Rob's Blog

Vegas 2011 - Dec 16th-20th Days 9-12

2011-12-25T23:44:00.008-06:00

Sessions: 13
Net Result: +$1549

Claire's here. That means several things happen. The first thing that happens is that blog updates go out the window. I simply stop writing. Claire doesn't like to spend much time in the room during the day, and that's when I write, so there you go.

The second thing that happens is that I can't find shit anymore. Where's the toothpaste? Who knows? The phone charger? No idea. Where's my goddamn hair tie that I've put in the same place in my bag every damn day since I've been here? No. Frickin'. Clue. Ugh! Shit just starts disappearing!

The third thing that happens is that I lose track of how much I'm spending. Taxi cab rides. Dinners. Table games. Souvenirs. She pays for some things. I pay for others, and I simply lose track.

But, ironically, the most important thing that happens is that I'm a lot happier. She drives me crazy, costs me money, aggravates me and completes me. Without her, I live in a sterile, soulless world with little meaning. She brings passion to my life. And it's like with anything else, the more you put in, the more you get out. So despite everything, I'm very glad she's here.

So, anyway, that was a long way of saying that my updates stop when Claire arrives, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

However, since I still need blog closure on this trip, I'm going to wrap up my remaining sessions in one big post.

Sessions 17-29: Imperial Palace, MGM, Excalibur, Treasure Island, Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NLHE (21h 15m); Treasure Island $1/$3 NLHE (1hr 0m); Excalibur $2-$6 Spread Limit (0h 45m); Bill's Gambling Hall 50c/$1 NLHE (0h 15m)

Buyin: $2924
Cashout: $4473
Result: +$1549

First, let me get those weird games out of the way.

The $2-$6 spread limit game at Excalibur is exactly what it sounds like. You can bet anywhere from $2 to $6 on every street. There is only a single $2 blind too. As you would expect, this game is suck out city. I fully realized this before I sat down, and I only sat down to kill time while waiting for a $1/$2 seat.

It went about as good as you'd expect. I'd lose with AK with an A on the flop, and win with junk like 74o when I rivered a straight. Pretty stupid. And at that limit, it's almost impossible to beat the rake. I ended up down $14. No big deal.

The 50c/$1 game at Bill's is what they were calling "mini hold 'em." The only reason I played this game is because Claire saw a dealer friend of hers from Imperial Palace playing there. Plus, she'd been running bad and the thought of really low stakes poker was appealing.

To give you an example of how tame this game was... I had QQ and raised to $5 (normally I'd make it $12-$17 at $1/$2,) and I've never seen player cards hit the muck so fast. It was stupid. My 25c/50c home game played bigger than this game.

Anyway, Claire doubled up from $40 to $85 with QQ versus the big stack ($170 or so,) and the game broke shortly thereafter. We were there about 15 minutes tops.

The lone $1/$3 game I played was at Treasure Island. They had two games running so Claire and I were able to sit a different tables.

I made a very poor decision to play at this game. I bought in for $200 and the next smallest stack was $500. It was short handed and very aggressive. I should have gotten up immediately. This was not a good table.

There was one table bully with about $1200 in front of him. He talked a lot. Everyone hated him. When he left, one of the guys started really bad mouthing him. Apparently the bully had sucked out with a set of 2's against this guy for about $900 and that's what got him going.

What the guy talking shit didn't know is that the bully was still in the poker room... cashing out. And he overhears this dude talking shit about him "behind his back."

So the bully returns to the table and the sore loser makes a very transparent apology. "Sorry, I thought you'd left." was the extent of it. ;)

They exchange loose/vague threats and each claims to not be afraid of the other. The bully says he'll play the talker for any amount any time. The talker invites the bully to sit back down at the table. Blah. Blah. Blah.

In the end, I end up busting to the talker. Who, quite honestly, by this time was just as annoying as the bully.

Then I busted again.

Yes, I know... I should have left! But you guessed it, I rebought for $200. I'm in for $600 now.

By this time, our table was down to about 4 players. We ended up combining with Claire's table. They normally play 9 handed, but they allowed us to go 10 handed.

Not long after we combined, one of the guys left and we played 9 handed again.

I pick up QQ. I raise to $17.

One of the many big stacks calls me.

The flop is J high with two baby cards. I'm out of position so I lead out for $45.

The big stack raises me All-In. I have about $170 left. My stomach churns. Again? Really?

Fuck it. I can't always be beat. I call.

The guy doesn't like the call. I can tell. I flip over Queens. He nods and says he's on a draw.

I notice two spades on the board. No spade on the turn. King of Spades on the River.

Fuck. A King *and* a spade? Vomitous.

I look at him, and he says, "You're good." and throws his hand away. WTF? What kind of draw was he on?? Fuck it. Who cares? Ship me that pot before someone notices I have an underpair to the board. ;)

Now I'm just under $400. I play for a bit longer. Claire's down now too. Not too much. She's down like $40.

I look at the table and finally come to my senses. Let's get out of here! I leave down $236.

On our walk back to the Mirage, I explain to Claire how I've not been properly assessing my tables. Or at least how I've not been willing to leave tables that I know are bad just because I'm down. I made a decision right there to never, ever let me "being down" keep me from leaving a table. Never again.

Smart.

We get back to Mirage and the table is so soft. The Mirage has consistently had soft games this trip. Very soft. I crush the table and in 45 minutes I make all the money I'd lost at TI back plus $3 profit. I'm quite happy! :-)

The remaining sessions were good ones. I never had another losing session, and by the end of it all I was up just over $2400 for my trip. This was about how much I was up last year. It averages out to about $200/day in poker profits.

Of course, it costs money to go and stay in Vegas. I have to pay for taxis and food and hotel rooms, but all in all, I had more money in my wallet when I got on the plane home than I had when I got there. I can't complain about that.

Untill next year!

Vegas 2011 - Dec 15th - Day 8

2011-12-25T23:43:00.003-06:00

Sessions: 3
Net Result: +$321

Claire flew in today, and I moved from PH to Mirage.

Checking into the Mirage, I couldn't help but think of The Griswolds. If you recall, Clark and his family stayed at The Mirage in "Vegas Vacation," a movie that I've seen literally dozens of times. I guess Claire was thinking the same thing because before she arrived, she joked that we would get complicated directions to the room elevators just like in the movie. ;)

(You know what would go great here, an embedded YouTube video of that scene from Vegas Vacation. But, alas, I could not find one. )

Here's a video of the room.

My first session today was really a session I played before going to bed, but as always, if the session starts after midnight, I count it towards the next day's sessions.

Session 14: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (1h 45m)
Buyin: $380
Cashout: $428
Result: +$48

Fuck this game. It was volatile, aggressive, and big stacked.

The tone was set early when I saw a guy go all-in for like $750 on a board of 5d 6h Kd 3s, and get snapped called by a $600 stack. The guy that went all-in flipped over AA. The snap caller (who had raised $220 on the turn prior to calling the all-in) flipped over 74o. The guy with Aces almost threw up.

The Aces guy had made it $35 to go pre-flop and $100 on the flop. So he wasn't expecting a straight. I mean, I could have put the other guy on a set, but with that $35 pre-flop bet, two-pair or a straight seemed unlikely. The pocket aces guy still played that way too strongly, but yeah, pretty sick.

I also saw pocket Aces lose 4 times at this table, including one of mine. All of them were raised pre-flop. No slow playing.

My AA came immediately after another guy's AA had lost. The guy that just lost with them was on tilt and had the button.

I made it $15 to go under the gun. He was the only one that called. It totally seemed like a tilt call.

The flop was JJ5. I lead out for $25. He called. Turn was a 7. I checked. He bet $25. I called. River was an 8. I checked. He bet $25. I made a crying call. The guy flips over JTo.

Ugh.

On the very next hand, I picked up AQ. Great! I mean, people were playing total shit. It was very likely that if I raised and got called that I'd be going in winning. I led out for $12. I knew people would think I was on tilt so I expected some callers.

I immediately got raised to $35.

This guy was a non-believer. Fuck it. I re-raised All-In for just over $120. I'll be honest... I expected a fold. Instead, I got snap called. Ooops.

He says to me, "I just have Ace King." Ugh. C'mon!

No queen or 1 card flush or miracle straight for me. I busted.

I rebought for $200. I shouldn't have, but I did. I should have found an easier, softer table. I *should* have, but I didn't.

Instead, I played for a while and bled down to about $45. I called a raise from the giant stacked button guy with 97s and pushed whatever I had left when it came a 9 high flop and a gut shot. I sucked out with two pair on the turn. The guy had AA. I'm telling you, AA was unlucky at that table.

I played erratically, but eventually I got to about $50 in profit and called it a game. I was very grateful for any kind of win by this point. I wasn't exactly playing my best, and I knew it.

Time for bed.

Session 15: Mirage $1/$2 NL HE (2h 45m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $280
Result: +$80

Later that afternoon...

Just chillin' waiting for Claire to show up. Nothing too interesting.

I did notice the face-masked dude from last year's Mirage sessions (pic here.) This time he wore a red surgical mask. Really weird. I never got up the nerve to ask him why he wore a surgical mask to a poker game. He didn't wear gloves. And the chips are the dirtiest, most nastiest things at the table, so I can't imagine it was for a medical/cleanliness reason. I can only assume it's for "anti-reading" purposes. Maybe he has a horrible lip quiver that gives away his hand. I might never know.

I will say that if you're at The Mirage, ask the cocktail waitress for an Orange Julius. They're fabulous!

Session 16: Mirage $1/$2 NL HE (4h 30m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $393
Result: +$193

The Mirage, at least during this trip, has had the calmest, most timid games I've played. If you raised $6, everyone, including the blinds would fold. I would raise or re-raise and steal so many pots. Easy. Peasy.

Honestly, no pots were even that memorable. I was just patient and played aggressively when I was in a hand. Pretty text book poker here.

By the end of this session, I'd erased more than half of my $600 loss from the previous day. Things were looking up again.

Vegas 2011 - Dec 14th - Day 7

2011-12-15T15:53:00.004-06:00

Sessions: 2
Net Result: -$603

Far and away, the worst day.

Also, if you've been reading these, you've probably figured out that I write in a very stream of consciousness manner. And I do minimal editing, So expect to see grammatical and typographical errors in most of these posts. They take a long time to write, and frankly, I just want to go play poker right now.

I just don't want some of you to read these things and think I'm a sloppy writer. I'm not. I'm just a lazy/rushed one.

Someone should contract me to write a book...

Session 12: MGM $1/$2 NL HE (4h 15m)
Buyin: $600
Cashout: $0
Result: -$600

I cut and paste these blog posts. And I'm telling you, there's nothing I hate more than having to backspace over the "+" symbol in my "Result:" Putting that "-" there… just… ugh.

Anyway, two more friends from Austin showed up today: Brian and Leigh. I spent most of the day with them just walking around. They're staying at MGM. Duy and James had mentioned that they moved the MGM poker room and put it in a temporary spot near the Lion Habitat. They also mentioned that they had found a super juicy game there, and that they made tons. So, I figured I'd go check it out.

The room is shitty. The dealers hated it. I hated it. It was pretty ghetto. Apparently they're renovating the original poker room, and they're saying it'll return to it's normal place on January 9th. That does me no good since I'll be gone by then, but I played anyway.

I sat down with $200 and was never up. I plugged away at the table, but it was pretty tight and passive. I couldn't make any ground. I was down $20 pretty quick. Then down $75. Then I was under $100. I almost re-loaded, but I won a few hands and got within $3 of being even. If I'd have gotten there, I had planned to leave, but I didn't.

I busted with AK vs Aces. I wasn't happy, but I didn't feel like I was playing poorly, so I re-bought for $200.

There was this one Israeli guy to my right that was sorta big stacked and aggressive. He also laid out the worst smelling farts in the history of man. Seriously. He first tried to pass it off as his Canadian neighbor's doing, but after the Canadian left, the farts remained. They were literally tear inducing. They were really, really bad. And since I just kept spinning my wheels at that table, I took that as just another reason to leave.

But instead of leaving the room, I decided to request a table change, and I got one.

I moved to my new table with about $125 left from my 2nd buyin. I figured, new scene, new table, new start. I reloaded for $200 more.

My first hand, I look down and see Kd Qd. I call $2.

This beatnik looking type dude raises to $12 from the small blind. He's really short stacked. He's got like $60 or so.

He's got this bushy tuft of hair growing from underneath his lower lip. You know what I'm talking about? It's not a goatee. It's not a beard. It's that thing right in the middle and right below a guy's lower lip. If you picture a 50's/60's beatnik artist with sunglasses and a beret and that little tuft of hair growing out long and bushy, you'll visualize this guy. Oh, and yeah, he was wearing a beret. I shit you not. It was a leather beret, and it was being worn backwards, but he wore one nonetheless. Also, he was French-Canadian.

Anyway, I call $12.

The flop is Ad Qh 9h. Not super great, but it's OK for me. The French-Canadian beatnik makes it $15. Now, I can't call. Either I fold here, or I put him in for the rest of his chips.

I raise to $75. I know he doesn't even have $50 total, but I didn't want to risk an all-in in case some other dude flopped a set or something on me.

They all fold except the beatnik. He calls. Someone did flop a set. Him. A set of Aces.

God! C'mon! First hand, and I run into Aces with a short stack? Ugh.

After some grinding, I build it back up to about $325. I'm in for $600, so I'm still not feeling that great.

I pick up QTo and limp in.

The flop comes AKT rainbow. It's checked to me. I bet $20 which is slightly more than a pot-sized bet. It gets folded around to this middle aged, bald fat guy to my right… who just sat down 2 hands ago and won his first hand.

I've learned from experience that people that just sit down at a table are more apt to fold when bet into because they don't know the table, they're not frustrated, and they're still optimistic about the session. It's easier to bluff a guy when he just sat down than that same guy after he's been playing with you for an hour.

But not this guy. He didn't come to Vegas to fold hands. He calls.

Not that big a deal. I still have a nut draw.

Turn is a rainbow 9. Damn. I really needed that Jack.

The guy checks weakly, so I bet again. This time I bet $40. The guy thinks for a while, but still calls. Again, he's meek and not very confident. He could be on the same draw that I'm on, and I have a pair at least.

I decide I'm betting this river no matter what.

The river is a 6. Not really a game changing card.

He checks again. I bet $75. He thinks for a bit, and calls. Fuck. What does this guy have? Two Pair?

A6o. Let me state that more clearly: Ace Six Offsuit. He called me down with a fucking weak-as-shit Ace. Maybe he had a good read, right? Wrong.

He turns to me and says, "I thought you had two pair."

Huh?

So I say, "You thought I had two pair, but you called me anyway with an Ace with a weak kicker on every single street? Really?"

Realizing how stupid that sounded, he said, "Yeah, well, I figured you might have missed your draw."

Which is more retarded.

"So, wait a minute. You said you thought I had two pair. AND. You also thought I had nothing? Well, which is it? Those are about the two most opposite reads possible… So what you really mean to say is that you had no clue where you were and just called because you could."

After that he clammed up, which was about the smartest thing I'd seen him do in the 15 minutes he'd been there.

The next hand I pick up AKo.

The same guy raises to $5. $5. That's a fucking stupid raise.

I raise to $20. I get one caller, and it's back to him. He reaches for chips and I say, "Dude, you just took down a bunch of chips with A6. You can't lay one down? You've been here for 4 hands and played them all."

He calls anyway.

The flop is beautiful. K 5 7 rainbow.

He leads out for $30. $30? Really? Why would he lead out? It was sort of suspicious. I'd seen his hands. He'd literally played all 4 hands since he sat down. His hands were shit. I thought there was a chance he had two pair even, given how loose his play was.

I raise to $60 to see what he does. The other guy got out of the way, and old fat bald guy raises to $90.

What the fuck? A set? I have to make a decision here. I have $80 in this pot and about $110 behind. This guy could be doing this shit with anything from a set to King-Jack.

I just couldn't bear to fold. I should have. The signs all pointed to AK being beat, but it was just so unlikely. The rainbow K57 flop for my AK was just too hard to fold.

I went all-in. He calls.

A set? Yep. He flips over 55.

Jesus Christ.

I'm furious. I storm out of there to the sound of his annoying voice saying "Sorryyyyy…" Normally I stop and lecture people about saying "Sorry" after winning a pot, but I just couldn't stand the sight of that guy for another second. Plus, the rest of my cash was in my room. And I needed to cool off.

I knew that guy wasn't going to keep those chips. And as angry as I was, I was more sad that I wouldn't be there to take them.

Session 13: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (1h 0m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $197
Result: -$3

I learned an expensive lesson at MGM. A lesson that every good poker player knows, but few can execute. Do not chase losses.

If something doesn't feel right, leave. It doesn't matter if you're down a little or a lot. The only reason NOT to leave is if you feel you're still playing well, and are confident that you can win. If you're mad and playing like shit or feel like you'll play like shit if you continue, leave. Fuck the daily stats. The only stat that matters is the one that shows you as a winning player over the long haul. How many BBs do you win per hour?

It's very, very, very hard to leave money on the table. Even a few dollars. But sometimes you have to.

I put this into practice on this session. I was down quickly at this game, but felt I was playing fine. I got to within $3 of my initial buyin, and of course, I just felt like just getting my $3 back and leaving. But I fought off the urge to play to get even... to get back those last few dollars, and I just called it a day. I left. I was done.

Tomorrow's a new day, and my long haul stats say that there are more BBs to win.

Vegas 2011 - Dec 13th - Day 6

2011-12-15T14:20:00.001-06:00

Sessions: 2
Net Result: +$346

Just another day in Vegas...

Session 10: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (2h 0m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $207
Result: +$7

This was a pretty short, uninteresting session. I played it at like 2am. I remember sitting down and losing $100 within like 20 minutes, but I don't remember how. I also remember climbing out of that hole and just wanting to go to bed.

Session 11: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (5h 0m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $539
Result: +$339

I gotta start writing closer to the day that I play. I can't remember shit for this session.

Let's see. What happened? All these PH sessions are blurring together. I suppose that's a good thing as long as their winning.

Yeah, sorry, I got nothing. I'm writing this two days later. :-(

Vegas 2011 - Dec 12th - Day 5

2011-12-15T13:50:00.002-06:00

Sessions: 3
Net Result: +$425

This is really a continuation of Day 4, and then it goes into Day 5.

Session 7: Imperial Palace $1/$2 NL HE (1h 0m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $406
Result: +$206

This IP session was a short one. I hit this game as I was heading to my room to call it a day.

First of all, as I sat down I found a $5 chip underneath the table. Sweet! I was up before I'd even started. :-)

The biggest story here was an Asian lady that new very little English.

When I first sat down at this table, I didn't even notice her. I folded a lot (as I usually do) and joked and talked with my neighbors. She was quiet, and I hadn't played any pots, so she was invisible to me.

Then the dude to my right got involved in a pot and showed me his hand. 6s 6c. He had raised in early position with that hand and checked the flop of 5s 4s 8s.

The guy to my left bet $40 (about a pot-sized bet), and the Asian lady put out a single $100 bill in front of her. This is a call. Everyone knows this. The dealer will make her change after he puts out the turn. Or, he would have, if a guy two to her right hadn't re-raised to $160.

That's when my neighbor with the 6s 6c showed me his hand. How could he call? He has 1 out to a straight flush. He's beat. So, yeah, he eventually folds. I'm not sure why he thought it was such a big deal to fold there. It was $160 to call. He obviously only had 1 out.

The initially bettor to my left folds, and the action is on the Asian lady. The dealer says it's on her and she signals like she wants to see the next card. The dealer explains that she has been raised $120 on top. The Asian lady still doesn't understand, and is wondering why the dealer hasn't put out the turn. At this point, the entire table is trying to explain that her $100 bill was a call of the original $40 bet, and that she needs to put in $120 more if she wants to see the turn. She still doesn't get it. Frustrated, the dealer takes her $100, changes it to $5 chips, puts the calls in the middle and shows her that she still needs to call $120 more if she wants to see the turn. She says, "But I put $100 in already." *Sigh*. The dealer is now aggravated. "Do you want to call?!" he asks. She nods. Fine.

She looks at her cards. At this point, she's got another $100 bill and like $75 in chips behind. The turn is a red Jack.

She checks. The raiser goes all-in for $200+. He has her covered. She has all her chips sitting on her $100 bill, and she slides that passed the betting line. She calls.

The river is an 7s.

Homeboy to my right spazzes. He would have made the nuts. A straight flush. Hahaha.

The dude putting in all the money flips over 4h 4c. A set of 4's.

Asian lady flips over As 7h. Haha.

The guy that lost is… well, not happy. She had called $160 on the flop, and nearly $200 on the turn for a flush draw and a gut shot. And hit it. Wow.

After that, the whole table at that lady's lunch. She called and called and called everything. Pre-flop raises, flop bets, turn bets, river bets. She called.

It didn't take long for her to dwindle back down to about $400. And that's when I picked up my hand.

I had Ad Ts. I was on the button. Now, most of the time I just call $2 or maybe raise it a little bit if I feel like the table is weak, but this time it was raised to $6 from early position before it got to me. There were a few callers. Now, this is a 50/50 for me. Half the time I call, half the time I fold. I do not raise here. I decide to call.

The flop comes Ks Qc 4d. Hmmm. I've got a gut shot straight draw, and that's about it. The Asian lady was in the blinds and checked. The table checks around to me. Now, at this point, I have to bet. I'm not strong here, but I do have a draw to the nuts, and I can possibly steal it with a pot-sized bet. I bet $25 into about a $30 pot. As you would expect, everyone folds except the Asian Lady. She could have anything.

The turn is a Jc. That's the nuts for me, but it puts a flush draw out there. She checks.

Now, normally, I wouldn't put her on a flush draw because it would have to be a runner-runner flush draw, and while that's possible, it's unlikely. She might have a pair of Kings or Queens. Maybe she even had a straight draw. I don't know.

What I do know is that this lady calls damn near everything. If she's got ANY draw or any piece of this board, she's not going away.

So, I push all-in for about $150. She calls.

At times like this, I always flip over my made hand ASAP. This is so that 1) I don't misread my hand and 2) my opponent has a chance to see my strong hand which could make him forget that he has other outs. For instance, if I flop a higher set over a smaller set, and I show my hand, the other guy might only think he has outs to four of a kind. When actually he might have runner-runner outs to a flush. If he doesn't get that four of a kind, maybe he folds without knowing he had made a 4 card flush. I've totally seen it happen.

Anyway, the river is a Kc. Fuck. Worst. Card. Ever. It pairs the board and completes a runner-runner flush draw.

Now I'm hoping that having seen my made straight, that she just mucks. She starts to, but other people start mumbling about a flush and pair board. SHUT THE FUCK UP ASSHOLES! Don't remind her of those things. What if she backed into a fullhouse or a flush and didn't realize it? Let her muck or turn her cards over on her own!

She starts sliding her hand face down to the dealer. Slowly. She takes a look back at them, and the dealer asks if she's mucking. She nods. Whew!

After that double up, I was done. She had almost nothing left, and I was tired. Up over $200 in an hour is good enough.

Session 8: Imperial Palce Freeroll Tournament NL HE (1h 30m)
Buyin: $5
Cashout: $0
Result: -$5 (27th out of 49)

I earned enough hours to qualify for the weekly freeroll at the IP the next morning at 11am. The problem was… it was in the next morning at 11am. If I hadn't had to check out that morning, I would have probably just slept in. Freeroll tourneys are shit. You get very few chips, the blinds go up lightning fast, and it ends up a shove fest.

I set my alarm and woke up in time to shower, pack and make my way down to the check-out desk before 11am. The poker room is right across from the hotel desk, so I checked my bags, registered for the tournament and checked out of the hotel. Just in time.

Now, if this is a freeroll, why do I have the buying at $5? Well, when I registered, I was in such a rush, the guy asked me if I wanted to do something for $5. I didn't even hear what it was. I said, "I didn't hear what you said, but I'm sure it's a good thing, so here's five bucks." He thanked me and gave me my seat assignment.

I thought I was contributing to the dealer payouts since this was a freeroll, and it was. But it turns out that with the $5 extra, I doubled my chips from 1500 to 3000. I mean, it's still shit, but whatever. It was a good thing. It went to the dealers anyway.

I had put in 18.5 hours towards my freeroll entry. If I had put in 20, they would have given me 6000 in chips (which was the max.) So right off the bat, I had 1/2 the stack of 3-4 players at the table. It didn't end up mattering. The big stacks fell early, and people doubled quickly.

I actually played about as well as you can play freerolls. I stole some. Played tight. I played well.

I made it to the first break, but by that time, I only had 4.5 times the big blind.

As I paid my big blind, which was $1000. I looked down and saw 9s 9c. I knew I was shoving the remainder 3000 no matter what. I didn't have to worry about action. Someone shoved exactly 4500 in front of me. I couldn't fold of course.

I flipped over my hand. My opponent flipped over his: AKo. Fuck.

The flop held an Ace. Pfft. No 9 on the turn or river either. In fact, the river was another Ace. Ah, whatever. It was only $5.

Session 9: Mirage $1/$2 NL HE (1h 45m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $424
Result: +$224

They serve Orange Julius's here. Just ask the cocktail waitress. They're so good!

Anyway, I made money here because of one hand.

There was a crazy aggressive guy to my right and two of the loosest callers ever to my left. It was perfect.

I was under the gun. I looked down at Ad Kd. Sweet. Normally I raise, but there was so much action at this table, I decided to take a chance and just call $2.

The lady to my left wasted no time. She raised to $7. Her husband, who was directly to her left, called. As did the whole damn table. Then it got to the aggressive guy to my right. I was waiting for a raise. He flat called. I was last to act on the raise. There was about $35-42 in the pot with all those $7 bets. I decided to just end it. I raised to $107.

The initial raiser lady to my left paused for a good 1-2 minutes, and folded. Her husband insta-called. What? He was slow playing too? It folds around to the aggressive dude. He thinks for a while and says, "I just want to call because no one at this table puts in that much money. I kinda just want to get in on the action, but I have shit rags." He folds.

At this point I decided that I was shoving my remaining $224 on any flop. The flop comes Jc 6h Js. I shove.

The husband dude to the lady's left agonizes. He says, "I actually put you on pocket Jacks."

He folds and shows AKo. I show him AKs. :-)

Whew! I sure am glad he put me on Jacks! Haha. Of course, there was no way I'd shove with Quads, but to be fair, he could have put me on any pocket pair, and he can't call.

Shortly after that hand, I left to meet Duy and James for dinner. We were supposed to go for steaks, but we ended up at Maggiano's, which is always yummy. :-)

Vegas 2011 - Dec 11th - Day 4

2011-12-15T13:47:00.001-06:00

Sessions: 2
Net Result: +$360

This is really a continuation of Day 3, and then it goes into Day 4. The first session of the day actually happened on my way back to my room after that terrible session at the Trop.

Session 5: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (2h 15m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $499.
Result: +$299

You know what? I'm gonna be honest here. It's been too long since this session happened. I don't recall any big hands, funny characters, or interesting stories about this session. The only thing that you need to know about this session is that I made back all the money I'd lost at the Trop, PLUS $4. That's right. No going home down for me!

Oh, I do remember something. I remember that after the Trop session I was hungry and was walking passed Fat Burger. I was on the phone with Claire bitching about my session, and I told her that I didn't feel like I deserved to have any food after playing so poorly. I was pretty bummed. She said I should eat if I was hungry so I said, "Fuck it." and ordered a medium combo with fat fries. Best. Idea. Ever.

It actually invigorated me. I gained some energy, stopped at PH, made all the money back quickly, and went to the room happy.

The moral of this story is that Fat Burger makes you win. :-)

Session 6: Luxor $1/$2 NL HE (3h 30m)

Buyin: $400
Cashout: $461
Result: +$61

Fucking Cowboys. Goddamn it! This is why I don't like to become emotionally invested in sports. I have no control, and it still bums me out when shit like this happens.

In case you didn't figure it out, or you don't follow the NFL, I played this session during Sunday Night Football where it literally didn't end well for the 'Boys. :-(

As I mentioned on the first day, some poker rooms have football-related promotions when NFL game are being played. Harrah's football promotion was lame, so I went to find a better one.

I first went to Excalibur, but they weren't going to be running a football promotion that night. So I shuffled on over to the Luxor which I recalled had one last year.

Sure enough, they did. There promotion was this: At the beginning of every quarter, they would hand players at a poker table a ticket. After every score, they drew a ticket and give away $25 for a field goal, $100 for a touchdown and $200 for a safety.

Romo was safetied early. #*$&!#

Some dude two to my left got $200 for that. :-(

There was a lot of scoring, so there were a lot of draws, but I didn't win shit.

In fact, I only ended up +$61 for the day, but hey, at least it was an up session. The Cowboys lost on the river and weren't so lucky.

Right as the game was ending, I got a text from Duy. He and James had just landed. They wanted to know if I wanted to go to dinner. Sure. And that was that for the day!

Vegas 2011 - Dec 10th - Day 3

2011-12-15T13:41:00.001-06:00

Sessions: 1
Net Result: -$295

I didn't want to get caught in a session and skip my meal today so I walked straight to Hooters for an early dinner. The walk from Imperial Palace isn't exactly a short one. My plan was to eat at Hooters then go visit my old pals at Excalibur.

After a bloated meal, I waddled my way down the path to Excal. You have to pass Tropicana to get there. The Trop used to have a poker room a couple of years ago, but they tore it down when they renovated the casino. So it didn't even occur to me to play there. But as I passed it, I saw a sign saying "New Poker Room Now Open!" Hmmm. What the hell, I'll give it a shot.

Session 4: Tropicana $1/$2 NL HE (9h 15m)
Buyin: $395
Cashout: $100
Result: -$295

I should have known it was going to be a bad session when I saw the sign that Jamie Gold was the featured poker pro that will play exclusively at the Trop poker room. I guess the Trop is trying to make people aware that they have a poker room again, and they needed a big poker name to promote the room. For those that don't know, Jamie Gold won the World Series of Poker Main Event a few years ago. He won the largest Main Event tournament ever, which paid out the the largest 1st place prize ever. I think it was something like $12 million for first place. I'm not sure. Google it if you really care. It was a lot.

There was some controversy about Jamie Gold's winnings, and how he didn't want to split the prize money with some guy that covered part of his initial $10,000 buy-in to that tournament. I'm not sure the details. Again, you can look it up. But I can say that in the poker pro world, he's considered a shady, subpar player that just got lucky. He's sort of the laughing stock of the poker pros. It's like being the Vanilla Ice of poker. Famous for a time. Popular. People still flock around him and know who he is, but he's not respected for having any talent. Personally, I have nothing against the guy, but things are what they are.

So imagine going to a hip-hop club endorsed by Vanilla Ice. Yeah. That's pretty much what I did.

The room itself was fine. Everything was new. The chips, the chairs, the shufflers. Nice. They'd been open since May though, and I think they'd been struggling to make players aware of their existence. So they contracted Jamie Gold to live at the Trop and play there nightly.

Now, the Trop isn't exactly a "big game" room. They play small tournaments, $1/$2 and stuff like that. It's no Aria or Bellagio. So I walk in, and there is Jamie Gold playing $1/$2 with a stack of about $600. Granted, he's playing with the 'commoners' as a promotional stunt for the poker room, but it still looked funny watching a guy that won millions play $1/$2 No Limit Hold 'Em.

Luckily, they put me on another table. Not his. It's not that I didn't want to play with him, it's that I didn't want the attention he was garnering. He's loud and boisterous, and people are constantly asking for pictures and stuff. I'm not one that gets star struck. They're just regular people like me and you. They just happen to have more money and power. But other than that, the same, right?

Anyway, the table I'm on is very short handed. I think I'm player number 6. Soon Jamie Gold leaves the other table (also short handed) and that table breaks. We get a few people from that table, and I just play my game.

I'm up pretty quick. Not a lot, but the table is short stacked and very soft. I steal a bunch with continuation bets or by playing my position. I build it up to about $75 in profit or so. Things are slow and pots are small.

The table starts filling up slowly. Then I noticed this huge guy sit to my right. Whatever. I keep playing. Then I notice that he has a buddy of his sitting behind him that keeps whispering stuff into his ear. Huh? I finally turn and look directly at the guy and recognize him. It's Hal Lubarsky. He's legally blind and has an assistant read his hole cards and pretty much play-by-plays the action to him because he can't see. He's not blind blind. He can see some things like where his cards are more or less and where his chips are. I could tell they had worked out a nice little system. He placed his chips in specific locations after his assistant, Arnie, separated out the colors for him. This wasn't his first rodeo.

It was amazing to watch though. Imagine closing your eyes and having someone tell you what is going on at the poker table. You can't see stacks or the board. You're told your hole cards once and have to remember the history of seat 5 or seat 8 without any visual reminders like "the guy in the hat." Hal would remember flopped cards from half an hour ago. Specifically the suit and rank. Shit that I saw with my own eyes and couldn't remember. He would remember the bets. He remembered everything.

For a while, Hal didn't win a pot. But then he started getting hot. Initially it seemed like he was very tight, but later we finally started to see his hole cards, and he'd bet or call you down with 2nd pair if he thought he was good, and most of the time, he was.

I avoided him, and after a while, I could tell he was avoiding me. I sat immediately to his left, and I could tell he was well aware that there were fish at the table and that I was not one of them. If he limped and I raised, he'd fold. If he'd raise, I'd fold. I only played one hand against him. I called his raise with AJo on the button pre-flop and re-raised a weak looking opening bet from early position after the flop, which Hal had called. They all folded. I was bluffing and just playing my button, so it felt nice to steal a pot from a famous guy. :-)

After a few hours, Jamie Gold came back, and as luck would have it, the only open seat at our table was the vacated seat between Hal and I. So I had a drunk Jamie Gold sit down immediately to my right which made Hal two to my right. If I'm going to have poker pros at my table, that's where I want them.

