Eye of the tiger

So we just got back from Vegas. We stayed at the Rio, which is where we always stay when we meet my brother in Vegas. This time though he was with this new family, which was fun. I got to teach my new step-niece some things on the guitar, including a song by Staind (bleh), which is one of her favorite bands. It was fun though and good to see them. His wife, Carmen is pregnant, so we're expecting a new baby in a few months. That will be nice and interesting. I wonder what my brother will be like as a father. I imagine a good one.

Between and after family time we played poker in the Rio poker room. Luckily they had a reasonably priced daily tournament and they introduced a new cash game with a good buy in and decent structure. Still though, I must say, seeing as how the Rio is the home of the World Series of Poker you'd expect there to be a much nicer poker room. Now, I've only played at 6 Vegas poker rooms myself, but I've seen a handful more, and the Rio ranks pretty close to the bottom in terms of the look and feel. Granted it has improved since my last visit, but it still is pretty poor, which is disappointing.

In the tournaments and the cash games I have to say that I played some of the best poker I've ever played. I was wondering before this trip how it would be, given that I hadn't played as much in recent months as I used to. But I really felt confident at the tables. I was reading people and situations better than I have ever in recent memory. That being said, I really rad terrible. It was universally soul crushing. I will save the bad beat stories, but I just couldn't seem to get anything going. Only once was I all in, ahead, and won in a key pot. One other time I was all in, behind, and I won. Every other key pot I lost, whether ahead or behind. Of the times I was behind, only once I can say was a clear mistake (although I would say it was somewhat defensible), one other time I was close, but a mistake (that was close the biggest pot I've ever played), and every other time I would say they were close to automatic decisions. I would say though that there is a lot to learn from this trip and I'll be spending the next few days thinking about it all. We're broke now though, so its back to square one, building a bankroll.

And now its back to life as well. Catherine is still fragile, so things are still tough. It doesn't help that its a busy week. But I'm so proud of how strong she's been lately. I know we'll make it through this.

Good record - The Long Winters newest one
Bad record - Anything by Staind (sorry Dela!)