It's Situational!

Why S&P downgraded.....

2011-08-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

Why S&P downgraded.....

• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385

CME Hikes Crude Oil Margins

2011-05-09T23:12:00.001-05:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110509-719491.html

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42966436

New Wii

2010-12-28T01:44:00.006-06:00

I got the girls a Wii for Christmas. Its been about 5 years since they came out with the video game system and allot has progressed. There are plenty of games for it and mods too. It was not long before I had to mod it to take full advantage of its capabilities.

The original Wii mod guide is located at: http://www.modifyanywii.tk/

Remember, if you have no knowledge/experience whatsoever in Wii

Hacking, please use the CompleteSoftmodGuide instead.

http://www.completesoftmodguide.tk/

It offers the same hacks + detailed information.

The files below are made as an aid for those experienced!

http://www.mediafire.com/modifyanywii

http://www.4shared.com/dir/0oQUBGDg/sharing.html

Video to mod your Wii... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgKYlmppxW4&feature=related

To download Wii games use these torrent sites:

http://torrentz.eu/

http://www.wiiiso.com

http://thepurplecube.org

http://thepiratebay.org/

Anthony's Economics

2010-11-15T21:51:00.013-06:00

What would I do to fix the current Economy? If you ask a Conservative Republican, they would say lower taxes on everyone, including businesses. The basic theory being that by lowering taxes you increase capital for everyone and people would be more willing to take more risk and spend more money to stimulate economic growth.

If you ask Liberal Democrats, they would increase government spending on social programs like unemployment benefits and infrastructure construction projects. The basic theory being that only the government has the capital to spur growth. The government can spend money on infrastructure items and that will spread throughout the people and that will increase spending. Well, during the last few years we have increased spending and lower taxes and yet our economy is still sluggish and unemployment still hovering close to 10%

So why has nothing worked? Here is my simple theory, increasing economic growth happens when people or businesses spend more money. When the spending just stabilizes or levels off, then the macro economic growth slows. We are always spending, but if our spending stays the same or slows down, then you will see this as a slow down in our macro economics numbers and that does not bode well for our financial system that depends on growth.

During slow downs, their is little real demand for anything new. There is high unemployment now because any successful businesses become more productive over time and with higher productivity, they produce more with less and if demand goes down they have to produce less. If demands goes down even more, then the business has to cut personnel costs to keep profit margins up and thus unemployment rises.

So what we are left with are people with nothing to do. If we don't innovate and create more demand, then we will never get out of this situation. The fact of the matter is that the US economy is really one big legal "ponzi" scheme and requires growth to survive or the system eventually collapses.

The Federal Reserve admits that their primary goal is price stability and low unemployment. The Fed understands that their must be a moderate about of inflation in our system. This is because the economy depends on it. We need someone else to pay more for our products, so that we can continue the ponzi scheme.

Most illegal ponzi schemes fail because the promoter eventually run out of suckers to fuel the scheme. A successful ponzi scheme works until you cant find anyone else to pay into the scheme to pay for all the people who signed up before you.

The USA economy is basically the same scheme, but we control our currency and if we run out of money, we just print more money. Now the role of the Fed was to print money at a moderate rate 2-3%. This 2-3% must be balanced with the rate at which people save money and spend money. If people save more money, then the Fed can print more money. If people spend more money then the Fed will stop printing money and increase interest rates to bring back money to the treasury.

The problem we have now is that people are saving more and spending less. Since there is limited jobs and an uncertain future, people are cutting back. No matter what the government does now, it wont matter if people don't start spending to create more demand for goods and services.

My solution? We need to create demand for goods or services! Another way to say it, we need to "increase the velocity of money" in the system. We need people to spend more and recirculate the money back into the economy. So how can the government increase the circulation of money in the system? Let's look at history the big drivers to get people to spend money over the past 100 years.

First, there were the Railroads and the radio in the 1900s. The telephone became a necessity and Automobiles started in the 1920s. World War I and II during the 30s and 40s spurred demand for weapons. In the 50s commercial Air travel became main stream and television too. In the 80s we had paid Cable TV service, video games and the start of the personal computers.

In the 90s, everyone owned a computer and you had the growth of the Internet and Cell Phone adoption. What do we have in 2000's? What is the next gotta have thing that we all need. Now that everyone has a Cell Phone, Internet, Personal Computer, Car, flat screen TV and is traveling around the world. What else can we buy to "circulate" more money into the economy?

Think about that? How much do you spend today on your cell phone, Internet access, PC and cable service? How much did you spend 10 years ago? What about 20 years ago. That increase spending has contributed to the current economy and created jobs for your wireless providers and Internet providers and computer makers and those jobs were not there 10-20 years ago.

As we find ways to lower costs, people will be laid off. Remember dial-up modems for internet access and the phone land lines. If you worked for one of those companies, you probably got laid off, if they did not innovate to the latest technology.

Well, we are at the point now and we need to find that next big thing to hire those unemployed. What will we all want to buy next? Something that will impact every one's lives and make us spend more. Figure that out and that is where the government can spend money to decrease unemployment.

Top iPhone Apps

2010-10-21T14:32:00.033-05:00

It has been about a month and a half with my new iPhone and I have installed over 150 apps. I tried to get the best of the best apps, but there are just to many to use them all the time. So here is my list of the top most used and useful iPhone Apps for me:

JailBreakme.com - This is the first site you should visit to install the JailBreak software expoit. It only works on iOS 4.0.1 or lower. It exploits a hack in the browser to jailbreak your phone and allow any 3rd party software to be installed on your phone. Without this patch, you can only install Apple approved software and this really limits the potential of your iPhone. (Update! New jailbreak Limera1n has been released for version 4.1 -> here is a nice video that explains how to do it. Keep in mind this only works on iphone with the old bootroom. 3GS phones with the new bootrom will not easily be jailbroken. There are some jail breaks out there, but as of this writing they are all "tethered" meaning after you reboot your iphone, you will need to re jailbreak your phone.)

Cydia - This is the first app that is automatically installed after you jailbreak your phone. It contains many hacks and other useful software to really take advantage of your iPhone. Below are all Cydia only apps that I use the most! Make sure you add SinFul Repo site to Cydia for all the cracked apps at -- > http://sinfuliphonerepo.com/

Ultrasn0w - Unlock Phone Service Hack - You apply this code to allow your iPhone to be used on any GSM network like Tmobile or Simple Mobile. I am using my iPhone on Simple Mobile for $60/month, unlimited calls, text and data!
Five Icon Dock - This allows 5 rows of icon instead of the normal 4 rows, check out the picture above for how my main screen looks! I can really pack in more programs on one page then the standard Apple layout screen provides. Also install Five-Column SpringBoard to get 5 columns of icons instead of 4!
LockInfo - This useful hack allows a bigger clock and a preview of messages on your lock screen. I have it simulating the HTC interface with a big clock, weather and small previews of emails, text messages and twitter updates.
Installous - This is another program similar to the App Store, but it contains all free programs for the iPhone. You do need a jail broken iPhone, but once you got this app, you can pretty much get anything for free.
MyWi 4.0 - This Cydia app, allows me to tether my iPhone to my computer. I can use my iPhone's Internet connection on my laptop thru WiFi or USB cable. I find the USB cable more fast, but the WiFi sharing is nice to0

Multifl0w - This Cydia app shows for a really cool preview of all apps running in the background. It replaces the multitasking switching app from Apple, which only shows the icon.

Trapster - This can be found in the Apple App Store. It Logs and view other peoples reports of Police radar spots.

Navigon Mobile Navigator - The Best GPS for the iPhone. It costly, but you can find it for free in Installous.

More New Gadgets

2010-09-30T09:57:00.024-05:00

One nice thing about a new house is that you get a chance to buy all the latest gadgets. When I first moved into my new house, I first got a 32" LCD/DVD combo TV for my bedroom. I got it with Time Warner Cable and that came with a High Definition DVR from Scientific American, the 8300HD for recording up to two shows at one. It automatically records program series and I can quickly fast forward through commercials.

I soon realized that I spent most of my time in my office, so I got a 19" LED TV. LED technology is the latest in TV design and the picture is amazing, claiming a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio and uses very little energy, requiring only 12V to run. Now I needed a big TV for the main living room. So I got a 47" Insignia, LED TV from Best Buy. To play movies I decided to invest in a Blu-Ray player, since HD DVD is finally dead.

I got a LG BD590 Blu-Ray and DVD player from Amazon. This device is more then just a DVD player, it also has online streaming capability from Netflix, YouTube, Pandora and a host of other online streaming sites. It connects wirelessly to my Linksys router using WiFi (802.11g or n) and streams movies directly to my TV via HDMI cable. I got a free trial membership to Netflix and its amazing, plus I get one DVD in the mail too. I'll probably stay with Netflix service, since it is well worth the $8.99/month fee for unlimited streaming of movies. It works on my iPhone and also allows mutiple computers in my house to stream movies too.

New iPhone

2010-09-12T20:09:00.018-05:00

I got a new iPhone this weekend! Its been been about 3 years since Apple released the original iPhone and we are now in the forth forth generation of the iPhone. I did a bit of research on all the models and decided on get the 3rd generation phone called the 3Gs. The four models of the phone, in order, are the 2G, 3G, 3Gs and now the 4.

3Gs model: I decided to stick with last year's 3Gs phone because it is the best bang of the buck. It performs faster the the previous two models and the cellular service works the best of any iPhone model. People have complained about the iPhone 4 reception and their have been plenty of drop call reports on the iPhone 4. The 2G and 3G were simply just to slow to be very useful for any heavy Internet surfing.

The craigslist price on the 3Gs is between $250-$350. For the 2G or 3G models you can purchase for $80-$220. If you want a an iPhone 4, the prices are $500-800. You can always get a new iPhone that works only on ATT's network for $99 and with a 2-year contract. The monthly fees can be as low as $55 for very limited services (450mins, 200MS data, no texting). Average user should expect to pay $90 (900mins, 2GB of Data, 200 texts). For a totally unlimited service expect to pay $135/monthly (unlimited calling, data, text and tethering included). This would end up costing an average user $2260 to $3340 over a 2-year contract.

Simple Mobile: I decided to use Simple Mobile's network. There plans are $40, $50, and $60/month. All the plans are prepaid and all prices include all taxes and fees, with unlimited talk and texting. For a two year period the cost would only be $960-$1440, plus the cost of a GSM phone. The $50 plan has 100MB of Web and the $60 plan has unlimited Web. There is no long term contract and you can switch plans every month. Simple Mobile resells the T-mobile network, so they have the same 3G coverage as T-mobile, but is about 25% cheaper. You can use any T-mobile phone or any unlocked GSM phone. All iPhone sold in the USA are locked to ATT's network. To use an iPhone on another GSM network, like T-mobile or Simple Mobile, you need to first jailbreak the phone and then unlock the phone.

Jailbreaking: In the course of my research, I found out that not all software version of the iPhone can be jail broken and unlocked. To jailbreak an iPhone it must be on software version 4.0.1 or less (as of this writing 9-21-2010). Basically, just take your iPhone to http://jailbreakme.com and execute the script, it can take 30-60 minutes to complete. When it is finished you will get a message saying that Cydia has been added to the home screen of your iPhone. You are now running a jailbroken iPhone.

Unlocking iPhone: From here you can install the unlock software and use your iPhone on any GSM network in the world! Just click on Cydia: Manage: Sources: Edit: Add type in http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com

Once the source is added you will be able to find ‘ultrasnow 0.93′ in cydia which you will have to install by tapping on the ‘Install’ button which will download 48kb around of data and install it by downloading Mobile Substrate and then preparing it followed by reboot of the device.

Other helpful hacks: One you phone is at this state their are plenty of other hacks that you can perform. Just search the Internet to find more or click on this link. Here are some of my most useful hacks!
Get Push Gmail on your iPhone
Enable tethering now (prior to AT&T allowing it)
Sync your iPhone with multiple computers
Add a 5th row of numbers on your QWERTY keyboard

Dispelling The Stock Index Chart Myth

2010-09-03T15:33:00.020-05:00

Stock Index charts that show that the stock market always going up is total bull crap! Below are a couple example of the Dow Jones and S&P 500 charts over the past 50 and 100 years.

Looking at these charts you would think that yes, over any 20-30 years span the market always is trending upwards. But the truth of the matter, is that these charts don't show you what your portfolio would really look like, if you actually held onto all the original stocks. You would actually be broke.

Of the original 12 DOW Jones stock, only one is still in existence today. That is General Electric. All other companies have failed or merged into other companies. The components of the DJIA have changed 48 times in its 114 year history. The DJIA only has 30 stocks, so it has had over 160% turnover rate. So if anyone actually held onto the original 12 stocks, where do you think they would be today? Only holding GE stock, which is up over the last 50 years but flat for the past 15 years..

In June 8, 2009 GM and Citigroup were removed from the Dow average. Less then a year earlier, AIG, Chevron and Bank of America were replaced. Other companies that have been replaced include Kodak, International Paper, Goodyear, Sears, Bethlehem Steel, Woolworth, American Can, US Steel and Chrysler.

Imagine 20 years ago having a portfolio of Dow Stocks that had GM, Citigroup, AIG, Bank of America, Kodak, Sears and Chrysler? You would be broke now! The fact of the matter is that the current DJIA and S&P are actually just the a collection of the top 30 or top 500 stocks in the market to date. If a company gets to small or goes bankrupt, they just replace it with the next biggest, healthy and stable company.

So any historical chart of these indexes are really misleading. Instead of showing a chart of the original stocks over time. They are actually showing the top stocks of the market at that time, as as a company goes out of business, its replaced with a healthy company until that company goes out of business. The fact that it kinda goes up, over time, shows you the effect of inflation and an increase in money supply.

The truth of the matter is that if you hold onto any stock to long. The odds are it will look like Kodak's stock chart below. After an initial spurt of growth, it returns to zero. The lesson here is to play the upswings, but never stay invested to long...

Google Offers Free Phone Service

2010-08-26T22:02:00.006-05:00

Google is now offering free phone service with every Gmail account. Call anywhere in the USA for free, right thru your computer. Been playing with it and its pretty neat. I also signed up for Google Voice which gives me a local number that will ring my cell phone, home phone and Vonage phone.

The voice to text feature of the voice mail system is pretty cool too. And you can even call me from this blog. Just click below and enter a phone number and I will call you!

Try it!

Hijack Virus

2010-08-04T10:41:00.004-05:00

Got a call from my sister and her Vista PC was Hijacked. Basically whenever she visited a website or tried to run a program it would pop-up a messages telling her that her computer was infected and she needed to visit a website to fix it.

Whenever she tried to run any programs it would pop-up the message. Whenever she tried to visit it website, it would go no where. Basically her laptop was useless.