Jamie is a nice guy, and he told us all straight up that he had been drinking and was being stupid and apologized in advance for any jackassery that he would certainly cause. At first, he was fine. He made a lot of jokes and teased Hal about being blind. It was in good fun. When the cocktail waitress took forever to get drinks, Jamie took orders from the entire table and walked up to the bar himself and brought everyone back drinks. He seem good natured, and it seemed like he was having a good time.

After a while, the wait list grew for our game, so they opened up a second $1/$2 game at Jamie's request. Jamie would have stacks at both tables and split his time across them. He slowed the game down quite a bit doing that, and the dealers were getting annoyed, but hey, they were paying this guy to attract attention, and he was doing it.

He would go All-In all the time. Mostly with a weak pair, but sometimes with the nuts. It was tricky. I never really got involved with him. I might have played a few pots with him, but he never put in more than a few dollars.

He did bust Hal though. On a board of Td 7d 6h, Hal bets out pretty big. Jamie pushes all-in instantly. This is not uncommon. Everyone folds, and it's back to Hal. Jamie doesn't see Hal's cards and mucks his hand but quickly takes his cards back when the dealer says Hal hasn't folded. Jamie tells Hal not to call… that he has the nuts. Of course, he always says that. Hal calls anyway. They each have about $400 or so… Jamie has the slight edge on chips. Hal turns over 3d 4d. Jamie turns over 8h 9d. Jamie, thinking he has two diamonds, instead of just one says that Hal is drawing dead. When we point out that a single diamond can still make Hal a flush that would win, so Jamie offers to run it three times. Hal accepts, but in a stroke of bad luck, he loses all three.

I fully expected Hal to re-buy, but he leaves. Jamie apologizes (in a poker way), and the game continues.

Rewinding a bit…

I hit quad 7's on a guy earlier in the night against a guy with pocket Queens. That pays me out an extra $100 in bonus "high hand" money that they say I can pocket. So I do just that. I put $100 in chips in my pocket and continue playing.

I'm up $200 if you include the $100 in my pocket.

I'm about to leave. I'm just going to see my free hands. But Pancho Villa gets in my way of a successful session.

Pancho was an idiot Mexican guy two seats to my left that had been sucking on Jamie Gold's cock all night long. "Hey Jamie! Get us drinks again! That was awesome!" "Hey Jamie! That was a funny joke, man. You rock!" "Hey Jamie!" "Hey Jamie!" Dude, shut the fuck up.

Anyway, the Trop has a rule that if Jamie is at your table you can button straddle or run it multiple times or table talk shit, etc. etc. So this Mexican dude takes this opportunity to suck on Jamie's cock a little more. He straddles on the button for $10. "Hey Jamie! Check it out, man! I'm straddling on the button just for you!" he exclaims.

I look down a pocket 8s.

4 callers, including Jamie, put in the $10. It gets back to me. I figure I can take this down with a hefty raise and get the fuck out of there with a little extra profit. I'll go get some pizza, and then finally make it over to Excal for a bit. I raise it. $50 on top. Guy to my left folds, and Mexican cock sucker says "I'm all in!" with the biggest shit eating grin ever. He looks at Jamie and says… you guessed it… "Hey Jamie! Check it out man, I'm all-in on my button straddle! Woohoo!" God this guy is annoying.

The dealer says it's $142 to go. Fuck. Is this guy for real? It just looks like he's trying to show off for Jamie. Why doesn't he just get on his knees and suck him off under the table. Or just bend over and take it in the ass so he can have Jamie Gold spunk inside of him. That's what he wants. Fucker. That would have saved me money. What do I do? Does he have two overs? Do I wanna coin flip for $400? Not really. What if he saw any pair and shoved thinking I was raising with like AK or AJ. I mean, he could have 55 or 77 even. He could have any under pair. Or hell, he could have 99. Fuck it. I call.

He flips over KK.

%#@$@*%@*($

I ask him if he wants to run it twice, but the fucking dealer took off on me… because I'm not Jamie fucking Gold. Asshole.

I lose and now I'm down $3.

Yes, I should have left, but the table was getting more and more retarded, and I figured I could get it back. I didn't. In fact, I lost $200 more. I eventually just cashed out the $100 in my pocket and called it a day in disgust.

The good news is that on the way back to my room at the IP, I stopped off at Planet Hollywood to see if I could make any of it back… and, well, read the next entry tomorrow to see how that went. ;-)

Vegas 2011 - Dec 8th - Day 2

2011-12-11T08:55:00.002-06:00

Sessions: 1
Net Result: +$267

I only had 1 night free at Planet Hollywood, so I had to get up early to check out of my room. Claire booked my next 3 nights at Imperial Palace because, quite honestly, they were the cheapest on the Strip. I'd never stayed there. It looked pretty ghetto when I went into the casino the last few trips.

The check out time was 11am, so I took a Taxi from PH to IP and was hoping that they'd let me check in early. Usually check in time is like 3pm. I couldn't tell if they were allowing check ins yet so I waited in a long line. I was hoping it wasn't just for check outs. Luckily, they had a room ready. I was surprised because being the cheapest room on the Strip, and having the National Rodeo Finals here this weekend, I figured it'd be booked solid. Anyway, I was very happy to get the room early because I was still quite tired and wanted to rest.

I made it to the elevator and an older lady got in with me. I looked at my room assignment… floor: 13th. I hit 13 and she says, "Oh, same floor as me! 13th!" Then it hit me. 13th floor? I thought buildings didn't have a 13th floor! And this being a fucking casino, I figured superstitious guests would refuse to stay on it. Maybe that's why they had a room ready! Haha. I mentioned the oddness of a casino having a 13th floor to her, and she was well aware of it. She said that usually they put the pool or exercise rooms or maintenance on the 13th floor. Or they simply omit it. But not IP. They're so cheap, they're not even wasting a floor number. They're using it.

The room was a pretty big step down from my PH room, but still doable. Definitely older. CRT TV. Eh. Whatever. The bathroom is usually my biggest concern. I hate it when showers don't drain properly. I tested the shower. It was fine. However, the sink didn't. Fuck it. I was tired. Good enough.

I got a good amount of rest before heading out. I was a bit hungry, not not *too* hungry so I decided to stop by the IP poker room. The last time I came in here, I looked in the poker room and they only ran $2/$4 limit. So I didn't even expect a $1/$2 game to be running. But there it was. A small stacked 7 handed game. Alright, let's do this.

Session 3: Imperial Palace $1/$2 NL HE (9h 45m)
Buyin: $595
Cashout: $862
Result: +$267

This was a grueling session. I played almost 10 hours without leaving the table. Not even to pee. Obviously, I skipped lunch and dinner. I wish I could say it was because I was crushing the table and was running too good to leave, but I actually got stuck after about 2 hours and spent the rest of the time grinding it out.

Initially, the table was very tame and short stacked. I bought in for $195 (a $5 chip immediately went into my pocket as a souvenir) and unknowingly sat down between a couple of Brits. There was also a Swede across from me. I'm pretty sure one or two other guys were Euros as well. I hate Euros. They say Americans are loud and obnoxious and horrible visitors when we go abroad, but my experience is just the same with many, many Euros in Vegas. They drink like fish. They're boisterous and annoying. The Swede was actually pretty quiet, but the guy to my left was uber vocal and drunk. And a close talker. Luckily he was there only for about 2 hours.

Even still, the table was pretty calm. I got stuck after a bit when I bet out an Ace high flush draw with AQo against the loudmouth's small set. He was short stacked, and it made no sense to fold. I didn't make it. I grinded back up to about even. Then grinded up to a small profit. Then bled down to under $100 again. I reloaded for another $200.

The guy to my right was actually a drunk Scot. Nobody could understand him except the loud Englishman to my left. As timid as the table was, this guy was the only guy that played sorta loose. He was small stacked (about $100) so I didn't consider him much of a threat. He got lucky a few times and built up his stack to about $220. By this time, I had about $340 and was close to being even.

The Scot opened up for $12 a lot. Like almost every hand. And sure enough, he did it again. I looked down at Kd Jh and decided to call. He had been showing total crap most of the time, and lots of times he was so drunk he lifted up his cards so that I could see them. I didn't see them this time, but he had been raising with garbage for about an hour.

The flop was pretty nice. Kh Qd Td. I had to be ahead, and I had a re-draw to the nut straight. I felt like this was surely good enough to beat this guy. He buckets pretty big considering the size of the pot. $75. I decide to go with my read and push all-in. He insta-calls. Whoa. I flip over Top Pair Kings with a decent Jack kicker and an open ended nut straight draw. He flips over… Ah Qs. Mid Pair with a gut shot. Sweet! I'm 82% to win! Turn is an 8s. I'm now 89% to win. River. Jd. Fuck! Are you kidding me?! I lose a $460 pot on the river on that bullshit? C'mon!

An hour or so passes, and the Englishman and Scot leave. Fuck. I'm afraid the game will break, but new players start showing up. I grind it up again to about $250 or so when a Korean/White guy shows up. A tennis instructor from San Diego. Loud as fuck and obnoxious. I guess Europeans don't have a monopoly on annoying players after all. He's in town for a bachelor party. He shows up to the table with $80. He's all-in on his first three hands. He wins the first two uncontested. The last one he calls off $35 pre-flop with QJo and ends up with the Broadway straight in a 3 way pot. He's up over $300 now in like 3 hands. He starts drinking and drinking and talking and raising and drinking and raising and flopping top sets, flushing on the river, and two-pairing his worse kicker up to about $800. It's amazing.

He's now super fucking drunk and more annoying than ever. His buddies have been trying to get him to leave the table to head to the strip club. We're all wanting him to stay. He even goes as far as racking up almost $700 and plays "one more hand" for about 20 minutes. He's blind raising and straddling and just being ridiculous. I'm on the button with Qh 8h. Almost everyone is in. I decide to call $2. He's in the big blind and raises to $12. Callers all around. Fuck it. I call. It flops Qs 7d 4c. I decide that I have to be good. This guy is lucky, but c'mon. My Queen's gotta be good. I've seen him win pots showing mid pair or a flush draw just because he bet so big nobody would call him. And when people did call him, he's have the fucking nuts. Didn't matter. I was gonna make my stand. I was down to about $150 by now. I wanted him to double me up. He leads out for $65. Predictably, everybody folds. I stand up to him. I push all-in. He insta-calls and says, "I have the nuts." Of course, he always says that. I'm still pretty confident. Until he flips over QQ. Fuck. Seriously? This asshole is so fucking lucky. Christ. This is my first bust. :-(

I rebuy for $200. This guy is still playing out of two racks now. Almost about to leave after every hand. The guy to my right starts egging him now. "Let's put in $20 blind." "If you raise, I'll call blind." etc. etc. The drunk tennis instructor loves it. He can't leave. The guy to my right, a bald, middle aged Kyle Gass lookalike, just wants to get some of his money. Tennis guy raises to $8 on KG's $4 straddle. KG raises to $20 blind. Tennis guy raises to $40. KG calls blind. And he checks the flop dark. Tennis guy bets $40 more. KG calls blind. Turn comes out and KG checks again. He's trying to get tennis guy to stop betting and just flip over since KG hasn't even looked at his hand yet and the board is straighty with a flush draw. Instead, Tennis guy pushes all in. KG is forced to look at his hand. He's only got about $120 left. KG calls. Tennis guy asks if KG has a straight. "Nope," he answers, "two pair." Tennis guy is mad. He starts cursing and calling KG a faggot. Saying that was gay, etc. etc. All of a sudden, Tennis guy is a homophobic 13 years old paying Halo on Xbox Live. The dealer and poker manager try to calm him down and then he plays it off like he was kidding. Of course, he's going to play one more hand again.

This time I pick up Ac Qc. I raise to $12. Tennis guy, obviously on tilt and very annoyed raises to $100. Fuck it. I'm going to go all-in. He can't have me killed again can he? I push in for a little over $175. He insta-calls. (When don't they ever NOT insta-call?) He plays it secret squirrel like and says, "I have aces." I'm like, "Do you really?" Fuck! He says, "Yep." I flip over Ac Qc. The flop is Jc 8c Jd. Turn is 4c. Sweet! Unless he's got JJ or J8 or 88, I'm good! River is an A. Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me. ?!?! The "helpful" players at the table start saying, "Well, if you've got AA, you've got a fullhouse!" Thanks assholes. Shut up! The dealer pushes up the three clubs and says, "He's got a flush." Tennis guy has slow rolled before, so I'm still wondering if I won. Tennis guy goes back into his 13 year old tirade, saying that was gay. I got lucky, etc. etc. He flips over AKo. Wow. Hahaha. Fuck you, dickhead. You can't run good forever. Now he's really pissed. He's lost about $400 dollars playing "one more hand" out of his racks.

After a few hands, his friends finally pull him away. Fucker.

Now I'm stuck about $250 or so. About 20 minutes later, I pick up Jh Ts. KG has been keeping the action going since Tennis guy left. He raises to $10. I call. About 6 players see the flop. Qc 9c 2d. Checks to me. I lead out for $25. Everyone folds by KG. The turn is an 8h. Great! I have the nut straight! KG checks. I lead out for $65. KG pushes all-in for $211. What? I have to re-check my cards. Yep. Still the nuts. I figure we're chopping. Then I start thinking… Oh, now, what if he has Jc Tc? Ah! Oh, well. Obviously, I'm not folding. I call. I say, "I guess we're chopping?" I flip over my JTo. He looks disgusted. Nope. He flips over 89o. Two pair. He says, well, you've got it unless… right as the dealer flips over another 9. Sonofa… motherfucking… whatthefuck?!?! I was 91% to win with one card to go. That's TWO huge $400-500 pots I lose with 1 card to come with a 90% chance of victory!

I'm disgusted. I'm so hot, I have to take my coat off. I'm down to about $110. FUCK. I gotta start all over AGAIN!

I start grinding out wins. Slowly. Slowly. Hours pass. With careful, calculated, tight, aggressive play, I build up my stack to $573. I'm $22 down! I should quit right? Hell, no. I'm playing great. I'm beating the table. I'm making people put in their money bad (most of the time.) I'm making people fold better hands. Stealing pots. I can do this. Plus, I'll be damned if I'm playing 8 1/2 hours just to be down $22. I can win it. Plus, I haven't eaten all day, and I'm going to get these fuckers to pay for my dinner at the very least.

I'm getting very weak. I haven't eaten anything in almost 24 hrs. I haven't had a drink for about 4 hours. I need something fast. I pick up Ks Qc. I call $2. This dark, young Filipino kid leads out for $12 from the small blind. He's been pretty quiet. I call. It flops Qd 8h Td. Seems good, but I don't like really like that all -that- much. Filipino kid leads out for $20. This old guy to my right calls. Maybe I should raise, but I just call. I hope he was just continuation betting, and that two callers will slow him down. The turn is an Jd. Filipino kid leads out for $40. Old guy grumbles something about going to sleep and calls. Fuck. This is ugly, the flush is out there, the straight is out there, but now I have the nut straight draw. I don't wanna see another diamond for sure. Fuck it. If I win here with a non-diamond Ace (yeah, kind of a loose call), I'll be up and I can leave. The river… Kd. Are you kidding me? Gross. I have top two with 4 to a straight and 4 to a flush on the board. Jesus. Filipino kid bets another $50. Old guy has $52, but just calls and repeats that he guesses it's time for him to go to bed. I can't beat them both. Filipino kid has maybe $50 behind his $50 bet. I have to fold. Filipino kid flips over As 4h. Fucking nothing until the river. He bet with absolutely nothing and made the nut straight on the river. Not even a flush. Old guy flips over QJ. Two pair. Motherfucker. I'm down almost $100 now. Goddamn you Filipino kid. Betting with nothing and getting there. Bullshit!

Filipino kids bets aggressively for a few more pots and ends up with $350 or so. He doesn't ever seem scared to bet. His equally young, but not quite as short and dark Filipino buddy sits down in the old man's seat, because true to his word, the old man went off to bed. The taller Filipino kid buys in $100 and plays a few pots. He ends up all-in with ATo on a board of 5656J against pocket 3's. He thinks he's lost and is confused when the dealer pushes him over $100. We have to explain to him that the other guy's pocket 3's were counterfeited by the 5's and 6's on the board. His Ace high was good.

The Filipino's are having a great time. Tall Filipino raises to $10 and I look down at Jh 9h. Damn near the whole table calls. The flop is 5h 6h 7h. Yay! I flopped a flush! I gotta be good, right? What are the chances a suited hearts Ace, King or Queen is in there with me? None, right? Right?? Plus, an 8h will give me the stone cold nuts. Tall Filipino kid bets $15. I raise to $65. The table folds around to his friend, the Dark Filipino kid. He looks like he wants to fold, but then Tall Filipino kids folds out of turn. The dealer returns his cards and says he has to wait his turn. At this point, I ask the dealer if he can even do anything other than fold anymore after the Dark Filipino acts. Since TF threw his cards away, and they were returned. Can he really still call or raise after having thrown them away one out of order? The dealer says yes, that he can. I'm astounded. The table rallies behind me. A discussion breaks out. If someone mucks one out of order, his hand should be dead. The dealer disagrees. They call the floor. I'm not even trying to make a big deal out of it, since I think he's going to fold anyway, plus he's got like $80, and I have a flush already. I'm not folding. However, DF sees all this and starts to think that I don't want TF to be able to call or raise. DF thinks that I want him to fold and for his hand to be dead. I believe this gives DF the idea that I'm bluffing. He gets brave and calls. TF folds as expected. I REALLY want a 8h or NO heart. The turn is Ks. Who cares. I'm still good. DF checks. I bet $100 thinking he's on a big flush draw. DF surprises me. He pushes in $100 and goes back for $200+ more to re-raise me! The whole table and the dealer jump all over him. That's a string bet. The DF looks like he just answered an easy question wrong on a game show. Doh!! I'm concerned now. Does he really have a higher flush?!? River comes Ac. He insta-all-ins. (Yep, the always insta against me.) I think, well, this is going to REALLY suck, but I can't fold. I'm hoping he has a lower flush or a set. I flip over Jh 9h immediately and he looks like I just punched him in the nuts. He mucks! Yes!!! I tip the dealer $10 and count my chips. $867. 9 hours. 45 minutes. I'm done.

Vegas 2011 - Dec 8th - Day 1

2011-12-11T08:41:00.008-06:00

Sessions: 2
Net Result: +$71

Well, this year's trip started out on the wrong foot. We woke up late, and I had to rush to the airport. My flight took off at 8:25am. I got to the airport at 8:00am. Yeah, not good. Luckily, there were practically no lines, and I actually got to the terminal *right* as they were calling my letter/number group to line up. So I didn't miss anything.

Claire rocked it this year. She looked into all the player's cards I had been using last year and went online to find that I had accumulated 6 free days of hotel rooms at various casinos on the Strip! My first free night was at Planet Hollywood. I expected it to be a shit room, but it was nicer than the room I paid for last year! Here's a quick tour of the room:

I rested up a bit and went out for my first session.

Session 1: Harrah's $1/$2 NL HE (2h 30m)
Buyin: $195
Cashout: $265
Result: +$70

For my first session, I decided to go to a poker room that I'd never played in before. (Jeez, I hate ending sentences with a preposition, but honestly, they need to change that grammar rule because doing so has been common usage for at least 40-50 years, possibly more. So, fuck it. I'm not editing my first sentence.) So for my first session, I headed over to Harrah's.

It's an OK room. Not the biggest or the smallest I've seen. Looks kinda old, but it does have auto-shufflers and an electronic login system to track your playing hours. Quite a few TVs. Looked fairly busy.

Turns out that they were running a football promotion. Anytime someone scores, they pick a cash game table at random and splash the next pot with various amounts of money. A touchdown was worth $100. And a safety was worth $200. No one mentioned how much a field goal was worth, but it would have made sense that it would have been worth $50. In any case, this is a bad promotion.

Essentially, this bonus is for the short stacks as juicing the pot with $100 is just going to make the sub $100 stacks push and the large stacks not play. It's really stupid. For a long while, it didn't even matter as it was a 7-3 game by the time I showed up, and they scored only 1 more touchdown while I was there. And once they finally scored, of course our table wasn't selected. And as I predicted, the table that won the $100 juice pot had 6 All-Ins vying for it. All but one short stacked. What made no sense was that even after the pre-juiced the pot, one guy still straddled. Why? People are just going to push on you. What a retard. Then another guy raised. From like $4 (the straddle) to like $12. C'mon. Are you serious? Soon after it became a shove fest and some lucky dope took it down. After that, the football ended and the tables started breaking up.

I didn't really have any memorable hands. No cool stories or interesting players. Other than the silly football promotion, it was all very forgettable. I will likely not be returning.

Oh, if you're wondering why I bought in for $195, it's because I always keep a $5 chip from every poker room I've played in. (There's that ending preposition again.) I think of it as a interesting, cheap souvenir. More interesting than a lame t-shirt or mug that you'll never use. I have a stack of $5 chips from all around. Ask to see it sometime.

Session 1: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL HE (2h 15m)
Buyin: $200
Cashout: $201
Result: +$1

I made the huge mistake of getting almost no sleep the night before. I was very tired and hungry. This game was also sort of boring, and I was just not into it. I was never up more than $50 and probably never down more than $50. And once I got unstuck, I decided to call it. Winning is winning. And I've got plenty of time.

Texas Pinball Festival 2011

2011-03-28T11:39:00.006-05:00

The Texas Pinball Festival 2011 was held in Grapevine (a suburb of Dallas) this past weekend. It was a 3 day event starting Friday the 25th. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend until the latter part of the 2nd day. We pretty much missed everything cool except the Exhibition Hall which had tons of games set to Free Play. I considered skipping the whole thing, but figured what the hell, maybe I'd get to see some rare tables or something. Plus, 4-6 hours of Free Play pinball might be worth the 7 hours on the road. Overall, I'm glad I went.

Walk-through of the Exhibition Hall on Sunday (the last day.)

Here are a few things I learned this weekend at the Texas Pinball Festival:

- Tournament Pinball without monitoring play makes it irrelevant to most attendees. The tournament area was closed off to the public and there was no way to watch any of the games. That made me not give two shits about the tournaments. Maybe one shit. Naw. Nevermind. No shits.

- There is a pretty good amount of variance between the same tables. I've now played on 3 different Taxi tables, 3 different Funhouse tables, and 3 different Twilight Zone tables and each one played differently enough that even a novice like me could notice. I find this both disappointing and inevitable.

- Pinball tables seem even more complicated to maintain than I first thought, and I thought they were pretty complicated already. I saw so many broken tables and 1,000's upon 1,000's of tiny parts for sale and strewn about that it makes me very wary about ever owning one.

- Pinball games are way more fun in a dimly lit room with 70's and 80's music blaring. Black light also helps. The caveat is that the pinball playfield must be sufficiently lit. There were some games that were unplayable because I couldn't see the ball. No bueno.

- If you stand near a machine set to freeplay, and you aren't playing it. Expect to hear "Excuse me." in less than 30 seconds as you are asked to step aside.

- The two tables that impressed me the most were Black Knight 2000 and Xenon. BK2000 is a sequel to Black Knight. I wasn't a big fan of the original BK's gameplay, but the sequel was very fun and had a awesome soundtrack . Xenon only impressed me in that the one table I saw was modified with nixie tube scoring and bright blue LEDs that made it look wicked awesome... futuristic '70s style.

Black Knight 2000 Gameplay

Black Knight 2000 Pics:

Xenon Pics:

2+ years of Poker Tracking Stats

2011-01-01T08:18:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! I just finished entering in my final poker session for 2010 into my pokerdominator.com account. It was a pretty good year overall, but mostly it was a good second half of the year and a mediocre first half.

The pokerdominator.com website allows you to run slews of interesting reports. It's too bad the site won't let me share the data directly, but I'll cut/paste some of the ones I found interesting (even the bad ones.)

Note: All stats are from 11/11/2008 (when I first started tracking my poker sessions) to 12/30/2010 (the last session I played.) I entered every single session no matter where I played, the type of game I played, or how much I won/lost. It's all there.

Number of Sessions Played: 448

Total Time Played: 2179 hrs 35 min

Average Time/Session: 4 hrs 51 min

Total Number of Days Played: 365 (Weird. Exactly 1 year worth of poker days.)

Winning Days: 249

Losing Days: 116

Best Session: 8/3/2010

Best Day: 12/15/2010

Best Month: Dec 2010

Worst Session: 11/10/2009

Worst Day: 12/12/2009

Worst Month: Jan 2010

Number of Losing Months: 18

Number of Winning Months: 8

Longest Win Streak (Sessions): 15 and counting (12/15/10 - 12/30/10)

Longest Win Streak (Days): 9 and counting (12/15/10 - 12/30/10)

Longest Win Streak (Months): 5 (6/2009 - 10/2009)

Longest Losing Streak (Sessions): 6 (3/10/2009 - 3/26/2009)

Longest Losing Streak (Days): 6 (5/26/09 - 6/6/09)

Longest Losing Streak (Months): 3 (11/2009 - 1/2010)

Tournaments Played: 16

Tournaments In The Money: 6

Best Day of the Week: Tuesday

Worst Day of the Week: Friday

Best Location: *69 Poker (My House)

Worst Location: The Orleans

Best Game: Hold 'Em (410 Sessions)

Worst Game: Pot Limit Omaha/Crazy Pineapple Round N Round (2 Sessions)

Best Structure: No Limit

Worst Structure: Fixed Limit

Best Limit: 25c/50c

Worst Limit: 1/1

I realize that the money data is the most interesting, and I do have it. I just don't feel like I should be sharing that information publicly on the internet. But if you ever play with me, just ask to see it, and I'll load up the website for you.

Looking at the money data, there are some interesting things that I didn't figure. For one, I've always complained that I'm down, lifetime, at my friend Roy's game, but it turns out that I'm actually up there. I was surprised to see that I was down at The Orleans and Winstar (though not by a lot in either location) too. It turns out that I'm profitable at every game type I've played. That was a bit surprising. I also thought I was more profitable at tournaments than I am. Granted, I've only played in 16 of them in over 2 years, but still... I expected a larger profit. I was NOT surprised to find out that I am a lifetime loser in Fixed Limit Poker. I just don't do well when I can't put a lot of pressure on my opponents.

It's too bad I only started logging 2 years ago. Oh, well. I figure I was a slight winner in the early years of poker. We used to play 5c/10c, and I used to rock the game with my $20-30 a night wins. ;)

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (12/30)

2010-12-30T02:10:00.003-06:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 12/30/10 - Tron: Legacy IMAX 3D, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D

UPDATED 01/21/11: Claire reminded me that we went to see Little Fockers on the day after Chirstmas.

Tip: Search for "-NEW-" to see the new entries.

#1 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (****)

Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Madison

Notes: First things first: I know a lot of people will question this being in the top spot. This movie isn't for everybody. In fact, it's failing pretty miserably at the box office right now, and I'm not surprised. A lot of people will dismiss it as a "video game movie" or a "comic book movie", and that's unfortunate. I read a review (after watching it for myself) saying that SPVTW wouldn't reach anyone over the age of 25. This is nonsense. I'm in the upper half of "the mid 30's", and it affected me more than any other movie I've seen this year. Sure, I grew up on video games when they came on cartridges ("tapes" to my parents) and MTV before the advent of reality shows, but I mean, I connected with this movie on a level beyond the Zelda references and pop-up video presentation. Regardless of what the trailers and comic and video game blogs would have you believe, this movie is about interpersonal relationships between friends, lovers and siblings. Most people won't look past the computer graphics and ADD presentation, but somehow, it affected me. I'm not going to say that I related to it on a personal level because Scott's life and my life are quite dissimilar, but it made me re-evaluate and think about my own relationships. It may appear like I'm reading too much into a silly popcorn flick, but trust me, I wasn't going into this movie with a film student demeanor. I expected what everyone else expected: a bunch of pretty colors and nerdy references. But I saw what I saw and felt what I felt. And I felt genuinely bad for the some of the characters. Hell, I dreamt about them. You see, while the actual ending of the movie was fine, I personally saw no 'good' way to end the movie. So I think I subconsciously continued the movie in my head. And any movie that can make me do that deserves 4 stars and the top spot in my list. This movie is far more than it pretends to be, but I don't expect most people to understand, and that makes me a bit sad.

#2 True Grit (****) -NEW-

Place: Rave Motion Pictures Theater (Las Vegas) by myself

Notes: This is the second movie I saw while in Vegas. Strangely, it was also the second movie in a row that I saw that starred Jeff Bridges (Tron: Legacy being the other one.) It was a JB-a-thon in Vegas apparently. Anyway, this theater was rated the best in Vegas based on my googling, and while it was markedly better than the Brenden Theaters experience, I have to say that nothing compares to Austin's theaters. The theater is located in a shopping center known as Town Square just south of the main Strip. It was one of the few places I went to that didn't have slot machines. The movie itself can be best summed up by the fact that I completely lost track of time while watching it. Usually, I'm quite aware of how long I've been in a theater. When watching True Grit, I was getting the feeling that the movie was coming to an end based on the plot development. Then I thought, there's no way we're near the end of the movie. It's only been like 45 minutes, tops. Nope, it had been almost 2 hours! Wow. I was completely engrossed. I'll admit that I never saw the original adaptation starring John Wayne, but since this True Grit wasn't a remake of the John Wayne version, but simply another adaptation (reportedly a better one, too) of the novel, I didn't feel like I lost anything by not seeing the JW version. If you enjoy good filmmaking, go see True Grit. It will not disappoint you.

#3 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)

Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)

Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#4 Inception (****)

Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire

Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#5 Toy Story 3 (****)

Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family

Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#6 The Other Guys (***1/2)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Claire

Notes: I fully admit that I had written off this movie based solely on the trailer. It looked horrible. But after a multitude of "Hey, it was pretty good!"s from a few sources and an offer to watch the kids from my sister-in-law just so that we could see the movie, I couldn't NOT go see it. And, yep, it was indeed pretty good! There were some very funny exchanges between Will Ferrell and Marky Mark, and a lot of over the top action. The slow-mo bar scene was brilliant. I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. The plot was absolutely throwaway garbage and simply existed to tie in the scenes in some loose fashion. This movie was just -made- to be chopped up into 30 3 minute youtube clips.

#7 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison

Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but it's also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#8 Kick-Ass (***1/2)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself

Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#9 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)

Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie

Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#10 Despicable Me (***)

Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)

Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#11 #Machete (***)

Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Claire

Notes: Robert Rodriguez sure knows how to make a schlocky 1970's film in the 21st Century. If Planet Terror and Grindhouse were his tribute to the 1970's, this is his re-imagining of the genre. It was crude, rude and yes, even tattooed. But all in all it was fun, and exactly what I was expecting. One has to wonder though: if this film was made by a no-name director, would it even have been screened at mainstream theaters? Scott Sander's tribute to the 1970's Blaxploitation genre "Black Dynamite" was every bit as good as Rodriguez's "Machete", but have you even heard of that film? Didn't think so. P.S. It's good to see Don Johnson finding work again. :-)

#12 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself

Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#13 Iron Man 2 (***)

Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family

Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#14 Shutter Island (***)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire

Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#15 Megamind (***)

Place: 3D at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Madison

Notes: Has the 3D effect in movies been lost on me? I don't even notice it anymore. I paid $25.50 for Madison and I to see Megamind in 3D in an XD theater yet I cannot recall a single scene of the movie where the 3D was memorable. Maybe that's a good thing? Maybe I should be glad that 3D use in movies has gotten to the point where filmmakers don't feel the need to shoot harpoons and pop out eyes (http://bit.ly/h3KRCB) at the audience anymore. I admit I do like the added depth of 3D. So maybe the effect isn't lost on me, but it simply has come into its own. After all, when's the last time I noticed a film's use of color? (Actually, that would be either The Wizard of Oz or maybe The Nightmare Before Xmas.) And no one notices surround sound anymore either, right? It's just expected. So is 3D is here to stay (this time)? Can it become the norm? Well, then there is the issue with those darn glassses. They make everything all dark and shit. And I *hate* it when I forget to wear contacts, and I go to a 3D movie. 3D glasses over your prescription glasses... yeah, not fun. Wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something... oh, the movie! Megamind. Yeah, it was pretty good. Will Ferrell is still funny. Brad Pitt is barely in the movie though. Not that I went to see the movie to hear Brad Pitt's voice, but seriously, totally lie in marketing. He's in like 10% of the movie.

#16 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (***)

Place: 3D at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Madison

Notes: Honestly, I expected to like this more than I did. I mean, I liked it. But, well, I just expected more "something". I can't quite place what that "something" is... even now. I remember thinking that the trailers were breathtaking. And I do have to admit that this is probably the most technically proficient CG movie I've ever seen. The water and feather details were amazing. The 3D was used well. None of that "Comin' at Ya'" 3D crap. Honestly, with the resurgence of 3D in the late 2000's/early 2010's, I think we've kinda gotten passed that. I rarely see movies throwing spears toward the audience anymore. But, back to the movie. It was good. Voice acting was solid. The script was solid. The plot wasn't too preachy or anything like that. I dunno. It was solid movie with breathtaking CG. Nothing more to say really.

