Great weekend

We had a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday weekend in Memphis. Beth got out of work a little bit early on Friday and she had taken the dogs over to her parents' house during her lunch break so we were able to pack up quickly and get on the road. The only snag at all came when we stopped to fill up just outside of town and it ended up taking almost half an hour. The "pay at the pump" machines weren't working so every gas-buying customer had to go inside and pre-pay, thus clogging everything up.

Friday night in Germantown was very low key. We had some pasta and then watched one of the documentaries from the Seinfeld DVDs. Kevin arrived on Saturday and we spent the day just hanging out and catching up. He's got a great new job in Washington, DC, so we heard a little bit about that as well as the Little League team he's coaching. I've known Kev since he was in the 4th grade and it's great to see him finally catch a couple of breaks and to be doing something so rewarding. He also flies back to Boston once a month to continue his former job as a tour guide at Fenway Park. Nice gig!

On Sunday afternoon I caught Revenge of the Sith for the third time because Casey hadn't seen it yet. I think he really enjoyed it. And I loved it (again) because this theatre had a digital projector--the first time I've been able to see one in action, and it was great. Incredibly crisp picture, no reel breaks...just awesome. Every theatre should switch. Any, my brother was very psyched to see the flick. He even popped in the Episode II DVD beforehand to get warmed up. On Sunday night we intoduced Kev to The OC by showing him a few of the classic episodes from the season one DVD. That really cracked me up because he just doesn't seem like the type who would enjoy that show at all but he did. But then again, Casey doesn't either but he has gotten completely hooked as well, calling it the TV equivalent of bad crack. He's got a point. Kev and I stayed up until about 2:30 AM, just talking and catching up (and having a couple of shots of Cuervo that Kev served up in plastic mini Sox batting helmets). We capped the night off with a little bit of the Larry Bird: A Basketball Legend DVD, which was a perfect way to end the night.

We headed home at about noon on Monday and then went to the Hillis house for barbecued ribs for dinner. They were excellent--definitely one of Jim Bob's specialties. Then we even managed to get a little more unpacking done at home. My friend John Kinsman, an actor living in L.A., is back in Boston right now to move some stuff out and he'll be stopping here sometime this weekend so we need to get the guest room all set. And Beth leaves on Friday for a wedding in Connecticut. Throw in physical therapy for me today and Thursday and it will actually be a pretty busy week around here.

Here's a picture of me with my brother, my niece, and Kevin

Long Weekend

We're off to Memphis for the weekend. My good friend Kevin Keegan is also coming in from DC so it will be great to see him since it's been quite a while. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll post something more interesting (maybe?) when we get back.

Starting physical therapy

The doctor's appointment went well today. He said that everything looks good and he wants me to start physical therapy right away. My first session will be on Thursday afternoon and then I'll come back three times a week for a month. I let him know that I need to be on a plane the first week of July (Vegas, baby!) and he said it should not be a problem to get the range of motion on my knee up to at least 90 degrees by then. Now, it's at about 50 degrees or so pretty comfortably. I feel great about starting the PT and getting the knee really better but I do feel bad for my poor father-in-law who is going to get stuck taking me every time. But he's completely fine with it.

Anyway, that's it. Here's some other random information--my life is so boring right now that I have to actively think about stuff to put in here. Feel free to add your own answers in the comments if you like:

Last movie attended: Revenge of the Sith
Last CD purchased: Revenge of the Sith soundtrack (which is awesome, by the way)
Last DVD purchased: Seinfeld season four...maybe their best season ever
Last book read: The Closers, by Michael Connelly. Reading it right now.
Last pizza toppings: sausage, mushroom, and meatballs...and when I say meatballs, I mean actual meatballs...good stuff!

