BOOOOOOOORING!
Two pairs of 10-10, one pair of 5-5, one pair of 6-6, one A-K, one A-Q, and a pair of Q-Q late. That was it. Worse, I NEVER got 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10, or J-Q suited… I survived on “bread and water” playing trash hands like J-10 and K-10 off suit. I was trying my best to fade the boredom and I did “ok.” I know that I got sloppy on two hands, calling on the river with trip aces and a nine kicker when I knew I was beat, and one other hand where I played a hand I might not have if I’d gotten a decent run of cards. Other than that I played ok. I made one good call on the toughest player at my table, a kid named Shane from NY. It was a multi-way pot where Shane had position on a board of Ks Qs 4s. I checked with pocket 10-10 with a spade, and Shane bet the button. The turn came an Ace and I checked to him again. He bet it again, but I just didn’t believe him at all. I didn’t think he had anything, frankly, and was debating what I’d have to do if I missed on the river and he bet again. Luckily, the river was a Jack making me a straight. My next dilemma was whether or not to bet out or just check and call. Considering the fact that I sensed a “play” I decided to check. Shane bet $6000 and I said, “Wow, you either flopped a flush or you have squat.” As soon as I called he said, “Squat,” and I got back to $50,000 on the day. From a pure poker playing perspective the day was an absolute bore, but the day wasn’t a complete waste. I enjoyed talking with Shane and the young man on my right who is a Cricket player born in India and now plays Cricket in Southern California. He seemed like a good guy, and overall the table banter was good. There was a “blow up” at the table next to me between Freddie Deeb and Haralabos. It looked like Freddie was going to clock him. For Freddie to get that hot, Haralabos had to do something to tick him off. Freddie just isn’t that kind of guy at all, he is generally a fun loving guy… unless you piss him off! I went over to the table and the people at the table said that Haralabos was riding Freddie all day long. Freddie then told me that he hasn’t got mad at a player in a game once in the last two years. The last time he got angry at somebody… well, it was Haralabos! I don’t think Haralabos is a bad guy, but he has a way about him that can definitely rub people the wrong way. Based on the descriptions the table shared with me it sounded like he rubbed all of them the wrong way. Oh well, no harm done I guess. I actually had a “run in” of my own earlier in the day that really annoys me. I was on my break and enjoying a massage when a fan from the rail asked if he could take a picture with me. I said, “Sorry, I’m right in the middle of a massage but I’ll be happy to take one with you later.” “You’ve been getting a massage for an hour!” he replied, “I’ve been waiting for an hour. It’ll only take 20 seconds!” What the guy didn’t realize was there were at least 30 other people waiting with cameras also. What, was I supposed to JUST take a picture with him and then turn everyone else away? Again, I told him I’m sorry, but it’s not a good time to which he replied, “You just lost me. You lost me as a friend.” A friend? I didn’t even know this guy! He went on, “I used to think you were good, but you are just crap.” As he walked away I asked him, “What did I do to you?” to which he said, “It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t do.” What an absolute jerk. All of the other people were patiently waiting and respectful of the fact that I was enjoying a massage. In fact, a few of them asked me, “You want me to go knock that guy out for you Daniel?” No need for that. A couple others asked to take a picture with me while I was getting a massage. I figured, if they didn’t mind a pretty masseuse in the picture they could come sit next to me until the break was over. I took a few pics and signed a few autographs. Deanna, the masseuse, has known me since 1999. After the break was over she was a little bit taken aback by the whole ordeal asking, “How do you put up with all of that?” Normally it’s fine. It’s just today we had one bad apple. When my day was over I ended up with 56,725 in chips and am looking forward to a fresh start tomorrow. On my way out, I made sure to sign some autographs and take some pictures with some fans. That probably took about 20-30 minutes, but I didn’t mind. As long as I’m not in the middle of playing, eating a sandwich, or getting a massage I’m fine with it! Tomorrow I’d like to end the day at around 200,000, but will be happy with getting to the 100,000 mark. So again, while 200,000 is the goal, since the structure is so good, 100,000 would be plenty. ]]>