10/23/2009

Frantic Friday : The Blahs Edition.... (NSFW)

I don't what it is today, but I feel a little bit off my game. I'm not sure if it's the suddenly constant


and always


conditions around here, or what.

I just really feel off!

At first I thought it may have been have been my morning


something about those two cups, sorta' ruined my day you know?

Immediately after I had them I got all like,


and I just wanted to go


Yes kids, it's really THAT bad!

As a matter of fact, here's a clear indication of how bad the blahs have really gotten to me.

I was putting together a 1600 word Poker piece on some brilliant ideas for play from the


position and without even re-reading it, I just hit delete.

What a waste of a few hours!

Speaking of which, WTF is getting some of you so damn fired up about these LCS games in Baseball? If mistakes are what get you all jammed up for excitement, then you must be in heaven! Sure there's the occasional great play or timely hit but come on! It's really the mistakes that keep these games even remotely interesting at all.

I think I'd rather watch professional


than watch bad management decisions, followed by mistake after mistake on the field.

Listen up carefully Frantic Friday sports lovers, if you even remotely think you like the game and need to get your fix, try taking in a game of


Obviously, they've got the game down pat!

Hey!


That reminds me of the one thing that always makes me feel better!

I just need to get out of here right now and start googling me some


That'll do!

Oh and on a side note. Someone special has started sending nearly 100 new readers through here every Frantic Friday. It is very much appreciated my friend! But I'm too lazy to track back your google link so, make it easy for me to find you by comment or whatever and I'll put a special Frantic Friday together for just you and all your friends. The choice is yours.

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

10/20/2009

Straight up....

Initially, that's how those little hairs on the back of my neck stood. Straight up!

All it took to get that to happen was, five little words out of Peb's mouth.

"Look! Free Bar Poker tonight."

As she read it off the sign at the side of the road, I could hear the genuine excitement in her voice. I could see the glee and giddiness in her smile and her eyes, well her eyes shone bright with the look of an 8 year old on Christmas morning.

These all factored into the one sure thing of the day. I was taking her out to play some live Poker at this Pub's free roll.

Did I ever mention that I despise free bar Poker?

OH! .......
That many times huh.
Sorry!

****From the desk of the Editor****
Having no access to a quality event such as those held by the good folks at Riverchasers, I'm stuck with the crap free bar Poker around here. In no way should Riverchasers EVER be confused with crappy free bar Poker.

There! I feel less uuuuhhhh "shitty!"

Well Peb's was pretty wound up about holding real cards and chips in her hands again and since it sounded like "so much fun," she mentioned it to DonKaaa in passing. It came as no great surprise that when DonKaaa was first spotted arriving in the Pub's parking lot, Carson was right at his side. Having not seen brudder Carson for so long, it was great to get together with him for a bit last night.

So the four of us wandered in to see what amazing and free Poker was about to enthral us.

The game was NLHE with 35 BB's as a starting stack. The chips were set appropriately for play and the tables were just fold open game tops, placed on pushed together tables. The organizer even had the good laptop and tournament structure program up and running, just to keep everyone on the same page. Only real issue was, seat yourself. But I thought, "it's all good" 'cause I remembered that it's free!

Problem #1 - Only two seats available, Peb's sits on my immediate left. ZOINKS!

I win the deal and we start play just about right on time. The winners of the first three or four hands prove typical for free bar Poker. Limp-ins all over with one raise and several calls. The betting is minimal and calling the norm, all the way to the river. Then this is where we see the original pre-flop raiser show middle pair with his Ace kicker, as the flop hit the 8 that went with his Ace. Pretty much everyone else shows an Ace rag or small pair except the calling station that continually acted last. With nothing scary on the boards like straightening or flushing possibilities, this guy twice called down bets all the way to the river, with pocket Kings and pocket Queens. No value bets on the rivers, no re-raises pre. Not even a check-raise with a set on the turn. Just "I call."

I get a chance to set a table image early into the game, when I make a fold to two others interested in the flop of 10-K-10. I had made the initial raise with slick and the two callers were the loose chick beside Peb's and DonKaaa. I felt pretty good about the flop to be honest, that is until I lead out for 200 and was called by loosey and then DonKaaa made it 500 to go. Loosey could have any two face cards for a draw, or possibly a 10. As I was considering my options, I could see Loosey holding enough chips to make the call on DonKaaa. "I'm out." I said, as I showed my cards to my end of the table. DonKaaa took the pot down with his trip 10's and as he scooped the pot the guy to my right announces, "watch this guy everyone! He just made a great fold."

