Side Betting the side game at the WORLD SERIES OF POKER FINAL TABLE HEADS UP!!!

Hit, hit, hit, hit!

Dr. Chako face-booked that he was up to no good at the low-limit tables tonight, while following the heads up live-blogging of presumably Pauly. Matt chimed in and joined the waiting list at Chako's table, and I also followed suit. After a good 10 minutes of railing, we both got in the HORSE-esque game. There was No Limit involved, so I'm not sure what acronym does this mixed game justice.

We did the game justice though. From the first orbit we had a side-bet prop on showing down winning hands with 3's in them. I kind of forgot about the mixed game nature of this table, so when O/8 and razz came along, we kind of had to make up the betting on the fly, which Matt mastered.

We started the betting with just showing down a 3 for a win. Then we progressed to making sure the 3 played in the winning hand. Then the split pot games is where Matt's brilliance shown brightest:

$1 for winning the high hand and a 3 playing, $2 for scooping with the 3 involved in both high and low hands.

I'm pretty sure Dr. Chako was the only pooper-scooper to win a 2-pointer.

The side-bet increased the action considerably, because we kept trying to prevent each other from having other's 3's play, or psyching each other out by getting our monsters called down on the chance of a bluff.

Penner (link could be wrong, I'm getting rusty in my internet sleuthing) joined us about 30 minutes in, and quickly joined in on the side-bet action. He was my cooler, and as soon as I had a blogger to my left, I was toast.

And now, the thing everyone loves to hate...

The Results:

Dr. Chako--BIG WINNER!!! die.
Matt--owes Dr. Chako $1
Penner--owes Dr. Chako $1, owes Matt $2
MHG--owes Dr. Chako $4, owes Matt $1

On Full Tilt, the minimum transfer is $5, so if that is how you transfer money, just send what you owe plus $5, and the recipient can ship back $5.

Drchako1
mclarich
penner42
meanhappyguy

TAKE IT DOWN DARVIN MOON, GO SAINTS!!!ONE1!!!

Memories: Hawaii

I'm still young in the grand scheme of things, but as I'm growing older I start to see how life experiences can lead to wisdom. I was staring up at the clouds tonight, and I tried to figure out what each cloud looked like as it floated by. I saw one that looked like a Big Mac, another looked like a skull, and another looked like a giant mushroom.

Then I got to thinking, how would I have viewed those same clouds when I was 10? What about when I was 5? I don't think I knew what a Big Mac was when I was five. Maybe I did, but maybe I would have just said hamburger instead. I preferred chicken nuggets. Hell, I still prefer chicken nuggets, I don't think I've ever had a Big Mac, but for some reason all I could think was "Big Mac" at the shape of said cloud. In attempt to cut off a ramble, I came to the realization that as you age and encounter more experiences, you have more connections to make, which gives one a broader understanding of... well, pretty much everything.

While I sat in the hot tub, looking up at the clouds floating by in the wind, I made a strong connection back to a hot tub I was in on a trip to Hawaii when I must have been 12 or 13. There was a big storm in Hawaii that day, and my sister and I huddled down in the hot tub as lawn chairs went scooting around the pool deck. There were two other kids in the hot tub with us, and we thought we were so cool for lasting out the storm. When the winds died down and we poked our heads up from the hot tub, almost all of the lawn chairs were squished against the far end of the pool deck, and a few had made their way into the pool.

I assume my mind made the connection because it was another time I was in a hot tub and it was stormy outside, but I hadn't thought of that memory for literally years. Tonight it came back to me like it had happened just the other day. There are some fuzzy parts of the memory. First, I'm not sure if my sister was there, and second, I can't remember how many other kids were in the hot tub, but I think 3 or 4 total. The interesting part to me is that this particular memory about Hawaii is lodged deep down in my brain somewhere, and it takes a connection for me to pull it up from the depths of my memory.

Other people must also experience these memories that seemingly come out of left field, but appear so vividly. I have them all the time, and I think I will start to write a few of them down when they come to me. I'm doing terribly at the NaNoWriMo, and I'm only at 1283 words after a week. I am supposed to be writing down 1667 words per day to hit the 50,000 mark by the end of the month. I haven't given up on it quite yet, but as long as I keep doing some sort of writing I will be happy, irregardless of whether it is the NaNoWriMo story or not.

