My Regular Season Has Begun

I started my summer movie-watching spree with Spider-Man 3 last weekend and this week I followed up with 28 Weeks Later. I will do a review of both, but I am going to start with Spider-Man 3.

After reading some fan reviews on the World Wide Web in the last week it has been decided that folks either loved this movie or hated it. I fall closer to the latter.
Sam Raimi really disappoints this time around with too many villains, a ridiculous display of the emergence of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s dark side, pointless characters and laughable ways of cleaning up the mess Raimi made in trying to spin too long and complicated of a web.
The Sandman is a pointless character that is pushed upon Parker (and the audience) by changing the Spider-Man comic book history. According to the movie, Flint Marko/Sandman has a connection to Uncle Ben’s killing, but Raimi only does this because otherwise there is nothing to Sandman. He has nothing to give to the movie except some cool visual effects, which aren’t anything we haven’t yet seen in a Spider-Man movie.
Another villain, who is considered to be Spider-Man’s most anticipated and wicked adversary, is Venom. Venom is the creation of a symbiote alien goo and photographer Eddie Brock. Brock is angry with Parker for ruining his career and the goo brings out more anger from Brock. Thus Venom is born… and dead within 12 minutes of screen time. This creature is what every Spider-Man fan has been waiting six years for since hearing the news of a live-action movie. What a let down.
The final villain (that’s right, we’re still working on villains) is the new Green Goblin, a.k.a. Harry Osborn. Osborn is still on a rampage to kill Spider-Man, whom he now knows is former best friend Parker. The two have the best fight scenes of the entire movie, but it results in a lame result that has no originality and teeters on being a bad soap opera story. Even the outcome of Parker and Osborn’s friendship is resolved by a random character that mimics the form of Bruce Wayne’s conscious. Again, not an original idea from Raimi.
A character who is set up to play a large part in the film but fizzles out halfway through is Gwen Stacy. This will be another argument by Spider-Man fans because Stacy was a much bigger player early in Parker’s life in the comic books. She is introduced at the beginning of the film and consequently drives a wedge between Parker and Mary Jane, but then is dropped completely after a pitiful attempt at humor by Raimi when the alien goo begins to take control of Parker’s dark side.
I’m not sure of the running time for Spider-Man 3, but it feels way too long for a kids’ comic book film, which is what this series has been reduced to after this installment. The story drags and the final battle is so complex/unrealistic it becomes farcical. Spider-Man 3 is the worst of the entire series and a change needs to take place because it just feels tiresome now.

2007 Summer Movie Preview

These aren't all the big movies coming out this summer, but they are probably the seven films I am most likely going to get excited/brave the crowds for.

Spider-Man 3
Looking to start the summer off right, the third installment in the ongoing battle of juggling a normal life as Peter Parker and protecting the city from super evil as Spider-Man will hit theaters on May 4, most likely setting the tone for a huge money-making season.
This time around, things look to be going great for Parker as he has confessed his undying love for Mary Jane and plans to marry her, but turmoil is never far in the superhero world. Not only must Spider-Man face off against his newest adversary Sandman and an old friend in the form of the new Green Goblin, but he must also cope with an alien entity that bonds with Spider-Man's suit, giving him limitless powers and emotional instability.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Picking up where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest left off, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and the rest of the Black Pearl travel off the edge of the map in an attempt to rescue Capt. Jack Sparrow from a watery grave at the hands of Davy Jones. They traverse the seas and join newest cast member Chow Yun-Fat, as Sao Feng the Pirate Lord of Singapore, in a final battle that will decide the fate of all piracy.
The trilogy will come to a close on May 25, but talk of a fourth film has already started brewing even before the third one is released.

Ocean's Thirteen
Save the date of June 8 when Danny Ocean and his ragtag gang of oddballs attempt to pull off another heist with the help of their old opponent Terry Benedict.
Joining the crew this time around is Andy Garcia's Benedict and Ellen Barkin, supposedly as the love interest for thief-in-training Matt Damon. These two will take the place of Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who are not featured. Not much is known about the plot outside of Ocean and his team targeting their man for revenge, but the mark in the third crime caper from Steven Soderbergh is scenery-chewer Al Pacino.

Transformers
Growing up as an 80s baby, there were certain television shows that molded me: "The Smurfs" taught me about kindness and morality, "He-Man" gave me courage, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were my comic relief and "Transformers" was just the guilty pleasure of my childhood.
Although a 1986 animated film was already released about the Transformers, explosion-happy Michael Bay is giving it another try, but this time using live-action actors and computer-graphic Autobots and Decepticons in his version of the universe's ultimate battle between good and evil.
The dueling alien races are traveling to Earth on July 4, which seems to be a popular day for alien species to decide to annihilate our planet. Although the movie is about the Transformers, which was simply a product-driven television series that led my generation's parents to spend small fortunes on Japanese-manufactured toys that could transform from cars and trucks into robots, it will most likely be a one-time viewer for me.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Despite never having read a single word of J.K. Rowlings' magical series about the wizardry school of Hogwarts or its students, I am a huge Harry Potter movie geek. July 13 is the release date of the fifth film in the series. After Harry's nemesis Lord Voldemort returns, Harry and Dumbledore are under fire from wizard authorities that are in denial of their warnings. As changes begin to take place and a dark, sinister evil reaches out across the world, are Harry and his friends prepared for the ensuing battle that lies ahead?

The Simpsons Movie
It has been more than 20 years since the Simpson family hit the airwaves on the "The Tracey Ullman Show." They have had 19 successful seasons as an award-winning animated comedy on FOX. Pop culture has certainly been impacted from Homer's idiotic antics and the English lexicon has also been influenced by the show's catchphrases. Plenty of merchandise has been sold and hundreds of millions of dollars made from television's middle-class royalty. So, why did it take this long for a movie to be made?
Moviegoers will finally be given a full two hours to enjoy their favorite hapless family on July 27, but little is known of what the movie is actually about. Besides the usual town regulars, frequent guest stars, such as Albert Brooks, Kelsey Grammar and Joe Mantegna, and new guest stars, including Minnie Driver and Erin Brockovich, will provide voices.

The Bourne Ultimatum
It is one of the greatest spy book series to finally be made into movies in the last several decades and the third film will be released on Aug. 3. Jason Bourne is an amnesiac who is slowly recalling his previous life as a government assassin. The Bourne Ultimatum will place Bourne everywhere from London, Madrid and Moscow to Paris, New York City and Tangier as he continues his search to find the truth about his life.

Adios Awesome Apartment

I spent my final night in my Ennis apartment last night. After two years in Ennis I am moving back to Arlington. Although everything is not yet quite packed up in boxes I have taken posters and pictures off the walls and boxed up all my books and DVDs, resulting in a very bare, colorless living quarters.
Despite moving back home into my grandmother’s house, which has been remodeled and almost completely restored by James, my mom and myself (mostly James though), I still have my journalism job in Ennis. I will be commuting everyday back and forth. Not the ideal situation, but it is better than being unemployed. Hopefully I will find a writing/photography/editing job soon in the metroplex that will put me closer to home.
Outside of working on the house I haven’t had much time to do anything else. I was able to get away for the weekend last week for some camping. That was quite an experience. I will go into greater detail later.

House And Job Updates

The Norwood house is really coming together now. My mom, James and I have painted the nursery entirely, with James' room almost complete. The carpet will be delivered and installed a week from tomorrow. A wonderful man named Hugo came over and ripped up our jungle of a yard and even trimmed the hedges that were starting to grow into the driveway. He also pulled out the metal fence that was in the backyard. This has all been done without a mention of payment. It is great.
The best part of all this is that the hole in the roof has been partly patched. Mark, Clint, James and I put forth our best effort to fix it but couldn't seem to get the sheet rock to fit. After Mark left the three of us refused to let the hole defeat us so we gave it another crack. A few hours later the hole was closed up and insulation was installed. Now we just have to tape it up, plaster it down, shoot the popcorn on the ceiling and paint. Simple, right?
I have applied for a new job as a city government reporter for the Dallas Morning News. They are asking for a veteran reporter, but hopefully I can at least get an interview to show that I want this job. I doubt I will go from a small paper to a large publication like the Dallas Morning News in just two years, but I also didn't think I had a shot at getting the job in Ennis either.
I will be praying that God blesses me with this job, but if I don't get it then I will continue my search and make the hour drive to Ennis until then.

I Have The Right To Change My Mind

I just can't bring myself to delete this thing... again. It is going to stay up even though I don't update it, nobody checks it and there is nothing to talk about.
I did change the template so maybe that will inspire me to write a little more on it.

Say Goodbye

Since I haven't posted in quite a while and I don't have anything of interest to say outside of my poker playing I have decided to bring down the blog... again. Get your goodbyes in now.

