Picture Memories

I can't believe its been almost two week since I posted anything.

Basically I spent the 2 weeks going though the garage getting rid of things I don't need or use. The best part of that was going through old pictures and photo albums. That brought a lot of laughs and a few sad moments too. The laughs were looking at pictures of family, friends and myself in earlier years. Its amazing how much some people change over the years and others seem ageless. The sad moments were seeing pics of family that are no longer with us. With the digital age upon us our kids and grandkids will probably never have the fun of doing what I did. Everything these days gets loaded onto your computer and stored on some site (like Facebook) and basically forgotten. Of course the quality of pictures today are amazing but looking at some of the old shots including black and white ones brought back a lot of memories. Don't get me wrong I love my digital camera and the ease of use but there was always something exciting about after a long trip when lots of pictures where taken and waitiing for them to come back developed. You would open the envelope and laugh at some of the crazy shots that had been taken. Now of course you see them instantly. Not quite the same but a heck of a lot cheaper.

Still have the house for sale. Getting lots of people through but nobody seems to be buying. None of the places in our neighbourhood have sold. Talking to the agents it seems its the domino effect. A lot of people looking have places to sell themselves and until they sell nothing else sells. This is the longest its ever taken for me to sell a place. A couple times we sold in a week or less with more than one offer. Times sure have changed.

As far as poker goes I played four live tournaments finishing 15th in one (52 entrants), twice finished 11th and way down in another when someone caught a 2 outer on the river to send me home early. Thats it for poker.

Drinking,Driving and a Tournament

I was playing my usual Monday night live tournament last night and some interesting conversation broke out at table. One of the guys at our table was complaining about cops sitting up the street from bars and watching patrons leave and once they got in their cars pulling them over and making them take breathalyzers. He was going on and on about this saying it was sneaky and shouldn't be done. I guess he had been pulled over but had only drank one beer so he was okay. A couple people agreed with him. I just sat silently for a long time thinking the conversation would end and trying my best to ignore it. I have to say though it was really getting to me. People who drink and drive should lose their licence. When I am out at a bar that I have driven to the most I ever drink is one glass of wine. If I want to drink more I don't drive. Simple as that. If they want to pull me over I am happy to oblige them. In fact I am happy they are out there. I don't want to be hit by someone who's had too much to drink and I don't want any of my family members or friends to be hit either. Finally after a lengthy time I said I have no problem with that and the conversation ended.

The tournament last night had just under 50 people and I was at a wild table. Super aggressive after the flop. People were pushing and I just kind of laid back and waited for cards. Finally got pocket 10's, I raised got one caller who pushed all in. I called. He had me covered. He had AJh. Flop was 10,Q 6. with two hearts and of course I now had trips but he had a straight and flush draw but the turn and river were blanks and I doubled up.
Other than that a pretty uneventful night. Later on I got dealt pocket 9's. Lady UTG raised which was more than 3/4 of my stack. I figured she had AK, AQ or a pocket pair. Figured it was push or fold. Not much use just calling. So I pushed, everyone else folded and she called. She had AQ and she hit her Ace on the turn and I was out in 16th spot.

Real Estate and a 5th Place

Have I mentioned how much I love real estate agents? Almost as much as I love some lawyers.. Actually there are some great people that are real estate agents it just seems the bad ones you notice.

We have had our place up for sale for about 4 weeks which is probably the longest its ever taken us to sell. I know the market is not the greatest except for certain price ranges but when we put it up we had a about 3 showings and then nothing for 2 weeks. Suddenly this week we have had 4 showings. So things are picking up a bit. All the real estate agents so far have been good except for 2 instances. The first is pretty minor and that is the real estate agent forgot to lock the door so basically anybody could have come in stole us blind but really I guess that's a mistake I can overlook. What happened last night was very unprofessional.

