Latest poker results

I've been basically breaking even playing in $11 single table tournaments (STT) on PartyPoker lately. About a week ago, I discovered some small multis on PP - 20, 30, and 50 player tournaments. I played in a 50 player tournament that week, and was nearly the chip leader with about 7 players left when I got involved in a hand that I shouldn't have, and busted out, probably making about a $9 profit. I was the chip leader or near to it in almost all of these, which is typical for me. My early play in tournaments is pretty good, and I'm working on improving my later play.

This past Sunday, I played in some single tables and 2 50-player tourneys (all $11), and here were the results:

50-player tournament: busted 10th out of the money ($11 loss)
50-player tournament: won it! ($139 profit)
STT: 2nd ($19 profit)
STT: 3rd ($9 profit)
STT: 5th? ($11 loss)

I know it doesn't sound like much but it's a nice result. The 50-player tournament is the largest tournament that I've ever won. There were some tough spots in that tournament, like when I was moved to another table and there was a huge stack to my immediate left, and he was pushing everyone around. He went over the top of me preflop quite a few times, and I had to lay it down. Eventually I got a chunk of his chips when I had a decent hand and he was overly aggressive. I did get pretty lucky several times, but was very happy with my overall play.

When the blinds get high, the flop gets pretty damn big if someone calls your preflop raise. So if you've got AK or AQ or whatever, it's hard to fire again when you miss the flop, because you're committing yourself to the hand. At least 3 times, I had to force myself to bet there, and my opponent folded.

- schneid

Half baked ideas

Check out the web site
http://www.halfbakery.com

It is chock full of people's half-baked ideas. I don't know what's funnier, people's really stupid ideas or that they sometimes take them seriously. It's hilarious!

- schneid

There are still some good people

Usually I'm a cynic and believe there aren't many generous people left in the world. But occasionally, I'm surprised.

At work, I met Soren, a very animated and interesting guy from Denmark. For a couple hours, we talked about software development and the process that they use at our Denmark facility. He was only in the US for a few days, having just attended an Agile conference in Minnesota. One of the topics that came up was wikis, in which he has a great interest.

Later, I remembered that my good friend Kevin was going to Denmark for a Wiki conference. To put it mildly, let's say that Kevin is only extremely interested in wikis. I assumed that Soren would attend that conference, so I put them in touch with each other. It turned out that Soren would not attend the conference but would like to meet up with Kevin if he was traveling through Copenhagen.

Now I've heard that Soren is going to pick up Kevin from the airport in Copenhagen, take him home, then drop him off at the train station later in the day. We're not talking about a friend of a friend here, but a bare acquaintance of a friend! This is so generous, and I'm sure much of a relief to Kevin. I recall how confusing European mass transit is to us non-city dwellers. Maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, since Wikis are essentially about sharing and community, something I believe is sorely lacking in the US lately. Maybe it's karma too, since Kevin is exactly the kind of nice guy who would do something like this for someone else.

- schneid

We have finally moved

We finally moved on Sunday, August 13. It was a long day, in particular because U-Haul decided to give me a round-trip rental instead of a one-way, where I could've dropped the truck off 1 mile from our new house. Thanks to Greg T, Pete, Petey, Bill, and Kevin for their help. We're in the new house and if anyone needs my new address or phone, contact me.

- schneid

My family meets presidents...

I check my personal email for the first time in 3 weeks, and there are messages about two different family members meeting US presidents!

My Great Uncle Ben and Aunt Shig Kuroki were invited to dinner at the White House when the Japanese Prime Minister was visiting the US. Ben was a US war hero during World War II. My Uncle Denny has a page with a lot of links to information about Ben Kuroki.



My cousin Bob Levin is a doctor and has spent most of his career participating in Doctors without Borders in impoverished nations, mostly in Africa. Currently he is in Rwanda, where he was fortunate to meet Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.



- schneid

Finished 2nd in TNP Tournament

OK, it was just our regular tournament with my buddies and there were only 9 guys. It's a $50 buy-in tournament with one rebuy allowed. I always try to go for broke, and either double up or rebuy early. But the last 3 tournaments, I've taken third, which doesn't even get your money back if you rebuy.

I finally broke the curse and took 2nd which was good for a $115 profit. Early on, I flopped top pair top kicker, made a big bet, and Ed went all-in. I hate to bust out with just a pair, but he could easily be making the play with less than that, so I called, and he had middle pair. No help came, and I doubled up.

I played pretty well, in particular making no big mistakes. I got lucky later when I busted Greg T. with my 55 vs. his KQ, a King flopped, but I spiked a 5 on the turn. Mark busted me out with his J8 vs my J9 when he flopped two pair. Mark played well but had quite a bit of luck, like when his AQ made a boat vs. Ed's KK. I also had Mark all-in with my AK vs. his A8, and I had him all the way to the river, when the board made two pair and we split the pot.