Revenge of the Sith

I wanted to run right home after seeing Revenge of the Sith on opening night and post my thoughts, but instead I decided to give it some time to sink in...as well as catch it again on Saturday. I'm a Star Wars geek through and through, and this one would stand as the defining film of the prequel trilogy. I enjoyed Episode I, although in hindsight I do think it's a little flawed. I loved Episode II (much more than most people). But Episode III is the crucial one, that film that needs to wrap up the prequels and tie everything together. I'm happy to report that it completely delivers. I loved it. It's perfect. I'm actually baffled by the handful of bad reviews that I've seen, and I've come to the conclusion that these people simply don't get it. Star Wars has never been for the critics, but I still cannot comprehend how anyone, on any level, can fail to see how this film absolutely delivers. (spoilers ahead) The movie begins with an awesome continuous tracking shot of Obi-Wan and Anakin flying their fighters headlong into a heated space battle that's the best one ever seen in a Star Wars film. The shot itself is great--notice how long until there's actually a cut--and the scene is epic. It also begins the brilliant performance of Hayden Christensen, who is great throughout this movie. He got a bad rap in Episode II, delivering what I felt was one of the most misunderstood performances I've ever seen. He perfectly captured the cocky arrogance of a young man who's not quite comfortable in his own skin yet, a guy with so much power and so many things going on without the experience to handle them well. He was great in Episode II and he's even better here. The Jedi duo quickly arrives aboard the droid ship of General Grievous, the fantastic new villain for this film. I got a glimpse of Grievous in action during the "Clone Wars" series on the Cartoon Network but that didn't do him justice...he's awesome. From the voice to the unique walk to the bizarre hacking cough, he is yet another brilliant George Lucas creation. Grievous is downright scary and great fun to watch. The confronatation between Anakin and Count Dooku is perfect, as it begins to set the much darker tone for this film. Ian McDiarmid really shines as Palpatine in this movie, slowly but gradually letting the true, evil nature of his character seep out. Watching him implore Anakin to kill Dooku, then seeing young Skywalker do just that (by lopping off Dooku's head with two lightsabers, no less) is chilling. I often wondered exactly how and when Lucas would have Anakin turn to the Dark Side, and he does it a little earlier in the film than I expected, and it absolutely works. That turning point is a great scene--I'm sitting there, actively rooting for Anakin not to turn, knowing full well that he does. And by doing this fairly early on, it raises the stakes and builds tension before the inevitable climactic battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan. For years, Star Wars fans have heard the rumors about the lightsaber battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan on some lava-spewing volcanic planet and the scene surpasses anything I could have imagined. The fight itself is great, but the emotional aspect of the confrontation is perfect. Natalie Portman is great in the moments building up to the fight, and Christensen and Ewan McGregor are both brilliant. The ultimate reveal of Darth Vader in his costume is another moment that fans have waited for and Lucas nails this one. Honestly, I could analyze just about every scene of this film, but that really doesn't do it justice. I give it a 99 out of 100, with it losing one point only because I wanted to see more of the Wookiees kicking ass on Kashyyyk and more than just a cameo from Chewbacca. But that's just nit-picking. This is the best Star Wars movie yet, prequel or original. It's everything I hoped it would be and more. It answers every question, ties up all the loose ends, and serves as the perfect bridge for the prequels to the originals. I can't wait to see it again. I also can't believe that it's over.

WSOP TV schedule

I know some of you watch a lot of poker on TV (like I do), so you might find this interesting--I found a link to the television schedule for the WSOP. It starts in August but coverage of the main event (the one that I'm in) doesn't begin until October 11, and that will air in twelve one hour episodes shown two at a time for six weeks.

WSOP Broadcast Schedule

Not much else going on. Off to see Episode III tonight. It will be my first post-op trip to a theater so I hope I can get a comfortable seat. We'll get there plenty early just in case.

Bored

I have absolutely nothing going on but I figured I was due for an update anyway. Poker has been frustrating the last few days because I'm just not catching any cards. I played in a tourney with about 100 people today and came in 15th, but they only paid out to the final nine. I saw less than 20 flops the whole time and still managed to last that long so I think I played all right but still had nothing to show for it. At one point early on I was down to less than half my stack but managed a rally. I'm already dreading what it will be like if I get close to the bubble at the WSOP--the "bubble" being the cut-off for payments out to winners. I suspect that with so many people expected, they'll pay out around 500-600 spots, since last year they paid 225 with about 2500 players. Now, for most people, just finishing "in the money" won't be a big deal because it means that the people at the bottom just break even by getting their $10,000 back. But for me, that's all profit! And it goes without saying that I could really use ten grand right now. But if it gets close, how do I play? Super tight just to finish in the money? Some experts advocate getting very aggressive then, specifically because people tighten up their play just to cash and it's a great time to pick up chips. Who knows, but it's something I hope I'll have to think about sometime down the road.

