A Burnt Park and Aces Cracked

Near where I live is a beautiful park with a fabulous lake (pictured here) and an incredible trail system. Its only a 5 minute drive from my house . I am there just about everyday either running the trails by myself or hiking with my dog. The lake is beautiful, there is a nice sandy beach and they don't allow boats with gas motors. Just an ideal spot. Two nights ago we almost lost it all. It only took a few minutes and the hills were ablaze. It was only great work by the local fireman from 4 different fire stations who got the fire under control before the park and nearby houses were destroyed. They were lucky. Next time they might not be so lucky.

How did it start?? 2 or 3 (the numbers vary depending on who you talk to) kids under the age of twelve playing with matches or quite possibly on purpose decided to start the fire . What were they thinking when they did this?? My question is why were these kids in the park after dinner by themselves with no parental supervision?? Anyways I guess the kids managed to run off before they were caught. The police are actively trying to determine who they are but no luck so far.

I was at the park yesterday and a TV crew from one of the local stations were there and asked me if I thought the parents of the kids who started this fire should pay for the costs if they are caught. I said yes. Parents need to be responsible for what there kids do. I guess the firefighting costs are in the thousands. I am sure lots of parents might not agree with me but that's the way I feel. Anyways they showed my interview on TV last night and I got a few comments about it.

You see I lived through a summer a few years back in Kelowna where a fire which was started by lightning destroyed over 100 homes in the city where I lived. It was incredibly scary watching this fire night after night advance towards our city and there wasn't a thing they could do to stop it. They brought in the 100's of extra firefighters and even set up a camp in a nearby park to house them. If you have ever seen a fire that's totally out of control and the damage that can be caused by it you would know what I mean. We were just lucky that the only thing lost was homes and no lives that summer. What happened in Kelowna could easily have been repeated if our local fireman hadn't got it under control. I really hope these kids are caught or I worry that they may do it again.

I played my regular Monday night live game last night and I was out before we even had one orbit at our table. I chopped an early pot when dealt A8 and with a board of 222A6 someone else also had an Ace. The very next hand I was dealt pocket Aces. Second to act and with blinds at 100/200 I raised to 800. I got 3 callers . HMMM with Aces I really only like one caller so I was a bit worried. Anyways flop comes Q95 rainbow. The BB checked and action was on me. I really wanted to end the pot right there. Too many people in so I pushed. I got snap called by one guy and I knew I was in trouble. Everyone else folded. Sure enough he had pocket Queens. His trips held up and I was heading home. Not sure what else I could have done in that spot. I didn't want to give anybody another card. Still mulling over in my mind my play. The old saying always rings true. You win small pots with pocket Aces or lose big ones.

Michael J Fox, 60 Minutes

I am just finishing reading Michael J Fox's new book which deals with his continued struggle with Parkinson's disease. Great book. Michael grew up here in B.C and went to school in Burnaby so when he first revealed that he had Parkinsons I was shocked and saddened. This book reveals that he knew way back in 1991 and hid it for 7 years. That amazing. Took a lot of courage.

Michael always came across as the guy who you could just sit down and talk with if you ran into him on the street. Just a generally great guy and having met his parents years ago briefly I can see why. How I met his parents was that I drove them to the airport. Years ago as a part time job I drove limo. It was a way to make extra money when my kids were young and a really fun job. Well one weekend morning I got a call to pick up at an address and was told that I was taking Michael's mom and dad to the airport. They were flying to Las Angeles to go visit Michael. They were friendly and we chatted all the way out to the airport. They were so proud of him but not in a bragging way. Just really nice people. A couple years later I learned that his dad had passed away.

Reading the book I learned that Billy Graham was another Parkinson's sufferer and of course the most famous of all Muhammad Ali. The book also deals with the ongoing struggle to get more research into stem cells and the moral objection of the religious right wing in the U.S.

Well I understand everyone is entitled to their own views but for the life of me I can't see why they would object to researching something that might bring a cure for so many debilitating diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers. My mother died of Alzheimers as did her brother and one of her sisters so anything that can be done to maybe come up with something that will help I am all for. Stem cell research has show promise in helping people who are paralyzed and one can only hope that somewhere down the road they make a break through. So many lives could be helped.

Anyways if you get a chance read the book. Well worth your time.

I saw that 60 Minutes was having another segment about online poker tonight and it was supposed to be a new episode so I eagerly looked forward to watching it. Big disappointment. They basically just rehashed all the information we knew already about Ultimate Bet and the ability of someone to hack into their system and to see everyone cards they were playing against. They also said no one had ever been charged so nothing new. I guess the biggest statement was from one of the guys who lost money when asked if this went on on other sites he said that it was very possible.

There was discussion at All Vegas Poker about someone who won some money at a Freeroll at Pokerstars and then tried to withdraw the money and was unable to. He was pretty choked but I guess you have to make a deposit to withdraw. That seems to be Pokerstars policy. I honestly wasn't aware of that but then again I would never deposit money in the first place. I too have won a bit at a Freeroll and have built it up some so the likely hood of me ever collecting are slim unless I make a deposit. Well if I ever manage to build it up to 100 bucks I will see what happens. It could take me months playing at the 1/2 cent tables. Ha Ha.