So I managed to fix it by following these steps:

- Reboot the computer into safe mode - by pressing F8 upon start-up

- Run MSCONFIG and disable the nefarious program. It was called fxxxxx.exe

- Restart the computer in normal mode Safe mode

- Delete the program .EXE from the hard-drive

- Edit the host file and remove the extra line of code redirecting her browser to nowhere land.

Best Session of the Year

2010-06-26T01:48:00.014-05:00

Its been a rough Poker year for me. Lots of bad beats and suck outs early in the year. I kept to my game and feel like Im finally back now. I have 3 winning months in a row, but still a little down for the year. I dont know where the year really went, but hopefully the second half of the year will be back to more normal games.

I felt I couldnt lose early on. My first hand in the big blind I had 83 and flopped a boat with a flop of 338. No real action, but its nice to get lucky sometime. I started noticing people playing any 3. Doty called a big raise with 3♣4♣ and rivered 2 pair to crack pocket kings!

I started playing on the second table and took down four people's entire stack. My first victim was a loose Asian guy. I have A♣Q♣ and spike an Ace on the flop. He calls me down to the river and never shows. I figured he had Ace rag. Then my very next hand I have pocket 10♥10♠. The same guy pushes over the top of my raise and shows A♦5♦. I take all his chips!

I felt another guy with A♠K♠. Everyone limps around and I have A♠K♠ in the small blind. The flop comes Q♠8♦3♠. One guy bets $10 and another re-raises to $25. I smooth call with my nut flush draw. The turn is a 10♥ and he bets another $31. I call again. The river is a J♦ making my nut straight. I push him all in for his remaining $40. He shows top set of Q♦Q♣s! I dodged a bullet there! Sometimes its better to be lucky then good.

A few minutes later I have pocket A♥A♣ under the gun. Doty calls and another guy pushes all-in. I call and Doty calls. The guy shows A♦K♠ and Doty never shows. I spike my set on the flop! and take both their stacks!

I move to the main table and get pocket K♣K♦, A♦A♥ and Q♣Q♠. They all hold up each time. It's nice when the odds work out in your favor. Its just a matter to time before it catches up with me. I am up over $400 in about 5 hours. That is $80/hr and better then average. I decide to leave a little after midnight.

Poker Stats

My Lexus In The Shop

2010-06-20T10:35:00.011-05:00

I took my Lexus LS400 into the shop on Friday. I had the check engine light turn on and a number of other minor issues I wanted to them to take a look at. My windshield mister motor was dead, my center brake light had a couple of bulbs out and my AC would blow warm during stops. My air conditioning issues was due to a relay that failed.

Going to a Lexus service station is an experience in awesome customer service. All of the service area has flat screen TVs, leather furniture, free drinks and even Apple computers. They even will give you a free car to drive until your car is fixed. For all this, you do pay for it.

They charged me about $100 for all the parts and $350 for labor. They didn't have the parts in stock so I had to come back 4 days later. Fortunately, they gave me a 2010 HS 250h hybrid loner car use while my car was in the shop.

This car was sweet and one of the most technologically advanced cars I have ever driven! Not only is it a hybrid getting 35MPG, it has a rear view backup camera and voice activated navigation system. To start the car you push a button. The car actually unlocks automatically when you get close to the car.

Check out the video below of me backing out of my garage and the back-up camera. My previous company actually makes backup cameras, so it was nice to see one in action.

Home Buyer Credit Check

2010-05-19T15:26:00.005-05:00

I am not really the type to accept or qualify for most government welfare programs, but sometimes the government is giving away money. With the recent recession, the government created a number of incentive programs to jump start economic growth. The Cash for Clunkers deal, extension of unemployment benefits and a first time home buyer credit were just a few of these stimulus programs. If you happen to fall within the guidelines, then you just need to complete some paperwork and the money will be yours.

I have never in my life received an unemployment check from the government. Even when I was laid off, I had over 3 months severance and found a job before it ended. So while I paid into the unemployment system for over 10 years, I never used it. As I understand it now, you can get an unemployment check for up to 99 weeks now. Where is the incentive to find work with that kind of handout?

In the Fall of 2009, the Federal government extended the original home buyer credit and expanded it to long term home buyers. The original plan gave $8000 to any first time home buyer. It expired last year and Congress decided to extend to April 2010 and expanded it to include anyone that had lived in there home for 5 years and give them $6500. Wow, what a nice bonus! I now just qualified, owning my last home for 5 years.

I put my home search into high gear during the Winter of 2010. Within a couple of months I found allot of good deals with foreclosures and bank owned properties. I finally decided on a brand new construction at the end of February and closed on the house on March 10th.

I had already filed my 2009 taxes electronically. So on March 31st, I paper filed an amended Tax Return for the home buyer credit. For the home buyer credit, you had to file by paper with 5-years home owner documentation, since their were reports of many people scamming the system. On May 18th, 2010 I got my check!

Cracking Pocket Aces!

2010-04-25T17:31:00.014-05:00

Its been a while since I won at Poker (five sessions...just a really bad run), but last night was a +$500 night! I knew at some point I would start winning again and it would be with avengence. It could have been another really early night, after I picked up pocket Kings in the Big Blind. A guy in early position limps in for $2 and a few other call. I bump it to $25 and he pushes all-in for over $500. He had me covered, since I just started and I had about $200 in-front of me. I consider for a second if he could have pocket Aces and if he would have limped in like that. I put him on AK and call. The flop spikes a King and I throw down my top set!. He shows me pocket Aces! Whoops, bad call, but he should not have slow played. I might have folded pre-flop if he raised and re-raised my re-raise. Instead he played weak and became week, a classic poker mistake.

A few minutes later I get pocket Aces under the gun so I raise to $20. Only the guy to my left calls. The flop is K-10-3 and I bet $30. The guy re-raises me to $70 and I smooth call. The turn is a Jack and I quickly check. He checks! The river is a rag like a 8 and I figure I have to be good, so I value bet $50. The guy pushes all-in for another $150! It seems like an over bet that he doesn't want me to call, so I call! He says "you must be good I have a king.." and show my Aces. Now my stack is close to $700...

I play a little more hitting a set of 444s and getting pocket Kings 2 more times before deciding to call it quits after about 4 hours of play. I cashed out $735, that is about $133/hr. A very fortunate session for me and I can say, "yes it is better to be lucky then good." And when you are lucky you better be good by quiting while you are still ahead.

Current Stats

Sightseeing in Austin and Lake Travis

2010-03-29T18:54:00.030-05:00

This past weekend I took a cruise on Lake Travis. It was the first time on Lake Travis for me. It was a blast. I rented a pontoon and drove around the east part of the lake. I checked out Hippie Hollow, the Oasis and Mansfield Dam.

Home Improvements

2010-03-20T18:49:00.009-05:00

Its been a busy month for me. I closed on a new house March 10th, 2010. I went to Charleston, South Carolina on March 12th for a wedding for and old college friend. Been trying to move in ever since and get it ready. I have absolutely no furniture and will be starting from scratch. First things I got was a bed, TV and recliner. I also had a Water Softener installed and gutters installed all around the house. Lennar only had front gutters installed.

Things To Look For In A New House

2010-03-02T15:39:00.071-06:00

Here are all the things I really like about my house. If you are looking for a new house I would consider only a brand new house at this point. Look for these little details. They make a big difference in the long run and believe it or not, the cost of a new build really isn't that much difference then a used home. This list is, admittedly, a list of "technical" things, since Im a technical guy. If you want to see a listing of non technical items then just do a google search.

Brand New Construction using the latest in building technologies and meets all the high-efficiency code of Austin Green Building Program. All new homes have to be built with the latest building codes. Most of these codes require better building techniques and money saving energy efficient materials to be used. A new home will be warrantied for at least one year and many major items warrantied for up to 10 years. Why settled for a home "as-is" when you can get warranty and some peace of mind for the same price or better? Look at JD Power's rating for builders in your area. Here is a link to the builders ratings for Austin, TX.

LP TechShield, Radiant Barrier used on the roof to block 97% of the radiant heat of the Sun. This alone will save allot in cooling and heating the house, especially in the hot summer months of Texas. The barrier typically reduces heat in the attic by up to 42%, which equals to about a 17-39% monthly savings on cooling costs. There are many suppliers of radiant barriers and the technology is relatively simple and very effective no matter who you use. Existing homes can also be retrofitted with the technology to achieve similar results.

TJI Engineering Wood used to support the 2nd floor, this prevents squeaks in the floor. TJI joists resist the bowing, twisting and shrinking that can lead to squeaky floors. TJI joists save on labor because they are lightweight and install quickly. The beams are stronger then lumber wood and can span much greater distances without additional support beams underneath. The technology is also "Green" since you can use scrap wood in the OSB layer.

Lime Stone exterior, just looks dam nice. Any brick or stone house always looks better then a non brick house. While it is just a facade and provides little structural support, it still acts as a thermal mass to help moderate the house's overall temperature. On this house the Lime stone is literally 4 inches thick. They say their is little insulating value to the stone, but I still feel like it takes longer to heat up in the morning sun compared to a wood or vinyl sided home.

High Efficiency HVAC system - a 14 SEER Lennox Air Conditioner and heat pump - costs less to keep the house cool and heat. If the temperature falls below freezing then a back-up radiant heater kicks in.

Dual pane low E Windows . The glass is coated with a thin layer of tin. This absorbs the UV rays and prevents the heat from entering the house. The window frames are also made of Vinyl which is more insulating then aluminium when tends to conduct heat more readily then vinyl.

Seven zone Sprinkler system that shuts off automatically with use of a rain sensor. This wireless device has a ceramic sensor that communicates to shut-off the system if it is wet outside.

Jump ducts in every bedroom for better circulation and energy efficiency. Typically, when you close a room door the ventilation system has to work harder to push air through the closed door. By adding a vent to the each room the system can just push the air through the vent for better air flow. The only hassle now is that I have more filters to replace in each room, but this is a better way in the long run.

DSC Security System with wiring for CAT5, telephone and Fiber Optics. I have a fiber optic connection at the road. This should give me the fastest possible Internet connection. The house being pre-wired means that an installer doesn't have to worry about fishing cables through all the walls.

I don't cook much, but I love the look of Granite Counter tops in the kitchen! For what ever reason, after looking through so many homes, a plain laminate counter top just says old and dated to me. Yes, Granite doesn't add much functionality to a home for a guy that doesn't cook much, but dam a Granite kitchen just looks awesome! It is one of those things that catches the eye and makes you fall in love with the place. Click the picture to see the entire counter top.

(you can click on at picture above to see more details..)

New Home Purchase

2010-02-22T23:06:00.023-06:00

I put in an offer on a new home today and it was actually a brand new construction from Lennar. I never really thought I would ever buy a new home, especially in this economy with so many foreclosures on the market, but the deal I got was unbelievable.

I falsely assumed that all the good deals would be foreclosures or short sale. The reality is that new construction homes in Texas are very competitive against used homes and even some foreclosed homes. I actually will be paying less in the long run for a 3,282sq/ft home, 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom ,lime stone, home then a similar one currently listed on the market today, after you include the costing cost, repairs and all the appliances that I would have to get.

The builder is paying all my closing costs and buying down my interest rate to 4.25%! I basically just come to closing with my down payment. I also negotiated $30K off the list price, with a new Washer and Dryer. The house already had a new fridge, stove, microwave, garbage disposal, garage door opener, granite counter tops and sprinkler system. And I did all this without a Real Estate Agent!

Real Estate Agents will tell you that you need them to "look out" for you and that the sellers are only interested in themselves. In reality, the agents are looking out for themselves and to take a 3% cut of your sale for doing very little.

After this purchase, it will be my 4th house that I have purchased by myself with no agent other then the seller's agent working with me. I can honestly say that I have never had a bad experience doing it myself and have saved more money this way then using an Agent.

Reasons to be buying now: I basically decided that now was the right time to be buying a house. Here are a few of my key reasons.

- After March 2010 the Federal Reserve will stop buying Mortgage back securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Basically the government has been buying up 90% of all loans for the past 1.5 years. After March interest rates will go up, unless they extend this program. I estimate that rates will go from 5% to at least 6.5%

- After April 2010, the $6.5K-$8k tax credit will be gone. Basically the government is giving away free money if you buy a house by April 2010. Even if you don't pay taxes, you will get this "credit"...

- Seasonality - basically the winter is the slowest time of the year for home sales. Buying at this time, is when less people are buying giving sellers more motivation to sell and to discount prices.

- Builders are desperate to sell there inventory and will pay all your closing costs and even buy down your interest rate. I am getting a 4.25% rate and they are paying over $11K in costs on top of a $30K discount to the list price!

From 2-27-2010

Why does the IRS ask your Job Title? and Austin Plane Crash

2010-02-21T14:05:00.020-06:00

Why does the IRS ask your job title? The simple answer is because their are specific tax laws that vary depending on what you do for a living. Specifically the "Self-Employed" status or sole proprietor status.

If you are a self-employed person and do not fall under an "employee" status, you can generally claim many additional expenses, as tax deductions for against any monies received. This is a tremendous tax advantage over an employee, where the employer must pay income taxes for that employee's entire salary.

Typical self-employed careers would be a lawyer, accountant, Doctor, construction worker or dance instructor. All these jobs can be paid a fixed amount per hour to the individual. That individual does not pay income tax on the monies received. Taxes are only applied at the end of the year or quarterly after all expenses are accounted for like office space rent, office supplies, software, car, travel, tools and training costs.

Current tax rates for a self-employed person is 15% for the first $50,000 in net earnings. Where if you made $50,000 as an employee at "normal" job you would be tax at the 28% tax bracket. Think about that.. As an employee your tax rate is almost double that of a self-employed person. So you make $50K working for someone then you have to pay $14k in taxes. But if you work for yourself and made $50K then you only owe $7.5k

The self-employed are at a great tax advantage here. Keep in mind that self-employed typically don't have any benefits like health care so they have to pay all that themselves. In any case, its still a big difference in taxes.

Back to my original question about your job title: This self-employed status is great for many workers in the USA, except in 1986 Congress pass a law that excluded some jobs from being "self-employed." This group of workers were primary technology workers. The exact text was "engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work..."

So this entire group of workers could not work for themselves because some clever government lawyer wanted more tax revenue and decided to single out this group of workers to extract more taxes from them.

Now, I am a technology worker and I ask why not also exclude private lawyers and accountants? Well the answer is simple. It was a lawyer and an Arthur Andersen accountant that wrote the exception into law. Why would those skilled trades people shoot there own profession in the foot?

This law is totally unfair and discriminatory to single out an entire profession. And this was one of many reasons why Joe Stack killed himself flying his plane into the IRS building in Austin, TX. Now, I'm not condoning what Joe did, he was crazy. But I read his suicide letter and tried to put myself in his shoes. I can say I understand his frustration. This law needs to change, but I would never condone anything crazy like what he did..

