A Short Book Review

As promised, I am going to attempt a book review.  As an English major in college I was forced to read a lot of books.  One semester my senior year I recall reading over 25 books and wrote papers on quite a few of them.  Call it "book review burnout" I suppose, as have not written about a book since.  So, with trepidation I am now attempting this again.  The upside is that it will not be graded, though I suppose you are welcome to do so in the comments and a big plus is that it is not being written on an electric typewriter without a correction feature.  Another benefit is spell check as college papers back in the day required no misspelled (ran this one through spell checker) words and would earn you some deductions if you goofed.

"Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail"

Having just watched "Wild" at the movies, the story of a woman who solo hiked the Pacific Coast Trail, it seemed a natural segue to read this book.  Grandma Gatewood accomplished her historic walk 64 years ago at a time when hiking was not popular and R.E.I. had not sold their first hiking boot.  When I compare the equipment Cheryl Strayed utilized on her hike with Emma Gatewood's it truly amazes me.  Grandma Gatewood's "equipment" consisted of Keds sneakers, a hand sewn bag slung over her shoulder to carry food, clothing, army blanket, shower curtain and a walking stick.  No fancy propane cooking stoves, backpacks, tents or expensive hiking boots.  Just a 67 year old woman out for a stroll on a lark.

Her motivation for her hike seems both simple and complex.  She was a divorced farm wife survivor of domestic violence (her husband killed two men) with 11 kids who was fiercely independent.  It was not unusual for her to disappear for weeks at a time and her children did not seem to be concerned.  I compare that with our communication today with kids and am pretty sure an APB would be issued if either my wife or I went missing for more than a day.  So, taking off for a long walk of 2,168 miles over rough terrain with basically no one aware of your plans seems a little eccentric and dangerous. Did I mention she was 67 years old?  She was walking for both the challenge and seeking peace in her heart.

While clearly independent, she actually seems to "rely on the kindness of strangers" a whole lot.  The book details the many folks who let her sleep at their houses, made her meals, gave her a ride to town, etc.  Clearly, she could not have made the trip without help at critical times.  That does not detract from her accomplishment.  At the time of her walk, the Appalachian Trail had only been solo completed by only a few people and was not nearly as well marked or cleared as it is today.  While she begins the hike oblivious to any historical precedence, eventually the news media catches up with her and chronicles much of the later part of the hike.  At times she seems to revel in the attention but eventually comes to detest it.  This is very similar to what we see today with the celebrities today being hounded by the paparazzi.

On the whole, it is an inspiring story of one very tough old bird.  She eventually hiked the trail 3 times, the last at age 75.  She also walked the Oregon Trail from Independence, Mo. to Portland averaging 22 miles a day over the 2000 miles.  Wow.  This is a tale of a woman overcoming hardships with a fierce determination and faith.  The story makes me want to try a long hike (thinking of the Oregon portion to the Pacific Coast Trail), but I am unfortunately neither as mentally or physically tough as Emma Gatewood.
    

Birthday Week Update

My birthday week was just fine, thank you.  Friday night dealing at the Legion, enjoying my usual very bad luck (all in with JJ vs. AQ)...I had the jacks of course and the ace was dealt by my evil twin, Dr. Phil.  But, here is an interesting hand I dealt that still has 'em talking.

7 seat is short stacked, about 1300.  Shoves.
8 seat has her covered, insta shoves.
9 seat has both covered, insta shoves.

7 seat turns over 6/6
8 seat reveals A/A
9 seat shows A/A

Flop is a rainbow with a 6 and both aces are drawing dead to a chop on the side pot. :)  Poker is not fair.

So, my birthday week progresses with a visit from the Portland family.  We eat, watch movies, walk on the beach, visit, etc.  Always enjoyable to see the family.

 They leave Sunday afternoon and I drive to Wheeler for a poker friend's 50th birthday bash.  They have just returned from a vacation in Mexico at 2:30 a.m., but there is no quit in them.  Unbelievable decorations, wine and beer, bar eats on a buffet table, and  3 tables set up for a poker tournament.

 I get sloshed (for me) before the game starts and make the brilliant decision (since my cards have been running so bad) to play the first hand dealt agressively without looking at my cards.  So, I raise to 3 x the blind and am re-raised by a tight/good player.  Call.  Blind.  He leads out big on the turn and I look at my cards.  10/8 of spades.  There are 2 spades on a small (jack high I think) flop and turn.  I call for all but around 300 of my chips.  River is a brick and I fold to his bet.  He tables pocket kings.  Well, that didn't turn out as planned.

Before the game had started (again it is the spirits talking), I suggest that since the birthday boy has paid his own friggin way into the tournament that we each put $5 in a pot for a bounty on him, but with the twist that he gets 1/2 the bounties.  More on this later.

So, the next hand dealt I have a nut flush draw against a set and lose all but one chip.  The "table captain" suggests that we make the tournament a re-entry format until the break.  Everyone agrees.  I am out the next hand and re-buy for another $40.  If you are astute at math you will now know that I am into this game for $85.  Nice.  Several other players bust out and re-buy, including one excellent WSOP veteran and another that I knock out with a nut flush draw that did come in.