Farah, Michael and Poker

Farah Fawcett. What can a guy say? She had that certain something that captivated this guys eye. When Charlies Angels burst onto the television scene in 1976 people laughed at the idea of 3 private detectives who went around solving cases under the advisement of a mysterious guy name Charlie. Was it great acting?? Nope. Was it superb plots?? Nope. What it basically had was 3 gorgeous ladies who us guys drooled over. That was enough to keep this guy glued to the tube every time the show aired. Farah along with Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith solved crime with some pretty unbelievable plots but that was okay because they were smoking hot. Nobody cared about the plot anyways. We just hoped for more bikini shots and Farah was my favourite. When she smiled and said Oh Charlie that was enough for me. She only went on to play in 29 episodes and was replaced by Cheryl Ladd. The show for me was never the same and no disrespect to Cheryl who is pretty hot herself. She just wasn't Farah.

Farah never became a great actress like Meryl Streep or Katherine Hepburn but she did do an outstanding job in the very disturbing movie called The Burning Bed.

Her struggle with cancer recently was documented in TV special which I had to turn off half way through as it was incredibly sad. I wanted to remember her running on the beach with her blond hair flowing and that certain smile that she always seemed to have for the camera. Most famous people would have hid their sickness but not Farah. She wanted everyone to know that cancer could ravage anyone. I admire her for that.

No sooner had I absorbed the death of Farah and then word came down that Michael Jackson had died of a heart attack at the age of 50. I never was a huge Michael fan but he had talent that's for sure. His records sold millions but nobody really understood the guy. He always seemed so sad to me. Still 50 is way to young to die.

I played my usual Thursday night live game last night and really not much to say about it. There was about 60 of us and other than the pocket nines which I got dealt in the very first hand in the SB (which I folded after the flop) I didn't see any playable cards all night and basically got blinded away. It wasn't that I was playing too tight either but when you are dealt 2,8 (three times) and not an Ace and only a couple of face cards all night it was pretty sad. It seemed also when I was in the dealer position where I could have tried to steal a couple of pots by the time it got to me there had already been a huge raise and my 9,5 off suit (Ha Ha) didn't look so good. It was just one of those nights.

Canada Day and Poker

So July 1st is fast approaching and its the day we as Canadians celebrate the birth of our country. So how do we celebrate it?? Well at lot of cities have festivities during the day and usually fireworks at night. Both are usually well attended but it seems that the fireworks tends to bring out the ignorant drunks. This has caused problems in the past with fights, public drunkenness and vandalism so the police and public transit have decided to crack down. They will be confiscating all alcohol in the downtown core and there will not be allowed any alcohol on transit buses. They did this last year and there was public out cry from a certain section of the public who felt their rites were being trampled on. Of course the vast majority of people were happy and went and saw the fireworks without needing to be fueled by alcohol. What is with people that seem to need to drink to have a good time? Don't get me wrong I certainly like the odd beer or glass of wine but I don't need to get wrecked to enjoy a fireworks display. It just seems there is a certain segment that try and wreck it for the rest of us. The police have my full support on this issue.Confiscate the alcohol, arrest the yahoos and let everyone enjoy the day. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I played my usual Tuesday night live game last night with about 50 other players and I started off great. I got some cards early, hit some flops and generally built a pretty decent stack. It was one of those nights when you felt things were going my way. One hand I was dealt AQ in the BB. I decided to just check with 4 limpers in and the flop came A77 with 2 Spades. Nice flop for me but the spades concerned me so I bet out and got one caller. The turn brought the 6 of spades. I was going to check but decided to bet again to see where I was at. He called . Oh Oh. Well the river brought another Ace. I checked hoping he had the flush and he did but he just checked and I took down a decent pot. The very next hand I got dealt A4 in the SB and when the flop was A45. I took down another great pot and it continued that way for awhile. Then I got moved to another table as our table broke down. I had the chip leader to my right which was good for me. First hand there I got dealt pocket 8's and I raised before the flop and everyone folded. The very next hand I look down and I have pocket Kings. I am liking this. I raised just over 3X BB and got one caller. The chip leader. The flop was 789 rainbow and I got ready to bet figuring the flop missed him. I put him on a pocket pair. Well he bet out which was more than 3/4 of my chips. Wow. Now normally you would think this was an easy call or push for me but knowing how he plays that if he had pocket 7's, 8's or 9's he would bet out and not slow play them. I really was undecided what to do. I had enough chips that if I folded and there was only 17 of us left that I thought I could make the final table. Then again if I pushed and he called and I won I would be the chip leader. What to do??? I folded... Dumb Dumb Dumb. Still don't believe I did that. I was playing defensively. So what did he have??? He had pocket 10's so he had an over pair to the board and an open ended straight draw and he pushed me off my Kings. I lost some sleep over that last night. Anyways after that play by me the cards dried up and I ended up going out in 9th one short of the final table. Still a decent result but it should have been much better.

The Proposal, Fathers Day,Poker

So Fathers Day rolled around on Sunday and traditionally its one of my favourite days. This year with the ongoing saga with my daughter I was kind of dreading it but actually it turned out great. My oldest son phoned and we had a great chat on the phone and my youngest son still lives at home spent the day with me. He is a poker player like dad and a great way to spend the day would have been to play a poker tournament together but seeing there was none going on that day we decided to hit a movie. The 3 of us (wife) decided to check out the new Sandra Bullock movie called The Proposal.Sandra always comes across as the girl next door type. Sandra tends to act in a lot of similar type cutesy movies and this was another one. The premise behind the movie was that Sandra was a high power executive at an American book publishing company (and a tyrant as a boss) who somehow forgot that as Canadian she needed to get a working visa updated. The only way to stay in the U.S. was to marry her assistant (Ryan Reynolds). Yea you are getting the picture. It reminded me of an older movie called Green Card which in my opinion was a much better movie. The highlights of this movie was some of the Alaskan scenery and watching Sandra roll around naked on the floor with Ryan. I read after that this was Sandra's first and last nude scene. Sorry Sandra to do a nude scene you actually have to show something but it was still interesting to watch. I won't spoil the ending but I would certainly wait for video on this one. It still was fun to spend the afternoon with my son though.

