Pechanga, Round 2

Hit Pechanga again on Friday night. Went alone this time, since everyone else was busy. Got there around 11:00, and put my name on the waiting list for 2-4 Hold 'em. Got a seat around 11:30. Sat down in the seat immediately to the right of the dealer, and bought in for $100. I'm not a huge fan of the seat next to the dealer since you can't really see the two guys to the dealers left that well, so it's hard to get a read on them. But I didn't really have much of a choice, so I had to deal with it.

The table I was at was pretty soft. There was a guy three seats to my right who was a decent player, and the two Arab guys sitting between us were also not too bad. Everyone else at the table was garbage. So I was in pretty good position for the whole night, since I was able to act after the only three players that I needed to worry about. Just to give you an idea about how bad the rest of these players were, there were three mexican guys at the table who had never played poker before. They had to ask the dealer whether or not they won the hand. They were playing hands like K3o, J5o, T2o, and even 72o. The quality of play was pretty poor. One guy probably rebought ten times for $40 or $60 each time while I was sitting at the table. Those are the kind of guys you want to play against.

The night started out pretty badly. I was playing the same quality hands I normally play, and I was getting dealt my fair share of them. The problem was that the flop was missing me every single time. My suited connectors wouldn't hit any kind of draw. My hands like KQ or AK would miss completely. But of course there would always be a Jack or ten in the flop, so I'd have to fold to any significant action. I'm not about to chase my gutshot straights and overcards when I have to call raises cold. All of this made for a pretty abysmal start. I sat down at the table at 11:30, and at 1:00 I was down to $20 or $30. Part of this was due to my A9o that I played from the big blind, after calling a raise (from a really loose player, so I wasn't that concerned). The flop is a rainbow 359, giving me top pair. The turn is an Ace, and aces and nines are looking pretty good. I bet and get raised, so I re-raise. Right now it's heads up between my and some middle aged lady (not the preflop raiser). The river is a blank. I bet, get raised, and call. The lady turns over a motherfucking 24o for the straight. She cold-called a raise with 24 offsuit. I was fucking pissed. Another hand that kicked my ass was my pocket queens. Raised before the flop, but then the flop comes AAK. I tried to represent the ace but had to fold to another raise. Turns out the winner at the showdown only had a king, but he was a really shitty player so he couldn't get bluffed out. Finally around 1 am I got a playable hand, A8s, and ended up hitting my flush on the turn. I was getting a lot of action from all of the guys that had no fucking clue what they were doing, and got my stack up to about $70. The very next hand I hit an ace on the flop for top pair which holds up against a guy who shows a jack high, and I'm back up to $95. Took me an hour and a half to actually win a goddamn pot.

After those two pots, things went to shit again. I never hit any of my draws. When I did make a decent hand, like top pair or two pair, I'd lose to one of the idiots, who would hit something on the river. Around 2:30, I was down to $20 again. It wasn't looking good. Then I get dealt pocket 9s. I raised it before the flop to try to thin the field, and got a couple callers. The flop is no help, but has an Ace. I bet, get raised, and call. The turn is another ace. I check, and the raiser bets. I'm looking at $9 in front of me. I had two choices. I could go all in with my last $9 hoping the nines would hold up, and if they didn't then I'd just accept the $100 loss for the night. Or I could fold them, buy in for another $60, and see how that went. I was 100% sure that the raiser had an ace (there was also one other guy in the hand, who also could have held something that beat me), so I fold my nines with the intention of buying in for more. The other guy stays in, so we see the river. It was a goddamn nine, which would have given me the boat. Fuck. The raiser ended up winning the pot with trip aces. I wasn't too happy.

After that hand, I decided to buy in for another $60. My luck had been pretty shitty up to that point, but the players at this table were so bad that I wasn't ready to leave just yet. This was around 2:30 am. After my rebuy I'm looking at about $70 in front of me. By 3 I'm down to $35 after my top two pair loses to trips and a couple of my draws miss. Things were not looking good, seeing as how I was down $130 for the night at this point. But then things started to turn around.

