Golf, Poker and the Miami Don fundraiser

Golf season has officially coming to an end for me. Not that I won’t be playing over the next few months. It’s just that there isn’t much more to play for this year. All of my competition golf is done, and I don’t see myself making the trip across the border for a tri-cities tournament that I have played in the past. I’m saving that last trip for the December gathering instead.

So yeah, serious golf is done. Beers & cart golf… I can always make time for.

Now that the Bash is over, I will be talking with Bam Bam (any other volunteers?) about organizing a golf tournament/boozefest in December. It will most likely take place on the Friday to ensure it doesn’t interfere with any sort of blogger tournament that someone might organize (step up; it’s not that hard is it?). I’ll need to place a call to Don and get a course lined up as well.

Bash updates please. I assume that everyone is still in recovery and the stories will begin to trickle in as the days pass. Questions that need answering:

1. Did RecessRampage (Ken) get any action? Forced boobie shots do not count.
2. Did Al actually leave the bar at any point during the weekend?
3. Did BamBam drink anything other than scotch?
4. Did BaconMary turn down the Rooster?
5. Who is the shuffleboard champ?
6. Which team won the Bash Olympics?

I’m sure there are plenty more, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

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The weekend was great, thanks for asking. It started off with a deepstacks game over at the FCPC. I played well, then sloppy, then well again, then sloppy again. My stack never really climbed to any amount that was useable. It finally got down to 5 handed (started 11) and I was still at my starting stack. I pushed ATC, they folded. I pushed again, they folded. They pushed, I folded. I finally got a hand… I pushed KK and was reshoved by Simon. He had AK. The dealer flopped over 4 community cards. Of course, the first card was an ace so I wondered if the dealer burned one. We confirmed that he had, and I was basically done. I called shenanigans, but of course I was joking.

Saturday was my final serious golf tournament of the year. It was the Zone 4 Champion of Champions tournament. This is where each club sends their four champions (mens, senior, junior & ladies) to participate in a team event. It was total gross score so we got to play the course we normally would. Not many prizes were handed out as the theme of the day was to “have fun”. I bubbled (not fun) in 3rd shooting a 73. I doubled a par 5 when I hit it out of bounds from 230 yards on my second shot. Other than that I played well and just hung in there. Putting was on, and it saved me a few times.

After the round I went into the infamous “bull pen” (aka the men’s lounge) to have a few pints with a couple of guys I knew from the home course (Marine Drive). They had poker chips sitting on the table so I wondered if a game would break out soon. I waited, and then waited some more. I finally had to ask. Sure enough they were going to play a game - $20, 100 chips, 15 minute levels. The blinds started out at 1-2. With only 5 players I knew that I could wait it out and get it in with a big hand. I managed to double up when I flopped trip kings and rivered quads. I didn’t even have to lead out once, the guy just kept betting his chips with Ace high. Good stuff. So yeah, ship that $100 win to me and I was even for the weekend again.

I went home and jumped into a $24, 90 man SnG and finished 11th. Damn it I need work on bubble play (still).

Sunday was Lola’s bday. We had two unbelievable meals. The dinner involved crab legs, jumbo prawns and scallops. All made in the comfort of her parent’s house. So good.

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The survivor pool that Miami Don is running now has two people left in it. A big weekend of upsets shook out the remaining 14 other contestants. I fucked it up when I decided to change my pick from Buffalo to Denver at 2am on Sunday. No excuses, I really didn’t listen to my own advice. Don’t bet on divisional games! It’s so simple, yet I didn’t follow that golden rule, and it cost me.

So yeah, Miami Don needs to survive one more fish and he takes home all of our $20 bills. Nice one. I must say I am pretty impressed with his picks so far. I think almost every week he has had a pick that no one else has taken… which is great if you keep winning, and he has.

So that’s one pool I don’t have to stress about anymore. It was tough to cheer for teams I really didn’t care about. But that is the life of a fantasy football junkie...

I hope everyone survived the Bash and had a blast as expected. Trip reports please.

Pushmaster MC

Yeah, I won a pushfest... but not in the fashion I am proud of. Schlepp571 took the chip lead from me when his 68o sucked out on my unlucky AKs. We were down to the final two pushaholics and seated at the same table. From there I only had about 300 chips when out of nowhere I hear BDR talking about how he folded. His mistake was my gain.

There always seems to be a bunch of whining after something like that happens. I've never been there, but every week someone seems to mess up and ruin their chances of being a pushfest champ.

A part of me was like "too bad so sad" and another part of me chalked it up to just bad luck. It happens. I mean its all luck anyway. There are so many factors involved. First off, it begins with who is at your starting table. The more bloggers, the less chance you have of moving on.

I only had Breeze81 at my table. So right there I am ahead of the game.

Then there are the donkey callers. Breeze pushes UTG, I push... and then you get guys calling with Q-10d etc. It is pretty funny. It makes it that much more fun when you river a deuce to take them out.

Good times.

Anyway, I shipped schlepp571 a few bucks cuz I was feeling saucy.

Later.

I saw Fuel lay down Presto in a live game

I'm not sure how long into the tournament it was, but the table was still full.

I never thought I would see the day that Fuel would actually lay down Presto...

UTG - raise 3x

MP - re-raise

Fuel - "I can't beleive I am going to fold this, I know it's going to hit"

Fuel - Fold.

UTG - calls.

Flop: A-A-5

Fuel jumps out of his chair screaming "I knew it! I knew it!" (poor table ettiquette if you ask me LOL)

I can't even remember what the other two had, but I know no one had an ace! Ouch.


