If I won the lottery I would...

• quit my job and become a professional poker player.
• build a new house (probably in Plantation).
• buy season tickets for the Dolphins, Gator basketball and football, Heat, and Nasdaq 100.
• plan vacations to Vegas, New England, Alaska, Mediterranean, Ireland, Italy, and London.
• take the JC on a cruise.
• pay off my sister's and brother-in-law's mortgages.
• hire a personal trainer and get in shape.
• buy Leslie a bunch of diamonds.
• buy a Bentley.
• buy an Armani suit.
• buy a Bose surround sound system.
• buy a car that has hydrolics and a pimped out speaker system.
• start my own web and database development company.

Weekends are too short

Had a pretty good weekend (was too short though). Friday night we met my sister for Japanese food (our favorite). Wasn't that good though. We got seated right away, but waited for a cook for about an hour. When the cook came I felt like he was rushing. They had a lot of people waiting, so he wasn't on his game. No big deal.

Went home after dinner and got on the computer for some poker. Turned out to be one of my best sessions. Played 2 $100 9 person games and finished 2nd and 3rd. Then played a $30 18 person tourney and got first. I played pretty stupid early on (one hand in particular), but came back and played really good poker. On an early hand I was dealt AKo on the button with the blinds 25/50. Everyone folded to me. I raised to $150 and was hoping I would get one of the blinds to call. The small blind re-raised me for $350 more. Big blind folded. I decided to call and see a flop. Nothing came on the board, and the small blind was first to act. He throws out $250. This guy was involved in a lot of pots, so I put him on nothing, or a low pocket pair. This was also the first hand I was involved with, so I thought I'll move all-in and he'll probably fold (big mistake). Turned out to be a really stupid play. He called and turned over pocket Qs. I had him covered by $190...

Some of my all-in hands that kept me in the game and doubled me up were AJ vs A5 and KQ vs AT. I was very patient for these hands. Later on in the tourney when it went one table I was on the button with A4 of diamonds. Blinds were 75/150 and they were no callers when it got to me. I called as did the small blind, and the big blind checked. Flop came 523 of diamonds. Sweet!! Flopped a straight flush. I checked and the small blind (chip leader) threw out $400. The big blind folded and I called. Turn came up with an Ah. Small blind checked and I checked. River was a 9c. Small blind threw out $1125 and a raised the minimum (another $1125). He folded and I showed my hand. Was in 2nd place at this point. One hour later I won the tourney.

Saturday morning I woke up early and went to my folks house with Samantha. Helped my Pops bring down my furniture from upstairs. Kym was getting new furniture for her room and they moved her furniture into my old room. My furniture was in the loft. Brought it down to the garage and had some breakfast. The Eichels (Mark and Linda, parents neighbors) stopped by for breakfast with Gavin (grandson). We took some pictures of Sam and Gavin as you can see.



Left my folks house around 10:00 A.M. and was off to pick up Leslie and head to West Palm Beach to visit Grammie. Grammie was very excited to see us. She looked very good and seem to be feeling a lot better compared to earlier in the week. I ran to the grocery store while we were there to get her some fruit, bread, and drinks. Picked up some Checkers on the way home, and relaxed this rest of the afternoon.



Saturday night Samantha and I hung out for the night while mommy went to hang out with the girls. Went and picked up some Stevie B's for dinner and headed back to the house where Samantha and I sat around and played with her toys. She went to bed at 7:55 and I was off to playing on-line poker. I almost wish I didn't. I was coming off of one of my best sessions from the night before. Played in 3 $100 9 person tourneys and got knocked out early in all of them. Played really stupid. Was chasing draws for the most part.

Leslie got home around 9:00. She had a good time. They went to some Mexican restaurant. Can't remember the name. She went with Anona, Alyssa, Jen, Jaime, and Shak.

Sunday I woke up early and went to play some basketball. Second week in a row I got out there. I haven't done that since the hurricane hit. I played very well this time around. Was hitting my jump shot, and my stamina was coming back. Won about 4 or 5 games in a row. When I got back from basketball Leslie made us some french toast (yummy!). Hopped in the shower and did some stuff around the house. Then it was off to cheesecake for lunch. Headed back to the house for Sam's nap, and then went to visit the in-laws. Watched the Heat game on their HDTV. My father-in-law made his famous spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Good stuff!! By the time 7:30 came around I was exhausted. Must have been the five glasses of wine. Went home and watched Cold Case, and then passed out.