Here is a NY Times Opinion Editor about this law,

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/opinion/21shulman.html

Rocky Start to 2010

2010-01-31T20:22:00.005-06:00

It's been a rocky start for 2010 for my Poker playing. 2009 was a pretty good year all the way thru until November when I had my first losing month in over a year. I managed 3 losses and 2 winning sessions. I dont think I played badly, just ran into to many gamblers and bad luck. I have always said that my game really requires that I not run into any bad luck. This month was to much of that. Generally, I was always ahead and they just sucked out on me.

During my last session of the year I was getting more lucky then normal. My rags were hitting! Open enders with 89 and 64, hitting 2 pair with 53, etc.. I usually dont like to play those hands, but I kept noticing that when I folded them, they kept hitting. I noticed 3 times on the button that my rags were hitting 2-pair every time. I usually dont play the button with that crap, but decided why the heck not. Sometimes when you are hot, you just have to playing any 2 hands. Just be careful, it doesnt last for ever and never become cocky. This game has a tendacy to make you humble when you least suspect it.

The last session of the year I booked a $300 win. I'll take it and hopefully the rest of the year is more steady.

Current Stats

Poker Stats Last 4 Years

2010-01-04T18:28:00.013-06:00

Below is a summary chart for my poker stats for the past 4 years. Actually, started playing 3.25 years ago. I loss allot of money for the first 6 months and its been a nice steady rise since then. I have constantly made money at poker for the last 2.5 years.

I have also included my four largest expenses for the year. Unfortunately, my biggest expense is taxes! The lesson here is to learn to minimize your taxes, it is usually your biggest expense.

New Year's Eve - Final Session of the Year

2009-12-31T23:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a good final session of the year for me and a good start to the new year. It was a nice slow and steady climb, just how I like it. I called a few bluffs and made a few hands to slowly built my stack up. I never got involved with any large hands and before you knew it my stack was over $555. Nicole was running hot! and just kept felting everyone with her rags. Luckily, I was able to stay out of her way and she paid me off 3 out of 4 times we played together.

My New Year's Resolution is to Gamble less and play like a machine. This doesn't not mean no more Poker. It just means to avoid taking to many chances and long shots without proper pot odds. Many people equate Poker to gambling, but for me it's not gambling how I play. I like to say, I play with a slight edge ("only the nuts..") and like most casino table games, in the long run, I cant lose, because mathematically I am always ahead I will stay ahead in the long run.

Here are some stats and charts for my 2009 year in review:

Here is a chart by month. I managed to have just one losing month in November and the rest were profitable. My monthly average is right at $600/month. The way I see it, I make just enough to pay my rent or pay for my girl friend expenses.. I made a bit less in 2009 compared to 2008. My average in 2008 was $692/month, but I played more in 2008 when I lost my primary job for 2 months.

Here is a Cumulative Chart with each session mapped out. In total, I played 87 sessions in 2009. This compares to 108 sessions in 2008. That is about 1 in 4 days playing poker or about 24% of the days in 2009 playing the game. My average winning per session is about $82.64 which is better then my 2008 stat of $76.94 per session. As you can see I don't win all the time, but its a slow and steady rise like a stock. It doesn't always go up, but in the long run it is trending up and I ended the year at my 12 month high of $7,190! My 2008 winnings were $8309, but I played 21 more days during my unemployment in 2008.

Here is a chart by location. In total, I played at 20 different locations. 13 of those locations were profitable and 7 locations were deposits for me, but nothing larger then $895.

Poker Game Robbery

2009-12-31T17:02:00.001-06:00

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Catered food, high-profile players and thousands of dollars on the table set the scene for an armed robbery in Southwest Austin.

Sources said gunmen broke into a high-stakes poker game around 11 p.m. Dec. 9. Wearing masks, they entered the apartment, assaulted some of the players and then took off with more than $20,000 in cash.

APD confirms there was an aggravated robbery at the apartment that night involving two suspects and the investigation is still open.

"From what I understand, investigators are at a stalemate," said Commander Chris Noble with APD's organized crime division. "The victim is not being cooperative."

But, Mike Lavigne, the Texas State Director for the Poker Players Alliance , blames antiquated laws for the robbers' success and the unsolved crimes.

"A lot of times people don't even call the cops if these places get busted by a thief because it's not legal for them to be necessarily running that room in the first place," Lavigne said.

Poker becomes illegal in Texas when the House makes a cut. In the case of these underground games, poker hosts can pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for putting together the events. The nights usually involve catered food, free massages and, in some cases, extra security.

"It's not seen as a crime in most parts of the world," said Lavigne. "It just happens to be the leftovers from some old laws in Texas. It's not clear what's legal or illegal in our state right now."

Participating in an illegal poker game is a Class A misdemeanor. But, even with the minor criminal penalty, police said players and homeowners are reluctant to report an attack or a robbery.

"There's no incentive, if you will, for the victim to cooperate with the police," said Noble.

Cooperating with police involves identifying the players, which will then lead to an investigation - minor questioning, at the very least. And, that will likely kill a house's customer base.

"These players don't consider themselves criminals," said Lavigne. "They just want to be able to play with their friends in an environment without being hassled."

Tim Kelly, who founded the Austin Poker Alliance , is another avid fan of the game. Kelly, however, only participates in legal games and often sets up several tables at his own house.

"We'll fill up the place," Kelly said. "But, it's secure. When they come into the house there is a set time when registration is basically over and you're not really going to get into the house unless you break in."

Kelly adds that many of the players are licensed to carry concealed handguns.

"If they do break in, the criminals are risking their lives," said Kelly.

Kelly agrees that poker laws should be loosened in Texas, but said defying the laws in place now is too great a risk.

"I won't affiliate with it simply because of the danger that you're asking about," he said, referring to games where the house gets a cut. "I won't have anything to do with it."

There were similar robberies of poker games in Houston and Dallas in the last month. In both cases, the robbers were caught.

"You don't know what you're walking into until you walk in," said Lavigne. "You know, the fact of the matter is, eventually someone is going to come through that door with a gun - whether it's a cop or a robber."

In the case of the Gaines Ranch Apartments, APD said there are still no suspects in custody and they are working on getting more information from the victim.

Hit and Run Session

2009-12-30T23:55:00.013-06:00

Had a quick session at the Mobile. Had not played there in six months. I had a bad session the night before. I built my stack to $600 and then donked it all off. I hit two pair with 8♥9♥ suited and could let it go when I guy kept pushing with the nut straight with J10! The flop was 789...

My 2nd round in the big blind I look down at pocket Queens. The action before had one guy under the gun raise to $10. Another guy re-raise to $20. Mike calls and a 4th guy, maniac, calls the $20 and so I re-raise to $100. The guy under the gun folds, he said he had pocket 99s. The 2nd guy goes all-in for $113 with A♦K♠. Mike calls and a maniac calls suggesting pot odds. The pot is now over $400 with 3 all-ins. The flop was 9 high and I take it down. My re-raise pushed out the only hand that would have beat me... Now 3 guys have been busted out and my stack is up to over $500.

Shortly later two more people cash out and the game ends as we are 3 handed. I was kinda glad to take the money and run. Anytime you can win over $300 in less then one hour you better take it! I was on a bit of a heater hitting pocket 10s and Jacks, all with-in this first hour of play and they all held up.

Current Stats

Shreveport Poker Rooms

2009-12-24T12:22:00.029-06:00

Went to Shreveport, LA for the holidays. Also took a little tour of East TX. I manged to get a speeding ticket in tiny city of Rusk, TX. I was clocked going 52 in a 35 zone. The highway changed from 70 to 35 within the city limits and I was in the process of slowing down when the cop pegged me. Hopefully, I can explain to the judge and get a warning. I didnt even pass the 35mph sign when he pegged me.

Anyways, there are plenty of Casinos in Shreveport but none in Texas. The only Casinos that host a real poker room are Eldorado Resort and Harrah's Horseshoe in Bossier City, just across the river.

During this trip I only played at Eldorado's. My last trip to Shreveport was in August and played at Horseshoe. I lost $90 back then. I heard the game was better at Eldorado's so I focused my efforts there. The trip was a success and I made $575 total.

My first night I managed to play like a donkie early and lose $200. I rebuy for another $200 and get my stack back down to $60. I triple the $60 to $180 with pocket kings and 2 callers pre-flop. I win a few more small hands to build my stack to back to around $220. Then I hit pocket Aces under the gun. I raise to $20 and get 2 callers. A guy in late position re-raise me to $100 and I push all-in for my $220. Everyone else folds and he calls with pocket Kings! I win the race and doubled up to over $475! Im back "in the Black" and in the profit zone just like that...

My 2nd night was Christmas night and it was off to the races from the start! I cracked a set of kings with J♥9♥. Then cracked pocket Aces with J♦9♦ suited again to the same guy. The guy kept slow playing this big pairs and I kept cracking them my rags. He told me that I should never fold J9. He had Aces again later on in the evening and I cracked them with 5♦7♦ suited. I chased a flush and hit, on the river. It was just one of those nights where the rags were hitting.

My last big hand was pocket Queens. I made a big re-raise pre-flop and got two callers. The flop was J♦10♥3♠. I bet $75 on the flop and get one old guy calling me. The turn is an 8♦ and I bet $100. He smooth calls me. The river is a 9♦ and I push all-in for my remaining $100 with my straight. He calls and shows 2-pair 8♠10♠! Damm that was lucky for me...

Current Stats

Gifts for Me..

2009-12-21T23:24:00.030-06:00

If you need gift ideas for a typical guy, then here are some ideas. Most guys like gadgets so here are a few that I personally found this year for myself.. They are for the guy that has it all.. Click on any of the pics to take you to a store where you can buy it..

This is currently the best Bluetooth headset on the market today. It even beat out last year's Jawbone headset and is a bit cheaper.

This little gadget uses LEDs to lite up and charges wirelessly by induction. Pretty cool in an emergency.

This $10 device will sound up a small room.

This is a device that allows you to use your car's radio to connect your cell phones speakers for a wireless setup.

This convenient organizer allows you to recharge all your gadgets in one place. For the someone that has a phone, headset and mp3 player it is very handy.. It's also allot cheaper then the Powermat.

This cool device will wirelessly transmit your pics from your camera to your PC or the Internet. You can actually get a free one if you upgrade your storage space with with Google.

Biggest One Day Session All Year!

2009-12-06T17:52:00.017-06:00

Friday night was my biggest night at Poker all year! I cashed out $900 even and netted $700. I looked back and I haven't made that much in one night, all year long! The amazing part is that I'm not to sure how it all happen. I did log all the big hands on twitter, but looking back it's hard to remember the big pots! I will check my logs now and try to recall the exact amounts.

The night started out slow for me and I didn't win a hand for 2.5hrs. I remember getting my stack down to around $120. I had lots of small pocket pairs early on and could not play most of them to a big raise. I finally got 2 black Aces and doubled up thru Nicole after 3.5hrs of play. At 4.5 hrs into the session I double up again playing A8 and hitting 2 pair. I only had about $220 in front of me, so basically I got back my blinds and then some...

After 5hrs of waiting, I finally hit my first set of 444s. It was a 7-way pot and the flop was 42K. A new guy bets out $35 and Nicole calls. I re-raise to $100 and both call. The turn is a 7 and they both check to me and I push all in for about $120. The new guy calls and Nicole folds. He shows AK and I take down the $540 pot! The guy said that he would have folded if I had more money. In other words, he was willing to give me $220 with top pair, top kicker... Thanks man, Ill take your money.

About 1:20hr later I get pocket kings and re-raise Nicole's $22 raise. She is now short stack and pushes in for another $75. She had 2♦ 4♦ suited and hits a flush! That knocks my stack down to around $380. Nicole proceeds to give my money away to everyone else at the table. As a side note, Nicole's stack was up over $1500 at one point, but it didn't last long as she literally plays every hand she is dealt and donated it away to everyone.

At 7hrs of play I hit a set of 999s and take down a modest pot of $50. Twenty minutes later I get pocket Kings again and felt Tiger. He had raised $15 and I re-raised him another $35. He calls and the flop is Jack high. Tiger bets $45 and I push him all-in for another $150. He calls and never shows. I assume he had AJ and take his stack. My stack is now at $600.

Ten minutes later I have A♥7♥. I call from the small blind and the flop is 6♥7♠8♥. Bobby bets out $12 and I call. The turn is a 5♥ of hearts and I bet out $25. Bobby re-raises be to $45. I smooth call looking for a straight flush. The river is a 2♦ and I decided to trap and check. Bobby bets $50 and and I realize I have a blocker to the straight flush, and push all-in. Bobby instant calls and shows a straight with 7♠4♠. My Ace high flush takes it down! Now my stack is around $750.

Twenty minutes later (8hrs into my session) I hit a set of 333s. A short stack slowed played and it costed him his entire stack. The flop was 723 and he said he had an over pair. Now I have around $850 in front of me. I play a bit more building my stack over $900 and decided to cash out when I got back to $900. I stuck to my plan and went home very happy with myself...

Current Stats

Wild Thanksgiving Poker Session

2009-12-02T19:37:00.007-06:00

What happens in Omaha when a short stack flops a flush draw, Billy flops a wrap, Worm flops the nut flush draw and Anthony flops the nuts on the button? You get one huge pot!

It was a wild session of poker last week. I decided to give Omaha a try. Got down $800 first night and made it back Friday night. Check out this $1100 pot!

Black Friday Deals

2009-11-23T18:32:00.005-06:00

Here is a listing of some great shopping deals for this Holiday shopping season:

http://dealnews.com/black-friday.html?iref=dnhd

http://www.iblackfriday.com/dellhome-black-friday-sales.html

http://www.2009blackfridayads.com/

http://www.black-friday.net/

The Laws of Probability Finally Kick In

2009-11-23T17:55:00.015-06:00

It's been a tough November for me. After a record October and six winning sessions in a row, I went on a bad run. I had 3 losing sessions in a row, for a total loss of $800. I wasn't playing badly, but had plenty of bad beats and suck outs, when I was way ahead pre-flop. I think my biggest mistake was not folding when I was knew I was beat. Folding is the hardest part of the game, especially when there is nothing obvious to be afraid of on the board.

Anyways, it finally broke on Saturday night when I finally started hitting my sets and taking it down! I did have to fold Aces once after my continuation bet was re-raised $100 by Mr. Cho. The board was 7J10 and Mr. Cho said he flopped the nuts.

I had two red Aces again that night and some new guy flopped top set of Queens on me. Same thing, he came over the top of my continuation bet 3x, but this time I was stubborn and refused to fold my Aces. Luckily for me the turn was a King of hearts and that slowed him down. He said he had put me on Kings or Aces. The turn was a King of heart and he checked, the river was another heart and so I had the nuts. It was a suck out, but the best hand did win...

