Date: Sat, Mar 31, 2007

Every year Derby Lane hosts the "Derby Million" it's dog racing's richest race. Last year, to help promote the race, they gave away a brand new Hummer H3. Here's how the give away works: You show up on the night of the race. You pick the dog you think is going to win. You put your name in that dog's box. Which ever dog wins, a name is drawn from the dogs box. The winner got the Hummer. Scott Kaplan doesn't even play the dogs, only poker. Last year, while playing poker, he entered the raffle. His dog won AND his name was drawn, winning him the brand new Hummer H3.

That is not the amazing story. This year was only the second year for the Derby Million. Same deal with the car giveaway raffle, only this time it was a new Ford Mustang convertible. "Flying Stanley" won the 2007 Derby Million. A name was drawn from Stanleys box. SCOTT KAPLAN!!! The same dude won the drawing two years in a row!!! WOW! He also won $22 on the poker tables.

I got a baseball cap for each year. He got a car for each year. Kaplan is a Largo High School teacher, so he probably deserves this good fortune.

Here's a link to the news article, so you don't think I'm making this shit up:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/08/Northpinellas/Not_a_bad_way_to_get_.shtml

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Poker in Tampa / St. Pete. news

Date: Sat, Mar 31, 2007

It was in the paper today that the Tampa dog track will be going to a year round racing season and re-opening their cardroom. I visited it once or twice a few years ago, before it closed, and was not impressed. First of all, the Tampa Dog track is in a crappy area of town. It was dirty and ill maintained. I can't imagine ever going back there, or why anyone else would, considering Derby Lane or the HardRock is only a 20 minute drive away.

Speaking of Derby Lane, they have introduced a new "action hold'em" game. I think this is their way of getting aroung Florida's strict betting limit law. In DL's version of "Action Hold'em", there is no calling. Only raising or folding. So it will cost you $8 per card. Makes for much bigger pots. I thought the play would be bit tighter, but the table that I observed was typical low limit play with 5+ people seeing every flop.

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My Window Their Mirror

Date: Thu, Mar 29, 2007

In my downtown St. Pete. office my south wall is all window, ceiling to floor. Actually it is made up of four huge, hurricane resistant, window panes. They are each about 8’ tall and about 4’ wide. I have semi transparent shades that I can pull down if the sun is really bad. I am on the first floor, street level. The first six feet outside the office is nicely maintained landscaping, but primarily I overlook a sidewalk and a fairly busy, three lane, one way street. Directly across the street from me is my mechanic’s shop. It’s hellaciously convenient for oil changes and routine maintenance. I simply park there when I come into work, watch the progress from my desk, and walk over and pick it up when he’s done. He almost always has me done by lunchtime. I’m pretty sure I could find better prices somewhere else, but the convenience factor is definitely worth a few bucks to me.



Outside, from the sidewalk, my windows are reflective. Just like a gigantic mirror – MOOOOOHOOOOOHAAAAA. Yes friends, free entertainment. On any given day 10-30 people walk by my office. Business people, construction workers, bums, homeless, crack whores, cops, etc… Without fail, they cannot resist the temptation to stare at themselves in the gigantic mirror. Some pose. Others adjust their clothing. Some adjust themselves. I wonder if they ever consider for a second that someone might be on the other side of the “mirror”, just a few feet away, watching them.

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Poker

Date: Mon, Mar 19, 2007

Finally experienced a little online success over the weekend. I almost forgot what it felt like. Played quite a bit 2/4 limit stuff and didn't do anything spectacular. Just won most of my coin flips and saw my big hands hold up. That's all it really takes, right?

If you're a Fulltilt player, be sure to check the lobby under "requests" - "my bonus offers" (or something like that). They are giving out quite a few no deposit bonuses, but they're not advertising this fact, you have to go look for it. Mine was for $100 with a moderate play through requirement. I got a couple weeks to clear it - shouldn't be a problem.

play online poker
Play Online Poker


My live game winning streak came to a crashing, smoldering end Friday night. I busted out of three tourneys. The last one we're down to four. I manage to get all in against the chipleader luckbox maniac. I have KK - He has A6o. All looks good until the river. When I saw the A hit. I almost thought I was back online. I took some other sick beats that night, but that's the one that sticks with me. We'll try again next week.

