An Exercise to Exorcise

I may have made a mistake. When I started posting my thoughts, I wanted to stay somewhat anonymous so I could write whatever I wanted. This meant I would tell few friends and no family about this site. Kid Crash and SMC are close friends to whom I end up telling pretty much everything anyway so they know. There are a few other friends also in that category. However, in recent months I may have become a little too proud of my writing and, as a result, sent a link to a couple people that I wish I hadn't.

Its not that I have anything against them. Rather I feel I have to be careful about my content. I don't want to post anything about them or anyone that they know as it could be a little too revealing. I'm not sure what. I just think there might be something. So I've written a few entries that I have yet to post because of this.

That is why I am writing this now. An exercise in simply writing. I had not planned to write about why I am writing. Instead, I resolved to start typing and publish whatever came out...interesting or not...revealing or not. After all, I have been quite absent from my own blog while having plenty to write about. My trip to England and Ireland for intsance.

Ali invited me then her sister Beck decided to get married and Ali left for America. Their dad, Patrick, would still be around to welcome me in....until he was called away on business. That left Ali's other sister, Joanna. She got stuck with the guy from America that she had never met or even spoken to. But she was cool about it. In fact, she was willing to show me around and introduce me to many of her friends. What can I say? Very cool. About one week in to my stay, I heard Jo tell a friend on the phone, "My cousin from America is here." I whispered, "I'm not your cousin." (hilarity ensued) I didn't know where that idea came from but it was probably better that she thought I was more than just some guy her sister had invited. At least until we got to know each other a little.

Strangely, my mom now tells me that we are distant cousins. I don't remember how it goes but it is through marriage somewhere way back. Whatever the relation, I felt welcomed. While I don't throw the word around lightly, I think I would call Jo a friend. That's my side of it anyway. It is hard to tell with her. She's generally nice and outgoing. So its hard to say how much of a bond there was. Time will tell. A long time, in fact. There is a lot of water between here and there so its not like we can meet for drink any old time. That's the tough thing for me. Friends are important. And being away from them aint nice. That's one of the reasons I am glad to be home.

I came back about a week early but kept it a secret so I could surprise my mom on Thanksgiving. That was fun. My sister recorded "the reveal" so we have a video of it. Then I surprised SMC, calling him at work. We met that night at the Yard for some Guinness (pretty good actually. I was worried it would pale in comparrison to what I had in Dublin) then went to see Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. The movie was a bit of a let down but I was there with the right person.

Good to be home and longing for other places.

SEEYa

COFFEE! NOW!!

This was written in a cafe in London on Monday the 6th...some thoughts from the moment...

I was trying to avoid familiar things like fast food (Burger King seems to be the most popular here), Subway (for some reason, I don't think of that as fast food), and Starbucks. I spend an hour or so in a Starbucks about 4 or 5 days each week back at home. I'm here for new experiences.

While walking around London yesterday, I found a Starbucks (wasn't looking for it; just stumbled upon it; maybe it found me). I decided it would be a good idea to remember where it was in case I found myself in withdrawal at some point in my trip.

...BTW, a couple people have already told me there are Starbucks everywhere. Well, they don't know what "everywhere" means. I've only found the one in my whole trip so far. In SoCal, you can't swing a cat (with a city-block-long tail) without knocking a freshly brewed venti caramel macchiato out of someone's hand...

Anyway, I spent a while in the National Gallery today and, after having walked through London for four hours yesterday, I fealt like I had hit the wall. I had plans to meet Jo for dinner and still had an hour and a half to kill. But I didn't feel up to anymore walking. It occurred to me that I was not far from the aforementioned 'Bucks which was also near Jo's work where we had agreed to meet.

I started looking for more reason to take this familiar path. I could easily go to one of many other coffee houses in the city that are of the same vein as Starbucks. However, I haven't had what I think of as a decent coffee since I got here. There is a slight but noticeable difference to me.

Then it hit me. What about the differences with the British 'Bucks? There are bound to be some just as most everything else here is similar but different. Since I am exploring, I need to investigate this. Turns out the place is very familiar (except that the music differs...possibly better...Riders on the Storm was just on) and the coffee is just as it should be, as far as I am concerned. I am enjoying a hazelnut latte and am, obviously since I'm writing, inspired.

