200 hands...at a glance

Backstory - Every now and then when someone doesn't reload on partypoker, they'll give you free money. This time, I got the $40/400 raked hands reload. This means that they give me $40 free, the catch is that I have to play at least 400 raked hands by December 28 in order to be able to cash out. No problem.

Statistics -
$40 to start
played two tables at a time at .50/$1. Bought in for $10 a table.
Hands Played: 200
Hands Won: 19%
Showdowns Won:88%

Flop Hands----
Flops Seen: 38%
Win% if Flops Seen: 48%

Of 200 hands, 82 were raked (counted towards 400)
Time lapsed - 1.5 hours
After 200 hands account balance = $79.31

How I got there (this is not all the hands, just the ones that I thought were noteworthy enough)-

Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $26 )
Seat 2: Ledsen84 ( $12.25 )
Seat 3: arentz1987 ( $17.34 )
Seat 4: Roggan333 ( $0 )
Seat 5: neffu111 ( $0 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $10 )
Ledsen84 posts small blind [$0.25].
arentz1987 posts big blind [$0.50].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Kh 5c ]
Roggan333 has left the table.
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 calls [$0.50].
Ledsen84 calls [$0.25].
neffu111 has left the table.
arentz1987 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, Kd, 2d ]
Ledsen84 checks.
arentz1987 checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
- Hmm, top pair, the table doesn't know anything about me, so I bet to see where I stand.
Herzog24 folds.
Ledsen84 folds.
arentz1987 folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $2.50
- Not a bad way to start

$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:49:20 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $25.50 )
Seat 2: Ledsen84 ( $11.75 )
Seat 3: arentz1987 ( $16.84 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $11.50 )
arentz1987 posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ks Td ]
Herzog24 folds.
Ledsen84 calls [$0.50].
arentz1987 calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 2h, Ac ]
arentz1987 checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
- I guess I can make an excuse that I was representing an Ace. Again, still feeling out the table (2nd hand here).
Ledsen84 calls [$0.50].
arentz1987 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Th ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
Ledsen84 raises [$2].
- Does he have A/10? I am going to be a sad panda if he does.
CalderaR calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
CalderaR checks.
Ledsen84 bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
Ledsen84 shows [ Tc, 6c ] three of a kind, tens.
CalderaR shows [ Ks, Td ] three of a kind, tens.
CalderaR wins $8 from the main pot with three of a kind, tens with king kicker.
- First hand shown to the table, so they at least know that I'll play high cards.

***** Hand History for Game 3126453032 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:50:04 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $25.50 )
Seat 2: Ledsen84 ( $7.75 )
Seat 3: arentz1987 ( $16.34 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $15.50 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
Herzog24 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ad Jc ]
- Wow, not bad for the 3rd hand here.
Ledsen84 folds.
arentz1987 calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
Herzog24 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, Ks, Th ]
CasaLoco has joined the table.
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
arentz1987 calls [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- I didn't think fishing for the Q was worth it. Does this make me tight?

***** Hand History for Game 3126455798 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:50:41 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $27 )
Seat 3: arentz1987 ( $15.34 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $15 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $15 )
Herzog24 posts small blind [$0.25].
arentz1987 is sitting out.
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 9c Tc ]
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- Suited connectors...this is my first questionable hand.
Herzog24 calls [$0.25].
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 7s, Qs ]
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR folds.
- I had 3 to a flush and and double gut shot. I fold this.

Hands folded
3h7s - big blind, blank flop bet
6h2c - small blind, did not call
2c9s
8dQs
Jd7d
4hAs - no A/junk UTG

***** Hand History for Game 3126472372 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:54:24 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $13.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19.75 )
Seat 3: freonguy ( $13 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $25.75 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $9.75 )
canadad27 posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 3d 3c ]
Herzog24 raises [$1].
mdixon222 folds.
freonguy folds.
CasaLoco folds.
canadad27 calls [$0.75].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- pocket pairs are nice, I'll play small pocket pairs even through 1 raise preflop.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kh, 2c, 6h ]
canadad27 checks.
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
canadad27 calls [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- Crap flop + 2 bets = fold

Hands folded
8c3c - small blind, preflop raised
Kd9s

***** Hand History for Game 3126480216 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:56:11 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $26.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $12.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $21.50 )
Seat 3: freonguy ( $15.25 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $23.25 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $7.25 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
freonguy posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4d 4c ]
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
canadad27 folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
Herzog24 calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.25].
freonguy checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, 7d, 3d ]
mdixon222 checks.
freonguy checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
- Need to chase out anyone with A/high card trying to stay in for a free turn/river.
Herzog24 calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 folds.
freonguy folds.
CasaLoco folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7c ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
Herzog24 calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 9s ]
CalderaR checks.
- two sets of over cards on the board got me scared. Probably should have bet here...yes? Especially because I still have a bigger than the small pair on the board.
Herzog24 checks.
CalderaR shows [ 4d, 4c ] two pairs, sevens and fours.
Herzog24 doesn't show [ 5d, Kd ] two pairs, sevens and threes.
CalderaR wins $5 from the main pot with two pairs, sevens and fours.

***** Hand History for Game 3126483658 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:56:57 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $24.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $15.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $21 )
Seat 3: freonguy ( $14.75 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $22.75 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $7.25 )
freonguy posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Qh Kd ]
canadad27 calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- Some people would raise here. Unlike them, I don't get antsy in the pantsy when I see double paint.
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 folds.
freonguy calls [$0.25].
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 9h, 5d ]
freonguy bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
canadad27 raises [$1].
CalderaR folds.
- Spidey sense going off...must get out of hand. Needless to say the J came on the turn and it was a d and a flush won.

Hands folded
8dJh

$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 15:58:14 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $15 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19.75 )
Seat 3: freonguy ( $11.25 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $22.75 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $11.25 )
canadad27 posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 5h 5s ]
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
freonguy raises [$1].
CasaLoco folds.
canadad27 calls [$0.75].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, Ks, 8d ]
canadad27 bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- ehh..oh well. A 5 came on the turn :(

Hands folded
Qd3c - small blind
8sQd - big blind, preflop raised

$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:00:07 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $22.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $13.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $23.75 )
Seat 3: freonguy ( $10.25 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $27.25 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $6.25 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
freonguy posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ks Ad ]
- Ohhhh...money!!!
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
canadad27 folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 calls [$0.75].
freonguy folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, Ac, Kh ]
mdixon222 bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
mdixon222 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
mdixon222 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$1].
CalderaR shows [ Ks, Ad ] two pairs, aces and kings.
mdixon222 doesn't show [ 4s, Kd ] a pair of kings.
CalderaR wins $9 from the main pot with two pairs, aces and kings.
- Should I have attempted to check raise? would he have bet since I raised him on the flop?

Hands folded
Qd7h
5hQc

***** Hand History for Game 3126508538 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:02:28 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $21.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $18.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $21.75 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $28.75 )
Seat 5: canadad27 ( $5.75 )
canadad27 posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Qs Kh ]
- only if all big blinds were this good
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
canadad27 calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
- Did I miss a raise here? Often times I get told I'm not aggressive enough, I think Ray Powers would have raised here.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, Ks, 6s ]
canadad27 checks.
CalderaR checks.
- How about here? There was still a guy behind me and that's a lot of spades.
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Th ]
canadad27 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
CasaLoco folds.
canadad27 folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $2.50

Hands folded
8dJh - small blind
2hKc
6h2d
Jh9h
Qc6h - big blind, preflop raised
4sKd - small blind
4c9d
2sQh

***** Hand History for Game 3126535335 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:08:20 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $24.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $18.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $33.50 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $9.50 )
loulou91111 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Kd Jd ]
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 7s, 8s ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $1.75

***** Hand History for Game 3126537047 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:08:43 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $24.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $19.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $18.50 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $33.50 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $9.25 )
CasaLoco posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4s Ks ]
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, Ts, 8d ]
CasaLoco bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- 4 to the flush
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
- well now I have top pair.
mdixon222 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $4
- respect!!!

Hands folded
Tc3d - small blind

***** Hand History for Game 3126542654 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:09:57 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $23.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $21.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $16 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $35.75 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $8.25 )
>You have options at Table 66384 (6 max) Table!.
Herzog24 posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 9s Ac ]
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
Herzog24 calls [$0.25].
mdixon222 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8c, Kd, 5d ]
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
mdixon222 raises [$1].
CalderaR folds.

***** Hand History for Game 3126544657 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:10:23 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $22 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $20.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $16 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $37.75 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $8.25 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
loulou91111 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Qh Qd ]
- ladies, ladies, ladies
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
Herzog24 calls [$1].
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6c, Qc, 6h ]
Jinsain has joined the table.
CalderaR checks.
- ladies and gentleman...the slow play
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 bets [$1].
CalderaR raises [$2].
Herzog24 folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $8.25
- Like a pro!!!

Hands folded
6c9s

***** Hand History for Game 3126549620 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:11:28 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $18.50 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $37.50 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $11.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $15.50 )
Seat 5: Jinsain ( $21.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $24.50 )
CasaLoco posts small blind [$0.25].
Jinsain posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Jd Kh ]
Jinsain: good call
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
Herzog24 raises [$1].
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 raises [$1.50].
CasaLoco folds.
Jinsain calls [$1].
CalderaR folds.
- Does this make me weak?

***** Hand History for Game 3126553563 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:12:21 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $24.75 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $37.50 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $7.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $15.25 )
Seat 5: Jinsain ( $19.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $24 )
Jinsain posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Qs 9d ]
Herzog24 calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
Jinsain folds.
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, Td, 5h ]
CalderaR checks.
Herzog24 bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR folds.

***** Hand History for Game 3126556104 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:12:55 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $26 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $37.50 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $7.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $14.75 )
Seat 5: Jinsain ( $19.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $23.50 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
Herzog24 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 9s 8c ]
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
Jinsain calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
- connectors with 1 other caller.
Herzog24 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 8s, Js ]
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
Herzog24 calls [$0.50].
Jinsain calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2c ]
CalderaR checks.
- If I bet here do they fold?
Herzog24 checks.
Jinsain checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
Herzog24 folds.
Jinsain folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $4
- I think I won this pot because I'm playing fewer hands than everyone else (another words, I'm not playing every hand) and people are taking notice.

Hands folded
QhTc - alread is gonna kill me for folding that
9s8c

***** Hand History for Game 3126564701 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:14:48 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Herzog24 ( $26.25 )
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $38.75 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $5.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $14.25 )
Seat 5: Jinsain ( $18.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $25.50 )
loulou91111 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ As Ks ]
Jinsain calls [$0.50].
CalderaR raises [$1].
Herzog24 folds.
mdixon222 calls [$1].
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
Jinsain calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 9h, Qc ]
Jinsain bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- He just cut me right off.

Hands folded (from now on, whenever you see a pair of cards, it just means I folded it).
8s3c
2c7h - big blind, raised preflop
8cTd - small blind

***** Hand History for Game 3126578329 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:17:49 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $5 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $13.25 )
Seat 5: Jinsain ( $10.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $23.75 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
loulou91111 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ts Ah ]
Jinsain folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.25].
loulou91111 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, 8h, Jc ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.