February Statistics

Monthly Profit: $1,130

Yearly Profit: $2,752

Total Monthly Hours Played: 35 hours 45 minutes

Total Yearly Hours Played: 90 hours

Monthly Per Hour Rate: $31.61

Yearly Per Hour Rate: $30.58

Most Profitable Format: $1-2 No-Limit Hold'em

Least Profitable Format: $2-5 No-Limit Hold'em

Per Hour Rate For Most Profitable Format: $53.44

Day Most Played: Friday

Most Profitable Day: Friday (Played In Casinos Three Times)

Least Profitable Day: Saturday (Played In Casino Once)

Per Hour Rate For Most Profitable Day: $52.07

Session 17

My final game in February was a winning one. Not quite as large as my two previous games, but still a win.
I played for a little more than four hours and for about three of those hours I didn't go anywhere. I was actually down to $50 at one point and was considering adding on another $100 when I doubled up with pocket kings. I then felted the same guy about three or four hands later with pocket kings again.
Finally the two table bullies left and everybody was allowed to play a little poker. The only big pot I played was with pocket fours. I called a raise of $7 with my fours and one other player called behind me. The pot was at approximately $20.
The flop came 8-3-2. The original raiser bet $15 and I immediately raised to $45. This raise was partly to see how strong the original raiser/bettor was and to thin the field by getting the other guy out. This plan half worked because it did get the third guy out of the hand, but the original raiser/bettor called my bet. Not what I really wanted... until the turn. The pot now had $110.
The turn was a beautiful four. It was checked to me and I thought about how much to bet. I had another $120 in front of me and wanted to lure the guy in. I needed to bet something that wasn't going to leave me with so little that it was suspicious but enough that the bet wasn't suspicious. Not too little, but not too big. I settled on $50. The guy didn't take too long to call so we now had a $210 pot and I only had $70 left.
The river was a king and the guy checked again. By this point I put him on a pocket pair higher than eights. That means he has five hands that lose to me and one hand that now has me crushed. I'll take my chances. I took a long time to think about it, as if I was trying to figure out how to win the hand, and finally moved my remaining $70 into the pot. He thought for about 20 seconds and called. I showed my hand and he folded. Some guy at the end of the table asked the player if he had aces and he nodded. I don't know if that truly is what he had, but it makes sense.
I cashed out with $387. This moves my yearly profit up to $2,752. The most amazing part about all of this is that I met my goal of making $1,000 each month after starting $1,200 in the hole in my first three sessions.

Scorsese Triumphs, I Suffer Defeat (Sort Of)

Each year for the past few Academy Award presentations my family and I gather together and compete to see who can pick the most winners for the Oscars. With my superior movie knowledge, keen awareness of who has won what going into the event and handle on what the minds of Academy members are thinking I have always crushed my competition leaving the rest of the family to play for second place. This year was totally different.
Overall the event was pretty ho-hum. It wasn’t that Ellen DeGeneres wasn’t funny or the anticipation for who was going to win what wasn’t there. In fact, the collection of nominees in each category was so assorted – both in talent and nationality – it was a grand night to watch the moviemakers not linked with Hollywood reap the benefits of film’s greatest honor.
Director Martin Scorsese finally got what he deserved in a Best Directing award for “The Departed.” I think he definitely deserved one of these awards, but “The Departed” certainly shouldn’t have been the one to do it. “The Departed” also won the prestigious Best Picture award, which was also a mistake in my opinion seeing as “Little Miss Sunshine” was a far superior film overall.
The greatest shock in my opinion for the night was Alan Arkin winning Best Supporting Actor for his turn as a brash, drug-addicted grandpa in “Little Miss Sunshine.” It’s not that Arkin’s acting wasn’t good enough, but the hype surrounding Eddie Murphy’s performance in “Dreamgirls” made you believe he would end up second to none. I even considered Mark Wahlberg’s turn as a Boston cop not afraid to use harsh language was in the running for the award.
The night ran smoothly for the most part, aside from some “green” chatter concerning Al Gore and his award-winning documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Speeches were kept to a minimum time frame due to two different features. The first was a familiar one, with the orchestra chiming in if the winner started to run long, and they didn’t mind where you were in the speech when it came to beginning the first note. At one point the conductor started as the guy was in mid-sentence thanking his wife.
However, that is where the second feature of the acceptance speech presentation came into play. Backstage winners were given as much time as they wanted to talk in front of a camera that would record the speech and be put on the Academy Awards website. Academy personnel said they would leave the speeches online until next year’s presentation. This gave winners the opportunity to give a more heartfelt speech onstage rather than go through a long list of people who aren’t known and probably don’t deserve national television credit anyway.
Well, by the middle of the evening I was in last place among my family in our “pick the winners” contest and in the lead was Kristyn, whose only knowledge of movies comes from People magazine photographs of the stars walking down Rodeo Drive with their babies in tow. Fortunately for me, her luck ran out and I began to pick up some steam coming down the homestretch. I ended the night tying Cint for first place, with ten correct predictions. This was an immense drop from last year’s record-setting selection of 18 correct predictions. This coming year I have vowed to return to my previous glory and slaughter my family with 20 accurate selections in next year’s game.

Session 16

Another very solid night for me gave my February a much happier ending than it did a beginning.
I played for five hours and was sitting pretty at approximately $450 when I lost it all on one single hand against an Asian kid who was getting lucky on key hands and then bluffing off a ton of chips so that his swings were all over the place. In the five hours I was with him at the table I saw him go from $70 to $900 in about four or five different up and down motions. When I left he had only about $300 left.
The hand that should have put me on eternal tilt was a set over set hand. I had pocket sevens and he had pocket nines. We both hit on the flop and bet all of our money by the turn. I couldn't river quads and was re-buying for $200.
The very first hand of my re-buy I doubled up. I had pocket fours in middle position and it was a straddled pot. I limped in and when it got back to the straddler he made it $25 to go. A player before me called and I decided to play a little more aggressive with my meek fours. I re-raised it to $100. Keep in mind I only have $200 total at the beginning of the hand. Everybody folded around to the straddler. He contemplated the play and decided to call. The guy between us folded. There was now approximately $235 in the pot.
The flop was K-8-5 rainbow. The straddler checked to me and I pushed my remaining $100 in. He called and I told him if he could call he most likely could beat me. He had A-9 offsuit and I won the pot when he didn't improve. Four hands later I doubled up again.
I had A-2 in the big blind. Six players called the two dollars and we saw a flop. The flop was A-Q-2 giving me two pair. Since nobody raised I figured to have the best hand right now and decided to let somebody else bet for me. I checked after the small blind checked, but everybody else checked. That stunk.
Then the turn came with a beautiful two, giving me a full house. I again decided to check and let somebody have something to bet with, but again it checked around. Stinks again.
The river was a three putting out on the board A-Q-2-2-3. I figured if anybody had anything then I would get called, otherwise I wasn't going to make any money anyway. So I led out with a $15 into a $14 pot. The Asian kid who felted me earlier raised it to $40. The player after him called for all of his chips, which amounted to $26. It folded around to me and I thought for about ten seconds and made it $115. The Asian kid almost immediately re-raised all in. Usually when I'm holding a full house and it has been checked to the river I am not reluctant to think I have the best hand, but since he had raised me and then re-raised when I re-raised him it made me a little nervous. I eventually told him I had to have the best hand and I called. He showed 4-5 for a straight and I took down the pot.
After this hand I pretty much just chipped my way up to the $1,000 mark and then some. A hand that helped me accumulate more chips was when I was in a blind and had an open-ended straight draw that a player gave me the odds to draw to, with the help of a girl who was calling his bet. I hit it on the river and was paid off. That pot netted me an additional $175 or so.
I left the table with $1,266 for a $866 profit. That puts me at $2,565 profit for the year. Pretty good for two months of work.

Session 15

I got back on that horse Tuesday night and drove to Choctaw to see if after breaking the losing streak in Shreveport I could perform well in Oklahoma. Greatest decision I ever made.
I played for my usual four hours and left with a profit of $951. It was a good mixture of great cards and well-timed bluffs. I did get caught bluffing once, but I got away with it on about three medium-sized to large pots so it was okay.
My initial surge to profits-ville was actually from a bluff. I had pocket threes in the big blind and called another $10 when it was raised from late position. Another player behind me called the raise and we went to a flop with the pot at $30.
The flop was Q-6-5 rainbow. I checked, the player after me checked and the raiser bet $20. I thought for a good thirty seconds about my options. I could either fold since I only held a small pocket pair. I could call to see what came later and see what the bettor did. I could raise since the bettor could simply be on a continuation bet.
While I was going through my thought process the bettor started to do some table talk and began hinting that he was afraid of me since I was in the blind and could have anything. I thought he wasn’t posturing for a call and actually didn’t want a call.
I decided not to fold and not get crazy. I wanted to see how the bettor reacted to a call. So I put in the money and expected to move on to the turn, but the guy behind me called. That’s not good. The pot now had $90.
The turn was a 2. This was good for me since it most likely didn’t help anyone and it gave me four more outs for an inside straight draw. I elected to check again and both players behind me checked. I now knew the pre-flop raiser was doing a continuation bet but I couldn’t figure out what the guy after me was doing.
The river was a 5, putting Q-6-5-2-5 on the board. I thought for a few seconds and figured I could bluff the best hand in this situation if I didn’t have the best hand and I led out for $60, which was about a third of what I had left. Both players instantaneously folded and the pre-flop raiser asked if I had a five. I said no and flipped up my threes. He said he had one of my outs and that probably means he had A-3. I don’t know what the other guy had.
My next big hand was a full house when I held pocket jacks. I called a pre-flop raise, flopped a set, checked to the bettor, called his bet, turned a boat and called his all in after checking to him. Pretty straightforward. Knocking him out gave me an additional $250 to work with.
Once I was up to $800 I knocked a player out by hitting one of my 15 outs with two cards to come. I limped in with 6-7 of clubs and the player two to my left raised it $10 more. Four others called the raise and I decided to speculate a flop. The flop came 8-5-2 with two clubs. I had an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. I checked. The original raiser bet $15 (into a $70 pot). The player on his left said, “If I can’t win with this then I need to go home,” and he went all in for $95 total. It folded around to me and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. I figured the original raiser/bettor wasn’t going to call, even if he had a monster hand pre-flop like aces or kings. The only way he was calling the extra $80 if I called was with a set or A-K of clubs (which is still questionable). I figured it would end up heads-up so I called, not wanting to risk any more than I had to. Sure enough the original bettor folded and the all in player tabled top set of eights. I turned the flush and he didn’t fill up.
A few hands later I lost almost $100 when I called an all in pre-flop with Q-J offsuit. I was under the gun and raised it to $10. I usually don’t raise this early with a hand like this, but I hadn’t raised all night and with $900 in front of me I decided to show them I had this ability. I received two callers and then the big blind moved all in for $87 total.
On a normal day there is almost no way I am calling a $77 raise pre-flop with Q-J offsuit, but there are some details you need to know that influenced my decision. The big blind had in the last 10 minutes lost about $200 on some bad beats and loose plays. The hand before this one he had straddled the big blind, moved all in pre-flop and wasn’t called. When he did it again I had a feeling he wasn’t that strong, but I’ve been wrong before. He seemed very nervous, shaking his knee rapidly, and I just sensed his hand wasn’t good enough to make this kind of move. I also had to worry about the two guys behind me, but if they had just called my $10 raise and then face a re-raise and call from the original raiser I didn’t think they would play also. I called and the other two laid their hands down (one even said he had A-Q). The all in player had K-5 of diamonds (about the range of hands I figured him to have), but he hit his flush and I lost.
I made it over the $1,000 hump when my pocket queens were outdrawn on the turn and then hit a two outer for a boat on the river. It was pretty sweet. I was in the big blind and re-raised it after a player in late position made it $5 to go. The small blind called and I bumped it up to $20. Both players called. There was now $60 in the pot.
The flop was 8-7-6 rainbow. The small blind checked. I bet $40. The late position player raised the minimum to $80, leaving himself only about another $80. The small blind folded. I thought a while and after the guy stared me down for a few seconds I was sure enough that he didn’t have me beat. I said I was all in, which really put him all in and he put the rest out there. He flipped up A-8.
The turn was an eight, giving him trips, and the river brought one of my only two queens for a full house.
I played up the luck box mentality and let everyone think I was just this average player who was getting his fair share of cards until I snapped off a great bluff. Then I would show the bluff and it gave the others some doubt when I made big bets with big hands. I have to say that I was definitely in the zone last night. I was making great value bets and getting paid off with great hands. It was a good night.
The big profit from last night, along with the Shreveport trip, pretty much cancels out my string of losses from two weeks ago. My bankroll is back up to $2,699, giving me a $1,699 profit for the year. For the record, my hourly rate last night was $237.75. Much better than the $5.75 an hour I made in high school at Blockbuster Video.

