Maybe I'll Even Get Some Gambling In

It's rapidly approaching that time of year again.

The hap-hapiest time.

With brightly coloured lights, friends sharing food and drink, laughter abounding, stories being told over the warm glow of green felt tabletops.

WPBT time is next weekend. Remember when there used to be blogs about it?

I'm once again in town for my maximum tolerance level, and have once again crammed my schedule full of food and fun. Maybe even a comet this time around, depending on the power of our mighty sun. All hail Sol, destroyer of icy rocks.

I think we've got 13 people lined up for Craftsteak on Friday night so far. Still room for more if you're interested.

I'm running through my schedule in my head. I think I have a window of not doing anything early Thursday afternoon, and of course, post-midnight every day. Of course, this is under the assumption that my last longer partner Vinnay and I end up heads-up in the tournament. I see no reason to doubt that will come to pass.

But hey, Pai Gow and craps are always better after the witching hour, with a stomach bloated with food and a liver working on fine wine and cocktails. Which reminds me to check on my caffeine supply. Ah Vegas, land of health. Hell, dinner on Saturday starts at 10pm. Positively European... except that it's Japanese.

Year in Review

- I didn't post much
- I tweeted a bunch
- I didn't play much poker. When I did, I lost.
- I travelled - Montreal, New York, Buffalo a bunch, Orlando, Montreal again, Vegas.
- In most of those places, I ate some fantastic food. Orlando wasn't anything spectacular on that front.
- I didn't cook nearly as much as I should have. Especially nothing new or exciting.
- I took a ton of pictures. I've so far posted almost none of them.
- I saw Dawn Summers, Mary, and VinNay more than most of my non-blogger friends
- I took some photography classes, and learned that 3 per week is too much for me. Down to 1 per week next semester.
- I lost in Vegas money-wise, but won friends and food-wise.

Come 2011?

Probably more of the same. Already planning another trip to Montreal (they have such good food), and Vegas is permanently in the schedule. The rest is pretty open right now. Maybe I'll try and play more poker and actually work on and post some pics - there are so many I want to share. I also expect to be cooking a whole bunch more soon. Let's start simple with some fondue and egg nog for New Year's. I make awesome nog.

You Might Be An Asshole If...

Played in the last home game of the season yesterday. I finally got my buddy E out for a game, convincing him it would be a good warmup for the clusterfuck we'll be playing on Saturday with you degenerates. My advice was to bring $100 but only spend $20. I think he got $80 in vs my $40.

Poor guy was card dead, and when he DID have cards, he ran them into me.

His first big raise was an all-in as his stack dwindled during the rebuy period. I had been planning on going all-in blind from the button myself this hand. He pushed, and I hadn't looked at my cards yet. I figured he had to have a decent pair or AK/AQ, and would be in a solid position against my random cards. Plus, I didn't mind putting another $20 in if it meant he got to win a big hand, go a bit deeper, and come out to more games in the future - it's all about having fun.

So I announced that I hadn't looked at my cards, but was going to call him anyway. The blinds folded and we here heads-up. I flipped over my cards while looking across the table at his holding. He had pocket nines. The table let out one of those exasperations that only happen when something notable is in play. I looked down at my flipped over cards at the Hiltons. E lets out a "you asshole!" (jokingly, I've only REALLY pissed him off once or twice in the years I've known him), and I laugh. "I swear I didn't look at them first!" The ladies held up, despite him getting a ton of outs by the turn (flush, OESD). He rebought.

The next time we tangled, I did look. We were out of the rebuys, and I had him covered by a bit, but we were the short stacks. He went all-in over a bet from me and I opted to call with a suited 1-gapper. He flipped over TT.

The board straightened out and we split the pot.

We then threw rock, paper, scissors for the extra blind chip (not splittable at this point, and it's a fun game). We tied 4 times before he finally beat me for the extra small blind.

He eventually went out in 5th, seemed to have a good time, and didn't smack me for being such a luckbox.