2cQs - big blind, raise preflop

***** Hand History for Game 3126581001 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:18:24 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $46 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $7 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $13.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $22.75 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 3h 3d ]
- woot 4 pocket pair!!
loulou91111 folds.
CalderaR raises [$0.75].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, 5h, Jd ]
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
mdixon222 raises [$1].
CalderaR folds.
- alright, ya got me. Even if you don't have the cards, you got me.

4cQh

***** Hand History for Game 3126583659 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:18:59 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $6.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $14 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $21.25 )
loulou91111 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Td Ts ]
CalderaR raises [$1].
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco raises [$1].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, Qh, 8s ]
CasaLoco bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
CasaLoco bets [$1].
CalderaR raises [$2].
- Not sure what I was doing here.
CasaLoco calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
CasaLoco shows [ As, Kh ] a pair of aces.
CalderaR doesn't show [ Td, Ts ] a pair of tens.
CasaLoco wins $7.75 from the main pot with a pair of aces.

***** Hand History for Game 3126585885 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:19:28 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $6.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $17.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $17.25 )
CasaLoco posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 6h 6s ]
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
- I think I missed a bet here.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 4c, 3d ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
- And here.
loulou91111 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Th ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $2.50

***** Hand History for Game 3126588120 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:19:57 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $5.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $17.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $18.25 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4s 4d ]
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
- Do I raise here as well? The more I play the pocket pairs, the more I'm content with just limping in.
mdixon222 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 6d, Qc ]
CalderaR checks.
mdixon222 checks.
CasaLoco bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- I'm a scared little school girl.

7sQd

***** Hand History for Game 3126592096 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:20:49 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $45.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $4.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $20.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $17.75 )
loulou91111 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4h 4d ]
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, 6d, 2c ]
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $1.75

8h6s - big blind, preflop raised
9c8h - small blind, preflop raised

***** Hand History for Game 3126595309 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:21:31 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $43.75 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $6.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $20.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $17.75 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
loulou91111 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ah 6c ]
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- go go gaget ace/junk
mdixon222 calls [$0.25].
loulou91111 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 2c, Ks ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4s ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
- This right here...horrible play. I should have bet.
** Dealing River ** [ 9s ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR checks.
- At least here. :(
mdixon222 shows [ 8d, 7h ] high card king.
loulou91111 shows [ As, Th ] high card ace.
CalderaR doesn't show [ Ah, 6c ] high card ace.
loulou91111 wins $2 from the main pot with high card ace with ten kicker.

***** Hand History for Game 3126597587 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:22:00 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $43.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $7.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $17.25 )
loulou91111 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ad 8d ]
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- Slightly better than ace/junk
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
loulou91111 calls [$0.25].
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 3c, 2d ]
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
- Good bet
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
loulou91111 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
loulou91111 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
- Not afraid.
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $4.50
- Perserverance pays off.

***** Hand History for Game 3126600806 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:22:42 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $6.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $19.75 )
CasaLoco posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ad Ac ]
mdixon222 folds.
loulou91111 raises [$1].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
loulou91111 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, 3c, 5h ]
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
loulou91111 folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $3.75
- At least they didn't get cracked

***** Hand History for Game 3126602771 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:23:08 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42.25 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $5.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $21.50 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Jd Tc ]
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
mdixon222 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, Js, 9h ]
RIK1M0NAHIN7 has joined the table.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
RIK1M0NAHIN7: Automated Poker Odds Calculator. FREE Download for PartyPoker. w w w . PartyAnalyst . c o m (no spaces)
- Sweet, maybe I'll get it.
mdixon222 raises [$1].
- This has me worried. I have top pair, but my kicker is marginal.
RIK1M0NAHIN7 has left the table.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
CalderaR checks.
mdixon222 bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ As ]
CalderaR checks.
mdixon222 checks.
CalderaR shows [ Jd, Tc ] a pair of jacks.
mdixon222 doesn't show [ 9c, 6c ] a pair of nines.
CalderaR wins $4.50 from the main pot with a pair of jacks.
- I guess this guy gets the semi-maniac label.

***** Hand History for Game 3126604916 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:23:35 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $39.75 )
Seat 3: loulou91111 ( $5.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $19 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $23.50 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
loulou91111 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Jh Qc ]
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.25].
loulou91111 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Ks, 5c ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
mdixon222 checks.
loulou91111 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR checks.
- bah, the respect that I've been getting, I think I might have missed a bet here.
** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]
mdixon222 bets [$1].
loulou91111 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$1].
CalderaR folds.
- he had a duece.

6sJh
3dJh - big blind, it gets folded to me
Js9d - small blind
Qs5h
9cQs

***** Hand History for Game 3126618264 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:26:29 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 4
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $14.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $23 )
Seat 1: Jp1772887 ( $8.25 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
Jp1772887 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 7c 7d ]
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$0.75].
Jp1772887 calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 2c, 6h ]
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
- Only 1 over card, trying to chase out the ace/high carders.
Jp1772887 calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
- And then I got lucky
Jp1772887 folds.
mdixon222 calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$1].
CalderaR shows [ 7c, 7d ] three of a kind, sevens.
mdixon222 doesn't show [ 5h, Ac ] high card ace.
- Maybe he's watching flashdance.
CalderaR wins $8 from the main pot with three of a kind, sevens.

Qd6s
3dQc
5sAc - fold ace/junk UTG

***** Hand History for Game 3126627155 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:28:26 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $40.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $15 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $27.50 )
Seat 1: Jp1772887 ( $7.25 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $22 )
Seat 3: aidagpet2 ( $25 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
aidagpet2 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Jd 5h ]
Jp1772887 folds.
mdixon222 folds.
aidagpet2 checks.
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Js, Kd, 5s ]
- I would like to thank detroit for this lovely hand.
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
aidagpet2 bets [$0.50].
Claesk folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- I think I should reraise here, however, for some reason I was scared of K5?
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
aidagpet2 raises [$2].
CalderaR calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
CalderaR checks.
aidagpet2 checks.
CalderaR shows [ Jd, 5h ] two pairs, jacks and fives.
aidagpet2 doesn't show [ Kh, 8h ] a pair of kings.
CalderaR wins $6 from the main pot with two pairs, jacks and fives.
- Easy as ABC, 123, do ray mi..baby you and me.

2d9s - small blind

***** Hand History for Game 3126633183 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:29:45 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $43.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $15 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $30.25 )
Seat 1: Jp1772887 ( $6.25 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $21 )
Seat 3: aidagpet2 ( $20 )
Jp1772887 posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 9d 9c ]
aidagpet2 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
Claesk folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
- Bigger than 88 means I raise (I just made that up, but it applies)
Jp1772887 calls [$0.75].
mdixon222 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6h, Ac, 9h ]
Jp1772887 checks.
CasaLoco checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
Jp1772887 raises [$1]
- And then...I was lionel richie'ing!!!
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
Jp1772887 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
Jp1772887 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
Jp1772887 calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 7h ]
Jp1772887 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
Jp1772887 calls [$1].
CalderaR shows [ 9d, 9c ] three of a kind, nines.
Jp1772887 doesn't show [ 3d, As ] a pair of aces.
CalderaR wins $10 from the main pot with three of a kind, nines.
- Gotta be honest, I was afraid of a heart or 8, but Lionel came through and I was ...wait for it...wait for it....dancing in the streets!!!

3d8c
9s8d

***** Hand History for Game 3126641749 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:31:37 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $39 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $13 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $35.75 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $25.50 )
Seat 3: jaman41 ( $10 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
jaman41 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 7d Kh ]
mdixon222 folds.
jaman41 checks.
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 4c, 8s ]
mrstra8play has joined the table.
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
jaman41 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
- do I miss a bet here. I feel that every time this happens and I have a K or an A that I should be betting here.
jaman41 checks.
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
jaman41 bets [$1].
Claesk folds.
CalderaR folds.

Kd6s
5c3h

***** Hand History for Game 3126651179 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:33:38 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42.75 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $12 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $35 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $25 )
Seat 1: mrstra8play ( $6 )
mdixon222 posts small blind [$0.25].
CasaLoco posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ah Ts ]
Claesk folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
mrstra8play folds.
mdixon222 calls [$0.25].
CasaLoco checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Th, Ac, Js ]
mdixon222 bets [$0.50].
braitdude has joined the table.
CasaLoco folds.
CalderaR raises [$1].
- He's wearing the leotards, of course I raise here.
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4h ]
mdixon222 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 3h ]
mdixon222 checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
mdixon222 calls [$1].
CalderaR shows [ Ah, Ts ] two pairs, aces and tens.
mdixon222 doesn't show [ 8d, As ] a pair of aces.
- who doesn't like ace/junk, I mean c'mon.
CalderaR wins $7 from the main pot with two pairs, aces and tens.

2d4c - somewhere Mr. Bauer is saving the world

***** Hand History for Game 3126657006 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:34:54 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $39.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $11.25 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $38.50 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $22 )
Seat 1: mrstra8play ( $8.75 )
Seat 3: braitdude ( $10 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
braitdude posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4c 7d ]
mrstra8play calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
braitdude checks.
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, 3h, 4d ]
Claesk bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- Capt. Tight says fold it up!!

Tc6s - small blind
Jd5d - if only you were in the big blind...OW! (flop came 2dTdQd)
9c5s
Ac7d - fold ace/junk UTG

***** Hand History for Game 3126672863 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:38:18 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $5.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $37.75 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $15.50 )
Seat 1: mrstra8play ( $11.75 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ad Js ]
mrstra8play folds.
mdixon222 folds.
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
- Perhaps I should have raised here?
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, Th, 6s ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
CasaLoco bets [$0.50].
Claesk folds.
CalderaR folds.

8h6c - small blind
8sKh
Jd6c

***** Hand History for Game 3126679634 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:39:45 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $42.25 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $5.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $37 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $16.25 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $25 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
careys3 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 6c Jh ]
mdixon222 folds.
careys3 checks.
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk raises [$0.75].
CalderaR folds.
- I'm a wuss?

Kc2h - small blind
Ks2d
Kd5c
9c8d

***** Hand History for Game 3126694140 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:42:46 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $44 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $7 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $36.25 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $16.75 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $21.50 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 4s 8s ]
mdixon222 calls [$0.50].
careys3 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2d, 3d, 6c ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
mdixon222 bets [$0.50].
careys3 calls [$0.50].
Claesk calls [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.
- bleh...not gonna draw to the inside

***** Hand History for Game 3126698855 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:43:45 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $7 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $35.75 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $15.75 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $19.50 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
mdixon222 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 2h 3h ]
careys3 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
- suited in small blind and no raise means I call.
mdixon222 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9d, Jh, 5c ]
CalderaR checks.
mdixon222 checks.
careys3 bets [$0.50].
CalderaR folds.

3dQh
9hQs

***** Hand History for Game 3126707093 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:45:28 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $3 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $35.25 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $15.75 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $23.50 )
Seat 1: DebbRogers ( $14.50 )
CasaLoco posts small blind [$0.25].
Claesk posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 8c 8d ]
CalderaR raises [$1].
DebbRogers calls [$1].
mdixon222 folds.
careys3 calls [$1].
CasaLoco folds.
Claesk calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 6s, Tc ]
Claesk bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
DebbRogers calls [$0.50].
careys3 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
Claesk bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
DebbRogers calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
Claesk bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
DebbRogers calls [$1].
Claesk shows [ Kc, Qd ] a flush, king high.
CalderaR doesn't show [ 8c, 8d ] a flush, queen high.
DebbRogers doesn't show [ 8h, Qh ] a pair of queens.
Claesk wins $11.25 from the main pot with a flush, king high with king kicker.
- So this is my second bonehead play. Not bad for like 150 hands in.

