Mean Gene

Ain't Got This Game Figured Yet; and Other Random Thoughts

So I sat down to play a little poker tonight, been playing lousy lately and I figured I'd play a $5 3-table multi at Empire. You know, mimimize my exposure, maybe have a few minutes fun before I got down to other business. So I blow 4/5 of my stack on an outkicked ace (Q to his K) and bluff at a guy pot-commited and I'm down to $200 about 15 hands in.

Brilliant play, I know. Thing is, I do seem to play a shortstack well. Probably comes from having them so often. Even though the blinds are just $15-30 it makes sense for me to push all-in three hands in a row. Twice I have Q-high and get no callers, and then I have pocket jacks and double up from a guy sick of my nonsense. So just like that I'm up to $750 or so, and just as I thought lost all poker ability for life I'm back in business.

It'll be a long time before you hear me complain about aces getting cracked, because I had them 3 times and won big every time. I limp-reraised and got called by the big stack, doubling up, I overbet the pot and got called down by AK, and then the pot that guaranteed me a cash, I ended up all-in against QQ and QJ with a jack on the board. Tripled up on that one, and it gave me the chip lead, which I never came close to relinquishing. God, I love playing a big stack, especially when the other players are just trying to outlast each other and move up in money. I did win one sizeable pot, but once we got down to 4 handed I just gobbled blinds and pushed them off hands.

So I won, boosted my bankroll by about a third, gave me a little confidence boost after about a month of ghastly play. A nice feeling.

While I played I finally watched The Matrix Revolutions, as we have free HBO this weekend. Now, I loved The Matrix. Great flick that was. So...what the hell happened? I mean, all those special effects, all the blasting away and explosions, and I was bored. I fast-forwarded through part of the attack on Zion because it was about 47 minutes long and I sorta got the point. The story was a huge disappointment, the ending sucked, and what happened to the kung fu fighting? The only fight of any consequence was the one at the end, which was all-special effects and no close-up chopsocky. Horrible movie, I can't think of another series of sequels more disappointing.

Oh...that's right...I forgot about The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Two of the worst movies in history, movies that made Liam Neeson look stupid, Ewan McGregor look boring, and Natalie Portman look awful. Almost inconceievable, and yet Lucas pulled it off.

I didn't know Carnivale had started its new season, and I'm catching up on that. I may have to find someone with HBO to catch the rest of the season. Hard to believe that Clancy Brown, who plays the Antichristy Brother Justin, also provides the voice of Mr. Krabs on Spongebob. I may not have a clue as to what's going on, but I do really enjoy it. Twin Peaks is one of my all-time favorite shows, and Carnivale has the same dreamlike feel to it. Bigtime good vs. bigtime evil, the supernatural as perfectly natural, Michael J. Anderson...good stuff.

OK, enough piddling nonsense. Always easier to sleep with a nice win under the 'ol belt. Got a few more article ideas, even got a few non-poker ones I may crank out the next week or so. But of course the blog shall not languish. Unless I resort to my fishy poker ways.

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