Keeping Up

Busy times around Casa de Atom-Bomb lately, between birthdays, power outages, national holidays, babysitters on vacation and 24-hour stomach viruses...but I'm hoping to get at least a page or two of the strip up before the week is out, along with some other goodies. Don't stop believin'!

Good For Me, Bad For You

Good morning everyone.  The good news is that my computer has evidently escaped the virus that is going to deny thousands of users online access (if the rumors are correct).  The bad news is that you're once again stuck with another Monday ramble...  The fantasy baseball team is still in 10th place, although it is just 12 1/2 points out of 5th place...  The week wouldn't have been complete without seeing Adrian Gonzalez (my 1st overall pick) leaving last night's game against the Yankees.  Just as my fantasy team has been suffering, my Red Sox have suffered ALL KINDS of setbacks this season (A. Bailey, C. Crawford, J. Ellsbury, D. Pedroia, a traded K. Youkilis - just to name a few).  Actually, Boston has sent the most players to the disabled list this season, and is STILL inside three games of a wildcard spot in the American League...  I think that it is going to be very satisfying to see the Red Sox make the playoffs this year.  ;)  My faux baseball betting now sees me with a 2-4 record.  In picking just 6 games so far, I have lost a game by half a run and won a game by half a run.  Evidently those guys in Vegas know what they're doing when they set the lines...  My attempted weight-loss is not going well to this point as I've only lost two pounds.  I have exercised less than I had planned due to spending more time sifting through the things that I am not going to take out to Las Vegas.  I have done 700 sit-ups so far, and I see another couple thousand in my future before the end of the month.  I was temporarily uplifted yesterday when I read Linda Lou's blog and learned that some women find guys who have a belly sexy (okay, just her and that brunette from 'Pulp Fiction').  Then Linda Lou came back and commented on one of my older posts last night, saying that 215 sounded perfect - STRIKE!  :)  A major dose of good news when I checked the Weather Channel earlier this morning - 93 degrees is the highest forecast high for the next 8 days in San Marcos, America...  Coupled with a good chance of seeing some rain, this is SO MUCH DIFFERENT than last summer for this part of Texas.  It is actually sprinkling outside right now as I just peered out the window into our repaired swimming pool...  :)  It seems that a Monday ramble would almost be incomplete without a bank story.  When I visited the bank last week I made a deposit, and when I was asked for my account balance, the teller asked to see my driver's license.  I don't remember if I have told you the driver's license story already, but due to not receiving my license in the mail, I returned to have my photo retaken and my license mailed again.  WELL, I took off my ballcap for the photo, and patted my hair down to an acceptable level (I assumed).  Long story short, my hair looks horrific in the picture, so I instructed the bank teller not to mock my license as I handed it to her.  The teller responded that she doesn't normally look at the photo on the license unless someone says something to her.  You know me well enough to know that as I was leaving her window, I was thinking, "if you're not looking at the photo, then WHY am I giving you my license???..."  It's becoming evident to me that I should just spend a whole week at the bank and write a series of books...  With my new twitter account and with the World Series of Poker continuing, I have obviously been reading about the results of a lot of poker hands.  One thing is clear:  bad beats happen all the time...  Unfortunately for the group of twitterers that I follow, no one is having a red-hot run this summer in Vegas, either at the WSOP or in the cash games, including the bloggers that I semi-know and the pros that I don't know.  I did see earlier this morning on Daniel Negreanu's tweet that he is going to be one of the "Day 1" chipleaders at the Main Event.  For those of you who may not be aware, Day 1 of the Main Event is actually broken into several different groups of players starting on several different days so that all of the entrants can be accommodated.  Right here let me say that although I'm already under a self-imposed rush to figure out what to cram into my vehicle, I wish that I was in Las Vegas right now...  #grrrrrrr  Anyway, Negreanu tweeted that he has close to 150,000 in chips (the starting stack for the Main Event was 30,000).  Oh, let me look up a baseball bet for today, hold on... (imagine annoying music playing in the background while you wait)...  Okay, I will take the under (8 1/2 points) in tomorrow night's All-Star game.  The Home Run Derby is tonight for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing...  :)  I hope that you have a great Monday and I will see you again on Wednesday!