***** Hand History for Game 3126709899 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:46:03 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $2.75 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $31.75 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $23.50 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $22.50 )
Seat 1: DebbRogers ( $11 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ah Qc ]
DebbRogers calls [$0.50].
mdixon222 did not respond in time.
- It's the part where she's getting the water dumped on her.
mdixon222 folds.
careys3 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 5h, 3s ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR bets [$0.50].
DebbRogers raises [$1].
- Interesting
careys3 calls [$1].
CasaLoco raises [$1.50].
- Even more interesting.
Claesk folds.
CalderaR calls [$1].
- This might be a bad call, but I have top pair and high kicker.
DebbRogers raises [$1].
careys3 calls [$1].
CasaLoco calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- I should have definitely folded here. I think there was a test here and I lost.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
CalderaR checks.
DebbRogers bets [$1].
careys3 calls [$1].
CasaLoco is all-In [$0.25]
CalderaR calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
CalderaR checks.
DebbRogers bets [$1].
careys3 calls [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
DebbRogers shows [ 5s, 5c ] three of a kind, fives.
careys3 doesn't show [ Ac, 6s ] a pair of aces.
CasaLoco doesn't show [ Qh, Qs ] a pair of queens.
CalderaR doesn't show [ Ah, Qc ] a pair of aces.
DebbRogers wins $5 from side pot #1 with three of a kind, fives.
DebbRogers wins $11 from the main pot with three of a kind, fives.
- So I ended in second place, I guess that's better than I thought I was at.

***** Hand History for Game 3126716005 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:47:19 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.50 )
Seat 4: CasaLoco ( $0 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $27.25 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $23 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $18 )
Seat 1: DebbRogers ( $22.50 )
CalderaR posts small blind [$0.25].
DebbRogers posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ac Tc ]
careys3 calls [$0.50].
CasaLoco has left the table.
Claesk folds.
CalderaR calls [$0.25].
DebbRogers checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, Ad, Ah ]
CalderaR checks.
- slow playing.
DebbRogers checks.
careys3 bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- Might have been able to raise here and get callers.
DebbRogers calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
CalderaR checks.
DebbRogers checks.
careys3 bets [$1].
CalderaR calls [$1].
DebbRogers calls [$1].
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
CalderaR bets [$1].
DebbRogers calls [$1].
careys3 folds.
CalderaR shows [ Ac, Tc ] three of a kind, aces.
DebbRogers doesn't show [ Th, Ks ] a pair of aces.
CalderaR wins $7.50 from the main pot with three of a kind, aces.

7dKs
6sJh

***** Hand History for Game 3126724488 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:49:04 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $31.75 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $26.50 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $13 )
Seat 1: DebbRogers ( $19 )
Claesk posts small blind [$0.25].
CalderaR posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ 3s 7h ]
DebbRogers folds.
careys3 calls [$0.50].
Claesk calls [$0.25].
CalderaR checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6c, Qd, 8h ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
careys3 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Js ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
careys3 checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 3h ]
Claesk checks.
CalderaR checks.
- bet here? would I get called?
careys3 checks.
Claesk shows [ Ac, 7d ] high card ace.
CalderaR shows [ 3s, 7h ] a pair of threes.
careys3 doesn't show [ Kc, 4h ] high card king.
CalderaR wins $1.50 from the main pot with a pair of threes.

5dJh - small blind

***** Hand History for Game 3126728073 *****
$0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em - Thursday, December 01, 16:49:49 EDT 2005
Table Table 66514 (6 max) (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 2: mdixon222 ( $47.50 )
Seat 6: CalderaR ( $32.50 )
Seat 5: Claesk ( $26 )
Seat 3: careys3 ( $12.50 )
Seat 1: DebbRogers ( $19.25 )
DebbRogers posts small blind [$0.25].
careys3 posts big blind [$0.50].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to CalderaR [ Ah 4d ]
- ace/junk on the button!!!
Claesk calls [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
DebbRogers calls [$0.25].
careys3 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5s, 2h, 6h ]
DebbRogers checks.
careys3 checks.
Claesk bets [$0.50].
CalderaR calls [$0.50].
- some gut shots I'm sure.
DebbRogers calls [$0.50].
careys3 calls [$0.50].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ac ]
DebbRogers checks.
careys3 checks.
Claesk checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
- yay for an ace
DebbRogers calls [$1].
careys3 folds.
Claesk folds.
** Dealing River ** [ Ts ]
DebbRogers checks.
CalderaR bets [$1].
DebbRogers folds.
CalderaR does not show cards.
CalderaR wins $6.50

Jd3s

table broke up after that and I moved to another one. That's not nearly 200 hands, I'll post more tomorrow, it's time to pick up Marnie from work.

Obv

You Should Get a MBA (Masters of Business Administration)

You're a self starter with a drive for success. You'd make a great entrepreneur.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

My Nephew with a message for Mr. Webb

too many choices

In a conversation recently I had with a coworker, we were discussing why we use discard a card and draw a card instead of draw a card and discard a card as a mechanic. The subject of "too many choices" came up. I told him to show me a card that has too many choices.

Touche!!!

Lite Brite

I used to love these as a kid

Just a drive

me and the canadian

On a Sunday Afternoon

lol...he just needed to roll a 4

Hoo-rah

I went and saw Jarhead last night. I went by myself, the wife and I got in a little spat about dinner so I just went and saw a movie. She wouldn't see it with me anyway.

I liked it. It's like a modern day Full Metal Jacket. It's interesting to see how the marines are treated. I'm not sure how truthful the movie was about how it all went down in 90-92, but it is based on a book written by a marine that was there. If you like military movies, then I'd recommend that you go and see it. If not, then this movie may not be for you. And there are a couple scenes too many of man ass.

So, I'm not Pregnant

Thank goodness!!!

They moved my appt. up to today. so I went and saw the doctor and got my results. Good news/Bad News.

it's not my gallbladder.

my liver appears to be coarsing and hardening.

Soooo, it might be an infection or maybe something worse. I'm supposed to call tomorrow to get a CT scheduled to get a better idea of what is going on in my right upper abdomen. I'm on two new antibiotics where one of the warning is that it "may cause a rupture in your tendon". WTF, just randomly rupture my tendon? Greeaaattt.

Oh..and I have to collect a stool sample :(
Not looking forward to that.

My Blog is worth more than Chuck's

My blog is worth $14,678.04.
How much is your blog worth?

Second Audio Post - 1st Real One

So this is it. Have a listen and leave a comment.

My Favorite Cartoon

Also, my first audio post!!!!

this is gonna hurt, I'm warning you now. ;)

The Gall of Some People

So it's been about a month before my last hypochondriac breakdown. I believe the last one was that I had bronchitis because of the smokyness of the places that I was frequenting.

This time I have a pain in my right side, down where my Mac tire is. Right now it's an uncomfortable dull pain. It's only sharp when I cough, laugh or stretch out. I've had it for about a week now. First I thought it was just a pulled muscle, no big deal. I'm a fat guy, maybe I strained reaching for the soup on the top shelf. A couple buddies of mine are concerned and they thought that it might be a hernia. I think to myself "it's not a tumor" in my best Ahnold voice.

Fast forward to today, Marnie calls up the nurses line to figure out where we can go with the new insurance and all. The nurse on the line was like "uhh..emergency room would be good." I don't believe her, so we head to the nearest urgent care. I see a nice nurse and she tells me, nah, it's not a hernia or a pulled muscle or anything like that. Most likely it's ...

....

Gallstones

:(

I have an ultrasound on Monday/Tuesday to figure out if it's that, but she thinks it is because of my symptoms. Greeeaaaatttt. I'm on Dicyclomine and Vicodin until then. I'm calling in sick Monday/Tuesday.

Pub Poker Night - 11/9

I'm starting to look forward to these excursions. When we first started, I was very skeptical about the randomness that is Pub Poker. Since then, I have adjusted my rock style and learned to just last until the first cut and I should be fine.

7pm -

The first tournament, we were full at 8 tables and I proceed to just play the way I do and try and last until the first break. I start in the big blind, it gets raised by the button to 100 (from 50) and I call with my J/4 clubs. The flop comes 4/club/club. I check my small pair/flush draw. It gets checked round (even by the button, which is weird). The turn comes a Jack. I bet 200. Folds to the button, who mutters something under her breath and calls. The River comes a J. I check and she bets about 200. I raise to make it about 800 to go. She is visibly upset now, and calls. My boat wins to her pocket 9s. She goes on about how I could possibly call a raise preflop with junk like that. I decide not to engage her in conversation/justification, weird..I know. The guy to my left just pushes everyone around. I'm lucky enough not to be in the pots with him. At the first color up, he's got about 15000. Half way through 400/800, I have about 2200 left or so. I make a bluff and I guess I let someone know what was up, because he called me with his A/3 when the board was K/Q/9/3. I didn't have anything and he dragged the pot. I was getting board so that's why I tried to make a play. I guess my "rock" tendencies didn't prove to him that I only played the good cards.

10pm -

I get sat at the "good" table with 4 real poker players, 2 semi poker players and the guy that runs the shindig. I proceed to pucker up tighter than anyone I've ever seen. To be fair, if I would have played anything that I had, I would have lost. So I get blinded a lot because we are moving at a great pace. Fast forward to 200/400. I'm big blind with about 2800 or so left. Two to my left is a girl that seems strong enough and only plays good hands. Two to her left is an older woman that befriended me last week. She's usually drunk by this point and last night was no different. 1 to my right is a funny guy who is also drunk, but can play. So...4 callers.
I have 3/2 off in the big blind.
Flop = 3/Q/9 - skittles
Checks around.
Turn - 5spade
Small blind makes a bet of 400. I look at him, comment about a flush needing a 5th card and I call. The other two call as well.
River - 3red
Small blind checks, I bet 400, two to my left calls, older lady raise 100 to make it 500 (don't ask). Guy to my right thinks it over and folds. I think for a second. I know the two to my left has Q/x, because that's the way she plays. The wild card is the older lady. I decide it's now or never, I push the remaining chips in (about 2k or so). The girl 2 to my left calls and the older lady calls.
I flip over my trips. She shows her Q/7 just like I thought. The older lady flips over K/3hearts.

Yep, I can't say that it was a bad beat because she had me beat the whole way. I couldn't bet on the flop because I was early position and there were two over cards and I had the lowest kicker and wouldn't have got her out anyway. Oh well, I had fun.

Starship Troopers

So I'm watching this Saturday night, around 11pm or so on UPN. I love this movie and it definitely shows up on my top 100 movies list. How could you not love this movie with lines like "you apes wanna live forever??!!!??" or "...roughnecks...RICO's ROUGHNECKS."

So as I'm watching this commercial ridden, cut out all the good parts type movie, the commercials come one. Every other commercial is one for Interactive Male, the local male talk line. Like every commercial break this shows up about twice. I mean, I know Casper Van Dieme is hot and all, but c'mon man, there is more than one scene of boobs in this movie!!

Pub Poker Night - 11/3

I still have the cough, but do you think that's going to stop me from playing some "home game" poker. Absolutely not.