So Fucking Angry

Last night blew my mind. I am still steaming this morning about what happened last night--I don't think I've been this angry since I was an angry young teenager in high school. Hopefully by writing about last night I'll release some of my anger, but I am going to leave the part about the police out and let you try to figure out where the police fits into this story.

---

Friday night's story really begins last Monday. Mary Ann sent out an email to ten of her friends, inviting them over for a few rounds of Settlers of Catan. I hadn't seen this group of friends in a while, so I chimed in with an affirmative. On Wednesday, I realized that Josh would be coming up from Tacoma to attend the UW Volleyball match with me, and afterwards he'd probably be interested in playing some Catan. The original invite seemed somewhat exclusive, so I asked MA if it would be okay to bring Josh along, or if that would screw up the numbers for playing Catan. She said it would be fine to have another person along.

Friday morning rolls around, and I am substituting for my old class I student taught for last year. I check my email during lunch and find an email from MA, saying that the party has been moved from 7:30pm to 10pm. It seems a little late to make a 2.5 hour change to a party involving a dozen people, but the time change works for me, because Josh and I weren't going to show up until 9-9:30 due to the volleyball game. I also have an email from Josh, wondering if his roommate, Derrick, can join us. I see that MA is online, and shoot her a quick message asking about Derrick, and she replies that Derrick joining would be great.

Josh comes up a little before 7pm and we make it down to the volleyball match about halfway through the first game. All three games are amazing, and UW sweeps Stanford in three straight games. I believe both teams are in the top 10 national rankings, so the level of play was very high, also, Stanford handed UW one of its two loses on the year earlier down in CA. Most of the points consisted of UW just hammering the ball and Stanford making some amazing saves to get the ball back--but you don't win by just getting the ball back, and eventually UW would find an opening in Stanford's defense.

We get back to my house at 9:15pm and we call Derrick to tell him to head up to Seattle, and I call MA and leave a voice mail asking if it is alright if we come over a few minutes early since the volleyball game is over. Derrick makes his way up to Seattle and Josh and I wait 15 minutes, then head over to Mary Ann's. Josh and I arrive at Mary Ann's, and I still haven't heard from her, and her apartment doesn't have any lights on. This is 15 minutes to party time.

About five minutes later I get a text from Mary Ann, saying that they are at a restaurant and she will give me instructions shortly. Um... what? I send her a text back, saying Josh and I are at her house already. Josh and I walk around in the rain, trying to find a bar close to Mary Ann's house that we can crash at until the party arrives, and we end up getting back in Josh's car and back-tracking a mile to a bar we saw on our drive over. As soon as we step into the bar, I get a call from Eddie, who is with Mary Ann.

Eddie says that the group is at a restaurant in Bothell (30 minutes north), and they will probably be at the restaurant for another 45 minutes, and then they decided to switch the location of the party to Tom's house, because they are all already up in Bothell. What. the. FUCK? Are you serious? It is 10pm right now, and the party is supposed to start, and you are changing the time AGAIN and the location to 30 minutes away?!

Derrick rolls in about five minutes later, and I give him the bad news. The bar we found ended up being one of the coolest I've been to in a while, with a black IPA on tap, and rugby games on the televisions. The three of us were pissed about being left in the lurch regarding the party (especially because Derrick drove 45 minutes to Seattle specifically for the party), but we decided to head to my house and then I would drive us all up to Bothell to meet up with the rest of the gang.

On our way up to Bothell, we make an impromptu stop at Dick's drive-in, because we're all a bit hungry and nothing sounds better than Dick's fries, a chocolate shake, and a Deluxe when you are hungry and it is between 11pm-2am. I get a call from Eddie when I'm eating my fries, still waiting for Josh to receive his order. Eddie says they are about to start playing and he wants to know what time I'll be there. I tell him they can start playing, and we'll be there in about 20 minutes. He says OK.