At the end of the night I was up over $700. I cashed out exactly $700 after using up my white chips on some speculative hands. I had a net profit of $500 for the night and $300 for the weekend. I will take that win and hopefully the laws of statistics finally start coming around. I cant lose in the long run since I only play the best hands. I'm like a Casino, I get my money eventually.. LOL...

Current Stats

Geithner Gets Grilled By Brady

2009-11-19T18:45:00.002-06:00

I love this grilling!

Giving Some Back.

2009-11-07T17:20:00.013-06:00

Well, I managed to lose my stack last night. I should have known that I couldn't win, when the only hands that I won with were rags and all my premium hands didn't hold up. I had 6 straight winning sessions, so it was not to unexpected for me to lose. That is how poker is sometimes. Some days you just cant win.

I started out fast building my stack up quickly. I had my roommates Jonathan and Rachel playing at another table last night too. I overheard them talking about King-6 and how it was someone's favorite hand. Well, I'm in the big blind and what do you know I have King 6. Well the flop was K108. The turn was a 6 and river a 6, I just boated. Nicole was in the hand with me and paid me off. Now I am up about $70.

Black Aces Cracked: Not five minutes later and I look down at two black Aces. I'm in middle position and raise $20. A Latino guy calls and Nicole calls. The flop is 8810, both of the callers check to me and I bet $50. Both callers now call again. The turn is a Jack. Both players check again, so I think for a moment and check. The river is another Jack and the Latino goes all in for around $90. Nicole folds and I think for a minute. What the heck does this guy have? I know he is a tight player. So I fold my Aces. He shows quad 8888s and asked me if I had Queens, I flip over my Aces! I'm happy I loss the minimum (which was $70 my winnings with K6..), but that was a sick hand!

20 minutes later I get a small blind special, 10-4 suited. It was a limped pot and I turned the flush. One guy had top set and Nicole hit a straight on the river to pay me off. That made my stack back up to around $270 again.

The Bad laid down, but right move: Blair comes to play at our table and she has around $100. He plays pretty tight so I try to respect her bets. Well she is in early position and goes all-in for $100. Mr. Cho thinks for a while and calls. I look down at pocket Jacks, think for a while and fold em. Everyone else folds. I figure I could only beat pocket 10s and with Mr. Cho in there with maybe a big Ace, I cant beat 2 hands. Well, Blair had pocket 10s and Mr. Cho also had Jacks! Blair hit her set on the flop and takes down the entire pot. I guess I made the right move in the long run, but it was sick. I should have known at this time my good hands just weren't going to hold up.

Small blind special bust : So I have 56 in the small blind and everyone limps in. The flop is 347, rainbow, I just flopped the nuts! I bet $8 into the $8 pot. I get 2 callers. The turn is a 5 and I bet $20 to see where Im at. Ed calls and a new guy re-raises to $60. I call $40 more. The river is a King and I check and Ed checks. The guy bets $100. I hope he only has a 6 for a chop and I call. He says, "the nuts..," shows 68 and I lose about $170. The moral to the story is to protect your hand dont let those gut shots, draw out on you, even if you happen to flop the nuts!

I am down to around $70 and add-on for $100. I get pocket Jacks again and raise to $20. Nicole calls and the flop is 689. I bet out $35 and she calls. The turn is an 8, Nicole checks and I bet $50. The river is an Ace and also makes the flush. Nicole pushes me all-in and I fold. She shows 78, she hit trip 888s on me.

Busting out: I have only $47 left. I look down at pocket 88s and call a $7 raise. Someone bumps to $40 and we get 4 callers, so I call. The flop is 457 and Nicole bets out $50. I call with my over pair and remaining $7. Nicole shows 57 and I go home a loser for the night....

In the Big Apple

2009-10-31T23:45:00.025-05:00

In the New York City this weekend. While I grew up in the Rochester area of New York State, I never been to the Big Apple (it's about a 6hr drive from the folks...) NYC city truly lives up to its reputation. It is the most densely populated city in the United States. People are everywhere and the buildings are built one after another with no space in between. The number of people walking around in the streets is amazing. You just have to wonder where they all came from and where they are going to.

I am staying in New Jersey, just off Manhattan Island. I take a bus under the Lincoln Tunnel and get dropped off at the Port Authority. From there you can walk around to many of the popular sites or take a subway ride to anywhere you like.

I spent my first day checking out the tourist areas around Times Square and the Empire State building. In the evening, I found a poker game in midtown Manhattan one block away from the Empire State building. I found the game on K9poker.com it is run by a Korean guy named Jay.

We played a bit shorthanded (5-6 players). The guys playing were all gamblers and very loose. I managed to win about $70 for about 4hrs of play and ended up being the only player to win, besides maybe house.

The house had a few strange rules for there Poker game. First they required anyone leaving to announce at least one hour ahead of time. Also, they had a rule which I wasn't to sure about. Basically it said "No tight players.." and they reminded me of this rule a number of times. They seem to be kidding, but I'm not sure. Well, I played my normal game and that is "tight is right!"

Bad Beat or Stacked Deck?: I was wondering about there 1st rule and being the suspicious guy that I am, I was looking out for funny business. The host of the game, Jay, proceeded to dump about $500 within the first 2 hours and he picked seat#1. Then in one hand he got all his money back. The hand seem very odd to me. Jay basically flopped a set and turned a boat. The odd part was that the two other players were also in it had huge hands. One guy had a nut flush and the other guy hit top trips.

This kind of setup does happen and it has happen to me, but generally not with 3 people in the hand. Two weeks ago I hit a a full house with someone hitting trips, but never with someone else also hitting a nut flush. I am thinking that maybe it was a stacked deck? Here is the hands and the board. Do you think it was a setup? or just bad luck for the two players?

Current Stats

Free Broadway Shows music | Cell phone ringtones at EZ-Tracks.com

A $1K month!

2009-10-25T22:38:00.014-05:00

This month I just hit over $1000 in winnings. Its been 7 months since I did that and that was during my trip to Michigan where they forgot how I played. I have only had 2 other months where I was able to make over $1000 in one month. My average winnings per month, over the last 13 months is $718/month!

I decided to play Saturday night. Normally, if I make my $200/night goal on Friday night, I skip Saturday, but I just felt like playing. I am going to NYC this weekend, so I needed a little extra cash and I wont be playing this weekend. It is also expensive in the Big Apple, so some extra cash would be good.

Saturday night did not disappoint. I started taking down some small pots and slowly built up my stack. I only bought in for $150, thinking I didn't want to lose any more then that. My first big had was A♦A♥. I raise to $35 and everyone folds, except Nicole. The flop is J♥10♦ 5♦. Nicole checks and I push all in for $120. Nicole thinks for a while and finally calls. She shows like 8♥6♥. I look for a moment trying to see what I need to dodge and it's runner runner straight draw? Anyways, she does not hit anything and I take it down. Maybe she thought he had a flush draw?

I patiently wait for my next hand which comes about 1 hour later. I have pocket rockets again, A♣A♥! I haven't seen Aces in at least the last 2 sessions, so I knew I was over due. The table is really lose and I am in early position. Nicole calls a straddle for $5, so I raise to $40. German is right next to me and folds pocket 10s, almost with no hesitation. Mike, A.K.A. "Well Dressed," ponders his move. Mike has been gambling all night and looks like he wants to make a move. He finally pushes all-in $251 and says, "he wants to see Anthony gamble!.." Everyone else folds and I look at him, and say, "you really want to mess with me?" It's hard for me to gamble when I hold the nuts! If you are playing cards with me, then you are gambling... I call and show my Aces. Mike has A♠K♠ suited... The board is all rags, 9 high, and I take down the $500 pot!

This all happens within about 3 hrs and now my stack is over $700. This is way better then average for me. I continue to play some and donk off a few chips. I finally leave a bit past midnight, cashing out $640.

Current Stats

Along Comes the Good with the Bad.

2009-10-24T18:04:00.010-05:00

It was another solid night of poker for me. This time I finally hit some hands and hit some big pots. Last week my biggest starting hand was pocket 99s. This session I hit plenty of pocket pairs, but none of my big pairs made much money or held up, in the beginning. I wasn't hitting any sets for 5 hours. Then finally they came. But along with the big hands, comes the bad beats....

My first set of 7♠7♣ got me paid with a board of 10♥7♦Q♥, the turn was another Queen and river a 3♦. The other guy had A♦Q♦ and just smooth called all my bets to the river, he was afraid that I had what I had and he was right. To bad he just couldn't fold it..

This put him on tilt and he wanted to make his money back from me. I took another $200 from him when I had pocket Q♣Q♦ and he called me down to the river again. It was a rag flop and he was on some kind of straight draw.

Finally he cracked me when I hit a set of 9♠9♥s. The flop was 7♣9♦J♥. Nicole bets $12 on the flop. I re-raise to $25. Mevlin and button guy smooth call. The turn is 3♣. Nicole goes all in for $53 so I just smooth call. Melvin calls and the dealer pushes all-in for $211 more. I put him on the straight, but have to call. Melvin folds and the river is an 8♦, no paired board. The button guy shows the nuts 10♦-8♦...

At that point I still had close to $500 in front of me. I didn't realize it, but I had my stack up to over $700. When the rush comes, sometimes you forget how you got there.. I continue to play some and win some of my losses back. I finally leave cashing out $575 for the session.

Current Stats

Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street

2009-10-21T13:38:00.007-05:00

A year ago, it was hardly unthinkable that a math wizard like David X. Li might someday earn a Nobel Prize. After all, financial economists—even Wall Street quants—have received the Nobel in economics before, and Li's work on measuring risk has had more impact, more quickly, than previous Nobel Prize-winning contributions to the field. Today, though, as dazed bankers, politicians, regulators, and investors survey the wreckage of the biggest financial meltdown since the Great Depression, Li is probably thankful he still has a job in finance at all. Not that his achievement should be dismissed. He took a notoriously tough nut—determining correlation, or how seemingly disparate events are related—and cracked it wide open with a simple and elegant mathematical formula, one that would become ubiquitous in finance worldwide.

For five years, Li's formula, known as a Gaussian copula function, looked like an unambiguously positive breakthrough, a piece of financial technology that allowed hugely complex risks to be modeled with more ease and accuracy than ever before. With his brilliant spark of mathematical legerdemain, Li made it possible for traders to sell vast quantities of new securities, expanding financial markets to unimaginable levels.

His method was adopted by everybody from bond investors and Wall Street banks to ratings agencies and regulators. And it became so deeply entrenched—and was making people so much money—that warnings about its limitations were largely ignored.

Then the model fell apart. Cracks started appearing early on, when financial markets began behaving in ways that users of Li's formula hadn't expected. The cracks became full-fledged canyons in 2008—when ruptures in the financial system's foundation swallowed up trillions of dollars and put the survival of the global banking system in serious peril.

David X. Li, it's safe to say, won't be getting that Nobel anytime soon. One result of the collapse has been the end of financial economics as something to be celebrated rather than feared. And Li's Gaussian copula formula will go down in history as instrumental in causing the unfathomable losses that brought the world financial system to its knees.

How could one formula pack such a devastating punch? The answer lies in the bond market, the multitrillion-dollar system that allows pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds to lend trillions of dollars to companies, countries, and home buyers.

A bond, of course, is just an IOU, a promise to pay back money with interest by certain dates. If a company—say, IBM—borrows money by issuing a bond, investors will look very closely over its accounts to make sure it has the wherewithal to repay them. The higher the perceived risk—and there's always some risk—the higher the interest rate the bond must carry.

Bond investors are very comfortable with the concept of probability. If there's a 1 percent chance of default but they get an extra two percentage points in interest, they're ahead of the game overall—like a casino, which is happy to lose big sums every so often in return for profits most of the time.

Bond investors also invest in pools of hundreds or even thousands of mortgages. The potential sums involved are staggering: Americans now owe more than $11 trillion on their homes. But mortgage pools are messier than most bonds. There's no guaranteed interest rate, since the amount of money homeowners collectively pay back every month is a function of how many have refinanced and how many have defaulted. There's certainly no fixed maturity date: Money shows up in irregular chunks as people pay down their mortgages at unpredictable times—for instance, when they decide to sell their house. And most problematic, there's no easy way to assign a single probability to the chance of default.

Wall Street solved many of these problems through a process called tranching, which divides a pool and allows for the creation of safe bonds with a risk-free triple-A credit rating. Investors in the first tranche, or slice, are first in line to be paid off. Those next in line might get only a double-A credit rating on their tranche of bonds but will be able to charge a higher interest rate for bearing the slightly higher chance of default. And so on.

The reason that ratings agencies and investors felt so safe with the triple-A tranches was that they believed there was no way hundreds of homeowners would all default on their loans at the same time. One person might lose his job, another might fall ill. But those are individual calamities that don't affect the mortgage pool much as a whole: Everybody else is still making their payments on time.

But not all calamities are individual, and tranching still hadn't solved all the problems of mortgage-pool risk. Some things, like falling house prices, affect a large number of people at once. If home values in your neighborhood decline and you lose some of your equity, there's a good chance your neighbors will lose theirs as well. If, as a result, you default on your mortgage, there's a higher probability they will default, too. That's called correlation—the degree to which one variable moves in line with another—and measuring it is an important part of determining how risky mortgage bonds are.

Investors like risk, as long as they can price it. What they hate is uncertainty—not knowing how big the risk is. As a result, bond investors and mortgage lenders desperately want to be able to measure, model, and price correlation. Before quantitative models came along, the only time investors were comfortable putting their money in mortgage pools was when there was no risk whatsoever—in other words, when the bonds were guaranteed implicitly by the federal government through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Yet during the '90s, as global markets expanded, there were trillions of new dollars waiting to be put to use lending to borrowers around the world—not just mortgage seekers but also corporations and car buyers and anybody running a balance on their credit card—if only investors could put a number on the correlations between them. The problem is excruciatingly hard, especially when you're talking about thousands of moving parts. Whoever solved it would earn the eternal gratitude of Wall Street and quite possibly the attention of the Nobel committee as well.

To understand the mathematics of correlation better, consider something simple, like a kid in an elementary school: Let's call her Alice. The probability that her parents will get divorced this year is about 5 percent, the risk of her getting head lice is about 5 percent, the chance of her seeing a teacher slip on a banana peel is about 5 percent, and the likelihood of her winning the class spelling bee is about 5 percent. If investors were trading securities based on the chances of those things happening only to Alice, they would all trade at more or less the same price.

But something important happens when we start looking at two kids rather than one—not just Alice but also the girl she sits next to, Britney. If Britney's parents get divorced, what are the chances that Alice's parents will get divorced, too? Still about 5 percent: The correlation there is close to zero. But if Britney gets head lice, the chance that Alice will get head lice is much higher, about 50 percent—which means the correlation is probably up in the 0.5 range. If Britney sees a teacher slip on a banana peel, what is the chance that Alice will see it, too? Very high indeed, since they sit next to each other: It could be as much as 95 percent, which means the correlation is close to 1. And if Britney wins the class spelling bee, the chance of Alice winning it is zero, which means the correlation is negative: -1.