                  

Saturday Bonus Post - Free Poker

Good evening everyone.  The main reason that I'm posting this now is that it's so stupid that I don't want to forget all of it.  In between cleaning my apartment to decide what I will and won't bring to Las Vegas, sleeping, and watching t.v., I've also been 'sharpening my game' (???) by playing free poker at MSN.  MSN has a setup where 8 players start with 100 in chips, with 1/2 blinds and 6 minute rounds, and you play a tournament each time.  Players are rated depending on where they finish each time, and you can see how many games another player has played in addition to their rating.  This hand occurs against the highest rated player at my table....  LOL

I raised preflop (like I do here with many hands, just trying to put pressure on people and to get more experience playing a wide variety of hands) with K 9. The high-rated villain calls. The flop comes A A 2. I bet and he calls (the amounts aren't really very important, and you'll see why as the hand plays out). The turn is a 2. The board is now A A 2 2 - he hasn't raised or re-raised me at any point, so I don't put him on the A or the 2. I have the K for my fifth card (the only reason that I'm explaining this to you, someone who knows enough about poker that they're reading my blog, through whatever channels, is about to come up). I bet the second deuce and he calls, now all-in. I find out that he has 10 3 when he flips, and the river is a 3, so he wins... Of course I can't resist laughing at home and typing in a comment as to the... shrewdness... of his call. His response to my comment was that I should "keep betting with nothing"... I laughed again and replied that I was way ahead, with the King. He types in, "yeah, 825 games (the number I've played at MSN under this account name)... you're WAY AHEAD..." Of course I'm thinking that the guy CAN'T BE THIS DENSE... He had 10 outs, 6 to win (10 or 3) and 4 to chop (A or 2). At this point I tell him that he only had 6 outs to win and that he should read a poker book. He responds by typing, "I've won more games than you've played (he's played like 7,000 games on MSN)..." I'm not sure what relevance that has to him playing his hand like he did, but I tell him that I won't match his number of MSN games because I'm returning to Las Vegas soon and that I hope to find players like him at the poker tables.....

In all honesty, I don't mind (and actually expect) to see all kinds of goofy plays at the free MSN tables, but when someone tries to justify their ridiculous play with an explanation other than 'this is free', that's when I have fun with it... :)

For those of you keeping track, I'm now 1-4 on my fake baseball bets, and should probably stick to real football betting when I get to the desert... At the very least, I should bet teams and not the overs/unders (something that I tend to gravitate toward in football also)... Okay, as I said, this was a bonus post, and I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled programming... I'll see you again on Monday (really). ;)

Imaginary Baseball Betting

Good morning everyone.  A sports post on a Friday - imagine that...  :)  I am now 1-2 on my daily trial baseball bets, with my first win coming a few hours ago on Thursday night.  I have been betting (nothing on) the overs/unders on all of these games (just the overs actually), and the Angels beat the Orioles 9-7 last night.  The over/under number was set at 8 1/2, and I had won this bet by the fourth inning.  Go back 2 days when I first did this, and I took the Rockies/Cardinals game to go over 9 1/2 runs.  The score in this game was 3-2 in the third inning, and the final score was..., 3-2... ha ha.  The second game I lost was on Wednesday, when I picked the Orioles and Mariners to go over 6 1/2 runs, and the final was 4-2 Baltimore.  For tomorrow I will take the Orioles and Angels over again, this time over 8 runs (the Angles have been in a lot of high-scoring games lately)...

If you are a baseball fan and haven't been paying close attention to the standings, took a look and note how many teams have records that are a few games above or below the .500 mark.  There is a lot of parity in Major League Baseball this season up to this juncture.  If you are reader of this blog who goes by 'Lightning', notice how many games Youkilis has won for the White Sox already...  #unrealtrade

So the working out has started on a small scale, although I was disappointed a few days ago to find out that I had barely lost any weight at all since going "breadless"...  Since Tuesday I have done 290 sit-ups, walked for 3 hours, and floated (on the 4th) the San Marcos river twice from Bikini Hill down to the River Pub and Grill.  Just being in the sun for one of the few times that I have done so made me take a nap upon returning home...  :)  I expect that I will have probably done over 3,000 sit-ups this month by the time that I move to the desert (and will somehow have managed to gain 5 pounds)...  :)