#17 A Town Called Panic (***)

Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron

Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#18 Get Him to the Greek (***)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself

Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#19 The Crazies (**1/2)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire

Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#20 Prince of Persia (**1/2)

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete

Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#21 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)

Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family

Notes: Shrek's cultural gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#22 Tron: Legacy IMAX 3D (**) -NEW-

Place: Brenden Theaters - The Palms Casino Hotel (Las Vegas)

Notes: I made a great effort to see this movie as it came out while I was on vacation in Las Vegas. Not wanting to watch this movie in the one 'crappy' theater on the Strip, I found that Tron: Legacy was playing at an IMAX theater just off the Strip. I mistakenly remembered that the IMAX theater was at The Rio, so I took a taxi there. When I couldn't find it, I finally asked for directions and was told that it was across the street at The Palms. It was raining, so that meant another taxi ride. $30 in taxi fees later, I was at The Palms. The theater *looked* nice, but it wasn't. The theater was small, not very clean, and the usher had the nerve to ask people sitting in the middle to kindly move to the side. Perplexed, we asked why. The explanation? A group of 9 "Important" people were coming to this showing and wanted good seats. We all looked at each other in amazement. Was she kidding? The usher went on to explain that people related to "the owners of Brenden Theaters" were on there way to this showing. Ummmm.... Bullshit! We all unanimously refused to move. I'll be damned if I waited in line for an hour and paid $16 just to be brushed off to the side because "friends of the owners" were coming to this showing. It was a ridiculous expectation. Flustered, the usher radioed back that we were refusing to move. She eventually gave in and sectioned off some seats off to the side for the important party of 9. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off by the time that the movie started. Then, thoughts of the original Tron began to fill my head, and I started to feel very happy. Seeing the young Jeff Bridges in the first scene was breathtaking... then they kept on showing us the young Jeff Bridges, and he started too look really , really fake. CG young JB aside, the movie itself was poorly paced. Much of it didn't make sense. I mean, there is a certain amount of poetic license I'm willling to accept, but the plot was just too silly, even for someone wanting to go along with it. The visuals, including the ultra hot females were striking. Normally I don't go for the 'ultra super model hot' look, but the Tron girls were just... wow. The 3D was very subtle to the point of being negligible. The IMAX portions went unnoticed by me. Save your money, watch it in 2D in a nice theater. I was a bit disappointed that the light cycles didn't turn at 90 degree angles and that there was so much hand to hand fighting. I loved seeing Daft Punk in the club scene. In the end, it was an OK movie.

#23 The Last Exorcism (**)

Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire

Notes: This was one of the WORST movie-going experience of my life. It was even worse than the discount cinema experience (see the 'Splice' review!) Claire and I went to the 10:00pm showing on the Saturday of opening weekend. We expected it to be packed as I had heard some good things about the movie on a News 8 Austin movie review. (They gave it a 6 out of 8.) We got there around 9:15p and rushed to the ticket booth. As we approached, we noticed two large groups of black kids ranged from maybe 15 to 25 all huddled right in front of it. At first we thought they might have been 'in line' but, no, they were content just hanging out in front of the ticket booth for some reason. After we made our way around the crowd and got tickets, we made a beeline for the theater. To our surprise, even though it was just 35 minutes until showtime, there were only 3 people in the theater. We decided that we could both get snacks together since the theater was nearly empty. When we got to the lobby, the crowd of black kids was now huddled in front of the concession stand. Why? I haven't a clue, but there they were. Still, we worked our way passed them, got our snacks, and returned to the theater with plenty of time to spare. We sat in the 5th row, right in the middle. About 10 'til 10, two overweight ghetto girls plopped themselves right next to Claire and I. The one to my left could have passed for a 'Precious' stunt double. The one to Claire's right was white and wore about a pound of make-up. They both immediately pulled out their cell phones and started texting away. Yay. Through the previews and into the movie they texted. I noticed that the crowd seemed to be very loud even as the movie started. I looked around and was shocked to see that 70-75% of the crowd was black and/or ghetto. I checked my ticket stub. Nope, it wasn't a Friday movie we'd ventured into by accident. We slunked into our seats. They got louder and more rowdy. One of the texting girls kept smacking her mouth and shushing people so loudly that she was a disturbance herself. It was more than a bit ironic. Claire asked me if we should leave, but since we rarely get to go to the movies without the kids, I suggested that we just put up with it for a while longer. It got worse. People started laughing at the tense parts and yelling "That's my Nigga!" at the screen. From the 5th row, I counted 6 people texting/on their phones during the movie. (Side Note: They all had shitty phones!) By the end of the movie, I was furious. I've never once complained to theater management for anything, but I was heading right for the nearest manager as soon as the credits began to roll... not to get my money back, but simply to let him know that his ushers were worthless. As it turned out, I stumbled upon another patron complaining to the manager about the very same movie experience. I joined in and before too long, we were joined by another couple looking to complain. The manager seemed less that apologetic. He was more annoyed than anything, but he finally offered our money back. Horrible. The funny thing is that we were considering seeing the movie at Gold Class Cinema. Talk about the other end of the spectrum! Oh, and the movie? The last act needed a re-write. The first 2/3's of the movie were pretty enthralling and creepy. The wrapup was well... not consistent with the rest of the movie. Imagine if at the end of an Indiana Jones movie, it was all due to aliens. Wouldn't that be a jarring WTF? moment? Oh, wait.

#24 Little Fockers (**)

Venue: Alamo Lakecreek w/Claire

Notes: This movie was OK. Not as bad as some people will have you believe it is. It has some funny moments. The problem is that the series has gotten stale. If you enjoyed the 1st two, you'll still enjoy this one. If you could barely tolerate the others, this one won't change you're mind.

#25 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)

Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire

Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#26 Alice in Wonderland (**)

Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family

Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#27 Predators (**)

Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron

Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#28 Splice (**)

Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself

Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#29 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)

Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie

Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#30 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)

Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire

Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#31 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)

Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie

Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#32 Furry Vengeance (*)

Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie

Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

#33 Yogi Bear 3D (*) -NEW-

Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Family

Notes: I didn't think it would happen, but the last movie I saw in 2010 *FINALLY* beat out Furry Vengeance for worst movie I've seen this year. What a way to end 2010, eh? Geez. This movie is about as terrible as you can imagine. The kids loved it of course, and I guess that should count for something, but they're not quite as jaded as I am. Everything from the CG to the acting was just subpar. I actually dozed off a few times. It was bad. Surprisingly, the Yogi Bear and Boo Boo voices actually didn't bother me. I had heard that Dan Aykroyd's Yogi and Justin Timberlake's Boo Boo were horrible. They weren't. Not that it mattered. Unless you have kids 5 years old and younger, avoid this at all costs.

Vegas 2010 Day 12

2010-12-23T15:29:00.003-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 12 - Wednesday Dec 22nd

Although I don't leave until 7pm today (Thursday), last night's session is to be my last session for this trip. There are several reasons why I'm not playing today. First and foremost, I had trouble sleeping last night, and I don't feel particularly well. I've got a scratchy throat, and I woke up with a queazy stomach. Plus, I hate playing with time limits. I have to be the airport by 5pm, and I can't stand to get caught in a down session with time 'running out.' I just hate it. Finally, I'm happy with my results. I somehow managed to 'win' my last 13 sessions in a row. I'm feeling good about my results and my play right now, and I'd really hate to end it on a sour note if I have an off session today. I think I earned today off.

Final Stats: http://twitpic.com/3itkwu

I had just 2 down sessions out of 20. On one of those losing sessions (Orleans Omaha HiLo 4/8 limit), I finally threw in the towel, and in the other the game (Orleans 1/2 NL HE), the game broke before I could really get going. Omaha HiLo limit was just the worst game ever. I couldn't get going. The wins came slowly and the losses would come in too quickly. When you can only put in 4 or 8 dollars at a time, and you split the pot a lot of the time, the chances to make back $200 in any amount of reasonable time are slim. You'd have to scoop several huge pots pretty close together. And neither 'scooping' nor 'huge pots' are common in a 4/8 Limit HiLo game.

There were a few scary moments in the other NL HE games I played. That Planet Hollywood session where I was in for $1000 was very stressful. As was the 14 hour session I had at the Mirage. I had some stressful moments outside of those, but those two sessions were most taxing.

In any case, here's my last Vegas 2010 poker session…

Session 20: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $725 Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

If you look at my buy-ins, you'll see that a lot of time I'm in for quite a bit. Usually this is because I add-on if I fall below $200. I've come to the realization that I play best when I have the most chips on the table. That may seem like an obvious statement, but it's really not. A full buy-in or a large chipstack isn't always the right answer for everyone. Some people pay too scared with a bigger buy-in/chipstack. Some players are better short-stack players. They have trouble making the right decisions when they think about the 100's of dollars they are risking. I used to be that way, but not anymore.

That being said, quite a few of my sessions start off with me being in a hole. I might not re-buy or re-load in every session, but it's hard to start a session and stay up the entire time. Everyone loses, and even though I've been very profitable, I found myself in the hole for the first hour or two a lot.

Not this session.

I won early and often. I built my stack to over $400 taking down some pots by putting short stacks to a decision for all of their chips. They tended to fold a lot to All-In pressure. That worked for me.

My biggest win came against a guy that ended up being one of the most action-type players on the table: some black guy with mirrored sunglasses that was sitting two seats to my left. The key to my play against him was watching him play and win with questionable starting hands and getting lucky or by putting a lot of pressure on his opponents. In other words, he was loose-aggressive. He had about $325 or so when most stacks had $100 or even less. I was the only one that had him covered. And I was watching him closely.

I picked up pocket 10's in the blinds. The mirrored sunglasses guy and a slew of others limped in for $2. I popped it to $17. The MSG called as did another player that seemed to be playing in a higher than average number of pots. The flop came 334 two diamonds. I had 1 diamond for what it was worth. I checked. The MSG made it $30. The other player folded, and it came back to me. Now, I had just seen the MSG raise preflop with J4 offsuit out of position and win the previous pot on a turned Jack after leading out on the flop, turn and river. He was aggressive to be sure. I decided to check-raise. I made it $130 to go. The MSG thought for a few seconds. Nobody had dared raise him before… especially not check-raised out of position. And I was the big stack too. He declared All-In, and I instantly called for about $175 more.

He says to me, "I have top pair." I check the board again because as I recall, the top card on the board was a 4. Yep, it was still a 4. WTF? I flip over TT. He nods as if to acknowledge that he's beat. The turn and river cards are 6 and 9 rainbow. He mucks and is quite disappointed with his move. I stack up my new chips and find myself at about $730 or so. I would not improve.

After a while, the table got really nitty and all the short stacks and action players either got busted or left. The table was 9, then 8, then 7 handed. Once the other large stack left (who also took a lot of chips from the MSG… who kept topping off to $300), the table really died down. I made my way back up to $725 and called it a day.

Not much of a final session I know, but I made a decent amount and never really felt at risk. It was a good way to end things.

So that's it! That's 12 days of Vegas Poker! I hope you enjoyed the blogging. I had a lot of fun, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Vegas 2010 Day 11

2010-12-22T17:31:00.002-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 11 - Tuesday Dec 21st

Just one session today.

Session 19: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em

In: $600 Out: $1005 Time: 8 hours 15 minutes

I started out this session pretty quietly. I didn't win a hand for over an hour. I saw a couple of foreign guys go at it and went to work identifying the donkeys.

I watched, and I waited. I won a few hands, and lost a few hands. Then I got involved with a Russian two seats to my right.

It wasn't really a big pot. I just check/limp in from the Big Blind with T7 offsuit. The flop comes J7J, and I check. The Russian bets out $5. I decide to call. The turn is a 3. I check again. The Russian leads out for another $5. I think about it and say aloud, "You know. I can't tell if you have a Jack if I just keep calling $5. Let's make it $30." I decide that if he calls, he's got a weak Jack. If he folds, he was just fucking around. If he raises, he's got a huge Jack. He thinks about it for like a second, and calls. I announce, "So you have a weak Jack, eh?" The river is another Jack. I check. The Russian leads out for $40, and I fold.

Now, at The Excalibur, if you have Quads or better, even with just one card, you get to spin "The Wheel". It's just a wheel with a bunch of numbers on it. You can win anywhere from $20 to $100 dollars. It also has double and triple multipliers. Anyway, if you want to spin it, you have to show your qualifying wheel-spin hand. The guy flips over J4 offsuit. Exactly as I thought.

The Russian spins the wheel and proceeds to play every hand for the next round.

He' on the button, and I'm in Big Blind again. This time I have KK. It gets limped around for $2. Our Russian friend limps in as well. I raise to $17 and still get a good number of callers. 4 of us see the flop.

The flop comes pretty harmless: 8 6 2 rainbow. I lead out for $20, and it gets folded around to The Russian. Then out of nowhere, he angrily pops it to $200 and just stares at me. To me, this indicates strength. I know most poker books say strong means weak and weak means strong, but I've seen strong me strong and weak mean weak plenty of times. In fact, I'd say that most of the time strong means strong and weak means weak. I don't have this guy on nothing.

The real problem here is that he could be thinking he's strong and not actually be strong enough. He could have 99, TT, JJ or less likely, but still possible QQ. He could of course also have AA and be the worst player ever. KK is unlikely as I have KK myself. Unless he's really horrible, I would have expected a re-raise from AA. QQ probably raises pre-flop as well. Hell, he could have A8 or K8… or any 8 for that matter and think that I have AK or AQ and am just continuation betting. I've seen it happen. He could have a straight draw. There are a lot of possibilities. If he's got a set or two pair, then oh fucking well. There are just too many 'strong' hands that he might think are good that I can beat. Plus, I still have two outs if I'm wrong. I go All-In.

I'm wrong.

He calls quickly. The turn and river cards are blanks. He flips over 88 for top set. I muck.

Damn. I re-buy for another $300.

I sit there for hours and grind it out. Slowly building up to $400, then $500. Then I'm back to $450. It just seems to be taking forever.

I watch the Russian win pot after pot with junk. I'm just waiting to take him for a huge chunk. I catch a few hands against him, but only get paid off modestly.

The table starts to thin. Crap. The Russian asks for a couple of empty racks. Double crap. I don't want him to leave. We're down to 6 handed with The Russian now playing out of two racks… looking like he's just playing a few more hands. You're not supposed to play with your chips in a rack, but I'm not about to protest for fear that he'll just get up and cash out the second that I do. He starts losing small pots. He sticks around for another round. If he leaves, we'll probably combine tables. He loses a bit more. He racked up about $900, and now he's down to about $775. He plays a bit longer. He keeps playing, and keeps on losing it back to the table. After about an hour and a half, our table has been re-filled and the Russian has to drop an empty rack to the floor. He's down to about $450 before he finally cashes out. Haha. Fucker. So terrible.

After a while, the two 1/2 tables merge. I'm joined on my left by a talkative Aussie. He announces Mr. Moneybags from Amsterdam who proceeds to sit to my right. Mr. Moneybags from Amsterdam sits down with almost $1000. It's $900 and change in two racks. This time I will protest playing out of racks, but it turns out that I don't have to. The dealer change is here, and the dealer that's about to leave offers to color him up and take the racks. The dealer brings him $500 in green and takes his racks. The dealer also tells him to keep his greens visible, but they stick out like a sore thumb. A full stack of green at a 1/2 table always does.

The Aussie starts talking about Mr. Moneybags from Amsterdam. Apparently he's been hitting everything. And the table change doesn't seem to slow him down. He proceeds to win a few decent pots and is up over $1000 now.

Then the big one happens. I'm in the big blind with Q9 suited of spades. The guy UTG+1 goes All-In for his last remaining $18. The calling train starts up. Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Call-Call! It gets back to me. I call. Let's see what happens.

The flop comes Q33. Hmmm, pretty good I think. Mr. Moneybags from Amsterdam leads out for $30. This isn't a lot considering all the $18's in there. I know that the guy that made it $18 is All-In so I'm not worried about him. I decide to raise to see what's going on. I make it $90 to go. It folds around back to MMfA. He calls. Hmmm.

The turn is another 3. OK, I like this. If he has a Queen, now we're chopping. I was a bit worried before then that he had a better Queen, but now it won't matter. Hopefully he'll just check and then I can bet big and maybe, just maybe induce a fold. What I don't want to see is a huge bet from him.

He bets huge. MMfA makes it $150 to go. Fuck. Really? I look down at my stacks. I have $403 behind. If he called $18 with a 3 in his hand, I guess I'm pretty fucked. I mean, it's possible. He could have like A3 suited or, shit, he has $1000, he could have 3anything and have gotten really, really lucky. He has been running really well after all.

I don't think he has a 3. He's played and won a lot of pots, but he's showed decent starting cards. I push All-In for $403. He does not insta-call. WHEW!!!

He doesn't like the bet. I think he's got to have a Queen if he's thinking about it. I don't want a call. I want him to put me on a 3. He asks for a count. It's $253 on top of his $150. He thinks for a while. Thinks. Thinks. Thinks. Then calls. Damn. Oh, well. I guess we chop.

I flip over Q9. He grimaces. What? He doesn't have a Queen? Seriously? He flips over 66. Holy shit! This fucking pot is over $1,000! River card coming… No 6! No 6! It's not a 6. I win!

The guy that's All-In flips over Q5 offsuit. Haha. Fucker. I split the main pot with him, but honestly, who fucking cares? I tip the dealer $10 and count my chips. $400 in green. $600 in red. $8 in white. Sweet! http://twitpic.com/3idlpw

The table starts to thin again. I promised myself I was going to play until he game broke. It didn't seem that far off. I lost a few pots and got down to $990. Still a respectable $390 profit.

The game went down to 5 handed. I picked up AJ offsuit. It flops AQ7 two hearts. I don't have any hearts. I check. The Aussie to my left makes it $30. I check-raise to $130. He says, "Well, I have to call." and puts in more than half of his remaining stack. The turn is a 4 of hearts. I check. The Aussie says, "I think that card hurt me. I check." The river is a blank little card. I check. The Aussie leads out for $50. He's only got $90 total. So he leaves $40 behind? Well, it's a good value bet. I've seen people make some weak-ass steals before, so I fully believe that it's still possible that I have the best hand, but I'm not optimistic. I call. The Aussie flips over AT… of hearts. God. Seriously? I think I played that as well as I could, but that's little solace to my chipstack which is now down about $200.

People are racking up their chips now. Shit. I lost $200 in the last hand. I guess I'm going to be up only about $200… I look down at my hand. AQ. What are the chances I'll get any action now? I raise to $12. Everyone calls. Hmmm. OK. The flop comes AKJ rainbow. I lead out for $30. Everyone folds except MMfA. He raises it to $100 from the button. I call. The turn is a blank. A 6 rainbow. I check. MMfA bets out another $50. I call. C'mon fucking 10. River is another blank. I check. This time MMfA checks. He flips over QJ offsuit. Bottom pair. I flip over AQ. Top pair. I guess I didn't want that 10 after all!

Now I'm back up to almost $1000. I see two more hands for free, and 3 people decide to cash out. It's over.

I actually cash out $985, but one of the guys that was sitting in front of me all night long in seat 10 came up to me after I cashed out and started talking to me about a hand that I had beat him on earlier in the night. I had promised to tell him what I had after the cashouts had been done. I had beaten him with a rivered Broadway straight to his top pair on the turn. We talked about it for a while and this guy is just enthralled with the way I played the entire night.

He started telling me that he's been playing about 6/7 hours a day everyday, and that his Mom lives here in Vegas and that he plays a lot of poker. He also goes on to tell me that he's never seen a better player than me in all the games he's played. I kinda think this guy is fucking with me a little bit, but he's totally serious. I thank him for the compliment, and he asks me for some poker tips. He was actually a pretty solid player so I just gave him a bit of advice on buy-in sizes (he buys in for too little) and raising more to get more info or really make draws pay. Simple stuff.

He's super grateful for the advice and pulls out a wad of money from his pocket and tries to give me $20. I'm shocked. I decline of course. He refuses to put it away. He shoves it towards me and says he really appreciates that I took time to talk with him. I decline it again, but he's very persistent. Fuck it. I take the $20. He shakes my hand like 10 times, and runs off to find his buddy. That was weird. He was a nice guy, and a decent player, but that was just surreal. Anyway, that's poker earnings as far as I'm concerned because my play earned me that $20. So, that put me over $1000. $1005 to be exact. ;-)

Just a couple of days left…

Vegas 2010 Days 7 thru 10

2010-12-21T18:22:00.001-06:00

Vegas 2010 Days 7 thru 10 - Friday Dec 17th thru Monday Dec 20th

NOTE: You should check out my AudioBoo's here: http://audioboo.fm/RobNava. They're basically short (under 5 minute) audio blogs. No reading required. :-)

I'm sitting here staring at this screen. I'm not wanting to write this.

Nothing bad happened or anything like that. I just don't want to even attempt to condense 4 days worth of Vegas antics into a single blog post. The single day blogs were taking about 2 hours each to write, edit and post. What's 4 days worth of crap gonna take? 8 hours? Ugh. Like 2 people are gonna read this anyway, right?

Alright, well, here I go...

Day 7

Claire came into town. I wanted to make sure I was well rested when she arrived because I figured she'd want to hit the ground running. So, I just slept and rested all day. Besides, the previous day I had that long-ass 14 hour session. Claire got in right around 11pm. We had dinner before getting started on the town, so I technically didn't start any poker sessions on Day 7.

Day 8

Session 11: The Mirage $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $414 Time: 2 hours 0 minutes

Back to The Mirage. I don't remember shit about this session. Sorry. My stats say that I started at 1:30am and played for 2 hours. I made $114. Claire was super tired by 3:30am (5:30am back in Texas) so we headed back to MGM for the night.

After we woke up, we had lunch and made plans to see a show.

We bought Mystere tickets and needed to decide where to play until it was time to head to the show. The blue ticket promotion at The Mirage really works. As you play at The Mirage, you earn these blue tickets that can be deposited in 'the barrel' for a daily drawing for $599 at 6pm. We had some tickets from the previous night, so we went to The Mirage to play and see if maybe we could get lucky in the drawing. I had actually saved up over 90 tickets from my previous sessions too. But, alas, we did not win.

Session 12: The Mirage $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $671 Time: 5 hours 0 minutes

I was just running and playing really well during this session. I made a bunch of money when I check-raised this dude on the turn with As Ks on the turn with a straight and spade flush possible. I had the nuts. I check-called the flop with the nut flush draw for $15. I checked the flush when I made it on the turn. The guy lead out for $15. I raised to $55. He got all uppity and re-raised All-In for about $175. I, of course, insta-called. He asked if I had a flush, and before he could even flip his cards over, I showed him the nuts. He mucked instantly and said that he had a straight. Cha-Ching!

Claire ran kinda rough this session, and she was really upset by the end. She also had too many Coronas. I had to cut her off. She sobered up towards the end and wasn't really playing badly. She was just not winning. I made more than she lost, but she was still pretty upset as we left the game to head to Treasure Island for the show.

Mystere was OK. It wasn't great. Maybe I'm jaded, but I just wasn't that impressed. Claire had to pee twice during the show. It was kind of embarrassing as we were in the middle of a row, and she wouldn't wait until there was a break in the action. It was partly my fault. I made a huge mistake and tried to cheer her up by buying her a beer before the show started. It made her happy, but also induced intense drowsiness and filled her bladder. She missed the last 20 minutes of the show after she took her 2nd pee break, and I advised her not to come back. I think she missed more than that as her eyes were closed a lot of the time she was in the theater. The mood was not good.

Claire was nearly passed out standing up. She leaned on me the entire way through the casino as we headed out to the Strip to catch the Deuce. She wanted to play more. I strongly advised against it as she was barely conscious, and I didn't think she was in any condition to play poker. She was 1/2 drunk and 1/2 insanely tired as she had woken up early to play poker. (She got in a session at MGM before I got up that day.)

I agreed to get her some pizza at NYNY, and we boarded the Deuce. She passed out almost immediately on the bus. I woke her up as we got to the NYNY/MGM stop. She somehow made it down the stairs of the double decker bus and onto the sidewalk. I almost just went to MGM, but she seemed alert enough and again asked me to get her some food. So, we went to NYNY for some pizza.

The NYNY casino invigorated her and after her snack, she convinced me that she could still play. I kinda felt bad because she was in town for such a short period of time, so I reluctantly agreed. We would head to her favorite poker room of all time: Excalibur.

Session 13: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $443 Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Claire knows everyone at the Excalibur poker room. And they know her. We've been coming here for about 6 years now. This poker room feels like home. It's too bad that it's such a sad poker room nowadays. When we first started playing here, they had 30+ tables and lots of action. Now they barely have 2-3 tables running at any one time. Luckily, the had a couple of 1/2 games going so we could sit at different tables.

I took the dreary table. The one with all frowns and no action. I didn't want to sit there, but I knew Claire would hate it more than I would.

Apparently I won some hands because my stats say I made $143. I don't remember any of them. I think Claire made a little bit on her table too.

I kept watching her. She was fine for a little bit, then I could tell she was just absolutely exhausted. She finally agreed to call it a day.

Day 9

Session 14: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $1000 Out: $1080 Time: 5 hours 0 minutes

Look at that buy-in amount again. I've never been in for so much in one session in my life. Now look at the cash-out. Yep, I somehow made it back and still turned a profit.

Claire sat at my table. We both started running really badly. Meanwhile, people were sitting down on the table and hitting straight flushes and quads, and getting paid a bonus for them too. It was pretty annoying.

I was playing pretty well, but my hands were just getting killed by draws. Or I'd take a chance calling a raise with bad hands with potential (like 34 suited) and hitting pretty big (A34 flop) and losing to someone holding AA. Sure that was a risky call, and AA had me killed the whole way, but that is just annoying. Where's the AK or AQ?

Anyway, big hand or small hand. I just kept losing. I called a guy down with AT when an Ace flopped. He had A4 and hit his 4 on the river. Kept losing and adding on. Losing and adding on. I knew I was gonna catch one of these dudes sometime. I just kept waiting.

I'm already in for $1000 at this point. I have about $350. I look down at 33. Guy to my left, a really loose-aggressive player, makes it $15 to go. An older really loose player calls, and I decide to try to hit my set. Maybe I can double up. I call. The flop comes 664. Nope. I check. Guy to my left bets $60. The older loose player calls. I fold. The turn is an 8. Guy to my left checks. The older loose player checks. The river is an A. The guy to my left checks. The older player bets $80. The guy to my left calls. I see the guy to my left has AJ offsuit. The older guy flips over AQ offsuit. The guy to my left mucks in disgust.

Two things I confirmed from that. 1) The guy to my left continuation bets… a lot. 2) The old guy called $60 on a flop with absolutely nothing at all but AQ high. I also figured the guy to my left was tilting pretty badly after that exchange.

So the very next hand, I get 66 in the big blind. Guy to my left straddles for $4. Call. Call. Call. I call. The guy to my left makes it $25. He gets a couple of calls, and I decide to try to hit my set one more time. Flop is 993. Shit. Man, I needed that flop LAST hand. Fuck. Whatever. I check. The guy to my left makes it $60. Hmmm. I start to think that this guy is just continuation betting again. He's on tilt, and he's acting very similarly to the previous hand. Everyone folds around back to me. I decide to test him. But instead of calling, I decide to check-raise to $160. He might put me on a 9 or pocket 3's. Or more than likely, he just has two unpaired cards that didn't hit the board. I'm thinking he can fold. I like my play for about 2 seconds… until he almost insta-shoves All-In.

Wow. I didn't expect that. I've got $185 in. Plus a few other pre-flop calls in there and the other guy's $185. He's got me covered. I count out $174 behind. Wow. What do I do? The room goes silent. I get tunnel-vision. Everything seems like it's paused, but at the same time I feel everyone's eyes focused squarely on me. My brain starts racing. Does he have a huge pocket pair? Is he bluffing? Do I go with my read? I'd hate to be down $1000 in one session. How am I ever going to climb out of this hole if I fold here. I'll be down to $174. Will he show me a bluff? Can I still hit a 6 to win? That's only 10%. Is he breathing heavily. What does that mean? Does he want a call? Is he nervous because he has the nuts? What do I do?

I call.

The whole table is fixated on my two cards. The guy to my left frowns and mutters, "Nice call." So I was right? I'm winning? I flip over 66. He frowns. The table is in awe. I pray that he doesn't hit whatever the hell cards he needs to hit to beat me. Turn and river are baby cards. He mucks. Holy shit! I win a nearly $800 pot with 66 on a board of 993. I'm back, baby!

Claire had been absent (restroom) for the beginning of that huge hand. She arrived after the guy was already All-In, but she saw me make the call. I'm sure she was really worried when she saw me flip over 66!

I'm showered with praise from the table… most of all from the guy to my left. He's a solid player himself. I say aloud, "You know, there are definitely easier tables than this one." Everyone agrees. This table is filled with 1/2 sharks. I request a table change about a revolution later.

Someone at another table had also requested a table change. So we literally swap table and seat. I tell him, "Good luck. This table is a rough."

I sit down at my new table with $705 since I'd lost about $50-60 from the time I won that big pot. I proceed to lose, lose, lose at this new table. I find I'm down to almost $500 at one point. I bring it back up to about $575 when I play my next big hand.

I have KT offsuit on the button. The guy under the gun makes it $10 to go. A couple of callers ahead of me, and I call. The blinds call as well. The flop comes QJ9 rainbow. Yep. I flopped the nuts. That's always nice, but you always wonder how you can extract the most from that kind of flop. I soon realize that I won't be having that problem. Big Blind bets $6. UTG (the initial raiser) makes it $18. Hmm. OK. I like this. I decide to just smooth call to see what BB does. He calls.

The turn is a rainbow 4. This is so perfect! QJ94 rainbow, and I'm sitting there with KT on the button with bets and raises ahead of me. Big Blind leads out AGAIN for $25. UTG raises to $125. Hmmm. I like this, but now I'm a bit worried I'm chopping this pot. That would suck. I see that Big Blind only has about $80 more behind his $25. UTG started with about $375. So he's got $200+ still left after his $125 bet. I have them both covered. I decide that BB can't fold. So if I raise, he's not going anywhere. There's too much in the pot. UTG. He can still fold if I push. However, I think that if I call this bet, he won't put any more money in… especially if he has a set and is on a draw to a boat and misses. I have to make him put in his money now… if he's going to.

I push All-In. The Big Blind winces, but reluctantly calls. I like that. No chopping with him. At least not at this point. The UTG guy doesn't think for very long, and he calls as well. I'm just hoping UTG doesn't have KT too. Or even worse, I hope he doesn't have a set and the river pairs the board. The river is a harmless 8. Big Blind is excited! He flips over T 7. "Straight!" he exclaims. The rest of the table has already noticed that my KT was already flipped up. Several people chime in to burst his bubble. "He's got a straight to the King," they inform him. :-)

The UTG guy hasn't flipped over but nods in acceptance of a loss. The dealer has to ask him, "Sir, are you mucking?" His hand remains capped by his chips. C'mon, dude. Muck. Muck. He continues to nod. "Sir? Are you mucking?" the dealer asks again. Finally, the guy acknowledges the dealer and turns in his cards. Fucking. Awesome. I start stacking up my chips and look over to Claire. Uh-oh.

I see the All-In card next to her, and all her money is in the pot. The pot itself is huge. I'm trying to stack my chips to get them out of the way while squirming about trying to get a better view of what the hell is going on at her table. Jeez. I just won like a $900 pot. Is she about lose $450?

I finally am able to get to her table, and I see the dude who had swapped seats with me is the one she's up against. He flips over his hand and mucks. The dealer starts pushing the pot Claire's way. Whew! We both won a huge pot at the same time! Claire's now up over $100. I check back on my chipstack. I have $1080. I'm fucking done. $80 up. I'll take it.

We cash out, and I later found out that Claire had the nut flush on the river. The guy had a straight. She was never in danger after all. Still, it was scary.

Session 15: MGM $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $500 Out: $503 Time: 5 hours 45 minutes

This was the last session before Claire had to leave for the airport. One hour of that time I spent seeing Claire off. I didn't want to take my chips off the table because I was down at that time and didn't want to log a losing session. So, I just left my chips on the table and came back later. Nothing interesting happened. I just made $3 by the end of it. Oh, well. A win's a win.

Day 10

This is the first day without Claire.

Session 16: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $400 Out: $422 Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

I made enough for lunch, and I was hungry. So I left.

Session 17: The Palms $1/$3 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $350 Time: 5 hours 45 minutes

I was waiting for Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D to start letting people in at The Palms casino. I figured I'd kill some time at the poker room. I made enough for the movie and the taxi rides. Nothing really notable.

Session 18: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $300 Out: $359 Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

I almost had a losing session due to the game almost breaking up. I got lucky on an All-In against a small stack and ended up +$59, and then the game broke. I'll take it. Went to bed.

My time here in Vegas is starting to draw to a close. I'm looking for a big payday today. Let's see what happens.

Vegas 2010 Day 6

2010-12-17T08:25:00.000-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 6 - Thursday Dec 16th

Holy Shit this was a long-ass session. I'm so tired, so I'm going to keep this really, really brief.

Session 10: The Mirage $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em

In: $700 Out: $785 Time: 14 hours 15 minutes

No, that's not a typo. 14 hours and 15 minutes. One session. I stayed in one seat for 10 hours of it before the table broke and moved. I didn't even have dinner. All I had all day was a single cheeseburger from Burger King before my session started and like 1/2 of a Cherry Garcia scoop from Ben & Jerry's.

I started with $300, and had to add-on $200. Twice. It was a very frustrating session. As good as I ran at the Venetian, I ran bad at Mirage. Everything was just going to shit.

This is going to sound super gay, but you know what kept me going? That the Spurs came back and won their game against the Nuggets. I was watching them play from about the 2nd quarter on and watching their resilience and patience sorta inspired me.

I tried all kinds of shit. I made some ridiculous bluffs, some hero calls. I correctly folded big hands, and raised with mediocre hands. I saw damn near everything happen to me and everyone, twice.

It was gross. I feel like I went to war. I don't have the energy to go into detail. Let's just say I won $85, in the end, and I was very happy to do so.

Claire comes into town Friday night. I'm going to try to get some sleep.

Vegas 2010 Day 5

2010-12-16T11:52:00.002-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 5 - Wednesday Dec 15th

I'd been craving California Pizza Kitchen ever since Claire started craving it back in Austin about 2 weeks ago. The CPK on the Strip is at The Mirage. So off I went.

