Hello friends!
Janessa and I have just returned from our week-long honeymoon in Costa Rica and are almost back in the swing of things. In the interest of sanity, I thought I'd write a nice long blog trip report for anyone to reference and save me telling the same stories 20x :)
We flew out at 12:45am Thanksgiving Morning from LAX. One stop in San Salvador then a plane change to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica, onto a local commuter flight to Quepos, right outside where we were staying, at San Manuel Antonio National Park. Oddly, we had to wait two hours or so for the commuter - a 20 min flight in a rickety old lil plane. Still, much faster than the 4.5 hour drive would have been.
Delirious and dying for showers and sleep, we finally arrived at our first hotel, Arenas Del Mar. This place was faaaantastic, PARADISE, amazing view of the beach from our suite's balcony (and the jacuzzi on said balcony), the place was insanely ecofriendly (solar panels, gave us biodegradable water bottles to keep so we wouldn't use regular bottles, and oh yea, despite being surrounded by forest, it was obvious their environmental impact was minimal). The service as this place was first rate. The people were incredibly warm, friendly and accomodating. I wrote a review of the hotel which you can look at on TripAdvisor here. Suffice it to say, despite Janessa's extensive food allergies and my own allergy to gluten, we didn't get even a little sick once. The chef spoke with us personally at nearly every meal and made sure everything we ate was safe (and delicious!)
We set our trip up through a tourist group called "Costa Rica Expeditions." They built us an itinerary of things to do over our short 7-day trip. We eliminated most of them as we wanted to spend a lot of the trip resting. Travel is exhausting enough without 12 hour tour days. Janessa and I hadn't had a real vacation in years, so we wanted to mainly relax.
The first day we went snorkeling in the ocean and saw tons of beautiful tropical fishes. This was in the morning and a lot of fun. We were done by 1pm - in time to enjoy a relaxing lunch at the hotel snack bar next to the beach and kill a few hours before we both went to the spa. I got a 60 minute hot stone massage, which I'd never had done before. It was good for my back and quite relaxing. Janessa got a scrub/wrap treatment that left her skin very soft and made her happy. Great first day.
Day two, early morning, we went on a tour of San Manuel Antonio park. There we saw many exotic animals and insects including white-faced monkeys, beautiful butterflies (they are everywhere), and lots of sloth - fitting for our mission on this trip! The park features some of the most amazing beaches in the world as well as all of the wild-life, so we had a lovely time. In the afternoon...you guessed it, lunch at the snack bar and really nothing much else but re-lax-ation. Beautiful.
Day three was a travel day. We checked out of our hotel in the morning to take a long car trip back to the San Jose area. Since I'd wanted to try zip-lining, we set up an aerial tram/zip-line thing at a place which was conveniently located almost equidistant between San Manuel and Hotel #2. Janessa was a little nervous, but once we got going, she had a great time. We were wayyy up in the canopy of the rain forest and had breathtaking views that I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten had we just stuck with the slow tram(which is kinda like the aerial trams at Disneyworld, if you're familiar with those). The day we went there were three cruise ships full of people filling up the place, so it was jammed - but all with retirees. Suffice it to say, we were the only people zip-lining and people thought we were crazy! (One lady yelled out to me "does your mother know you're doing this?") Skydiving is a LOT crazier, so this was a piece of cake.
Our guides for the day were with Costa Rica Expeditions and were great to us. One named Max, barely spoke english, but was amiable. He waited in the car during the zip-line. The other went zip-lining with us! I wish I could remember his name, he was a very cool guy. After the zip-line we had a nice lunch and long conversation with him. He'd traveled to many places in the US and all over the world and had great stories to tell. His job is basically traveling with tourists, helping them out, but also doing what they do - be it eating with them or going on the tour they go on. Not a bad deal!
After a long ride up to our next hotel, Finca Rosa Blanca (check the link!), we got settled in the dark. Our initial reception was not great. It was confusing, dark, and the reception chick was awful and completely useless to us. Admittedly, our first impression of the place was pretty grim. Once we checked out our room, we warmed a bit. We stayed in the master suite of the hotel, the best room, the Rosa Blanca Suite, a sprawling two story suite featuring an amazing tub (click the link for some pictures) and a winding staircase. The view from the mountains was breathtaking, we could see for miles. Not too bad.
Our next encounter with the staff was a very good one. The food service at this hotel was just as accommodating to us and our allergies as Arena Del Mar. The food was also - simply put, amazing. The chef quickly became our favorite person on this trip. His name is Rodrigo, and he is a rotund short man with glasses and a constant smile on his face. Jolly is the best word to describe him. He was lovely to us while at the same time a goofball. At the same time, every single thing he made was amazing, even after conforming to our restrictions. Janessa and I loved this guy and made sure the property owner knew it... great job
Our first full day Finca Rosa Blanca was great. Finca Rosa Blanca is adjacent to a coffee plantation owned by the property. We took a tour of the plantation - great timing as it was harvest season, so the coffee cherries were ripe - and were taken through the whole process from picking to processing. As a coffee lover, this was heaven for me, but Janessa loved the story too. That's at least in part because the farm was organic and sustainable, and we got to hear all the measures they'd put into place to prevent pests without using chemicals. Essentially, they plant trees more attractive to pests near the coffee, and do other similar things to great a synergistic environment where the coffee thrives. Awesome stuff, really.
At the end we did a coffee cupping. For those of you not familiar, it's similar to a wine tasting, but a bit more specialized. The idea is to compare cups of coffee objectively through intense palate analysis. Our great guide Leo explained to us the qualities of coffee on particular parts of the tongue, while we loudly slurped samples from a spoon and attempted to verbalize the smells and flavors we were experiencing. Janessa doesn't like coffee, so she didn't drink much of it, but I know we both enjoyed the palate stuff. The wife and I have become very interested in the sense of taste, through wine, cheese, chocolate, coffee, and other things, and are exploring it. But more on that in another blog!
The rest of the day was mellow. It was time for another spa day (what what!). This time, Janessa got the hot stone massage and I got the tiramisu which was a scented hot bath followed by
an "almond body exfoliation" after which you are "cocooned in amazing, warm and hydrating wrap" and given a facial. After that you clean off and get a full body massage. Sounds great, right?
Truthfully, it kinda sucked. The bath was great, but everything else was just weird weird weird. The dude "cocooned" me so tight I lost feeling in my pinky fingers on both hands which was very odd. Plus the "gentle" exfoliation hurt like crazy. It felt like the dude was trying to grind some cheese off my back! To top it off, for nearly the entire two hours the property's dogs barked like crazy, not just for a little bit, but loud as heck CONSTANTLY. Good luck relaxing through that.
Guess I'm not really a spa guy!
Anyway, Janessa loved her treatment so what can ya do.
The next day was our only full day tourist thingy. We went up early morning to go see an active volcano which was about a 2 hr drive away. We picked up a buncha people in a van in San Jose and trooped up there to Irazu. Unfortunately, it was so foggy up there we couldn't see anything. It was also freezing and windy and wet. Not the best time. But, all good, the rest of the day was nice. We saw a beautiful turn of the century catholic temple (right before mass started actually), an amazing botanical reserve with swweeet japanese tea gardens, lunched at a separate coffee plantation, and several other sites. Tiring, but a good time. The people in our group were really cool, all well-traveled and cosmopolitan. It worked out kinda interesting because they were from all-over. We were the only people from the US. Besides us, there was a couple from Lima, Peru, a gentleman from Slovakia, and a young man from Belgium. It made for fascinating lunch conversation.
The last day was to be mainly relaxing. Janessa only wanted to do one more thing - horseback riding. The hotel had that all set up internally so we went for that in the morning. This was the worst part of the whole trip. Despite our telling the guide that we had almost no experience riding horses, he put us on horses with almost no instruction then proceeded to take us over a ridiculously rough course - part of which was, according to him, "where they ride ATVs." I caught air like 20 times. It was insane. I messed up my back badly. Even worse I got a huge welt on my ass that is STILL THERE TWO WEEKS LATER (but mostly healed). Janessa had really bad bruises on her legs and couldn't even finish the ride. Shitty. But what can you do?
We wrapped up our day relaxing and enjoying ourselves. The next day we spent the morning at the hotel before heading to the airport. We took the time to thank Rodrigo and the awesome waitstaff, Louis and Andre and get some terrific pictures. We then toughed it out through the loooong trip home.
All in all, we had a fabulous time. A few shitty things happened, but not even close to enough to ruin the great things we saw, ate, time we spent together and general relaxation of it all. Now to look into that house in Costa Rica to retire to....
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
A tribute to our late cat, Alex
Alex on the left, Louis on the Right
This has been a very difficult month in our household.
I won't go into all the details here, but our cat Alex, went into heart failure about a month ago. We rushed him to emergency vet care and stabilized him after a scary 2 day hospital stay. The past month he's alternatively gotten better and worse and not a week's gone by without us having to take him in unscheduled.
Finally, we took him in Monday evening. He was very weak and didn't look good. He was very dehydrated, and we hoped this was responsible for how weak he seemed to be. Sadly, he passed the next morning around 6am.
Alex was one of our three, now two, cats, along with his brother Louis and (step)-sister Rewind. Rewind had been my first cat, and I lived with her for two or three years before I moved in with my now-wife-then-girlfriend, Janessa. Janessa already had Alex and Louis, so Rewind made three.
Alex and Louis were from the same litter. They are brothers by blood. They were abandoned as kittens, and Janessa adopted them when they were only a few weeks old. Not surprisingly, they grew quite attached to Janessa. That's an understatement, really. They love her more than anything in the world, of that I'm sure. I've never seen either of them happier than when they are close to her. When she is away and comes back, they hear her car, know its her and come racing for the door almost immediately - no matter what they're doing. Nothing was more important than Mommy time.
Alex and Louis were the cutest couple of cats you could ever imagine together. They used to curl up into a sweet ball, laying their heads near each others in perfect repose. They would also clean each other. And of course, like all brothers, they would fight, mostly in play, neither ever getting hurt beyond a bruise or scratch.
But, about Alex.
When I first met this wild furry tabby, I'll admit that I was a bit perplexed about why his momma was so crazy for him. Alex did not like me one bit. I was confused. Cats had always gotten on with me well. I'd felt a natural connection to them long before I had Rewind. Well, with Alex, we soon deduced that he saw me as competition for momma time! He would hiss at me a fair bit, and many times when I tried to pet him he'd swipe at me with his claws out. Janessa kept telling me he'd do that to her too, and maybe there was some truth to it, but not nearly as much as he did it to me!
Not only that but Alex was the most anxious cat I've ever seen. He was always nervous about something, but it was hard to figure out what. Cats have it so easy, especially in a house where they are loved. I nicknamed him "Tweak" because he always seemed tweaked out.
Alex was also the least graceful cat I've ever seen. You know that "cats always land on their feet" thing? Nonsense. It may be true of some cats, but not Alex! He would flop all over the place. Sometimes, he'd flop on the kitchen counter only to realize at the last minute that he was too far near the edge and slide right off. He'd always have this great look of surprise on his face. It reminded me of those Road Runner cartoons where the Coyote would hang in the air for just a second before falling with this look like "Whaaaa?" Alex also had a penchant for flopping onto his little brother when they were cuddled close together. Poor Louis! Alex was about 14 pounds and his brother was closer to 11.
Alex eventually warmed up to me, but I stress the word "eventually." It took around two years, but we finally made a connection last year. Part of it was my fault, I discovered, as I hadn't been approaching him correctly. He responds really well to soft pets, and I was used to harder pets, which is what Rewind really liked most of the time. With that knowledge, and the self-awareness to only try to approach him when he seemed calmer, we ultimately built a rapport.
Alex was at his sweetest at the same time every night, right around 7, when we were eating dinner. Around 8:30pm, all three cats would get the crazies and go into nocturnal mode, but, right before then they were at their most content. I suspect some of that had to do with Janessa and I being home for the day. Anyway, Alex would turn into the sweetest most gentle kitty I'd ever seen around then. He would lay comfortably, sometimes with his front paws tucked under his chin, looking at peace with the world and everyone in it. Even when I, his hated rival, would pet him he would purr softly, his eyes 3/4 closed in what Janessa describes as a kitty smile.
