Monday, August 6, 2007

Parents, Carver, Poker

My parents stopped through Lincoln today on their way back to Kearney. It was sort of a debacle. I didn't eat lunch, because I figured that they would stop through at around 12 or 1, so I waited. At 3pm my mom finally called saying that they were on their way. I initially wanted to go eat at Famous Dave's, but my dad didn't want to drive across town. I settled for the Red Fox. As I'm driving there, they call me and say that it doesn't open until 4:30. Sweet. So I call Brandon, who used to live out at Capitol Beach, and he tells me to try The Other Room on Sun Valley. If you guessed "Not Open on Sundays," you win this round. So then we drive back toward West O to the Sun Valley Bar and Grill. Bar open, grill closed. We finally broke down and drove to Old Chicago down in the Haymarket. I'm so glad we tried to save time by staying out on West O. Anyway, after we got there, I had fun. I enjoy spending time with my parents now that I'm older. In high school, I didn't get along with my dad and my mom seemed overbearing and embarrassing. They've loosened up a little, and I've stopped being a rebellious dick, so we have lots of fun now.

I finished the Carver book. I admire the way he absolutely resists instances of epiphany. I can see clever little spots in his writing, passages, sentences, that have greater meanings. A man shutting the door to his house is really shutting the door to on his past life, things of that nature. However, the overwhelming majority of the stories feel like he didn't know how to finish so he just stopped. His character is on the verge of realizing something and then looks out the window and then period, page break, new story. The character doesn't see anything symbolic. The fuse burns down into the firecracker but nothing ever explodes. I'd appreciate it if somebody would tell me what I'm missing.

I beat luck today for the first time that I can remember. I played the longest heads-up match that I have ever played today, and after about an hour and fifteen minutes I finally locked it up with JJ vs TT AIPF (I went back and looked at the structure of games and the previous long was right at an hour, my bad). We started off ridiculously even, with neither of us cracking 11k in chips in the first level. In the second level, he cracked my QQ when I got cute on a KKJ flop. I put him on a J and tried to milk it for all that it was worth. He bet pot and I called. The turn was an 8 and he bet pot again. I just called, and we took a 9 on the river. Here, he bet 500 into the pot of nearly 3k. This is what he typically did when he had a big hand, but I was baffled because he previous betting was atypical. I just called and he flipped T7 for a runner-runner gutterball. Sweet. I then proceeded to miss everything for the next 30 minutes. I never dipped below 6k because I floored it and stole every pot that he didn't bet at, which kept me afloat. I finally caught a break with AA. I raised and he called. We took a J high flop, he bet, I moved in, and he called with AJ. I held and was up to 13k. The very next hand I had J9o and we took a J high flop. He min bet, I raised pot, he moved in, and I called. He flipped QJ and I blanked to go back in the shitter. I did everything I could to get chips and finally got him to call an all-in with KJ vs my A6 on an AK8 flop. That put me at 12k while blinds were 200/400; 50. I took the next two rounds of blinds and that's when I won with the JJ. When I say I beat luck, it is because I had nothing. I had AA once, QQ once, JJ once, and TT twice. I wasn't dealt AK at all. I made 1 boat, 2 flushes, and 1 straight that we both had. It was sick. If the guy would've been more aggressive, it would've been over after 20 minutes. Instead, I peeled off another win, putting me on a streak of something like 5 wins again. My bankroll is now at $899.95. On the 1st of August, I had around $330. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, but I love it. I played another guy today that paused halfway through the match to inform me that he wouldn't be playing me again, and if he felt the urge, he was just going to send me $50 instead. I have good notes on him. As soon as my new ePassporte account gets verified I'm going to transfer $100 to Full Tilt and try my luck at the $.50/$1 NLHE heads-up games over there. If I lose it, I'm done with that site until my Bugsy's roll hits $1200. I know that most of you either don't read this or don't really care, but I hope that you have been lately, and that you've been enjoying this current great ride as much as I am. I know it's going to stop. I don't want to think about it, but I know it will. At the moment, I feel invincible at the table, and it is definitely showing in my play. I'm making great reads and great laydowns, which is helping to keep this rush going. However, I need to get to bed now because I have to work in 6.5 hours. I won't sleep well though, because I'll just be waiting to play again tomorrow night. Doyle Brunson once said that he always slept better when he lost everything because he wasn't itching to play again. I've never really had that strong of an itch before, but I have it now, and I love it. Good night.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

hooray for playing at the level you knew you could. And also for being right about the level of play you would encounter at that level of money. You always said the reason you lost was because the field you have to wade through to build your bank roll is harder than the one you swim in once it is built. Later.