All I'm going to say about my lunch is that my Pepperoni Supremo was a gooey, limp mess. Not crispy at all, and for a thin, brick oven pizza, that's not good. Disappointing.

I also started to feel pretty shitty. As many of you know, I suffer from heart arrhythmia. All the doctors tell me it's not serious, but it sure is bothersome. I had surgery to correct some of the more severe electrical short-circuits (I had an ablation) a few years ago, but I still take pills for it daily. And even still, sometimes my heart just starts "skipping" beats. Heart "hiccups" is what my heart doctor calls it. It makes me feel like shit when it happens, and it can last for as little as a minute to as long as 20 minutes. I usually like to lay down to let it pass, but that's kind of hard to do when your bed is a long walk away. So, I toughed it out.

What I usually do is count the pulses at my neck. If I can count 100 in a row without a hiccup, I'm usually OK to move on. I took another pill, and after about 15 minutes I got to 110 rhythmic beats in a row. Then I was off to the poker room, which happened to neighbor the CPK.

Session 8: The Mirage $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $460 Out: $910 Time: 5 hours

The hit I took at The Orleans put a big dent in my wallet. I showed up to Vegas with $300 in my wallet, $600 in my backpack and $1100 reserved for play in my bank account. That's roughly 10 buy-ins for $1/$2. My first few sessions were winners, and even with paying for food, transportation and sundries out of my wallet, I'd always had enough for $200-$300 buy-ins up until now. Since I had only 2 $100 bills left in my wallet after fiasco at The Orleans, I had to break one for lunch. The waiter actually brought me a shit-load of 1's and 5's as change (obviously thinking ahead about his tip) so by the time I got to the poker room I only had a single $100 bill and three $20's. I ended up deciding not to go to my backpack reserves and bought in for $160.

The session started out horribly. I didn't get a playable hand for at least three rounds. And when I finally did start to play some hands, I'd just miss the flop so badly. I noticed that the dealer was giving the winners of certain pots little blue tickets. I inquired about them. The dealer explained that The Mirage was running a promotion where every night at 6pm they drew a ticket to win $599 cash. To earn tickets, you'd have to simply win any pot over $10. In other words, if they took a rake, they'd throw a ticket into the pot. I looked at my phone: 5:05pm. OK, maybe I can win a few.

I went ticketless for a long time. The table was short-handed. There were only 6 players at the table, including me. And still I managed to avoid obtaining a ticket. After about 30 minutes, it was sort of embarrassing being the only guy at the table with no ticket. These weren't big bullies or poker sharks I was playing with. The stacks at the table were short to moderate so my $160 wasn't actually a bad buy-in. The players were pretty conservative too. I just couldn't win. If I bet, they had something. If I didn't, they had something.

Pretty soon I was down to about $140 or so. Then I finally picked up pockets Aces. You haven't heard me talk about pocket Aces much have you? That's because they've been kind of a rarity this trip. I'm in mid position and facing 1 limper and the blinds. We're 7-handed at this point. I decide to try to get a little action, so I only make it $7. The button calls, one of the blinds folds, the other calls, and the guy that limped in for $2 calls. The flop comes 8s 5c Qh. Pretty good, right? The blind and limper check to me, and I make it $20. Fold. Fold. Called by the limper. The turn is another 5, the 5 of hearts. The limper checks. I check. The river is a black King. Limper then leads out for $40. I reluctantly call. Limper flips over 58off. Really? C'mon…

A few hands later I get dealt 9c Tc. OK. I can call $2 with that. A guy behind me makes it $12. He gets two callers, so I decide to call and see what happens. Flop is 9d Kc Qc. That's pretty good I think. I don't have much left so I shove for about $60. The initially raiser thinks for a long time, then calls. A guy from the blinds calls as well. The turn is a 7c. Well, I was hoping for the Jc, but I guess I like it. Now I can only be beat by a guy holding the Jc or the Ac *and* another club in his hand. Since I know where 5 of the 13 clubs are, I'm feeling OK about this. They both check. That's good news. The river comes a blank little card. They both check again. Whew! I gotta be winning. I flip over 3rd nut flush. The guy to my left mucks. The other guy? Ac 4c. Seriously? And he didn't bet the turn or river? Fucking terrible.

So there went $160. I didn't even win a single goddamn ticket either. I had to dip into my backpack funds for the first time. :-( I re-buy for $300.

Fast forward a lot.

I have pocket 6's and still about $300. I call a pre-flop raise of $12 from the guy on my left. There were 4 of us to the flop. The flop comes 5c 6c 8s. I check. Initial raiser makes it $20. Fold. Fold. I call. The turn is a Ks. I check. The guy bets $35. He's only got about $60 left so I check-raise enough to put him All-In. The guy agonizes for a while and starts thinking out loud about the hands I might have: "King Queen of clubs?", "King Jack?". He says something like "Screw it, I call. I have a King." He starts to flip over his hand, but I flip over a set of 6's and he turns his hand back down. The river comes another 6! High Hand! The dealer informs me that I just won an extra $100 for making quads! Awesome! Thank goodness the guy called! It made me another $100 on top of the $65 that he called off. Now I'm sitting at just a hair over $500.

The rest of the table is small stacked now. I play really well, and slowly start building up my stack. I get to about $600 when this strange black dude sits down. He didn't see strange at first. Just a 40-something, tall, fair-skinned black man with a hat and eyeglasses. He kinda looks a bit like Morgan Freeman. Kinda. Anyway, I look up at the table a bit later and notice that this guy is putting on a surgeon's mask. What?

My first reaction is that this guy is a germophobe and doesn't want to get sick. Then I notice he doesn't have any gloves on. If you're a germophobe, I figured you'd be more scared of getting something from those nasty chips than from breathing the air at a poker table. So I ruled that out. Then I thought that maybe he was sick himself and was being considerate. He didn't say much, but when he finally did, I could tell he wasn't sick. Or he didn't sound like he had a cold anyway. So why the mask? Was the mask his version of 'poker sunglasses and a hoody"? My new talkative Israeli friend by the way of Canada to my left thought that from the onset. "Sir, is this your poker face?" the Israeli-Canadian asked. Masked man had no answer for him. OK. Whatever. Weirdo.

The Surgeon ( http://twitpic.com/3gav31) was a strange fellow. He rarely talked. Rarely moved. He just kind of sat there with that creepy mask on and watched. He'd fold over and over and over, and then every once in a while, he'd get a bug up his ass and open for $17. He'd open for $17 under the gun even. Every time. $17. Of course, people would rarely call him. And when they did, it was always $17 on the flop. For like 2 hours he did this. $17. If you called him. $17 on the flop. Most people folded. In fact, he never lost.

So I pick up 6c 8c in early position. I call $2. The Surgeon, for some reason, makes it $13 to go. $13? What's that about? He must really want a caller. The folds start coming around to me. I start to think…. this guy can't always have the nuts. He can't always have a huge pocket pair. I already know he's going to bet something on the flop. Maybe I can fuck with him. Get him to stop being so annoying. Show him that you can't play poker like a goddamn robot. Even a masked robot. I call.

The flop comes Qs Jc 4h. I check. The Surgeon bets $17. Typical. Alright, let's go with the plan. I raise $50 on top. The Surgeon has never been check-raised since he sat down. In fact, he's never called a raise at all. He's always lead out. He's always been the raiser. After only a couple of seconds, he folds. I flip over my stone-cold bluff, and he doesn't even look at it. The table is pleased though. He's been annoying us. I'm a little disappointed that he didn't look, but the dealer grabs my cards and leaves them face-up next to the flop for a bit. And I finally see The Surgeon look at my hand. Yes! I just wanted him to see it. Sadly, if it fazed him, he didn't let is show. Oh, well. I liked my move anyway. And I got almost $40 of The Surgeon's money which was, up until that time, untouchable.

A few hands later, some joker raises to $5 under the gun. Really? $5? I look down at Ah Jh. Oh, hell no. We're not playing for $5. I raise all my blues. $19 to go. Shit. I thought it was $20. Whatever. It folds around to the raiser. He grumbles something that I can't make out, insta-folds and flips over AK offsuit. The table is stunned. What? He says something about how I have a big pocket pair. I gleefully flip over AJ suited. Haha. Nice read there, Champ. He starts muttering to himself.

At this point, I feel that people are fearing my stack and my play. They know that I can take them out at any minute, and that I'm capable of re-raising with nothing, a mediocre hand or a very strong hand. It's a good feeling.

I win some pots, and lose some pots, but I'm always getting my money in good. I even flop quad tens, but that wasn't exciting as I held JT, and they didn't pay a $100 bonus for quads unless you held a pocket pair. I think I made $7 after tip on those quad tens. But then I get involved in another big hand with The Surgeon.

Again, I'm in early position. I have Qs 9s. I limp in. A few fellow limpers join me, and here comes The Surgeon. $17. That's The Surgeon we know. It folds back around to me. I decide to call. My plan this time isn't to bluff. The Surgeon is one of those types that always reloads to the max. If he loses a pot, he reaches into his wallet and pulls out a $100 bill or into his pocket and pulls out some red chips to top off. Kinda of a weird guy, this dude. Anyway, I know that if I can hit a big hand against him, he'll put in money. And since I bluffed him earlier, he won't go away very easily. I call.

The flop is beautiful! 9h Ad 9d. I check. The Surgeon bets… take a guess… yep, $17. I raise to $65. This time he's not going anywhere. He calls. The turn is a Kd. The 3rd diamond is kind of scary, but I can't be afraid of a flush. He raised preflop and called on the flop. He's probably got a strong Ace. Maybe even Ace King. If he has something like AJ or AQ, he loves the King on the turn because it means that if I had an Ace, he will at least chop. I've got him on some kind of strong Ace. No flush. No 9. The only other feasible thing he could have is AA, which would be a nightmare, but oh, well. I bet another $50. It's a bet that can either reel him in further or induce a re-raise. He simply flat calls. This is good news for me. Rivers comes a small blank card: 6c. I value bet $50. He calls. I flip over Q9, and he mucks. Yes! $170+ more from The Surgeon! He doesn't even blink. He reaches in his wallet and re-loads. I'm starting to think he's a machine.

One more had with The Surgeon. This time I pick up QQ in the big blind. It's limped around by a few players, including The Surgeon. I had only seen his $2 limped-in hand once. It was 9T offsuit. Much weaker than I thought. So I couldn't really narrow down his hand to much. Possible something suited, connected or a small pair. Maybe two big cards. Like I said, I don't really know what to put him on except that he doesn't have something like 74off. I make it $15 to go. I get 2 callers, including The Surgeon.

The flop is 9s 9c 2h. I lead out for $20. The Surgeon raises me to $45. What? This is the first time I see The Surgeon raise a non-limped in bet. But $25 on top? That's kind of weird. For a guy that likes to overbet preflop a lot, that just seems strange to me. The other guy folds, and it's back to me. I just call. The turn is a Jd. I check. The Surgeon bets $40. Hmmm. I'm letting this one get away from me. Is he really going to get some back from me with a 9 of his own? Oh, well. I'm not convinced he has a 9 or pocket 2's. I call. River is a 6s. I check. The Surgeon bets out $40. Well, shit. I'm not gonna fold now. I call. The Surgeon flips over 77. What? That's it? I flip over QQ. Ship me that shit. The Surgeon needs to stop trying to fuck with me. I've taken like $350 from him now. He reaches into his wallet and adds more money.

I win a few pots, lose a few pots, but the action really starts to die down. I'm the biggest stack at the table by at least 2x, but I'm not feeling that killer instinct feeling anymore. The table is nitty, and all of a sudden, I'm getting nitty. I don't feel like I'm playing optimally anymore. I decide it's time to go.

Session 9: The Venetian $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $200 Out: $457 Time: 1 hours 15 minutes

I usually listen to podcasts while I'm walking around Vegas. And since I've been here a while, I've done a lot of walking. I decided to go to The Venetian simply because they have WiFi in their poker room, and I needed a WiFi connection to download large podcast files to my iPhone.

I initially didn't intend to play at The Venetian. This room along with Aria's room. I dunno. Bad juju. I've just had bad luck at both places. I downloaded my new podcasts and then just sat there in a slot machine chair. Looking at the poker room. Should I play? I was able to 'finally' beat Aria's game the other day. Can I tackle my second nemesis too? Fuck it. Let's go!

I ask for a 1/2 seat, but they have a short waiting list. I take a look at the games running on the big computer screen and I see "1/2 5 Omaha PL". What the hell is that? I ask the podium if they're running an Omaha game. The lady explains that they have an 8/16 Limit Omaha game and a 1/2 5card Omaha game running. A what?

"One. Two. Come in for Five Omaha?" I ask.

"No, 1/2 pot limit. 5 card Omaha."

"You mean Big Mitt?"

"What?"

"Big Mitt."

She looks confused. "It's 5 card Omaha Hi-Lo, Sir."

"Ok, nevermind. I get it. Thanks."

She directs me to the table and says that I can check it out to see if I want to play.

I walk over there, kind of excited to find a Pot Limit 1/2 Omaha game. Pfft. It's three handed. And they each have like a billion dollars. No, thanks.

I walk back to the podium and tell her that I'm not interested in a 3 handed game. I just hang out in front of the podium because I see I'm next on the list. Then she calls my name for 1/2 *through the microphone*. Is she serious? I'm right fucking in front of her. Not the sharpest tool in the shed is she?

She directs me to my table. I immediately notice the $1,000 stack. There are some $400 stacks as well. Well, at least I'm to their left. I set my two $100 bills on the table and just intend to play it really chill. My first hand is crap. I throw it away. Besides, I don't like playing when I don't even have chips yet.

While waiting for the chip-runner, the $1,000 stack asks me if I want to buy some of his chips. Sure, why not? He hands me two stacks of red, and I shift him my two bills. The guy to my right, which I immediately identify as a jolly ol' Canadian, tells me that I'm getting 'lucky chips'. I chuckle.

On my second hand, and my first hand with 'lucky' chips, I'm under the gun with Ac Jc. Great. I hate getting hands when I first sit down. I raise to $15. I get 3 callers. Flop is Js 8c 2h. Wow. Great flop. I lead out for $25. One guy only as a few chips and a $100 bill left. He throws in the bill to call.
Another guy calls as well. Turn is a 4h. I bet $50. The guy with the bill says "call." The other guy folds. The river comes another blank. I bet another $50, but before I can even put it out, the dealer is pushing me the pot, complete with the $100 bill. I hate bills on the poker table. I offer to sell it to Mr. Moneybags who sold me the 'lucky' chips. He gladly takes it.

My run of cards is exceptional. Boats, flushes, sets, QQ, KK. Everything is winning. Moneybags, the Canadian, and I start joking about the lucky chips.

I pick up KJ offsuit, and Moneybags raises to $12 and tells us, "Get out while you can." Hmmm… OK, Moneybags. I've seen him raise with huge hands and hit big. In the short time I'd been there, he'd had pocket aces that made him a boat, and quad Aces with AT. He'd also raised with KK, QQ, and JJ. So when he said to get out, I had no problem folding KJ offsuit. He showed KK again. Nice.

A round or so later, I pick up Ac Jc again. Moneybags raises and again warns us: "Get out while you can." Shit. Really? Alright, Moneybags. I fold. At that point, Canadian was walking back to the table. I show him my AJ suited and fold. He's surprised. "You folded for $7?" he asks. "Moneybags said to get out while we could," I reply. "OH, OK!" He agrees with my fold now. The flop comes garbage. Moneybags had QQ. Holy shit. This guy is running hot!

After a while, Moneybags says that he noticed when I got my player's card that I was from Texas. He asked which part. I replied, "Austin." "That's funny. Me too!" he says. Turns out his name is Rich and he runs tournament games at Steiner Ranch on Thursdays. Steiner Ranch? That's where my co-worker Babith (they call him "Bobby") plays on Thursdays. Sure enough, Rich knows Babith, err Bobby. What a small world, eh? We start BS'ing about Austin and poker. Telling jokes and stories with the Canadian. All the while, Rich and I are killing the game. Neither of us can lose. After about an hour, I decide that I'm really hungry, and Rich decides that he should go meet his wife. Rich cashes out, and I cash out not too long afterwards. I look down and somehow I've more than doubled up in about an hour. Not bad.

Thanks for the lucky chips, Rich. The Ventian curse is broken…

Vegas 2010 Day 4

2010-12-15T16:26:00.003-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 4 - Tuesday Dec 14th

Blech. I didn't play or run well today.

Back home, I love Mondays. That's Omaha HiLo night at my house. Pot Limit Omaha HiLo. That's Pot Limit as in: you can bet a substantial number of chips on later streets to either force folds of mediocre hands that might beat you or maybe just get more chips in the pot when you have a big 'scoopy' type hand. In Vegas, they don't run PotLimit HiLo. At least not for lower stakes at the Orleans. It's all Omaha HiLo Limit poker, and I just couldn't make the adjustment.

Session 5: The Orleans $4/$8 FL Hold 'Em
In: $200 Out: $226 Time: 30 minutes

This was just a time killer. I came to The Orleans to play Omaha HiLo, but as usual, they table was full. Even the must-move table was full. Rather than just sit there, waiting, I decided to sit at a $4/$8 limit hold 'em table. As I said before, I don't play a bunch of fixed limit poker, Omaha or otherwise, so I literally was just passing the time. I found a seat and sat down next to what turned out to be a very talkative old man. (Now, I have to be descriptive about which old man I'm talking about at The Orleans because 75% of the player base is comprised of players over 55. I shit you not. Some much older than that. Like *much* older. It sort of smelled like death in there.)

The talkative old man was cheerful, and a bit odd. He started up a conversation with me, I'm sure he was just looking for any excuse, about my iPhone as I was struggling to send out a tweet (the connection is shit in that room.) He asked me playfully, "That thing make phone calls?" I couldn't tell if he was joking. I replied that it was mostly a portable computer that happens to also make phone calls from time to time. He seemed surprised. I still couldn't tell if he was being serious. He started to tell me that he'd never used a cell phone in his life, or a computer for that matter. I *still* couldn't tell if he was being serious, but I figured by now, I'd just play along just in case. He goes on and on about he just travels from place to place in his non-airconditioned camper, and that he's been doing so since 1962. He claimed he had no friends, no family, and no wife so he had no need for a cell phone. Who would he call? I asked him where he got money to live, and he said "here and there." I started to smell bullshit, but he was funny enough, so I kept playing along.

After a while, I picked up pocket tens and raised in early position because I don't know any better. The flop is QJ6 rainbow. I check. It's checked around to this Asian lady (lots of Asian ladies at The Orleans too, and not young hot ones, like old, wrinkly, bony ones.) The Asian lady bets $4. I fold. Another Asian lady who had previously checked angrily and quickly calls. It's an old Asian lady cat-fight! Seriously, these senior limit poker players (not just the old Asian ladies) are a crotchety old bunch, and they frequently and angrily throw in bets before their opponent has even finished their betting motion. The turn is an 8. Now the lady that had once checked, leads out for $8. The original betting lady insta-raises to $16, and the first lady insta-insta-calls. The river is a 2. No flush. The first lady angrily checks. The second lady angrily bets. The first lady angrily calls. The second lady turns of 4s 5s. 5 fucking high. The first lady flips over AK offsuit. Ace fucking high. Well, sonofabitch, my pocket tens would have been good. Either I suck or these ladies are terrible. Maybe both. After the hand, it is revealed that these ladies were adversaries, and that they knew each other quite well. Well, shit.

I fold a bunch of other crap and win one or two small pots. Then my name is called for Omaha HiLo. I'm UTG, so I decide to take a free hand even though I'm already racking up my chips. Ts Tc. Shit. Again? I look at my stacks. I'm down $2 for the session. Fuck it. I raise to $8. Call. Call. Call. I even got called by the talkative old man who was a pretty tight player. Flop comes 8s 9c 2h. Seems good to me. I get checked to so I lead out for $4. Fold. Fold. Call. Mr. Talkie is still with me. Turn comes a 4c. Talkie checks. I lead out for $8. He calls. River is a King. River is a 6. He checks. I bet. He folds. Since I'm leaving the table, I show my pocket tens. He says, "I missed my straight draw," and shows me JT. Good, old man. Good. I take my stack over to the HiLo table, and I find that I'm up $26.

Session 6: The Orleans $4/$8 FL Omaha HiLo
In: $426 Out: $220 Time: 6 hours 15 minutes

At first, I did OK. That is to say, I didn't lose a lot. I played very tight. Waited for hands with scoop potential and rarely raised. I kept missing. The bleeding was steady and slow, but I was playing pretty solid poker.

Then I had a big hand. I had Ah Kh 2s 5c. I didn't raise because I didn't have a pair, but it was definitely playable. I called the $4 in late position, and the small blind raised to $8. The calling train started going around the table and of course I called. The flop was Th 8h 7h. Pretty good flop! I have two nut draws. The small blind leads out for $4. Call. Call. Call. Choo-Choo! The calling train was in full effect. I felt like I needed to build up this pot. I knew one (or both!) of draws was coming. It had to! I hadn't hit a big hand all fucking night. I raise to $8. Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chuga! Choo-Choo! The calling train kept on keeping on. I'm getting pretty excited now. Come on low heart card! Turn is a Jc. That's OK. That's OK. Now I have the nut straight draw, the nut flush draw, and the nut low draw. Small blind now checks. Everyone checks behind. I bet $8. It's coming! I know it. Small blind calls, and everyone else folds. C'mon river! 7s. Darn. No flush. No straight. Well, at least I made my low right? A 7 is below an 8. Small blind checks, and I lead out for $8 on the slim, slim hope that he was on a flush draw or something and can fold for $8. I've seen it happen. It's possible. Nope, he calls. I don't even look at what he flips over. I just flip over my hand and say, "Just a low." The dealer looks at my hand and pulls out the Ah Kh from my 2s 5c. Why is he pulling out the AK? I don't have a flush. Then I hear the guy next to me say, "There is no low." What do you mean there's no low? A 7 hit on the river… If you were paying attention, reader, you already realized my mistake. Yes, a low card hit the river: a 7, which paired the 7 from the flop. No low. Wow. How could I make such a stupid mistake? I mean, honestly, it only cost me another $8 and my pride in knowing that I misread an Omaha hand like a newb, but still… I don't mis-read boards. Other people do that. Shit.

From there it was all downhill. I didn't even go on tilt after that hand, but I never recovered from that blow. I continued to play tight, but I'd win very small pots, or split big ones. It was a tough, tough grind. I never could scoop a large enough pot that made me enough money. It was limit poker *and* you tended to split more often that not. If I'd make a huge high, the river would make a low possible and I'd lose half the pot to like a 7 low. I basically needed one of those hands that that other guy won when I fucked up and missed all my draws, just to get even. After I while, I loosened up. I started playing any A2 without regard for making a high. I lost a lot of those hands. A lot. Then I started playing any pair trying to flop a set. That's not smart. Lost more there. Before I knew it, I was down to under $100.

Now I *was* playing badly and losing a lot. And when I did win, the pots were so small that I couldn't gain ground. I got All-In a couple of times. That's never good in limit. I always swore I'd never let myself get down to All-In if I have money to put in from my wallet. But I did. Just another mistake. I guess I was just looking to get lucky and throw what I had in there. And I did a couple of times actually. I was down to $20 once and tripled up with Q2TK. Still, I was playing so horribly and my wins were so small that I was doomed. I busted.

Determined to make some money back, I re-bought for $200. I tightened up again, and did OK at first. I scooped a pot and got up to about $260, but again, the pots were just so small when I'd scoop, or I'd just split a large pot. My money kept dwindling. I started to believe that I couldn't beat this game. It was much too grindy for me. I got down to $220, and then just said fuck it. I was done with that shit. I couldn't take it anymore. I cashed out after 6+ hours. Down -$206. My first down session.

Session 7: The Orleans $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $320 Out: $216 Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

I took my $220 back to NL HE determined to make back my losses. And I sat down to a crazy, crazy, crazy table. There was a crotchety old Indian guy named "Patel" that was just angry as all fuck. I saw him make some really terrible moves and get really lucky over and over. He amassed a ton of chips. This could be good, right?

Two younger guys started to tease him and challenge him. This just pissed Patel off more. Ideally, you'd want a pissed off guy with lots of chips at your table, but this guy was just winning everything. I saw him call a $200 all-in on a flop of 6T6 with 22, and win. The other guy had AK. Then I saw the two young guys go at it against each other where one guy raised and re-raised and ended up calling, yes calling, an All-In with 45 offsuit versus the other young crazy guy's A9 suited. The small stack (A9s) had started the hand with like $300. A 5 hit the board and that was that. That was one young crazy guy gone.

Then Mr. 45 got in a huge hand with Patel. They had each bet and raised a stupid amount pre-flop. I think it was heads up and there was like $100 in the pot pre-flop. The board came all hearts. They both checked. The turn came a harmless looking card, and Patel bet $60, and Mr. 45 raised to $200. Patel thought about it for a while and angrily (the only way he did anything was angrily) went All-In for like $900. Mr 45 had about $700. Eventually, he calls. The river pairs the board. Patel angrily (haha) flips over the nut flush. Ace-Rag hearts. Mr. 45 is stunned. He flips over K-rag of hearts. Wow.

Having destroyed the two boisterous young guys with all the money, Patel starts racking up his chips…. Noooooo! :-( The table breaks shortly thereafter without me having taken much of anything from any of the crazy players.

I get moved to a new table and there is a guy drunk as fuck creating a lot of action. Yes! Unfortuntely, *he* cashes out 15 minutes later after destroying AA with 99 on a flop of 974 for a $600 pot. Now my new table is dead quiet. $12 pre-flop starts to take down pots without a flop. Great.

I sit around forever before I make the worst play of my trip. Even worse than the Omaha HiLo fiasco.

I pick up AK offsuit on the button. It's raised to $15 pre-flop by the guy two to my right. The guy between us calls. I smooth call. There is one other caller. The flop comes AQ7 rainbow. It's checked to the initial raiser. He bets $7. The guy to my right calls. I raise it to $22. The first caller folds. The raiser calls. The guy to my right calls. The turn is a 9. Pretty harmless. It's check-check to me. I lead out for $50. The initial raiser makes it $150. The guy to my right insta-folds. I think about it forever. Normally, I fold here. I can't beat anything but a bluff here. There is no flush or straight. Did he flop a set? Does he have AQ? I start to think he has AQ. I want to fold. I could out my stack. I have $130 behind the $50 I put in already. I start to fold. Then I say "All-In". Ugh. Why? The guy calls. He flips over AQ. Jesus. River is a blank.

I re-buy for another $100. I still don't go on tilt. I fold the next few hands and then pick up AQ myself. There are a lot of limpets, then I pop it to $15. I get two callers. The flop is AQ3. This looks familiar. This time it's in my favor. It's checked to me. I bet $10. The small blind calls. The other guy folds. The turn is another Ace. Yes! The small blind checks, and I check like I'm afraid of the 2nd Ace. The river is a harmless 8. The guy checks, and I think about it for a while and decide to just shove to make it look like a steal. It works. The guy calls for $75 more. He had A5.

Soon after my double up, the table starts to dwindle. We get down to 6, then 5, then 3 players. The game breaks. Boo. I didn't get to make up all the money. What a shitty session.

I still have more than a week to make it all back, plus some, right? Until next time...

Vegas 2010 Day 3

2010-12-14T13:45:00.003-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 3 - Monday Dec 13th

This was a rather disappointing day. Not because I didn't play well, but because I played a pretty long up and down session and only made a very, very modest amount. Yes, I know you can't win every time, and I know that I should be grateful that I wasn't down, but what made things worse is that I pussied out for the day way too early. I almost feel like I wasted a day much like Sunday.

The day started out alright. I lounged in a my room all morning then checked-out at the last minute. Took a cab over to Planet Hollywood, checked-in there. Went up to my room. It was pretty nice actually: http://twitpic.com/3fnwzy Then headed out to find a place to eat.

Did you know that there is no Planet Hollywood restaurant *in* the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino? How fucking dumb is that? That's like the Hooters Hotel and Casino not having a fucking Hooters restaurant. Anyway, I walked around for a bit and searched my iPhone for pizza on the strip… hmm… a California Pizza Kitchen at the Mirage? I can do that. As I started walking that way, I stopped at the corner to wait for the the crosswalk signal to turn white. I glanced over to the right and saw the Cabo Wabo Cantina. Mexican? That could be good. Ah, but it's Las Vegas Mexican food in a restaurant owned by Sammy Hagar. How good could that be? I mean, I come from the South Texas border, right? Surely the food would suck here. Then again, it's so close… and the Mirage is way over on the other side of the street and down like 2 blocks. Plus this crosswalk signal is taking foreeeeveeeer.

Fuck it! Laziness wins out. Cabo Wabo it is.

I walked up to the entrance and they had the full menu up on a big poster. Hmmm. Pricey as all fuck, but that's to be expected. A fajita burrito? Custom nachos? I could find something here to eat. Another poster advertised their lunch special: A free frozen drink with any lunch entree purchase during the hours of 12:00p and 2pm. A quick check of my iPhone said 1:06pm. OK, SOLD!

It was kind of hot outside, so I asked to be seated inside. The place wasn't so bad. Friendly wait staff. The waitress asked for my order, and I inquired about the free drink. Choices were: Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, or a Margarita. Normally I'd choose the Margarita because it's the least gay, but I went for the Pina Colada because I fucking felt like it. Good choice.

As I perused the menu, I was surprised to see that most things were on the "Rob can eat list." This is a rarity indeed. The fajita burrito still seemed the most enticing: a large tortilla stuffed with beef fajita meat, refried beans, cheese, and rice... topped with meat sauce and queso. $15. No mention of any sides. I guess the beans and rice being inside of the burrito would suffice. I kinda wanted to start with Chips and Salsa, but $7 for two salsas and some chips sounded like a bit much. Especially since I knew I wasn't going to even eat all of my burrito. They're always too big.

I pulled out my MBA as I always do because I'm fucking bored, and to my surprise the waitress showed up with a basket of chips and salsa. Free chips and salsa? Then what the fuck was that $7 thing on the menu? I'd get two kinds of salsa instead of one? Whatever. Never look a gift horse in the mouth right? The chips were nice and sturdy, and the salsa looked kinda weird but tasted pretty good. So far so good.

The burrito showed up, and I got another surprise. It does come with a side of beans and rice. Cool. Hey, hold on. Black beans? Gross. Dammit, I should have known. They're trying to be all 'authentic' and shit here, and black beans are what 'real' Mexicans eat. I hate black beans. They look like mud. The it hits me. Fuck. The refried beans in my burrito are going to be black beans aren't they? Goddammit. Why didn't they specify black beans on the menu? Then again, why didn't they mention the burrito came with sides? Or that we got complimentary chips and salsa? This place just loves surprises don't they?

I decided to just fucking try them. They didn't make me gag, but I wasn't convinced. I dug into the burrito carefully. First bite wasn't offensive, and I didn't see any black beans. Then again, the whole thing was covered in beef sauce and queso. After a few more bites, I did notice the black beans, but there was so much shit in there anyway that I didn't taste them. Either that or maybe black beans don't taste much different from pinto beans.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that I enjoyed my meal.

I went back into Planet Hollywood to start my first session of the day. On my way through the casino I was reminded of how much I love the sound of slot machines. I mean, I hate playing slot machines, but the sound. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! It just reminds me of where I am. Love it! I made an AudioBoo of my walk through the casino to share the sounds with my followers. You can listen to it here: http://boo.fm/b236798

Session 4: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $500 Out: $517 Time: 7 hours

First thing I did was ask if the max buy-in was $200 or $300. It used to be that most places were $1/$2 and the max was $200 or $1/$3 and the max was $300. But the current trend seems to be $1/$2 max of $300. (I know that Caesar's is $1/$2 max of $500 too.) And sure enough, the max was $300. I decided to go with the full buy-in.

I sat down between a couple of older dudes. I hate playing with older dudes. They always seem to play tight and be as cranky as fuck. The dealer asks if I want to come in as Big Blind. Sure. I always think it's douchey to wait 2 hands just to avoid paying the blinds when you first sit down, even if it is the smarter thing to do. I look down and see Qs Jc. There are a few callers and then what appears to be a very accidental raise to $10 from an spritely old lady in late position. She meant to put in two white chips, but threw in two red ones. She immediately tried to take them back, then realized she couldn't and left them in. The whole table notices this of course. The button calls, and the Small Blind calls (old guy.) I comment out loud that perhaps I should just go All-In and steal the $30+ dollars out there. A get a few nervous laughs and the Small Blind eggs me on to do so. Of course I decide against it and just call even though I hate playing hands early because I don't have any idea how the players play yet. Flop comes As Qd 6s. The Small Blind leads out for $6. Hmmm. I decide to call and see another card. Everyone else folds, including the old lady that accidentally raised. She starts half-jokingly demanding that the winner of the hand give her her $10 back since she built up the pot. The turn is a 2s. Well, I've got the 2nd nut flush draw and second pair with a decent kicker. Small Blind leads out for $56. Whoa! Where did that come from? Did he lead out on a flush draw and hit it? If so, it's probably a baby flush. Do I call? I just sat down for $300. Old guy started out with about $160. I don't want to hit anything but a spade on this river. Preferably the King of spades of course. I decide to gamble and call. River is a red 4. Fuck. Old guy pushes all-in for just over $100. I knew I wasn't calling, but I make him sweat it a bit just because I'm mad. Of course I have to fold. I lie and say that my Ace didn't improve and that I didn't hit my flush. Old guy seems very pleased with himself. Fucker.

The old lady starts up again with the wanting her $10 back. The old man will have none of that. He doesn't even acknowledge her. I lie and say that I would have given her her $10 back if I would have won to make the old guy seem like more of a douche.

