Road Trip - Day 5

Day 5 – June 29 – Las Vegas to Grand Canyon

A quick breakfast at the Circus Circus bagel shop, a stop at the casino for a few more souveniers, and we're back on the road. Leaving Las Vegas, baby.

But first, a stop at Albertsons to get gas and bottled water, then on to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Since 9/11, commercial trucks have been banned from the dam (unless they go through a long pre-screening process and get permits to cross), and cars are "randomly" selected for inspection. Not much of a slowdown today, and we're soon paying $5 for the privilege of parking in the garage at the west end of the dam.

It's dam big, dam hot, and dam expensive to take the tour. We take photos, check out the tomb of the dam dog, head back to the car, and cross the dam into Arizona. Arizona is on mountain time, but doesn't participate in daylight savings time, so we set our watches ahead zero minutes. (I find it's easier to think that Arizona's on Pacific time in the summer and mountain time in the winter, which works, although it's not really true.)

70 downhill miles later, we arrive in Kingman, and have lunch at a 50's style diner on Route 66. At the table next to us, there's a family speaking a foreign language; my guess is Swedish, although they're not punctuating their statements with "bork bork bork". Kim and I discuss how multi-cultural our trip has been so far, with the wide cross section of people we saw in Vegas and now here.

Back on the road, and another 70 miles to Seligman, where we stop for gas and a snack. I'm not sure why it's considered the "Birthplace of Route 66", considering it's not at either end and not really at the center, but it is (really, the sign says so, so it must be true). Route 66 parallels I-40 for the next 18 miles, so we take the dusty two-lane paved road through the hilly desert, and after passing a chain gang cleaning trash, we reconnect with the interstate, and soon reach the turn to SR-64 to the Grand Canyon.

There's a bunch of brush fires in the news -- we're a bit worried about our trip over the next few days -- and we see a couple spots of smoke on the horizon (photo enhanced to show smoke plumes).

We soon arrive at the park entrance, but still see no sign of the canyon. Krys points out, "Dad, it's a hole in the ground. You won't be able to see it from far away." Duh.

We take the long way in, stopping at a few overlooks, and check into the Maswik Lodge and have dinner. The food is typical cafeteria food, but with a really surly staff. Yum. We finish in time to catch the sunset, and watch the entertainment as some fool climbs onto an outcropping where one slip means a thousand foot fall bouncing down the sides of the canyon. He makes it out, and after sunset makes it back. The smoke on the horizon makes for a hazy sunset, but it's still pretty spectacular.

We head back to the lodge, hang out for a bit, then come back to watch the stars come out. They do, we're impressed (hmm...) and head back to go to bed.

Miles today: 298
Miles total: 1612

Road trip - Day 4

Day 4 – June 28 – Las Vegas

Today was our first of three non-travel days during the trip. We slept in late, getting up at about 9:30 and had breakfast at the bagel shop in Circus Circus. Krys and Kim went swimming until noon, and we hung out in the hotel room, resting and updating our notes and budget.

At 1:30, we headed out into the 104 degree temperatures again and walked over to the Riviera for lunch in their food court. Krys picked at her KFC chicken, I ate my Pizza Hut pizza, and Kim was a little wary of her Subway sandwich that the server mishandled when preparing it. Gloves? Cross contamination? Whazzat?

Back to the car, and up to Fremont Street, where we bought a few souveniers, and were disappointed to see that the big Horseshoe at Binion's Horseshoe had been removed. For repair? Replacement? Dunno. I know Harrah's bought them out a few years ago, but the WSOP finals were coming up in a few weeks, and it'd be a sad sight if the wires were still hanging there for the final tables.

When Kim was Krys' age, she had her photo taken in front of a million dollars that Binions had on display. We'd hoped to take the same photo with Krys as the subject, but apparently that was removed, too, a few years ago.

Back to the strip, and we check out the Coke and the M&M theme stores. The barhop at the Coke store did a great job getting Krys involved in his hawking of 8 oz. bottles of Coke. I ordered three bottles, and he made Krys swear that she knew how to open the bottles, and that if she spilled, she'd have a week's worth of restriction for every drop spilled. Once she agreed, he handed her the bottle opener, and of course, the bottle slipped as she partially opened it, splattering Coke on the counter. Good laugh, good Coke, good times.

We had dinner at the buffet at Circus Circus (decent), then attempted to take the trolley ride to the Sirens show at Treasure Island (a bit bawdier than I expected), to the fountains at Bellagio (nice), and back to the hotel. We managed to do it, but it took a lot longer than it should have, took us asking directions from multiple people to find where to catch the trolley (in one spot, it was at the bottom of the parking garage at the Imperial Palace). My advice: it seems insane, but drive it. It'll be faster and less frustrating. Or take the city bus.

Lame. 10:30 at night in Vegas, and we're asleep again.

Miles today: 10
Miles total: 1314

Road trip - Day 3

Day 3 – June 27 – Wells, NV to Las Vegas

We left the Shell Crest Motel as soon as we could the next morning, and set out in search of breakfast. Wells is a small town by most standards: population 1000. I believe that it exists solely because it's at the intersecton of I-80 and US-93, and makes a good overnight stop from Boise to Vegas or Reno to Salt Lake City. Our hopes for breakfast weren't high, and our standards had been lowered by the motel, so when Kim saw Bella's Espresso House, she was OK with that. Not being a guy, she apparently didn't notice the signs to Bella's Gentlemen's Club (link probably SFW) on the way into town ("Come stay at a real working Brothel"), but it turns out that the restaurant and the club are a few blocks apart. A quick breakfast, some nasty gritty coffee, a trip to the local grocery store for a case of bottled water, and we're off on our longest planned day of driving, with miles and miles of nothing, punctuated with miles of more nothing.

40 miles in, we're cruising at 70 MPH though 6000 foot elevation desert. 20 miles after that, we cross the Pony Express trail in Shellbourne and use an outhouse at the rest stop there.

At 146 miles on the day, we hit Ely for lunch at McDonalds. Ely is the biggest town between Twin Falls, ID and Vegas. Kim and Krys posed with the moose statue out front.

It's at this point of the trip where we first diverted from our original plan. This was already becoming a long day, and we were already getting a little tired of driving. I'd originally scoped out four different routes to Vegas, two of which had us stopping at the Ale'E'Inn restaurant and Area 51 for dinner, one of which involved driving a dirt road through a canyon, and the most boring choice: following US 93 into town the whole way. This last one is the fastest route, though, and even though I insisted early on that this trip was more about the journey than the destinations, I fully agreed that I just wanted to get to Vegas. US-93 all the way, baby.

At 169 miles, I end up stuck behind a truck going through Connors Pass (where US-93, US-50, and US-6 run concurrently. Not only is it doing well under the speed limit, not only am I stuck behind it for ten miles because there's really no place for it to turn off, but it's a WalMart truck, and there's something about WalMart that just makes me grumpy -- even just thinking about it. Once we're out of the pass, As soon as we hit a two lane section of road, I punch the accelerator, pass him, and then have to slam on the brakes as I pass a surprising crossroads where US-93 heads off to the right. Grrrr...

About 50 miles later, we're all in need of a bathroom break, but the signs indicate a rest area ahead, so we push on a few more miles, to discover that the rest area has parking and picnic tables, but no bathroom, and no secluded place to go. We dance, hold it, drive another 20 miles, and stop at an unnamed dirt road about 6 miles short of Pioche. Krys got to see a cattle guard up close and the three of us were surprised at the amount of trash under the bushes out in the middle of nowhere.

Another 83 miles, and I stop briefly for this photo at the intersection of US-93 and SR-375, the Extraterrestrial Highway. I'm suddenly reminded of a bumper sticker I'd seen the day before on a car at the Dead Mouse Motel: "Aliens: the other grey meat." No Area 51 for us today, though. Onward.

20 miles, and time for another bathroom break. We stop briefly at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, and although a sign at the bathrooms says "Closed - out of order" on the women's side, the men's side is open and functioning, so we take turns using it. We watch a small lizard among the rocks, then, as we're getting back into the car, the ranger pulls up and says "You're not using these restrooms, are you?" "No," I answer, thinking that truthfully with a Clinton-esque bit of logic, I'm not using them -- I'm done. "Good," he says, "They're not working. There's another one about half a mile up the road." We thank him and leave.

About 50 miles later, we enter Clark County, and Kim's starting to be excited about being close to Nellis AFB again. Sure enough, we soon see official looking "keep out" signs along the road. 60 miles of desert later, we arrive in Vegas. We see Fremont street and the Stratosphere on the way in, and check into our room at Circus Circus after a fairly long line at the check-in desk. Dinner at The Pink Pony (good food, but ack! what a theme!), and we drive the strip to see the town at night. We're so lame -- we're in Vegas and asleep by 11:00.

