Money Matters All kinds of transactions this weekend. We bought a new camcorder, the Sony DCR-HC30:
I have no idea why it is pictured with a shaving brush. I also got a speeding ticket near Ithaca. I have no idea how much it is, but i was doing 65 in a 55. Doggone cops. So those two things account for the flow of money away from me. How about the flow of money to me, you might be asking. Well, I played some poker online this weekend. I won nearly $1000 in one tournament and another 300 in another. So I think I am ahead for the weekend. Hooray for me! I am getting really nervous for the cruise this weekend. I just hope that passes as soon as I sit down. I will keep this thing updated as I play. You will be the first to know if I win the million!
Yearly Archives: 2004
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/03/if-you-were-tree/
If you were a tree… My first interview. One of the poker books I am studying led me to the site of Matthew Hilger, InternetTexasHoldem.com. His book is quite possibly the best poker book I own, and I own a lot of them. I have become a frequent poster in the forum on his site, and I recently got my very own Forum Member Spotlight! Go me! Incidentally, Matthew will be on the Party Poker cruise with me, so I hope to play him at the final table for a million dollars. Or I can be first out and watch him win. Either way I shall have fun! Incidentally, if you want to play poker online, sign up through his site for whichever site you want. You will get a free copy of his book, worth its weight in poker chips!
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/03/lost-in-transportation-i-had-very/
Lost in Transportation: I had a very interesting experience last night. My brother (the infamous Noble from the comments postings) was to fly into the city last night. Rather than come into Laguardia or JFK, he caught a last minute flight into Islip on Long Island. This is about an hour plus from the city by train. No problem. I went out there to pick him up from his 10:30 flight. Unfortunately, someone *ahem* told me that I should get off the train at the Islip station, after I read that I should get off at Ronkonkoma. I trusted this unnamed person and got off of the train at the Islip station. No airport. I asked a guy and he said I had f***ed up and I was f***ed because I had made a big f***ing mistake. No joke, it was every other word. However, he said to come along and he gave me a ride from Islip to the airport, about 15 minutes away. Upon arriving at the airport, the fog was so thick that nothing could land. I waited for a half hour before they confirmed that Noble’s plane had been sent back to Chicago. Well, Tom (my ride) had heard an announcement that planes were diverted so he parked and came in to check on me. I think he was operating under the assumption that I was mildly retarded or completely clueless. He offered me a ride back to the station. There was no train at the Ronkonkoma or Islip stations until 2 in the morning, so he drove me an additional 10 miles out of his way to the Babylon station, pointing out all the best strip clubs and dive bars along the way and relating a bawdy story about each. I insisted that he at least let me buy him some food or give him some beer money (which seemed to be a hot-button for him). He finally agreed to a big mac. All said and done, Tom offered me well over an hour and a half of his time shuttling me around Long Island while Noble circled overhead and then went back to Chicago. I must say, this is one of the biggest gestures anyone has ever done for me, and he had zero ulterior motives, something I was concerned about at first. So the next time you see a grubby looking contractor guy with a heavy jersey accent who proclaims that he has his f***ing license suspended, tell him thanks for me. He is one of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Noble will be in sometime today, by the way.
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/03/robb-insists-i-post/
Robb insists, I post. It has really become rather robotic. You guys clamor for an update to fill your mundane lives, I comply with the details of my mundane life, and we share in our… mundanity(?). I figured two very thoughtful posts would hold you guys for a while. I guess not. Christine was down this weekend. We went to the Intrepid Museum and looked at warplanes. I got to see a real live A-12 Blackbird! I then continued my downward spiral into sickness and could barely talk by Monday. And you thought the story would end nicely! I just got a new camera phone, too… the Sony Ericsson T610. I finally outgrew Nokia! I love having a camera phone in New York. Why? This is why:
So that when the very drunk bum on the train next to you falls asleep on your shoulder you can take a picture of him to amuse the lady and her daughter who are laughing at you. And I amuse myself, of course. And it was funny. Happy, Robb?
And for Jared and all of the other folks, poker has been a little bit over break even this week. Rather frustrating when that happens. I have begun looking over Mike Caro’s Video Tells to improve my live game. I used some of this in a tournament I played for practice on Monday and finished fifth. I may be obsessing too much, but this tournament is dominating my conciousness for the time being.
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/nader/
Nader. AAARGH! OK, so I made mention of this in my last post (below), but it deserves more attention. I was reading a posting on Fark here when this occured to me. Do people ever leave their houses!? Do they ever wonder what their comfortable little world looks like from the street, or their neighbor’s house? My point is, there is so much complaining and mud slinging going on by Democrats, and yet they were thrilled by Ross Perot. What if Steve Forbes decided to run instead of Ralph Nader? The sides would be reversed and the democrats would be thrilled while the republicans cried foul and smeared him. This is EXACTLY THE PROBLEM WITH THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM! It creates an atmosphere of us versus them, it polarizes us. We see things in either-or, black-white, with-against. And people do not even realize how shallow and myopic this is! It is simple: Tell us what is best for us and we will react accordingly. Tell us what is bad for us and we will react accordingly. We want to belong to your group, so we will vote and think how you want us to. It is like the two major parties are competing Pavlovian overlords ringing the bells that they think will make a slim majority of us salivate. Does anyone else feel a little manipulated?