My Vacation (Including Sessions 13 & 14)

The Nacogdoches/Shreveport trip was worth it just for the drive down Friday morning. I left Ennis at about 9:45 a.m. and for half of the three-hour drive I listened to 1310 The Ticket’s Norm talk about the Mavericks and Cowboys. The scenery was beautiful and I decided to take the longer, more scenic route to Nacogdoches, which was definitely the right decision. East Texas is a beautiful piece of countryside that is overshadowed by the dry, barren half of West Texas in the minds of the national public.
After arriving in Nacogdoches at 1 p.m. I drove around the city to look at my old house where I have countless great memories of the good times I had in college. I made my way to Peking and savored my favorite dish. General Sao’s Chicken is still as good as I remembered it. Following lunch I went to the campus and walked around a bit. They are making a lot of changes, particularly in parking. I saw two new parking garages on campus, my dorm was torn down to build new apartment-style dorms and the University Center is being remodeled. I bought two SFA shirts and a hat. I also saw my favorite professor from the journalism department, who I think had a small for of turrets syndrome or was just a kooky old man that loved his job. He was across campus and I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but I doubt he would have remembered me anyway so it was for the best.
After the shopping and campus tour I played a round of Frisbee golf. I shot a –2 for the course, which is pretty great since I haven’t played the course in years and I haven’t played Frisbee golf in several months. I was bogey free until hole 16 where I missed a 10-foot putt that cost me par. It was even more defeating because I was so close to going the entire game without a bogey and it occurred on a hole I usually birdie.
Once I finished my game I took a little more time to see the town and what had changed (a few new restaurants and some businesses had closed down). I finally hit the road for Shreveport.
Once I arrived in Shreveport, instead of finding a place to spend the night I immediately made my way to El Dorado (formerly Hollywood Casino) to begin my poker comeback. I played for seven hours and finished with a profit of $189. I had to put in a $160 add-on to keep going, but it was worth it in the end.
I lost with pocket queens... again. This seems to be the hand of my demise lately. The only good thing to come out of losing with the queens was I stopped putting money into the pot once I knew I was beat. I raised pre-flop and got two callers. The flop came out with three lower cards than my queens. I bet about two-thirds of the pot and received one player. The turn was an ace and he checked to me again. I checked behind him and the river was insignificant. He checked again and I flipped up my hand. He showed his A-J and won the pot. He had nothing on the flop but decided to call with his overs. Oh well, that is what I want in the long run.
The second session came Saturday when I played at the Horseshoe Casino. I won $135 at this game, but it was just as bad as WinStar, except I wasn’t surrounded by 19-year-olds.
One guy at the game raised pre-flop to $55 on several occasions with nobody yet voluntarily entering the pot. By the way, I was playing in a $1-2 no-limit game, not a $2-5. After frustrating the table with his bets he started to get action but unlucky for us he hit the hands he needed. He was raising with K-J and Q-9 and would either hit and win a big pot or miss and bet all in forcing the other players out. He left with a profit of about $450 and we were all glad to see him leave. Actually, he did tone it down a little for a while, only making it $20-25 pre-flop but eventually made his way back up to the $45 range near the end.
I also played against the most annoying player I have ever been around at this session. He was a loud-mouthed, cocky, ignorant, jobless man from Arkansas who only talked about how we were a bunch of donkeys who he was going to roll up, felt or ride back to Arkansas. I was only given one opportunity to double up through him when I semi-bluffed the turn with a straight draw and flush draw. I hit the straight on the river and bet $35 (with the pot sitting at about $55). He thought long and hard about raising and finally folded. He said he folded top pair and was going to raise me but he couldn’t pull the trigger. I told him he should have because I missed my flush and only had ace high.
A big hand for me came when I elected to speculate a flop with 6-7 suited and flopped a straight. A player with Kings raised pre-flop and after the limpers got out of the way and another player called I decided to see what happened. If I didn’t hit two pair or better I was gone. When I flopped my straight both myself and the other caller checked. The raiser went all in for $30 more (with about $40 in the pot). The first player called the bet and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. There were two diamonds on board (which was not my suit) and I elected to raise another $60. I figured if the caller had a draw he would let it go and if he hit something decent he might hang in there. The caller folded and I flipped up my hand. The river would have made a higher straight for the caller so it is good I did what I did. By the way, the table proceeded to discuss how bad I was because I played junk hands like 6-7 suited in a raised pot. Eh, maybe they are right, but I stand by my decision. I would certainly complain about losing to 6-7 suited when I had pocket kings.
Overall the trip was great and I had a really good time. For anyone going to Shreveport anytime soon I recommend El Dorado’s card room over the Horseshoe’s room. It is more spacious and the game is not as wild. My bankroll was bumped up to $1,748 after my two winning sessions and I will be making my return to Choctaw soon.

Weekend O' Poker

I am taking the day off from work tomorrow and since I have nothing to do with my weekend, except entertain the children on Sunday, I have decided to travel east and spend the night in Shreveport. Before arriving at my destination though I will be making a pit stop in Nacogdoches in order to take a trip down memory lane.
I will play some frisbee golf at the greatest course in Texas, better known as Pecan Park. In order to cancel out one of the things I am "out" on I will be purchasing some Stephen F. Austin gear. I am out on people who own more clothing from a school they didn't attend than one they did, so this trip should balance me out.
The best part about stopping in Nacogdoches is I will be getting my favorite meal ever, General Sao's Chicken from Peking Restaurant. I haven't had it in so long and am salivating already for the great taste.
Once I have spent enough time in my college town I will then finish my road trip to Shreveport where I plan to play either two or three sessions of poker. One Friday night and either one or two on Saturday. Depends on if my slump continues or not.
I am really excited about the trip and will let you know how it goes. I may even try to beat the record Chad has at Pecan Park for lowest score, but I doubt that happens considering I haven't played frisbee golf in at least eight months.

Session 12

I have almost negated an entire month’s profits in four consecutive and disappointing losses. Tuesday night’s game was another $400 loss and a huge blow to my self-esteem. I felt demoralized and dejected after losing two buy-ins in about two hours.
What made this loss the worst of the last four was I actually played very well. It was probably the best I have played in several games.
My first big hit was when I turned trips and had called a bet on the flop and led out on the turn from the button. While facing two opponents on the river and holding a three kicker I elected to check, which was a good decision because I lost the hand to K-10.
Another large loss was when my K-9 lost against two guys who were all-in with K-Q and A-7. The K-Q had me beat the whole way when we both paired a king on the flop and the A-7 player, who was a beginner and had no clue as to what was going on, sucked out on the turn with a third seven. I should have checked the turn and let them show their strength on the river, which would have saved me $50, but both players checked to me on the flop and turn. This hand was probably my only true mistake in the night.
I lost my first buy-in when holding A-K and elected to go all in pre-flop after the under-the-gun player raised it to $15 (at a $1-2 game). He received two callers and I felt the pot was big enough that I could try to take it down then and even if I was called I might not be in too bad of shape. I pushed my $64 in the middle and was then re-raised by James, who was holding pocket kings. This got everyone else out, one of whom was holding Q-Q. We both hit a king on the flop and I was out.
My second bust out was with A-J suited. I called a $20 pre-flop raise, along with the beginner, from an early bettor. The flop brought three low cards and two spades. The raiser checked and I felt it was a good opportunity for me to try and win the pot. I moved all in for $94 (into a $60 pot). The button folded and the original raiser called. He had K-K and I didn’t improve.
This loss knocks me down to a $1,422 bankroll. My February is going very poorly and I really need a win soon, otherwise I may take the Mike Steed approach to the game.