Funny blond joke...

For some reason I got a kick out of this.

Funny blonde joke

One month down

So another week has gone by in 2006. It's hard for me to believe that the first month of 2006 has already gone by. This week seems to be going by pretty slow. I think I got used to all those 4 day weeks, and actually having a 5 day week has been rough on me. I will just have to look forward to President's Day in February...

February? I just realized my birthday is one week from today. I'm not really that big on birthdays. Would rather it just come and go. It's not the whole age thing, just don't like to make a big deal about it. Just not my thing.

Not too much going on this weekend, I think? You never know, half the time we have plans and I forget about them. As far as I know I am going to my parents house tomorrow morning to help my Pops move my old furniture out of my old bedroom. Will probably bring Samantha over with me so my sister and Moms have a chance to see her this weekend. From there it's back to the house to pick up Leslie and off to see Grammie (Leslie's Grandmother) in West Palm Beach. She hasn't been feeling well lately, and it has been a while since we visited her. Not sure about the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday night it's Daddy and Samantha night. Leslie is going out for Jenn's "bachelorette" party. Not really a bachelorette party, just the girls going out for dinner, so they say. I'm sure on Sunday we will stop by my in-laws house to visit. My mother-in-law is having knee surgery today, and I'm sure a Samantha fix will be in order. Not sure about the rest of the day.

No football on Sunday. That stinks. At least I have the 1:00 Gator basketball game (might have to tape it). I am hoping they snap out of the funk they are in. The last two games have been horrible. I couldn't even watch the end of the South Carolina game. I am kind of down on Billy Donovan right now. Think he needs to improve on his game-time coaching. The guy is a great recruiter, but he doesn't seem to make the game-time adjustments to help our team win. I think ever since we lost Coach Pelphrey we took a hit in that aspect.

Alright, time to get back to work. I'll post up some of my latest poker stories in the next post.

Four Things

I’ve been tagged by Doobie.

"Four Things":
Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
1. Developer II / BankAtlantic
2. Systems Developer / Access Diabetic Supply
3. Technical Lead / Infinity Software Development
4. Software Engineer / StrataSys Group LLC

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Pure Luck
2. Groundhog Day
3. Casino
4. Sleepers

Four places I have lived:
1. Plantation, Florida
2. Gainesville, Florida
3. Weston, Florida
4. Tallahassee, Florida

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. World Poker Tour
2. World Series of Poker
3. High Stakes Poker
4. Big Brother

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Israel
2. Napa Valley
3. San Francisco, CA
4. Bahamas

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Filet Mignon
2. Spaghetti and Meatballs
3. Brisket
4. Hibachi

Four websites I visit daily:
1. CbsSportsline.com
2. Espn.com
3. Google.com
4. CardPlayer.com

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Home with the wife and kid
2. On a cruise
3. Las Vegas
4. Gainesville

Four bloggers I’m tagging to do this:
Not only do I not know four bloggers, but I don't think more than four people read my blog.

This Weekend in Review

Alright, so the bachelor party wasn't as good as I hyped it. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but when you are ready to leave at 12:00 A.M., and don't get home until 6:00 A.M., it kind of kills the night (or in this case the morning). Plus, I had to get up at 8:30 A.M. to take care of Sam (Leslie was spending the morning with her Mom for her birthday at the spa). And to make matters worse, Sam is teething, and yes you guessed it, she was already up when I got home at 6:00 A.M. So those 2 or 3 hours of sleep I was planning on getting didn't happen. Leslie had been up with her since 5:00 A.M., and Leslie didn't get too much sleep as well. So, the three of us were a real pleasure to be around to say the least.

Fortunately Sam was in a very good mood the rest of the day. And once the sun came up I was feeling ok as far as energy. I think the shower and the bagels and cream cheese kept me going. The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill. Later on that night the family, my in-laws, and my brother and sister-in-law all went out to dinner for my mother-in-laws birthday. We had 6:00 P.M. reservations at the Blue Moon Fish Company. This place was awesome. I had gumbo as my appetizer and the surf and turf special as my entree. Really good stuff. I had some of Leslie's Rack of Lamb and that also was very good. It was a really nice dinner. We’ll definitely be going back there. By the time dinner ended it was about 8:30 (Samantha was starting to get cranky). We got home and passed out. The three of us were all very exhausted.

