Benefit Poker Tournament Information

Benefit Poker Tournament
"30 - 30 - 30"
$30 Donation
$30 Rebuys - unlimited during 1st 3 blind levels
$30 Add-on
50% of all proceeds goes towards the prize pool
50% will benefit the family of Scott C. Parzych
Date: January 12, 2008
Time: 12pm Sign-up, 1pm start
Where: The August Moon
300 E. Main St.
Norristown, PA 19401
610-277-4008
http://www.augustmoonpa.com
For more information or to reserve a seat, contact Doug Miller at millerd33@aol.com

Brief Return From Hiatus

(No, that does not mean the small town in Massachusetts nor is it the french/creole speaking caribbean nation that co-occupies the island of Hispaniola.)

A brief post to report that I successfully conquered my fantasy football foes and won the championship of my new league. All net proceeds of the victory have been donated to a more worthy cause than me.

Being the Holiday season (Christmas, New Year's, Boxing Day), I have taken a respite from writing and playing; hopefully to return with vim and vigor in the New Year. I am toying with the idea of doing something a little more seriously with this writing gig, but that may warrant a different address.

For those readers in the SE Pennsylvania area, there will be a benefit poker tournament on Saturday January 12 for the surviving family of Scott Parzych (the young man in my fantasy league who died tragically a few weeks back). Unfortunately I do not have all the details handy, but you can get all the information if you go to the Riverchasers message board. I will try to update here later when I have the info in front of me. If you can make it, please do so.

A Brief Word on BBT

I would like to extend congratulations to those who qualified for the Battle of the Bloggers Two tournament. From my disjointed vantage point, it seemed to be a success. While I wish all of those participating good fortune, I will be rooting for lucktruck, as he is the only one I know personally. I hope that my endorsement is not the kiss of death.

Congratulations also go out to those who finished in the top 50 in points and will be playing in the point leader freeroll. In that one, I don't give a fat rat's ass who wins.

It was certainly fun to be involved, if only a little bit. Hopefully for BB3, I can/will participate in more than the 8 events I played this time around. I would also like to join the congo line to give Al a pat on the back for all the work involved in setting this up and keeping it running smoothly.

'Fantasy Boy' is Back

That was the moniker my lovely wife bestowed upon me a number of years ago when I was as fanatically obsessive about Fantasy Football as I am of poker today. This was not meant to be complimentary. It was her subtle way of telling me that I'd rather do that than anything with my family. I spent untold hours pouring over reports and research, both pre- and post-draft. My affinity for deal making was legendary, and I plucked more hidden gems from the waiver wires than can be recounted in such limited space. When asked what I thought of the team I just drafted, I would remark that it didn't matter, because none of them would be on my team by year's end anyway.

But that was then. A couple years ago, that fire was reduced to embers and was replaced, perhaps not coincidentally, by poker. I ended up retiring from serious (read: for money) Fantasy Football two years ago; eschewing the manic obsession that had so dominated my free time for so many years. Fantasy Boy was dead. My wife, ever supportive, assured me it was for the best.

However, this past spring, my buddy Doug (millerd33 on Full Tilt) came to me with an offer to play in his league. They were expanding from 10 teams to 12. They were a bunch of good guys, I was assured, and I would really enjoy it. Well who am I to refuse such a request? I still did not have the level of obsession that used to fill me up, but I knew a couple of the guys and figured what the heck, could be kind of fun.

I am happy to report today that I have reached the finals of the league after a decisive semi-final victory was secured last night. Being that I was not as all-consumed as I was in the past, references internally to 'Fantasy Boy' were more nostalgic than derogatory. It's nice to see the 'old boy' still got it.

Changing gears, Full Tilt last night started as another string of gruesome suckouts. I did not cash in any of the first 3 SNGs I played. So I decided one more for the night and that was it (a $6 six-man). The worm finally turned. With 5 left I had about 3800 or so with nobody close. It was at this point that riggstad, who was railing, AIMed me with, "If you don't win this one, you really suck". Then for good measure, "you know that, right?" I thanked him for assigning me the needed extra pressure. Despite his jinxing efforts, I was able to complete the victory and at least draw back to basically even for the night. Hopefully tonight will bring a step back into the plus side.