See you at the Mookie... will there be enough dead money for a Wawfuls upset?

Ryder Cup Baby

I'm pretty pumped for this weekend's Ryder Cup. Even though it is Tigerless, I still think it will be a good battle. Just the fact that Azinger and Faldo hate each other so much and there is so much history between the two of them makes a good story on its own, and they are not even playing.

I'd say a lot of the pressure is on Phil. He needs to step it up as he has not been a very good team player over the past few. If some of the rookies get hot (look out for Anthony Kim) then the US actually has a shot of making this interesting.

So don't forget to watch all the drama unfold this weekend, especially Sunday. Hopefully it is still close by then and the matches mean something. Of course, it's never over until it's over.

You only have to look as far back as 1999 when Justin Leonard made that bomb of a putt on 17 to send the crowd into a maniac frenzy. Even the US team members couldn't compose themselves as they ran accross the green jumping for joy. I believe Jose Maria Olazabal still had a putt that meant something too. Low class.

So yeah, in between NFL games, make sure you keep an eye on the Ryder Cup, it should be a doozy.

I'd still lay my money on Europe, but you just never know. In fact, now that I look at it, the US leads the Ryder Cup 3 points to 1 after the morning matches. However, it looks like Europe is on the way back already leading 3 of the 4 afternoon matches after about 6 holes.

They might even be tied by the end of the day, which would make for a very exciting weekend.

Have a good one, and good luck at the tables and any sort of NFL related betting.

Opportunity After Thoughts

When I hit it in the water in the round of 15 and stepped down from the tee box area it took a minute or two for it to sink in. My best chance ever of winning a car had just slipped through my fingers. So many different emotions ran through my body during that long walk back to my seat to grab my gear. It didn't take me long to get out of there. I really didn't want to see how it turned out and which luckbox would eventually take the big prize.

As we head out I realized that the FCPC poker series was just about to start. The crew that came to watch me were heading for dinner, but there just wasn't time for me to join them if I wanted to give it my best shot at winning the first week's event. Points are everything in this series. If you make the top 6 in points you are guaranteed a nice pay day.

We walked down to the underground parking and I caught a lift to my parking lot accross the street (lazy). I sent a reply to Fuel when he asked if I was a millionaire. When I got out the car and started to walk down to my car in the other lot I realized that I did not have my cell phone with my any longer.

You know the feeling. Panic and immediate hope ran through my mind as I tried to retrace my steps. I remembered sending Fuel a text right before I got out of the car. I thought to myself "It must be in the back seat still." I ran down to my car, paid for my parking on the way out and then I thought to myself "maybe it fell out when I got out of the car?"

Sure enough, as I pulled to the top of the underground parkade, there it was sitting in the gutter. No bad beat laid on Schaubs this time. I spotted it from accross the street and hoped that no one would see it before I could pull over, jump out and grab it. I did just that. My phone was back and things were right again. I called the crew in the car and they had a good laugh at my expense. I felt like it would be a lucky night for me since you know, I found my phone.

I hit up subway on the way over to the FCPC. Bacon and chicken six inch, toasted of course. I arrived about 45 minutes late and took my seat. I had been blinded down, but not much. 50K starting stack, 6 handed. I was ready to roll. I managed to finish in 2nd place and gain some valuable 2nd place points and a bit of cash. I was proud of the way I played considereing I haven't been playing 6 handed so much lately. Fuel finished 1st at his table, so it was a good night over all.

One guy already quit because of the sick beats that this one girl kept giving. He said he couldn't handle it. He stated she was so bad that he was totally turned off of the series because of it. We all told him to suck it up, but I doubt he will be back. FCPC organizer has agreed to give him his money back which I think it is total bullshit.

Have you ever played in a poker tournament where someone actually got a refund? No chance. Suck it up FCPC tournament organizer and put your foot down! No refunds, the money stays in the prize pool. Seat open!

So yeah, now the whole structure of the tournament has gone for shit. We might even change the entire thing and make it a one table, 10 player tournament now. Does it make sense to change the tournament after everyone has paid? I think not, but maybe that is just me.

Edit: The FCPC organizer has done the right thing and cancelled the tournament series. All monies will be refunded to the participants and we will work on something new. We appreciate all of his efforts as I can personally say that doing something like organizing a poker tournament (let alone a series, or any sort of event where it requires the participation of others) is a very thankless job. So THANK YOU Simon, I appreciate what you've done so far, and feel your pain in having to deal with some of the crap that has gone on in the past few days.

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Saturday I played in a golf tournament that I've played in for over 14 years now. We've won it a couple of times and always have a great day as it usually lands on my birthday weekend. We did some heavy drinking and had a blast. I guess the highlight for me was the $25,000 hole in one chance. Of course, I didn't make it, but I sure gave it my best try. The ball got a nice kick from the right side of the green, headed straight for the pin and finished less than 2 feet behind the hole. In fact, the spotters that were there for insurance purposes jumped right out of their chairs! lol. We finished 2nd with a score of 10 under par. We lost to a team of ringers and we weren't able to defend our title.

So it's official. This was the year of not being able to defend. Sure I had my biggest win ever in golf, but in other team events we just didn't get it done. As the saying goes, "It's always harder to repeat." So true.

Mookie Day, see you there.

Fifteen(th)

I was so early for the finals it was ridiculous. I have this thing about showing up when I am told… even when I know they are just saying that to make sure we are all there with plenty of time to spare. I left work and made my way to the driving range. I hit about 25-30 balls with my 8 iron trying to visualize the same type of shot I had hit the day before to get me to the finals.

