Turtle Summit

The Turtle Summit
On the patio of the world famous
 NorCal Campbell Ranch 

It all began innocently enough.
Four local turtles
Convened at the NorCal Campbell Family Ranch
In the early morning hours
For coffee
Or Slough water
Or whatever it is that turtles drink

Conversation began in fairly mundane fashion
None were willing to come out of their shells
Then, all of a sudden
(No one was sure who started it)
The conversation turned to Warren Buffet
And his recent announcement that the wealthy
Should pay their fair share (heaven forbid!) of taxes

They were most concerned about his warning
That a nation's doubt about its Congress
Could lapse into hopelessness.
The little turtle beaks were clacking like crazy
Over that one
"What would happen,
If that were to happen?"

"Well," the eldest and largest said;
"Nothing good could ever come of that."
"But I really wish for a future!" said the littlest one.
"Do you mean I may not hope to have one?"
"Nothing is guaranteed, even today", said the elder,
"Its just that the picture can get so much bleaker,
You may stop thinking about the future."

The elder went on, "Then, you might tuck yourself
Into the darkness of your shell forever.
That is the future without hope."
The little one thought about that and said,
"I will not let that happen.  I will work hard, I will be brave
And I will gather the rest of the little turtles.
Together we will change the future."

To that, the elder said, "Good, because we have failed.
You must learn from our failures and fight the partisan extremes.
Draw the centrist line and focus the rest of the turtles on that.
Demand ethics from your Congress and temper special interests to fit the common man.
It will not be easy but you, little turtle and those of your generation, can do it.
We simply did not try hard enough.
We allowed too many big turtles to gain the edge."

Poker is...

... a Muthaf___a!

Recently I recently heard a great professional poker player and keen wit, Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu say this about the problem with poker amateurs; "When they are winning they think they are good and when they are losing they think they are bad."

I caught this hand... this week!
Four Aces for my first time ever I think.

The beginning of July, I started tracking my tournament results using notes on my calendar.  Here's how it stacks up. In the past five weeks I have finished in the money 12 times including a couple of "chops" (ties) for first. This translates to 12 top ten finishes among a field averaging 80 or more players. Twelve for 28 and I am money ahead yes, but not enough to quit my day job. Yet, in the past two days I have had my ass kicked and that has happened many times before. Whenever it does happen, I leave the casino like most players in that situation; head low, muttering; "School let out early today and my grade wasn't good." and second guessing my play. 

I will be back in school on Sunday though. I'll be hoping to cleverly use just the right combination of loose, aggressive and tight play to befuddle my opponents and make them call when they shouldn't and fold when they shouldn't. I will be shuffling chips, sipping coffee, checking my iPhone, studying player faces (I hardly ever get anything out of this), and looking for "tells" (I know a few but am not sure what to do when I see them). When I am winning I will think I am good and when I am losing I will think I am bad just as Daniel says but I love it just the same. That's why poker is a Muthaf___a.

For additional amateur insight, see Pocket Aces - "Dat Metaphor" and  "Poker - more on "Dat Metaphor".

For info and a preview about how we got to this point click here: "Travel On"  

Update: 7/23/2018 - Seven years later and nothing, I mean nothing has changed. I continue to catch good and bad runs and play as before. Last week was so bad (How bad was it?!)...it was so bad I have to write about it to bleed a little figurative ink. In three successive tournaments this is what happened. In order:

1. Two sets, Jacks and nines "cracked."  (In poker vernacular that means beat...beat by bigger hands.
2. Pocket Kings, then Tens, then Queens cracked.
3. A set of ducks (deuces), and pockets Aces twice(!) cracked.

That is what is called a "bad run" folks. All players hear stories like this from their fellow players to the point they are tired of it. This is why I hesitated to write about it but I just couldn't help myself. Sorry. Not.