CARDRUNNERS

25NL

Well didnt get off to a quick start with goals this year.  The past week I have been very lazy I think just the holidays and going out drinking and not geting any exercise has taken motivation away from the tables.  I have played played 1,000 hands and almost up a buy in for the year. My Bank Roll is $512.00 my goal buy Feb 5th is to have My bankroll at about 1g. I think my goal is atainable if I get the hands in. My idea is to play about 1,000 hands a day intill Feb 5th. If I can get in 25,000 hands and run well, I can get there.  With a ONE-K in my acct I will move up to 50NL with 20 BuyIns.

So tonight Barick Obama won the Iowa Caucus. In a way I am surprised about it. When I first saw Obama back in 2004 when he was the key note speaker at the Democratic National Connvention the unknown at the time, stole the show. He talked about uniting the Nation. Here we are 4 years later and he now is the front runner to get the Democratic nomination!  5 days from now, the New Hampshire primarys are set, If he Wins there its pretty much a full blown conclusion that its his race to lose.

Obama's Campain so far has been very positive. During a era in time when positve doesnt exsist in pollitics. Obama is appealing to Republicans Democrats and Independents. The best running mate for Obama would be Ron Paul if Obama did that then that would show everyone that he is for real when it comes to this new way of pollitics.

OKay enough of the pollitics today, I am starting to just ramble now lol. haha

 

 

If John McCain was best friends with a KKK member, you can be sure this would overtake any talk of the New York governor sleeping with a prostitute, yet it is amazing how the liberal media protects Obama from criticism.  Certainly we are living in a country that is so amazingly politically correct that we are scared to attack his views or personal life for fear that we can be considered, racist. 

But I will never be blamed for being politically correct: this should be an outrage to all Americans that a presidential candidate is a close personal friend to this maniacal man, there is nothing better about him than the KKK, they are both preaching hatred based on skin color.  Furthermore, it is an embarrasment that a presidential candidate would ever attend his church, let alone confide in him for over 20 years.  Yet once again Obama continues to hide behind the ugly word racism instead of answering the charges, let me tell you that the person continuing racism is not the reporter who asks these tough questions, nor Hillary Clinton for bringing them up in a speech, but the man you considered a friend for 20 years.  He is a truly a despicable person, as are the people in his audience who cheer these outlandish lies he puts forth. 

I really hope all of the supporters of Obama try to get beyond the punch lines of "change" and "hope" and start to think about who Barack Obama really is both politically and personally.

So the new rule is that I don't update this until 4 people bug me to do so; otherwise I'll feel too lazy/busy/unloved to bother...

It's been so long, where to begin??  Some random cursory updates, then a few even more random thoughts.

Vegas was great.  Had three separate trips there of 5 days each in June and early July (had to keep going back to nyc for the sake of the girlfriend...  the travel aspects of this being emotionally reminiscent of my days grinding $2-$4 limit holdem on planetpoker.com).  

Met many wonderful people, including desirae, blueflare, and linecrusher, among many others.  Played 4 tournies and broke even (finshed 12th in the 2.5k 6-max NLHE, didn't cash in other 3).  Made a small fortune playing some occasional 25-50-100 PLO at the Rio (which occasionally played with a forced 200 straddle).  Insane action.  At least by my standards.

Learned some things, too, from discussing PLO with others.  Partly as a result of this, I had low six-figure months in both July and August.  And of course I've come crashing back down since, with a 100k downswing that has me at -45k for September.  Still, a good few months.

Other random Vegas notes:

--Devilfish has some rather bizarre tastes in young women.

--Todd Brunson has a consistent leg tell (incidentally---wow, never knew till this trip how +EV leg tells are).

--Gus Hansen is a very solid squash player.  (no, we didn't gamble)

--Shutting off the eletricity to a house full of poker players at 5am is a sick beat (no air conditioning, and it's 95 degrees by 7a.m.) (long story)

--The fun of drunk low-stakes prop-filled games at the Southpoint. cannot be overstated.  Particularly when sober regs at the table know that you lose money when you show down an ace, and win showing down a 2.

--Honestly, half the reason why I enjoyed Vegas so much was because it was divided into 3 short trips.  3 straight weeks in Vegas would be hell for me.  Lack of culture and the money-centric nature of absolutely everything...  it eats your soul away after about a week.  Which helps explain people like Shawn Sheikhan.

Randomly:

--I will go on life-tilt if McCain/Palin(??!) win.  You will want to play at my tables post-election if this happens.  I will lose.  Lots.

