Friday Night Poker Thread

[Giants Fan 85]

So, I know I said I was quitting. I did. I still am. Doesn't mean I am NEVER gonna play. I haven't played in a month. It didn't take me long to remember why. Nobody talks. One old fock fell asleep at one point. We tangled a couple times we have a history. I won a couple hands off him tonight, and he won a couple off me. He likes to make REALLY big preflop raises with Jacks or better. And the better the hand, the more he bets. He always just grabs a bunch of chips off the top of one of his stacks, and then pauses, counts the chips quickly and then throws them out in front of him. It's almost like he is playing his hand face up. JJ he bets 20 to 25. QQ he bets 25 to 30, KK is 30-35, and AA is 35-40. So, I see him do this, but when he pauses, he puts one $5 chip back and bets $24 He grabbed $29 but bet $24. So, it comes to me, and I figure he has JJ or QQ so with A9 suited, I reraised him to $50. He quickly asked how much I had behind, which was only about $45 more and folded his queens face up. He has to figure there are only 2 hands I would do that with. He knows, that I know, that he only overbets big pocket pairs preflop. He actually correctly folded the second nut flush to my all in earlier. Nittiest, nit, ever.

 

So, I was pretty much even for awhile and was actualy down like $10 from my $120 buyin. Only 2 hours in, but the room just blows now. I hate playing these miserable focks. There is this one old Mexican lady, and for a little old Mexican lady she is good. At that table, she has no chance. She would never consider folding AQ off preflop and she actually won a big hand with it against KK. Another old, miserable nit who announced he had a "monster" before he raised it to $25.

 

So, I was down to $110 when a guy UTG raised preflop, or she raised, but there was no re-raise, I think she just called with aces. I once said she plays with "all the finese of a sledge hammer", but I am almost sure that is what happened, because the guy to my left did not limp call. Anyway, it was a small raise, so I called from the BB with pocket fives. 3c, 4c, 5d (I have the 5c) on the flop and I check. Guy to my left bets $20. Old Mexican lady shoves. Now, I want him to fold like, flush draws or whatever, so I call pretty quickly and he folds (says later he had 99). Old lady knows me, I ask her, "Do you have a straight?" and she doesn't answer, but does not look happy. River 3 gives me a boat anyway. I turn over my cards, and she turns over AA somehow hoping it is good. So, I left a couple hands later. Up $140.

 

That's gonna be my new thing. Fock all those miserable focks. I am gonna hit and run.

[Giants Fan 85]

Part of the reason I went and played was drunk uncle is here working on some big stupid project, and I had to get out of the house. This one will be kind of nice, a big flagstone patio area. He drinks a 6 pack of beer in like an hour. He will get up and drink, first thing in the morning if he can, but 5 oclock comes, he's gonna sit there and drink his 6 pack. And he wants to talk to me about shiat. He's half deaf, or maybe even more than half. He can be very annoying to talk to. I don't know how much longer he will be living here.

 

Was a good day though, I was just kinda feelin it. About noon, I head to the weed store. Weed was $10 cheaper than I thought. On the way home, I see an In and Out and I remember that I have a gift card, so I stop in, and it is amazingly not crowded and I get a double and a shake. Then on the way home from the weed store, I stopped by Walgreens, where I got my free Rx drugs, and I bought some almonds that were on sale and coffe and soda with food stamps. Used ibotta to get a 50 cent rebate on the almonds, still leaves me at $34.50 spent on the day. Hmmm. How could I make that money back?

[Giants Fan 85]

We did succeed in moving my parts car today. Car is focking heavy. Slight uphill, very hard for the two of us to push. My uncle is not as strong as me, but he doesn't weigh 220 pounds either. We finally got it. With a chain, and he pulled it with his car and then we pushed it the rest of the way. Maybe he is getting stronger. We been moving these big 150 to 250 pound pieces of flagstone. Apparently, 1 man can do this, but what we are doing, is my uncle wrestles one out of the stack, and then puts it on a stand up dolly. And then for me it's all just arm strength and coordination to move the thing back to where he wants it, and then he takes it off the dolly and places it. Whole family is working on it. It's actually a good idea, for once.

[Giants Fan 85]

Another interesting couple hands, this spazy, stubby fingerd guy, who I focking hate, just like everyone else at the table, for the most part. Bets $20 on a 10 10 A flop and I had pocket tens. So, I call. Turn puts a third diamond on the board, I check and he checks. River brick, I shove, trying to make it look bluffy, but he folds. I show, for a ticket in a $200 drawing. Like 45 minutes later, these 2 old nits get into it with each other. I hate both of them, but this was kinda poetic. Similar flop, 10 10 Q. And it goes check, check. Brick turn, one miserable old fock turns to the next and says, "I am sorry, but I hafta go all in." and he shoves, he just has AK, the other old nit, also flopped quad tens again. What are the odds? He was a jerk to the guy about it too, "Oh yeah, you got any money in your pocket? You got any more money?". I didn't say much when I got the quad tens. Turned 'em over and said to the dealer, "can I have a ticket?" because it qualifies as a hand for drawings. Not a big deal. Not the first time I flopped quads.

