Very Josie

Sitting in the Aria poker room waiting for the tourney to begin, I could taste the joy of anticipation welling up.  Like peppermint, it tingled inside me.  Like Christmas morning was finally here. Josie

I got to MGM 9ish and started my night at 1-2 NLHE.  A bit of a comfort zone for me.  I turned $20 into $60 just in time to get into the mixed game, while drinking premium kamikazees for a buck each.  Las Vegas rocks!  FYI I cannot hold my liquor. 2 drinks = I can feel them 3 drinks = very buzzed 4 drinks = drunk. I had about 10....at least. Do I know how to play razz?  No .  I play Hold'em exclusively, but with a little liquid courage I was good to go. I was in the 1 seat and after every single hand, I'd ask the dealer if we could play hold'em now, and invariably the answer would be not yet.  And my response was always "fuck".  Luck Box was directly across from me and helped me quite a bit, and helped the dealer keep track of which game we should be playing.   My 2 down cards were A-3 so when Skidoo bets with a 5 showing, I think my A-3 is decent and call, even though I have a K showing. Hold on a sec........

I decided to get to Vegas a day early so I arrived Wednesday afternoon.  I figured that'd give me extra time for tournament play.  I got a great deal on a room at the IP....or so I thought.  $18 per night during the week and $25 on the weekend, and you know what?  It wasn't worth even that. I was waiting for the elevator with this woman, and when the doors opened she said "Oh don't take that elevator it doesn't seem to be working right, wait for another with me."   That was bad sign #1. This view of the elevator floor that I rode in, was bad sign #2: Ewwwwwww It just seemed such a shame, to stay in such a shabby place when there was beauty everywhere around me.  After a few days I realized the IP was blogger hub, so I stopped being so bummed about my accomodations.  But NEVER again.  If I can't afford the Mirage or the Venetian, well I'll wait until I can. Okay back to reality. Wednesday night only people in town that I knew of were Miam...

Mama's home!  Too many stories and so little time.  I want to do the trip recap properly so you're going to have to wait a bit for it. In the mean time, please enjoy some bad quality photos taken with my camera phone. "When Josie comes home, so good.  She's the pride of the neighborhood" Wolfie Baby and Me.  I gave him the time of his life, but more on that latah. :) Okay so I got alot of pics of Wolfie.  Sue me. The One and Only Poker Grump.   (don't ask what I did to make him smile like that) Clicky on grump to read about my first time ever playing razz. :) I got struck by Lightning. A tiny bit of Joanne and Light's profile. Skidoo  and a Very hammered Very Josie. (after I kicked his ass at razz) The 2010 WPBT Champ , and his good luck charm Watching Football. Miami won AND The Pats won.  Wheee! Ian.  I love this guy! He plays the Very Josie under the name NumbBono, and sucked out on me badly. We were havi...

Josie's on a vacation far away Come around and talk it over So many things that I wanna say You know I like my girls a little bit older -Lyrics courtesy of the Outfield   I'm just heading to bed, exhausted, yet I feel too excited to sleep.  All packed and ready to go.  I have a list of tournaments I'd like to play besides the WPBT on Saturday. I plan to also play in The Venetian, The Flamingo and Harrah's.  So many poker rooms...so little time....   When I was in work earlier today I thought the day would never end.  Time was dragging so badly I thought it stood still.  And then 5 minutes before it was time to go home my boss found a bunch of stuff that I should fix before I left.  So I had to work late, but I got it all done.  Felt like frigging Cinderella.   OMFG I'm going to Las Vegas.   and I will Play Smart.   Josie

One more sleep! I woke up this morning at about 4:30am and my first thought was "One more sleep!".  Got up at 5am, packed and I'm ready to go!  I just have to go to work one more time.  Then I plan on doing the following: 1.  Helping Sugar Bear with homework. 2. Cooking. 3. My nails. 4. Using that Vegas website to make a list of the tournaments that I want to play in (besides the WPBT) complete with times, buy ins, starting chips, etc. 5.  Watch Biggest Loser. (love that show) 6. Post my football picks for the coming weekend.  I was lamenting to Gary that I didn't have ennough time to get everything I needed done, and he kindly did my picks for me this week.  I'm going to use them - we'll see how badly he mucks up my points.  :) 7.  Do a final post here. 8. Go to bed and try to sleep. I leave the house at 6am Wednesday morning, off to Vegas (in case you haven't already heard).  I'll be taking notes daily so I can report on all when I...