The more I saw of this side of Alex, the more I began to understand him. He was just a big scaredy-cat (literally!) In truth, he was at the bottom of the cat pecking order in our house (My imperious cat, Rewind, the strongest personality I've ever known, cat or person, was on top). And, as I said before, he was attached to his Momma like no other, even more than his brother, I think, albeit marginally. His favorite spot to be was clinging to her neck, purring at maximum volume and drooling all over Janessa. Oh yes, did he drool when he was happy. Gross, but cute.
Slowly, Alex and I found our way. Every night during the week, Janessa would go to sleep an hour or two before I did. Whenever I'd go to bed, there would be Alex, on my side, keeping it warm. I'd get in and he'd run away quickly. Toward the end, I'd try hard to get him to stay, petting him gently and rhythmically. He'd never stay for very long, but when I did that he might stay for a minute or two.
Alex also loved fresh, cold water, and would get very excited when the new water would get poured. I love water ice cold as well, possibly from living in Florida for so long. Anyway, I'd sometimes give him fresh water even when it had only been out for a little while just to make him happy. He'd do a little cute skip when he was excited, and I so enjoyed seeing that.
When we were going through the difficult process of getting Alex to and from the cardiologist, there was only one bright spot: Alex charmed everyone at the doctor's office. Not only did they tell us how much they loved him (which could have been them just being nice), but we heard them audibly say "Alex!" a few times when he was brought back unexpectedly. In the end, Alex was at his sweetest and most tender to everyone.
Alex was a member of our family and he is already deeply missed. It was an awful experience seeing him struggle, and I can't help but think that he's better off now, free of the pain and turmoil of being dragged back and forth to doctors and being poked and prodded, given pills, and all the other things he had to endure. Nevertheless, our house feels empty without him, and I think of him all the time. I love Alex with all my heart, and though I'm an atheist, I sincerely hope I'm wrong and that he's in a happier place, waiting for his family to join him in the end.
Rest in Peace, Alexander Lazon, we will love you forever.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Weak Lead and the Hare (Or why it pays to probe)
Earlier today I was playing a 90 man $24 KO Tournament on Full Tilt.
I ran into an interesting spot about halfway through. I lost the Hand History, but I can give you the gist of it.
The blinds were 60/120 and I had about 5000 chips. I picked up AdKd in middle position, and opened to 360. I was called by the cutoff and everyone else folded. I hadn't played any hands with the cutoff as I was fairly new to this table, but I did know, from his sharkscope stats that he was a winning player, probably a regular multitabler.
The flop was gin. Qd9d7d. Terrific flop, but how to get paid?
Obviously, check-raising is a possibility, but its awful strong. Even if he's strong enough to call on the flop, you've lost him after that, and what can he have on the flop strong enough to continue? The three biggest diamonds are out, so he'd need exactly the Kd for a flush draw. Certainly the cutoff could have a set, and in that case, you might even get fourbet. Except the cutoff's a good player, which means he can read your checkraise for what it is: a strong made hand or at worst a big diamond. Either way he is better off calling. A strong made hand is a flush or maybe a higher set. A big diamond might get in, but a fourth diamond on the turn might save you some money if he wouldn't have folded anyway.
The other problem with check-raising is that checking looks awful suspicious, particularly on this type of flop. It's possible you just wiffed, but not once you check raise. Check-calling actually might look stronger, depending on the opponent.
So what about just leading out?
Any normal size cbet will be pretty strong. You will only get action from the rare hands, a set and a big diamond, that could be out -- and we know that the Ad, Kd, and Qd are accounted for, so there's not nearly that many big diamond hands he can have. Any other hands, straight draws, combo draws, random two pairs, unimproved pocket pairs - will fold (remember, the cutoff is a winning player).
So what do you do?
I tried leading, but leading weak. I bet the minimum. I believe it was about 120 into a pot of around 900. It goes like this: "I whiffed this flop, but I feel obliged to c-bet, but since I am sure I'm beat, I'll just bet a little bit so I can get away cheaply..." (not a good strategy, but one some people use at these stakes, certainly).
My opponent raised big - - about 4x my bet size. Cha-ching. I pretended to think for about 20 seconds and then called. Lead-raising here could also set off alarms. Instead I chose to continue to act weak.
The turn was a blank. I checked and he fired off another pot sized pot. Tank. Call. The pot is now about the size of the remaining effective stack (mine).
River - 2d. Terrible card. I can't expect to get any value from sets now. Even if he has the Jd, he's not likely to pay off big. Would you? I grit my teeth and check and hope he takes one more stab. The cutoff pushes in. I snap call.
The cutoff has pocket 2s and rivered the set. He read me as weak all the way from the flop, and my story was consistent. Therefore he thought trips were good on a four flush board.
Weak lead ("obliged to cbet") + ("tank-call") + ("check/tank-call") + (river check) = weak hand, not the nuts, right?
Except I have the nuts.
I drag a huge pot.
Why did this work so well?
I think it's because many people at these stakes are deep in "fancy play syndrome." They are always trying to out-play you, out-think you, and they believe they are playing the player not the cards. To a certain extent, they are right, but its an oversimplification that suffers from the fallacy of the familiar. What I mean is that they assume that other players think the way they do, and because they bluff a lot, they think you do and, consequently - don't believe you even when they really should.
So all I had to do was throw them some "weak" rope and they immediately saw a chance to take down a pot, one they were so determined to get that they never slowed down. This player isn't playing to win money, he's playing to gratify his own ego. It's exploitable, so give it a shot.
PS:
Good players at lower stakes do pay attention to betting patterns. You can use this fact to your advantage using the weak lead. Next time you raise, get called and decide to check fold a bad flop rather than waste a cbet, try leading super weak instead (assuming your stack is deep enough). This way, if he raises you, you fold, and it establishes that this play is weak. Later you can use it when you're strong - or, alternatively, use a normal cbet size which now looks stronger - in comparison. By the way, he might also be suspicious and fold. That's not a bad result either.
but if he has that, the money's going in anyway.
I ran into an interesting spot about halfway through. I lost the Hand History, but I can give you the gist of it.
The blinds were 60/120 and I had about 5000 chips. I picked up AdKd in middle position, and opened to 360. I was called by the cutoff and everyone else folded. I hadn't played any hands with the cutoff as I was fairly new to this table, but I did know, from his sharkscope stats that he was a winning player, probably a regular multitabler.
The flop was gin. Qd9d7d. Terrific flop, but how to get paid?
Obviously, check-raising is a possibility, but its awful strong. Even if he's strong enough to call on the flop, you've lost him after that, and what can he have on the flop strong enough to continue? The three biggest diamonds are out, so he'd need exactly the Kd for a flush draw. Certainly the cutoff could have a set, and in that case, you might even get fourbet. Except the cutoff's a good player, which means he can read your checkraise for what it is: a strong made hand or at worst a big diamond. Either way he is better off calling. A strong made hand is a flush or maybe a higher set. A big diamond might get in, but a fourth diamond on the turn might save you some money if he wouldn't have folded anyway.
The other problem with check-raising is that checking looks awful suspicious, particularly on this type of flop. It's possible you just wiffed, but not once you check raise. Check-calling actually might look stronger, depending on the opponent.
So what about just leading out?
Any normal size cbet will be pretty strong. You will only get action from the rare hands, a set and a big diamond, that could be out -- and we know that the Ad, Kd, and Qd are accounted for, so there's not nearly that many big diamond hands he can have. Any other hands, straight draws, combo draws, random two pairs, unimproved pocket pairs - will fold (remember, the cutoff is a winning player).
So what do you do?
I tried leading, but leading weak. I bet the minimum. I believe it was about 120 into a pot of around 900. It goes like this: "I whiffed this flop, but I feel obliged to c-bet, but since I am sure I'm beat, I'll just bet a little bit so I can get away cheaply..." (not a good strategy, but one some people use at these stakes, certainly).
My opponent raised big - - about 4x my bet size. Cha-ching. I pretended to think for about 20 seconds and then called. Lead-raising here could also set off alarms. Instead I chose to continue to act weak.
The turn was a blank. I checked and he fired off another pot sized pot. Tank. Call. The pot is now about the size of the remaining effective stack (mine).
River - 2d. Terrible card. I can't expect to get any value from sets now. Even if he has the Jd, he's not likely to pay off big. Would you? I grit my teeth and check and hope he takes one more stab. The cutoff pushes in. I snap call.
The cutoff has pocket 2s and rivered the set. He read me as weak all the way from the flop, and my story was consistent. Therefore he thought trips were good on a four flush board.
Weak lead ("obliged to cbet") + ("tank-call") + ("check/tank-call") + (river check) = weak hand, not the nuts, right?
Except I have the nuts.
I drag a huge pot.
Why did this work so well?
I think it's because many people at these stakes are deep in "fancy play syndrome." They are always trying to out-play you, out-think you, and they believe they are playing the player not the cards. To a certain extent, they are right, but its an oversimplification that suffers from the fallacy of the familiar. What I mean is that they assume that other players think the way they do, and because they bluff a lot, they think you do and, consequently - don't believe you even when they really should.
So all I had to do was throw them some "weak" rope and they immediately saw a chance to take down a pot, one they were so determined to get that they never slowed down. This player isn't playing to win money, he's playing to gratify his own ego. It's exploitable, so give it a shot.
PS:
Good players at lower stakes do pay attention to betting patterns. You can use this fact to your advantage using the weak lead. Next time you raise, get called and decide to check fold a bad flop rather than waste a cbet, try leading super weak instead (assuming your stack is deep enough). This way, if he raises you, you fold, and it establishes that this play is weak. Later you can use it when you're strong - or, alternatively, use a normal cbet size which now looks stronger - in comparison. By the way, he might also be suspicious and fold. That's not a bad result either.
but if he has that, the money's going in anyway.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
On the banality of greeting cards and the corporatization of sentiment
Big title huh?
Simple concept. I want to someone a greeting card. My wife's birthday, our anniversary, blah blah blah. I go to Rite Aid, or CVS or whatever and start looking through cards.
Who the hell buys these things? Almost every one I look at is insanely utterly lame. The serious ones are like two page love poems with every trite cliche you can imagine, including my favorite, "I love you more than words can say" (even though you just spent four paragraphs trying to do just that... but there is no recognition of irony in a greeting card, sadly). Do people read this and think, "My wife/girlfriend/mother/father/whatever will love this because they know that I am thinking of them"? I mean its not like YOU wrote the poem. How can the poem possibly apply to the person you're giving it to? I mean make no mistake, I'm not suggesting you have to write poetry to give a card, but for chrissakes, sentiment printed on a card is not real sentiment!
And then you have your 'humor' cards. This is where I spend most of my time since the 'serious' cards sicken the shit out of me. Even these are at least 75% complete junk. Love "humor" seems to consist of teddy bears and bad love poems combined in four way pullout cards, for the most part. To get anything simple and straightforward you either have to make your own, or hunt hunt hunt.
Because I have no artistic talent to speak of, I hunt. I sometimes spend 30 minutes or more looking for a good card, because, it matters to me. I never want to halfass it and give some lameass card. That shows so little thought and consideration, what's the point? I mean a greeting card isn't a gift - the idea behind it is that you're giving someone thought and expressing it, so shouldn't the thought be at least your own or at least thought about?
I know this is too much to ask for in a society that thinks high fructose corn syrup is a "natural flavor" where everyone sleepwalks through their days. Still, if you can't take five or ten minutes to find a card that captures you and/or the other person for real, at least just a little bit, why go to the effort at all?
/rant
Simple concept. I want to someone a greeting card. My wife's birthday, our anniversary, blah blah blah. I go to Rite Aid, or CVS or whatever and start looking through cards.
Who the hell buys these things? Almost every one I look at is insanely utterly lame. The serious ones are like two page love poems with every trite cliche you can imagine, including my favorite, "I love you more than words can say" (even though you just spent four paragraphs trying to do just that... but there is no recognition of irony in a greeting card, sadly). Do people read this and think, "My wife/girlfriend/mother/father/whatever will love this because they know that I am thinking of them"? I mean its not like YOU wrote the poem. How can the poem possibly apply to the person you're giving it to? I mean make no mistake, I'm not suggesting you have to write poetry to give a card, but for chrissakes, sentiment printed on a card is not real sentiment!
And then you have your 'humor' cards. This is where I spend most of my time since the 'serious' cards sicken the shit out of me. Even these are at least 75% complete junk. Love "humor" seems to consist of teddy bears and bad love poems combined in four way pullout cards, for the most part. To get anything simple and straightforward you either have to make your own, or hunt hunt hunt.