I booked all of my travel plans. I'm arriving on the morning of July 5 and I have a flight scheduled to leave on Monday, July 11. I say "scheduled" because I really hope I have to change it because I'm still alive in the tournament after day two. But if I do bust out early, I figure at least I'll have the rest of the weekend in Vegas to drown my sorrows. Mom and Dad were kind enough to kick me some of their frequent flier miles, so that's awesome. I'll be staying at the Flamingo--it's got a great central location and, much more importantly, is home to Margaritaville. I guess it's also fair to say that the Flamingo has been lucky for me before, because that's where we stayed for my bachelor party when the Patriots won their first Super Bowl. Let's hope my gambling is anywhere near as successful this time around.

The other "highlight of the week" for me is definitely my lightsaber spoon. This thing rules! I'm using it for my Frosted Flakes every morning. Yes, it's true...I have no life.

Sick

I've been pretty sick the last couple of days, which is hard to figure out since I almost never leave the house. Mom thinks I might have caught something from Kate, my niece who is about a year and a half old. Oh well. I'm feeling better this morning than the last couple of days.

For people asking about the WSOP and TV: I don't even know when ESPN will start showing the episodes or if I'll be on at all. This year there are over 40 different events in the Series and the Main Event will be the last one that they show. Since the WSOP starts in June, my best guess is that ESPN won't start showing the preliminary stuff until probably August or even September. As for getting on TV, the longer I last, the better my chances are. Early on, they usually feature a couple of tables that have a well-known pro or two at them, so if that's the case this year, I hope that I'm not on TV on the first day. But I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I find out anything more.

Got my Star Wars tickets...10:30 PM showing on opening night. I wonder if I wear my big brace and bring the crutches if they'll let me cut in line. Hmm...

The Celtics stink

Wow...what a disastrous showing by my Celts in game 7. Nothing to say, really, aside from "we sucked."

The weekend in Memphis was great. Very low key, just hanging out with the family, playing board games, good stuff like that. The family is all excited about my poker stuff and I had a free tournament to play on Saturday so we hooked the laptop up to output to the big screen so that they could check in and watch periodically. The tourney went well. It is hosted by Card Player magazine and it's a sweet deal--for signing up with their website and making some quality posts a few months ago, I now get to play in a monthly tournament for free that gives out real cash to the top fifty finishers. There were almost 800 players this time and I managed to crack the top 20, taking home $30 for my 17th place finish. I was happy with the way I played, especially after losing about two thirds of my stack right before one of the breaks.

Not much happening on the home front. I won another single-table tournament today and I'm almost done with Harrington's book, which has been brilliant. Other than that, just counting the days until Episode III. Yes, I'm a geek, I know...

More poker reading

I finished the Hold 'Em sections in Super System 2. I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't too helpful because there is just no way I can play the way that Doyle Brunson advocates, because that style is just too aggressive for me. So I recently picked up Harrington On Hold 'Em by 1995 WSOP champ Dan Harrington. He is ironically nicknamed "Action Dan" because of his conservative playing style but he's also the only player in the world to make it to the final table of the main event the last two years, which have had by far the biggest fields the event has ever seen. I'm part way through the book so far and it's really good. He also has a volume two coming out later this month and I'll probably pick that one up as well. My favorite tip of his so far is that you tend to win the most money by playing the opposite of your traditional style--tight players win by getting a little looser, and vice versa. Simple, but true.

On Thursday I won a single-table tournament on Full Tilt. The entry fee was only $4.40 and there were just nine people but it means that I now have a "satellite chip" that I can use to buy into a more expensive tournament of my choice. The entire World Series of Poker consists of around 45 total events this year, including the big one that I am in, and Full Tilt runs a lot of qualifying tournaments into the other events as well. Who knows, maybe I'll win my way into another tournament out there too!