That leads me to my first finding of this trip: I love L.A. That's not a knock on London, mind you. I do like it here. But I have yet to find anything significantly special about the place. Its like L.A. but different. Still, I am only one week in and have a lot of time to experience more.

(Bowie's Changes just finished playing.)

That's what I wrote while sitting in Starbucks. Afterward, I met up with Jo and she took me to Soho. Without going into detail, we walked past at least four more 'Bucks and had a great time at two bars. So already my impression was shown to be off.



SEEYa

Tally Yooooo!

Its late Saturday night in England...I ought to know. I am staying with friends in Chislehurst near Kent. Rather, I should say I am staying at a friend's home. I was invited to visit by my friend Ali who I met when she visited California during the summer. I got my travel plans set then she had to leave all of a sudden. Now she is in the States and I am at her flat.

Luckily, Ali's sister Jo stuck around and was able to welcome me. She's been great, too, setting me up at the house and showing me around town. On my first night, we stayed in since she had to work in the morning. The next night, she treated me at their local Indian restaurant which was quite nice. Today, she took me around Bromley, a nearby town that is bigger with more shops and places to eat.

Now Jo is off for the night to visit some friends she had plans with so I have the run of the place. I decided to stay in and try for an early start tomorrow. I will be taking the train in to London and start acting like a tourist. So far, I haven't taken any pictures but I'll have the camera glued to my hand tomorrow.

Much more to come...I hope.

SEEYa

Time Well Spent

The poker journey has been very interested thus far. I've had some ups and some downs. If you looked at my bankroll, however, you wouldn't guess there were any ups. After taking an extended trip down to the $200 buy-in game ($2-$5 NL Hold'Em) at Commerce because I wanted to use my edge against seemingly weaker players, I returned to the $400 buy-in game ($5-$10 NL Hold'Em). I had realized that players were equally weak in both games. There was, for a little while, a higher number of wildly aggressive players in the higher games. Alot of those freaks are still there but it turns out there are just as many in the lower games.

I had also reached the conclusion that a modest winning session at the lower level was not enough for me to walk away and book it for the night. I never overextended myself in any sessions. It just meant that I couldn't walk early after doubling or tripling my starting buy-in. After much thought about session length (playing time), I am pretty sure it is perfectly OK to leave a game after only a short time if you have accumulated a stack that you feel makes for a successful outing. I try not to factor "luck" into decisions so that's not what this is about. Its about streaks. I've played 19 hours straight without any significantly positive results for the first 15 then catching a good run of cards in the last few hours. Sessions like that would end after 19 hours, regardless, but riding out cold cards and benefiting from a hot run are key.

So what if you have a good run within the first hour or two of play? Once the hot streak has cooled, would it wise to expect it to return? True...given enough time, another streak will occur. But you could sit over a dwindling stack or cash out and pad the stats. I mean, what I've found is I don't go on runs very often. Its never a bad idea to quit while you're ahead.

So I got back into the $400 games again with a few of goals: 1) Avoid big pots with wild players except with monster hands; 2) Play position/pick spots wisely; 3) Don't play scared.

I actually came up with the third goal while I was playing scared. The table had been very aggressive all night and I had been playing extremely tight. Then I realized I had not yet tried to exploit the tight image that I had been establishing. I picked a few spots and played aggressively and it worked. I was able to salvage a night that had been going nowhere. But it is important to note that I didn't start leading out with a blind aggression. I really played smart and was rewarded for it.

I have been analyzing my play at every step of the way. There was a short time, a couple weeks, in which I wasn't very attentive while playing. I wasn't distracted by anything. I was just bored and zoning out. Fortunately, I snapped out of that. I have since been very aware of everything going on in my games. The results have been good reads, acknowledged non-reads, and timely bets and checks. I don't play perfectly, mind you, but I am very happy with what I have done.