Because I have no artistic talent to speak of, I hunt. I sometimes spend 30 minutes or more looking for a good card, because, it matters to me. I never want to halfass it and give some lameass card. That shows so little thought and consideration, what's the point? I mean a greeting card isn't a gift - the idea behind it is that you're giving someone thought and expressing it, so shouldn't the thought be at least your own or at least thought about?
I know this is too much to ask for in a society that thinks high fructose corn syrup is a "natural flavor" where everyone sleepwalks through their days. Still, if you can't take five or ten minutes to find a card that captures you and/or the other person for real, at least just a little bit, why go to the effort at all?
/rant
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Vegas Was Fun, WSOP was Rough; Bad Beats, Doyle and Penn & Teller
So I'm sitting at Mccarren right now, waiting to get on the plane back to the LA. The trip was a lot of fun, but, unfortunately, I barely made it three hours in Event #39.
I was very happy with how I played. I consistently got my money in way ahead and made good, timely steals. Unfortunately, variance picked a bad time to rear its head.
I began around noon with $4500 chips along with the other 2700 entrants. My first table was pretty soft, but that didn't stop me from getting involved in some big pots pretty quickly. Within the first rotation I picked up AKo and raised from LP to 3x (150 as blinds began at 25-50). I got two callers, a late position guy and the small blind. The flop came down 3 low/mid spades. I had the K of spades, so with that and overcards, a cbet was certainly in order. The late position caller folded but the small blind called. The turn was the Queen of hearts. Check, check. The river was the fourth spade, a 7. The small blind led for about $750. Knowing that I could only be beat by the Ace of spades (but also knowing that a raise would only be called by that Ace), I called. A4, Ace of Spades, I lost 1/3 of my stack. Ouch.
After another rotation, it was folded around to me in the small blind, where I looked down and saw a lovely KK. Wanting to build a pot, I raised to 200. The big blind called and the flop came 10-10-9. I thought this was a pretty good flop for an overpair but certainly vulnerable to draws, so I cbet 2/3rds pot and was called. The turn was a blank four. My initial instinct was to fire again to protect my hand. But something stopped me. When the big blind called on the flop it was pretty quick. I had a feeling he didn't think I was that strong. The board was hard to hit and my raise was from a steal position. Even though there were some bad river cards for me if he checked behind, I thought it might be better to go for the check-raise. I did, he obliged, and I quickly moved in, not thrilled to get all my chips in 15 minutes into my first WSOP event(!)
After he tanked, I started to root for a call. Obviously a ten would have snapped me. At that point I figured he had a draw, a small pair, or maybe a 9. He waited forever before folding, and told me that he had 9-7. I dragged a big pot and was up to about 5k. Soon after this, the dealer informed us that we would be the first table in the huge room to break (table breaks were planned ahead of time). Disappointing, as I'd liked the table. After a few more hands we were all moved, and I sat down in seat 7 of a different table not too far from where I'd started.
I ended up playing the first hand I was dealt, pocket 4s. A player raised in middle position and I called from the Cutoff. We were still at 25/50, so we were deep enough to set mine. The player on the button directly behind me also called, the blinds folded, and we saw an Ace high flop 3 handed. I missed my set so I was planning on folding pretty quickly. Oddly, the pre flop raiser checked. I checked too and the button quickly checked behind. The turn was a 7. Again, the pre flop raiser checked. Now I realized this was a good steal opportunity. There was no way an ace or strong hand checked twice here. So I fired and the button and pfr instantly folded. Easy money.
After that, I didn't see too many playable hands for awhile. I watched the table closely and tried to pick up on the dynamics between players and their individual styles. On my right was a small woman with glasses who, it quickly became apparent, was a bulldog. Throughout the time I was at the table, I saw her reraise quite a bit and take down some big pots. I was glad she was on my right(!) At the same time, on her right was the pre flop raiser from the 4s hand. He was raising virtually every hand from middle and late position. It was annoying, but exploitable. I figured I'd be in some pots with him at some point, but simply couldn't get good enough hands to take advantage at this point.
After a few more rotations, the player two to my left opened from early position for 3.5x, his standard raise, even though the rest of the table had been opening to 2.5. I was in the big blind, and it was folded around to me. I looked down and saw a lovely sight: pocket kings! Now I tried to figure out the best way to make money on the hand. I ended up flatting for two reasons. First, I reasoned that the raiser would (correctly), see a 3bet from the big blind into an early position raiser as VERY strong. Unless he had a VERY big hand, at least JJ+ or AK, he might be able to get away pre-flop. At worst, he could call and then escape on many flops. Secondly, I was concerned that if an Ace came off I could end up playing a big pot out of position against a raiser very likely to have an Ace in his hand.
The flop came down queen high with no flush or straight draws. The raiser cbet into me about 2/3rds pot. I paused for awhile, checked my cards, pretending to consider folding, then repopped him 3x his original bet. He quickly moved all in for 2800 more. I had him covered by a little over a thousand and quickly called. He turned over AQo. Of course I then turned over my KK and he immediately went white and said to me "nice hand!" I wasn't feeling so confident however, as with most of my chips in, even though I was pretty far ahead, he was hardly dead. I think I was about a 4:1 favorite at this point with him drawing to 5 outs. I said loudly "the hand isn't over yet!" The turn was a jack. The river.... another queen. BAM. I was down to 1300 chips.
I was shellshocked, of course. My opponent apologized profusely for the beat, which was gracious, but I told him not to worry, as I'd gotten exactly what I wanted in that spot. I got my money in a huge favorite and since I hadn't repopped him pre, I got why he thought AQo might be good there. That's exactly what I wanted him to think. So I couldn't really complain, but now I was hurting. Before I'd splashed around in a few smaller pots, stolen some blinds here and there. Now I was suddenly in short stack mode with thirteen big blinds and visions of not even making the first break were going through my head.
I fought valiently to keep my spirits up and stay focused. Only four hands later I picked up AQo in late position and opened to 300, almost 1/3 of my remaining stack. I got called by the button, a european looking guy who wasn't very active but looked like he knew what he was doing. The flop was just awful, 9-8-5, two spades (no spade in my hand). Cbetting (or shoving) seemed like suicide. Once I bet I would be committed and even if I were ahead I couldn't be far ahead! Sadly, I didn't see any option but to check/fold and give up. It left me with ten big blinds, which at least gave me a chance to get my money in better than that.
After this hand I went utterly card-dead for what seemed like forever. It was immensely frustrating, as I wanted to get back in the game and steal some pots. Still, I had to remain focused and not take silly risks yet. I still had enough big blinds to wait for a good spot, and with the slow structure of the tournament (hour levels... at this point about halfway through level 2, 50/100), I did have the time to be a little more careful. After playing fold-em poker for what felt like forever, it was folded around to me in late position and I looked down and saw... two aces!
I wasn't waiting for Aces. I'd planned on getting my money in with any pair as the open raiser and most pairs as a re-raiser, AQs+ and maybe some other hands depending on the situation. For example, if I saw a spot where I could triple up with a hand likely to have good equity like J10s or 76s, I might have grabbed it. Instead, I got the aces. Now, after waiting that long for anything, I didn't feel raising was the right play. I only had ten big blinds, so any reasonable player would see that I intended to commit myself on nearly any flop. I settled on limping, which wasn't an easy decsion by any means, since slow-playing KK had cost me such a big pot. Nevertheless, it seemed like the best chance I had to double up. I limped, no one raised, the small blind completed and we saw the flop 3 ways. J7x, two diamonds. The small blind led out for about half pot and I pushed over him fairly quickly. I figured he probably had a flush draw, or, hopefully, top pair, and wanted to either end the hand now or get it in ahead. He had a 7 with no FD, though he caught one on the turn. Fortunately, I held on the river and now I was up to a walloping 2100 of my original 4500 stack.
Very soon after the first break hit. We had half an hour. I decided to go back to my hotel room, which was a good brisk walk away from the convention center where the tournament was being held. I did so for a few reasons... first, I'd brought Janessa's Ipod to keep me loose, but it was totally dead, so it needed charging. Janessa was at the spa so I couldn't yet ask her to do anything about it. Second, I realized that running back and forth would be good for me, because it'd keep my blood flowing and keep me loose after sitting for so long. So I went back and carefully thought out a plan for the next hour. When I went back the blinds would be 75/150, leaving me with 13 or so big blinds. A very awkward stack size. I remembered that this stack size was potentially ideal for re-stealing loose raisers, and resolved to use this information to my advantage.
It didn't take too long for me to get the chance. Our aggro raiser mentioned before opened for the 200th time in a row from middle position soon after we returned. I looked down to find J10s in the small blind. I paused. Although I knew this was an ideal re-steal spot, I was still a little nervous about executing it, knowing that it was essentially a semi-bluff. Still, poker is about risk, and I needed chips. I couldn't get a much better spot than this, and J10s played pretty decently against a steal range. So I shoved. The big blind instafolded and said "Good luck." The original raiser hemmed and hawed and tanked. I felt sure he would call me and that he was deep enough to do so and sat there very nervously until he finally mucked. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, though I said aloud, "I wanted a call but I guess I'll take this." I don't know if I convinced anyone but it felt tricky ! (LOL).
Now I had a little over 3000. Not great, but a little room to manuever at least. Only a few hands later our intrepid maniac raised again to 400, 2.5x. I looked down to see AJo in the cutoff. I am not normally fond of calling raises with this type of hand, even in position, but given how wide the raiser's range appeared to be and that I had position on him, I decided to take a flop and see if I could either hit it or out play him. The big blind also called. The flop came down jack-7-2 rainbow. It was as dry a flop as you can imagine, and clearly I was either way ahead or way behind. The bb checked, the raiser cbet about 2/3rds pot and now I had a decsion. I was short enough that a reraise would commit me to the pot, and even though the board was dry, I would obviously hate a Queen or King on the turn or river, so calling didn't seem like the best option. Still, I had a player behind me who might have something worth playing. I tanked for what felt like forever (probably to the other players too!) before pushing in. I reasoned that he probably didn't have top set since I had a jack in my hand, that two pairs were very unlikely given the board, and that because of how loose a raiser he was pre-flop, I was ahead so much of the time that I had no other real option but to move in. The big blind folded and the original raiser snap-folded, looking very frustrated. Since I figured I might want to play back at him again, I flipped over my AJ and told him "I'm not bluffing you," dragging a good pot.
Now I was up to over 4k again, and I felt great. I'd weathered a very challenging storm to get back into contention. I now had enough chips to really play poker again. I got involved in some more small pots and generally was doing pretty well, until an amazing donk made himself known to the table. The gentlemen on my left got involved in a big pot with a guy in seat one. I hadn't watched the whole hand but on the turn he shoved all in on a 7-8-10-5 board with two spades. Seat one tanked, and seemed ready to fold, but surprisingly he called, turning over Q9. Queen high with a gutshot!! 4 outs to what turned out to be a set of 8s. Holy crap! This nut had basically called of his whole stack with a gutshot...which...he HIT. Jack on the river. Unreal!
The whole table was stunned. When seat one got up for awhile we all commented and joked about the play. It was crazy. Several hands later, the aggro guy opened small and the aggressive woman next to him moved in over the top of him. Amazingly, seat one, in the big blind, coldcalled both raises. When the hands were turned over, there could no longer be any doubt this guy was a world class retard. He had pocket 4s. The original raiser had Aces and the woman next to me had 10s. The original raiser was short, so I mentioned to the woman that at least she had a good side pot. Predictably(?) a 4 flopped, no one caught up, the original raiser was eliminated, and the woman next to me took a big hit to her stack. A player near me confided that he had folded a 4 meaning this guy had 1-outted his way to a bigger stack(!)
Well, obviously he became the focus of the table, playing too many hands too aggressively but managing to get lucky a lot of the time, though losing occasionally. I raised his earl yposition limp once from the button and he immediately overshoved. He re-popped the woman next to me several times stating that he didn't like being bullied. The woman insisted "I'm not bullying you sir," but that did not seem to placate him. A little later, with her in the big blind, he open raised from mp. She mucked 10-6s (which I inadvertendly saw over her shoulder) and he proudly flipped over 2-3o.
The very next hand I was in the big blind when nutball open limped and a player in late position behind him limped behind. I looked down to find AJo. Not my favorite hand, strong in this situation, but not fun to play out of position. The blinds were still 75/150, so I raised to 800. The donk moved in pretty quickly and the late position raiser folded. I felt sick. He had me covered, and the thought of bouncing out of my first WSOP with AJ was not a good one.