Miles today: 456
Miles total: 1304

Too many hands

I had some folks over for a 6-handed game of 10¢/25¢ NLH last weekend, and played way too many bad hands. My cousin Jeremy is a loose-agressive player who will see the flop with almost anything, and much of the time will try to scare you out with it. We traded money back and forth a few times, and I was down about $12 due to some overagressive play on my part, when I'm dealt QJ on the button. I bet 75¢ (3 x big blind), he calls, everyone else is out. The flop comes 25Q. He checks, I bet $1.50, he calls. Obviously, he hasn't hit top pair.

The turn is a 4. He bets to put me all in (yes, after checking and calling on pre-flop and on the flop), and I call. He shows Ax (a 6, I think). His only outs are one of the three aces, or a 3 to make the inside straight. The river's an Ace; I'm done for the night, down $20.

Could have been worse, though. My wife got dealt pocket sixes, and the flop comes 69K. She and Trestin are the only ones left in, they both bet big, and the turn is another K. They bet big again, and the river is a rag. Tres puts her all in, she shows her 666KK, and he shows his pocket nines for 999KK. Ouch.

It's just the law, that's all...

Stumbled across this at the Secretary of State's web page while looking for a logo for a form. Compare the highlighted regulation with the image at the top of the page.

Road trip - Day 2

Day 2 – June 26 – John Day, OR to Wells, NV

One of the reasons we chose to stay at the Little Pine Inn was that they offered a free breakfast at The Outpost down the road. I wasn’t sure how good of a breakfast to expect, and was pleasantly surprised at eggs, bacon, and coffee (pancakes, or hashbrowns were other options). We filled up on food, fueled up the car, and hit the road.

After having driven through desert-like terrain, it was fun to drive through evergreen forests once again. At about 10:30, as we passed through Wallowa-Whitman national forest, we took an outhouse break, and I fired up the laptop so Krys could watch a DVD in the back seat. The outhouses in the campground were surprisingly nice looking woody bits. Onward.

A half hour later, we entered Malheur County, which is the only county in Oregon that is on mountain time. We continued on and entered Idaho just after noon, and stopped at the Snake River rest area. I spoke briefly with the woman manning the information center, asking her about road conditions between there and Wells. “You picked a really nice day. You should have no problems,” she said. It was nice, sunny, and we were making good time.

We stopped in Boise, had lunch at Jack In The Box, and we hit our first traffic jam, due to a car fire that started a brush fire, near Mountain Home. Shortly after, we hit a thunderstorm, with lightning bolts tagging the ground in the distance. Very cool.

At Twin Falls, we left Interstate 84 and headed south on US-93. Amazingly, a flock of pelicans flew overhead as we approached the Snake River gorge. We stopped for a brief snack, and took US-93 into Nevada. From the turnoff of I-84, Jackpot, Nevada is 43 miles south. Beyond Jackpot is miles and miles of nothing. Nevada is on pacific time, but Jackpot, by municipal statute, is on mountain time, probably because nearly all the clientele of Jackpot are people coming down from Idaho.

We had planned on camping at Angel Creek Campground just outside of Wells, but the threatening skies implied rain, so we searched for an inexpensive motel. We certainly could have done better, but we ended up at the Shell Crest Motel. For $26.00, we got two beds, a dirty shower, and a dead mouse in the gravel parking lot near the car. It reminded me a lot of the cheap motels in the Ponders area of Lakewood, but nobody was actually living there.

Miles today: 440
Miles total: 848

Road trip - Day 1

Day 1 – Saturday, June 25 – Home to John Day, OR

The first directions were the easiest: go to I-5, turn south, find breakfast. Naturally, we ate at the same place we eat when we go to Hood Canal in the mornings: Hawks Prairie Inn in Lacey, WA. Eggs, bacon, and back on the road.

At about 10:15 a.m., we waved goodbye to I-5 (we wouldn’t see it again until late July 1), and entered Oregon on I-205, connected with I-84, and headed east. I-84 is a four lane divided freeway, and as the car in front of me changed lanes to the left, I was jolted quickly out of my thoughts by the most frightening image of the whole trip. I quickly, with a sigh of relief, realized it was being towed, backwards.

We stopped briefly at Multnomah Falls, then continued on to my favorite geocache of all time, The Pipeline.

We were behind schedule at this point, so we didn’t take the full 1.75 mile hike to the cache, but we did hike ¾ mile to the best part of The Pipeline, where water is spraying everywhere and making long lasting rainbows.

We stopped for lunch at Taco Time in The Dalles, OR, where Krys got a fairly complex model cardboard plane with her kids meal. She spent the next hour in the car assembling it; I was quite impressed.

We left I-84 in Biggs, OR, passing Linda’s Restaurant on the way (hi, mom!). Ten miles later, we had to release the drinks we consumed in The Dalles, so we kept our eyes open for a place to go. The Wasco Town Park was just the spot – and the cleanest public outhouse I’ve ever seen.

We continued on, passing wheat field after wheat field (did you know they whisper in the wind – pretty cool!). At about 4:00 we stopped briefly at a roadside “Mountain Identifier”, which pointed out Adams, Shasta, Rainier, and St. Helens.

The next major town on the route was Condon, and Krys went into fits of embarrassment every time we mentioned the name of the town, so we took to calling it “La La La” instead. I wanted to take a photo of her with the welcome sign, but she refused until Kim offered her a dollar to do it.

We crossed the 45th parallel, and entered the town of Fossil. I’d been here geocaching last year, and was looking forward to showing Kim and Krys the fossil pile behind the high school. Unfortunately, some time in the last 13 months, they began charging admission and restricting access, so we left disappointed. We drove through the John Day canyon, admiring the geology, and stopped for a photo op in the town of Kimberly.

Continuing on, we passed through the town of Mount Vernon (MapPoint landmarks: Wagon Wheel Tavern, McKerns Texaco, and the Mt Vernon Trailer Park), and Krys spotted a pair of newlyweds descending the steps out of the little white church to greet their wedding guests. Straight out of Rocky Horror, I think.

At about 6:00 p.m., we finally arrived in John Day, checked in to the Little Pine Inn, and had dinner at The Outpost. Dinner took a while, because their two banquet rooms were taken up -- by a wedding party from Mt. Vernon, and another couple's 50th anniversary party. I guess this was the only banquet rooms within 50 miles or so.

When we returned to our hotel, we had two surprises. Three deer were in the field outside our window, and some friendly neighbor had given us open access to their wireless net connection. Sweet.

Miles today: 408
Miles total: 408

[Edit: adding paragraph breaks]

Road trip - Prologue

On June 25, 2005, Kim, Krys, and I set out on the longest road trip of our lives. I drove 4027 miles over 15 days, from 8500 feet elevation down to 45 feet below sea level. This is the story of that trip.

Prologue I had been thinking about doing this road trip since my solo trip to Reno last year. After seeing and doing the things I’d done, I really wanted Kim and Krys to be able to see and do the same things. But why stop there? Kim has wanted to go back to Vegas for as long as I’ve known her – she was an Air Force brat stationed at Nellis AFB during her formative middle-school years – and Krys sounded excited when I mentioned the possibility to her. Kim and I have also talked about eventually hitting every major league baseball park, and this trip was the perfect excuse to get the west coast out of the way.

In March, I began planning the route, and after reviewing the MLB schedules, came up with the path you see in the map above.

I browsed the web sites of the major (and some minor) areas that we’d be going through, and had them send me their tourist ad packets. When it was all said and done, we had a pile of literature four slippery inches thick.

Over the next three months, I read hotel reviews, made reservations, watched a documentary on traveling US-93, read road reports and books about traveling other major roads, and pretty much got myself all psyched up. At 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, we hit the road.

[EDIT: Added paragraph breaks, changed title to Prologue ("prelude"? what was I thinking?).]

Google personal search history

I opted in to Google's Search History about two weeks ago. Pretty slick. It stores all the searchs I run while I'm signed into my Google account (e.g., Gmail), which is just about always. 12 days, 59 searches. Fewer than I expected. Heavy into baseball, law, forms, and The 4400. Samples from the search history:

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Jul 16, 2005 (cont.)

leaky cauldron

The Leaky Cauldron: Harry Potter News: Updates on JK Rowling, book ... - 4:17pm www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/

Jul 15, 2005

votingoptions votingresponse

Koders - mdActions.bas - 4:39pm www.koders.com/vb/fid147A005A8AFE519A62117AF90E9AB34BF72 D5134.aspx

MailItem Object -- Office Outlook 2003 VBA Language Reference ... - 4:16pm msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/vbaol11/html/ olobjMailItem_HV05247822.asp

video search

Google Video Search - 10:23am video.google.com/

"iron chef" "kitchen stadium" ingredient

Virtual Iron Chef: Kitchen Stadium Battle! - 10:28am members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/iron.html

Searches with no clicked results: video, "iron chef" theme ingredient

Jul 14, 2005

"the 4400" - Related history

.: The 4400 TV Fan Site :. - 8:56am the4400.free.fr/en/?country=en

THE 4400 FORUM - 8:35am www.the4400forum.com/

infopath "two submit" - Related history

http://www.edcomp.com/search.aspx?query=creating+activex+objects ... - 8:18am

Searches with no clicked results: "loss of earning power" lep calculations, "loss of earning power (lep) calculations"

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Pretty cool, really. I never realized how much I googled for forms related stuff at work. (OT: Yeah, I still plan on blogging my road trip. Soon.)

