I live in Joplin, Missouri. It's been almost 3 months since a deadly EF-5 destroyed almost a third of our town (50k ppl). Our town is between a tragedy and a triumph. 160 ppl died on May 22nd, but considering the path the tornado took across our town and how much devastation it caused, it's completely unbelievable more people did not lose their homes or lives. St Johns hospital was destroyed(about the first thing anyone recognizes from photos or video), as well as 4 schools and countless businesses.

http://youtu.be/XT7CtF5ljxY

My wife and I had some close friends stay with us for a couple of weeks after their homes were destroyed. It's just a surreal feeling driving down a street where you have lived your whole life and not know exactly where you are at. This happened for quite a few weeks afterwards.

My story on that day isn't interesting. I was at Buffalo Wild Wings with some friends watching the Cardinals/Royals game on Sunday(should add that we decided to play golf instead of drive to the game that morning). There are countless stories of heroism and survival that day. I feel somewhat guilty as I was about 3 blocks from the tornado that day, and thankfully the house my wife and I live in was 3 miles away and my parents and her parents live 2 miles away.

What is interesting is the countless amount of volunteers that has been here since. I have met people from Alabama and Mississippi (April outbreak) to Minnesota(tornadic activity the same day) to California, New York, Texas, Utah,etc.. all here to help and donate because they saw the devestation on the news. There are still countless volunteers showing up daily to help clean up debris and distribute goods and clothes to those affected from everywhere across the nation.

Truthfully I have never been more proud to be American. We have our deficiencies that's for sure. But we also have huge hearts and a stubborn willingness to help anyone in need. If anyone has donated or volunteered to our cause or has family who has, please accept a most gracious thank you from all of us here in Joplin.

Texas vs TB Rays - Texas in 4. Cliff Lee is unreal in playoff atmosphere and will get the Rangers to a win in game 1. TB pitching is weak after Price, but Shields will win game two at home. Texas has a huge advantage at home and will finish off in Arlington


Atl vs SF - Common knowledge says the Braves have too many njuries to compete but they battled hard for playoff spot and have an unreal amount of respect for Bobby Cox's last season. SF pitching is tough but also tired at this point. Alot of young arms have thrown for 200 innings 3 years in a row and it will show. Braves in 5

Cincy vs Phi - No contest here. PHI in 4. Had Cincy had the option to start Mike Leake at any point in this series it could be closer. But Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels are too much for almost anyone in this postseason

NYY vs MIN - I really like Minn here. If Liriano can somehow prevail in game 1, it should be easy sailing for the Twins after that. Pettite will have a decent showing in game 2 but Hughes in game 3? No shot. MINN in 4. A-ROD will not duplicate last his last post season performance, Texiera will struggle and with Swish and Cano the only offensive options in this series, the Yanks make a first round exit

+7 and a hook. Damn I love the underdogs, and their team. They play hard and it's refreshing to see a new face in the final 4 and championship game!!!

So the first six games Ive spread in the NCAA tourney haven't gone well but this is kinda sick year. Saturday's games:

Nova @ St Marys. Nova -4.5 First game and love to ship the first game. Too much athleticism by NOVA

Ohio @ TENN. over 140. This is iffy, Ohio brutalized a decent Gtown defense and Tenn can score but Tenn shouldn't be 9 pt faves in this game. Maybe 6.5-7 at best so I like the over

Old Dominion@ Baylor. Uh ship it. Baylor only -4 it's sick. nuff said

WF @ Kentucky. UK -9 obv. WF can defend but not against the athletes UK has. and they are frosh, young and energetic.

BYU @ KSTATE: KSTATE -4.5 over is a bit sick at 154, but K state should ship a pretty easy vic at 8 to 10 easy

N. IOWA @ KU: Over 126.5. 12 may be too much to spread but the over is about perfect for a team that shoots as well as KU and defends as well as N. Iowa

Murray St @ Butler: -4.5 Butler. yah yah there is no chance M. State ships anything here. Butler too good and too sharp.

Wash @ NM: Wash -1.5??? No way. NM in a route. This may be the easiest pick of the 2nd round spread wise

Take an off balance 3 pointer with 25 seconds left. Are you fucking serious? You are retarded and there is no chance the LAL win the NBA championship this year. Because you are a selfish fuck and I am embarrassed I fucking bet on you tonight. In other good news I won ORL -4 @ HOU, and OVER 193 CHA@UTAH. But really I hate you Kobe that was awful, you kept me from scooping the first 4 days of the week haha. 12 out of 13 in NBA bets for the week and Kobe is the best player in basketball and he fucks it up, welcome back from injury retard!!!!!