The night before my son and I decided to walk over to our local neighbourhood pub for dinner. My wife had a girl's night out with her workmates so rather than cooking the pub seemed like a good choice. We walked in and there was 3 young guys there who obviously had been drinking a lot. Now this 5PM so a little early for drunk guys. Anyways one of the guys was obnoxious. He made some comment to my son and I which we ignored. Anyways after that he got louder and louder and every second word was the F word. Why can't guys just drink and and have a good time?? Why do some have to be be such jerks when they are drunk?? Anyways finally the bar cut him off and him and his buddies left.

I played my usual Monday night live game last night and boy was I card dead for the first 2 orbits. The highest card I got was a 8. I finally got deal AKh and I raised it 3x BB and of course everybody folded realizing I had finally got a hand. A few hands later I got dealt AA. Wow. With one limper in front of me I decided to do the standard 3X BB and of course the blinds folded and then the limper thought a bit and she folded too. Wow I was getting a lot of respect. Ha ha. Then I got dealt pocket 5's and with a pre raise flop of 3 X BB and action on me I elected to call. Flop came J87 rainbow. The pre flop raiser bet again and I folded. He flashed pocket queens so it was a good fold. The only other hand I won was AKd and with just myself and another lady in the pot I managed to snag an Ace on the river to beat her pocket Jacks. I am not sure why she didn't bet after the flop as the board was all under cards but anyways I was glad she didn't. Then with blinds increasing and antis starting and just one limper before me I decided to push with 77 and got called by the limper with K10. He was the chip leader and of course caught his King on the flop and I was out.

Keeping the emotions in check

This has been a pretty emotional week for me but I thought I had under control until last night. I went to my regular Thursday night game which was incredibly busy. I believe there was over 70 of us. Anyways I got seated and first hand I get dealt pocket 8's in late position. I raised it 3x BB (probably should have done higher) and only 1 lady called me. Flop came AJ6. Not a good flop for me. She bet and I folded. She flipped over J5. HUH?? She stayed in with J5. Normally these kind of plays don't bother me but it was a sign of things to come. She played just about every hand and the problem was she won just about every hand. She was hitting flushes, two pair you name. She put one guy out when on a flop of KQ4. He went all in and she called. He had pocket Queens while she had pocket Kings. Her trip Kings held up of course.The look of disbelief on his face was priceless. The thing is this lady is one of the friendliest nicest person you could ever meet and I could never get mad at her for the way she plays. Its her style. I could do nothing. I finally got moved to a new table and I think feeling the frustration of a difficult week I pushed with KJ in the dealer position. SB who had just won a huge pot called me with AJ and the board whiffed on both of us but of course his Ace held up and mercifully I went home early.

When I got home I finally got around to reading the May edition of Bluff magazine (yea I know its almost July). I always have a couple books on the go and for some reason never quite finished reading this magazine. Anyways there was a good interview with Annie Duke (who looked quite hot in the pics). It was mainly about her appearance on the Apprentice (yawn) but it also dealt with keeping her emotions in check. She said that has been her greatest success in not letting things get to her at the table whether it be questionable play, suck outs or whatever. You make such better decisions when you don't let things bother you. You also need to be in the right frame of mind to play well and that's so important. I of course wasn't last night and should have just stayed home. A good lesson learned.

Hangover, Root Canals and Poker

So I went and saw the movie called Hangover. I went in thinking okay this is probably a waste of money. You know a lot of these movies tend to be pretty juvenile and that's about what I expected. Boy was I wrong. I laughed more in this movie than I can remember doing for quite awhile. The premise of the movie is 4 guys head to Las Vegas for the one guys bachelor party. One guy who is so scared of his girlfriend tells her they are going to the Napa valley for wine tasting as he wouldn't be allowed to go if he told her it was Vegas. The humour does tend to get a bit crude at times but not so that it would offend anyone. Having Las Vegas as the backdrop for the movie made it even more enjoyable for me. Some of the funniest scenes involve a baby and a tiger. So if you are in the need of a good laugh I would certainly recommend this movie. I can see why its been in the number one slot for a couple weeks now.

You go to the dentist for your six month cleaning and the dentist comes in after and takes a look at your teeth and says you need a root canal. Yikes. Words to bring fear to me. You see when I was a kid I developed a fear of dentists. I had one of those old school dentists who really didn't relate to kids much and I remember my trips to the dentist as some of the worst days of my childhood. It caused me in young adulthood to avoid the dentist at all costs.
Then several years ago my wife talked me into going back to the dentist and I was pleasantly surprised. It was painless. Boy had things changed. The staff were friendly, the hygienists were cute (yea it does help ha ha). The dentist was professional and it was just all so easy now.

I have had 2 root canals in my life and one was totally painless and one was very painful and my mouth was swollen after for days. So I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive yesterday when I went in for another one. Well it was nothing. I didn't feel a thing. You know us guys tend to be babies about pain and I am happy to report I felt none.

I still wonder about people who go into dentistry though. Imagine spending your whole working day looking in other people's mouths. I can't but I am certainly glad there are people in this world that can.

