tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52011422911748604552024-03-18T23:59:02.591-04:00Evets on 5th StreetThe insightful or not so insightful insights of a would be poker player.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-47885286153893911932009-07-31T22:37:00.002-04:002009-07-31T22:50:26.882-04:00I guess I have been busy......playing around on Facebook instead of updating this blog. It's no excuse it is just what it is. I have been living life not really playing much poker. Been training hard in Tang Soo Do because I have my big test coming up in less then a year. Trying to find a way to make it all pay off and enjoy doing it as well. Most of what makes me the happiest these days is going to the beach with my daughter and seeing her dive for rocks to bring home for her mom, having a quiet evening on the porch with a good beer, good book and a good cigar.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-80412464175286066102008-12-05T20:45:00.002-05:002008-12-05T20:47:29.541-05:00World Blogger Championship of Online PokerI haven't played poker in awhile but I will be playing in this<br /><br /><div style="height:140px;width:100%;"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/"><img src="http://www.pokerstars.com/images/wbcoop/WBCOOP_banner2.gif" alt="Online Poker" align="left" style="margin-right:10px;" border="0"></a><p>I have registered to play in the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/">PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker</a>!</p><p>The WBCOOP is an online <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">Poker</a> tournament open to all Bloggers.</p><p>Registration code: 541964</p></div><br /><br />Hope to see you at the tables!!!Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-91577216751768206722008-10-14T21:27:00.000-04:002008-10-14T21:48:38.516-04:00Busy Living or Busy DyingI always seem to be killing time at nights especially since it seems I haven't had the undying urge to play poker online. I have been giving it a rest and I have to say I have missed it a bit but not enough to play and then fret over the fact that I didn't do this or pushed a hand to far or not enough, the very least is that I have been sleeping better instead of having these thoughts invading my slumber. I will get back to it eventually but for right now it's not to be.<br /><br />The class at the Y has been going well and as I have said before I really am enjoying teaching martial arts and to feel a real passion for something that I haven't felt for in a very long time or ever. I think this has been what has been missing from my poker game. Like poker I know that I am not the best Tang Soo Do practitioner out there but it does not effect my bottom line like it does in poker. Seeing my students under me grow and develop a passion for the art like I have. Sharing my knowledge with other people is what it is all about. If I could just find a way to generate more interest in what we are doing and have the program really grow. <br /><br />I am learning everyday that I teach something new about myself and it's giving me a deeper understanding of what it means to be a true practitioner of the art. Everyone that studies martial arts is ultimately looking to earn a black belt and feels that is a great accomplishment. I have to say that it truly is and I felt more satisfaction earning my first Dan (degree) then I think I did in getting my college degree. The reality of it is that I it is just the beginning and you don't really understand that until you have been studying for many years as a black belt. I going on a decade of having my 1st Dan and I feel that there is still so much that I can still learn. I am doing such advanced techniques but there is always something to gain from doing the first form you ever learned. When you stop taking something new away from that you should think about doing something else in life because that has lost all meaning to you. The idea is simple you should learn something new everyday of your life because that is what keeps you interested in living. If you have it all figured out you have nothing to look forward to and you might as well quit living. As Stephen King wrote in "The Shawshank Redemption" "You either busy living or busy dying." So growing everyday from finding something new to spark your mind is being busy living. I hope I never figure it all out because then that night that I go to bed I will have nothing to look forward to when I wake up so I might as well just die in my sleep. Our black belts are actually Midnight Blue becuase Balck is finality and death and the midnight blue is symbolic to allowing more growth.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-6277524562844049882008-09-07T21:00:00.004-04:002008-09-07T21:39:18.463-04:00Poker, Pallin, Soccer and Martial ArtsI have been rather silent in the past few months and I just don't know what to say. Nothing much is happening on the poker front. I have decided to take a bit of a hiatus from online play it just wasn't as much fun as it had been in the past and I think I was putting to much pressure on myself to have positive results in the form of monetary return and I wasn't getting the results that I liked. I played live a bit back up at Foxwoods and had I good result at the low limit tables but I blew most of it playing a Sit'n go where I bubbled out in fourth. I thought I had been discplined enough to resist the siren call of the sitn'go but alas I was weak and paid for my sins.<br /><br />I have been gathering an interest in following Soccer and have been sucked into caring about the matches from many different leagues. English Premier League, Scottish Premier League(being part Scot I just have to), La Liga, Barcalona looks like the team for me, UEFA league Championships and yeah even MLS even though I know they are the red headed step child of world soccer. I have settled in on Celtic for the SPL even though it seems like I am a winner picker there but my Grandmother was form Glasgow and for some reason the Rangers don't seem to speak to me. EPL I haven't settle on a team a friend of mine is a Man U. nut but I am not committed to them I think I am leaning towards Liverpool but haven't made a public commitment as of yet. For the MLS I am a glutton for punishment because like every New York fan who roots for teams that play in Giants Stadium it's feast or famine and nothing in between so I have to say I am a Red Bulls fan and maybe they will have better luck once their new Soccer specific stadium is built and they are in there own home. Even though if they can't win on the road they will never make the playoffs. With World Cup qualifiers happening as we speak there is a bunch to be excited about and to hold my interest.