Gambooool
k2o4, May 06 2008
So I drank a bit and feel like fucking around, so I decided I'd be willing to risk 1 buyin on an attempt to run up to a neilly 10k. So I'm gonna sit @ 2 NL50 HU tables and play it out. Rules are that I won't reload and will move up to the next level as soon as I have 2 buyins for it - so, up to NL100 HU @ 200, NL200 HU @ 400 and so on. No reloading and only moving as much money up as I've won. So if I hit 185 I'll probably just move the hell up.
Seeing as I have zero HU experience beyond final tabling micro sng's, this will probably be the fastest $100 I ever lost. But if I don't get dominated quickly it could be pretty fucking fun, especially if I heater it up!
On top of that I get to bump my latest short story, which is in the post right below this one. Enjoy it.
(Yes, I know I'm copying caleb (crownroyal) but since I'm a super nit and never gamble this is definitely different. Plus I'm pretty sure I'll lose the 100 really fucking fast, where as caleb had a chance of pulling it off).
EDIT: peaked @ 278 and then lost it all @ NL200 - oh well. The best part was the railbirds who made it a million times more fun. There was a bit of time where they lost me when I switched tables and it was very boring talking to myself, but when they found me it was all worth it, hehe.
Wam Bam Thankya Mam (Storytime)
k2o4, May 05 2008
Hey guys, time for another short story. I just re-read this and had a good laugh. Ah the crazy things kids do...
Wam Bam Thankya Mama
Regular high school was too hard for my circle of friends. You could call us the dropouts. It would be fitting, and I won’t fight it, though I don’t totally agree. We found a way to work the system. There was an alternative high school called Quest that we used as a way to pass our high school years. It was private, it cost money, and you didn’t work. It was a packet system. Each chapter in the text book was photocopied and put into a packet. The teacher would give you a packet; you would read it and answer the questions at the end, and bam you were done with a chapter.
There were tricks. Certain packets had all the answers in bold, or people had highlighted them from other uses. We would just copy from the book. I didn’t learn crap.
When we did work we copied, but mostly we didn’t work. We talked. Every kid had a personal teacher to track them. Each teacher had a personal room, about the size of a small conference room. Our teacher was Kristin, and every day we went to our small room and sat. Kristin didn’t care if we worked, so we didn’t. She usually just wanted us to play pictionary with her. Or Simpson’s trivia. Most the time my friends and I would get stoned, go into the room, sit for an hour, play some pictionary, and leave to smoke more and get lunch. We always said we were coming back, but never did. I didn’t smoke though; I was past the weed smoking point in my life.
Our group consisted of about 5 guys. All lazy, all funny, all potheads cept me. Still, they dressed well, weren’t slobs or dirty. We tried to stay classy.
Kristin was a bigger woman, athletically built. She had sex with our older friends. Kristin was 25. We would always joke about having to bone her to be able to graduate. None of us wanted to, but I thought if that’s all I gotta do to graduate, I’m fine with it. Better than school work.
The rest of the kids attending the school didn’t fit with us. In the regular high school we were the good looking assholes that were failures, but still looked good (which gets you places in this world) and were looked up to. Every other kid at Quest had been a reject in the main high school. Now we were the outcasts, the minority, but we still walked around like we owned them and everything on the damn earth.
Our room was our room, and some days we would be invaded by the other kids. We called them the aliens. If we walked into our room and there were other kids in there, we would start screaming “OAT, OAT!!” meaning Operation Alien Takeover. If our room got invaded, we left and didn’t attend school that day. Our teacher got mad, but we told her to kick the other kids or lose us. We were lost.
One thing that I will always love about my friends of those years was how they could take things that most people considered dirty, nasty, or would be ashamed to admit, and brag about it. They could turn it into a game, or a passage of rights. Bragging rights.
John told us a story one day, one of our types of stories. He was talking about driving up to the mountains to snowboard. He went by himself, and told us how boring the ride was, how the car didn’t have heating, how shitty the weather was.
“it sucked. BUT, I got to jerk off in the woods!”
“Hell yea!!” said mike
“you stud” replied Connor
“shit man that’s great, what was it like?!?!” I asked
“well, it was so great. I was in some woods that were in between two runs, and I just pulled it out and started wanking. I could see people shooting down on either side of me, skiing and boarding, and I was just pullin away at my sausage. It was big time fun to the max.”
Kristin had been reading something, but then she looked up. “Are you messing with me? Are you talking about jerking off in the woods on a ski slope? You guys are the biggest losers. Seriously, you do risky things like that with OTHER PEOPLE, not by yourself!”
And we were crushed. We thought it was great, John jerked off in the woods. Maybe we were losers, but still, we thought it was great. But she had a point; you are supposed to do that with someone else.
Her outburst stopped me from telling my story about hiking in the mountains one time, and getting a few minutes ahead of the group. I took the chance to pull out my wanker and wank it, while hiking, in the woods, with the rest of the posse behind me. I stopped and came in the bushes. Now that was great. I didn’t tell the story though, because we now had a critic amongst us. But, the critic didn’t stop Marshall from bragging.
“john, remember that time you, me and mike all jerked off in my neighbors yard? We got back all drunk that night and split up. Remember?”
“oh yeah, that was big time awesome!”
“yea, we all went to different yards and jerked it. The goal was to try and find a pet, like a cat or a dog, and shoot your load on its head. Then when they pet it later it’s all sticky!”
