Once upon a time (from 1933 - 1978), in the Hindu Kush Mountains, Afghanistan was a relatively peaceful, stable, amazingly beautiful country.
Until 1973 it was ruled by King Mohammad Zahir Shah, a beloved, pro-cannabis monarch.
That year, while the king was visiting Italy (for eye surgery and to treat his lumbago), he was overthrown by a jealous, resentful, evil cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan (the Villain Daoud), who was backed by the C.I.A., Richard Nixon, and The War on Plants.
When we first went at war with the Taliban, I always thought that the only way we'll know the war is over is when we started to see 'Grown in Afghanistan' on agricultural goods. Afghanistan was once known for the fruit that was grown there.
Perhaps if they legalize Cannabis in the US, we will know if we've won the war when we are smoking afghani pot.
After a full day of cleaning up the house and playing with the kids. I thought it would be fun to go up to Blackhawk for the day. So I made the kids breakfast, kissed my wife and when up to Blackhawk on the 9:35 am bus out of Downtown Denver.
I visited a few casinos. The Golden Gulch Casino has a Heartland Poker tour going on and the Lodge was almost empty so I went over to the Ameristar Casino. They had a $450,000 bad beat jackpot, so I thought "why not?". I knew me hitting the bad beat jackpot was next to nothing, but it's worth a try. I knew other people would be trying it to, so there will be more loose players.
I played from about 11:30 to 7pm and then I had to make the bus back down to Denver.
I played alright. I came out about $250 ahead starting with $140 and I didn't have to rebuy the whole day. I felt like I left some money on the table thought without some value betting and some more aggressive moves, and some draws I should have taken.
Position is key, I had this aggressive good player to my left and I should have move on the table to his left or got a new table at some point, because my EV would have been better in position.
I did let a few people draw out and I should have pushed more when I flopped had a straight flush draw and someone beat me with a higher straight. Also, I should have drawn out a little more with two other players.
I do like the spread limit better than no-limit. The games plays more like a Pot-Limit game and it less push/shove.
I can't wait to go back.
--- Don't forget to use Bonus Code "Blackhawk" when you sign up to play poker at Full Tilt Poker and I'll send you some love. :) Plus you'll get 100% Poker sign up bonus up to $600.
I'm a sick bastard. I completed the Take 2 Promotion on Full Tilt Poker and got myself one of these. It was a pretty simple deal, instead of the Iron Man challenge where you had to play a lot and at higher limits.. All you had to do was to play poker on two tables during September for each day.
There is still time to earn a $5 this month. I think it'll be a popular promotion and it'll be back soon. Especially if other sites run big tournaments.
--- Don't forget to use Bonus Code "Blackhawk" when you sign up to play poker at Full Tilt Poker and I'll send you some love. :) Plus you'll get 100% Poker sign up bonus up to $600.
"Move the Daily Show/Colbert Report back to its regular replay time at 9PM MT/8PM ET."
I live in Denver and get Comcast Cable. They show Comedy Central on the Pacific time schedule so that the new Daily Show/Colbert Report is shown at Midnight and not 11PM as it is in the East Coast. The replay from the night before used to be at 9PM which was great for us, because the kids went to bed and we could watch it before we went to bed. But this season, they've switched the replay to 8PM instead of 9PM. This has messed up our scheduled. The Daily Show/Colbert Report dovetailed nicely with our nighttime schedule. Most of the other shows we watch (Project Runway, Top Chef, ESPN Poker) have new shows at 8PM and so we no longer watch Daily Show/Colbert Report any more.
Please write your Cable Provider, Comedy Central, and your Congressmen.
I gained a pound this week. I'm not too happy about that. I haven't been eating as well as I want to. We went to the Renaissance Fair this week and I had a turkey leg and some ice cream. And last night I ate too much for desert (fruit and fudgesycles), but that was just my normal eating during the week. I also had pork ribs last week. So, not good.
I'm happy with my exercise, I'm able to run almost 6 miles in a hour and I feel really good about that. I burned 1000 calories on Sunday by just running for an hour.
I've adjusted my goals. I think 175 is probably too low of a goal, so I've adjusted it to 185. If I hit 185, I would be 4 lbs less than overweight. Based on my projections I would hit that goal weight in mid-November. I think my HDL's would be good as well.
I lost 2.5 lbs last week. I was pretty good. I'm running a lot more now about 5.2 miles in an hour 4 times a week. My eating has been pretty good as well. I'm going to need to buy more clothes. When I run, I set little goals in my head: Can I reach 20:00 at 5.5 MPH 2.0 incline? etc.