After the range I jumped in my car and made my way downtown. One of those yellow cabs jetted out in front of me and cut me off. The cab number was 15. For some reason or another that number pops up more than any other. I am not sure if I am looking for it more or what. It’s my number in baseball, and most other sports that I have played in the past. Oh, and it’s my birth date, and the month happens to be September.

I park, get my shit together and make my way down and around the back of Canada Place and see the floating green sitting there once again. I really felt like this was going to be a very special day. Either way, I felt very lucky to have a chance like this and wanted to make the best of it.

There were about 35 finalists. The format was a bit different than the first day. We only received two golf balls for the first round and all we had to do was keep hitting the green. Last man standing would win the car. Second place was a trip for two to New York to watch a Rangers game, third place was a full set of Taylor Made sticks, and fourth was a trip for four to Whistler to do some snowmobiling. My focus was obviously winning, and nothing but… sure the other prizes would be nice, but the car was the big one.

My first shot of the two was a bit nerve racking. I was second on the list, so there wasn’t any time to screw around here. I tried to create a routine and be consistent. I figured it was my best shot at being calm and not letting the crowd bother me too much. Once we got going there were probably over one thousand people watching from up top, where the beer and wine were flowing, and laughs and heckles continued to increase as the night went on.

I stuck with the 8 iron the entire time. I hit my first of my two balls into the left water just I had done early on the day before. The crowd groaned because it was the million dollar shot that I had just let slip by... oh well, move on. I was second on the list to hit for the entire competition. So I knew if I was going to go deep in this thing there was a good chance that I would eventually be the first guy to tee off in each round.

I was able to suck it up and hit my second one on the green just right of the pin. The crowd hooted and hollered as anticipated... Lola and the Thordogs led the cheers and things were off and running. 26 guys managed to hit the green in one way or another in the first round and we were on our way.

Except, they stopped the competition right then and there and decided that the team event would go next (as planned I suspect) and get out of the way of the finale. The team event took much longer than they had wished. By the time we started round 2 the sun was starting to fade and the shade was creeping up by the minute. As predicted, the guy who went first in the first round was already out. So that left me to tee off first in every subsequent round. I tried not to let it bother me, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t. That was just another element that I was going to have to deal with and shut out of my zone. I wanted to remain focused no matter what the circumstance.

Round 2 and all rounds after that allowed us only one ball each. That’s it. Hit the green and you stay in, miss the green and you are done.

The TV cameras were out, the music was pumping and the crowd was getting their drink on. I stepped up took dead aim… and then backed off. I just didn’t feel like I was set up right. The crowd groaned and the chatter was continuous. Nothing different, just amplified by the sheer number of people that were now all focused on the competitors… and at this moment they were all focused on me.

Never have I been so nervous. Never have I had that feeling of adrenaline pumping through my body so intensely during a golf shot. We were down to 25 left and I had already backed off the shot once. I took dead aim and of course, pulled it again! It was heading to the left back portion of the green, the wind was still blowing at us and as the ball descended I thought my night was over… but it held on and somehow grabbed some land! I was safe and moving on.

The next round would unfortunately be my last. We were down to 15 (ironic?) and the wind had completely died off. I considered hitting a 9, and right now as I sit here I still wonder if I should have pulled out the 9 and gave it a try. In the end I went with the 8 iron and I, once again, pulled it left. This time I wasn’t so lucky and it eventually hit the water. I was in shock, but at the same time very satisfied with how I did. Of course winning was the only thing that mattered, but this experience was something that I will never forget.

In fact, I’m already planning on finding my way in next year. I know it was there for the taking, I just didn’t get it done.

The final two guys battled it out, and hard. In the final show down neither of them wanted to lose. It took 12 rounds of hitting the green (or both missing) before one guy missed and the other guy didn’t. Nuts. I am not sure I would have been able to withstand that type of pressure, but I know I wouldn’t be backing down… not ever. Next time, there’s always next time.

A buddy of mine was there and took these pictures:

My approach
The backswing
The finish

Oh and I made it into the paper too... so far, no autograph requests LOL.

It was quite the way to start an awesome weekend. More on that later.

Thanks for all the support and good wishes, I appreciate it.

Qualifying Update

What a rush.

When I arrived at Canada place I had minutes to spare. I wanted to arrive on time, but really there was no rush. So I register and they give me a handful of items like food comps, beer comps and a ticket for my choice of sunglasses. I've been looking for a new pair for a while now, so it was a nice surprise to be able to pick out a pair before we got down to business. I don't wear sunglasses while I golf, or even when I practice. That's just me.

So the shot was 164 yards to the pin and there was about a 3 story drop. It looked like more, but I went with it. The wind was coming off the water from left to right. There is a bunker along the front right portion of the floating green. I decided that I would aim right at the corner of that bunker and let the wind and my natural fade bring it back to the pin. If I pulled it long, I would still be ok, and if I bailed out right I might still catch the front portion as well.

The format was simple. The first step was to hit the green with one of my three designated golf balls. If I did that, I would advance to the next round. There were about 45 guys in my "pool b" and they were taking 10 players to the finals from our heat. I thnk there were three heats.

First goal: hit the green. You get one minute to hit all three golf balls. There is actually a buzzer that sounds if you are over the time limit. My first and second shot were hit in the exact same spot... the water. I hit it right where I aimed, but when I pulled it a bit left it just didn't make it. Knowing that I had one last shot to move on, this time, I took dead aim. I hit my 8 iron right at the stick and it drifted off a bit but still managed to land on the green about twenty feet short right. Phase one complete.