Later on, in a conversation with his neighbor to the right, the old guy admitted he hit a flush on the turn. His neighbor complimented him on his 'blocking bet' on the flop that kept me from betting my Ace out and possibly making his flush draw more expensive. Haha. Little did they know that the old man could have probably seen that turn for free as I had no intention of betting out second pair. After the old guy eventually busts (of course) and leaves, his neighbor asked me why I didn't raise the old guy when I hit my Ace on that first hand. I said, "Because I didn't have an Ace," and smiled.

So now I'm in the Small Blind. I look down at Qs Td. A few calls, and another baby raise to $6. I call. I miss then flop. Some guy in early position leads out for $10, then the old lady that fucked up and accidentally raised that previous hand says "raise" and drops down $15. The whole table, in unison says: "You have to bet $20!" The old lady puts in another $5 nonchalantly and eggs the people behind her to call. We all fold of course. The she looks at my side of the table and calls us all "Pussies!" The table erupts in laughter. WTF is up with this old lady? Haha. The guy that raised to $10 calls, but then folds to her turn bet. She admits that she flopped two pair. Really? No shit?! Man, this lady is horrible. Then she goes on to explain that "Pussies" is what they used to call "little girls" when she was younger. Well, I don't know what it was like growing up in the 1800's, but "Pussies" is pretty offensive these days, and it sounds awesome coming from an old geezer woman at the poker table. :) Here's the old lady: http://twitpic.com/3foycv

Next hand. King Jack offsuit. Ugh. C'mon. Give me a break. I call the $2 and hit a Jack on an Ace high flop. I call a $10 flop bet and a $10 turn. The guy checks the river and shows a weak Ace. Jeez. What am I doing? I've played the first three hands in a row and lost them all. I'm down to like $200 already. I mercifully can fold the next hand, but the next hand after that is Ace Ten offsuit. What the hell is with these mediocre playable hands? Should I start raising? At this point it seems like I play everything. So maybe if I hit big, no body will believe me. I raise to $12. Nobody calls. Well, at least I won one. I ask the dealer to stop giving me playable hands so I can watch the table for a bit! You know what the say, be careful what you wish for…

For about an hour, I get nothing. I just sit and watch. The old man to my right has since busted, and I've already identified the donks. Unfortunately, there are only 2 real donkeys, 2 solid players and the rest just small stack average players. I hover around $220 to $250 for a long time.

Then I pick up QQ in the Big Blind. The current guy to my right is a younger fat guy. I'm not sure why I just mentioned that he was fat. It doesn't really matter does it? Anyway, he hadn't sat for very long. The previous hand, he had made it $15 to go preflop from the button and everyone folded. Now from the Small Blind, he made it $15 again. I'm sitting on QQ here, and I'm loving it so far. I pop it to $50, everyone else folds and Small Blind calls. Now, Small Blind only has about $80 left. If he had KK or AA, I would have expected a shove. Especially since it had gotten back to him with nothing but folds. It was just him and me heads up. So I have this guy on AK, maybe AQs or maybe JJ or TT. If he's really crazy he'll have a lower pocket pair or suited connectors. But honestly, for as much of his stack as he put in, I'm thinking it's more like AK, AQs or TT or JJ. The board comes 9 high rainbow. Small Blind leads out for $30. I raise to $100, but he only has $80 total. I take my change back and flip over QQ. Fucker flips over AA. Lame. The same neighbor guy compliments him on a well played hand? Really? That hand played itself. He didn't do shit differently than anyone else would have except maybe not go All-In pre-flop. But honestly, who's gonna raise a short stacked player to $50, and then fold to another $80 pre-flop? If I could have folded it pre-flop, I could have folded it on the flop. If I had AK and made the raise to $50, and he shoves for $80. I probably still call. However, if I had AK and he shoves on the flop, I'm folding. So it's actually *bad* that he didn't shove preflop. I didn't bother to correct him. Why would I? Lucky fucker.

So now I'm down to about $150. Very next hand. I pick up 99. There are a couple of calls, and then a very loose guy raises to $12. Two people call (including the old lady.) The all-knowing neighbor guy then makes it $50 to go. Now what I haven't told you about neighbor guy is that he was losing before I sat at the table, then he added on some money and went from $200 to about $1000 really quickly on some huge hands. On one hand he had, he turned the nut flush with a huge pot at stake and had a guy push all in for another $147, and another guy call that $147. Neighbor of course pushed, and won like a $650 pot. He was a solid player for sure, but he had dwindled back down to about $650 because he kept making solid aggressive plays that people (more often than not, stupidly) called him down on for a win. So I started to think that maybe this guy was just trying to steal. I had a pair. The chances that he had a bigger pair were of course there, but they couldn't be that great. I started to think, or hope anyway, that he had just two big unpaired cards and that he might fold to an all-in on my part. I decided to go for it. I went all-in for $147. It folds around to him, and he starts with the the talk "Man, if you have Aces that would be so sick." He has Kings? Why not insta-call? He thinks for a bit. I start to feel confident. Then he calls. OK. I have a pair, I'm probably ahead. Fucker flips over QQ. Really? I lose the pot and immediately re-buy for $200.

Next hand I watch as another guy holding 99 flops a set and beats someone else's QQ. Great. So I get caught with QQ vs. AA, and then lose to QQ with 99, and then watch another person's 99 flop as set against QQ. Fucking. Lame.

To be honest, I don't remember how I got up to $493, but I did. At that point I swore that if I got even that I'd cash out and go to the Orleans to go play Omaha HiLo for the rest of the night. I went through my blinds and nothing. Fell further behind. Then I picked up JJ in the Big Blind on the next round. Again, why the fuck do I only pick up big hands in the blinds? C'mon! Anyway, this new Mexican older lady had joined the table and replaced the white one. Because of course, she inevitably busted her short stack. This new old lady might have been even worse than the old one. She refused to fucking fold anything, but by the river she tended to make the better hand a lot of the times. It was sort of annoying. The whole table would make comments about her right in front of her, but she didn't seem to care. They'd lose to her and say "Well, at least the money is in the right place…" and grumble. I started thinking she was unbeatable. Well, I didn't actually think it, but I'd say it jokingly. Anyway, this Mexican old lady made it $15 to go. I made it $45. She calls. Why she didn't push when she only had $22 or so left? I don't know. Probably for the same reason she played all her hands the way she did… because she was a shitty player. Also, she was on tilt for losing a miracle gut shot straight on the turn to another miracle, but better, gut shot straight on the river. Anyway, the flop was pretty good for me. All unders. I pushed and she angrily called with her last $22. Turn is an Ace and river was a 4th spade. She angrily flips over As Jd for the nut flush. She flopped nothing. God. I hate this lady. Now I'm way down from being even.

A few rounds later I find myself with As Qs in, surprisingly enough, late position. A pretty aggressive skinny white nerdy looking guy (you can tell I'm going to lose this hand, can't you?) makes it $15 to go. I figure that's a fair price for As Qs in late position, so I call. It's heads up. This guy was fairly tight and very aggressive. So I knew I had to be careful. The flop comes Ac 9s 7d. Not bad. Nerd makes it $25, and I immediately pop it to $75. I knew that I couldn't call. I wanted to know where I was. I probably could have made it $60, but I made it $75. He pushes all-in for like $115 on top. Gah. I think for a while. I count out the $115 like I'm going to call, but fold. I show As Qs and neighbor teases me. He knows I was right. This guy had AK at minimum, if not a set. I'd wait for a better spot.

I dropped down to about $375 after that hand and build it back up to $465 again. Then I run into some bad hands and dwindle back down to $290. By this time, I'm kicking myself for not leaving when I was only $7 down, but I figured that I have all the time in the world to make that back, and more. I just have to keep playing my best.

I pick up Js Ts in the more usual position of big blind. Under The Gun, a guy I've actually been making friendly conversation with for a while, and another solid player who was down on chips, makes it $15 to go. He gets one caller, then the Mexican old lady calls (when doesn't she?), and then it gets around to me. I think about it. Js Ts. Asian Aces. Out of position to 3 players. Fuck it. I call. Flop comes Tc 8s 3h. I think about betting, but inexplicably check. I immediately regret it. UTG makes it $30 to go. One guy folds, and of course Mexican old lady calls. For some reason that I can't explain, "All-In" comes running out of my mouth. Who said that? Me? Shit. 1) UTG only has about $60 left. and 2) Mexican old lady never folds and seems to win more than her fair share by the fucking river…. *and* she's got me covered! UTG starts agonizing, "You really have a 10?" I'm surprised. I ask, "You can't even beat a 10? Why are you even thinking about this. Just fold, man." Normally, I don't try to talk people out of folding, especially when I really do think I have the best hand. But I'm 1/2 thinking I don't want to get sucked out, and 1/2 thinking this guy and I have been buddies for like the passed 4 hours. I know you shouldn't think that way, but fuck, I just wanted to win this one too, you know? While UTG is thinking, the Mexican old lady had had enough and folds out of turn. Finally, my buddy UTG folds. He says he had pocket 9's. I show the Ten of clubs. I'm back over $400 now, again, for like the 10th time.

After a few more rounds of nothing, I pick up Jc 8c in, guess where?, the small blind of course. This time it's checked around and I call $1 to see a flop. 8s 8d 2h. Hmmm. I like it. I decide to trap. I check. Some dude leads out for $10. I call. Turn is 7s. I check. Dude bets out $35. I call. River is a 6h. I check. Dude checks. He has Ace high. He turned the nut flush draw. Whew! I checked my stack, and there it was: profit! A very pretty looking stack of 12 white chips and 1 red chip sitting off to the side of my $500 buy-in!: http://twitpic.com/3frzey

I've been on this table for 7 hours, but it feels like 12. My knees are killing me and my legs feel like jelly. I nursed a single cranberry juice for about 5 hours, but boy did I have to piss! I hadn't gotten up once in that time. After relieving my bladder, I headed over to the Earl of Sandwich: a place that accepts comp money that I accrued while playing poker, and also a place that at least 1/2 the table recommended that I try. I had a Holiday sandwich which consisted of roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce inside of a toasted bun. It was like Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich. Pretty good. But even better than that was the tomato soup with croutons. Yummy.

Anyway, I intended to go up to the room for a bit and grab my jacket before heading out to the Orleans, but I never made it back out. It was already passed midnight, and I just got lazy. I plopped down on the bed and the next thing I knew all the lights went out. No, I didn't pass out. The lights literally went out. The hotel was performing a power outage test at 2am. I had forgotten about it even though there were signs posted everywhere. Now I *really* didn't feel like going out. I got under the covers, and now it's morning. And now I am writing Day's 3 blog post. :-)

Until Day 4!

Vegas 2010 Day 2

2010-12-13T13:48:00.002-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 2 - Sunday Dec 12th

I didn't do much of anything after that Aria session. I called Claire. We talked for a bit. She mentioned that if I could find a WiFi connection in a casino, that she'd like to use it to 'look around' and check out the atmosphere. Well, as we talked, I walked and walked. And before I knew it I was pretty far from MGM/Hooters. Starting to feel a little hungry, I stopped into the Denny's outside of Casino Royale.

I got a seat immediately and proceeded to pull out the new 11" MacBook Air (which I love, totally worth it) to begin blogging. I ordered some pancakes, bacon (or "bake-it" as Kenzie calls it), crispy hashbrowns, a cup of coffee and an orange juice. You may have noticed that I didn't order eggs. There's a reason for that: they're fucking disgusting. I hate eggs. Anyway, I started writing my Day 1 blog (which you've probably already read), finished my breakfast then headed out.

I did a quick search for free WiFi hotspots on the Strip. Yes, I'd normally use my 3G connection on my iPhone for net access, but FaceTime, by default, requires a WiFi connection. I found that the Venetian poker room offered WiFi, and as luck would have it, I was nearby.

I headed over to the poker room, and it looked rather dead. It was the early morning after all. There were a couple of people waiting around for a seat, but there were only 3 tables running. I called Claire up, and we FaceTimed for a bit. I showed her and the kids the casino, but strangely there were no Xmas decorations to be found. Still, the Venetian is a nice hotel, and the kids just loved seeing their Daddy on the phone. It's kind of strange to think that my kids will not have known a period of time where cable TV, wireless phones, the internet, large flat-screen TVs in nearly every room, on-demand movie viewing and shit like FaceTime didn't exist. Man, I love technology. In fact, I'd like to be re-incarnated in 100 years! Which religion believes in re-incarnation again?

Anyway, I contemplated playing at the Venetian, but I was so damned tired, and I run so bad there that I decided to just find a place to sit so I could finish my Day 1 blog.

The sports book area was nearby. I headed in that direction and noticed a corner seat next to a power outlet. When you're a tech guy like me traveling, there are few things more exciting to see than a free-to-use, easily accessible power outlet. I sat down, plugged in my iPhone, my iPhone battery extender, and my MBA and proceeded to blog. When I started writing, there were hardly any people in the room. I kept my head down practically the whole time, and when I was finished, I looked up and was sort of startled to see a sea of people cheering on their bets, I mean, their teams. I guess I had noticed a lot of ruckus during touchdowns and big plays, but I had put in my earphones and was listening to Xmas music the whole time.

After posting my Day 1 blog entry, I started walking South. I initially intended to catch a bus, but the bus stop I found didn't sell an all-week pass that I wanted. So I just kept walking. It was hot by now. I had to take off my jacket as I was beginning to sweat. I stopped and took pictures of some stuff and posted them to my Twitter account (see http://twitter.com/RobNava). And just kept walking. I was getting pretty tired by the time I made it to Hooters.

It was only 1pm, but I was hoping to be able to check-in a bit early. As luck would have it, they had a room available for me. Around this time, I started to feel really weak. I've had this feeling before. Every so often when I do something physical (like walk a long ass way in a jacket during hot weather) I get low blood-sugar levels. I feel faint and weak. I barely made it up to my room. I needed sugar, and fast.

With no choice, I limped into the Hooters restaurant again. I didn't really want to eat there twice in two days, but I knew I wasn't going to make it anywhere else. I was seated immediately. I explained to the waitress that I was experiencing low blood-sugar, and that I needed her to bring me a keylime pie and a Pepsi ASAP. She was pretty helpful and returned with the sugar I needed. I had about 1/3 of the pie and the full glass of Pepsi, and I slowly started to feel better. Since I was there, I ordered some boneless wings. They were fucking horrible. My stomach started to hurt.

I made it back to my room, showered and fucked around on the net for a while. Getting caught up on the latest sports news and aimlessly wandering wikipedia entries. I was hoping to just get sleepy, but I didn't actually fall asleep until around 6pm.

Next thing I knew it was daybreak. I've been lounging around my room all morning. And now it's time to begin Day 3...

Vegas 2010 Day 1

2010-12-12T13:54:00.002-06:00

Vegas 2010 Day 1 - Saturday Dec 11th

This trip started out on the right foot for once. I showed up about 1 hour before my flight (i.e. "late") and decided to use curbside checkin to save time. I had read someplace that the proper tip for skycaps was $5 per bag. So I readied up a $10 bill for my two bags as the friendly skycap checked in my baggage. I gave him the $10, and he said, "Let me get you some change." I paused for a second. I didn't want him to think I was a cheapskate, so I replied "That's OK, just take it." He reiterated, "No, I'll get you some change," and smiled. At this point, I was like… well, shit, OK. I don't want to offend this guy. I gave him $5. He bid me a good day, and I was on my way.

I walked into the dreaded security area and the line was long, but honestly, I'd seen longer. I snaked my way through the empty parts of the waiting area and when I got to the end of the line, one of the Homeland Security agents made an announcement: "Just FYI, folks, the security checkin on the other side of this concourse has no line if anyone wants to head over there." Sounded good to me. I walked a short distance to the other security checkin, and sure enough, there was absolute no line. I even got through security without a cavity search, a overly aggressive patdown or a naked X-ray picture. I got to my gate with time to spare.

I sat down for about 10 minutes when I heard a Southwest agent make an announcement. They oversold the flight and were taking volunteers to get bumped to the next flight out, which was 30 mins later and went through LA. Volunteers would get there about 3 hours later, but they'd also get $300 in flight credit for the inconvenience. Before the announcement was even completed, I was on my way to the counter. I'd never had the opportunity to volunteer for a bump+credit before, but since I had all the time in the world, I figured, why not?

When I got to the counter, I was informed that I was first one on the volunteer list. They sent me back to my seat to await the final decision on whether to bump me or not, but before too long they called me back up and promptly issued me a $424.70 Southwest voucher that was good for a year. $424.70? Not $300? Apparently, I'd misheard the announcement. They were giving $300 in credit ON TOP of however much I'd paid for my original ticket. Sweet! My flight to LA was smooth, and I didn't have to sit next to a smelly fat dude. My flight from LA to Vegas was also smooth. I even got a window seat. Things were definitely off to a good start.

I arrived in Vegas at 8pm… .just about 3 hours later than originally planned. Nice way to make $400+ in flight credit, eh?

I took a taxi to the Hooters Casino. I decided to stay there because it was cheap, and I was gonna have Hooters for dinner anyway. Of course, I wasn't checking in until Sunday as I never get a hotel on the first night… I figure it's a waste. So I checked in my bags at the bell desk to have the hold my shit for the night, had dinner, then headed out to my first session across the street...

Session 1: MGM $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $200 Out:$401 Time: 3 hours

This wasn't particularly interesting. The table was pretty meek. Not a whole lot of preflop raising, and re-raises and check-raises tended to induce folds more than I'd come to expect. I played nice, tight, solid poker. Continuation bet a few times, check-raised big hands, etc. Nothing too fancy. I ended up +$201 and left mostly because I couldn't concentrate on the game anymore as a terrible cover band had begun playing really, really, really, fucking loudly on a stage right outside the poker area. I mean, we couldn't even hear the dealer most times. It was bad. Did I mention that they sucked? The played the worst renditions of Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Child O' Mine that you can possible imagine. Anyway, I cashed out and headed over to my old standby poker room… Excalibur.

Session 2: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
In: $200 Out: $235 Time: 2.5 hours

This place used to make me tons of money. It was my most profitable poker room for a long time. Think about it. This is a family casino. Lots of players here are Moms/Dads just getting away from the spouse/kids for a few hours to play some poker. They're fucking horrible. But over the last few visits, it's been getting harder and harder to get good games going here. The table I played at during this session was nearly dead silent. I even tried to joke with the dealer about what he had done to the table to kill the energy, but either he didn't hear me, or he just totally blew me off. In any case, I started to get really, really sleepy. This table was just dead. No action. No money. No fun. I took my $35 profit, and headed out to one of the newer, larger poker rooms at Aria.

Sesstion 3: Aria $1/$3 NL Hold 'Em
In: $500 Out: $592 Time: 4 hours

I've had bad luck at Aria. This place and The Venetian always seem to be death for me. It's not that I don't get my money in good, it's that I just get sucked out on a lot at these places for some reason. I know it's a coincidence, but it still really sucks. Anyway, when I got there, they had a seat for me at a short handed table. Before long, a few people busted out/cashed out, and they sent us to another table. (BTW, Aria plays 9 handed MAX while most other places play 10 MAX.)

Within a few hands at my new table I ended up with Q6o in the big blind. There were just some limp ins, so I checked. Flop comes Qc 6c 2c. Well, that's sorta good… at least for a 7 handed table with just some limp ins. I lead out for $6. Got 1 caller, and then got raised to $16. I decided to test the waters here and I re-raised to $45. This guy thinks for maybe 3 seconds and then goes all-in for another $47. Oops. :-( Most of the time I fold this, but I didn't for some reason. I was pretty sure he had a flush or a set. Something better than Q6 for two pair for sure. But I just couldn't fold. I called. Blank. Blank. I flip over 2 pair, guy flips over Ac 8c for a flopped nut flush. :-(

This knocks me down to about $100 or so. Two hands later I pick up 33 on the button. I call a raise to $6 hoping desperately to hit a set, but the big blind raises to $22. Call. Call. Fuck. Oh, well. I hoped to get lucky, and I call. The flop is 4c 5h 8h. $40 bet, then a call. Fuck that. I fold. :-(

A play a few more hands and find myself down to $40. I decide that if I make it to the button, I'll add-on $100 more. Sure enough, I get to the button, and I add $100. I play a few more hands and find myself back to to about $90. Then, I picked up 7c 7s in the small blind. I call the $3 big blind and see a flop cheap. The flop comes 8h 7d 2s. I lead out for $15. Big Blind calls. Another two call as well. Shit. That's not good. I need to boat up! Turn comes 5h. Ummm. Gross. I still bet it. I make it $20 to go. Big Blind calls again, the rest fold. River comes a 9h. Grosser. One card straight is out there now. I had already decided I was gonna push, so I do. $52 and All-In. Big Blind insta-calls. Shit. Shit. Shit. He's got a 6? Nope. Motherfucker has Ah Qh. Runner runner flush. Gay. I have no idea what he was doing calling on the flop with A high, no draw. Anyway, I rebuy for $200.

A few rounds later, I'm still sitting on about $200. I picked up QQ. Where? Again in the fucking blinds. Why do all my big hands come in the blinds? Jesus. Anyway, I'm small blind. Someone bet $10 early and got two callers. I sorta like this, right? I make it $50 and hope to take down around $30 with no flop. Big Blind (same guy as before) has other ideas. He thinks for a long time and flat calls. Whoa. $50 flat call from the Big Blind? The original raiser folds. Another folds. Then the cutoff guy thinks for a while and calls too. Holy shit. OK, well I'm just hoping for a Q or a tiny flop. 9s 5h 4c. Wow. About as good as it gets without flopping a Q. I decide that I don't want any more action and push for $147. If they flopped a set, oh fucking well. Big Blind agonizes contemplating my all-in. What the hell does this guy have? JJ? TT? It has to be Jacks, right? He calls! Damn. Well, I think I'm winning. The cutoff folds. I'm a bit worried, but still pretty confident that I'm winning at this point. I show the cutoff guy my QQ and he says "Dude, you're good right now." We both think that Big Blind must have JJ. Cutoff says he folded AJ, so that's good. I'm feeling a bit better now. I flip over my QQ, Big Blind flips over KK. What the fuck?!? Seriously? No re-raise preflop? Agonizing forever on the flop all-in? It was obvious that cutoff guy was folding. I don't think he was acting trying to get cutoff guy to call. I think he was contemplating folding. I mean, did he really put my on AA? C'mon. You gotta call with KK there. And there's that bad Aria luck. This time I'm not getting sucked out on, but that's just a bad time to pick up QQ don't you think? Anyway, dejected, I see a J on the turn and then… a Q on the river! Fuck yeah! I'll take it, and I'm not apologizing either! :-) That puts me up to about $450. Just shy of my $500 worth of buy-ins.

I almost decide to cash out and cut my losses, literally. I never run good at Aria, and I just sucked out on KK. I should leave. But, I didn't. I played for a while longer, then the table broke again. Now I was down to $410. I couldn't leave $90 down when I couldn't leave $50 down, right? So what do I do? I move to another table with $410 to play with big stacks that I know nothing about. Smart.

I lose a few pots and before I know it, I'm under $400 now. Sad times. Then I pick up AQo in the small blind. (Where else do I pick up big hands? Nowhere.) I raise to $15 after a bunch of limping. I get called by 2 players. Both huge stacks. The flop is Qs 7h 2h. There's a flush draw, but that's still a good flop for AQo. I lead out for $25. One folds. One caller. Hmmm. Turn is a harmless 4c. I bet $65. Guy thinks for a while, and calls. Jesus. There are two hearts on the board. He's on a flush draw right? Maybe a pair of Queens and a flush draw? River is a blank. Do I check? Does he have a set or some shitty two pair? I consider checking for only a second, but then I quickly realize that that could put me in a position where I could be faced with a huge bet (and decision to make) if I do check. I quickly dismiss that idea and lead out for another $65. Now he's agonizing. Man, maybe he doesn't have a flush draw. A weak two pair? Shit, man. Just fold. Fold. Fold. I can't be good if he calls another $65. He calls. Fuck. I show AQ for Top Pair, Top Kicker, and he frowns and mucks. "I had kicker problems," he says. Whew! He had to have had KQ. Nothing else made sense. In any case, now I'm over $600. :-) I play a few more hands and cash out $592 shortly thereafter. That was a grueling session.

More to come later! Stay tuned!

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (11/17)

2010-11-17T14:09:00.005-06:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 11/17 - Megamind

#1 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Madison
Notes: First things first: I know a lot of people will question this being in the top spot. This movie isn't for everybody. In fact, it's failing pretty miserably at the box office right now, and I'm not surprised. A lot of people will dismiss it as a "video game movie" or a "comic book movie", and that's unfortunate. I read a review (after watching it for myself) saying that SPVTW wouldn't reach anyone over the age of 25. This is nonsense. I'm in the upper half of "the mid 30's", and it affected me more than any other movie I've seen this year. Sure, I grew up on video games when they came on cartridges ("tapes" to my parents) and MTV before the advent of reality shows, but I mean, I connected with this movie on a level beyond the Zelda references and pop-up video presentation. Regardless of what the trailers and comic and video game blogs would have you believe, this movie is about interpersonal relationships between friends, lovers and siblings. Most people won't look past the computer graphics and ADD presentation, but somehow, it affected me. I'm not going to say that I related to it on a personal level because Scott's life and my life are quite dissimilar, but it made me re-evaluate and think about my own relationships. It may appear like I'm reading too much into a silly popcorn flick, but trust me, I wasn't going into this movie with a film student demeanor. I expected what everyone else expected: a bunch of pretty colors and nerdy references. But I saw what I saw and felt what I felt. And I felt genuinely bad for the some of the characters. Hell, I dreamt about them. You see, while the actual ending of the movie was fine, I personally saw no 'good' way to end the movie. So I think I subconsciously continued the movie in my head. And any movie that can make me do that deserves 4 stars and the top spot in my list. This movie is far more than it pretends to be, but I don't expect most people to understand, and that makes me a bit sad.

#2 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#3 Inception (****)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#4 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#5 The Other Guys (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Claire
Notes: I fully admit that I had written off this movie based solely on the trailer. It looked horrible. But after a multitude of "Hey, it was pretty good!"s from a few sources and an offer to watch the kids from my sister-in-law just so that we could see the movie, I couldn't NOT go see it. And, yep, it was indeed pretty good! There were some very funny exchanges between Will Ferrell and Marky Mark, and a lot of over the top action. The slow-mo bar scene was brilliant. I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. The plot was absolutely throwaway garbage and simply existed to tie in the scenes in some loose fashion. This movie was just -made- to be chopped up into 30 3 minute youtube clips.

#6 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but it's also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#7 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#8 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#9 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#10 #Machete (***)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Claire
Notes: Robert Rodriguez sure knows how to make a schlocky 1970's film in the 21st Century. If Planet Terror and Grindhouse were his tribute to the 1970's, this is his re-imagining of the genre. It was crude, rude and yes, even tattooed. But all in all it was fun, and exactly what I was expecting. One has to wonder though: if this film was made by a no-name director, would it even have been screened at mainstream theaters? Scott Sander's tribute to the 1970's Blaxploitation genre "Black Dynamite" was every bit as good as Rodriguez's "Machete", but have you even heard of that film? Didn't think so. P.S. It's good to see Don Johnson finding work again. :-)

#11 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#12 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#13 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#14 Megamind (***) NEW
Place: 3D at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Madison
Notes: Has the 3D effect in movies been lost on me? I don't even notice it anymore. I paid $25.50 for Madison and I to see Megamind in 3D in an XD theater yet I cannot recall a single scene of the movie where the 3D was memorable. Maybe that's a good thing? Maybe I should be glad that 3D use in movies has gotten to the point where filmmakers don't feel the need to shoot harpoons and pop out eyes (http://bit.ly/h3KRCB) at the audience anymore. I admit I do like the added depth of 3D. So maybe the effect isn't lost on me, but it simply has come into its own. After all, when's the last time I noticed a film's use of color? (Actually, that would be either The Wizard of Oz or maybe The Nightmare Before Xmas.) And no one notices surround sound anymore either, right? It's just expected. So is 3D is here to stay (this time)? Can it become the norm? Well, then there is the issue with those darn glassses. They make everything all dark and shit. And I *hate* it when I forget to wear contacts, and I go to a 3D movie. 3D glasses over your prescription glasses... yeah, not fun. Wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something... oh, the movie! Megamind. Yeah, it was pretty good. Will Ferrell is still funny. Brad Pitt is barely in the movie though. Not that I went to see the movie to hear Brad Pitt's voice, but seriously, totally lie in marketing. He's in like 10% of the movie.

#15 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (***)
Place: 3D at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Madison
Notes: Honestly, I expected to like this more than I did. I mean, I liked it. But, well, I just expected more "something". I can't quite place what that "something" is... even now. I remember thinking that the trailers were breathtaking. And I do have to admit that this is probably the most technically proficient CG movie I've ever seen. The water and feather details were amazing. The 3D was used well. None of that "Comin' at Ya'" 3D crap. Honestly, with the resurgence of 3D in the late 2000's/early 2010's, I think we've kinda gotten passed that. I rarely see movies throwing spears toward the audience anymore. But, back to the movie. It was good. Voice acting was solid. The script was solid. The plot wasn't too preachy or anything like that. I dunno. It was solid movie with breathtaking CG. Nothing more to say really.

#16 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#17 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#18 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#19 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#20 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultural gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#21 The Last Exorcism (**)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: This was one of the WORST movie-going experience of my life. It was even worse than the discount cinema experience (see the 'Splice' review!) Claire and I went to the 10:00pm showing on the Saturday of opening weekend. We expected it to be packed as I had heard some good things about the movie on a News 8 Austin movie review. (They gave it a 6 out of 8.) We got there around 9:15p and rushed to the ticket booth. As we approached, we noticed two large groups of black kids ranged from maybe 15 to 25 all huddled right in front of it. At first we thought they might have been 'in line' but, no, they were content just hanging out in front of the ticket booth for some reason. After we made our way around the crowd and got tickets, we made a beeline for the theater. To our surprise, even though it was just 35 minutes until showtime, there were only 3 people in the theater. We decided that we could both get snacks together since the theater was nearly empty. When we got to the lobby, the crowd of black kids was now huddled in front of the concession stand. Why? I haven't a clue, but there they were. Still, we worked our way passed them, got our snacks, and returned to the theater with plenty of time to spare. We sat in the 5th row, right in the middle. About 10 'til 10, two overweight ghetto girls plopped themselves right next to Claire and I. The one to my left could have passed for a 'Precious' stunt double. The one to Claire's right was white and wore about a pound of make-up. They both immediately pulled out their cell phones and started texting away. Yay. Through the previews and into the movie they texted. I noticed that the crowd seemed to be very loud even as the movie started. I looked around and was shocked to see that 70-75% of the crowd was black and/or ghetto. I checked my ticket stub. Nope, it wasn't a Friday movie we'd ventured into by accident. We slunked into our seats. They got louder and more rowdy. One of the texting girls kept smacking her mouth and shushing people so loudly that she was a disturbance herself. It was more than a bit ironic. Claire asked me if we should leave, but since we rarely get to go to the movies without the kids, I suggested that we just put up with it for a while longer. It got worse. People started laughing at the tense parts and yelling "That's my Nigga!" at the screen. From the 5th row, I counted 6 people texting/on their phones during the movie. (Side Note: They all had shitty phones!) By the end of the movie, I was furious. I've never once complained to theater management for anything, but I was heading right for the nearest manager as soon as the credits began to roll... not to get my money back, but simply to let him know that his ushers were worthless. As it turned out, I stumbled upon another patron complaining to the manager about the very same movie experience. I joined in and before too long, we were joined by another couple looking to complain. The manager seemed less that apologetic. He was more annoyed than anything, but he finally offered our money back. Horrible. The funny thing is that we were considering seeing the movie at Gold Class Cinema. Talk about the other end of the spectrum! Oh, and the movie? The last act needed a re-write. The first 2/3's of the movie were pretty enthralling and creepy. The wrapup was well... not consistent with the rest of the movie. Imagine if at the end of an Indiana Jones movie, it was all due to aliens. Wouldn't that be a jarring WTF? moment? Oh, wait.

#22 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#23 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#24 Predators (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#25 Splice (**)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#26 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#27 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#28 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#29 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (10/21)

2010-10-21T02:28:00.005-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 10/21 - Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

#1 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Madison
Notes: First things first: I know a lot of people will question this being in the top spot. This movie isn't for everybody. In fact, it's failing pretty miserably at the box office right now, and I'm not surprised. A lot of people will dismiss it as a "video game movie" or a "comic book movie", and that's unfortunate. I read a review (after watching it for myself) saying that SPVTW wouldn't reach anyone over the age of 25. This is nonsense. I'm in the upper half of "the mid 30's", and it affected me more than any other movie I've seen this year. Sure, I grew up on video games when they came on cartridges ("tapes" to my parents) and MTV before the advent of reality shows, but I mean, I connected with this movie on a level beyond the Zelda references and pop-up video presentation. Regardless of what the trailers and comic and video game blogs would have you believe, this movie is about interpersonal relationships between friends, lovers and siblings. Most people won't look past the computer graphics and ADD presentation, but somehow, it affected me. I'm not going to say that I related to it on a personal level because Scott's life and my life are quite dissimilar, but it made me re-evaluate and think about my own relationships. It may appear like I'm reading too much into a silly popcorn flick, but trust me, I wasn't going into this movie with a film student demeanor. I expected what everyone else expected: a bunch of pretty colors and nerdy references. But I saw what I saw and felt what I felt. And I felt genuinely bad for the some of the characters. Hell, I dreamt about them. You see, while the actual ending of the movie was fine, I personally saw no 'good' way to end the movie. So I think I subconsciously continued the movie in my head. And any movie that can make me do that deserves 4 stars and the top spot in my list. This movie is far more than it pretends to be, but I don't expect most people to understand, and that makes me a bit sad.

