The Blue Hole

July 29th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

     Let me tell you about the story of New Jersey’s “Blue Hole”. Located deep in the Pine Barrens of Winslow, NJ “The Blue Hole” is a small but legendary body of water that is said to be bottomless and also a favorite hang out of The Jersey Devil. Although the surface is calm and blue unlike the neighboring flowing rivers that sport a brown undertone, those foolish enough to venture into “The Blue Hole’s” waters have told stories of powerful currents that try to suck you under and freezing water tempatures regardless of the time of season. Some believe the hole was made by a meteorite striking the Earth. Others believe its a portal for the supernatural. Whatever the true secret of The Blue Hole is, I was determined to take a look at it and decide for myself.


The road to “The Blue Hole”

     My journey to The Blue Hole began by turning down a dirt road that lead me into the heart of New Jersey’s infamous Pine Barrens. The road is actually pretty close to the Atlantic Ciy Expressway, which I’ve been on a million times so I didn’t feel that uncomfortable. However, my comfort level soon changed as the foilage of the trees grew thicker and thicker and the image of the main road in my rearview mirror grew smaller and smaller.
 

The New Jersey Pine Barrens

     You see most people that go on these weird travels usually don’t go alone. But yet here I was all by myself driving further and further into the Pine Barrens looking for some obscure hole in the ground. Maybe if I was used to hiking and camping this wouldn’t seem so unusual but I don’t know how to explain it, The New Jersey Pine Barrens has a spirit of its own. Its almost like no matter where you are you feel like someone or something is watching you. Even in the middle of a beautiful summer afternoon I was getting sudden feelings of dread as my Jeep slowly crept down the dirt road.
 

The Parking Lot for The Blue Hole

     Eventually the dirt road led to a circle with a group of trees in the middle of it. This is pretty much as far as you can go by vehicle, so I parked and set out on foot for the rest of the trip.


The dirt road quickly turns to heavy sand. 

     If you don’t have an SUV you probably want to stop before reaching the Tree Circle landmark because the dirt road suddenly turns into sand. Heavy sand that the tires of my Jeep sank into and I could only imagine a normal car gettting stuck in. 


The Broken Bridge to The Blue Hole

     After parking I noticed I was right by a river and what appeared to be a broken bridge. This bridge once made the “The Blue Hole” easily accessible, but about 40 years ago a violent storm wiped it out. At least that’s what they say. Maybe the destroyed bridge is a way of someone saying you don’t want to go down this path any further.


The Water Walkway to The Blue Hole

     Fortunately to the left of the broken bridge is a shallow area of the river that is passable on foot. You can see in the picture above that the rocks on the floor of the river almost make a clear walkway right to the path on the other side. On the day I went the highest the water got was to my knees, but don’t get me wrong, I was just waiting for something to jump out of the water at me. However, I ventured on, knowing that my goal was only a few hundred feet away down the path on the other side of the river.


The Blue Hole

     I had made it to “The Blue Hole”. At first I wasn’t that impressed, but after looking at it for a minute or so the thing I noticed the most was how deathly silent it was around it. No cheerping birds, no wind blowing the branches, it was really strange. Also, its crazy how almost perfectly round the hole is, and how it just seems to appear out of nowhere for no reason. One second your walking on a dirt path and the next there’s just this random round body of water to the left of you. 


What lies beneath these strange waters?

     My pictures don’t do “The Blue Hole” justice but there really is a blue tint to the water. I think its because that same heavy sand I experienced earlier is probably what lies beneath the water causing the sun to reflect off of it and make the water look blue, a la the kind of water you see in The Bahamas. Now did I test out the waters? No fucking way! I’m not going to sit here and lie to you, there was no way I was going in that water. Being in the woods alone is one thing, swimming alone in the woods is just fucking crazy. Again, for you nature freaks out there you’re probably laughing at me and calling me a noob, but I don’t care. I had made my way and found the legendary Blue Hole all by myself, that has to count for something.     