Session 11

The plan was to play for an entire eight hours on Saturday, but I wasn’t lucky enough to make it that long. I started off playing $1-2 no-limit but moved to the $2-5 game after about 30 minutes of play. Big mistake on my part.
I peaked after about another hour at the “big game” at $600. After that I was knocked down to $70 after two big losses.
My first loss came when my A-Q couldn’t shake a guy holding A-J. He rivered a flush on me after flopping top pair. I don’t blame him for calling my bets on the flop and turn, it just sucked to lose the hand when I was betting it very hard to get him off the flush draw. When he did river his flush and I checked to him he decided not to bet and I saved some money there, even though I would have folded to any bet knowing he had me beat.
My second loss was with 5-6 offsuit. I was in a blind and the flop came Q-6-3. I checked and called a bet that was approximately three-fourths the size of the pot. The turn was a five and I checked to the bettor again, wanting to check raise. He bet $50 and I raised him another $75 on top. He thought for a bit and then called. The river was a nine. I bet $150 and he quickly called with Q-9. I was very disappointed that the river brought such a disgusting card.
After being down to $70 I doubled up with A-J offsuit, almost doubled up again with pocket tens and then was busted when I flopped a flush draw with bottom pair. I took my stand and missed when the guy was holding top two pair, which nullified some of my outs.
I lost $500 for the day and that knocked my bankroll down to $1,822, which amounts to a $1,000 loss in less than a week. Yeah, it sucks.

Pre-Oscar Exciting News

I just read today some AMC Theaters (Theatres?), the Arlington Parks included, will be giving movie goers and Academy Award enthusiasts like myself a chance to see all the Best Picture nominees before the big night on Feb. 25. The day before the movie chain will show all five nominees back-to-back, with bathroom breaks in between of course, throughout the day. Although I have already seen two of the nominees (The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine) I will still take part in this rare occasion.
I received my Academy Award poster in the mail the other day and have already had it framed. This is the second of the last two award ceremony posters that I now own. Last year's poster is more elegant and nicer than this year's, but I still like the new one. They are both far better than anything the Academy has come up with in years past.
I am counting down the days until the big night when I get disappointed certain people and movies win awards that shouldn't and the ones I think are better are snubbed by the Academy. I'm excited!!!

Session 10

I would say this was a crushing blow to the poker ego, but it was nothing compared to my trip the next day.
I learned a valuable lesson about my playing ability. When constricted with a 100x the big blind maximum buy-in I should not play the speculative hands like 6-7 and J-9 until I have won some money and can afford to limp in for a miracle flop.
After dipping down and losing some money with those exploratory hands I then lost a big sum with pocket queens, on three different occasions. The worst loss emotionally was when I bet a little less than the size of the pot after raising pre-flop on a 4-4-3 rainbow board and was called by a guy with A-5 of hearts. He turned an ace and we checked it down, because not winning any more money is what you want to do when you are drawing for a low probability suckout.
I received 10-12 pocket pairs and never hit a single set throughout the night. I lost $300 knocking my bankroll down to $2,322. However, this would be the second of three losses in a row. February is not starting well for me.

January Statistics

Monthly Profit: $1,622

Yearly Profit: $1,622

Total Monthly Hours Played: 54 hours 15 minutes

Total Yearly Hours Played: 54 hours 15 minutes

Monthly Rate Per Hour: $29.90

Yearly Rate Per Hour: $29.90

Most Profitable Format: $1-2 No-Limit Hold’em

Leas Profitable Format: Online Poker

Rate Per Hour For Most Profitable Format: $44.73

Day Most Played: Saturday (Played Two Tournaments, Twice Online and Once at Choctaw)

Most Profitable Day: Thursday (Played Choctaw Three Times)

Least Profitable Day: Sunday (Played Online Twice)

Rate Per Hour For Most Profitable Day: $92.67

Session 9

I am disappointed to report that my final session in January was a loss of $200.
James and I again were at the same table and he won almost every dollar available, so there wasn’t much left to get for myself. Actually I was up about $130 early on when my pocket aces beat K-Q suited for all of a girls stack. After that though there were slim pickings for the rest of the night.
I reached a point that I couldn’t connect with much when I had good cards and I played bad cards for large raises to offset the bad luck. I should have stopped after about two hours into the night and waited for James to finish his tear of good cards and good play because I didn’t feel well and wasn’t playing to the best of my ability. I still need to work on that aspect of my game.
The hand I went out on happened to be the last hand of the night whether I had won or lost the pot, which I happened to lose. I received A-J of clubs and raised it to $10 in middle position, which was a fifth of my stack since I only had $51 left. I received four callers, two from late position and the two blinds. There was $50 in the pot.
The flop came Q-J-2 with two clubs. It checked to me and I moved my remaining $41 into the middle. I got a caller and we flipped up our hands. He had A-Q taking away some hope. The turn was a queen, which took away more hope. The river was a meaningless card and I went to the cashier’s window where James was cashing in a huge payday.
I surpassed my goal of winning $1,000 for the month. I'll post my January stats later when I have some more time.

Session 8

My most profitable sitting of 2007 took place last night when James and I went to Choctaw for our usual Thursday game, and the funny part is most of my money came from two big hands.
The two of us were put at the same table at about 8:45 p.m. when they opened a new $1-2 no-limit game. For the first hour to hour-and-a-half I could not connect with a flop. Actually that isn’t entirely true. I did flop a set twice in that time period and got no action on it.
Finally things started rolling smoothly when I was dealt pocket nines on the button. There were already a few callers and this would be a good pot to have multiple people playing in case I hit a big hand. So I called.
The flop was K-10-4 rainbow. It checked all the way around to me. I decided to not get crazy with the hand and decided to check. I don’t fault a little probe bet here to see where everybody stands, but I elected for the checking routine.
The turn was a beautiful nine, completing the rainbow of suits and not allowing for a flush draw. The big blind led out for a $10 bet into a $14 pot. A player in middle position raised the minimum, making it $20. I didn’t like the minimum raise as it usually stands for a big hand, I just had to decide how big of a hand it was.
I was looking at a board of K-10-4-9. The only two realistic hands that could be beating me in a non-raised pot pre-flop was either a set of tens, which crushes me, or Q-J for the straight, which gives me a decent number of outs. I decided to call the minimum raise and see what happens on the river before getting too attached to my hand. That’s when things got really interesting.
The original bettor then raised all-in for $125 total. That led the raiser to call for his remaining chips, which was a total of $95. To call the bet would have left we with approximately $55. I was in a pickle.
I wasn’t worried about the blind player simply because he was a very loose player and continuously thought top pair with a weak kicker was good enough to play to the end, so two pair must be a monster to him. The player I was really afraid of was the minimum raiser. He had played this hand the same way most people would with Q-J. I now had to decide whether the guy had the straight or if he was losing to my set of nines. After about two minutes of thinking I got the feeling he didn’t want me to call, so I did.
The blind had 9-4 for two pair and the raiser never showed his hand, but he did say he had outs.
The river was a seven and I took down the pot. It was a $360 that gave me enough room to open up my game a bit.
The next big hand came when I got pocket kings in early position. I raised it up to $10. I was then re-raised by a player across from me who was wearing sunglasses at the table, which I’m not a big fan of. He made it $40 to go. It folded back around to me and I re-raised it to $100 flat. He quickly called the re-raise and we saw a flop.
The flop came down 7-4-2. This is a perfect flop for kings. I immediately said that I was all in, considering the other player only had about $125 remaining, and he insta-called. I thought this was bad news for my kings, but sure enough he turned over pocket jacks and didn’t improve.
After that I won a lot of little pots due to getting a lot of respect after showing down some big hands earlier. I stole some pots and got paid on a few hands where I had the best of it. It was a good night for me overall.
I logged a $558 profit for the night, which brings my yearly profit up to $1,900. In 2007 I am eight for eight on casino no-limit winning sessions and ten for ten since my last loss, which funny enough came from WinStar and the ten-winning streak is all Choctaw. I love that casino.

Session 7

In order to walk away with a $90 profit Monday night I broke two rules I set for myself in order to test my ability to turn playing poker into a career. The first rule was re-buying more than once in a single session. The second rule was playing longer than planned because I was in the hole, otherwise being known as stuck.
The first $200 I spent went rather quickly because although I was physically in my seat I was not at the game mentally. I bluffed off and called off my money faster than a three-song lap dance in a Vegas gentleman’s club, metaphorically you understand.
The second $200 went just as fast, but at least I put forth some thought behind my plays. I lost a large sum when my runner-runner flush with 5-3 of hearts ran into the nut flush. He bet on the flop and for some reason I stayed in the hand to see a turn card, which gave me the flush draw and we both checked it to the river. When the heart hit I bet $25 and he raised me the minimum. Since there were so many hearts bigger than mine I just called instead of raising. Calling was obviously dumb, but I figured my hand to be good enough times to validate the call.
The rest of my money lost on a set over set situation when my 10-10 went up against J-J.
Seeing as I was now mentally ready for the game and got the bad luck out of the way I wanted to see if I could recoup some of my losses. I bought in for another $200 and after about 30 minutes at the same table, and winning back about $50 of my $400 on the table, we broke up and went to different tables.
Two hands after sitting down at the new table I was in the big blind with 10-9 offsuit. The under the gun player raised the big blind, which was $2, to $7 total. He received three callers before me, which included the small blind. I was staring at 6-1 odds and decided to see a flop, which it’s a good thing I did. The pot was at $35.
The flop came 10-9-2 with two hearts. The small blind and I both checked. I was looking to trap the under the gun player. He led out with a $20 bet and was immediately raised by the player on his left. This guy went all in for $74 total. This then put $129 in the pot. The two players after this thought for a little bit and decided to fold. I now had a decision before me. I was sitting with approximately $240 in front of me and the under the gun player had about $150 in front of him. I could either just call the re-raise inducing him to call with his overcards or pocket pair or I could re-raise to get it heads up. I got greedy and decided I would take my chances against him in a side pot. Luckily for me he folded. You see, he had pocket jacks and the turn was a jack, so I would have lost.
The all-in guy flipped over his aces and lost the hand when no help came. I should also add that the other two players who thought about calling before I did both had hearts and a heart came on the river. So I got extremely lucky that three winning hands folded to the re-raise. Thanks so much to the guy who got cute with his aces.
The other big hand came when I had A-10 of diamonds in what would have been my small blind, but the guy on my right bought the button after being absent for his big blind, so I now was first to act after his small and big blind.
I limped to get a pot going in case I hit a big hand. There were four callers and the blind checked it. This put $13 in the pot.
The flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts. This was a very similar flop to the previous hand I discussed. I decided rather quickly that I had the best hand, unless someone got lucky and had a set, so I wanted to disguise my hand on the flop and catch someone betting what they thought was good. The blind and I checked and the girl on my left bet $10. The next three players called. That I didn’t expect. I thought about the situation and decided this was good enough and I wanted to win the hand as fast as possible, so I raised it another $50 on top of the $10. The original female bettor and the guy on her left both moved all in, which I covered with my $60 bet. The next player then called the raise. The guy in the blind asked if I was on a draw or had flopped a set and decided to get out of the way when I replied, “We’ll see.”
The turn was a black two. I immediately led out with a $100 bet, which would have covered the only other guy in the hand who wasn’t all in by about $5. He folded and I flipped up my top pair, top kicker hand.
The river was a nine and the two all-in players folded without showing. I won a massive pot that put me at $700 for the night.
I played another 15 minutes and then got up after five hours of play, which I only planned to play four hours but was stuck less than $100 and thought I could make it up in another hour.
I walked out with $690 for a $90 profit, which puts me up $1,342.75 for the year. After playing for the five hours I made $18 an hour. This is definitely a decent amount. I have played seven times at Choctaw Casino this year and have had seven winning sessions, but some were very small wins.
I am planning one more trip to Oklahoma tomorrow night and a tournament this weekend, which should complete the month for me. I will post my January results once I have completed all my games.