I was dealt slick three more times in a row then, with it only being successful once. The one flop saw A-7-A with me check-calling a bet from a guy who'd played just about every hand so far. The 3 on the turn saw exactly the same action. When the 9 hit the river I lead out for 500 and waited. I figured for sure I was about to be re-raised. Instead the guy just sat back at first and asked, "are you bluffing me?" I told him, "I could be." and waited for the 1500 chips he had in his hand, to make it into the pot. Then the "free bar Poker thing," happened.

Problem #2 - Folks at free bar Poker, just can't keep their mouths shut!

Guy to my right looks at the LAG about to re-raise me and says, "NO. He's probably not bluffing."

The re-raise instantly turns into a call and I'm left wanting to drive the guy to my rights head, right through the wall behind him. "Nice hand." he says, as I rake in the smaller than I wanted pot. "Thanks" was not followed by 'shut the fuck up' although it was kinda' close there at first.

The last hand of any interest for me the rest of the night, was the next problem. In my BB of 600 with an ante of 50 in the middle, I was dealt the K-J of clubs. Two callers and the three of us see the flop of Ac-10c-6c. (YAY crubs!) As expected, the ultra-LAG leads out with a minimum bet that is called by both myself and the third party that is new to our table. A turn 2 of crubs makes me a bit giddy inside, knowing that one of them possibly has the Queen. Hopefully it's the new guy though, as the ultra-LAG isn't good enough to let go of his 8 of clubs if he's got it. I want both of those stacks.

Problem #3 - Refer to problem #2.

After new guy bets out the turn card and ultra-LAG is counting out a re-raise, right-side guy says, "Boys, have you not been watching this guy play? You know he's got the nuts!"

Just then a small aircraft crashed through the wall, driving that fucker straight down through the floor. Leaving nothing, not one sign! Of his earlier presence at the table.

Man that was a good vision!

Ultra-LAG actually flipped up the 5c as he tossed his cards into the muck, leaving me very little options left for the new guy. I decided on a call and we saw the river bring a harmless 3d. Naturally as the feel of the hand had been so dramatically changed by the idiot to my right, new guy checked the action over to me. Big surprise. I tossed out a bet and watched him consider a call for exactly 3 seconds. He then showed the Ah-Qc as he launched his hand into the muck with a, "You got it."

I did the only thing I could think of to change things around. I open mucked the Jack, as I raked in another too small pot on the night.

Problem #4 - Dickhead grabbed my King out of the muck as I stacked my chips, and then flipped it up to show the table.

I never saw another hand the rest of the way and when I did toss chips out, I was allowed to get the blinds and antes. Twice I flipped up the hammer(2-7) and the bammer(9-3) afterwards to try and get something going, but to no avail.

I was going to be blinded out by this table. The big-stack that was eventually moved to my right made three separate plays with hands like 4-8 sooted, 4-10 off and 3-6 sooted in a row. It was folded to his SB and naturally with my stack sitting at exactly 1 1/2 BB's to go, that's what he made it to me. I saw the one King and face up made the call. I ended up holding K-4 and was up against his A-Q. Nothing hit the board for either of us and his Ace high sends me packing.

Peb's wants to go back and honestly, I did enjoy holding actual chips and cards myself again. If I can look at it as 'fun' Poker just to get us out of the house for a bit, I think I can enjoy the experience. I mean, it is what it is right?

Free Bar Poker.

shudder

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....

10/19/2009

Shootout....

One of this kids favorite events went off yesterday, The Men's Shootout. The idea is quite simple, everyone plays a hole of Golf and based on your handicap, the one with the worst score goes home. This is repeated on each hole of the course, until there's just one Golfer standing.

To me as a Golfer the Shootout is about hitting that great shot, exactly when you have to. There's really something to be said for the pressure that can stir within you, when you're sixteenth to hit and there's already fifteen balls on the green.

As a guy though, this sucker is all about the camaraderie. Every sincere "great shot" or "that's OK. It's just a chip and a putt" is usually surrounded with cries of "sand bagger" and "hack." We have a great group of guy's make it out most every Thursday and having a whack of us head onto the course at the same time, always makes for a fantastic event.

My strategy for this thing is simple to start out. Since we're all playing the one hole at the same time, I liken it to matchplay. I just try and pay attention to the worst score early. I know pretty much who gets how many strokes where, so if I see a probable double bogey or worse coming up for someone that gets a stoke on the hole, a simple and straight forward par will do. There's no sense in pushing for the birdie, when you just don't have to.

So how'd I do?