Second goal: finish in the top 10. This time the rules were different. I had to place in the top 10 out of the remaining 16 players (yes, only 16 players hit the green out of my pool). A lot of guys were nervous, and shanking it left and right, long and short. I was confident that I could hit the green for a second time and move on to the finals tomorrow.

There was a warm up area just off to the right where I would go and warm up when I was batting in the hole (3rd up). I took that time to focus and do some breathing. It's something that I started using when I read an article about it before the culb championship. It has really helped me calm down and focus solely on the next shot.

So they call my name and I head up to the tee just as I had before. This time I decided to take dead aim once more. I hit my 8 iron and it never left the pin! It landed 5'2" from the pin and I ended up finishing 2nd furthest from the cup in that round. Phase two complete.

Nothing but the pin tomorrow as Bambam put it. There is a million dollar first shot too. That's right, if I hole out on my very first shot tomorrow I will pocket a million. Sick to think about really. I mean I've never had a hole in one. But you just never know.

My focus is actually winning this thing. Sure the million would be super sweet, don't get me wrong... it would change our lives. But really, what are the chances?

Why not? You just never know.

First things first. Take dead aim and try my best.

VW Ultimate Shoot-Out OMG

Ok so yesterday I alluded to some golf news that I was waiting on. I had received an email from my club's head pro asking me if I was interested in participating in the above mentioned shoot-out... Obv. Obv. Obv! It wasn't a guarantee as they had not received confirmation that I was in. I waited and hoped, and waited some more. Well this morning when I got to work I had the following email waiting for me (as hoped):

Re: Individual Shoot-Out
Dear Competitor,

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with all of the relevant information and details to ensure that you have a memorable experience at the 2008 Volkswagen Ultimate Shoot-Out. The following information is for those who are entered into the Individual Shoot-Out.

The Individual Shoot-Out
A field of 200 amatuer golfers will be competing in this year’s Volkswagen Ultimate Shoot-Out that will see the winner drive away in a brand new Volkswagen Passat. The format of this event is simple; hit the green and you stay in, miss and you are eliminated. The last golfer standing wins!

Qualifying Time
There are three qualifying times on Thursday, September 11th.

YOU ARE IN QUALIFYING SESSION B – 11:15AM TO 1:15PM. PLEASE SHOW UP AT
LEAST ½ PRIOR TO TEE TIME.

Registration
You are already pre-registered. Simply show up at least 1/2 hour prior to your qualifying time.

Event Finals
The event finals take place on Friday, September 12th at Canada Place at 5:00pm. The VWUSO Individual Event will see 28 finalists battle it out for the new Passat! The format for the finals will be a simple “last golfer standing” competition. Similar to qualifying, each golfer will get a minimum of three shots. Those golfers hitting the green will continue to advance until we have a winner.

We are expecting a gallery of over 2000 people this year so make sure and this will surely add to the excitement and tension!

Do I even have to tell you how pumped I am? I immediately took the day off work and notified my friends and family. Obviously my first goal is to qualify for Friday's finals. I don't want to look any further ahead than that. One shot, one day at a time. Just like any other tournament.

I went to the range after work, and plan on going back tomorrow morning before I head downtown. I've got a couple of buddies that work down there that will be meeting me there, and hopefully Lola will be albe to join me as well.

Somebody pinch me now. I can't wait.

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow night...

Live Poker WTF, FF wolf

When Lola mentioned that she was going to go away for 2 nights with her sister and mother to Whistler, it immediately got me to thinking about one thing and one thing only....

Live poker and Monday Night Football!

It's been a while since the crew at the club have gotten together to sling some chips and drink some beers. Monday's bachelorism was the perfect reason to take advantage of the first week's MNF games and do just that.

I arrived at about 6pm, just in time to make one last beer order before the bar closed. Of course, we always bring reserves for when the bar shuts it down, but I always try to buy a few to support the club... and disguise the fact that we brought our own...

Anyway, poker really didn't get started until about 8pm, which was way later than I had hoped. Guys showed up late, as they normally do when it is still light out. Being the first MNF of the new NFL season, I expected the turnout to be pretty weak, and it was.

Only 6 guys ended up throwing down $20 twice.

The first time around I got taken out by a beat that is pretty standard. I am in the BB with 57s. Two limpers and the SB completes. I check.

The SB checks the flop of K-5-7 rainbow. I lead out and bet the pot (8BB) with my bottom two pair. It folds to the SB and he pushes for another 12 BB. I call, he flips up KJd. I say "why didn't you raise with that hand?" tap tap.

He says "I'm a feel player, I just do whatever comes to me at the time. I felt like just calling there."

Sure enough a King hits on the turn and I am crippled. I push 10's on the next hand and get outflopped and can't fold when I see the Ace. Smart.

I did much better in the second game, chopped first and went home $20 richer.

The hand that vaulted me into the chip lead was one where I actually used my poker brain and called purely on odds. The guys always give me a hard time because I am perceived to be a "math guy" in their eyes since I have a finance background. It's pretty funny, and I often try to exploit that image by making "calculated bets" and getting my opponents to fold their superior hands. It's fun.

Anyway, I raise from UTG (4 handed now, details are fuzzy) with K8d. Two callers and the flop comes out with two diamonds. I had 3-1 and made the call when EP pushed his stack (less than pot) and I make the call knowing I am going to hit a diamond. No delay, it hits on the turn and I tighten back up.