The hand that saved me was pocket queens. I raise before the flop and get a bunch of callers. The flop was something like 279, one spade. Pretty good flop for pocket queens. I check raise the flop, everyone stays in. Turn is the 9 of spades. There's a two flush and a pair on the board, so I'm a little worried. I bet out, one of the shitty players who is next to act raises, and I call since it would not suprise me if this guy had jack shit. It's heads up at this point, everyone else folded to the raise. The river is the queen of spades. I just made the absolute nuts. I bet, shitty player raises. I take the time to make sure I've got the nuts, then re-raise. Shitty player re-raises, I re-raise, and he calls since he's getting short on chips and apparently doesn't want to go all-in just yet. He turns over the flush, and I take down a pretty fucking big pot. (For the record, had a third spade hit on the river without giving me a boat, I would have folded. I had him pegged for a flush draw by that point.) Things got better from there as I took down a couple more pots with trips or top pair. Within an hour, I had shot up to $200. I was quite a turnaround. Around 4:30, I decide that I should get going since I still need to drive back to Mudd. I had bought in for $160 overall, and cashed out for $203. Net profit of $43.

This was an interesting night. I was down $130 at one point. The good thing is that I never went on tilt. I continued to only play quality hands, and I would still lay down my hands if I thought I was beat. The hand with my pocket nines turned out to fuck me over, but other than that most of my laydowns were correct. I just told myself that I was better than the rest of the guys at the table and given enough time I'd take advantage of the situation. In the end, I came out ahead. This is what I needed right before the Vegas trip. I'll probably have sessions where I drop one or two hundred dollars. But as long as I don't let the losses get to me, I should come out ahead in the end.

Next report, Fall Break Vegas Trip. It's going to be fucking awesome.

Pechanga

Went to Pechanga on Saturday night. Me, Padgett, Kim, and Nick. Took about an hour to drive down, got there around 11 PM. It was Saturday night, so it was pretty fucking crowded. Parking wasn't a problem though, 'cause the place is fucking huge. It's pretty much the same as a Vegas casino. Went inside, wandered around for about 10 minutes, then went to the poker room.

The poker room was downstairs, away from the rest of the casino. It was pretty big, about 15-20 tables, with 6 tables of 2-4 hold em running. They spread up to 8-16 hold em, plus some 7 card stud and Omaha. Me and Padgett both got seats immediately, at different tables, which I wasn't expecting. I thought for sure that there would be a decent wait on a Saturday night. Tables were nice, dealers were decent, and it was no smoking, which is a big plus. That's the biggest problem with the Vegas cardrooms.

I bought in for $80. There was one big stack at the table, I'll call him Calloway because of his hat. He probably had $250 or so when I sat down, and when I cashed out he probably had $400 in front of him. There was also Larry, who was a real jackass. Nobody else of note at the table.

In the first hour, a hit a couple big hands. I don't really remember what they were, but I know that around midnight I looked down and saw $165 in chips in front of me. Doubled up pretty quick. It went to shit from there though.

The thing about the table I was at was that everyone sucked. Even Calloway wasn't that good, he just hit really big hands. There was a time when he won four big pots in a row, with a couple flushes, a straight, and trips. It was fucking ridiculous. And everyone was paying him off. There was one guy who sat down and bought in for $100. He busted out within a half hour. He kept turning to his friend and saying "I just need to catch some cards." But when the board is AKJ85, and you bet on the river and then call a raise, only to turn over a pair of 2s, cold cards aren't your problem. The problem is you're a total fucking idiot. There were a lot of players like that. I can count at least two other guys who sat down and burned through $100 in an hour or so. It was a really soft game.

I think the problem I ran into once I was up to $160 was that I loosened up to much. I saw all these guys playing shit hands and occasionally taking down pots, and I started to play looser. Instead of folding Q8, J7 offsuit, I'd pay to see the flop. Of course, this is just a waste of money, and it took it's toll on my stack. The flop would miss me a lot of the time, and when it did hit me I'd only make the second best hand, which would cost me a lot of money. I was also sticking with my draws too long. The pots were pretty big, but not big enough to justify chasing a gutshot straight draw all the way to the river. There were also a couple suck outs, like when I had J7s, hit my flush on the turn, and then the fourth club hits on the river and another guy turns up the Ace of clubs with his goddamn 4 of diamonds. That hurt. But most of the money I lost was because I was turning into one of the other guys at the table and playing too many mediocre starting hands.