Sadly, there are some situations that simply cannot be avoided. For instance:

In one session, the table was very loose and passive so I was able to limp from early position with J-10 (this was very early in my play that day). With 5 of us limping, I saw the J-J-10 flop with two players in front of and behind me. First positon, a middle-aged Asian man who likes to think he is very tricky, checked from the small blind to a kid in his late twenties (whom I had come to know as a somewhat solid player but doesn't really pay attention to his competitors) in the big blind. The kid led out for $30. I decided to just call and hope the others would call behind me. Both the late players folded and Mr. Tricky flat called. I was sitting on the absolute nuts. Then the worst card in the deck fell...the case 10. I say it was the case because I already thought the kid was betting his own 10. I had been hoping Mr. Tricky had the other 10 but it was now obvious that he did not.

Tricky, once again, checked and the kid bet $40. Again, I flat called expecting to chop the pot with Mr. Tricky and wanted to get as much of the kid's money into the pot to make it profitable. Then Mr. Tricky decided to get, well, cute. He stared down the kid then raised to $100. I tried not to react but I think I rolled my eyes instinctively. The kid reluctantly folded and inappropriately revealed his 10. That eliminated my only chance of winning the pot outright by representing quad 10's...not that Mr. Tricky would have actually laid down Jacks full. Anyway, I moved in for another $200+. Then Mr. Tricky went into his act. He stood up, showed his cards to the guy seated on his right, and grimaced. All things that someone with a bad hand would do. I wasn't falling for it. Then he pretended he was throwing his cards away, stopped, and pushed in a rack of chips to make the call. I gently revealed my cards as he slammed his J to the felt.

Let me just state that these are not intended as bad beat stories. They are only examples of how things have been going lately. Here's one more...

On a different night, I had limped in middle position with Q-J. The flop came 8-9-10 rainbow. Absolutely perfect. An early position player bet $25 and I called. One other person called in late position. The turn card was just terrible for me. I knew that right away. It was a Q. The original bettor now checked. I decided to find out where I was with a bet of $70. The guy behind me folded and the early position player just called. Now I put him on a J at least and, while I didn't really think he had it, possibely K-J. This river changed nothing. When he checked, my best play was clear. I also checked and showed down my Q-high straight against his bare J for his Q-high straight. Chop it up!

I've got more of this but I'll save it for another post. Don't worry. Its not all bad. I will write about some of the plays that I am proud of throughout this cold streak. I'll also tell you why I feel like its going to turn around.

SEEYa

Clementine

Occassionally, I see something on TV that stars someone in a rare appearance or makes reference to another piece of cinema. Then I see that same actor or referenced item on another show. I tend to find the coincidence immensely interesting. Then I tell a friend about it and he finds it immensely...coincidental. Damn it all! I say its interesting. An example of how far we've come that we can touch the past so simply.

This happened again yesterday. I was watching M*A*S*H (the TV show, not the movie). It was one of those episodes without any drama, all fun. The colonel surprised everyone with a movie to lift their spirits. It was an old western starring Henry Fonda called My Darling Clementine. It ends up being inconsequential to the episode as the film breaks and they have to entertain themselves until it is repaired. (OK. That was more info about the show than was necessary.)

Later that day, I was browsing the premium movie channels when I happened upon none other than My Darling Clementine (1946). Now how about that? The movie is sixty years old and I had never even heard of it before. Then I had the chance to watch it after having watch other people watch it. So I did.

I had missed the first couple of minutes but that was the part that the gang at the 4077th watched before it broke. So I was covered. As I watched, I became amazed that I had not heard of the movie before. It is pretty much the same story as Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. I love Tombstone. Its one of those movies that I can't help but watch when its on TV even though I own it on DVD.

That fact drew me into the movie even more. I wanted to see what differences there are in the story and how well it was made. I dig old westerns but the acting and staging is usually on par with the stuff that airs late night on Skinemax. This one wasn't bad though. We all know Henry Fonda was top shelf. However, I find it hard to think of him as a tough as nails gunman. But still pretty decent. Most of the characters were there as in the recent flicks but the relationships and story line are quite different. I ended up recording the last half of it because I was hungry (not from ruslin' cattle mind you but still in need of food) and had to mosey out to rangle up some chow. I'll finish watching later. Maybe there will be another reference embedded in MDC to a silent movie or something I would only find on mimeophone.

SEEYa