Here’s a thought: What if all of those people who do not vote are not just lazy? What if they are abstaining? I for one was not planning to vote this year, out of disgust with either option for different reasons. Now I will vote. For Nader. Just to piss most of you off. And he is not stealing my vote from anyone. He is getting a disillusioned citizen involved rather than further disaffecting him. THAT is what is important. Not who can take the most Halliburton or Lockheed money to spend on pork barrel projects. I say screw the two party system, and screw all of those people who live and breathe it. It is restrictive and does nothing but give two guys a 50-50 shot.
Let the mud slinging begin. I shall observe with an amused look on my face.
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/passion-i-just-read-article-in-ny/
The Passion I just read an article in the NY Daily News about Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ that kind of annoyed me. They are calling the movie anti-semitic. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that the movie portrays Jewish people as bad, they were instrumental in the crucifixion, after all. However, this is like saying that a movie about the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition is anti-christian. It would not be. They would simply be historical portrayals. Granted there may be some artistic license, but what was Gibson supposed to do? Have the Pharisees say, “Gee, sorry, we are going to have to torture and kill you now. Please don’t hate us, we aren’t bad people.” No. This is not to say that all Jewish people are responsible for the crucifixion. The romans had a hand in it and so did some of His own people. However, you cannot relate the actions of 2000 years ago to the situation today. This would be like watching Clan of the Cave Bear and saying all men are pigs and treat women like crap. It may have been true but it is not true now. Anyway, I was just a little irked by the tone of that article, the way the writer failed to acknowledge the fact that the movie portrays events as recorded in the Christian scripture. If the author does not like it, she should write an article bashing the bible as anti-semitic. I may feel differently after seeing the movie, so stay tuned.
On another note: Ralph Nader entered the election again. You go Ralphie! You call atention to the inadequacies of the two-party system, boy! *snap* *snap* *head bob*
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/celebrity-poker-showdown-since-i-am/
Celebrity Poker Showdown: Since I am kind of a loser and never hang out with anyone cool, I am about to drop a name that I hope will make you think to yourself, “Self, that Ammon is a cool guy. I think I will buy him sweets and shiny trinkets.” I was playing poker last night in a live game to hone my live game skills (Yes, I won), and I looked over at the next table to see Paul Rudd intently focused on a game. That’s right, I saw a celebrity. Now I am not one to gush and hoo and haw, but I really like him as an actor and I had seen a hilarious interview with him on The Daily Show the night before. So as I left I made a joke to him about his appearance on the show and got a laugh out of him. And I do believe it was a genuine laugh, not one of those “OK, you frighten me please go away now you leering rubbernecker” laughs. I was elated. OK, I wasn’t, but it is still cool to see and say hi to someone you respect. It is strange how celebrity affects people, and I always thought that I was not one of them. After all, I work two floors below Tim Robbins (another actor I regard highly) and ride the elevator with him frequently so I figured I am used to it. Not so. I guess I am just one of the starstruck groupies that I hate so much. OK, I exaggerate. But it is cool, ain’t it?
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/study-so-my-reading-list-is-as-follows/
Study! So my reading list is as follows…
Zen and the Art of Poker
Play Poker Like the Pros
Inside the Poker Mind
Caro’s Book of Poker Tells
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
Poker Tournament Strategies
I am beginning to get very nervous for this poker tournament. My biggest fear is coming in last. My goal right now is to finish “in the money,” which will require placing in the top 90 out of about 750. I think I have a reasonable shot at that, as long as I can keep myself under control and well disciplined. I am sure you are all (both?) tired of hearing about this, but it weighs heavily on my mind lately. I will try to blog updates from the ship, too.
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/popularity-contest-so-i-looked-at-my/
Popularity Contest: So I looked at my website referral logs today. Three people found my site by typing “Ammon Brown” in a search engine. Twenty-nine found it by typing in “Jared Vallejo”. Twenty nine. Why do you people insist on finding MY site with HIS name. How embarassing for me. You bunch of jerks.
https://ammonbrown.com/2004/02/student-of-game-practice-and-study/
A Student of the Game Practice and study. Practice and study. I spent $100 on poker books yesterday. I bought books on strategy, tournament strategy, psychology, mathematics, and game theory. I want to be prepared for this tournament. I made the remark to a friend today that I am studying harder for this than I did for the GMAT! I am constantly looking for tournaments I can play to get more and more practice. I had my home game last night, which did not go well. I made the mistake of inviting a girl from our office and her husband. She took $15 off of me over the course of the evening. I told her next time I will just give her $15 and she can kick me in the nuts and we will call it even. Save us a few hours, too. Mike, Vin, and Tara were the big winners. I was struggling, catching bad cards and worse flops, if that means anything to you. I am pretty much singleminded right now, so there is not much else going on. Boring, I know.