Mean Gene

Nothing To Say

No football this weekend...I imagine myself frantically channel-surfing this weekend looking for an overlooked playoff game. My heart could use the rest after the last three weeks, believe me. There's a pep rally down at Heinz Field at 5PM, but I think I'll pass. I need to store up my pep (and vim) for the Sunday next.

I will try to avoid talking about the Steelers the rest of this post. Let's see, let's talk poker, this is ostensibly a poker blog. Um...not much to say. Oh, here's an insightful observation--if you get dealt pocket aces four times in 20 hands, you'll probably do well. Although my results weren't totally to the good. I'm dealt rockets, raise, everyone folds. This with the blinds T25-50. OK. I get them again like five hands later. Raise...everyone folds. "Thanks guys!" I type in chat as I show them down.

Three-handed I'm dealt aces again in the big blind and the short-stack goes all-in. "A-HA!" I say aloud as I instacall. He has AK. "A-HA!" I shout. The flop comes K-K-4. "A-HA!" I shout as I toss a noose over the chandelier. Lost about 1/2 my stack on that one. But I fought back, took the lead, and had aces again in the big blind when BOTH my opponents went all-in. I call, and they turn over Q-9 and K-6. I understand the first guy pushing, he was short, but calling with K-6? Tsk. The flop gives the first guy a queen, the turn gives the other guy a flush draw, but the river is a blank and I win. As I've said before, poker is a very easy game to play when you get great cards and they hold up. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

I played another SNG and 2 other guys from Pittsburgh were at the table. We chatted about things when one of them did something I thought was beneath the dignity of a Pittsburgher. There are 3 of us in the pot and the flop comes 4-5-6 of diamonds. I don't have a diamond, so I yawn and guide my cursor to the spot where the FOLD button will appear. The player to my left goes all in. My fellow Pittsburgher thinks...thinks...thinks...and then just calls. I fold and the cards flip up. The all-in person has a lone diamond, the king, and the 'Burgh Boy has the three and seven of diamonds. Yup, flopped the straight flush. It took him a long time to call, and I think slow-rolling is a one-way ticket to Poker Purgatory, but when the hand was done he typed, "thought I might lure you in mean". Ah, I was the audience for that little move. Too bad I was at the fridge getting a bowl of grapes.

Because today was Friday I had the fish sandwich in our cafeteria, partly for old time's sake, partly because I was hungry. It was excellent, of course, but I was disappointed that the server only gave me a pint of macaroni and cheese instead of the usual half-gallon. She's one of their newer workers, and for some reason she insists on doling out portions that are only slightly unreasonable. Because there was still a lot of M&C pooling in my container. I'm pretty much stuffed, and dinner will probably be a bowl of cereal.

My company makes a justifiably big deal out of offering healthy foods to our customers, and at our big company meeting Tuesday morning a number of executives got up to hammer that point home. What was offered at the catered breakfast we enjoyed beforehand? Sausage, egg and cheese quesadillas. They were excellent. I had six.

Speaking of things that Al enjoys, I was watching an old tape filled with "Duckman" episodes last night and at the end the screen flickers and suddenly there's a soccer game on my TV. Chelsea vs Aston Villa playing for the FA Cup a few years back. Maybe more than a few--Gianluca Vialli was on the touchline, Ken Bates in the owner's box, and running around the pitch were Dennis Wise and Gianfranco Zola. These of course were the days before the Blues were purchased by a Russian petrokleptocrat. As I once told a well-known professional poker player about his Ferrari fandom, rooting for Chelsea is like rooting for the IRS during an audit.

<< Home