Ok, so this TR is a day or 2 late. That's ok. Basically:



Last Thursday (err, the 18th) I played in my league bball game. We crushed, and I probably should have considered leaving that day (to Phoenix) but I didn't want to miss the game. They didn't need me, basically. (We won 77-47) Anyway, I stayed up all night, packed, cleaned my apartment, and left at 7am to catch a flight to NY.

I flew Jet Blue, and my flight was only half full - it was only an hour, so it was a very peaceful flight. I slept a little. I arrived in NY, there was a tiny bit of a lay over, and then it was time to go to Phoenix. This time, the flight was incredibly packed - the people sitting with me were very large (and 1 was pregnant) which would've made the flight awful. Buuuuut I slept the entire time, (5 hours or so) which makes flying on no sleep a good thing, since otherwise I can't sleep.

Upon landing, it was a nice 75 or so in Phoenix - I had left in a Boston blizzard, so it was nice to basically go from Winter to Spring. Amazing how that happens! Took a taxi to the hotel, I believe it was called the Hotel San Carlos. Was right in the middle of Phoenix. Met up with Asa - we had time to kill (I was there early afternoon) so we went to literally the only Thai restaurant in Phoenix. It was good! Then we went to play basketball at a 24hr fitness ~20 mins away. (Was the closest one)

Did that, came back, and the timing worked well as Aaron, Starkey, Assani, Keith, etc. had all congregated in the hotel. The hotel is walking distance (6 mins tops) to the Suns arena (US Airways Center), and the thing we all noticed is just how damn empty Phoenix is. It's like a faux city. Incredibly clean, but man, no people!

We saw Suns/Hawks. We sat in a section where we basically got food/bar atmosphere. Was pretty cool - had a great banana sundae. Suns ended up winning, not so much because of Nash (although he played OK) but because the Suns 2nd unit just throttled Atlanta's 1st unit. (I think it was a 3rd Q run) Enjoyable game, esp. bc I was rooting for the Suns.

Went to the bar "Majerle's" afterward. (Owned by former Sun Dan Majerle, ofc) Was crowded for a little bit, esp as we crammed 6 people (Asa, Keith, Aaron, Starkey, Assani, me) into a booth. Drank a bit there then went back to the hotel and sat at the bar downstairs, which was almost empty. There's a running joke in TZ about "the assani fisher" (double fisting cranberry vodkas) so I had the idea to make commercials. Hopefully you guys find them funny:





(last second was supposed to be edited out, bursting into laughter...)



While sitting outside, 2 notable things happened:
-At 1:30 or so, randomly, a sorta New Orleans bus (x2) rolled out with an entire marching band called the dill pickles, or something like that. (Maybe Naked Pickles) They played Mardi Gras type music very loudly for about 15 minutes. (The other bus had random people with Mardi Gras masks on)
-I missed this, but Aaron told me later; Asa and Starkey spent 10 minutes conveying the spelling of their pokerstars names. lol. Aaron reenacting the scene (which he did later) was literally A+ hysterical (more on this later)

That morning, we woke up, went out for breakfast, checked out of hotel, and reported to US Airways Center around 1oclock. Wow, so cool - we were in the Arena basically all alone! We were escorted to the Suns visiting locker room, got our bball stuff on, and went out on the court to ball it up!

We ended up playing 7 games (maybe 8, but I think the last one was cut short) and we filmed 3 of them. (Although one of the games didn't come out well) We filmed the 4th+ game, which is why we all look so tired. (Running up and down an NBA court is exhausting) If you're interested in watching our games, look at the related videos, but for a snippet of one:

(We used 3 different camera angles, and it's unfortunate the 2nd one didn't turn out that great since it was by far the best angle)

After this, the plan was to drive w/ Aaron and Starkey to LA. From Phx to LA it's about a 5 or 6 hr drive... and we were all exhausted. But I must say, this was one of the most fun car rides I had. Maybe because I was so tired, I just kept laughing - especially when Aaron was retelling the story from the prior night about Starkey and Asa. The three of us had fun telling stories etc. throughout the ride, and even though there was some periods of silence, it was a great ride. We also broke down the bball ofc.

So I got into LA Saturday night late, maybe 10:30 or 11:00, and got dropped off at Keith's house in East Hollywood.