When I had dropped back down to $80, this was around 2 am after three hours of play, I finally realized what was going on. I tightened up again. But for the next half hour, I wasn't getting many playable hands. When I did see the flop, it was of no help. I got dealt pocket Aces during this time, which was pretty cool. I was first to act before the flop, so I threw out a raise. Everyone had been calling preflop raises all night. But not this time. It was folded around to the motherfucking big blind. He called, the flop was rags, he checks, I bet and he folds. I made 5 goddamn dollars, minus 1 for the rake, off of my pocket Aces. I was fucking pissed. But it was the right way to play it. The last thing I want to do is slowplay it and let someone else draw out on me.

I had dropped down to about $50 or $45 when things started to turn around. It was about 2:30 AM, and I had thought about cashing out and cutting my losses. But then I hit a nut flush on the turn which payed off big. Then I made Kings full of 2s on the turn a couple hands later, which resulted in an even bigger pot. I had K2s, flopped a King and 2, the got a King on the turn. I also hit another flush and a couple more hands. All of a sudden, by 3 AM, I was back up to $130. It could have been a lot more if I had stayed in to chase some of my inside straight draws. Two hands in a row I would have hit straights on the river that would have held up, but I folded on the flop or turn because of raises. Turns out they were raising top pair or two pair. It was disappointing, but chasing those straights was what got me into trouble earlier, so I didn't feel too bad.

I decided to cash out around 3. I had bought in for $80, and cashed out for $132, for a net profit of $52. I'm kind of pissed that I dropped so much money during the middle two hours, especially since it's something I could have avoided. But in the end I was up 13 big bets, for a rate of 3.25 BB/hour. So I can't really complain. I just can't let myself get caught up in playing shit hands the next time I'm in that kind of situation.

Vegas

After the first week of school, we decided to hit Vegas for the first time. Me, Ryan, Nick, and Nikhil left here around 1:30, got to Vegas around 5. Met up with Kim and Damian later. Parked at Mandalay Bay, and somehow wandered into the rich section of the hotel. When you walk by a beauty salon for pets, and then past a guy who's showing a bunch of diamonds to a couple ladies out in the hall, you know you shouldn't be there. It took us about 5 minutes to find our way to the casino.

We stayed at Mandalay Bay for a little bit. Watched everyone else play roulette. I checked out the Mandalay Bay poker room. It was nice, but the lowest limits that they spread are 4-8, too rich for me. After an hour or so, we decided to take the tram over to the Luxor.

Luxor was pretty fucking cool. It was a Friday night, but they still had a ton of $5 minimum blackjack, roulette, and craps tables. So I spent a couple hours watching everyone else play craps and roulette. We also tried to find something to eat, but the whole "all the food in Vegas is cheap" saying is fucking bullshit. The buffet at the Luxor was $17, and the cafe had sandwiches for $8 or $9. We ended up eating at the overpriced food court. Wasn't what I was expecting.

Around 9, I went to the poker room and got a seat at a 2-4 hold em table without a wait. The room had six tables, four of them in use on the friday night. They were spreading two 2-4 games, one 1-4-8-8 game, and one 1-5 seven card stud game that broke up after an hour or so. My table was pretty soft. Not a lot of preflop raising - I was the only one who did it consistently. There were a couple guys who would call all the way to river, only to show shit cards. I wasn't too worried. After I had been there for three hours, a couple frat guys from University of Washington sat down. These guys thought they could play, but they couldn't. They were way too loose, played way too many hands, and then were suprised when they hand the second best hand in the showdown. But that was normal for the table. They each bought in for $100, both rebought for $100, and then busted out before I left. The only real competition I had was a guy who was in Vegas for his anniversary. He was there for maybe three hours of the time I was there. He raised a lot, even posted live straddles a few times. If he was raising it, I generally got out. But I was still able to outplay him a lot of the time.