We laughed at that. Kristin looked down at us for it.
Later that day, after a strong game of pictionary and losing to John in chess, sitting in our tiny room without a single alien amongst us, a short chunky girl with red hair, a pale face, and a sick body came in. Like usual, we got quiet and looked at her. She talked to our teacher, told her about just getting out of rehab. She had just kicked a coke addiction or something extreme. Not weed or alcohol, so I consider it extreme. But she’s back now, yea! and she’s going to work and graduate!
The entire time I was watching this exchange she kept looking at me. Giving me these glances.
She left and I got thirsty, and I left our safe haven of a room and went for a soda. Of course, I was to be attacked by aliens. Then through the crowd emerged this red head, Valerie, the girl who had kicked the coke. Right up to me she walked, right into my face, rubbing her tits on me and beginning to talk.
“have we met before, you look so familiar”
“well I saw u in Kristin’s room earlier”
“no, before that. What’s your name?”
“I’m Tony.” I opened my soda, and started to walk away. She got back in front of me.
“hi, I’m Valerie, you have beautiful eyes.”
“thanks.”
“you work out don’t you, I can tell. You have such a built body.”
She rubbed her hand on my chest.
“you look like you could be a marine. I know, cause my brother is a marine.”
I had been thinking of joining the marines. I had nothing else going for me.
Her hand didn’t leave my chest, it just sat there and rubbed my pecks. She was ugly, and fat, but I still was getting hard, and she was hitting on me hard, and I was having a hard time trying to reject her. Too much hard.
“I was thinking about joining the marines.”
“oh you would be great. Guys in uniform are so sexy.”
“yea, I gotta go do some work.” What a lie that was, I never do work.
“ok, but wait. Here’s my number. Call me sometime ok?”
“sure”
and off I went back to my room, hoping none of my friends had seen our exchange. As disgusted and embarrassed as I was to be seen with her, I had still enjoyed it. She was so up front, so forceful, so willing to give me her hole. I wished that the good looking girls did that to me. But I couldn’t hit on this beast in public. If I did lay with her no one could know. So I pretended nothing happened, and played more chess and drank my soda.
For some reason I ended up staying till school actually ended that day. My friends were gone, and it was just me and Kristin talking and joking in our room. Then in came Valerie, alone, asking Kristin for a ride home. Kristin volunteered me as a driver. I saw it all working out. I’m driving her home. She wants me to drive her home, maybe even to hit a home run. And I wanted to hit it with a wooden bat, I wanted to get laid, I wanted it! But I didn’t want what came with it. I didn’t want her around, she was weird, a coke slut, and my friends, oh the ridicule. I wanted both and I wanted none, but in the end it’s usually the brain between my legs that makes the big decisions for me
I decided to be a nice guy and give her a ride.
We walked out to my car, and I told myself I would not hit on her. I would not go after her; I wouldn’t make a move on her. So we made our way through the lot.
85’ Toyota corolla, my beauty car, sat there looking brown shit colored and we sat inside.
“it’s not much, but I did pay for it myself, unlike those other rich high school kids driving bmw’s that their moms bought them”
“oh I think this car is hot. And i think it’s sexy when a guy pays for it himself.”
She was hitting on me so hard. Anyone who called my car hot was lying to get something from me. She wanted my stiffy. There was just no denying it.
The drive went and she asked me questions. I told her things about myself, and everything I told her was amazing. That’s how she acted. Anything I had ever done was the greatest thing ever. I could say anything and it would be great. I could tell her I took a shit and didn’t wipe and she would reply “oh wow, that’ so hot and sexy. You are amazing!”
Eventually we got to the house and I pulled up in front of it. I noticed a no parking sign right where I was parked. I tried to use this as a getaway.
“ok, nice to meet you.”
“thanks for the ride.” She just sat there
“ok, well, I have to go. It’s no parking here”
“my mom doesn’t get home for another hour, and you have beautiful eyes. Come here, let me look at your eyes.” I let her look. She moved in and kissed me. I kissed back.
“you taste good too” and her hand went down to my crotch “and wow, you feel good, hard and good”
“yea, well, it’s no parking, I should go.”
“oh they never check this part of town.” I could see why, it was a crappy neighborhood.
“come in for 15 minutes. I want to show you my room.”
She rubbed my crotch and I had no choice but to agree. I mean, she was manipulating my brain with her hand! Cheater!
We entered her house and went right into the living room. She pointed to the couch, “that’s my bed. I’m staying in here right now”
I wasn’t very impressed.
I knew what she was after, but I didn’t want to give it to her. But I did want to, it was hard and wanting. I decided that if she asked me for sex, I would agree. Sex is sex, I can close my eyes. If she offers head I will say no. You can’t really brag about head, but every single one counts when your building your list of sexual conquests. I am always trying to expand that list.
She sat me down on the couch, pulled my head in and started kissing me. She pulled her pants down, her panties down, and guided my hand up there. I did my job, and she started pulling my pants down, all on top of her piles of clothes and old potato chip bags with shit stained panties on the couch and floor.
“you have a condom?”
yea I did, but it was in the car, in the glove box.
“yea, it’s in the car, in the glove box.”
