Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Black Widow


blackwidow-spider
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
I found this little bastard in my garage, waiting for an unsuspecting critter to wander into it's poisonous fangs.

I promptly killed it with one squirt of "Bore Scrubber" which is as good at cleaning shotgun bores as it is at killing poisonous spiders apparently.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Horizon blows

I spent the weekend in South Lake Tahoe for Rauser's birthday weekend.
They rented an especially luxurious cabin. Hot tub, pool table, great kitchen, plasma, sound system, two decks. Very nice.
Then we headed out to the Horizon Casino to do a little gambling. Of course I headed straight for the poker room. Or 'poker corner' I should say. It was the most pathetic poker room I've seen yet. There are probably 6 tables. When I arrived they were only spreading 2-6 spread limit. A tourney was about to start, but the spread limit game looked mighty juicy, so I decided to stay there and play a while.
It was all downhill from there. * I spent the first few hours absolutely card dead. And I mean DEAD-DEAD. 9-2o, 10-2o, J-2o,... and every other combo of X-2o you can imagine. Then I get QQ, yes, a hand! I raise $6 from late position and get two callers. Flop comes A-6-2. First position bets out $6. I lay it down.

*Repeat for the next 3 hours.

Around 2am Chad came by and sat down at the table. What do you know I finally catch a hand. KK. Chad calls my pre-flop raise. Flop comes all small cards I bet, he calls. And what do you know, an Ace falls on the turn.
"That Ace is going to hurt you." Chad says makes a bet.
"I know it will, but screw you." I knew he had an ace. I knew it. But after 5 1/2 hours of getting kicked in the junk, I just couldn't let go of the Kings. River was a blank and sure enough he flips over A-J.
Last hand of the night. I get A-Q suited. I raise. One caller. Flop comes down A-x-x, I bet. One caller. Turn comes down an Ace. I make trip aces. I bet my last $3 all-in. He calls instantly and turns up K8 of hearts. The river comes down heart, giving him the nut flush. I leave PISSED, and $270 poorer.

It felt miserable logging in such a huge loss. I rarely play cash games, and when I do I don't typically play for those limits. This big loss totally destroyed my hourly rate. I'm going to have to really work to get my bankroll back to par.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

4th place

Played in a $10 buy-in online Negreanu Open tourney last night at FCP. 126 players, no-limit, no-rebuys.
I made a huge all-in bluff on the first hand.
I held a busted straight draw. There was a good chunk of chips in the pot. He'd been calling my semi-bluffs and by the river I held only queen high. Since there was a straight and flush draw on the board, I decided to bluff at it. I'd put him on top pair or two pair. Since it was only the first hand of the game, I doubted he could call the rest of his chips even if he was 99% positive I didn't have it. I went ahead and pushed all-in. After a long time in the tank, he folded.
The rest of the tourney I was mostly card dead. Stole, stole, stole for a while and managed to make it to the final table. my name's at the bottom of the leader board.
At the end I expected to get at least to the final two, but this hand came up: With about average in chips. I held AA in the big blind. Made a good size raise. One caller. Flop comes J-10-blank. I bet. He raises. I go all-in. He calls. He flips over J-10 to make two pair. My hand does not improve and I am eliminated in 4th place. My take: $113.

Monday, February 06, 2006

25 straight


First 25 straight
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
SuperBowl weekend.
Since we didn't have any plans to party on SuperBowl Sunday, I set aside a few hours to shoot a few rounds of trap at Metcalf.
My first round, I shot terribly. I hit only 15 out of 25 from the 16 yard line. Dismal.
My second round I joined a squad shooting from the 20 yard line. Despite the increased distance, I hit 20 of 25. Improvement.
Round three, I returned to the 16 yard line. A fella on my right was nailing every shot. I hadn't missed either and by my 16th shot, I was getting nervous. A perfect score was within my grasp. I struggled eliminating the visualization of me missing my next shot. With a deep breath, concentration on just shooting the clay. No pressure, no pressure, this next clays was just like the previous ones...
I tried to calm down despite the thumping of my heart. I breathed deeper, opened my eyes wider, called "Pull!" and smoked the next target.
I made it to the last station. No dropped birds yet. I almost blew it on the 22nd clay, but managed to chip a chunk off of it. When I called for the last bird, I knew I was going to hit it. As soon as I pulled the trigger I knew I nailed it.
The guy next to me hit 25 too, but obviously he wasn't sweating it at all.
"You hit 25 too?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I've hit 25 many times," he said.
"That was my first." I said.
Another guy chimed in. "You'll have to lose that hat."
"What do you mean?"
"When you hit your first 25 straight, it's tradition that we get to shoot your hat," he informed.
They grabbed my hat, put 3 clays in it, lined all of us shooters up in a row, and tossed it high in the air, where between 12-15 of us shooters took a shot at it.
I think the 3rd or 4th shot nailed it and my hat was smoked.
So it was official.

I got some congratulations and gained some self-confidence. I also gained some pride in knowing that my $490 used Remington 1100 synthetic out-shot a bunch of people on the line with $3000-$5000 guns.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Stroker Ace


Stroker Ace
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
Here's a photo taken by Daniel Kokin aka Stroker Ace.

This image represents the way he sees his environment. They're moody, lonely images. Stroker's street photography captures the spirit of the city better than the glorified pictures of Lombard St., The Golden Gate, and Koit Tower ever could.

His website is a study in contrasts between street folk and yuppie city culture whcih defines San Francisco.

See more of his photos at DanielKokin.com

Thursday, February 02, 2006

coyote-1


coyote-1
Originally uploaded by Joe_13.
Here's a picture of a coyote on a trail at Foothills Park last month. It was pretty much oblivious of us as we drove throught the park.