<br /><br />When it comes to politics I am very disappoint in the whole lot and am very afraid for this country that we live in. The latest example is the Sarah Pallin fiasco yeah that's the way to be the mavrick McCain appeal to the wacko religious right and delude yourself in thinking the women of this country will give in on every important value that is dear to them that this Moose shooting pit bull of a politician thinks should be taken away will give them votes because she has a vagina and are pissed off at Obama because he beat Hillary fair and square and didn't pick her as his running mate. Talk about being out of touch. Oh since I don't believe I am part of the media I will say what everyone is thinking, Pallin's failed policies of absentience only sex education came to bite her in the ass and to think that her daughter decide to have this child is something to be proud about and having marry this yahoo is the best think for this innocent child that is cooking in her uterus is one of the biggest piece of hipocracy when no one out there is condemning her for having premarital sex to begin with. Enough ranting I think I have say all I can without my head exploding.<br /><br />I personal note I have been teaching my Tang Soo Do class for almost 6 months now and I seriously considering opening up a private studio as soon as I feel I can make a go at it. More to come as that develops.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-18555007451551748182008-06-03T23:29:00.003-04:002008-06-03T23:58:01.908-04:00Doing my part, are you?I long for the days when I would drive around town and try to find the gas station that had gas at less the a $1.30 a gallon? I know I maybe dating myself but that was less than 10 years ago. Now I am searching online to find gas that is as close to $4.00 a gallon as possible. Now in the ten years since my salary has not increase 4 fold to keep up with this. So what is this one man to do? I could win the lottery but I actually think I'm not the only one trying this tact. I could telecommute but first I would have to find a job that would allow me to do that. I could sell it all and move to an island and start bartending at a beach bar, I haven't discussed this with the wife but I think she would be down with that. <br /><br />Seriously what I am doing is finding other modes of transportation. My hours at work are not the most conducive to taking the bus even though it is a short walk to the bus stop form my house. I only live less then 3 miles from my job so I have decided to ride my bike. I bought the bike about 4 years ago and never really used it as much as I would have like to. I have always like going on bike rides and I have always said I would rather ride ten miles on a bike then jog one mile. The only problem with the bike riding is that I get off of work at 10:30 in the evening and it is mostly up hill on the way home. I have the requisite lights, the bright head light and the blinking tail light and reflective gear, a crazy yellow reflective vest you can see from the moon if there is light shined on it. I have been doing it for about a week now and I am actually enjoying the time that I am alone on the road. It has been very healthy for me both physically and mentally. The best part is that I am barley using my car and I have stretched out the times between fill ups. I may not put an end to the OPEC cartel but damn its making a difference in my wallet. So as my bank account gets bigger my waistline is getting smaller and the oil companies aren't getting richer and that is something.<br /><br />What are you doing?Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-84063810698728263962008-05-23T22:33:00.003-04:002008-05-23T23:21:10.920-04:00Do I really need a new something else to worry about?I have never been much of a sports fan. I really just didn't care enough. I always thought that there were more important things to care about in this world, like world peace, AIDS, Crack and Bernie Getz. I was a music geek in High School and knew more about Beethoven, Benny Goodman and Billy Joel then the Yankees or any other professional team. I was in the marching band and went to every football game for my years there. When I went to college to study music I joined the pep band and even the fraternity that organized it, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia a professional music fraternity. In going to all these game I rooted for the home team like nobody's business, but I never care much about the great American pastime, never memorized players or stats. I was only interested in one world series that was the '86 Mets/Boston because my roommate was a crazy ass Mets fan. The scary part of what is happening to me right now is that I am actually caring about soccer.<br /><br />I work with a kid that is a Manchester United freak and I have been following his ups and downs throughout the season this year and I was truly disappointed that I wasn't able to watch the whole Chelsea/Man U match on Wednesday. I was able to get to a TV during the extra time and shoot out and Holy shit that was some serious edge of your seat cardiac inducing action. The last couple of World Cups I would actually try to follow the teams and when the US made it as far as it did the last time I actually watch the final and witnessed the headbutt heard around the world. So I'm not completely ignorant.<br /><br />The problem I am having is following the EPL is that I can figure out how all the qualifying for the European cups works and who gets automatic entry and who doesn't let alone know who plays for who. What I really like is relegation because you actually care about the competition at the bottom of the rankings as well as the power houses at the top of the league. This is something that I think should be introduced in the US. Can you imagine if the Yankees have a really shitty season that the would have to play Triple AAA and some farm team moves up to the Majors, now that would be excitement. I know the European Cup is about to begin and I will watch with interest but I think I am starting to care about the New York Red Bulls and the MLS. I know they are the red headed stepchild in the world of soccer but what the hell. I just might not tell my Man U freak friend he may not understand.