A non-aerobic exercise in futility

Thursday, December 25, 2003

Sorry.

Sorry for the lack of updates. My folks visited for a week or so, I'll unwrap those presents when I wake up. I won a couple hundred in the Dec. OIC at Gaming Club so that was fun. That's about it other than working``````````.

posted by Matt 2:26 AM

Friday, November 21, 2003

In the money

I've been horrible in multi-table tournaments. You know, the ones with hundreds of players all buying in. Tonight was my first money finish. I bought into a $7k guarantee at the Gaming Club for $25+2 and finished in 20th... the last spot that paid. $70 from the prize pool for a $43 profit. Not bad for two hours work.

posted by Matt 11:26 PM

Sunday, November 16, 2003

Attention all GCC'ers

Anyone from my old college stomping and bowling and basketball-shooting grounds, welcome to the blog. Feel free to post in the forum and say hi. I gotta get caught up with everyone!

posted by Matt 10:02 PM

Thursday, November 06, 2003

End of the tour

Fine, fine. I admit it... I wussed out. I took $550 out of Gaming Club last night and quit the internet challenge. I figured earning a month's rent off of free money in three days was a pretty good deal. I'll probably take a few days off until I have the urge to play some more.

posted by Matt 4:24 PM

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Well THIS is exciting.

Remember that $50 that had grown to just over $100 in the previous post? It's now up to $500. Five f-ing hundred American by-God dollars. Let me tell you how.

$2/$4 limit holdem, four at the table.

I'm dealt Kh, Ks. All of us see the flop for $2.

[Flop: Jc, Js, Kc]

Well, isn't THIS something. The flop gives me the nut full house. Me and the guy to my right cap it off. (Pot: $24)

[Turn: Jc, Js, Kc, 4c]

The houses still stand. opponent bets, raise, re-raise, cap, call. Just like last time. (Pot: $56)

[River: Jc, Js, Kc, 4c, Qh]

Same deal as as last time (Pot: $85... $88 - $3 rake).

I reveal Kh, Ks... Kings full of Jacks. Opponent doesn't show, but claims he had K-J for Jacks full of Kings. I don't really care WHAT he had. $85 pot. MINE.

I caught a few other big hands, including one at $3/6 where I flopped trip Qs to win a $160+ pot.

So now I'm gonna scope out the $5/10 games tomorrow to decide how far I want to push this. We'll see.

posted by Matt 4:11 AM

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

The struggle continues

After four hours of play at $1/$2, the $100 I started this level with is up to... $102.62. Wow. I can't believe what people are raising and calling pre-flop with. I'm gonna have to tighten up my play a little so I can hammer them with big hands.

Also, please welcome Josh Mann to the blog community. He hates Florida St, so he's welcome here.

posted by Matt 7:46 AM

Monday, November 03, 2003

The $2000 Pyramid

At the poker forum I frequent, someone came up with this cool little challenge.

Start at .50/1 with a "separate" $50 bankroll, play until you have $100.
Move up to 1/2 and play until you have $200.
Move up to 2/4 and play until you have $300.
Move up to 3/6 and play until you have $500.
Move up to 5/10 and play until you have $1000.
Move up to 10/20 and play until you have $1500.
Move up to 15/30 and play until you have $2000.

I started at 12:01 am Monday and got smacked around a little. I won my way back to even ($50) before going to bed. In just over 2 hours today, I've doubled up to $100 and I'm gonna hit the $1/$2 tables later. Onward and upward!

posted by Matt 2:47 PM

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

FLCL is back!

Tonight Cartoon Network started re-showing FLCL (midnight Eastern). Catch it while you can because it's only a six-episode series. If you come in tomorrow night in episode two, that's fine. Watch it through, then watch it again on the 2nd time through. You'll thank me.

posted by Matt 12:57 AM

Sunday, October 19, 2003

New linkage!

Welcome Chris Gates to the blog family. He's a great guy and an avid baseball fan, and I definitely approve of his template art.

posted by Matt 2:05 AM

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Another battle in the poker wars

Played a little bit with the profit money today. I lost it down to $25 at one point, but then won it back to $70 with a HOT run at the 6-seated $1/$2 hold-em table. The highlight hand was hitting a K for a 9-K straight on the river for a $20 pot.

So $70 for about... three hours of playing poker online combined. Not a bad racket.

posted by Matt 12:08 AM

Monday, October 13, 2003

Just couldn't resist...

I have the next (and hopefully final) job interview with the branch manager of the bank I'll be working at Tuesday after close. Looks like a slam dunk, but I'm going out for a haircut and some nifty threads tomorrow.

In the meantime, my parents called and said they'd ship down a $50 Wal-mart card to me. I of course took this as an opportunity to invest $50 at PartyPoker. I think it was a wise move... I ran over a shorthanded Omaha 8/b game and doubled up my $50 to $100. The original stake comes out tomorrow, and from there I'm playing with the suckers' money. Outstanding, says I.

posted by Matt 12:41 AM

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

The times they are a-changin'

Based on a convo I had with the HR department at the bank I tested for 2 weeks ago, it looks like I'm going to be offered a job very soon. If I get it, it's gonna be POKER NIGHT AT THE DOG TRACK for me. Then I can actually add a legit occupation to that little "about me" bar on the right. How cool.

posted by Matt 2:46 AM

Thursday, September 25, 2003

Slowin' it down

I took a lot of tough beats this week... people hitting two-outers on the river, a fourth heart coming on the river to make someone's 8-high flush, and so on. It frustrated me enough that I took a couple days off, and tightened up my play a lot today. It paid off well... 2nd out of 6, 3rd out of 10 and a $8 profit in a ring game so far today.

posted by Matt 8:23 PM

Friday, September 19, 2003

ONE OF US. ONE OF US.