At my regular Tuesday night live game I was out fairly early. Early on I was dealt JQd . There was 2 limpers to the flop which came 6sAdKd. HMMMMMMM I have a four card nut flush draw and a royal flush draw but not liking the over cards on the board knowing one of the 2 limpers probably had hit an Ace or King. Well 1 guy checked , the other who had lost a big hand recently decided to push all in. I had him covered and knowing he probably had hit his Ace but figuring my odds were good and even if they were not you gotta at least take a chance on the royal flush. So I called. The other guy folded. Sure enough he hit his Ace. The turn was another King and the River was yet another King. That left me short stacked at our table so when a few hands later I got dealt A10s I decided to push. Everyone folded except the BB who said I am going to call you no matter what my cards are. He turned over 2,7 off suit. I was looking good. Even better when I hit another ace on the flop. He of course hit a 2 on the turn and the river brought a 7 and I was out. He apologized but I just laughed saying in his position I might called too as he had a lot of chips and really wasn't that many more to call me. Still hurts getting railed by the 2,7 though!!!

Running Therapy

As I have mentioned before I have ran for years. I started running around the time my first child was born. When I first began I couldn't even run around the block. I would come back to our little house near Commercial Drive in Vancouver gasping and panting. My wife would look at me and think I am sure this won't last. I kind of wondered myself. I had ran a bit in early high school but as I got older my running stopped as it really wasn't cool those days to be a runner. Anyways I persisted and eventually I could run a couple miles without stopping. I was starting to feel good about myself and with a new baby and work pressures I realized running was my time.
It was my escape. As I kept at it my distances got greater and one day I decided to enter a local 10 kilometre race for fun. I managed to finish. I was hooked.

I continued to run, my distances got longer. I entered a half marathon, completed it and then decided to try to train for a marathon. I met others who were training for a marathon and trained with them. Most were my age, both men and women. We became good friends. We all entered a local marathon and all of us managed to finish. I still to this day remember seeing that finish line and feeling the sense of accomplishment by crossing it. Over the years I ran many more races and marathons but that first one was special.

What I also realized is that running was my therapy. When I got out the door and started to run any stress I had in my life went away. I would do my best thinking while I was out putting in miles. I would come back from my run and everything was always great. I was always in a good mood. Running also became part of my identity. I was a dad, husband and a runner and I still am.

I ran yesterday and the stress of what had transpired the day before with my daughter worked itself out as I put in a few miles. I know what lies ahead with her won't be easy but I know in my heart that someday she will come back to reality. I only hope its sooner rather than later.

I decided to go play my regular Monday night game last night as keeping busy is good. We had just over 50 players and I had a pretty decent night. I was in a lot of hands last night which in itself was a bit unusual.
I got dealt K9c in the big blind and with 2 limpers the flop came KK8 with 2 diamonds. Nice flop. I checked. A lady who plays very few hands bet, the other guy folded. Action was on me. I was going to just call but the flush draw worried me so I raised. She then went all in. Wow. Did she have the other king?? With a better kicker or was she on a flush draw? I had her covered so I decided to call after some deliberation. She flipped over K,10. Not good. She had a better kicker. The turn was a 4 but the lovely river brought another 8. We split the pot.

A couple hands later I was dealt AK. Somebody had already raised so I just called. Flop came AA6. He bet and I probably should have just called but I raised and after some deliberation he folded. He told me he had pocket tens later. HMM . I probably could have got some more chips out of him. I didn't play that too well in hindsight.

A few hands later I got dealt AK again. First to act I bet 3 X BB which I think was like 3000 chips. Guy next to me went all in. 2 others also did as they were short stacked too. Wow. Action was back on me. I had all 3 covered but if I called and lost I would be very short stacked. Normally this might be a good call but after a lot of deliberation I folded. Turns out I would have had the best hand going in but as it turned out would have lost to AJ when a Jack was the only card that paired in anybody's hand. So I guess it was a good fold.

I went out about an hour later when after going really card dead and pretty short stacked and in the BB got dealt A5h. A guy (who had lots of chips) who I know tries to steal the Blinds raised and everybody folded. I decided to push back and went all in. He called and sheepishly turned over J,5 and he hit his Jack and I was out in like 15th spot. Still a decent night and playing got my mind off of things.

Yesterday

I hope you will read the following even though there is no poker content today.

Twenty six years ago a beautiful baby girl was born to couple who already had one child a boy who was three years older. They subsequently had one more child another boy. We will call this girl C. C walked early , talked in sentences before she was 2. She also swam like a fish at the age of 2 . She could swim the width and then the length of the pool underwater. People would constantly pull her up thinking she was drowning but she just was a great swimmer. Her parents would put her in a swim club at the age of five and she swam for many years.

C while not a scholar student always got better than average grades and made many friends. In fact friends always came easy to her. She was a great kid and her parents loved her a lot. She was always such a happy, carefree kid.

This all changed when she was 14. She would be a sweet person one day and then suddenly be just a horrible person to her parents and brothers. She rebelled against any rules and would threaten to run away if she didn't get her way. She had also turned into a beautiful looking teen girl and the boys were noticing in droves.
She twice ran away to her friends houses for a week at a time when she didn't like her parents rules. In her grad year things changed back and C seemed to change back and that sweet girl was present again. Her parents were happy and put the last 4 years down to teen rebellion.