Out the door with pulled up unbuttoned pants held up by one hand and into the glove compartment I went. I thought about just leaving, getting out of there. She was sick, fat, and my hand reeked from fingering her. It was the nastiest pussy I had ever smelt. I decided to stay though, telling myself another number on the list. One more on the list, one more on the list. You gotta build the house one brick at a time, and some bricks are worse than others! One more on the list!
Grabbed the condom, turned to head back, thought I saw a cop coming down the street. Then I realized it was one of those rent a cops, so I headed back inside.
She was on the couch, and I skipped the foreplay. This wasn’t a foreplay situation, this was strictly numbers. We started up, me on top, trying to get into the hole which was surrounded by flab. Not the flaps, but flab’s of fat. We got going and she moaned and talked dirty. “you feel so good inside me, oh god Tony, yes!” her dirty talking turned me on and maybe 3 minutes went by of pumping and she said “I’m looking for a friend, a sex friend, and I want you to be it. You feel so good inside me, be my sex buddy”
“sure” I said and I knew I was going to cum. It was building, and then the phone started ringing. I came, and it rang again. I pulled out, told her to go get the phone. I thanked the sex gods for this interruption. I didn’t want to cum and then have to keep boning her with a limp dick. She went to answer the phone, and I slid the condom off, throwing it on the couch (her bed). I pulled my pants up and while she was in the other room. I moved towards the door and saw her on the phone, her back turned to me. I slipped out the door. I hustled to my car, but before I got in I heard her at the door, calling for me.
“Tony, where you going?!? We still have plenty of time!”
I just got in and started the car, peeled out quickly. As I drove off I could smell the stink of her pussy flowing off of me. It was horrible, disgusting and horrible. I felt like I might puke. I rolled down the windows and stuck my head out for fresh air. I decided to take a shower as soon as I got home. Then I noticed something on my windshield under the windshield wiper. I reached my hand out and pulled it in. A parking ticket for 30 dollars. That piece of ass just cost me 30 dollars, and I don’t think I could say that it was worth it. Actually, it was far from worth it. But I laughed. I felt it was a worthy punishment for sexing up such a nasty thing.
When I got home I showered and washed my hand with the dove soap. Washed it twice, three times, four. When I went to bed that night, every time that hand got near my face I woke up from the smell, scrunching my nose shut.
Sometimes, I realized, the numbers just ain’t worth it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave a comment on your way out ^^
Oh, if you liked this here are the links to the other stories I've blogged so far:
MoneyMan
Lying
Hiding in the Closet
Contrast
k2o4, May 02 2008
I just realized that I skipped February and March results in my blog because I was tilting hard and spewing like a maniac and totally ashamed at the time. So now that I'm winning again I'm able to come clean.
Look at the contrast - February was a pure spewfest of tilt and pain. The EV line is only barely above the actual winnings line during that month, and both go pretty steadily down till the end. But then March I start getting better but run like ass. I left the EV line in that one cause the difference was huge. Then we have April, my first winning month since January and finally a line that is moving up, even if only marginally.
Hopefully May can be much better. HEATER MONTH I WANT YOU NOW!!! So let's look at it all in picutres...
February: Serious tilt spew fest @ NL100
March: I play better but run horrible and break even. The NL10 is drunken sMi homegame, haha
April: Ahh, so much better
February: So ugly. Such tilt.
March: I added the EV line to this cause it's a huge contrast, while other months it evens out.
April: This is in BB not $ like the other 2. No EV line cause it's about even with the actual winnings now.
Man, I hope I never have to go through 2 months like that again.
Abril es bueno
k2o4, May 01 2008
I decided to add a Spanish flare to make my title unique amongst the flood of April results posts. This is gonna be short, just a graph and general stats... cause what I really want to do is bump a short story I posted yesterday and was quickly knocked off the front page. So please scroll down and check the story out in the below blog post =)
April results:
+ Show Spoiler +
As far as April goes, I started off at NL50 but was break even for a while until I lost enough to move back to NL25. My confidence was crushed so I decided to do NL25 for a while. Low point was $900 BR. Moved back to NL50 at $2,100 or so. Then moved up to NL100 when a bonus cleared and I hit about $2,600. Struggled at NL100 for most of the month but the last week has been good to me and I'm winning consistently finally. Luckily I never dropped below 2k so I didn't have to move back to NL50. Got close though, hehe. Now sitting @ $3,440 with a $285 bonus about halfway cleared. Finally back on my feet!
My NL25 winnings are low cause once I moved up I played a few sessions where I was drunk or tilty and decided to 16 table NL25 for fun and spewed a bunch, hehe.
I did the graph in BB's cause it is a graph of 3 different levels and in BBs it's easier to see how I played, cause the change in buyin size skews it like crazy if it's done by $
Money Man (storytime)
k2o4, Apr 30 2008
First off just gotta brag about having a great poker day yesterday - 3 sessions about 1 hour each, 12,000 hands and a little over 4.5 buyin profit. Finally it was 4 buyins of winnings rather than losses, hehe. So here's a SS followed by another story for those of you who've liked em so far.