BONUS MATERIAL: Check out this short film about “The Blue Hole”
 

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are BACK!

July 14th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

mmbsw.jpg

     “Medium Rare” is The Mighty Mighty Bosstones most recent release. It’s a mixture of old B-Sides and some new songs, two of which I got to hear on Sunday July 13th at the Starland Summer Campout in Sayreville, NJ. It wasn’t exactly a real “camp out” but then again I didn’t see any stars so its all good. What it was…was the first time I had seen The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in about 6 years after the band went on a hiatus. Now before I get to the Bosstones let me tell you about the venue.

     This so called “Summer Campout” was one of the most unusual concert events I’ve been to. Now it sucked to pay $35 to see just The Bosstones because all the other bands on the list I had no interest in, but in comparision to how some people pay like $100 to see most shitty bands, I actually got a deal. What was crazy about this and maybe it was because it was staged outdoors in the Starland Ballroom’s parking lot, but you had to park in a vacant lot at the Garden State Technology Building about 2 miles away and then take a shuttle bus just to get there. It was pretty weird, but then again this is New Jersey, so I’ve grown to live with the weird.

     The Mighty Mighty Bosstones took the stage at 6:30pm and the whole band was dressed in plaid. They were bad in plaid once again and it was amazing to see them! They played a great mixture of old school songs and more recent ones but my highlights of the show were when they played a cover of The Clash’s “Rudy Can’t Fail” and for the first time ever I heard them play “Toxic Toast” (they used a pretty cool guitar rift to fill in for the piano part of the song). The crowd was pretty young and older fans like I who had listen to The Bosstones in high school were definitely in the minority, but they can still rock, even if they are moving a little bit slower which was evident in Ben Carr’s dance antics which have slowed down a little bit over the years. Another thing to mention is that there should be some kind of unwritten law about “crowd surfing” in that if you weigh more than 150 lbs you shouldn’t be allow to do it. Numerous times during the show I saw kids getting crushed by these dudes who must have been over 200 lbs crowd surfing. But I also saw these crowd surfing douches eat dirt when then were passed along the crowd to an open space; with no one there to hold them up they usually went head first crashing to the concrete and that was good for a laugh.

     The Bosstones played for an hour and I took the shuttle bus back to the parking lot because I really had no interest in hanging around for The Dropkick Murphys. It was cool because the show ended at 7:30pm and I was home by 9:00pm, unlike most shows you go to when the earliest you get home is usually around 1:00am. Overall, all I have to say is that The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are back!!! And I can only hope that this wasn’t just a one time thing. Because I’d love to see them again where they are the headlining band and playing to a non-festival crowd and all Bosstones fans at a place like The Troc or The Electric Factory in Philly. Someday I Suppose.     

Jilly’s 24/7

July 6th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

     Jilly’s Arcade in Ocean City, NJ is no doubt my favorite arcade of all-time. Not only does Jilly’s have a wide range of both classic and new arcade games, it also has one of the largest selection of pinball machines I’ve seen anywhere, and better yet every play is only a quarter. But what truly makes Jilly’s THE BEST is that during the summer it’s open 24 hours 7 days a week. And this worked out perfectly for me after I left the Borgata last Saturday and didn’t feel like going home. It was 3:00am so what could I do? How about play some pinball? Excellent idea!!!

sppinballsw.jpg                                                                                                                                                  South Park Pinball

     What kind of people go to an arcade at 3:00am you ask? Well, it was just me and some riff raff teenage kids shooting pool, along with some Russian immigrant who was the only person working there. It was actually kind of like a dream though to basically have a whole arcade to yourself. No kids running around screaming, no annoying girlfriends hovering over your shoulder waiting for your game to end, the arcade was nice and quiet, just me and the machines, it was a perfect storm. And because of this I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I had one of the best pinball experiences of my life. I not only got my first replay ever on my favorite pinball machine, South Park Pinball, but I scored over 100,000,000 putting me among the highest scores ever on the machine. FYI - the record score is over 400,000,000 - that is just fucking sick, because I rocked the shit out of the game to get over 100 million.

