Rantish

I am pretty obsessed with PTR these days. I do at least 25 searches a day when I play and I check my ranking pretty regularly. When I am playing poker sessions I refresh my holdem manager about every 3 minutes to see my profits. It is a bit OCD. I have only been doing about 15 hour weeks the past few months, but my wrist is still hurting a bit. I have two camping trips planned for this weekend and the next one. A mountain bike expedition this Friday and then a survival like fishing+rice trip to follow. Should be fun. Hopefully I will be able to fit a Borgata/NYC trip in before the month draws to a close. I am at my high water mark for the year/life and it feels nice to be running above expected.

Drawing

Up

I had my best day ever in poker yesterday and it feels great.

When a video game becomes too easy and boring you do things to spice it up. You start at a higher level with less lives or whatever to make it challenging. Life is the same way. When things like money etc come too easily, you do things to spice it up. Try making a living while walking on your hands or making friends with a speech impediment. It's just a fact.

Torn

Sometimes failing at online dating feels like getting rejected by 10,000 women at once. Some enjoy a nightcap to end the day, but I enjoy 5. Part of me thinks I may be developing a problem and the other part feels like this is the only way to enjoy life.

Friday

So I had my interview today with the big brother foundation. I was recently nudged into volunteering there this week by a close friend. Hopefully the fact that I gamble for a living and have over 7 drinks a week won't inhibit me from being a positive influence in a young person's life. I feel like I could give some solid advice and be a really good mentor. I suspect being involved with this organization will be a win win situation. The past few days have been profitable on the poker tables. I have been thinking a lot about new years eve this week. It is my favorite holiday.

Cheers,
gamblegambel

Brain

The other day I was thinking that the mind is the most amazing part of the human body. But then I thought to myself, look who is telling me this.

Works

I have been doing some more art lately. Here is an inflatable sculpture I put out on the sidewalk and a piece I made from wire I bought at Home Depot (not sure if you can tell from these pics, but the end of the wire just barely levitates above the surface of the table)...

HH's

Two nice donations during my voyage back to the high water mark...

M.ONTEIROZOR posts small blind [$5.00 USD].
SHOVEBOT posts big blind [$10.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SHOVEBOT [ 7c 9c ]
W.EEWAISEU folds
H.ARDCORY3011 raises [$30.00 USD]
M.ONTEIROZOR folds
SHOVEBOT raises [$95.00 USD]
H.ARDCORY3011 calls [$75.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, Qs, 7s ]
SHOVEBOT checks
H.ARDCORY3011 bets [$87.50 USD]
SHOVEBOT calls [$87.50 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ac ]
SHOVEBOT bets [$255.00 USD]
H.ARDCORY3011 raises [$1482.00 USD]
SHOVEBOT calls [$1227.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
H.ARDCORY3011 shows [3d, 2d ]
SHOVEBOT shows [7c, 9c ]
SHOVEBOT wins $3352.00 USD from main pot

gamblegambel posts small blind [$25.00 USD].
N.egrodamus2 posts big blind [$50.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to gamblegambel [ 3s Ac ]
C.omeToButthead folds
a.palma folds
A.lGooohr folds
gamblegambel raises [$100.00 USD]
N.egrodamus2 calls [$75.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ As, 8s, 2d ]
gamblegambel bets [$150.00 USD]
N.egrodamus2 raises [$300.00 USD]
gamblegambel calls [$150.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
gamblegambel bets [$450.00 USD]
N.egrodamus2 raises [$1075.00 USD]
gamblegambel calls [$625.00 USD]
N.egrodamus2 shows [Jc, 6c ]
gamblegambel shows [3s, Ac ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
gamblegambel wins $2997.00 USD from main pot

Flash

While I was showering this afternoon I felt a small bump on the side of my chest. For some reason the first thing that entered my mind was that I have cancer. The thoughts that immediately followed were disheartening. One would like to think given the unexpected news that your existence is greatly compromised that the proceeding mental images would be humbling and reflective.
.
.
I think it is just a bug bite.

Monopoly

My current obsession is Monopoly. You know things are reaching a high level when you think about it all day and dream about it all night. The past two weeks we have had a few games for money. It is unfortunate that it has a bit of a bad reputation, because with a few adjustments to the rules it can be an excellent board game and super exciting to gamble on. Here are some house rules we play by:

Every property costs double: We do this because the standard setup for the game has a thoughtless buy buy buy formula. With this you have to be more selective with your money and more things go to auction; makes the game more about resource management.

Unsold property goes to silent auction: Most people don't realize that properties that aren't bought are supposed to be auctioned off. Our twist is we do a silent auction. Things tend to go for their true value. Accessing this untold worth is a huge skill.

Railroad warps: If you own more than one railroad you can warp between the ones you own. This provides some more mobility and makes being a railroad tycoon a real threat.

Creative trading: We allow immunity, profit sharing, short and long term passes etc. It's the name of the game, sorta.

Free parking: We put just the tax and jail money in free parking. It doesn't get too out of hand, but gives the guy in last place some hope.

...plus a few other tiny rules...