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-73445521254213601472008-05-18T20:41:00.004-04:002008-05-18T20:55:18.707-04:00Holy Crap...It's been over three months since my last post and I don't think anyone noticed. That's ok because it is mostly mental masturbation for me and it is really just a creative outlet to clear the monkey brain that is my mind. <br /><br />Let me sum up:<br /><br />Poker sucking and I have lost some passion for online play. Haven't gotten up to <a href="http://foxwoods.com">Foxwoods</a> since last post anyway and seriously craving some live action.<br /><br />Work is just going, no better no worst. The new Karate class is coming along, I just wish I had a few more students but that all may change soon. Something is in the works, more once I know.<br /><br />Munchkin is great as always, the wife is good as well and has come to the conclusion that we need to do something about the environment that we live and I am all for that even though it means a bunch of manual labor on my part.<br /><br />If anyone out there cares about what I have to say just drop me an email or a comment so I can decide if I have to be truly creative or just write to amuse myself.<br /><br />Goodnight and Good Luck!!!Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-49722048080766342162008-03-03T10:45:00.001-05:002008-03-03T21:10:30.396-05:00$4.00 and a dreamThe New York State Lottery used to have an ad campaign that's tag line was "All you need is a dollar and a dream." and if you a degenerate gambler all you needed was a few hundred dollars and a dream. My father used to buy a couple tickets a week and I really don't know how much he invested in his dream but I know it really wasn't much. Then one day when I was 25, I was living with my parents after college and waiting to get married for the first time and my father knocked on my bedroom door and and came in and closed the door behind him. this freak me out because even as a child this wasn't something that he would have done. He told be he needed to tell me something and if he didn't tell someone he was going to explode but to please not tell my mother. Now thoughts of him telling me that he was in the CIA and had assassinated some world leader and saved the world. No, it was that he finally had hit something in the lottery. He hadn't hit the jackpot but he took home about 5K for hitting 4 out of the 5 numbers needed to win. Not to shabby for a days work.<br /><br />I have been thinking about the lottery a bunch this last week only because the Powerball jackpot is now up in the neighborhood of 175 Million. I have drop a couple of bucks this past week and actually took home a few bucks for hitting the Powerball number and nothing else, paid out a whopping $3 so I am down $2 for the week. I guess sometimes playing low level poker online can be like playing the numbers from your local variety store. That what it has felt like for the month so far. I started of with dedicating $4 to playing Pot limit Omaha in the beginning of the year. I had been playing O8 for a couple of months and was getting burned to may times and gave back about half of what I had won over those months. So inspired by Chris Frueguson's zero dollars to 10K story I decided to give it a try. I wasn't going to be patient enough to play the free rolls to start building a bankroll. I decide to start with the minimum buy in at the .05/.10 table and see where I could go with that. Well a month and a half later I haven't had to rebuy and I have turned that $4 into about $70. It was up around $100 but the first three day of this month haven't been to kind to me. I know it is variance and I can't have all of my redraws hit every time and it is low level loosey goosey kind of play. I haven't decide if I am being to tight or if I should loosen up my standards a bit. I have been shock at what some people are playing but for the most part I'm usually right about where I stand and when all the money is in the pot I haven't been all that shocked about what they are turning over. But man I have seen some crazy hands. My favorite was one of my own I raised all in with AATJ double suited and ended up winning not with the Aces holding up but with Quad tens. I have also be giving and receiving almost equal numbers of suckouts. I know it's a game of redraws but some times I think I am going to have a heart attack as the cards come down. I don't know if I will ever be ready to play this game live but it has be fun and frustrating all at the same time. I will continue to play it for as long I feel I am running reasonably good at it and still having fun playing it. Isn't that the truth about anything anyway.<br /><br />On a side note I am really craving some live action so I think I need to play hooky from work soon and get my ass up to <a href="http://foxwoods.com/">Foxwoods</a> for some real donkalicus $2/4 hold'em and see if I can satellite into the next WPT event that is coming up the end of this month.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-69837479343666002912008-02-29T00:26:00.003-05:002008-02-29T01:10:33.607-05:00Happy Leap DayYou get an extra day every four years and how do we spend it? I am going to go out with my wife and munchkin for dinner to celebrate our legal wedding anniversary. Legal you say, what do you mean? My wife and I consider our wedding day to be the last day of July 1999 we had a pig roast and pool party and let everyone that we love and care for know what our intentions were towards each other, but we didn't make it legal. It was a Handfasting and if you know what that is then I won't explain, if you don't, then that is for another post. It was on our honeymoon in the U.S.V.I. that we pick the date of February 29, 2000 to let the state know that we were a couple. The appeal of the date was that 2/29/00 only comes around every 400 years. Normally century marks are not leap years for some reason that I can't explain. So we got a friend who was also a Justice of the Peace and went to a Irish pub, ad libbed a service of I dos, drank copious amounts of Guinness and accepted the fact that we could now file a joint tax return. <br /><br />Four years later on our "1st" year anniversary my wife was three days from her due date to giving birth to our munchkin. Well, she didn't come until almost two weeks later, but we had a nice dinner and prepared for how our lives would change very soon. <br /><br />So even though we have actually have been married for 8 years we will always do something special every four years to mark this occasion. This extra day is a gift and you should all do something outside the box or special because you only get an extra 24 four hours every four years. We are going to introduce our nearly 4 year old daughter to the simple pleasure that is Japanese Hibachi and toast our 2nd anniversary for the second time. What will you do?Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-12379641965400767482008-02-20T19:50:00.004-05:002008-02-21T10:35:45.749-05:00Fidel Castro Resigns...... and the only thing I want to know now is when can I get Cuban cigars without traveling to a foreign country? I guess that embargo finally worked, it only took 40 some odd years but we broke him.<br /><br />I started smoking cigars back in 1997 just before the craze hit and I was always happy with a good Dominican or Honduran cigar and just dream of the day I would taste a Cuban. A buddy of mine smuggled some back from the Bahamas, a couple of Montecristo Tubos, and holy crap were they good. They were more than likely the best things I have ever put in my mouth. The flavor and the quality of smoke just beat anything I had ever smoked before. It then became my new mission in life to get my hand on as many as I could. It wasn't until a couple years later when my wife and I made a trip to St. Martin that I would have another Cuban. We found this little liquor/cigar store on the French side in Marigot that was run by a crazy, 5 foot tall Cuban guy named Jackie. He told us, repeatedly, that everyone else on the island that sold Cuban cigars were full of bullshit and if I paid more than $6 for one I was buying bullshit. Jackie also told us that he was the only one on the island that had the inside track on Cubans because once a year he would pay homage to the head tobacco grower in Cuban, who by the way didn't take any bullshit even from Castro himself, by bringing him a wheel of Dutch Cheese. I guess maybe the Dutch thought they could break communism but refusing to export cheese to despots. I bought a bunch off him and he was right the others were bullshit. I have been back to the island a few times since then but the store was close and his website was no more but I still would risk buying them from someone else and it is always one of my highlights of our trips to the Caribbean.<br /><br />Needless to say I hope that Castro's brother brings in some democratic reforms not just for the people of Cuba but for the cigar loving population of America who is tried of circumventing a stupid law.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-85498825579865363722008-01-27T22:03:00.000-05:002008-01-27T22:30:33.399-05:00Poker not So ResolvedI have been thinking about this for more then I should have and I have only come up with one simple thing; I resolve in '08 to have more of a bankroll at the start of '09 then I did at the end of '07. Simple, no fuss no muss. How I do that is another story and I am stilling trying to resolve what I will do to get there. Do I play more Limit Hold'em or O/8 or do I switch to PLO or Stud. I have been mixing it up with PLO and I have to say I am trying to have the stomach for the ups and down, but the way O/8 had been treating me the last couple of weeks of last year anything is better. I will just play smart and get in in with the best of it and hope variance doesn't rear its ugly head and spank be stupid.<br /><br />I have been giving work and life a whole bunch of thought these days and the ground work is being laid down. It will be exciting once I get there. I haven't written as much as I would like to but finding my voice both on paper and in poker is ultimately the highest goal I would like to achieve this year. Clear out the cobwebs, quiet the monkey brain and become one with myself and the rest will take care of itself.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-48778650499636716762008-01-03T10:02:00.000-05:002008-01-03T11:33:56.978-05:00Life ResolveWith the new year now into its third day I have thought about what I resolve to get accomplished in my personal life. The Munchkin is on the verge of her 4th birthday and she has been the joy of my life and could not imagine my place in this world without her being a part of it. I have made some sacrifices in my professional life so I could spend as much time as possible with her during these first few years of her life. I plan to continue to be that positive influence in her life. This really isn't a new resolution because it has always been my plan all along but I think it is important to reaffirm it every once in awhile. <br /><br />I also resolve to get in touch with some old friends that I haven't had much contact with in far to long. Even though having a child does change that it really is only an excuse. I miss socializing with friends. I have never been one to be set in my ways but that is what has happened because that is the nature of being a parent. I just have to make the effort to reach out and initiate the action. Even if it is just have someone over for coffee that is more then I have been doing for far too long.<br /><br />In my marriage I would just like to get more alone time with my wife. We tend to be running in so many different directions, and for good reason, that we just don't get to be a couple instead of a parental unit enough. <br /><br />Also I resolve to take more pictures, which may seem ironic since I fashion myself as a amateur photography with professional aspirations. I just need to make the camera an extension of me.<br /><br />Mostly I resolve to just make the time to do what is really important in life as oppose to just waiting for it to happen.<br /><br />Next post I'll make my poker resolution but I have a feeling it will be a reiteration of these last two post as it should be since the game tends to be a mirror of your life.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-26053258539069998842007-12-31T11:09:00.000-05:002008-01-01T20:27:46.627-05:00Work Resolve<div style="text-align: justify;">Happy New Year to all, may it be happy, health and full of everything you hope it to be.