So, you know… let’s play $3/$6. Of course, I log on, play like 5 hands, and am already down $80. Damn. Then my router goes crazy and I keep getting disconnected and I lose like $12 getting disconnected and posting and getting timed out. Annoying.

Then I play tight. And I wait, and I wait, and I wait. Get AA. Finally. Flop comes K 9 4. Check to me, I bet, next guy calls, first guy raises, I make it three bets, next guy calls, first guy caps it, I call, next guy calls. Next card is the A hearts. I feel very good. First guy bets, I raise, next guy hesitates. He calls the two bets. First guy calls. I put first guy on a set of 9s or 4s. I’m worried about last guy having a heart draw. Last card, a heart. Doesn’t pair the board. First guy checks, I bet, last guy raises, first guy calls (now I’m positive he has a set, so I have to overcall), and sure enough the last guy turns over KQ hearts. A heartbreaker. And like $118 in the pot.

Five hands later, I limp with Q5clubs on the button. One of the blinds raises, then somebody else raises in early position. I say fuck it, and call for three bets. The flop comes 3 Q 5. Two diamonds. First guy checks, next guy bets, one fold, I raise, first guy calls, other guy calls. The turn comes J diamonds. I’m not too worried about the diamonds, as I put the other guy on an overpair. He bets out, I raise him again, other guy folds, he calls. River comes… another diamond. I don’t even remember which one. He checks, I of course check, and he turns over AA, with the Adiamonds, for the four-flush. Another $80 pot.

And now I’m down $160 for my $3/$6 session, and have $37 in my account. $13 less than what I started with a week ago, after seven hours getting it to $200, knocking it all out in just 2.5 hours. I thought for sure I was getting even with either of those hands. Would have been up if both had held up.

Oh, well.

-------

Saw “Be Here To Love Me” over the weekend. Lovely documentary of Townes Van Zandt by Margaret Brown, longtime friend. She’s been working on this movie for a good four years, and in that time I’ve developed quite a bit of a fascination with her subject-matter. I finally decided to pick up some of the Townes albums in Austin last year on my drive from LA to NYC. I remember listening to “Flying Shoes” on the overnight drive from Austin to New Orleans, looking forward to breakfast at 9 AM in the French Quarter. Listened to “For The Sake Of The Song” between New Orleans and Memphis.

I could never really comprehend how somebody like Tim Buckley could have such a cult surrounding them (and rightly so, don’t get me wrong), and Townes could be almost completely unknown, especially in the indie rock world. I guess it makes sense, in a way. When Willie Nelson is less known for his masterpiece “Phases and Stages” than almost anything else in his oeuvre and isn’t really recognized as the guitar-god that he is, nothing else should be surprising.

But I really hope this film can help bring some people around to the stark sad beauty of Townes.

-------

So, I walk into the market on St. Marks the other day. I look at the beer selection, just out of habit. I walk away. I actually say to myself, "Why do I even look at the fancy beer selection?" And then I realize, oh, right - Tusker. I'm looking for Tusker Beer from Kenya. I go back to the fancy beers. And there it is, on the shelf. I can't really believe my eyes. I've been looking for this damn beer in the USA ever since coming back from Kenya five years ago. Was not-too-long-ago completely dismayed to a) realize I was in Louisville near a Kenyan restaurant that stocks Tusker but didn't get to go because it was already closed and b) that one of the only other menus I could find it on was at the Kenyan restaurant at Epcot Center at Disney World. And here it is, right in front of my face. I buy three bottles. Pictured at left is my first bottle of Tusker. Pictured here is my first bottle of Tusker, at Nairobi airport at 9:30 AM a lifetime ago.

I'm still in shock. I can't believe it was on the shelf. I can't believe Union Beer outta Brooklyn carries Tusker. I can't wait to buy a case. Oh, yeah: I did pop a bottle open the other night. It was good.

-------

So, here's the other creepy amazing thing. So... some song that came on reminded me, somewhat, of "Dolphins". It's a song I know from Billy Bragg, it's on the "Don't Try This At Home" album. I think of it, because I'm reminded of the version I heard of it by Eddi Reader at Fuji Rock Fest. It was early in the morning, and I was confused when I heard it. It took me a while to realize that the woman singing was the former lead singer of Fairground Attraction. So, I'm reminded of all of this just over the weekend, and I decide to look it up. Turns out Billy Bragg didn't write it, nor did Tim Buckley (amazing how this is all tying together, isn't it?), but was written by a Fred Neill in the late 1960's. I wasn't familiar with any of the other versions, but did grab the Tim Buckley version and realized that I think I had heard it before.