This is sorta part 2 of 3 from the trip - Saturday night, Sunday, and then Monday (not the night) I stayed at Keith's house. We ended up watching a fair amount of basketball, we played an epic Axis & Allies game where Asa and I played the Axis vs. Keith and his roommate, Dan (nice guy)... We ended up winning, got kinda lucky in a huge battle of Berlin. FWIW we stayed up all night playing that game, basically. What a great game - hadn't played a complete game in literally 10 years.

I think for Sunday "brunch" we ended up going to a pretty famous or special breakfast place in Hollywood where they served MASSIVE portions, but frankly I'm blanking on the name. All I know is I ate a ton and I barely had half my pancakes. That night we went out for Chinese food, (in the restaurant some dude was playing the Chinese whistle, or something like that - celebrating Chinese New Year. Pretty cool) where I was basically the 7th wheel as it was Dan/Asa/Keith, all of their GFs, and then me. Somehow a Starcraft challenge got thrown in there, not sure how. Hmm.

Quick aside about East Hollywood: Geez, if you don't have pink hair or tons of tattoos or any kind of flair, you're basically an outsider. Was certainly an entertaining place tho!

Monday Assani drove in (he drove from Vegas to Phoenix, then back to Vegas, then Vegas to LA... Lots of driving!) and the lot of us + Caitlin (Keith's gf) went to the Clips vs Bobcats game. I was rooting for the Bobcats, but alas, was not to be - they folded during crunch time and the Clips escaped with a victory. Was a pretty good all around game though. Was the 2nd time I was at Staples, and I must say, it's a very nice arena. That's about all the compliments I have for LA

After staying up all night, Tuesday morning Assani and I drove to the Embassy Suite at Downey where it seems most people were staying. The room itself was far nicer then we anticipated - it had a little den entry area, and we had a microwave, extra couch, etc. Pretty nice. I crashed though, and upon waking, it was time to go to Commerce!

Well, I woke up around midnight. Was bizarre. I'm not going to go hand by hand, like I've done in the past (for individual sessions) and although that could be interesting, I'm just going to give the recap of each session:

Wednesday 3am-6am: Played 1st sesh 10-20. 20-40 wasn't running. Had some good food, but was super tired. Ended up playing OK, but I didn't win a single pot (or make any hands) and started the trip losing 5.5k. I remember the highlight being raising AQ utg, getting called in 2 spots, including the button who was a short stacker with about 700. Flop was AKx with 2 hearts, I bet 2/3 pot, and the shortie shoved for a little more than my initial bet. I snapped and expected him to be drawing thin, but he flipped over AK and said the classic "I love when they get it in drawing dead". Great hand.

The nice thing about the Embassy Suite as well was that there was breakfast served in the morning. Pretty handy, Assani and I grabbed a bunch of yogurts. I think we ran into Clayton in the lobby, but I could be messing up the days. Regardless, I eventually slept, and eventually woke up at a random time. I wasn't very clear about time for the last few days while in California.

~Wednesday nighttime->Thursday Morning? 2nd sesh, this went a lot better. Made some hands, and crushed the game for about 16.5k. Felt good to out balance the 1st session and waaay cover trip expenses. Highlight here was when I was very deep I 3bet another deep stack with AK OTB, and Charder 4bet cold with about 5k to 720 or so. Weirdly the deep stack cold called this, so I put another raise in to 2100 or thereabout. Charder shoved, deep guy folded, I called, and Charder had AQ.

I *did* play 1 interesting hand, where I thought I got owned, but upon examination I'm not really sure. I raised 89o in MP to 70, and the super deep guy in the BB called. We both had a lot of chips but it's irrelevant for this hand. Flop came T72r, which is super dry but I have the only legit draw. He checked and I bet 80, pretty much because I would love for him to checkraise... and I think half pot is enough to make him fold his pure air. (the 56s of the world, for example) If he's going to make a light call down with like KQ stuff (maybe) that's fine because I can keep pumping the pot with a lot of equity (and nut equity). Anyway, he called. I wasn't sure how wide he was going to call, but I assumed any pair or gut draw. I didn't expect something like A6 to call but it's always plausible.