I ended up working a half day on Friday, came home....and started thinking about an afternoon trip to the Seabrook Poker Room.  Hmmmmm..... Pros - Winning would give me a little extra cash in my pocket for Vegas, plus getting some real live action practice is always a good thing. Cons - Last time I went I won the tourney....can lightning keep striking?  Plus funds are limited. Do I want to lose cash in NH when I'll be going to Vegas next week? I decided to go.  I played the 4:30pm $70 tourney, no rebuys with 50 players.  Earlier in the week Lightning baby was giving me a little advice on my play.  Actually he was showing me where the holes were.  I already knew where the holes were but hearing it really sunk in for me.  As Light said, I always chip up early (Mama likes having a stack) but then I gamble it away.  So the WHOLE time I played this tourney, I focused on that.  On NOT donking off chips.  Not playing too many hands.  ...

Had a small 5 playa home game tonight.  I made the decision to tighten up my game earlier in the day.  The thing is I enjoy playing more hands than I should.  And when I open that range up, I tend to lose.  So I said "Josie, tonight, you're going to play far fewer hands and just see what happens."  And you know what happened?  We played 2 tourneys and I came in 2nd and first.  Not only that, but I made some pretty sweet (and accurate) lay downs, like laying down K-3 when the board was K-7-7 and I was facing a raise.  I laid it down face up and saw I was up against K-10. And my reads were right on.  Calling raises when I was ahead, folding when behind.  Pretty happy with my play.  I just have to keep it up. Just 5 days away my friends.  5 Measly days. Play smart. Josie

Winner!  Gary a/k/a The Hebrew Hammer We had 10 players in The Very Josie tonight.  Woot, that means a 2 table!!!  My boy Pokah Dave, remember when he used to play good?  Well last night he was out first.  Booo...  CemFredMd, aka Chippy was out next.  And guess who was out third.  Yup, me.  Frigging Wolfie did it to me again.  (Heh, he wishes!)  I had pocket 7s vs his QQ.  Flop was like 9 high and he checked it.  Tricky Wolfie...anyway I threw good money after bad and boom.  I dunno why I never believe that Wolfie has a hand.  I may just have to start respecting his play.  Funny thing is, QQ ended up being his demise, but I'm getting ahead of myself. At least I made it to the final table I suppose..... Bammer played so well all night just to bubble.  Oh well, that's poker. I had a ball as always.  When I got home tonight I was so tired, I decided to sleep for an hour, but it didn't work out....

Winner's Bounty Happy December everyone!  It's the first Wednesday of December so you know what that means; it's The Very Josie! Wednesday Night at 9pm. Password is pokerbaby Starting tomorrow, The winner of The Very Josie gets a coveted Very Josie t-shirt absolutely free!  The only way to get one is to win The Very Josie. (unless you're Miami Don) So come on and play.  Just to mix things up a little, I'm playing Spewday tonight.  I'm too freaking lazy to link it, but it's a HORSE game and I've never played one of those before.  Should be interesting.  I'll give you an update when it's over.  Hopefully I'll last a little longer than I did in last week's Mookie. UPDATE:  I ended up BUBBLE in Spewday.  Soooo dumb!  This was my first time playing HORSE though....and I lost track of which game I was playing!  I thought I was playing a H/L game but it was RAZZ and I was all in with crapola, and I bubbled.  I did take Waffles a...

 I am front and center in blue and my brother is far right in black. Yes, that picture is from the 80's, but it's the only one I've scanned of my brother.  Tomorrow would have been his 48th birthday.  Seems crazy to me, that my brother would be that old.  He died, you see, 13 years ago. No, I'm not over it, but I've made progress towards healing in the past year.  The fact that I am able to write this post is proof of my progress.  I cannot even utter his name without crying.  So bear with me and yet another tribute type post as I try to honor his memory in a positive way. Speaking of uttering his name....his name was Bennie, but I always called him Bayne - my private nickname for him.  It started out as Banus (a combo of Bennie and anus because he was a PIA) and then it morphed into Bayne.  So whenever I see a comment from Bayne, my heart skips a beat. Anyway, he was 4 years older than me and from the time I was about 7 years old I was h...

Isn't he handsome? That is my handsome 12 year old son.  And what's that he's wearing?  Why it's a Very Josie t-shirt!  Tomorrow one just like it is being shipped to The Netherlands!  Woot!  Very Josie is very international! Would you like to be as cool as Evan and have your own Very Josie t-shirt?  All you have to do is win The Very Josie tournament.  It's this Wednesday, December 1st.  Come play with me, and the winner will get his own Very Josie t-shirt. I'll be practicing my mad tourney skills in preparation for Vegas, baby, so watch out.  I'll be coming out swinging.  This Wednesday @ 9:00pm.  The Very Josie The password is pokerbaby . Play smart. Josie

Mmmmmm Turkey Wishing each of you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  Lucky for me, I'll be doing more eating than cooking for this holiday.  My mother is making Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm helping out a bit. I'm making a couple of side dishes (the peas and sweet potatoes) plus I'm baking lemon drop cookies and an apple almond cheesecake.  As Rachael Ray would say....Delish! Thanksgiving is pretty much about 3 things; food, football and being thankful.  Today I told my boss I was thankful for him.  I think he was shocked.  Now I'm not talking about the owner; the old guy I love, love love.  Although I'm thankful for him too.  Yesterday the owner did me a large favor, then came over to bring me my bottle of Thanksgiving wine.  I thanked him, but it was more for the favor than the wine.  He understood.  He whispered in my ear "Dear, I'd do anything for you." And you know what?  I'd do anything for him....