#2 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#3 Inception (****)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#4 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#5 The Other Guys (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Claire
Notes: I fully admit that I had written off this movie based solely on the trailer. It looked horrible. But after a multitude of "Hey, it was pretty good!"s from a few sources and an offer to watch the kids from my sister-in-law just so that we could see the movie, I couldn't NOT go see it. And, yep, it was indeed pretty good! There were some very funny exchanges between Will Ferrell and Marky Mark, and a lot of over the top action. The slow-mo bar scene was brilliant. I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. The plot was absolutely throwaway garbage and simply existed to tie in the scenes in some loose fashion. This movie was just -made- to be chopped up into 30 3 minute youtube clips.

#6 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but it's also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#7 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#8 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#9 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#10 #Machete (***)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Claire
Notes: Robert Rodriguez sure knows how to make a schlocky 1970's film in the 21st Century. If Planet Terror and Grindhouse were his tribute to the 1970's, this is his re-imagining of the genre. It was crude, rude and yes, even tattooed. But all in all it was fun, and exactly what I was expecting. One has to wonder though: if this film was made by a no-name director, would it even have been screened at mainstream theaters? Scott Sander's tribute to the 1970's Blaxploitation genre "Black Dynamite" was every bit as good as Rodriguez's "Machete", but have you even heard of that film? Didn't think so. P.S. It's good to see Don Johnson finding work again. :-)

#11 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#12 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#13 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#14 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (***) NEW
Place: 3D at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Madison
Notes: Honestly, I expected to like this more than I did. I mean, I liked it. But, well, I just expected more "something". I can't quite place what that "something" is... even now. I remember thinking that the trailers were breathtaking. And I do have to admit that this is probably the most technically proficient CG movie I've ever seen. The water and feather details were amazing. The 3D was used well. None of that "Comin' at Ya'" 3D crap. Honestly, with the resurgence of 3D in the late 2000's/early 2010's, I think we've kinda gotten passed that. I rarely see movies throwing spears toward the audience anymore. But, back to the movie. It was good. Voice acting was solid. The script was solid. The plot wasn't too preachy or anything like that. I dunno. It was solid movie with breathtaking CG. Nothing more to say really.

#15 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#16 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#17 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#18 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#19 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultural gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#20 The Last Exorcism (**)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: This was one of the WORST movie-going experience of my life. It was even worse than the discount cinema experience (see the 'Splice' review!) Claire and I went to the 10:00pm showing on the Saturday of opening weekend. We expected it to be packed as I had heard some good things about the movie on a News 8 Austin movie review. (They gave it a 6 out of 8.) We got there around 9:15p and rushed to the ticket booth. As we approached, we noticed two large groups of black kids ranged from maybe 15 to 25 all huddled right in front of it. At first we thought they might have been 'in line' but, no, they were content just hanging out in front of the ticket booth for some reason. After we made our way around the crowd and got tickets, we made a beeline for the theater. To our surprise, even though it was just 35 minutes until showtime, there were only 3 people in the theater. We decided that we could both get snacks together since the theater was nearly empty. When we got to the lobby, the crowd of black kids was now huddled in front of the concession stand. Why? I haven't a clue, but there they were. Still, we worked our way passed them, got our snacks, and returned to the theater with plenty of time to spare. We sat in the 5th row, right in the middle. About 10 'til 10, two overweight ghetto girls plopped themselves right next to Claire and I. The one to my left could have passed for a 'Precious' stunt double. The one to Claire's right was white and wore about a pound of make-up. They both immediately pulled out their cell phones and started texting away. Yay. Through the previews and into the movie they texted. I noticed that the crowd seemed to be very loud even as the movie started. I looked around and was shocked to see that 70-75% of the crowd was black and/or ghetto. I checked my ticket stub. Nope, it wasn't a Friday movie we'd ventured into by accident. We slunked into our seats. They got louder and more rowdy. One of the texting girls kept smacking her mouth and shushing people so loudly that she was a disturbance herself. It was more than a bit ironic. Claire asked me if we should leave, but since we rarely get to go to the movies without the kids, I suggested that we just put up with it for a while longer. It got worse. People started laughing at the tense parts and yelling "That's my Nigga!" at the screen. From the 5th row, I counted 6 people texting/on their phones during the movie. (Side Note: They all had shitty phones!) By the end of the movie, I was furious. I've never once complained to theater management for anything, but I was heading right for the nearest manager as soon as the credits began to roll... not to get my money back, but simply to let him know that his ushers were worthless. As it turned out, I stumbled upon another patron complaining to the manager about the very same movie experience. I joined in and before too long, we were joined by another couple looking to complain. The manager seemed less that apologetic. He was more annoyed than anything, but he finally offered our money back. Horrible. The funny thing is that we were considering seeing the movie at Gold Class Cinema. Talk about the other end of the spectrum! Oh, and the movie? The last act needed a re-write. The first 2/3's of the movie were pretty enthralling and creepy. The wrapup was well... not consistent with the rest of the movie. Imagine if at the end of an Indiana Jones movie, it was all due to aliens. Wouldn't that be a jarring WTF? moment? Oh, wait.

#21 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#22 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#23 Predators (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#24 Splice (**)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#25 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#26 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#27 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#28 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (9/24)

2010-09-02T11:32:00.004-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 9/24 - The Last Exorcism and Machete

#1 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Madison
Notes: First things first: I know a lot of people will question this being in the top spot. This movie isn't for everybody. In fact, it's failing pretty miserably at the box office right now, and I'm not surprised. A lot of people will dismiss it as a "video game movie" or a "comic book movie", and that's unfortunate. I read a review (after watching it for myself) saying that SPVTW wouldn't reach anyone over the age of 25. This is nonsense. I'm in the upper half of "the mid 30's", and it affected me more than any other movie I've seen this year. Sure, I grew up on video games when they came on cartridges ("tapes" to my parents) and MTV before the advent of reality shows, but I mean, I connected with this movie on a level beyond the Zelda references and pop-up video presentation. Regardless of what the trailers and comic and video game blogs would have you believe, this movie is about interpersonal relationships between friends, lovers and siblings. Most people won't look past the computer graphics and ADD presentation, but somehow, it affected me. I'm not going to say that I related to it on a personal level because Scott's life and my life are quite dissimilar, but it made me re-evaluate and think about my own relationships. It may appear like I'm reading too much into a silly popcorn flick, but trust me, I wasn't going into this movie with a film student demeanor. I expected what everyone else expected: a bunch of pretty colors and nerdy references. But I saw what I saw and felt what I felt. And I felt genuinely bad for the some of the characters. Hell, I dreamt about them. You see, while the actual ending of the movie was fine, I personally saw no 'good' way to end the movie. So I think I subconsciously continued the movie in my head. And any movie that can make me do that deserves 4 stars and the top spot in my list. This movie is far more than it pretends to be, but I don't expect most people to understand, and that makes me a bit sad.

#2 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#3 Inception (****)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#4 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#5 The Other Guys (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Claire
Notes: I fully admit that I had written off this movie based solely on the trailer. It looked horrible. But after a multitude of "Hey, it was pretty good!"s from a few sources and an offer to watch the kids from my sister-in-law just so that we could see the movie, I couldn't NOT go see it. And, yep, it was indeed pretty good! There were some very funny exchanges between Will Ferrell and Marky Mark, and a lot of over the top action. The slow-mo bar scene was brilliant. I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. The plot was absolutely throwaway garbage and simply existed to tie in the scenes in some loose fashion. This movie was just -made- to be chopped up into 30 3 minute youtube clips.

#6 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#7 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#8 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#9 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#10 #Machete (***) NEW
Place: Alamo Drafthouse Village w/Claire
Notes: Robert Rodriguez sure knows how to make a schlocky 1970's film in the 21st Century. If Planet Terror and Grindhouse were his tribute to the 1970's, this is his re-imagining of the genre. It was crude, rude and yes, even tattooed. But all in all it was fun, and exactly what I was expecting. One has to wonder though: if this film was made by a no-name director, would it even have been screened at mainstream theaters? Scott Sander's tribute to the 1970's Blaxploitation genre "Black Dynamite" was every bit as good as Rodriguez's "Machete", but have you even heard of that film? Didn't think so. P.S. It's good see Don Johnson finding work again. :-)

#11 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#12 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#13 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#14 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#15 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#16 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#17 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#18 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#19 The Last Exorcism (**) NEW
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: This was one of the WORST movie-going experience of my life. It was even worse than the discount cinema experience (see the 'Splice' review!) Claire and I went to the 10:00pm showing on the Saturday of opening weekend. We expected it to be packed as I had heard some good things about the movie on a News 8 Austin movie review. (They gave it a 6 out of 8.) We got there around 9:15p and rushed to the ticket booth. As we approached, we noticed two large groups of black kids ranged from maybe 15 to 25 all huddled right in front of it. At first we thought they might have been 'in line' but, no, they were content just hanging out in front of the ticket booth for some reason. After we made our way around the crowd and got tickets we made a beeline for the theater. To our surprise, even though it was just 35 minutes until showtime, there were only 3 people in the theater. We decided that we could both get snacks together since the theater was nearly empty. When we got to the lobby, the crowd of black kids was now huddled in front of the concession stand. Why? I haven't a clue, but they there were. Still, we worked our way passed them, got our snacks, and returned to the theater with plenty of time to spare. We sat in the 5th row, right in the middle. About 10 'til 10, two overweight ghetto girls plopped themselves right next to Claire and I. The one to my left could have passed for a 'Precious' stunt double. The one to Claire's right was white and wore about a pound of make-up. They both immediately pulled out their cell phones and started texting away. Yay. Through the previews and into the movie they texted. I noticed that the crowd seemed to be very loud even as the movie started. I looked around and was shocked to see that 70-75% of the crowd was black and/or ghetto. I checked my ticket stub. Nope, it wasn't a Friday movie we'd ventured into by accident. We slunked into our seats. They got louder and more rowdy. One of the texting girls kept smacking her mouth and shushing people so loudly that she was a disturbance herself. It was more than a bit ironic. Claire asked me if we should leave, but since we rarely get to go to the movies without the kids, I suggested that we just put up with it for a while longer. It got worse. People started laughing at the tense parts and yelling "That's my Nigga!" at the screen. From the 5th row, I counted 6 people texting/on their phones during the movie. (Side Note: They all had shitty phones!) By the end of the movie, I was furious. I've never once complained to theater management for anything, but I was heading right for the nearest manager as soon as the credits began to roll... not to get my money back, but simply to let him know that his ushers were worthless. As it turned out, I stumbled upon another patron complaining to the manager about the very same movie experience. I joined in and before too long, we were joined by another couple looking to complain. The manager seemed less that apologetic. He was more annoyed than anything, but he finally offered our money back. Horrible. The funny thing is that we were considering seeing the movie at Gold Class Cinema. Talk about the other end of the spectrum! Oh, and the movie? The last act needed a re-write. The first 2/3's of the movie were pretty enthralling and creepy. The wrapup was well... not consistent with the rest of the movie. Imagine if at the end of an Indiana Jones movie, it was all due to aliens. Wouldn't that be a jarring WTF? moment? Oh, wait.

#20 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#21 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#22 Predators (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#23 Splice (**)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#24 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#25 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#26 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#27 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (8/16)

2010-08-16T08:48:00.004-05:00

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (8/12)

2010-08-12T12:20:00.002-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 8/12 - The Other Guys

#1 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#2 Inception (****)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#3 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#4 The Other Guys (***1/2) NEW
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Claire
Notes: I fully admit that I had written off this movie based solely on the trailer. It looked horrible. But after a multitude of "Hey, it was pretty good!"s from a few sources and an offer to watch the kids from my sister-in-law just so that we could see the movie, I couldn't NOT go see it. And, yep, it was indeed pretty good! There were some very funny exchanges between Will Ferrell and Marky Mark, and a lot of over the top action. The slow-mo bar scene was brilliant. I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. The plot was absolutely throwaway garbage and simply existed to tie in the scenes in some loose fashion. This movie was just -made- to be chopped up into 30 3 minute youtube clips.

#5 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#6 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#7 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#8 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#9 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#10 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#11 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#12 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#13 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#14 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#15 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#16 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#17 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#18 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#19 Predators (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#20 Splice (**)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#21 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#22 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#23 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#24 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

Poker Shenanigans

2010-08-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

This isn't a Bad Beat Story, just a Holy-Shit-WTF? Beat Story.

I'm in early position playing 25c/50c NL Hold 'em at a buddy's house. I had showed up really late, and the table already had a lot of money on it for being such small stakes. The average stack is probably about $150. I've been playing for maybe an hour. I had originally bought in for $40 and am at about $75 or so at this point.

I'm first to act, and I look down at the King of Spades and the King of Clubs. Sweet! This table is playing pretty loose, but I haven't played a lot of hands so I'm not sure how much to bet to get just a *little* action. I don't want everyone on the table in on this hand. I've seen some horrendous suck-outs already. But I also don't want to just take down 75c in blinds either. I decide to raise to $5. Fold. Fold. Fold. Shit! There goes my action! Then a guy I've never seen at our games before announces a raise.

Now I've been watching 2 new guys at the table fold almost the entire time I've been here. This guys is one of them. Up until this point, he's been playing very passively so this raise definitely has my attention. He throws out a $5 chip to call and then reaches back for a $10 stack of ones and places it next to his $5 call. Then... he reaches back for more. "Whoa! That's enough," says the dealer, correctly stopping him from string betting. The guy looks confused. "I said 'Raise'," he protested. After the entire table explains Poker 101 to the guy, he begrudgingly returns the additional stack of $10 back to his chipstack.

Fold. Fold. Then I here, "All In!" You'll never guess from who... the *other* new guy that hasn't played any hands in the last hour. Great. These two guys sit and fold for over and hour. I get pocket kings, raise to $5 and now they're going nuts on me. I look at this guy's stack, he only has around $35. He's actually the small stack at the table. Fold. Fold. Fold around back to me. I look back down at my Kings. I mean, can I really fold this? No, I certainly can't fold KK for $35. Maybe Mr. Short Stack has something like a mid pair or a Suited Ace, and he saw a little bit of money out there so he decided to just push. Oh, well, fuck it. "I'm all in too," I announce.

New Guy #1 grimaces and shows his hole cards to his neighbor. Even though he shouldn't, his neighbor visibly dismisses New Guy #1's concern. New Guy #1 calls. Well, I can only hope New Guy #1 has QQ and feels committed, but I'm doubtful of that. There's no way he would have raised me and then called two all-ins with less.

Mr. Short Stack flips over the King of Diamonds and the King of Hearts. FUCK. That's gotta mean New Guy #1 has AA. Sure enough. New Guy #1 shows the Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts. Goddammit! This is so fucking lame. Well, I guess at least I have flush outs. Mr.Short Stack doesn't even have that as his Kings share the same suits as the New Guy #1's Aces. I'm about 3% to win and 1% to tie.

Wow. Make that 0% to win. The flop comes out three non-straightable diamonds. The turn is an Ace, but it doesn't matter. It's like twisting the knife in your oppoents heart after he's already dead. To be honest, I don't recall what the river card was, but it doesn't matter. That hand sucked.

Don't feel too bad for me though. I rebought, and about 3 hands later I had 88 with a flop of 866. I more than doubled up and left up for the night. That's poker.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (7/29)

2010-07-29T09:26:00.004-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 7/29 - Inception

#1 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#2 Inception (****)
Place: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Claire
Notes: You'll notice that I didn't see this at the Drafthouse or in an XD Cinemark theater. We couldn't make it to the Drafthouse in our allotted babysitter time, and we DID buy XD tickets, but the XD theater's right front speaker was blown so we had to exchange tickets for a standard theater. Standard theaters suck. That being said, this movie did not suck. In fact, it was very good. It's the love child of Vanilla Sky (Abre Los Ojos) and Memento from the night they invited over The Matrix for a threesome. I'm suprised that it's so popular as its non-sequential presentation and nested realities can be disorienting for the less cerebral moviegoers. Had Nolan not directed The Dark Knight, this movie would have been relegated to the art house theaters. I would definitely recommend that people watch this movie, but honestly, it's not the movie of the century the way some people would have you believe. I think what's happening is that Inception is the first non-traditional, non-straightforward movie that a lot of people have seen, so they are astounded. If all you normally see is shit like Predators, Transformers and Twilight, then Inception seems like it's from another world. If you're already fans of Primer or Memento, you won't be as impressed.

#3 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#4 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#5 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#6 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#7 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#8 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#9 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#10 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#11 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#12 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#13 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#14 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#15 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#16 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#17 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#18 Predators (**) NEW
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#19 Splice (**) NEW
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#20 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#21 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#22 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#23 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (7/22)

2010-07-22T10:19:00.002-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 7/22 - Splice, Predators

#1 Grease Sing-A-Along (****)
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#2 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#3 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#4 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#5 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#6 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#7 Exit through the Gift Shop (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#8 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#9 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#10 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#11 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#12 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#13 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#14 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#15 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#16 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#17 Predators (**) NEW
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Aaron
Notes: I've only seen the original Predator movie, and it's been a while since I've seen it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Predator 2 and the Aliens Vs. Predator series. In any case, this movie was OK. Decent amount of action. Throwaway plot. Pretty standard stuff. I have to mention that the CG was pretty shitty though. It had the worst CG fire I've ever seen.

#18 Splice (**) NEW
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Discount Theater by myself
Notes: It's an Adrien Brody double feature! (I saw this the week before Predators.) While I had low expectations for Predators, I had high expecations for Splice. I saw Forrest's enthusiastic Facebook posting about this movie which piqued my interest. Now, I had never seen a movie based on Forrest's recommendation, but he seemed like someone that can appreciate good cinema. He even cited the director's previous effort, Cube. I loved Cube. Splice kinda sucked though. Ridiculous plot. Almost no suspense or horror. Terrible CG. And the strangest/grossest sex scene ever. No more recommendations from Forrest.

#19 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#20 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#21 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#22 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (7/17)

2010-07-17T14:20:00.003-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 7/17 - Grease Sing-A-Long, Exit through the Gift Shop

#1 Grease Sing-A-Along (****) NEW
Place: Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar w/Audrey (subbing for Claire)
Notes: I hesitated to put this in at all because this movie originally came out in 1978, but I am including it for two reasons: 1) It is a movie that I saw in the theater in 2010 2) It's not technically the same movie. All the songs (except the intro theme song for some strange reason) have animated lyrics and extras on the screen. They decided to get creative when they animated the "Greased Lightning" lyrics because they say "shit" (#*@$) , "tit" (a picture of a cow showing her udder), "the chicks'll cream" (whipped cream), and "pussy" (a pussy cat, naturally). The animation was all well done. Apparently they spent $100,000 re-doing the film. It's definitely a new experience. FYI: Grease is the gayest movie I'll admit to loving. And the sing-a-long version is even more awesome.

#2 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#3 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#4 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#5 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#6 Despicable Me (***)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#7 Exit through the Gift Shop (***) NEW
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I saw this on Pete's recommendation. It's a documentary about street art. It was entertaining. There is no other way for me to describe it. It wasn't the best (King of Kong) or worst (Kurt and Courtney) documentary I've ever seen. The big hook, whether or not the entire thing was a hoax put on by Banksy, was irrelevant to me. I simply don't care. Unless you're really into documentaries or street art, I'd wait for it to show up on cable or on Netflix streaming.

#8 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#9 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#10 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#11 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#12 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#13 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#14 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#15 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#16 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#17 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#18 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#19 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#20 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (7/12)

2010-07-12T16:49:00.004-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 7/12 - Despicable Me

#1 Toy Story 3 (****)
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#2 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#3 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#4 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#5 Despicable Me (***) NEW
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Entire Family (including Mom/Dad/Sister)
Notes: My parents and sister hadn't seen a 3D film in a long time (i.e. they don't have a 5 year old) so they were pretty impressed with the visuals. I'm more jaded. They were good, not great. The story was actually a little different than I expected, in a good way. My sister and Claire got a little teary-eyed, but it's not a sob story movie. Overall, it's a well made, enjoyable movie.

#6 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#7 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#8 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#9 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#10 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#11 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#12 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#13 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#14 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#15 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#16 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#17 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#18 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (7/7)

2010-07-07T10:03:00.004-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 7/7 - The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid)

#1 Toy Story 3 (****) NEW
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#2 The Kung Fu Kid (aka The Karate Kid) (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek with Madison
Notes: I really enjoyed this re-make/re-imagining. I have nothing but praise for Jaden Smith. His acting was quite good. He showed good range. His athleticism and martial arts skills were infinitely more believable than Macchio's. I enjoyed noting the parallels between the original movie and the new one. The story is still as far fetched as ever, but also still as fun. Jackie Chan was great too. The name is the worst part of this film as there is no karate in it.

#3 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#4 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#5 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#6 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#7 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#8 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#9 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#10 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#11 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#12 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#13 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#14 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#15 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#16 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#17 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

2010 Movies Relative Rankings (6/21)

2010-06-21T08:57:00.011-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (0 to 4 stars) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 6/21 - Toy Story 3 and Get Him to the Greek. Also changed format to be more readable.

#1 Toy Story 3 (****) NEW
Place: In 3D XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Superb writing and direction. Funny and heart warming. The 3D and CG-ness don't even matter.

#2 Kick-Ass (***1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl easily steals the show. I never read the comics so no comment on adaptation.

#3 How to Train Your Dragon (***1/2)
Place: 3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but not overly so. Good use of 3D.

#4 Iron Man 2 (***)
Place: In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit too unbelievable even for a comic book movie. Iron Man does not have memorable villains.

#5 Shutter Island (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I found it quite enjoyable.

#6 A Town Called Panic (***)
Place: Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
Notes: Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation, but technically, it's no where near the quality of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.

#7 Get Him to the Greek (***)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
Notes: I didn't know much about the film, but Pete had wanted to see it so I gave it a try. I knew nothing of Russell Brand going into this (his accent seemed almost fake at first.) The Drafhouse played his stand-up before the movie, and I could have watched just that for 2 hours. I found the movie very funny at times and more than a little bit sad in many places which I didn't expect. Couldn't stop thinking about how huge Jonah Hill was though.

#8 The Crazies (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of 28 Days Later.

#9 Prince of Persia (**1/2)
Place: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
Notes: Better than I expected, but not great. The CG was abundant. High end production. I thought Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.

#10 Shrek Forever After (**1/2)
Place: 3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
Notes: Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.

#11 A Nightmare on Elm Street (**)
Venue: Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
Notes: I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs to get fired. He looks like he has Down's Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive: isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.

#12 Alice in Wonderland (**)
Venue: 3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
Notes: I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but this didn't work out so well. Maybe because Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?

#13 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief (**)
Venue: Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
Notes: Say what you want in defense of the novels, but this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.

#14 Youth in Revolt (*1/2)
Venue: Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
Notes: I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out. That was a mistake. The story was terrible. The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He plays himself in every single goddamn movie.

#15 The Spy Next Door (*1/2)
Venue: Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
Notes: Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I didn't expect much, and that's what I got.

#16 Furry Vengeance (*)
Venue: Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
Notes: Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, terrible special effects), it's almost so bad that it's good. But it's still bad.

All my Xbox 360's

2010-06-18T15:58:00.002-05:00

01. Launch Xbox 360. Died after 2.5 years. Fixed.
02. Arcade Unit bought used while they were scarce. Sold to Sean.
03. Arcade Unit bought as 2nd unit for upstairs. Returned when I found Premium Version (#04)
04. Bought when I found a Premium 20GB version at GameStop while they were scarce. Went upstairs.
05. The Halo Edition X360. Sold #04 to pay for it. E74'd and fixed. CURRENTLY IN LIVING ROOM.
06. The 1st Elite. 1st with HDMI. Sold #01 (after being fixed) to Mike to buy it.
07. The Red Elite (Resident Evil SE). Sold #06 with a 20GB to buy it.
08. Bought another Red Elite after finding a better deal on Dell.com. Returned #07. DVD went bad. Fixed. CURRENTLY IN GAME ROOM.
09. Bought 3rd Xbox 360 Elite for bedroom. CURRENTLY IN BEDROOM.
10. Xbox 250GB Slim (TBD)

Places I like to eat at...

2010-06-07T17:50:00.004-05:00

Places I like to eat at...

As often as possible:
Tacodeli
Rudy's
Salt Lick
Chuy's
Homeslice
Rounders
Alamo Drafthouse

On occasion:
Hut's Hamburgers
Casa G's
Charlie's Steakhouse
Mangia
Saccone's
Freebirds
Serranos
Texadelphia
Pluckers
Whataburger
Hooters
Macoroni Grill
Olive Garden
Gattiland
Culver's

Special Occasions:
Gino's
Hula Hut
Maggiano's
Buca di Beppo
Alamo Cafe (San Antonio)
Mi Tierra (San Antonio)

2010 Movies Relative Rankings

2010-06-03T13:25:00.008-05:00

Here is the list of movies that I saw at the theater in 2010. They are rated (out of 10) and ranked relative to each other. Check for newer posts updating this list with new movies as I see them.

Last Update: 6/3 - Prince of Persia and A Town Called Panic added.


[New Rank - Old Rank - Highest Rank - (Score Out of 10) Movie/Notes] 
01 - 01 - 01 - (8) Kick-Ass
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek by myself
                   Enjoyable, aestheticized violence. Hit Girl
                   easily steals the show. I never read the
                   comics so no comment on adaptation.
02 - 02 - 02 - (8) How to Train Your Dragon 
                   3D Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
                   Better than I expected. A bit preachy, but
                   not overly so. Good use of 3D.
03 - 03 - 03 - (7) Iron Man 2 
                   In XD theater at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
                   I enjoyed it more than the original film. A bit
                   too unbelievable even for a comic book movie.
                   Iron Man does not have memorable villains.
04 - 04 - 04 - (7) Shutter Island 
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   Well acted and directed. Interesting plot albeit
                   with a pretty see-thru twist. Even still, I 
                   found it quite enjoyable.
05 - ** - 05 - (7) A Town Called Panic 
                   Drafthoue Ritz w/Aaron
                   Saw this subtitled. It's stop motion animation,
                   but technically, it's no where near the quality
                   of Henry Selick's work. It was funny, but less 
                   so than I expected. Better if you're drunk/high.
06 - 05 - 05 - (6) The Crazies
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   Reminded a bit of Left 4 Dead. Pretty standard
                   virus/zombie fare. It was basically a clone of
                   28 Days Later.
07 - ** - 06 - (6) Prince of Persia 
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Pete
                   Better than I expected, but not great. The CG
                   was abundant. High end production. I thought 
                   Chesty Jake was just fine as the Prince.
08 - 06 - 06 - (6) Shrek Forever After 
                   3D in XD at Cinemark Pflugerville w/Family
                   Shrek's cultrual gags -were- cool, but they've 
                   gotten stale. The underlying story is pretty 
                   weak. I've seen better (and worse) kid's films.
09 - 07 - 07 - (5) A Nightmare on Elm Street
                   Drafthouse Lake Creek w/Claire
                   I like Jackie Earle Haley, and he does a good job
                   as the new Freddy, but the make-up artist needs
                   to get fired. He looks like he has Down's 
                   Syndrome. Also, the scenes were repetitive:
                   isolate character, daydream, kill. Rinse. Repeat.
10 - 08 - 08 - (5) Alice in Wonderland
                   3D at Drafthouse Village Baby Day w/Family
                   I love Tim Burton's twisted take on things, but
                   this didn't work out so well.  Maybe because 
                   Alice in Wonderland is already pretty twisted?
11 - 09 - 09 - (4) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Lightning Thief
                   Cinemark Plfuger w/Maddie
                   Say what you want in defense of the novels, but 
                   this is clearly an attempt to cash in on Harry
                   Potter crowd. Far too little far too late.
12 - 10 - 10 - (3) Youth in Revolt 
                   Drafthouse Ritz Theater #2 w/Claire
                   I saw this because Master Pancake was sold out.
                   That was a mistake. The story was terrible.
                   The acting was mostly terrible. Michael Cera is
                   the least talented 'actor' in recent memory. He 
                   plays himself in every single goddamn movie. 
13 - 11 - 11 - (3) The Spy Next Door
                   Cinemark Pflugerville w/Maddie
                   Man, Jackie Chan. What are you doing? You've
                   fallen to Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) levels. I 
                   didn't expect much, and that's what I got.
14 - 12 - 12 - (2) Furry Vengeance 
                   Cinemark Round Rock Outlets w/Maddie
                   Madison loved this movie. And while it in no way
                   can be considered good cinema (luicrous plot, 
                   terrible special effects), it's -almost- so bad 
                   that it's good. But it's still bad.

Quick FAQ on Street Fighter IV Focus Attacks, by Rob.

2010-05-03T11:39:00.007-05:00

Wrote this up super quick for a friend...

What are a FA's properties?

- It is initiated by holding down MP+MK. You must be on the ground.
- Can be cancelled by dashing out. This is known as a FADC (Focus Attack Dash Cancel). It's very important.
- It absorbs ONE (non-armor breaking) hit. The absorbed hit does 'white damage' which will slowly recover if you are not hit while it's recovering.
- It absorbs both jumping and ground attacks.
- It does not absorb throws.
- You cannot die from 'white damage'.
- It can launch a (counter) attack hit by letting go of MK+MP.
- You can enter into the FA stance immediately after doing a special move. It will interrupt the special move animation with a FA animation.

What kind of attacks can you do?

- It has three levels of attacks.
- Level 1 pretty much acts like a normal attack.
- Level 2 will crumple stun if it hits.
- Level 3 is unblockable and will crumple stun your opponent.
- Level/Strength of attack is determined by how long you hold MP+MK.
- Not all characters have the same 'reach' on their attacks. Experiment with each.

What are some uses for FAs?

- Absorbing hits. This is especially useful for dealing with projectile chracters or for punishing (countering) jump in attacks. If you're far away, it's almost always a good idea to Dash Cancel out of the FA once the hit is absorbed. That way you're free to move/attack again.
- Building up your Revenge (Ultra) Meter. The white damage you take while aborbing hits will still build your Revenge Meter up even though you get that damage restored to your health bar. If you notice you're almost at enough Revenge Meter to get an Ultra. Try absorbing a fireball or something from a safe distance to get it over the top.
- Advancing on your oppoent without jumping. You can absorb an attack and then dash cancel forward to move closer to your opponent without taking real damage or jumping.
- Baiting people to do things like jump. If you start a FA, people might try to jump over you. If they do, then just Dash Back (B, B) to cancel out and punish their jump.
- Setting up combos or throws. If you FADC after certain special moves, you'll be free to unleash a big combo or Ultra or simply escape.
Example 1:
- Ryu does a dragon punch that connects. This normally pops the opponent up and Ryu goes up too and then comes back down.
- If Ryu connects with the DP and then FA, then Dashes (FADC), he'll pop the opponent up, but then be free to do his Ultra which will juggle the opponent.
- The command would look like this:
1. Dragon Punch: F, D, DF+P
2. FA: MP+MK
3. Dash Cancel: F, F (Don't let go of MP+MK until AFTER the dash comes out)
4. Ultra: D, DF, F, D, DF, F+PPP

Shorthand: DP, FADC, Ultra

Example 2: Let's say the Dragon Punch is blocked. That's OK. Now we can just change the ending to either a throw attempt or a dash away into safety.
1. Dragon Punch: F, D, DF+P
2. FA: MP+MK
3. Dash Cancel: F, F (Don't let go of MP+MK until AFTER the dash comes out)
4. Throw: LP+LK

or Dash Away to Safety

3. Dash Cancel Backwards: B, B (Don't let go of MP+MK until AFTER the dash comes out)
4. Phew! You cannot be punished for getting your DP blocked!

Tips (I'll update this as I think of new tips):
- Don't spam the dash cancels. Hit F,F or B,B exactly twice. Don't hit F,F,F,F. The dashes are buffered. So if you get attacked and you FA, let get of MP+MK to unleash your counter and and immediately hit F, F twice and only twice. This should absorb the hit, counter with your own hit, crumple stun the opponent and then dash you right up next to him ready for you to pounce. Don't worry that the action kinda pauses for a split second during the animation. The dash is buffered and it WILL come out.

Caveats:
- Remember: if you are hit while you are recovering white damage, the white damage will disappear, effectively making it 'real damage'.
- Don't absorb TOO many projectiles back to back, because you'll take lots of white damage... and all it takes is ONE jab and all that white damage turns to 'real damage'.
- Get to know your opponents auto-multi-hit attacks (like Ken's Dragon Punch, Ryu's Overhead Punch, Juri's Pinwheel, etc) because those will hit twice (or more) so fast that they'll break through the FA which can only absorb 1 hit.
- Get to know which attacks are "Armor Breaking". These will break right through any FA, even on 1 hit. You'll know it's armor breaking because you'll hear a sound like glass breaking and little glass shards animate on the screen at the point of the armor break.
- Do NOT overuse FAs. They are another weapon in your arsenal. Don't just FA all day. Use them to Mix up your game. Make them afraid to jump in or throw out random sweeps.

Vegas 2009 Days 1 and 2

2009-12-11T17:51:00.003-06:00

"Vegas 2009 Days 1 and 2"

Day 1

Well, it's that time of the year again... Vegas Time, Baby! I'm here for 14 days this year. Yeah, yeah, I know. That's a long time. I've heard it all before, but I know what I'm doing. I was here 10 days last year, and when I left, I felt like I still wasn't ready to go. So, I'll be fine. People that can only take Vegas for a few days are people that either 1) Lose or 2) Didn't come here to gamble. ;)

I took the 7:45pm direct flight out of Austin on Wednesday the 9th. Paying a little extra to take the direct flight was smart. Staying up 48 hours straight before taking my flight was NOT smart. Especially since I worked Wednesday. I mean, I was fine at work because my brain's being engaged, but afterwards... wow... yeah. Definitely not smart.