First session -

I drag 2 of the first 3 pots and then proceed to not catch a hand until I go all in with A/J suited with about 2500 left when the blinds were 400/800. I got put out by Bahr's friends girlfriend (I'm absolutely horrible with names).

Loser's Table -

I drag two rather large pots and the guy who kept proclaiming that this was his first live table game were 2/1 respectively. Nothing really exciting here. I slow played flopping a set till the A hit on the turn and put two people out with that hand.

Second session (10pm) -

First hand, I get dealt jacks. I hate jacks...a lot. I raise to 350 (300 raise). I get two callers. The flop comes three low cards, skittles all two offs. I'm in mid/late position and it gets checked to me. I bet 650. Everyone folds and I drag the pot. Second hand in I get dealt 33 in mid position. I raise to make it 100 to go, and the same callers call (5 in the pot). Flop comes AA3. Guy in first position bets 500, guy behind him raise to 1000. I stop and think for a minute, it couldn't be this sweet. I raise to 2000. The lady to my left calls (this is the second hand and you dont' start with that many chips to begin with. The next guy folds, then the first guy contemplates for a moment. Shoots me a look and then folds. The guy who raise to 1000 goes all in for the rest of his chips (a lot, I don't know about another couple K or so). I call, he flips over his Ajunk and I show my pocket 3s. I dragged that pot and one more and then proceeded to rock for awhile. Tables collapse a bit and I put 1 or 2 more people out. One of those times, the other player had QQ to my KJ suited. It was for about 1/3 of my stack and I was contemplating not calling. I make the call and make my two pair on the river.

Get down to the last table, and it's me, with a female to my right and a tempe police officer to my left. I have about 50k or so and they are both well over 200k. I post and fold for awhile and then get dealt KJd. I push for my remaining chips, he shows 99 and a 9 comes on the flop. Not much I can do.

So I points again, 2nd in the losers game and 3rd in the 10pm game. It was an interesting final table, me and the female (I didn't get her name) chatted with the guy who runs the shindig about the major differences between online poker, casino poker and pub poker. Pub poker is more like a home game, people are there to have fun and about 80% of the people there don't really care if they win or not. This leads to a couple interesting types of play styles. It creates players that will call with any two suited cards, any two connectors, any paint, and AJunk is a raisable hand. To make it in pub poker, you should drag enough pots to make it to 400/800 with a healthy chip stack (about 5-6k or so) and then you can change styles because most the players that are left are more restrictive with what they bet/call with. I don't know if I'm completely comfortable with pub poker yet, but this is my 2nd final table in 3 trips to the NativeNewYorker.

I missed Ray. There was a really really hot chick at my next to last table.

Joe Alread???

20051031l
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

heh...that would be funny though.

Kicking Tom while they're down

ANNOUNCER: Will the lady who left her 11 kids at Lambeau Field, please pick them up. They're beating the Packers 29 to 0.

So I Woke Up Yesterday...

...and I made a game.

No really, I woke up. Sat up in bed and remembered everything that I had dreamt for the past half an hour to an hour. I jump out of bed (the neighbors downstairs must have ran for the nearest door jam when their pictures shook) and raced to the computer to right down everything I recollected.

It's based on a sports game. Either basketball or futbol works. Your turn starts by taking possession. Each time you pass the ball, you can draw a card. There are fast effects that your opponent can use/play that will punish you for "passing to much". You take a shot, compare some numbers (of course I'm not going to tell you the whole idea) and figure out if you score or not. If you do, the possession goes to the opponent and his/her turn starts.

So now I have an idea for a game. It goes up on the shelf with the other ones. It's not 100% complete, there are still some kinks to work out (depicting which character has the ball, distance to goal, etc.), but hey, maybe someone will come to me and be like "hey, I need an idea for a sports game, for either basketball or soccer"....and I'll be prepared.

Woot, I can do 8th grade math

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Poker is killing me

no Joe...I didn't go broke


So, since I've been here, everywhere that I have been without Marnie that has been smokers. Friends house, pub poker, the casino, you name it, there have been smokers. Now before I went out to the East coast, I could handle all this smoke, in fact, I used to smoke at strip clubs and the casino, just because I was inhaling anyway, might as well get the benefits of the nicotine too.

Fast forward 2 years. I'm sitting here, hacking my lungs out. My chest hurts sooo much and it was a rough night. The cough hurts...a lot. So no poker/smokers for a little bit of time...at least till sunday when the D&D campaign starts up again at clarks place.

Whoa...

Greater than

Living 6 miles from a Casino >>> Living 6 miles from the beach

Poker @ Mah Papis

So, it is time for my inaugural trip to my dad's house for his monthly poker night. They play dime/quarter, big better is a buck, three raise max. Initially, I thought that was cheap as hell so I was thinking I would only need like $10 total.

When I get there, my dad has his poker table all set up and he's getting the sodas ready. He's like, "I'm gonna buy you in for this first one." I was thinking to myself, oooookkkkk. He hands me $100. I was like,"am I really gonna need this much?" And said yea.

The guys show up and we play till about quarter to 2am. I was down about $15. The only "normal" games we played were high chicago and low chicago, holdem and omaha. The rest of the time we played crazy games like 727, 357, hoggers, 10/20/30. Here is the break down for a couple of these crazy games.

357 -

Ante a quarter. When you have 3 cards, 3s are wild, 5 cards 5s are wild, 7 cards 7s are wild. Everyone gets dealt 3 cards to start. Each player in order decides whether they are in or pass. If you are in, you are betting that you have the best 3 card hand. If someone challenges you, you secretly show each other your hand. The winner pays the loser the amount that is in the pot, but you don't pay until later. If no one challenges you, you get a chip marker. Dealer deals two more cards for 5 total and now 3s are no longer wild, but 5s are. Again, each player chooses in or pass, same as during the 3 cards. Then two more cards come for a total of 7 and 7s are wild (not 5s or 3s). After everyone chooses in or pass. You throw your cards in. This is the point where the losers pay out the winners of the challenges (this is really where you make the money in this game). The reason you wait to payout till now is because this is a bluffing game, if you paid out earlier, then you might tip the game to who had the better hand in the challenge, etc. You repeat this process until someone has three chip markers in front of them at the end of a round and then they win the pot. Before each round, everyone antes a quarter so that increased the pot $1.75 each round.

I got really burned by this game the first time I played it and ended up paying out like $14 the first time to lost challenges. More than likely with the wilds, anything lower than a full house is dead in the water (I called with an Ace high straight and lost to a full house and a 4 of a kind). You can bluff in late position and steal a couple chip markers here and there though. I give this game about a B+ after I got the hang of it.

727 -

I hate this game, it's a point game. Aces are worth 1/11, faces are worth half a point, everything else is it's value. The object is trying to get as close to 7 or 27 as possible. You start with a card face down and a card face up. Everyone checks or bets. then you decide if you want a card or not. If you don't, you put a chip on your cards. Then another round of betting. If you get three chips on your cards then you can't get another card. The pots for this game were upwards of something like $40 or so. I was beaten with 26 and a half to someone that pulled a perfect card draw like 7 cards into his hand...twice. This game is also a huge bluffing game, but it can get expensive. If your first card showing is really low, like a 4 or a face, then you can just start stacking chips on your cards even if you have a 9 or 10 down low. But again, it gets real expensive real fast.

Overall I had a blast and learned some new games. Sitting around the table with a straight wing pilot, a guy from SWAT, a trucker fuqer (they only monitor the commercial trucks on the highways) and a couple of friends was a blast. I'm looking forward to next time.

Oh...and I got to drive my dads Rolls Royce. Now that is a nice car.

I'm In!!!

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 8894860

Friday is a good day

blurry picture :(
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So today, I played chaffuer. I drove Marnie to Tuxson for her seminar that she has to babysit every 3 months or so. I made sure to make lunch plans with two good friends of mine.

We head down there and get there just in time. F Mapquest. I drive around for awhile looking for a place to h@x some wireless so I can get some PSDs made. I was out of luck so I headed to a casino. I wanted to try the Desert Diamond. I see a billboard and head south on I-19. then the miles turned to kilometers :(

So I get about half way to mexico and see the turn off for the Desert Diamond. I arrive and see what is pictured in the attached picture. It sucks that it's blurry.

They are STAR WARS slots!!!! How freaking amazing is that. They have pictures of the characters as the matching items. They have the deathstar just above the players that spins around if you matchup some Deathstar pictures. It plays music and at the very top it has a video screen that shows the best clips from the movies. I lost $5, but it was probably the most fun I have EVAR had at slots. The old lady sitting next to me thought I was a freaking idiot. She didn't even watch the little video of the trench run that they showed when she hit the deathstar pictures.

They didn't have a poker room. I say "HOWH!" to the change guy and he tells me to head up the nogales hwy to get to the other one that is in Tuxson. I drive the 20 miles back to Tuxson up a road that was probably the only way to and from Mexico about 35 years ago or so.

I bypass Raytheon on the way and it's on teh left. How freaking cool would that be, to work across the street from a casino.

I sit at 3/6 with about $100. I wasn't as confident with my poker skills as of late. Then I remember it's pubpoker and it's not casino poker that I was playing. I proceed to go up $200. I break for lunch as the WPT Satellite is about to start up. $250 buy in and it's a cut to the top table for sunday. Top prize is a $10k entry into the Foxwoods WPT event.

I meet with two great guys and one of their new friends. Beal and Enrique are always great to hang out with. It was really cool hanging out with them for awhile. I miss the days when we would just get together to play at a tournament. And the days when the I-10cup was the shizzle. I miss those days and hopefully i can do something to re-invigorate the playing community here. We have Long Wongs and after lunch it's back to the casino.

I break even on the second session as there is a loose cannon at the table that I can't really buy pots from, so I lose a couple that I would have won about 2-3 hours earlier.

I head to pick up marnie and we head back to Mesa. I decide to take US 87. I wave to some friends of mine and Jays. Luckily, their house wasn't on fire this time.

It was dusk and the sunset was absolutely beautiful. I'm so glad to be back in Arizona.

Pub Poker Night - 10/19

Last night was pub poker night again. I was at a starting table with a friend of the guy that runs the play, a chick who is also a friend of them, bahr's gf, a business guy, a kid, an older kid, and a grandmother.

I don't have a lot of patience, so the grandmother continued to get on my nerves. Please, if I'm ever that old and that unable to go about daily activities (yes, betting in poker is a daily activity) please put me out of my misery.

I played 4 hands last night. QQ, Ajunk, Ajunk, and A10. I won with the QQ, folded post flop with both Ajunks and went out with A10. Bahr's GF was table captain. Everytime she was in on the river, she always bet big. She didn't get called about a dozen times, the one time she did get called, she was bluffing. Makes me wish I had more hands against her. I was put out when I turned a 10 and she turned a J for her AJ.

Oh well, I need to loosen up my play style. I was getting dealt 1 and 2 spacers suited all night (things like 79 or 57). I'm wondering if I should see the flop with those because the blinds go up so fast that the noobs dealing can't maximize the number of hands seen.

Then and Now

Today, I will talk about the fact that you can go home. I live a fair amount of my childhood in the state of Arizona. Don't get me wrong, we moved around a lot and with my stepdad being in the Air Force, I also lived in Germany for 6 years and Montana for 4 years. Outside of that, from when I was born till I was 18, I lived the rest of the time in Arizona.

I love Arizona, I can never get enough of it. It was the toughest decision of my life when I decided to take the job at Decipher in Virginia. It was a much easier decision to come back 2 years later.