What happens when other real estate agents want to show your house is they make an appointment with your agent who then phones you to confirm the time and then responds back to that agent saying its okay to bring people through. They usually like an hour time frame to bring their clients through which is more than adequate. You of course have to tidy up ,take the dog and leave the house empty for the hour. The agent gets in through the lock box on the door. So last night while I was poker we had a showing from 630-730. The wife took the dog and left and got back at 730. Started making her lunch and doing other stuff. At 10 minutes to 8 the dog started barking and there were people in our house. Now this agent didn't knock, just used the lock box and in he came. The wife was shocked and quickly grabbed the dog and left but she was pretty upset. She could have been in the shower or in bed or whatever. The agent mumbled something about that they were behind schedule. Yea well if that's the case how about a courtesy telephone call to let us know. Then it would have not been a problem. That would have been the professional way to handle it and we would have understood as things happen. Even knocking would have been good but that didn't happen either. I think some agents need some people skills. It just like when you are out house hunting yourself and go to open houses. Some agents are great they chat you up tell you about the place etc. while others just sit there and pass you a sheet and barely smile. Its amazing how much more of an impression a friendly,professional agent can make.

I Played a live tournament on Thursday night and with 55 people I managed a 5th place showing so that was okay. Not a lot of memorable hands but I managed a good lay down on one and bad one on another. The first one was I was dealt A10h in the BB. It was raised to me and with everyone else folding i just called. Flop comes A86. I bet Liking my Ace with on Okay kicker and the original raiser went all in. HMM. It was fairly early on but I had him covered if I called but only by a few hundred chips. After a lot of thought I folded face up. He showed and had AJ. Good fold on my part.

The second memorable hand I was dealt Pocket 10's UTG. I raised 3.5 times the BB hoping to take it right there. I got one caller the lady in the BB who is ultra aggressive and a good player. Flop comes 854 rainbow. She makes a pretty large bet which screams that she either has an over pair or AK or is trying to buy the pot. I just couldn't pull the trigger. I even asked if she would show if I folded. She said yes which even more likely said I was probably good. I folded. She had AQ suited.
Terrible fold although she could have caught her Ace or Queen on the turn or the river I guess

Other than that I managed to win my share of pots and ended up going out in 5th when the chip leader caught his straight on the river and that was my night. Still a decent showing.

Up and Down Night

I played my usual Tuesday night live tournament last night and early on I knew it was going to be a decent night when sitting in the BB with 2,9 off suit and the flop comes 296 rainbow. I of course won that pot when I bet and everyone folded. Soon after I got moved to a new table and I got dealt AKh. A lady in early position who is an excellent player and who already had a decent stack bet just over 3 x BB. I just called and everyone else folded. Flop came Q86 with 2 hearts. She bet again big which looked like a continuation bet so liking the amount of outs I had and hoping to push her off the hand I went all in. She insta called and flipped over pocket Kings.Whoops. Still had lots of outs though and I hit my Ace on the turn and just to rub it in more caught my flush on the river. A nice double up.

I was sailing along until 3 consecutive hands changed my fate. I again got dealt AK this time in the BB. I had 2 limpers to me and with blinds at 400/800 I raised to 3000. One guy folded and the lady in the SB after some thought pushed. It was only 400 more to call and I did of course. She had A5c. Awesome but of course she hit her 5 on the flop and then the turn and river brought AA. She had her full house and I took a bit of a hit to my stack. The very next hand in the SB I got dealt 95d. I limped in with 2 others. Flop brought 2 diamonds. I just checked and someone bet the minimum so I called just to see another card. The other guy folded. The turn brought another diamond. Got my flush but not liking just having a 9 high and not wanting another card to come bet enough to put the original better all in. She called and looked surprised when I turned over my flush which held up. You got to like those SB specials. While I was still stacking my chips I got dealt Pocket Kings. I raised to just over 3 x the BB and only the BB called me. Flop come QJ6 rainbow. He bet pretty big and I immediately put him on AQ. Without doing a lot of thinking (big mistake) I pushed all in. He inst called me and turned over QJ for a flopped two pair. Yikes. I couldn't get my third King or get the turn or river to pair to give me a higher two pair and just like that I was out as he had me covered. I am still thinking about that hand and wondering if I over played it. I just couldn't put him on QJ. I probably should have thought it through better before pushing especially when he bet out. Any thoughts?

The Story Behind DB Cooper

When I first signed up to play online poker a few years back they of course asked for a user name and for some bizarre reason I chose DB Cooper. I constantly get asked or my name gets commented on by mostly older players. The young players for the most part have no idea who DB Cooper was.

I have always been fascinated with the legend of DBCooper. Did he get away with it?? Is he still alive somewhere or did he die parachuting from the airplane??