Now, usually I don't get a room the first night in Vegas. It's just a waste. I normally get there in the evening, and play all night and get a room the next day. But I knew that wasn't going to work this time. While waiting to board my plane, I started reading poker room reviews and found that the Startosphere had a pretty soft poker room. I didn't even know they HAD a poker room. I usually like to play all around town, so I figured I'd hit that for a change. I also figured that I could stay there cheaply. So I made a reservation for a room right before I got on the flight.

I was pretty dead on the plane. I was lucky in that I was able to find a window seat even though I was in the last 25% of the people to board the plane. So I leaned up against the window and tried to fall asleep. The flight was supposed to be 3 hours, but felt like 6. I kept waking up every 5 minutes thinking we were almost there. It was kind of a bumpy ride too. Good thing I had taken my motion sickness pills. I thought some apple juice would calm my stomach down, but I couldn't even finish it. The twinkling lights of Vegas below never looked so good to me when we finally got there.

After picking up my bags, I headed over to the airport shuttle area and was besieged by people trying to sell me limo and shuttle rides. I saw a sign that said "Shuttle Rides to the Strip $6." Sweet. Let's do that. I walk up to the counter and say "Stratosphere." The guy asks if I want a round trip. I reply that I didn't, and he reminds me that I can't buy return trip 'tokens' at the hotel. I understand. He repeats this and looks at me like I'm crazy. "Are you sure? I'm telling you, you can't buy return trips from the hotel," his voice becoming a little condescending now. "One way," I repeat. He looks at me again, still in disbelief. "One way!" I exclaim a bit firmer. "Nine dollars," he says. Wait a minute. $9? I'm looking at the sign again: "Downtown Vegas $9" Are you shitting me? Theycount the Statosphere as Downtown? Whatever. Fine. I pay the $9. He directs me across the street where there are like 4 shuttles waiting. "Over there by the... oh, we don't have any shuttle available right now. Just wait by the bench over there," he says. Great. I pick the one shuttle company with no fucking shuttles available. Did I mention it's 30 degrees outside? I'm pretty sure I didn't, but you know what? It's 30 degrees outside.

I finally make it to the Stratosphere, and I go straight for the check-in counter. I'm really, really fucking tired. And... there's a problem. Great. The check-in lady disappears for about 5 minutes and comes back. "Sorry, Sir. We don't have any of the rooms that you reserved, but we can upgrade you." Great, just do it, lady. They get me checked-in to a room with a jacuzzi tub. Nice. I go upstairs, and the room isn't half bad. It's pretty huge and the jacuzzi tub looks like it could be very relaxing. Let me just lay down for a bit.

A few hours later...

What? What time is it? Midnight. Shit. Well, there's Day 1. Total Losses: My consciousness. Total Wins: None.

Day 2

I splash some water on my face, brush my teeth and head out. I'm looking for something to eat. I haven't eaten since lunch. I find a McDonald's, but decide to keep going. Nothing is open on the retail shops level. I keep walking further in further down the maze like corridors and keep finding nothing but closed shops. Eventually I make it down some escalator and see two things, an all night 50's style burger joint, and the poker room. Burger. Poker. Burger. Poker.

So I walk up to the poker manager. "Got any seats?" I ask. "No, but you're first on the list," he says. Dammit. Well, at least the burger place is right next door. I walk over there and notice that they have waitresses. It's a sit down place. Crap. I'm not gonna go into a sit down place when I could be called any minute now. So I just wander around, staying close to the poker room. I see that they have two tables running. Upon closer inspection, one table is a tournament. The other is a pretty small stacked cash table. Eventually, they call my name.

Session 1

Statosphere - 1/2 No Limit Hold 'Em

This was a pretty soft game. A couple of crazy Canucks. An angry Texan (not me), a Freddy Deebs lookalike, and some non-descripts. Freddy and the Canuck to my right are the big talkers. I watch and stay out of they way for while. I see the Canuck take down a big pot with a pretty mediocre hand: an 8 high flush. But at least he knows how to play poker. Crazy Canuck #2 literally has NO idea what he is doing. The first hand he plays after sitting down: he calls down a few bets, including a $20 bet on the river, and prompty flips over 84o. Board was 7QK82. What the hell? When someone does something like this, it usually makes me think he's sandbagging. Acting drunk. Acting stupid. He really couldn't be THAT bad could he? Freddy is to his right and immediately turns into a free poker instructor. He's giving this guy tips and reminding him of basic poker rules like how much a legal raise is. I'm thinking... Freddy, this guy's playing you. He knows what's up. He's just acting dumb. He's hustling, man. No one is that bad. Seriously. Several hundred dollars later, CC#2 is busted and gone. Huh. Well, I guess he wasn't acting after all, eh?

I play pretty tight poker. I always figured if I don't get a big hand quickly, I won't get paid off because people will pick up on the fact that I play like 4-5 hands an hour. Didn't seem to matter. I'd make it $12-15 pre-flop with premium starting cards and take down the pot after a flop or turn bet. I never had to show my hands for the first 2 hours or so. Then I had a huge hand where I flopped top set with an 824 board. I checked, some old black dude bet. I raised. He called. The turn came a 9. I figured that it was time. I shoved all in for about $110. He calls pretty quickly. The ONLY thing I'm afraid of is 99. Did I get THAT unlucky that he called with an overpair 99 and caught it on the turn? Nope. He turns over 22. Set over set. Ouch. Oh, well, better him than me!

Soon I find myself at about $560. I bought it for $150. This is looking pretty good! I lose a few hands, and start bleeding. I'm down to about $450 or so and start thinking that I should just get up and get some sleep. The table starts to break up. I count my stack: $425. Alright. Time to go. Up $275 on my first session? Not bad. I'll take it.

I head up to bed, it's like 5am. I look at the jacuzzi. You know, I don't get a chance to use one of these things very often. Fuck it. I jump into the jacuzzi and relax. Ahhh. After about 15 minutes, I realize that if I don't get to bed, I'll get no sleep again because I'll have to check out at 11. I set my alarm for 10:30am and crash out.

Alarm. Snooze. Wake up panicked! Shit, what time is it? I don't want to pay for another day! 11:01am. Crap. I take another quick shower and gather my bags. I'm down to the lobby by 11:20am. No late check out fees. Whew! Alright. I head outside and see sunlight for the first time since I've arrived. It's could as fuck!

I jump in a cab. Excalibur!

A $20 taxi ride later, I get to Excal, my usually destination in Vegas due to their extremely soft poker room and low room rates, and check my baggage in with the bell hops. I'm off to the poker room. Now, if you recall, last year Excal had put in Electronic Poker Tables as a test. People hated them. So, they put in live dealer poker tables again. Boo. I kinda liked the electronic tables. They were fast, accurate, the rake was lower and you didn't have to tip. The players were still live. I could still tell when they were drunk, on tilt or just plain stupid. Plus, the tournaments were tons faster so it actually made the tournament a little less bingo-y since you got a lot more hands per hour. Anyway, at least the new tablse are nice. The old Excal live tables were kind of run down.

Session 2

Excalibur - 1/2 No Limit Hold 'Em

There was really only one memorable hand in this session. I have AKo. I'm in the small blind. (I seem to get all my playable hands out of position!) Some elderly guy makes it $7. Some other elderly guy calls. Everyone else folds to me. Now, EG#1 hasn't been playing too crazy, but he has overvalued some stuff. EG#2 is a crazy one. He's been raising to $12, $17 and $22 with junk for about 30 minutes. He's lost a lot and is definitely on tilt. He had left the table for a while and everyone else had been pining for him to return. Upon his return, he reloaded for $300. If anyone was going to pay you off on a hand, it was EG#2. I make it $22 to go. EG#1 calls. EG#2 calls. This isn't surprising, but I need to hit! KT2 flops. Two spades. I bet out $40. EG#1 raises to $105. Great. EG#2 calls. Oh, wow, WTF? I've been waiting for 2 hours to get a hand, and I've folded the winner too many times. I gotta be good here right? EG#1 probably has like QQ or maybe even JJ or KQ and has put me on a continuation bet and wants to push EG#2 out because he knows EG#2 will call to draw out. Right? Right? Ah, screw it. I'm all in for $115. EG#1 calls and EG#2 calls. Man, I'm starting to doubt my move. Turn comes a 7. No spade. EG#1 bets out $100 more. EG#2 inst-calls. Yeah... maybe I'm not so good after all. I turn to the guys to my right (EG's are both to my left) and I show them my hand. They're telling me that I'm good... I'm seriously doubting it now. River comes a 4. Again, no spade. EG#1 bets out another $100. Shit. EG#2 folds. Well, I can't be be good. I flip over AK for one pair Kings witgh an Ace kicker. EG#1 flips over KJ. WTF? Hahaha. I'm good? Ship that shit over here! I drag a $400+ pot. EG#2 was clearly on a flush draw. Whew! I'm up $260 for this session.

I text Louis, Slob, Mizzy and Dre to see if they've made it into town yet. Today is Slob's birthday and he and the gang will be in Vegas for 5 days. Sure enough, they're already here and already at the Craps table, and Dre is already down and has moved on to play Casino War. Yes, he's high carding for $10 at time. LOL.

I check into my room officially, and the gang wants to play a little poker before dinner.

Session 3

Excalibur - 1/2 No Limit Hold 'Em

This was a quicky session before dinner. I actually busted during this session with KK. I made it $17 from middle position and got 3 callers. Flop is 764 rainbow. I'm not fearing this flop much. I mean, you can always be up against a set and not know it, but I don't think anyone was playing 35 or 58 for $17 against me pre-flop. I bet out $35. 2 callers. Okaay. Turn is an 8. No flush possible, but the board is straighty. Check Check to me. I push in for my last $80. Call. Fold. Crap. Guy in small blind shows A5 for a straight. God. Really? A5? Come on.

I rebuy for $100 and through a series of medium sized pots, someone manage to claw my way back into he black. We break for dinner, and I'm up $8. :)

Margaritaville for Dinner. Volcano Nachos seem extra yummy today. Maybe it's because I hadn't eaten for about 36 hours. This was my first meal in Vegas! After dinner, the gang wants to head to Caesar's for some more poker. Ok, let's do it.

Session 4

Caesar's Palace - 1/3 No Limit Hold 'Em

This was a hard table to play at. I don't normally like to play at hardcore poker rooms like the Venetian, Bellagio, Caesar's, etc., because the players are way better. I mean, the guys at Excalibur are there with family and might stop by the poker room to play for a bit for fun. The guys at Caesar's are there to play poker, and that's it. Not to mention, the buyin max is $500, so I run into guys with huge stacks playing bully. Nothing too crazy happens here. I don't bust, and I don't win any huge pots. The story here is that I was surrounded by the most diverse cast of characters ever. I had a 30 something Type A Hollywood Movie Exec to my left with a 20 something piece of eye candy in tow. Eye Candy has the entire room fixated on her. She's the exact type of girl that I hate. She's hot and knows it and expects you to know it and expects to get her way with everyone because of it. She actually looks like a younger Jennifer Aniston with large fake breasts. The only good thing about her is that she's distracting TypeA and making him show off. While TypeA is there, he's buying champagne, cigars and texting on his Blackberry. Speaking of which, this man has a Blackberry, and iPhone and and iPod classic all on the table. Why the fuck would you carry all of those things? He also has headphones which he never uses and is almost always engaged with either Eye Candy or his blackberry. In between that, he straddle bets or raises nonchalantly with nothing. Did I mention that he is to my left?

We also have a know-it-all loudmouth and his roommate. They're wearing "I Donkeys" and "DonkeyMagnet.com" Tshirts. He contantly refers to his shirt if you beat him in a hand, and is never at a loss for words. Turns out he owns that website and is in the poker T-shirt business. He hands out his cards to whoever will take one and is just contantly talking and reminding everyone of how much better he is than they are. The bigshot that he is, he buys in for $100, puts on his sunglasses and busts out within a couple of hours. His roommate is much quieter and a much poorer player. He raised me preflop with K7s, I had AK. We ended up all-in on a flop with nothing for either of us. I win. MrDonkey, the 'brains', berates his roommate, and surprisingly... not me. MrDonkey claims that he will be on MTV in January on "True Life: I'm a Gambler". So, look out for that one.

We also have a grizzled veteran who loves giving MrDonkey shit. He's very aggressive and big stacked. The best part of this guy was that he calls out MrDonkey for taking forever to make a $10 call, from his roommate no less, by saying "You know we're not on TV, right?" You see, MrDonkey likes to talk out the hand, out loud, in detail, with commentary on play, every single time. he wants you to know that he knows what you're doing. This is what prompts MrDonkey to go into his "I'm going to be on TV" bit. Haha.

Finally, we had a celebrity at our table. I don't know his name, but MrDonkey recognized him first. He was the guy that played the Fiance in The Hangover. You know the regular Joe looking guy? Yep, he's a regular Joe. Nice guy. They were having a DVD release party for The Hangover at Caesar's so I guess he just came out to chill and play some poker. He was newbie. MrDonkey had to explain to him what a donkey was. Hangover guy thought it was a sexual thing. LOL. Another weird thing is that Hangover guy only bought in for $120. Jeez. I guess times are tough in Hollywood.

Oh, um, I made $10 in this game. It was worth sitting there folding for hours just for the sheer entertainment value of this table.

The last and the worst session of the night...

Session 5

MGM Grand - 1/2 No Limit Hold 'Em

Bought in for $150. Played pretty tight poker for about 2 hours and lost the last of it to a 10 high board with JTs to AT who simply wouldn't let top top go after being raised and bet at on the flop turn and river. He was pretty stubborn. Anyway, it was a good call from him for whatever reason he had to call. I rebought for $100 and built it back up to $210. Then the table broke and I moved to another table where I just sat there for, I'm not kidding you, 3 hours playing 0 hands. I had a pretty good read for the players and 4 of them were just completely crazy. One guy had $1000, the other ones had $800, $400, and $600. I was waiting.. and waiting... and waiting... until finally I picked up 78s and limped in on the button for $2. Flop was K78 two spades. Bet from a crazy guy, raise from another crazy guy. And I'm thinking... these guys CANNOT have two pair beat. They've been doing this shit all night long with garbage. The 1st crazy was already calling the 2nd crazy guy before he ever realized that that I had gone all in for $163 before him. He's in shock. He hasn't seen me in a pot in 3 hours. He very very reluctantly folds. 2nd crazy guy had only been there for about 30 minutes. Plus, he didn't give a shit and instantly calls. He has J8s two spades. This guy was a true douche bag loudmouth. He starts calling for a King, and the dealer immediately produces one on the turn. River is a blank. Douchebag counterfeited my two pair. I bust again.

Normally that's cause for me to leave, but the thing was, I wasn't playing poorly, I was unlucky. I shoved thinking I could get the looser players to fold when I had a good hand. They didn't. We raced, and I lost. I bought in for $200 (the table max) and proceeded to them flop two pair twice more. Once I got beated on the turn where someone turned a higher two pair, and another time where I flopped top and bottom with KT and lost to two players with AJ. Other than those hands I had NOTHING the entire time. No Aces, No Kings, No AK. I got a few small pocket pairs and AQo one time where nearly everyone had already folded by the time it got to me in late position and the blinds didn't call my raise. Everything else was shit like K7, 82, 73, A2, A6, J3, over and over and over.

After my last bust, I left in disgust. I was up $104 for the day, but I felt like I was down $1000. Now I have an idea of what it feels like to bust out of the WSOP in 10 place and being super bummed at winning $800,000. Most people come to Vegas and lose. I'm up. I just need to be -more- up. Day 3. Hurry up and get here!

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Vegas Trip 2009 Coming Up!

2009-11-30T22:53:00.004-06:00

"Vegas Trip 2009 Coming Up!"

It's almost that time of year again. My annual 2 week trip to Vegas, Baby! I leave on December 9th. I'll be joined by various people while I'm out there. Louis, Slob, Mizzy and Dre will be there from the 10th thru the 14th, Claire will join me from the 15th thru the 20th, and Bogh is coming for 3 days somewhere in there. Should be exciting!

Just like I did last year, I'll be posting daily blogs of my Poker escapades. This time it'll be easier though because I'll be armed with a Gateway 2032u netbook and my jailbroken iPhone which will provide network access to my netbook whereever I may roam. I've even purchased an extended external battery for my iPhone... yep, I'm all set on the blogging front! In fact, I'm test blogging this on my new netbook using my iPhone as the internet modem. Pretty sweet!

Vegas Day 10

2008-12-20T15:01:00.005-06:00

"Vegas Day 10"

Well, sad times. The babies were pretty sick. There was talk of having to put the little one in the hospital. At this point, Claire decides that she *has* to go home today... two days ahead of schedule. She makes the arrangements for the new flight, and we head down to the Excal poker room to meet up with the others.

Session 1: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold 'Em

I couldn't really concentrate on this game. I played for about 45 minutes before we headed out to lunch. I made around $45.

With the group together, we decide to use our 24 hour bus pass to head out down the strip for some food. I'd been wanting Italian, and I got a few backers... but where do we get decent Italian food on the strip? We get on the bus without knowing where we're going. I bring out my iPhone and google Italian food on the Vegas Strip, and I get a lot of hits for restaurants in the Venetian. Well, that makes sense I guess. The Venetian is supposed to mimic being in Venice, Italy, right? They all sound pretty expensive, so I keep searching and find a review for Maggiano's. It's got a good rating, and they supposedly offer a great group/family meal deal. None of us had ever heard of it (turns out its a chain owned by the company that runs Chili's of all places... and that one is coming to Austin soon,) but it sounded good. So it was decided. We need the Fashion Show Mall exit.

We get there and the place looks kinda fancy. I feel under dressed in my Pac-Man T-Shirt. Everyone else in our party seems at least half-way well dressed. Drat. Anyway, we get seated in a room with a great view of the strip. I ask for a family menu, and man, it's awesome! For $20 per person, we basically get our choice of two appetizers, two kinds of salads, two main courses, two pasta dishes, and two desserts. Wow! A single bowl of Rasta Pasta at Rain Forrest Cafe was $20. This was a great deal indeed. But how as the food going to be? Well, as it turns out, fucking excellent! Best chain Italian food ever.

Halfway through the meal, Claire checks up on the girls. The little one still isn't doing well. They're at the doctor's office again. I start feeling really bad and decide to also cut my trip short. My biggest regret was not being able to go to that $6000 guaranteed free roll at Monte Carlo the next day. (Turns out Brent chopped at the final table at that very same tournament for like $600!) But I figured I really should leave.

After our excellent meal, we had back to the hotel. Claire sits down for a bit more poker, but I head up to the room to bring down our stuff and then go to the front desk to settle our tab. Sad times. I hate leaving Vegas. People were telling me that I was nuts to want to go for 11 days. It was Day 10, and I could have stayed another 10 days easily... if not more. Oh, well.

The end tally for myself was +$1451.75. Claire started to make a comeback, but ran out of time and ended up -$550 or so. After I paid the hotel, and you figured in the meals and airline tickets, it was probably dead even. So... you know, playing tons of poker and earning a free vacation wasn't so bad, right?

In any case, I can't wait until the next Vegas trip! :-)

Anyway, here are the final session stats:

TOTAL: +$1451.75

December 10th
-Wednesday- (+$185.50)
6:15p in Excal .50/1 $200buyin
8:30p out $224.50
(+$24.50 / 2hrs 15mins)

10:00p in MGM 1/2 $140 buyin
2:15a out $181
(+$41 / 4hrs 15mins)

2:45a in PH 1/2 $145 buyin
6:15a out $265
(+$120 3hrs 15 mins)

December 11th
-Thursday- (+$106.50)
7:30a in Venetian 1/2 $250 buyin
9:00a out $0
(-$250 1 hr 30 mins)

10:15a in Excal .50/$1$100 buyin
1:30p out $456.50
(+$356.50 3Hrs 15mins)

December 12th
-Friday- (+$140.75)
8:00a in Excal .50/$1 $200 buyin
8:45a out $275.50
(+$75.50 0hrs 45mins)

9:00a in Excal Tourney $20 buyin
10:00a out $0
(-$20 1hr 0mins)

10:00a in Excal 50c/$1 $145.75buyin
2:30p out $251
(+&105.25 4hrs 30mins)

11:30p in Excal $1/$2 $463.25 buyin
4:00a out $443.25
(-$20.00 4hrs 30mins)

December 13th
-Saturday- (+$400.50)
4:15a in Excal 50c/$1 $100 buyin
5:00a out $200.50
(+$100.50 0hrs 45mins)

1:00p in Excal Tourney $30 buyin
3:00p out $0 10th
(-$30 2hrs 0mins)

3:00p in Excal 50c/$1 $100 buyin
3:30p out $122
(+$22 0hrs 30mins)

3:30p in Excal $1/$2 $300 buyin
5:30p out $430.50
(+$130.50 2hrs 0mins)

8:15p in PH $1/$2 $200 buyin
11:45p out $354
(+$154 3hrs 30mins)

1:00a in Excal $1/$2 $300 buyin
3:15a out $323.50
(+$23.50 2hrs 15mins)

December 14th
-Sunday- (+$507.50)
5:00p in Excal $1/$2 $300 buyin
8:15p out $599.25
(+$299.25 3hrs 15mins)

6:30p Excal Bonus $50 raffle
(+$50)

12:15a in Binion's $1/$2 $200 buyin
2:00a out $291
(+$91 1hr 45mins)

3:30a in Excal $1/$2 $300 buyin
4:15a out $367.25
(+$67.25 0 hrs 45mins)

December 15th
-Monday- (-$48.50)
4:15p in Excal 50c/$1 $318.50 buyin
8:45p out $226
(-$92.50 4hrs 30mins)

8:45p in Excal $1/$2 $300 buyin
11:30p out $344
(+$44 2hrs 45mins)

December 16th
-Tuesday- (-$247.25)
12:00p in Excal 50c/$1$196.25 buyin
1:00p out $77.75
(-$118.50 1hr 0mins)

1:00p in Excal $30 tourney
1:45p out $0 20th
(-$30 0hrs 45mins)

1:45p in Excal 50c/$1 $264.75
3:15p out $0
(-$264.75 1hr 30mins)

4:00p in monte carlo 1/2 $195 buyin
8:00p out $310
(+$115 4hrs 0mins)

8:45p in Excal 50c/$1 $164 buyin
10:30p out $195.50
(+$31.50 1hrs 45mins)

11:30p in Excal 50c/$1 $100 buyin
11:45p out $119.50
(+$19.50 0hrs 15mins)

December 17th
-Wednesday- (+$331.75)
3:00a in Excal 50c/$1 $147 buyin
7:00a out $113.50
(-$33.50 4hrs 0mins)

2:15p in Excal $1/$2 &300 buyin
2:30p out $468.50
(+$168.50 0hrs 15mins)

5:15p in MC $2/$4 limit $100 buyin
5:30p out $131
(+$31 0hrs 15mins)

5:30p in MC $1/$2 $151 buyin
1:15a out $276
(+$125 7hrs 45mins)

3:00a in Excal 50c/$1 $100 buyin
3:30a out $140.75
(+$40.75 0hrs 30mins)

December 18th
-Thursday- (+$30.50)
1:30p in Mandalay $1/$2 $195 buyin
3:00p out $263
(+$68 1hrs 30mins)

7:00p in Sahara Tourney. $65 buyin
9:15p out $0
(-$65 2hrs 15mins)

12:00a in Excal 50c/1 $220 buyin
2:00a out $247.50
(+$27.50 2hrs 0mins)

December 19th
-Friday-
12:15p in Excal 50c/$1 $100 buyin
1:00p out $144.50
(+$44.50 0hrs 45mins)

Vegas Day 9

2008-12-19T21:23:00.006-06:00

"Vegas Day 9"

Kind of a slow poker day for me. Claire's been in town a couple of days now, and as I've already stated, she's been running pretty bad. She's down almost $1,000 already, and honestly, I've kinda lost my focus. I'm grateful that we're collectively still up, but I'm a little dismayed that the majority of my profits, which took me the better part of a week to cultivate, have been wiped away very quickly by her horrible luck. And I want to stress here that despite her results, she *has* been playing quite well from what I've seen. It's mostly been very bad luck that's put her in such a large hole. Sure, I saw a hand or two that I might have played differently, but certainly, her decisions haven't been horrible ones.

So I woke up and the first thing I thought was "It's almost time to leave Vegas. That blows." Then I start thinking, "Two-thirds of the profits are gone. That really blows." I sigh, collect myself and head down to the poker room where we all seem to convene at the start of everyday. Everyone is there. Honestly, at this point, I'm not even really feeling up to playing. Maybe I need a change of atmosphere. I kept hearing about how the game at Mandalay Bay was an easy game. Maybe I should head over there. I convince the Price Brothers to take the short trip with me, and we're off for the first session of the day.

Session 1: Mandalay Bay $1/$2 NL Hold 'Em
We get to Mandalay Bay, and the poker room is pretty hoppin'. They've got about half a dozen table spread, but they all look full. This is a good thing as we're less likely to all end up on the same table. But as luck would have it, all the players cashing/busting out are from the table I sit at, so I end up with Brent and Brian at my table anyway.

The first thing I noticed are two old dudes speaking something that *sounds* like Spanish to each other. And they're speaking it alot. Enough that the dealer reminds that that it's "English Only" at the poker table. These guys don't care. They continue chatting it up in what might be Italian or Portuguese, and the dealer is such a pussy, that he lets them.

I watch the table play a few hands, and right off the bat I can tell these two foreigners are action players. They're in every hand raising and re-raising. If that weren't enough, we also had a crazy old Asian dude that loved to mix it up too. After a while, I spotted a couple of tight/aggressive players. And now I'm thinking, "Great. Mandalay Bay is easy, huh?" I tighten up and just watch everyone. This is probably the toughest table I've played at the whole time I've been here. I don't plan on staying too long.

I end up in a hand from the small blind with 5s 9d. Certainly not a great hand by anybody's standards, but I'll call $1 to see a flop with any two cards. The flop comes a friendly 3s 4s 6d. I check. Crazy foreigner #1 checks. Crazy foreigner #2 bets $10. Crazy Asian calls. The lady on the button calls. I call. CF #1 calls. WTF? That many draws? Spades and straight draws I guess. Turn comes Tc. Nothing for me or a spade draw. I check. CF #1 checks. CF #2 checks. CA bets out $20. Huh? A different guy bets the turn than bet the flop? Anyway... Button lady folds. I call. CF #1 calls. CF #2 folds. We're three now. River comes 7h. Bingo. I made my straight, but I'd have preferred a deuce. Still, I'm thinking I'll just check and see what happens. Crazy Foreigner #1 immediately goes all-in for like $120. Crazy Asian is now agonizing over whether he should call. He takes a good 2 minutes or so, and finally gives it up. Here's the interesting part. Crazy Foreigner #1 throws his hand towards the dealer, face down, past the betting line, and starts smiling. Hello? I'm still in the hand, dude! He was so focused on Crazy Asian that he had forgotten about me. I point out to the dealer that he mucked, and that I should win! CF #1 erupts in anger and snatches his cards back out from the middle of the table. Now, his "mucked" cards were well passed the betting line, but not touching the muck pile which had been collected into a neat stack by the dealer as soon as the river had been dealt. CF #1 all of a sudden is an English speaker. "I all-in!" "No!" "I all-in!" "I all-in!". "I no muck!" I laugh and ask for the dealer to get the floor over to the table. Dealer explains the situation to floor, and both players plead their cases. Me, using standard English like, "He threw his hand away." and CF#1 with "I no muck! I no muck!" As usual, the floor pussies out and rules against me. CF #1 is still huffing and puffing, and I'm still laughing at him. I tell him to settle down and take it easy. I call. We both show a 5 for a straight, and the dealer chops the pot. You know, I think if I had just let him go a letter longer, CF #1 might have had a heart attack. It was so funny. I tell him "Well, that was exciting, huh?!" He looks to CF #2 and says something in foreign-speak that sounded like he wanted a translation of what I said to him. CF #2 translates my comment to him, and he smiles at me. I smile back. What an idiot.

A few hands later I ended up with AKs (spades) in the small blind again. A handful of people called the $2 blind, and I popped it to $10. I got 2 callers. CF #2 and CA. The flop comes tiny cards, 2s 3d 7c. Not so good. I throw out a continuation bet of $15, CF $2 calls, and Mr. Crazy Asian decides to raise me to $30. Usually I throw my hand away at this point. I mean, I don't really have much of anything here but a pair draw and a couple of back door draws to a straight or a flush. However, I felt like I had been playing really tight and re-raise all-in to $90 might take the pot down based on my table image. This was, of course, assuming CA hadn't flopped a set. He was definitely capable of calling $8 more pre-flop with 22, 33 or 77. Still, I had him on an overpair like 99 or TT. So, I pushed. I went all-in for $90 total. $60 on top of his $30, and a re-re-raise. He called pretty quickly. I guess he had me on either AK (which of course was correct,) or he was just mesmerized by his overpair. He flipped over TT. Crap. I flipped over Ace King of spades. Well, I could still hit an A or K, right? Turn was a 5c. River was a 4d. No Ace. No King. The dealer starts shifting the chips to CA. But, waitaminute! I have a straight, Mr. Dealer! I bring that to the Dealer's attention and he's like... oh, of course... trying to act like he saw it the whole time. I call him out on it and ask him flat out, "You didn't see my straight, did you?" He responded, "Of course I did." Yeah, right. I tell him that I'm going to tip him $1, but nothing more. He grunted.

Well, after that mess, I decided I'd had enough of Mandalay Bay. I ended up +$68 after everything was said and done.

The Price's didn't do so well. Brent lost $200, and Brian and Sean were down for the session so it didn't take much convincing to get them out of there.

We decided to head down to Margaritaville for dinner, and after that, I convinced people that we should go to the Sahara for their famed 7pm tourney.

Session 2: The Sahara $65 NL Hold 'Em

For $65, the Sahara offers a pretty decent tourney. It's pretty well known as probably the best bang for the buck tourney in Las Vegas. To be clear, I say $65, but it's technically $40 with a $25 rebuy/addon. You can use the rebuy up front (which in effect makes it an add-on,) or wait until you actually bust to rebuy. The odd thing is that if you bust, and you already used your rebuy, you can re-enter the tournament one more time as a 'new player' and get a new buyin with another re-buy option. You only get to do this once though, so it's not like it's an infinite rebuy tourney.

In any case, being the smart poker player I am, I oped to load up with my rebuy/addon as soon as possible. As anyone who plays poker knows, chips are power. Why wait? Anyway, first hand of the tournament, and the guy to my right and the guy to my left are all-in after the flop. No shit. It's AK vs. KK and the flop comes AKx. Ugly. The 2nd hand of the tournament. I get AA, I raise, one guy calls. The flop comes small cards... something like 9 high. He bets, I raise, he calls. Turn comes an Ace! He bets, I raise, he goes all-in. I call with a set of Aces. He's got JJ. Blank river. I win! That's two all-ins on the first two hands!

I sit on my stack for almost two rounds. I made a few raises and took down a few small-ish pots here and there. Meanwhile, the guy that had busted on the first hand had re-entered the tournament as a new player. And his luck had dramatically changed. By the end of the 1st break, he was by far the biggest stack of the tourney. It was crazy the number of chips he had. I was a pretty big stack, and he had me like 10 to 1. He just kept busting people, and they kept sending us new ones. I hang around for another round or two when I finally pick up a decent hand. AKs (spades). I raise a pretty good amount from the button with about 3 limpers and the two blinds yet to act. The ultra big stack is in the Big Blind and as agonizing over his hand. He's correctly pegged me as a tight player, but he ultimately ends up calling. The flop comes all tiny cards. He checks and I push all-in for about 2x the pot (sounds familiar, huh?) I probably could have just checked behind him, but I definitely couldn't just bet out with a continuation bet. The blinds had grown enough by then that I would have basically committed myself anyway with any decent bet. So, I bet it all. He thought for a little while, and finally nervously called. I showed AKs... nothing really. He had JJ. Turn and River were blanks, and I was done.

I looked over to see how Claire was doing. And not only was Claire still alive, but she was the big stack at the table! Apparently she had hit a set of 8's and got paid off pretty big. Well, it finally looked like Claire's luck was chaning! She stuck in there and played pretty a tight/aggressive game. She ended up taking down a couple more big pots and was basically in a position to cruise to the final table. There were 97 entrants in the tournament, and they were paying the Top 10 (final table.)

The prize breakdown was retarded. It was *heavily* weighted towards 1st place. I mean, like 60% of the payout was 1st and they were paying 10 places. I hate that. I agree that 1st should be well compensated, but it seemed way out of whack for a tournament that was run pretty quickly. Claire ended up surving and making it to the final table without a problem. Soon after they lost their tiny stacked players, the table offered an 8-way chop. Since the payouts were so heavily skewed towards #1, and everyone knew that one bad hand could make them go from 1st to last, they all opted to take it. Claire was paid out $450 for her efforts which netted her a nice $385 profit. Thing were looking up for her!

We got back to the Excalibur near midnight, and decided to play a bit more 50c/$1.

Session 3: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold 'Em
I'll be honest, I don't remember a thing from this session. I made $27.50 in 2 hours. That's about all I can say about that.

By this time, Claire had been keeping close communication with her mom and the kids back home. Both kids had gotten pretty sick, and the little one, only 5 months old, was on a nebulizer treatment every four hours. Basically, she had to wear a mask that vaporized medication that she could inhale. She had some sort of bronchial infection (not bronchitis) that was making it very hard for her to breathe. Claire was seriously contemplating had back home a couple of days early...