One of the big things that I like about Arizona is the constant development. The Valley of the Sun has been growing and pushing the limits of the valley ever since I can remember. Today I went for a drive and remembered some of the good memories from my childhood (yes, that was intentional, there weren't a lot of them).

- First up for Then and Now, the corner of Queen Creek and Power Road.

I remember that there was practically nothing between Williams Air Force Base and my Grandmother's house on Power and Riggs. Just orange groves, alfalfa fields, and cotton fields as far as the eyes could see.

Today:
There is a huge shopping complex that includes a Bashas, among other stores. I could get behing Trilogy and Power Ranch, that was closer to the base, but this is out in Chandler Heights. Where the poverty once roamed free.

Oh well, I moved on. Continuing down Power Road.


Then:
My grandma's house was the biggest on Power Road between Chandler Heights and Hunt Hwy in the 80s. They had about 5-6 acres of land. On this land, they had the main house, grandad Jack's toolshed, the bird averies, the farm setup with the goats and pigs, and some orange trees. What made this land was the huge eucalyptus trees that were out front. I remember those vividly.

Now:

Well, she sold it around when I was 11 or 12. She moved out to Hunt Hwy and Sossaman. I had a handful of great memories in this house. I remember watching the Dukes of Hazzard every day in this house. The tire swing on the tree is gone. It's a used car dealership and a house now. Most of the acreage has trailers on it and the averies are gone. Thank goodness the trees are still out front.

Then: One of my grandparents good friends was Henry. He lived on Lime and Hunt Hwy. This about 2-3 miles down the road and turn left on Hunt Hwy. He used have like 20-25 acres of Orange groves. He had a contract with sunkist and did pretty well with it. I used to work there when I was like 7 years old. I would go out to the orange groves and make sure all the new green branches that were growing out of the base were cut off and removed all the cicada shells from the tree trunks. He kept up the irrigation ditches with his tractor while I did this.

Now: Well the house is still there, but the orange grove is pretty much gone. There are random small houses throughout where the orange grove used to be. The house does still have the twin towers trees. You could see these trees from well up Power Road. It's what I used to gauge how close we were to his house. I don't remember it, but my grandparents told me that one day I just walked from the house on Power Road to Henry's house because I wanted to get some honey from him (he always had fresh honey). This was about a 2-3 mile walk when I was like 5 years old. It's a good thing I had my best friend in the whole wide world with me at the time...Dog Dog. I loved that dog, we were inseperable.

Then: My grandparents "new" house. They traded the old place for this new place straight up when I was about 11 or 12. This new place was on an acre of land and it just had the house on it. There was only two other houses nearby, right next to this house and then in the back on the left. The land was not tilled and there was no front yard. They had a small chicken coup and a couple orange trees in the very front of the plot of land. The road kind of went up the middle and they started some follage on the back left.

Now: Whoever the new owners are have really cleaned up the place. There are some horse stables and there is grass throughout the entire front yard. The driveway goes up the right side and they built a garage on the left hand side where there once just stood a pile of adobe bricks and an old stove. This house was pretty nice house, but I didn't have a lot of good memories in this house (problems as a child, seeing my grandmother very sick and near death, etc). I do remember Jebediah though. He was my friend when I lived here for a semester when I was in the 6th grade. He had a dirt bike. There are houses that have sprouted up all around this house now. Most of them have some horses on the acreage. On the opposite side of the road it just used to be desert and it's pinal county. Now they are putting in a new development.

So in closing, I love Arizona. I love the idea of Arizona. I just wish I could remember more of the good times from my childhood. I haven't gone to Queen Creek to see my uncle yet, I'm afraid of what I might say or do to him.

Good Poker Movie

Poker Movie
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So last Thursday, Bahr and I were spouting off lines from Rounders. I got dealt A2 and it turned into the wheel, so I pulled out the whole "..got enough kick to win me the high and the low, etc." The APL guy was looking at us like a couple of amatuers and said something like, "have you guys watched a real poker movie like Shade?"

I hadn't. As I was passing the el cheapo movies at Walmart, I noticed it was like 5.99. I picked it up and watched it. Outside of the fact that they play a lot of 5 card (draw and stud) it was a pretty good flick. It was pretty shallow, I kinda knew how it was going to turn out, but it was still a pretty good flick. Some pretty good one liners, like an older type of Rounders.

Pub Poker Night

So I made it to my first pub poker night. I was weary going into this night because I'm a semi-rock. What this means is that I don't raise as often as I probably do and since the average player skill that will be in attendance is lower than that of the casino, I probably wont' do as well.

The first event comes. I fold the first 5 or 6 hands. When I get to play my first hand, the blinds had already moved up to 100/200. I get dealt A/Q mid position. I raise to 600. The small blind goes all in for about 2200. I call, he has QQ and they stand up. I then proceed to never see a hand better than J7off until my last hand. I get dealt A10, go all in and Bahr has QQ and they hold up again.

I was pretty bummed at this point, but I sit at the loser's table and proceed to slow play trips twice and triple up and play rock. The loser's table is more loose than the regular tournaments so the bigger hands were more playable and paid out more. I end up taking first and get the points and then I play in the 10pm.

My table is me, drunk, poker kid, older poker kid, biker guy, poker guy, boyfriend, girlfriend. The boyfriend deals and is helping his gf with the blinds and bets, etc. Blinds are 25/50 and first hand I get dealt QQ. Five callers before me and I raise to 200. They all call, flop comes Q78 skittles. I check, poker kid bets the minimum, they all call, I make it 500 to go. Chase everyone out but the bf and gf. Turn is a 3 (the 4th suit). The gf makes a bet, I make it 1500 to go (start with 4000 chips). BF and gf call. So now I'm thinking to myself that I have to have this hand thoroughly dominated and they are both on draws. River comes a J. The Bf leads with a bet, the gf calls. So what do I do here? ...
...
Well, I still think I'm best and by a long margin, I push all the chips in. The bf thinks for a second and then folds and then the gf says something to the bf and he replies with "yea, that'll be all your chips". She folds. I show the Trips and get respect.

I take down another couple pots and get moved tables a couple times and each time have to come in right on the blinds. I'm down to about 2500 when the blinds are 400/800 and moved to a table where a drunkish, TW Lewis shirted guy is raking in chips of the 1000/500 variety, he had just knocked out two guys. I come in on the big blind...again. get dealt the Jack Bauer, Bahr calls and TW Lewis guy calls my big blind. The flop comes 245..bink bink...bink bink. I push, Bahr folds and the big chip stack calls with Q2. The Bauer holds up and I double up. I double up again and make it to top 5. It's me, bahr, short stack, TW Lewis guy, poker guy. I'm big blind and get dealt A2 crubs. Bahr calls, short stack pushes, TW Lewis calls, poker guy calls. I decide to push here. I'm putting the poker guy and Bahr on paint. Bahr folds, TW Lewis calls and poker guy folds. So there are two of us all in, flop comes paint34, turn 5. The wheel gets me a big enough stack to make it to top three. I have the second biggest stack, bahr is 1 chip behind me (they are all 5000 chips now) and TW Lewis has about 8 more than me. I'm the big blind and get dealt the speed limit (55). Bahr makes a modest raise (about 3 chips over the big blind). TW folds. I push. Bahr contemplates and pushes as well. He flips over K7off. Flop comes Kblankblank. The 3rd 5 never came and on the next hand I was out. TW ends up winning in heads up and Bahr and I finish 2/3. So Bahr final tabled in both events and I won the first scrub event and final tabled in the 10pm event.

I think I'm going to try and hit 2 of these pub poker nights a week. The points that I got are pushing me on my way. The big tournament is the first week of December, they are taking the top 100 people in points standings. A big screen TV to first.

Plus, this is probably cheaper than me trying to make a run at Casino AZ...but that doesn't mean I won't go.

Who Knew...

that wearing socks with your sandels was not considered "dressing up"

We Made It..we made it!!!

I'm going to bust into my Dora dance now...we made it! we made it!
or something

anyway, we are here now. We got in last friday morning. It was rough and it took an extra day more than I thought it was going to, but we are here and we are loving it. I love this state so much. The weather is sooo beautiful and you can see actual mountains. There is a gas station on every corner and a minimall at every freeway exit. Did I mention I'm pretty fond of Ikea as well?

So here are some notes that I jotted down on the trip here -

- We stayed in the Tranquility room in the KOA campground in Crossville Tennessee. It was weird, everything in that "hotel" room had a place and I was afraid to touch anything for fear I would break it.

- There was a downpour in Earlsboro, OK. I could barely see the road the rain was so thick.

- On our trip, we drove by Prague, London, Dublin, Paris and Lebanon.

- Heard the two worst radio commercials of all time. One for Pizza Plus (they started whispering extra cheese and then started shouting it) and Blue Bell (something about cows with high pitched voices).

- We are now 1 stamp away from every prize on the McDonalds Monopoly board.

- Drove through Carrie Underwood's home in Chekotokee, OK. A sign even told me so.

- The same is said for Troy Aikman's home of Henrietta, OK.

- They should just combine Oklahoma and Texas. I mean while we were driving through OK, it just felt like Texas. Maybe they can rename it North Texas or New Texas.

- Cracker Barrell count stood at like 150+ when we hit Texas and we stopped counting

- the Pyramid in Memphis looks cool, the bridge that followed...not so cool :(

- Firework Capital of the US = Tennessee

- Gas through most of OK was only 2.79 a gallon.

- Tastee Freeze isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's like a redneck Dairy Queen or something.

- The line for the showers at the Flying J was long. Not that we were waiting in line for shower or anything.

- It likes to rain a lot in OK.

- At the border we sang "the stars at night are big and bright"clapclapclapclap"deep in the heart of texas".

- As we crossed the Mississippi, the clouds parted and the heavens sang...thank goodness we were in the West.

- We saw the two largest crosses ever.

- I can't undo a bra with one hand going 85 miles an hour.

- Going 55 in a 25 construction zone is bad, having a pops in the highway patrol is good.

- The glow from the phoenix skyline can be seen from payson. I really love that glow.

So we are here and I'm set up and ready to get back to working. More to come.

Penny Arcade FTW!!!

lol
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So, I was reading this and I got to the first bubble in the second pane. I read it again and I laughed out loud. This is probably something that Evan would say.

"I don't need the commentary track. Just ring it up."

that is precisely something that Evan would say, probably to some guy at the bar trying to talk his ear off when the next round of trivia is queing up. Sadly, that person probably wouldn't get it.

from Girard's Desk

Trinkets
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So I'm packing for the trip to Arizona and I'm cleaning out one of the boxes that I took home and I came across these three little trinkets that were on my desk. Each has a story associated with it that have great memories for me.

Robin - This is a Robin Heroclix figure. I don't know which one it is, but that doesn't matter. I certain designer loves Batman and had many Batman heroclix on his desk. The more I worked with him and the more I learned from him, I started to think of myself as the Robin to his Batman, especially in my early trek design.

Army Man - This guy always showed up when you least expected it. I would be leaning back in my chair, thinking about game mechanics and different gaming theory and I would notice something on the shelf of my desk that wasn't quite right. It was this guy!!! He was spying on me. Well, I relocated him to one of my fellow colleagues' desks. And the circle continued...