She graduated which in itself was like a mini wedding as all parents of teen girls know. Shortly after grad she met a great kid from Manitoba and they started dating. One day after complaining of not feeling well for a couple days her mother took her to the doctor. She was pregnant. Her parents while shocked gave her their support and nine months later a beautiful girl was born. We will call her T. C's dad had always said if any of his kids had children he would like one of the boys to have the same first initial as him. C decided she wanted her girl to have that initial too.The baby and C lived with her parents but her boyfriend was always over and was a great dad. Eventually they all got their own place and everything was great.This lasted for 4 years. They talked about marriage. He proposed and she accepted. Wedding places were checked out. Then it all fell apart. C decided she wanted to party and left her child and boyfriend. She at this time also had a falling out with her parents. Her boyfriend continued to bring T over to see the grandparents. He was a great dad. He continued to hope C would come back and her parents did too.
Eventually he decided to take T back to Manitoba as his family lived there. He broke the news to C's parents. They were heartbroken but understood. They knew T would be safe with him. What C's parents parents didn't know was that C was doing cocaine.

C a couple months later decided she missed her daughter, made up with her parents and decided to to move to Manitoba to be near her daughter and ex boyfriend. C's parents hoped it would work out. It didn't.

C then moved to Alberta met another guy and got involved in cocaine again. She spent thousands on it. C's parents had no idea. Then C seemed to snap out of it when she met another guy who evidently got her clean. They seemed happy and she got pregnant again. It was hard pregnancy and C at one point came back to live with her parents who gave her lots of support and love. She or so she claimed was bi polar and that's what she told her parents. After a couple months with her parents she was able to go back to her boyfriends and a couple months later another baby girl was born. She also called this one with a name starting with T. Everything seemed great. They got engaged, lots of pics were sent to her parents. She seemed happy.

It all fell apart two weeks ago or so her parents found out yesterday. She left her new daughter and boyfriend and went partying again or so her parents found out. Her parents also found out about her cocaine habit yesterday. They now realize how naive they were. They had last talked to her about two weeks ago and she seemed okay but tired as she had gone back to work or so she said.

Her boyfriend filled her parents in and wished he had told them earlier. He is looking after the baby and trying to work too. It seems C has ran off with his friend and is using again. C's parents are devastated and have no idea where she is although supposedly she might be in Colorado. C actually phoned her parents briefly yesterday but when asked where she was she wouldn't say and hung up on her parents when told she needed to go back to her daughter or she would lose custody.
C's parents didn't sleep much last night. C's parents had no idea about the drugs but now it explains a lot. C's older brother is getting married in 3 weeks. It's very unlikely that C will be there now and that's very sad. C's parents are waiting for the call that she has overdosed but hope it never comes. C's parents still hold out hope she will realize what she is giving up in her 2 daughters. C's dad loves her a lot but feels helpless.

You see C is my daughter. Somehow writing about poker today didn't seem too important. Hopefully I didn't bore anybody but writing about it has helped. Thanks for reading.

Farmers Market

I love going to Farmers Markets. We have one in our neighbourhood that I can walk to on Saturday mornings. Its just nice to stroll over ,check out what they have for sale and grab a few vegetables and things. I love supporting them even though the prices are a bit higher than you get at your local market. Its just tastes so much better. Great place to people watch too. There are retired people in their motorized scooters, young people with dogs and lots of young families strolling around and talking to the merchants. It helps that today was one of those perfect west coast days. Sunny, a slight breeze and just a great temperature.

After grabbing a few things we sat at a local coffee shop adjacent to the market which had chairs and tables and and just people watched. I actually could have sat there all day. Everybody has so much hustle and bustle in their life its so nice to just relax and watch the world. I have to do that more often. I was reading another blog that I enjoy and it sounds like she enjoys those markets too.

After the market I went to a local clothing store to get a pair of dress pants and shirt for my oldest son's upcoming wedding in three weeks. A few weeks back I wrote that I had taken my wife out to get a dress for the wedding and we had gotten terrible service in most stores . We were totally ignored. Today was different.
I had an incredible girl help me out. She came over right away, asked if she could help and I explained what I was looking for and she was an absolutely great clerk. She got my size, asked my preferences, heck she even picked out a tie for me and I got everything at one store. She even tied the tie while I was wearing it. Hey that was kinda fun for this old guy... Ha Ha. I am actually going to phone the store on Monday and speak to the manager/owner and give her a nice compliment.

The funny thing is my wife was with me and she had wandered off to look at ladies clothing and I remarked on my great service and she said that must be nice. The other clerks totally ignored her... HMMMMMMMM.

I played online today for like 20 minutes in a micro cash thing and won a whopping 54 cents. It all came in one hand where I had pocket jacks which I raised before the flop and got one caller. Flop came 762. I bet, he called. Turn was a nine. I bet he called. The river was a 3 . I bet he called. He had pocket 10s. My huge bankroll which had started at a 70 cent free roll win is now something like $4.58. I am getting rich . Ha Ha

Reading all the problems some people are having getting money out of online sites in the U.S. makes me glad I have never put any in. Not sure what is going to happen in Canada but it does seem weird that they would freeze peoples online accounts. As I have said many times I am not a big fan of the online game and won't be until they figure out a way to stop possible collusion online. Its way too easy for people to do that these days with MSN, Yahoo, Twitter. You name it. I know most people would only do it a higher stakes to be profitable but it just leaves a bad feeling on the whole online scene.

Good to see someone whose Blog I read cash in one of the WSOP events in Las Vegas.

Our Justice System

In 1997 a young 14 year old girl named Reena Virk was swarmed by 8 teenagers, she was beaten and eventually drowned. This happened in the city where I live. What makes this case so tragic or say even more tragic is that 7 of her attackers were girls. What did this poor girl do to deserve being beaten and killed??