If investors were trading securities based on the chances of these things happening to both Alice andBritney, the prices would be all over the place, because the correlations vary so much.

But it's a very inexact science. Just measuring those initial 5 percent probabilities involves collecting lots of disparate data points and subjecting them to all manner of statistical and error analysis. Trying to assess the conditional probabilities—the chance that Alice will get head lice if Britney gets head lice—is an order of magnitude harder, since those data points are much rarer. As a result of the scarcity of historical data, the errors there are likely to be much greater.

In the world of mortgages, it's harder still. What is the chance that any given home will decline in value? You can look at the past history of housing prices to give you an idea, but surely the nation's macroeconomic situation also plays an important role. And what is the chance that if a home in one state falls in value, a similar home in another state will fall in value as well?

Enter Li, a star mathematician who grew up in rural China in the 1960s. He excelled in school and eventually got a master's degree in economics from Nankai University before leaving the country to get an MBA from Laval University in Quebec. That was followed by two more degrees: a master's in actuarial science and a PhD in statistics, both from Ontario's University of Waterloo. In 1997 he landed at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, where his financial career began in earnest; he later moved to Barclays Capital and by 2004 was charged with rebuilding its quantitative analytics team.

Li's trajectory is typical of the quant era, which began in the mid-1980s. Academia could never compete with the enormous salaries that banks and hedge funds were offering. At the same time, legions of math and physics PhDs were required to create, price, and arbitrage Wall Street's ever more complex investment structures.

In 2000, while working at JPMorgan Chase, Li published a paper in The Journal of Fixed Incometitled "On Default Correlation: A Copula Function Approach." (In statistics, a copula is used to couple the behavior of two or more variables.) Using some relatively simple math—by Wall Street standards, anyway—Li came up with an ingenious way to model default correlation without even looking at historical default data. Instead, he used market data about the prices of instruments known as credit default swaps.

If you're an investor, you have a choice these days: You can either lend directly to borrowers or sell investors credit default swaps, insurance against those same borrowers defaulting. Either way, you get a regular income stream—interest payments or insurance payments—and either way, if the borrower defaults, you lose a lot of money. The returns on both strategies are nearly identical, but because an unlimited number of credit default swaps can be sold against each borrower, the supply of swaps isn't constrained the way the supply of bonds is, so the CDS market managed to grow extremely rapidly. Though credit default swaps were relatively new when Li's paper came out, they soon became a bigger and more liquid market than the bonds on which they were based.

When the price of a credit default swap goes up, that indicates that default risk has risen. Li's breakthrough was that instead of waiting to assemble enough historical data about actual defaults, which are rare in the real world, he used historical prices from the CDS market. It's hard to build a historical model to predict Alice's or Britney's behavior, but anybody could see whether the price of credit default swaps on Britney tended to move in the same direction as that on Alice. If it did, then there was a strong correlation between Alice's and Britney's default risks, as priced by the market. Li wrote a model that used price rather than real-world default data as a shortcut (making an implicit assumption that financial markets in general, and CDS markets in particular, can price default risk correctly).

It was a brilliant simplification of an intractable problem. And Li didn't just radically dumb down the difficulty of working out correlations; he decided not to even bother trying to map and calculate all the nearly infinite relationships between the various loans that made up a pool. What happens when the number of pool members increases or when you mix negative correlations with positive ones? Never mind all that, he said. The only thing that matters is the final correlation number—one clean, simple, all-sufficient figure that sums up everything.

The effect on the securitization market was electric. Armed with Li's formula, Wall Street's quants saw a new world of possibilities. And the first thing they did was start creating a huge number of brand-new triple-A securities. Using Li's copula approach meant that ratings agencies like Moody's—or anybody wanting to model the risk of a tranche—no longer needed to puzzle over the underlying securities. All they needed was that correlation number, and out would come a rating telling them how safe or risky the tranche was.

As a result, just about anything could be bundled and turned into a triple-A bond—corporate bonds, bank loans, mortgage-backed securities, whatever you liked. The consequent pools were often known as collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs. You could tranche that pool and create a triple-A security even if none of the components were themselves triple-A. You could even take lower-rated tranches of other CDOs, put them in a pool, and tranche them—an instrument known as a CDO-squared, which at that point was so far removed from any actual underlying bond or loan or mortgage that no one really had a clue what it included. But it didn't matter. All you needed was Li's copula function.

The CDS and CDO markets grew together, feeding on each other. At the end of 2001, there was $920 billion in credit default swaps outstanding. By the end of 2007, that number had skyrocketed to more than $62 trillion. The CDO market, which stood at $275 billion in 2000, grew to $4.7 trillion by 2006.

At the heart of it all was Li's formula. When you talk to market participants, they use words likebeautiful, simple, and, most commonly, tractable. It could be applied anywhere, for anything, and was quickly adopted not only by banks packaging new bonds but also by traders and hedge funds dreaming up complex trades between those bonds.

"The corporate CDO world relied almost exclusively on this copula-based correlation model," saysDarrell Duffie, a Stanford University finance professor who served on Moody's Academic Advisory Research Committee. The Gaussian copula soon became such a universally accepted part of the world's financial vocabulary that brokers started quoting prices for bond tranches based on their correlations. "Correlation trading has spread through the psyche of the financial markets like a highly infectious thought virus," wrote derivatives guru Janet Tavakoli in 2006.

The damage was foreseeable and, in fact, foreseen. In 1998, before Li had even invented his copula function, Paul Wilmott wrote that "the correlations between financial quantities are notoriously unstable." Wilmott, a quantitative-finance consultant and lecturer, argued that no theory should be built on such unpredictable parameters. And he wasn't alone. During the boom years, everybody could reel off reasons why the Gaussian copula function wasn't perfect. Li's approach made no allowance for unpredictability: It assumed that correlation was a constant rather than something mercurial. Investment banks would regularly phone Stanford's Duffie and ask him to come in and talk to them about exactly what Li's copula was. Every time, he would warn them that it was not suitable for use in risk management or valuation.

In hindsight, ignoring those warnings looks foolhardy. But at the time, it was easy. Banks dismissed them, partly because the managers empowered to apply the brakes didn't understand the arguments between various arms of the quant universe. Besides, they were making too much money to stop.

In finance, you can never reduce risk outright; you can only try to set up a market in which people who don't want risk sell it to those who do. But in the CDO market, people used the Gaussian copula model to convince themselves they didn't have any risk at all, when in fact they just didn't have any risk 99 percent of the time. The other 1 percent of the time they blew up. Those explosions may have been rare, but they could destroy all previous gains, and then some.

Li's copula function was used to price hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of CDOs filled with mortgages. And because the copula function used CDS prices to calculate correlation, it was forced to confine itself to looking at the period of time when those credit default swaps had been in existence: less than a decade, a period when house prices soared. Naturally, default correlations were very low in those years. But when the mortgage boom ended abruptly and home values started falling across the country, correlations soared.

Bankers securitizing mortgages knew that their models were highly sensitive to house-price appreciation. If it ever turned negative on a national scale, a lot of bonds that had been rated triple-A, or risk-free, by copula-powered computer models would blow up. But no one was willing to stop the creation of CDOs, and the big investment banks happily kept on building more, drawing their correlation data from a period when real estate only went up.

"Everyone was pinning their hopes on house prices continuing to rise," says Kai Gilkes of the credit research firm CreditSights, who spent 10 years working at ratings agencies. "When they stopped rising, pretty much everyone was caught on the wrong side, because the sensitivity to house prices was huge. And there was just no getting around it. Why didn't rating agencies build in some cushion for this sensitivity to a house-price-depreciation scenario? Because if they had, they would have never rated a single mortgage-backed CDO."

Bankers should have noted that very small changes in their underlying assumptions could result in very large changes in the correlation number. They also should have noticed that the results they were seeing were much less volatile than they should have been—which implied that the risk was being moved elsewhere. Where had the risk gone?

They didn't know, or didn't ask. One reason was that the outputs came from "black box" computer models and were hard to subject to a commonsense smell test. Another was that the quants, who should have been more aware of the copula's weaknesses, weren't the ones making the big asset-allocation decisions. Their managers, who made the actual calls, lacked the math skills to understand what the models were doing or how they worked. They could, however, understand something as simple as a single correlation number. That was the problem.

"The relationship between two assets can never be captured by a single scalar quantity," Wilmott says. For instance, consider the share prices of two sneaker manufacturers: When the market for sneakers is growing, both companies do well and the correlation between them is high. But when one company gets a lot of celebrity endorsements and starts stealing market share from the other, the stock prices diverge and the correlation between them turns negative. And when the nation morphs into a land of flip-flop-wearing couch potatoes, both companies decline and the correlation becomes positive again. It's impossible to sum up such a history in one correlation number, but CDOs were invariably sold on the premise that correlation was more of a constant than a variable.

No one knew all of this better than David X. Li: "Very few people understand the essence of the model," he told The Wall Street Journal way back in fall 2005.

"Li can't be blamed," says Gilkes of CreditSights. After all, he just invented the model. Instead, we should blame the bankers who misinterpreted it. And even then, the real danger was created not because any given trader adopted it but because every trader did. In financial markets, everybody doing the same thing is the classic recipe for a bubble and inevitable bust.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, hedge fund manager and author of The Black Swan, is particularly harsh when it comes to the copula. "People got very excited about the Gaussian copula because of its mathematical elegance, but the thing never worked," he says. "Co-association between securities is not measurable using correlation," because past history can never prepare you for that one day when everything goes south. "Anything that relies on correlation is charlatanism."

Li has been notably absent from the current debate over the causes of the crash. In fact, he is no longer even in the US. Last year, he moved to Beijing to head up the risk-management department of China International Capital Corporation. In a recent conversation, he seemed reluctant to discuss his paper and said he couldn't talk without permission from the PR department. In response to a subsequent request, CICC's press office sent an email saying that Li was no longer doing the kind of work he did in his previous job and, therefore, would not be speaking to the media.

In the world of finance, too many quants see only the numbers before them and forget about the concrete reality the figures are supposed to represent. They think they can model just a few years' worth of data and come up with probabilities for things that may happen only once every 10,000 years. Then people invest on the basis of those probabilities, without stopping to wonder whether the numbers make any sense at all.

As Li himself said of his own model: "The most dangerous part is when people believe everything coming out of it."

Here's what killed your 401(k) David X. Li's Gaussian copula function as first published in 2000. Investors exploited it as a quick—and fatally flawed—way to assess risk. A shorter version appears on this month's cover of Wired.

Probability

Specifically, this is a joint default probability—the likelihood that any two members of the pool (A and B) will both default. It's what investors are looking for, and the rest of the formula provides the answer.

Survival times

The amount of time between now and when A and B can be expected to default. Li took the idea from a concept in actuarial science that charts what happens to someone's life expectancy when their spouse dies.

Equality

A dangerously precise concept, since it leaves no room for error. Clean equations help both quants and their managers forget that the real world contains a surprising amount of uncertainty, fuzziness, and precariousness.

Copula

This couples (hence the Latinate term copula) the individual probabilities associated with A and B to come up with a single number. Errors here massively increase the risk of the whole equation blowing up.

Distribution functions

The probabilities of how long A and B are likely to survive. Since these are not certainties, they can be dangerous: Small miscalculations may leave you facing much more risk than the formula indicates.

Gamma

The all-powerful correlation parameter, which reduces correlation to a single constant—something that should be highly improbable, if not impossible. This is the magic number that made Li's copula function irresistible.

— Felix Salmon (felix@felixsalmon.com) writes the Market Movers financial blog at Portfolio.com.

Coming Back After One Month Of Inaction

2009-10-18T01:41:00.012-05:00

Got back to the table last night. I can't believe that I have not played in over one month, I had to check my records. In Malaysia, there is no gambling, Casinos or poker. It is a modern Muslim country with some traditional roots. Muslim woman must cover their heads and wear head scarfs and all Muslims still are not permitted to drink, gamble or eat meat. I was not sure what to do with myself, so I just worked and went to the beach on the weekends. I learn to Para Sail, that was a blast and got a nice foot massage! (getting a massage in Malaysia is probably the only titillating thing you can do there..)

The poker session was just how I left it. Lots of crazy action and loose play. I managed to stay out of most of the craziness. I started out slow and losing about $100 of my $200 buy-in. Then I more then doubled up after hitting a nut flush. A new guy at the table called my all-in bet on the river. German the dealer, never saw my hand but knew I had "the nuts..." So I showed him my nuts! How did he know?

Now, I was up to about $250 and and just took down small pots here and there. I don't think I had another showdown of the cards all night. Everyone just folded to my bets and by 4:40am I had $445 in front of me and I quit. Not a bad session for me not getting any cards.. I will have to wait for another session to get lucky...

Current Stats

On my way home..

2009-10-13T00:44:00.006-05:00

In Moscow airport now! They actually have free internet here, but other then that it's not to impressive after staying at Singapore Airport. What is surprising is that Singapore is just a small island. Russia is huge, with huge resources and there airport does not reflect the size of the country. Anyways, it just a stop to refuel and drop off some passengers then onto Houston!

Last week in Penang, Malaysia

2009-10-11T08:58:00.009-05:00

This was my last week in Malaysia. I decided to stay on Penang Island and enjoy the local sites. I went back to Batu Ferringhi on Friday night to see the night market (Pasar Malam) . It was about a half mile stretch of road side stands selling all sorts of goods. If you want copied DVD movies, cheap knock-off watches, fake branded wallets and counterfeit branded purses, this was the place to be. I didn't buy anything, just checked it out.

Saturday I slept in until well past noon. I haven't slept in since 2 weeks ago. I decided to head back to Batu Ferringhi beach and go Para Sailing one more time and try Horse back riding. This time I took my camera up with and took some videos. They said that it was only a 5% chance of getting wet, so I took the risk. Here is a video clip of me Para Sailing.. Afterwards I went back to Gurney Plaza and saw the movie Gamer.

Sunday I decided to visit Komtar and the local shopping mall there, Prangin Mall. Komtar is the largest building in Penang and was once the largest building in Asia at 60 stories. I'll be in New York City in 2 weeks and will have compare the heights. Here is a video of Komtar.

Weekend at Bangkok, Thailand

2009-10-04T08:05:00.038-05:00

Just got back from a mini vacation in Bangkok, Thailand. I am still working in Penang, Malaysia for work and going on 3 weeks here. I meet up with an old friend from Michigan, Jeff. He moved to Thailand about 3 years ago after going expatriate with his company, Valeo. There was a downsizing at Valeo and Jeff left to setup a shop in a mall in Phuket and now living as a foreigner. Jeff has spoken endlessly about Thailand and so I took the opportunity to check it out for myself.