As each day goes by, I am so glad that I decided to give myself this whole month to get ready to move, because each day is clicking off the calendar at a brisk pace while I still have a lot left to do. Tuesday night did not do a lot to help this as I watched almost all of the coverage of the 'One Drop' WSOP tournament final table. I was watching it with a purpose, paying close attention and trying to call hands, and I was very pleased with myself for nailing two specific ones. I had Rast on the ace-high flush from his call on the flop when Trickett bet out with his set of 3's (I really had a hard time figuring out where Trickett was in the hand). Olivier Busquet, a poker player who was commentating and who I lost any respect for because he didn't give Phil Hellmuth any credit for his accomplishments (Hellmuth may chirp a lot, but he can play no-limit hold 'em), well, Busquet was all over the place on Rast's holding during the hand. The second hand that I was proud to call came not much later when Esfandiari called a preflop raise with A K, and then kept calling bets with it on a K-high flop... I was more sure of Rast's ace-high flush trap, but I was pretty sure about Antonio's A K. I like the coverage of poker MUCH BETTER like this, when I don't know the hole cards as a viewer, because it helps me to improve my game a lot more... Fortunately for me, in less than a month I will start seeing many, many hands where I don't know the hole cards of any player but one... ;)

I am going to sign off for now, but I will see you again on Monday with another ramble. Have a great weekend!           

She-Hulk!

A comic book cover illustrated for a benefit for my pal Kerry Talbott, who's dealing with cancer. The book was auctioned off along with a bunch of others a few weeks back, and you can peep some of 'em here!

Never really paid too much attention to the "blank cover" phenomenon, but I must admit it was kinda fun to work on!

2012 WSOP On ESPN/2 Today

Good afternoon everyone.  As you can see, I decided to do my poker/Las Vegas post a day early as opposed to waiting until tomorrow or early Thursday.  The main reason for this is that I decided to do a public service announcement for you.  I just checked the local t.v. guide online, and World Series of Poker coverage is going to shown on ESPN2 at 4:00 EST/3:00 CST.  This coverage is supposed to last for 3 hours, before it jumps to ESPN at 8:00 EST/7:00 CST for another 2 hours...  If you are a poker fan and you read this post in the next 1 1/2 hours, it may be my most worthwhile post ever...  ;)

As my goal when I move out to the desert this time is to focus more seriously on sports handicapping and treat the poker with secondary focus (which will still be QUITE A BIT of focus), I decided that today will be the day that I begin "mock-betting" baseball games.  I am going to pick one game a day where I will either take a team to win or forecast whether the teams will cover the over/under.  Today I am going with the Colorado Rockies and the St. Louis Cardinals scoring over 9 1/2 runs combined.  This won't be something that I will post everyday, but I may include my picks in my MWF posts if I have chosen my game before I post.  Oh, and if you are a baseball fan in general, my fantasy team has Zimmerman (WAS), Haren (LAA), Lester (BOS), and Capuano (LAD) throwing tonight...

Today is my 3rd day of "rest" (I did manage to get out of the house and walk for an hour each of the past two nights) before enjoying the 4th of July and then getting serious about my workout and weight-loss goals. The swimming pool at my apartment complex has now been repaired and is filled with water, much to the delight of my neighbors who plan on celebrating the day there tomorrow.  I will probably participate in some of that, as well as making a trip to Bikini Hill.  The Bikini Hill trip won't be an option much longer, so I better start taking advantage of it.  Two days ago I saw that the forecast high for San Marcos, America was supposed to be 93 degrees tomorrow, and now they're saying that it's going to be 97...  Seeing the nationwide weather last night, most of the U.S. is battling a severe heat-wave, so I'm not going to complain here (especially since I have the pool and Bikini Hill at my disposal)...

