Not Cirque Du Soleil

As you might know if you read my blog I am a big fan of Cirque Du Soleil.  Let's suffice it to say that the video below is not Cirque Du Soleil.

The Amazing Faceplanting Acrobats - Watch more Free Videos

A Dark Day for Nortel

I spent a fair part of my career with Nortel Networks so today's news that they company has filed for bankruptcy protection is met with mixed emotions.  First, now that I work for one of their competitors I am glad since this may just open up more opportunity with my customers.  On the other hand, I have a fond spot for this company and hate that poor management of this once great technology powerhouse has driven it into the ground.  

At least the misery for those of us who ever had any financial or emotional ties to this failure is finally over.  

Rest in peace Nortel.....rest in peace.

Chips Are Not Chips

Following through on my commitment to play three 1 hour ring game sessions per week I spent several hours tonight online playing a $.10/$.25 ring game on Full Tilt.  Tonights lesson - chips are not chips - they are money.

I started my evening with $15 starting my session about 8:00 p.m.  I was up down early on and then ended up with a huge swing to the upside when I gambled a bit and my pair and straight draw on a low board up against pocket 10's.  I pushed thinking the player I was up against did not have a pocket pair, but was pushing based on previous show downs and his betting patterns seemed to back up my hunch.  I was wrong, but I drew a 2 on the river for a set and won a large pot vaulting me to more than double my investment.  

Over the next few hands I started to notice that my starting hand selection had loosened and I was doing a lot more calling and folding.  I sat out a few hands to think about what was happening and came to the realization that I was not viewing my chips as money.  That is a bad move.

In any cash game, whether it be tournament or ring you should always keep in mind that just because you won a lot of chips there is no need to give them away and chips represent dollars. This is the exact reason casinos introduced chips - to remove the emotional connection from your hard earned money and you.  

Keep this in mind the next time you go up big in a cash game, or for that matter any API tournament.  Using your chips stack is one thing, giving it away is another.  

Addressing Weakness

I feel that one of the weakest areas of my poker game is when I get into a ring game.  The reason for this is simple, I learned to play poker tournament style, and the skills and objectives of the two types of poker are somewhat conflicting.  Is it the same game?  Sure, NL Texas Holdem - but the objectives and goals are different.  In a ring game marginal mistakes do not cost you everything, where as in a tournament marginal mistakes can - and usually do - cost you everything.  

To address what I feel is a weakness in my game I have dedicated to playing 3 hours a week of ring games.  Tonight was my first session and I ended with a 30% positive return on my money and avoided any major swings to the negative.  I would say my play was tight and the area of glaring improvement that I found was betting less aggressively with a made hand, after all I want these guys to stay in and give me more money - not fold.  I think working more on this will also help me in tournament play to extract as many chips as possible from players.  

We will see how it goes, but tonight went well.  I was patient, folded when I thought I was beat and avoided chasing from behind.  

So True

Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.

- Kurt Vonnegut

Smiling at SkyMiles

When Delta announced they were merging with Northwest, many were skeptical - especially those of us who fly Delta a lot.  It seems upon further review that the merger is going to be a good thing for SkyMiles members and today I was very pleased to see that the "new" Delta has brought back segments as a way to earn elite status. 

This is huge for those of us in Atlanta and other hub cities that fly a lot, but cannot seem to to catch a long enough flight to build up the miles for that next elite level and an even bigger deal for flyers out of cities like New Orleans and Jacksonville that must connect to get everywhere they are going. 

I am very pleased with these changes and hope Delta continues to make changes with their loyal customers in mind.

Must See Travel Web Sites

Here is my latest must see travel web sites (in no particular order):

1. Farecast - Predicting airfares is tough. This site makes it easier by giving you advice based on historic data if the price is likely to go up, down, or stay the same based on your travel dates.

2. Happy Median - Ever have multiple friends getting together and you cannot decide where to meet that would be fair to everyone, well Happy Median takes care of this by allowing you to enter multiple addresses, selecting the type of place you want to meet and providing recommendations of locations as central as possible to everyone.

3. Inside Trip - InsideTrip takes flight search to another level by letting you add comfort level as a search parameter. Is legroom important to you? Aircraft type? Lost-bag or on-time percentages? InsideTrip is the sight for you.

4. Trip It - TripIt takes the hassle out of travel itineraries. Simply forward your travel confirmation e-mails to its email address and TripIt will build you a master itinerary, complete with flight/hotel info, maps, driving directions, weather reports, and much more. This site is a real time saver!