I flew Air Asia. It is a discount airline in Asia and the flight cost about $137USD from Penang to Bangkok. The flight was only 1.5hr long. It was a good bargain compared to American standards, not sure how they can charge so low?

There is also another discount airline in Malaysia, Fire Flyz. Their rates are unbelievably low to many cities around Malaysia. They only do point to point travel, so maybe that explains why the costs are low. It is an argument against the typical centralized model of flying to hubs in the States.

I stayed at Sam's Lodge in downtown Bangkok after Jeff recommended it. It is considered a "Guest House," but pretty much runs the same as a hotel, but much cheaper. I paid ฿1200 (Baht) or about $35/night. It's a really good rate, considering the location. The accommodations are nothing special. The rooms are small and the bath room smaller, but it is clean and good enough for me.

Friday night we took a walk down Sukhumvit Road. It is the main road in Bangkok for tourist and was packed with cars and side walk street shops. The market place was incredible and goes on for blocks and blocks. We had a quick drink at some bar, with a bunch of other foreigners and freelancers. We then had dinner at Bully's Pub. The food was good and you could tell that only tourist eat there.

We decided to head to Nana Entertainment Plaza. It is one the the main areas of night life entertainment in Bangkok. Needless to say, it's a crazy place and it was everything I had envisioned it would be. I have heard all the stories and it is pretty much as the stories go. It was a long night and I got to bed around 5am.

Saturday we ate some lunch at The Old Dutch. I had the best Chicken Fried Rice and Shrimp ever! Then we did some shopping and I got to see the largest textile street shop in the world. At night we checked out Soi Cowboy and Patpong. Two more famous places in Bangkok for the adventuring types.

A Day at Batu Ferringhi

2009-09-27T07:55:00.013-05:00

I spent the day at Batu Ferringhi Beach. It is on the north side of Penang Island and considered one of the best beaches on the Island. While my Evergreen Hotel is also on the coast, the water and sand looks pretty polluted by city run-off. So I was please to see the clean golden sand at Batu Ferringhi. The water still looked muddy, but seem clean enough for me.

It was a Sunday afternoon and hardly anyone was on the beach. I started the day parasailing for the first time. Then had some lunch. The water was to choppy for a few hours so I just relaxed and worked on my tan. I got a foot massage then did some jet skiing and tried para sailing one more time before.

In case you are wondering, the cost was dirt cheap by American standards:

- Parasailing was 70 Ringgits ~ $22.75USD

- Jet Skinging was 60 Ringgits ~ $17.85USD

- Foot Massage 30 Ringgits ~$8.90USD

- Taxi back to hotel 30 Ringgits ~ $8.90USD

- Lunch 17.50 Ringgits ~ $5.20USD

Pictures and Videos from Penang

2009-09-26T21:49:00.005-05:00

Check out these pictures from Penang, Malaysia. (Click the picture above)

Getting some dinner... It was fresh!

Video from the plane...

Business Trip to Penang

2009-09-16T16:03:00.016-05:00

I am taking a business Trip to Penang, Malaysia. Flying from Austin to Houston, then Houston to Moscow, Moscow to Singapore and Singapore to Penang. That is over 24 hours in the Air. I will be staying at the Evergreen hotel, which sits on the beach on Penang Island.

I may meet up with my friend Jeff. He went expatriate to Thailand a few years back. The current plan is to fly to Bangkok during my 2nd week there. I could be there for up to 3 weeks depending on how well our job goes..

A Kick Butt Session

2009-09-13T02:14:00.021-05:00

Friday night turned into a good night for me after a slow start. I started out slowly losing, but ended strong. I started with $200 and slowly bleed it down to around $100. It was mainly due to me chasing to many draws from the blinds. I started to build it back to even after a couple of hours of winning small pots. The table was pretty tight (after Nicole busted out..) and I felt that I had to give someone a bad beat to pay me off.

Cracking pocket Kings with pocket Queens: The first big pot was when I had pocket Queens. A guy that I never played with, was straddling all night long and hitting big hands on his straddle. Two of the times he hit pocket Kings and no one believed him and once another guy had pocket Queens against him. Well, would you believe that when I had pocket Queens, he also had pocket Kings, again for the 3rd time that night!!!! Damm. Well, all the money went in pre-flop and the pot was over $430. This time his kings didnt hold up. I hit my set on the turn and the board paired on the river.. Now I was back in the game with over $400 in front of me.

Later, in the night I hit a set of sixes, no action after the flop... and then a set of Kings, no action again after the flop. I did make over $120 on the hand, since I pre-flop raised to $55 and actually had 2 people call me. I have no idea what they had, but they folded on the flop. I had one big blind special with J9. I hit trip Jacks and then quads on the turn. I slowed played to Sean, but he didn't bet the river..

Cracking pocket Aces with Pocket 33s: Then the big hand of the

night. I have pocket 33s and limp in. A young kid who has been playing very solid raises to $15 behind me. Their are two other callers, so I call. The flop is Q3J. I just hit bottom set. The two callers check and I bet $45. The kid starts counting a re-raise, but then decides to smooth call me. The other two guys fold. I sense the kid has either an over pair or is slow playing top set. The turn is a blank and I bet $75, figuring if he does have a set then he would let me know now. He smooth calls again!

Now I figure the kid must have pocket kings or Aces and knows I am tight. He isn't sure what I have, but cant fold his hand. The river is the case three! Giving me QUAD 3333s.. Now I have the nuts! It docent matter what he has. I think for a moment what he will call, but then think if he does have a set or Aces, then he should call an over bet. I push in two stacks for a total of $200. He instant calls! and shows me pocket Aces. I say "two pair.." and the table goes crazy!!!

The kid gave me allot of respect! He said he didn't re-raise on the flop, because he knew I played tight. It also helped that Bill was calling me the "Silent Assassin" and this probably put the fear of God in em. Anyways, this is really my edge! People will slow play a big hand to me, not sure what I have and if they happen to have the nuts they will push hard to get me to fold my set. Which makes for an easy lay down, since you have to be crazy to bluff me.

After that hand, my stack is close to $800 now and I play a bit more donking off a few chips after hitting some more small pocket pairs and AK. I finally leave at 5:30am, cashing out for $755....

Current Stats

Labor Day Weekend In Austin

2009-09-09T11:36:00.007-05:00

This weekend we decided to check out Town Lake in Austin. We rented a Kayak at Rowing Dock. It turns out to be one of the cheapest place to rent a boat in Downtown Austin. You can even get a coupon here. Another place is Texas Rowing Center, I think I will try there next time.

Afterwards we went to Barton Springs Pool. It is a natural pool created by a spring. The water is alwasy a cool 68F. Very refreshing, but you get used to it pretty quicky under the Hot Austin Sun.

People Search Engines

2009-09-01T15:18:00.008-05:00

Google may be good at many things, but people search is not one of them. For that you’ll have to use a more specialized search engine.

Going by ComScore’s December numbers, Pipl is leading in the US with 557K unique users to Spock’s 260K, but is trailing internationally with 1.35M uniques to Spock’s 2.38M. How has Pipl pulled this off? Matthew Hertz, the company CEO, tells me it’s mostly word-of-mouth. It’s a simple answer but it rings true. Just take it out for a spin and you’ll see why—it’s just good. In fact it’s so good it’ll probably scare some people’s pants off when they see what information it is able to—legally—drudge up.

It produces not only links to all of your profiles on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, blog mentions, and photos on Flickr. It finds mentions of your name in public records, including property records, SEC filings, and birth databases. It also finds e-mail addresses and summarizes “quick facts” about the person.

Unlike most search engines, Pipl crawls the Deep Web. I’ll explain. A general purpose search engine typically crawls the Web by following links to URLs found in other pages. By contrast, the Deep Web is made up of pages that no other pages link to. Dynamic pages are a good example of these sorts of pages. This means that if an engine wants to index pages located in Deep Web repositories it has to “guess” possible URLs. Just how big is the Deep Web? No one really knows but it’s generally accepted that it is vastly greater (orders of magnitude greater) than the Surface Web—the pages which are easily indexed by search engines.

#1 http://pipl.com/

#2 http://www.spock.com/

#3 http://wink.com/

Down Big Then Back Up Big.

2009-08-23T19:49:00.015-05:00

It was a roller coaster weekend for me. I loss $300 on Friday night. What's worst was it was a really loose and easy table, I could have capitalized but just wants getting any cards. I came back and made $320 on Saturday night, for a total profit of $20. I will settle for that after last weeks profit of $575. Sometimes you just cant win and if you can break even, you have to be happy with that. I tell myself, at least I didn't lose anything...

Friday night I didn't have a single pocket pair except 22s. I did have AK about 6 times and it hit like every time. The first time I had AK, Nicole was in the pot and she called my preflop raise of $15 and flop bet of $30, after an Ace hit the flop. I decided to small ball it and check it to the river, since I know she isn't folding to any bet with a draw. Unfortunately, she hit a one card straight with a 84 and I had to pay her river bet off of $66. The board was A5273, she called with a gut shot and hit! I should have known better, but made a loose call.

I decided to add on another $100 after the game was getting crazy action. I get AK again on the button. I raise to $15 and get 5 callers. The flop is K84, and everyone checks to Nicole and she bets $33. I push all-in for $85 and the Small blind smooth calls and Nicole calls. Everyone checks to the river. Unbelievably, the small blind has pocket Aces.. WTF? No re-raise and no betting? And this was a really aggressive player? I hate slow players, they just don't know how bad they really are... After that beat I left a loser.

I decided to try out the Saturday night crowd and redeem myself. The game only lasted 3.5hrs. It was crazy action and Nicole and Bill were back at it again. I hit a set of 777s early on against Sean. This time he made a good lay down after calling my flop re-raise to $100.

Most of my money came from Bill. I hit a Nut Flush on the turn and Bill hit a set of 555s on the turn. I bet my draw, $10 on the flop and Bill check raised my nuts. I bet $25 on he re-raised to $60. I pushed back all-in and doubled up. Luckily, the board didn't pair and the river was an Ace.

A bit later I have pocket Kings on the button. I raise to $20 and get 3 callers. The flop is JJ7. Bill comes out betting $35. He has been playing erratically, so I just smooth call. The other caller folds. The turn is a blank like a 4. Bill bets $60 and I call again. The river is another blank and Bill bets $75. He is kinda betting small and I wonder if he is trying to reel me in, but I have to go with my gut and call. Bill shows nothing 68 suited and I take the pot!

Current Stats

The Poker Action is Back

2009-08-16T20:01:00.015-05:00

The Poker action is back. After a week off the game was back on! Since my $90 loss last week in Shreveport I was still operating on the cash that I won 2 weeks prior. I try not to dip into my bank account and live off only my winnings. I only had $150 in my new wallet, so bought in for less then my normal $200. No matter, it was up up and away for me. I was in the #1 seat as usual and Nicole was in #10. This is ideal for me, since I knew her luck would probably be done this time around and I should be able to capitalize. As plan, most of my money came from her and I ended up cashing out $725, 12 hours later.

Some advice, if there is a maniac at the table then always try to be on their left. You can hide behind their raises and re-raise with an advantage. If there is a tight player at the table, then you want to be on there right. You can easily steal a tight player's blinds, but I don't usually recommend it, because after a few tries, they might re-raise you and you better fold...

Here were my key hands:

Full House over Nut Flush: I had pocket 66s. Nicole raises $11 and I call and one other guy calls. The flop is 774, with 2 spades. Nicole bets $11 and I call her and one other guy calls. The turn is a Jack of spades. Everyone checks... The river is a 6 of spades! I just boated and there is 4 spades on the board. This new guy from Europe bets out $25. Nicole folds and I re-raise to $75. I never played with this guy and he doesn't know me. He ask how big my spade is, I say how big is your spade? He thinks really long and hard and finally says he can't get away from his hand and calls. I say, "No flush.." He shows the Ace of spade. and then Jessica the dealer says, "Full House..?" Jessica knows me well... What else would I have? (BTW, Nicole says she had pocket 55s, I was leading all the way...) My stack is now up to ~$250..

Aces up over lower Two Pair: I wasn't getting any cards to play, and was slowly losing most of my winnings. Finally I get my pocket Aces. There is a raise of $20 in front of me. It is Sean and I have played him many times. Actually, the last time we played I also had Aces he he doubled me up. Anyways, Sean is a really loose player so I re-raise him $60 thinking that he will probably call and I will be committing myself to the hand with about $100 left. As expected, everyone folds and Sean calls. The flop is QJ4 and he checks. I push all-in and he calls saying he has 2-pair. I say "Queen Jack" and he says yes. What a lucky mother f..er..! I think I'm drawing to 2 outs. But suddenly on the river is a 4, pairing the board! Everyone sighs and I, still in shock he flopped 2-pair, think I loss, until the pot is pushed to me. Now I just realized that I have a higher two pair Aces and fours! Wow... I actually had had 8 outs on the river..

Set over Aces up: Later in the evening I have pocket 44s. Everyone limps in and the flop is A4K rainbow. Nicole bets $11 and I re-raise her $25 more. Everyone folds and she calls. The turn is and Jack, Nicole checks and I bet $50. She calls. The river is a 8. She checks and I bet $60 again, slightly afraid of the straight, but since she check I figured my set is good. She surprises me and raises me $160. I call, just in case she has it and ask her "2 pair?" She says yes.. I say "No good," and show her my set. She never shows her hand..

The big lay down: I have pocket 10s and the table is playing really loose. So I raise to $20. Eric calls and Nicole calls. The flop is 894 with two clubs. I bet $40 and Eric re-raises to $80 saying he wants the flush draws out. Nicole folds and I call. The turn is the 2 of spades! I check the potential flush and Eric bets. I think for a moment and fold. Eric has to either have a flush or a set. He would never make a move like this to me. Eric shows me one red nine and later says he did flop top set... I lost $100, but felt good I made the right decision, but who knows for sure, maybe he bluffed me.

Up Against the Shaq: I have pocket Queens and raise it $20. Everyone folds and the Shaq calls. The flop is J83. The Shaq checks and I bet $40 and he calls. They turn is a 5 and he checks again so I bet $50 and the Shaq calls again. The river is a Queen and he checks and I bet $100. The Shaq calls and I say top set and he folds... Not sure what he had, but I figure he had at least a Jack...maybe thinking I had Ace King? Whatever and thank you sir..

Current Stats

For Sprint or Nextel Customers free $35- $90...

2009-08-11T13:37:00.006-05:00

If you were or are a Sprint or Nextel Customer then go to http://www.sprintetfsettlement.com/ and claim your free $35 to $90 settlement or 30 free minutes per month. Sprint was sued for charging an (ETF) Early Termination Fee. Sprint decided to settled and now you can be part of the class action law suit. If you ever paid an ETF or decided to stay with Sprint because of the fee, then you qualify. It is an easy process and all online.