At the same time, I knew that I was probably ahead and that this might be my best chance to get a sizable stack. I slumped my head on the table grinding it into my arm. A crying call certainly. Someone near me said "Good luck" and I said "Thanks, I'll need it!" Someone else said, "No, you won't," and the donk rolled over A8o. I was a little relieved he didn't have KQ or something like that where it was basically a flip, but still wasn't ready to feel good until the hand was over. An ace flopped. The turn was a blank. The river was a by-now predictable 8 and I was done.
Obviously I was stunned. It took me a good thirty minutes to really get my head back. It had been a crazy 3 hours. I'd gotten my money in consistenly ahead and played some of the best poker of my life. I'd stolen pots, made a blind-blind steal, picked off bluffs, played through an extremely challenging short stack situation and fought back, and generally was in A-game mode nearly the entire time. Still, I was railed before the second break in my first WSOP event. It hurt, I'm not going to lie.
I took solace in two important facts. First, as I said, I played the best poker of my life and it was on the biggest stage yet of my young poker "career." That was and is immensely satisfying. I wanted to see if I could play in those situations and thrive. I did. That felt nice. Secondly, I was still in Vegas until Sunday, my wife was around, and I could still have a lovely time. We in fact did just that.
We had dinner reservations at Gaylord, an Indian restaurant in the Rio, for 7pm, which was around when I'd figured the dinner break would be. We decided to get tickets to see Penn and Teller that night and make a date night out of it. It turned into a wonderful evening. P&T were awesome and worth every penny of the $85 tickets. We had an amazing dinner at Gaylord, split a nice bottle of Pinot and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
The other thing we did a decent bit of was railing. We wandered through WSOP and saw a bunch of great players. As soon as we walked into the spectator room we nearly walked INTO T.J. Cloutier. Wow, that man is HUGE. We then saw Men, "The Master" Nguyen playing a cash game nearby. Very cool. It turned out that TWO final tables were going at this point. A stud 8 table and an NLH one. The Stud8 table featured Jeff Lisandro and... Doyle Brunson! We looked but didn't see Doyle. A break was taken soon after we came in so we figured he was probably in the bathroom. Anyway, the final tables at the Rio are open to all to watch. They are in enclosed areas but the spectator seating is open, and there is a nice porch overlooking them that you can watch them from. At this point we didn't see much.
We walked over then to an area where the limit 2k event was being played. There were only about 45 players left, Hellmuth and Negreanu among them. We didn't see Phil, but Daniel was present and loud. We watched him play for a bit until the dinner break hit and he ran out, twittering as he went. Again, cool
Later, before dinner, I checked the live updates from the WSOP page and saw that Doyle was down to a short stack and almost out. We rushed down and made it just in time to see his last two hands. It was simply amazing seeing Doyle play at a WSOP final table. The highlight of my trip, without a doubt! Later we saw Greg Raymer in the hallway, though I didn't approach him. We watched a bit more of the final table action in the 8 or better tournament after P&T, and saw Lisandro survived and was 3 handed - he ultimately won the bracelet, though we didn't wait around to see it. We did get to see Matusow come in and rail him which was pretty cool too. Also, the night before I'd seen Humberto Brenes walking around and had managed (somehow!) to resist the urge to yell HUMBERRRRTO! at him.
All in all, a great trip. I was disappointed I'd run so bad, obviously, but Janessa and I had a ton of fun anyways. There's always next year. I am planning on putting some savings together to try to play several events next year, including, hopefully the main event. That's my trip report, and I'm sticking to it.
I was very happy with how I played. I consistently got my money in way ahead and made good, timely steals. Unfortunately, variance picked a bad time to rear its head.
I began around noon with $4500 chips along with the other 2700 entrants. My first table was pretty soft, but that didn't stop me from getting involved in some big pots pretty quickly. Within the first rotation I picked up AKo and raised from LP to 3x (150 as blinds began at 25-50). I got two callers, a late position guy and the small blind. The flop came down 3 low/mid spades. I had the K of spades, so with that and overcards, a cbet was certainly in order. The late position caller folded but the small blind called. The turn was the Queen of hearts. Check, check. The river was the fourth spade, a 7. The small blind led for about $750. Knowing that I could only be beat by the Ace of spades (but also knowing that a raise would only be called by that Ace), I called. A4, Ace of Spades, I lost 1/3 of my stack. Ouch.
After another rotation, it was folded around to me in the small blind, where I looked down and saw a lovely KK. Wanting to build a pot, I raised to 200. The big blind called and the flop came 10-10-9. I thought this was a pretty good flop for an overpair but certainly vulnerable to draws, so I cbet 2/3rds pot and was called. The turn was a blank four. My initial instinct was to fire again to protect my hand. But something stopped me. When the big blind called on the flop it was pretty quick. I had a feeling he didn't think I was that strong. The board was hard to hit and my raise was from a steal position. Even though there were some bad river cards for me if he checked behind, I thought it might be better to go for the check-raise. I did, he obliged, and I quickly moved in, not thrilled to get all my chips in 15 minutes into my first WSOP event(!)
After he tanked, I started to root for a call. Obviously a ten would have snapped me. At that point I figured he had a draw, a small pair, or maybe a 9. He waited forever before folding, and told me that he had 9-7. I dragged a big pot and was up to about 5k. Soon after this, the dealer informed us that we would be the first table in the huge room to break (table breaks were planned ahead of time). Disappointing, as I'd liked the table. After a few more hands we were all moved, and I sat down in seat 7 of a different table not too far from where I'd started.
I ended up playing the first hand I was dealt, pocket 4s. A player raised in middle position and I called from the Cutoff. We were still at 25/50, so we were deep enough to set mine. The player on the button directly behind me also called, the blinds folded, and we saw an Ace high flop 3 handed. I missed my set so I was planning on folding pretty quickly. Oddly, the pre flop raiser checked. I checked too and the button quickly checked behind. The turn was a 7. Again, the pre flop raiser checked. Now I realized this was a good steal opportunity. There was no way an ace or strong hand checked twice here. So I fired and the button and pfr instantly folded. Easy money.
After that, I didn't see too many playable hands for awhile. I watched the table closely and tried to pick up on the dynamics between players and their individual styles. On my right was a small woman with glasses who, it quickly became apparent, was a bulldog. Throughout the time I was at the table, I saw her reraise quite a bit and take down some big pots. I was glad she was on my right(!) At the same time, on her right was the pre flop raiser from the 4s hand. He was raising virtually every hand from middle and late position. It was annoying, but exploitable. I figured I'd be in some pots with him at some point, but simply couldn't get good enough hands to take advantage at this point.
After a few more rotations, the player two to my left opened from early position for 3.5x, his standard raise, even though the rest of the table had been opening to 2.5. I was in the big blind, and it was folded around to me. I looked down and saw a lovely sight: pocket kings! Now I tried to figure out the best way to make money on the hand. I ended up flatting for two reasons. First, I reasoned that the raiser would (correctly), see a 3bet from the big blind into an early position raiser as VERY strong. Unless he had a VERY big hand, at least JJ+ or AK, he might be able to get away pre-flop. At worst, he could call and then escape on many flops. Secondly, I was concerned that if an Ace came off I could end up playing a big pot out of position against a raiser very likely to have an Ace in his hand.
The flop came down queen high with no flush or straight draws. The raiser cbet into me about 2/3rds pot. I paused for awhile, checked my cards, pretending to consider folding, then repopped him 3x his original bet. He quickly moved all in for 2800 more. I had him covered by a little over a thousand and quickly called. He turned over AQo. Of course I then turned over my KK and he immediately went white and said to me "nice hand!" I wasn't feeling so confident however, as with most of my chips in, even though I was pretty far ahead, he was hardly dead. I think I was about a 4:1 favorite at this point with him drawing to 5 outs. I said loudly "the hand isn't over yet!" The turn was a jack. The river.... another queen. BAM. I was down to 1300 chips.
I was shellshocked, of course. My opponent apologized profusely for the beat, which was gracious, but I told him not to worry, as I'd gotten exactly what I wanted in that spot. I got my money in a huge favorite and since I hadn't repopped him pre, I got why he thought AQo might be good there. That's exactly what I wanted him to think. So I couldn't really complain, but now I was hurting. Before I'd splashed around in a few smaller pots, stolen some blinds here and there. Now I was suddenly in short stack mode with thirteen big blinds and visions of not even making the first break were going through my head.
I fought valiently to keep my spirits up and stay focused. Only four hands later I picked up AQo in late position and opened to 300, almost 1/3 of my remaining stack. I got called by the button, a european looking guy who wasn't very active but looked like he knew what he was doing. The flop was just awful, 9-8-5, two spades (no spade in my hand). Cbetting (or shoving) seemed like suicide. Once I bet I would be committed and even if I were ahead I couldn't be far ahead! Sadly, I didn't see any option but to check/fold and give up. It left me with ten big blinds, which at least gave me a chance to get my money in better than that.
After this hand I went utterly card-dead for what seemed like forever. It was immensely frustrating, as I wanted to get back in the game and steal some pots. Still, I had to remain focused and not take silly risks yet. I still had enough big blinds to wait for a good spot, and with the slow structure of the tournament (hour levels... at this point about halfway through level 2, 50/100), I did have the time to be a little more careful. After playing fold-em poker for what felt like forever, it was folded around to me in late position and I looked down and saw... two aces!
I wasn't waiting for Aces. I'd planned on getting my money in with any pair as the open raiser and most pairs as a re-raiser, AQs+ and maybe some other hands depending on the situation. For example, if I saw a spot where I could triple up with a hand likely to have good equity like J10s or 76s, I might have grabbed it. Instead, I got the aces. Now, after waiting that long for anything, I didn't feel raising was the right play. I only had ten big blinds, so any reasonable player would see that I intended to commit myself on nearly any flop. I settled on limping, which wasn't an easy decsion by any means, since slow-playing KK had cost me such a big pot. Nevertheless, it seemed like the best chance I had to double up. I limped, no one raised, the small blind completed and we saw the flop 3 ways. J7x, two diamonds. The small blind led out for about half pot and I pushed over him fairly quickly. I figured he probably had a flush draw, or, hopefully, top pair, and wanted to either end the hand now or get it in ahead. He had a 7 with no FD, though he caught one on the turn. Fortunately, I held on the river and now I was up to a walloping 2100 of my original 4500 stack.
Very soon after the first break hit. We had half an hour. I decided to go back to my hotel room, which was a good brisk walk away from the convention center where the tournament was being held. I did so for a few reasons... first, I'd brought Janessa's Ipod to keep me loose, but it was totally dead, so it needed charging. Janessa was at the spa so I couldn't yet ask her to do anything about it. Second, I realized that running back and forth would be good for me, because it'd keep my blood flowing and keep me loose after sitting for so long. So I went back and carefully thought out a plan for the next hour. When I went back the blinds would be 75/150, leaving me with 13 or so big blinds. A very awkward stack size. I remembered that this stack size was potentially ideal for re-stealing loose raisers, and resolved to use this information to my advantage.
It didn't take too long for me to get the chance. Our aggro raiser mentioned before opened for the 200th time in a row from middle position soon after we returned. I looked down to find J10s in the small blind. I paused. Although I knew this was an ideal re-steal spot, I was still a little nervous about executing it, knowing that it was essentially a semi-bluff. Still, poker is about risk, and I needed chips. I couldn't get a much better spot than this, and J10s played pretty decently against a steal range. So I shoved. The big blind instafolded and said "Good luck." The original raiser hemmed and hawed and tanked. I felt sure he would call me and that he was deep enough to do so and sat there very nervously until he finally mucked. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, though I said aloud, "I wanted a call but I guess I'll take this." I don't know if I convinced anyone but it felt tricky ! (LOL).