indianajonespinballmachine.gif                                                                                                                                                                  Indiana Jones Pinball

     But wait there’s more!!! News Flash!!! Stern Pinball has released their newest machine and its called Indiana Jones Pinball. The game is pretty cool because it showcases all of the Indiana Jones movies from Raiders to the latest Crystal Skull whaterver one. So after rocking South Park I checked it out and within 3 attempts I got what may have been the first replay ever on the machine because the replay score was only at 39,000,000. I finished with a score of 51,000,000 and to tell the truth the machine isn’t that easy. The board has a unique layout that requires accurate flipping oppose to just whack and smack pinball. Also, Inidana Jones Pinball has one of the coolest surprises I’ve seen in a pinball machine in a long time. All I’m going to say is that when you unlock the secret of the Ark, “Don’t look into the Light!”

Play Your Own Game

June 26th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

caesars-palace.jpg                                                                                                                     Caesars Palace

     Aggression is a very powerful tool when it comes to No Limit Hold’em, but sometimes you can be too aggressive believe it or not. Maybe I was too over confident after my session last night at The Bellagio but I sat down at a 2 - 5 No Limit Hold’em table at Caesars Palace and in one hour I was down $500. It started when I had AQ and flopped top pair, but was up against a guy with A3 who had flopped two pair. That hand hurt and I lost over $200 on that hand alone. I don’t want to get into all the details of the betting, but long story short, I should have picked up that he had my AQ beat when he re-raised me on the turn. I played a few hands that couldn’t connect with the flop and then suddenly my stack was only around $120, which isn’t that much in a 2- 5 game. At this point I’m looking to double up my stack so I have some chips to play with, and my opportunity came when I had Jc10c and hit top pair with a flop of 10s 6s 7c. I got the rest of my $120 in the middle but unfortunately I was up against pocket Aces and didn’t improve.

gods.jpg                                                                                                                       Age of Moneyology

     I didn’t like how things were going or how I was playing so I got up from the table and left Caesars. Wow, I just blew $500 in one hour. Looking back I would have played some hands differently, but after walking around on the Vegas Strip for awhile to collect myself I was ready to get into another game, and not worry about winning money but just focus on playing my normal game. Maybe at Caesars I was playing too aggressive because I was so concerned about winning back my money to end my trip to Vegas either even or ahead. When actually I shouldn’t even be worried about that stuff when I’m at the table. I should just focus on the game one hand at a time and let the chips fall where they may. I entered the Planet Hollywood poker room in this state of mind.

planet-hollywood.jpg                                                                                                                Planet Hollywood

      Planet Hollywood has a nice little poker room but here’s something interesting about it, some genius decided it would be great idea to put a karaoke bar right next to it. Wow, what a distraction. There’s nothing like trying to play poker and listen to a bunch of tourists sing “Sweet Caroline”. The best was when someone decided to sing “The Adams Family” song, my douche chills didn’t go away for at least 20 minutes. But back to poker, I took an empty seat at a 1 - 2 No Limit Hold’em table and was determined not to let the fact that was already down $500 bother me. I was just going to play my game and take it one hand at a time. Nothing really exciting happened for me in the first two hours, however the guy sitting to my left flopped a royal flush and won a high hand jackpot for $1200. Damn I was one seat off. $1200 would have been nice, that would have taken care of my session at Caesars and cleared me for the trip all in one swoop, but again I wasn’t going to let that bother me, I was going to just play my normal game. And with that said, over the 4 hours I was at the table I won $232. I didn’t win any huge pots, just a few pots here and there and one decent size pot when I made two pair with AJ. It was 4:30am and my flight home was at 7:00am so my poker playing days in Las Vegas were over for now.

