I've recently been reading "Inverting the Pyramid"...



Which is a book, as the sub-title says, that is essentially about the history of tactics in football. It's somewhat of a sluggish read - I expected it to be more of a Moneyball thrill ride, but instead it contains a million different Eastern European and South American names that, frankly, are impossible to pronounce. The story isn't really woven well - it probably would work better as a textbook. Regardless, it has served it's purpose, and I've found out why various countries played various formations, how conventional lineups changed, and who the innovators were. (And what led them to the said innovation!) And a thought occurred to me.

The concept of "Dynamicism" applies to many fields - in Chess, for example, a player who is thought to be dynamic may avoid some moves which dumb down the position (like trading pieces) in order to create a more confusing/complicated position. In Football (the real football; "Soccer"), a dynamic player is one who is, in a sense, able to create "something" out of "nothing". (Rather than slow buildup, a player who can carve the defense, beat people off the dribble, and rip a great shot after such a fancy display, like Lionel Messi, is a demonstration of a dynamic player in action)

Sometimes the lure of dynamicism replaces what could be a simpler, more effective, strategy. It's almost as though winning pretty replaces the simple fact that the games are played to win. In basketball, fans "ooh" Kobe's turnaround jumpers, but his eFG% on those particular plays aren't really that hot. Those aren't the plays that generate the Lakers' edge over other random teams, and yet those are the plays which garner the highlight footage. They simply look the best.

In poker, this is common. The player who makes the amazing hero call, wild bluff, or incredibly thin value bet is often credited for his genius, his creativity, his dynamicism. And sometimes the plays are incredibly good - although perhaps unconventional, they are things that should be conventional, only because they are grounded in theory. But there are also many plays that are praised and gawked at, but when you actually boil it down, are pretty fucking terrible. In other words, an individual has sacrificed the bottom line (perhaps not even knowingly!) in order to provide entertainment. It's not enough to win, they also have to impress while doing so.

No real point with this blog, other than to jot down a view on various styles that can succeed. In the past I've tended to side with dynamic play, almost out of loyalty. My friend JC Moussa, for example, is a very good high stakes player. I also think his style is the complete opposite of dynamic. I pretty much know how he's going to evaluate a hand, ("fold") and yet at the end of the day... He's still really good. Maybe dynamic poker is overrated?

One final comment - I went to Foxwoods last week from Tuesday to Thursday. The game plays 10 handed there, dealers do not collect their own tips (but will in a month or so), and there are many regulars, most of whom act slowly and tightly. Apparently one of the regulars (an older Asian man, Alex told me he's there often but probably doesn't lose much - it's impossible to think this guy is a pro who wins) late in the night leaned over and whispered to Alex, "Does your friend [me] have a gambling problem?" Alex responded "Uh, no, why?" And he said, completely seriously, "He has played every hand, I haven't seen him fold before a flop yet". Thought that was funny...

Hey fellas, I am creating one (or, possibly, depending on turnout, two!) coaching groups. I've done a fair number of these in the past, and I'd say they've been wildly successful. I believe my students would say the same! I'm still figuring out details (as in, pricing) but it will be lower than what it was in the past.

In any event, please PM me, post comments, or message me on skype (robert,eckstut) if you're interested. I'll have clear guidelines soon, (which I'll probably just re-edit into this post) when those are settled.

THIS HAS BEEN EDITED IN, WAS TOO LARGE FOR A COMMENT:

I don't take any offense at all Jason. I think all prospective students should ask similar questions, as they are all valid. So I'll just answer everything here...

Obviously not enough The past full year (from just after 2010 WSOP to now, including Black Friday) I actually had a losing year. I played just under 16,000 hands, so somewhat of a drop in the bucket. I also had a losing live year, although that's mainly attributable to this summer's performance. The previous year I am unsure how many hands I played, although I played a fair number more than this previous Aug-Aug, and with much better results.

The game has changed. To insist otherwise would be terrifically backward. That said, there are a few things going for me:
1. The more the game changes, the more it stays the same. The same concepts which are fundamental, proven, and vital to be a winning player haven't evaporated. In other words, I know that stuff inside and out.
2. To say I have a weak connection to the game isn't really true, either, as I have continued to coach throughout this period.
3. In some ways, not being in the midst of the changes actually helps one recognize them from a distance. For example, I know what trends were hot, I know how things have changed, and if there's one thing I can do, it's recognize patterns as well as anyone. This helps project how things will be. (As in, changes that haven't even yet occurred in the game!)