Check out the newest member of our little cabal. Very good stuff so far, and more to come I'm sure.

posted by Matt 10:00 PM

Thursday, September 18, 2003

CHUMPED!!!

hahahahaha I love poker.

I sat down at a $5+$.50 heads-up table and totally ditched a few hands. I even tossed a flush and showed it to my opponent. When he asked why I folded, I said I thought it was the low flush given the board, and that I WAS NEW TO PLAYING HEADS-UP. (Read the 9/12/03 post for proof to the contrary.)

I came back from 500-1500 down to win that one. Then he wanted an immediate rematch. I beat him there too. Then I logged off. Ladies and gentlemen, MY FIRST HUSTLE. I'm so delightfully proud.

posted by Matt 11:31 AM

Friday, September 12, 2003

When you play this well...

... it's not gambling. It's an INVESTMENT.

Played a heads-up (1-on-1) no-limit table for $5+$.50 (house rake), winner takes all from the non-house rake. Won it.

Played another heads-up NL table for $10+$.50. Won it.

Played ANOTHER heads-up NL table for $10+$.50. Won it.

Played YET ANOTHER heads-up NL table for $10+$.50. Won it.

Poker aside, I'm sure you're all aching for updates from my HurryDate Weds. night.

It was quite awesome.

I got three minutes to talk to each of 21 pretty nice chicas. I actually got four matches out of it, and I talked to two of the ones I really dug after it was over. I highly recommend it for single folks of all kinds, especially those new to an area. You know, the folks who move 1100 miles south without really knowing anyone. The whole "Hi, I just moved over a thousand miles for the sheer hell of it without having any connections to this area" thing is really quite a nice conversation starter.

Anyway, there are far worse ways to burn $35 plus the cost of a couple beers. Me, I'll just be happy if I can manage to get a couple dinner dates out of it.

posted by Matt 4:34 AM

Monday, September 08, 2003

Gotta love the late-nite crowd

I just won TWO straight $10+1 six-player SNGs at UltimateBet. $62 profit. On the second one I caught some dude on a stone bluff heads-up, and BEAT HIS ASS AND TOOK ALL HIS MU-FU'IN CHIPS. Boo-yah.

posted by Matt 4:34 AM

Sunday, September 07, 2003

Aye Carumba!

I've taken $100 of my poker winnings out to buy a new hot pimpin' wardrobe to go on my Hurrydate. It all goes down Weds. night, of course you can expect a detailed breakdown either here or in the aPa chat. Well, probably both. I should be going shopping later on Sunday. Good times.... good times.

In the meantime, I got drunk tonight with my neighbors and roughly 20 other people I didn't know. It was spectacularly awesome, especially when a bunch of us went swimming at 4am just for the sheer hell of it. Welcome to Florida, me.

posted by Matt 5:15 AM

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

So very close

So. I took a small slice of my poker bankroll and entered into a $11+1 tournament. First and only prize was a seat at the BIG Aruba Super Satellite. I won my seat, and played for the big trip to Aruba tonight at 11.

The last six standing got trips to Aruba and seats in the WPT event there. I put in a valiant effort and finished 46th out of 400. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with my performance. Probably too timid the 2nd hour, but otherwise fine.

posted by Matt 2:01 AM

Thursday, August 28, 2003

Makin' the big jump

UltimateBet is finally back up and running. They're offering a 50% bonus up to $100. I have $80 in my Neteller account right now, and about $150 in blackjack profits on the way. That'll cover the $200 I need to get my fat $100 bonus.

It's go-time.

posted by Matt 11:45 PM

Tuesday, August 26, 2003

And now, a reply to an editorial

Welcome to an edition of "dueling blog outrage" between myself and 3zy. Here's my entry! Dumbass in Tacoma's comments in bold, I'm in italics.

Have you watched The Cartoon Network with your children lately? If you haven't, and you are a parent or advocate for children, you should read this.

If you're a busybody with nothing better to do with your time, listen to me bitch about something! I need to since I'm not getting enough action at home! My husband seems to be hanging out at the firestation an awful lot and talking to the guys. He comes home with a bunch of money every night, he must be winning at cards!

There is a new cartoon called "FLCL," or "Fooly Cooly." Originating from Japan, this cartoon airs at midnight on The Cartoon Network as part of the network's evening programming called "Adult Swim."

Well, it did. But it's gone now. Rest easy, young crusader. They knew this scathing editorial was coming and pulled it. Never mind that it's on the segment called ADULT SWIM and every single show features a disclaimer warning against kids under 14 watching it.

My husband heard about "FLCL" from some young men in their 20s who found it quite entertaining and told my husband to watch it sometime. When my husband and I turned on "FLCL," we were shocked and outraged.

Good for your husband! He's at least got some friends with a sense of humor.

Had this program been on a channel other than The Cartoon Network and had it been rated "R," we would not have been so alarmed. This program is rated TV-PG. What we saw was nudity below the waist on a teenage girl, kids blowing people's brains out with machine guns, extreme violence and sexual content - all being acted out by adolescent characters. Why has this show been rated TV-PG?