I finished 3rd to break even. I played passive poker until the bubble, which was a mistake by me. The luckbox powers are warming back up just in time for Vegas, and I'm reviewing my favourite poker book to kick my ass back into gear too. Victory will be MINE!

Less Than A Week?

Where the hell did the time go?

My first ever trip to Las Vegas was with a bachelor party 5 years ago. It was a good time, but I largely remember learning to play craps from that trip.

I definitely caught something from that trip though, because I would regularly get this itch if I stayed away from the neon lights too long.

The next year I returned with a buddy who had never been, didn't gamble much, but was looking for something to do. I introduced him to terrible casino poker tournaments and cheap drinks on Fremont street.

Somewhere between those two trips I started playing poker online. A little site known as PokerStars, in a little tournament dubbed The Wheatie (by me at least). Here I did meet some other bad poker players, and even a couple decent ones.

It seems that some of these degenerates would meet up a couple times a year in Vegas to drink, gamble, and generally have a blast. I, however, was new, a bit shy, and not entirely sure I wanted to meet up with dozens of people I only knew from their cards and icons.

So I didn't go that December.

But June rolled around, and a summer gathering was happening. I'd gotten to know these calling stations a bit better and figured it was time to take the plunge. I booked a flight, and a room at the shitastic Orleans hotel. By the time I had checked in and wandered downstairs, it was nearing 1am. I didn't know a soul, or what anybody looked like.

Of course, the Zeem and Falstaff jerseys that were being worn at the Pai Gow table helped matters. This led to meeting The Penners, Irongirl, and whoever else was around at the time. The next morning I met up with LJ, another newbie, for breakfast before finding everyone else who had made the trek.

By the end of the trip, hell, right from the start, I knew I'd be back. December came and I landed in Sin City as planned. This time with a couple friends in tow. Then Kat dragged some people up north for Eh Vegas. Then I found myself in Austin for a Weekend at Mookie's. I was in Vegas again the next summer for a much less organized gathering that involved a lot of running into people around the Amazon ballroom. Then once again in December with a posse in tow.

This year has been slimmer for meetups. I didn't make it out in the summer, but did meet up with Dawn and Mary in Atlantic City, saw VinNay a few times in either of our hometowns or Niagara falls, and of course another Eh-Vegas in the chilly Toronto winter. Yah, slim - I've only gone out of my way to see these people a half dozen times since last December.

And starting Wednesday, I'll see a whole bunch of them again. Let us ask Zoltan how it will go, after all, he was so insightful at Eh-Vegas this year.



Zoltan predicts the usual amount of far too much fun.

Coming Together

5 days left before I head to the land of non-stop sun and heat known as Israel.

Sheckels in hand. Car rented. Apartment ready.

Tonight? Haircut and RAM for the desktop need to be bought.

Tomorrow will involve some clothes shopping. Hat, shirts, shorts, longer swimsuit (holy sites like your knees covered... there's a joke in there I think), sunglasses, and probably a few other things I'm not thinking of.

Sunday? Regular poker home game. There's a small voice telling me this is a foolish what with the trip looming and all. But I'll be picking up my desktop from my brother on the way home, so it's a wash.

Monday - work, panic about half a dozen things I need to do.

Tuesday - work, panic about a new half a dozen things. Also, pick up TIFF schedule, pick films, and drop off passes. Hope that my picks get through so I don't get stuck with the leftovers.

Wednesday - Wake up, enjoy the fact I'm now officially on vacation. Rush around doing everything I still haven't done, panic about packing, deal with phone calls from travelling companions, make sure best friend has everything they need for house and cat-sitting duties, and get to airport a couple hours early. Fly to Frankfurt.

Thursday - Get to Frankfurt, leave Frankfurt, get to Tel Aviv. Meet friend, give him a huge hug followed by chastising him for not visiting more. Realize I sound like his mother, but don't apologize for it. Rent car, gather friends, find apartment, collapse in heap. Eat. Blog about the whole thing (assuming there's Internets, otherwise, not so much).