Money Man
I had spent my time trying to get a job, and then trying to lose the job once I got it. I was selling knives, door to door. Every day I had to call in and talk to the boss. Every Wednesday there was a team meeting. Every Monday there was a key staff meeting, for the potential managers. They liked me, they wanted me doing 20 demos a week and coming to the special workers meetings, they wanted me as key staff. I didn’t want key staff, I didn’t want manager, I just wanted to make easy money kinda fast. One week I avoided all my appointments. Didn’t even cancel them, just never showed. Then I avoided calling in. I didn’t answer the phone so my boss couldn’t get a hold of me, and I didn’t check the messages. I hid from the world, from my responsibilities. I don’t want to work or do anything. I just want the rest of the world to deal with their issues on their own. Leave me alone.
Luckily I was bumming of my parents, so I still had room and board. They yelled at me every day for not going to work, so I avoided them as much as possible. In the morning they went to work, and I would bum around the house all day. When they got home I would head out, go to a friends house. Come home for dinner, then hide in my room. The coward I am, I hid from everything. I made it a week like this, till finally I decided I should go back to work and deal with getting fired. Amazingly, they didn’t fire me –- they still wanted me on the team. They still wanted me as a potential manager. I was such a failure that I couldn’t even get fired.
My free time was spent doing three things: writing, reading, and playing StarCraft. That was all I had a passion for. Mingling with other people was overrated. Too many times there are assholes and idiots that you waste your time talking to at bars and parties. I’d rather surround myself with the wisdom of my own words in writing (even if they aren’t that wise), the company of other great writers, and the joy of playing the only game that excites me and can hold my spastic attention. People look at me and the way I prefer to live and call me a recluse, a computer nerd, or a jerk-off-aholic. Since I choose to play my games, read my books and write my stories they consider me less than them. I can’t get laid, I can’t get a job, I can’t make money or achieve in life. I feel opposite. I feel I can get more pussy, more money, or more success than all of them. I just don’t want it.
But the need for money will always force a man to leave his hole. Unless he wants to lie there till he dies. Debts must be repaid, bills must be paid monthly, and the world wants its money. So a man has to get a job and earn the cash. I go to work every day now, selling my knives, trying to talk people into buying things that they don’t really need. I show the wives how my knives cut faster and stay sharp longer. But, who cares? Buy cheap knives and they will still cut. My knives aren’t a necessity. They are a luxury, and I have to convince people that the luxury is a necessity in this American world. While other people starve, I force the families with a little extra cash to spend it on pointless knives because I convince them that everyone who is anyone has them. Rather than spending that extra money to help people who are needier, or to even better themselves or children, it gets spent on my knives. I feel like a salesman of waste rather than cutlery.
Everyday after work I head to the bar. It’s dark and reeks of disinfectant. It has a “red plastic with fake wooden trim” theme going on. I sit on the stools and nurse my rum and coke. I drink down three or four while watching the room of other poor souls with nothing better to do than throw their money at another salesman of waste. The bar is always quiet, isn’t even high class enough to have its own hookers. Finding myself there every night is depressing, but I come back after every workday.
One night I was surprised to enter my bar and find uproar. Three or four regular patrons were sitting in a booth with a new man, a strange man. All of my regular case studies were sitting in this booth on the red plastic seats with a new man who had a smile on his face, an expression that was quite foreign to this bar. He talked and the men laughed. I took my regular seat on a stool and began nursing my first rum and coke. Behind me I heard the hooting and hollering of men enjoying themselves. I decided not to go over. Nursing my drink and trying to figure out how to be fired was enough for me.
About 2 hours after arriving, the strange man came and sat next to me. After a closer look I decided he was a bum off the street, had found a few bucks to buy a beer and get into the bar. His clothes were tattered and worn. Gray curly hair filled with dirt framed his face. The collar of his button up plaid shirt was folded down neatly on his left side, but sticking straight up on his right. He wore a large down coat with slits covering it where I could see the down pouring out. Despite his dirty appearance his smile radiated through, and he seemed genuinely happy. And his happiness was infectious. I found a smile on my face.
“Hey partner! What you milking there? Rum and coke? Gotta love the rum and coke. What you do for a living? You sell things don’t you? I can tell… you have that look. What do you sell? Wait, don’t answer, let me guess. …… Knives, you sell knives. Am I right?”
I was flabbergasted and nodded a yes in his direction.
“I used to sell vacuum cleaners, door to door. I was good, never left a house without selling. I had the touch, the sweet mouth. There were some wives that wouldn’t buy unless I gave them a little bedroom time. That’s ok with me; I do what I need to do to sell. You ever had a wife jump your socks when you came to the door?”
“No, it’s usually my prick they jump.”
“Hah! You don’t like it though, do you? You would love to do something else. What do you love to do? If you were free to do whatever you want, what would you do?”
I looked down at my drink and shook it. This man was very odd.
“I would read, write, fuck, and play my games. That’s it.”
“What game you play? I play games too, mainly chicken in the middle of the road. I stand out there and don’t move. Most cars will turn. Some will hit you though…”
“I play a game called StarCraft, you wouldn’t know it.”
“Hell yea I know it!! That is a great game… So read, write, fuck and StarCraft. That is your dream job?”
“Any man’s dream job is to be paid for keeping their hobbies. But with your hobbies always come other responsibilities. Someone who likes music may become a DJ, but they have to deal with commercials and reading announcements. If they don’t enjoy that, they aren’t getting paid for strictly their hobby. You can get paid to play music on the radio, but you can’t get paid to be the listener.”
“So true my friend. Well how bout this offer. I will pay you to read, write, fuck and play StarCraft. What’s a good hourly wage?”