I started out pretty strong actually. When we got to the first par 3, I damn near jarred the tee shot for the ace. There were two guy's in real trouble so when it came time for me to putt, I wasn't too pissed about making the two putt. When we moved on to the first par 5, it was obvious that everyone was playing the 'safe' ball in play game from the tee. None too long and not one left or right to the trees. I needed to stripe one! So I did. I managed to catch the left rough, but only about 4 feet off the fairway. The final guy to hit however, must have really felt it building in him. Typically long and straight, Colin snap hooked his tee shot into the woods on the left. When he had even more trouble on his next two shots, I knew that even a bogey would be good to move on to the next hole. With no real need to reach the green in two, I laid up to about 100 yards for my second shot. Then I saw the pin placement!

This would be a good time to mention that the course Superintendent has as much fun with this Shootout, as we do! The pins are always a little bit tougher these days and yesterday, was no exception at all! The pin on this par 5 was right up front and tucked behind the huge and steep front bunker. There was also some of the gnarliest rough on the course, grown in the eight feet of space between the two. I hit the back edge of the green and just rolled off. A chip and a putt later and thankfully, I moved to the next tee.

The next hole played out pretty boring for me, a drive a wedge and two putts for par to seal the deal. There was a funny moment though. After taking a few moments to look for Terry Y's tee shot, the realization that it had to be stuck in the Spruce tree on the right was the only possibility. Yep! There it was! I wish I would've taken a picture of the ball AND the look on poor Terry's face!

Being the only one to hit the green on the tough par 3 5th. hole, made it a pretty routine hole for me. DonKaaa got into trouble here though and luckily, he escaped by the hair of his chinny, chin chin. WoooOOOoooT!

It was my turn on the par 4 sixth hole though, as I pulled my drive into the waste bunker on the left. Then I tried to bite off more than I could chew and didn't get it out in one. Ruh-Roh! I stuck it to about 6 feet beside the pin in four and honestly, I was in big trouble. A higher handicap player was looking to make a double bogey with two strokes on the hole. It looked like I was going to have to make that putt, just to get into a chip-off shootout. When he three-putted instead of two putting, I cozied my first putt up to the hole. NOT! I blew the damn thing about three feet past. I made the come backer and looked for Peb's to tell us where the shootout chip would take place. (her job for the day!) When Queen_K said, "you're good Bammer" (scoring is her job for the day) I was stunned. Then I remembered that this was one of the toughest holes on the course and miracle of miracles, I got a stroke too! WHEW!

Golfers were having all kinds of trouble from the tee on the next hole. I simply "bunted" a drive down the left center, then gave myself two to get to the hole. I only needed a two putt to survive and that's exactly how I played to move on.

I hit what I thought was a great shot on the 8th. hole PAR 3. Only to watch the ever increasing right to left wind, carry the ball to a missed green on the left. It was on my chip that my funny moment, (now.... definitely NOT then!) happened. On the way to the hole my ball made an abrupt stop, after jumping straight up into the air. WTF??? I managed to hit an old, hard and dried up piece....... of Goose shit! That fecker left me with about 20 feet for par. I was pissed off so, I gave that putt a run. I knew I could two putt, but the adrenaline definitely got the best of me. After the par put lipped out, I dropped it in for a Goose shit bogey. Since it was good enough, DonKaaa brought out my sense of humour again and on we went to the 9th. tee.

Playing all of 548 yards, the 9th. is a hole I do not try to reach in two. Water left and right of the really small green and all that distance to carry, just makes it a crazy decision in my mind. Despite all of the trouble others were having around me, I jammed my drive down the center and made a safe lay up to 110 yards on the second shot. After dropping a wedge to about 7 feet below the pin on my third shot, a simple two putt was plenty to keep me keepin' on.

As I was teeing off on the 10th. hole, I heard the distinct click of a camera. I was so going to go all "Tiger" on the crowd and spew forth every four letter word that I know. But it was Peb's AND she took it before I'd even taken the club back.


I know they aren't the Packer colours I usually like to wear on Sundays, but I had the Steelers in our challenge CK suicide pool. I figured I'd best go with Payne's Sunday garb strategy in the end. (Yes I'm still alive in the pool!)

I almost eagled the par 4 10th. but when I moved on to #11, I hit a pretty craptastic tee shot. I gave myself a great opportunity for par but unfortunately, I lipped out the putt. I was off to my first shootout chip. Three of us went to where Peb's had placed the tees. A bunker shot from the down slope of the back lip, to no green to work with. NICE! Dee went first and hit just a terrible chunked shot. Naturally as a uber-high handicapper, his ball ski-jumped up the front lip of the bunker and landed right next to the hole. *sigh It was my turn next and I blasted the ball up the the front edge of the green. That got me to about 6 feet. There was only Terry Y left to go and all he had to do was, stick it closer than 6 feet. When I saw his ball air-mail the green, I knew I'd gotten away with one there.