The next day was MLK Day, and since I work at a bank I got the day off. It was an uneventful day. We ran a couple of errands, got Samantha some clothes and pajamas. The highlight of the day was we ate lunch at Firehouse Subs. I have been craving a Steamer sandwich since I left Tallahassee, and it was right next to the Babies R Us on Commercial and University. It was awesome. After the shopping we went home. Did a few things on the outside of the house. Then just chilled the rest of the night. Watched a little of the Golden Globes with Leslie and managed to get a poker game in before the night was over.

That's it for now.

Poker Stories...

So I played a couple of games last night. Overall I did well. Played in two $50 9-person tourneys and one $100 9-person tourney. Placed 2nd in one of the $50 games and 3rd in the $100 game. In the other $50 game I got knocked out early (bad beat).

Of course I will get into the details. Doesn't every poker player have to explain his or her bad beats? Even as annoying it is to listen to other peoples bad beat stories we always feel the need to talk about our own (at least that is my feeling).

So I get A9 suited on the big blind. Blinds are $15/30 so it's still very early. One player has been eliminated so far. Five players call the blind and I decide to check to see a flop (I'm a very conservative player, some people think too conservative). The flop comes J99 rainbow. Awesome!!! I check and the player to the right of me throws out a $60 bet. Two more people call the $60 bet and it’s to me. So I re-raise to $360. First guy folds... Second guy goes all-in, what?!?! Next guy folds and it's to me again. He has me covered so I would be all-in. So I'm thinking the only thing that beats me is pocket Js and J9. Have to call. So after about 10 seconds into my time bank I make the call. So the cards are flipped over...

He's got K9. YES!!!!! So I am a big favorite right now. He's got 3 outs for the Ks to take the pot and 3 Js for the split. Next card comes up and it's the J. Ouch!!! Split pot. Man. What an opportunity to double up. So I'm pissed right now. But then the next card comes out and it's the K. NO!!!! I'm out. What are you going to do.

Looking back I'm really not too disappointed with this game. I put all of my chips at risk with the best hand. What more can you ask for.

All right, enough of my rambling of this bad beat. I'm sure there will be a lot more to come. Plus my sister just got here (was supposed to be babysitting tonight, but has turned out to Leslie and her chillin for the night), and they are staring at me as I write this post. Hopefully more good stories to come tomorrow (JTs bachelor party tonight).

2005 Holidays

Picture of the family from the Holidays this past year.

My first post

Alright my first blog post. Finally getting up to speed with the whole Web 2.0 thing. Hopefully I will keep this thing up to date. Very excited about this weekend. Have a bachelor party for JT this weekend. We are going to start it by meeting up at Hooters for some beer and food. Will get to catch the end of the Gator basketball game (against Auburn 6:00 P.M.) and the beginning of the New England / Denver game which should be interesting. Also, Monday off (banking holiday). Lucky me.

Speaking of the Gators, I can't believe how well they are doing this season. Man, never would have thought they were going to come out and start like this. Number 2 in the polls. Just hope they stay there, cuz we all know what happens when we get the number one ranking. I don't think we have to worry about that, Duke doesn't look like they are going to lose any time soon.

One more thing, I can't possibly leave a first post and not talk about poker. Have been playing mostly on Poker Stars as of late. I also have an account at Pacific Poker, Doyle Brunson (which I think is now FullTilt), and Party Poker. I mostly play the nine person sit and go's with an occasional 18 person or 45 person tourney. Also have tried the Omaha Hi/Lo tourneys, but try to stay away from them (too many manics). Right now I am at the 2K mark with my bankroll (started with 100 about 2 years ago). Last night I won a $50 nine person tourney and finished 4th (one out of the money) in a second tourney. I'm sure I will get a game or two in tonight as well.

Oh yeah, and last but not least (definitely not least)... Samantha is getting her first tooth (bottom left). She actually is very close to walking too. I would give her another 2 or 3 weeks and she should have it down. Leslie has been taking her to "Mommy and Me" classes which I think is helping her progress. Most of the kids are 2 - 5 months older than her which I think helps.

Alright that's it for now. I'm guessing the next post will either be Monday or never (lol). Hopefully Monday.