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:

---

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.