One qualm here: If I recall correctly, for your purposes, you wanted to focus specifically HU play. Everyone else within the group was focusing on SH/6m. For your individualized sessions we did a bit of HU, (everyone else did not) so you're right, for you specifically the content probably wasn't the best bargain.

This is sorta a 2 part answer...
1. The coaching involves a lot more than the book. If this was just me repackaging what I wrote then, it wouldn't be worth the money nor would it be billed as "group coaching". If that also is the extent of which you view my poker abilities (or teaching abilities) then I suppose I should take that as a pretty large insult.

2. There was no strictly-HU content in the book, so either you're misremembering something that someone else wrote or you misinterpreted something I wrote. There was one small piece (literally an attachment) that showed why playing 100% IP HU is fundamentally correct. (And some raw preflop HU stuff)

Well, it is what it is.

If there's one thing you should have taken away from the coaching, it was my constant nagging to self-analyze one's play. Consistently checking up on not just your specific line, but also the hypothetical line with various parts of your range. And alternative responses to your opponents play. I am big on Hem + stove. Less so with stoxev but that doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar with it completely!

I think every time I play poker after a break I've blogged about how I'm rusty. It's natural. That said it comes back quickly.

Well, I left Las Vegas more than 2 weeks ago, but I haven't actually updated the blog in a bit. I'm on a bus right now, and had pictures to include, but I can only link some of them. I went to San Fran for a few days following Vegas and then I came back to Cambridge. Figured I'd briefly detail my SF trip and what's been going on with me while I've been back!



After my Main Even bust out, I was still set to stay in Vegas for about a week. Everyone from the house busted before the money except Alex Wilson, (Gary Stevenson, Dubness 1, "Mr Consistent") who made a mini-run. We were all eager for Alex to do well, and he did aiiight, but we ofc wanted a final table run... I think I mainly just played video games with Asa and so forth, I played maybe 1 live session after the Main Event. I also watched all the Women's World Cup I could.

My Dad came to visit the final 2 days - in the past we went to Vegas Summer League, but since the NBA is locked out, (the first order of business was canceling SL, which is a bummer!) there was no SL. We went to Lotus of Siam and Asa underwent a prop bet (eating a shrimp dish as a "10," a Lotus-10 is incredibly spicy) and he managed to succeed. The dude's a hero.

I flew out with Asa on US Airways. We got to the airport and were alerted that we were on Stand-by. SO, potential to have been a bad beat. Lucky for us though, we got seats... 1st class! Unlucky for us, we were grounded on the runway for about 2 hours, due to complicating weather in SF. (Heavy fog and rain, naturally) Without being too poetic or wallowing in my own pity, this has been emblematic of the past ~6 months or so. A step back, a better step forward, then a worse step back. Hopefully the cycle breaks soon.

I finally got in and had late night dinner at a diner with my dad (not that most of you care about the actual dates, but I believe I flew in the 16th, and was in SF until Tues the 19th - was a very short visit!). I was a little upset because the majority of the purpose of the trip was to see my sister Martina, who sorta blew me off all weekend. (She somewhat recently moved to SF, well has been there for like 8 months I suppose. On Sunday Martina got me Mozart tickets for free (she has a job w/ the San Francisco Chronicle, so gets free tickets) but I didn't use them since the Women's World Cup USA v Japan was on and went into extra time. (Hopefully all of you know the result, but it was a great game - Japan won 2-2, PKs)

We had a BBQ that night, Asa and his mother/brother came, that was cool. The following night I met up with JC (who flew in) and we went to Asa's house, this time for a BBQ there. That was cool too. On Tuesday I did a short hike w/ Amanda and snapped some pictures. On one hand my phone quality sucks, on the other I think the pics turned out VERY well. See for yourself:









I flew back on the Red Eye, jetblue, and I sprung for the emergency row. The reason this bares mentioning is the flight was completely packed - like 3 ppl/row, every row. Except for the emergency aisles. Aside from 1 other dude, no one else wanted to spend the extra 50 or so. (FWIW that baggage, upgrade, etc. costs are redic, but it also makes the flight far more comfortable) So everyone else had no space whereas I got to lie down. Unfortunately for me I can't sleep on flights. And, apropos, all the TVs on my row didn't work. (They worked for everyone else) I did get a "15$ off!" coupon for next time because of that though. Call it poetic justice.