79th Annual Academy Award Nominees

I am too tired and too busy at work to really go into how great of a day today is because of the Academy Award nominations, but just know that I have looked forward to this for a few weeks now and it's just great to see "Little Miss Sunshine" get a few nominations. It is one of the best pictures of 2007 and I highly recommend seeing it.
Here is the press release from www.oscars.org because I don't have time to type out my own release. For a complete list of the nominees go to http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html.

Nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, January 23, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and past Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek.
Ganis and Hayek, who was nominated for an Academy Award® in 2002 for her lead performance in “Frida,” announced the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. live news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Nominations in all categories then were distributed to the over 400 international media representatives in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.
Academy members from the various branches selected the nominees in their corresponding award categories, with the exception of the Animated Feature and Foreign Language Film categories, in which nominations were determined by vote of screening committees composed of members from several branches. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to 5,830 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.
Official screenings for members of all pictures receiving nominations will begin this weekend at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings in some categories also will be held in Hollywood, at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater, as well as in London, New York and San Francisco.
The Academy’s entire active and life membership is eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, and Foreign Language Film categories – members can vote only after attesting that they have seen all of the nominated films in the category.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars®.”

Am I Wrong With My Decision?

Now that I have thought about it more thoroughly, I would like to discuss a hand that took place Saturday during my first six-hour session of the year.
I had approximately $585 in front of me at the start of this hand, after buying in for $200. I was in the cutoff seat with A-10 of diamonds. There had been four callers in front of me and I decided to keep this a large field just in case I hit the miracle of all flops with three diamonds, full house, three of a kind or top two pair. The button called and the blinds played. It was a $16 pot with eight of us playing.
The flop came down A-J-4 with two clubs. The blinds checked and the first person to act, we will call her the female villain, bet $10. The person after her called. It folded to me and I figured to have the best hand right now unless somebody flopped a set of fours or two pair with A-4. I raised it to $30, making it $20 more to the first two in the pot. It folded back to the female villain. She called the raise and the player after her folded. The pot was now at $76.
The turn was the 10 of clubs. This was either a really great card for me or crushed me. However here was the good news, the female villain only had about $60 in front of her. She didn’t waste any time in checking. I thought for a brief moment about my options.
I could check and see what comes on the river, but that was not a good plan in my opinion. So that left betting. How much should I bet? If I bet everything she had she was only calling with a flush or the set of fours that we talked about earlier. I wanted to get all of her money if I was winning and I didn’t mind taking a risk if she was on a draw. If I bet half of what she had she would put the rest of it in on any made hand that was two pair or better or any kind of draw. With a pair of aces she would definitely call if not put the rest of it in. I decided betting half was the best plan since I was going to put the whole $60 in no matter what. If she raised me I was going to call and betting half of what she had gave me a better chance of getting all of her money.
I bet $30 again and she immediately went all in. Well, this is what I wanted and if I am beat then so be it, but I am getting 6-1 to call and I still could have the best hand seeing as she could have a pair of aces with a flush draw or even a hand such as A-Q or J-10. I called and she flipped over K-8 of clubs. Come on dealer, give me a boat.
Sure enough, an ace came on the river and she lost. I think I played the hand fine. Going in behind with a four outer wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, but by the time all her money was in the pot I felt I had invested enough and was priced in for the amount of money she had left and the amount I had in front of me at the time.
What do you think?

Session 6

The sixth trip to Choctaw for the year resulted in my sixth profit.
James and I drove to Oklahoma on Saturday for a six-hour session. I sat down with $200 and walked out with $653. The $453 profit puts me up for the year at $1,250, putting my bankroll at $2,250. My goal going into the year was to make $1,000 a month and I accomplished that goal in 20 days.
I plan to make two more trips to Choctaw before the end of January, so we will see how that goes. Nothing of great importance took place during the session, so I don't really have much to talk about.

Session 5

This one wasn’t pretty, but it still goes in the win column.
After buying in with $200 and going through about half of that in a little less than 25 minutes I milked a short stack almost all night. For about two-and-a-half hours of the session I was hanging at approximately $50-80.
I was at a very loose table and if I could have hit anything on the flop in the first half of the session I might have been able to make some money, but instead I was struggling to make anything that came across my path into a winner. I finally got some momentum going when I doubled up with pocket eights.
A live straddle was implemented three to my left, which was pretty normal at my table seeing as we had three guys who frequently straddled, putting me on the button. The guy two to my right raised it up to $15 and said, “I’m raising to protect our hands sir.” It got to me and I looked down at my snowmen. I decided to make this the hand that decided my fate and I said, “I’m going to protect all of our hands. I’m all in.” The all in was for $55 total.
It folded around to the raiser (the guy two to my right) and he thought for awhile and finally said, “Okay, let’s gamble.” He had A-J offsuit and never improved.
That gave me some room to breathe and set up the next hand, which took place maybe 10 hands later. It was raised to $5 pre-flop and there were about two or three callers ahead of me. I decided to see a flop with 9-7 of hearts. By the time the flop was seen there were six of us and $30 in the pot.
The flop was 10-8-2 with two hearts. I flopped a heart draw and open-ended straight draw. It checks two spots and a guy leads out for $22. One guy calls ahead of me and I had $99 in front of me. I decided to just call, wanting as much in the pot from every player possible in case I hit one of my hands. I know this is giving anyone with a better heart draw a chance to crush me but I was willing to take the chance at this point. Nobody else called and there was now $96 in the pot and I had $77 left.
The turn was a black 7. I now have more outs to win the hand. The bettor shoots out $20. The guy in the middle of us calls. I figure now if I hit one of my new found outs, which included a seven or a nine I could win the hand, so of course I am playing the hand until the end.
Having only $77 there is a strong argument for putting it all in right here and letting somebody call me. However, I wanted to make sure I had something better than third pair before putting everything I have in the middle. Sometimes I will gamble in these situations, but at this moment I wanted to see another card for just the $20. I called.
The river was a non-heart Jack, giving me my straight. It was checked around to me and I immediately went all in for $57. The first guy called me and he had rivered two pair with J-10. The other guy said he folded 10-8, which means he flopped two pair.
I ended the night with $251 putting my bankroll at $1,799.75. After 15 days of the month, a normal pay period for most, I have made $800. I am on par to reach my goal of $1,000 a month.

Session 4

James and I made our second Thursday night trip to Choctaw Casino last night and both came away winners.
I sat down with my initial $200 and in about an hour I was adding on another $140. After that add-on, which put me at about $175 I was again on the ropes with only about $110 when the glorious hand came along that changed everything.
I was three after the big blind but a younger guy (probably my age), who said he only straddled when he had enough one-dollar chips to do it with, had initiated a live straddle. He wouldn’t break a five-dollar chip to straddle. Fair enough.
The first person to act, the person on my right who was a regular named Tommy that I had never seen before but everyone else knew him well, raised it up to $20. I look down and see a beautiful pair of Aces. In about 15 seconds I come up with this mentality. I had seen Tommy bet on the river with nothing before this hand, but I had also seen his raising hands and they weren’t anything to scoff. He had a fair concept of the game but was one of those guys who never blamed a loss for his mistakes. It was always someone else’s fault.
I felt somewhat confident that he had a decent hand and might be intrigued by the move I was about to make. So what I did was pushed all my chips in for a $90 raise. It folded around back to him and he began to think out loud. He asked (not necessarily to me) why I would do that and said he thought it was going to be a race situation. Sweet! Finally he called and flipped over pocket fours. I won that hand and was now sitting on $220 (after rake and tip).
About 20 minutes later I received pocket eights and raked in a $400 pot when I rivered quads against a guy who didn’t show his hand. The flop was very ugly for me when it was 8-9-10 all diamonds. I led out with a bet and he called. The turn was nothing. I bet again and he called. The river was my final 8. I led out again and he called. It was a nice score that put me at a little more than $600.
Nothing of great importance happened after that. The last five hands I played for the night, in about a 15-hand period, were all winners when I either turned or rivered a straight or flush on each hand. The sad part was the pots were never more than $70, with a portion of that being my own money.
I walked out with $716, a $376 profit, putting my bankroll at $1,748.75.
So far so good.

