Saturday, November 05, 2011

Overdue update, including WPBT Winter Classic news

Yes, it has been quite a while since I posted here. My poker activity has been sporadic since the WSOP, so there hasn't been much to talk about. Let's see what my memory banks can produce from the last few months.

As with so many other poker players, my playing has been reduced quite a bit since the Black Friday shutdown of the big online sites. I played in a few play-money tournaments on PokerStars with some other bloggers, but dropped out of that group when the host insulted me during one of the games. I didn't see any point in sticking around for that. I still have a few dollars on Bodog and play there for small change once in a while, but not much. I tried a free month on ClubWPT.com by mailing in a postcard, but the game offerings were sparse and I didn't care for the interface much., so I didn't send in any more cards to keep it going.

I played in a tourney at Riverwind in Norman OK when we moved our son up there in August. Didn't get very deep in that one. I did better when my wife and I went on another cruise to Alaska in September. I played in a one-table tourney in the ship's casino and chopped first place. I also helped organize a freeroll tourney for the Cruise Trek group that we sailed with, as I did on a previous cruise in 2006. I finished second in the freeroll, which won me a voucher for credit toward a future cruise. So that trip turned me a poker profit.

I play semi-regularly in a local bar league, and have finished in the points a couple of times recently. But I know that my game is rusty and I need to be more focused and brush up on my skills. That need is magnified because I will be playing some "serious" poker in four weeks.

That's right, I will once again be attending the WPBT Winter Classic in Las Vegas. I almost ended up not going this year, but decided that I do not want to miss out on the fun. My wife will be along for the trip again, and we will be doing some non-pokery stuff when I'm not playing. We will be staying at the Imperial Palace, arriving late Wednesday and leaving early Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of the poker blogger crowd the first weekend in December

On a non-poker note, I am thrilled that the Texas Rangers made it to the World Series for the second consecutive year, but (naturally) disappointed that they weren't able to get that last strike (twice!) to seal the deal. They had a great season and I expect them to continue to play great baseball for years to come.

See you in less than a month in Las Vegas!