If you knew the first thing about Japanese animation (which you don't), you know that they are the kings of the mosaic. Second, thanks for joining the fallacious "all animation is for kids" camp. Do your damn research. Third, I've watched the series several times through and I haven't found a single gun-related human fatality. Oh, you must mean the episode where they're playing war games with toy guns... or didn't you let your kids have those either?

We feel safe as parents of young teens to allow them to watch television unsupervised even at a late hour because we trust in proper TV ratings and have our family television set with a parental code for anything PG-13 or above. It doesn't do any good for The Cartoon Network to display a parental warning prior to its late-night programming because parental codes don't lock out a show based on that type of warning. What works is to rate a show correctly in the first place.

So it's the V-chip's job to make sure your hyperactive little rug-rats are watching "safe" programming after midnight. Here's an idea... make your damn kids go to bed at a reasonable hour if you're that worried about what they're watching. Oh wait... YOUR KIDS DIDN'T WATCH THIS SHOW AT ALL! It was you and your beloved husband! I'm so glad you're "thinking of the children", but I'd imagine most of the kids you're worried about have parents that actually take responsibility for raising them. You know, unlike your sorry Stepford-wife ass.

Let me say that we are not extremists. We don't try to hide our kids from the real world, nor do we chase down every bad thing in life and try to abolish it or censor it. What we are saying is that this particular show is vulgar and dangerous and could possibly incite violence. We are outraged that it has been rated TV-PG to be openly viewed by kids on, of all places, The Cartoon Network.

What part of "Adult Swim" and "after midnight" don't you understand? And if you have a little girl, I'll bet my poker payroll she ends up knocked up by 18 because you didn't bother to teach her all the "dirty filthy secrets" of the consequences of sex or anything in the real world. But hey, at least a boxing glove won't shoot out of her cooch. As far as inciting violence, I've been standing by the highway all day waiting for an alien chick to crack me in the head with a space guitar so I can get a giant robot to spring out of my skull and smite all those who oppose me. Hasn't happened yet, but I've got a good feeling about tomorrow.

So, children can watch Scooby Doo during the day and at night they can see teenage girls acting out oral sex acts with a lollipop.

I won't even get into the numerous pot references in any given episode of Scooby-Doo. At least if your teenage daughter is learning to give blowjobs she can make some money and maybe make me a loser in my "pregnant by 18" bet. Probably not, though.

When we tried to contact The Cartoon Network, we found that it does not accept phone comments from viewers. We went to its Web site, cartooncomments@ turner.com, and did not find a place to contact anyone at the network. We will, however, mail it a copy of this letter.

Hi, that's not a website, that's an e-mail address. I'm sure you typed it into your Yahoo search bar instead of your Outlook Express. Try again, please. Oh, and enjoy your SoBig.F virus, you computer illiterate fuck-tard. I bet formatting your C: will get rid of it easily enough.

We have been in contact with the Federal Communications Commission, the ACLU and organizations dealing with violence against children. We have been spreading the word to educators and churches to raise public awareness about this incorrect rating.

Well, it's off the air now, THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR CRUSADE! Your power of impotent protest overwhelms me, please call off your dogs! Don't burn me at the stake for taping the series! I look forward to seeing your protest march on the news.

posted by Matt 1:00 AM

Monday, August 25, 2003

Oh Lord have mercy

... because I just stole me some money.

I had slightly less than $40 left in my bankroll. Lost a $25 stake at the pot-limit hold-em table. Decided "WTF, I'm putting my last $13 at the no-limit hold-em cash table". In 10 minutes, I busted out three players, including one of them TWICE to turn my $13 into $91. Right now I'm in a $10+1 PL HE SNG to wrap up the night. If I finish top two, I'll cash out another $50... the second $50 cash-out I've gotten from this most recent $50 deposit.

Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'.

posted by Matt 3:02 AM

Sunday, August 24, 2003

New experience

After I cashed-out today, I took my remaining $13 and turned it into $37 at the NL cash table. Since I was bored tonight, I figured I'd enter a $5+1 Omaha 8/b (otherwise known as Omaha hi-lo) SNG. It was my first time playing this game for any sort of cash... and I came in 3rd out of 10 to show a nifty $4 profit. Man, I'll take it but I doubt I'll make that game any sort of regular experience. Too much stuff going on to wrap my poor addled head around. Fun way to burn 45 minutes, though.

posted by Matt 3:47 AM

Saturday, August 23, 2003

In the nick of time

I had some struggles with my online play last night, and got beat down to about $72. At this point I figured I should cut my losses and cash out my original $50 to at least break even, and play two last $11+1 limit hold-em SNGs today.

Finished 4th and just out of the money in the first one, but won the 2nd one to get back up to another $50 bankroll. I'll try to limit myself to only two $5+1s or $10+1s a day at PartyPoker while I keep reading up and find out what I did so wrong last night and what worked today. Of course, I'm STILL WAITING for UltimateBet to get their Ultimate Point SNGs going again so I can get some no-limit experience.

posted by Matt 6:27 PM

Meeting the neighbors

Well, this was interesting.

After drinking over half a bottle of Jim Beam black label, I decided to walk to my back porch and see why the fuck my neighbor was making so much noise at 3am. Turns out he's even more of a drunk than me, so we each had two Lemon Drops and two beers, then ate a fuckload of Krystal burgers with his guests. I'm just now going to bed. Viva life.

posted by Matt 6:53 AM

Friday, August 22, 2003

The start of something big?