Now I had a little over 3000. Not great, but a little room to manuever at least. Only a few hands later our intrepid maniac raised again to 400, 2.5x. I looked down to see AJo in the cutoff. I am not normally fond of calling raises with this type of hand, even in position, but given how wide the raiser's range appeared to be and that I had position on him, I decided to take a flop and see if I could either hit it or out play him. The big blind also called. The flop came down jack-7-2 rainbow. It was as dry a flop as you can imagine, and clearly I was either way ahead or way behind. The bb checked, the raiser cbet about 2/3rds pot and now I had a decsion. I was short enough that a reraise would commit me to the pot, and even though the board was dry, I would obviously hate a Queen or King on the turn or river, so calling didn't seem like the best option. Still, I had a player behind me who might have something worth playing. I tanked for what felt like forever (probably to the other players too!) before pushing in. I reasoned that he probably didn't have top set since I had a jack in my hand, that two pairs were very unlikely given the board, and that because of how loose a raiser he was pre-flop, I was ahead so much of the time that I had no other real option but to move in. The big blind folded and the original raiser snap-folded, looking very frustrated. Since I figured I might want to play back at him again, I flipped over my AJ and told him "I'm not bluffing you," dragging a good pot.
Now I was up to over 4k again, and I felt great. I'd weathered a very challenging storm to get back into contention. I now had enough chips to really play poker again. I got involved in some more small pots and generally was doing pretty well, until an amazing donk made himself known to the table. The gentlemen on my left got involved in a big pot with a guy in seat one. I hadn't watched the whole hand but on the turn he shoved all in on a 7-8-10-5 board with two spades. Seat one tanked, and seemed ready to fold, but surprisingly he called, turning over Q9. Queen high with a gutshot!! 4 outs to what turned out to be a set of 8s. Holy crap! This nut had basically called of his whole stack with a gutshot...which...he HIT. Jack on the river. Unreal!
The whole table was stunned. When seat one got up for awhile we all commented and joked about the play. It was crazy. Several hands later, the aggro guy opened small and the aggressive woman next to him moved in over the top of him. Amazingly, seat one, in the big blind, coldcalled both raises. When the hands were turned over, there could no longer be any doubt this guy was a world class retard. He had pocket 4s. The original raiser had Aces and the woman next to me had 10s. The original raiser was short, so I mentioned to the woman that at least she had a good side pot. Predictably(?) a 4 flopped, no one caught up, the original raiser was eliminated, and the woman next to me took a big hit to her stack. A player near me confided that he had folded a 4 meaning this guy had 1-outted his way to a bigger stack(!)
Well, obviously he became the focus of the table, playing too many hands too aggressively but managing to get lucky a lot of the time, though losing occasionally. I raised his earl yposition limp once from the button and he immediately overshoved. He re-popped the woman next to me several times stating that he didn't like being bullied. The woman insisted "I'm not bullying you sir," but that did not seem to placate him. A little later, with her in the big blind, he open raised from mp. She mucked 10-6s (which I inadvertendly saw over her shoulder) and he proudly flipped over 2-3o.
The very next hand I was in the big blind when nutball open limped and a player in late position behind him limped behind. I looked down to find AJo. Not my favorite hand, strong in this situation, but not fun to play out of position. The blinds were still 75/150, so I raised to 800. The donk moved in pretty quickly and the late position raiser folded. I felt sick. He had me covered, and the thought of bouncing out of my first WSOP with AJ was not a good one.
At the same time, I knew that I was probably ahead and that this might be my best chance to get a sizable stack. I slumped my head on the table grinding it into my arm. A crying call certainly. Someone near me said "Good luck" and I said "Thanks, I'll need it!" Someone else said, "No, you won't," and the donk rolled over A8o. I was a little relieved he didn't have KQ or something like that where it was basically a flip, but still wasn't ready to feel good until the hand was over. An ace flopped. The turn was a blank. The river was a by-now predictable 8 and I was done.
Obviously I was stunned. It took me a good thirty minutes to really get my head back. It had been a crazy 3 hours. I'd gotten my money in consistenly ahead and played some of the best poker of my life. I'd stolen pots, made a blind-blind steal, picked off bluffs, played through an extremely challenging short stack situation and fought back, and generally was in A-game mode nearly the entire time. Still, I was railed before the second break in my first WSOP event. It hurt, I'm not going to lie.
I took solace in two important facts. First, as I said, I played the best poker of my life and it was on the biggest stage yet of my young poker "career." That was and is immensely satisfying. I wanted to see if I could play in those situations and thrive. I did. That felt nice. Secondly, I was still in Vegas until Sunday, my wife was around, and I could still have a lovely time. We in fact did just that.
We had dinner reservations at Gaylord, an Indian restaurant in the Rio, for 7pm, which was around when I'd figured the dinner break would be. We decided to get tickets to see Penn and Teller that night and make a date night out of it. It turned into a wonderful evening. P&T were awesome and worth every penny of the $85 tickets. We had an amazing dinner at Gaylord, split a nice bottle of Pinot and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
The other thing we did a decent bit of was railing. We wandered through WSOP and saw a bunch of great players. As soon as we walked into the spectator room we nearly walked INTO T.J. Cloutier. Wow, that man is HUGE. We then saw Men, "The Master" Nguyen playing a cash game nearby. Very cool. It turned out that TWO final tables were going at this point. A stud 8 table and an NLH one. The Stud8 table featured Jeff Lisandro and... Doyle Brunson! We looked but didn't see Doyle. A break was taken soon after we came in so we figured he was probably in the bathroom. Anyway, the final tables at the Rio are open to all to watch. They are in enclosed areas but the spectator seating is open, and there is a nice porch overlooking them that you can watch them from. At this point we didn't see much.
We walked over then to an area where the limit 2k event was being played. There were only about 45 players left, Hellmuth and Negreanu among them. We didn't see Phil, but Daniel was present and loud. We watched him play for a bit until the dinner break hit and he ran out, twittering as he went. Again, cool
Later, before dinner, I checked the live updates from the WSOP page and saw that Doyle was down to a short stack and almost out. We rushed down and made it just in time to see his last two hands. It was simply amazing seeing Doyle play at a WSOP final table. The highlight of my trip, without a doubt! Later we saw Greg Raymer in the hallway, though I didn't approach him. We watched a bit more of the final table action in the 8 or better tournament after P&T, and saw Lisandro survived and was 3 handed - he ultimately won the bracelet, though we didn't wait around to see it. We did get to see Matusow come in and rail him which was pretty cool too. Also, the night before I'd seen Humberto Brenes walking around and had managed (somehow!) to resist the urge to yell HUMBERRRRTO! at him.
All in all, a great trip. I was disappointed I'd run so bad, obviously, but Janessa and I had a ton of fun anyways. There's always next year. I am planning on putting some savings together to try to play several events next year, including, hopefully the main event. That's my trip report, and I'm sticking to it.
Friday, June 19, 2009
This Wkd: Vegas & WSOP Event #39
| 2009 40th Annual World Series of Poker | ||||
 | ||||
No-Limit Hold’em (Event 39) | ||||
| ||||
Rio Hotel & Casino - Saturday, June 20, 2009 to Monday, June 22, 2009
Yup, off I go to take a stab at this thing. I figure it's about time I try, and so I'm off tonight. Janessa and I are staying at the Rio. She'll enjoy a lovely spa experience while I toil away at the tables in search of treasure! I am pumped. |
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The New Star Trek Film - A Clue for Lost Viewers Inside?
I went to see the new Star Trek film last night. Thankfully, I was warned off wasting the $5 extra for the fake "IMAX" screen.
I'm a big fan of Star Trek, love the original series and was addicted to the next generation when it originally aired. In the past few years I've been re-watching Trek occasionally when it airs on TV Land and enjoying it again. So you would think I might be offended by the concept of a 'reboot' of Star Trek in the manner done in this film. Not so.
I have long believed that the greatness of the original series, not replicated since in any spinoff, even the Next Generation, was the fantastic juxtaposition of characters, specifically the amazing three-way relationship of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but also the contributions made by the other members of the crew. Spock's logic, McCoy's emotion, and Kirk's brutish dynamic strength were almost a perfect Ego-Id-Superego confluence. Better still, the excellent writing and acting involved in the creation and development of the characters and their relationship with each other made for terrific chemistry.
Of course, the thirst for exploration and aventure and succeeding in high pressure situations were also key components of Trek's appeal, and I don't mean to understate them here. I do think, however, that without the depth and contrapunture of the characters, the show wouldn't have succeeded nearly to the extent it has.
The new Star Trek film, manned by J.J. Abrams, aptly captures the essence of the characters in the original series. Much has been made about the new "Kirk" acting nothing like Shatner, and this is true, he doesn't. Nevertheless, his personality and actions do make you think of James Kirk, albeit, a younger version. The essence of Kirk survives, and I think that's all that matters. It's too much to expect a new actor to step into the larger-than-life shoes of Shatner, and besides, Kirk is not about Shatner, he's a character played by Shatner, and this movie proves that these two entitites are separable.
Zacahry Quinto is of course, amazing, as young Spock (I'm still convinced someone saw him on "Heroes," thought he'd be an amazing young Spock, and from there developed the picture). Quintero has much less pressure on him than Chris Pine because while Leonard Nimoy's acting as Spock will forever associate him with the character, the nature of Spock and of Vulcans casts a smaller shadow for Quinto to operate in. Also, Quinto is simply a fantastic actor.
The rest of the cast inhabits their roles admirably. Most notable for me were the always terrific Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as Bones. Urban was terrific. The scene in which his character is introduced begins with him speaking off-camera, and it is at least a full minute before he reveals that he is McCoy. Nevertheless, I knew exactly who he was from the moment I heard his voice and what he was saying. Terrific job. Simon Pegg was so great, I wish they could go back in time and have him replace James Doohan. He's a BETTER Scotty! Eric Bana is also wonderful, if barely recognizable, as Nero, a Romulan bad guy.
So, besides J.J. Abrams, what's the connection to "Lost" I mention in the title of this blog?
(SPOILER ALERT)
The film's main conceit is that, 130 years from the time the film takes place, an old Spock fails in an attempt to save Romulus, the home planet of the Romulans from destruction. Bana's character Nero blames Spock, and the two travel back in time through a black hole, though they end up 25 years apart. Trying to find Spock in Starfleet, Nero attacks a federation vessel, which turns out to be the ship James T is about to be born on, and one that is commanded by his dad George. George is killed saving James T and the Mom.
Flash forward twenty years and 45 minutes of the plot and Nero draws the federation into another trap, which only Kirk realizes. To torture Spock, Nero destroys Vulcan and makes him watch the destruction so that he will feel what Nero felt when Romulus burned ...er was destroyed. Oh yea, Spock has now appeared in the past, though Nero bans him to a nearby winter planet which looks a little like Hoth. After being banished from the Enterprise via shuttlecraft, Kirk finds old Spock there, old Spock explains the above, and also states that Kirk's dad had been alive and had been the main inspiration for Kirk's entry into Starfleet. Time travel contradictions and illogic seem to fly, until Spock suggests an answer: the time travel caused an alternate reality.
When Nero went back in time and changed the past, he created an alternate reality separate and apart from the one he began in. In this alternate reality, Kirk and Spock's lives are different, but they still have the opportunity to work together - which they ultimately do. Spock makes up some story about why he can't see young Spock or blah blah blah end of the universe. Later old Spock meets young Spock and explains this to him, essentially implying that although he and young Spock are 'the same,' they are actually different, albeit very similar, entitites. This is the reason that old Spock does not seem to remember the conversation with young Spock.
Time travel? The ability to change the past and its effect (?) on the future? Aren't these staple "Lost" issues, particularly in this season? I submit that the Abrams direction is not a coincidence. The alternate reality theory is the only clean way to explain the time travel conceit. That is to say that it is the only explanation that doesn't result in painful mental gymnastics when considering time travel as a narrative device.
If entering into the past, or the future, creates a new branch on the tree of time, the idea that the characters are experiencing their present in the past or future is not contradictory, because the 'past' or 'future' are not really 'past' or 'future' but present. Moreover, any and all concerns about changing the past and the effect it would have on the future, and hence, presumably, on characters from the present now in the past, become moot. The Back to the Future 'disappearing from a picture' time travel stuff goes away, which is good, because while it worked great in that trilogy, its a theory of time travel narrative that's full of holes and questions.
So when Jack and the rest of the Losties go into 1978, they actually enter another reality rather than the 1978 that they know. In that new reality, there is no future yet, and the acts they take can directly change the 'future' and make it different than what they have experienced without causing a brain-cramping contradiction and without deleting their own past. In essence, then, the Island is not so much a bizarre place where the rules of time do not apply, so much as a bizarre place where the rules of time and space do not apply.
This has many implications, obviously, the most striking one being that even if the Losties can detonate the bomb, contrary to Jack and Sayid's wishes, it will not reboot their lives and erase the past several years.