<br /><br />I thought on this resolution post that I would start with my professional life . If you have been reading this blog already know that my job has been anything but pleasant for the last year. I am contemplating striking out on my own and living the freelance life. I like the job security that comes with most full-time positions, but what I don't like is not having control over my destiny. I don't want to be stuck in a place where you have to wait 10 years for someone to die before you are promoted. I love the place and what it stands for and I will always have some connection to it be it a part-time job or as a member. For all of you have come in late I currently work for a Y in a town near by. I also have had a bunch of random ideas for projests floating around in my head and one in particular that I would like to commit to paper and see if I can get off the ground.<br /><br />So here it is the first of my New Year's Resolutions:<br /><br />I resolve that in the year 2008 I will do something everyday to further my career in a direction that will allow me to have more control over my destiny. When it comes to my career I will create a time line so that my goals will be met and not just exist in the ether of my mind as dreams yet to be fulfilled.<br /><br />Next post will have what I will resolve to do in my personal life followed by the most important resolution of all, what I will do in 2008 in poker.<br /></div>Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-8576613487079247482007-12-29T13:56:00.000-05:002007-12-29T14:54:06.257-05:00Is not making a resolution a resolution anyway?<div style="text-align: justify;">It's that time of year where we sit down with ourselves and decide if we are going to make any resolutions for the up coming year. I usually resolve to not make any resolution at New Year's time because this date seems rather arbitrary to me. Can't we make resolution on the 5th of October? Why is January 1st any better? If you are Jewish do you make them on Rosh Hashanah? I have been someone that thinks that life is an on going project that needs evaluation and revamping periodically as situations dictate. This past year though I feel like I have been doing just that becuase I have had so many situations that needed my attention. <br /><br />The only thing you can rely is that there is nothing that you can rely on. That is not to say that there are people you can't rely on but that situations in life that we think are firm and sure are neither. No matter how confident you are that you are safe in one situation there is always a possibility that things can change and this is neither good nor bad it just is. I do believe, even with that said, that this year I am going to make some resolutions. I feel I have been stuck in a bit of a rut for the past year or so and I really need to lay down some goals to achieve. Goals have timetables and dreams don't and all I have had lately is dreams.<br /><br />Over the next couple of days I will list my resolutions/goals here for all to see in the hope that making them public will help me stick to them. <br /></div>Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-45496623719565733322007-12-28T00:46:00.000-05:002008-01-01T20:28:31.055-05:00I think I'm playing well...I think?<div style="text-align: justify;">I have looked at the numbers and other than my bankroll that is getting smaller and I truly think that I am making all the right moves and just getting sucked out on. I have been back to playing O8 and I can't even count the number of times I have been counterfeited, or have a flush lose to a full house two outer with no other draw. I know this sounds like a bad beat rant but it's just been incredible and I have to vent and watching my wife sitting at her laptop shaking her head every time I have some sort of outburst is no solace. I ran so well for so long and I keep thinking this is just variance but dammit it's a <a href="http://evets-on5thstreet.blogspot.com/2007/09/vbitch.html">Vitch</a>. Oh well I guess maybe I'll switch games for a while or just hope for the cards to run to me instead of over me.</div>Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-49724763838628611522007-12-23T10:52:00.000-05:002008-01-01T20:29:48.358-05:00Old Mug<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.chaleur.com/prodimages/screens/300w/05xx07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.chaleur.com/prodimages/screens/300w/05xx07.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Can a coffee mug make you feel right with the world? I have this coffee mug and I am not sure quite when I got it, if I bought it for myself or if it was a gift. I know that I got around the time of my first marriage back in '92 which meant that I got custody of it in the separation in '93, the long story of the short marriage is for another post. The mug is done by<a href="http://www.chaleur.com/"> Masters Collection</a> and is an Untitled Picasso. It was exclusively used as my home coffee mug. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.chaleur.com/prodimages/screens/400w/05xx23.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.chaleur.com/prodimages/screens/400w/05xx23.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I had another for work which is also from the same collection but is call "A Man in a Hammock" by Albert Gleizes. Both Cubist and for whatever reason spoke to me, but the Picasso always seemed to say more.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />At some point I moved in with my parents while I got back on my feet. I met my current wife, fell in love, got married and moved out. For some reason the Picasso mug got left behind and I don't know why. I have to say that it is my all time favorite coffee mug and I would use it exclusively when I would have coffee at my Mom's place. I have been meaning to claim it and bring home to roost with me for I don't know how many years now. It has be part of my life through marriage, success, failure, death, numerous moves by me and my mother. I was at my Mom's this weekend for a family get together and I decided that it was time for me to take it home so it could serve its purpose every morning.