     Summing up my poker vacation to Las Vegas all I have to say is that I’m glad I gave this a shot. Sure, I probably donked off $1500 by entering that WSOP event, but what if my cards had hit and if now I had a bankroll of $631,000 like David Woo now has. There are a lot of good players out here in Vegas and I learned a lot about my own game while playing out here, and I think that’s really important, because like you saw tonight you need to play the game that suits your own style. I was too aggressive at Caesars and it cost me $500, I simmered down at Planet Hollywood and worked my way to winning $232. So I finished my last night down $268, leaving me $764 in the hole while I boarded my plane back to Philly. $764 is a lot of money but considering I was down $1500 after playing for 3 hours in the WSOP tournament, you could look at it like I won $736 while I was out here.

     So that’s it, Las Vegas I love you and I’m looking forward to seeing you again next year. I’m back at home in New Jersey now and have today off to readjust myself from my trip. Wait, The Borgata is only an hour away……

Murdered At The Mirage, Bounced Back At The Bellagio

June 24th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

mirage.jpg                                                                                                                    The Mirage

     ***News Flash: WSOP Event #39 No-Limit Hold’em was won by David Woo, earning him $631,656 - you lousy bum!***

     But since I wasn’t anywhere near the final table of the event above I decided to head over to The Mirage poker room. I was looking to play some 1-2 No Limit Hold’em but there was quite a waiting list for that game so when I saw an open seat at a 5-10 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo game I took a seat there. Now, I’ll admit my Omaha Hi-Lo skills aren’t as polished as my Hold’em abilities, and I didn’t exactly play my best poker, but man did I receive some bad beats. It seemed like I missed all my draws when going for the nuts, while my opponents where filling up on me when I did have a good hand. You know, I flop the nut straight but my opponents either hit a flush or a full house on the river, which isn’t uncommon in Omaha, but when I was on draw like my opponents were I never seemed to hit and before I knew it I was down $303.

     Now The Mirage poker room is a very nice room and a decent size with a variety of different games, but on the downside the players there, at least at my table, were old riff raffs from the old days of Vegas. Maybe it was because I was playing Omaha, which hasn’t taken off with the young generation of poker players like Hold’em has, because I’d say the average age of the players at my table was probably around 50, with a few guys nearing their 70’s. One guy kept falling asleep at the table and actually looked like he was ready to drop dead at any second. I was kind of annoyed that the poker floorperson allowed a guy to sleep at our table. You really can’t get much action from a guy who’s passed out. Also, ironically these guys where talking about the “old glory days” of Las Vegas and most of their information was wrong. I’ve read a lot about the history of Las Vegas and it was funny to listen to these ”locals” try and impress us “tourists” with their folklore that sounded to me like complete BS. So I didn’t exactly have a great time at The Mirage, but the night was young and The Bellagio was close by.

bellagio.jpg                                                                                                                    The Bellagio - the center of the poker universe.

     The safe play when being down $303 is to seek out an easy game where you can win you’re money back, and since the last time I played at The Bellagio I ran into the hardest poker table I had ever faced, my move to go back to The Bellagio wouldn’t exactly be considered a high percentage play. But how often am I in Vegas? If I’m matching myself against Atlantic City’s best at The Borgata every weekend why not take on Las Vegas’ best at The Bellagio while I’m here? I waited for about 30 minutes before I was seated at a 2 - 5 No Limit Hold’em table, but to my surprise this was the exact opposite of the table I faced here the other night. My table this time was a poker player’s dream! Of the ten players at the table I’d say only 3 or 4 had a strong handle on the game, the other players were timid “newbies” to live poker, drunk Austrailian businessmen, and even one really hot chick who was looking to dump $200 to pass the time while her boyfriend played his high-limit game. Needless to say I was very happy I decided to come back to The Bellagio.