Turn (310) came an offsuit A, which isn't bad but isn't great. I mean it's the card I'm almost always going to bet again, but this guy maybe knows that. But it shouldn't really improve him, and if he did have something like J9, it's nearly impossible for him to call again OOP. (little would he know that's ahead) So he checked, I bet 220 (a bit more than 2/3, pretty much the size that should shake off all gutters and has a good chance of making him lay down like 55) and he weirdly made it 500 more. The general range I suppose for a villain is a slowplayed set they're now checkraising the turn, or of course, an obvious 2 pair that wants to win an extra bet from Ax. I didn't know anything about villain in this spot, but I considered 3betting the turn since I don't think he can have the nuts, we are so deep I didn't think he'd put another raise in (so he'd smooth all big hands where I'd shut down barring improvement on the river), and technically villain can be bluffing if he thinks I'm on air so often due to 2nd barreling this card. But since the price was sound and *most* people just don't have air randomly here (ie. they have what they represent, 2 pair or trips, which wont fold) and I wasn't 100% sure I wouldn't get blown off my 8 nut out draw, I called.

River (1740) came a 9, pairing me, and he insta-bet out 1k. Was so weird. I shouldn't really ever call this - although I paired, I essentially beat things like KQ, KJ, or QJ which called the flop weirdly and were fpsy on the turn, or lower pairs that did the same on the turn. And frankly he should do this with all his value range, ie the 2pairs/sets. Because I can easily have any A, like AQ, A6, etc. I called anyway, and he showed me AJo.

So, at first I thought, "whoa, I got owned," but I actually don't really think that. The main reasoning is he's representing a stronger hand then what he had - obviously - and of my bluffcatchers (AK, AQ, weak 2pair that I'm raising first-in in that spot pf) he's going to get value cut often. So I'm not sure he's >50/50 when called, since I know I don't bet a lot of my Tx on the turn there and I don't always bet Ax on the flop. (Whereas all stronger hands *almost* always get bet on the flop when deep) So I think he caught me in a curious mood and it worked out, so kudos. Also, knowing what he had, makes me wish I put another raise in on the turn since it means his range isn't just air/strong, but also marginals - and I don't think those marginals can call.

Thursday night till about midnight: 3rd and final session. Oh, what a disaster. I actually sat at Craig's table, which was nice (got to chat with him a bit) but... I literally never made a hand. I loved my situation - there were 2 people at the table who had a considerable amount of chips, (an asian guy and a guy from San Diego in a business suit) and I was able to isolate them like crazy. And they never folded to me. Ever. Which is generally what I want, when I have anything to valuebet. But I never did!

*Note that after playing with the business guy for a while I actually didn't think he was bad at all, but at first glance I thought he was. It could have been for the first few orbits he picked up hands, because after about 30 minutes of action he totally nitted it up.

I lost about 13.5k, the lowlight being when this table broke (unfortunately) I was moved to a table with people who had almost no money. (And I was stuck quite a bit) I picked up AJdd from EP, made it 70, and got called in 2 spots. Flop came KJxr, w/ 1 d, and I checked to an asian young guy last to act. (Who had about 1k) He bet 120, and I called. Turn was the Kd, which is pretty nice - I think I have the best made hand and best draw. I checked and he checked it back. River was a blank, I checked, he bet 120, so I checkraised (for value, obviously) 400 more. He called me and showed me AA. W. T. F. I left after that, figuring just wasn't my day.

I wont use this space to complain - no point in that! - but at my first table the asian guy who kept getting the best of me, well, I think I only beat him in 1 pot that was even medium sized. The rest of the time he was doing stuff like cold calling 3bets with 36 OOP and then making the best hand and donk-leading the river small where I had decent bluffcatchers. Anyway, I played 1 other interesting hand because of this guy...

A solid player (played with him the previous session) named Frank opened from EP after just having lost a flip vs a ~shortie (his QQ to AK). Frank had shown some 2 very big folds, 1 that day and 1 the previous session. In any event, at this point I had moved to take immediate position on Mr. 36. Mr. 36 called the initial raise of 70, and I had KTo in the BB. I would almost never 3bet in this spot vs the original opener, but because of Mr. 36, (at this point he had me covered, I think! and I had about 14k) it was a clear re-isolate spot. So I made it 300, but - oops - Frank called, and of course, so did Mr. 36. Ok, not really what I wanted.

Flop came K73r, which is the best and worst of both worlds. On one hand I made a very strong top pair, on the other hand a guy who was a very solid player had called my 3bet and if he had anything of value, it was better then my hand. Mr. 36 checked to me, and HU I'd consider taking a street off. (Unless I have a bluffy image) But 3way, where Mr. 36 was going to c/c any pair, I decided to bet 550, and pretty much hope Frank would go away but Mr. 36 would call. Butnahhhh, Frank called and Mr. 36 folded.