Bought into a $10+1 sit-n-go at PartyPoker last night. And won. $39 profit right there.

Sat down at the $25 buy-in NL cash table this morning. Ended up $45 to the good.

Today I may try my luck at one of their multi-table tournaments, or just kinda take it easy and read a bit more. I read through Hold-em Poker last night and absorbed a little bit of it. I'll re-read some more today and relax, hop into a game when I feel relaxed. In the meantime, one more big session like that and I can go shopping for some wall art.

posted by Matt 10:14 AM

Thursday, August 21, 2003

And so it begins

I love amazon.com. Today my first two books came... except there were three. For some reason they shipped me TWO copies of Hold'em Poker, plus my one copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players. So I might sell one for a few bucks, or just lend it to a friend. In the meantime, I got lots of reading material now. I'll have more once my SuperSystem book and Poker Theory get here. For now though, it's a great start.

posted by Matt 4:31 PM

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Didn't even have to use my AK (suited)

... I have to say it was a good day.

Still waiting for my poker books to arrive, should take a week or so. I got my DDR stuff goin' on, as some people have already noted. Otherwise just a perfectly cool day. Wish someone would call me back with a job offer, though.

Quiet on the poker front. My main pastime of playing the Ultimate Point sit-n-gos at ultimatebet.com has been derailed due to server problems on their front. I may dump another $50 into PartyPoker and try and tear up their $5+1 sit-n-gos again tomorrow, we'll see how I feel when I wake up around noon or 1pm. I love the slacker lifestyle, just wish it paid better.

My new wallpaper of the moment... well, it's this for now, but I'd like something a bit cheerier. I may switch it up tonight as I listen to the roughly 40 songs I d/led by The Pillows tonight. If you don't get the significance of either the wallpaper or the music, then I suggest you watch Cartoon Network at midnight EDT to learn. It will change your goddamn life.

I'm off to finish my NCAA '04 season by taking my Tampa St. Wolfpack (10-2) to the Cotton Bowl to meet #6 Oklahoma. Should be a riot (in the fun, non-killing sense).

posted by Matt 2:04 AM

Sunday, August 17, 2003

Winning Ways

Oh lord-a-mercy, what a night. First I cleaned up strong in the aPa XFL fantasy draft. Then I went on to enter four $5+1 sit-n-go tournaments at PartyPoker.com... and WIN 3 of them. That'll nearly pay for the four books I got from amazon.com today...

"Super System" by Doyle Brunson
"Texas Hold'em", "Texas Hold'em For The Advanced Player" and "Poker Theory" by David Sklansky.

Life... is VERY good.

posted by Matt 1:57 AM

Thursday, August 14, 2003

Quick night at the online tables

Went to the ultimatebet.com $.25/$.50 limit hold-em tables. Won $21.85 in half an hour. Left happily. Life... is okay.

posted by Matt 1:34 AM

Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Link update

Do yourselves a favor and visit Wade's blog as soon as you get a chance. He's a good guy who has a tendency toward caustic smart-assery, a trait I fully endorse.

posted by Matt 6:28 PM

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Comeback of the year

Wow.

I just finished 2nd in a 10-player table at UB.com. At one point I was down to under 200 chips from my starting 1000, then funny things started to happen. I doubled-up twice, waited for a while, got down again, and doubled up again. My all-in on Q-5 turned into a full house (Qs full of 5s), beating out someone else's A-A which became two pair. He was a little pissed off, but he eventually beat me heads-up.

posted by Matt 5:04 PM

Monday, August 11, 2003

I love this game

Re-registered at PartyPoker.com today, just for the sucker value. I ended up at the $50 no-limit table. Won myself to up $25, then dropped it back to even. Then, it happened.

A-A.

I just called the big-blind, but before the flop hit, someone bet out for like $18. I re-raised all-in for my $50, he hesitated and called it. I guess he thought his Q-Q was the best hand, which is right probably 98% of the time. But not against my mighty aces. Five meaningless board cards later, I'm doubled up in cash and walking the hell away.

I love this game.

Edit to add: Oh yeah, I just won another $25 in profit from their $.50/$1 limit hold-em table. Life... is okay.

posted by Matt 12:29 AM

Friday, August 08, 2003

Eh.

Boy, I sure hope that if I stop blogging, no stupid asshole takes over my URL and acts like a retard with it. That would sure suck. I'd be so pissed off I'm not even sure I'd be able to play pinball.

Anyway, played a $10+1 no-limit tournament tonight. 400 players, last 50 get paid. I finished 68th. I foolishly walked into a full house to nearly bust out, then went all-in on A-10 offsuit... by the time it got back to the guy to my right, he called me out with A-A. The results were predictable from there. Still a good time, and I'm learning more every time I play.

posted by Matt 1:16 AM

Thursday, August 07, 2003

Another night out

Went out with a small crowd tonight. I lost at mini-golf (dammit!) but amazed everyone with my mad-phat Dance Dance Revolution skillz. Afterward pizza, wings, garlic rolls and BOOZE abounded at my place while the World Poker Tour was on the Travel Channel. Of course we were missing someone, but that's her loss. Overall, a totally awesome night. Oh yeah, and I found my long-lost tarot cards. Life is goooooooooood.

posted by Matt 1:02 AM

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Night at the Seminole Casino

Well. They certainly do use every part of the dollar.