--Obama is trading at 51.5% right now on Intrade.com.  Regardless of who you're rooting for, it should be noted that this is an absurdly strong bet.  He should be at least 60%.  Probably in the low 60's.  The post-Palin bounce is already fading in the battleground state polls, and the Intrade number doesn't yet reflect this.  If nothing else, buy now, sell in a week at 60.  Easy money!

--F&*%ck!!! My mutual funds are getting destroyed!

--The living-together-with-the-girlfriend thing is finally starting to work well.  The major non-poker obstacle is quickly realizing when I'm acting like a pig-headed douche; which I'm gradually getting more successful at.

--The French movie (recently released) Tell No One is awesome.  Hitchcock brilliantly reinterpreted.  Don't be turned off by the "French" label--it's fast-moving and fun.

--David Foster Wallace's suicide completely shocked me.  His genius was not only his brilliantly original use of language, but also his intense self-awareness.  I don't see how anyone with that gift, and with his success, could do such a thing. 

Win lots and, as always, please buy my art/lit mag...  canteenmag.com

Today is a big day in the history of our country.  Barack Obama will be the first black president in the history of the United States.  It's definitely a big step, and Mr. Obama should be a great role model for African Americans.

As for the politics side, I did vote for Mr. Obama.  My main reasons for voting for him rather than John McCain include (roughly in order of importance):

•  Barack Obama and his advisors have a better handle on economic issues than John McCain and his advisors.  Throughout the campaign Mr. McCain made it no secret that he lacked a great understanding of economics and didn't really do much to change this.  In a poll of about 150 professional economists The Economist magazine asked which candidate the economists thought would do a better job in handling economic issues.  71% chose Obama.
• Mr. Obama is a highly intelligent person and a great public speaker.  He is a great motivational figure.  While I don't doubt that all presidential candidates are very intelligent (even G.W. Bush), very few come across as strongly as Mr. Obama.  I think this is very important at a time where our country is hurting and in search of hope.  For many, Mr. Obama's presence will go a long way in this regard.
• I have lots of respect for John McCain, but I hate the way he managed his campaign.  He changed many of his views in an attempt to appeal to hardcore conservatives.  Understandable to a point, and I think it would have been interesting to see what he actually did had he been elected into office, but as a man of principle, I was very surprised to see him flip-flop so much.  His campaign was also overwhelmingly negative.  Every TV ad was about an associate of Obama's just trying to gather public sentiment against him; none actually dealt with what John McCain would do to improve the country.  That bothers me.  I didn't much like his choice of Gov. Palin for VP either but everyone knows enough about her to draw their own conclusions so I won't get into it.
• People in other countries are majorly pro-Obama.  Right now many countries have anti-American sentiment, and, fairly or unfairly, I think Mr. Obama will help to eliminate some of that and help America become a widely respected nation again.

Those are my main reasons.  I am still a bit unsure of where I stand on some of Obama's policies, such as universal health care.  I think it's a good thing overall, IF it doesn't detract from the quality of health care available, which is obviously a legitimate concern based on results from other countries.  I also generally believe in free markets, but think the bailout was necessary to avoid another Depression.  Overall, though, I just feel like Obama's edge in economic issues and leadership qualities made him the best choice.  Again, I don't think McCain is an evil person or anything, just that Barack was the better candidate, especially in a time of economic crisis.

Also, I'm curious about one thing that admittedly I may be missing the point on.  I've heard many people (mostly hardcore conservatives) call Obama a socialist and condemn his distribution of wealth.  However, to my knowledge, the people this wealth are being distributed to are all working people (under $250k income).  I'm not a supporter of additional welfare but, having read and watched a lot about the election, I've heard absolutely nothing about Obama increasing welfare benefits, just taxing the wealthy more and the lower- and middle-class workers less, which I agree with.  If someone has evidence to the contrary I'd love to see it.  Again, I'm genuinely curious about this, not stubbornly trying to make a point.

Brian

I don't generally discuss politics in my blog, but I just wanted to say a few words today.  After watching last night's election coverage results, I can confidently say I am proud to be an American again.  President Elect Barack Obama is also PROUD.  (you remember this fun task you used to do in grade school?)

P - Persistent - Barack Obama was persistent, coming from the political backwaters with a well thought out plan and a positive message that never wavered.

R - Resolute - He is resolute that while the task ahead of him is massive and daunting, he is up to the challenge.

O - Optimistic - He is optimistic about the future of America living up to its ideals and re-establishing its world reputation and relationships.

U - Understated - He was understated in his acceptance speech in recognizing that this isn't about him, but what he represents and this historic period.

D - Determined - He was determined to not get sidetracked in his campaign even though he was wrongly accused of being a terrorist sympathizer, socialist, Muslim, radical Christian, wealth re-distributor, tax and spend liberal, and not a true American.

