John Dobbin

Wanting to Play Poker

Haven't played any poker since Delaware Park in March. Well, that's not entirely true, I've played a few tournaments online, but mostly just satellites into larger tournaments. I did win one of them though, which means I got a few more points to play in more qualifying tournaments. But really, I've just been idle. We're playing a home game this weekend, which should be fun, but even that isn't what I'm looking for. I want to play in a casino! Memorial Day Weekend I'll be in New Orleans for my brother's bachelor party, so I'm sure I'll get some playing in then, but since most of my brothers don't play poker I'm not sure how much. They have to sleep sometime though, so when they pass out, I'll hit the tables. So that's two weeks away, and will probably help quench my desire a little bit. What I'm really looking for though is a tournament. I know Borgata has the Summer Open next month, but June is usually pretty busy for me, so I'm not sure I can get away for that. I also haven't seen a schedule for it, which is annoying since it's less than a month away. Maybe if I can find a decent PLO tournament on that schedule I can sneak away for a day during that. Other than that, I definitely plan to hit the Borgata Open in September and if at all possible,  I want to play the Main Event at the Circuit vent at Harrahs in December. I'd like to pad my bankroll a bit before playing a tournament of that size though, so we'll see. So it's not totally hopeless, I just need to be patient. I have played in two tournaments already this year, so I'm still on pace for the 4 a year I want to play.

Upcoming Mid-Atlantic Poker Tournaments

Lots of tournaments going on in the next couple of months. Hope to play something, but not sure what.

February 27 - March 6 Parx Open Winter Showdown
March 1-12 WSOP Circuit Atlantic City
March 14-April 2 Delaware Park Poker Classic
April 4-20 Borgata Spring Poker Open
April 26-May 7 WSOP Circuit Harrahs Chester

Ace-King Clubs

This was a truly bizarre cash game hand I played Monday night at Harrahs Atlantic City. It's a 1-2 game and I'm in for 200. I've got another 150 in my pocket that I won at another table before it broke and I bought into this game for 200. An early position player raises to 10 and the guy next to me in middle position calls. I have AcKc and call as well. The small blind, who has been on crazy tilt the last few minutes goes all in for 63. The big blind asks him if he wants action and then says I'll give you some action. Original raiser and the guy to my right fold. I think about it, and I just don't believe the big blind was grandstanding. I think he has a marginal hand at best. I go all in for another 120 on top. The big blind thinks about it for a while and finally calls with QsJs. The flop has a J, but the turn is a K. The river is a blank and I win a huge pot. This hand is so totally not my style. I'm usually very cautious, but it just seemed like the right move and obviously it worked out. I think I need to learn to gamble a little more in spots like this. That's particularly true in tournaments, but this is a good reminder from the cash game world.

Pocket Nines

Played this hand over the weekend at Harrahs Atlantic City in a 1-2 NL game. I had 99 in middle position and raised to 6. A girl in town celebrating her 30th birthday raised to 10 from the small blind. Flop was T 4 2 rainbow. Birthday girl bets 15 and  I call. Turn is a 6. Birthday girl bets again for 20 and I call. River is a 7 and birthday girl throws in a 30 dollars.  I call again and she mucks before I show my hand. I know it seems like I put a lot of money in with 99 unimproved, but based on the way she'd been playing it was almost certainly a bluff.  On the flop, she started to check and then when she realized it was heads-up, she bet instead. Sure, it could have been an act, but it seemed like she was giving up on the hand and decided to try and take it with bets. In hindsight, raising on the flop was the correct play, but I definitely got more money with this play.

TV Tonight

First off, I watched Rob! This show is fucking awesome. It takes a brave show to cram this many racist jokes into a half hour sitcom. I look forward to seeing how they manage to keep it up in future episodes.

Second, The Big Bang Theory rags on The Green Lantern movie. What the fuck is their problem? That was a truly great movie. No way could Nathan Fillion have done a better job. Ryan Reynolds IS Hal Jordan.

Atlantic City Trip Coming Up

Heading up to Atlantic City in a couple of weeks. It's during the Borgata Winter Poker Open, but I'm not sure I'm going to play in it. Basically, I'm looking to play some cash games at Harrahs and try to up my bankroll. Looking to have a little less hectic trip this time. Still get in some poker playing but less of a marathon session.