I don't remember a lot of specific hands, but basically I was getting good cards all night and the other guys were paying me off when I had them. I got dealt pocket Aces four times in eight hours, and they held up every single time. I made most of my straight and flush draws on the turn or river. Had two full houses that held up. All this added up to me making a lot of money. I bought in for $80, had dropped to $50 within 15 minutes, and then went steadily up since then. Since I was the big stack at the table for the whole night, I was getting a lot of respect. If I check-raised on the flop, I'd be in control of the hand for the rest of the time. It would be checked to me, and I could decide if I wanted a free card or not. Even if I was first to act, I could check on the turn and get the free card sometimes, since everyone was afraid of the check raise. This meant that if someone did bet into me, they would generally have a hand and I could adjust accordingly. I was able to steal a couple pots with outright bluffs, which was pretty cool. One hand, I had 9,10 suited and the flop came A,K,rag with no flush possibility. I think there were four people in the pot. I was second to act. Checked to me, I check, and it gets checked around. The turn is another King. Checked to me, I check, last guy bets. First guy calls, and I raise. Everyone folds. I had the read on everybody. It was pretty fucking sweet.

When Ryan came up and I asked what time it was, expecting it to be around 2, and he said 5, I decided it was time to quit. Eight hours of play was enough since I still had to drive back to Mudd. I had bought in for $80, and ended up cashing out for $305. Net profit of $225. Not too bad.

Took a while to find the car. We were in the Luxor, and ended up wandering to the Excalibur before we finally found our way to the Strip, so that we then had to walk past the Excalibur, back past the Luxor, and then past Mandalay Bay to get to the car. Fucking casinos - they're a goddamn maze. Drive back took three and half hours. Left Vegas around 6:30 in the morning and got back around 10. Then I crashed and woke up just in time for the End of Dry Week party. Overall, it was a pretty fucking good Vegas trip. Can't wait 'til Fall Break when we go back.

The 5 Questions Most Feared By Men

"What are you thinking about?"
"Do you love me?"
"Do I look fat in this?"
"Do you think she is prettier than me?"
"What would you do if I died?"

What makes these questions so difficult is that every one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument if the man answers incorrectly (i.e., tells the truth). Therefore, as a public service, each question is analyzed below, along with possible responses.

Question #1: "What are you thinking about?"

The proper answer to this, of course, is: "I'm sorry if I've been pensive, dear. I was just reflecting on what a warm, wonderful, thoughtful, caring, intelligent woman you are, and how lucky I am to have met you." This response obviously bears no resemblance to the true answer, which most likely is one of the following:

a. Football.
b. Golf.
c. How fat you are.
d. How much prettier she is than you.
e. How I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Perhaps the best response to this question was offered by Al Bundy, who once told Peg, "If I wanted you to know what I was thinking, I would be talking to you!"

Question #2: "Do you love me?"

The proper response is: "YES!" or, if you feel a more detailed answer is in order, "Yes, dear."

Inappropriate responses include:

a. Oh yeah, shit-loads.
b. Would it make you feel better if I said yes?
c. That depends on what you mean by love.
d. Does it matter?
e. Who, me?

Question #3: "Do I look fat?"

The correct answer is an emphatic: "Of course not!" Among the incorrect answers are:

a. Compared to what?
b. I wouldn't call you fat, but you're not exactly thin.
c. A little extra weight looks good on you.
d. I've seen fatter.
e. Sorry, what did you say? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question #4: "Do you think she's prettier than me?"

Once again, the proper response is an emphatic: "Of course not!" Incorrect responses include:

a. Yes, but you have a better personality.
b. Not prettier, but definitely thinner.
c. Not as pretty as you when you were her age.
d. Define pretty.
e. Sorry, what did you say? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died.

Question #5: "What would you do if I died?"

A definite no-win question. (The real answer, of course, is "Buy a Ferrari and a boat.")

No matter how you answer this, be prepared for at least an hour of follow-up questions, usually along these lines:

Woman: "Would you get married again?"
Man: "Definitely not!"
Woman: "Why not - don't you like being married?"
Man: "Of course I do."
Woman: "Then why wouldn't you remarry?"
Man: "Okay, I'd get married again."
Woman: (with a hurtful look on her face) "You would?"
Man: (makes audible groan)
Woman: "Would you sleep with her in our bed?"
Man: "Where else would we sleep?"
Woman: "Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?"
Man: "That would seem like the proper thing to do."
Woman: "And would you let her use my golf clubs?"
Man: "She can't use them; she's left-handed."
One minute's silence.
Man: "Shit."