Millertime and I chop first place. Good times. I was there for about an extra hour than I wanted to be, but winning money always seems to make me fall asleep much more easily.

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Live blog alert! As I type this post up I am two tabling some $0.25/0.50 and the following hand took place:

Seat 3: XhY ($16.50)
Seat 7: Orkistraitor ($62.85)
Seat 9: Schaubs ($61.45)
loada08 posts the small blind of $0.25
Schaubs posts the big blind of $0.50
Dealt to Schaubs [Ac Kh]
RareDonkeyFish folds
XhY raises to $1
Orkistraitor has 15 seconds left to act
Orkistraitor raises to $3
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs calls $2.50 - smooth call felt like the right call here out of the BB.
XhY calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Ah 9h As]
Schaubs checks - so weak.
XhY checks
Orkistraitor bets $6.50
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs calls $6.50
XhY folds
*** TURN *** [Ah 9h As] [6s]
Schaubs checks
Orkistraitor bets $22.25
Schaubs raises to $51.95, and is all in
Orkistraitor calls $29.70
Schaubs shows [Ac Kh]
Orkistraitor shows [Qs Ad]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 9h As 6s] [8d]
Schaubs shows three of a kind, Aces
Orkistraitor shows three of a kind, Aces
Schaubs wins the pot ($123.15) with three of a kind, Aces

Cha Ching! LOL so easy. I wish.
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Ok I am back.
Anyway, the weekend went well. Fantasy Football is in full effect now, so Sunday was basically all that. Football, football and more football. I won my two matches and also survived Don's pool when the Patriots managed to hold on for dear life (pooooor Tom... waaaaa.... poooooor Boston!... yeah right eh!). I sure am glad I got that pick out of the way...

I did well in pickem's too, which is nice. I usually start off pretty weak as I get into the season. I made some dumb dumb picks, but also predicted a couple of upsets. So it worked out well. I managed to pick off 10 and 9 wins in my two pools. ya me.

I also participated in the FSL blogger challenge that Blinders is running once again. I finished 4th in my stacked pool and missed out on some cash even though I beat blinders... so rigged. Anyway, he's mentioned that the software will be able to accomodate the large field so we won't be broken up into groups of ten. I predict this increases my ROI as I always seem to enter early and get matched up against some tough comp.

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Finally, this Friday we kick off the latest FCPC poker challenge. So my Friday's are booked for about 5 weeks. Top 6 of the 12 get into the $1700 final table. I look forward to the challenge, more on that later.

I also may have some golf news if things work in my favor (crossing fingers and hoping for some luck) and I will update you all on that if it goes as planned.

I should be at the Mookie tomorrow, see you there?

What coulda been... (not really a poker brag)

It would be a poker brag if I could have actually pulled it off and won. I won my share of races at the end (twice with less than 15 to go) which is essential to going deep in these things.


Anyway, I tried to make a move on Speaker on our final hand and it back fired. When I look back and think about it from every which way I realize that raising from the SB is something that I normally would have done with any ace. This time I limped trying to mix it up and he hit his 6 on a 10-6-10 flop. I re-over shoved on the flop hoping it was actually him trying to make a move on me. Nope. He had a 6. Can't blame him for the call. It was a lot of fun to compete like that, I just wish I could have taken it down as it would have been my first Mookie win. Twice a bridesmaid now. I feel like LJ use to (well ok maybe not as often), now she's just stacking up the wins like no other blogger out there. Thanks for the rail, I know it would have been nice to pull it off...

2nd place makes Schaubs sad.

I know I'll get one sooner or later, I just really thought last night was going to be my night. I rant out of patience and it cost me big time. With only 16BB's in play each I knew it was going to come down to a gamble sooner or later. Next time, I'll make sure I have the goods. GG Speaker, and BaconMary and all the rest of you bloggheads.

I feel compelled to make one comment about BDR though. Even though I doubt Speaker was listening, it was very annoying to hear the crew on BDR talk about the final hand as it was still in progress. Buddydank would never stand for this. Basically, once I reshoved, everyone on the air started talking about hand ranges and who had what. They just kept going on and on.

Now I love me some BDR. In fact I think I was the last one to sign off last night after the tournament. However, I think it is bad form to be talking about the hand when it is still going on. At the time I was very annoyed because as the clock ticked down and Speaker was making a decision for the entire tournament, everyone was putting me on a hand and talking about what each of us had. It definitly could have influenced a player to make a call or a fold. I still wonder if Speaker was listening to BDR. Oh well. Fuck it. Let's move on shall we....

Let the NFL Season begin!!

What coulda been... (golf brag)

I had a start to my round like I've never experienced before. When I sat on the 6th tee waiting to hit my tee shot on the par 3 I really felt like it was going to be one of those rounds that comes around once in a lifetime. I've had my low rounds before, sure, but I've never had a start like I did yesterday.

Long story short... it didn't turn out the way I had hoped. But still, it sure was cool to have that feeling like I could shoot some ridiculous number that everyone hopes to shoot in their golf career.

So yeah, I birdie the first (10 footer). I reach the 570 yard par 5 in two when I roll my hybrid to within 15 feet. (side note: we are playing in a 4 man best ball competition where we only record the best score of the four of us, there is some cash up for grabs, so I am playing very aggressively and going for everything).

