Random things
Sunday, December 18, 2011 @ 10:33 AM
I already related the most exciting thing to happen this month, the sudden loss of the Jeep. Thankfully, that problem no longer exists. One of my customers stopped by the house and helped me get it running again. Took all of ten minutes after he arrived.
Being December, I suppose I'm not surprised that nothing else has happened lately...
Whereas March and, to a lesser degree, Super Bowl weekend, are the best times to be in Vegas, I think November and December might rank as the worst. Rodeo aside, seemingly nothing happens in Vegas from the time the weather starts turning colder until New Year's Eve Amateur Night.
I pop Niacin like candy in an effort to stave off the SAD. The Niacin helps. The wife always knows when I forget to take it.
Winter sucks.
I believe it might be time for me to do something drastic, time to seek out the rush of adrenaline that comes from extending myself past my comfort zone. I know just the hike that would do it, if only I could motivate myself to leave the house.
***
He approaches the podium and asks what games I'm spreading. I run through the same litany I give over and over each night, "I have 2-4 limit Hold'em, 4-8 limit Hold'em, 4-8 limit Omaha, and 1-2 No-limit Hold'em." I watch as his eyes glaze over midway through my spiel.
"How much is the 1 & 2 game," he asks, to which I give the normal response. "That game requires a minimum $100 buy-in with a maximum $300 buy-in." I receive a blank stare.
"How much is that other game, the four-dollar game?"
"That game is a minimum $40 buy-in."
"Why does the bigger game have a smaller buy-in?"
"The 4-8 game is a limit game, sir. The betting is structured. You can only bet r raise a maximum of eight dollars in that game. The 1-2 game is a no-limit game. You may bet your entire stack if you so desire."
"That sounds good. I'll take the 1-2 game for $100," he says as he slides me a crisp $100 bill. I hand him a stack of red chips. He spends a few seconds looking back and forth between the chips and me. "These say $5. I want the one and two-dollar game."
"It's a red-chip game, sir. The dealer will make change as you play."
Reluctantly, he takes the chips and walks to the table. I watch him leave the room less than twenty minutes later.
***
The same guy returns the next night. As I hand him the stack of red chips, he asks "So you guys give out red chips for this game now? When did that change?"
I shrug. "It's always been a red-chip game, sir."
"No. The last time I played here, they gave me white chips for this game."
"Are you sure you weren't playing 4-8, sir? The limit game?"
"No, I can't afford 4-8. I can only afford 1-2."
He left me at a loss for words. I simply returned to the paperwork I was working on.
Again, I watched him leave the room less than twenty minutes later.
***
I stood at the podium trying to decide what to do with the dealer lineup seeing as how it was time to send somebody home for the night. My thoughts were interrupted by a call from the table nearest the podium. "Floor!" I looked up. "Three-bet on table 12! We have a legitimate three-bet! What should I do?"
I could only smile as I surveyed the players at the table, a $2/4 limit game, and counted 6 of the tightest rocks we see in our room...and it was only an 8-handed game.
"I'll call ESPN," I yelled back. "Hold the action til the cameras get here!"
We got laughter from the surrounding tables, laughter from the dealer in the box, laughter from a couple railbirds, and nothing but complete silence and a couple scowls from the players in the game.
***
If you deal poker or are interested in those that do deal poker, and you aren't following @MeanPokerDealer on Twitter, you really should be. S/he is pretty amusing, to say the least.
***
I actually completed another chapter in my book the other day. That likely means nothing to any of you, but I find it amazing. I suppose this is the perfect time to admit my book will never be published. I hear you asking yourselves why that might be. There are a few reasons, actually :)
First, and foremost, I am not a closer. I finish nothing. True, I somehow managed to finish a project where I posted a photo every single day for a year, but I chalk that up as an anomaly. My attention span simply isn't fit for getting any lengthy project done.
Second, I only think about writing when it gets cold, when the SAD kicks in, when I start listening to melancholy and depressing music, when the days are too short for me to get any appreciable sunlight. In short, I write for about three months of the year - December through February.