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TGIF

Date: Fri, Mar 16, 2007

I'm off to Derby Lane tonight to try to extend my live game winning streak to three sessions. If you happen to be there, look for the devastatingly handsome, studly, muscle bound guy, who's probably picking up all the hot chicks. When you find Joe, ask him where Decker is.

In the past three days, I've managed to increase my bankroll by almost 1000%. Yes my friends, 1000%! My measly $1.10 BR is now approaching the $10 mark. I'm tearing up those $1.20 two table S&G's. Finally, I found a game I can beat. At least for the short term.

I still have some remnants of a BR on FullTilt, but have stayed away the last few nights, partly due to their consistent server issues.

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Looking up

Date: Mon, Mar 12, 2007

FullTilt has been down most of the night, so I decided to see what was happening on Stars. I was prepared to deposit a c-note and see how long it took me to blow it. Instead, I discovered I had $1.15 balance hanging around on Stars. The cheapest full table NLHE S&G I saw was $1.20. I was a nickel shy! Fortunately, they have 6 player 5-card draw tourneys for $1.10. Been awhile since I played draw, so I figured why not. I ended up finishing 2nd place, pocketing $2.10 - sweet. Now I could afford a $1.20 two table NLHE S&G.

The first hand I'm the button with 9Td, I limp. Flop is JQK giving me the sissy end of the straight. Check, check and I bet minimum. Two EP players limp along for the ride. The turn helps no one, and first limper makes a pot sized bet. 2nd limper calls and I push all in. They both call. Both had two pair and I triple up when the river is a blank. I ended up finishing in 3rd place, and increase my Stars roll to a respectable $5.80. I'm on a roll - wooothefuckwhooooo.

****************

I go to the doctor this week for my semi-annual checkup. In my whole life, I've never visited doctors, but now it has become a neccessity. You see, in order for him to keep the Ambien CR rolling in, he has to check out my blood every six months. It's a small price to pay to get some sleep. He's actually a pretty cool doctor. He asks me how life is going. Whenever we talk about my difficulty sleeping, he always asks if I'm depressed or stressed. My answer is always the same, "no". And it's true. I have my moments, but I've really got nothing to be depressed about (other then fucking river rats sucking out on me on FullTilt!). However, I'm thinking about telling him I am to see if he'll prescribe me a little something for it.

Last time my cholesterol count was to high. I forget the exact numbers, and they weren't alarmingly high, but high nonetheless. Whenever I think of people with high cholesterol, I automatically picture fat out of shape people, who look like a walking heart attack. Not the case I guess. I've actually done a pretty good job of scaling back red meat and fried food out of my diet. I've also been jogging on the days I don't play tennis. Physical activity is supposed to increase the "good" cholesterol. I'm curious to see if that's had any effect.

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bloggerpod final table

Date: Sun, Mar 11, 2007

from a chip and a chair, to chip leader at the final table... What a strange game



9:20pm - Always an ace. This time on the river:



9:30pm - finished 6th/82 - Once again, an ace on the river kills me:



As you can see, I flop top two pair, and I know they're good. With only one opponent, I check, opponent bets pot, I push all in. She calls. Of course, I'm ahead, but we can never forget the board must always have an ace. ALthefuckWAYS. This time, again, the ace came on the river. I don't blame her for calling with TPTK, although I'm not sure I would have. Still, it just goes to show you, if you ever play against me online and I bet big - CALL - you will hit whatever it is you need to win. Trust me on this.

Yeah, it was a lousy freeroll, but I still wanted to do well. I think I won like $1.50 or something. I'm still just disgusted with this game. I just can't win. no matter what. Mathematically, how can odds go against me for so long, and so often? Yeah, I know, waaaaaaahhhhhhhh..... I'm going to bed now

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