After a police investigation 2 of the main attackers were tried in court and the boy (Warren Glowatski) was convicted along with Kelly Ellard (pictured above) in her death. Some of the others were convicted of lesser offences as they were just involved in the initial beating. Then what happened with Kelly Ellard shows you what is seriously wrong with our justice system. Her first conviction was overturned on appeal and a second trial was held. This trial ended in a hung jury. So a third trial was ordered. This jury convicted her again. So guess what?? Our provincial court of appeal overturned that verdict. Why?? They said the trial judge didn't instruct the jury properly.

This case went to our Supreme Court who finally this morning restored her conviction and Kelly Ellard will stay in jail and serve time for the murder of poor Reena. Finally Some justice!!! My question is that this took 12 years and the family of Reena Virk deserve much better than this. Can you imagine being the parent of this child and having to go through 3 trials, appeals and 12 years of additional hell because a lot of our judges and our judicial system need to be overhauled. We need to make our judges accountable for their decisions. This has happened far too often and some of our judges need to take a long hard look at themselves and question whether they should be sitting as judges in my opinion.
Maybe it is time we looked at having our judges elected like they do in the U.S. I know that system isn't perfect but something needs to be done.

Meanwhile my thoughts go out to Reena's family who have lived this hell. Loosing a child this way is something I cannot fathom and I hope they can finally have some peace. A few more details of the case can be found here.

I played my regular Thursday night live game last night and it was a fairly quick exit. I got AK early and I bet it 3x BB and got one caller. Flop came Q,8,6. She bet and knowing her she hit her Queen so I folded. The rest of the short night was pretty uneventful until I got pocket tens. I bet it up preflop (got two callers) and then of course the flop came KKJ. Could it be much worse?? Ha Ha. Needless to say I didn't win that hand. I went out when pretty short stacked and the blinds coming around I pushed with A9h and got 3 callers. Yikes. They checked it down and I totally whiffed on the flop,turn and river and it was home to bed for me.

Medical and Cuba

Last night I met up with a couple of friends who live in the U.S midwest. I hadn't seen them in about 7 years but they were in town visiting relatives and we managed to get together for a couple hours at a pub. They had both moved to the U.S. around 25 years ago as he opened a business up down there. It was great to see them but in the course of 2 hours a couple things came up that really shocked me.

First was that they have resident alien status in the U.S and have maintained their Canadian citizenship. A couple years ago they came to Canada and flew to Cuba (that's a Cuban beach above) for a holiday. As you know Americans are not legally allowed to travel to Cuba but us Canadians are. Anyways when they arrived back after their holiday they had to go through U.S customs and when they told them where they had been they were pulled out of line and told they could and probably would be fined for going to Cuba. They explained that they were Canadians but living in the U.S as resident aliens. That didn't seem to matter and some more threats were made. Anyways they were pretty worried but its been a couple years now and nothing did happen but it sure scared them. Seems pretty weird that you can't even visit a country. Hopefully under this new administration that might change.

The second thing that came up was the medical system. They have coverage through his business but evidently you can only go to certain hospitals that your provider lets you. They recently had to change providers as they didn't like the medical facility of the last provider. Another thing was that she had to get a needed medical procedure and she still had to pay like 1600 dollars out of her own pocket for it. I was floored. Here in Canada while our medical system is far from perfect you can go to any hospital of your choosing and almost everything is free except cosmetic surgery. While we have all seen Michael Moore's movie Sicko having friends who related personal stories really hit home. I know we here in Canada complain about wait times but really we have it good. I am certainly not cutting down the American system but I honestly believe quality medical should be available to all people and it should be free. Yes charge a monthly premium but make it geared to income. Will it cost lots of money?? Of course but don't tell me that health care isn't more important than anything. They said a lot of their friends are hoping that again under this new administration things will change.

I see all the online Poker sites are all really pushing their events that could possibly win you free entry into the Main Event of this years WSOP. One of the sites is running tv ads up here in Canada that if you win the main event and qualify through their site they will pay you an additional 10 million dollars. That is a huge chunk of change on top of the 9 million plus you will win for the event.

RCMP and a Tournament Win

First of all before I start this rant let me say that I am a supporter of our local police forces and the RCMP but lately all we have been hearing about is inquiries and accusations of police misconduct.

The biggest of course is the inquiry into the taser death of the Polish immigrant at the Vancouver Airport. To summarize what happened Robert Dziekanski an immigrant from Poland landed at the Vancouver airport planning on meeting his mother who lived here in B.C. He spoke not a word of English. After wandering around the customs area for hours (why nobody got an interpreter is another story) he became agitated and police were called. Four police showed up and instead of trying to restrain the unarmed, average build man they immediately tasered him and he died. Pretty tragic eh!! Oh and his mom was waiting for him. You can read more of the story here.

Anyways one of the four officers who were involved in this incident about 6 months ago allegedly (notice I said allegedly) hit and killed a young 21 year old on a motorcycle while driving with his 2 young children in his off duty vehicle. He was also allegedly under the influence of alcohol. He has now been charged but my question is what the heck took so long?? The average joe would have been charged the next day. Seems there is something very wrong here. I tell you if he is guilty he better get the same penalty that you and I would get. No deals!! You can read more about it here.