<br /><br />For the most part I'm not a sentimental person. I take the Buddhist line of thinking that we shouldn't become attached to anything because that attachment is the cause our suffering. With that said I don't think I have been suffering for the last several years that I have been separated from the mug but the comfort that it gives me makes sense in my world right now and I will have to see if it is the cause of any undue suffering. I don't really have that favorite T shirt, or flannel pants that most do, but a warm cup of coffee in my favorite mug just makes sense to me.</div>Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-49209405561609502352007-12-14T19:30:00.000-05:002007-12-14T22:02:56.441-05:00Haven't had much to sayThings have been going fairly well for me over the last few weeks. Work, as my last post has indicated, had to get better and it has. I am just a month away form being at my current job for five years and this is one of the longest tenure that I have had at any job. Granted that most of that was at part-time or just shy of full-time so no benefits could be paid. I find working for the Y a very fulling job, that is in the doing something to benefit all of society kind of way. I would just like the benefit my salary kind of way. This job has allowed me to be involved in the first almost 4 years of life of my daughter's life that I could not have had for all the money in the world. Now it's tie to get down to business and get to work at making some real money and as soon as I hit it big I will be glad to benefit society and write a nice check. Oh by the way I got nice watch at a breakfast the Y threw for us and some killer steak and egg burritos, so I guess it's all good.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-88991727239811033902007-12-02T22:07:00.000-05:002007-12-02T22:39:18.083-05:00Old Boss, No Boss, New BossThe stupid evil one is gone the nicer newer boss is in and I had a good day at <a href="http://foxwoods.com">Foxwoods.</a> It was a nice way to say goodbye to November and hello to December. I was able to tuck away a nice tidy win at the $2/4 table which was done in typical fashion for this level. Didn't get involved in too many hands in the 5 hours that I was there but my good ones held up and the marginal holdings improved enough. The most amazing thing was that I got pocket Kings two times in a row on the button and they held each time, well no Ace fell on the board because it was an Ace trash type of day up there. <br /><br />In my last post I was moaning and groaning about my position in life when it has came to my career and now at least I don't dread showing up for my job now. I still think that striking out on my own may be the best possible solution. The thing is now I have some breathing room and I can set my plans down better and not have the feeling of desperation that I have had in the past few months. It seemed like the obstacles in my job were starting to seep into my personal life and effect many aspects of things be it my relationship with my family, poker playing or just driving around town. Fresh outlook, a bit of padding in bankroll, Christmas is coming, what more could a guy want? Well I could think of a few things but these will have to do for now ;pStevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-86178567331849759752007-10-18T09:22:00.000-04:002007-10-21T19:20:13.262-04:00New Boss, Same as The Old BossThere comes a time in your life that you have to realize that the universe is trying to teach you something and if you could just open you mind and go with your gut you just might be able to hear what it is. Over the past ten months I have had to do too much soul searching about my life and mainly how my current employment is affecting it, then I would have like to. I believe I am finally coming to a point where I can't deny what it is that the universe is telling. I have had a very varied and interesting professional life but as I have said before here I have consistently had a good thing ruined by new management. I have looked at my response to the change and I have always given them the benefit of the doubt only to be trampled on. I also realize that this time I just may be in a pissing match and have refuse to quit and move on because that would give him just what he wants, but it just might be exactly what I need to do. I have many reasons to stay there but just one to leave and the pros have out weighed the con but the con is starting to take a toll on my life and my psyche. As much as I would love to win a seat in the latest addition of the <a href="http://www.worldpokertour.com/index.php">WPT</a> that is taking place up at <a href="http://www.foxwoods.com">Foxwoods</a> in a couple of weeks, I know that is dream that may not come to be. I have allowed my fate to be in the control of others too many times in the past and I think I will only be happy when I take control and responsibility for it myself. As much as I would love to find out if I could cut my teeth grinding it out at the tables the reality is that it's just not a viable option right now. I am going to take another avocation and try to make into a vocation and use poker as a diversion and supplement to my new endeavor. I am starting to lay down the ground work and I think in the next couple of months I will be able to make my move and even if by miracles of miracles senior management sees the errors of their ways and fire Mr. Stupid I think I will still leave and strike out on my own. It will be best for me.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-59191237646561500622007-10-13T10:22:00.000-04:002007-10-13T11:59:24.139-04:00...Good Day at Work.A bad day of poker is better than a good day of work. Well it almost was a bad day but I pulled out a small profit in the end but was it ever hard fought. I know when you are playing $2/4 at <a href="http://www.foxwoods.com/">Foxwoods</a> it sometimes can get a bit frustrating. I was better than the last time I went up there I was lucky to walk out with what little profit I did, it was amazingly sedate that day. There was bit more energy there yesterday. The games at that level up there always are loose passive types and there isn't much you can do, but put your head down and hope that the chasers stay there long enough that when you do get you big pairs they chase their draws and the odds turn on them. It was one of those days of tight up front loose in the back and most of those paid off for me but it was up and down, more down then up, for most of the day. When I got there the just called a new table and it took some time to get the feel for what was going on. There wasn't much raising pre-flop because it rarely did anything to thin the field, in for one why not two kind of thinking. This only gave the other players to more reason to chase even though I don't think any of them had any idea of pot odds. In the course of my play I got pocket Aces twice, Kings,Queens and Big Slick once and raised every time and they held up. I might as well have turn my hand up it was so transparent but nobody really pays attention so this made up for all of the river suck outs when I would flop two pair with over cards and someone would stick it out and trip up on the river, lost count how many times that happened. I still had fun and as long as I leave the table with more than I came with whether it is $2 or $200 it's still better then a good day at work.