A day after arriving I took a bus with Eva to CT, where I was supposed to handle my car stuff. FWIW, that's been the biggest pain in the ass. (They took my car away from me a day before Vegas - when I say "they," I mean the state of Connecticut) The reason why it's so difficult is at the CT DMV, since I have a MA license, they wouldn't let me register my car. And, I lost my car title. So I waited for an hour+, they said "you can't do anything", all the while some ridiculous towers are charging me ~35 a day (the tally is up to 2.2k or so, it feels sick) since I didn't take care of this over Vegas. (In all fairness, a. I couldn't do anything because I had to physically do stuff at the DMV in both CT and MA, but also b. I didn't know they'd charge me so much for leaving my car in this gigantic lot with tons of space. In hindsight, c. I should've halted Vegas for 2 days or something just to get my car back)

We went to Stonington, CT (a beach town) because my mom rented a house for the month. My friend Dave Bach came down so that was sorta fun, I can't post pics because they're hosted on facebook and for whatever reason Facebook has changed their picture-linking ability policies, so it's a hassle and I don't really feel like C+P -> Imageshacking right now.

The weekend was fine, DB on Sunday drove Eva and me back to Boston (Which was INCREDIBLY nice, he lives in W Mass so that's nearly 2 hours out of his way) and the reason I'm on the bus (since I couldn't do anything in MA until I got my car title back, which apparently is BACK in CT - yes, chalk up more time spent at the DMV/RMV!) was to retrieve the title, go back to MA, get registered in MA, then come back to CT and pick up the car. (And pay the insane fee) Hopefully by Friday this is all behind me because it's driving me nuts.

I took Eva to a WPS game last week (Women's Professional Soccer) and it was great! I wrote a recap in 2p2 SE, so I'm just going to repost...


...

Just as a prelude, it's a few hours before Day 2 (I made it to Day 2, spoiler alert!) and I figured I'd patch hands together to post a recap. My phone died in the middle of level 3, so level 4 and 5 I'm just going to go off memory, as I was sorta live blogging the adventure up to that point. I didn't play many hands in level 4 and 5, so it won't be too difficult. Here are 2 live-action shots!

Angrily looking at my cards...


Hopefully not *as* angry...


I go sit down at table 133. I thought that was my table. The dealer doesn't say anything, just confirms my ID etc. A few people sit down, Holly Madison says "Shuffle up and deal!" and we're away.

50/100:

1. Only 5 people are sitting, and I'm UTG with black 4s. Sweet, I make it 250. An older man on the button calls, the blind (sb was not at the table) folds. Flop comes K53 all spades. I bet 325 and he calls. Ok, he has a pair or a spade, he didn't think long and didn't even consider raising. Turn was a 6, I have an open ender. I bet 1.025k, he snap calls. Ok probably doesn't have a spade anymore, outs are clean? River 7, booyah, I bet an even 2k, and he snaps me with AK no spade. I win the first pot of the day, and I'm near my high point. (I win one more hand to briefly put me at 34k, the rest of the day I was much lower)

2. As noted I win a few more pots. The table is short, the opponents seem terrible, and I'm stoked to have some early easy chippos. I get a tap on the back, and lo and behold, it's a player and a tournament director. The player is wearing a Santa suit and apparently I'm in the wrong seat. I'm supposed to be at table 113, not 133. Well, that sucks. I go sit at the new table and it's not even close as appetizing.

For the record, this table didn't break the entire day and we lost just 2 players (out of 10). Play wasn't PARTICULARLY aggressive, but it was fairly tight. Everyone except for 2 players (1 of whom busted) was solid. On my side of the table was a Danish pro named Simon who looked like Justin Timberlake (someone pointed that out to him) who played well and in the middle of the table a Montreal pro named David who said he played HUSNGs. He played well, although I suspect he hit a fair amount of hands. (That said he value bet phenomenally, very wide and got paid off repeatedly) On the other side of the table, players were a tad older, but 1 guy was fairly LAGGRO who had some tricks. (Again, could just be hands, but he was 3betting a fair amount, c/r, showed a few bluffs, etc.) It's hard to say within a 300 hand sample (we played about that many hands) but I did not think this was a good table. In year's past I've maintained that the play was worse than a low stakes cash table, but this year I think my table would not have been a good cash table. (At any stakes)