I played last night in my regular Tuesday night live game and managed to outlast 47 other players to snag a win. I have always said you need some luck to get wins and place in tournaments and mine came when I was very short stacked. I think there was about 20 people left when with the blinds 1000-2000 and me sitting with only 1700 in chips(yea I know I shouldn't have let it get this low but I was card dead). Anyways I got dealt 7,9 off suit in the big blind and I of course was all in. Well the flop came 7,9 ,J. Hmmmm Okay looking good. There was 2 other people in the pot and they both checked. The turn brought another 9 and the river was a 6 I think. Anyways I tripled up and was back with some chips. I managed to double up again a couple hands later and then slowly started building my stack up.

When we got to the final table I was probably 4th in chips. I played fairly conservatively until I got A9h in middle position. I min raised and everybody folded except the BB who was all in. My A9 held up when I hit an A on the flop.
When we were down to 3 players I got dealt A,10s. I raised and got called. Flop comes KJJ. Two spades. I have a gut shot Royal flush draw and a flush draw. I just checked. The other player went all in. I had her covered and called. She had pocket Queens and one of the Queens was a spade so there goes my Royal Flush possibility. Anyways the turn and river were no help to me and she won a huge pot and was now the chip leader. Then I started getting more great cards and battled back when I hit pocket queens and won a decent pot. I managed to eliminate the other lady and it was down to the 2 of us. The tide turned when I hit pocket jacks and pushed and I think she thought I was just trying to buy the pot and called with 9,10d. My Jacks held up and then 2 hands later I got dealt Pocket Queens again. Yep you gotta love it. Anyways they held up and I managed to prevail.

Just got back from a few days in Vancouver and glad to be back. Even though I was born there I much prefer Victoria now. Its a bit smaller, better weather and overall a better place to live now. I still love Vancouver to visit and its always fun there but its nice being a ferry ride away.

I only got to play the one tournament at the River Rock Casino when I was there but I did visit the newer casino out in New Westminster called the Starlight Casino. I really liked the setup there. Very open and it just seemed fresh and new. The poker room was a decent size and when I was there with my wife and our friend they had 3 tables going. I quickly checked the list and there was 14 names on a 1-2 list so any thoughts of getting in a bit of cash game action went by the wayside. I instead sat at a slot machine with my wife and friend and mindlessly punched buttons and after an hour I was down like five cents. As you can tell slots are not my game but I will play sometimes to keep the wife company.

The ferry ride over to Vancouver was fantastic. I have travelled on the ferries many, many times but this trip was outstanding. We sat on the outside deck and got some sun and admired the view. The trip through Active pass is so scenic and I never get tired of it. It's funny some people bitch about the ferries , the cost and the time it takes (95 minutes) to get to Vancouver but I love it. I think some people just don't realize how beautiful a place we live in. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

I have been following all the action at the WSOP in Las Vegas and other than Phil Ivey's win its been so far a time for unknowns to win the bracelets. It should be interesting to see as the action continues for another month whether any of the other so called big names manages to snag another bracelet. Daniel Negraneau came close finishing second in the limit one and he really should have won as he had a 3 to 1 chip lead over the other players but he went card dead and ended up finishing second.

I was reading online about the newest reality show planned for the fall. Ít seems that they are going to have a lady who wants to get married have her friends and family select out of six guys a guy for her and she will marry him on t.v without ever meeting him. She will actually walk down the aisle ,meet the guy, say her vows and that's it. Then I guess the show will check back in a couple months to see how they are doing. All I can say is what will they think of next. Will I watch??? Stay tuned!!

River Rock Casino Tournament

I managed to get away last night to enter the 100 dollar 7 PM tournament at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C. This event is limited to 88 entrants which is a decent size. While the casino has about 18 tables the room is always busy. Anyways the tournament started with 8 tables of 11. Yep. I don't get that. Why not limit tables to 10. Well we all know that it comes down to the casino makes more money with less overhead as they need one less dealer. Anyways I started off well. I think third hand in I got dealt A7. 4 limpers and the flop comes 677. Liking this. Someone bet and I just called. Everyone else folded. Turn was a 2 of diamonds which also put 2 diamonds up. Hmm now I bet and got called again. River was a K clubs. No straight or flush possibilities so I bet again . Got called . Turns out he was chasing his diamond flush but got 2 pair on the river and my trips held up. Good pot.

It was a weird night. Twice I called all ins when I had pocket queens and pocket tens and both times they held up against AK. That got rid of a couple short stacks.
I lost a lot of chips when I overplayed AQd and got pushed off by someone who bet huge and I whiffed on the flop.

Getting short stacked as we were down to 30 players I got AA and pushed but everyone folded. I needed to double up and young guy who had pushed one hand earlier and got no callers pushed again and I figured he was just trying to steal so I called with KQd. He had pocket tens and they held up and I was out in 28th. Pretty disappointing as they only pay top 8. Top prize was 2700 dollars and I think 8th paid 395 dollars so not bad.

River Rock has a great designed poker room but in my opinion the room is poorly managed . Twice the time clock stopped at the level and no one did anything until one of the players reminded the floor. They didn't continually update the remaining players very often and it seemed like the tournaments are an after thought to the room. The dealers also were a bit inexperienced as one dealer twice didn't deal to someone who had left to go get a drink or something. In cash games you don't deal but in tournaments the hand is dealt and then folded. I noticed the first time but personally I wasn't going to say anything but someone else did the second time.

In fact I had planned to play 1-2 after getting knocked out but there was 23 people on the waiting list. That is terrible room management. You could open up 2 more tables and get players playing and make money for the room. Anyways still a fun night but certainly improvements could be made.