Rest of the time? See country again, have a blast with good friends that I don't see enough, get drunk at a Jewish wedding, surrounded by people who may not be as fluent in English as I am, but are definitely more fluent in English than I am in Hebrew, see more of the country, and eventually come home, probably 12 shades darker of skin (or redder), exhausted, and ready for my last 3 days of vacation before heading back to work.

Should be good times. Then I can focus on that Vegas thing in December.

Monday Again

Every week, Monday rolls around. Will it ever stop?

Good weekend though.

Friday - continued displaying my lack of a life by staying home and coming in second in the Donkament. Congrats to Numbette for taking it down. I spent most of the game listening to the BDR crew bash my stellar play (rebuy method: (Any ace, any king, any connectors, any 1-gappers, any suited face, any paint) = ALL IN)

I ran sick, then the RNG turned on me, then I ran sick again after the rebuy.

Meanwhile I drank a Blue Lagoon with blood orange vodka and watched the Penguins beat the Wings in game 7 (I can only imagine how happy this guy was).

Hell of a game. Hell of a series. Hell of a playoffs. Good game guys. Penguins take round 2 against Detroit and Crosby is the youngest Stanley Cup captain ever. Bettman's still a douchebag though. Can you say round 3 next year?

Saturday - Oh bliss. Hit the farmer's market with the best friend. It was surrouned by dogs as Woofstock (and that's just the start of the bad puns for that event) was taking place on the closed-off street. Good things dogs are cute. Grabbed a few bags of groceries, and off to the Summerhill Market to find Greek yogurt. You'd think in a city that has a Greek population like we do, there'd be more Greek yogurt to be found.

Why Greek yogurt (and a bunch of other stuff)? Because we were making Greek food that night. Homemade tzatiki (fan-FUCKING-tastic) and Greek salad was my friend's job. Me? I handled the chicken (one whole chicken, butterflied, marinated, and grilled flat on the BBQ on the roof), and the potatoes, roasted in the oven until brown and crispy (that last bit was handled by my friend as I was roofside, grilling).

As I was on the roof grilling away, I called my friend to come up and take some stuff down. Upon walking out on my fantastic roof with a great view of the city, lake, tower, and AGO on a gorgeous evening, it was decided that we were eating up there. An excellent bottle of Hillebrand's 2008 Artist's series Sauvingnon Blanc (sent thanks to my wine club membership) was downed, and a couple whitebeers (Hoegaarden and Blanche de Chambly) came after. Some strawberry sorbet from last week finished it off.

That was one kickass meal, and the leftovers made a kick-ass chicken sandwhich for me on Suday. That's also when I found the Kasseri cheese that was supposed to be made into Saganaki. Whoops.

Sunday? I woke up around 1, lazed through the day, and played some poker. I came to a realization that my BR was in trouble and I didn't want to refill it (and, in fact, Click2Pay won't let me on Stars). So I guess I'm back to playing responsible limits. Which likely means no more WSOP shots or last-minute Sunday guarantees. $3 MTTs and $5 SnGs, here I come! Oh joy.

And then today I finished off the Playoff Pool. this guy came in 2nd in the second chance pool, which game him a bit of a profit that I'll now mail across the country. Thousands of $$ given away, and not a penny to me.

Now to eliminate the next 3 days so it's Friday tomorrow. I'm entering one of the birthday seasons (not mine), which means many a friend to be visited in the upcoming weeks. Damn, that's starting to sound like a life, and just when I was enjoying sitting around in my boxers with a plate of bacon in front of me.

Did We Spring Forward A Day?

Gah! How'd it get to be Monday already?

The weekend went a touch differently than originally expected.