First I had to sign up at their board to wait for a place at a hold-em table. The dude ahead of me had to wait like 30 minutes. My beeper went off about 90 minutes AFTER his. But wait... THERE WAS NO PLACE FOR ME! They tried TWICE to seat me at a 7-card stud table, and by the time they figured out the game I'd signed up for 2 hours ago, the spot was filled! So no poker for me.

Turns out that was for the best... for $.25/$.50 limit hold-em, there's a $.25 ante on every hand that goes straight to the house. That's right, a quarter to the house before your cards are even dealt. By the time you get around that and tipping the dealer when you win, there's no possible way to make money there. None. I'm far better off playing online, and will continue to do so. I MAY register for a tournament there once in a while, but there's no way I'm going there on a regular basis.

posted by Matt 2:05 AM

Sunday, August 03, 2003

The Bacon Theory run amok

Friendster is just about the scariest thing in history. I love it. Feel free to look me up and add me, I want to see if I can get my "personal network" over 100,000.

posted by Matt 10:31 PM

Saturday, August 02, 2003

Back again

Yeah, I got moved in Tuesday and online Thursday, but I've been a busy, busy dude. Unpacking books, buying stuff I need, and visiting with some current Floridians. It looks like I'm hitting the local casino Tuesday night. After the hot streak I had online yesterday, I can't wait. I turned my $25 deposit into over $100 over the course of the day. $40 of that is going back into my pocket and with me to the REAL casino this week. Oh yes, there will be a detailed account of that trip when it happens.

posted by Matt 2:11 PM

Thursday, July 24, 2003

See ya in a few...

Tearing down the PC rig tonight. Be back Tuesday from sunny Tampa.

posted by Matt 9:40 PM

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

Packin' up and heading south

That's what I've been up to all week. Soooo much crap I have, I think I'm gonna end up throwing most of it out and just picking up whatever else I need once I'm there. It's not like I'm a slave to material possessions or anything.

On that note, NCAA Football 2004 for PS2 is too awesome to be believed. Get it NOW NOW NOW!

I spent today setting up power, phone and cable installation for "the new place"... I may be offline any day now up here, but I should be back in the game Tuesday. I'd like to get to a ballgame in Pittsburgh tonight, but I don't think the weather is going to co-operate with me. Too bad, I wanted some pics of the ballpark to put on my computer. I'm SURE the scenic confines of Tampa's Tropicana Field will be just as good.

I'm getting some help in packing/cleaning Weds. night and Thursday from friends and family, which will make my life a LOT easier. Updates here as needed... or maybe I'll just see y'all in Florida next week.

posted by Matt 3:54 PM

Saturday, July 19, 2003

Tequila!

I'm going out with a friend of mine for bad Mexican food and all the tequila I can handle. He'll be here in about 15 minutes and I'm having a warm-up drink. If I'm alive tonight, I'll update again.

posted by Matt 7:33 PM

Monday, July 14, 2003

The Agony Of Defeat

I decided to play my Aruba super-satellite today. It ended up that the top 3 places got trips to Aruba, the next five got a little bit of cash. This is the tournament I won my way into last night, for those who care. And here is my final hand.

I had A-A in the hole, best hand possible. The flop comes down a relatively harmless 5-3-8. A couple re-raises result in me going all-in, and the other guy calls it... then flips up a pair of 5s in the hole. Trip 5s beats my aces, and so I'm gone.

Simple dumb luck, I finished like 163rd out of about 190 players. But such is poker.

posted by Matt 12:08 AM

Sunday, July 13, 2003

One step closer

Oh man, I just won an Aruba sattellite at ultimatebet.com. That earns me a buyin (worth $110) to an Aruba super-satellite. If I win that, I earn a $4000 seat at the Ultimate Poker Challenge or something, plus airfare plus a week of hotel in Aruba. Holy shit.

posted by Matt 1:56 AM

Wednesday, July 09, 2003

Nothing much

Whoo, check out Amanda's new blog! Spiffy!

That's about it. Oh wait, I finished 68th in a 189-player poker tournament online tonight... I panicked and bet into a bad hand for me. One moment of weakness or lapsed concentration can cost you BIG in hold-em. Luckily I only had $5 buyin + $.50 house take invested in the whole shebang. I'd say the lesson learned was worth that much.

posted by Matt 12:37 AM

Sunday, July 06, 2003

Realizations

Last night I came to a realization... It's not necessarily my fault that other people are nuts. And I really shouldn't take it personally that they are. That's really about it. Anyone who was pestered by me online last night knows the details.

posted by Matt 12:43 PM

Tuesday, July 01, 2003

hahaha

Oh man. I am the king of poker.

I invested $25 at ultimatebet.com, and went bust. On a hunch, I put in ANOTHER $25 and won back my previous losses by playing on heads-up (1-on-1) tournaments to break even for the night. I am to be feared.

posted by Matt 2:21 AM

Thursday, June 19, 2003

Another poker night

Pretty decent night. I played 3 tournaments... got a 5th (no money), 2nd ($15) and a 3rd ($10), which means I finished in the money for the night. Hey, I'll take it.

posted by Matt 8:21 PM

Monday, June 16, 2003

Golden God part 3

Just screwing around, I took 2nd in a $5-entry tournament, netting me another $9 in profit.

posted by Matt 12:29 AM

Sunday, June 15, 2003

Golden God part 2

I just won a $10 entry tournament for a $50 first prize. I am the poker GOD. That is all.

posted by Matt 10:26 PM

I am a golden god

So. I was down to my last $10 in online poker money, so I went to the $.50/$1 hold-em table to play it out tonight. Then I caught the HAND OF A LIFETIME.