The River Rock is I believe the largest casino in B.C and of course is open 24 hours a day. It is also home to the B.C Poker Championships which last year Daniel Negraneau won.

One more night here but tomorrow is the wedding anniversary so its unlikely that anymore poker will be played. A nice dinner sounds in order.

Slowrolls, Second Place

So I was reading the All Vegas Poker site yesterday and some guy in there was talking about going to Vegas to play in the Main Event this year. He also went on to tell how he got there and some other poker stuff. He then said he was playing at the same table as his wife in a home tournament and she slow rolled him. (for you non poker players it means when you are called or obviously have the winning hand you don't show it right giving the other player false hope that he/she has won).

Anyways he said he lost it on her. HUH??? He got ticked at his wife because she didn't show her cards fast enough. Oh My. I was floored. I think its childish to get ticked at anybody because you think they might have slow rolled you but your wife. Wow. What happens if she cooks his steak too much, burns his toast or his eggs aren't over easy. Does he flip out?? Does he stamp his feet. Turn red in the face. Go into a pout.

You see it all the time at the poker tables. People flipping out. Throwing their cards or whatever because they don't like how someone plays. To react like that to your wife is just wrong in so many ways. It would be interesting to see if they are still married in a couple years.

Last night at my regular Monday night game we had somewhere between 40-50 players and I got seated at a very aggressive but good table. Very few hands were going to showdown. I won a pot early when I had pocket 6's and I bet everyone off after the flop. Then I got semi card dead for awhile and when down to about 1800 chips and looking A9h I figured push now and hope to maybe get one caller and double up. Well I got 3 all ins behind me. Wow. Figured I was dead. Hands were flipped over, one had KK, one had 10,10 and the other had A7c. Not sure about that last one why he would do that but anyways as he was the last to act. I got the lovely ACE on the flop plus 2 hearts and my A9 held up but didn't get the flush. So I quadrupled up and I was back.

Next hand I got dealt A7d and got my flush on the turn and managed to win another decent pot when I slow played it until the river and some lady called me. I then had a decent stack and managed to win some pots with hands like KK and also AQ.The AQ I bluffed off this younger guy after the flop when I whiffed. He thought I had a higher pocket pair than him after I called his preflop raise. I asked him what he had and he said a middle pocket pair. I said good fold... Okay a tiny lie... Ha Ha

Anyways I made it to the final table got a little card dead and finally pushed with K9 suited got one caller and doubled up. Next hand same lady who was now short stacked pushed and I had K9 again off suit this time. I was last to act and I thought okay worked once why not again. She had A10d. I lucked out got my king and she was out.

When we got down to 3 players all fairly even stacked at this point I had 77 so I raised and both guys called. Flop came KK6 two diamonds........ Hmmmmmmm Decision time. Unless someone had a King or an over pair I thought I might be good and the pot was huge so I pushed hoping to win it right there. They both went all in right behind me. Yikes. Well it turned out I had the best hand. One guy had AJd and the other had 2 diamonds too (very surprising that this guy pushed too as he was last to act). Unfortunately the first guy hit his Ace on the turn and the river didn't help me. We were both eliminated as he had us both covered by a bit but because I had more chips than the third guy I got second. I think I made the right push he just got lucky and hit his Ace. Still a good night.

Looks like the River Rock Casino has a 7 PM 100 dollar tournament tomorrow night. When I was checking yesterday I must have missed in in the listings. Anyways I am going to try and get there for that and if not I will be sitting at the cash games. I haven't played there in awhile so really looking forward to it.

Storming Las Vegas

On the weekend I finished reading a book called Storming Las Vegas. It was a true story of armored car and casino robberies that took place in Las Vegas in 1999 and 2000. I must have been in a vacuum because I had no idea that these events even took place.

Being a Las Vegas Junkie I try and read as much as I can on the city and its history and actually this book was pretty well written with the author actually interviewing both the police and the leader of the gang that committed the robberies. While I found certain sections a little slow overall the book was worth the time invested in reading it. It sure showcased how at that time how the armored cars were poorly managed and easy targets for this gang. The drivers were underpaid and overworked and safety was often compromised. It ended up costing a couple of them their lives. I had no idea they were so poorly paid either. Overall a pretty decent book.

I was playing on Pokerstars in their micro limit cash games yesterday a couple times. What always strikes me is in the rooms I rarely find people from Canada or the U.S. They all seem to be from places in Europe or Asia.
I like to talk while I am playing which makes it almost impossible although I do try.
I usually make comments in the chat box like nice hand etc. and see if I get a response. It's usually met with silence. I always found playing on Fulltilt there was way more Canadians and Americans and almost made the game way more interesting. Of course that is one of the reasons I like the live game so much better. I did strike up a conversation briefly with a player from Iceland who told me that she(at least the picture looked female) had started with 10 dollars originally and had built it up to 110 dollars. I congratulated her and suggested she try the live game in a casino but she wasn't sure if there was poker rooms in Iceland. She was a pretty decent player and I told her the live game was so much more interesting and for enjoyable for me.

I managed to turn a small profit yesterday most of it from winning a pretty decent pot when I had pocket queens and the other player had pocket 10's.

I was checking the tournament schedule for the River Rock Casino and when I am over there this week they only have 11 PM tournaments so I will have to see if I am still awake at that hour and if not I will certainly play some cash games. I keep dropping hints to the better half that she should arrange to have a girls night out because she hasn't done that for awhile. Then I of course say oh don't worry about me I will find something to do.. Ha ha. Somehow I don't think I am fooling her one bit. She knows me way too well.