Oh, hi...

I guess it's worth an update here. Poker has been on the back-burner for the last few weeks. I bought a house (too big) and have focused all my attention on that. Loving it. Loving being a homeowner. Loving decorating a new space. Loving that I've got a finished basement worth of man-cave status. I honestly can't wait to host my first poker game here.

I'm in the market for a nice custom round or octagon. Anybody got a lead on a great local table maker? Give me a shout!

Event #30 I WILL CRUSH YOU!

That's right, I'm playing in the WSOP this year. I managed to qualify through our own Chiptalk.net, the place for uber chip geeks and poker aficionados. Event #30 is your standard NLHE $1500 event, and will likely have close to 3000 players. I'm hoping that I can make it through to Day Two. Sounds lame, but it's not as easy as it sounds, and I would be very happy with that as my first performance in a WSOP event. My ultimate goal is (duh) to win the damn thing.

The wife is joining me, and we're staying at the Venetian, my personal favourite. Wifey loves the spa there, and most of our favourite dinner places are either in, or nearby. Everything's booked, first night: Tao. Followed by SushiSamba, Rao, Delmonico's and finally, Taste of Siam. During the tournament, we didn't book anything, as it's considered bad juju. I'm playing the event, and wifey's going to meet me there for my dinner breaks. Too bad the Rio doesn't have any spectacular restaurants and I'm sure that I'll be pretty wound up and won't want to eat a huge meal. We'll see.

My secret backup plan is to hit the Deepstack Extravaganza at the Venetian in the event of an early bustout. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

There's a huge contingent of Chiptalk people going this year, it'll be great to meet some people in person for the first time, and excellent to see some old faces again.

Wish me luck!

WBCOOP Here I come...

Despite the fact that I don't really update all that often here, Pokerstars has deemed my blog sufficiently busy to award me a ticket for the blogger qualifier. So, out of some sort of guilt, I'm updating.

Poker has been quite traumatic for me lately. I'm on an incredible downswing. I just don't seem to care much about it. I've got oodles of new chips that have started to see play, but I just can't win with the damn things. Kinda makes me want to liquidate and get out of this chipping craze. It's not fun anymore. And is a pretty big drain on the bank account.

I say this now, but a few weeks will go by, and I'll have reread a book or two, and win a tournament, and love poker again.

It might be time to try SnG's a stay away from the donkaments. Maybe time for another bankroll challenge on Stars with the Chiptalk buddies...

Oh, and check out my new Blog, "What Should We Have For Dinner". The wife and I are on a kick to never eat the same meal twice. And six months in, it's a rousing success. Lots of variety, nutrition and fun in the kitchen. You can find the link in the right sidebar. Recipes will be posted along with some gorgeous pix.

WBCOOP is BACK!

I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 699593

And I'm all set to do it again! Poker has been slow. Except for the regular games Monday and Wednesday, and one or two home games, I haven't been playing much lately. That should change right about now...

New Chips arrive today.

The chips evar are arriving today. Can't wait to see them in person.

Poker has been quiet this month and last. Work has been keeping me extremely busy and I just haven't been able to devote any serious time to it. Tonight's the 7th (of 20) game of the WSOP qualifier on CT. I'm firmly in first with a 20 point pad. Based on the number of people we've had, another solid month guarantees one entry to a $1500 event with $750 for travel expenses next year. Just have to keep up the focus and nail this thing.

I find when there's something on the line, I play much better poker. I guess that's a no-brainer, but it really makes a difference for me. 15 games count towards your final, so there's still a ton of wiggle room. Enjoying myself though, it'd be awesome to freeroll(ish) the WSOP next year!

Twins

No, not like that you sickos.

My very good friend and his wife gave birth to twins a little over a year ago (forgive me if I'm way off - I'm not much of a kid guy) and he's been writing an excellent blog on the subject. Some very fun reads, and definitely worth checking out. Give it a read when you get a sec. It's in my link section, but here it is for you lazy types. 3dub4dub

Nothing of much interest on the poker front. Although, I am pretty sure that Pokerstars DOES indeed have a doomswitch.

Seneca

Tomorrow I'm off with a few buddies for the first time since the Spring for a roadtrip to Seneca for their deepstack 10am tournament. The structure isn't the best, but it's one of the only games in town, or rather, close to town. I've gone deep a few times, and actually cashed maybe four times out of 10. Not a horrible record. Very well run tournament, and the people are nice. The plan is to make our way over the border, play the tournament, and as people bust they'll make their way back over the border and back to the smelly hole that is Casino Niagara for the cash games.

Should be an interesting crew this time as well. Full report upon my return.