Heading back to Vegas for a week the 20th - 27th of March. Then again for April 8-11th. Got some points to use before they expire at Harrah's resorts. Anyone have good recommendations of places to eat/visit that I may not have experienced before? Lotus of Siam, Naked Fish,(ha still got love for Mesa Grill) been there, done most of the resorts on the strip and some out of the way. New places please if you know of out of the way great cuisine?

Ive been playing fairly well the past couple of days so I decided to see what would happen with an opponent I had some HU history with. There are a couple of fun spots in here where I learned quite a bit about his game last time we played in 3 bet pots.

2nd hand of the match (always fun to start this way)

Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $94.85
Hero (BTN): $50

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $5, Hero raises to $15.75, BB raises to $94.35 and is All-In, Hero calls $34 and is All-In

Flop: ($100) 4 6 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Turn: ($100) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


River: ($100) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)


Results: $100 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
BB showed A K and WON $99.50 (+$50 NET)
Hero showed Q Q and LOST (-$49.75 NET)

2nd fun hand. Thoughts at the end of this hand:

Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $135.20
Hero (BTN): $60.45

Pre-Flop: J T dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to $1.50, BB raises to $5, Hero calls $3.50

Flop: ($10) A A Q (2 Players)
BB bets $6.50, Hero raises to $16, BB calls $9.50

Turn: ($42) Q (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $39.45 and is All-In, BB folds

Results: $42 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero showed J T and WON $41.50 (+$20.75 NET)


This will look so spazzy, but JT is a true position call against 80%+ of his 3 bet range. I know the pot is mine when he flats the flop raise. His range in most of these spots are 44-88 and cant call a turn shove. My c-bet% on the flop against this guy is ridiculously high, therefore he has shown a tendancy later in the match to only 3 bet suited connectors, gappers, and low to mid PP (up to TT)
He is almost never flatting an A against me on the flop (i suck at poker but i understand patterns well so just trust me that 4 out of 5 times this is a profitable play, obv very opponent specific) He will always raise an A or Q on the flop on that board texture, but more likely he will lead an amount closer to pot. If he bet an amount like $8.5 to $9 this hand is a fold.

Hand 3

This hand is interesting to me. Maybe not to you all, but I find it curious:

Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $111.30
Hero (BB): $83.55

Pre-Flop: T A dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($3) 2 5 8 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.50, Hero raises to $7, BTN calls $4.50

Turn: ($17) 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($17) 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8.95, BTN calls $8.95

Results: $34.90 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
BTN mucked T J and LOST (-$17.20 NET)
Hero showed T A and WON $34.40 (+$17.45 NET)


Flop I ch/raise, repping straight or flush draws, the turn completes both (If u cant see the suits its the 3rd spade, I have As) Given our history if he checks behind on turn, Im legit almost always ahead with A high and Spade redraw just in case. If he has a hand this opp. will ALWAYS value bet turn. The day he doesnt, I'll be fucked trying to figure out what he is up to for the next few hands. When I thinly bet the river, honestly I thought out loud his most likely holding was K6. I was wrong and wondering what the J high call was for

Hand 4

Like I said about hand 2, if its 8-9$, its a fold

Full Tilt, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $87.35
Hero (BB): $106.10

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $5, BTN calls $3.50

Flop: ($10) 9 T A (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $7.50, Hero calls $7.50

Turn: ($25) 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($25) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Results: $25 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
BTN showed 3 4 and LOST (-$12.25 NET)
Hero showed K K and WON $24.50 (+$12.50 NET)


I missed value on the river badly, after he checks behind on turn. Just a mistake, as really think he may time down and call with a 4 putting me on QJ type hands.

K thats all for now Im tired of looking these up but there are a few more I may post tomorrow. GL everyone

For one day while being able to monitor each other for that whole day at what we do best? How unsatisfied would top Leggo pros be in my progress? Likewise, how dissapointed would I be if you came into my kitchen for a job interview and realized you had no potential in relation to being a chef?

