Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Friday, October 13, 2006
Longest. Day. Ever.
An odd thing happened on the way to 6:30pm today; I finished everything.
Sometimes there is nothing worse than being uber efficient. Two weeks ago, I was in the middle of trial prep for three cases. The first one settled (for $850,000...booya), we lost the second one on summary judgment before it got to trial, and the third one is happening as we speak. As a result, it's been quiet in the office, with the head honcho at trial and my team leader playing second seat.
What's a man to do? Thankfully, I got down to business, looking over my cases, expecting them to be neglected and disheveled after focusing exclusively on other peoples' cases for the last several weeks. Well, they were a tad neglected, but only a tad. Once the review was done, though, I realized that most of my work is already done. And now, I'm bored as hell.
Might as well take some time to speak to you about the changes happening at HoP. First, welcome TwoDiamondPhillips, aka Big Mark from the Roose Home Game. If you recall, Mark had taught me a couple of wacky homegames, and while we talked, I guess this blog came up. He also dropped what, to me, was one of the funniest card puns, the Two Diamond Phillips. That Mark is one funny mofo, with 2d Phillips being only a small sample, so its good to have his sarcastic ass commenting here and there.
The biggest change for HoP is my recent live game focus. It might not be apparent yet on this site, but I've increased my live game schedule big time. Of course, that just means playing once a week steadily and twice a week when I can manage. Roose's home game is a start, albeit one that encourages a relaxed atmosphere to tense competition. But its also a great place to talk through hands. The depth of player is a bit more shallow than your average blogger gathering, so I'm not receiving much in the way of existential poker philosophy, but I've found that I learn the most when I'm teaching, and Petey allows me to do just that. Frankly, though, just chatting through hands has generally been a boon.
On the other end of the spectrum, I had a great time at SIF's homegame, so I'm planning to attend game 2 this Sunday while wifey Kim is having a birthday brunch with one of her gal friends. The mixed game format means that I'm constantly paying attention, and the competition is strong, so I'm forced to play the closes thing to an A-game that I have, considering that I know shit about 2-7 lowball tripledraw.
I haven't made my return to Salami just yet, but that is also in the cards. They were robbed a couple of weeks ago, but it was 2am on a weekend. By my estimation (adopted from SoxLover), the smart man plays early and leaves before 11pm.
I'm booked for Atlantic City twice in December. The first time is Dec. 8-10th weekend, where I will be playing the Saturday $300 WSOP Circuit event at Harrahs, and the $300 event on Sunday as well, probably. I'm still toying with playing a $500 event, but it would be on my birthday, Dec. 11th, and by then, I might be happy just heading home. After all, two weeks later, I'll be back in AC, this time at the Caesars for my 6th installment of Christmas with the Heathens. Feel free to read about last year's trip Here, and Here, and also Here.
May 2007 = Vegas, thanks to Roose's bachelor party. We have over 12 people going, including his brother, brother-in-law (through his sister, not his fiance) and father, so its a mixed group. I'm hoping that I won't be the activities coordinator, even though I've been one of the pointmen on setting up the trip. Frankly, once I get there, you'll be hardpressed not to find me at a poker table. Fortunately, Roose has the same idea. Now what should we do with the non-poker playing guests? I know...ignore them.
While I'm at it, I'm going to try my gosh darn hardest to make it to Foxwoods in November. Woffles suggested Nov. 11th weekend for a N.E. blogger free-for-all, but I'm privvy to the next weekend, since wifey Kim will be in Miami tanning, erm, I mean attending a speech-language conference. Worse case scenario, everyone goes on the 11th and I go on the 18th. I'm fairly confident he of the breakfast food will be there anyway...degenerate.
Live poker isn't the only thing changing at HoP. I've finally decided to take a step into the 22nd century and boy is it cool. I've gotten back to Bloglines, since I've found that checking sites randomly means that a few slip through my fingers. That said, you all have been a bit slacking lately, or I've been reading too much. You pick, really. Whatever the case, I'm watching you all, so be on your best behavior.
Oh, and then there is that other thing. PokerTracker and PokerAceHud. If you don't know what they are, let me give you a quick rundown. Tracker collects your hand histories, so you can analyze your play. I still haven't mastered this function. Instead, I just rely on AceHud, which basically places stats on top of your openned poker table with information on your opponents. So, if someone has only entered 10% of the pots, but has a high preflop or postflop aggression rating, its safe to say that he is Tight-Aggressive. It's also helpful to see players that see 42% of the flops, since I know they are willing to play crap cards.
I eventually gave into this shortcut tool basically because I've come to the conclusion that I can use any help I can get. I can't seem to concentrate when I play online, so this gives me something akin to a read. Truth be told, though, I'd be better off withdrawing all of my dough from online. But its poker, and I'm a poker player, so I'm going to keep at it, and accept what comes my way (while working to improve myself).
So, its a whole new HoP in a whole lot of ways, but this rambling pointless post will also show you that nothing much has changed in this here cabeza.
Now go write something so I don't have to post this drivel.
Until then, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 5:12 PM,
2 Comments:
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At 9:42 PM,
Gnome said...
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I love software like PokerTracker and PokerAce HUD -- it can only help.
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At 11:15 AM,
said...
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Poker Stove is good, too.