Moreover, the 'alternate reality' line offers a possible explanation for the appearance of 'dead' characters to Hugo and other characters. In one reality they are dead, in another they are not, and the Island provides a way to communicate between these realities.
Just a few thoughts.
I'm a big fan of Star Trek, love the original series and was addicted to the next generation when it originally aired. In the past few years I've been re-watching Trek occasionally when it airs on TV Land and enjoying it again. So you would think I might be offended by the concept of a 'reboot' of Star Trek in the manner done in this film. Not so.
I have long believed that the greatness of the original series, not replicated since in any spinoff, even the Next Generation, was the fantastic juxtaposition of characters, specifically the amazing three-way relationship of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but also the contributions made by the other members of the crew. Spock's logic, McCoy's emotion, and Kirk's brutish dynamic strength were almost a perfect Ego-Id-Superego confluence. Better still, the excellent writing and acting involved in the creation and development of the characters and their relationship with each other made for terrific chemistry.
Of course, the thirst for exploration and aventure and succeeding in high pressure situations were also key components of Trek's appeal, and I don't mean to understate them here. I do think, however, that without the depth and contrapunture of the characters, the show wouldn't have succeeded nearly to the extent it has.
The new Star Trek film, manned by J.J. Abrams, aptly captures the essence of the characters in the original series. Much has been made about the new "Kirk" acting nothing like Shatner, and this is true, he doesn't. Nevertheless, his personality and actions do make you think of James Kirk, albeit, a younger version. The essence of Kirk survives, and I think that's all that matters. It's too much to expect a new actor to step into the larger-than-life shoes of Shatner, and besides, Kirk is not about Shatner, he's a character played by Shatner, and this movie proves that these two entitites are separable.
Zacahry Quinto is of course, amazing, as young Spock (I'm still convinced someone saw him on "Heroes," thought he'd be an amazing young Spock, and from there developed the picture). Quintero has much less pressure on him than Chris Pine because while Leonard Nimoy's acting as Spock will forever associate him with the character, the nature of Spock and of Vulcans casts a smaller shadow for Quinto to operate in. Also, Quinto is simply a fantastic actor.
The rest of the cast inhabits their roles admirably. Most notable for me were the always terrific Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as Bones. Urban was terrific. The scene in which his character is introduced begins with him speaking off-camera, and it is at least a full minute before he reveals that he is McCoy. Nevertheless, I knew exactly who he was from the moment I heard his voice and what he was saying. Terrific job. Simon Pegg was so great, I wish they could go back in time and have him replace James Doohan. He's a BETTER Scotty! Eric Bana is also wonderful, if barely recognizable, as Nero, a Romulan bad guy.
So, besides J.J. Abrams, what's the connection to "Lost" I mention in the title of this blog?
(SPOILER ALERT)
The film's main conceit is that, 130 years from the time the film takes place, an old Spock fails in an attempt to save Romulus, the home planet of the Romulans from destruction. Bana's character Nero blames Spock, and the two travel back in time through a black hole, though they end up 25 years apart. Trying to find Spock in Starfleet, Nero attacks a federation vessel, which turns out to be the ship James T is about to be born on, and one that is commanded by his dad George. George is killed saving James T and the Mom.
Flash forward twenty years and 45 minutes of the plot and Nero draws the federation into another trap, which only Kirk realizes. To torture Spock, Nero destroys Vulcan and makes him watch the destruction so that he will feel what Nero felt when Romulus burned ...er was destroyed. Oh yea, Spock has now appeared in the past, though Nero bans him to a nearby winter planet which looks a little like Hoth. After being banished from the Enterprise via shuttlecraft, Kirk finds old Spock there, old Spock explains the above, and also states that Kirk's dad had been alive and had been the main inspiration for Kirk's entry into Starfleet. Time travel contradictions and illogic seem to fly, until Spock suggests an answer: the time travel caused an alternate reality.
When Nero went back in time and changed the past, he created an alternate reality separate and apart from the one he began in. In this alternate reality, Kirk and Spock's lives are different, but they still have the opportunity to work together - which they ultimately do. Spock makes up some story about why he can't see young Spock or blah blah blah end of the universe. Later old Spock meets young Spock and explains this to him, essentially implying that although he and young Spock are 'the same,' they are actually different, albeit very similar, entitites. This is the reason that old Spock does not seem to remember the conversation with young Spock.
Time travel? The ability to change the past and its effect (?) on the future? Aren't these staple "Lost" issues, particularly in this season? I submit that the Abrams direction is not a coincidence. The alternate reality theory is the only clean way to explain the time travel conceit. That is to say that it is the only explanation that doesn't result in painful mental gymnastics when considering time travel as a narrative device.
If entering into the past, or the future, creates a new branch on the tree of time, the idea that the characters are experiencing their present in the past or future is not contradictory, because the 'past' or 'future' are not really 'past' or 'future' but present. Moreover, any and all concerns about changing the past and the effect it would have on the future, and hence, presumably, on characters from the present now in the past, become moot. The Back to the Future 'disappearing from a picture' time travel stuff goes away, which is good, because while it worked great in that trilogy, its a theory of time travel narrative that's full of holes and questions.
So when Jack and the rest of the Losties go into 1978, they actually enter another reality rather than the 1978 that they know. In that new reality, there is no future yet, and the acts they take can directly change the 'future' and make it different than what they have experienced without causing a brain-cramping contradiction and without deleting their own past. In essence, then, the Island is not so much a bizarre place where the rules of time do not apply, so much as a bizarre place where the rules of time and space do not apply.
This has many implications, obviously, the most striking one being that even if the Losties can detonate the bomb, contrary to Jack and Sayid's wishes, it will not reboot their lives and erase the past several years.
Moreover, the 'alternate reality' line offers a possible explanation for the appearance of 'dead' characters to Hugo and other characters. In one reality they are dead, in another they are not, and the Island provides a way to communicate between these realities.
Just a few thoughts.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Jack Bauer Power Hour
What do you call 24 Star Kiefer Sutherland's Intense Workout Program?
Jack Bauer's Hour of Power.
Did you hear about Kiefer Sutherland's new radio show with a Big League Ball Player?
Jack Bauer and Joe Mauer's Sports Hour
Did you know Jack Bauer once made a show about hippies? It was called
Jack Bauer's Hour of Flower Power.
How does Jack Bauer like his bread?
Jack Bauer cooks with Rice Flour.
What do you call a quick Wetnap to the face?
a Jack Bauer Power Shower.
Did you hear about Jack Bauer's new show on Food Network? It's called
Jack Bauer's Sweet and Sour Chicken Hour.
I really need a life.
Jack Bauer's Hour of Power.
Did you hear about Kiefer Sutherland's new radio show with a Big League Ball Player?
Jack Bauer and Joe Mauer's Sports Hour
Did you know Jack Bauer once made a show about hippies? It was called
Jack Bauer's Hour of Flower Power.
How does Jack Bauer like his bread?
Jack Bauer cooks with Rice Flour.
What do you call a quick Wetnap to the face?
a Jack Bauer Power Shower.
Did you hear about Jack Bauer's new show on Food Network? It's called
Jack Bauer's Sweet and Sour Chicken Hour.
I really need a life.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Why living in LA Rocks or Why April Might Reduce Me to Smiling Exhaustion
April figures to be the craziest month.
It just works out that there are no less than 5 awesome events I'm headed to this Month, starting tonight - with live appearances from people in comedy that I love. How awesome is living in the LA Area? Looking out my window and looking at this schedule...pretty freakin awesome.
First up, tonight, April 1st:
Reno 911! LIVE A Benefit for Planting Peace
As described on the site:
Observe and Report with Seth Rogen and Jody Hill Live in Santa Monica
April 7.
This is a sneak preview of Seth Rogen's new mall cop flick "Observe and Report" at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica which features a live appearance and Q&A by Seth Rogen himself( my double!) and Jody Hill, the director of this and previously, of "The Foot Fist Way." What else can I say but....SWEET. The Aero is an amazing place. They frequently have cool ass movies with Q&As from famous directors and actors in those movies. Among the people I've seen/met at the Aero... Mel Brooks, Dennis Hopper, Carl Reiner, Savage Steve, and many more...and now Mr. Rogen...Woot!
April 10.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Paley Center Panel Discussion with the Cast
Got these tickets before I booked the below, but still psyched. Sunny is one of my favorite shows ever, and getting to see the whole cast talk live about the show will be a treat.
April 18
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - The Nightman Cometh LIVE
Wow, this figures to be an even bigger treat- a live, two-night only performance of "The Nightman Cometh," the musical written for the final episode of last season. Need I say more? I dropped some bank to get these sold-out tix, but I'm sure it will be worth it!
April 26.
Unplugged & Unwigged - Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind Live
Those three brilliant guys, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean who were Spinal Tap and also the folk band in "A Mighty Wind" perform songs from both live, out of costumes. I love Spinal Tap (who doesn't?) though "A Mighty Wind" was not my favorite Guest movie by a long shot...still a cool concept - and great for my old ass who probably won't make it out to see Spinal Tap in full costume and moshing glory
What a month!
It just works out that there are no less than 5 awesome events I'm headed to this Month, starting tonight - with live appearances from people in comedy that I love. How awesome is living in the LA Area? Looking out my window and looking at this schedule...pretty freakin awesome.
First up, tonight, April 1st:
Reno 911! LIVE A Benefit for Planting Peace
As described on the site:
Appearing live The RENO 911! Deputies (Tom Lennon, Robert Ben Garant,
Kerri Kenney-Silver, Niecy Nash, Cedric Yarbrough, Joe Lo Truglio and Ian Roberts) Nick Swardson, Matt Besser,
Andy Daly, Dave Holmes, Rob Huebel, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Chris Tallman, Matt Walsh, Rainn Wilson, PLUS A
SPECIAL SEASON 6 PREMIERE SCREENING.
Pretty awesome, a lot of my favorites appearing, especially excited
about Joe Lo who I have a strange mancrush on... :)
Observe and Report with Seth Rogen and Jody Hill Live in Santa Monica
April 7.
This is a sneak preview of Seth Rogen's new mall cop flick "Observe and Report" at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica which features a live appearance and Q&A by Seth Rogen himself( my double!) and Jody Hill, the director of this and previously, of "The Foot Fist Way." What else can I say but....SWEET. The Aero is an amazing place. They frequently have cool ass movies with Q&As from famous directors and actors in those movies. Among the people I've seen/met at the Aero... Mel Brooks, Dennis Hopper, Carl Reiner, Savage Steve, and many more...and now Mr. Rogen...Woot!
April 10.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Paley Center Panel Discussion with the Cast
Got these tickets before I booked the below, but still psyched. Sunny is one of my favorite shows ever, and getting to see the whole cast talk live about the show will be a treat.
April 18
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - The Nightman Cometh LIVE
Wow, this figures to be an even bigger treat- a live, two-night only performance of "The Nightman Cometh," the musical written for the final episode of last season. Need I say more? I dropped some bank to get these sold-out tix, but I'm sure it will be worth it!
April 26.
Unplugged & Unwigged - Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind Live
Those three brilliant guys, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean who were Spinal Tap and also the folk band in "A Mighty Wind" perform songs from both live, out of costumes. I love Spinal Tap (who doesn't?) though "A Mighty Wind" was not my favorite Guest movie by a long shot...still a cool concept - and great for my old ass who probably won't make it out to see Spinal Tap in full costume and moshing glory
What a month!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Home Roasting is Easy and Cool
Unroasted Green CoffeeSo as my recent blog entry indicated, I've become something of a specialty coffee fanatic lately.
Well, recently I decided to take the leap from buying roasted beans to buying green beans and roasting them at home myself. Why would I do this?
1) Freshness. Beans start to decay in quality within 24 hours of roasting. Roasting your own beans thus gives you the maximum control over timing for freshness.
2) Flexibility. Roasting your own allows you to roast small quantities of beans at a time. If you feel like roasting more, depending on your device, this can be pretty easy. Small quantities ties into freshness - if you never roast more than 3 or 4 days worth of coffee at a time, you're unlikely to lose much on the flavor end of things. Another thing here is that you can switch between coffees quickly and easily because green coffee stores so well.