I manage to get the bounty boy all-in with my broadway vs. his set of queens and am hoping to get at least one buy-in back.  The board pairs the river and he chips up.  We play down to the final table and thanks to some great hands (including one all-in with my A/7 vs. A/10...spiking a 7), and I am probably 2nd in chips.  We are paying 4 places plus the bubble, and the guy who took most of my chips the first hand gets his money back.  We are down to Mike, the tournament organizer, Larry, the WSOP veteran, Scott, the birthday boy and myself.  I have a great chance for the bounty when he shoves with A/10 and I have A/J, but I fold.  Have learned through bitter experience that shoving with A/J is fine, but calling a shove with it usually leads to trouble.  Besides, I was comfortably still in 2nd place with a good stack.  Mike gets very short but doubles up a couple of times through Scott and ultimately gets his bounty.  Larry is crushing the table and has the majority of chips until we get a ton of them into a very sketchy board and I win with a pair of 10's.  I am now chip leader by about 4 or 5,000 chips but we are all tired (old guys you know), and when I suggest a chop they both agree.  My payoff is $273 before dealer tip, multiple buyins, and bounty, so not a big payday but great for a fun birthday party.

Defining Good Luck

Luck is such an elusive fickle lady.  Frank Sinatra had it right when he sang "Luck be a lady tonight" and asked that she "stay here right by my side".




Sometimes we can be lucky in things not related to card games, like yesterday when we were lucky enough to overhear the Southwest Airlines ticket people talking about how the flight was oversold.  Do you need some volunteers for bumping?  What is the compensation?  Oh, you will reimburse the cost of my flight plus another $300 flight credit?  Well, if you must twist my arm, how soon can you get us back to Portland?  Oh, 4 hours later?  Well, might as well put our names on the list.  Thanks for the two $460 vouchers.

We were routed through San Jose and after a plane change, arrived in Portland 4 hours after our original schedule and $920 richer.  My poker friend Don said it was like winning a tournament.  Think he was just about right as many last about that much time and pay that much for 1st (thinking of the Sunday Moose).

I am challenging myself to writing more this year, and not just about poker.  Thinking of starting a new blog but really hate to quit this one.  Some names I was kicking around in my brain were:  Phil's (Mental) Pharts, Cannon Beach Bum, Aging Gracelessly, Delusional Thinking.  Will have to give this much more thought.  It would be great to grow a huge readership and make money, but will have to step up my game a bunch.  My next posts may be related to recent books read.  Can I interest anyone in a nice review?

But First a Few Jokes

"Where are you going?" demands a surprised husband. "
To Las Vegas! I hear there are men that will pay me $500 to do what I do for you for free!"

The husband scratched his head and started packing his bags. "What are you doing?" she asked..."I'm going to Las Vegas with you... I want to see how you're going to live on $1000 a year!"

There were two blondes sitting on Daytona beach one moonlit night. The first one looks up at the moon and asks "I wonder which is farther the California coast or the moon?" The other replies "Duh you can see the moon!"

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on strangers, which he was. When he finished his drink, he found his horse had been stolen. He went back into the bar, handily flipped his gun into the air, caught it above his head without even looking and fired a shot into the ceiling.

"Which one of you sidewinders stole my horse?!?!?" he yelled with surprising forcefulness. No one answered. "Alright, I'm gonna have another beer, and if my horse ain't back outside by the time I finish, I'm gonna do what I dun in Texas! And I don't like to have to do what I dun in Texas!" Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The man, true to his word, had another beer, walked outside, and his horse has been returned to the post.

He saddled up and started to ride out of town. The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, "Say partner, before you go... what happened in Texas?" The cowboy turned back and said, "I had to walk home."

Why I Am Not Playing the "Big" Quarterly Tournament

Once a quarter they hold the big $100 buy-in tournament at the American Legion.  I decided not to play in it this time.  Why you may ask?  Well, the biggest reason is that my luck absolutely stinks right now, almost as much as the cards I am getting.  It was tempting when I got a text message asking if I would deal as that would cut my potential loss at least by 3/4.  I anticipate 20 players @ $100 = prize pool of $2000 which would net tips of around $150, split two ways for a net cost of "only" $25 as they would be split evenly.  First place will be around $800 with probably 3 or 4 paid.  not bad odds, but given my run lately both live and on-line just a waste of time and money. I am probably being wanky and too tight by not dealing/playing, but just do not feel the love right now.

How bad am I running?  Playing online omaha the very first hand I am dealt I turn the nut full house (AA on a A/9/x board), the turn pairs the 9 and brings either a straight or a flush in and it is jammed all the way.  What does my opponent have? 9/9 for quads.  That my friends is what running bad is like!