     I played from 12:30am until 5:30am and won $767. My big hand of the night came when I was holding Ac7c and made the nut club flush on the turn and basically tripled up my stack. I was tired as shit at 5:30am and was shocked when I looked in on ”The Big Game” and saw that players like Johnny Chan, Kenny Tran, and Sam Farha were wide awake, playing super high level limits, and apparently had been playing for close to 18 hours straight. How do these guys do it? They are so sick! I my not be anywhere near their level but I was very happy with how my night had turned around and I headed home to “The Ghetto Coast” having once again cut into my deficit.

     With one night left in Las Vegas I’m currently down $496 for my trip. Not bad considering I lost $1500 with my short-lived tournament experience. Can I leave Vegas back at even or ahead? I’m heading to Caesar’s Palace tonight to find out.   

   

Money Won Is Always Better Than Money Earned

June 23rd, 2008 by JJ BANKS

the-venetian.jpg                                                                                                                       The Venetian

     Human innovation is the key to our species’ survival. And Las Vegas may be the greatest accomplishment in mankind’s history. The city not only shows why America is the best country in the world, but also why capitalism is the only way to go. Where money talks and bullshit…well if you don’t have the cash…then get the fuck out of the way.

     I came back with a vengence today and won $500 while playing 1-2 No Limit Hold’em at The Venetian. To make a long story short, I won a few small pots and was doing pretty good until I was dealt pocket Jacks, I flopped a set of Jacks, my opponent turned a straight and I rivered a full house, basically taking him for everything he had by winning a $800 pot. I played from 6:30pm until 4:30am, then I headed over to The Palms where I saw two girls making at the bar, one even showed her tits while the other kissed them, made some friends playing Blackjack and headed back to “The Ghetto Coast” around 6am.

venet-ceiling.jpg                                                                                                                       This hallway is a testament to the greatness of mankind.

     But besides having a good night of poker, I was also amazed by how awesome The Venetian is. This is definitely the nicest casino I’ve ever been in. So much style and class, a good mixture of gamblers from young to old, and not an “Mtv” casino like The Palms or The Hard Rock. The Venetian is actually designed better than The Bellagio, and this has nothing to do with the fact that I just won $500 playing there. The place really is amazing.

venet-ceiling-cu.jpg                                                                                                                   Look at this ceiling! Da Vinci eat your heart out.

     So after tonight I’ve put a nice dent in my deficit. I’m only $960 in the hole. Can I win the rest back by Wednesday morning? Let’s hope and see.

$1500 Down the Drain

June 22nd, 2008 by JJ BANKS

rio.jpg                                                                                                                     The Rio - Home of the 2008 World Series of Poker

     My shot at poker glory ended after 3 hours on Saturday as I was knocked out in 2060th place in a field of 2720 for the 2008 World Series of Poker Event #39 $1500 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament. In tournament poker you have to find a way to quickly collect chips as the blinds and antes will constantly rise. I however couldn’t get anything going or find any favorable situations and that’s a recipe for disaster.

event-39.jpg                                                                                                                    Hey, I only had to outlast 2719 other players, no problem.

     Each player started with 3000 in chips and the beginning blinds were 25-50 with 1 hour levels. I heard a lot of players complaining that this structure was too fast but given that this is just a preliminary event I think starting with 60 big blinds and 1 hour levels is more then generous. I didn’t win any big pots or lose any big pots so by the time the blinds were 100 - 200 I was left with about 1300 in chips and I was one of the smallest stacks at the table. I’d guess that the average stack size at the table was probably around 4000 chips. At this level the opening raise was about 600 chips, so when I looked down and saw that I had pocket 10’s I had a good feeling that this was an opportunity to at least double-up. I was in late position and a player in middle position made the standard raise to 600, the action was folded to me and I decided to go all-in, with his bet of 600 and with 300 in blinds the pot was at 900, and since I only had 1300 in chips I see this as the correct decision. The initial raiser calls:

Jeff Larsen: 10s 10h

Guy in shades: Ah Js

The Board:    Flop: Ks 6d Qs    Turn: 7c     River: Ad

     An Ace on the River and I’m out the door. I played the best I could and I got my money in there with the best of it. Actually, if you want to hear something sick, I should have been knocked out of the tournament 2 hours earlier when I had pockets 6’s and limped into a seven way pot which featured a flop of Ah 6h 4h. A player in early position bet, a player in middle position raised and I threw my set of 6’s into the muck. That’s right I threw away a set! With a bet and a raise in a seven way pot I knew someone had to have flop the flush. And sure enough after the initial bettor folded, the raiser showed his hand of 9h7h. Now, how many players are disciplined enough to fold my hand in that situation? Sure maybe the board would have paired and I would have won with a full house, but the percentages are against it.   