Vegas Day 8

2008-12-18T13:19:00.011-06:00

"Vegas Day 8"

This was a turnaround day. I was up +$331.75.

The first session is basically a continuation of Day 7.

Session 1: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
Claire had been running bad. I mean she was losing with great made hands. Top pair/top kicker to two pair. Two pair to straights. Sets to flushes. That kind of shit. So we decided to take a break for a really late snack at Fatbuger around 2:00am. This was like, I don't even know... my 3rd time to Fatburger in a week? I was getting pretty sick of it. Anyway, after the break we returned to Excalibur and started this session at 3:00am. At this table, there was a crazy old Texas coot named "Murray". Murray was one of those guys that you felt bad watching lose over and over. I mean, he was a horrible player, sure, but you have guys at the table you want to see lose and guys you're like "Aw, shucks." when they lose. Murray was an "Aw, shucks." guy. He constantly misplayed his hands and pretty much made bad decisions whenever he could make them. He would go all-in for $75 with AA pre-flop with $2 in the pot. Or all-in with J9 with an AK9 board for like $60 into a $30 pot and 3 people behind him. He lost over and over and kept reloading... all the time getting drunker and drunker. And you sorta feel bad for the guy, and then.... Claire picked up Aces, made a pretty good pre-flop raise, and there's ol' Murray again. He goes all in for like $100 on a 9 high flop, no straight or flush possible and $15 in the pot. Claire thinks for a while, but if you'd been watching him play, he could have anything. Pocket deuces, two pair, Ace high. Who knows? Claire calls, and Ol' Murray has a set of 6's. Wow. I don't feel bad for Murray anymore. Now, he's a dick. That's about all I remember from this session. I ended up getting up from the table after Claire busted. I was down $33.50.

We go to bed.

Session 2: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
I wake up around 1:30p and Claire and Brian were already down at the poker room. I shower and head downstairs where I find Sean sitting down at the table next to theirs waiting for Brent to show up and for Claire and Brian to get up from their session so we can all go to lunch. I take a seat next to Sean, and we try to decide on a place to have lunch. Well, we sit there and sit there and sit there and Brian and Claire are still playing. Max might have been playing too. I have to note here that Sean and I were pretty much permanent residents on the "interested" list for a $1/$2 game, just waiting for a game to make. All of a sudden, we notice that the table where we were sitting at, you know, just killing time, lights up and shows a $1/$2 game starting literally right under our noses. Sean and I look at each other for a second and then immediately log in for $300 each. Four other dudes show up within a few seconds, and then we hear them blare out over the PA that a new $1/$2 game was starting. Sweet. The game lasted for 22 minutes. No kidding. Within 22 minutes Sean and I had busted three of the four players. Granted, everyone but Sean and I bought in for $40 to $100 each. But in 22 minutes I was up $168.50... just waiting for Claire and Brian to get up from their game. Not bad.

After finally prying Brian and Claire (and Max?) out of their seats, we head out to lunch at Hooters.

It's raining pretty hard and cold as a motherfucker, so after Hooters we decide to take a cab to the Monte Carlo. I had to rack up like 4 more hours of playtime at the MC poker room to get into their $6k freeroll on Saturday, and every else wanted to check out the casino.

Session 3: Monte Carlo $2/$4 Limit Hold ‘Em
All 5 of use show up at the MC poker room, and of course, they want to seat us all together on a new table. Yeah, no thanks. We didn't travel all the way to Vegas to play each other. We can do that back in Austin for free. So we decide to wait for open seats at one of the three $1/$2 games they already have running. After about 10 minutes, I say "Fuck, it." and ask for a seat at the $2/$4 limit table just to kill time. I convince Brent to take a seat next to me. Now, I hadn't played limit in a looong time. I knew it was a very bad game to play, but I was just gonna have fun for a bit. And holy crap... that game is horrible. There is no way you can beat the rake. The pots are tiny and they rake just as much as they do in NL. Plus, after you tip, you're lucky to make $5-6 per for a good made hand. The funny thing is that Brent and I won every single pot we played for the first 6-7 hands. Either Brent or I would take down the pot playing crap like 68o and just getting lucky. Brent gets called up to take a seat at the $1/$2 game right as the dealer is about to deal him in. Brent declines the card so I get it. It's a Jack. Next card I get... another Jack. Sweet. I raise and get 2 callers. I flop a set of Jacks and raise and re-raise as much as I can (which isn't a lot.) I take down what seems to be a monstrous pot, and after tipping and rake, I'm up a whopping $32 total after winning like 4 pots in 10 minutes. Right after that win, I get called up to $1/$2.

Session 4: Monte Carlo $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
I'm sitting to the left of Brent, and after about 15 minutes, Claire gets sat at the far end of our table. Curiously, there are 3 couples on this 10 person table.

Claire continues to have horrible luck. On one hand, some guy raises pre-flop in early position to $8. She re-raises to $25. The guy goes all-in for about $90. Claire calls. Claire flips over KK. Guy sighs and shows QQ. Flop... nothing. Turn Queen. :-( River. Nothing. Guy doubles up. About 10 minutes later, Claire decides to re-load for another $100. Immediately, she picks up another big hand. A loose aggressive player limps in, Claire raises to $10. Guy goes all-in for about $100 total. Claire calls. Claire has KK again. Guy has AA. She does *not* suck out a win. That $100 she had *just* reloaded... gone. Some time later, she flops a set to my flush. She makes a Q high flush to my A high flush, and loses pretty much every single way that you can lose with good hands. It's pretty ridiculous.

Meanwhile, I'm down to $30 from my $150 buy-in. I limp in for $2 with 67o from the Big Blind with damn near the whole table in. The flop comes 578 rainbow. That's about as good as I can hope for folks. I got a pair, and I'm open ended. I bet out $6. Loose-aggressive guy to my right raises to $15. Everyone start folding around until it gets to a guy in late position. He calls. I'm thinking... I got like $22 left. I go All-In. Loose-aggressive guy calls. Late position guy? He goes all-in for like $200. Great. He's got something huge. Guy to my left folds, and it's heads up all-in. I flop over the pair and the open ender. Guy flips over the nut straight: 69. Pfft. I'm pretty much drawing to a split. Turn comes 7. Trips. River comes a 5. WTF? Runner Runner Boat! Haha. I win! I looked this up. I was 2.42% to win that hand. Meanwhile, Claire's losing with monsters. Anyway, I drag the $90+ pot and proceed to turn that into $276.

One other thing to note about that table, the dealers were inconsistent. On one hand, I had KQs on the button and everyone was limping. I raised to $6 and got some callers. The flop comes all unders and the checking train starts. Check. Check. Check. Check. So I'm thinking... I'll take this down now... I'll bet $30. I go to put in my bet when the dealer starts to protest. I look to my right as I'm about to lay down my bet. Brent's betting. WTF? Brent's in this hand? And he's betting? OK, well, I'll just pull my money back and fold. Nope. Dealer's like. "You have to call or raise." I'm like "What? It wasn't my turn." He's like. Well, you were putting in $30 and he already put in $20. I protest, "But it wasn't even my turn when I put money in!" He sticks to his guns. I have to call or raise. Fine. I fucked up. I'll put in $20. Everyone else folds. Brent and I check it down. He's got JJ. I totally miss. Boo. But I'm OK with it.

About 10 minutes later. It's raised to $6 and I fold. I watch the action go around and the guy on the button throws in $11 across the betting line. I'm thinking... that's sorta weird. Why didn't he just throw out $12 or $10. Next thing I know the dealer is saying "Did you mean to raise?" The guy's like, "No, I meant to call." The dealer says, "He calls. Make it $6, sir." I was perplexed. I let the hand play out, and then I ask the dealer, "Why did he get to take back his bet pre-flop when he made a legal raise?" Dealer says, "Because he didn't mean to raise." And I say, "Aren't you the *same* dealer that made me put out $20 when I accidentally bet out of turn?" He's like, "Yeah, but that was different." And I'm like, "How's that different?! We both made legal bets!" His response? "Christmas spirit." I'm stunned. Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck that guy. I never tipped him again. I was very close to telling him that I couldn't wait until he was replaced by a machine (a la the electronic tables at Excalibur that NEVER made mistakes,) but I bit my tongue because I thought Claire was geting embarrassed at my protesting. Anyway, it's true. Within 5 years, live dealers will be the exception rather than the norm. And hopefully, only the *good* dealers will survive.

Session 5: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
On our way back to our room... we wandered back into the Excalibur poker room and played a bit more. Nothing much went on here. It was a short 30 minute session. I made about $40.

I'm really starting to appreciate the electronic tables...

Vegas Day 7

2008-12-16T21:27:00.004-06:00

"Vegas Day 7"

An even worse day than yesterday... I was down -$247.25 for the day.

I started out my day at Excalibur.

Session 1: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
I’d been playing mostly $1/$2, and the one time I played 50c/$1 recently, I played like a maniac. It’s like if I was playing 5c/10c back home. I was playing a crazy number of hands and being super aggressive. I sat down this time and almost everyone was under $100. I max buy for $100 and proceed to do the same thing that I did last time that lost me money.

I’m a horrible maniac player. Every time I raise with bullshit, someone has a super strong hand. Every time I catch with my bullshit, nobody seems to have anything to pay me off. I played for about an hour before the cash tables started to disintegrate due to the crappy $30 tournament that was about to start. I convinced Sean to signup for the stupid tournament, and faced with a dying table, I joined him.

Session 2: Excalibur $30 Tourney NL Hold ‘Em
I think I talked Sean into playing the tournament by telling him how well my strategy of all in or fold worked that last time I played. I explained that it worked well enough that I thought you could actually win the tournament with it. Basically, when it gets to about the 5th round, the blinds get so high that it becomes incorrect to simply call or raise a small amount. So, you wait for a sorta decent Ace or any pair and push all in. Most of the time, people are too scared to get knocked out and fold. So you steal and steal until someone finally stands up to you. By the time this happens, you probably stole enough blinds to be able to afford a loss. And sometimes you even knock them out. The strategy isn’t perfect of course, but poker is a game about imperfect information.

I usually try to steal some pots early with decent starting hands to build up a small cushion. I did the same here, and it was working mostly fine. Then I took a small hit on some high cards that didn’t pan out and was just below the chip average when I got a hold of AA. I was in mid position. The blinds were $100/$200. I raised to $500 with about $1200 behind that. This is why you have to go all in or fold. I was committing almost 1/3 of my stack with a small raise. I hadn’t started my all in or fold strategy yet so I wanted to sucker one or two players in. The plan was to push all in on the flop no matter what. I did end up getting two callers: Some dude in little blind and Sean who was in the Big Blind. The flop comes whatever. Both check to me and I push all in. They fold. OK, so far so good.

So now I’m at $2700 with blinds at $100/$200. I look down and I see TT. Now on my path to all in or fold, I push. The lady to my left agonizes and calls. She’s actually a big stack. Great. Everyone else folds. She flips over KK. Bah. I miss and get knocked out. So my strategy ended up sucking, right? Wrong. Sean employed the exact same strategy and ended up chopping it 3-way. It was just a matter of good/bad timing. Oh, well. At least Sean got some money out of it.

Session 3: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
I went back to the 50c/$1 table, and I went back to the loose-aggressive style. Again, not good! I couldn’t help myself. They were so meek! I kept topping off to $100, and before I knew it, I was in for $264. I won small hands and lost big ones, over and over. I didn’t adjust and subsequently ended up completely busting. I believe that this was just the 2nd time that I had completely busted since I’d gotten here.

I got up and made a bee line out of the casino. I had to get out of that poker room. I ended up at the Monte Carlo. In all my times in Vegas, I’d never been inside there. I wasn’t even sure if they had a poker room. They did.

Session 4: Monte Carlo $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
The poker room is OK. It’s a little tight and certainly not fancy, but it was OK. I really liked that they brought my cranberry juices in a huge glass. But it’s a rather bland poker room all around.

I sat down to a super old man. He must have been 90. He had that involuntary head shaking and bony hand thing going. Super nice guy though. I heard he was a regular of the room and a millionaire to boot. He was only one of two players with over $200. Everyone else was $150 or less. I like that in a table. I bought in for the max $200 and started analyzing the players.

They were a pretty meek bunch. I got a few decent hands early and took down a couple of pots with some continuation bets. Then about 30 minutes into the session, I got dealt AA in the small blind. There were five limpers, and I popped it to $12 hoping one of them would get brave. I got two callers, and the flop comes AKK! There’s no bad beat jackpot in this room, so I’m really not hoping someone was limping in with KK. But I know that in all likelihood, I probably have an unbeatable hand. I check. Someone checks behind me. The button gets brave and bets out $20. I call. I’m hoping I play it right and not call too quickly or too meekly. The other dude folds. The turn brings a harmless 7. The guy on the button checks before I get to act. Oops! He realizes he went out of turn, and he also realizes that I saw him try to check. I immediately bet out $20 in hopes he thinks I sensed weakness in his check, and that he thinks I’m full of shit on a steal attempt. It works I guess because he calls. River comes an 9. I bet out $60. I’m again hoping he’s sensing a steal. He folds. Boo. The rest of the table starts making comments and is convinced I stole it though. :-) Shortly after this hand, the table starts to dwindle. There is another $1/$2 game running, and we combine.

On this new table, there is a pretty aggressive guy on the far end of the table in seat 3. About 10 minutes after combining I pick up AQo in late position. I bet out $12 and Mr. Aggressive calls from the big blind. The flop comes Q84 rainbow. He checks. I bet $20. He calls. The turn comes a J. He checks. I bet out $20. He check-raises to $40. I stop to think for a moment, and call. I’m really not sure what he has... two pair? QJ? A min raise bluff? The river comes a 5. He leads out for $45. I call. He flips over J4o. Wonderful. He calls $12 pre-flop out of position with J4o and then calls $20 on the flop with bottom pair. What can I do about that? Pfft. Anyway, now I’m down to about $150.

The next 3 hours are the most grueling I can recall in a long time. A loooong string of *really* horrible hands. I honestly don’t know how I kept my sanity. Finally I pick up some big hands that connect. I get back up to a little over $200 and decide I’m going to quit the session now that I’m about even. Right before I decide to leave I pick up 89s (spades). I flop an open ender and turn the nut straight. Someone bets way too little on the flop and way too much on the turn once I’ve gotten there. I double his bet on turn from $20 to $40. He calls. On the river he checks, and I bet out $50. He makes a crying call. I flip over the nuts. He flips over two pair. Yay me! I get the fuck out of Dodge with $115 of profits.

Just in time too. Claire was just about to arrive! After Claire's arrival, I ended out the day with two short, uneventful 50c/$1 sessions at Excal.

Session 5: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
Don’t recall much here. It was a pretty short session. I was up $31.50

Session 6: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
Again, pretty uneventful. I played for 15 minutes and won $19.50.

So I started out shitty, but made up for some of it in the end. Still, this was the worst day by far.

Vegas Day 6

2008-12-16T12:25:00.001-06:00

"Vegas Day 6"

Worst Day so far. I was down $48.50 today. It’s my only ‘down’ day of my trip so far. Hopefully ever. Someone pointed out to me that if my *worst* day is being down $48.50 that I’m doing really well. And that’s true. I’m still up over $1290 for my trip, but I really wanted to get to $2000 before Claire arrived. And that’s gonna be hard to do now.

One problem was that I got crap for sleep the night before. I just could NOT get to sleep. I finally fell asleep at like 10am, and woke up at 2pm to Sean and Brent texting me if I wanted to head to the Excal buffet.

In all my trips to Vegas, I’ve never once done a buffet. I’m just not into fancy food, and Claire could never eat enough to warrant a buffet’s $20 price tag. I decided, fuck it. So I got my tired ass out of bed, and headed down to the buffet.

I had been saving up my $4 Excal meal vouchers since I got here. I had more than enough to get the buffet for free so that was good. What wasn’t good was the long ass line to get a seat.

After spending about 30 mins in line, we finally got a seat. The place reminded me of a crappy Sirloin Stockade or Golden Corral buffet. It was nothing special. Well, that’s not true. The Mexican cuisine was something special. It was quite literally the absolute grossest looking Mexican food I’d ever seen in my life. I ended up having some fried chicken, some beef things with gravy, mashed potatoes, some chicken noodle soup and a salad. The salad was the best thing, and it wasn’t all that. Still, somehow I managed to eat too much. Yay.

Tired and bloated, we headed to the Excal poker room. As expected, there was no $1/$2 game running so I had to jump into a 50c/$1 game.

Session 1: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
This table was so freakin’ tight it was ridiculous. The average pot size was $8. $8! A $5 raise was met with raised eyebrows and lots of comments. I was not used to playing 50c/$1 anymore. This was not a good thing.

About the 2nd hand in, I was in the Big Blind with K6o. I checked and flopped a pair of Kings on a board of K49 rainbow. Small blind bet $3, and I raised to $9. Every folded back to the small blind. He called. Turn card comes a 6. Sweet. He checks, and I bet $15. He calls. This guy only has like $17 left after the call. The river comes an A. He goes All-In. I course I call. Guy had rivered two higher pair. He was calling me down with a pair of 4’s until he spiked the Ace on the river. Lucky idiot. Alright. I see this is gonna be a long game.

I reload back up to $100. There’s now way I’m letting these guys off easy. They’re so meek that I start playing almost any two cards and playing very aggressively. And they call me down over and over with high pairs and beat me for $20-$40 pots. Which I guess makes sense because if they’re gonna wait for KK, they might as well go the distance with me. I’ve been raising tons.

I kept topping off to $100 waiting for the chance to catch one of the the bigger stacks. I finally got one. I’m in small blind with 46s (spades). Flop comes 3h 5c 7d rainbow! I check. Some guy bets $5. Guy in late position calls. I call. Turn comes a Jh. I check. Dude goes all in for $83! Sweet! Guy to my right thinks about it. I’m thinking... Call! Call! He folds. Boo. I call and announce that I flopped the nut straight. Guy has a 2h 5h. A pair of 5s and a flush draw. I dodge the flush with a river Kd. Now I’m in business!

In the 3 or so years we’ve been playing at Excal, I’ve never got to sping their “High Hand Wheel”. Basically if you’re at Excal and you get Aces full (with both hold cards) or better, you get to spin a wheel of fortune style wheel for some free cash. I’ve NEVER hit a qualyfing hand here. Can you believe that? They used to allow you to spin it if your pocket Aces got cracked. And I’d done that 3 times before. Yay. Anyway, I hit quad Q’s on this table, and FINALLY got to spin it! I won an extra $35. :-)

The only other memorable hand was when I had QQ and some guy in early position raised to $6.50. He at first was going to raise to $7.50, but took it back down to $6.50 for some reason. I raised to $15 with my Queens, and he immediately raised me to $40. I’m sitting there thinking... are you serious? I look at my Queens. I look at him. I say, “There’s no way that you are brave enough to do that to me without AA or KK. There’s just no way. I’m folding my Queens.” I fold and notice that the hand doesn’t end. I look up, and Brent had called my $15 bet! Oops! I apologized for talking about my hand. I really didn’t mean to. I had no idea there was another player in the hand. He was OK with it. He understood that it was an accident. Brent ended up calling, and the raiser started going on and on about how he couldn’t beat me. That I was too good. The thing is... I didn’t even know he was going after me. Haha. He shows KK. Brent shows AK. He’s still going on about how I folded my Queens. I mean, I didn’t think that was that hard of a fold. A meek player from early position raises, decides it’s a bit too much, reduces the raise, he gets re-raised by an aggressive player (me), and then all of a sudden he’s re-re-raising? Yeah, it’s not too hard to fold QQ there. But that just goes to show how bad these players are. I think that the folding of QQ was just common sense. He’s thinking I’m a genius. And he seemed sincere too. Anyway, his Kings hold up. Brent loses. :-(

With all the top-offs early on. I was in for $318.50 on this table. I actually got all the way to $319.00, but I played a top pair of Queens poorly and ended up down $92.50 for the session (including that $35 I won on the High Hand Wheel.) I probably could have made it back, but the table broke. Bah. My first losing session in a while. Oh, well.

I headed to the $1/$2 table.

Session 2: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold ‘em
As expected, this table last only about 2 hours... I made +$44 to sorta offset my earlier losses. Because I hadn’t slept much the night before, I was dead tired. We ate some cheap 25c wings for dinner at Dan Marino’s, and this time I slept like a log.

Tomorrow: Claire and Brian fly in to Vegas!

Vegas Day 5

2008-12-15T12:24:00.001-06:00

"Vegas Day 5"

Best Day so far. I was up $507.50 today. It started rather late. My first session was at 5:00pm.

Session 1: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
Bought in for $300, and my logs say I was up $299.25. As best as I can remember this session, it was simply slow and steady. I can’t even tell you a big hand I won. I played fairly conservatively. That’s probably what’s keeping me going up slowly instead of swinging all over the place.

One cool thing about this session was that it was during Sunday Night Football. The poker room has a promotion where they give everyone sitting at a poker table a raffle ticket at the start of every quarter. And then at the end of each of the first three quarters they draw a ticket and give away $50. For every touchdown that gets scored, they’d draw for another $50. A field goal would result in a $25 draw. And at the end of the game, it was a $200 giveaway. As a bonus, for me anyway, the Cowboys were playing. Brent won $50 as the winner of the first drawing. And the Cowboys scored, they called my ticket and I won $50!

For those that watched the game, you know that there was a safety during the game. I guess they didn’t plan on that ever happening because they didn’t have a drawing lined up for a safety being scored. And if you didn’t watch the game... the Cowboys crushed the Giants: 20-8. :-)

Margaritaville/Fremont:
After the game, we decided to have dinner at Margaritaville. We ordered some Volcano nachos, and they rocked! I knew the Nachos were huge and was considering just splitting that three ways as my meal, but Brent and Sean both ordered food, so I decided, fuck it, and ordered a bacon cheeseburger. The food was all great. Way too much of it, but it was still great. During our meal, a band started playing... just a cover band, you know. But man, they were really good! They started out with an Eagles song, and if wasn’t looking at them, I would have sworn it was the Eagles themselves.

After dinner, we decided to head downtown to Fremont Street so the guys could check out the Fremont light show and Binion’s. Binion’s is rich in poker history, and I think every half-serious poker player should play here at least once in their lives.

We got there about 30 minutes before the last light show for the night. Sean’s a big wuss when it comes to the cold, so he was making a beeline for the warmth of the casino and wasn’t too interested in the giant Xmas tree. We decided to kill some time playing some cheap table games. The nice thing about Fremont is that you can play stuff like $5 blackjack or $4 roulette all day long. And that’s exactly what we did.

Sean sat down and played some $5 blackjack. After about 15 minutes he was up $25 and cashed out. For the remainder of the time, Brent and I played $4 min roulette. I bought in for $100 and proceeded to get down to about $45 pretty quickly. With just a few minutes left until the last light show of the night, I was at $60. I put $20 on a 2 to 1 bet in hopes of just breaking even. I hit. I was happy to get out of there even!

The light show was not as Christmassy as expected. It was basically two chicks (and many cut/pasted clones of them) dressed up in costumes and shaking their money makers to some popular music. I’ve definitely seen better Fremont light shows, but it wasn’t bad. After the light show, we headed to the Binion’s poker room.

Session 2: Binion’s Horseshoe Casino $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
I made a beeline for the place where the poker room USED to be. Turns out that they still played poker there, but it looked weird. No wall of Poker Hall of Fame. No wall of WSOP winners. And it was almost completely empty. Like three tables out of maybe 20 were playing. Turns out that this area was Tourney poker only now. They had created a brand new cash game only poker room down the hall.

The new cash game room had about 8-10 tables. 4 of them were running. Sean, Brent and I were put all on the same table. I hate that. I immediately asked for a table change and got one about 3 hands later.

Binion’s is always full of locals. They love that place. And that always kinda makes me a bit uncomfortable. Not that they are better than any other players, but that they are super chummy with each other and the dealers.

I sit down to a short handed table. One big dude has a big chip stack in front of him. He’s got almost $1000 on the table. I start with $200. Immediately I saw this young Asian guy raising and this older dude re-raising to $50 preflop, and I’m like... great. They fire some more on the flop, but the board starts getting really ugly on the turn. They both slow down and Asian dude shows KK and the old dude shows AA for the win. Hmmm. Maybe they’re not crazy aggressive players?

Turns out I was right. They were extremely meek. We only played there for a bit under 2 hrs. Brent has busted out $200 fairly early and Sean was only a little bit up. I was up $91 myself. We decided to get out of there. I think we’re all starting to prefer the electronic tables at Excal to be honest.

We’re all falling asleep on the bus ride back. Dead tired. We step off the bus, head into Excal, and we look at each other... poker? Yeah!

Session 3: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
Luckily there’s a $1/$2 game running. A lot of the times there is no $1/$2 game, and we have to wait around to start one. Brent heads to 50c/$1, and Sean and I sit at $1/$2.

We play almost exactly 45mins before the game dies. Pfft. Lame. At least I’m up another $67.25. I’ll take it.

We throw around the idea of going to check out Mandalay Bay, but decide it’s probably not a good idea as it’s almost 5am and that games everywhere are pretty thin at that time of day.

So, it’s beddy bye time. Still, that was an all around kick-ass day. Good times.

Vegas Day 4

2008-12-14T12:22:00.001-06:00

"Vegas Day 4"

Today was a pretty good day. My buddies Sean and Brent made it into town. They’ll be here the rest of time I’ll be here too. If you’d like to follow their twitter antics, you can follow them here:

http://twitter.com/brentap
http://twitter.com/sean_price

I woke up today and for some inexplicable reason, I felt like playing in the $30 1pm tourney. I played in the $20 tourney the day before. And it was basically a luck fest. But while the $20 was an $18 + $2 tourney (The “house” gets $2 from every entry,) this was a $25 + $5 tourney... which is *worse*. The blind structure and starting chips are the same. But there I was... paying $30 to get in.

Session 1: Excalibur Tourney $30 buyin
I’ve always been an aggressive tournament player. That’s what probably makes me pretty successful at tournaments. With such a quick tournament structure, aggressiveness isn’t a style option, it’s a necessity. If you find yourself calling more than a small percentage of the time in fast tournaments, you’re probably doing it wrong. Outside of the blinds, I think I entered two pots that I didn’t raise.

This worked fairly well at the beginning. I stayed above the chip average (it’s nice to have stats available to you on the fly when you’re at an electronic table) through most of the early rounds. If I caught a decent Ace or a face card and another card that was sorta close (KT, QJ, K9s, Q8s etc.) I’d raise four to five times the BB. If they lead out, and I had missed, I’d fold. If they checked to me or I sensed any weakness, I’d make a 1/2 to full pot-sized bet. It worked really well until the blinds were so high that the only move that made sense was All-In.

So about the 4th or 5th round I became Mr. All-In. I wasn’t short stacked, but I saw no reason to raise anything less when the blinds were 600/1200 and people had like $4000-8000 chips. I had around $12000 and was the chip leader on a small table of about 6 players. We started with 4.5 tables and by this time we were already down to about 15 players on two tables with my table being the smaller table.

My table began to fear me. I stole blinds quite often, and when I did get a caller, they were up against my AT or my small pair. I knocked two people out and were down to the final 10 players. They told us to take a 10 minute break after which we’d come back to the final table.

I started watching an old Cowboy’s game in the sports betting room, and became a little too engrossed in “Emmitt’s Greatest Game.” I ended up rushing back to the poker room just in time for the game to resume. I looked at the chip stacks and saw that my $17k was good enough for 2nd biggest stack at the table. One guy had $18k and the rest were between $4k and $12k. To give you an idea of how short stacked you are in this tournament, every player started with $3k in chips and there were around 45 starting players. The blinds at the final table started at $800/$1600 and the biggest stack was only $18k to start. Not a lot of wiggle room. Every hand ended up with the winner being the new chip leader.

I decided that I wasn’t going to slow down and was going to continue putting people All-In. I want to amass a huge lead and pound the smaller stacks into submission. I wasn’t about to try to fold myself to 5th place so I can win $55. I put the smallest stack pretty early on and lost a coin flip. I was down to about $11k. I put in the next guy and lost another coin flip. Now I was a short stack. I was down to about $5k and in the $1600 big blind. I announced to the table, “Don’t even think about calling. If you’re coming in, you might as well put at least $5k in there because I’m not letting you see a $1600 flop.” They all got a kick out of that, and all but one guy obediently folded. Raising to $4k when I had $5k was stupid, but at least he raised. I looked down at QTo. I pushed. He called with a pair of eights in the hole. A coin flip! Better than I thought! Yeah, no. I lost. Oh, well. I played for 2 hrs, and it was pretty fun pushing those guys around for that long. 10th place.

My next session was another 50c/$1 cash game.

Session 2: Excalibur 50c/$1 NL Hold ‘Em
I only played in this session for about 30 mins before I got a seat a the $1/$2 game. Not much to say. I bought in for $100 and cashed out $122. Moving on…

Session 3: Excalibu $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
I’d been buying in for the table max of $300 at every Excal $1/$2 game and decided to go with that again because only one guy was at $300-ish. Everyone else was $150 or below. Just like I like it.

Like most sessions I’ve been playing. I start out by being pretty aggressive from the start. This allows me to feel out the table and if anything sets me up to look like a table bully... buying in for the table max and starting to raise everything out of the gate. If it works, I continue to go with it. I’ll raise with stuff as low as J8 from middle position and almost anything in late position. If I catch a lot of resistance and re-raises or check raises, I slow down and tighten up.

Well, at this game, I didn’t get a lot re-raising, I was getting a lot of callers. Way too many. The kind that just won’t fold. I tightened up pretty quick. It worked pretty well. I was up about $100 or so for most of the time.

The most memorable thing about this table was the talkative and getting-increasingly-drunk player at the opposite end of the table. He was doing well and playing loose-aggressive. He was also showing almost every hand too. He hated that me and another player never showed. His rationale was that he showed every hand, we should to. After yet another gripe about how the other dude didn’t show, I finally called him out on it. What did he want us to do? Show every hand because he wanted us to? He started to get belligerent and went off on how this was a low stakes and and it was ‘just cards’. And I agreed, it was ‘just cards’ so let us play however we wanted to. He go a little nasty, and I very nearly called the floor on him. He came off looking like a total douchebag to the table, and he knew it. But at least it worked, he finally shut up about it.

Inevitably, after a couple of hours, the game started to get short handed. I didn’t really wanted to be around Mr. Douchebag anymore, so I got up and took my $130 in profits with me.

By this time, Sean and Brent’s plane had come in. They had tickets to go see NIN at Planet Hollywood a few hours later, so we decided to have dinner at Rain Forest Café and head over to Planet Hollywood so they could see the show, and I’d kill time playing $1/$2 in their poker room.

Session 4: Planet Hollywood $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
I started this game with $200. The table max was $300. I’m not sure why I choose to buy in for less than table max at places other than Excal. Comfort level? A feeling of familiarity at Excal? Dunno.

The first thing I noticed is how pissed off and annoyed our dealer was. The table I got on was just starting. Our dealer was not happy to have been assigned this brand new table. It’s pretty common to come across dealers that complain about being overworked or on a 14 hour shift, but this guy wasn’t even attempting to hide it. That’s what I wanna see. This is why I love live poker with live dealer’s right? Electronic tables suck! I want real dealers like this guy... pfft. Luckily, after we all got our chips, another dealer showed up and relieved him before he dealt the first hand.

I started off aggressive again and met immediate resistance and re-raises from a guy at the far end. Plus, there were two Brit friends sitting next to each other that loved action. Before I knew it, I was down about $70 in about 20 mins. Tighten up time. I dunno if I’m contagious or what, but when I’m playing tight, my side of the table tends to tighten up. Either that or the loose players that sit next to me bust out, and I end up sitting next to tight players longer because, well, they last longer. In any case, my side of the table was running pretty cold. After about 2 hrs, Mr Bad Attitude dealer came back. Oh, no.

Still looking pretty grumpy, Mr. BA counted up the box, mumbled something to himself, took a deep breath put on the fakest smile ever, and started dealing. I’m was thinking... dude, if you’re gonna psyche yourself up and paint on a fake smile, do it BEFORE you get to the table. We all saw you.

Still down about $50, Mr. BA dealt me my first AA in a long time. There are two things that I’ve noticed about my Vegas trip so far. I’m not getting dealt AA very often, and my % for hitting sets on the flop is waaaay below the average. I’ve hit some full houses, but they’ve been with two unpaired hold cards. I think I’m due for a lot of sets pretty soon. Anyway, I got dealt AA and one a decent sized pot. Then the next round, I got dealt AA again. Both time I had them in the Small Blind and both times I took down decent pots. By the time Mr. BA left, I was up over $100. I forgive you Mr. BA. I forgive you.

Within 30 minutes, NIN let out. I cashed out up a bit over $150. Not bad.

By now Sean and Brent wanted to play poker. We decided to head back to Excal so they could check out the electronic poker tables. I gave Sean and Brent the tool of the room and introduced them to the poker room crew. They still have about 6-8 people running the room. Most of which I recognized from the old days. Anyway, after getting them situated, I was able to get into a $1/$2 game.

Session 5: Excalibur $1/$2 NL Hold ‘Em
This game was a tough one. In fact, all my $1/$2 games at Excal have been tough. It’s like the 50c/$1 game is equivalent to the $1/$2 games at other places, and the $1/$2 is like $2/$5. Which makes me wonder, why don’t I just play $1/$2 and make more at other places? Well, I know the answer, I keep winning at Excal. ;)

Anyway, this game was up and down for a while. I somehow managed to get to +$23.50 after a couple of hours and was happy to have it. Again, it was 4 handed before too long, and I got out of there.

I was up $400.50 for the day. My best day so far. Time to start Day 5 now. Until next time...