Thoughts

- Over the weekend I got to go to a birthday party for a 4-year old. Don't ask me why I was at 4-year old's birthday party, but hey, it was fun. They had a magician and everything. He did a bunch of cool tricks, brought a real rabbit for the kids to pet, and made balloon airplanes, dinosaurs, and Little Mermaids at the end. The only bad part is, I didn't get a bag of party favors at the end. I kept wishing I was 4 again. But I think for my 24th birthday, I'm gonna have to get a magician too. Then I'm inviting all you guys to my birthday party so you can get me awesome gifts like sparkle lotion and books about horses.

- My week and a half break for Christmas/New Years is still a couple weeks away, but even before I get to enjoy it, I'm already worrying about how much it's gonna suck to go back to work after it's over. Mondays are already enough of a pain after a 2-day weekend, that I can't shake the feeling of how miserable a Monday after a 12-day break is gonna be. I've figured out that the problem isn't really because working sucks that much, it's more because "not working" is just that awesome. By now, I'm pretty much used to working Monday through Friday, and I think my job is pretty good overall. But obviously when you compare it to weekends, holidays, or vacations, of course it's gonna suck. Anyways, I should probably stop thinking so far ahead, it's gonna prevent me from enjoying my break in the first place.

- When I signed up for a cell phone plan, it was supposed to be for $39.99/month. But every month, I end up paying about $47-48 on my bill. The thing is, I don't ever go over on my minutes, and I don't use any of the optional services like downloading ringtones and stuff. This month, it reached a new high of about $49, which is just getting ridiculous. So I finally decided to look up my account info online and confirmed what I already knew, my monthly charges are supposed to be $39.99. The problem is, they tack on all these other charges in the form of fancy names so I don't know what they are. Basically, what it comes down to is that I'm paying about 8-10 bucks worth of "Taxes, Surcharges, or Assessments" and "Other Charges and Credits".

Also, as I was digging through the Cingular website and stumbled some fine print about a "Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee" which is supposed to "help defray costs incurred in complying with obligations and charges imposed by State and Federal telecom regulation". I'm taking this to mean that it all has something to do with the new law that forces wireless companies to let you keep your phone numbers, but I could be wrong. Now, hopefully this is only something that applies to new customers, but if I find out that I'm being charged this fee, even without switching companies, I'm definitely out the door. No hesitation whatsoever to leave this 2 and a half year relationship behind.

When will all these little fees and charges and assessments end? I'm tired of all this stuff adding up on my bill. As if I don't get "nickel and dimed to death" enough from playing Dave Chan in poker....

- The other day I saw this commercial for "Hip Hop Barbies". Hmmm... what's wrong with that picture? Now, I don't remember their names, but they were like "Tisha", "K.K. Lulu", or "Z-mo". It was pretty ridiculous, especially cause they all still have the smiling, big blue eyed Barbie face, just wearing hip hop clothes and their hair in braids. At least replace some of her pearly white teeth with gold fillings or something.

- There was also another Barbie commercial where they were casting spells and mixing up witches brew. Now that kind of stuff just really bothers me. If people don't want to believe in God, that's one thing, but is it really necessary to be promoting Satan by making something like witchcraft into a kids toy? I mean, Satanism is probably one of the last things you should ever want to mess with. But for some reason, our culture seems to think the subject is "cool" or "funny", I don't know what it is. With all due respect to the Harry Potter fans out there, I think it's horrible that the top selling books for children today feature a hero that is a witch. Can't we think of any other good subjects to write about? I also don't like the fact that so many TV shows and movies have these kinds of themes, as if Satan was just another genre of entertainment. I don't even understand why so many sports teams like to have mascots such as "Blue Demons" or "Red Devils". Now, I don't think I'm an extreme conservative when it comes to religion, but I definitely don't think this kind of stuff should ever be taken lightly. Or, maybe this does make me a conservative?

I-L-L...

So the Illini lost last night to UNC. At the time I was watching, it was infuriating that they couldn't grab a forking rebound. But by now, I'm over it already. It was close enough down to the end, where it could have gone either way, and on the road against a good team, you probably don't expect to win them all. Overall, I think this team is gonna have a great year. I don't think it matters a whole lot that they lose this early in the season, it's better than being overconfident and playing too cocky for their own good later on.