On November 24,1971 a man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked a Northwest Airlines flight and demanded 200,000 in cash and two parachutes. He handed the Flight Attendant a note saying he had a bomb .The plane landed at Seatac Airport and his demands were met. All the passengers and one Flight Attendant were allowed to leave. The plane was refuelled. The mysterious man now known as DB Cooper said he wanted to head towards Mexico. He was told that the fuel would not carry them that far and they agreed on refuelling again in Reno Nevada. The plane then took off. The one remaining flight attendant and the 3 crew were ordered to stay in the cockpit and not come to the back. They were also told not to pressurize the cabin. About an hour into the flight the pilot noticed a red light signalling a door had been opened. This was somewhere over southern Washington state. They crew having been told to not come back proceeded to Reno landed the aircraft and discovered that DB Cooper was gone. He had parachuted out with the money strapped to his body.

To this day nobody knows whether he died on the way down or somehow got away with it. The only evidence ever found was near Vancouver Washington in 1980 a child digging in the sand discovered close to 6000 dollars of the money near Vancouver Washington. The FBI confirmed this was part of the 200,000 as the serial numbers matched. This tells me that DB Cooper survived the jump and possibly buried the money in different spots.

You have to remember these were the days before there was basically any security at airports.

So what really happened to DB Cooper? I don't think we will ever know but his legend lives on. Personally I think he got away with it.

The Time Travellers Wife

This weekend we walked over and saw The Time Travellers Wife at our local theatre. I had seen a couple people reading the book and had seen the previews and and was mildly optimistic that it might a decent movie. I was pretty disappointed and a bit creeped out. The movie is about a guy who like the title says travels through time but never knows when he is going or where. On one of his travels through time he meets his future wife who at the time is about 6 years old. The story follows a ragged plot line and jumps from past to present to future. I suppose if you had read the book you could follow it better but I just didn't think whoever adapted the screenplay from the book did a very good job. I was actually fairly bored watching the movie and kept looking at my watch. The creepy part was that when he travelled through time he does so naked. Now there is nothing wrong with being naked but he kept going back to see his future wife and just something about that whole context of a grown man meeting a 6 year old and then marrying her later that I just found a bit weird. Maybe I was reading too much into it. My better half enjoyed the movie more than than me. Anyways I would wait for the video on this one.

As you can probably tell I go to a lot of movies. There is something about sitting in a theatre watching the big screen that I just love. Oh sure you can see movies at home on big screen TVs but it's just not the same.

Wildlife and Last Nights Game

It seems up in northern Alberta conservation officers went in and shot dead 12 black bears who had the audacity to frequent the garbage dump. Imagine the nerve of those bears coming into our wilderness area and going through the trash. Actually all kidding aside I can't believe that we still have Neanderthal conservation officers who think that the solution to a wildlife problem is to shoot them. This was not in a major city or a bear threatening people but this was bears wandering into a garbage dump that wasn't properly fenced. The nearest town had a population of just over 100 people. I was sickened when I read the article here

Where I live when I go for a run or walk I frequently see deer. Sometimes in packs of 3 or 4. I always stop and watch them. There are literally dozens that live in the wooded area near me. I feel fortunate to live here and yet every so often some person will complain with a letter to the editor about the deer. Well guess what folks where do you want these animals to go?? We have built into there natural habitat and we have to learn to co exist with them. Now I know deer aren't the same as bears but you get the idea.

There were ways around the cull of the bears in Alberta but the gun slinging officers took the easy way out . Shame on them and shame on Alberta for allowing this to happen.

I played my usual Thursday live game last night with about 50 players. I started off well when in the very first hand I got dealt QJ in the dealer position. I limped in with 4 others. Flop comes Q64. I bet got one caller. The turn was a J giving me two pair. I bet. She called. River brought an ace. I was a little concerned but bet out fairly big. She finally called after a lot of thought. She had AK so my two pair were good. Good pot and I was glad she overplayed her AK and didn't raise preflop.

My night went well. I was getting decent cards and building my stack when I hit pocket Aces UTG and put in a pretty decent raise. Guy next to me went all in.
Everyone folded back to me and of course I called. He had KJd. He hit his K but the Aces held and I was sailing along.