The process for this question came from Worst Cooks on Food Network. A majority of the ppl on the show have no knack for cooking and no general premise from which to launch forward with a limited skill set. It made me realize that it can be very intimidating when potential employees come in for an interview, and instead of question/answer session, I make them cook for me. This is what I do best. And though these applicants have many more years experience than I do, I believe most are intimidated when they come in, I am either way better at what I do, or more comfortable in a pressure situation cooking for anyone. If someone made me cook for a job, probably no matter what job it was I would be so intrigued by the action of having to produce to prove worthiness, I would absolutely jump at the chance, and WANT that job.

What if the chef's from the show tried to sell real estate for a week for a living, or sell a boat or cars, or be a statistical analyst for a fortune 500 co? How would they fare? Some ppl are multi purpose individuals and connect with pressure. Some are one dimensional and handle pressure applied in their realm of comfort only.

Even thinking about posting a question on an aejones, luckychewy, shootaa, or bttech thread intimidates the shit out of me whether I think it is a relevant question to anything I can implement into my game or not. They know an infinite amount more than I do at the question Im asking, and half the time it may not even be a relevant question to anything they are teaching.

But why? Im here to learn right? Just as someone wanting a job from me would want to learn what they could about food before hopefully moving on to an sous or executive chef job from what they have learned from me. They would ask questions. Hopefully in the future, I will be more proactive in initiating threads/asking questions on vids. I feel a bit silly honestly in being so intimidated, but can it be helped? These ppl are the best at what they do. I should be nervous correct? Im trying to learn from the best of the best. I need to learn to use my "fraidy catness" as my biggest motivational tool to learn so I don't look silly with questions and waste their time.

Good luck everyone with whatever it is that you do.

The first game I am completely unsure of. Don't really like the over or the spread, but will prob end up playing it. I love love love GB+2 and a hook and the over 47.5 but we will see tm I guess. won both NFL games today so maybe feeling too invicible. With Welker out how much does that play into points?

TBH im kinda glad NFL is over (almost) with so bookie will start taking more and more NBA games. I played baseball through the first year of college till i quit to work and go to school, but I handicap NBA and NCAA games alot better than baseball, which i comprehend alot better the betting patterns in games I have NEVER played.

[Hopefully at the tail end of 2009, I learned to control some tilting issues. I played the month of Dec without going ballistic when I lost in a marginal at best type spot and went into spew mode. I decided at the first of Dec to take 10NL seriously and start improving my game and looking for ranges more, concentrating when I play, and playing when I wanted to. Its hard once in awhile to work 50hrs/week and WANT to focus on poker, but with winter in full swing it has been alot easier.

I built my roll to comfortably play 25NL, but played poorly on christmas and took a 4 BI loss. The money lost didnt hurt but knowing I kept playing when I was playing poorly did. That is def my biggest goal for 2010. I have a job as a restaurant manager/chef and when you are successful in one area in life it takes monitoring to know that doesnt translate to every aspect of your life. Poker is something I def enjoy in downtime, but Im ultra competitive and decided I didnt really enjoy losing or breaking even at poker and it seems absurd that it took me this long to recognize that something I do 15 hours a week I wasnt fully invested in. 2010 will be different from previous years in this regard. What is the point of wanting to play poker x amount of hours per week and not gain something out of it? Turning the page and watching a lot of vids and browsing through the forums have immensly helped for the last month. Also stopping myself when I get irritated and spewing after that simply bc I have more money to deposit has helped immensly. If Im not going to take it seriously, there is no reason to keep loading and reloading money online for short spurts of entertainment.

So after my last deposit on NOV 12th, I decided no more. My goal for 2010 is to work only within the bankroll I have online and be consistent in the games I play. Keeping tilt in check and knowing I have the ability to take a break will help greatly in ensuring I dont have to deposit again for the year. Haha looking at other NY resolution posts this is pretty mundane. But I think its good to have a simple yet somewhat elusive(thus far) goal to work on. Monthly goals will be to get around 13-17k hands in on the month. More would be great but its not anything Im going to press as I really dont play well not focused. I prob dont actually play THAT well focused to be honest but I know I can beat 10NL at a good clip, and Im comfortable at 25NL and with a bit more focus while continuing to learn Im sure that I can start to beat that the same way.

2009 was a great year. I got married to a beautiful and absolutely fantastic woman. We bought a great house and my family is all healthy. What more can you ask for? I guess improving at poker is down on the list of importance here in general, but also being below average at anything I do is frustrating so thats the goal. Thankfully my wife is a patient and supportive person, and is an absolute treasure.

GL everyone.

PS how do you post pics on the blogs?