So much for a break...

It's true, I'm a degenerate online poker player and couldn't go more than two days without playing poker. Last night I played 7, yes 7 SNG's and finished ITM in exactly 1. Pretty impressive huh? The thing is I feel I played pretty good poker, I just ran some pretty good second best hands into the nuts. Tonight I redeemed myself by playing in 4 SNG's (simultaneously I might add) and finished ITM in all 4. So I guess the pendulum has swung back to NL tourneys. As a side note I received the Sklanky/Miller NL book today that I purchased with FPP from stars. Looks pretty good after reading about 20 pages. I'll let y'all know my final impressions when I finish reading it.

Onto more important topics; I made sausage tonight. Pork, pork fat, salt and seasonings. I used my handy, dandy meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid and it was hella fun to make. I fried up a little piece to adjust the seasoning if needed and it was REALLY good already so I didn't touch it. It's curing in the fridge right now for three days for dinner on Sunday. I'm going all out since there will be 6 guests for dinner. I'm starting with Shrimp Bisque and French Bread, then onto Sausage in Brioche along with a yet to be determined vegetable and finally a dessert made with Callebaut Chocolate (which happens to be from Belgium and is the best in the world) that's yet to be determined as well. Everything is made from scratch of course. I bought the shrimp (frozen) for the bisque today but I'm seriously considering fresh lobster. It'll be a game time decision.

I had something cool happen to me today involving my grocery shopping. I went to Schnucks for the first time since I just moved to Iowa and COULD NOT find clam juice that I need for my bisque. I was in a hurry since I had to go to my daughter's Kindergarten registration so I just said screw it and left without it. So I'm in line registering with my wife and daughter and we're getting info on the PTA and such when we get to the part where if we get a Schnucks VIP card our school gets money which is all fine and dandy. The Manager of the store happens to be there explaining the program and I mention I went to his store for the first time and he asks how it was. Before I can say anything my wife says that I couldn't find clam juice. The manager IMMEDIATELY gives me his business card and says come in and he will not only personally get me the clam juice, he'll throw in a nice bottle of wine as well. I'm a wine snob and he ensures me it'll be top notch. My wife rocks! I never would have said anything but she isn't afraid to speak her mind. Too bad she doesn't drink wine...

Taking a break

I haven't posted because nothing interesting has happened of late. I have played very little poker the past week due to work committments and the cooking front has been pretty uneventful as well due to said work committments. However, I do want to share a meal I made from Julia Child's "The Way to Cook." Despite my everlasting praise for Mastering the Art of French Cooking, THIS is the book I would choose if I could only have one cookbook. Anyway, the dish I made isn't very earth shattering in originality or complexity, but boy was it good. Wait for it...it was butterflied broiled chicken. Exciting huh? If you're like me and think a good roast chicken is about the perfect meal then stay with me...all others can skip this entry. Anyway, the recipe calls for butterflying a whole chicken which encompasses cutting out the backbone with a pair of kitchen shears, cutting two small holes in the skin near the breast, sticking the legs through said holes to keep them in place during broiling, and tucking the wings under the "shoulders" of the bird to keep them in place. The the whole thing is brushed with melted butter and placed skin side down under a broiler and basting with melted butter every 5 minutes. After 15 minutes season with salt and pepper and turn over so the skin side is up. Continue to cook and baste for about 15-20 more minutes until done, seasoning about 10 minutes from the finish. Remove the bird from the pan and let rest while making the pan sauce. This conists of draining the fat from the pan and placing the pan over high heat and then adding about a cup of chicken broth and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Continue this until only about a 1/4 cup of liquid remains. At this point turn off the heat and swirl in about 2 tablespoons of butter. Cut up and plate chicken and pour sauce over. This is some majorly good shit. I served it with a 2001 Merlot which is what I had laying around. Guys, listen up: if you make this for your wife/girlfriend/whatever, YOU WILL GET LAID. And yes, you're welcome.

As far as taking a break, I think I seriously need one from poker. It's been nice not having it consume all my free time so my plan is to take the next week off from playing any form of poker. I fired up a couple of SNG's tonight, placed 3rd in 1 and flamed out 1st in the other. I just can't get into it and am making really poor decisions. I played some limit and was bored shitless. Yes, daddy needs some time away from the virtual felt. Since there are about a thousand poker blogs out there, and about 999 are better than mine I'm sure we'll all get by somehow. I still plan on posting so I guess I'd better think of something to blog about, don't you think?

I Am a Donkey

Played in a 2000 FPP on stars for an entry into Sunday's 150 seat guarantee to the WSOP and busted out when my QJ ran into KJ on a J high board. I bet and he raised all in. I was 80% sure I was beat and yet I still called. WTF? It goes to show that when I'm in a limit mindset I shouldn't play NL. It didn't cost me any "real" money but 2,000 FPP is still a lot for me. I definitely WON'T be ponying up the $370 buy-in on Sunday since I'm not happy with the way I've played my last few tourneys. I finished Harrington on Holdem Vol 3 which is a workbook and scores you on how you play hands and I did pretty good, but alas, I haven't put it to good practical use. I've been focusing on limit lately and for the past couple of weeks my love/hate realtionship with the game has been on the positive side.