Thoughts on the new NLOP Software Update

Initial impression: Wow, this sucks.

To be fair, a lot of that impression has to do with the fact that I couldn't get the software to stay up long enough to really try it ou. I enteres my usual 9:00 tournament and the software froze up before 9:10. I entered a few other tournaments over the next hour or so after that, so I lost a fair number of points by not showing up for tournaments, but that's not really a big deal since I can just login every day and get more. If it doesn't get better at staying up, that'll be a big deal.

I'm also not a fan of the new points. It seems like all the tournaments tripled in price, and now you get roughly 3 times as many points for logging in each day. I'm just not sure I see the need for the bigger numbers. Actually, it's not even three times as many points per day, but since points don't expire, I don't expect points to ever be an issue.

My biggest complaint is the tournament display. I like the ability to show only points, only cash, only prizes and only championships, but a display of all the tournaments coming up in the next couple of hours would be great. Better still would be custom filters, but mostly I just want to see all the upcoming tournaments I can register for in one place.

I'd love to comment on the actual play of the game. I do think there are some nice improvememnts there, but I wasn't able to play long enough to really get the experience.

 

Stoichkov Has A New Coaching Job

Former DC United player, because that's how everybody remembers him, Hristo Stoichkov is the new coach of the Bulgarian champions Litex Lovech. I have no idea how he's done as a coach since his retirement, but it's never bad to take over the champions as a new coach.

Break a leg, Hristo! Yes, this lame joke was the sole reason for this post.

My Top 25 TV Theme Songs

A couple of poker bloggers I read (Poker Grump and crAAKKer) posted their lists of the 25 greatest TV theme songs. It got me thinking about what I thought the list should look like. I stole from their lists, and the helpful links Poker Grump provided and I produced a list of my own. I was too lazy to look up the composers as crAAKKer did, and too lazy to post videos like Poker Grump did, so here's my less informative and more boring list.

25. The Jeffersons - My big criteria is how well do I remember the music and does it bring up an image  of the TV series. This definitely does that.

24. The X-Files - It surprised me a little that I put this on the list, since I didn't watch the show much. But I found it popped right into my head and I could see Mulder and Scully in my head.

23. Welcome Back Kotter - This was probably one of the first "adult" shows I watched when I was younger. I assume this had undue influence on how well I recall the theme song and the show itself.

22. The Facts of Life - A favorite show from my younger days along with it's parent Diff'rent Strokes. Again the song popped right into my head and brought images of Mrs. Garrett and the girls right along with it.

21. Three's Company - I can still hum the song and see the opening sequence. Haven't seen an episode in at least 25 years.

20. The Beverly Hillbillies - I didn't even watch this show, but it was constantly on TV when I was a kid, so I know the theme song. Even though I never watched it, I had to get up to change the channel, so I had to listen to the theme song.

19. Diff'rent Strokes - Again, one of my favorite shows at the time. Haven't seen it in years, but still could sing along if it came on.

18. Star Trek (Original Series) - Everyone seems to love the theme from the later edition, but I'm not sure I'd even know that if I heard it.

17. WKRP in Cincinnati - A good song and a good TV series pair for a memorable theme song.

16. Mission Impossible - I've always hated the series, but the theme is so iconic, it just has to be on the list.

15. The Muppet Show - This is probably influenced by recent exposure to it since I've watched the series over the last couple of years.

14. The Addams Family - This also surprised me. I hadn't thought about the series since the last movie, but I found it sticking in my head during my selection process.

13. Greatest American Hero - I'm a little surprised this was so low, but recent viewing of the series hasn't held up that well for me, so I think it caused the song to feel less great as a result.

12. M.A.S.H - I know I should have this higher, but I sort of feel like it's not standing up to the test of time. I liked M.A.S.H and I can still hum the theme, but it didn't affect me as strongly as some of the others.

11. Batman - Ok, I know this is a silly theme song, but it sticks in my head and I can just see Adam West punching some villain.

10. Cheers - Not surprised it made the top 10. A little surprised it wasn't higher. I think it's a little like M.A.S.H since I haven't seen it much lately.