Session 3

Made my third trip to Choctaw last night, and I am happy to say I made another mark in the win column.
I peaked at $500, after buying in for $200 into the $1-2 no-limit game, but walked out with $416. I lost a big hand a little more than two hours into my session but was able to get a lot of it back on a full house about three hands before I left.
With A-Q offsuit I raised it from middle position to $8, which was a standard raise (I love Choctaw for that). The person on my immediate left raised it to $16. It folded around to me and I called the extra bet. The flop came down A-6-4. I immediately led out with $25 into the $35 pot. My opponent raised the minimum, making it $50 to go. I didn’t hesitate to call the $25. The reason for no hesitation was a lot of players will raise the minimum to get a free card on the turn when they are on a draw of some sorts or have something they think might be second best and are trying to get a free card on the turn.
The turn was a 2 and I obliged to try and give him a free card because I wasn’t certain where I was in the hand. He led out for $50. Without hesitation I called.
This is where I faltered in my opinion. At this point I should feel pretty good that I am beat by either A-K or better. He had shown aggression throughout and was representing a good hand. If I had thought the hand through a little more I most likely would have realized that I was drawing to one of the three Queens. At that point I should either fold (which is the best option in this situation) or raise thinking I might get him to lay his hand down if it is just A-K. However, this player was a guy who would not lay down hands, as you will find out soon enough.
The river was a Jack and we both checked. I flipped over my hand and he showed his A-K. I think I lost an extra $50 more than I should have. My calls up to the turn were okay, but that last call on my part was a mistake.
I doubled up at the end of the night when I called a pre-flop raise with A-10 after another person called the raise. The raise was from the same gentleman who re-raised with the A-K from the hand I described earlier and my call was a little bit revenge, a little bit calculated, only because he was playing a lot of hands and he could very likely have two face cards or a middle pair. The flop came down 10-5-10. I checked. He led out for $20. The limper in late position called. I raised it to $50. The original raiser called. The limper folded. This then left me with $134 left.
The turn was a 7. I thought long and hard about how to get all my money in the pot. At this point there was approximately $150 in the pot. I didn’t want to push everything I had on the turn and get him out of the hand. I was willing to gamble if he was on some kind of straight draw or had a pair that he just wouldn’t let go of. I decided $70 was the right price. He called the bet.
The river was another 7. This card actually hurts me because if he did have a 10 then I am splitting the pot and if he has anything else other than a pair higher than 10 he most likely isn’t calling my all in. I showed my disgust with the last card, which was actually genuine anger and not acting, and pushed my remaining $64 in. He thought for a few seconds and called. I showed and he looked at his hand and mucked. It just happened I saw what he had and it was Q-Q. Go me.
A significant loss in a $20 tournament and some bad sessions online this weekend cost me about $60, but with this $216 profit from last night my bankroll is steadily growing. It now sits at $1,372.75.

Session 2

My second trip to Choctaw was better than my first, but there are still a lot of growing pains to get through before I can ever consider this type of thing a job.
I not once ever dipped below my original $200 buy-in. The first hand I voluntarily played won me $100 and I never looked back. I finished the night with a profit of $178, which sounds good for four hours of work but had I not played stupid my final hand I would have finished with a profit of $228.
Two mistakes took place last night. The first cost me $100 when I turned three of a kind and raised too little to get the flush draw out. The final heart came on the river and he bet a small enough amount, relative to the pot, that I paid him off with his 3-5 of hearts. I got greedy and could have won a $55 pot, but instead raised too small of an amount and lost $100. Not good poker strategy in my opinion.
The second mistake was my final hand. I was two after the big blind at a seven-handed table. I was dealt A-K offsuit and everyone was very aware that I was leaving after this hand. I had announced my departure before the cards were dealt and even had a rack in my hand as the cards were being passed around.
I raised it up to $8 and a guy behind me and the small blind, who had made the flush with 3-5 earlier in the night, called. The flop came out J-8-2 rainbow. The small blind checked and I made a continuation bet of $18, with $26 in the pot. The player behind me folded and the small blind called.
There is now $62 in the pot. The turn was a 6. Keep in mind I still have nothing at this point. The small blind almost immediately led out with a $25 bet. Without hesitating I called. Please don’t ask what I was thinking right here because I don’t even know.
The river was the worst card possible. An ace came down on the felt. The small blind again bet $25. Without hesitating again, although knowing I was not winning this hand, I called.
You may be wondering why I didn’t think I was winning with top pair, King kicker and if I was drawing for this type of card on the river why I didn’t try to win more money out of him since I should be drawing to a hand I think will win. Well, that is why I am not a professional player. Despite hitting one of the six outs I needed to give me something worthwhile, I still knew it was no good. The only reason I got stubborn past the flop was because it was my last hand of the night. I have now learned my lesson that poker is one long session, not individual short sessions. These blog entries probably should be Session 1A, 1B, 1C and so on.
The small blind flipped over pocket deuces for a set on the flop. I told him good hand, because it was, and began placing my chips in the rack. I misplayed the hand because it was my last of the night. Had I shut down after the call on the flop and folded when I knew I was beat I would have saved myself $50.
The win for the night gives me a $223 profit for the year. I made $44.50 an hour last night and am averaging $27.88 an hour thus far for the year. That's better than minimum wage. This bumps my original bankroll of $1,000 up a little higher now, but not enough to move up in levels yet.

Session 1

The year is 2007. It is a glorious year in that I have made the jump from a dedicated casual poker player to a semi-professional poker player. I am starting with a $1,000 bankroll and seeing what I can do with it.
Last year I was a profitable player, but I mainly played tournaments. Of the few cash games I played, about half were online, which is not my most profitable arena, and the other half were in brick-and-mortar casinos, which is one of my better games.
James and I will be making several trips to Choctaw this year and seeing what we can do with our ability and knowledge of the game. Who knows, maybe this will be my springboard to becoming a professional poker player; sleeping in until noon every day, working only the days I want to work, not answering to a boss, taking off for personal time if necessary, not paying taxes. It's nice work if you can get it.
My first session of 2007 was on January 1. It was a whip getting up to Choctaw, thanks to James sleeping in and his incessant need for plain and dry burgers, but we made it. I had to add-on another $160 from my initial $200 buy-in, but I ended the day with a $45 profit. After playing four hours that came out to be an $11.25 per hour session. Not great, but a good start to the year.
Nothing of great importance happened during the session. I got off to a rocky start and quickly found myself needing to double up or add-on. Once I was down to $36, after losing $30 to an all in player who caught a two outer on the river, I opted for the add-on.
Once I did reload I got some things moving. After about another hour I found myself to be second in chips at the table, right behind James. A rivered full house gave me the double-up I needed to get a big stack going and then a profitable A-K hand helped when I hit an ace on the flop and the guy followed me along down to the end, with me raising pre-flop and then betting the flop and turn. I decided to check the river because he was known to play some weak aces and he might have stumbled upon two pair and was praying for a check-raise on the end. I just flipped my hand over and he didn't show what he had. I am assuming either a weak ace (like mentioned before) that didn't pair the kicker or a second-best pair.
My bankroll now sits at $1,045 after two days of the year. If I retired now I could say I went out a winner, but that wouldn't be much fun. Stay tuned until the next session.

Happy New Year

Wanted to wish everyone a happy 2007 and I hope it is better than last year.

Beginner's Luck

It's been a long, stressful road but I accomplished my goal: I made the playoffs in fantasy football.
It was my first year to take part and my only hope was to not completely humiliate myself and to make the playoffs. I'm not sure how I did with the humiliation aspect of my goal, but at least I made the final rounds.
We will be drafting again Monday for new players who are on teams that are in the playoffs. My opponents are James, Justin and Linda. I eked out a great week when I needed it against Mike and John Bishop. John was making a spectacular run at the playoffs in the last couple of weeks scoring 90-100 points each week. He almost came from behind to snatch the final playoff spot from Mike and me.
Honestly, I could get blown away in the finals and I will be happy with what has happened. I wanted to show with a little luck and some committed learning a person with little knowledge of both football and fantasy leagues could be a factor. I think I have done that... with a little help from some friends.

A Casino Royale Christmas

As if my childish antics and refusal to grow up weren't enough to have many of you wondering what my true age was, one of my Christmas gifts this year will completely baffle you.
My mom bought me a remote control car (from Radio Shack no less) that was so perfect for me it's scary. You might be pondering why a 26-year-old would be so excited about a toy that most 15-year-olds would think they were too old for.
Well, first of all it is because I haven't owned a remote control car in years and I love them. But secondly, and more importantly, this model car is special. It is a 1:12-scale replica of the Aston Martin DBS from "Casino Royale."
When I unwrapped the paper off of the box and saw what it was my eyes lit up like a young boy finding a puppy underneath the Christmas tree or seeing his bicycle with a big red bow taped to the handle bars for the first time.
I had to charge the batteries last night and have not yet been able to get behind the wheel of my new vehicle, but I plan to today after work. I will most assuredly believe that as I move my furniture around to make room for a track that when I begin controlling James Bond's newest vehicle I will become the smooth spy with a heart like ice.
Make fun of me as much as you want, I don't care. I am really excited to make ramps and set up the scene where Vesper is in the roadway as Bond screams along the dark street toward her helpless, bound body.

Merry Christmas!

Another year has passed and it is time to give those special someones their gifts. I hope everyone got what they wanted. The stores weren't really all that bad this year. I went to the mall and Target a couple of time the last two weeks (once yesterday) and I didn't hate life like I have in the past.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from your friendly blogger.