When standing in line at the St. Mark's Market with the Tusker in hand, guess what was playing in the in-store PA speakers. Yep. A version of "Dolphins".

-------

And then yesterday, a visit to Stereogum yields a post about Beth Orton. And one of the mp3's it includes is, yes, her cover of "Dolphins". Too fucking weird.

1		Robert Musil		Posthumous Papers of a Living Author
2		Ryunosuke Akutagawa		Hell Screen, Cogwheels, A Fool's Life
3		Alberto Savinio		Childhood of Nivasio Dolcemare
4		Luigi Pirnadello		The Late Mattia Pascal
5		Michel Leiris		Nights as Day, Days as Night
6		Heimito von Doderer		The Waterfalls of Slunj
7		Gesualdo Bufalino		The Plague-Sower
8		Virgilio Pinera		Cold Tales
9		Pierre Klossowski		The Baphomet
10		Giuseppe Pontiggia		The Invisible Player
11		Alexander Lernet-Holenia		Baron Bagge, Count Luna
12		Alexander Lernet-Holenia		The Resurrection of Maltravers
13		Juan Garcia Ponce		Encounters
14		Tommaso Landolfi		An Autumn Story
15		Raymond Radiguet		Count d'Orgel's Ball
16		Virgilio Pinera		Rene's Flesh
17		Cesare Pavese		Dialogs With Leuco
18		Luigi Pirandello		One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand
19		Pierre Klossowski		Diana at Her Bath, The Women of Rome
20		Yury Tynyanov		Lieutenant Kije, Young Vitushishnikov

There are approximately eight titles in "The Eridanos Library" that are not published by Eridanos Press, but by Marsilio Publishers (who also seem to have picked up most of the early titles from Eridanos Press), and perhaps one more book (originally labelled #17, and later identified as #21) published by Eridanos Press, but I don't think it actually exists.

In the process, two guys busted out, one guy left, another guy busted out and his friend needed to leave to take him home. Suddenly what was a full table has 3 guys sitting at it, and the other table has 3 seats… The call goes out to combine the tables, and I decide that I’m going to do something I never do: I’m going to get up and leave. I’m totally dying to play right now. I was just settling in for a four or six hour session. But… Damn. I was bound to donate some of that money back, and it wasn’t a hit and run, since everybody at our table left.

So… here I am. Typing at 1:45 on a Friday night. I should go out and get a drink. I just opened up a Rolling Rock in my apartment. Boy… I’ve always known it, but, wow. What an awful fucking beer. Whoever brought this beer to my poker game last Wednesday and left it here: you have shitty taste in beer. A pox on you.

It always was Pennsylvania’s worst. Now I remember why.

But that $550 in my pocket is much needed. It puts me back to even for the month, and I’m looking to play a couple of the $300 tournaments in Atlantic City next week, so… what the hell.

Let’s go out and spend $30 on a couple of drinks, and call it a successful night.

The night before I had picked up an easy $350 playing $5/$10 rotation for a couple of hours, which is a pretty healthy (and unexpected) late night pick-up. Then I throw it all away plus a little.

I head to work last night. Super slow night. Make very very little. I sit down for a half hour at the end of the night with a couple of loose players at the table. Try to see if I can make something happen. I don't. I lose $33. It was worth a shot, though.

It's 4:00 AM. So, of course, I take the subway and get off and ring the buzzer for LLLL. There's a 9-handed table. Two big stacks, and everybody else has like $100-$200. Max buy-in is $250 there, so I buy the max. I post under the gun. Fold to a raise. Big blind I get 73clubs. Under The Gun straddles, like 5 callers, I call the extra two bucks, straddler checks. flop comes 10 6 4. Checks around. Turn comes a 2. checks around. River comes a 5. I bet $10. Get one caller. I have the 3-7 straight, he has a solo 3 for a 2-6 straight. Free $30.

Little blind next hand. A7hearts. Straddle again. I throw in the 3 bucks. 6 players, no raises. flop comes

Checks around. Turn comes

I figure I'm open-ended and have the nut flush draw - I'll take a stab. I bet $15. Get one caller. The river comes

I hit my flush, but the board paired. But it's actually a good thing. I think if somebody had a set or two pair they would have bet the flop or raised me on the turn, so i'm hoping that somehow this guy has the 9. I bet $40. He calls. I turn over the flush. He doesn't show, but I'm good. A nice little $80 profit. I think that maybe it's going to be my night.