     Eventhough I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, playing in a World Series of Poker Event has a level of excitement that is truly one of a kind. Just like the city of Las Vegas. I fucking love this town! I’m even staying in a shitty ass hotel and still having a ball. Let me tell you about The Gold Coast Casino or the ”Ghetto Coast” as I have been calling it.

gold-coast.jpg                                                                                                                   “The Ghetto Coast Casino”

gold-coast-entrance.jpg

     Now to spend 5 nights in Las Vegas for under $500 is a bargain but you do get what you pay for. The Gold Coast slogan is “Serving the locals since they were tourists” and it truly feels that way. From the median age of 55 for most guests, to the toothless wonders roaming the hotel lobby, this hotel isn’t going to be making any “Best of Vegas” lists anytime soon. I wanted to write a blog on Saturday but it took the hotel’s technicans all day to fix my room’s internet connection. I have a feeling that not many guests at this hotel either have or can afford a laptop computer so the internet connections aren’t used much or maintained at all. And oh, you have to pay $11.99 a day to use the internet, that’s so weak, but it’s actually the norm for Vegas hotels. And do you think the ice machine would work? No, sorry! It’s only 111 degrees outside and you expect your hotel to have a working ice machine! How foolish of me.

penny-slots.jpg                                                                                                                       The Gold Coast attracts all the high rollers with their penny slots.

     But who has time to complain about missing amenities when you’re in Las Vegas? Me I guess. But on the brightside “The Ghetto Coast” does have a liquor store in the lobby, which carries Icehouse Beer, my favorite beer of all-time, and the Asian escorts are friendly when you decline their offers. Also, the hotel is located right in between The Rio and The Palms, so it’s location is key.

palms.jpg                                                                                                                 The Palms - the hottest place on Earth

     I have often boasted about the Babes seen at The Borgata in Atlantic City. Well, last night I made my first trip to The Palms casino and without a doubt this place has the most amazing and hottest girls per squre foot than anywhere else in the world! Their poker room only has 4 tables but the view is overwhelming. Every 20 seconds you hear the “click-clak” of high heels on marble floors attached to the most ridiculous female bodies you have ever seen. We’re talking models, we’re talking pornstars, we’re talking just the hottest women from all over the country hanging out in one place, wearing the most outrageous outfits you can imagine. I could only sit at the poker table for 4 hours because I just couldn’t concentrate. It was so ridiculous! Fortunately, in those four hours I won $236 so its fair to say I have nothing but praise for The Palms.

     To escape the sensory overload of The Palms I headed to the Bellagio where I played poker until 6am. I sat down at a 2/5 No-Limit table, (that’s the lowest game The Bellagio offers) and it was the hardest table I’ve ever been at. Every hand I played I was challenged and put to the test. A sharp contrast to how I was steamrolling the poker table at The Palms. Every player in The Bellagio is dead serious about poker, from the guys at my table to the world’s best players, just to name a few: Johnny Chan, Eli Elezra, Gus Hansen, Kenny Tran and David Benyamine who were all playing a $2,000/$4,000 Mixed game last night. I left The Bellagio -$196 finishing the night with a $40 profit, woo who! So now I’m only down -$1460 for my trip.

     Today’s gameplan: Check out The Venetian and win back more money.  

I’m Super!!! Thanks for asking!

June 16th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

sp-big-gaysw.jpg

     Big Gay Al and all his gayness joins the group. “Oh my carrot cake!”