I was on the big blind and had something like 7-9 offsuit. On the river, I ended up with a queen-high straight, and four other fools just kept re-raising into me. With my last dollar on the table, the cards were revealed... and I was $57 richer. I love poker.

Edit to add: Oh yeah, another link has been added. Go visit Butch's new blog and wallow in his misery!

posted by Matt 8:15 PM

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Home for the weekend

It's Fathers' Day, so I'm heading home for the weekend. My grandfather is having a small birthday celebration this evening... he's turning 87 and it looks like this may be his last one.

Weekends at home are always odd. My parents always talk about how nice it was to have me home all weekend when it's time for me to leave. Most of the weekend is spent with me lounging on their couch while my dad dozes off and on while watching the NASCAR race. But it makes them happy, I get to catch up on local and family gossip. From time to time I'll see an aunt or uncle or something which is kinda neat, too. It's really nothing special, but it matters to them. Recently I realized I won't have too many weekends like this in my future as my moving day is rapidly approaching. So I'll go home, chill out and maybe slow down and appreciate things a little bit more.

posted by Matt 1:13 PM

Thursday, June 12, 2003

Slim Shadyside

I played a pair of $5-entry tournaments online at partypoker.com today. I finished 1st in one, 2nd in the other making me a cool profit of around $30. I'm starting to like this whole poker deal. And I already have the ultimate poker shirt, which I may post a link to soon.

posted by Matt 11:36 PM

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

The Big Countdown

It's about six and a half weeks now until I pack up everything I own and move to Florida. Man, time is flying. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was sitting in my apartment with two feet of snow on the ground thinking how great it would be to not freeze my ass off for five months a year.

Job-wise, I'm apparently the teller without a home as I'll be moving away from my "home" branch to the other branch for the next two weeks. I don't mind it really, it's just a different kind of atmosphere. And hey, working at two different branches means TWICE as many awesome references I can use to land a bank job in FL!

I've been playing a ton of online poker lately. Look for me on the Travel Channel's airings of the World Poker Tour sometime next year (hahaha).

Edit to add: Please do check out my boy 3zy's blog. He's far more consistent than me as far as updating and was kind enough to link to me. I'm such a linkwhore.

posted by Matt 11:10 PM

Thursday, June 05, 2003

Oops.

I know I said I wouldn't skimp on updates, but apparently I lied. I've been busy as hell with work, Xenosaga, and now fighting off a cold. Luckily I'm using my favorite home-made cold remedy, SCREWDRIVERS! They say you should have plenty of Vitamin C and clear fluids, and screwdrivers fulfill both of those needs.

I need to start collecting boxes soon, I'm moving in around 8 weeks. Man, moving to Florida. It sounds kinda exciting to me, if not anyone else. Yesterday my new rental company called me with my new address, which was exciting. After a week straight of looking at overcast skies and intermittent drizzle here in Pittsburgh, the sub-tropical climate can't come soon enough.

Moving has always been weird for me. I hate doing it, but once I pull the trigger and decide to do it, time flies. I've got tons of old clothes here I haven't worn in 3 years that I need to drop off at Goodwill, boxes to collect for my CDs and DVDs and PS2 games and other capitalized possessions, roughly ten million change of address forms because hey, I certainly wouldn't want those bloodsucking bastards at MBNA to "lose" me and my $5500+ credit card debt (hi guys! Your check is in the mail, I promise!)... you get the picture. This one will be different from my other moves, though. I'm not just moving an hour away from home, or across the street to another apartment... I'm moving over 1000 miles south. Kind of a chance to start over with everything and see what I can do. So yeah, I'm a little excited and optimistic.

posted by Matt 12:10 AM

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

Guess who's back...

Hahaha man I'm addicted to the ellipses.

Anyway, had a mini-rant session tonight and I feel quite a bit better for it. Time will tell if it sticks, though.

In the meantime I have a full day at the bank Weds, followed by a trip home Thurs which is always fun and entertaining. For those of you expecting blog-fireworks tonight, sorry to disappoint.

posted by Matt 11:56 PM

Monday, May 26, 2003

So much for the everyday updates...

Yeah, I know I missed a few days last week. Hopefully that won't happen again. I'm attempting to show a little more control of my emotions... one of the best ways I can currently think of to do that is to avoid situations that will stress me out. If it all goes as planned I'm going to take a few days to just kinda chill out and "step outside" myself; figure out where my head's at and where I need to have it. Maybe this'll result in some interesting writing both on here and in my own little world. Maybe not. Either way, I know that I've been kind of heading down a bad path the last couple weeks. I guess it's time to kinda look in the mirror and re-evaluate some things. Whether I can actually make any sort of changes... well, stay tuned.

posted by Matt 10:34 PM

Sunday, May 25, 2003

Big batch of whatever

I hate the world. I hate my emotions. I hate myself. Going into any more detail would be specfically damning, although this post already is just by its tone. I just want to sleep right now.

posted by Matt 1:34 AM

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

I'm not even supposed to be here today!

After work today I stopped off for a fresh jug of vodka, then a half-gallon of Sunny Delight at the Uni-Mart. Here is a rough transcription of the conversation after the transaction.

Clerk 1: How come nobody drinks Tang anymore?
Clerk 2: *shrug*
C1: It was good enough for the astronauts, right?
Me: Well, there's no real space program right now. Once we land on Mars, Tang will be back.
C2: Good point, man.