3) The Process and Ritual. Simply put, I find it geeky cool to watch green coffee go through the chemical reactions in roasting which transform it into something to brew 4 or more hours later. I really enjoy watching the beans slowly change color and expand. When I later grind and brew the beans there's an integration of process tantamount to ritual which makes me feel more connected to the coffee than I otherwise do. The only thing left to do is to grow and pick it myself. Well, don't think I haven't considered it, but its pretty hard to do properly outside of tropical climes.
4) The COST! Green coffee beans are, on average, half the price of roasted coffee. This can really add up fast. What's more, my roasting unit, the West End Poppery, cost me about $40 on ebay. The other components I am using, two colandors, a wooden spoon, an empty soup can, a fan, a spray bottle, and a small kitchen scale, cost me even less than that.
5) Time. Of course it takes longer to roast coffee than to get it preroasted, but the time investment is minimal really. It takes me under 10 minutes to do each batch, making doing it every three days or so, or at minimum, on the weekends, very practical, especially in light of the benefit.
So how come a lot more people don't do this?
Socialization. It wasn't more than 100 years ago that home roasting was extremely common. It took mass production of coffee and a concentrated advertising effort by mass producers to dissuade the public from roasting their own.
Also, I think a lot of people think its harder than it really is. Listen folks, if *I* can do it, anyone can. I'm the least handy, practical guy around. Really, you can't fuck this up too bad.
I highly recommend Ken Davids book on this subject Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival. Below are pictures of the transformation the green coffee pictured above goes through during the roasting process, from unroasted to uberdark oilly roast. (I realize the pic is cutoff, click on it for full view).
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Beyond Peets: My Palate's Magical Journey into the Specialty Coffee Realm (or the Joy of Inconvenience)
It's been awhile since I blogged, so some quick thoughts before my subject for the day:
1. Can someone please remind the Republican Party they lost the election? Obama has a mandate and is actually trying to work with you, the more you fight the worse you look. McCain even had the gall to propose his own stimulus plan. John, I know you're old, but did you forget so soon that you lost, and lost BIG? And tax cuts? Really? How do you even say this bullshit with a straight face?
2. A-rod lied, the Yanks died. Seriously, I don't really care much about this story but since I am a Yankees fan, I thought I should comment briefly. I've been listening to Joe Torre's new book via Audible lately, and am not far in, but am being reminded of why the Yanks were such a magical team from '96-2001. The big reason? Everyone played to win and didn't give a damn about individual stats. No one on those teams was ever a huge offensive star, they won because they played the right way. I hated the A-Rod trade from day dot. I loved Soriano and hated that we gave him up. No matter what you think about A-Rod, this steroids thing, along with Giambi's steroids probelms, is something of further a validation of the 96-01 teams--until Jeter admits using steroids that is. (I'm sure he didn't but, Jesus is anyone safe anymore?)
3. The NBA - its FAAAANTASTIC. Seriously. I am a huge fan of the NBA and grew up on Bird, Magic, and of course MJ. It took a long time for the game to recover from losing MJ, but I think we can finally say things are back on track. With five legitimate title contenders (four if Jameer Nelson's injury torpedoes the Magic season) - the game is back to a terrific excitement level. If you're not watching, you best start.
4. Got myself a Wii, and its is awesome, even if my Wii Fit Age is like 82.
Now on to the subject at hand.
Anyone who knows me at all knows I love coffee. I've been repeatedly called a coffee snob by Janessa, my friends, and just about everyone in my life. That's ok with me, in fact I kind of like it.
The truth is though, I wasn't really a coffee snob. At least not a serious one. Fortunately, that's changing.
A few years ago, a friend at work introduced me to three key ideas which awakened a love affair with coffee. First, he explained the importance of fresh grinding beans for each pot, probably still the #1 most important factor in obtaining quality coffee. Second, he introduced me to the French Press, or Plunger Pot, which I've used to this day to produce thicker coffee with more body and character. Third, he introduced me to Peets Coffee, a wonderful company from Berkeley that is credited as the "Godfather" of the Specialty Coffee Movement.
Peets is famous for extremely dark roasts of coffee. I soon discovered that I loved their coffee and became a "Peetnik" which meant I had a recurring order. All that I ordered were their French and Italian Roasts, pretty much every two weeks for the past few years. The coffee was always sent fresh from the roaster and since I ground it fresh and prepared it well the cup quality was always outstanding. I was so happy with this coffee that I stopped giving coffee much thought other than getting a quality burr grinder and a stainless steel french press (both of which are HIGHLY recommended!).
All this until, ironically, I happened to be at a Peets up in Berkeley in December. We were visiting the Bay Area to see Janessa's family for Christmas and spent some time up there visiting friends. We happened upon a Peet's coffee tasting on the street. Three french presses, three varieties of coffee and a whole new experience. I was entranced by the Major Dickasen's Blend, and ordered it for my next recurring order. It was fantastic. This got me thinking, what else was out there? My next order was a limited edition roast of Sumatra Blue Batak.
This was sublime coffee. I was blown away. The texture of this coffee was thick like the others, but the body was so much more complex. I could literally feel my tongue encased in the coffee, experienced the multiple sensations that the brew produced on my palate, and had a bit of an epiphany.
I had no idea just how sophisticated, subtle and savory coffee could be. What had I been missing by limiting myself to a "roast" and not exploring specialty beans and other roasts? As it turns out, a hell of a lot. I bought two wonderful books on Coffee from Amazon: The Joy of Coffee by Corby Kummer, and Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying by Kenneth Davids. From these books I learned fascinating things about the history of the coffee bean, about all stages of the coffee process from growing to roasting, about the many varieties of coffee worldwide and about the qualities that typified certain regions.
Intrigued, I made a beeline to Terrior Coffees, a company run by George Howell, the owner and operator of Coffee Connection, a sort of East-Coast Peet's, who was extensively profiled in The Joy of Coffee. Howell was personal friends with the owner of a Costa Rican coffee estate called "La Minita" reputed to be one of the world's best coffees. I ordered 12 ounces of that coffee and paid as much for second day shipping as for the coffee itself (the better to be closer to roast date as possible!) - but it was worth it.
Unlike Peets, the roast was much more mild. The beans were smaller and were visibly different than the Peets beans I'd seen. The coffee itself was to date the best coffee I have ever had. Pure, light, sparkling but with body, an incredibly well-balanced drink that I cannot recommend enough to anyone who loves coffee.
Suffice it to say, I am presently in something of a "tasting tour," ordering coffees from all the world's major regions that are highly rated to establish a baseline for my palate. Yesterday I ordered Kona Coffee from Hawaii, from a company called Hula Daddy for a premium ($60 a pound!), and I'm targeting lots of other coffees for the months ahead.
I did receive one more order from Peets recently - a hugely expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain ($40 for a half pound). It is an incredible cup of coffee, but I was put off for the first few cups. The reason, I suspect, is the roast. Having never experienced the benefits of a quality roast other than Peets I did not know what I was missing. I finally understood some peoples' reactions to my coffee preferences. That said, after a mild adjustment period, it was back to tasting wonderful, and I am sure I will continue to order from Peets, though not on a Peetnik Recurring basis.
All of this has led me down some interesting paths. Obsessed with the purity of coffee fresh out of the roaster (the taste difference is astonishing) - I am shopping around for home roasters, and am planning on trying to roast some green coffee of my own soon. Even if I don't do it often, I feel that seeing the process will be fascinating and that I will learn a lot from it, so I'm excited.
So that's the first part of the title. What about the second part? The Joy of Inconvenience?
Simply put, the taste difference between freshly roasted, freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee from quality beans and the vast majority of coffee consumed in this country is almost immeasurable. Despite this fact, nearly everyone I talk to who enjoys coffee insists that grinding beans before brewing or using a french press is too time consuming to be worthwhile.
To be clear - I understand their perspective. I know that some people really are too busy to regularly go through the ritual I do prior to enjoying my morning coffee. Nevertheless, I feel confident that if more people took the time to find out what they are missing, they would somehow find time to get it done. I guess that's where the "snob" thing happens. The simple truth is, once you taste a cup of real coffee, you can't go back to the swill served in most establishments in this country, its really not an option, if the quality matters to you.
In any event, I strongly believe that my "lengthy" coffee ritual (start to finish maybe 7 minutes, tops, with another 3-5 to clean the pot) is well worth it because, as I have said, the flavor and character of the coffee is fundmentally superior to other methods. It's not even close. Another benefit of the ritual is that it makes the coffee drinking feel more important to my day, it helps me to appreciate the coffee and gives me a sense of order that I welcome.
Here's my main point. Things are too easy in this Country. Modern conveniences are amazing and I am by no means a luddite. Starbucks sets a floor for coffee quality, that while low compared to my standards, is still high compared to much of the country. The problem isn't the conveniences, its our attitude towards these conveniences. Things being easy means we don't have to think about them, they just are the way they are. There is a fundamental disconnect between process and product that benefits consumerism but hurts our critical thinking skills.
As long as we accept the way things are as right, we have neither the will nor momentum to make positive change, both in the world and in our individual lives. That deadening of our minds is certainly the intent of advertising and mass consumer culture, and while it is fantastic for business I fear that it is awful for democracy. Just because something is easy, doesn't mean it is right. Conversely, just because something is hard, doesn't mean it is right. The trick is to look at things critically and determine what's best for you. My contention is that people generally just accept what's easy for them to accept because they're lazy, whether it be bad coffee, beef (how many people who eat beef would do so if they had to kill every cow themselves? how many if they knew what was actually involved in the fucked-up beef industry, the torture and mistreatment of animals and intense contribution to climate change?), bad entertainment and shitty politics.
People are willfully ignorant, and their ignorance costs them their ability to enjoy the pleasures of life on a daily basis. It's sad. So, as a very small step in working out this problem I propose the joy of inconvenience: try the long way of doing something now and again, it might be better, it might not, but you'll never know until you investigate for yourself. Who knows, you may discover a whole new world of pleasure and sophistication you didn't even know existed, like I did. Or, at the very least, you will wake your mind up from its constant slumber for just a few minutes, which is better than nothing.
--Rob
1. Can someone please remind the Republican Party they lost the election? Obama has a mandate and is actually trying to work with you, the more you fight the worse you look. McCain even had the gall to propose his own stimulus plan. John, I know you're old, but did you forget so soon that you lost, and lost BIG? And tax cuts? Really? How do you even say this bullshit with a straight face?
2. A-rod lied, the Yanks died. Seriously, I don't really care much about this story but since I am a Yankees fan, I thought I should comment briefly. I've been listening to Joe Torre's new book via Audible lately, and am not far in, but am being reminded of why the Yanks were such a magical team from '96-2001. The big reason? Everyone played to win and didn't give a damn about individual stats. No one on those teams was ever a huge offensive star, they won because they played the right way. I hated the A-Rod trade from day dot. I loved Soriano and hated that we gave him up. No matter what you think about A-Rod, this steroids thing, along with Giambi's steroids probelms, is something of further a validation of the 96-01 teams--until Jeter admits using steroids that is. (I'm sure he didn't but, Jesus is anyone safe anymore?)
3. The NBA - its FAAAANTASTIC. Seriously. I am a huge fan of the NBA and grew up on Bird, Magic, and of course MJ. It took a long time for the game to recover from losing MJ, but I think we can finally say things are back on track. With five legitimate title contenders (four if Jameer Nelson's injury torpedoes the Magic season) - the game is back to a terrific excitement level. If you're not watching, you best start.
4. Got myself a Wii, and its is awesome, even if my Wii Fit Age is like 82.
Now on to the subject at hand.
Anyone who knows me at all knows I love coffee. I've been repeatedly called a coffee snob by Janessa, my friends, and just about everyone in my life. That's ok with me, in fact I kind of like it.
The truth is though, I wasn't really a coffee snob. At least not a serious one. Fortunately, that's changing.
A few years ago, a friend at work introduced me to three key ideas which awakened a love affair with coffee. First, he explained the importance of fresh grinding beans for each pot, probably still the #1 most important factor in obtaining quality coffee. Second, he introduced me to the French Press, or Plunger Pot, which I've used to this day to produce thicker coffee with more body and character. Third, he introduced me to Peets Coffee, a wonderful company from Berkeley that is credited as the "Godfather" of the Specialty Coffee Movement.
Peets is famous for extremely dark roasts of coffee. I soon discovered that I loved their coffee and became a "Peetnik" which meant I had a recurring order. All that I ordered were their French and Italian Roasts, pretty much every two weeks for the past few years. The coffee was always sent fresh from the roaster and since I ground it fresh and prepared it well the cup quality was always outstanding. I was so happy with this coffee that I stopped giving coffee much thought other than getting a quality burr grinder and a stainless steel french press (both of which are HIGHLY recommended!).