Road trip photos

FYI, I've just posted seven photos from the first seven days of my 16 day road trip on my photo blog.

Losing and winning in Tampa

I went back to the Tampa Hard Rock on Thursday night, and after buying in for $90 and playing for four hours, ended up cashing out for $63. Although I won some good hands, my pocket pairs never hit their sets and I got rivered a few times more than usual.

All is well, though, because I had a very DarthSlumlord-like experience on the way out. I had $5 in $1 bills on me, so I tossed them into a $1 single-line low top-prize slot bingo machine (1000, I think), deciding to give it five pulls, and to take whatever happened. On the third pull, I get [double-bar / double-bar / bonus] for something like $95. I cash out, turning a losing night into a winner. (Then again, four hours of entertainment for $27 wouldn't have been bad, either.)

Shhh... Conference rooms

This week I'm attending a Business Forms Management conference in at the Orlando Doubletree hotel, and in the middle of a particularly dry session ("Intermediate XML," which really should have been called "Intro to XML Basics"), I excused myself to head to the restroom, in part because I needed to get up to keep from dozing off.

As I walked through the bank of conference rooms, a group of a dozen middle school kids -- apparently a school group heading to Universal Studios -- rounded a corner chatting loudly. A janitor politely motioned that they needed to quiet down. One kid was ahead of the rest of the group, and didn't see the janitor's signal. His classmate called out to him and pointed at a conference room door, "Jared, shhhh, people are trying to sleep." He wasn't far off the mark.

Poker at the Tampa Hard Rock

I think I like live action poker a lot more than online. If poker really is a game of people, played with cards, you lose a lot of that online. Case in point.

Yesterday, I drove an hour from my conference in Orlando to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel/Casino in Tampa. I'd originally planned to drive an hour the other direction, to a dog track in Daytona (apparently, Florida law allows poker at dog tracks, but that's it). But my weakness for roulette got the better of me, and I headed to the west coast instead of east.

When I arrived, I was disappointed to see that there's no table games at the Seminole Hard Rock. No roulette, no blackjack, no craps. Just rows and rows and rows and rows of slots. Curse this limited net access!

But... there's a poker room. 48 tables. When I arrived at 6:00 on a Monday night, the place was -- well, I was gonna say dead, but there was still more poker going on there than anywhere else I've seen. They probably had four $1/$2 tables, four $2/$2 tables, and a few Omaha tables playing. I got in as the 9th player, bought in for $90, and as is my style, only went in on premium hands. At my lowest point over the next three hours, I was only down to $82, and I left at the top of my game, up to $146 (+$56) when it got too late to continue.

When you're sitting with someone, it's a lot easier to tell how clueless they are, or whether their call on the turn is because they've got a good hand or if they're playing sherriff. It's a lot easier to know who's betting on the theory that any two cards can win, because they'll tell you. It's lot easier to tell how on-tilt the player across the table from you is after losing their ace-high straight to quad queens.

My big money hand for the night was a very marginal Kh 9s that I got into in middle position. The flop came 4h 9h 7s, giving me top pair with K kicker (and a very slim chance at a runner runner flush). Checked to me, I tossed in $1, and the other players called. Turn is 9d, giving me top set. There's four of us still in, and quiet girl checks, loud guy tosses in $2, I raise to $4, and the other three players call. Loud guy correctly announces that he's put me on a set of nines (grr..). The river is 9c, giving me quads. It checks to me, I bet $2, the guy to my left folds, quiet girl and loud guy call, and my quad beats their tied nines-over-fours boats. Nice.

By the way, Happy Days in Lakewood looks like they reopened last Friday after their remodel.

My big money hand for the night was a very marginal Kh 9s that I got into in middle position. The flop came 4h 9h 7s, giving me top pair with K kicker (and a very slim chance at a runner runner flush). Checked to me, I tossed in $1, and the other players called.

Bremerton II Draft I

I posted Draft 1 of the second Bremerton Cache Machine this weekend. I'm already getting some good feedback. I hope the buffet place at the end can 1) handle our hungry group, 2) handle us staying way past their closing time, and 3) can figure out how to serve beer.

I'm hopeful for #1, concerned about #2, and very doubtful about #3. I can't find anywhere in Bremerton/Silverdale that will take 100 people with no prepayment, though.

I need a scapegoat

Ouch. Over the last week, I've dropped about $100, down about $130 from my high point this go-round. When I was doing well, I told DarthSlumlord that the first key is to only bet on premium hands: pairs, blackjacks, and paint. So, inexplicably, after talking to he-who-shall-not-be-named, I begin playing suited cards in late position. Sure, you can win hands that you wouldn't expect, but everyone else out there is doing the same thing, so half the time you hit the flush, someone's got a higher flush.

That, plus the steaming that such play causes, ain't a good thing.

The second key, and the thing that does well for me when I do it well, is knowing when to get out of a hand. Just because someone plays like a fool most of the time doesn't mean they didn't hit their hand. I was holding J7 suited and the flop came AA7 rainbow. Betting came to me, and I called. The turn is another 7, two other players are in, so I raise. The river's a 3, and I and another decent player bet each other to the max. Of course, he shows A2. I knew he had the Aces over Sevens boat, but couldn't bring myself to fold my Sevens over Aces. Sigh.

My 15% bonus showed up today, though. Yay, $4.50.

$2/$4? Ouch.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I was gonna try the $2/$4 online tables. I started last night at a $1/$2, sat down with $30 in chips, and lost them all over the course of 45 minutes. I switched to another $1/$2 table with another $30, and 20 minutes later, was up to $64. Net +$4.

Then I switched to a $2/$4 table with $60, and lost $58 of it. Net -$54.

Took some time off, watched a bit of TV, helped the kid with her homework, and hopped back on a few hours later. Back to the $1/$2 with $30, which fluctuated as low as $10, but ended with $47 on a nut flush (Holding Kd Qs, flop is Xd Yd Ad, turn is Kh, river is Qd) Net -$37 for the night.

I think at the more expensive table, I was taking more chances. Not bad chances -- the pot odds said to go for the open end straight draw -- but expensive chances. That, and my two pair lost to a guy who slow played his set of 8's on the flop.

I'll stick with the $1/$2 tables for a while.

Another night, another $25

I played for half an hour last night (hey, my time's limited, and the TiVo was about to delete the two Eyes of Nye episodes and Breaking Vegas, so there's 90 minutes right there), and went up another $25. When I was done, I noticed one fact I should have seen before I started playing. At it's busy times, TigerGaming has about 5500 players on line. I don't like to play when there's less than 4000 -- I found that the caliber of player gradually improves at the slow times. Last night, there were 1700 players. Eep!

No spectacular hands -- just winning the ones I should have. It probably would have been $35 or so, but I did dumb stuff like betting $1 on two overcards after the flop, or seeing a pre-flop raise while on the small blind holding A4 offsuit.

I'm wondering if I should move up to the $2/$4 table tonight.

Button nuts

After last Saturday's play, bankroll up to $50 (from my $15 buy in), it was time to leave the 10¢/20¢ tables and head for higher stakes. The level this week: $1/$2.

The players at the $1/$2 aren't any better, except that they don't go in with the hands that drive you insane when you lose, like 3d 6h. Realistically, it makes the $1/$2 table easier, because there's more of an opportunity to put someone on a hand. You'll still see guys with big bankrolls going in with Tc 6c in middle position ("but it's soooooted!"), but you'll won't see bizarre straight draws being hit nearly as often.

On Sunday I turned my $50 into $60, and last night turned my $60 into $90, mostly by just playing the good starting hands.

Tonight, though... Lemme tell ya.

I knew things were going to be interesting when I sat down to the right of the button, posted my $1, got dealt 8h 5c, and saw the flop for free: Qs, 8c, 4d. The hand checks around, and As comes on the turn. Again, the hand checks around. The river is 3h. It checks around, and I win $6.70 with my pair of eights. Wha??