So my next immediate weight lost goal is to get to 210 lbs so that I can buy some new pants and some shirts. I think I could do that over the Fourth of July weekend.
I managed to lose 1 lb last week. An amazing feat considering that my Mom came to visit, we ate out a lot (Root down restaurant, breakfast, ice cream, etc). It's not too bad. I'm still under my target weight.
Current Weight: 216.5
I went to my cardiologist last week and I got a lipid panel done. The above busy chart represents my Total lipids, LDL (Lousy), HDL (good), and triglyserides, plus my targets for each. I have two goals, To lower my LDL levels to less than 70 and to raise my HDL to over 60. I've managed to lower my LDL's, but I have to raise my HDL to 60. I did increase it from 43 to 50 in 6 months, but it has to be higher.
According to this article on the Mayo Clinic website. I should be able to raise my HDL 1 mg/Dl for every 6 lbs of weight lost. So if I have 40 lbs to lose (216.5-175 = 41.5), I should increase my HDL to about 56 ( 41/6 = ~6 mg/Dl , 50 + 6=56). It's not 60, but it'll be close. My next lipid panel will be in December.
Lipid Panel: Tot: 123, LDL: 63, HDL: 50, Tri: 55
On Edit: When I did my last lipid panels in December, I weight 240 lbs and my HDL was 43. I weighted 217 when I got my lipids done and my HDL was 50..
So for 23 lbs of weight lost translated to 7 points in HDL lost.. So if I continue on that trackand assuming the same weight/HDL percentage, 40 lbs weight lost would translate to about 12 poins. So my HDL could get up to 62 if I reach my ideal weight of 175 lbs.
I had another solid week and I lost 2 lbs which is about 1% of my total weight. I want to average about 1.5 lbs a week, but I like having really good weeks.
I was thinking about my workout routines. I've been working out a lot lately. My normal routine is to walk 2 miles to work and 2 miles from work. I also like to take a short walk during lunch as well. I've been working out at the gym maybe 4-5 times a week and my wife and I have dance lessons on Tuesdays. My workout at the gym consists of running for 50 minutes with 5 minutes warm up and 5 minutes cool down. I've been able to run for 4.1 miles at an average speed of about 5 MPH (12 minute/mile). I have the incline set at 1%. I'm really happy with this results. When I have time, I try to do some weights and sit ups.
To me, it seems like I should be able to run a 10k (6.1 miles) race with no problems. I would like to increase my mileage on the weekends to 60 minutes/5 miles. I don't think that'll be a problem.
I would like to do something else for exercise, because I don't want to get bored. So I'm looking into the following:
Running - For running if I run at 5 MPH, 1% incline for 50 minutes. I burn about 750 calories.
Swimming- The 24 hour fitness has a lap pool, but I've been nervous about doing it. When there is a pool, I usually just steam after a workout. On the weekends, I should just run for half hour and swim for another half hour. According to this calculator I would burn about 816 calories if I swam laps for an hour.
Martial Arts. I'm interested in taking some Martial arts classes. I'm going to take some Krav Maga classes because I've always been interested in that after seeing it in the Bourne Identity movies. I think that would be about 900 calories according to this calculator.
CrossFit or some sort of core exercise routine. I interesting in working the whole body and something I could do myself. I heard about this program on the Fat2Fit Podcast, so I'm going to try looking into it.
Dancing. My wife and I like to go dancing, so I will continue to do that at least once a week.
I've made it to 225 lbs. I safely out of the obese range. My scale this morning read between 224.5 and 225 lbs, which made me feel like I have a head start on next week.
This week, I felt much better, I lost 3 lbs over the week and I felt like I did much better.
It's nice when you get on the scale on the first time you read it it says 228.5, but then you check it again and it says 229. It's like you're cheating for next week. I'm almost out of the obese range (>227). The BMI measure what your ideal weight should be it's simple your weight divided by your height. The BMI categories are:
obesity > 30
overweight = 25 - 29.9
normal = 18.5 - 24.9.
So for me:
obesity > 227 lbs
overweight = 189 - 227 lbs
normal = 175 lbs (23.1)
I've adjusted my goal weight, It's still 1.5 lbs a week, but I've matched it to this week's weight. I'm still on track for my goals. So maybe next week, i won't be obese anymore. :)
I lost two pounds this pass week. I'm currently at 232 lbs. For some reason, I thought I should have lost more. I worked pretty hard this week and I've been writing down everything I ate.
I've changed by goal weight line to minus 1.5 lbs a week. I can still make my end of May goal of 225 and my August first goal of 210. and my goal of 175 by my next birthday. I'm a little below my goal line, I should be 232.5 lb this week, but it doesn't make me feel any better. If I lose another two pounds this week, I'll adjust the goal.