O.K. an update on last night.  Decided to play the big tournament.  Bad decision.  I ended up going out fairly early and had to deal for over 5 hours for $62 in tips.  Plus the tournament organizer got mad at the final table and left.  It had to do with bubble payment.  Plus we had a mini-dispute over tips allocation since we added a third dealer (ended up with a 3 way even split).  FRAAAA!!!!

My last hand you ask?  After losing a huge chunk of my stack to pocket aces (I dealt at least 6 pocket aces...3 to one player on the final table...guess who won the tournament.? Yep.) with my A/9 suited on an ace high flop, I shoved my 5 blind stack with 9/9 and was called by KQ.  He flopped two pair.  Later I dealt "justice" when he got them all-in with AQ and 9/9 turned a set and rivered quads.  Something poetic there.

Analyzing One Tournament

Playing in a tournament a few days ago I decided to track a few things:
1.  Winning Hand (if revealed)
2.  My hand
3. Whether hand was decided preflop, flop, turn or river
4.  The hand the winner made

I played a total of 74 hands before being eliminated (my hand was KQ vs. Q9 all-in on flop of Q/9/x).  Here are some interesting things.

1.  I won a total of 7 hands.  
2.  7 hands were decided pre-flop (someone raised and everyone folded)
3.  12 hands were decided on the flop
4.  11 hands were decided on the turn.
5.  43 hands went to the river
6.  A total of 39 hands had no showdown

Winning Hand
High card   1
Pair             12
2 Pair            8
Set or trips   2
Straight        2
Flush            2
Full House   2 (1-split pot)
Quads           1  (deuces)
Unknown      ?

I am not sure this tournament is typical or even what the statistics mean.  Here are the hands that I won with:

Q/10 - won on the river with a pair of queens
K/J suited - won on the river with pair of kings
A/J - Raised pre-flop and everyone folded
8/2- won with pair of 8's on the river (suspect it was my big blind)
K/9 suited- won on the flop (2 pair)
Q/8 suited- won on the river with a full house - queens full of jacks
J/9 - won on the flop with trip jacks (probably should have slow played...but didn't write down)

The interesting thing about the hands I won with is that they all were high gap connected cards...except for the blind special.  I was not dealt a single pair.  The winning hand was a pair (in their hand) 7 times. Shows how bad my cards have been running.  Was dealt AK only once, no AQ, AJ once, then A/9 twice.  What place?  Don't recall....think it was a 45 person SNG and I finished around 11th.

Mojo? Have you seen mine anywhere?

I will have to admit to a bitter truth.  I believe that I have lost my mojo.  I cannot seem to win at poker.  Live, tournament, freeroll, play money.  You name it.  Could not sleep tonight, I blame it on two cups of coffee with dinner, so playing a $10 guarantee freeroll.  Down to 58 players (over 600 registered, paying 10 places) when I raised with AJ.  A larger stack reraised me all-in with A/10. Ordinarily I love this match up but sure enough, a 10 in the door left me drawing thin.  Out in 58th place.  This has been happening pretty much whenever I play.  Have not gotten to a final table in a while and forget about cashing.  This stuff has got to stop soon!!!!

OOPS! Misdeal first hand.

Wow, what a crowd showed up for Friday night poker.  39 players, the most I have seen in a very long time.  Naturally, I was asked to deal, and I accepted.  With 10 players at all but one table (we rarely even use the 4th table), I had a few new faces at mine.  Imagine my chagrin when I misdealt the first hand due to the crowded conditions.  Bring 'em back, boys with the usual groans when someone has to return their lone ace.  O.K., settle down and deal the hand.  Oh look, Mom, I dealt myself aces.....Hmm, now this looks damned suspicious.  I raise, get two callers, and with a jack high flop, a player bets into me.  I raise, he folds, and I turn over the rockets.  Collective groan.  This group is going to be keeping an eagle eye on me from now on.

Unfortunately that is the only pair I deal to myself all night.  I watch a player double up on a set over set flop (jacks vs. 10's), only to have the one outer disappear on the turn when another jack comes.  New high hand being posted, good for $78 if it holds up.  Don't laugh, have dealt a number of straight flushes, including a royal.  I win a couple of hands, manage to accumulate about 2800 chips when a "very lucky" player, who also is my nemesis raises from early position.  Blinds are big, 200/400, I have only 7 BB's and have been giving myself garbage, so when I see AQ I put them all in.  Before I give you the results, here is the kind of junk this player has been winning with:

QJ vs. KJ:  he flops K/10/9 and doubles up through a huge stack
AQ vs. AK:  he hits his queen

So, he turns over 10/10 and the flop is K/K/x and I am drawing very weak and am out when I cannot find my 6 outs.  Just to show you the unfairness of this, another dealer who has transferred to my table shoves with 7/7 vs. QJ, and the player hits a jack.  A player is eliminated with A5 vs. J5 (very small stack and player in big blind), when a jack rivers.  Why does the worst hand win so often?  I am particularly shocked how often the dominated hand wins.  Where is the justice?

No idea how much in tips I will receive, a surprise for next week.  I only got $16 from last week with small turnout (and possible weak tippers).