Six hands later I flop the nut straight on a rainbow board. I bet it out in early position. I get one caller, but I can tell I've got him hooked. I bet $15 on the flop into a $20 pot. Then I bet $35 on the turn into the $50 pot. Then I bet $55 on the river into the $120 pot. He pushes all in for about $100 total. I immediately call and turn over the 10J nuts. Suddenly I have $500 and change in front of me. I pick up a couple more pots... $550, then $600. LLLL closes at 6:00 AM, so now I just have to hold on to my money for a half hour.

I go cold for a bit. Call some raises, miss, throw them away. I get QJ suited, call a small raise. Flop comes 4J4. I check. Next guy checks. Original raiser bets $30 into the $50 pot. One fold, then to me. Original raiser has about $70 behind him. I raise to $100. Next guy folds and original raiser calls and turns over AJ. It holds up, and I double him up. I'm mad at myself, and I slip below $500.

A few more hands. See a few flops. Down to $450. The house calls out 4 more hands, and then the night is over. I fold the next three. Last hand.

I look down to pocket 10s, both red. Part of me is excited, part of me isn't. It's a great starting hand, but so fragile. I have to try to see a flop with as few players as possible, but it's the last hand and people like to gamble. It's only 5 or 6 handed at this point. One caller. I raise to $15. I get three callers, one behind me on the button. The flop comes

First two guys check. I bet $35. Button folds, next guy thinks about it for a second, and calls. This is the guy I just doubled up ten minutes ago with the AJ vs. QJ. In the back of my head I'm thinking "great... he's playing me with my own money." The next guy folds. The turn comes

He checks to me. I really do think I have him, but I know the only way to know for sure is to bet big. I put out $100. He starts talking. "Wow. That's a good bet. How much is in the pot? A little more than that? That's a great bet." Everybody else has gotten up from the table and is cashing out. It's just the two of us staring at each other, and the dealer. "You want action?" I reply, "I don't know what to tell you. I think I'm ahead. I don't know what you have, though, so I can't tell you." One of the other players comes over "This hand still going on?" The guy in the hand is still deciding. Still coffeehousing. "The question is, is Ace Queen good right here?" Takes another minute. For real. This is going on for two minutes now since I made the $100 bet. He says "Alright. I'm going to go all-in." I ask for the count from the dealer. It's $165 on top of the $100.

I think I put him on a move, but... It's another $165, and the pot is $330 approximately. Well, $500 with his in there. It's $165 to win $500, but... I might be drawing dead. If he's on a flush draw, I'm ahead, but I don't have the 10clubs, so all of his outs really are in the deck. If he has KQ or QJ I'm so way far behind. If he has a flush draw and a piece he has a ton of outs. I look at my rack. I have a little under $300. I can fold now and be up a little tiny bit and call it a wash. If i call and I'm wrong I'll be down $150 for the night and I'll feel like an idiot for going through a $450 swing in 15 minutes.

I finally decide that there are more hands that he might have that i'm beating (I'm putting him on A9 or on a flush draw), than hands that would be beating me (a set, two pair, any Q), and that I think the ratio between the two options are about 3 to 1. I think I'm beating three-fourths of the hands he might be holding.

I call.

He says "Nice call.", turns over AJoffsuit, and the river is a rag (thank god):

A total bluff. I breathe a sigh of relief. And realize that I have $750 in front of me. He says "I don't know how the hell you make that call. Great call. Damn. Ah, well, I didn't want to wait in line to cash out my chips anyway."

The other two players that were watching tell me nice call, I tip the dealer $20, tip the other dealer (that was now watching, too) $5, tip out the manager $5 (who was also the guy I busted out when I flopped the straight with 10J. doh.), and I walk out up $465.

Which means I'm still down $100 for the day, but... What a turnaround. I head to Veselka for some breakfast and go to sleep as the sun rises.

Copyright 2005 The Self-Starter Foundation

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Copyright 2005 The Self-Starter Foundation

All rights reserved.

All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of The Self-Starter Foundation. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download material from The Self-Starter Foundation website (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

For further information, please contact The Self-Starter Foundation.

(And with all of that said, go ahead and cut and paste whatever you want, just give the proper credit and a link, ok?)