All my stories are about the same things - The Gourds, Cold Bed
Poker Update
I seem to be stuck in a “you can’t win a hand if you try” rut. I cleared both my Party bonuses on time and therefore got $200 in “free” money, which is good because I dropped about $150 clearing it. This month’s first Crypto site, Interpoker, is not proving to be much better. I am hitting such bad cards it’s not even funny. I’m taking small pots when I can just to cover my blinds and hope that I actually catch something to get ahead. The 1/2 tables at Crypto so far seem very different than previous months. It’s gone from being 8 to a flop to maybe 2 to a flop. Weird. Maybe it’s the time of the month, ie. there’s enough decent people trying to clear bonuses. I don’t know. I doesn’t help that I’m on a cold run of cards. Maybe I need to drink while playing, it can’t hurt.
I will, however, be playing in the next blogger’s tourney on the 21st. I’ve never played at Stars, but have an account, so I look forward to it. Hopefully I won’t bubble on this one and actually make the money again. I’ll probably play there a bit to get used to the interface so look for ‘chrisdhal’ (go figure, huh? 
) and donate to the cause.
Congratulations Jason
My good friend Jason, who I have mentioned numerous times in the past, and his lovely wife had their first child on Tuesday afternoon. A 7.5 pound baby girl. Congratulations!!
Classic Poker
I’ve been catching up on the classic poker shows on ESPN Classic. The quality varies greatly and even up until the 2002 Jack Binion World Poker Open there were still no hole cameras. That particular one was pretty good with the final two being Eric Seidel who lost to Humberto Brenes. The commentary sucked though as they had Lon from ESPN and the old coach from the TV show “Coach”. Terrible. I love to watch Seidel though, he’s amazing.
The best of the recent showings was the 1999 World Poker Finals from the Taj in AC. This got down to Danny Negreanu (yes, he called himself “Danny” at the time) and John Bonetti. It was a classic old time pro versus the young gun. Bonetti talked and talked trying to throw Daniel off but Daniel stuck with it and ended up winning. It was very entertaining as evidently Daniel and John are good friends, so all the taunting and talk wasn’t taken personally and everybody was having a good time. Commentary was still pretty bad though.
It is amazing how much the hole cams change the whole concept of watching poker. As much as I want to like watching some of these old shows, I find that it’s just not as fun. Maybe it’s because I’m tired when I watch it (11PM here). Maybe it’s the bad commentary. Personally, I think a lot of it is due to the commentary. I’m not sure what the producers are thinking when they get celebrities to host the shows. Some of the shows have had Hellmuth doing commentary and say what you want, but at least he knows the players and the strategy. I welcome his commentary as it’s informative and it’s also scary how he can put people on cards. When he or another poker pro is on, it’s enjoyable. When they have third rate actors who have played poker twice in their live doing the play by play, it sucks badly.
Baseball
I don’t know much about baseball, I admit I only really follow it during the playoffs, but I am enjoying this Twins Yankees series. I was sure the Twins were going to go ahead 2-0 last night, but no, it was not meant to be due to keeping our pitcher in too long. Go read Pauly’s trip report for what it’s like to attend a game in Yankee Stadium.
To show how different New York is compared to Minneapolis, our local news had a reporter go to a “bodega” (they repeated “bodega” about 20 times as we don’t use that ’round these parts) outside right field. Imagine the William H. Macy’s character from Fargo saying “bodega” in three distinct syllables in that accent. They showed people watching the game on TV, drinking beer and eating. Whoa! Slow down slim! It was kind of comical except for the fact that the segment was supposed to be serious, which did nothing other than to show that we’re a bunch of hicks up here. That’s OK, just keep thinking that…
I haven’t been to a game all year, and you know why? They stopped offering 2-4-1’s at the Rally Room, the bar located behind the right field bleachers in the Dome. Hey, it’s a valid reason, right?
Ahem.
I can sit and watch a whole playoff game on tv, no problem, but early on in the season, it’s just so slooooooow.
Agreed. Way too slow for me. I went to one game this year and got to be in a suite. If it weren’t for the free beer I would have gone crazy and I don’t even like beer. The upside was that it was against the Yankees, so that was cool.
Any chance you’ve been TiVoing those classic poker tournaments and burning them on DVD for sale? I keep forgetting to watch them on ESPN Classic and every time I read your blog I’m reminded of it.
I’ve seen Brenes’ win over Seidel,and it was hilarious watching Brenes singing in Spanish as he bullied the table. Good stuff.
When I’ve heard him, Hellmuth is a surprisingly good commentator. He’s actually subdued, doesn’t put himself out front all the time. Bet that would be different if he commentated now, after all his ESPN exposure.
Your Twins broke my heart last night, they could’ve cracked the Yanks but good.
Bodegas are an integral part of NYC life. We don’t have super-super markets instead we have corner stores that sell everything.
One brave Twins fan wore a Kirby Puckett jersey in the upper deck. Poor kid was harassed all night long. Every time he got up to go to the bathroom, he was pelted with taunts and shouts of “A–hole! A–hole! A–hole!” At one point, he had to have a NYC cop escort him to his seat because it had gotten so bad!
Great game. Twins had the entire series in their grasp and I was mystified that the Yanks pulle dout another come from behind October win. I know everyone hates the Yanks, but moments like that are truly special.
Next summer Chris… come on out!
Go Twinkies! Go Sox! Boo Yanks!