Anyways, watching the game made me think about the experiences in college when we "normal" college students had random encounters with the basketball players. I don't have a lot of stories myself, but between all the people I know, there's a good amount of stuff to list:

- My sister had some class with Nick Smith, and she says he just sits in the corner and nobody ever talks to him. Poor guy. Also, there's the the time when she met Dee Brown at the Union (I posted a picture of this a few weeks ago). According to her, he was very quiet and polite.

- Rod had class with a bunch of the players throughout his college years, and probably the most contact with them out of all of us. I think he said Lucas Johnson was a clown in his Rhet 105 class. And I vaguely remember some story about Marcus Griffin randomly asking him on the street if he knew where to get some weed.

- I don't think I ever had class with any of the basketball players. The closest thing would be when me and P took summer school, and there were these two girls basketball players in our Leisure Studies 100 class. As for the guys, the most that ever happened was near the end of that same summer, when a bunch of them showed up at Kam's. On my way to the bathroom, I bumped into Frankie Williams and I was like "sup man, thanks for staying one more year", and then shook his hand. I wanted to berate him for costing us all those games with his wild shooting when he was a freshman, but he seemed like a nice guy so I didn't. Also, he made up for it with lots of good plays later on so I guess it's all good.

- Other reports include: Damir Krupalija was a ladies man, and Luther Head is dumb as rocks. I'm sure there's other stuff I'm forgetting, but I can't think right now.

One of my favorite memories is of freshman year, when we would "finger" the players on UNIX. We knew all their account names from PH-ing them, like "ldjohnson" or "rarchiba". We'd usually find them logged on at CRH or IMPE, and Chras or P would send them a banner message like "FINAL FOUR 2000" or something. Yes, all of this borders on stalking, but it was fun. Too bad they changed the UNIX accounts to not accept those after freshman year. Maybe it was because of people like us?

These stories are all the kind of reasons why college basketball is so much more entertaining and meaningful to me than pro ball. As a sport, I don't really think basketball is that fun to watch compared to baseball or football. It's like you play 3.5 quarters which don't really matter that much, and then it just comes down to a couple bounces of the ball either way, or a couple critical calls by the ref and free throw shooting in the end. Especially after the Bulls dynasty ended, and the NBA started being filled with all these cocky 19 year olds, I really lost interest in that league. But then when you can watch the Illini on TV or live at the stadium, and be able to identify with the individual players like "hey, I go to school with these guys" and have stories that relate to them as ordinary people, it's that much better.

Go Illini... and please try not to steal any more PS2's, guys.

My Bits and Pieces

- The first time I heard the phrase "Rolling Ghettos" to describe the town where I work, I thought it was just a joke. I always figured that the northwest suburbs were all nice, otherwise why would Walter Payton live around here? But, now after about a year, I am starting to see that the area actually is kind of ghetto. It's the only area outside of the city where someone has ever come up to my car at a stoplight, tap on my window, and ask for money (by the way, the guy was not wearing a yellow vest that said "Help retarded kids"). Also, yesterday I saw someone hitchhiking for the first time in my life, about a block away from the NG building. Maybe hitchhiking isn't that ghetto, but I honestly didn't know people really did that, outside of movies and books, or on dirt roads in the countryside. So it seemed ghetto to me. Anyways, hopefully Rolling Ghettos is the exception, not the rule around here. P-tine must be where all the action is at.

- I think one of my useless talents is identifying where scrub actors/actresses are from. You know how all these sitcoms, commercials, and movies recycle the same pool of scrubs for the minor characters? I'm pretty good at seeing a face on screen and immediately being able to say "hey, that guy was Chandler's crazy roommate in that one episode of Friends", or "that's the kid from The Sandlot". Hmmm.... yeah, I don't know if my talents get any less useful than that.