As I'm driving from Dick's to Tom's house up in Bothell, I feel my phone vibrate a few times, but I don't like to talk on the phone and drive at the same time. I pull into Tom's apartment complex and I go to give Eddie a call, telling him we are here, when I see that I've received a text from Eddie (as close to verbatim as I can remember):

"Hey Chris, I think we might need to reschedule game night. We didn't realize there were more people with you, and we don't have room for three more people. So sorry, dude."

I read this text as we're exiting the car, 20 feet from Tom's apartment. Are you fucking serious? Really?! I get a call from Eddie as I'm literally laughing at the text he sent, and he asks where I'm at. I say parked outside Tom's apartment.

Eddie and Tom come out and say they are sorry, but thought it was only me coming up, and that they don't have room for three people. They say they've already started the game of Catan. Tom says he and his girlfriend have to leave at 8am the next morning and that they can't make a late night out of tonight.

I couldn't fucking believe it. I thought these guys were friends? Derrick, Josh and I just wanted to hang out and play a game or two, and now, at their doorstep, they are telling us we aren't welcome? Why the fuck did Eddie say "OK" 20 minutes ago when I told him WE are coming over? Mary Ann's car is parked outside, did she forget the email and chat conversations we had EARLIER THAT DAY about Josh and Derrick coming up to Seattle?!?!?

When I realized that they were serious, I couldn't even stand to look at them. We left, and I was so incredibly angry. There were a dozen things I was angry about, and it all reflected around Mary Ann and Eddie. Why? Why would they treat me like such garbage? I could understand that there was a lot of miscommunication, but even with the miscommunication, they had so many opportunities to give me a heads up or let me know what the real situation was. They strung me along the whole evening. The only message I received from Mary Ann was "We're eating at a restaurant up near Tom's house, you will get instructions soon" and this was 15 minutes before the party was supposed to start at her place. Tom and his girlfriend waking up at 8am the next day was bullshit, because they just started a game that would take two hours to finish, so they'd be up for another hour and a half at least, plenty of time for us to hang out and then head home.

I don't know. I've never been treated like that before, and the fact that one of those people is my housemate, makes me really rethink my living situation.

Nature is my church

Saw that bumper sticker today on a car parked in a police department parking lot, which I found interesting. I also felt some jealousy, wishing I had the bumper sticker.

My racquetball racquet greeted me this afternoon when I returned home from an all-day substitute orientation. It was a grind today, that is for sure, but an old lady who looked and acted a lot like Dr. Ruth made the day much more enjoyable. The racquet was a nice surprise, which I didn't expect until Friday or next Monday. It looks and feels sweet, and I can't wait to test it out tonight at the gym.

Joined a Gym!

I "worked out" today for the first time since my weight training class, freshman year at UPS in 2000. Working out doesn't include the Push Up Challenge I have feebly kept going almost 11 months now (18581 push ups, 20882 sit ups, 12880 frog squats, 23.5 miles jogged). I feel alright now, but I think I'll be sore tomorrow. I joined LA Fitness, and I didn't realize how much I miss having a place to run around and go to get out of the house.

My last gym membership was in Tahoe, and I never worked out, but I did ride the exercise bike and I played a lot of basketball. The LA Fitness near my house has a basketball court, four racquetball courts, a swimming pool and a sauna--it is freaking nice. I checked out the gym a month ago when I moved up here, but it was way too expensive... until I found out the school district I work for has a great wellness program and I don't have to pay the initiation fee, and the monthly fee for gym use is cut in half!

I joined on Thursday, and decided to practice my racquetball skills (or lack there of). I borrowed a racquet from the front desk and had been hitting for about ten minutes when a guy knocked and asked if I was waiting for anyone, or if I would want to play a game? Awesome. The guy wasn't great, and the only other racquet the front desk had was about the size of a ping pong paddle. I won the first game with the good racquet and I gifted him the second game (I felt kind of bad beating him with a ping pong paddle, and he is a burly ex-army guy).

It is just cool to join a gym and be playing pick up racquetball an hour later! There is a racquetball league I need to inquire about, and also basketball leagues--I am looking forward to a fun and active winter.

Another perk of the LA Fitness membership is Dr. Chako belongs to the same gym, but south of Seattle. I played a few games with him on Saturday, albeit being a little hungover, and while he is still up in the Northwest I plan on leeching all of his racquetball skills.