Summer Recap

Got a new car. Brand new 2003 Ford Explorer, dark green. 21st birthday present from my parents. Fucking sweet.

Lost 36 lbs. Goal is to be under 200 lbs. by Christmas. Wouldn't be that hard to do, but it would mean not drinking all semester. Pretty sure nobody around Norf is going to let me get away with that.

Dropped $170 playing poker. That'll change though. Guaranteed.

Family got a new pool table. Played a lot of pool. I still suck though. It's fucking pathetic.

Took the GRE twice. Read below to find out about all that bullshit.

Saw Pirates of the Caribbean. Became one of my favorite movies. Johnny Depp is fucking awesome as Jack Sparrow. And Keira Knightley is fucking hot. Damn.

Went to the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Got to go into the paddock area and see the crews working on the cars. Pretty impressive.

Got the Two Towers DVD. The previews of Two Towers Extended Edition and Return of the King are fucking awesome. Return of the King is going to be the best movie ever made. No fucking joke. I can't wait.

Finally caught the Oz series finale on HBO. Pretty fucking cool.

Not much other than that. Hit the beach a few times, went camping, that's about it. Pretty slow summer. Sure as hell not ready to start doing a shitload of homework again. Fuck.

Poker

"Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker."
-Amarillo Slim

So on my birthday, I played live casino poker for the first time at Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City. The casino was pretty nice, and was a short walk from the hotel, which was right on the beach. The poker room was pretty nice, no smoking, and had good dealers and staff. One of the dealers looked exactly like Peter Gammons, I'm fucking serious. It was scary. The rake was 10% up to $3 plus a $1 jackpot drop. I ended up playing on July 30 (my birthday) and the 31st as well.

Day 1 (July 30):

Got to the casino around 8:30 PM or so. There was only one table open, 3-6 Hold 'em, and it was full, so I put my name on the list and waited around for 20 minutes. Spent that time watching the game, and it didn't look too bad. Lots of calling stations, not a whole lot of pre-flop raising. A seat opened up around 9 PM, and I bought in for $80.

I had planned to fold the first 10 hands or so unless I got dealt a monster so that I could get used to casino play and get into the flow of the game. Didn't get the chance though, 'cause I got dealt Jd6d in the big blind on the very first hand. No raises preflop, so I checked and saw the flop for free. The flop came three diamonds, giving me the flush - so I'm playing my very first hand I got dealt. Small blind checks to me, and I bet. Everyone calls, so I don't put anyone on a higher flush. The turn was a non-diamond queen, I bet and someone in middle position raises. Folded to me, I re-raise, and it's folded to the original raiser who calls. I figure I'm up against two-pair or a set and I've still got the best hand at this point. Then comes the river - another diamond. FUCK! I only have the Jack, so things aren't looking good. It's heads-up right now, and I bet hoping to win it there. He raises, and I know I'm beat. I call the raise, just 'cause there's always the possibility he's betting his set or worse (from the time I spent watching before I sat down he didn't seem like a great player to me). He turns over AdQc for the nut flush, and I'm pissed. Very first hand I played, and I just lost to a flush draw that hit on the river. Cost me $36, and I'm down to half of my original stack after one goddamn hand. The thing is, I don't think I misplayed this hand either. I made it expensive for the flush draw to continue, and it was just bad luck that he hit on the river. If the river's no help, I drag around a $100 pot. I think I did everything right. Feel free to let me know if I fucked up though.

After that first hand, I'm looking at only $40 in front of me, so I tighten up (which was the original plan all along.) The problem with this is that I don't get any cards to play. In two hours, I think I was dealt playable cards six or seven times, half of which I had to fold when the flop gave no help. I did win a nice pot when I made my full house on the turn. The problem was it was 3-handed at this point. I bet, guy to my left raises, lady to his left folds, and I re-raise. I was positive that I had the best hand, and I figured that the guy to my left would call since he had raised. But the motherfucker mucked his hand! I took down a good pot, but it could have been a lot more if he had stayed in.