I took a huge hit when I got dealt AK clubs. Guy in EP raised and I just flat called him. Then the BB pushed all in. The loose young guy in EP called and action was on me. Should I call, push (young guy and me had about the same amount of chips) or fold as to call was over half my stack. I elected to just call. BB had AQ, young guy had J9. I hit my K on the flop but young guy hit his straight on the river and won a huge pot. He sheepishly said he was just trying to steal when he first raised and would have folded if I pushed. That one stung.

I managed to win a couple small pots later but eventually went out when we were down to 2 tables. I think I was 12th place.

The List

The other night the movie The Bucket List came on the movie channel. I saw at the theatres when it first came out a couple years ago as I am a big Jack Nicholson fan and I also like Morgan Freeman. If you haven't seen the movie its about 2 guys who both find out they have terminal cancer and both create a list of things they always wanted to do. They then proceed to do them all. I enjoyed it even more the second time around. The acting is superb.

We all go sailing through life,graduating from school, getting married , having kids,working. You know what its like. Life flies by. It seems to go faster as you get older. That's what it was like for these two guys until they realized that time wasn't something they had a lot of left.

Why not create a list when you are younger and healthy? Then set about doing some of the things you have always wanted to do. Makes more sense doesn't it.

So here are a few things on My List
1. Watch a ballgame at Fenway Park
2. Take a Caribbean cruise
3. Play in a World Series Of Poker event in Las Vegas
4. Watch my son (the poker playing one) play in a WSOP event.
5. See a Broadway show in New York City.
6. Drink a beer in an English pub (yes beer isn't in my new diet but 1 won't hurt)

These are just a few but you get the idea. Most of mine involve travelling somewhere and experiencing something different but they don't need to be expensive.
They can be anything.

So what are yours??

Dietitian and back to Live Poker

I was able to avail myself through a work plan of a free consultation,followup and program with a dietitian. Its not because I am heavy. I actually only weigh around 150 pounds and I am 5'9" so that's pretty light for my height. Its to reduce my cholesterol. I have mentioned this before that I was shocked to find out my cholesterol was high.

Anyways the consultation was done over the phone for around 35 minutes. She basically asked me everything I ate and how much. Did I eat 3 meals a day? Yes. Did I use margarine or butter?? How many glasses of water a day did I drink? Questions like that. It really made me think all the stuff that I put in my mouth. She actually thought I was doing good with a lot of things since my last blood test. That was my wake up call. I never eat fast food. I now use low fat margarine and mayonnaise. I have cut out all white sugar pretty well. I never eat cookies, cake or any sweets at all anymore. I eat multi grain bread. I use non fat soy milk where before I was using the vanilla flavored stuff. I have oatmeal every morning but she did have a tip for this that I should cook it and not use that instant stuff. I did that this morning. It even tasted better. Aren't I boring now?? No more crap is going in my body. I am really determined to make this work. Hopefully this will be enough to get the numbers down to an acceptable level.

She did say I could drink red wine. Three or four glasses a week are okay. I love red wine so that's a good thing. No more beer or rum and cokes. In fact no more pop of any kind. She is now preparing a package for me which will give me even more tips on what to eat. She then does a followup a couple weeks from now to see how I am doing and then I go for another blood test at the end of August. It's funny never in my life would I have thought I would use the services of a dietitian but she was great and I have already learned a lot from her.

Last night was the first night back at a live poker game after a three week break. I think we had over 50 players there. My night was pretty uneventful. I got chased off a couple hands early but managed to get some of the chips back when I got dealt pocket 7's. I raised 3x BB. Got 1 caller. Flop comes KQ6 rainbow. Not a great flop for me. I decided to check and he also checked which made me think he was on a draw or something. The turn brought the lovely third 7. I was going to check but I just didn't like the board so I pushed instead. He folded.

After that I basically got real card dead and then our table broke down and first hand at the new table where I was the BB. Somebody in early position raised and it got folded around to me. I had A2 off suit. I pushed as folding wasn't an option with my sad stack. I didn't love my cards but then he turned over 4,6 of clubs. What?? Yep. He of course hit both his 4 and 6 on the flop and I was gone. Still wondering what he was thinking raising in EP with those two cards.