A few hands later, in middle position, I get dealt Td Qs. A marginal hand, and one I probably shouldn't have played, but I tossed $1 at it. Seven players, including the blinds. The flop is Jc Qc 7s. I got me top pair. Checks to me, I bet a buck, get four folds and two callers (small blind and UTG).

Turn is 9d. Checks to me, and I bet $2. SB and UTG call. The river is Qh. Checks to me, I bet $2, SB folds, UTG calls. My set beats his two pair, JJQQ9. $19 win (+$13 net).

It gets better. Four hands later, I'm dealt Jc Kh on the button. Eight players in, one folds, and the flop comes Td 3c Qs. A double open-ended straight draw. It checks around to me, so I make a $1 position bet. The blinds and UTG fold, the next four players call. The turn is 9d. Quick: what's the nuts?

It's my hand: Jx Kx. The only thing I've got to worry about on the river is something pairing up to give someone a full house or a quad, or a diamond to give them a flush.

Names will help at this point to keep the action straight. In order of play are ConMan13, EastCoast, MiloAlsa, Squid7, and me.

ConMan13 checks, and EastCost bets $2. Milo and Squid call. I raise to $4. ConMan13 check-raises to $6, which isn't a surprise -- he'd been doing that a lot. EastCoast caps it at $8 (4 bets), Milo folds, and the rest of us call.

The river is Ah. I probably couldn't have asked for a better card. This gives me the top nut straight, and will make anyone with an ace feel that their hand is even stronger.

The other three players check to me, and I bet $2. ConMan13 check raises (big surprise.) to $4, EastCoast folds, Squid calls, I raise to $6, ConMan13 caps it at $8, Squid calls, I call.

Community cards: Td 3c Qs 9d Ah
Squid's cards: 3s 9h (two pair) what was he doing playing this?!
ConMan13's cards: Qd Qc (set)
My cards: Jc Kh (straight), for a $70 win (+$52 net)

I play 13 more hands, dropping $5 on blinds and failing to hit a set of 4's on the flop. It's a good night.

Geocaching with Criminal Intent

Next on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (nbc.com)

THE UNBLINKING EYE
9pm 2005-05-08 ALL NEW!
STREET SHOOTINGS RAISE PUBLIC OUTCRY AS POLICE PROBE FEMALE STALKER -- AND HIGH-TECH TREASURE HUNT GAME -- After a young actor Mike, (guest star Jeffrey Hephner) is wounded and his fiancee is shot dead on the street, Detectives Goren (Vincent D. Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) are pointed towards the surviving victim's former girlfriend, who is known to have stalked him. The key, however, might turn on their probe of geocaching, a high-tech treasure-hunt game that could yield vital clues. As the media and public mourn the man's tragic loss, the police want to take another look at some of his acting buddies, especially one who never lets go of his Palm Pilot. Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance also star.

I sure hope this doesn't scare the cops around here more than geocaching already has.

Quotes, boats, and notes

Firstly:

One of my all-time favorite poker quotes:

Poker is not a card game you play with people. Poker is a people game you play with cards.

This is, I think, why I tend to play so much better when I play one game at a time. Since I bought in last weekend, I've had no losing days, but I've had losing tables. Last night is a good example. I joined two 10¢/20¢ tables at the same time, for the max $5 buy-in on both. I left one table with $10.60. I left the other table with 8¢. This one-good/one-bad seems to happen when I play two tables at a time; when I just play one table, I've almost always ended up ahead.

Why? When I play two tables, and I'm surfing the web between hands, all I have time to do is look at my cards, my position, and the bets on the table. I don't remember that JoeBlow bet through the river with his pocket 3's last hand, and I don't notice that TexPete has no concept of the importance of kickers. When I play one table at a time, I'm more likely to notice these things.

Secondly:

If you read back through this blog's archives, you'll see that my lucky streak ended when Phoenician Casino changed its software and turned off their poker room links. I then played on Empire Poker (linked to Party Poker) and my bankroll went down a bit, inicating to me that it was a good time to quit.

I recently found another site, Tiger Gaming, that's running the same poker software that Phoenican was. It appears to be the same Canadian-heavy population using it, too.

Lastly:

My favorite hand of the week. I'm dealt 66 under the gun. I limp in along with half the table, and the flop comes 776. The blinds bet, I raise, the guy to my left raises, and everyone folds to me. I call. I'm hoping he's got a 7 and thinks its powerful.

The turn is a 5, and we raise each other to the 80¢ max. The river's a K, and again we raise each other to 80¢. I win with my full boat. He shows A7, losing with a set. I felt fortunate that the tables weren't turned here, 'cause I'm not sure I could get out either with a set plus top kicker.

Bremerton Cache Machine II

Here's what little I've come up with so far. BCM2 will be June 18, starting at 4:30 a.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m. A quick pocket query of Geocaching.com's system shows something like 135 caches near my projected route. Some of them are probably multis or puzzle caches, but that still leaves maybe 100 or so park-and-grabs.

Should be a fun, exhausting event.

Poker night, live and virtual

I had eight friends over for Poker night on Saturday. Robb's blog and its responses describe the results fairly completely. Robb lost, I came close to breaking even, and DarthSlumlord walked away with three Jacksons.

Aside: Tres brought his girlfriend Kelly along for the first time. She's quiet (who wouldn't be?), but seems pretty nice.

I've written it here before, but I need to stop getting wedded to hands. It cost me a foolish $12 on Saturday, when I had a pair of aces clearly being beat by DarthSlumlord. He was already the big stack at this point, and my big bets were doing nothing to scare him out. I'm seeing the same thing in my recent online play ($15 buy-in at the 10¢/20¢ tables, up 25% this week), where I'm holding on to my pocket queens far too long when facing AKx on the flop.

Hometown paper report on Geocaching

The News Tribune has an article on geocaching today, and it's surprisingly positive and accurate. The only big mistake is that they say that geocaching is banned in national parks and national forests. While the former is true, the latter is not, as evidenced by the Trib's mention of my buddy GEM's late night hike through the Snoqualmie tunnel.

GeoPoker in Wenatchee

Geo: Saturday was the Wenatchee Cache Machine geocaching event. We had more than 100 people participate in some way, almost all of whom showed up for dinner on Friday and Saturday night. Wow.

I hit nine caches along US-2 on the way there. I was a bit worried about crossing Stevens Pass, but the snow was light by the time I went through at 2:00, and the road was fine, with just one small quarter mile patch of slush.

During the event, I found 68 caches, including my 1000th cache, which involved transposing numbers off of a historical railroad plaque, then scrounging around the underbelly of a full size caboose.

This doesn't include the two Honey Buckets that I logged into. They've got a logbook page next to the door, don't they? That's not what the sign-in list is in there for? Oh.

I also found a cache that I had unsuccessfully looked for two years ago. Ahh, closure.

From the logs, it looks like everyone had an outstanding time.

Poker: Near our dinner spot is Kegler's Bowling and Casino. Like every card room in existence now, they've got poker tables. Unlike most, they have a $1/$2 table (9 player; kind of strange); its clientele seems to be 18- and 19-year-old rocker wannabe's (one was actually wearing a circa 1984 Def Leppard T-shirt), 17-year-olds with fake ID's, and 21-year-olds who wandered in from the bowling alley and discovered cheap drinks in here.

I'd planned to buy in for $100 in $1 chips, but I was 8th on the waiting list, so played $3 basic strategy blackjack to pass the time. I did absolutely horrid -- 12 hands later, I'm down to $67 (won one hand, lost eleven, including one double down loss). No more of that -- bleaugh.

I hang out for another 15 minutes, and my seat opens up. My strategy at the table is to play tight, quality hands. It's quickly apparent that most other players' strategy is to pay to see the flop, then to figure out what to do from there.

I sit down with three $20 stacks of $1 chips and a $5 chip to cover my cards. A couple hands later, I can tell that the two kids in seats 8 and 9 are friends, and seat 9 asks his buddy -- not quietly enough, because I heard it -- "$60? Why would someone sit down with $60? Look at him."

Mind you, I've been out geocaching for about 14 hours straight, I forgot my hairspray at home so my mop top is a bit wild, I was wearing an old, slightly unraveled sweater over a black T-shirt, and I was staring mainly at my cards and still pondering my bad blackjack luck.

"He's broke," seat 8 kid says. Yeah, guy, that must be it. "I can't think of any other reason," he says. I'm liking this. Go ahead and think that, then give me your money.

The button circles the table a few times, and I'm down about $5; three blinds and two bad flops. I get dealt a Kd Td in late position, and the flop is 5d 3d Jc. A flush draw. I'm in, as is most of the table.

The turn is 3h. A few guys drop out, I stay in, and seat 9 kid in early position raises. I put him on a set of 3's with a good kicker. The pot odds are good for me, so I call.