This had me feeling good, but I still only had $40 in front of me since the blinds were chipping away at my stack. After that hand, I continued to get blinded away. I was down to about $20 when I get dealt AsKs. Big Slick! When the flop comes two spades and an Ace, I end up going all-in. The third spade hits on the river and I'm back up to $70. Still pretty shitty though. There was a lot of action on that hand, and I could have taken down a lot bigger pot if I had the stack. Life sucks though.

That was the last big pot I won all-night. For the next three hours I get dealt absolute junk. I fold most of it pre-flop, and when I do happen to get dealt a couple of face cards, I end up folding them on later streets when I get no help. By 1 AM, I'm busted out.

Here's the story that really pisses me off though. Chinook Winds has a promotion where the highest hand between 6 PM and 8 PM gets paid $50, between 8 PM and 10 PM gets $100, and between 10 PM and 12 AM gets $200. You don't even need to have a showdown. If you make quads on the turn and everyone folds to you, you can still show the quads and qualify for the bonus. Around 11:30 the high hand is aces full of nines, and I get dealt 3d4d. Yeah, they're suited connectors. But they're small cards, and I was UTG, not the best position to play this from. In fact, you won't find a poker book that recommends playing this hand from early position. So I muck it. It's the right thing to do. There's a lot of callers though, so we see the flop. It's 33J. Fuck, I just folded three of a kind. There's some action, then we see the turn. It's a motherfucking 3. That's right. The board is 33J3, and I folded 34 before the flop. I am so fucking pissed. I know I shouldn't be pissed since it was the right thing to do, but I still folded a hand that would have won me $200. Instead the aces full of nines held up, and one of the locals took the bonus. I was pretty pissed off. Fuck that.

Even though I busted out and folded the hand that would have won me $200, it was a good experience and pretty fun. I was sitting next to this big biker guy on my right who was on a cross country trip on his bike, hitting every casino he came across along the way. Nice guy and a good player, he was probably up $300 when I left.

Day 2 (July 31):

This was the last night at the beach, and I decide to give poker another shot. Get to the poker room around 9 PM, and there's one seat open at the only table that's active, 3-6 Hold 'em again with Peter Gammons dealing. Buy in for another $80. Get seated in the same seat I was at last night, and the guy to my right is the same guy that was on my left the night before. This was the only familiar face, everyone else was new. Me and him are talking, turns out after I left the night before some guy sits down who's never played the game and proceeds to give away money for the remaining hour and a half that the poker rooms was open. I hear that the big biker guy was up $500 when the game ended (apparently the dealers had to leave, so everyone got kicked out).

I fold the first eight hands or so, then I get dealt pocket 7's in middle position. Fucking sweet. One bet to me, I raise to see where I stand, everyone folds or calls - no re-raisers. Flop comes Q97 rainbow. Just flopped bottom set. Not fantastic, but it's definitely playable. It's checked to the guy on my right (who was there last night) who bets, I raise, and it's folded back to the bettor who calls. So now it's heads-up. Turn is a blank. Guy to my right bets. Hmmm, he must have a hand. I raise, figuring to fold if the re-raise comes. He just calls. Turn is a 9, for a board of Q97x9. I just made my boat. The guy to my right bets. I've got to worry about a better full house, but I figure my sevens full of nines is best so I raise. Then I get re-raised. I want to shoot myself, 'cause I know I'm fucked. The other guy played pretty well last night, and I know that re-raise means he's got nines full. "I'm pretty sure I'm beat" as I throw in the $6, and he turns over Q9s for the better full house. The river fucks me over once again. I lost $42, over half my stack.

Things didn't get much better after that. Two people sat down who had never played the game before and were calling with pretty much everything. So, there were only six people at the table now, two who didn't know the hand rankings. But I just couldn't get the cards to take advantage of the situation. During the next two hours I think I won one pot. One fucking pot. It wasn't even that big. It just prolonged the inevitable. The worst was being dealt AQ offsuit. That might have been the best hand I was dealt all night. The flop has an ace, and I raise. It drives out everybody but one of the newbies, the wife of a businessman who had been calling people all the way to the river all night, only to show Queen high or some other weak hand. I think I'm in pretty good shape as she calls me all the way to the river, only to turn up AK and take the pot with the bigger kicker. There goes another $20.