Sprinkes - This is an interesting one, first some background. On the third floor of Decipher, in the same area as the main conference room and the designers desks, there was a projector room. We would go in there, plug a laptop into it and stare at files upon files of cards. We would formulate theories and hypothesis, game design and game theory. Many of the sessions were very long, especially due to the amount of knowledge and experience in the room. The more people, the longer it would take. So, back to the sprinkles. During one of the many design meetings, me, Hollywood and Rkik were in the "tank". It was a long night and it might have been during one of the flyin playtests. We were getting weary and someone called someone else Jimmy Sprinkles. I believe it was a discussion of whether removal of an opponent's unit during a battle before destiny was drawn was either a tier 8 or tier 10 ability. This was based on limited repeatability so it would have to be 150% of the normal value assigned.

Yea...sometimes it was like that. Those were good memories.

How Rare?

Rarity
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So I have been swamped these past two weeks trying to get Hunters out to approvals, Captains Log juicy, and Project G on course.

I find myself doing rarity for the Hunters set. Here is the breakdown.

194 cards
- 14 Starter cards
- 60 Rares
- 60 Uncommons
- 60 Commons

The starter cards will appear only in the two starter decks that are coming with the set. There are 5 unique cards in each and each deck share two cards between them. So now that this is all out of the way, where to put the cards? To some of my game designing colleagues out there, what do you think about when assigning rarity?

One of my former colleagues here at D used to have rarity set out when design began on a set for this product. I don't agree with this because you find yourself actually saying things like "well since this is a rare, it can break the scale." That is one thing that I don't believe in.

However, even with that belief in place, I was conversing with a former British player (not that we should hold it against him) and he says that Rings has had a bad time with most of the playable cards being rare and thus viewed as an "expensive game". We conversed about how Vs. does a good job about putting a fair number of the playable cards at the common/uncommon level to help facilitate a healthy sealed product environment. I know that I/we go through great lengths to ensure that there are enough playable non-unique nouns at the common/uncommon level to do the same thing. I think that rings sealed product suffers from setup of the game and some of those restrictions (not draftable out of the pack).

In other rarity talks, it's tough to label a card as specifically rare/uncommon/common. You don't want a kid to crack a pack be like "well that's a crap rare"(not that we make crap rares mind you) but on the flip side, you also don't want a game to be completely rare dependant and those with the most money/cards wins. I made a couple decisions to kick some functional reprints and potentially confusing cards down from rare to uncommon and hopefully those will help create some complex decks and not rare heavy decks like ... ugh ... Dunland.

What do you think about when deciding rarity? Are the foils enough of a chase to warrant putting the stronger cards at a less than rare status? These are some of the issues that I deal with on a regular basis that don't necessarily make my job easier.

Threshold - Pretty Freaking Cool

So this show came on and I wanted to check it out. The wife and I watched it (mostly me) and I thought it was pretty damn good. I think this will become my second weekly show (after Survivor). Spoilers to follow.

- As I watched them assemble the team, I could only think to myself..hey, this is the A-Team meets Ghostbusters.

- I think they did a damn good job on casting. They had some character development and that guy they chose to be possessed plays a good crazy guy.

- It's good to see Brett Spiner in a show. I think he's pretty talented.

- I liked the sequences and some of the ultra zoom landscape shots. I've always liked those types of camera angles.

- I noticed that during her dream, she is wearing the nighty that if you pay attention, she wears not 5 minutes later when the crazy guy is chasing her. After he disappears, she is dirty just like in her dream.

- I really hope they don't do little mini episodes where they try and progress each character per episode (like Lost). I didn't care for this kind of story telling and that's probably why I stopped watching Lost.


And just in case Evan needs it for his Trivia ---- The numbers that appeared in Lost, just happened to be the same as some of the ones retired by the New York Yankees (They are all retired, but there are more than just those numbers retired by NY).

Do you know this man?

Do you know this man?
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

I do

I was lucky enough to meet this gentleman for a drink last night. We conversed about some very exciting things that are happening in his life, thank goodness, because they are way more exciting than the things happening in my life.

I think this guy is going to be one of the persons that I miss the most when I move back to AZ. This guy has taught me a lot about design theory, organization of mechanics, just because you could...doesn't mean you should, and the joy of having a co-worker on the same page.

When the unfortunate occurance of him leaving as a co-worker happened, I moved into his cubicle and kept little notes like "What not to do with the Black Hole" and why Hologram Ruse is to be made an example of. No, I'm not a stalker.

I don't know what more I could say about this guy. I hope the stuff works out and I hope he turns out happy because of it.

This is no ordinary man.

New Ride

Hooptie
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So we went and got a new car today. Well, new to us. It's a 03 Mitsubishi Gallant. A pretty nice ride with only 37k miles on it. It's a four door.

I feel so middle aged in it. :/

Things in Motion

CACTUS!!!
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

I have some good news. I'm relocating back to the cradle of civilization, that's right, Marnie and I are going back to AZ.

Wait, before you start panicing, I'm still going to be working for the Company. I have worked out a deal where I can work remotely. None of my job responsibilities change, and no this isn't a sure sign of the downfall. Stop with the doom and gloom.

Anyway, we are set to go back sometime between the 15th and Oct 1st and we couldn't be more excited. She gets to see her family again on a regular basis, I get to see all my friends again, and we GTFO of the eastern time zone.

In other news, my work phone finally got turned on. The stupid old phone company had issues about us moving to cell phones (because they aren't the ones providing them) so they wouldn't communicate with Verizon properly and get our old numbers switched over (this was a big part of actually switching). So it's done, my work phone is up and running. If you know what the number is and want to give me a call, feel free.

Crap

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Very High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Extreme
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Extreme
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

mmmm...mindless entertainment

Doom Trailer

Aeon Flux Trailer


Both of these movies look awesome. I love movies like this. AVP, Resident Evil, they are all good. I especially like the FPS view of Doom. I know some people are going to get motion sickness, but for those of us that were brought up to learn to move with the controller, this is going to be heaven. I just have to remember not to move too much in my seat and try and look around the corners.

Sam to fight terrorists

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/reuters/0,24012,1098649_10_0_,00.html

If I knew better, I would have made that a proper link. Maybe they'll have some rudy/hobbit/goonies jokes.

Happiness Is...

Kirk
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

Happiness is sitting down to design a specific top down card...

then inspiration strikes and the gametext matches the persona of the card

then you find an image that matches the point in time that you are trying to capture

and you get the piece of lore that goes ties everything together

Finally, you have a card that both fans and players will look at and go, "wow, I get what that card is all about, I remember that point in the movie and this just fits it all around."

It's moments like this that keep me in this industry and that keep me sane.

I'm it!!!

So a connoisseur gave me a dollar bill and told me to go stick it in her g-string. Or rather, I've been tagged...

Ten years ago, 1995-08-24:
Wow, I guess this puts me just over 3 months since my cancer surgery. My strips should have fallen off by now and the scar is starting to take it final shape. I have done no physical activity since before my 17th birthday and am feeling pretty depressed at this point. I guess I'm also sort of chasing a girl named Heidi Steinmetz about this time as well. I never did get with her and pretty much gave up about 4 months later.

Five years ago, 2000-08-24:
This would put me right in the thick of trying to get geared up for Dcon 2k. It was to be held in Orlando Florida. I really didn't have my deck figured out at this point, but I was excited about the Lord of the Rings game that was announced.

One year ago, 2004-08-24:
Brad and I were putting the finishing touches on the Shadows expansion. He and I stayed behind from going to GenCon because the starter decks weren't finished and the set was still way over on card count. Brad and I were always a great team when it came to Design/Development. I miss working with him.

Yesterday, 2005-08-23:
I dropped Marnie off at the airport at 5am and then went to work. I spent the rest of the day working on Project G (more on that later). A lot of stuff going on and I don't have near enough time to work on it. My ADD flared up pretty bad yesterday as well, I had a spell for about 4 hours where I couldn't concentrate on anything.

Tomorrow, 2005-08-25:
I'm feeling crappy. I have the post-con creep and my sinuses are killing me. I will probably call in and work on Project G for the rest of the day. I gotta get that finished, I'm about a week behind on it. :(

Five snacks I enjoy:
Oreos, Black Pepper Jack Doritos, Pizza flavored stuff, Chips/Queso, Wheat Thins

Five bands that I know most of their lyrics:
CMB, Stan Bush....that's about it. Maybe pretty much anything from the 90s

Five things I'd do with a million dollars:
Give it to my wife, start a game company (in Vegas, of course), buy a house, invest

Five places I'd run away to:
Mesa-Arizona, Chandler-Arizona, Las Vegas, Carlsbad-California, Federal Way-Washington

Five bad habits I have:
Mouse Droid, losing my train of thought, thinking that I know it all, keeping my trap shut, Passing the buck

Five things I like doing:
Designing Cards/Games, playing WoW, Playing C/TCGs, Watching SportsCenter, Watching Fifth Element

Five things I wouldn't wear:
A Medium sized shirt, a suit, a Braves hat, a size 11 shoe, or a parachute pants

Five TV shows I love:
Law&Order:SVU, SportsCenter, That 70s Show, Dukes of Hazzard, GIJOE (80s, not that crap they have lately)

Five movies I love:
Fifth Elemant, Rounders, My Blue Heaven, Transformers:TheMovie, Varsity Blues (I will watch any of these movies at any time)

Five famous people I'd like to meet:
Mark Rosewater
Mike Piazza
Dan Marino
Mel Brooks
the person who would cure ADD (I may already know him)

Five biggest joys at the moment
World of Warcraft, Designing cards, Seeing my friends at the cons, the Mets, Comfort Food

Five favorite toys:
Online Simulation Baseball leagues, the internet, WoW, GIJoes

Five people to tag:
Threepio
Damn Sexy
Kirk E.
Baddest Man in Gaming
THE Ray Powers

Back from Gencon

piratechick
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

Wow, that was a long week.

Had a lot of fun, except for an infinite loop in Trek. Got to see a lot of friends and had a great time while I was in the tournament hall. I think all my judges did a great job, especially the ones that had to "deal with issues".

Congrats to Pulsfort and George for being the Trek/Rings Champs respectively.

Slops to Eric Butzlaff for runner runner'ing diamonds on me.

Now back to work and finding out specificially what "Genensis is".

Live from Indianapolis

it's....GENCON!!!

I'm here, UDE owns 3/4 of the TCG hall. We got a healthy number for both Trek and Rings. After a lot of problems yesterday, today is running pretty smoothly. More to come.

The Valley of Fun/Sun

AZ State flag
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

Wow, so I got back this morning and was in bed by 2am. I am beat. Let's go over what happened over the weekend.

Friday, I land and meet up with Jay and his new lady friend Lee (i probably spelled that wrong). It was great to see him again, I miss my friends from Arizona. Evidently his lady friend hasn't seen the flame shoes yet, poor her. We head to Black Angus.

Black Angus, on Alma School and Southern, is a mise. We meet up with Steve, D.Voigt, and daCanuck. I had the 16oz steak and a Cape Cod. Everyone else ordered foo-foo drinks as well. Brad's drink was some sort of pink-orangish foam looking thing. We reminisced about call boxes, the whale, Jay's flame shoes, the mirror bathroom, the fact that Lee hasn't seen ANY good movies, etc. Catching up is fun. Boobies are up next, so we head to Jay's new pad so I can get a nice clean shirt on.

His house is very nice for a starter home and the hard wood floors that they installed look really nice. Voigt's new TV is on a coffee table because it won't fit in the entertainment center. He won it on a radio show. We punch up WoW and converse about the Taran Icebreaker v. Blanchard's Stout debate and then finally head out to the strip club.