The river is 8d. I've made my king-high flush. Seat 9 kid bets $2, two other guys stay in with $2, I raise to $4, seat 9 kid raises to $6, two other guys drop out, and I call.

Seat 9 kid shows 8c 3s for a 3's over 8's full house. I'm down about $20. Grrr. 8-3 unsuited? In early position? Yeah, there's some crappy players here.

Like a few hands later, the guy two seats to my left calls a bet on the river with 4-7, with a deuce and four unmatched overcards on the board. WTF?

Or when a late position kid mistakenly turns his hand over after the fourth street betting round to show pocket jacks. The river comes, and the other player still in the pot (with king high), checks. He checks!? Buddy, you know if you've lost or not, you don't need to pay to be the sheriff here, so you fold if you think Mr. Jacks will call your bluff, or you bet the $2 to tell him "I've seen your jacks, and my hand's better."

No problem, though. An hour later, I'm back in the black, then take a monster pot with a set of 3's, taking more than my $20 back from seat 9 kid, who feels real cocky with his two pair aces and tens. Shortly thereafter with noticably smaller stacks, seat 8 and 9 kid head home. Must be curfew.

In the end, too tired to keep playing, I end up leaving the poker table with $153, more than doubling the $67 I sat down with. It's a good feeling to take a few minutes having to get ready to leave the table, stacking my chips neatly in the plexiglass racks. Sure, it's not high society (.wav), but it's nice nonetheless.

Wow: Slow playing can work

While waiting for funds to transfer around between Neteller and Bodog last night (Bodog does not impress me, by the way), I played a play-money tournament at EmpirePoker (a PartyPoker sister site). I decided that I'd play a little more agressively than usual, which at a play money table will usually backfire, because it's tough to scare people off of fake money. I somehow end up winning the thing. The coolest hand: I'm dealt 44 in middle position, and the flop comes KJ4 with five players in. Mind you, I'm probably the worst slow-play guy in the world, but I decide (god knows why) to try it with my set of 4's. The blinds check to me, I check, the guy to my left checks, and the button bets.

The small blind drops out, the big blind calls. Do I check-raise here? Maybe I should have, but I want to disguise my hand to come back big on the turn. I call.

The guy to my left drops out, the button calls, and the turn comes out a 6. Big blind checks (he's probably got middle pair), I check (with the intent of check raising), and the button bets. Big blind calls, I raise. Button pauses -- he's gotta be thinking "how in the hell did the 6 help him?", then calls. Big blind drops out.

The river comes out with a 2. I bet, button raises, I re-raise, button calls and shows AK. My set of 4's beats his pair of kings. Very nice.

Wenatchee Cache Machine

I posted the first draft (.pdf) of the Wenatchee Cache Machine last weekend. The event's coming up April 2. Gonna be another fun one. Maybe I'll finally see a rattlesnake this time.

WPT: Poker By The Book

A few days off the blog, now I've got a bit of a backlog. Three things today.

First, I've Tivoed Wednesday's WPT episode, "Poker by the Book", and have watched the first hour of it so far. The six players at the table: Caro, Sklansky, Brunson, Hellmuth, Cloutier, and... um... Sexton. It's very cool to watch. I've read the first four of these guy's books, and I never realized that Caro's almost a big a jerk as Hellmuth is, but (and this should have been no surprise) is even better at playing with your head.

Case in point, Caro and Cloutier are left after the rag flop, and Cloutier's trying to put Caro all in. Caro's got pocket Jacks, and he stares at Cloutier and says, "I can tell you've got a pair, I just don't know how big. Sixes?" Pause. "Sevens?" Pause. "Eights? Nines? Tens?" Pause. Pause. Pause.

The left side of Cloutier's thin-line poker face begins to turn up in a smirk.

"Jacks? Queens?" Pause, pause. "I call," Caro says.

Cloutier turns up his pocket sevens. The turn and river don't help; Caro wins.

Is that an ethical way to play?

Random warning: Beach logs KILL!!

I was reminded today of those goofy signs on the coast of Olympic National Park, warning of the killer beach logs.

Every year people get killed on our ocean beaches by surf-tossed logs. Even on calm days the ocean surf is powerful and can be dangerous, suddenly moving or tossing a piece of driftwood or log. Enjoy our Washington beaches and visit us often, but PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THOSE LOGS NEAR THE SURF.

I've added this image to my Kalaloch cache page.

Quiet for a while

Up to $300, down to $50. Looking over my game logs, it's just a streak of bad luck. It happens. A good time to take a breather, and that's what I'm doing.

Besides -- I've got no net access at home for now. We've just moved back into the house that was destroyed by fire in September 2003, and we're waiting for the final interior wiring to be done. I've got a patch panel, and all the wires, but no units to plug them in to yet.

A nice win

Last night in a $3/$6 Hold'em game, I was on the button, and was dealt 9s As. After PCWoo's raise in middle position, there's $27 in the pot with four of us playing.

The flop comes 4s 5h 7s. One person drops out after another PCWoo raise, and the small blind re-raises, we call so there's now the three of us in with a $54 pot; I'm on the nut flush draw.

The turn is 5s. I've hit the ace-high flush, but the nuts are 6s 8s for a straight flush. Odds of that are slim, though. Small blind bets, PCWoo calls, and I raise. Small blind re-raises, PCWoo is scared out. I come over the top with a re-re-raise. Small blind can't raise any more, so he calls.

The river is 3s. If small blind has a 6s here, I'm dead. He could also be playing a full house, but for some reason, I'm so focused on the straight flush possibility, I didn't realize this until later. He bets, and I, super nervous with my heart racing, take almost my full 20 seconds to decide to call instead of raise.

Small blind shows 6h 9h, for a 7-high straight. I win a $117 pot, a $72 net gain. After my bad beats earlier this week, this puts me back above my buy-in.

Don't get wedded to a hand

Holding As 7s on the button against a Js 7c 2d flop, I bet after the five players still in checked. Igot four callers, then saw 6s on the turn. Big blind checks, a few more checks, I raise (flush draw with middle pair gives me a lot of outs), and the big blind re-raises. Everyone else is scared out, but I re-raise. No way the 6s helped the big blind here; he's either bluffing or is on a second-best flush draw. Only pocket sixes would help, and he'd have folded that after the flop. If he had the Jack he'd have bet instead of checked on the flop or the turn. Big blind now calls.

The river is 3c, so I'm sitting on a pair of sevens with an ace kicker. Big blind bets. I raise to scare him off, because I'm pretty sure he's got nothing. He thinks a long time, taking up almost his full 20 seconds. I'm really, really expecting him to fold here, because if he calls, then it's probable that he has the jack but was scared that I had a big pocket pair.

He calls, my stomach drops, and... I win. As 7c 7s Js 6s.

Amazed, I go to the game log to find out what he had. He was playing Ac Ks, leaving him with Ac Ks Js 7c 6s. He'd gotten wedded to the hand, which cost him about $30 -- a mistake I'd made a few times Monday night.

I don't fold big slick nearly as often as I should. Not doing so can be a costly mistake.

Two bad hands. Help?

Two of the many hands of limit hold 'em last night that I lost are gnawing at me. How would you have played these?

-----

Hand 1:

I'm in the small blind at a $3/$6 table, and get dealt Jh Jc.

Two callers, the button raises, I call, big blind calls, the two callers call. Pot is $30.

Flop is 4s, 8d, Tc.

I've got an overpair, so I bet $3. Big blind calls, next player folds, middle position calls, the button raises. I call (I should've folded here I think), and the big blind raises out of nowhere. The other three of us call. Pot is $66.

Turn is Qs.

I check, big blind checks, and now the guy in middle position bets $6. The other three of us call. Pot is now $80.

River is Ah. It checks around.

I show my pocket jacks, ace kicker. Big blind shows his failed spade flush draw, 6s 7s. Middle position shows his failed spade flush draw, 9s Ts (pair of tens). Button shows pocket kings.

I think the pot odds favored me; should I have stayed in as I did?

------

Hand 2:

I'm in the big blind at a $3/$6 table, and get dealt Ad Ah.

Everyone folds to the button, who raises to $6. Small blind folds, and I call.

Flop is 3d, 2d, 7s.

I bet. Button raises. I re-raise. Button calls.

Turn is 5h.

I bet, button calls. This tells me that the flop probably didn't help.

River is 3c.

I bet, button raises. Only a 4 or a 3 could hurt, and the guy on the button has been playing like a good player, so I don't think he's got it. I call.

He shows 3s Kh. His set of 3's beat my pocket aces.

I played this one right. Didn't I?