I don't know, I just feel like I didn't make it this week. But I will continue to work hard.
I'm getting really close to not being out of the Obese range. I still have 7 lbs to lose to get to 227lbs. This last week being Easter made it tough for me to do it, but I did work out a lot and eat pretty good except for the weekend. No more Easters for a while.
I've been inspired by the TV show "The last ten pounds". I consider these last ten pounds to non-obesity to be a good short term goals. I've tried to work out several times a week and I've been writing down everything I eat. It's my own personal boot camp.
My exercise routine on normal days is to walk to and from work for about 4 miles total (90 minutes), but when I go to the Gym, I've try to work out on the thread mill for 48 minutes. I'm averaging about 4.6 m/h with a 1.0 incline. My heart rate can max out at 167 bpm. I don't know if I should be concerned with my heart problems. I know I should take it easier, so I try to get my heart rate down by slowing it down to 140 bpm and making sure I cool down for the full 5 minutes after wards.
During my Heart Rehab, they said that the cool down is the most important part of the work out because you blood pressure and heart rate needs that time to adjust from being revved up. That's when most heart attacks occur during exercise, during warm up and cool down.
My current goals are: - 225lbs by the end of may - <205 lbs by the end of july (family reunion) - 175 lbs by the my next birthday (january 2010) Current Weight: 234 lbs
I went up to Blackhawk Colorado this weekend. I lost about $200, but I didn't think it was so bad. I went to the Golden Gates Casino. I like the Casino and the card room is decent. I started playing on the 2/5 Limit tables and signed up for a 5/5 Omaha Hi/Lo Limit game. I played well on the 2/5 and was up about 30 after playing for about 45 minutes, but then the Omaha table started.
I didn't realize how difficult it was, I never played omaha live before and I wasn't use it to. It was a table of older folks and they like action. I guess they knew what they were doing, but I was lost. Playing online when the cards are always up, I had to look back and figure out what I had. I knew by playing tight, I could last a while, which I did. The table was down to about 6 people because these folks kept on leaving which made me mad, because I knew the only way to win playing really tight was to have many people on the table. So I left after they didn't remove those people's chips.
It's a common practice (I hope) when people leave the table for a long time, to remove their chips. It slows up the game.
I left that game about $50 dollars down and move over to the Lodge Casino. I found a 2/5 game that I though would be fun, but eventually I was down $200 for the day. I was very frustrated, but patient, but I didn't get any cards all the time I was at the Lodge. I swear I didn't get any thing above a AQs all night. My two best hands all night were a AQs, which I continuation bet with nothing on the flop to win and a pair of 4's in the BB that hit quads on the flop, but nobody picked up anything. I don't expect to pick up many cards, but a set or a flush draw would have been nice.
I'm also down online a few dollars. I don't know if I'm not patience or I'm expecting bigger cards.
I've been doing some guerrilla marketing techniques lately with my affiliates program at FullTiltPoker. I made up some business cards and I've been passing these around. I left some at a coffee shop in Denver. I've also put some in some poker books at a book store.
Casino's are reporting the use of an I-Phone Application to count cards at a black jack table. [AP] Card counting is not illegal, but using devices are.
Some one needs to invent a poker I-Phone apps that you can leave on a table and track what seats are aggressive or tight. I don't think you can get to Poker tracker level of analysis, but for long sessions, it would be cool.
Man, I need to figure out how to patent things. :) ---
I listen to a lot of political talk radio. And I was wondering how to categories the recent politics that's been going on in Washington DC. There is this great article in the New Yorker on it. I think Obama's been playing a tight aggressive game since he has been in Washington. Recent results from polling says he hasn't lost much capital but his opponents have.
In Politics, Think Tournament stack size == Approval rating, George W. Bush was felted with a < 25% approval rating.
I also felt W was a loose aggressive player, who like to gamble pre-flop, but was lost post-flop and never could recover on turn or river. (cf Afganistan, Iraq war, War on Terror, Wanted Dead or Alive, Social Security reform, etc)
I'm hoping Obama a tight aggressive player. He didn't want to spend all his capital on the stimulus package, so he went looking for bi-partisant support, We won't know if he won until later, but his stack size is still preserved.
This is sad [9news]. A family that lost their child, was victimized again after a scum Bar Poker League organizer had a Charity Poker event, but did not donate any money to the family after wards.
The Suited Aces bar Poker league played around Denver Colorado.