Onto my planned trip next year to Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. A preliminary cost analysis for the trip breaks down as follows:

Tuition: $1,000
Airfare: $600 (estimated)
Hotel: $1,500 (7 nights, estimated)
Food: $300
Misc: $300

Total: $3700

That's a nice chunk of money and that's without my wife going. She's ok'd the trip but if she were to see the money needed she might freak out. It's time for...Poker to the Rescue! Yes, my goal between now and next March is to pay for as much as possible for my trip to Paris. If it requires me to cash out my entire bankroll I'm willing to do it, save for $100 or so that I'll use to build it back. Honestly, coming up with the entire amount probably isn't attainable unless I get on a major heater and move up limits quickly. My goal is to play within my means and build up my bankroll surely and steadily. I'd rather cashout $1,000 than bustout by playing over my head. From now on I'm sticking to limit and normal SNG's (no turbos or MTT). My main game at the moment is $.50-$1.00 LHE and my plan is to move back up to $1-$2 in the near future.

Bankroll: $301.83

Time for a Book Review

My goal with this humble blog is to talk about two passions of mine: poker and cooking. In reality, as much as I love playing poker (and making money doing so) I could live without it if for some reason I had to do so. Not with cooking. Cooking is so much more than just preparing food to eat. It's what a cook puts into it that makes it special. I'm not talking about ingredients, I'm talking about heart, soul and love. Yes, as much as that sounds like hippy bullshit it's true. I love the menial tasks such as peeling potatoes and dicing onions as well as advanced shit like making caramel and picture perfect baguettes. You have to start with the basics, and when it comes to cookbook reviews, you have to start with the roots of all modern cookbooks, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.

What it's got: Classic French Cuisine

What it's missing: Pretty Photos

The short synopsis of how the book was written is that after WW II Julia and her husband Paul moved to Paris so that Paul could take a job in the foreign office and Julia fell in love with the food during her very first meal on French soil. She then spent a year studying at Le Cordon Bleu and eventually started a small cooking school with Louisette and Simone (Simca). The two french women had already started writing a book on French cooking but they knew nothing about American markets or ingredients. Julia was obviously the perfect addition to the team and they they spent the next 10 freaking years testing, tasting, editing ad nauseum until they finally had their book published in 1961. Julia then went on to culinary fame but I'll stick to reviewing just the book itself.

The contents of the book include chapters on Soups, Sauces, Eggs, Entrees and Luncheon Dishes, Fish, Poultry, Meat, Vegetables, Cold Buffet and Desserts and Cakes. Perhaps the greatest feature of the book is it's obvious from first glance how painstaking the authors were with each recipe. When you follow a recipe you're not stuck wondering if some kitchen lackey for a famous chef actually came up with the recipe and then the celebrity chef put their name on it without ever trying it. I've gotten that feeling more than once when I've followed a recipe to a tee only to have it come out terribly wrong. Sure, I'm not a perfect cook but with some recipes there is no way they can come out as advertised.

I don't know how to describe it but when I'm preparing dishes from this book I can almost sense Julia standing over my shoulder prodding me with comments and encouragement. Nothing ever seems too intimidating or unreachable in this book, whether you're prepaing something simple such as Leek and Potato Soup (do yourself a favor, make this....NOW!) or something more extravagant such as Coquilles St. Jacques A La Parisienne (Scallops and Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce). You CAN do it. You don't have to settle for the mediocre crap that the average American accepts.

Are there any flaws in the book? Well, there aren't any photographs any just a few illustrations, but that was due to the era the book was published. Yes, it would be helpful to see what the final dish should resemble but in all honesty I don't miss the photographs. Besides, have you ever seen photos of food from the 1960's? Usually the picture quality is so terribly bad that it's almost repulsive. But hey, I'm a guy who prefers to listen to baseball on the radio vs watching it on TV so I guess I like to use my imagination to draw my own pictures. Other than this one aspect the book is nearly flawless.

One question some people might raise is how about all that butter and fat in the recipes? Yes, there's no doubt about it that many of the recipes would make dietitians cringe. I say fuck 'em. I live by Julia's philosophy of small portions and no seconds. I would rather eat the smallest portion of a chocolate souffle vs a huge helping of diet ice cream. Don't be afraid of your food. Eat smaller portions and you can eat ANTHING.

Is this a perfect cookbook? No, as good as it is it still only covers one aspect of cooking: French cuisine. There's no Chinese, Greek, Italian, American, German, or any other cuisine presented here so it's not the only cookbook you should have on your shelf...but it should be the first. It's the most important cookbook ever published.

Poker Chef Rating: 6 Stars (out of 6)

Play Along with Me

Tonight I'm playing in my weekly game with friends on Stars. It's a $10 buyin but pride is more important than money (well, money's nice too). I'm going to attempt my first ever live blog of a poker tourney and you can see me in my most donkish light. 15 minutes to shuffle up and deal.