---

Full details are below:

***** Hand History for Game 1453734657 *****
$3/$6 Hold'em - Tuesday, January 18, 01:31:03 EDT 2005
Table classic table (Real Money)
Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 2: jkim13_13 ( $175.5 )
Seat 3: geturdone32 ( $167.25 )
Seat 5: kpulliam ( $114 )
Seat 6: mitchteeney ( $124.5 )
Seat 7: ESKIMO_13 ( $113.5 )
Seat 8: kaashmir ( $157.5 )
Seat 10: herjn64 ( $282.5 )
Seat 9: laurict ( $128 )
Seat 4: SlickWillie ( $141 )
laurict posts small blind [$1].
herjn64 posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to laurict [ Jh Jc ]
jkim13_13 folds.
geturdone32 calls [$3].
SlickWillie folds.
kpulliam folds.
mitchteeney calls [$3].
ESKIMO_13 raises [$6].
kaashmir folds.
laurict calls [$5].
herjn64 calls [$3].
geturdone32 calls [$3].
mitchteeney calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, 8d, Tc ]
laurict bets [$3].
herjn64 calls [$3].
geturdone32 folds.
mitchteeney calls [$3].
ESKIMO_13 raises [$6].
laurict calls [$3].
herjn64 raises [$6].
mitchteeney calls [$6].
ESKIMO_13 calls [$3].
laurict calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
laurict checks.
herjn64 checks.
ESKIMO_13: this sucks...
mitchteeney bets [$6].
ESKIMO_13 calls [$6].
laurict calls [$6].
herjn64 calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ Ah ]
laurict checks.
herjn64 checks.
mitchteeney checks.
ESKIMO_13 checks.
laurict shows [ Jh, Jc ] a pair of jacks.
herjn64 doesn't show [ 6s, 7s ] high card ace.
mitchteeney doesn't show [ Ts, 9s ] a pair of tens.
ESKIMO_13 shows [ Kc, Kh ] a pair of kings.
ESKIMO_13 wins $87 from the main pot with a pair of kings.


***** Hand History for Game 1453903608 *****
$3/$6 Hold'em - Tuesday, January 18, 02:17:26 EDT 2005
Table classic table (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 6: mitchteeney ( $249 )
Seat 7: ESKIMO_13 ( $268 )
Seat 10: herjn64 ( $319.5 )
Seat 9: laurict ( $99 )
Seat 4: SlickWillie ( $132 )
Seat 1: iH8realityTV ( $29 )
Seat 2: rivercoming ( $127 )
Seat 3: John1838 ( $300 )
ESKIMO_13 posts small blind [$1].
laurict posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to laurict [ Ad Ah ]
herjn64 folds.
iH8realityTV folds.
rivercoming folds.
John1838 folds.
SlickWillie folds.
mitchteeney raises [$6].
ESKIMO_13 folds.
laurict calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 2d, 7s ]
laurict bets [$3].
mitchteeney raises [$6].
laurict raises [$6].
mitchteeney calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
laurict bets [$6].
mitchteeney calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 3c ]
laurict bets [$6].
mitchteeney raises [$12].
laurict calls [$6].
mitchteeney shows [ 3s, Kh ] three of a kind, threes.
laurict shows [ Ad, Ah ] two pairs, aces and threes.
mitchteeney wins $64 from the main pot with three of a kind, threes.

I'm ahead, finally

On December 20, I bought in at Empire Poker, and ended the night down $30. Bad, loose play at the $2/$4 tables dropped me down to less than 50% of my buy-in. I dropped down to the $0.50/$1.00 tables, and tried to improve my game. Problem is, there's so many maniacal players at that level, you can lose a perfectly good hand to someone who hit his 27o on the turn and river, because there's always four or five people trying to do just that.

I've continued to play solid, conservative, tight games, and eked out a few winning nights. The frustration of the play at the cheap tables was taking its toll on my nerves, so I hopped up to the $3/$6 table last week. There's still a maniac or two, but they can be quickly identified, and played strongly against when you've got a decent hand.

Finally, a month later, I'm at 103% of my buy-in. Yay!

Yarrr!

We played 1000 Blank White Cards at our annual "camping" (cabin) trip to Flaming Geyser state park. Many others played Pirates of the Spanish Main. This led to the creation of this card:

Pirate!: All pirate cards in play (including this one) are worth 1 x the number of pirate cards in play.

Yarrr.

Gig Harbor Cache Machine gets press coverage

The Longview Daily News quoted Bruce Fischer (who was my roommate for the Vancouver Cache Machine) as saying:

"It's amazing the community that's out there." People chat on-line about their activity. Last weekend, Fischer attended a Cache Machine event in Gig Harbor, where 100 people searched for 60 sites. "You find as many as you can in one day. It's a little bit nuts. It's a lot nuts."

Bruce is a good cacher and a neat guy, and unlike many cachers I've met, he's mentally stable, too. Good stuff.

Dumb play, dumb luck

Here's the log from one hand last night. My annotations are in blue. ***** Hand History for Game 1434222038 *****
3/6 TexasHTGameTable (Limit) - Fri Jan 14 02:22:02 EST 2005
Table Table 11409 (Real Money) -- Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: skottish ( $139)
Seat 2: srndpty ( $147)
Seat 3: OffSuit68 ( $140)
Seat 4: PokerSins ( $97)
Seat 5: crib1 ( $21)
Seat 6: giabizinc ( $31)
Seat 7: cashjunkie ( $170.5)
Seat 8: laurict ( $79) [This is me. I'm in the small blind.]
Seat 9: NYPokerClub ( $173.5)
Seat 10: badsaw ( $217.5)
laurict posts small blind (1)
NYPokerClub posts big blind (3)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to laurict [ 9c, Ac ] [A9 suited. If it makes it back to me without a raise, I'll call for $2 more; nut flush would be nice.]
badsaw calls (3)
skottish folds.
OffSuit68 folds.
PokerSins calls (3)
crib1 calls (3)
giabizinc calls (3)
cashjunkie calls (3)
laurict calls (2) [Good deal. Let's see the flop.]
NYPokerClub checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Tc, 4h, Jc ] [Seven players. $21 in the pot.]
laurict bets (3) [Nut flush draw. Bet to scare out other players on a draw. Maybe not the best move.]
NYPokerClub folds.
badsaw calls (3)
PokerSins raises (6) to 6 [Hmmm... didn't want to see that.]
crib1 folds.
giabizinc folds.
cashjunkie calls (6)
laurict calls (3) [$36 in the pot. I've got two draws and 9 outs. A $3 call is the right move here.]
badsaw calls (3)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ts ] [$42 pot. Darn. Anyone holding a ten has a set now. I've got a 9/46 chance of getting my flush.]
laurict bets (6) [Pot odds say that with 9 outs and one card to go, the pot should be at least $31 to make a $6 bet. It is; I do.]
badsaw calls (6)
PokerSins calls (6)
cashjunkie raises (12) to 12 [I think he hit his set.]
laurict calls (6) [The pot's still more than $31. Another $6 is the right move here (I think).]
badsaw folds.
PokerSins calls (6)
** Dealing River ** : [ Ah ] [Giving me two pair, Aces over tens, which is worse than cashjunkie's set. My nut flush draw failed.]
laurict checks.
PokerSins checks.
cashjunkie bets (6) [Yup. He's got me beat.]
laurict calls (6) [What?!? At this point, I'm throwing money away because I don't want him to buy it. Stupid, stupid play. A fold is the best move here; a raise would be second best. My calling just is trying to make sure I lose. What was I thinking?]
PokerSins calls (6) [I'd put him on a flush draw at this point. I figured he'd fold.]
** Summary **
Main Pot: $102 | Rake: $3
Board: [ Tc 4h Jc Ts Ah ]
skottish balance $139, didn't bet (folded)
srndpty balance $147, sits out
OffSuit68 balance $140, didn't bet (folded)
PokerSins balance $70, lost $27 [ Jd Kd ] [ two pairs, jacks and tens -- Ah,Jd,Jc,Tc,Ts ] [He was playing high pair with high kicker after the flop, and was playing sheriff on the river. Same dumb play I made at the end.]
crib1 balance $18, lost $3 (folded)
giabizinc balance $28, lost $3 (folded)
cashjunkie balance $143.5, lost $27 [ Qc 5c ] [ a pair of tens -- Ah,Qc,Jc,Tc,Ts ] [Wow. He was on a queen high flush draw. His bet on the river was a bluff to scare me out.]
laurict balance $154, bet $27, collected $102, net +$75 [ 9c Ac ] [ two pairs, aces and tens -- Ac,Ah,Jc,Tc,Ts ]
NYPokerClub balance $170.5, lost $3 (folded)
badsaw balance $202.5, lost $15 (folded)
***** End Hand History for Game 1434222038 *****

I shouldn't have won that one. I'd have probably tossed the hand if I'd been anywhere other than limping in on a blind.

A table for 78, please

The Gig Harbor Cache Machine far exceeded my expectations this last Saturday.