Busted at the Borgata

June 10th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

the-borgatasw.jpg                                                                                                           The Borgata - Atlantic City, NJ

     Today I took a so-called “Personal Day” from work and headed down to Atlantic City to play in The Borgata Summer Poker Open Event #2. The event was a $340 No-Limit Hold’em Tournament that had, I think 547 entries. I saw this as a good opportunity to tune up before I head out to Vegas for the World Serie of Poker. We started with 6000 in chips, 40 minute levels and beginning blinds at 25 - 50. Shuffle up and Deal!

     I played pretty tight early and didn’t get involved in many hands. It didn’t help that I was getting “good” blackjack hands like 7 4 off suit or 9 2 offsuit. When I did play a hand I’d usually have something like A 9 suited or J 10 suited, only to see my cards totally miss the flop, and when I did take a stab at the pot with nothing I had the pleasure of being reraised by the oldest and tighest player at the table, so I’d have to left the hand go. This all lead up to my defining moment.

     With the blinds at 50 - 100 and a chip stack of 4100 in front of me, I was in the big blind and looked down to see Ks Kh. Pocket Kings Baby! One guy in early position called 100, everyone else folded, the small blind limped in for another 50 and I raised with my big blind option another 400. The guy in early postion calls and the small blind folds.

     The Flop: Qd Qc 5d

     I bet out 700 and my opponent thinks for maybe a second and decides to put me “all-in”. OK, now I have a decision. Of course the question is: does he have a queen? Now, if I had a queen in this situation why would he reraise so much? I had bet 700 and he came over the top for 3000 more into a pot that’s only 1800, does that make sense for someone with three of a kind? Maybe this is a semi-bluff and he’s on a diamond flush draw? Before the hand I had characterized this player as a loose aggressive type of player. A level earlier he had hit a 4 outer for a straight against another guy’s two pair. Thinking that he’s either on a flush draw or maybe he’s trying to make a move on me because I had been laying a lot of hands down to reraises, or honestly I just didn’t think someone would play three of a kind that way, I decided to put my tournament life on the line and call.

     He flips over Qs10d and I’m facing a 2 outer to save my life. One of the last remaining Kings doesn’t come and I’m pulling out of The Borgata parking garage after only playing for about an hour and a half. I really didn’t think he had a queen and went with my decision. Looking back maybe I should have just tossed my Kings into the muck. I still would of had 3000 in chips, plenty to still make an impact with. I’ve folded hands a lot stonger than that before in the past. Maybe I’ve been reading too many poker books and overanalyzed the hand. The books would never tell you to bet trips like that, and I guess that’s probably one of the reasons why I didn’t give him credit for three of a kind. When maybe, since my tournament life was on the line I should have just looked at his huge overbet and given him the benefit of the doubt that he had a queen and moved onto the next hand.

     Maybe I would still be playing if I had?     

What does it mean to be “WellHungOver”?

June 8th, 2008 by JJ BANKS

            
    
I recently turned 31 and I started wondering not only what am I doing with my life but also what the fuck is the purpose of my website WellHungOver.net? Originally, I started the website so I could showcase my wonderful short film by the same name, but the more I think about it I think there’s more potential for that so-called waste of cyber-space. So I started thinking “What does it mean to be WellHungOver?” And the following is what I came up with:

1. You don’t fear death, and won’t give into torture.

2. You have Olympic Beer Pong Skills.

3. You have knowledge that would surprise a scholar, and a sense of humor that would make even a bad girl grin.

            

4. You have the sociability of a lamb, but remain a lone wolf.

5. You have the highest level of experience with alcohol, gambling, video games, screwball comedies, music, pornography and fast food. 

6. You can fall in love but you can never love.

            

7. You realize you may have, at times, squandered your abilities and opportunities, but will always remain positive about the future.

     So there you have it, are you “WellHungOver”? If you are and even if you’re not, feel free to stop by sometime at WellHungOver.net