APRIL 13, 2008

I didn't get to play much this past weekend. My wife was in town plus the weather was beautiful so we took advantage by spending Saturday working in the yard, doing some projects that have been pending for over a year. I love my back yard because it reminds me that no matter how frustrating poker can be over the short term, I have still been profitable over the long term, and my back yard is testament to that as every improvement was born of poker profit. I told Carolyn Flack in my exit interview from the EPT Grand Finale, when she asked me what I was going to do with the money, that I was going to hire a landscaper, and that's what I did and now I've always got a nice respite on a hot day to remind me of the good times.

There are a couple of ducks that have been hanging out in and around my pool the past couple weeks and it is all very cute, but there can be no more vile substance than duck excrement. I swear they must eat a diet rich in red dye #5 because no matter how quickly I hose off the poop, there is a dark splotch that cannot be powerwashed away. They'd better show me some cute ducklings soon or I'm going to turn the hose on them the next time they're wooing in my pool.

I missed out on the big Sunday tourneys since Marci had bought tickets for the philharmonic. There was a time when it looked as if we might be moving away from LA and she turned up the heat to experience all the cultural things that the city has to offer. I would never care to pay to see such a thing but she's been wanting to check out the Walt Disney Concert Hall for some time so I capitulated to giving up a Sunday poker, which in all truth was probably a net gain. We were one of three families silly enough to bring the children. Mason quickly figured out that he could become that guy who has a cough during a lull so I guess he enjoyed himself a little despite the constant grumbling.

When we got home, we all found our happy places and I got into a trio of tourneys: a $33 rebuy that ultimately cost me $123; a $55 MTT that cost me just that; and since I have no regard for money, I contributed $216 to the weekly HORSE event. I don't have much of a chance in that tourney but since I couldn't blow any cash on the Hold'em events, I decided to blow some on the mixed game. I was seated to the right of Keith Sexton, world class stud player, and a few seats to my right was noted pro, Chip Jett, so it wasn't the easiest of tables.

I outlasted both of those guys but ultimately fell short of the payout, finishing 42 of 148. There was one notable hand against Jett that had me swelling with pride: he raised during limit hold'em and I defended my bb with 9-8. The flop came T-9-7 and I put in a check-raise on the flop, which he called. The turn was a J giving me the straight. I bet and he called. The river was an ace. I bet, he called. He rivered trip aces, otherwise, I've got to assume he was folding in that spot. Then again, I had a bit of a wild image so it makes me wonder if he would have called with just the overpair if he hadn't tripped.

Jett got moved soon after that hand, and once Sexton was on the ropes, our table broke, eliminating my chance of picking up either player's bounty. I hate that about online tourneys - I wish they would break the tables in order and not randomly. It always seems that I can assist in decimating a pro's stack only to have him move away for somebody else to feast on the bounty by knocking him out. Marci says I should write to Full Tilt with that complaint and I think I will take it up with Lederer.