I'd made reservations for 24 people at the Puerto Villarta mexican restaurant, but after Friday night's pre-gathering potluck, after a rough head count that showed me that that 45 of the 70 people would be at dinner on Saturday, I increased my reservations to 48 people.

When I arrived just after 5:30, all 48 chairs were taken, and another 20 of us were waiting in the lobby. Wow. This is the highest attended cache machine event yet. One person said he counted 78 people over the course of dinner, with people arriving and departing during the meal. I know of at least 15 more who participated in the event in some way but didn't make it to dinner.

I haven't logged any of my finds yet, but I think I got about 58, which puts me over the 900 mark. Almost without exception, all of the day's finds were creatively hidden, in great spots, were humorous, were in unique containers, or were some combination of the above.

And it didn't snow on us.

Snolympia again?

A year ago today, on my 33rd birthday, I organized and participated in the Olympia Cache Machine. Locals will remember that last year at this time we got socked with a good snowstorm that chased half the cachers away, and left the rest of us sliding all over the backroads of Thurston County.

That night, over dinner, the remaining participants decided to call it the Snolympia Cache Machine, and that's how it's been remembered.

The Gig Harbor Cache Machine is coming up on Saturday, and one cacher posted this slightly photoshopped graphic from KOMO4:

The three big local stations are in agreement -- it's gonna be cold, and probably snowing, for this winter event. I hope we're still able to get a good sized chunk of the route done before dinner.

Crappy hands or crappy play?

My stats from Sunday and Monday night's online play:

Sunday:
Hands played: 68
Hands won: 0%
Showdowns won: 0%
Flop percentage seen: 18%

Monday:
Hands played: 74
Hands won: 7%
Showdowns won: 0%
Flop percentage seen: 31%

My flop percentage on Sunday was pretty much where I like to see it, but I couldn't get a flop to save my life. Monday I played a little looser, and every hand I won I got because I scared out the other players. Counting the insane $0.10/$0.25 no-limit live game on Saturday where one pot topped $80, I've lost with big slick the last five times I've had it (including two suited).

Down $62.50 for the weekend. Ick. I was down further, but had a good bump at the end of last night's game (four of the five hands I won came in the last 20 hands).

After talking to Tres, I think I need to raise pre-flop a bit more, but more importantly I need to get out before the turn if the flop hasn't helped my hand, even if I'm holding two overcards.

The Danger of Queens

Back on November 20, I wrote that happiness is not a set of queens. Doyle Brunson, in Super System, wrote that he never plays AQ offsuit, because it's the kind of hand that can get you in a lot of trouble. I mentioned this at the 25¢ no-limit poker game at Trestin's last night.

Naturally, I get dealt QQ in the small blind a few hands later. Jon's to my left, in for a quarter. Phil's in for a quarter. Kevin and Trestin fold. I raise to $1, Jon folds. Phil calls.

The flop is A x K. Two overcards to my pair -- this is not good at all. However, I'd decided before I sat down last night to play loose aggressive, so I go in for another $1. Phil calls.

Fourth street is J. At this point, I think to myself, Phil has a pair of Aces or Kings, probably with a high kicker, or maybe the J gave him two pair. Just as likely, he might be bluffing (he does that a lot more than he probably should). Regardless, the only way I'm winning this pot is to force him out. I go all in for $2.70.

Phil thinks about it for a good two minutes. With my play, I know he's thinking I've got a high pocket pair to give me a set, or else I've got a blackjack. With the river still to come... he calls. We turn the cards over.

Phil has AQ, giving him a pair of Aces with a Queen kicker. I've got a pair of Queens with an Ace kicker. The only card that'll help me is the last Queen. A ten will split the pot.

The river's a King. Phil wins, AAKKQ to my KKQQA.

Happiness is not pocket queens, either.

(Oh, and I came out ahead 50¢ yesterday evening at the $0.50/$1 table online. I tend to do a lot better at a full table, but the one I was at was fluctuating between six and ten people for the whole 90 minutes I was there.)

Slowly, slowly

I only played poker a couple of hours over Christmas weekend, but ended up ahead another $15, plus I met the required rake hands, so I got my $35 new customer bonus.

It's slow going at the $0.50/$1.00 level, but I want to take it slowly until I get up to 150% of my latest buy-in. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I'd been playing some real crappy poker, and been getting burned on it, and consequently doubting myself. I need to do well for a while before I jump up a table.

Kim got me a Dealer button (and blind buttons) for Christmas. My parents got me an octagonal poker table top. Kim's parents got me a seven-foot long felt table cover. Krys got me cards. I'm sensing a theme :-)

Ammo cans out the wazoo

A local geocacher just won an auction for 403 ammo cans -- 15 pallets -- from Ft. Lewis. He's selling them to other local cachers at cost: $1.50 each. This means that in the next few months, it's very likely that we'll see a lot more regular size caches instead of all those horrid micros.

And there was much rejoicing.

Humility wins

I dropped down another $65 on Monday night, mostly in hands where, at the river, I looked at my situation and said to myself "Self, that guy's been playing like he's hit his set/straight/flush since the flop/turn. Your measley two pair isn't gonna do it. He's got you beat, Self." And then I say to myself, "Nah. Two pair's good," and call. There's not a lot of bluffing at the $2/$4 or $5/$10 tables.

At one point on the $2/$4, my JJ won $32. The very next hand, I got JJ again and lost $30. Sigh.

Tuesday night, however, I dropped myself back down to the $0.50/$1.00 table, and played while catching up on the last week of Fark.com. For the most part, I only played premium hands, even folding QT offsuit pre-flop on the button facing a single raise from middle position. After about two hours of play, I ended up ahead $25. My first positive real money night in weeks.

It'll be a long road back to those glory days of November when I was having $150 and $200 nights. Somewhere along the line, I think I began to expect, nay, deserve(!) to win a lot -- two pair's good, right? -- and that was my downfall.

Smart, conservative play is what I did last night, and what I need to continue doing. Things like consulting the pot odds chart from Gary Carson's Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker in marginal situations. Things like making notes like "whirlyjim raised pre-flop with AK off. whirlyjim raised pre-flop with QQ." Things like deciding, more often than I have been, that if a player is betting like he's got the six to make the inside straight, he probably does.

On another note, some folks (hi, Bill and Kevin!) have recommended Doyle Brunson's Super System to me. I need to pick it up from the library on the way home tonight.

Draft 2 of Gig Harbor posted

I posted the second draft of the Gig Harbor Cache Machine route last night. I've added another night cache to the route; I hope it's not raining and cold and miserable. (In early January? Nahhh...)

Back in, down $30

I bought in again last night at Empire Poker (on the Party Poker network), and did OK at a $0.50/$1.00 table, then mediocrely at a $2/$4 table, for the first two hours. I was up about $20. Then I hit a hand. I was dealt As 7h, limped in, and hit Ah 7s 9s on the flop. I bet and raised, and one other player stayed in. 7d came on the river, giving me a full boat, sevens over aces. I jammed the pot, as did my opponent. The river came 9c. We max bet, and he shows his 9h 3c. His full boat nines-over-sevens wins. I ended my night a few hands later, down about $30. I think I played it right, though. I'd have done better if the other monster hands I was dealt actually had people staying in to see the flop.

Thanks, fairy godmother!

About a week-and-a-half ago, Robbbbbb described his night of poker as getting "hit over the head with the deck like a fairy godmother gifting me with her wand." Too bad I was playing in a play-money tournament last night, because the same thing happened to me.

I haven't played for real money in a few weeks. I'm still trying to build my confidence back after my rabid tilt-a-thon. So in lieu of that, I like to be in play money tournaments, because the people there -- for the most part -- are still actually trying to win. Sure, once in a while you'll have someone who gets bored and decides to give all their money to the winner of the next hand by jamming the pot with 2-2 offsuit, but usually when half of the 10 original players are left, they're in it to win it. Granted, they still play a bit looser than real money tables, but it's still the tightest free game I've found.

The game is a ten player table, everyone starts with 800.

Early on, at the 15/30 level, I was dealt pocket 8's. The flop came T48 rainbow. A set of 8's? I'll bet that aggressively. I did, had a couple of raisers, a lot more callers, and got the pot up in the 400s somewhere. The turn was the fourth 8. I jam the pot, still have a few raisers, and it's up in the 800s. The river is a low rag, I've got the nuts, and leave that hand up about 1300.

I'm the big stack at this point, and I watch as four players drop out over the next ten hands.

The guy to my right is a pretty aggressive player; over the next 20 hands, I gave him a bunch of blinds and two-bets. Then, I get pocket jacks under the gun, and raise him all the way to the end, and he lost with his 4-9 suited. Ahhh. A bluff-bully revealed.