I step up to my eagle putt with the intentions of being very aggressive and just burn the edge and miss the eagle 3. I make the one coming back. 2 under after 2. The next hole, a par 4, I hit my hybrid off the tee (trying to play smart aggressive golf, sort of how I try to play poker... lol).

I'm in the left rough and the rest of team is basically out of the hole (one in the water, one out of bounds, one hit his approach into the greenside bunker) and I am left to make a par (or even better, a birdie) and keep our team afloat.

I flush my 9 iron from 152 and it lands on the front of the green as planned and rolls up to the pin to within a foot! 3 undie after 3. This is where I start to get that feeling. My team mates can tell that I am zoned in and I am ready to take this thing low.

The next hole is a par 3. 165 yards downhill, pin in the front, protected by a bunker. Down wind, so I pull out my 8 iron and hit it right at the stick. At this point I am calling for it to go in, GO IN! I say. It ends up fading a bit to the right and I have a very slick 10 foot side hill bender. I lip out! Damn. The wheels are falling off. LOL.

I make it for par and move on to the par 5 5th. I pull my drive (trying to kill every drive and take dead aim at every pin) in the left rough. I punch out to 175 yards. I pull out my 6 iron and fire it right at the pin. It never leaves the pin, it is going straight at the pin. I want it to get close, or even better, get in the hole.

It never leaves the flag stick, one hops and hits the stick! It luckily lands a few feet right of the pin. I try to recall the last time I've ever hit the pin like that, and I can't. I still can't. I rarely (see: never) hit it like that right at the pin, and then it actually hits the pin.

I miss that putt as well. Still 3 under, after 5. Meanwhile, my team has made birdies on the 4th and 5th and we are 5 under as a team after 5. At this point the hairs on my arms are standing straight up and not since the club championship have I felt that sort of golf zen before. I really felt like I could take it low, but I knew I had to be aggressive, for the team.

That aggression would get the best of me. I took a lot of risks that I wouldn't have taken if it was just for me. I wanted to make as many birdies, at whatever the cost. I ended up making 3 more birdies. I finished the round 3 over but I think it will take a long while before I ever forget about that kind of start to my round.

Our team finished 2nd overall, we won some cash (tripled our buyin... weeee) and had an excellent steak and chicken buffet.

I love days like that, it makes me want to get better and better.

I wish I could say the same for poker. Nevertheless, I'll be at the mookie tonight. Mostly to see if Waffles will make this run that he continues to hope for. A part of me wants him to lose by $1 to LJ, another part of me actually wants to see him pull off this improbably come back and win these prop bets (they aren't life changing money anyway). The waffles rant would be ridiculous if he came oh so close, and then lost to some ricockulous suckout and was laughed at by all the railbirds hoping for said disaster.

See ya there.

Various

My first fantasy football draft of the season took place last night with this chica via nfl.com. I'm pretty happy with my team (lucky to get 2nd pick of course), check it out:

(2) Adrian Peterson (RB-MIN)
(23) Reggie Wayne (WR-IND) - I snapped him up fast than Fuel can say "Football blows"
(26) Steve Smith (WR-CAR) - suspended first two games, so what
(47) Reggie Bush (RB-NO) - felt like another steal
(50) Chris Cooley (TE-WAS)
(71) Lee Evans (WR-BUF)
(74) Jake Delhomme (QB-CAR) - needed a QB at this point
(95) Nate Burelson (WR-SEA) - another steal? Early on he will need to step up
(98) Ricky Williams (RB-MIA) - you just never know
(119) Vince Young (QB-TEN)
(122) DeSean Jackson (WR-PHI) - I used my entire 90 seconds for this pick
(143) Packers (DEF-GB)
(146) Kris Brown (K-HOU)
(176) Kenny Watson (RB-CIN) - buh bye Rudi

14 rounds (2RB, 3WR a must). I had second pick and I had to take AP. I couldn't really justify another RB at that spot. I tried to find a reason to take Westbrooke or Barber III but in the end, I went with the man they call purple jesus. Take a QB? Not that early. Never.

Overall, I think I have a good team. It always comes down to injuries though. Staying healthy is the key to winning these things for sure.

I'm also in a keeper pool, and that draft is coming up this holiday Monday. I've got my eye on a few rookie RB's. I'd really like to get a top 5, but with 10th pick I really don't like my chances. Everyone usually snaps them up pretty quickly (especially in keepers).

I'm also in 23skidoo's two pools, and Miami Don's survivor pool. I look forward to this one because I have never played in one before. I know there must be some sort of strategy out there that works. I know I know, pick winning teams... once. I might be on to something here... actually, I'm not going to reveal my real strategy here on this space... cuz I want all of you to crash and burn!!

Man I love football season.

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Bloglines - it seems so hard to keep up. I remember the old days when I was too lazy to start up some sort of blog reader and I relied on surfing the blogs, link by link. Every once in a while I'll take that ride just for old times sake.

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I just realized the Ryder Cup is coming up soon. Sept 16th - 21st to be exact. Lay money on Europe? No Tiger so you might have a point... It should be close... I guess time will tell.

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Golf tourney this weekend. 36 hole, 5 man scramble. Good times. Lots of gambling (trend?) and drinking as per in these types of tournaments. They are all about the fun, winning long drives or KP's. Reading putts for my team mates. Giving them yardage and crushing beers at a medium pace.

My next goal is to get a hole in one. I still am searching, when will it stop.

Hope all is well in your world. The next 4 months are going to fly by. Just like the first 8.

What will you do with your time?