I wish him well in leading the USA over the next years.  I enjoy listening to him speak, as I did Bill Clinton years ago.  Being a strong orator is a key component to leading.  I really enjoyed the crowds listening to his acceptance speech last night spontaneously yelling back to him, Yes, we can!

I hope in my lifetime I am also able to see a qualified woman president, a qualified Hispanic president, a qualified Asian president, and a qualified Native American president.  What has always made America great is taking the best of our diverse mix to propel us forward.  When people doubt us, our answer is always Yes, we can!

Dear Blog,

At 25 years of age, I didn't see this coming. I didn't think in my lifetime I would expierience a prouder moment for myself. See a lot of people of my race wanted to see a black man win based strictly on skin tone. I for one was different in the matter for it was more than just racial bigotry we were trying to overcome but also fulfilling the words of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So often as a child it was said that you could be whatever you wanted to be but to young black kids in the hood, whatever you wanted to be never included president.... I guess never say never.

Interesting enough, people associate 1/2 black as being all black and discard the other 1/2 of Obama being white. I think that's what makes this situation so beautiful. He defines what the world is... A mixture of cultures and races blending in hopes of a better tomorrow.

Poker wasn't the greatest yesterday as I attempted to play a few super turbos which didn't go well at all. I don't think I will be messing with these much. To me it's like asking me to flip a coin a lot and there's very little strategy except knowing player's ranges which seems to be so hard to define because the stacks are so short.  

Basketball wasn't the best either as I shot >30% from the field. Got to lay off the one-on-one sessions with myself when it's that time of the month for the Mrs. I guess but I refuse to have that bad of a game again. I'm probably going to buy an authentic game ball next week and start shooting x number shots a week. Either way, I'll be back to my prime like A-1 credit and interest rates.
 

SNG Played: 350
ROI: 9.3%
ITM: 35.7%
$ Won: 3,268
$/hr: $166.31
Total Hours: 19.7

-Locks

Yesterday was a day I'll remember for the rest of my life, or least until I am old and senile.  It started off on November 4th with the election of our new President Elect Obama.  I have to be honest in that I was rooting for Obama but I think I'm a bit of a realist in that I don't think simply "change" in our President's office is going to fix our nation's problems like a lot of people seem to think.  However, I think it's a step in the right direction and there is something to be said about Obama's charisma and has ability to inspire a lot of Americans.  I hope I'm wrong but I think even if God himself was elected President our country is going to be in for some tough times for at least the next year or two, if not longer.  I've read a little bit lately about Japan's "lost decade" and I wonder if there isn't a chance we face something similar over here, although that's probably a little unlikely.

Anyway, I'm happy Obama won and cautiously optimistic about the USA's future.  I thought McCain gave a very thoughtful concession speech and even though it is just rhetoric it really did make me feel like he could have done a great job as President.

Ezra and Melissa came over at 8 oclock or so and we had a couple beers before grabbing a taxi over to Grant Park to check out the Obama rally.  We didn't have tickets so basically we had to head to the north end of the park where thousands of people congregated to hang out and watch the huge monitors they had setup.  I'd estimate we were at least a few football fields away from the main place where Obama was standing, but it was still a pretty awesome feeling to be that close to everything.  I've never seen Chicago so crowded, there were literally like 200,000+ people packed in shoulder to shoulder.

After listening to McCain and Obama's speeches, we trudged back to the train station and rode probably the most uncomfortable train ride I've ever had back to Lincoln Park.  It only took about 45 minutes from the end of the speech to get back home, so that was a relief (even though typically it would take 20 minutes).

Not too much of note happened until the midday on Nov 5th when I got an IM from Stinger saying UB refunds were out.  Much to my delight I had $191,000 deposited into my account that had been stolen from me from cheaters over the past few years.  Even though the money was rightfully mine, it's a pretty indescribeable feeling to be handed that much money when you aren't expecting it.  I've made similar amounts of money numerous times at the tables but it's never really felt like this.

I don't really have any plans for the money yet but I definitely owe Gaucho and Trambopoline a nice dinner.  I'll never forget when Gaucho first IM'd me almost a year ago saying he suspected there was a cheater on UB.  It's sort of an eye-opening feeling for me because I remember being overly skeptical to his claims, thinking that there's no way someone could have cheated me without me figuring out that something was up.  I guess the older I get the more I realize how much I really don't know about life.  Maybe that's something to take away from this, in fact.  It's almost as important to know what you don't know than it is to know a lot yourself.  That's something I've learned while working at CardRunners; you can't expect to be the expert on everything, sometimes your opinion just really doesn't matter.  You hire the best people you can and you trust them to make their own decisions within the framework that you have set for the company.  I could talk a lot about this but that's not really the point about this blog.