The Dog Ate My Homework

File this one under "Famous Lame Excuses". Last night I missed the Blogger Skill game (that I had committed to play) because I fell asleep putting my kids to bed. As weak as that sounds, it is actually a very common occurrence in my house. The only difference last night was that it was me instead of my wife. The worst thing about it though, was that I woke up at around 11:45 and couldn't fall back asleep for two hours. However, I must apologize to cracknaces for not making the game. I owe you one. And not like a Julius Erving 'owe you one' from 1978 that turned into a 'we owe you five'. I mean a real 'owe you one' as in the next game you put on, I'll be there.

And now for the weekend update...First the dirty: I am the proud new owner of a roto-rooter type machine, being that I frequently have issues with the sewer main going from the house to the street. So there I was Saturday afternoon working hard on the latest 'issue'. I am proud to report the issue was resolved and water is again flowing freely out of the house. Add that to the ever growing list of things where I don't know what I'm doing but am successful anyway.

After that stress easing success, I attended a Beef and Beer benefit for the surviving family of a friend who recently lost his life in a car accident. The young man was in my fantasy football league that I just joined this year and his passing was as tragic as it was untimely. My regret is that I only knew him for a brief time and that is my loss. I say that based on the people who came to the benefit. It was a very good crowd. I think a lot can be gleaned about a person based on the quality of those who are close to them, and Scott's friends and family were first rate. Godspeed Scott, you will be missed.

Following the Beef and Beer, a bunch of us went to a Riverchasers event that was close by. This was at Champs Sports Bar at Center Square Golf Club. Although I am most frequently associated as a Riverchasers guy, my actual attendance at their games is a rare occurrence. It was good to see a bunch of people I don't get to see very often. I was half in the bag at this point of the day, so I played, as the saying goes, like a drunken lemur. As you might guess, this is exactly the style of play that brings success in these bar freerolls. I believe 72 started. When I got to heads up play, my opponent Ron (apparently being named Ron is also a necessary component for success) suggested we chop the first prize money ($100) and play out for the free golf second prize. Being that I have not swung a golf club in anger in several years now, I suggested we chop the money and he keep the golf certificate. He said that he didn't golf either. So we chopped the money and gave the golf to the Tournament Director.

As for yesterday....I fell asleep putting the kids to bed, remember?

Friday Night Donkament

I had a lot of fun playing the Friday Night Donkament last night (hosted by Katitude). This was the second or third time I played in it. It's a great way to interact and generally goof around with other people. No one takes it too seriously and you definitely will get a lot of laughs out of it. It seemed in the beginning that my recent run of improbability would continue when this happened:




However, as was inevitable, better hands started holding up. I got to heads up with the chip lead for a while but then decided to shove on the turn with a double gutter. My opponent had top pair and called. No improvement for me and I finish in second. No matter, as I said, it was a lot of fun.

Cracknaces was railing us near the end. I made a deal with him that if I finished in the top 2, I would play the blogger skill game. He may think I have reneged because I did not sign up right away. If you are reading this, don't worry, I'll keep my promise, even though I have no skills and seriously dislike 2 of the 5 games. No worries though. It will be fun being the bad player who sucks out on hands he has no business even being in. (Some may argue that that is usually the case anyway.)

Work Pollyanna

We had a "holiday" party in my department today. I took part even though I don't technically work for this company (the simple description would be consultant). Anywho, they do a Pollyanna here (who does that anymore?). We each created a wish list of three items for the person who drew you to choose from. I listed 3 poker books (seemed easy enough). The person who drew my name must have gone over the $20 budget. They weren't exactly the titles I was looking for, but it was very nice for the person to get me multiple books.

I received Phil Gordon's Poker Box Set which includes the little black book (formerly Poker: The Real Deal), the little green book, the little blue book. Additionally I got Zen and the Art of Poker, by Larry Phillips. I look forward to reading this one.