[Giants Fan 85]

You know what the most fun I had all night, was waiting in line for some free pizza. Free, this pizza was worth every penny, but some guys I knew were behind me on line, so I was saying, "There's not gonna be any pizza left by the time you get there, I am gonna take like 5 or 6 slices." Prolly the worst free pizza I ever ate. Had most of 2 small slices, and salad.

[Giants Fan 85]

It was weird though, and I remember feeling this way before, when I wasn't forcing myself to grind hours. That room sucks now. It's all these same, mostly grumpy old men, and I am better than them. But yer gonna hafta really focus on the bottom line against these guys. You can be better than them, just a small edge, over time and of course you will make money. But with tipping and the rake, you can still be losing money. There is not much easy competition. I try and be social, but I think because I constantly do chip flourishes, nervously, the cat is kinda outta the bag, when all the dealers and half the players at the table know my name, right? I can't get away with the "My first time playing poker" act, so ... why even try.

[Giants Fan 85]

I nervously do a chip trick, I call "scissors". It's a lot like the thumb flip, but a litle different. You hold 3 chips the same way, but you pull up the middle chip, with your thumb, and then you move that middle chip up and down and it makes a "scrsha scrsha" sound kinda like scissors.

[Giants Fan 85]

Then I also do a reverse gravity thumb flip. It's less flourishey, in other words, harder to see, but actually harder to do. It's your standard thumb flip, like we all saw in Casino Royale, but instead of holding the chips sideways, you hold them face down to the felt, move the bottom chip to the top. If you wanted to be flourishey about it, you could use like 4 blue chips and one red chip. Hold the stack face down to the felt, red chip at the bottom, and then thumb flip the bottom chip up to the top. Harder. People looking for tells wont find anything there. It's mostly just when I'm bored. Have used it as a false tell before though ... all of a sudden fumble the chips while being stared down ... that means I have the nuts.

[Giants Fan 85]

Also, of possible interest, the bad beat jackpot was hit twice yesterday. One hand was a guy I have played with many times, he hit it also last year after I hit it. Been getting hit like crazy, they can hardly keep it above $10k. So, was likely particularly slow, but one guy ... who, last time I played, was kicking ass.... he won a $1k pot off me one night. And then he got into an argument with this jackpot guy, and I wasn't there, I didn't see it, but jackpot guy got banned, and this guy on this 3 week heater did not, after saying "I got a gun in my car." Heater guy is a pathalogical liar. Said he was a Navy Seal, I don't believe it ... really was running people over for awhile. Lotta college kids that I expected to be gone already were not there, but this guy ... king of the mountain a month ago, nowhere to be seen.

 

Prolly got called on some secret Navy Seal mission.

 

I try and be nice to the people directly to my right and left. Just, ya know it makes you feel better about like this is our side of the table, and we got the best guy ... they will you to win. They will stay out of your way, as long as you are being reasonable. Helps a lot. Not real hard. Be nice to the people sitting next to you. Don't be a jerk. Be good for the game. But instead, people treat the poker table like a place where they have a right to be a-holes. Sometimes ppl even get banned. Some ppl even try and cheat. No wonder the room is dying, people are such misserable pieces of shiat. Friday night .... Navy Seal wasn't there? What happened? Did something happen? Cause I was pushing that dudes buttons hard, last time I saw him. He owes me 20 bucks. Unless you believe his pathalogical liar side of the story. Crash and burn. Prolly. Busto. Wife and kids made him stop.

 

It's hard, when you have a roll of less than $10k to absorb swings of like a thousand dollars in one day. I don't even know what that is like actually. One guy looked at me in shock when I said that, you have never lost over a grand? And I was like, "Playing 1/2? No. The most I have lost in one night is about $650. I've only played 2/5 a handful of times, and the most I have lost there is $500."

 

The only way that is a goal of mine, to lose over a grand in one day, is if I already have millions, and the taxes are paid, and I really don't give a fock. It'll never happen. I start to actually feel physicslly ill once I pass $500. I paid $500 for my first car, and it was a classic. 1969 Mustang Coupe. Had the factory hood scoop with the turn signals. I think I sold it for like $900 in 1989. Shoulda kept it. I needed something more reliable that I could beat to hell delivering pizzas.