“Good hourly wage? 15 an hour would please me.”
“Ok 15 dollars for every game of StarCraft you play. The game has to be at least 2 minutes long to count. This includes replays. Every game you play or replay you watch, I will pay you 15 dollars. How’s that sound?”
“Like you’re a crazy bum.”
“Ah ha my friend!! So true, but that’s not all. Every story you write I will give you 100 dollars. If it is over 5,000 words I will add another 300 dollars, and if it is over 15,000 words I will give you 1,000 dollars. How do you like the sound of that?”
“Good. While we’re daydreaming we’ll say that you are going to go home to a big mansion in the hills and get laid by a beautiful wife tonight. I mean, I shouldn’t get everything right?”
“You’re closer to the truth than you know my friend! But wait; that’s not all! I will pay you hourly for reading. 15 dollars an hour. I will also give you 100 dollars for every girl you have sex with. Between those four ways to earn money, I think you should be set. This will be a forever contract. What do you think friend? Do we have a deal?”
“Yea, and while we’re at it, I want an elephant. I’ve always wanted an elephant.”
“Now you’re getting greedy. You can have the elephant in place of something else if you wish, or you can just save up to buy your own.”
“Fine, forget the elephant.”
“Good, good… My lawyer will be by to see you tomorrow. Don’t go to work, he will be at your house at exactly 12:00 noon. Fare well my friend!”
And with that he got up and left. It’s sad how lost bums get, how crazy they get. Once you get to that level, no home, no food, and no one to love, screws get loose. I felt that as long as I could keep a room around me I would survive. If I fall down with the bums, on the street and alone, I know I will lose it.
I finished my drink and gave the bartender an extra five dollar tip.
“Thanks for the tip Tony. I’ll see you tomorrow after work.”
“Yea, and Jim, big man, try an keep the crazy bums out. That guy kinda creeped me out.”
“Sure Tony, no problem.”
That night I ate dinner and was praised for having a job and attending it. I didn’t have to hide. The house was warm and my family was inviting. After eating I found myself in front of my computer, first writing and then playing StarCraft. The game had a hold on me, an addiction. Nothing else thrilled me that much, and nothing else could still entertain me completely after 10 years of use.
* * *
When I woke up in the morning I knew I wasn’t going to work. I had plenty of time get there, but my stomach told me I wasn’t going. I told myself that a day off was needed, a day to lie around lazy while playing StarCraft and eating like a slob. In the back of my mind I was really curious if the lawyer would show, even though all my rational told me that he wouldn’t.
The morning slowly drifted by as I ate breakfast and played StarCraft. The crazy bums ideas had a hold on me. I sat there playing and loving every minute of it. Why can’t I get paid to do the things I enjoy? Why isn’t there a way for me to earn cash by doing what I want to do, without extra, added chores? Someone who likes to read may become a librarian, but they aren’t paid to read. They are paid to organize, finance, reshelf, tell people about the library. All these jobs are made to create joy for others, and I only want to create joy for myself.
I played all morning, and noon quickly came around. In the middle of a game the doorbell rang, and I ignored it. The doorbell rang again, and again, but I wasn’t about to break away from my game. Then I heard a voice yelling up the stairs.
“Tony Vaughan, Mr. Tony Vaughan, are you here?”
I quickly paused my game and headed downstairs. We need to start locking the damn door, I thought to myself. At the base of the stairs stood a man in a dark suit, a slim face with slim glasses, and a buzzed haircut. He held a briefcase in his left hand and a clipboard in his right.
“Ah Mr. Vaughan, I’m glad you are here. I just need you to sign this contract and then take these time sheets to fill in how many games you play a day, how many hours you read, how many stories you write, and how many women you copulate with. Mail these in every Friday to the address on top. We will send you new sheets when you are running low.”
He handed me the clipboard and it slipped from my hand. The lawyer didn’t falter, just continued with his speech while picking the clipboard up and handed me a pen. I slowly looked down at the contract and saw my name typed at the bottom of the page. I signed underneath it and handed him back the clipboard.
“How is this happening? The bum in the bar told me it would happen, but how?”
“Well Mr. Vaughn, the man you met last night is a very rich and powerful man. He prefers not to live in the regular high society circle. Many times no one will see him for a week or two and he will return home looking like a vagrant. Last night was one of those times. My employer enjoys helping out those less fortunate than him, and essentially making their dreams come true. That’s why I am here sir, to make your dream job come true. Here are the time sheets, just send them in every Friday. Good day.”
“Wait! What’s his name? How do I thank him?”
“Those are things that you don’t need to know. Your interactions will be through me and my office. The address and phone number is..”
“On the top of the sheet, I know.”
“Very good sir. Is there anything else?”
I wanted to ask more but my mind was blank. I shook my head.
He gave me a large grin and said, “I will look forward to seeing your time sheets. Smile, you have just been reborn!”
He turned and left while my jaw sat open in a gape of complete bafflement. The lawyer went out the front door and gingerly closed it behind him. After staring at the doorway for a few minutes I looked down at the time sheets. I decided to get to work, went upstairs and created a new game of StarCraft. I was going to work hard today.