- Illini basketball plays their first big game of the season tonight against UNC. I haven't watched any of their games yet this year, but tonight will probably officially kick off the next 4-5 months of Illini madness in my life. By the way, there's a Illini vs. UIC game on Dec. 30th at the United Center. I know from talking to a few people that we could get at least 5 or 6 of us to go, anyone interested, let me know soon and maybe I'll try to get tickets and organize something for that game. For reference, prices are as follows: $40 per 100-level seat, $30 per 200-level seat, and $25 per 300-level seat (I don't think UIC students get discounts for this game). I'm not sure what's still available, but if you want to go, also tell me how much you would be willing to pay, so I know what to get.

- "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". We'll see if this old saying is true. Starting this week, my latest addition to "Joe's daily routine" is a morning fruit break. Since oranges and bananas spoil too fast, and I'm too lazy to go to Jewel all the time to buy more fruit, my fruit breaks will mostly be apples.

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

- As usual, the Chens did not have any turkey on Thanksgiving. Instead, we enjoyed hot pot. I don't feel like explaining what hot pot is again, so for those who don't know, refer to last Thanksgiving's entry.

- Played mah-johng with grandparents and lost all my money. I honestly don't know what I can do to play the game better, but I always lose to them for some reason. It can't all be bad luck. Oh well, at least I got a t-shirt once for winning a TASC mah-jonhg tournament. It was way back in freshman year of college, but still.

- In my last week of teaching Sunday School for a while, the kids listed things they were thankful for. Most just said they were thankful for their family and friends, as expected. But some of the more interesting ones said they were thankful for "being a boy", "my video game called Crash Team Racing", "my cell phone", and "fish". I think when I was their age, I was most thankful for my Topps 1990 Frank Thomas rookie card, worth $4.50 at the time.

- Did not do any shopping, Christmas or otherwise.

- Did not go out at all, even on the "second-biggest party night of the year".

- Watched "Elf". A good movie, especially if you like Christmas.

- Watched "Home Alone" again on TV. That movie never gets old.

- Had a miserable fantasy football experience. Starters score 2 TDs, bench scores 6. This was not helped by Jeremy Shockey being a cackmaster and Bubba Franks rubbing it in my face for starting the cackmaster over him.

- Played the usual Sunday night cards, came out about even. As always, it was a nice and chill way to finish off the weekend, which, despite having twice as many days, still wasn't long enough for my liking.

Hold'em Hand Of The Day
Hand #1 - Me And My Two Low Pairs

As part of an ongoing effort to improve my decision making instincts in hold'em, I thought it might be a good idea to keep a log of certain hands on this blog. Maybe any of my poker genuis readers out there can provide their input on what should have been done, what they would've done, etc.

The following was the last big hand I played:

I was dealt 5-7 suited (hearts) on the big blind ($1), with 4 people left in the game and about $25 in my stack. The guy after me folds, then dealer calls the blind, and small blind also calls (I think). I check with my 5-7, half-wishing that someone had raised so I could fold.

But no one did, and the flop came with J-5-7 with a flush draw on the board (2 clubs). I bet out $2 with my two-pair (5's and 7's), and then I'm raised by the dealer, making it $3 more. Other guy folds, so it's up to me.

I think about what the dealer could possibly have on this board, knowing that he is a pretty loose player who likes to buy pots, and figure at best, he paired a J. So, I raise his $3 for another $10, expecting him to fold.

He calls my bet, and the next card on the turn is a club (I think it was an 8). Now if he has suited clubs, he has a flush. I'm still pretty sure that my 2-pairs are the best hand, but since he called my $10 raise last round, I decide to just check now. Then he puts me all-in (he has by far the most chips at the table, at least $60-70, while I have about $10 left).

I think about it for a while, but to me, the decision to call this last bet is pretty simple. The way I see it, there are only three possible hands he could beat me with:

1. He might have flopped a three-of-a-kind on the flop with pocket 5's, 7's, or J's. This was highly unlikely because I already had one each of the remaining 5's and 7's in my hand, and if he had pocket J's, I'm almost positive that he would raise with it on pre-flop.

2. He might have a flush with clubs. This was also unlikely in my mind because that means he put $13 in the pot on the flop with just a flush draw.

3. He might have paired that jack on the flop, then made the 2nd pair with the turn card. This was the most likely possibility of the three.