Busting The Bubble

After the first few times of making my grand poker exits on the bubble (which is the highest finish a person can have without getting paid) we all thought it was cute and fun. IT'S NO LONGER CUTE AND IT'S NO LONGER FUN.
My goal for 2007 is one thing and one thing only: not going out on the bubble in a poker tournament. I don't care if I win or if I am first out, as long as I don't become the bubble boy again I will be happy.
I am going to tweak my game and fix a few things here and there in order to figure out what it is that's causing this recurring problem. Hopefully by fixing the leak in my game that causes my bubble exits I will begin to make the money more frequently, but only time will tell.

The Latest 10 Things I'm Out On List

Clint McWilliams began the "Ten Things I'm Out On" list, but here is my latest.

1. Children on leashes. Your kid is not a pet, so don't treat them like one. And especially don't put your kid on a cute leash that is decorated with fake lion fur. Just because you aren't using a metal chain to keep your kid within yanking distance doesn't mean you are any better of a parent.

2. People who wander aimlessly through the mall during Christmas. Have a flight plan and stick to it. I don't want to be stuck behind you while you are pondering your next move.

3. Passive drivers. If you are going to get over then step on the gas and come over. Don't make me slow down to be the nice person and then you contemplate if you can make the gap or not. Just go for it.

4. Those who stare at their cell phone while they are walking in a crowd. I don't care if you think you are the greatest texter on the planet, you are in my way and I want to move. Either walk to where you are going and then converse with your friends electronically or get out of my way.

5. This one I am guilty of so I will have to do something about this. People who own more shirts or other type of clothing for a university they didn't attend than one they did.

6. Tabloids. If you can't report the news accurately then don't report it at all. You give fanboys of whatever rumor you happen to be talking about hope of something that isn't going to happen.

7. People who walk in the middle of the path in a parking lot. Get to the side and let cars go on through.

8. Nicknames for couples: TomKat, Brangelina, Bennifer. Stop it!

9. Poker players who pay to draw for overs and then don't bet if they hit what they were looking for. If you're going to draw out on somebody, have the decency to make some money out of it.

10. Cancer. It's the 21st century's version of the plague. We will reach a point someday when the question isn't, "Will you get cancer?" but, "Will you survive your cancer?"

My Oklahoma Tournament Results

I doubt anyone reading this who cares about my results in the $30,000 Bounty Tournament that took place this past weekend in Oklahoma doesn't yet know what happened, but I will inform you anyway.
There were a total of 77 participants and the play was somewhat decent. A lot of players knew each other and seemed to have played together before. Besides James I didn't really recognize anybody. There was one player who I recognized his screen name from the Weston Poker forum.
The top 12 spots were paid with first place taking home $6,000. Ninth through twelfth place received $700 each. With 13 players left I was my table's chip leader and probably second in chips overall. My situation in the tournament was looking good and James was already making phone calls.
Well, no-limit can be a brutal game, as no more than 10 minutes went by and I went from chip leader to out in thirteenth place. That is right. Out on the bubble.
The hand that crippled me was when I flopped a set of sevens and a guy rivered a flush on me. It was a brutal beat that left me with $1,900 while the blinds were $800-1,600 with a $100 ante. I was gone two hands later with nothing to show for my day except memories of playing aces four times and winning with them every single time.
It was a good tournament that I will play in again if given the opportunity. Things got pretty hectic for about two rounds or so when nobody was getting knocked out and the blinds were starting to rise. If you had told me I was going to go out on the bubble I would have told you to bite your tongue, but come to find out that is how it happened.
Your's truly,
Matt "Bubble Boy" Cook

Due North

For those who haven't yet heard, James and I are taking the skills we have been honing for the last three years with the extra-long tournament and putting it to good use Sunday. A medium size tournament is taking place about three hours north in Oklahoma, about 40 miles south of Oklahoma City. It is a spectacular structure for a $365 tournament and approximately 100 people will be playing. I haven't really thought about the actual tournament much since deciding to play, but now I am starting to think about the drive, the tournament, the possibility of winning $9,000, the possibility of being bounced out really early and having to lower my head in poker shame. It's getting to me.
I will be walking out the door as the lights go down on our skit Sunday at church and jumping in the car to hit the road. And yes, I know how hypocritical it sounds to say I am leaving church to go play poker. Wish me luck and hopefully I will have a happy story for everyone on Monday.

Do you believe in Romo-mentum?

It is hard to deny that Tony Romo has not been a big factor in turning around this Dallas team. Before he took the field we were grumbling about how poor of a team we had and Bledsoe was killing us with his refusal to leave the pocket. Of course, a weak offensive line wasn't helping him very much either, but Romo sometimes has to deal with the same pressure Bledsoe did and he is able to scramble away and get a throw off. Too bad if the throw is to T.O. Owens there is a better than good chance he is going to drop the thing.
The Cowboys had a big day yesterday against the New York Football Giants and I am glad to see that our kicking game has given us some hope. That first wide right miss by Gramatica harkened back to the days of Vanderjagt - you know, a whole week ago.
Since the Cowboys had a good week, I of course had to have a bad week in the realm of fantasy football. A dismal failure on my selection process led to a 35-point finish, which my optimal lineup would have fetched 117 points. Quite a difference. I am not going to say that I am completely out of the playoffs yet, but its not too far fetched of an idea if I can't turn things around next week.

Silver Lining

Since American audiences are letting me down by letting those pesky penguins dance all over the box office for the last two weeks I have been looking for some kind of upside to the entire ordeal, and I think I found it.
Besides the United States, "Casino Royale" has been the number one movie in every International market since its release. And if that isn't enough, this last weekend in the UK, which was the second weekend of its release, Bond brought in more money than the other nine movies in the top ten ... combined. That relieves some of the stress of animated penguins making more money than a cold-blooded assassin working for her Majesty's government.

Blah!

I have become sick and I feel so tired that I can't think of anything to report. I'm hanging in there with fantasy football and "Casino Royale" is making a lot of money, but not as much as "Happy Feet." Stupid penguins.

Casino Royale: An All-Time High

After the first viewing of “Casino Royale” my initial reaction was very clear: not only is it one of the best movies of the series, but also Daniel Craig steps into the role with ease and confidence.
I wasn’t sure how I would react to Bond’s first “00” mission, considering my nervousness was outweighing my anticipation. Instead of giving a broad overview of the film and my opinion of it I have decided to review elements of the film that make Bond movies what they are and explain how the producers either stuck to the formula or altered it in order to keep the franchise fresh.

Bond:
I have no problem admitting my reluctance with the choice of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. The photograph almost every media publication used to announce his unveiling exhibited an almost unknown actor (which I liked) with a tired, worn face who looked uncomfortable in his suit (which I didn’t like). However, things have changed a bit since then. Craig put on 20 pounds of muscle for the role and his scenes in a bathing suit proves it. Besides having the body of a healthy, well-built spy, Craig spent countless hours rehearsing his fight scenes in order for it to look authentic, which it does.
Besides the look, Craig puts forth all of his acting efforts to show a different side of the secret agent we know. Craig was lucky enough to be given the chance to let audiences find out how Bond becomes the tough, womanizing, cold man he is in every other movie. But it isn’t all brooding and fight scenes for Craig. He is allowed to pull out a few zingers when it is necessary, but also when it is inappropriate. Sadly Craig’s timing isn’t as good as Pierce Brosnan’s or Connery’s.

Girls:
The two main Bond girls in “Casino Royale” are Caterina Murino and Eva Green. Murino is the norm when it comes to a Bond movie. She looks great in anything (or nothing) and makes a grand entrance, but ultimately is a passing fancy. Green is quite different though. Green was cast not to just turn heads while in an evening gown, but to also bring characterization to the film. Her relationship with Bond grows and drives the movie while action takes a back seat to gambling. One specific scene that exhibits Green’s talent best is in a shower scene (not that kind of talent pervert) with Bond that could easily have come off as cheesy, or even worse laughable.

Villain:
Mads Mikkelsen is terrorist financier Le Chiffre and does a first-rate job of playing the villain. He isn’t one of those evil megalomaniac types who are trying to take over the world or steal some nuclear weapons in order to hold the world for ransom. He simply wants money. The producers gave Le Chiffre a physical deformity that many Bond villains receive in order to make them memorable, but Mikkelsen doesn’t really need it. He doesn’t eat up the scenery around him and plays it low key when its necessary.

Allies:
The choice of leaving Judi Dench in the role of M completely screws up the timeline of the film series, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t welcomed. Her portrayal of Bond’s boss is one of respect and care for her employee but she doesn’t put up with his childish antics and arrogant attitude.
Moneypenny and Q are both absent from this film, but a reference to Moneypenny is made that will either bother or amuse the viewer.

Cars:
Bond cars have always been admired. Sometimes they even overshadow Bond himself. The producers were smart enough to shake things up with this movie’s idea to return to Bond’s roots, but they weren’t so dumb as to get rid of the classic Bond vehicle we all love. Craig drives the tasteful, refined Aston Martin DB5, which was featured for the first time in “Goldfinger” and has become known as the epitome of the Bond car. With the updating of the story, we are also given an update of the Aston Martin. Despite not having any true gadgets installed, the Aston Martin DBS becomes the newest Bond car. It is a machine that exhibits modern elegance along with the classic style the DB5 has.

Gadgets:
Besides a defibrillator and the use of computers, “Casino Royale” is practically void of all gadgetry. The producers want to get back to the basics and that meant ignoring laser watches, disguised suitcases and toothpaste plastic explosives.