* * *
My family didn’t believe me. I didn’t blame them… my story was crazy. I still didn’t completely believe it myself, but I went to work every day. I rolled out of bed and opened StarCraft and played. If that bored me I wrote a story, or read Bukowski. My mom was very opposed to the entire idea. Even if it was true, even if there was money coming, I was getting paid to be a hermit. I was paid to be antisocial. She felt I would never get out, never go anywhere or see the sun. But she turned out to be wrong. With my money problems gone, my happiness increased. Every day was spent enjoying myself, playing games, writing and reading. I began to go out more since I had more free time. I went to the bars, to the clubs, and to the stores. My wardrobe increased, my car went from a $900 1983 Toyota Tercel to a 2008 BMW. Every bum I saw on the street I gave money to. I tipped large, ate well, and smiled constantly.
I immediately stopped going to “the” bar. I only went in there once more, after receiving my first paycheck. I asked Jim if the old bum had been around but Jim only saw him that one time. I dropped Jim a 40-dollar tip and bid him a final goodbye.
I was curious about the old man and wondered if I should hunt him down. I wasn’t sure why I wanted to -- maybe just to tell him thanks, maybe to ask him why, maybe I thought it would be like meeting god. I figured I could follow the lawyer around and eventually find the old man. But what was the point of that? What could I really gain? He made the deal without restrictions, but popping into his life might upset the situation. I decided to let sleeping dogs lie, to be happy with what I had going for me.
And wow, did I have a lot going for me! For the first 2 months I was a spending machine, moving into a posh new apartment, buying every new electronic gadget to hit the market, libraries worth of books, fancy meals and expensive alcohol. At first it was a new world, it was the world MTV had advertised to me, but quickly it became a shallow one.
One day my work didn’t excite me, my new toys didn’t excite me; none of my possessions or new girlfriends excited me. I went out and just drove, windows down, letting the air beat my face. I found myself at an old flea market. I wandered the stalls and started seeing interesting things that I knew friends would enjoy. I spent the entire day at the flea market and left carrying presents for everyone that had ever helped me out, shown me love and care. I delivered the presents over the next week and the joy on their faces sparked something inside of me. I realized that I could make myself happy by making others happy.
I started working harder, trying to pull in as much money as I could. I started writing a book, which kept me working hard. I spent a lot of time over at my parent’s house, helping out with chores and cooking between working on my book and playing quick games of StarCraft. I would go home and think about my book and read, alone in my bed, but not feeling lonely. I was working hard and making this money that I knew was going to cause some good.
It took 4 months of hard work before I finished my book. I had saved all the money that I could, and using what I saved I started my first charity foundation. It was directed at giving scholarships and support to kids from tough backgrounds, but that was just the starting point. I hoped that it would soon be providing academic scholarships and care for the homeless. I paid a few people to run the charity, people who seemed to really love the work. I wanted to provide enjoyable jobs and be a kind boss, which I was. I kept writing stories like crazy, played StarCraft like a fiend, and met girls here and there, but none seemed to understand my new passion. I poured all the money I could spare into the charity. I went from a salesman of waste to a vendor of relief.
Years went by and my checks kept coming. I got lucky and my short stories started selling, and then the books that I had started piling up began to sell. Soon I didn’t even need the checks, but I kept working hard so that I could pour the cash into my charity. I became more and more involved with the charity, making sure that I screened every applicant for a scholarship. I looked for kids that had gone wrong but were now straightening themselves out. I knew what it was like to only get attention when doing wrong but have people look at you blankly when doing something right. I wanted to reward them for once.
I thought that I was happy because I was helping others, and I’m sure that was part of it, but I realized that there was a bit more. Once I stopped worrying about where my next paycheck would come from my life started getting better. Once I started loving my work I could wake up in the morning with a smile on my face. I ruined that happiness when I was self indulgent, but I had realized the error and corrected it.
I never saw the bum from the bar again. The lawyer came around occasionally, but the man who was behind my happiness never showed himself. I did want to thank him personally, but always settled with sending messages through the lawyer. He had changed me from a bitter, dispirited, lazy man into a successful, happy, and generous community contributor. All he had to do was destroy money’s importance. He was able to free me from the system, and I plan to do the same for another poor soul one day.
Be Jealous
k2o4, Apr 29 2008
Why? Cause I just got "Batman Begins" in the mail from netflix. Sweet.
Gotta refresh the memory and enjoy the greatness one more time before Dark Knight comes out. I've avoided watching any DK trailers cause I want to have a serious influx of awesomeness in one go rather than tease myself with it. I know the movie is gonna be good, so no reason to watch the trailer and spoil it.
Also doing ok at poker. Having a very up and down time at NL100 so far. Some days are +4 buyins, some are -4. I think I could be turning those -4 days into -2 or maybe even break even if I avoided some key spew spots. But over the last 36 hours I've gotten my game face on and kicked the shit outta the fear that was engulfing me.
See, the problem I've been facing is that I win a little and get scared of losing it. This is probably cause I had 2 horrible sessions where I was up 3-4 buyins and ended up down 2-3 buyins because I stayed too long trying to stack a fish. So I had a period of time where if I won 1-2 buyins I'd leave the tables, call it a session. I had one session where I sat into a mega heater, won 2 buyins and left, all in about 55 hands.
But this lead me to playing scared and playing wayyyy too short and too little. After having a winning session I couldn't get myself to go back to the tables. I was scared I'd go lose it and then feel like shit cause I had a losing day. Stupid I know, but it was there, this fear hovering around me at all times to the level where I couldn't even enjoy a win cause I was just scared to lose it.