<br /><br />I also was amazed that someone would straddle a this level. This old lady who sat down and won one pot off the top decided that a straddle bet would go good with a Mai Tai with Meyers dark and whipped cream on a cold rainy day at low limit hold'em in a casino in the hills of Connecticut. I was sitting to her left and was the benefactor of her folly one time. I guess if I was going to gamble it up I would at least follow through with a bet on the flop regardless of my two cards. The time I was able to beat her she check called me to the river with a pair of threes and a eight kicker. Got to love it. Then there was the young studious guy who just couldn't catch a break every time he had a good hand someone would make one just slightly better. Young loose guy got lucky a couple of times playing trash hands but pretty much broke even for the day, he even tried bluffing out a table of calling stations. Angry old guy in the ten seat who would check in the dark if he had middle pair or was on draw and would only bet or raise when he had a lock. Or kind old lady to my left who would call with small flushes and lose to bigger ones. Just your typical day of low limit Hold'em at the biggest casino in the world. I am looking forward to when my bankroll is healthy enough to move up a level. I won't even talk about the Act I sitn'go for the <a href="http://www.foxwoods.com/OurWonders/Gaming/Poker/WPF/WPF.aspx">Foxwoods World Poker Finals</a> I was first out and was beat by a stack that was being blinded out because he was in another sitn'go. The high point of this game was I drew the Ace of spades for the button and it was all down hill from there. Not good, not good at all.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-73638148812021673772007-10-04T08:41:00.000-04:002007-10-04T08:53:21.178-04:00Freeroll For BloggersPokerStars is doing it yet again an offering a freeroll with $40,000 in prizes just for bloggers.<br /><br /><div style="height: 140px; width: 100%;"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/"><img src="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/images/2007-2.gif" alt="Poker Tournament" style="margin-right: 10px;" align="left" border="0" height="127" width="127" /></a><p>I have registered to play in the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/">PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker</a>! </p><p>This Online <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">Poker Tournament</a> is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.</p><p></p><p>Registration code: 7124549<br /></p><p></p></div><br />I played in one last year had a great time. If you have blog and like poker click through and sign up. Nothing to lose but plenty to win. See you on the felt.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-51720689739751015002007-09-03T23:30:00.000-04:002007-09-04T11:55:46.710-04:00V(b)itchThe letter B and V are very confusing when speaking Spanish. En EspaƱol they are pronounce so close I have played the "Beh" "Veh" game with the Spanish speaking crew at work more than once. That is after this week of playing online I am going to call what I have gone through VITCH.<br />We all say that variance is a bitch so why not shorten it. You would think from this post that I continued on the downward cycle but I finally made it all back. I understand that it is part of the process and I would like to say that the downside of variance doesn't effect my play, but damn does it shake my confidence. I feel that every move that I make is wrong and it goes back to when you are running bad you are probably not playing as bad as you think and when you are running good you are probably not playing as well as you think. I think I was still playing smart but I never would have guess. I won it all back and am no worst off today then I was last Monday but it was definitely was a vitch of a week.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-51077511138088736782007-09-01T23:45:00.000-04:002007-09-02T23:24:59.256-04:00Hard Way to Make a Easy LivingIt seemed like a good idea at the time. I had this great idea that after I drop the munchkin off at preschool for the morning I would put in some serious time playing poker. It would be going fine if I could figure out what the hell is happening to me in my Heads Up matches. Now, I know it is the lowest limit of O/8 that I can play on <a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/">FullTillt</a> but I have had the most awful run of cards I have seen lately and I can't even blame it on going up limits to quickly, which is usually when I crash and burn. I really haven't looked over my hands in PokerTracker to see if I am playing like the donkey I feel I have been. The second best everything hitting the call button when I know I should fold, OH POKER GODS WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!!!!! Alright I may be getting a bit dramatic and it's not like I have even taken a huge chunk out of my roll, It just sucks!!! I have made back about half of what I lost all week in one huge hand playing .05/.10 PLO. I flopped the nut straight but without any good redraws and I knew exactly what the other guy had but I couldn't fold, he had all of the redraws and for once this week they didn't get there for him. I guess it made up for some of the other suck outs I was on the other end of the rest of the week. I could share with you all of the bad beats but it still seems to surreal to me right now. I would still like to take the few hours I have alone at the house on those morning to turn this poker thing into a profitable side thing or maybe I'll just take up something safe like day trading ;)<br /><br />On a side note all of this has made me think about my life in a way that you would think I hit bottom from an addiction and have started on my twelve steps. It's not quite that bad but I will share with you all when I have a better handle on whatever it is that I am going through. Work, life, poker and my own inner voice all need a serious revamp and I may have to go to a professional for help. I have suffered from a severe identity crisis before, not just once a few times, but I feel I have a bunch more on the line at this point in my life to go through this on my own. My wife will support me in anything that I want to do and I love her for it more then she probably knows but I need an objective eye to help me lift the curtain on whatever it is that is gnawing at me.