We're off to Memphis for the weekend to see my family. Mom and Dad are headed back to Cape Cod for the summer so it will be good to see them before they go. And I haven't seen my brother since January so it will be fun all around. I'm sure we'll be watching game 7 of the Boston-Indiana series on Saturday. GO CELTICS! I want a piece of Sully and his World Champion Detroit Pistons in round two.

Training for the WSOP

I've got a little over two months to get my game in shape for the WSOP. And since I'm still confined to the house, my training will consist of three things for now:

1. Playing tournaments on the internet.
2. Reading good No Limit tournament Hold 'Em books.
3. Studying old WSOP shows and World Poker Tour episodes.

I've done all three since I won the satellite. Before I left AZ, I picked up Doyle Brunson's Super System 2 and it is pretty informative so far. Brunson is a legend in the game, essentially the Arnold Palmer of poker, except he can still compete at the highest level. He's a two-time WSOP main event champ so his insights are remarkable. I will devour everything he has to say about tournament no limit Hold 'Em.

My TiVo is now jam-packed with poker shows and I'm studying them to see how the pros play and, as crazy as this sounds, to look for tells, because any of these pros could end up at my table at any point. I think I found a small but significant tell on Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari that I could actually use if I ever get involved with him in a pot.

Finally, I'm playing on the internet. On Monday I entered a tournament with 246 players and finished in 35th place, just five spots out of the money. I was happy with my play and I would have been guaranteed a money spot until my pocket aces got cracked by running hearts on the turn and river to make a flush that beat me. That didn't knock me out, but it took a huge chunk of my stack. But I can't complain--I played well and took a bad beat. It happens. On Tuesday morning, I played in another similar tournament with 209 players and finished 42nd. This time around, I just never really got into a groove. I got hurt on one hand when I made a big pre-flop raise with pocket queens and got two callers. The ace that came on the flop was not good for me, and the loss on the hand put me in pretty bad shape. I hung around for several more levels but just never got any cards and couldn't double up even once, eventually going out with mediocre suited connectors. Again, I was satisfied with my play but it wasn't good enough. And if I'm not cashing in cheap internet tournaments, I'm certainly not ready for the WSOP Main Event. I need to get better, and that's my goal for the next two months: to get my game in the best shape ever.

The knee is doing better too. I can finally limp around and put some weight on it, although I still use the crutches. The wound is healing up and I can now get into and out of the back seat of a car with no help. And the exercises are working--it's starting to feel stronger. I think by sometime in June I'll be good to go. And I'll certainly be healthy enough to sit at a card table.

Brunson, Chan, Moneymaker...McCandless?!?

Something pretty crazy happened on Saturday night. Most of you know that I enjoy playing poker and play a decent amount on-line. Well, one of the sites that I play at, Full Tilt Poker, has a frequent player points program that they use, and after accumulating a certain, very minimal number of points, I was enrolled in a free tournament that took place on 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

Here's how it worked: 1417 people were signed up, and the first prize was a free buy-in to the $10,000 main event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July. The big one, the main event, the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, the one that determines the World Champion, the one that ESPN plays and replays incessantly. Anyway, in most tournaments, first place gets the biggest prize (obviously) and other places pay out proportionally. But since the web site was putting on this tournament as a freeroll, there was only one prize--the $10,000 seat for free. Coming in second would be worth absolutely nothing but the pain and heartbreak of knowing that you came so close.

And I won. I actually won. I'll get into the specifics of winning at some other point, but the bottom line is that I'm going to be playing in the WSOP. It is, quite literally, a dream come true. More updates on this will follow. Tons of them. You'll be quite sick of hearing about it, I'm sure.

Today, Monday, is Beth's birthday. We went to her parents' house last night for a nice, quiet dinner. Everyone was surprisingly tired and reserved, myself included. I think I was actually still emotionally spent from the tournament the night before. Clearly, I need to practice and get into better "poker shape" before The Big One.

Okay...I'm off to look for Vegas hotel rooms and watch some World Poker Tour episodes on TiVo, looking for tells from my possible opponents. Oh, I forgot to mention that first place at the WSOP this year is estimated to be around $10 million. *gulp*...