Trip To Shreveport

2009-08-10T20:13:00.013-05:00

Took a last minute trip to Shreveport, LA this weekend. The Local poker action was shutdown so decided to check out the casinos in Louisiana. Me and Eric played at The Horseshoe. The action was loose and Casino packed.

All my big hands were during the first couple of hours. I had pocket Aces, Kings, Jacks and Queens. My Aces were cracked by Q10 when there was two 10s on the flop. I folded on the turn when it was obvious that he had trip 10s.

My Kings held up, but my Jacks ran into Aces both time. The first time I folded on the flop after the kid went all-in after min raising me. The second time I folded pre-flop after I raised it $20 and one short stack goes all-in and an old guy pushes all-in. The old guy had limped in at first, so I put him on a big pair and that is exactly what he had, Aces...

It was just one of those nights where I am the poor soul that has to fold the big pairs to a bigger pair. I am glad I was able to do it. Most people would have busted out much early then I.

I finally started getting a little lucky, hitting a set of 333s and then a set of 10s. I built my stack to $400 before another bad beat. I had A7 and flopped two pair with a flop of A79. One short stack guy goes all-in and another guy pushes on the flop. I push back and end up putting him all in. He had A10 and the short stack guy had A10. The turn is a 6 and the river an 8. They hit runner runner to make a straight!

My stack was now down to $150. I called a guy down to the river who only had AK. The flop was two Queens and I had pocket nines. That built my stack back up to over $210. I was making my way back. Eric finally came over and gave me his bad beat story. Just like my story he flopped top two pair with KJ. A donkie called $700 with a flush draw 104 and hit runner runner strait! Eric was done for the night and I decided to wrap it up a short time later.

Current Stats

Texas Gambling Law

2009-08-07T15:54:00.013-05:00

Hysteria is going around so I thought I would review the Texas Law on Gambling. Here is the exact law for Gambling in Texas. Basically, it says that poker is illegal in Texas if you play at a place that makes money on it. (takes a rake..), but it is just a Class C misdemeanor, which is basically as serious as a speeding ticket for a player, the max penalty is $500. If you run a game, then watch out.. That is a Class A misdemeanor which has a $4,000 max fine and up to 1 year in jail.

§ 47.02. GAMBLING. (a) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) makes a bet on the partial or final result of a game or contest or on the performance of a participant in a game or contest;

(2) makes a bet on the result of any political nomination, appointment, or election or on the degree of success of any nominee, appointee, or candidate; or

(3) plays and bets for money or other thing of value at any game played with cards, dice, balls, or any other gambling device.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:

(1) the actor engaged in gambling in a private place;

(2) no person received any economic benefit other than personal winnings; and

(3) except for the advantage of skill or luck, the risks of losing and the chances of winning were the same for all participants.

(1) was permitted under Chapter 2001, Occupations Code;

(2) was permitted under Chapter 2002, Occupations Code;

(3) consisted entirely of participation in the state lottery authorized by the State Lottery Act (Chapter 466, Government Code);

(4) was permitted under the Texas Racing Act (Article 179e, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or

(5) consisted entirely of participation in a drawing for the opportunity to participate in a hunting, fishing, or other recreational event conducted by the Parks and Wildlife Department.

(d) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a person played for something of value other than money using an electronic, electromechanical, or mechanical contrivance excluded from the definition of "gambling device" under Section 47.01(4)(B).

Bad Week

2009-08-06T18:47:00.013-05:00

Its been a bad week for me.. First, I didn't get paid last week. My company ran out of money. Poor cash flow planning.... The company also announced on Monday that we had a RIF, Reduction in Force. In other words, we had a lay off. Our newest employee had to be let go because our sales were not coming in.

The prior week I learned from my property management company that my tenant in my big house in Michigan gave their 30 days notice. They are leaving at the end of August. I guess the lady of the house lost her job and now they are moving closer to the man of the house's job. Now, I have 2 homes in Michigan that need a tenant or someone to buy me out. The people in my Flint house moved out over a month ago.

I did finally get paid on Wednesday, so it was just a short delay. In the past, the company had 2.5 months delay in pay and they eventually loss every employee except the founder. I should consider myself lucky. This is the risk you take in a small company. Luckily, my personal cash flow is pretty good, but I'm going to take a big hit with my houses being empty.

I decided to post my houses on Craig's List. I had really good luck selling all my things last year. I got a couple response on my big house immediately, I was shocked! Maybe I can get lucky in this economy. I will take what ever I can get. I just need to be freed from this debt.

On top of all this, my cell phone stop charging or syncing. The USB port got messed up. The plastic surrounding the leads got lodged into the cable. Sprint doesn't sell the Motorola Q anymore so I have to buy a used one and get it activated for my number.

Junk Mailings

2009-08-04T17:24:00.004-05:00

My mom keeps giving me all this junk mail. Sometimes there is interesting presentations in there. So here are some clips.

Horrible Jobs

Nature

Caricatures

Crazy Month of Action - Sick Action Last Night

2009-08-01T21:03:00.003-05:00

It was a sick night at the Retreat. At one point over $4K on the table playing $1/$2 game. The action was the looses I ever seen. One girl was on a major heating playing any 2 cards. She went all-in preflop with K7 and won with 2 pair. She was up over $1800 at one point. Eventually she lost it all and then some. I saw her give it all back in a few hands. One notable hand where she called $850 pre-flop with 45 suited.. Is that sick or what..? She really loosen up the table and made everyone call with shit and re-buy after re-buy after re-buy. Good job Eric, for cashing out over $1000. You did have to re-buy a few times, but at the end you made it all back and then some. That was a sick hand with you chasing the nut flush and having 5 people all-in on the flop!.

I really wasn't getting at hands early on. So I just mostly watched.. waiting for my moment. I started with my standard $200. My stack got down to $110 and added on another $100. The average chip stack was over $500 and I just couldn't compete with such huge chip stacks. People were calling everything. Eventually I hit my hand, which turned into a bad beat.

I had AJ suited in clubs. Sheldon pre-flop raises $7. There are like 5 callers. The flop is AJ3 with 2 hearts. I bet out $20, Sheldon calls and another guy pushes all-in for $120. I call and Sheldon calls. I put him on a flush draw. The turn is a 2, no heart. I push all in for my remaining $90. Sheldon calls. He had 62 of hearts and wants to deal. I say no. The river is no heart, but another 2. He hits trips and takes down the $550 pot! The other guy had AQ.

I borrow another $200 from the house. The action remains sick and intense. I finally hit pocket Aces under the gun. I haven't played in hours, but people have been playing crazy. I raise to $25. I get 3 callers. The flop is all rags 956. One guy bets out and another calls so I push all-in for about $150. One guy folds and the other calls. The turn is a King and the river an Ace. I hit my set. The guy said he had 2 pair. Wow.. I got lucky.. Now I just doubled my stack to $400.

Some how I continued to increase my stack to over $700. I don't remember to much since most hands never had a showdown. It was just solid poker and people folding to me. I have a few more sets. A set of 222s, 666s, and 10s I guess that is 4 sets in about 10 hours. An average night, but most of it all happen late in the session. So it was a grind... It could have been so much better, but I will take it...

Here is a graph of my last 12 months. I can now say that I have not had a losing month in 1 year!

Current Stats

Trip to California

2009-07-28T21:15:00.010-05:00

I just got back from a 5 day trip to California. My cousin Peter was getting married to Jennifer. I decided to make it a mini vacation and check out the Poker scene. As it turns out the Los Angeles area has the largest poker rooms in the world. The Commerce Casino and Bicycle Club and the number one and two Poker rooms in the world. I would agree. If you want Poker action, then Los Angeles is the place to be. It even beats out Las Vegas, because there is less competition and more concentration of players.

The Commerce was amazing. I went there on a Thursday night after the Rehersal dinner and the place was packed. Over 100 tables playing all sorts of Poker games. I asked a regular there if it was always like this and he said yes. There is alwasy action at the Commerce. I wanted to play $1/$2. I was disappointed that the maximum buy in was only $40. It's hard to make a move with such a small stack, but they started a new table and everyone bought in for $40. I made a little head way hitting quad fives, but then lost it all after I flopped 2 pair in the small blind and someone under the gun flopped a straight.

I stayed in Bell Gardens at the Comfort Inn. It was directly across from the Bicycle Club casino. This is the number two poker room in the world and was told the best. They did not have a $1/$2 game, but a $2/$3 game and you can buy in for $300 max. All the food was comp and the action good.

I spent most of my time there. I started out strong, but quickly went away. I had my Aces cracked and just could not get anything going for the first few sessions. My last session I had my game back and managed a modest come back. For the entire trip I lost a little money, but was still up for the month. It was fun, just not to profitable.

Here are some random pics from the trip.

Current Stats

Check Out This Sick Omaha Hand

2009-07-14T01:31:00.017-05:00

I am playing Omaha tonight online and got really lucky. I cracked 3 sets with a straight on the turn. My online name is nguyen1972. All I can say as atleast the best starting hand won. I did have pocket Aces... As I usually do...lol.. I pot it pre-flop and push all-in on the flop. I was first to act and unknowingly both guys hit there set to pay me off.. Actually the one guy hit a set of 10s and Kings.. Sick.... Oh by the way, it is my birthday in 2 days.. maybe I am getting lucky because of that.. They say always play on your Birthday. Two years ago I hit a Royal Flush 2 days before my Birthday.. I guess I am lucky..

Here were my odds as the hand played out....

Current Stats

Staying Discliplined

2009-07-13T18:09:00.013-05:00

I stuck to my guns. I told myself that if I ever make more then $200 in one session that I would not play the next day, since I tend to give it back way to easily. I played Thursday night and made $300. I decided to take Friday night off.

My roommates didn't make it easy on me. Their originally plans were cancelled and they decided to go to Coushatta Casino, in Louisiana. It is about a 6 hour drive from Austin. I was really tempted to go with them, but decided to just relax at home and enjoy my previous night win.

I did play on Saturday and actually started playing around 4pm. The game from Friday night turned into Omaha and was running all night and morning long. I jumped in with $200 and quickly loss it all, chasing to many draws.

I bought back in to $150 and started losing that too. So I started playing tighter, back to basics. Then the cards started hitting me, Aces doubled suited a couple times. I slowly made it back to over $300 in front of me. The game finally ended and I had about $315 in my stack. I was only $35 from break even for the session.

I went to the holdem table with the goal of just breaking even and then leaving. I kinda felt like I couldn't win today, so getting to even would be fine for me. My first hand was pocket fives. I was in the big blind and Stan raised it up to $17. I felt Stan was running the table since someone commented that Stan was raising doing his standard thing and raising it up big.

Everyone folded behind him and I was last to act. I figured I call with my pocket pair, hoping he just had a big Ace. The flop came 2♣3♣6♥ and I check. Stan bets out $25. Now I put him on an over pair, but I am not sure. I make a loose call hoping for my gut shot and that he would check the turn if he did just have Ace high. The turn is 8♣, making a flush possibility, so I check it.

Stan checks behind me. The river is the 5♣! I just hit my set, but now there are 4 clubs. I make a value bet of $25 into a $84 pot. Stan says he is making a donkey call without a club. He had pocket Jacks and no clubs.. I take down the $130 pot, now I am a bit over break even. Sorry Stan.. sometimes a Donkey can get lucky too..

Now I should quit, but I cant quit after winning a good size pot, so I continue to wait for my hands. Not less then 30 minutes later I have pocket Aces in the big blind! Eric raises it to $20 and one other guy calls $20. This is a major raise in $1/$2 game and I put one of them on a big pair. I just broke even and really don't want to see a flop, so I re-raise to $120, thinking these guys should fold to that.

Eric surprises me and goes all-in for about $90 and the other guy folds. I show him the nuts and Eric has the ladies. I asked him "What did you think I had?.." Eric plays enough with me that he knows how I play, but he still has to see a flop with Queens. He has money and it doesn't mean much to him, $90.

Well, I hit my set on the flop and boated on the turn. There were 3 clubs on the flop and Eric did have one club. But on the turn he was drawing dead.. I take down the $220 pot and now have close to $500 in front of me.

On a side note, I think that is my 3rd set I have ever hit against Eric. For some reason my sets come easy when I play Eric, not sure why, but he says I cheat..? I had a set of nines that cracked his Aces, then a Set of Kings and now a set of Aces, but who is counting?. I should play with Eric more often, he is lucky for me...

I play a bit longer hitting pocket Queens under the gun when a guy straddled it $10. I raise to $40 and everyone folds except the straddler. The flop is all rags and he folds to my continuation bet.

Now I have a profit of $145 for the night, thanks mostly to my Facebook friends. I was greatful to make up for my initial losses, but what a roller coaster ride. That is how it is with Omaha and no-limit games. You have to be able to take the swings.

Current Stats

The Deal I Can't Forget

2009-07-13T11:47:00.005-05:00

I cant stop thinking about this hand in Omaha on Saturday afternoon. I flop top set and Sheldon flops a straight. I was first to act into a $65 pot. I pot it and Sheldon re-pots it and I call. The pot is now close to $600. We decide to deal and run the turn and river three times. I boated on the first turn and Sheldon takes the next two runs. I did the odds and it looks like I had the slight edge, so I should not have made the deal.. What would you have done? Deal or no Deal?

Current Stats

Good Night of Omaha

2009-07-10T15:57:00.013-05:00

It was a good night for me. I decided to fire up Poker Stars and play some Omaha online. I had about $160 left in my account from over a year ago, yes I have not played online in over a year. I was glad I had remembered my online name and the cash stayed in my account. I decided to give six handed, pot limit Omaha a try.

Hold'em online is way to tough. You have to be really patient and their are so many sharks that it is tough to make any money. It is a slow and painful game and I was never successful in the past, even with software that help me know who the sharks were.

On the other hand, Omaha has no such software and I think I have an edge. I still play tight and only the nuts. People are generally more loose, yet more tight when it comes to folding.. And lately, I have been doing well online. Let's see how it lasts. I had over $200 last night and got my account over $400 for the first time. I asked for a cash out and we'll see how it looks when I get a check. It will be my first time cashing out online.

After making my killing, I decided to head to the Retreat and play some round by round. I bought in for $200 and it was 2nd highest chip stack at the table. I played tight and lost to a short stack in holdem after he hit a set of 222s and I hit my King with AK. Shortly afterwards I got my money back from the same guy when I turned top set of 999s in Omaha. I think he had pocket Aces in the hole.

I hit another quad, 9999s in Omaha while in the small blind. I flop at set, the turn created a potential straight and I check it. The button pots it to $65 and I call. The river is the case 9 giving me quads. I push all in and he folds.. He said he had straight draw and flush draw... I think this is like the 4th time I have hit Quad nines..