3. So we're an hour into the day and I have very few reads on the table at this point. Danish pro raised to 250 in EP and the guy on his right (named Lance, nice fellow from Texas who works with Oil/Gas stuff, he played well - talked about how he has cashed 4 of the 6 events he played this year or so, not in a nit manner like "I'm going to fold/survive/cash!" but in a "yeah things have gone well/I'm having a good summer") calls. I overcall T8ss and the Button and SB call. (Wowza, ~1300 in there!) Flop comes K95 w/ 2 spades, including the 9s. Pretty decent flop. 5 way I'm reticent to semibluff especially when it's difficult for a smooth caller to have 2pair (I hate mono-repping sets or nothing) but my plan changed when the PFR bet 400 into the pot. Lance smoothed quickly on my right, didn't even think about raising, and the 2 other guys looked disinterested. I made it 2125. Fold/fold/fold, and the last original caller called. At this point he had just smoothed pf (quickly), didn't think about repopping either the flop bet or my raise, and had played mildly snug. I don't see how he could have an overpair, set, or 2 pair, so I figured KQ, KJ, KT or some draw. (I had some of the key cards, but he could have had 45ss or AXss or QJss etc.) Turn was a Jx, giving me the boatload of outs. He checked. I bet 5.1k... This is questionable? My understanding is this has a reasonable chance of moving him off top pair, it's very difficult for him to call with a FD unless he has specifically AJss, AK/ATss, or QJss, and I'm never in jeopardy of getting c/r. (Even KJ probably just flats? But I can call most c/r as we're effective 30k+ deep) He thinks for a while and calls. River is a K, which isn't the worst card - this lowers the frequency he has Kx and doesn't his a random pair with the NFD. (Nor is it a broadway to hit the straightening draws/random K+2pair) He checks. I considered checking back, but with 16k in the middle, I'd feel disgusted letting someone win with ace high, 45ss?, or Jx. I also considered shoving, thinking that someone would pitch KQ, but I think that's minorly suicidal. So I bet 6k, which is a tiny tiny bluff, but I figured about half his range folds to this, making it far better than checking. I could be wrong. He was THRILLED I just bet 6k, calls me w/ AK (I don't think a shove would have worked) and I feel like a jackass, as that was a 28k pot that I bluffed off with ten high.

4. Things spiraled a little quicker out of my control. I started to raise 99 UTG to 250, but "David" raised to 300 in MP - he didn't notice I was raising. I was unsure what to make of that. I put my raise in and he just flatted. The button called and we were 3way to the flop for 850. It came 872 w/ 2 clubs (I had the 9c) which was pretty good. I figured since the 1st caller really wanted to put money into the pot I'd let him bet, if the button did anything funky I'd fold, otherwise I'd call down and have a reasonable bluff catcher/keep the pot small. (I'd hate hate hate to get raised on this flop, as it could be a bet/fold...) The dude bet ~700, which is a pretty strong bet, and button quickly folded. I called. Turn was the 4c, filling in the flush, and I checked. He bet 1.1k which was pretty tiny and I don't see how I can pitch it there. I suppose he could have a flush, he could be afraid and just betting 8x to get to showdown/make sure I don't get a free club, could be a set which wants to put money in, or simply K or Q high just trying to get me off an ace high or weak pair w/ no club. Whatever let's see a river. I called and the river brought a 7. I checked and he bet 4,025. Fack. I played it in such a passive manner I'm not sure I really look like an overpair, but what really do I have to call/call/call as the pfr from EP? Could this guy have 8x? Does he have to have a flush+? Am I getting value bet by like JJ? Knowing what I know now, I made a bad call. (This guy didn't get caught bluffing once, it could be that he just made a bunch of hands, but I just don't think he was a bluffer) He had T8cc and I felt like an idiot, as I was down on chips early. (This brought me to ~20k?)

5. I jotted this one down, so I figure I may as well share it, but one of the last hands from the 1st level. Older guy who was played very actively raised in the hijak to 300, I had KJcc in the SB. I made it 1025 and the guy on my left (seemed like a German pro) cold called....