The very tough and demanding tee shot on #12, definitely got the best of one of the guys. Well not really one of THE guys, but one of the guys playing in the event. With his first shot out of bounds on the right, his 3 off the tee hit a tree and went in the water on the left. That left him an option of 5 off the tee, or shoot 5 from the center of all the trees just in front of that water. His choice was 5 off the tee and when he topped that ball down into the trees on the left, let's just say that I learned a few words that I hadn't ever heard before AND, there's probably a highly damaged Taylor Made R7 for sale on e-bay right now. At a greatly reduced price I'm sure. :)

Silly boy!

When he conceded after realizing he had no shot and would have to hit 7 off the tee on a par 5 playing 535, we all just walked along to the next tee.

It was at that tee that I finally took the time to see who was left in our group. Yes! I get that focused on the course at times, that I'm not even aware of who I'm playing against as persons. They're just a golf ball and a number of strokes to me.

Anywho.... With just four of us left to play due to several cancellations prior to the event, it was on the 13th. tee that I realized I was playing against DonKaaa, brudder CC and Teddy Bear. As we frequently all Golf together, it was actually kind of surreal to have just the four of us left.

When Teddy had no idea where his tee shot went on that hole, (always wait for someone else to watch a shot into the Sun kids!) it got even more amazing to me that myself, brudder CC and DonKaaa, were all that were left to play for the win. The three amigos who do everything together, were now vying for their name on the prettiest trophy in all of Golf. The one that says on this day, I beat'em all.

I laid up with an iron on the tight par 4 14th. hole. DonKaaa pulled a 3 wood down into the valley of sin. Then brudder CC hit a massive slice off the tee, putting him way right of the hole in play. I felt pretty damn good about my decision to lay up! Then I got to my ball. Despite what looked like a fairly straight forward shot down the middle, I left the tree at the corner of the slight dog leg right, in play. Directly in my path to the green! (words not suitable for most ears were said here) With no shot low and having to get the ball up immediately off of the club, I could only hope to get a good enough bounce to catch part of the front of the green. I didn't. I hit a descent shot I guess, but I landed about 15 yards short of the green. A chip to the back pin was all I had left. I only got that chip about 3/4 of the way to the hole. A two putt for bogey and DonKaa and I were in what could be, my last shot at this thing.

Peb's gave us an uphill chip out of the rough, with two destinct breaks on the green we had to work with. It was about a 38 foot shot. I was drawn to go first and when I saw my ball settle at just inside 6 feet from the hole, I knew I was done even before Donnie took a look at the shot. My man DonKaaa has one of the best wedge games that I know of. I don't just expect him to get it to within a foot or two on most shots, I actually get amazed when he doesn't make about three of them a round! Needless to say, he stuck it to about half the distance that mine was sitting at, and I go home in third place.

Brudder CC and DonKaaa were going to settle it on the par 3 15th hole. With DonKaaa having to give brudder CC a stroke on the 179 yard uphill hole. They both missed the green, DonKaaa in the front bunker and brudder CC missing the green to the right. Then the both put a second shot within puttable range to make it interesting. When brudder CC 3-putt for a 5, I thought it was all over but the drinking. DonKaaa's par put fell exactly one-half of an inch short. His bogey let CC in, or CC's 3-putt let Donnie back in. Whichever way you looked at it, the shootout was going to finish, with a shootout!

Peb's gave them a pot bunker sand shot, with as little green as possible to work with. When CC's ball flew the green and didn't roll back down the slope that was there to work with, DonKaaa just flopped his ball onto the center of the green for the winn!

Congrats again champ and to you as well brudder CC. Like I said at the end yesterday, You guy's played some damn fine golf........

for a change!

;)

I'm never sure how I always end up running this thing every year, but when it's all said and done I'm glad I do. Great friends, great times always and the awesome help of my girls Queen_K and Peb's, clearly makes our Shootout one of my favorite days of the year.

The weather is supposed to hold for us until next week at least, so Peb's and Queen_K have thrown down the gauntlet. We're going to put together a group of 9 to 18 and do a unisex version of the shootout next Sunday. WoooOOOoooT !

Oh and for what it's worth, I say none of us guys stand a chance!

My sincerest thanks for dropping by....