In Hold'em I get pocket Aces in the Big Blind. Three people in front of me limp in and I raise to $45. Everyone folds except one short stack. He pushes all-in for another $15. I hit a set of Aces on the flop and he never shows.. German (Mike) comments, "and you still get action.." Knowing that when I raises it, I usually have the nuts and most people know this about me, yet I still get action.. I say, "It's because some people can't resist cracking me, even tough they know I have them beat.."

The very next hand I get pocket Queens. One guy raises it infront of me $17 and I re-raise to $45. This time everyone respects my raise and folds. The raiser folds, saying he had Jacks.. He also says that I only play 3 hands. Aces, Kinds and Queens.. Now that is respect, good fold!

Today marks 12 straight winning months for me.. I have not had a losing month in poker in over a year! There were some close months, but I still made some gains. Poker is tough to make money in. Alwasy believe that and quit while you are ahead...

Current Stats

Four Basic Poker Skills For Being Successful At Making Money

2009-07-07T11:15:00.009-05:00

Poker sharks are commonly described as tight and aggressive: "Poker pros do not play many hands, but when they play them, they play them like they have the nuts." A solid poker player is one who has mastered the following four key skills of poker.

Skill #1: Mathematics

• A solid poker player knows the general probabilities of the game. For example, they know that you have about 1 in 8.5 chance of hitting a set when holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of completing a flopped flush draw by the river.

• Good players understand the importance of outs. Outs are simply the number of cards that will improve your hand. Count your outs, multiply them by two, and add one, and that's roughly the percentage shot you have at hitting.

• Good players can figure out the pot odds. Knowing outs is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting. Knowing you have a 20% chance of hitting, what do you do then? If you're not sure, check out our Pot Odds article.

• Math skills are the most basic knowledge; it's day-one reading. Anyone who doesn't understand these concepts should not play in a game for real money until they do.

Skill #2: Discipline

• Good poker players demand an advantage. What separates a winning poker player from a fish is that a fish does not expect to win, while a poker player does. A fish is happy playing craps, roulette, or the slots; he just hopes to get lucky. A poker player does not hope to get lucky. He just hopes others don't get lucky.

• Good poker players understand that a different game requires a different discipline. A disciplined no-limit player can be a foolish limit player and vice versa. For example, a disciplined limit hold'em player has solid preflop skills. When there is not much action preflop, he or she only plays the better hands. When a lot of people are limping in, he or she will make a loose call with a suited connector or other speculative hand.

• A disciplined player knows when to play and when to quit. He recognizes when he is on tilt and is aware when a game is too juicy to just quit while ahead.

• A disciplined player knows that he is not perfect. When a disciplined player makes a mistake, he learns. He does not blame others. He does not cry. He learns from the mistake and moves on.

• A disciplined player knows when to flod em. Sometimes when you are beat, you are beat and have to make big lay downs.

Skill #3: Psychology

• A good player is not a self-centered player. He may be the biggest SOB you know. He may not care about anyone but himself, and he may enjoy stealing food from the poor. However, when a poker pro walks into a poker room, he always empathizes with his opponents. He tries to think what they think and understand the decisions they make and why they make them. The poker pro always tries to have an answer to these questions:

1. What does my opponent have?

2. What does my opponent think I have?

3. What does my opponent think I think he has?

• Knowing the answer to these questions is the first step, manipulating the answers is the second and more important step. Suppose that you have a pair of kings and your opponent has a pair of aces. If you both know what the other has, and you both know that you know what the other has, then why play a game of poker? A poker pro manipulates the answers to questions #2 and #3 by slowplaying, fastplaying, and bluffing in order to throw his opponent off.

• Good poker players know that psychology is much more important in a no-limit game than in a limit game. Limit games often turn into math battles, while no-limit games carry a strong psychology component. Thus, poker tells are much more important in no-limit games.

Skill #4: Understanding Risk vs. Reward

• Pot odds and demanding an advantage fall into this category. Poker players are willing to take a long-shot risk if the reward is high enough, but only if the expected return is higher than the risk.

• More importantly, they understand the risk-vs.-reward nature of the game outside of the actual poker room. They know how much bank they need to play, and how much money they need in reserve to cover other expenses in life.

• Good poker players understand they need to be more risk-averse with their overall bankroll than their stack at the table.

When you play in an individual game, you must value every chip equally at the table. You should only care about making correct plays. If you buy in for $10, you should be okay with taking a 52% chance of doubling up to $20 if it means a 48% chance of losing your $10.

However, you should be risk-averse with your overall bankroll. You need to have enough money so that any day at the tables will not affect your bankroll too much. If you worry too much about losing, then you will make mistakes at the table. You need to leave yourself with the chance to fight another day.

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Does Birth Order Shape Our Personalities?

2009-07-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Scientists the world over have spent countless words and oceans of ink debating the issue of nature versus nurture. But how your child develops might have as much to do with the order in which they were born, as it does with their genes or environment.

Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Freud and Jung, first put forth the idea, claiming that when a child is born deeply impacts their personality. According to Adler …

Eldest children are socially dominant, highly intellectual, and extremely conscientious. Unfortunately, they’re also less open to new ideas, and prone to perfectionism and people pleasing—the result of losing both parents’ undivided attention at an early age, and working throughout their lives to get it back.

Middle children, sandwiched between older and younger siblings, often develop a competitive nature,making them natural entrepreneurs later in life. They tend to be the most diplomatic and flexible members of the family and often, eager for parental praise, develop musical or academic gifts.

Youngest children, according to birth order theory, tend to be dependent and selfish—as they’re used to others providing for them. But despite the negatives, they’re also quite often the life of the party—fun, confident, and comfortable entertaining others.

And only children? Like last borns, they are regularly spoiled, according to Adler, and have a hard time when they don’t get their own way. School can be a particularly difficult transition, as they’re used to being the center of the familial universe. But all that parental focus pays off. Only children are often mature for their age. They wow people with their vocabularies and their comfort in adult circles. Plus, all that self-entertaining fosters creativity.

Adler’s theories have been debated for generations. Whether they’re scientifically sound or not much more than hogwash, muse about them as you raise your children. And regardless of when they were born, help each of your kids recognize what makes them unique and resist the urge to compare them to their siblings. That’s sure to make every member of your family thrive.

Palace Poker Robbed

2009-07-01T09:35:00.003-05:00

This is my most favorite place to play poker in Flint, MI. It was robbed last night and the guy was shot dead by a retired police man playing there.

BURTON (WJRT) -- (07/01/09) -- A shooting at a Burton poker room has left one person dead.

ABC12's Marc Jacobson says an unidentified gunman began shooting through the glass in the front of the Palace Poker Room in the 1100 block of Bristol Road at around 1 this morning.

A witness says the masked man, armed with a shotgun, shot out the front door of the building, walked in and fired at least one round into the ceiling.

The gunman told the 30-60 people inside to hit the floor.

More rounds were fired before a retired police officer, who was armed, shot and killed the gunman.

Police believe the gunman could be the same person who robbed the poker room last month.

No other injuries have been reported.

Russia Bans Casinos?

2009-06-30T14:47:00.002-05:00

Russia may have just banned all of its national casinos, but that hasn't stopped ETF investors from gambling on the nation. The Market Vector Russia ETF Trust (RSX - commentary - Trade Now) has experienced a rally in recent months, but it is still a very volatile investment. The most recent moves by the Russian government seek to make the nation more economically stable.

Last Saturday, The New York Times reported that the economically distressed country was making good on the threat by Prime Minister Putin toward its national casino industry. Starting immediately, the government is demanding that every legal gambling facility be removed from the country in an attempt to make the country "clean" of vice.

Aside from the loss of 400,000 jobs, the cost of the anti-vice plan is estimated to amount to $1 billion in lost tax revenue. Because the plan seemed so far-fetched when it was first proposed, many failed to plan appropriately and are now facing tough choices.

All of this comes at a time when the Russian government is seeking to add stability to the country's economy. Late last week, word had surfaced that the nation was in talks to put together a bank bailout rivaling that of the United States.

Igor Shuvalov, the deputy prime minister of Russia has considered taking a stake in the nation's biggest banks to recapitalize the problematic system and protect it from nonperforming loans that currently make up a large portion of its balance sheet. Moody's(MCO - commentary - Trade Now) andStandard & Poor's warn that it could cost the nation as much as $40 billion this year to get the banks running again. If the proposed bailout does go according to plan, however, the government predicts that banks will be able to lend again in 2010.

Russia's government has taken some serious steps in the past few weeks to get its economy moving. However, investors may want to be careful jumping in as the government's decision may cause trouble for the country's markets. RSX may see bright times in its future, but investors should be prepared for some uncertain moments if they try to cash in.

Meanwhile, even if the Russian casinos are gone, that doesn't mean the country is vice-free. Smoking and alcohol consumption is still as present as ever in the nation. Investors looking for a taste of these and other guilty pleasures can look no further than the aptly named Vice Fund (VICEX - commentary - Trade Now) to add a little sin to their portfolio.

Friday night Gamblers

2009-06-27T17:29:00.005-05:00

I out lasted everyone last night. We played until 2:30am, until there were only 2 men left with chips. Everyone else busted out or cashed out. I didn't lose.... I only made $40. Kyle chased his flush with K7 and took down a big pot from me. Luckily, I made a good fold on the turn and built up my stack back after we switch to Omaha, when we were 5 handed. I had pocket Kings like 4 times and Jacks like 3 times. I hit one set of Jacks.

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Bernanke To Congress

2009-06-25T11:29:00.005-05:00

Here is Bernake getting grilled by Congress. Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America said 2 weeks ago that Bernake and Paulson indirectly threaten him to go with the merger of Merrill Lynch or be fired. Bernake is responding to the accusation and he tries to deflect the charges. To me it is obvious that the threats were made, but not directly and this is proof that government is having way to much control into the private sector.

Hit and Run

2009-06-22T17:24:00.004-05:00

I played for an hour and 45 minutes on Friday night. I made $210 or about $120 per hour. Not to bad if I say so myself... I wasn't going to play this weekend, I had someone coming over for the the weekend, but had a couple of hours to spare. So I figured I would burn some time and play a little. I only bought in for $150, thinking I didn't want to lose to much. That turned out to be a mistake after my first big hand. It was 10 minutes into the game and I have pocket 44s under the gun. I limp in and the small blind, Zane, rasies to $12. I call and everyone else folds. The flop is A45. Zane bets out $15. I re-raise to $45. The turn is a 9 and Zane checks. I bet $50 and he check-raises me all-in for my remaining $46. Zane says, "I guess you hit your set.." The river is a Queen and he shows 2-pair. German, sitting next to me, says yeah that's what I put you on... And they were right.. my set of 444s takes it down... My stack goes to about $250.

A few hands later I get AQ and limp in. The flop is A,10,A. The big blind bets $6 and I re-raise to $15. The turn is a 7 and he checks. I bet $25 and he calls. The river is a rag and he checks. I bet another $25 and he calls again. I show my big Ace and he never shows.. Another nice $125 pot for me. My stack is now over $350 and I have only been playing for 1.5hrs.

A few minutes later I get pocket 10s on the button. Ireland calls my $15 pre-flop bet and $30 flop bet. The flop was Jack high. I check to the river and he had nothing, just AK.

Unfortunately, I have to leave shortly after. I never hit and run, as they say. I am the one that stays for 12hrs at a time, but I had someone waiting. It did feel good to make my goal for the weekend and go home a winner again.

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Good Weekend of Poker

2009-06-14T21:52:00.003-05:00

It was a good weekend of Poker for me. Friday night I made $345 and Sunday I made $85. It was slow and steady and all my hands held up pretty well. I was always ahead and stayed ahead. It's nice to have sessions like that. My sets came back with vengeance. Hitting a set of 777s, Kings, eights. I would have made quads with pocket 44s, but I folded to a $25 pre-flop raise. I hate when that happens, I should have played my heater run, but I cant complain to much. I made money this session.

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Crackdown On Online Poker

2009-06-14T15:02:00.001-05:00

Midweek Poker

2009-06-11T18:52:00.013-05:00

I decided to venture out last night for a quick round of Poker. This past weekend was not a good session. I managed to lose $430. I made one bad read and that wiped me out. I had to get back in the game and get my confidence back.

So I went to the Palms and they did not have enough players. I had their famous chicken fried rice and headed out to the Mobile. My first hand dealt was pocket fives. I limped in and a guy next to me raises to $20 and 3 others people called. I didn't hit a set and folded on the flop to the continuation bet.

A few hands later I have pocket 10♣,10♥. The small blind raises it $30. One other guy calls. The flop is 6,9,10. I just hit top set. The small blind checks so I bet $65 and everyone folds.. Wow, I haven't hit a set in forever.. I had thought I forgot how..

Then I get pocket Aces under the gun. I raise $20 and get 3 callers. The flop is Jack high and the small blind bets $50. I push all-in for around $150. Everyone folds and I take it down.

A few hands later I get pocket Jacks. One guy raises to $15. I put him on a big Ace. So I figure I would smooth call and hope no big cards hit. Well, 3 people call after me and then a guy pushes all-in for $70. The pre-flop raiser decided to call and I think a moment and also call. This makes everyone else fold. The flop is 347. The pre-flop raiser checks so I push all in for $155. He thinks for a while and calls! The pot is now close to $700. The turn is a 5 and river is a 6. Their is a straight on the board! The all-in guy had pocket 10s, the raiser had AQ and I had Jacks. But we all split the pot!!! Sick hand... That should have been all mine!

Then the hand of the night. I am on the button with pocket 8♣,8♥s. Under the gun guy raises to $10. Five people call including me. The flop is A♥, 8♦, 3♦. The pre-flop raiser bets out $25. I re-raise him to $100. He pushes all in and I call. The guy has A8. My set takes it down and I double up to over $600.

All this happens, within two hours of play. I consider this pretty lucky so I pay a few more hands and quit a winner..

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Hilarious Video

2009-06-11T14:03:00.002-05:00

Thursday night Round by Round

2009-06-05T10:40:00.005-05:00

I decided to go play poker on a Thursday work night. It is a Round by Round game. A round of Hold'em then a round of Omaha. The action in Omaha is much bigger compared to Hold'em. The hands combinations are just that much higher. Typical winning hands are straights and flushes, with more full houses and quads showing up then in Hold'em. The bad beats are very common. Set over Set is the norm in Omaha, so you better have top set.

Anyways, I was just bored and wanted to make a few bucks. I treaded water for a while and finally hit my hand with a new guy at the table. It was in an Omaha hand. I had K♥, K♦,7♦,10♥ or in Omaha poker terms I had pocket kings double suited.. I raised to $10 and had 2 callers. The flop is 8♥,2♦,3♦ with 2 diamonds. I flopped a flush draw and bet out $30. Ashely folded and the guy called. The turn was a Jack of ♦ Diamond. I check, in case the guy turned the nuts. He bets the pot and I figure he is trying to bluff me. I go all-in and my second nut flush and it is good, the guy was bluffing.

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