Hey all, figured I'd do a video tour of the house! (It's pouring rain today)

Also, I'm going to sell pieces of myself for the Main Event. Posting it in my blog before I post it on 2p2 (will post it in 2 days or so on 2p2). Selling at 1.3:1, not sure how much I will sell. Giving preference to those who want larger shares over smaller shares, either PM me or write in the comments if you want some.

Well, I'm not actually in Vegas right now. I'm in LA! I'm here for the weekend, with plans to drive back late tonight with kbfc and Asa. My gf has an internship with Disney, and she was supposed to be in Boston. (At my house, watching my cats, etc.) However, they shipped her to LA for a ~2.5wk stretch. The good part is this enabled me to go visit her for a weekend (although the bad part is she had to board my cats )

A few days ago I played BBall w/ Assani Fisher. We ran drills in the morning (was 10am or so) and was all around good fun. We ended the drill sesh with a 1on1 to 21, 3s and 2s. I lost 21-17, but I'm pretty happy how I played. Also got shown several good drills that I will repeat.

I decided to jot down the next sesh I played in my blackberry. Just C+P it below. Basically, I'm still down on the trip, but not really that much. I just want to be in the green for mental health It was 5/10 at the Rio, I'd say I played 3+ hours? (Then went to Naked Fish with JC and Morgan)

Other than that, my time in LA... I drove in Friday. Was an exhausting drive, since somehow there is traffic in the middle of the desert. That night we (Eva, Keith, Asa, Asa's friend named Lucca) went out for burgers at a place called Umami Burger. Something like that. It was overpriced but solid. (On sunset blvd so what can you do) I was pretty exhausted, so we didn't go out after that.



Yesterday Eva and I went to see Bridesmaids. It was actually pretty decent; started out VERY strong, but gradually got more and more cliche/gimmicky/less funny. It's worth seeing though. We then ate at a place "Katsuya" (Eva has been staying in Glendale) which basically has the exact same menu as Nobu. (Ate Yellow tail sashimi w/ Jalapenos, Black Cod Miso) and was solid.

That night Keith had a show in Pasadena at a place called "The Majestic Roof". It was awesome! There were so many people there, it was pretty crowded, I'd say there were about 200 people...

So I've been here for just under 2 weeks. I have a lot of complaints, but I'll start with the cursory/basic ones, since those are easiest to hash out: (Plus, ranting on my blog actually makes me feel better!)

1. I've had a bloody nose 10 of the 14 days I've been here. Something along those lines. I bought a humidifier early, but it just doesn't matter. I hate the dryness, every time I'm here there's an adjustment period. For whatever reason, this time it's taking extra long.

2. The bed in my room is the nut low. I haven't gotten a good night's rest, and largely because of that my sleep schedule is terribly erratic. Along this note, the sheets are too small, and the AC vent is directly above my face.

3. The neighbors blast music (bad kinds, a combination of heavy metal and punk rock) really loudly at all hours. Other people in the house can't hear it, but my room is next to their house, so I can hear it all. AHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Aside from that, I've played BBall like 4 or 5 times (I've been sending out a mass text each time to maybe ~20 people, no one has been really up for playing) which has been fine. I've seen X-Men: First Class (highly recommend it) and Hangover Pt. 2 (Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh). So far I've lost just 1 CCR (ordering pizza while watching G5 of the finals with the house) so I'm a little up in CCR equity.

As far as poker... I've played 6 sessions. 1 at the Rio, 2 at the Venetian, and 3 at the Wynn. Only 1 winning session, and 2 of the other sessions were basically a dead draw. (Which is ridiculous) So I'm stuck a little bit, and although the amount isn't much/staggering, it's basically more the mental side of things. (Confidence/demeanor) Largely I've played well, although I've managed to get a bunch of different hands AIPF. None of those hands were AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, or AK, and somehow I've run into fellow marginals. Which is somewhat bemusing.

I should have noted the hands I've played in earlier sessions, but I didn't save any to my BBerry. At this point my memory is fuzzy, and I just don't want to review them anymore. Mental dissonance. I did play w/ Leggo member Antonius (who is also named Rob) one sesh, in an incredibly nitty Wynn game (1 of the sessions where it was basically break even). I ran a 4bet bluff that I took down on the turn (I had AJo on a lone broadway, FD board) where I barreled off most of my stack. Luckily it worked.

