so - let's talk religion this morning, since I have a few sweet gumballs left to go thru in a bag, and I love sucking the life out of them in two minutes, spitting them up like a used condom, and going for a fresh new round - Red and Purple are my favs -

so here's my problem - my poker game is dismal - I could choose to look at it as the swings of luck, or me running bad, or poor decisions - I prefer to blame God and think this is his way of telling me to do what I've been trying to do for 8 months -

finish the album - LOL - that's what I need to do - it's a new priority -

even over poker - no choice - must get the album - but will continue to play Horse, read up on others, and focus on my efforts to try to turn myself into a rock star.

I do not seek fame as a rockstar - merely enough of one to score the occasional groupie - hell, John Stirratt was signing breasts here in Mpls and he ain't the best looking guy in Wilco - LOL -

it's that songwriting thing - it's got me obsessed in a way poker doesn't do it for me anymore - that and the whole - making/selling/manufacturing an album in today's much more indie-friendly music environment...

if it's good, it will sell itself eventually - I merely have to hit that mark with this album I'm recording - the mark Guy Clark talks about where the jaw just drops in the audience - that's when you know you're doing your job as a songwriter.

I've been lax - time to pick things up again...

cause I believe I'm being sent on a mission from God to call Christians out of the Republican Party.

Oh yah, I'm boned.

RB

I should get a pokerstars ad endorsement for this swill, man -

I must confess, for the last week, I've been mostly availing myself of the H.O.R.S.E games that Pokerstars now has. 8 hands of Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud H/L 8 or better. By and large they've even been profitable - and I get a nice different selection of games in -

I gotta read up on Stud - hmmm....if only I knew someone who was an expert on games like Stud and Omaha...hmmm.. ;)

Actually, I'm not the worst slouch - a good poker player can see a place where aggression and a bluff will take him far no matter the game - it's just really for me, a matter of hand selection and how to play.

1. - Holdem - marginally profitable at the Limit level but I'm learning to tailor my tournament skills to this game, and of course, a lot less bluffing -

2. - Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better - I think this is my weakest game right now - I usually only play cards that have 2 or 3 starting possibilities for a high or low - if I got 3 low cards I'll see a flop, but generally, I'm playing for low hands in Omaha, and tha's a losing way to play - so I'm working on it.

3. - Razz - profitable - whether because of Felicia's constant encouragement (it's so easy - no bluffing - anyone can play it) or because I actually can spot a decent starting in Razz or what, I seem to rule this game -

4 - Stud - marginally profitable - not my best game - I play it a bit like holdem, still, with starting hand selections, I think.

5 - Stud Hi/Lo Eight or Better - more profitable then plain ol' stud - but that's because I think in this round I mostly ignore the low unless it's a made 7 or so - and I like playing for the high a lot more in this game - easier to spot when you're beat then when you're playing for the low and that seems to be pretty fierce competition.

---------------------

as a whole I've had some nice poker wins - I should find a good book for each and work on my BR in a more interesting manner then previously done - a person with moderate competency and theory on these games and the basics of poker could clean up - maybe...

RB

so it comes to this

all the pre-packaged and re-packaged and overproduced and underwhelming amount of swill that passes for Platinum records these days - it has all been reduced to a level of suckitude never before seen.

I have seen, on MTV, videos that now sound like disco

burn the motherfucker down - burn, baby, burn.

RB

I haven't been keeping up too much with the WSOP but I did read Pauly's post on Las Vegas - he echos something that's been on my mind a while now too -

that town sucks.

as I become more and more convinced that the love of money is the root of many evils, so I feel LV has outgrown it's usefulness for me - it's fun to play cards there, but the bitterness and table attitude in live poker, and in Vegas feels different - it feels much more based in conflict then in folks just having a good time -

I can do ANYTHING I want while playing poker at home - if I had a girlfriend I could maybe get a blowjob in my recliner while smoking a bowl of fine Minnesota Green, playing on 8 poker tourneys at once from the main desk, or just one tourney from the laptop while watching the 55 inch HDTV - In vegas there's no this, no that, and no privacy for other habits you enjoy while playing poker - (though I have seen a guy with a wireless laptop playing online poker while playing at Wynn - that was hilarious) -

Poker I love - I'm getting sick of the "personalities" that have sprung up trying to get endorsements - the stories Wil and Pauly and Change100 and whoever else was there could probably tell - I'm sure that despite their best efforts, the quality of the WSOP has gone down, not up, with the passing of Binions to Harrah's property -

it's like Pauly said - people go to get their picture taken with a pro or to say they did it, like going to a massage parlor or a Billy Graham Crusade - (I have done ONE of those - just to say I did it, not because I cared or wanted to) - the WSOP has lost it's fire and the tourneys are a pain with Harrah's running stuff and the WPT trying to own player's images and everything.

but of course, I'll be in Vegas anyways - cause I hate winter - but I'm just saying - I only hate winter a LITTLE worse then the guys I play poker with in Vegas these days.

But there is peace in anomynity - a peace I am coming to relish rather then run from as I have done in the past. -

in any case, it's at least 4 more months of online poker before another Vegas Run - someone give me a heads up on the next WPBT -

also, if you're in Minneapolis/St Paul tomorrow night, my band is playing at the Hat Trick Lounge in St. Paul - http://www.robincommunications.com/hat_trick_lounge.htm

we go on about 10pm - who knows - waht else are you gonna do? - LOL

pax
RB

so let's talk a bit of poker - I'm in a Razz tourney and that takes forever to play cause I need 3 cards under 7, right Felicia?

my results have sucked as of late - I'm finding myself in a lot of spots where I'm getting caught with a reraise and calling knowing I'm beat - it took me about two weeks of that before suddenly a light went on - realizing that controlled aggression is key to winning, and seeing that in my results, I notched up my calling re-raises - don't ask me why -

my problem was, my hand reading skills are on, but I'm not trusting them, so I'm calling and losing - bad idea - I can read about 50% of the situations I'm in right now, I feel, accurately - and the ones I have zeroed in, I need to go with the gut on and I haven't been doing it - no biggie - it'll straighten itself out ;)

so I've tightened back up a bit again - and I won one SNG and made the money again finally in a tourney, though near the bubble I tightened up so much I almost guaranteed a dishwater money finish -

man, a lot of players on sites with 40K of wins and only playing 5 months - how do they do that - even playing sober, I can only achieve a moderate amount of tourney success -

this latest slump is killer - my ROI is down to 48% for the yr - gotta net a couple big wins soon.

RB

I see where GWB is going to be in town on Tues, Aug 22nd.

I also see where Iran is promising an official answer to the UN regarding their Nuclear initatives on Aug 22nd, even though we already know Iran won't stop pursuing nuclear energy technology.

And to all that, the wingnuts are saying Iran has an offensive/military strike planned in Israel on Aug 22nd.

I am so not going to be in town that day - in fact, I think I'm out of the state that day. I know a decent NL game in Des Moines - heh.

RB

I haven't been writing cause, face it, no one cares - I have no WSOP coverage - LOL.

tourneys have been dry - going to play in Stars 915 rebuy tonight - let's get a little stupid -

I advise for best coverage to follow my link to Pauly - he's the degenerate I aspire to be if I never grow up ;)


RB