Maybe my life's calling is to be a smart-ass convenience store clerk.

posted by Matt 5:35 PM

Monday, May 19, 2003

A week filling in

Yep, I'm filling in at another branch of the bank this week. And man, is it weird. The computer system is all different, the counters are all awkward and stuff, and the head teller is apparently an idiot. She couldn't figure out how to disarm the motion sensor this morning, so were 20 minutes later than usual getting in. This proved to be a problem since they had about seventy or so night deposit bags to process today. Also this is a branch where the tellers are in charge of opening accounts for new customers, which I'm not trained in. All in all this will be a very interesting week but at least I'll get a solid 40 hours.

posted by Matt 11:23 PM

A weekend come and gone

Apparently blogger.com is doing something weird with their software, so I'll just have to cope. My tunes to sleep to to tonight will be Pearl Jam's concert at State College, PA. That's about it. I spent like six hours playing Xenosaga today. I gotsta go to work at another branch of the bank tomorrow, that should be interesting. Later, all.

posted by Matt 12:17 AM

Sunday, May 18, 2003

Wooooo, weekend

I'd love to get excited over this weekend, but I'm drunk and bored and not doing anything fun with people. I spent this afternoon basically just putzing around online while watching TV (or vice-versa) and tomorrow should be more of the same. And yeah, can't forget the drinkin'. Lord-a-mercy, can't forget that. I'm going to pass out on my couch while watching a Simpsons VHS tape. When I wake, it'll be a ton of PS2 stuff interwoven with re-heated pizza and a full hour of THE SIMPSONS~~~~~~~~. Maybe life isn't so bad. Or, like, you know, whatever.

posted by Matt 1:35 AM

Friday, May 16, 2003

A boring day, a boring life

Not much today. Another day workin' and making money. Tomorrow I get to wake up EARLY for breakfast with co-workers before the half-day at work. Lousy "open on Saturdays" bank branch. Bleah. At least I'll get a good meal out of it.

posted by Matt 11:21 PM

Not much

Well, I'm to the point that I feared... I do nothing but work then come home and chat and drink. Such is life. Hopefully I can horrify my friend's little cousin when he comes to town to tour the Pitt campus. The plan is that my friend and I are going to scare the shit out of this little townie bitch-boy and his ultra-Christian GF when they come to see what the Pitt campus is like. I plan to have 10 oz of booze in me just when they come to pick me up. Good times.

posted by Matt 12:03 AM

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Not much happening

Well, we're finally to the point where I start exhibiting the depth of the rut I'm in until I move. Go to work, go home, drink and chat, go to bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. Hopefully something horrifying will happen to me this weekend that I can write about. Or maybe I can horrify someone else... that'd work too.

posted by Matt 10:54 PM

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Well....

Last night was apparently my first true "black out". I posted here and didn't remember it, and apparently I made a phone call I have no recollection of. How exciting! Anyway, I'm going to bed semi-lucid tonight and playing a TON of Xenosaga tomorrow. Have fun, all.

posted by Matt 12:48 AM

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Buried Treasures

While I was home over Sat. night and Mothers' Day, I found a small container of audiotapes and old love notes. Nothing much there... mostly just copies of a couple things I didn't want to wear out the originals of. But I did find about 50 minutes of "footage" from my old campus radio show back in the day. It'd been at least six years since I'd heard it, and at first I didn't recognize my own voice. But there it was, clear as day. Along with that I found a few other tapes I'd made and love letters that others had sent me from years ago, and even a halting, piece-meal sort of diary I had going even before the audio stuff. Not for the first time, it came to me that I was "emo" before such a thing was cool and acceptable. Angsty teens writing about love and committment and heartbreak... it's probably the one thing I HAVEN'T grown out of since I was 17, 'lo these many years ago. And it's why I'm doing this little thing right now. I just can't ever let go of stuff, it seems. Someone once accused me of being a "martyr", and maybe it's a little bit true. I like to put myself on my own emotional crucifix sometimes, to display my suffering to everyone else. "Hey world, look at me! I've been screwed over by you all my whole life, grieve with me! Sympathize with me!" That's what I want to scream out sometimes, but I know it's nobody's fault but mine. It's almost a delicous situation to see if you're not close to it... kinda like driving at 60 mph past a semi-lunatic screaming at someone else's 4th-story window. The kind of thing you might be inspired to write a short, conjecture-laced story about, except I'm the one living it.

posted by Matt 12:37 AM

Monday, May 12, 2003

Weekend back home

It wasn't really as bad as I expected. I got to hang out with my sister for a while and get caught up with what she's doing. The parents were remarkably low-key, I got free food... everybody plays, everybody wins.

Sunday I purchased High Heat '04 for my PS2, only to find that it didn't work. Then I remembered that about four other people had complained about a similar problem. I took it back to today and exchanged it for Xenosaga. That means I'll pretty much qualify as a "missing person" except for when I have to back to work starting tomorrow.