At this point I don't mind my hand, obviously - I have top pair in a 3bet pot! - but Frank had about ~6k or so at this point and I don't think his range is wider then a few 7x, 88-~QQ (if he doesn't repop any of those) then unfortunately the hands that beat me. KJ, KQ, sets. (And if he wouldn't 4bet AA, KK, or AK) Pot had 2000 exactly, and the turn was a harmless 4x, putting up 2 spades. I figured the only way to get paid off would be to do something weird, and hey, since I'm in this spot, I may as well go for the gold and try to get the value I can, even though I kinda expected to be value cut. So I bet 330. I figured the 4 NEVER helps him, since it was terribly unlikely he would peel 44 on the flop and it was *unlikely* he'd peel a gutter for 550 w/ only 6k behind esp w/ wild Mr. 36 behind. But my hand could be a draw that got picked up (spades, straight, whatever) that is just pricing itself into the river. Also, even though it's a super awkward bet, I felt a set *had* to raise here, whereas if I bet bigger (like 1500) he could just flat it in w/ his marginals. Also, I thought this was the best bet size to NOT make him fold all his stuff like 76s or 99 that could be in there.

So he gave me a super weird look, didn't know what to make of it, and called. Ok, pot has 2660, I don't mind my hand but I don't like this situation at all. River paired the 4, so the spades missed, and I figured ALL of his range was bluffcatchers... from something like 78 to TT (which I beat) to KQ (which i dont). I bet 1600, and I think this is either a really good play (if villain treats all of his bluffcatchers the same, and calls w/ the range if he feels I'm bluffing + arrives to the river with them) or really awful play (if villain literally needs KJ+ to get to showdown for this size of pot). I'm undecided, since he tanked for a minute, and finally called. He had KJo, and again I hate being in this spot PF, since i'm sorta setting myself up for this, but on the other hand Mr. 36 "allowed" me to get in these types of situations.

All in all, I finished nearly 3k down in poker, which sucks because the games were very good. I didn't play a ton, but the funny thing is I didn't get AA or KK the entire time I played. (Queue "lol live poker" comments I'm sure!) But I probably played 12-15 hours, so 400-500 hands, so I guess it's not THAT rare to not have 1 of those, but it would've been nice, ofc. Expenses were about 1000 including the PHX fees (the bball stuff) so I guess this "vacation" was 4k. Heh, again, queue "should've quit while ahead!" lol. Oh well.

I fell asleep when I cabbed it back to the Embassy Suite, stayed up late, (we had to check out Friday) and woke up past checkout. Assani and I drove to Keith's house, we ate around there, played bball at 24 hr fitness, then Keith drove me to LAX. I took the red eye back to Boston, and this possibly was the highlight of my trip! I flew back on Virgin America, and was able to use the internet while on the plane. Also, although the plane was almost completely full, the middle seat was empty. (I preselect my seat and try to get one next to an open middle, and just hope to get lucky... Pretty solid strategy) My laptop did die with about 2hours to go on the flight, but I watched SC.

Upon arriving in Boston, it was snowing. lol, well, thats what you get, going from 75 degree sunny weather to cold Boston. But I don't mind the snow. The thing though is I drove myself to the airport, and I probably made a mistake - my parking fee (no joke) was 204$. Blahhhh in the future I really need to have someone drive me to the airport or just take a taxi. Just a complete joke but there wasn't anything I could do. (Felt like I was exploited basically!) I drove to Cafe Rustica, got there around opening (7am) enjoyed breakfast and went home.

Slept until Saturday night, and basically from that point to now (Tuesday morning) I haven't been too productive. My sleep schedule is obviously turned upside down, as a result of pacific time change/red eye flights/not needing to do anything in particular during the day. I was/am supposed to/could go to Chicago and meet up with Aaron and Starkey for a little series, but since I have my cats it's hard to just find someone to watch them. So, I kinda need to make that decision today! Also have a league game on Thursday and I don't really want to miss another, (2 weeks in a row) so again, undecided.

Lastly, I finished the Lone Gunmen series. There was only 1 season (it got canceled) and 13 episodes, so it was like 9 hours of TV time. I cruised through it. It's an X-Files spin off (focusing on the Lone Gunmen, obviously) and it was OK. The problem is they tried to make it funny, and the truth is the serious bits (like from X-Files) are what is interesting. But oh well, still worth watching. I'm going to flip back to S8 of X-Files and eventually wrap that up!