On the other hand, I knew that he was a loose player, and especially with the most money on the table, he was more likely to make reckless bets. I've seen him go all in with absolutely nothing at the worst situations in the past, and now I figure he's just too involved in the pot that he's desperate to try and buy it at this point by going all-in. My best guess, as I call his all-in for my last $10 or so, puts him on one of the following hands that I can beat:

1. Pair of Jacks, high kicker. This was the most likely situation, based on what kind of player I think he is.

2. Pocket Aces, K's, or Q's. This means he was playing them slow from the beginning to try and trap me, and if this were the case, now was my chance to make him pay for it with my 2-pair.

3. Complete bluff. Not all that likely, but it's definitely a possibility based on what I know about his style of play.

Well, as I'm pushing my chips in, he flips up his cards and there it is, A-9 of clubs for the "nut flush". I think "nut" is a good word to describe it because it definitely felt like a kick in the nuts. Anyways, with only one more card to go, I have to get another 5 or 7 (4 "outs") for a miracle full house on the river, but it didn't happen, and I was officially out.

As I do with a lot of hands that I get eliminated on, I end up replaying the whole thing in my mind afterwards, trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done to avoid it. I think overall, I played that hand pretty well, but in no-limit hold'em, it's those little things you do or don't do, that make you either a great player or just average to above-average. So here's the questions I wonder about in hindsight:

1. Instead of re-re-raising his $3 re-raise on the flop by $10, should I have just gone all-in at that point (about a $20 raise instead)? Chances are, nothing is going to come on the last 2 cards to help my 5's and 7's, so this is probably the best time to get all my money in there, on the re-raise. I did see the flush draw on the board, but I figured that $10 would be enough to eliminate someone staying for that. Actually, I thought that my original $2 bet should've eliminated anybody drawing at a flush, but apparently I was wrong on both counts. Either way, I wonder if he would have called an all-in regardless, considering he called my $10. I'm pretty sure he knows me as a player who rarely, if ever, re-re-raises $10 on the flop without a strong hand. Hmmm... next time I see him I'll have to ask the question.

2. Or, instead of re-re-raising his $3 re-raise, should I have figured he had 3-of-a-kind and just folded right there? I mean, I really shouldn't have been involved in the hand with a 5-7 to begin with, were it not for the big-blind, so maybe I should've just given it up when someone re-raised my bet. After all, I checked to him first, and with the flush on the board, I was honestly going to check on the last card too, if it came to that. But 2-pair on the flop, even though it was the low pairs, is just really hard for me to let go. I've won a lot of big pots in the past with that hand.

3. Should I have called the last all-in, after the 3rd flush card fell? As I said before, this seemed like a pretty clear decision for me at the time. Having already put more than half my total money in the pot, I felt that the odds were definitely there for me to call the last $10 or so. Also, I definitely don't want to be bluffed in any situation by anyone, so making the call hopefully discourages him (or anyone else watching the hand) from bluffing at me carelessly in the future. But maybe this is a case where I should be more careful about calling all-ins, when I could still be beat by so many hands (other than the flush, I think a possible straight was on the board, he could have the 3-of-a-kind as I mentioned, or even a higher 2-pair). After this experience, maybe I won't consider 2-pairs to be as great of a hand in the future.

Just to clarify to anyone reading this long story, I am not writing this because I'm bitter. Also, if I made the other guy sound like a terrible player, I didn't mean to. Even though statistically, it's a terrible play to put in a lot of money to draw at a flush from the flop (I think it's about 33% to hit), he did have a lot of money and could afford it at that point in the game. And from that point on, he played it right and ended up with all my chips, so I can't not give him props at least for that much.

Finally, I know that from my end, I probably didn't play that hand perfectly, so until I someday hone my poker skills into "Johnny Chan-caliber play", I'd be wise take everything as a learning experience. My goals are gonna be to complain less, to take nothing personally, and to hopefully get better along the way.

So, any constructive criticism from you the reader is welcome, such as "Joe you're such a dumbass" or "you suck". Or, "stop boring us with your sob stories, hold'em is for losers". But, maybe if there happens to be some good discussion and interest in my poker entries, I'll make it a semi-regular thing. In which case, I think I already know what my next "Hold'em Hand of the Day" will be. We'll see.