Bliss was the place on 19th Ave and Deer Valley. Only topless but the couch dances were amazing. Probably one of the few times I enjoy being a big guy, the girls like to use you as a pommel horse. It was pretty damn good. Get back to Ray's about 230am or so.

Ray (in my links to the right) is a good friend of mine and used to own Gamer's Edge. He has recently vacated the industry, which is unfortunate, but he seems really happy. He has too cute kids and his wife Kelly has always been good to all of us. His new house is a mansion. Well, maybe it's normal for Arizona, I'm just used to the small places in Va. Get up that day, played House on Haunted Hill a couple times, it was pretty fun. Watched Police Story w/jackie chan. That was a pretty good movie too, even with me not being a fan of subtitled japanese movies.

The Girardathon starts at about 645 and Ray's got some nifty tourney software to keep track of the blinds. It's Me, Jay, Kelly, Steve, Voigt, Adam, Clark, Brad, Bits, and Ray. Not a bad turnout, money pays to top three. Second hand, I get KQ suited, raise a bit and get a few callers, flop comes suit, suit, blank. I stay in, bets around, turn comes blank and river comes blank. Stupid flush chaser. Next hand I get rockets. I raise it up about 1/6 of my stack or so. I get a raise from Kelly and Brad is a caller and then Jay contemplates calling. He does and I reraise all in. Kelly folds and Brad/Jay call. Brad flips over Ace/Junk and Jay flips over K/Q off. K comes on the flop and a Queen on the river. Greeeat. I have a small stack left (I took down the first hand). That was crap, like three hands later I do it to Clark though with his rockets. Bits ends up winning with daWard taking 2nd. We head to Casino AZ.

I sit at 3/6 and have about doubled my stack when some pretty boy, business man, jackass sits down at the opposite end of the table. He's drunk and loud. Second hand he gets dealt, I get KK. I raise, he calls and another guy calls. Flop comes 3/3/J. I bet, 2nd guy calls, maniac calls. Turn comes A. I check, second guy bets, maniac calls, I call. River comes blank. I check, 2nd guy bets, maniac raises, I call, 2nd guy calls. I flip over KK, 2nd guy flips over A/4 (WHY THE F he stayed in post flop is beyond me). Maniac flips over 3/8 off. ... I thought I was going to have a heart attack right there. That pretty much set the tone for the night and I caught crap for the next couple hours and left down $100 or so.

Brad and I head back to Ray's to crash. We get there about 5am and crash. Get up at around 9am and I get to the airport for my noon flight. I get the miser deal and bump flights from the 1215 through pittsburgh to the 115 through philly and get in just an hour and a half later. For this I get a free round trip ticket and they upgraded me to first class for the trip to philly.

Philly's airport is crap. I had to take a bus to the F terminal, got my gate changed like twice. They were late boarding us and then we sat on the tarmac for a half hour because we were 15 in line to take off.

I hit my bed at 2am. It's tough keeping my eyes open today. Tomorrow I leave for Gencon.

It was great seeing everyone in AZ and I hope to see them again soon.

NOTE - if you are Joe Alread, get a hold of me, I have the newest edition of CardPlayer if you want to read it.

2nd Fantasy Football team

So while I was on my way to AZ (more on that later), my second Fantasy Football team got picked. I think I did better this time around. 10 man league, scoring is QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, W/R, TE, K, DEF

My team -
QB - D.McNabb, M. Vick
WR - R.Wayne, L. Coles, E.Moulds, D.Branch
RB - P.Holmes, S.Jackson, C.Brown, M.Faulk
TE - J.Shockey, J.Putzier
K - R.Longwell, S.Janikowski
DEF - Carolina


Not bad overall. I have two quality quarterbacks that can just as easily run for the TD as pass for it. I might need another "upside" running back like a Ricky Williams or a rookie that has actually signed that will get carries on a suck team (I think the Cardinals RB is still available). I think my two starting WR are solid. I should be able to win more than I lose with this team.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

CACTUS!!!
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

...don't know when i'll be back again...

Just kidding, i'll be back Sunday night. I'm flying out to Arizona for the weekend. A good friend of mine's wife bought me a plane ticket to go out there for his birthday. This weekend is going to be a blast. I have a feeling that I'm going to get started on the Project G when I'm out there though. Oh well, I love what I do and tend to do it more than 40 hours a week.

Regardless, going to have a fun time this weekend and then tuesday, it's off to Gencon. If you are looking for me, try Casino Arizona.

First Draft of the Year!!!

So football season is almost here and that means that it's time to start drafting and hope you don't get stuck with a Mike Vick of a couple years ago. This is my first draft this year and it's with some industry colleagues, so I'm hoping that there is plenty of trash talking. I wasn't there for the live draft, but I did set my roster before we drafted. I didn't really pick up anybody that I super wanted, but the team has "potential". First the scoring for the league, here is the positions that score -
QB, 2 WR, 2 RB, TE, K, D, 2 DB, 2 DL

Normally I'm not a fan of scoring individual defensive efforts, but I like to get in at least one of those types of leagues a year, just to stay on my toes.

So without further ado, here is my roster -

QB M. Bulger, B. Griese
WR T. Holt, D. Bennett, E. Kennison
RB E. James, R. Johnson, T. Jones, M. Shipp
TE J. Wiggins, B.Franks
K M. Stover, M. Nugent
DB T. McGee, Ro. Williams, F. Washington
DL L. Sape, K. Pope

And now some notes -
- at first glance, this my be a CK special, it just happened to turn out that way. Hopefully they have a soft schedule and Holt is in a contract year so that should be good for some double points.
- After Holt my WR really drop off. I need to see if I can pick up a David Boston type guy (who didn't look bad in Monday's game) or that guy for the Bears that had like 160+ receiving yards.
- My RB corps are solid and have three RB that are starting. I drafted Shipp in the last round (the only round I was there for) just so I can give chickey the middle finger and cut his sorry ass.
- I drafted defense earlier than I probably needed to. My scouts tell me that McGee is pretty good.

Overall, I don't think I did too bad. I gotta get a new 2nd WR and perhaps pry Todd Heap away from whoever has him (go Sun Devils).

Clarification not Errata

I have said, in a previous post, some things that might not have come across as to what I was meaning to say. Here is an updated version what I mean to say -

It hurts that I work for a company that I still believe in, with so many people upset and complaining about it all the time, I wish maybe those people would respect some of MY feelings and try not to complain about it as much.

Visiting Hazzard

dukeslogo
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

"Now these Duke boys have been in worse pickles than this, let's hope they don't get canned."

This movie kicked ass. I love going to see a movie where you don't have to think about anything, just sit there an enjoy it. I was a big fan of the original show and was pretty skeptical about seeing this movie.

Some of that skepticism came from seeing the Jessica Simpson video where the General Lee doors aren't welded shut. When the movie started, the same thing happened and I was like "well damn, here we go, this is gonna suck". Well the General Lee gets trashed and Cooter fixes it up right. Well...he couldn't get to everything.

So the movie kicked ass. It was a cool flick. I liked all the jokes, especially when the General Lee visited Atlanta. I love that car man, I wish I could take it for a spin.

Moving On

*This may come off as pompous, and I'm not sorry about that*


I'll be glad when people actually move on. I mean people say they have moved on, but really they haven't. They continue to poke and prod about some of the experiences they had and just how bad it was to work for a certain company. Now that they are no longer employed there, they still feel it necessary to poke and jab at those that still do work there. Perhaps because "we aren't as smart as they are" or "don't understand that it's just a sinking ship."

So I'll be glad when those people actually move on, becasue you know what, they haven't.

As for the company, I am still enjoying what I do for a living. Am I looking for other opportunities, probably not as often as I was about 2-3 months ago. *I* feel things are about to level up and start working their way back up again. There are a few possibilities that have arisen lately (and no, you may think you know about what I'm talking about, but you don't) that seem promising.

Signed,
Bitter about the Bitter people

Sort of Design Theory

Bloodlines Foil Sheet
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

At the right you will see a picture of a foil sheet. It is for an upcoming release of a product that I worked on.

Today I will talk a little bit about foils. Why do companies put foils into their products? Great marketing and chase factor. I mean, who doesn't love foils? I know there are those out there that could care less about foils, but for everyone one of those people, there are around 3 peeps who get all googly-eyed when they crack that shiny goodness in a pack.

From the business end, foils help to facilitate the multi-purchase or Serial Purchase of the product. If a player already has a playset, they need incentive to go back and buy that next pack. The trick is finding the right insert factor. I remember back in the early 90s, when the baseball card industry went absolutely nuts and almost ruined the entire industry with insert cards.

Foils are also a great way for those hard core tournament players to be able to make a little bit of their traveling expenses back. They go to the conventions, get the promos/foils and go back and sell them to collectors who weren't able to go yet, they can still complete their collection. The other key is to always make your foils/promos accessible in some sort of way. My mind isn't made up about whether or not a single card given out to one person for acheiving some great feat is a good thing or not.

I'd love to hear some of your thoughts about foils.

I love the shinny.

Aspiring Dreams end in Mush

Bike Route
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So I stopped at Conti's on the way home from work (because it's on the way home) and got a bike pump. $40 later I'm pumped up and ready to go. I strap on the helmet and put on the shorts with the extra padding in the crotch and I'm off.

I had aspiring dreams. I was going to show up on T&Ks doorstep and say hi. They live 7.33 miles away from me. That would have been 14.66 miles round trip.

So why the map?

I get just past the Ocean's Cabaret and I stop at the turn around cause I feel sick. So I puked. I left everyone a map just to make sure they avoid the puke if they are driving by.

Total distance = just over 5 miles. Not bad for having not gotten on a bike in 5 months. Not sure if riding in the evening is the brightest idea in the world, not to mention how ridiculous a 400 pound white guy riding a bike by the air base looks.

My Lungs Itch

OMFG. I was feeling a bit crappy starting last thursday, that night I got practically no sleep. Friday nigth it was a bit worse. Saturday, Marnie came down with whatever I have. Sunday morning it got worse, as the day wore on I was feeling better. Monday morning, it's the worst it has been. We are both home from work and practically walking dead.

My lungs itch. Dont' ask me to explain it any further, that's the best I can do. Marnie had a fever last night (and no, the cure was not more cowbell). We both are hacking up a lung each and are just miserable.

We have been taking the cough medicine and packing away Mucinex. And we are both afraid of going to Patient First because of well...I'm sure those of you that know why, etc.

The Door to a Whole New World

Playtest room door
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

This what was on the door to the playtest room where I work. Each thing up here has a story (except I don't know the one for the Frodo in the middle). Let's start with the left and go clockwise.

Picture of Gollum shouting - This guy used to have a little cartoon bubble saying "Rotate out Fellowship Block!!!". Some people didn't like that very much.

Karate Man - This guy is one bad motha. I mean he has a 1000 ATK/1000 DEF. How could that not be good.

Kamala - She is indeed the perfect mate. I mean c'mon, have you seen famke janssen from that episdoe of TNG?

Telepathic Alien Kidnappers - Duh, they are looking to kidnap the telepathic alien.

Bill Ferny - Mr. Ferny has a price tag of $9.00 on him. No sleeve, just a price tag slapped on him. Of course he's worth $9.

Tosk - When he came out he was the best personnel in the entire second edition game.