Pokerwise it's funny that I have all of these blogging friends who have played enough poker to regularly participate in no-limit games (of which I have seen many myself), because my lack of activity and bankroll will dictate that I sit in some limit games when I return to the desert.  I'm just laughing to myself right now because you don't find many posts about 2/4 limit hands online...  :)  From what I have found online, the comp situation seems to be okay out in the desert right now, with 1 dollar per hour played seeming to be the minimum that a player can expect to receive at the poker tables, with many places actually paying 2 or 3 dollars per hour.  My friends in the desert would know more about this.  Again, if you are in the desert right now or plan on going in the next couple of weeks, do yourself a favor and visit the Rio and the WSOP setup while in town - it's a unique experience that you should take advantage of checking out.

I am going to leave you now so that I can get some things accomplished before settling in to watch some WSOP coverage, 2012 style...  I hope that you have an outstanding Independence Day and I will see you again on Friday!
  

July Will Fly By

Good morning everyone.  Have you ever counted down toward something that you looked forward to, thinking that it would never get there, and then it finally did?  Rhetorical question of course...  I now have less than one month to do a laundry list of things (including laundry) before heading west.  I apologize for missing my post on Friday - I was finishing out my shifts at my now most recent job and my sleep got a little out of whack...  I decided that it would be better to be alert at work and get some extra sleep than worry about the post (in a surprisingly prudent move)...  Anyway, I now have the luxury of sleeping anytime that I get tired, so I will make up for the flipped sleep schedule.  Let this ramble continue with the notification that my fantasy baseball team is still 10th in its 10-team league, but with a very real chance of rising by next Monday's ramble.  I gained ground this past week and my pitching staff has eleven starts this coming week.  In not-so-surprising news, I lost ANOTHER starting pitcher, this one for the season.  Daniel Hudson, my 13th overall pick in the draft, needs Tommy John surgery.  I really can't wait to handicap games on a day-to-day basis and not be stuck with making an unlucky fantasy pick that will haunt me for a whole season (haunt might be a little strong choice of wording - really strong since I'm not that concerned about it actually)...  :)  Things that I wanted to include in the Friday sports post that never appeared make up the next part of today's ramble.  I am sure that you have heard by now that the top level of college football will implement a 4-team playoff system that will begin in the 2014 season.  I have written here before that I favor a system with more teams (preferably eight), but even this small format is WORLDS BETTER than voting teams into the final game.  I also watched some soccer during the past week.  Although I am not a big fan (for one main reason that I am about to hit upon again), the Euro Cup was the most relevant thing happening in the sports world.  So I'm watching the Spain vs. Portugal semifinal game, and making a play for the ball, a player goes airborne and gets his foot into the shoulder of an opponent.  OF COURSE this opponent clutches his FACE and goes to the ground.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how a sport where acting like you are hurt is so prevalent has the popularity that it does worldwide...  I caught a little bit of the final yesterday, and on the sidelines right before halftime I saw an advertisement that said, "We Care About Football" - my thought was, "so do I, and I can't wait until September when it starts..."  ;)  I am happy to say that I did survive the week of poker bloggers being in Las Vegas that I did not move in time to attend.  I have not had as much trouble with jealousy reading their posts as I thought that I would because I really do believe that the month of July will fly by.  I have so much to do and so many people to see before I leave San Marcos, America that I can probably even start looking at the World Series of Poker website again without feeling envy.  On a related note, I can still say that I am enjoying my twitter account after one full week of tweeting...  I am following about 225 people (ballpark) at this point, and a lot of those people are poker players.  With the WSOP going on, of course they are busy 'tweeting' about events that they are involved in.  Added to the accounts of the celebrities and friends that I am able to follow, I have no doubt that I will enjoy this even more in the future.  I am just a little bit of a 'people person' if you haven't figured that out by now.  I will often report here on the inexplicable things that people are capable of doing, but having this internet access to countless people, I am bound to find a few hundred more that I really like, right?  :)  Again, I'm @desertcoach on twitter if you want to 'follow me'.  I like the color of the tagline at the top of my blog where I included this information because it's really similar to the color of sand (DESERTcoach), but it is kind of hard to read...  I will have a 'Wednesday' poker/Las Vegas post for you this week, even if it is entered late Tuesday night or early Thursday morning.  I am sifting through my options for the 4th of July and haven't made any definitive plans for that day yet, other than knowing that I will fully enjoy it because the 5th of July will signal the start of my own personal 3-week bootcamp.  We'll see how close I get to weighing 215 pounds before I depart for the desert...  Have a great day!