Bob, Seat Open in The Big Game in The Sky

With great sadness a text came today.  My very dear old friend, Bob Pischel, passed away today.  Our history together goes back to the late 70's when we met through his daughter and son-in-law.  We were embraced by his whole family and enjoyed holidays, special events, birthdays and much more with him.  He was my roommate on our annual trips to Las Vegas with his sons and son in laws.  We even made a special trip together staying at Caesars Palace at a comped room he acquired.  I was threatened by his daughters about taking care of him as he was using a motorized scooter by then.  Must have done o.k. as no repercussions.  We both loved playing Omaha high low split and sat together at the poker tables for many many hours.  Whenever I would call him, the first thing he would ask was " tell me your bad beat story".  By golly, I never disappointed him on that.

He was always keenly interested in what was happening in my life, and remembered all the details.  An amazing man with a history in business that was unbelivable.  He loved to recount stories about selling (He owned the largest yearbook company West of the Mississippi), and taught me many lessons, both personal and business.  His generosity was a lesson in itself, at times of need he was always there.  I went through some tough times, even loaning me a car for several months.  When I would visit the Tri-Cities, a room was always available.  A meal was also included, sometimes if you were lucky he would make his specialty pork tenderloin sandwiches.  I still use his recipe for donut balls that he gave me, along with a show and tell session to make sure I got it right.  I could go on and on about Bob, but just know that there is a big hole in my heart right now.

This is my favorite picture of Bob,  taken on one of our Vegas trips.  I like to remember him like this, big chip stack in front of him, focused on his cards.  I had this picture on my bookcase in our living room for many years.

Karma, The Universe is Watching

Thinking long and hard today about karma.  In Hindu beliefs both thoughts and actions create future outcomes (sometimes you have to wait for that rebirth thing).  So, in my poker world, if I suck out on a hand will now someone suck out on me later?  If I chase will they chase?  Will taking money from others guarantee I will lose money later to them?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Also, if intent (thoughts) matter, how do we train our minds to avoid the bad karma situations?  I think I was a victim of that on my donations, my luck has been awful since then registering a big loss last Thursday in my Omaha game.  I have no other explanation as played my normal game with one notable exception, straddling and capping without looking at my cards until the river with a couple of other guys.  Fun but a loss. 

Planning to play tournament today, not my favorite, the no chop, which lasts late.  If blown out early will play omaha.  May have to quit cash games for a bit to limit losses until my luck or karma changes.

Something New

After a very bad outing at Tulalip in the omaha game on Sunday and bad results Friday at the Caribbean decided to switch things up with a new casino.  I had heard that the Red Dragon in Mountlake Terrace was good so drove there.  Timewise a ccompromise between the 10 minutes to Kirkland and the 30 minutes to Marysville.  The morning tournament was a $45 buy in with 2 tables.  The structure was turbo of course 15 minute blinds, 10,000 starting chips, 100/200 initial blinds.  It was also a reentry which i got to observe several times on my table.  I was runnning very good, not losing any hands, chipping up to about double starting chips.  Made a couple of small errors letting people off the hook with monsters and large bets .  Example: called tight player raise with 6/6.  Flop was 2/3/6 multi-way. Original raiser bet pot, I re-raised all in.  Everyone folded.  My thinking, did not want either a 5 or 4 to call with gutshot and make overpairs pay dearly.

Making the final table my last hand was a limp with 6/6, my old friend, with only 1 and a half blinds.  I had no fold equity so wanted lots of callers or a raise to go heads up.  I got the raise from A/Q, heads up flop was about as good as it gets, 4/5/7, giving me a great pair plus draw.  Turn was a queen and river failed me.  Got it in with best hand but missed money by 3.

Will try again as the morning Omaha game had $50 high hand every half hour and looked soft.

Suicide is (not) painless

One of my all time favorite movies is "MASH".  As you know, it is very anti-war and anti-military set during the Korean war.  It shows the absurdity of the whole thing without being a war movie per se.  The staff dentist has fallen into depression and the doctors arrange a suicide ceremony for him at his request.  The song, "Suicide is Painless" is sung .

 https.//genius.com/Suicide-is-painless-mash-theme-song-lyrics

The attempt has a "happy ending" with the dentist being given a reason to live by a nurse.  Sadly, this is not the case for many.  Which brings me to Thursday poker.  The tournament manager, Paul, was very down and as a friend we started talking.  He explained that he was very busy helping Sheri, my favorite dealer, with her problems.  He told me that her son had committed suicide last Saturday.  He was a great kid with a lot going for him (see link).

Www.gofundme.com/fly-high-11-for-sayon

I decided to donate any winnings that day to his fund.  Paul told me that all the funeral parlors demand up front payment and they could not afford to bury him.  Too sad.  I had a great day in Omaha, hitting the 1st high hand of the day.  I gave the cash to Paul with a short note.  I then won the 3rd high hand and cashed out for an additional win of $156.  My intention to donate all my winnings wavered and mentally decided $100 was enough.  The next day, playing in a cash game lost my $100 buy in and did a short buy for $15 since the morning tournament was starting soon.  I lost it all on a bad beat.  Pocket 5's heads up with original raiser's A/10.   Flop was A/5/6.  Great all in!  Turn 6 filled me up!!!!  River A awarded the pot to my opponent.  Had some choice comments which earned me a dealer warning and left the game.  The tournament was bad for me, losing my 5 blind KQ shove to big blind QQ.  The tournament buy in?  $40.  So, my total loss was $155. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Yes, so arriving home I sent $156 to the go fund me account.  Am hoping this squares things away in the karma department.

Back to the painless thing.  The pain is not upon the suicide but is on those who love them.  The ultimate selfish act sometimes causes real injury to others.  Pain is not eliminated, merely transferred.  Like the thermodynamics physics law that matter cannot be created or destroyed, just change forms.

Imperfect Reflections on Mortality

Recovering from my heart attack has been challenging.  My energy level is low and prolonged exertion is difficult.  Most of the time I am good for short bursts of work, but then have to rest for a while.  Trying not to be paranoid, but still be wise about listening to my body and what it is telling me and what it needs.  Today I am a coin flip from driving to the ER, playing poker, or going to Costco.  They all offer some appeal.  Side note:  went to urgent care, 4 hrs. Later checked out o.k. with referral to cardiologist next week.

I think about my life and the directions and misdirection it has taken.  A pretty wild ride at times.  It has often been driven by impulses and spontaneous decisions as well as some semblance of a plan.  Organized chaos if you will.  While it is important to live a life without regrets, I do not see how that is possible.  While I am somewhat financially secure, looking back can see how much better off I could have been with better decisions, better planning.  Think holding on to my Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft and Costco stocks.  I joked with my recently added financial advisor that I would have been so much better off by falling into a coma at some point in the 90's.

As we all speed ,(time does speed up as we age) towards the end, it is important to reflect both on what is, what was, and what could have been.  "I coulda been a contender!".  The paths not followed.  We are also like Cats, "I can dream of the old days, life was beautiful then".