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-35735866079623462842007-08-27T10:41:00.000-04:002007-10-13T12:01:00.322-04:00She's Leaving Home...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yoj_Lq4y20yAdWPA-7TdeMsDa_QWDaL6MV8fXVOnlFuIXQjorbIvi7VCmwohKN9k-6-G8h70i9q27J4UtQjOs8JLypqInvrDtoZV4N9xYvb1PPVBPBUEk28EjTr71ZwA1UoPfcoaAdE/s1600-h/IMG_0050.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yoj_Lq4y20yAdWPA-7TdeMsDa_QWDaL6MV8fXVOnlFuIXQjorbIvi7VCmwohKN9k-6-G8h70i9q27J4UtQjOs8JLypqInvrDtoZV4N9xYvb1PPVBPBUEk28EjTr71ZwA1UoPfcoaAdE/s200/IMG_0050.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103225374786504210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Three years and go by so fast, make that three and a half, and all of a sudden the munchkin is going off to preschool. I could get all mushy but all I will say they grow up so fast and I cherish all of the moments that I have had with her so far. As soon as she started to babble I needed to hear her talk, wondering what her voice would sound like, now I can't wait to see the girl she is going to grow into.Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201142291174860455.post-48840047539145978802007-08-25T10:25:00.000-04:002007-08-25T11:07:15.656-04:00Nothing Complex<div>Some days you wish that your days are as complex as a three years old's. In some ways their lives are forth with indecision, be it which toy it is that you are going to play with or which piece of your dinner you are going to throw against the wall. I wish some days that was all I had to worry about but needless to say I am 37 years older than my daughter and I have many more things to worry about.<br /><br />I have never shied away from responsibility but some days I would like to not having anything to think about other than what to eat, if I should play poker or go to the beach for the day. It seems my job is giving me to much to think about and it's not like I am making life or death decisions. I don't pilot jet planes with hundreds of passengers that will die if I make a mistake or even some doctor that if I give the wrong drug to someone it will have adverse reaction an kill them. I work at local YMCA as member services coordinator. I love the place and I have been sucked into the whole Y experience. I enjoy working for a place that is more about helping people and families then it is about making money.<br /><br />The only problem is I now have a boss that is stupid man with a Neopolian complex. Now I know that you believe that everyone thinks that their boss is stupid and I am just whining, but really he is. He sold the upper management a bill of goods that he has yet to deliver on and most everyone is calling his bluff. Now if I was working in government or the CIA I would call this business as usual. The fact of the matter is I am working for a non-profit that grossly underpays all of it workers but we are all there for reasons other than making a million dollars (that's what poker is for). We should all be working for a common cause united in our mission to improve the lives of the people of our community.<br /><br />I have worked for more companies and in a great variety of careers than my forty years of life should indicate. I have interned as singer/actor at a professional theatre and received 20 points towards my union card, was a production assistant for a number of network series, worked as a waiter in restaurants with sizzling fajitas three inches from my head, did dance routines on the dining room floor to bad disco tunes, or work in a high end bistro with temperamental chefs. At a dinner theater with a producer that had two bad knees from a fail dancing career and choose to take it out on us that she wasn't the next up coming to be discovered by Fosse and knew we all saw through the fact that she added an e with accent to her name to change it from Berger to Berger`e trust me she wasn't French. I have taught music to inner city kids in the South Bronx and survived lunch room duty only armed with a bullhorn and my quick wit. I have directed a local cable new cast with a news anchor who never addressed me by name. The thing is that it's this current job a the Y that is giving me the most angst.<br /><br />The fact of the matter is I made some personal decisions that I can live with but may have worked against me in my current position. I choose not to go full-time right after the munchkin was born and I wouldn't give back any of that for the world. The time I have gotten be with her is worth more than anything that I could have gotten paid in any job. I think my current boss doesn't think there is any value in that or he recognizes that I have his number an would rather have me go away but I won't. The last crazy boss I had was just bipolar but he actually knew something about the field that he was working in. This guy I got has no clue and is only about him. to top it of he had hired someone above me that I am not sure if she can become my ally just yet and I don't know what it is that he is whispering in her ear. It is really sad that I am thinking about this in this way but I guess just like in poker we all have to think on a couple of levels and be one step ahead of your opponent. I have pushed my hand once and know I feel like on am on the bubble and I am going to have to push with a 7 2 off suit.<br /><br />I could score big the next time I go up to <a href="http://www.foxwoods.com/">Foxwoods</a> and this could all be moot. ;<strong>p</strong></div>Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378980114806698060noreply@blogger.com1