While I was home I found a few "buried treasures"... I'll talk about those tonight.

posted by Matt 1:13 PM

Saturday, May 10, 2003

Waking up late

Haha, wow. Last night was... something. I've been really tensed up lately, but I can't put my finger on why. It's not really because of anyone else, it's something that's totally internal. Hopefully going home for the weekend will be enough to distract me from myself. I think part of my problem is that I tend to either just go to work or hang out in my apartment all day and night so I tend to just overanalyze myself and everything else about me. Well, time to eat lunch then drive home for the weekend. I'll catch y'all Sunday.

posted by Matt 12:51 PM

Another late night

Yep, another late night. And I'm not in the best mood ever. I'm pissed off because I didn't hit the lottery. I'm pissed off because I'm moving 1000 miles in a little over two months and don't quite know what to expect. I'm angry because I'm honestly scared. I have no idea what's going to happen to me in the next few months, and that bothers me. I'm about the most chaotic, unorganized person on earth... except that I like to know what emotions to expect. And when that doesn't happen, I get scared and angry. I'm just going to have to suck it up, roll the dice and see what happens. I don't have much choice now.

posted by Matt 3:38 AM

Friday, May 09, 2003

Trip to the store

I just got back from the local convenience store to make my usual semi-weekly purchase; three dollars worth of Super Six lotto tickets and a two-liter of pop (today's selection: dnL. It's not quite Surge, but the closest thing to it I can find). The guy in front of me at the lottery line had just finished placing his ticket order, so I got to wait ten minutes while his three-inch thick stack of tickets printed out. I have no idea how much money he actually put down on it and I'm not sure I want to know. I feel bad enough just dropping three dollars on the big drawing once or twice a week. If I had $50 or $100 a week to burn on the lottery, I wouldn't need to play it.

posted by Matt 3:59 PM

Another drunken night

I'd really like to be able to give everyone something profound tonight on ye olde blog, but it's not gonna happen. I didn't even eat lunch at the Chinese buffet, so I don't have a fortune cookie to share with you. But I guess I have this... I'm realizing how much I tend to undervalue my friends. They call me when I'm down, they chat with me on AIM, and they generally make my hours that I'm not busy working a better place to be. Just knowing that someone's available for me to bitch to, rant to, and listen to makes my life much more bearable. I admit that just being able to LISTEN to someone is about the most calming thing in my life. I'm far better at listening than talking... part of the reason for this blog is so I can get used to expressing myself. Hey, maybe I'll have some major breakthrough some night while on a rum bender at 3am and be able to put it up here for the whole world to see... wouldn't that be grand? Viva la internet!

Nothing much else to say tonight... I'm still waiting for a big-ass storm to roll through. If I'm stuck without power for over 24 hours like last summer, I'm sure I'll complain. But right now the weather and my emotional state are both calling for a little bit of a release. It's like I can SENSE the atmosphere waiting to just discharge and kill the tension of the last week. If I can just see and hear the storm cutting loose, it'll be a major release for me. I honestly can't wait until I move to Florida and experience those quick, violent rainstorms that are the norm there. A good, hard rain is a cleansing experience to me, and I'm not sure why. Like I said before, maybe it's just the resolution to hours and days of tension, and a good opportunity to look at the world through fresh eyes the next morning.

Well, I've got my supplies except that I need more pop for tomorrow night's drinkin'. That's easily solved. I'll catch everyone tomorrow at some point.

posted by Matt 1:56 AM

Thursday, May 08, 2003

Long weekend

I don't work again until Tuesday, so I'm going to actually concentrate on putting some stuff on here for the next few days. Oh, and drinking. Definitely drinking. More to come tonight.

posted by Matt 5:10 PM

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

So I lied about the color

Yeah. It's gonna take like a week until I'm comfortable with how this looks, and it'll still probably suck. But it'll be a level of suck I can live with.

Went to the almighty Wal-Mart today to stock up on food... I was down to leftover pizza, some English muffins and cheese slices from last century so I figured it was time. Nothing eventful happened, which is good. I'd hate to have to come home and write about some weird experience at Wal-Mart, because I'm sure it wouldn't be "funny" weird; more like "disturbing" weird. Although the last time I went I did see a mouse dart across the frozen food aisle, at which point an absurdly chatty stock-boy who had followed me around for about six aisles said "Whoa, lookit him go!" I just kinda stood there, paused a moment, then nodded. Yes, "lookit him go" indeed.

It rained a little today, but it wasn't the big huge thunderstorm everyone had been calling for all week. I'm disappointed. I love a good thunderstorm to break a hot spell. It's neat to just stand there, watch the sky get dark and feel the wind kick up. When the first flash hits it usually scares the hell out of me, but it's a good kind of thrill. It's not quite the same here in Pittsburgh as it would be back home. Too many buildings in the way, not enough open sky to really enjoy the show. Maybe over the weekend when I go home, I'll get to enjoy one.

posted by Matt 9:03 PM

A little more like home

I think I may have found a color scheme that doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out in sheer terror (your mileage may vary), so let's call this the grand opening.

Don't expect anything profound or mind-blowing to come from this site; I live a pretty mundane life. What I really need to do is find a way to get my backspace and delete keys to send an electric shock to me everytime I touch them so I don't write down a paragraph, decide it sucks then just wipe it out. You know, like I've done about five times so far.

So what's gonna be here? Your guess is as good as mine. I may get political or poetic, contemplative or condescending, lyrical or lethargic. That's what's going to be fun about this little project... I have no idea what's gonna come from it. Hmmm, I should find a way to get a feedback link going too. That'd be a good thing.

Edit to add: Well, that was easy. The feedback forum is up and running. Check it out.

posted by Matt 2:01 PM

Well, here we go. Welcome to what may be another short-lived effort for me to put something on the web for my own amusement. More to come!

posted by Matt 12:25 PM