I laid down my hand quite a few times when someone came over the top. Most of the guys play pretty straightforward, so I usually didn't think they were making a play on me.

We then played a single table, winner take all tournament for $10 each, with the blinds going up after every orbit. I was out on the first hand. I flopped top pair and bet the pot, there were about 6 callers, this drunk guy made a min-raise, and I went all-in, figuring he could have anything. Sure enough, he only had middle pair, but he also had a flush draw which he rivered to bust me out. At the time I thought that I was about 3:2 to win that hand, but it turns out that top pair vs. a smaller pair with a flush draw is almost exactly 1:1.

The drunk guy then went on to bust out the next two players, each time as the underdog and catching a draw on the turn or river. Frankly, it didn't matter much, because the structure was such (fast blinds and only one winner) that you needed to make a move early. He had a huge stack of chips and ended up taking third, then the remaining two players made a deal to play to split the money, rather than just have one winner.

It was a fun night and we started out with a ton of chips in the main tournament, which gave a lot of room to maneuver and made the tournament more fun. In the past, when the tournament got down to three-handed, there was usually a big chip leader and the blinds were huge, and it ended quickly. This time, when it got heads up, we each had 40x the big blind, so there was a lot more play.

- schneid

Awesome Movies

I couldn't fit all my favorite movies into the little space they give you, so here's a list. Not that anyone cares, but if you really like one of the categories in general, and haven't seen a movie I put in that category, I recommend that you see it.

Comedy

Office Space

Elf

Drop Dead Gorgeous - this is one of the funniest movies you've never seen

Houseguest - it's too bad that Sinbad hasn't made any more movies

Amelie

Daddy Day Care - very funny and Steve Zahn is hilarious

Grosse Pointe Blank

The Princess Bride

Groundhog Day - you have to watch a few times to appreciate how funny Bill Murray is.

What About Bob - the first time I saw this, I thought it was stupid. But the more I see it, the funnier it gets.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Pee Wee's Big Adventure

A Christmas Story

Happy Gilmore

Fletch

Liar Liar

Blues Brothers

This is Spinal Tap

Big

A League of Their Own


Thriller

The Sixth Sense

Identity - great movie that I'd never heard of

Memento

The Da Vinci Code

The Usual Suspects

The Silence of the Lambs

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

The Spanish Prisoner

Heist

Signs

Runaway Jury

Seven

Action/Adventure

Braveheart

Saving Private Ryan

Minority Report

Pulp Fiction

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Drama

Catch Me If You Can - I wouldn't exactly call it a drama...it's funny, it's a true story, it has elements of a thriller. An all-around great movie.

Almost Famous

A Beautiful Mind

Forrest Gump

Lost in Translation

The Shawshank Redemption

Erin Brockovich

Stand by Me

The Untouchables

Glengary Glen Ross

Titanic

Hotel Rwanda

American Beauty

Witness


Sports

Remember the Titans

Breaking Away

Rudy

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Twelve Monkeys

Blade Runner

The Matrix

The Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Star Wars

Brazil

Jurassic Park

Gattaca

For Kids

The Incredibles

Monsters Inc

Madagascar

Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Over the Hedge

Robots

Finding Nemo

Toy Story

A Bug's Life

Music

Purple Rain

That Thing You Do

Documentaries

Spellbound

Bowling for Columbine

- schneid

Volleyball

I actually played volleyball today at lunch for the first time in about four years, if you don't count Westy's annual beer parties. Now that I'm back at Tellabs, Mike K. put me on his 4-man team, and we play once a week during lunchtime. I didn't think I would survive...that 75 minutes was the longest I've exercised in three years. Yes, I'm that badly out of shape and overweight. 205 lbs. is not a proper weight for someone 5'7". But it actually felt great to be out there, and my body does remember how to play volleyball. I'd like to work my way up to playing basketball at lunchtime too. The courts are right here at the Tellabs facility, which is very convenient. I might ride my bicycle to work a couple of times a week from the new house. Home and work are both near the Prairie Path, so I could ride without getting killed. It's about 8 or 9 miles which is a reasonable distance, and would probably take about 45 minutes.

These social+athletic+fun pursuits are another big reason why Tellabs is such a great place to work.

- schneid

We have paint and carpet!

The carpet has been installed at the new house and the painters are almost done. The only white walls left in the house are in closets - everything else has been painted a different color. Now that the carpet is down, it will be easier to work at the house because we can take the kids with us. We didn't want the kids playing in the house due to the bare floors and tack strips.

Remaining tasks: bathroom countertops, tile, vinyl, and appliances. We're planning on moving in July, although we haven't set a date yet.

- schneid

House is progressing...

The granite countertops were installed at our new house. The painters are in there right now, and I'm waiting to receive one more estimate before getting the carpet and flooring done. When it's complete, we can move in. But we're not sure if we want to leave the old house empty when we're trying to sell it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

- schneid