3rd in the Dook, then 5th in the Mook

So last night wasn't a total waste of time. While I didn't get a chance to take out Waffles as I had hoped, I did manage to make it to the final table with him. Good job waffles, I believe he is only $40 away from winning a prop bet with Bayne and another one with LJ if he can stay on top.

Nothing to exciting to report in terms of how I managed a fifth place in the Mookie. I basically played very tight (like 10/7/something) and waited for some good cards. I did manage a couple of resteals which was nice as it confirmed my reads. Other than that, I won a couple of key races when guys called my pushes (1. 10's vs. A5o - ok not a race, 2. KJs vs A10o vs Hoy - turned the straight) which is always a must in these bloggaments. Having someone come in for a raise when you have QQ or AK is always nice too. It must have folded to me three times in my BB when I had a premium hand. Just bad timing, stupid RNG I hate you sometimes.

It was just nice to play good solid poker again. I still recognize I have some ugly leaks which I will continue to work on. I hate trying to steal and then getting caught, laying it down and basically spewing chips. Of course, if you keep the pressure on you can accumulate them back in time, but spewage sucks donkey balls.

Here is a perfect example of where I should just be folding this junk. Especially at a final table. I think I need to go back to what Mr. Mom taught me (or I should say I read on his blog) which was when you get to the final table, just play super uber 12 year old tight (yeah I said it, so). It will save you a lot of chips fo' sho':

The Mookie - 800/1600 Ante 200
Seat 2: Schaubs (14,820)
Seat 3: irongirl01 (14,400)
Seat 5: oossuuu754 (76,921)
Seat 8: SirFWALGMan (17,529)
Seat 9: NumbBono (32,330)
Schaubs antes 200
irongirl01 antes 200
oossuuu754 antes 200
SirFWALGMan antes 200
NumbBono antes 200
SirFWALGMan posts the small blind of 800
NumbBono posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Schaubs [Ad Th]
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs raises to 4,800
irongirl01 folds
oossuuu754 folds
SirFWALGMan raises to 17,329, and is all in
NumbBono folds
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs folds
Uncalled bet of 12,529 returned to SirFWALGMan
SirFWALGMan mucks
SirFWALGMan wins the pot (12,200)

Just terrible poker. Putting in a third of my stack with that shit hand, and then folding to pressure. If I am willing to raise, I better be willing to call a push. I just chalk it up to not playing enough. I'll get there, if I have the time!

Congrats go out to IronGirl in winning her first Mookie. As you can tell from above, she overcame a huge chip deficit to take this thing down.

Maybe this was the hand that set it off for her (I'm so nice):

The Mookie - 600/1200 Ante 150
Seat 2: Schaubs (26,370)
Seat 3: irongirl01 (8,025)
Seat 4: hoyazo (19,856)
Seat 5: oossuuu754 (47,930)
Seat 8: SirFWALGMan (34,054)
Seat 9: NumbBono (19,765)
Schaubs antes 150
irongirl01 antes 150
hoyazo antes 150
oossuuu754 antes 150
SirFWALGMan antes 150
NumbBono antes 150
hoyazo posts the small blind of 600
oossuuu754 posts the big blind of 1,200
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Schaubs [5h 7h]
SirFWALGMan folds
NumbBono folds
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs raises to 3,800
irongirl01 raises to 7,875, and is all in
hoyazo folds
oossuuu754 folds
Schaubs has 15 seconds left to act
Schaubs calls 4,075 - I was very close to folding here, in fact I am still not sure if it was worth the chip spewage.
irongirl01 shows [Jc Jd]
Schaubs shows [5h 7h]
*** FLOP *** [Jh 4c 5s]
*** TURN *** [Jh 4c 5s] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 4c 5s 7d] [Qd]
irongirl01 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Schaubs shows two pair, Sevens and Fives
irongirl01 wins the pot (18,450) with three of a kind, Jacks

Still wondering if I made the right call there, it was right after the money bubble burst, maybe that was part of my thinking. Dunno.

So yeah a big $40 for my 5th and $16 for 3rd in the Dookie.

I'm a baller, no autographs please.

You should be asking this guy The Trooper instead... nice beat!

Thorndog's YouTube debute, FF Madness

A friend of ours put this together. It's a video of our final game on Sunday. This is one of three homers that Thorndog hit that game. If it wasn't for him we would have lost by about 7 or 8. A guy we know filmed this and two hours later he was showing it to us on his iphone.

Technology rocks. I crack up everytime I watch it, the audio he put in there just tops it off... super awesomeness indeed.

Oh and that's me at the very end of the video finishing off the barrage of Top Gun high fives.










I think I have enough Fantasy Football pools now too (too lazy... actually not enough time... to figure out how to chop out all the whitespace sorry):

If anyone is interested in joining any of these leagues there is still room. Cost ranges from a $10 pickem' league (23skiddoo) to a $100 pickem' league that pays out weekly. Don also has a survivor football league going that is $20 that I am pretty pumped about too. Drop me a comment if you are interested in any of them.

See you at the Mookie tonight where I will gladly be donating my ten bucks as I try to take out Waffles and LJ (in that order, hee haw style).

2nd place makes Schaubs angry

We lost by one run in the finals yesterday. We lost to the team we beat last year. I guess you could say the series is 1-1. Fuck was I ever annoyed though. Team sports are so much more difficult than individual sports like Golf or Bowling. I mean sure there are team versions of those sports too, but you know what I mean.