Pre-title Sequence:
Since the beginning of “From Russia With Love” where we see Bond stalked in a lavish garden by an assassin for SPECTRE, the pre-title sequence has always been a highly awaited piece of the Bond formula. It usually unveils a small piece of the plot with Bond in the midst of danger and astonishing stunts. Like much of the movie itself, “Casino Royale” is completely different.
The first difference of this pre-title sequence is it’s shot in black and white. The second is it has everything to do with the storyline while at the same time it has nothing to do with the plot of the movie. It is rather low-key with crucial dialogue about Bond and his “00” status but has intense fight segments flashed before us. It is a great combination of plot and combat, however, the dialogue can be a bit confusing for anyone not familiar with the world of James Bond.
The one big upset for the ultimate fan during the pre-title sequence is the positioning of when the gun barrel shot takes place. This has always been the first thing the audience member sees is a small white dot moving across the screen and then opening up to show Bond in a suit or tuxedo. Bond walks back across and then flings himself around to shoot the sniper that has him in his sights. For “Casino Royale” they toy with this sequence and place it at the end of the pre-title sequence, which for me was not an improvement. I also thought the blood coming down the screen looked extremely animated and cartoon-like.

Title Sequence:
This was another element that was changed for the back to basics style. We usually get to see naked silhouettes of women set to a theme of the movie or displaying some trendy technology of the times, such as neon in the 80s, with the credits running in the foreground. “Casino Royale” has the silhouettes, but it doesn’t have the naked women. Instead it uses a theme of cards – go figure – that shows off Bond fighting and gunning his way around the screen. As you can tell, it’s not my favorite. Hopefully with more viewings it will grow on me, but my first response is going to be a big thumbs down.

Music:
David Arnold, who has composed every Bond movie since “Tomorrow Never Dies,” doesn’t really put much into this one. After leaving out any hint of the theme song from “Die Another Day” in the score, due to pretty much hating Madonna’s tune, he at least utilizes Chris Cornell’s theme song “You Know My Name.”
In the context of the movie, and especially the score when it is a slower instrumental version, it sounds great. Yet, that is almost the only memorable musical moment from the movie, not counting the final two minutes. Arnold ends the movie on a high note (no pun intended), but the other two hours and 10 minutes in between the theme songs of James Bond, nothing is recognizable or impressive for the film.

Overall Opinion:
I can’t say yet where in the rank it goes, but “Casino Royale” is going to be a classic in the series and is one of my top five favorites. The action isn’t over the top like in “Die Another Day” and the plot isn’t a replica like “Moonraker” or “A View to a Kill.”
For Craig’s first try at the role, and considering all the negative press he had to deal with during production, he does a remarkable job. I still think Connery is the ultimate James Bond, but Craig is going to always be considered one of the best by the general public.

I Can Taste The Vodka

In exactly 24 hours from now I will be seated in a dark theater with about eight of my close friends watching the most famous spy of cinema history drinking his legendary alcohol, bedding gorgeous and exotic women, killing without regret and being an all-around super cool British agent.
If you can't tell I am really excited about the upcoming "Casino Royale." I have only heard good things about this movie from the critics and from what I have seen in the previews it looks like they took the source material, author Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, very seriously.
I will most definetly post my initial reaction to the movie either late Friday night/early Saturday morning or sometime Saturday. I expect to be blown away, but I will try to be objective when reviewing it.

A Real American Haunting

The story I am about to share took place yesterday and it is one of the few times I have ever truly feared for my life.

We got a report from the scanner in our office of a trespassing and possible attempted burglary on a county road outside of Palmer, which is about five minutes north of Ennis. After copying down all the information the dispatcher and officer were sharing I got in my car and headed to the location of the crime. Supposedly two men had parked in a field next to this house and then began running toward the residence with crowbars and hammers in their hand and ski masks over their face.
When I arrived at the home I saw five cars sitting in front of the home at one end of the long driveway. I pulled in and parked near the grouping of cars. Before getting out I got my pad and pen out and thought through what I was going to ask the woman who phoned the police. While doing this I noticed two dogs laying on the ground not too concerned with my recent arrival.
I got out of the car and slowly made my way to the front door. I didn't want to spook the living security system in any way that would give them a reason to attack. I rang the doorbell a couple of times and knocked but nobody answered and I didn't hear anything rustling on the inside.
Making like the diligent reporter I should be I decided to snoop around a bit. Again not wanting to bother the dogs, I slowly began to walk around the side of the house. As I was approaching the rear of the home I found a swimming pool, large carport, trailer and two new dogs who were much more upset about my present than the first wave of canines.
The first dog I noticed was quickly up on his feet and had already made a few steps in my direction. I could tell he was not excited that I was there as his lips were snarled high enough that I could count each pointy instrument of death he was showing off so proudly like the day after a dentists visit. His growl was menacing and extremely threatening, but Little Caeser (that is what I have named him) was nothing compared to the monsterous creature I then saw staggering to his feet.
Zeus (again I have named the dog) was hands down the largest dog I have ever seen in my life. While standing on all four paws, his head easily came up to the top of my chest. I could turn his intestines into a roomy one-bedroom apartment with washer and dryer hookups. Zeus didn't bark much but when he did it began as a low rumble that shook the ground around him until he spewed a short, husky woof that couldn't be ignored.
Little Caeser didn't move much but Zeus was consistently making his way in my direction. At first I froze and forgot the reason I was there in the first place. I regained my wits and slowly started backing toward the front of the house. As I was I slinking to the car I noticed Zeus getting closer and his bark getting more frequent. I grabbed my phone in my left hand, prepared to call 911 in case the canines decided to take a hint from Hitchcock and turn on the humans and had my keys in the other hand repeatedly pushing the unlock button to make sure Mobyd would be ready at the slightest hint of trouble.
Well, since I am writing this I obviously made it back to the office unscathed. The woman I was looking for popped her head from around the side of the house and motioned that it was okay to come out. She and I spoke about the incident and I left moments later.
I have seen some large dogs in my time, one being my mom's boyfriend's rottweiler, but Zeus wins the prize for most horse-like canine.

Only Nine Days Left

Bond, James Bond.
Those immortal words so coolly uttered at a card table across from an intoxicating seductress in 1962’s “Dr. No” began a pop phenomenon that has manifested itself to the world as the James Bond movies.
Of all the movies I have seen, which add up to more than I could possibly imagine, my favorite series is the James Bond, or 007, films. That suave spy with the license to kill, who travels to exotic locations, beds ravishing women, drives the sleekest cars and operates futuristic gadgets, is the everyman’s hero. Several debonair men have portrayed 007, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, and beginning Nov. 17 a new Bond era will begin.
Daniel Craig, who you may recognize from recent films such as “Munich,” “Road to Perdition” or “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” has the demanding task of not only being the sixth official James Bond, but also portraying the character from his beginnings with the British secret service.
“Casino Royale,” opening in theaters this Friday, is the latest in a long series of movies – 21 to be exact – that has spanned more than four decades. Unsure of exactly what the newest movie is, “Casino Royale” is something of a prequel, reboot and retcon all in one.
Eon Productions, the handlers of the official James Bond series, have done this sort of thing in the past, but never to this great an extent. It is almost necessary when working with the same character for 45 years.
At the height of “Bondmania,” following “Goldfinger,” “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice,” the producers decided to scale things back a bit while breaking in a new actor for the role in 1969’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Poor box office returns and an initial rejection of George Lazenby as the star resulted in audiences dismissing a small scale Bond movie. Since its release, time has been good to “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” along with the fans of the film, who now declare Lazenby’s only outing as 007 to be one of the highlights of the series.
Following the success of “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in 1977, the Bond producers decided to turn their spy into an astronaut with the filming of “Moonraker” in 1979. “Moonraker” was given the largest budget of any previous Bond movie and was a financial success, but the producers decided to come back down to earth with their next story.
“For Your Eyes Only” told the simple tale of a lost military encryption devise Bond must retrieve before it is sold to the Soviets. This time audiences were much more accepting of the simple, gadget-less Bond movie.
In the long run, Bond producers are two-for-two when it comes to changing up the formula that creates a Bond movie and reconstructing the series. “Casino Royale” will be their third attempt to do so. In it they will unveil a new lead actor, dismiss the principal characters of Miss Moneypenny and Q, avoid advanced technology such as invisible cars and laser watches and take the audience down the path of how James became Bond.

"Casino Royale" Update

A couple of things have taken place involving the upcoming 21st James Bond movie in the last few weeks.
First of all, the theme song is terrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiibbbbbbbble. I own an Audio Slave album and think Chris Cornell, who sings the theme song titled "You Know My Name," is okay. He definitely has a distinctive voice and will be remembered, but he is not the best choice for a Bond song. I know that this Bond movie is different than anything to come before it and the song has to be the same, but the producers shouldn't have traded creativity for quality. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.
Secondly, some early reviews are coming in for the movie and most of them are very positive. I haven't read any of the narrative (mainly because I don't want anything that might surprise me to be revealed), but the ones that have rated the movie are mainly putting it at 4 out of 5 and 5 out of 5 stars. Very positive news.
The next topic of discussion should be the fact that the producers are already discussing Bond 22. News has been slipping about potential directors, singers and plots for a little while now, but Barbara Broccoli, one half of the family producing the Bond movies, has been very open about the direction the next movie will be taking. This is momentous news for the Bond fan considering the roller coaster event the last four years have been with the firing and hiring of a new Bond going along with the monumental fact that "Casino Royale" is finally being made into a serious Bond film, unlike the putrid specimen from 1967.
To coincide with the release of the 21st film in the series a new set of Bond movies has been released with more special features. Only 10 of the 20 movies were released today, but like a faithful fan I dispensed the $120 so I could own another set of my favorite film series.
The last bit of news, which is pretty amazing, is that I was propositioned today by my editor with a special press screening of "Casino Royale" on Thursday ... and I turned it down. I know this sounds like I am not a fan, but there were some good reasons for doing so. I want to make sure I see it on the best possible screen. I don't want to mess up my Bond marathon, which would only be at "Octopussy" by Thursday. I want to enjoy the experience of a new Bond and a new Bond movie with my friends and the rest of the audience, even though I am taking a risk with a close neighbor ruining the movie by talking during the film, which is becoming an increasing probability as I grow older.