Original plan:

Dinner for friend's 30th on Friday, skip the clubbing, relatively early night home.
Head north and ski all day Saturday
Recover Sunday

Actual occurence:

Dinner for friend's 30th on Friday, skip the clubbing, go out and meet up with more friends for drinks. Miss the last train southbound by about 7 minutes (no biggie, it's only a 20 minute walk). Later meeting with friends was due to the fact two of them were getting hitched on Saturday and then moving to Australia (Melbourne, what's with that place?) on Sunday.

6 degrees and rain in ski country after days of the same do not make for good downhill conditions. I tried to make alternate plans for Saturday - first was poker @ Niagara - no go. Then craps @ Niagara - no go. I called up my best friend and asked if she wanted to finally go to the ROM before it fell down. She said sure and off we went. The "new" addition to the place is horrible from the outside. It looks like a big aluminum-siding iceberg smashed into the beautiful old stone and brick edifice that has long stood there. From the right angle, it looks like a giant Jawa transport (hence the lightsabre duels that occasionally take place in front of it). I had heard inside was no better... I was disappointed even then. Plain, boring, white, cheap, and getting dirty... the epitome of boring and overbudget. I imagine it will be torn down in a decade and maybe something that isn't an unoriginal piece of shit will be built in place of the "crystal".

That said, I did like the Trypilian exhibit that's in town until the 22nd. The gems collection and Egyptian book of the dead were also cool. The diamonds exhibit was a waste of time unless you've never read a single thing about diamonds. Fairly rudimentary facts mixed in with boring geological information (which I knew from my years of dating a Mineral Engineering student). Some unexciting examples, and a few nice pieces. I'd have liked more on the newer man-made diamonds, which I think will eventually really shake up the market on stones, but this thing was sponsored by De Beers, so no chance of that.

The previous night, the bride-to-be insisted I come to their wedding on Saturday. See, I'd received an announcement, but there was no formal invitation. This was largely a ceremony to make life in Australia easier (they've been together over 6 years, so it was going to happen eventually anyway). The "real" reception would be when they returned in 2010. I've known the husband I've known for 17 years (although we only reconnected 3 1/2 years ago), so I said I'd make the gathering at his parent's place, but would likely miss the ceremony at city hall. The fact the other two people that were there who I've known for just as long, if not longer (one I met nearly 20 years ago), also insisted I come helped the cause.

So, after wrapping up at the museum and grabbing a quick burrito, I headed home to change into my fancy clothes. I walked in the door, said hi to the cats, and promptly fell asleep for a quick nap. An hour later I shot straight up, yelled "SHIT!" and forgot what I was late for. Two minutes later it came back to me, I swore again, and ran around. The gathering at the folks' place, in the west end, started in 30 minutes, and it was at least a 20 minute drive, and I hadn't even BEGUN to get ready. I rushed around and was out the door in 45 minutes. I wasn't sweating it too much, because it wasn't a formal dinner or anything, just some food, and friends, and family. Traffic sucked, the rain sucked, and I opted to take a route that probably added 15 minutes to my commute. I was displeased with myself, and walked in the front door a bit wet, and bit out of place (as the family didn't know who I was... 17 years and I never met his dad, go figure). It was all okay though, as a hug from the bride, handshake from the groom, and acknowledgement from the handful of people I did know put aside any thoughts that I was a party-crasher.

It was a good time, with people I rarely get to see, and a really fun and easy-going family. Also, one of those families that you know somehow got it right. The kids are all happy, the grandkids are well-behaved and the "perfect" kids (my friend's neice is 7 or 8 and gave me hope for future generations), and if there are family feuds, they were very well hidden. I said my goodbyes to the happy couple, and said I may actually take them up on their offer to visit. I hear there's a blogger or two down under, as well as a casino. Plus, I'm aiming to be in Israel in August, so I'll already have made half the journey...

Sunday held to plan, as I slept in until after 3, never got dressed, and spent the day on the couch with a laptop and remote for the TV. Strangely, I slept like shit last night having woken up late and done nothing all day.