After that, I only had around $12 left, and that gets blinded away as I get dealt more junk - plus the blinds are coming around faster since there's only six players. I go bust, and buy in for another $40, hoping that if I can catch some decent cards I can take advantage of the two clueless people. The cards don't come though. I go down to $20, win a couple pathetic pots to get back up to $40, and then finally decided cash out after being blinded back down to $30. Lost $90 in a little over three hours, half of that on the busted full house.

Summary:

Lost $170 in 8 hours. That's a rate of -3.5 BB/hour. A good player should win between 1 and 2 BB/hour. Of course, that statistic is for hundreds of hours of play, and I've only got eight under my belt right now, so I'm not worried. I've already looked into the casinos in SoCal. Casino Morongo, San Manuel, and Pechenga all look pretty good and are within an hour from Mudd. Probably play at the Commerce once just to see what it's like. Gonna re-read all my books before school starts, then start playing again. I plan on being in the black (or red, or whatever fucking color means you're making a profit) by the end of the semester. Gonna have to hit Vegas too, if the rugby schedule will let me. Palms, Monte Carlo, Mandalay Bay are all supposed to have soft games. And I gotta play in the Mirage and Bellagio just to say I did. It's going to be a busy semester.

GRE

I decided to take the GRE this summer so that I wouldn't have to worry about it during school. I took it twice:

July: 600 Verbal, 790 Math, 6.0 Essays
August: 610 Verbal, 780 Math, ??? Essays

If you haven't taken it yet:

The essay sections were pretty fucking easy. Didn't have to think too hard about the topics, and the time limits were enough to crap out 5-6 decent paragraphs.

The math sections were also pretty easy. Both times I took the test, I had two math sections, so one of them was their experimental section. It's pretty easy to tell which one is experimental since it starts off with some tough ones. For the section that counts, a monkey could answer the first five problems. Time wasn't an issue, it's all basic math.

The verbal section is fucking bullshit. I took some practice tests before the July test and scored in the 700s, so I thought I'd do all right. When I actually took the test though, I had never seen half of the fucking words before in my life. I was pulling answers out of my ass for the whole half hour. In August I took another practice test - scored in the 700s, so I figure that maybe the July test was a fluke. I pretty much need a higher verbal score since my GPA is shit (thanks a lot Mudd) and isn't going to get me the money I need to go to grad school. So I take the test again - and it's the same fucking situation. Never seen any of this shit before. It's another half hour of guessing, and I basically wasted a whole afternoon and 125 fucking dollars to raise the verbal score 10 fucking points. Fuck. Walked out of there pretty fucking pissed off.

So, the essays and math are easy. Be prepared to take it up the ass during the verbal section - apparently years of reading and doing crossword puzzles don't mean a goddamn thing. Don't believe your practice test scores either, they're bullshit.

So now I'm fucked. The verbal score isn't too good, so I can probably say goodbye to any fellowships or shit like that. My GPA is below a 3.0, so that's going to fuck me over. I've got no summer job or research experience. I'm fucked.

Poker

Book Review: Hold 'em Poker For Advanced Players

Funny shit.

Poker

If you like poker, this is pretty interesting.

Howard Lederer's 2003 WSOP Diary

Movie Reviews

Narc

Pretty good movie with an interesting ending - better than most of the police movies I've seen. Ray Liotta was fuckin' awesome. Jason Patric was pretty good too. I won't give away anything, so I'll just say it's definitely worth watching.

Solaris

WHAT THE FUCK? Here's a movie with George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, and James Cameron all involved. All of these guys have had some pretty good stuff - although Cameron still needs to be shot for that steaming pile of shit Titanic. Also, everybody gave this movie good reviews. But it's one of the most boring movies I've ever seen. Absolutley nothing happens. Maybe I'm too fucking stupid to understand the deeper meaning of it (actually, the chances of that are pretty good), but I still don't see how anybody could give this a good review. If you think a movie that shows a lot of boring flashbacks and shots of George Clooney asleep is a great idea then you'll probably love this. Otherwise, don't waste your fucking time.