During the Rio sesh I played w/ Bruce Buffer (UFC announcer, is a "friend of FTP") who seemed like a nice guy. Was very talkative, liked his own voice, so it wasn't difficult to see how he's an announcer. (Drum tap!) Also played with Allen Cunningham, but obviously prying about FTP led nowhere. As far as News, Views, and Gossip stuff, he seemed very negative about Phil Ivey. Specifically the case that was filed, obviously, but also Ivey's intentions. (He believes Ivey's act is 100% a publicity stunt, had been planning this a while, who knows)

Today I haven't done anything, since, well, G6 of the finals is on! So, I'm watching it with my house, and will hit the grind either tonight or tomorrow. Also, I missed the 1500 6m (sleep schedule wasn't conducive to playing) but Alex made a deepish run where I think he finished 18th.

I will record all my hands next sesh, just to have "SOMETHING" to analyze. I guess ya'll will just have to take my word for it, but by and large I'm playing pretty well. Some bad calls and so far none of my triple barrels have worked (I'm 0fer on bet-bet-bet lines with bluffs, although 2 or so of them ran into slowplayed big hands on strange boards where they just called me down... I've also been called down pretty light in other spots, too).

So,... It's been a long time! No excuses, really. I've spent a fair amount of time on a basketball project w/ Aaron and Assani. http://pointsperpossession.com/ Check it out! We've knocked out a bunch of podcasts. I've done a total of about ~10 articles up to this point.

Life has been alright. Rather than do a recap of the past 2 months - it's been like 70 days since my last blog post, which is clearly the longest drought of my blogging career - I'm going to just sum it up with "no complaints except some, but I'm not sharing those complaints"! Instead, time to dive into Vegas!

I just finished watching G2 of Dallas-Miami. I've been doing all my basketball content on PPP (obviously!) so this isn't really the place for me to go in depth in terms of either analysis or emotion. But, for those who watched G2, wow what an amazing game. Dirk is playing on a higher level than anyone else in the world. If you haven't seen this video, it's gold:



I wasn't supposed to watch this game in the Vegas house though! Alex and JC rented their car yesterday, while Travis and I were supposed to rent ours today. Travis went w/ Alex with a plan to come back, pick me up, and we'd all go play poker. (For the 1st Vegas sesh) Apparently Travis "stopped by", and "called out" (but didn't knock on my door or call my phone...) so he left without me. So all day today I've been left to my own devices, which I generally enjoy, so I just NBAed alone. It was quite fruitful! And, of course, that free time has rolled into actually blogging!

I feel the need to note this: I want to coach. I have had 1 student the past ~6 weeks or so, and I forgot how much I enjoy it. I periodically am contacted by people but in the past I've turned them all down, no real reason aside from lethargy and malaise. I now feel differently, so, if you want coaching, come to me.

A sad story, Pre-Vegas...

Memorial Weekend I drove from Cambridge, with my girlfriend Eva, to visit my mom in West Hartford. My sister flew in from San Francisco to visit for the weekend, so this seemed like a great juncture to see them both, seeing as how I hadn't in quite some time. It was a great 2-day stretch, no complains, I generally enjoy family even though the action of actually visiting them can be quite burdensome.

Eva and I wanted to beat the Memorial Day traffic, so we left Monday afternoon around 4. We got to the highway entrance (a mere 5 mins from my mom) and I was pulled over by a West Hartford cop. Keep in mind I wasn't speeding or anything - his reason for pulling me over was because my tags said 2009. Oh well, he took my license etc., and walked back to his car. 20 minutes passed and he finally strolled back to my car.

He told me, "Robert, it looks like we have a problem." Uh-oh, not really what I want to hear from a cop! Apparently in addition to my old tags (since I live in Mass I never bothered to update my CT registration when it expired, obviously stupid on my part, but they don't do stickers in MA so I figured what the hell?) my license had been suspended. For whatever it's worth, this isn't the 1st time that has happened to me.

Regardless, that came as a shock to me. I had no idea why. Since I was driving home to Boston, the cop wouldn't let me just go. So, he called a tow truck, they took the plates off my car, and towed it away. He was nice enough to drive me back to my mom's house.