I spent a bit of time talking to myself (literally, I find I do that a lot these days) and telling myself to stop being a pussy, to remember how fun it is, and to focus on how I play not the money I make. I got through to myself and my mindset has changed around and that lead me to playing a LOT more hands the last day and a half. The roller coaster is still going and I'm still sitting at about the same place I always have, between $2,800 and $3,000. I can't seem to break the 30 buyin plateau yet, but I will. I know I will, especially with the way I'm playing now and the new attitude that I'm approaching with.
Today has been weird, total cooler central. My 2 biggest losing hands of the day were major coolers, set over set and straight over straight. The painful thing about the str8 was that the previous hand I won a 250BB pot, and before I even have time to celebrate I get dealt 98s and hit a JTQ 2 suited board giving me a straight AND the flush draw. Of course I get it in on the flop vs a guy with AK and he holds. So I lose 100BB right away and am only up 50BB. lol, Lee giveth and then Lee taketh away.
But amongst all of this mediocrity and up and down I have some good news: 50K VPP on the year! Halfway to Supernova!
This makes me happy. I really wanna be supernova so the FPP come faster and I can buy the really big bonuses. Right now I've got a $100 bonus going from the echeck thing they're doing for old epassporte people. I was also saving FPP's to hit 50K and buy another platinum $650 bonus, but when I hit 25K I decided to buy the Goldstar $285 instead because by the time I reach 50K FPP the $650 won't mean as much to me as the $285 does right now, cause it will help get my BR moving. My goal is to always have some sorta bonus going so that I have that free money coming and there's some sorta rakeback going for me.
Anyway, I'll just post some SS's of all my NL100 hands since the last time I shared. It's not pretty but I am glad that I never dropped to 2k and had to redo NL50. And I am on a very very very slow upward movement. Hoping to improve that by decreasing spew and getting more value, which I feel like I'm doing lately.
Oh yeah, one complaint to make. The main power breaker to my townhouse is outside, right where a lot of the neighbors toddlers play. These kids keep getting in there and turning my power off. I don't think they realize it and are just going "Oh secret switch cool" cause they're like 4 or 5 yrs old. But it's very tilting to have ur net go out along with the music, lights, and everything else. Also gotta go reset all the clocks in my house now. I caught em in the act today and yelled at them. Hopefully they stay away. I would put a lock on it but the lock part is broken. I think I'll go duct tape it after I finish this blog.
Nearly forgot - I've got another short story I plan to post but have been lazy and haven't seen a good time to do it. So keep an eye out for that.
Laters guys, leave a comment on your way out!
If this didn't happen
k2o4, Apr 25 2008
If this one hand went my way I'd have a 4.5 buyin win for the session.... instead I don't even pull in one buyin. WTF right? Talk about the way one hand can decide your day for ya...
Submitted by : k2o4
PokerStars Game #16991743143: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/04/25 - 19:23:23 (ET)
Table 'Waterman III' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: fab91 ($99.80 in chips)
Seat 2: k2o4 ($174.50 in chips)
Seat 3: CyberSn4ke ($122.80 in chips)
Seat 4: uwe666 ($208.45 in chips)
Seat 5: 0wnage1 ($160.90 in chips)
Seat 6: Spider341 ($42.95 in chips)
k2o4 : posts small blind $0.50
CyberSn4ke: posts big blind $1
Holecards(Odds)
Dealt to k2o4  
uwe666: calls $1
0wnage1: folds
Spider341: folds
fab91: folds
k2o4 : raises $5 to $6
CyberSn4ke: folds
uwe666: calls $5
Flop(Odds) (Pot : $13.00)
  
k2o4 : bets $9
uwe666: raises $9 to $18
k2o4 : raises $38 to $56
uwe666: calls $38
Turn(Odds) (Pot : $125.00)
k2o4 : bets $112.50 and is all-in
uwe666: calls $112.50
River (Pot : $350.00)
Showdown
k2o4 : shows (three of a kind, Jacks)
uwe666: shows   (a straight, Ten to Ace)
uwe666 collected $347 from pot
Summary
Total pot $350 | Rake $3
Board
Seat 1: fab91 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: k2o4 (small blind) showed and lost with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 3: CyberSn4ke (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: uwe666 showed and won ($347) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 5: 0wnage1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Spider341 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
COOLER OR NO?
Not sure if it's a cooler or a spewy move. I think it's a clear cooler 100BB deep, but not sure if that holds true 175BB deep. Really want to hear some thoughts on this.
It sux though cause I had a 3 buyin loss earlier today, went and untilted and came back kicking ass. This was my biggest losing hand of the session @ $175 - my second biggest losing hand was $13... damnnnnnn.
Anyway, gonna stop playing for now. Got friends coming over to drink and eat. My GF is cooking right now and I gotta head to the liquor store. Shitty friday pokerwise for me as I'm down about 2.5 buyins on the day. Oh well.
Hackers
k2o4, Apr 24 2008
The last few days I haven't paid shit for attention to poker cause I got dragged into the hacking drama in the BW scene. A guy on my team was accused of hacking and so we needed to investigate to make sure they were right. At first it looked bad for him, then I checked the evidence closely and it suddenly looked good. They'd misrepresented some facts and all their shit was very disorganized. This lead me to spend like 2 days of hunting replays and analyzing em with a friend. At the end it was clear that the guy 100% hacked. Glad to know for sure and have that shit be over with. Now I gotta focus on poker again. I was having fun being a bnet Hercule Poirot but that's over now.