9 players on 2 tables. We'll combine in 10 minutes if nobody else joins. Some people are on vacation so this may be it.

Blinds: 10/20

Won my first pot with A9 and flopped a 9. Up to 1620 (Started with 1500)

Ouch, limped with 77, was raised and folded...flop came A 10 7.

Another person joined so we're at 10 and will play 2 tables until we lose somebody.

Up to 1800

Up to 2130 because I had A8 in the BB and called a raise from a LAG. Flop was 8 Q 5. I checked, he bet 60. I called. Turn was another Q so I figure I'm either ahead or way behind so I lead out with 100 and just get called. River was a blank..I check, he bets 100, I call and win. He had A9

Blinds 15/30

Up to 2385 by raising with KJ sooted and hit a jack on the flop. Bet half the pot and was called. Turn was a blank and I bet again and he folded.

Up to 2600. Raised to 90 with KQ and got two callers. Flopped a Q and bet out. Both folded.

Blinds 25/50

We just lost 2 on 1 hand so we're down to 8 on 1 table.

Up to 2770. Raised PF with AKs and had 1 caller. Flopped a K and bet out and he folded. Yes, I'm catching flops tonight. Maybe I should live blog more often ;)

Up to 3620 when I limped in along with 5 others with J10 sooooted. Flopped 2 of my suit as well as a gutshot. Called 150 on both flop and turn then hit my flush on the river. He bet 150, I rasied to 400 and he folded.

Blinds 50/100

Lost the short stack; down to 7. I've played no hands other than freebies from the blinds...

Now down to 6. I picked up the blinds with 99

Last hand before break I catch AA in the BB and pray that somone raises. Nope, the button limps in for 100 and I raise to 300 - he calls. Flop come 9 7 2. I bet out 300 and he folds.

Chip stacks:

Me: 4070
2nd: 3502 (decent player)
3rd: 2941 (Never played with him but seems weak)
4th: 2005 (weak player)
5th: 1752 (LAG but playing tight tonight)
6th: 730 (decent player, just not playing many hands)

Let's bring it home!

Blinds 75/150

First hand and we're down to 5. Now 2nd in chips.

Picked up QQ UTG and raise to 450 and get 1 caller. Flop is K K 7 and bet out 450 and he folds. Back in 1st.

Now down to 4. Nothing exciting to report.


Blinds 100/200

I'm in the money. We lost bubble boy and I'm now a distant 2nd in chips. Plenty of time though to pick my spots.

Lost my first major hand when I flopped the nut flush draw and 2nd pair. He hit a set on the turn. Now in 3rd.

Won a race with AQ vs 10 10 and doubled up.

Now only 2 left

Blinds 100/200 Ante 25

Well, that sucked.

I was down about 3-1 in chips and we battled back and forth for about 2 dozen hands. At this point he has about 10,000 in chips and I have 4700 or so, I get Q8 sooted in the BB and he limps in. Flop comes Q 10 5 with 2 of my suit. I check raise and he raises back and we get the money in the middle. He has 10 3 and gets a 3 on the turn and I get none of my suit and so I finish 2nd. He hurt me twice when we were at 3 players, both times he had 66. One time I mentioned he hit a set, the other the board was 10 10 5 10 7 and I had A high and called a small bet on the river. He obviously had a boat.

I had a nice run of cards early so I can't complain; just later on I was folding, folding, folding. Hey, $30 is $30 so I'll take it.

For the one person who stumbled upon this blog and actually read this, I hope you didn't fall asleep at work and get in trouble over it ;)

In other news I used 2000 FPP's on stars to order the Miller NL book.

Bankroll: $269.64

Jim Leach

He's the fine congressman from Iowa who is sponsoring legislation to ban internet poker. Yeah, like people playing poker online is really crippling America. Hey, how about LEGALIZING internet poker and using the taxes from it to help pay for the damn war in Iraq?! 10% of Americans play poker on the internet and he wants to make it illegal?

What really pisses me off is that up until a couple of years ago Jim Leach was the congressman from the district I just moved to. He switched with Jim Nussle so therefore I can't call and complain as a constituent of his. I've signed the petitions and written my congressman; have YOU?

Sure, I could go play on the boat that's about 10 minutes from my house but that even pisses me off more even thinking about it. If saving me from myself is the rationalization that the fine congressman is using to pass this bill, why is it ok to play poker on a boat with higher stakes that I'm comfortable with compared to what I play for online? If I play 3/6 on the boat I stand risking a couple of hundred dollars while playing 1/2 online I'm only risking 1/3 the money.

Maybe I'm just mad because I've run well the past couple of days with my big hands holding up and hitting some draws ;)

On the cooking front I've unpacked most of my cookbooks and I'm up to 37 books. I used to have more but I donated a dozen or so to goodwill just because I didn't care for them. In my next post I'll finally get to some preliminary reviews and some recommendations for a core set of books if you're just starting out.

Bankroll $264.89