It really doesn't get much better guy-wise than my Friday-Sunday run: two poker games, two football games, one cigar--with thanks to Mr. Luda for the Perdomo Patriarch that tied it all together.
The personal aspect of blogging came through big time after enjoying a steak & baked tater dinner and watching 'Casino Royale' after finishing Friday nights cigar, and whether you count watching the Denver-Chicago game and Daniel Craig stick it to the bad guy as super-macho sporty, the thoughts for the weekend came down to decisions and results.
The personal aspect of blogging came through big time after enjoying a steak & baked tater dinner and watching 'Casino Royale' after finishing Friday nights cigar, and whether you count watching the Denver-Chicago game and Daniel Craig stick it to the bad guy as super-macho sporty, the thoughts for the weekend came down to decisions and results.
Bottom line, my Hold 'em game Friday finished about like Bond's did before his re-buy; apologies for any confusion my use of a picture that is obviously from a winning situation might cause, its really just for effect. I actually invested my all in on a king high-four card flush, and when a $1000 bet (honest Mom, it was chips, not real cash!) didn't scare anyone out before the river, I wound up watching about three hours of poker before my ride was ready to leave. That's about what I spent on both the movie-football game Sunday and at the Panthers game Saturday vs. the Ravens, and while my rationalization is that I'd played the percentages and lost with honor (all I'd *really* needed was another king...), I'd be willing to bet *most* of the people who saw that game would have rather had a shot at the $7500 in the pot Friday or watched the Bond flick too.
Granted, the Panthers were a little under-manned going in (see 'four-flushed' situation above), and it *was* just an exhibition game, but until they scored early in the 4th quarter, there wasn't much to recommend about their effort offensively, and the defense made Ravens QB Joe Flacco look like a young Brett Favre, as he threw the ball to open targets all evening: 23-28 for about 250 yards through three quarters. Sitting upstairs you just knew how things were going to go, sort of like watching 'Casino Royale' the second or third time.
When I threw two greenies in and people didn't toss their cards, how could they have been staying with 1) a pair of jacks under and 2) an (also) busted flush pair of nines? The reality is they were *probably* thinking I was betting from position rather than actually having the goods, and that turned out fine for them. They apparently weren't worried about anything really big happening, even if I would have knocked both of them out and been a big chip leader--perhaps they assumed they'd previously seen everything I might try to pull on them. While it was only preseason, Coach Fox's "let's see if we can get our running game operating right" plan seemed like exactly the same deal for Baltimore. His decision was less about results (like maybe play the starters three quarters and generate some fan satisfaction with a win, they are now 0-3) and more about playing the hand. As a coach he has pushed the notion that less mistakes than the other guys wins ball games, and that worked out to a 12-4 record last year, even if we all know how things went after that.
Granted, the Panthers were a little under-manned going in (see 'four-flushed' situation above), and it *was* just an exhibition game, but until they scored early in the 4th quarter, there wasn't much to recommend about their effort offensively, and the defense made Ravens QB Joe Flacco look like a young Brett Favre, as he threw the ball to open targets all evening: 23-28 for about 250 yards through three quarters. Sitting upstairs you just knew how things were going to go, sort of like watching 'Casino Royale' the second or third time.
When I threw two greenies in and people didn't toss their cards, how could they have been staying with 1) a pair of jacks under and 2) an (also) busted flush pair of nines? The reality is they were *probably* thinking I was betting from position rather than actually having the goods, and that turned out fine for them. They apparently weren't worried about anything really big happening, even if I would have knocked both of them out and been a big chip leader--perhaps they assumed they'd previously seen everything I might try to pull on them. While it was only preseason, Coach Fox's "let's see if we can get our running game operating right" plan seemed like exactly the same deal for Baltimore. His decision was less about results (like maybe play the starters three quarters and generate some fan satisfaction with a win, they are now 0-3) and more about playing the hand. As a coach he has pushed the notion that less mistakes than the other guys wins ball games, and that worked out to a 12-4 record last year, even if we all know how things went after that.
Like myself and "the other guys" in that movie, everybody probably wins some hands along the way, and rookie running back Mike Goodsen had a nice run early on and decent stats overall for Carolina. It was a nice evening for a game, but even with a 17-13 final count, there really wasn't any doubt how things were going to turn out, just like it wouldn't be much of a movie if Bond didn't come back and win.
Like my game and Sunday night, Saturday's game was mostly three hours of "just watching", and I'm really not going to start dogging the Panthers based on a preseason loss. In the Big Picture, getting to a game definitely contributed to a well-rounded guy weekend. Of course, it might have been a *real* (daaammmmmn straight!) great weekend if that cigar had signaled two more victories and a lot less "just watching."
Did you call an all-in bet with King high or did you go all-in ?Either way its a fools bet!!
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