9. The Dukes of Hazzard - As a city boy, this show never resonated with me, but the theme song is hard to forget.

8. Mr. Ed - I kind of enjoyed this show as a very young child. It's this high because I haven't seen it in almost 40 years  a long damn time, but I can still bring it to mind clear as day.

7. Sesame Street - Ingrained in my brain since before I could read.

6. The Brady Bunch - I barely remember the names of the kids, but the song I can't seem to forget.

5. The Flintstones - Another one from so long ago it's pretty much guaranteed to be a permanent memory.

4. Happy Days - Happy days was such an important show in the 70s, and since most of my pop culture foundations start in the 70s it makes it really high on the list.

3. The Banana Splits - I can't even begin to explain this one. I don't even really recall liking the show as a kid, but every few weeks, I'll find myself humming this out of the blue.

2. Scooby Doo - This is elavated by recent exposure. My seven year old is a huge fan of the show, so I see it all the time.

1. Gilligan's Island - An obvious choice in my mind. It was number one pretty much right from the beginning of my selection process. How many other songs have multiple individual lyrics that are standalone pop culture references.

 

 

 

Books Read in 2011

2011 wasn't a big year for me and reading I only managed to read 17 books, which I think is down quite a bit from previous years. The lack of basketball in the fall is partially to blame, but I also went through a long period in the summer where I barely read at all. Here are the books I read in 2011.

• Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead -- Started the year with the last Vampire Academy book and the first of 5 books by Richelle Mead this year. There won't be as many next year since I'm basically caught up on all her writing and I don't think she plans to release a bunch of new books this year.
• Tempest's Legacy - Nicole Peeler -- I like this series and enjoyed this book, but for whatever reason I think I've now fallen behind in the series.
• Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume I - Lynch, Eric 'Rizen', Jon 'Apestyles' Van Fleet, Jon 'PearlJammer' Turner, Hilger, Matthew -- This is the only attempt I've made to read a poker strategy book on Kindle. I like to jump around in a book like this and digital is not ideal for that. I may try another this year on my Fire.
• Unseen - Rachel Caine -- Although I love her writing, I just don't care much about the characters in this series. This series just makes me wish there were more Weather Warden books coming.
• Pale Demon - Kim Harrison -- Not the best in this series, but this is still one of my favorite series.
• Changes - Jim Butcher -- If I'd read this when it first came out I would have been concerned that the series was ending with this book. I'm really glad this wasn't the last in the series.
• River Marked - Patricia Briggs -- I didn't like the way she isolated the characters in this one. I hope the next in the series uses more of the world she's created.
• Storm Born - Richelle Mead -- I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to reading this series. I wasn't drawn in by the descriptions and I feared it would be more fantasy than I normally like. Richelle Mead is my favorite author though and I shouldn't have been worried. I'm reading the last in the series now and I'm already a little sad there won't be more.
• Thorn Queen - Richelle Mead -- Bought this in a bundle with Storm Born and Iron Crowned , so I just kept reading.
• Iron Crowned - Richelle Mead -- Kept reading the series.
• Succubus Revealed - Richelle Mead -- My favorite Richelle Mead series. Lved this book and really hate that there won't be any more in this series.
• The Confession - John Grisham -- Not my favorite plotline for a Grisham book, but Grisham is such a good writer that it was bearable. Oddly, unlike most Grisham books, this one felt like it should have ended sooner.
• Bullet - Laurell K Hamilton -- Another year, another Anita Blake novel. This was about what I expected, not great, but not bad either.
• Bloodlines - Richelle Mead -- I'm a little older than the target audience for this book, but I still found it enjoyable. I like most of the characters and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for them.
• Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris -- Waited a while to read this due to Digital Pricing issues. Everyone seemed to hate this book. EW even had it on their worst of the year list. Admittedly it had some things that don't make much sense, but I'm already so confused with the differences in character histories between the series and True Blood that I was able to breeze past and enjoy the book. I love the characters, so it worked for me.
• The Associate - John Grisham -- Now this is what I look for in a Grisham book. Loved this.

So that's it for the year. I read parts of three other books, but two I didn't finish and a third I finished in 2012, so that'll show up in next year's list.