Yesterday Lux Interior of the Cramp died of a pre-existing heart condition.. [Guardian has a good article] [AP] [wikipedia] They were awesome, one of my favorite rock-abilly/punk/lo-fi bands of the early eighties. Their 'Bad Music for Bad People' cassette spent alot of time in my car's tape deck. I really like songs like 'She Said' and this is my favorite from that album. "What's inside a girl". It would make a good ukelele song. :)
Whoa, there's some things, baby, I just can't swallow Mama told me that girls are hollow
What's inside a girl? Somethin' tellin' me there's a whole another world
You gotta pointy bra, a ten inch waist Long black stockings all over the place Boots, buckles, belts outside Whatcha got in there you tryin' to hide?
What's inside a girl? Ain't no hotter question in a so-called civilized world
I can't help peekin'
Well, you can't see it by satellite and baby, that's cheatin' The President's callin' an emergency meetin' The King of Siam sent a telegram Sayin', "Wop bop a loop a lop a lop boom bam"
What's inside a girl? And I have somethin tellin' me there's a whole another world
Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? In the bottom of your bottomless body pit Oh baby, you got somethin' an' I gotta get it
Come on, baby, what's inside a girl?
Like a itty bitty baby takes apart his toys Gotta find what's rilin' up the boys Sugar and spice is just a bluff You can tell me, baby, what is that stuff?
Come on, what's inside a girl? That wavy gravy got my head in a whirl
Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? In the bottom of your bottomless body pit Oh baby, you got somethin' an' I gotta get it
Come on, baby, what's inside a girl?
Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot? Whatcha got, whatcha got, whatcha got in the pot?
I've been playing a bit of poker online recently. Some developments...
I've installed pokertracker again on my computer. I think it's impossible to multi-table and play online with out it. My database is small, but at least I can see how I'm rating.
I've reloaded my Full Tilt Poker account with $100. I didn't realize how easy it could be. One quick credit card transaction and I was ready to go.
I started playing cash games on $.25NL and it was really tough. I played very tight/aggressive and managed to come out about $2 dollars ahead after 3 hours of playing. I lost 7 dollars early in the night after my pair of Queens on a Ten high board drew out with a Ten on the river.
My play on Poker stars was really tough as well. At one point I was up to $60 in my bankroll there, but now I'm back to around $30. I think the games are getting really tough. After three hours of playing on line, according to pokertracker most players were Tight/Aggressive or Semi-Loose/Aggressive. I think most of the other players must be using the same strategy as well and 'waiting for a fish'.
-- I was listening to 'All Strategy' on pokerroad radio this morning and Daniel N. (I'm to lazy to look up his spelling) was mentioning that much of the poker playing field the players are all playing the same type of style but it's the pro's that make the adjustments to adapt. If all the players are Tight-Aggressive you adapt by adopting a more loose style or vice versa. It's great that the lower-level/micro level players are playing this way, it's a good training ground. But one thing I notice is that many times a raise Under the Gun or UTG+1 is a fold, because most players are expecting really good cards if you are raising there.
This counter-strategy got me thinking about Starbucks. They recently announced that they are not brewing decaf coffee after 2 PM any more. I like their coffee but the counter help can be really snobby sometimes. I hate the counter help that says "we have Tall, Grande, etc" when you order a large decaf. I usually just walk out at that point. Yesterday I asked for a decaf at 3 in the afternoon and a counter person said "we don't brew...." . I walked out at that point and got a decaf coffee at The Tattered Cover bookstore.
Some small coffee shop owner or manager need to put out a sign that says "Freshly Brewed Decaf" in their window ala Crispy Cream's "We have fresh donuts" sign.
I need to lower my playing time. I would only like to play from 8PM to 10PM nightly. There is a 300 point free roll for tournament tokens on Full Tilt and that starts at 8:15PM. I usually get pretty deep there and I want to get a bunch of those tokens before I try to play a larger buy-in sit-and-go. Plus sneaking a few hours at work is not good that's for sure.
Current bank roll FullTiltPoker: $102.40 (2 $75 Token) Pokerstars: $29.29 (2 Step 1 Tournament Tickets) Live: $44.00
The state can't decide how to spend the money from the increase stake sizes in Colorado. [Rocky Mountain News]. Some interesting comments. [Denver Post]
Good news, A jury in Greeley (Northern Colorado), acquitted a group of folks who played poker but were arrested by the CBI. It looks like the Poker Players Alliance helped. [9news]
On FTP, I've managed to win a $75 token in a 300 ftp points multi-player tournament. That was fun. I managed to be in second place in money when the game stopped because of the seventh player lost. My strategy is to keep on trying to win these and then attempt to win a $69+6 SitnGo to repopulate my bank roll. The only problem I have is that these 300 and 50 ftp point tournament only run twice a day. So I can only get the night one.