[Giants Fan 85]

Oh yeah, course my Mom, Step-Dad and I go up to Phoenix to see my neice in the hospital. And people are driving like idiots. One guy in a BMW is swirving all over the place, and yes, we are in a safe car, and I am an excellent driver, but I just saw my neice in a coma, because ppl drive like idiots. I am in the left lane, I think I am going like 85 in a 75. That Prius is smooth. Car a safe distance ahead of me, right lane is clear, car comes to pass in the right lane, right lane is clear, but then wants to get between me and the car i was safely traveling behind. Congrats, you will get there .0015 secomds faster than me. Dumbfock. But I was agitated at how eratic these drivers around me were being, and I could not get around them for awhile. My parents were telling me to calm down. "Rolling road block of idiots is what I call it." but like 20 minutes later .... step dad in the passenger seat, "I was like, come on little car, GO!" got that Prius up over 100 and my step Dad was cheering it on. Once we got past that traffic, everything was fine, lotta space, people going at safe speeds and not changing lanes all over the place. Just crusie at like 80-85. Easy.

 

That's actually the law in Arizona. If your car has no breaks, and you are coming into a school zone, where it is 15 MPH, and you see a little kid about to walk out into the street, and if you floor it, you can go fast enough to avoid it, it would be reasonable and prudent to do that. Sometimes it's a good thing to speed to avoid an unsafe situation. That's exaclty what I was doing. Look, it doesn't matter what car I am in. I want to have multiple car lengths around me to give me time to make safe decisions. The more distance I have between me and another vehicle, the less I gotta worry about you doing something stupid. It's the way I learned, "Defensive Driving". Comes from my father who is also a high strung, smart, but paranoid driver. Taught me to drive. "You gotta assume everyone is a bunch of idiots. Check your mirrors, be aware of all the cars around you. They aren't all idiots, but assume they are at first." he was a racecar driver, back in the day, and a mechanic. He brought my brother and I up on that kinda work ethic. You don't buy a new car and make payments, you buy a used car and fix it up. I remember him teaching me how to replace my own brake shoes, in like 1986 when I was 16 years old.

 

I remember one night, my brother called me, and he had a car broken down somewhere. I get in my Mustang, drive over there, it breaks down. We walk to my Dads house, got in his old VW Bug, drove over there, and it breaks down. We had 3 dead cars, somehow got them all home without calling a tow truck.

 

That's character building. IMO. Learning how to fix cars. The smell of Bondo, always really brings me back. Air sander ... makes it much easier. Used to sand it by hand, when I was a kid.

 

Recently purchased a new Holley carb for my 1968 428 motor. How hard is that for a guy like me, change a carb. Took me an afternoon. Took me a week to tune it, one little adjustment was key, but I had it mostly put on in less than a day. I am not a horrible mechanic. I can do basic shiat.

 

Drunk uncle, who has done a lot of high end fiberglass work, saw me working on my car with Bondo. And he said to me, "You're lucky." and I asked why, and he said, "Cause you can just do shiat. Like, you know how that area needs Bondo and you can make it the right shape."

 

But that's not really true. It is not something that I can "just do" ... it is something I learned to do. Takes patience. Still learning. My Merc had some old lead work done on it. Turns out, body filler doesn't stick to lead real well. So, sadly, I had to grind it out. That is old school body work, kinda cool. But, I didn't know that. Learned a lot ... done more extensive bodywork on this car, than any car I have ever owned. It's a big, long car. Been a lot of work. 5 years and I am still not done, but the quarters, that were all rusty and focked up ... still holding steady. Bondo and fiberglass. I also learned, you can burn body filler, with a torch. That's what I did for the drivers quarter panel. Burned out all the old bodywork and started from what was left of the rusted metal. I spent at least 8 hours sanding the hood over a couple days, while I had it off the car. I will never do another rusty convertible. Been way more work than I anticipated, and I might not even make money on this one. But I enjoy doing it. That's the life of an artist. Learn to do the things you enjoy well.

 

Lotta things I have outgrown, allways, allways, allways loved old cars. Never gonna change.

[Giants Fan 85]

And besides a little trans fluid leak ... the car runs and drives great. Course that's what you want .... in a car. It runs and drives.

 

But there is just something about a big block, 428 Cobra Jet, through finely tuned exhaust, when you finally get it breathing right.

 

BWAHHHHHH, BWAHHHHH ... makes my big heavy car go fast.

[Giants Fan 85]

I called her Unicorn when I first got her. $900. Unemployed, moving back to Arizona.

 

Very rare car. So rare, it took me several years to figure out exactly what the proper trim and badging should be. I have all the trim. There are some very rare pieces that cover the bottom of the rear quarterpanels, and I had a chance to buy a pair and I should have. They were too messed up, thet are i possible to find in good condition. There is also wheel well chrome, almost impossible, don't have it. But, I designed the car to be partially shaved version. I like it with less emblems. Or even, emblems that show it as custom, like the 428 badging.

 

I don't call her Unicorn anymore. I was gonna do a big Thunderbolt style teardrop hoodscoop, but I decided to keep it stock. Mild custom. Not shaving the door handles, not hard to put back to original. Besides the 428 CJ .... but hey, it's a better motor than the 390. If it had the original motor when I got it, like my fastback does ... might be another story.