Anyway, I don't really know where to go from here.  I know I'll always remember November 4th/5th, 2008.

Taylor

I've never been a big fan of labels.  I understand they serve a purpose to group people, but they are also tools of the lazy.  We are all individuals and you do a disservice if you don't consider our individual particularities.  

In the poker world, we often type players at the table; a TAG (tight-aggressive), a LAG (loose-aggressive), loose passive, and weak tight.  The more you play, the more you realize that those labels alone aren't enough.  Individual players deviate from a label.  They play different situations differently than others within that lable that make them harder to simply type by a simple label.  You need to assess them more deeply before trying to apply a label and make decisions based on that label.

The particular incident that set me off to write this blog was a line in Barrack Obama's inaugural address.  Besides the obvious gaffe at his swearing in with Justice Roberts, I feel he made another significant gaffe in his speech.   Two-thirds of the way through his speech he said "For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.  We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus --- and non-believers."  While it would be hard to come up with an easy label to convey other than Christian, Muslim, Jew or Hindu, I think it deserves more consideration than that.

What exactly is a non-believer?  And why did he throw that in as almost an afterthought.  I did some quick research this morning and found that somewhere between 15% to 25% of Americans consider themselves other than a particular religious label.  Amongst the younger generations those numbers might be significantly higher.  Some might be atheists, some agnostic and many more are like me.  I am not a religious label.  My faith is a patchwork.  Like President Obama, I consider it a strength, not a weakness.  I have spent my life taking the best parts of whatever religions, beliefs and philosophies I have encountered.  I have spent my life trying to make sense of the seeming senseless and contradictory.  There are many things I believe in; my wife, my kids, my family, and my work.  I believe in hard work, honesty, discipline, and diligence.  I believe in being a thinking, considerate, and contributing member of society.  I believe in giving back to others less fortunate.

Barrack Obama won this pivotal election in part because he was inclusive.  He gives hope because he represents all those dispossessed and underrepresented in the past.  Even the more mainstream or conservative elements could identify with his leadership, management style, and oratory skills.  He is an affirmation that anyone can ascend to the highest highs.  In a speech peppered with God and religious labels, I feel President Obama could have given better credit to those others.  I want to be seen as the positive contributing individual that I feel I am.

From what I can tell from news coverage and facebook statuses is that the overwhelming response to Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is, "huh?"  Obama even said the award was not viewed "as a recognition of my accomplishments."  As SNL recently point out, he doesn't have any accomplishments.  Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize like Roman Polanski deserves a Teen Choice Award.

However, its unfair to hold this against Obama.  He didn't give the award to himself.  Five Norwegian dudes did. That's how many people sit on the Peace Prize committee.  5!  That's not a committee, its a basketball team.  Maybe they should learn how to play basketball in Norway so they dont waste their time awarding worthless prizes.  The English are picking it up. 

So what were these dudes thinking?  The reason given lacks substance:
 
"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts."

They gave the most prestigious international honor to someone for being a nice guy.  It doesn't make sense.  There's got to be more too it.  Below are a few theories I have.

They don't like Obama, they just really hate George W.  First W's 2000 election rival, Al Gore, won it, now Bush's successor.  At least Al Gore made a powerpoint presentation.  At this rate John Kerry could eat a Vietnamese baby and still be a shoe-in for the award in 2011.  It's not a secret that the rest of the world hated us from 2003-2008, maybe now they want to like us again.

The award isn't for Obama, its for the Americans that elected Obama.  The top news story of the past year was that the United States elected its first black president.  Maybe the committee saw this as a message of tolerance to the rest of the world.  Its lame, I know, but still better than a powerpoint.

A preemptive strike.  Alot of the reactions to the announcement said something along the lines of now Obama must earn it.  Maybe that's what the committee wants him to do, earn it.  Now that tension between Iran and the rest of the world is increasing becasue of Iran's nuclear program*, the committee is hinting that no representative of peace would ever start a war.  Also, Obama is suppose to make a decision soon on whether to add more troops to Afghanistan.  The Nobel people just threw themselves into the middle of the debate.  This will only make Obama's decisions on foreign policy tougher.

Where do you think Oprah and Michelle Obama went after Chicago lost the Olympics in Copenhagen?  Oslo.

-Matt

*French President Nicolas Sarkozy's criticized Obama's handling of the Iran nuclear plant announcement.  Sarkozy wanted to be "tougher" on Iran.  Conservative pundit Sean Hannity, who never misses a chance to criticize a liberal, suprised even himself when he sided with Sarkozy.  It seems to me the French just volunteered to go to war so the US doesn't have to.  Link to Hannity's rant