I thought I played well, I was aggressive and won many pots to keep about average chip stack. I was also able to fold when I needed to to protect my stack as well.
On Pokerstars, I managed to double my bankroll to playing mostly 1 cent/2 cent NLHE will a minimum buy in of $1 and leaving when I have 10% of my bankroll on the table. It been working pretty good so far.
While my boys were getting flu shots today, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as President of the United States.
12:20 PM ET: Good strong speech.
1:00 PM ET: As the former president bush's helicopter was leaving Washington. A chorus from the crowd still gathered on the National Mall could be heard singing
"nana na naaa, nana na naaa, hey hey, good bye"
The Republicans are on the television saying how George W. Bush will be remembered as a better president in history than his current approval rate. His approval rate has been at historical lows in the low 20's whereas Bill Clinton left with numbers in the 50%. I believe that George W. Bush will be remembered as a worse president. An incompetent, incoherent leader with no imagination beyond his own political beliefs and ambitions.
--- Best part of Obama's speach:
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers.
---
Change has truly come to United States. Forget the nuclear codes, forget the oath, the ceremony, the transition to power is complete. Whitehouse.gov is now branded with the Barack Obama logos. It even has a new blog.
I gained some weight this week. I was really bad in snacking too much. I think my meals were pretty good, but I ate too many healthy cookies, fruit, and extra plate of food at dinner.
One good thing is I haven't increased my belt size.
I dislike Right-wing folks on the radio and their bizarre folk science beliefs. A few nights ago I heard a talker on KOA talking about how FDR's new deal didn't help America get out of the depression. Possible, but it prevented the damage from being much worst.
I'm going to have to start reading on NLHE Cash Games more.
I heard on a Poker Podcast the strategy of a short buy-in on a really loose aggressive game. That if you bring $40 dollars and wait for 2:1 all-in fest, it may make sense to do that to wait for cards that do that.
I weighted myself this morning, the first time in about a month. I gained 2 lbs since December mostly over the holiday. I need to recommit myself to my goal.
My immediate goal is to get down to 227. This is possible by the middle of March if I'm really good.
I think I'm eating more at home at night. Last night, I had two servers of chili on spinach and some chocolate black beans brownies. I should have cut that in half. I'm doing good during the day, but that extra bit of fruit or that brownie or piece of chocolate is just too much.
This weekend, my wife and I went up to Blackhawk to play poker. We practiced a little at home and I gave her some tips. We went up to the Golden Gates and played at their poker parlour.
We sat down on the same table and played for a few hours. She was playing very weak-tight, but she managed to win a few dollars. I played alright and was able to make about 40 dollars. We left around 6PM and had dinner at the Ameristar Casino. We went there to get a rewards card and to see what the casino looked like. The dinner was alright.
We stopped very shortly at the Lodge Casino and played slots for a little while. I won 20 dollars on the quarter slots and then we left.
Tuesday, Blackhawk is scheduled to vote on raising the limits from $5 to $100.
Observations - weak tight works alright only because you are really tight. - Most of the money I won was from me being aggressive. - I probably played too tight when I had position and good cards.
She recommended that I take some more of my statin, but I've also increased my Fish Oil to help as well. My next test is due for the end of January.
Sleeping Pills
Last night, I discovered the wonders of sleeping pills. I was very tired, but had trouble sleeping the last few nights so I took some and sleep through the night for 8 hours. It was really great.
Programming
I've starting programming again at my job and I'm very happy. I miss it so much.
On Saturday February 7th in Denver, Swallow Hill is hosting the Denver UkeFest. This'll be fun there is some really good bands featured including Ukulele Loki, The Hobo Nickels, Mad Tea Party , Victoria Vox and The Boulder Acoustic Society.
I made a quilt over the holidays. I still have to back it and sew it up. That'll make a nice weekend project.
I've been playing much poker again. I missed the game, but it's taking too much of my time.
I went up to The Lodge Casino this weekend, I came out 50 dollars ahead but spend 12 hours on the tables. My wife and I are thinking of going up there this weekend.
I also started playing on Full Tilt Poker. I only have 3 cent in my account, but I have a lot of FTP points. My strategy is to play freerolls, FTP point tournaments and sit and go's until I have a bank roll again.
On Pokerstars, My bankroll was down to about 5 dollars, but I've built it up to $13 on 2/4 cent Limit Hold'em and Limited Hi-Lo Omaha. I won't play No-Limit Ring games until I can put in only 5% of my bank roll on there. (cf Chris Ferguson strategy). I found a 10 cent NL tournament with 360 folks there and got pretty deep.
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