All this until, ironically, I happened to be at a Peets up in Berkeley in December. We were visiting the Bay Area to see Janessa's family for Christmas and spent some time up there visiting friends. We happened upon a Peet's coffee tasting on the street. Three french presses, three varieties of coffee and a whole new experience. I was entranced by the Major Dickasen's Blend, and ordered it for my next recurring order. It was fantastic. This got me thinking, what else was out there? My next order was a limited edition roast of Sumatra Blue Batak.
This was sublime coffee. I was blown away. The texture of this coffee was thick like the others, but the body was so much more complex. I could literally feel my tongue encased in the coffee, experienced the multiple sensations that the brew produced on my palate, and had a bit of an epiphany.
I had no idea just how sophisticated, subtle and savory coffee could be. What had I been missing by limiting myself to a "roast" and not exploring specialty beans and other roasts? As it turns out, a hell of a lot. I bought two wonderful books on Coffee from Amazon: The Joy of Coffee by Corby Kummer, and Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying by Kenneth Davids. From these books I learned fascinating things about the history of the coffee bean, about all stages of the coffee process from growing to roasting, about the many varieties of coffee worldwide and about the qualities that typified certain regions.
Intrigued, I made a beeline to Terrior Coffees, a company run by George Howell, the owner and operator of Coffee Connection, a sort of East-Coast Peet's, who was extensively profiled in The Joy of Coffee. Howell was personal friends with the owner of a Costa Rican coffee estate called "La Minita" reputed to be one of the world's best coffees. I ordered 12 ounces of that coffee and paid as much for second day shipping as for the coffee itself (the better to be closer to roast date as possible!) - but it was worth it.
Unlike Peets, the roast was much more mild. The beans were smaller and were visibly different than the Peets beans I'd seen. The coffee itself was to date the best coffee I have ever had. Pure, light, sparkling but with body, an incredibly well-balanced drink that I cannot recommend enough to anyone who loves coffee.
Suffice it to say, I am presently in something of a "tasting tour," ordering coffees from all the world's major regions that are highly rated to establish a baseline for my palate. Yesterday I ordered Kona Coffee from Hawaii, from a company called Hula Daddy for a premium ($60 a pound!), and I'm targeting lots of other coffees for the months ahead.
I did receive one more order from Peets recently - a hugely expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain ($40 for a half pound). It is an incredible cup of coffee, but I was put off for the first few cups. The reason, I suspect, is the roast. Having never experienced the benefits of a quality roast other than Peets I did not know what I was missing. I finally understood some peoples' reactions to my coffee preferences. That said, after a mild adjustment period, it was back to tasting wonderful, and I am sure I will continue to order from Peets, though not on a Peetnik Recurring basis.
All of this has led me down some interesting paths. Obsessed with the purity of coffee fresh out of the roaster (the taste difference is astonishing) - I am shopping around for home roasters, and am planning on trying to roast some green coffee of my own soon. Even if I don't do it often, I feel that seeing the process will be fascinating and that I will learn a lot from it, so I'm excited.
So that's the first part of the title. What about the second part? The Joy of Inconvenience?
Simply put, the taste difference between freshly roasted, freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee from quality beans and the vast majority of coffee consumed in this country is almost immeasurable. Despite this fact, nearly everyone I talk to who enjoys coffee insists that grinding beans before brewing or using a french press is too time consuming to be worthwhile.
To be clear - I understand their perspective. I know that some people really are too busy to regularly go through the ritual I do prior to enjoying my morning coffee. Nevertheless, I feel confident that if more people took the time to find out what they are missing, they would somehow find time to get it done. I guess that's where the "snob" thing happens. The simple truth is, once you taste a cup of real coffee, you can't go back to the swill served in most establishments in this country, its really not an option, if the quality matters to you.
In any event, I strongly believe that my "lengthy" coffee ritual (start to finish maybe 7 minutes, tops, with another 3-5 to clean the pot) is well worth it because, as I have said, the flavor and character of the coffee is fundmentally superior to other methods. It's not even close. Another benefit of the ritual is that it makes the coffee drinking feel more important to my day, it helps me to appreciate the coffee and gives me a sense of order that I welcome.
Here's my main point. Things are too easy in this Country. Modern conveniences are amazing and I am by no means a luddite. Starbucks sets a floor for coffee quality, that while low compared to my standards, is still high compared to much of the country. The problem isn't the conveniences, its our attitude towards these conveniences. Things being easy means we don't have to think about them, they just are the way they are. There is a fundamental disconnect between process and product that benefits consumerism but hurts our critical thinking skills.
As long as we accept the way things are as right, we have neither the will nor momentum to make positive change, both in the world and in our individual lives. That deadening of our minds is certainly the intent of advertising and mass consumer culture, and while it is fantastic for business I fear that it is awful for democracy. Just because something is easy, doesn't mean it is right. Conversely, just because something is hard, doesn't mean it is right. The trick is to look at things critically and determine what's best for you. My contention is that people generally just accept what's easy for them to accept because they're lazy, whether it be bad coffee, beef (how many people who eat beef would do so if they had to kill every cow themselves? how many if they knew what was actually involved in the fucked-up beef industry, the torture and mistreatment of animals and intense contribution to climate change?), bad entertainment and shitty politics.
People are willfully ignorant, and their ignorance costs them their ability to enjoy the pleasures of life on a daily basis. It's sad. So, as a very small step in working out this problem I propose the joy of inconvenience: try the long way of doing something now and again, it might be better, it might not, but you'll never know until you investigate for yourself. Who knows, you may discover a whole new world of pleasure and sophistication you didn't even know existed, like I did. Or, at the very least, you will wake your mind up from its constant slumber for just a few minutes, which is better than nothing.
--Rob
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
One More Week till Sanity
Only one more week until BBO ends and ABO begins.
BBA? Before Barack Obama. You can guess the second one.
I am known for overstating things. My enthusiasm sometimes carries away my invective and I am prone to superlatives. This is a fault that I recognize and try to contain.
Sorry, not this time.
I do not believe it is an overstatement that this inauguration represents a turning point, not just in American History, but Human History. (Superlative enough?)
I plan to tell the next generation how we lived through the "dark times." How we endured the worst eight years in American history. How I lived during the seemingly "dark ages" of discrimination and injustice represented in Prop 8. And of how we survived.
President Bush likes to say that history will judge his administration, and I agree. I just don't think it will be in the way he imagines. I believe that his legacy will get worse with time, not better.
Beyond all the screw-ups, all the things we know they fucked up, like Iraq, the Economy, Katrina (should have been impeached for that one), wiretapping, etc etc etc, and the ones we don't know they fucked up, which will probably come out for years to come - stands the things the Bush administration did not do.
We just lost eight years. Eight years that could have been spent fighting global warming, preparing the economy for the shift to green fuels, building green infrastructure, investing in science and education and in our children. We can't ever get those eight years back. And that's the real tragedy.
Because time really is running out on this planet and on our species. Al Gore understated things, and many owe him a serious apology. The convergence of global warming, global overcrowding and the rise of the global middle class has, as Tom Friedman has pointed out, placed the world in crisis. We need bold leadership. Yesterday. Or we may not have much more time left.
That's reason #1 that I think Barack is such a big deal. He has the opportunity to lead at a time when leadership is needed more than ever. He has the respect of the international community at a time when international cooperation is crucial to the success of our species going forward. He has the charisma and personality to capture the imagination of the world, and remains living proof that anyone, no matter their upbringing, has the potential to be great.
This is a singular moment in human history, and Barack Obama will be the leader of the world during these next critical years. The decisions he makes will have profound consequences, not just for this generation but for the next hundred to come.
Reason #2 is because I believe he alone is up to this challenge. Finally, our country is putting our best and brightest in charge again and leaving the Sarah Palins of the world behind. Here's all you need to know about this man to realize just how great he really is. He's a black man in America, named Barack Obama, only 4 years after the second confirmation of W, and he defeated the strongest political machine perhaps in American history (the Clintons) when barely a year ago no one, not even the African-American community, believed in him.
I believe in Barack Obama.
I do not believe he is the messiah, or that he is perfect. I believe that he is the best man for the job. I have seen his character in the campaign, and he truly does represent change, not just because of his race, or the things he has said, but because of his sincerity. It has been a long time since an American politican truly inspired. It has been a long time coming to believe that those in charge truly are putting the interests of our country first. I believe this about Barack Obama.
Obama will make mistakes. There will be a learning period on the job. He will make gaffes, misstatements, even blunders. Of this, I have no doubt. Every President before him has. The difference? He will admit them. He will change course when he is wrong. He will respect the advice of more experienced people around him and seek to make the right decision irrespective of where that idea came from. That is what we need. That is what the world needs.
And that is why I am counting down to January 20th.
One last thing.
I will mourn the last eight years until Tuesday the 20th, but then I will celebrate and look forward. This is the most exciting time to be alive probably ever and this is the best country in the world to be living in right now. Yesterday, I finally mailed in my citizenship application, and I will be proud to be an American citizen. The future is now.
BBA? Before Barack Obama. You can guess the second one.
I am known for overstating things. My enthusiasm sometimes carries away my invective and I am prone to superlatives. This is a fault that I recognize and try to contain.
Sorry, not this time.
I do not believe it is an overstatement that this inauguration represents a turning point, not just in American History, but Human History. (Superlative enough?)
I plan to tell the next generation how we lived through the "dark times." How we endured the worst eight years in American history. How I lived during the seemingly "dark ages" of discrimination and injustice represented in Prop 8. And of how we survived.
President Bush likes to say that history will judge his administration, and I agree. I just don't think it will be in the way he imagines. I believe that his legacy will get worse with time, not better.
Beyond all the screw-ups, all the things we know they fucked up, like Iraq, the Economy, Katrina (should have been impeached for that one), wiretapping, etc etc etc, and the ones we don't know they fucked up, which will probably come out for years to come - stands the things the Bush administration did not do.
We just lost eight years. Eight years that could have been spent fighting global warming, preparing the economy for the shift to green fuels, building green infrastructure, investing in science and education and in our children. We can't ever get those eight years back. And that's the real tragedy.
Because time really is running out on this planet and on our species. Al Gore understated things, and many owe him a serious apology. The convergence of global warming, global overcrowding and the rise of the global middle class has, as Tom Friedman has pointed out, placed the world in crisis. We need bold leadership. Yesterday. Or we may not have much more time left.
That's reason #1 that I think Barack is such a big deal. He has the opportunity to lead at a time when leadership is needed more than ever. He has the respect of the international community at a time when international cooperation is crucial to the success of our species going forward. He has the charisma and personality to capture the imagination of the world, and remains living proof that anyone, no matter their upbringing, has the potential to be great.
This is a singular moment in human history, and Barack Obama will be the leader of the world during these next critical years. The decisions he makes will have profound consequences, not just for this generation but for the next hundred to come.
Reason #2 is because I believe he alone is up to this challenge. Finally, our country is putting our best and brightest in charge again and leaving the Sarah Palins of the world behind. Here's all you need to know about this man to realize just how great he really is. He's a black man in America, named Barack Obama, only 4 years after the second confirmation of W, and he defeated the strongest political machine perhaps in American history (the Clintons) when barely a year ago no one, not even the African-American community, believed in him.
I believe in Barack Obama.
I do not believe he is the messiah, or that he is perfect. I believe that he is the best man for the job. I have seen his character in the campaign, and he truly does represent change, not just because of his race, or the things he has said, but because of his sincerity. It has been a long time since an American politican truly inspired. It has been a long time coming to believe that those in charge truly are putting the interests of our country first. I believe this about Barack Obama.
Obama will make mistakes. There will be a learning period on the job. He will make gaffes, misstatements, even blunders. Of this, I have no doubt. Every President before him has. The difference? He will admit them. He will change course when he is wrong. He will respect the advice of more experienced people around him and seek to make the right decision irrespective of where that idea came from. That is what we need. That is what the world needs.
And that is why I am counting down to January 20th.
One last thing.
I will mourn the last eight years until Tuesday the 20th, but then I will celebrate and look forward. This is the most exciting time to be alive probably ever and this is the best country in the world to be living in right now. Yesterday, I finally mailed in my citizenship application, and I will be proud to be an American citizen. The future is now.
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