The literary agent who originally suggested I write a book long ago gave up on me actually doing so. Truth be told, I gave up months before he did. While I languished in self-imposed Vegas exile, stuck in the hell that was New Mexico and the purgatory that was Colorado, I wrote year round. Writing kept me sane, provided me something to focus on other than drinking myself into oblivion (which I tried to do anyway).
Being back in Vegas, I again enjoy my life, and I find I'm not so driven to turn to writing as an escape. After all, there are hundreds of peaks for me to climb within an hour of the house, nearly a dozen national parks within a 5-hour drive. I prefer actually being outside to sitting in front of a computer and trying to pound out chapters of a book.
It is winter, though, so I might get another couple chapters done before March rolls around to restore my mental well-being.
***
A friend of mine who lives in some part of Texas I likely couldn't find on a map, a former dealer here in Vegas, recently started a blog. If, like me, you have more free time than you know what to do with or simply want something else to read, pay it a visit. Try to ignore the fact that he's a Steelers fan.
Partly just to tweak him (and Eeyore, the other Steelers fan I put up with), and partly because I think it might just happen, I bring to you your AFC Championship Game:
Denver Broncos vs Houston Texans
Seriously. Somebody, somewhere, is looking out for both of those teams.
***
Foods I tried for the first time in my life (at least that I can remember) in the past week:
Brussel Sprouts
Kale
Parsnips
Turnip Greens
Coconut Milk
I actually enjoyed all of them.
Something very weird has happened as I've reached the point where, according to that little whipper-snapper Monkey Boy, I'm a lot closer to 50 than I am 30. Nothing drove home this change more than a recent visit to a buffet.
After my first pass around the buffet, I reached the table and surveyed my plate: asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, and a very small piece of chicken. WTF, over? Where was the mac & cheese? Where was the meat? Did I really eschew the bacon-wrapped pork for a bunch of veggies?
This infiltration of veggies into my diet extends into my cooking now, too. At least 80% of the grocery shopping is spent in the produce section. Any given dish I come up with is likely 70-80% veggies with meat thrown in almost as a side dish.
Sure, I've lost 60+ pounds since moving back to Vegas. Sure, I look and feel healthier. Still, it just seems so....wrong...to be eating more greenery than meat!
***
Note to poker room floor staff: the vast majority of you are doing it wrong. Instead of focusing on trying to run the room (which doesn't need your help, by the way - it'll pretty much run itself), try focusing on the important aspects of your job. Focus on what you can do to help your dealers make more money. Make it your number one priority in your job. Put the dealer first.
***
I'm thinking of attempting a different photographic project each month next year. I have yet to commit to this kind of insanity, but I haven't yet ruled it out either. I'm thinking maybe a month of self portraits, a month of sunrises, a month of some specific type of architecture, etc. Chances are good I give up on this idea before I get started. It's just the way I am :)
***
Enough of this nonsense. This late in the day, the Niacin wears thin and needs a boost. I have Newcastle Winter IPA and Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale to help ;)
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Niacin? No flush, I presume. Have you tried vitamin D?
Thanks for the hookup - getting new visitors already! See my Chiefs pick? (And disregard about half of the other ones)... ;)
Definitely the no flush. I didn't want to glow in the dark :)
Vitamin D helps a bit as well but seemingly not as much as the Niacin
I laughed when I saw your Chiefs pick! How about this:
$100 parlay on Packers losing their first game and Colts winning their first game would have paid $2,240 ;)
I had commented to a friend on Saturday night that wouldn't it be funny if the Colts got their first win against the Texans, if Manning just played all of a sudden, Texans players freaking out everywhere on the field... :)
Was it the CPS?
Combination of bad CPS (that thing was pretty chewed up on the end), bad relay, and something to do with a bad cable that he threw a bit of solder on and some new shielding.
rofl at the 3bet story =D
Niacin, never heard of this, my Mom has SAD and she swears by a SAD lamp she uses every morning, just puts it on and carries about her usual routine before going out. Not sure if you have tried this so thought would let you know.
I will let her know about Niacin - thanks!
By the way niacin no flush is useless.
It has great placebo effects then ;)
can we haz an update =(