Thursday, March 25, 2010

Hockey Post?? WTF

When I was little my Dad, brother and I were pretty big Caps fans. This was their heyday in the early to mid-80s when they could not get past the NY Islanders in the playoffs. Gradually they got worse until I was basically disinterested other than their Stanley Cup run in 1998. They were pretty boring and just never really a threat to go deep in the playoffs (though they did make the playoffs a lot).

Well that has changed and for the last 3-4 years I have gradually gotten back into the Caps and look forward to their games. Most of that is obviously attributed to one person: Alex Ovechkin. He is the best player in the league and is highlight material every time he gets the puck. Add to him, Backstrom, Fleischman, Semin, Green, Knuble, etc and you have the most exciting team in the league bar none. They can score anytime from anywhere.

So last night was the 3rd installment of Caps vs. Penguins. I suspect both teams would say they are each others biggest rivals and, to be fair, when it has mattered most (i.e. playoffs) the Pens have gotten the best of it. I think that changes this year but we shall see. It was a great game and the Pens were tough particularly without Malkin (who may be more valuable to his team then the star Sidney "The Pussyboy" Crosby). The game went into a shoot-out and here is what happened...

First guy is a douchebag...second guy is the best...



To see the whole shootout look here:



Here is OV's greatest goal from few years ago in Phoenix...this is really sick:



If you want to see a highlight reel of his greatest goals look here (my favorite other than #1 is #4):



SO in any event this Big Fella will be "Rockin the Red" at a few playoff games this spring. Hopefully this will be the year they go deep.

Monday, March 15, 2010

I suck at on-line tournaments (oh and Hokies got jobbed)

Title pretty much says it all. Weekend sucked all around.

I just don't have the patience to play on-line MTTs. For whatever reason I can fold hands for hours live and pick my spots well but on-line I just seem to run into the top of my opponent's ranges over and over again. And I never win flips deep in tournaments where it really matters. So F-it I will play the occasional MTT when I feel like it or if I feel like I have an edge (PLO8 or any Omaha Hi-Lo really).

Cash was shitty this weekend too as I played ~5k hands Friday-Sunday and lost about $250. The coup-de-gras was when I was playing NL100. 3 limpers and I raise to 6 with KK; get 1 caller. Flop T6x. I bet 9 into pot of 15; guy calls. Turn was a 5 (I think). I check; he bets 20 into 33ish. I check raise to 48. He shoves and I call to see T9offsuit. River is obv a 9. Almost broke things but opted to shut down and go to bed.

In addition to this loveliness, the Hokies got jobbed out of the NCAA after finishing 10-6 and tied for 3rd in ACC, beating Wake Forest (who got in) and beating Clemson (who got in) and BTW both of these powerhouses lost the play-in game in the ACC tournament. But they (and VT for that matter) are going nowhere fast so who really gives a shit. Next up Quinnepiac in the NIT and not sure I could care less. Hokies should be REALLY good next year in both football and B-Ball.

Finally, all of the rain caused a leak in my conference room at work leading to the insurance company sending a waterproofing company over to clean up. And by clean up I mean rip off my baseboards and destroy the room. Fortunately, they discovered mold as well. Good times.

So yes this weekend I was this guy (just an excuse to post this picture again since it makes me LOL):

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tournament time

Well Virginia Tech shit the bed yesterday but they should still be in the Big Dance. We will find out Sunday night I suppose.

I am going to dip my toe back in the MTT world this weekend. Wife and kids are at the beach for a few nights for spring break so I am going to unchain myself from this desk and play a full menu of MTT this evening (and perhaps Sunday too). Hopefully something good will happen and I don't end up like this at the end of the night:

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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Scary stuff

Armed gunman stormed into the EPT Berlin (European Poker Tour) on Saturday and caused quite a commotion. I am surprised this hasn't happened before as the security at these events appears fairly lax. Here is the write up from PokerNews.com:

The 2010 PokerStars.net EPT Berlin came to an abrupt halt in the action around 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday when a group of armed men raided the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin where the tournament is being held. The men were after money and no one was seriously injured in the incident.

After a small group of people came running down the long hallway toward the media room upstairs on the second floor of the hotel in a stir of commotion, some of the members of the media walked the other way to see what was going on. People soon noticed that two masked men were fighting with security guards at the opposite end of the hallway. One of the men broke free and began running down the hallway toward the media members with what looked like some sort of weapon in his hand. He was wearing a black winter jacket and a black ski mask. Members of the media ran back to the media room where the group barricaded themselves and stayed until things calmed down.

On the other end of the hallway, next to where the men and security were wrestling near the tournament ballroom, mass hysteria ensued. Sam Chartier recalled Johannes Strassmann bursting through the doors back into the room leap frogging chairs and tables and yelling in German. Although Chartier said he couldn't understand what Strassmann was saying because of the language barrier, he noticed that everyone who did understand him was panicking. Tables were flipped so people could hunker behind them while chips flew all over the floor. Players, staff and media in the ballroom took cover and then began frantically making their way to the back corner of the room to an exit.

After about 15 minutes of mayhem in the tournament area, things began to settle down while the tournament room itself looked as though a tornado had whipped through it. Hundreds of players, staff and media were scattered in the lobby of the hotel and outside on the streets awaiting confirmation that things were safe. A few people had some minor bumps and bruises from the stampede that tried to exit the room, but no one was seriously injured.


Here is a youtube post of the events:



Hopefully the poker tours and casinos will heed this advice and step up security measures.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Funny poker videos

Please enjoy...I was crying watching these.

1. Guy is leading the tournament with 450 people left....lol. Long way to go sir but good luck



2. This cat plays micro stakes and just goes ape shit when he gets cracked in a $2 pot. Love the way he has no idea what is happening and has to go back and review the hand history...Fast forward to the 2 min mark



Umm the expression is "Ship it" sir not "ship emmmm"....lol

3. Same guy as above...has KK again and gets outflopped..Note he calls the guy donk in first hand...lol

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Augusta snowfall

With all the snow we have had this winter in the Mid-Atlantic it is hard to believe we are only 5 weeks away from the Masters. Friend of mine sent me these pictures from Augusta 3 weeks ago after they got 6 inches of snow. They don't get much snow, of course, but notice the greens are heated so no snow on them. Pretty cool. These are both of the 12th...one from the tee and one at the green....