The next hand, with five players left, I'm in the big blind and got dealt crap, but everyone calls and I see the flop for free. A84 rainbow. All I've got is a pair of 4's. It checks around to BluffBully, who bets the minimum. I raise him, thinking he's got nothing again. Everyone else gets out, and we're in a raising war. We raise each other all the way to the end, and the dog wins with his AQ. I picked the wrong time to try to push him around.

The game continues. Three players are left, the blinds are at 100/200. I'm on the button and get dealt 5-5. I raise to 400. Small blind drops out, and BluffBully raises, of course. I call, and I hit another set on the flop, T57. BluffBully bets, I raise, he raises, I call. The turn is another 7; I've got full house 5's over 7's. I jam the pot, he slowly jams the pot, the river's a 9. We both quickly raise raise raise, and he's all-in. He's holding 6-8 for the straight. Buh bye.

A few hands later against a very short stack, and for the first time in weeks, I've won a play money tournament.

Candid camera notes

Well, I went to Best Buy at lunch today and picked up a JVC GR-D72 camcorder in preparation for Krys' concert on Thursday. My other options were the Panasonic PV-GS9, or the Canon ZR-80.

All three use the Mini DV digital tapes.

The Panasonic was a very close second, but it lacks a SD media slot (nice to have in the future, I'd think), lacks a pass-through analog port (for converting analog to digital, such as a VHS tape to MPEG), and its image stabilization seemed far superior. I focused both the Panasonic and the JVC on a range hood carton ¾ of the way across the store at full optical zoom, and the JVC was much easier to keep on the same area.

The Canon's LCD view screen looked really washed out, which may be because it was had been running 18 hours a day for the last year in the display case, but if that's the case, that's a good reason not to get it.

The first small camcorder I ever used was my grandfather's JVC, and I think it's still functional today. Hopefully, this one will last as long.

An okay weekend; time for a camcorder

I played poker on Friday and Saturday night with my new chips. On Friday, in a seven player game, I did fairly well. The cards weren't coming too well, but I ended up with $16 for my $5 buy in. A lot of that came at Phil's expense, because for some reason I just kept beating him by a card (for example, AJ making a pair of aces with jack kicker versus his AT making a pair of aces with ten kicker).

On Saturday, we played a ten-player game at Nub's place, and Robbbbbb kicked major butt. I think he bought in for $15 and left with $38, but he was easily up over $50 at one point. I left with $5 of my $10 buy in, so I'm up $11 for the weekend. Kevin did well both days, which should help him pay for his beer while he's waiting for work.

My first big purchase with my poker winnings was t-shirts for my daughter's soccer team. Then the poker chips. Now I'm in the market for a camcorder before Krys' concert on Thursday. I thought tape was dead, but apparently DVD and mini-DVD camcorders aren't quite good enough yet, and the mini-DV tape is still the way to go for low-end decent-quality camcorders. I'm looking at the Panasonic PV-GS9, or the Canon ZR-80.

Blue star for you, Mr. Lauricella

As a result of my poker chip purchase (they arrived yesterday, and they are sweet), I got my 50th positive feedback on Ebay, giving me a blue star. Woot.

Dumb casino moves

Yesterday, I'd mentioned that the online casino that I (used to) play at had e-mailed me about their new software, and had given out $13 in free money to test it out.

Part of the reason I'd played at Phoenician was because of their elegant, slick, crisp, smooth-running interface. They used software they'd licensed from Real Time Gaming, which is also used by many other online casinos.

Their new software is, as best as I can tell, the January 2003 release of the Viper engine from Microgaming. One aggrivating feature is that after you download the 5 MB software package and install it, you get three games (a blackjack version, a slot machine, and something else I don't recall. Other games have to be downloaded as needed, and you can't download them to test them without a balance in your online account.

The graphics are pretty blocky and appear to have been designed for a 640 x 480 screen. Ick.

But the worst part: I couldn't find multiplayer poker, so I e-mailed the casino. Their response:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting Customer Support.

Unfortunately multiplayer poker is no longer available at the casino. however if you would like to partake in this game, we suggest Aztec Riches poker at [some hyperlink I see no need to advertise]

Please do not hesitate in contacting us if you have any further questions or comments.

I don't know what decision-making process they went through to make this change, but at least from the poker standpoint, if you're making a 5% vig off of every pot, you're essentially just printing yourself money every time a game's played. Maybe RTG's cut was too big or something, but this just seems like a dumb move to me.

Time to go elsewhere.

Free money?

I just got an e-mail that the online casino I play at just got new software, and to test it out they're giving some players free money to test it. I got $13. Wonder if I can build it into anything?

Chips

My new poker chips are on their way up from southern California. UPS says they should arrive on Thursday. Sweet.

Port Orchard is off my list

It turns out that Port Orchard and Gig Harbor had a lot more caches than I expected. The 61 caches I have on the route will only get us through Gig Harbor and will still have us going to after sunset. Port Orchard had another 40 some. That's a lot.

The first draft route is here.

Royal clubs

Last night, at an eight player game at the absent-and-hoping-to-be-lucky (not get lucky; be lucky) Robbbbbb's house, my cousin Jeremy (who we've taken to calling "Riverman" for all the obscure lucky draws he gets on the river) and another player (my brother Trestin, I think) were in the game and the flop comes JQK of clubs.

Jeremy, his hands shaking (think that's a tell?) goes all in. Trestin calls him, and they turn their cards up. Trestin has pocket aces. Riverman has TA of clubs.

Royal. Straight. Flush. On the flop.

Seems like there's always something new in this game.

Myself, I had a down night. After four $5 buy ins, I found myself down only $1.80, but then went heads up against Trestin and came out on the short end of a $25 pot. In the end, I was down about $9. Good price for a nights worth of entertainment.

Know when to walk away

Well, my grand experience in online poker has come to an end. I told myself that once my online account reached zero, it'd be time to quit. That time has come.

I think my losing streak is due, more than anything else, to my overanalysis of the game. Poker, as many have said, is not so much a game about cards played with other people, but rather is a game about people played with cards. I've been reading poker books voraciously the last few weeks, and in the last week or so, I think I've been playing the cards instead of the people. Six times in the last three days I held AA or KK or AK or AQ, the flop turned up nothing helpful, and I still bet strong, losing to other players with sets of 8's or two pair (or in one case, a pair of 3's against my AK high). In retrospect, I knew they had it, too, but was trying to bully them out of the pot because I had the best hand before the flop. Instead of thinking to myself "that player is acting like they have me beat, and my AK is weak", I thought to myself "they player probably has me beat, but I've got AK, dammit, and that's supposed to be a good hand." You can see why this thought process burned me so quickly.

It's been a good run, though. At my best, I was up almost $3000, and I'm still walking away with almost $2000. Not bad for an initial $20 buy-in.

It's time to head back to the dining room and tournament tables and play against people I can actually see and read.

So that's what going on tilt is

Ouch.

I knew that chasing after lost money by increasing wagers is a bad idea, but I went on major tilt yesterday against a table full of really tough opponents -- folks I knew were good -- and as my hands got worse and worse, I played more and more, going in with crap like 6-7 offsuit, hoping I'd get 3-4-5 on the flop.

I lost like an entire weeks worth of winnings in about an hour on the $5/$10 tables, then tossed the rest of it away on the roulette wheel, and then beat myself up over it overnight.

Time to re-focus and force myself to play super, super tight. Phil Helmuth defines super-tight as only getting into hands with AQ, AK, and pairs of 77 or higher. It seems to be working, as I've doubled my bankroll with this strategy.

Gig Harbor/Port Orchard Cache Machine

The chatter about the upcoming Gig Harbor/Port Orchard Cache Machine event has begun. I'll need to get a draft route together in the next week or so.

Happiness is not a set of Queens

Last night didn't go so well. Part of it might have been because I was out of my normal environment -- I was in bed with my wife reading next to me, and the laptop on the really cool over-the-bed Ikea rolling table. At the $5/$10 table, I lost my $100 buy in, twice, including what I think were some bad beats.

Two hands in a row I was dealt pocket aces. Two hands in a row I lost to a straight draw on the river.

One hand, on the small blind, I was dealt Qc Qd. I raise before the flop, and seven other players call. The flop comes Ac Kd 8h. I bet, late position raises, I call. There's still four of us in.

The turn is Qs. I've got a set of queens with an A/K. I'm thinking that the late position raiser probably has two pair. I bet like a madman, as does he, chasing one of the other two players out.

The river is a 2c. The only hands he has that could beat me would be pocket aces, pocket kings, or JT. If he had JT, he wouldn't have raised on the flop, right?

Right. He doesn't have JT. He does, however, have the pocket kings. He wins the $223 pot.

Ah well. Some lucky pontoon afterwards nets me $135, and roulette gets me another $96, so I still finished ahead $31 for the session.