I don't have a real reaction to what transpired... On one hand, I was wrong to not have current 2011 registration (I had 2009), and the license was a total shock. On the other, I'd rather not have cops making random stops that have nothing to do with actively breaking the law, like reckless driving and the like. I tried reasoning with the dude, but I didn't have much leverage. Since my flight was on Tuesday, and out of Boston, I couldn't take care of things immediately... Eva and I ended up taking a bus back home. (The ride itself was really quick and enjoyable - I played on my computer the whole time with my wireless card, plugged into an outlet. Far better than actually driving!!!)

Tuesday morning I went to the Boston RMV to try to figure things out, and they wouldn't let me register my car in MA, because I didn't have the car title with me. (I had brought the car receipt, not the actual title) My license was suspended from a speeding ticket I never paid (I forgot about it) several months ago. They slapped me with an additional 100$ reinstatement fee, but the good news is at least I am a licensed driver again. Oh, the ticket the CT cop gave me was ~400+. And the towing place is charging me 25/day for "storage". (It's not clear when I'll actually *have* MA registration again!)

So, a life nuisance I need to take care of which will probably cost me ~1000+. Doubly painful that it occurred the day before leaving for Vegas. Oh well! The flight itself was interesting - Alex and I booked our flight together, JC joined us a little while later, and at the airport itself not surprisingly a bunch of various poker players were also on board. Including my friend Alex Santiago, who is on several on my BBall teams/is from West Hartford. (He hasn't lived in any of the Vegas houses with me, but rather just know him from playing ball with him out here -> learning that he too lives in Boston) Santiago is a tourney player.

~~

We flew in May 31st, got in around 11 pm, were exhausted, and unfortunately missed G1 of the finals. Jet Blue has like 40 different channels, but for some reason does *not* have ABC. This has happened to me before (been on a Jet Blue flight when I really wanted to watch a national game on ABC) but what can you do, this was when I had to fly into Vegas.

Dub was comped 2 suites at Paris, he got one and I shared the other w/ JC. I won the coin toss to see who got the king size bed. (He got a red velvet couch - the suite was actually pretty baller, and I'm impressed that Alex was comped them, considering he's a low volume pit player) I was going to take pictures of the place but I was exhausted then, and slept until we had to check out, so I couldn't take pictures in the morning either. Oh well!

In the morning we (JC, Alex, me; Travis arrived this day) went to pick up their car and then check into the house. I'll probably do a walk around the house similar to last year. The main note is this house is def. better than last year, and probably the 2nd best of the 5 houses that I've stayed over the years. We finally have a nice pool too, so I'll utilize that.

The three of us ate at a place called "Pin Kaow" (we all mistook it for "Pink Cow") which is a decent Thai place. We ate outside, seeing as how it was beautiful. Since we've been here (3+ days?) the weather has been very un-Vegaslike. Just warm, fairly cloudy, and a nice breeze. We played Johnny Lodden for the bill (HU, 3rd person plays the loser, if the loser loses twice he pays, repeat). Dub lost the check. The only interesting Q was "how much money does Rob (I was Lodden) think Travis will spend at the Rhino this summer". I thought 1400, whereas Alex and JC more than doubled my guess. (JC won by taking...

Figured I'd actually go through and see where I stand w/ NBA stuff this season. (Going through 2p2 prop bet thread) Since the season is winding down and all.



Great Radiohead song. Alright, in reverse chronological order...

This obviously will get settled in the playoffs.

Heh. Not looking that good.

This will get settled after today.

This went down in flames.

This is with epipen. I'll likely win this.

This is looking good.

Will figure out who wins this after today, but I think I'm 99% to win

I am going to lose this. 95% sure it was for 500 total, not 500 w/ each, but going to continue reading that thread to confirm.

*EDIT* Yes, it appears Assani and Aaron just split action on all his bets, so it's 500 total

Well, I gotta say, I love this bet! Celtics are looking farrrr better. AND I have odds. What's not to like!

Pistons have 23, so this is looking good. The peace prize, not so much.

Wiz have 16 wins w/ 18 to play, so I'm looking OK on this.

These are too confusing so I'll just figure this out after the season.

Same deal w/ this. dunno what the deal is will figure out after the season.

I'm going to win this, Blair is 17.5 or so, Cousins is sub 15

I *thought* I made a Dallas v Utah playoff bet w/ both Aaron and Assani. It's not in the thread so I'll have to talk to them about it. (Obv, will lose that)