Poker has been ok though. Played a really bad mega donkey session 2 days ago and have just now recovered from it. I was stupid and jumped on 6-8 tables and spewed 4 buyins. Since then I've been good about 4 tables and a great mindset before playing. Spent a lot of time going over hands with snider and sweating him some too. It's been very helpful. I think I'm making a lot of good plays and have really adjusted to NL100 well. I'm also table selecting well too.
No need for screenshots cause I've played like 500 hands in the last 48 hours. Gotta start putting in more time at the tables. Keep getting nervous when I'm winning... guess it's cause my last big losing session I was up about 3 buyins and decided to stay cause I had some mega fish on the tables, and managed to lose it all really quickly after deciding to stay. That was bad for happiness EV. That's a concept that I heard in Raptors CR vid and I liked it a lot. Happiness EV is good cause then I play better and make better poker EV moves. So I've been playing really short sessions and leaving as soon as I feel myself getting tired, lazy, anxious or nervous. I try to fight it but if it doesn't go away easily then I'm out. Can always take a break and come back later right?
I'm also a total drama whore and curious as hell about what is gonna happen with soah. That was some weird shit. So I'll probably be whoring LP nonstop till I see the details come out, haha.
Oh yeah, going grocery shopping tonight cause we have some friends coming over tomorrow night for dinner. We're cooking tibetan/indian food and they're bringing the wine. Should be fun and I'll try to post some pics.
Now I gotta go pay bills!
Oh the Tilt
k2o4, Apr 22 2008
I swear bad hands come in waves of abuse and pain. Started my session out smoothly tonight, cruised up to a 1.5 buyin win quickly, then like 4 tough spots hit within 10 hands and I messed up 3 of them. Hello 1.5 buyin loss. But I stayed calm and built back up to a 2 buyin win - and then it happened again. Just gross spots where I had to fold hands that I really hated to. Set vs 60/0/0.7 when the board made a 4 flush on the river and he shoved while we were 200BB deep. KQ on a K55AJ boa that he had check called on the flop/turn, and then he shoves into me on the river - wtf!!! That was the same guy btw, and those 2 hands happened back to back. Then 2 hands later I get KK, 3bet and get a 3way pot (this table was crazy). Flop comes all rag diamonds and I don't have a diamond in my hand - I Cbet and get raised, and I jam it in. At this point what was a 200BB stack has whittled down to 130BB cause of the 2 folds I had to make. I figure I'm getting it in vs the bare Ace of diamonds or some sorta PP 88-QQ often enough to be happy. Of course it turns out to be AQ of diamonds. And that's how I went from a 200BB stack to 0 in like 4 hands.
Rebuilt back to 200BB quickly with some good play and then spewily got it in for 100BB pre w/ TT vs a guy I really shouldn't have gotten it in vs. So now I'm here to complain about it all in my blog.
There were several other horribly shitty spots where I needed to fold strong hands but didn't. I was doing OK vs that super fish and made those 2 big folds, but I think it put me on mega tilt cause I'd been sitting there for a long time waiting to make hands against this station and he check/calls the flop through turn vs me in 2 big hands and then shoves the river when he has never made an aggressive move the entire time I've been at the table. OH THE PAIN. THE SUFFERING.
THE HORROR... THE HORROR
(yeah I just rewatched apocalypse now so...)
Despite all that I lost less than a buyin for the night, but I'm really pissed at myself cause if I'd left when I started getting hungry and slightly tired, I'd be a 2 buyin win with a total of 5 on the day. But nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
I'm gonna go find something hard to smash my head against and maybe this pain will go away.
Hello Heater!!!
k2o4, Apr 21 2008
Where have you been all my life???
Finally! Haven't had a session like this in agesssss! Of course the day started off freezing and I sat down to an hour and 300 hands of pain and suffering. It was a total tease as I doubled in the first 20 hands, won another half buyin by 100 hands, and then lost it all in shitty hand after shitty hand. I was smart enough to get up and take a break, smoke a cig, eat some food and get my head straight.
Then I came back and reviewed all my hands, saw that I only made 2 small mistakes and felt better. Got back on the tables and sat into a crazy heater where almost nothing went wrong. I couldn't lose. All my draws came in, sets hit left and right and I was getting action on them. I just bet bet bet away all session long and came out with a near 5 buyin win!
Pretty fucking great. Despite that I'm still only @ $2,600 cause my last few sessions were solid losers. But for now I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the feeling of a 5 buyin winning session, something I haven't had in a LONG time, and especially not @ NL100, haha. I almost left at about 2.5 buyins up cause I was so happy to be winning and didn't want to lose it all, but I told my fear to stfu and I played my standard hour long session and I'm very glad I did =) Hopefully when I get online later today for another session the heater continues. And if it doesn't, I hope that I at least don't run into cooler central.
Here's the graph of today so far:
Thanks to everyone who gave advice on all the hands I posted last night. That definitely helped me out a lot =) I just hope you guys can all have heaters too ^^
Woooooooooooooyeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh
Previous Page Next Page |
Contact Users: 571 Active, 1 Logged in - Time: 23:58