I'm in the midst of planning our office Christmas Holiday party.  It seems that the hardest part is coming up with our annual party game, so I am looking for ideas that I can steal use. Last year our game was "Two Truths and a Lie" which I stole from Linda Lou's fabulous book, Bastard Husband, A Love Story.  It was alot of fun.  Every employee submitted 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves.  We put it all on a big board and everyone had to figure which one was the lie.  The point is to submit truths that no one knows about and make the lie believable so it's hard to determine. Every year the game is different, and quite frankly I am out of ideas.  We've done the "submit a baby picture of yourself and guess who's who."  We did a doppleganger one.  We submitted quotes of things said by each employee and you had to guess who said it.  Once you add booze, these games become a riot. Below are the options for this year so far, and none are r...

I'm still feeling sick, but kind of committed to another Spades game at Lynne's house.  Stay home and be sick, or cancel, which I know will disappoint them? When she scheduled the spades game, she made it for when I was available.  But damn, I cannot seem to shake this congestion. Was feeling better yesterday.  Today, not so much. And I was planning on getting so much done today (Saturday) but it's almost 2pm and I'm sitting here inert. Oh well. Josie

Less than 3 weeks till Vegas, but who's counting? :)  I get to try out my mad poker skills in Vegas baby!  Hopefully, you know that was written with a bit of sarcasm.  Yet I really do have a knack for reading people, both at the poker table and in life.  We shall see if I reap some benefits from it. Okay, it's my day off and I'm about to get some errands done, so i have to make this quick.  Below are the reasons why I'm so excited to FINALLY go to Las Vegas: (in no particular order) 1.)  Live action Baby! 2.)  Lots o drinking 3.)  Wolfie's bringing Salted Cararmels .  (if he doesn't, let's just say that would be BAD) 4.)  Meeting Wolfie 5.)  I'll be meeting MIAMI DON. (I'm gonna try not to act like a groupie) 6.)  Ditto for Lightning 7.)  Ditto for Waffles - although I've already "met" him.  Haven't seen him in quite a while though.  Certainly not since he started sporting his Porn Stache.  8.) Poker Gr...

I'm wicked sick.  Shivering and sweats all night.  What a freakin combo.  But I'm in work for now because duty calls. (and my boss is out tomorrow) Which brings me to the point of this post.  I had plans to meet with a new employee this morning, which I just did.  Lovely Asian girl, but English is definitely not her first, second, or third language.  Anyway, I ask her how to pronounce her name (I really try not to butcher people's names) and she tells me her name is.... Eugene. "Really, pronounce it again so I can get it right" I request. EUGENE. Does she know she has the name of  a nerdy boy?  I'm thinking no. Josie

The Pits I have always loved olives.  Heck, my Nonno was an olive farmer in Sicily, so why wouldn't I love olives.  My ex brother in law, however hated olives.  He was a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  That's pretty much all he ate, when he wasn't eating butter and potato chip sandwiches.  Yes, a real gourmet. Anyway, we all went away to NH for the weekend and we were sharing a suite.  We always brought tons of snacks, and someone brought a small box of chocolates, which was quickly eaten.  Later on, I was laying on a bed, reading my book, and eating some olives!  I had no where to put the pits except for in the little chocolate box that was near by.  Perfect!  I'd suck on an olive for a while, nibble the yummy olive goodness off the pit and deposit the pit in the empty chocolate box.  Rinse and repeat. Then I went down to the pool for a swim. When I got back exbro in-law was laying on the bed eating chocolates!  He had ...

Online poker is to live games, as fast food is to gourmet fare. How online poker and fast food are alike: They both are quick options. You think they are satisfying till afterwards. They are addicting. Afterwards, you'll be thinking, "why did I indulge?". That being said, although I do play my fair share of online poker, I do NOT eat fast food regularly.  Maybe once every 4 months at most.  Unless you count pizza, and I do not! Mmmmm pizza.....as much as I love pizza I don't have it very often either.  When I do have it, it's to be social at lunch time at work.  I work at the edge of the North End of Boston, which is Italian, Italian, Italian.  I am a 2 minute walk from the famous Pizzeria Regina, but most of the people at work get their pizza at Ernesto's.  First time I went to Ernesto's I ordered 2 slices of pizza and was handed 2 thirds of a large pie.  I didn't know that when you order one slice, you get 2 very large slices.  Tho...