Julie and Julia and more Face the Ace

So on Saturday we headed over to our local cinema to catch Julie and Julia. Yes I know this is a supposed Chick Flick but for the measly 6.25 they charge I figured I could sit through it. Okay that's not true. I actually like chick flicks!!! There I said it. I mean between the choice of Julie and Julia and GI Joe give me the chick flick any day. Anyways this starred Meryl Steep as Julia Child and the ever so cute Amy Adams as Julie. The movie itself is basically two story lines one being Julia Childs story of how she became a cook and world famous author of her own cook book and TV show. The other storyline (which both my wife and I liked better) revolves around Julie's humdrum job and life until one day she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's cookbook in one year. That's like over 500 recipes. She also being somewhat of an amateur writer decides to write a blog about it. Now you think a storyline that revolves around cooking and blogging would put you to sleep but actually I was really entertained. I enjoyed the movie. I thought Amy Adams did a great job playing her part and Meryl Streep who we all know is an outstanding actress did a very credible job playing Julia Child. One warning though is eat before you go to see this movie as watching them cook made me really hungry.

I watched the second installment of Face the Ace when I got home from the movie (love the PVR) and I liked it. Contrary to what the the Poker Grump said here. The reason I like it is because it's the average poker player playing the pros. Isn't that all our dreams? I mean the show isn't perfect. Like I said last week I would give the guy 40,000 if he decides to go for the million as it really isn't fair to penalize him that much. I felt sorry for the guy who lost. He walked away with nothing. The second contestant who was either so nervous or had one too many drinks chatted and laughed her way through her match. You could see the look on Gus Hansen's face that he didn't know quite how to take her. I think this show has some merits and I will check it out again.

On a personal note there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel regarding my daughter. Her story is here . Nothing concrete to report on yet but thanks to my youngest son things might be turning the corner. I know I would love to see it resolved and she get life back on track. I know I will sleep and relax better knowing she is okay.

HST and WSOP 40,000

Here in B.C. our wonderful provincial government has decided to Harmonize the provincial sales tax with the federal sales tax and call it the HST. The provincial sales tax (PST) is currently 7% and the federal sales tax (GST or goods and services tax)is 5%. This new tax will be 12% and basically we will just have the one tax. Sounds simple right?? Sounds like a no brainer?? But wait. This tax will now apply to many things that weren't formerly taxed by both taxes. Things like restaurant meals, new home sales, Real estate fees, going to the hairdresser. The list goes on and on. So instead of this being something that makes sense to the average working person this is just another tax grab. So why are they bringing it in?? They say it will save businesses money by only having to administer 1 tax. Then why are small businesses screaming?? They are screaming because they know that some of them will be losing customers (ie restaurants) as the cost of meals will go up. So basically this tax will be good for big business and our government coffers. A recent poll shows that 90% of B. C residents are against this HST and I think on this issue the government better listen. We are basically fed up with being taxed to death. This provincial government better wake up and smell the coffee. This is a no go for us here in B. C.. We do have recall legislation here in B.C. and with 90% against this might be all we need to throw this bunch out.

I finally got around to watching the televised 2 hour first event of this years WSOP 40,000 buy in event and came away suitably impressed. I was really impressed with the play of Vitaly Lunkin who when it came to heads up play clearly in my opinion was the best player. This is taking nothing away from Issac Haxton but in the hands showed Issac did push with some questionable cards and Vitaly was very unlucky not to win before he did. This is taking nothing away from Haxton but I wonder if nerves got the better of him at the end. Even watching Justin Bonomo's face in the crowd you could read in his eyes that he was thinking (you pushed with that?) I know we will definitely see more of Issac in the future as he is an incredible player.
I loved the way Lunkin played his pocket Aces both times heads up(even though he lost once). I am not a fan of slow playing aces except Headsup. In my opinion in a full ring game or tournament slow playing Aces is just looking to get in trouble but you do want to get 1 caller. That's just perfect for Headsup. I think the look on Haxton's face both times when he saw the Aces was priceless.

Obsessed and Folding Quads

With whats currently going on with me I have been spending a lot of time around the house relaxing which according to everyone is what I need.