Smeagol - He is the Stary Grymasnik. This is the polish version of the promo card that was given out. He has a defect on the upper half where the card template is washed out and it looks like Smeagol is looking at the defect, really concerned look too.

Pote Snitkin - This guy is a pimp. Nuff Said.

Lord of the Rings TCG flyer - It was the original flier given out at origins 2001. Not many of these around.

Jabba the Hutt - See Pote Snitkin

The Balrog, Durins Bane - this was the promo version given out a long time ago. It used to have an apple sticker on it, sadly, someone peeled it off.

The One Ring - The original version of the One Ring back from the Alpha testing of the game. The one that made it to print looks much better.

Grishnakh - This is the playtest version of him from the very first vrsion. One of the lines said "Grishnakh may not take wounds." Just can't do it, no ifs, ands, or buts, just can't take wounds. He was deemed broken and shelved.

That's it, a little window into some of the things that I look at day in and day out that are cool....at least to me. Sadly I took those down today.

Honey, I Shrunk the Tauren

shrunktauren
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

So this is me, after picking a fight with a certain dinobot in Uldaman. It was pretty comedic becuase the troll was like "whose big now, champ".

This party was pretty good. 4 squishies and me. Squishies are a Warrior best friend. Whether they heal, put down totems, or even create healthstones, they are great to have around.

Light Bubs

So, on the box of the Light Bulbs it says Life = 1500 hours.

I have to ask, does this mean the entire life that the lightbulb is screwed into the socket? Or does it only count when it's on? Or does it count from the point that it was actually made?

All very interesting questions. I wish my life only counted when I was awake, maybe I would live longer.

Girard Design Theory

A friend/colleague of mine decided to chat a little bit about design theory, so today I'm going to talk a bit about some Design Theories that I have developed/stolen over the years. A fair number of these I have learned from my old co-workers and for that I am eternally grateful. I would not be the designer today if it wasn't for their [i]constant[/i] tutelage.

- Not Every Card Needs 8 Lines of Gametext - I think this is probably the biggest lesson I have learned. See I am from the school of SWCCG where every single last space of the gametext box had to be filled with gametext, even if it only got used once in the card's lifetime. I mean really, did you ever convert the Tonnika Sisters with Double Agent? I would link to it, but the archives are down...still. :( Anyway, cards don't need to have 8 lines of gametext. What could you possibly say in 8 lines that you couldn't say in 6 or less. If you can't then I seriously suggest that you re-examine the card and perhaps try to break it up into two cards. Now, I'm not saying that you can't have 8 lines worth of gametext on a card, but if you do here are a couple things to keep in mind. It can't be a common and it shouldn't really be a centerpiece to a strategy. In my experience, an 8 line'd card is one that you stock one of in your deck in hopes that you can "pull it off" because it would be "pretty cool".

- Force fed decks are sometimes ok - This is one that I have gone rounds with on more than one occasion with more than one designer. Now, I'm not advocating that it should be so force fed that every card in the strategy should reference at least three other cards in the strategy. But if one card gets a bonus for another card being in play or played, then that is alright. Sometimes players don't want to have to think about making a deck and if the strategy fits together well and follows the story a bit then hey, it might be ok and sell a few extra boxes because of it. Not every strategy should be like this because then there is no creativity. But if there is one or two per set, as long as it's not the main focus of the set, then it's ok.

- Timing, Condition, Cost, Effect - That is the order in which a card should be written (as handed down to me by two smart individuals). If this is strictly adhered to then you should have no problems when it comes to rulings/timing questions. Unfortunately, that was not strictly adhered to and I have a headache.

- Don't Design for Rarity (unless it's a starter product card) - You shouldn't sit at the blank template and tell yourself "ok, I need to design a rare version of character X". If you do this, you are doing two things: severely limiting yourself in terms of being creative and dwelling on a single card for too long, thus neglecting the other 300 or so cards that need to be written. A wise designer once taught me that the best way to do some initial design is to take a non-descript template and just write card text. Don't think about what faction it goes in or what character it goes on, just design. And keep designing and writing cards. To the non-designer's eye, this may appear to be a bunch of nonsense, but to a designer it's a goldmine of ideas. Those bits are then taken and placed in the appropriate faction, costed and concepted. The opposite of Top-Down Design and it's probably how 90% of the cards that I write are designed nowadays. Thanks to the guy who taught me that.

That's it for today. I have so much more that I want to chat about, but it's getting on into my work day and I need to pull some PSDs for art to create some foil masks. I love me some foils.

He Had It Coming

Had it Coming
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

See, I live on a PvP server. I have tried several times to go back to the docile PvE server of Uther with my friends, but the Battlegrounds aren't enough to quell my bloodthirsty appetite.

So on sunday, someone evidently spiked the Alliance's water or something. Because not only was XR undersiege, I went up to Splintertree Post for some wool farming.

Sidenote - if you are horde and you need to farm wool, I highly recommend the Foulwealds at the Greenpaw Village in Ashenvale. The drop rate is about .8 wool per, which is about the best drop rate that I have found. And since the population of the area is high, by the time that you make your way to one end, the other end has respawned.

ANYWAY - so the Alliance were all uppity and they had Splintertree locked down, right down to hounding everyone that got off the bird and no one could leave (killed the ticket taker). I figured I would exact some revenge and kill one of their "protectors". He should have known better and it'll teach them damn pointy ears not to mess with the steer brethren.

Taking a Rest

Mike and Marnie in the Barrens
Originally uploaded by TheGirard.

Marnie and I were in the Barrens skinning and generally contributing to the "Get the Girards their Mounts" fund. We came across this pack of Kodos and Melli wanted to get her Growl on.

So after a short fight, we took a breather and what better time for a photo op.

Der Fantastish Vier

Tristan is gonna kill me for messing up that title.

Just got back from seeing the show. Coming from a guy who has never read one of the comic books and the only exposure that I've had to the story is through the Vs. card game, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I had a good time. I didn't care that some of the story "wasn't quite there" or how Mr. Grimm got over the love of his life real quick like. Anyway, I thought it was a fun movie. Marnie didn't complain about it too much so that means that she had a decent time.

I still hate going to see a movie on the opening weekend, especially with all the dumb asses who feel the need to have commentary. Marnie had a great comment to the idiot two seats away, "Why don't you save the commentary for the special edition DVD." It shut him up.

I was also lucky enough to see Mr. Statham in the sequel to the original Transporter. The King Kong preview was also pretty freaking entertaining. I can't see how Jack Black fits into it all. I mean they could have gotten anyone to play that roll, but why Jack Black? That's just weird.

Top 5 Favorite Songs

After the discussions that went on at Origins, I figure I had better post what my top 5 favorite songs are. Counted down, casey cassem style. And awwwaaaaaaayyyy we goooo -

5) - Come and Get Your Love - by Real McCoy. This whole album kicks ass. This is a great dance tune which makes it really tough for me not to just jump out of my seat and start busting a move. Yeeeea, Baaaaby

4) - I Wanna Sex You Up - by Color Me Badd. Tick Tock and you don't stop. Tick tock and you don't quit. This is a great 90s tune that reminds me of my ackward teen years. I remember even then I used to love to cut up the dance floor.

3) - New York, New York - by Frank Sinatra. What can I say. I'm a Mets fan. I realize that they play it at Yankee stadium, but that's ok. Everytime I hear this I immediately long for a visit to NY. I have never been, hopefully this summer I'll get to go up and visit some friends. What other song can you think of that personifies a city better than this one. Plus, Steve Martin sings a line or two in My Blue Heaven (top 5 movie).

2) - C'est la Vie - by Robbie Nevil. This is a great little tune. It used to be my favorite song until I got the DVD player in my office machine and I watch Transformers about once to twice a week now. It starts out great and when I hear it I just think great thoughts. It's not really a dance club beat, but more of a laid back approach. And the opening lyrics are right up my alley.

1) - Dare - by Stan Bush. You will find this song on the Transformers the Movie soundtrack. I don't know what to say other than every time I hear this song it gets me up and going. It just reinvigorates me. I don't know how to explain it, to me it's just a great song. If I had entrance music, this is what it would be.


Honorable Mentions - these didn't quite make the list.
Since You Been Gone/Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
Lady - Lenny Kravitz (yea, I love the commercials)
Shy Guy - Diana King
Redneck Woman - Gretchen Wilson
Fantasy - Mariah Carey
Straight Up - Paula Abdul
Wannabe - Spice Girls
CandyGirl - New Edition
Heaven - DJ Sammy
Party for Two (Pop Version) - Shania Twain
I touch myself - The Divinyls
PIMP - 50 cent (my current ringtone)
Turn the Beat Around - Gloria Estefan
Lonely No More - Rob Thomas
Can't Fight the Moonlight (Dance Remix) - LeAnn Rimes
Baby, I love your way - Big Mountain

I have all these and more on my iTunes.

Back from Origins tidbits

- The industry is down, but not as bad as everyone thinks. #1 reason why? Pochemon had 400+ for the their Nationals.

- Out of all the new games that I saw, I thought the two best, innovation wise were Zatchbell and YMG's Battleground Fantasy Warfare.
- Zatchbell - just the sheer innovation of not having a deck of cards is pretty freaking cool. I didn't get a full demo, but it looks pretty cool in terms of the way it plays. And the ability to decide which card you wanna play vs. how many resources you wanna generate is similar to the operational aspects of the twilight pool.
- YMG's Battleground Fantasy Warfare - It's minitures without the figures. The armies are on cards, so there is no broken figures to deal with or having to lug around a large amount of metal. As far as I know, the rules are similar so the gameplay is the same. The way that Rob sold it to me was genious as well. "All the fun you get from playing the minitures for a fraction of the cost." They are sold at two points of purchase, one starter with about 50 or so cards (about 20 gameplay cards and the rest are armies) and then a second PoP has the stuff to customize your army. It seemed pretty good to me.

- Just about everyone that I interacted with for our games had a great time. The prize support was off the heezy, hopefully the word will spread and GenCon will be large as well.

- I love just sitting around talking shop with designers from other companies. I dont' get to do that all that much now (as I am the only in house designer). Talking stuff like what size sheets they use, what foil treatment is used, the decision not to have the product draftable, etc. I love talking shop, especially design theory.

- Another thing that is fun is sitting there watching a game and designing out loud. On two seperate occasions I sat down and started talking with the players around there about the current game/metagame. And we would discuss some possible card texts and go over why one thing would be ok, but something similar would not be based on cost/faction guidelines/design matrix/etc. Plus the players love it and it gets them involved.

- I loved seeing Chuck. Since knowing him, I have learned a great deal about life from Chuck Kallenbach. I wish there was enough time/space here to go into detail.

- Having a great 4 person team running the booth/tournament hall was good idea. All 4 people worked hard and it ran smooth. Not sure why there was upwards of 10 people needed in the past. I realize that attendance isn't what it once was, but still, with the volunteers, it would have been alright. And the booth got set up in about 4 hours total, with no anal retentive bastard telling me I was doing it all wrong.

- Overall, i had fun. I love hanging out with the players and listening to them talk about things and digesting all they have to say about anything game related. I love rubbing elbows with my peers. I didn't get to do it as much as I would have liked, but it was enough and I was happy. And above all, I met William Hung who was playing Pochemon next to us and then came over and watched some of our games on Sunday. All in all, it was fun .

@ Origins

It feels great being at a Con again

It still smells

It was great seeing CK and Cheryl

Did I mention I love going to conventions!