So with all this time and a free month of movies ( you get it when you buy a PVR) I have been checking out the various movie channels. Seems like we have 7 channels of movies to watch. I actually prefer going to one of our local theatres and seeing movies there but this is actually not a bad substitute. So I check out what's on last night and I actually couldn't find much I was interested in. So my son heads over to the local video store and brings home the newest release called Obsessed.

This is the one that stars Beyonce Knowles. The premise behind the movie is that Beyonce, her hubby (played by Idris Elba) and son have an ideal life. At her husbands work a new temp starts and immediately gets the hots for Beyonces husband. The temp is played by Ali Larter. Of course she is incredibly gorgeous but Idris never gives in to her flirtations and she becomes more Obsessed. Is this sounding like Fatal Attraction?? Yep that's what I thought. There is actually nothing new in this movie but I have to admit watching Beyonce and Ali made up for the script. I am sure the ladies loved watching Idris too. This is one that watching in video was probably worth the rental price but glad I didn't spend theatre prices to see.

I often wonder why doesn't anybody in Hollywood have new ideas these days. There are so many movies made that are blatant ripoffs of previous movies that are never as good as the original.

So I was playing online yesterday at Fulltilt and not for money. Just thought I would kill time playing a 6 person Sitngo. About the 4th hand in I get dealt pocket 3's. Always a difficult hand to play so I decided to just limp in with 2 others and see what the flop brings. Well the flop was A,3,3. Wow Quads. Not only Quads but with the Ace out there very likely this could be profitable (oh right I am not playing for money). Anyways I yell upstairs to my son who's playing a different Sitngo that I flopped quads. The player next to me who must have hit an Ace bet out and being distracted I hit the fold button. Yes I did. I watched my cards disappear. Am I glad I wasn't playing for money? Was that dumb or what?? Answer yes to both questions. Another reason to not play online for money because of things like that. Yes you could fold your cards by mistake too in a live game but not as likely. Hopefully will be back playing at my live games next week all being well.

Time, Health and Face the Ace

With my local live poker game on summer break for 3 weeks I haven't been playing much poker but its given me time to catch up on other things. With the house up for sale of course it was time to go through the closets, garage etc. and get rid of stuff. I was actually surprised that there wasn't more stuff but we just bought this place 3 years ago so not a lot of time to accumulate which is good. Most of it went in the big garbage bin but we do have a great online selling site here that you can advertise for free on. I had an old 3 drawer wood filing cabinet that I really don't need anymore and I actually sold it in 1/2 an hour. I posted it and no kidding 5 minutes later a guy called, asked a couple questions and directions and he came and bought it. Didn't quibble about the price so I must have advertised too little. That's okay glad its gone. Sold a lazy boy chair too. Now if we could just get someone to buy the house.....

I watched most of that new poker show called Face the Ace. I think I missed the first 10 minutes or so. I actually liked the concept with the Heads Up Play. Now that I have the PVR I will probably record it as it was on Saturday night which is not usually a great time for me to watch TV. The only thing I would change is that if the guy decides to go for the million he gets guaranteed the 40,000. That way its not all or nothing. He should get some credit for winning 2 heads up matches against the pros.

The most important thing we have in our life is our health. Of course we love our spouses, kids and families but health is everything. I have mentioned that my cholesterol count was high and I have been diligently working on getting it down by diet and without the use of drugs like Crestor or Lipitor. The reason I have resisted is my age. I figured I was too young to need those kind of pharmaceuticals. I may have to reconsider. On Friday night I had just finished dinner and was watching the news and for some reason I had problems breathing. It was really weird, came out of nowhere and scared me and my wife. I broke into a sweat and actually felt sick. My wife called an ambulance who responded quickly and after some oxygen and a trip to emergency for an EKG and blood work it appears I am fine. Pretty shaken up but basically they just put it down as shortness of breath or an anxiety attack.When they said anxiety or panic attack I felt foolish and bewildered as I am not someone who gets anxious but they said its very common and mimics a heart attack. All I can say is it was pretty scary. The question I have is what brought it on? I am not sure myself but I did spend a lot of time googling anxiety and panic attacks and it described what happened exactly. The doctors said it could have been brought on by my obsession with diet and constantly thinking about my count and health. In other words stop worrying so much, relax and hopefully it doesn't repeat itself. I made the decision that if my count doesn't come down by my next test (end of August) I will listen to my doctor and try Crestor. Then I can stop obsessing.