Baseball is particularily difficult if you are sitting on the sidelines. We had 12 guys signed up to play and of course we could only play 7 at a time (slow pitch rules 7 guys, 3 girls). So I actually didn't sit the entire tournament until the beginning of the finals. Go figure. I would have much rather sat earlier on, but those games were very tight and blah blah blah the coach makes all the decisions as to what is best for the team.

Anyway, we couldn't do it. We almost did it, but their ghey ass pitcher on the other team did the "strategic thing" and walked two guys (myself included) to get to the girl with 2 out. Grounder and the game is over. Smart, strategic move that everyone on our team was whinning about after and all I could say to them was "I would have done the exact same thing." followed by "we shouldn't have put ourselves in that position to begin with."

There were a shitload of errors, in fact, more than all of the first four games combined. It just wasn't meant to be who knows. Repeating is always much harder and you just need to be that much more focused to get there. We weren't and it cost us.

Other than that loss, the weekend kicked ass. I'm glad ball is over once and for all for the season now, and I can get back to the golf course more regularily and keep at it. I didn't make it to the Ironman as I predicted, and I heard the winning score was 76, which was very beatable. Whatever.

I think I'll play some poker tonight, maybe even take a stab at the LPR tournament.

Have a good week suckas.

Weekend fun is so close...

For the first time in my three years here at work, I've just polished off a beer... at work. That's right, times are good and I really am looking forward to checking out of here any minute now.

Baseball tournament is the main focus for the weekend. Our team is set to defend our title. It's always tougher to win it back to back... and I plan on making it a regular occurance for me in the future.

So our first game is tonight at 7pm, followed by many beers (actually I've already had one and I haven't even left work!) and some good BBQ. Then it's right back to the park tomorrow morning. It obviously depends on how we do tonight, but either way we'll be playing and drinking before noon.

Unfortunately I'll have to skip out on my clubs "third major" of the year - The Ironman. I love love love this tournament because they literally set up the course to be about as hard, as long and as fast as it possible can be. I don't have that sense of urgency to play in it this year after winning the big one, although I'd really love to squeeze in 18 at some point tomorrow.

The only other problem that will thwart that notion is the fact that I also have a wedding reception to attend tomorrow night (the Vegas wedding). So yeah, lots going on and lots of drinking to adhere to.

I hope you all have a good weekend and good luck at the tables if that's where you'll be.

Good luck to on_thg who is playing in his own Club C this weekend.

Out.

One hand does not make a life session

Why is that every once in a while I'll write a post and talk about what it is I plan on doing that evening, and then when I actually get to doing it it is not at all like I had planned? It's like I am jinxing myself, but I know that isn't true because there are other times where I mention something here on this space and it actually happens the way I planned it. Go figure.

Anyway, if I was to only talk about the good stuff and all the things that were going well then I wouldn't be writing about the true Schaubs and the blunders I can often make in the world of poker, and in life. I am not here to tell you how dominate I am, or how many tournaments I win. I simply don't play enough and do not have a large enough sample size to say with certainty whether or not I am truely a great (well this one I know), good, average or terrible poker player.

And to be honest, I really don't care at this point which one I am.

I'm not going to bore you with the details or the hand history from last night's live hand at the Rock but I will make the following notes for my own reference in the future:

• When raising limpers, always make sure your raise is significant enough to push out those ugly draw hands or ace rag hands that can bust you in the flop is right.
• When an UTG player limps, take note and put on the brakes if you whiff.
• When an UTG player checks to you and there is an ace on the board, and you don't have an ace - don't bet unless you have a read that tells you otherwise.
• Don't bluff calling stations.
• Don't fire a second bullet against a calling station.
• Don't fire a third bullet when you know he is going to call... he's going no where!
• If you know you are beat, just check fold and save that last bet, oh and the turn bet too.

Obviously I am very frustrated with the way I played a hand last night... and it cost me. Not financially, but it makes me question how far I have really come in this game. Whether or not I have actually learned anything over the past 2 years. I mean I know the answer to that one is a resounding yes, but its nights like last night that make me take a step back and evaluate my play and the line that I took. Obviously I was trying to represent a big ace as I had c-bet when the ace fell. The calling station called me down with just A9. I had not entered a pot for a raise once in the entire hour I had sat there. Basically folding everything and stealing a pot or two to keep up. I never bluffed once, and then when I do, I get called down by Ace nine.

I guess he just couldn't put me on a higher ace. Who knows, in fact, he probably wasn't considering my holdings at all. The problem was I didn't consider my surroundings. This was 1-2 NL after all. The game is very beatable if I just actually take the time to realize what I need to do to beat it. Not bluff at pots I have no business owning. I tend to fight for pots where I've been the preflop aggressor. It's like I really feel like I deserve to have it. I mean since I raised, I obviously had the best hand PF... this is just wrong.

I'll bounce back, but I am just so frustrated with myself right now it's mind numbing. A terrible sleep was to follow as I just couldn't believe how badly I played it. It was shocking.

I am not sure where else to go with this right now so I'm just going to end it and hit post.

Olympic prop bet, Padrig is #2

Alan and I have just made a prop bet on total medals earned. Since I am half Canadian and half Australian I am taking the average of the two total medals earned (plus I am giving him another 3 medals from that total) vs. Japan’s total…

(Canada plus Australia)/2 minus 3 = (0+5)/2 – 3 = -.5 vs. Japan 4 (uh oh! I have negative medal count right now!)

10 small ones on the line which would have made the 100m breaststroke a little more exciting to watch last night. It was fun to watch the US 4x100 team stick it to the French last night too. What a race, what a comeback by the anchoring swimmer. Great job team USA. I love how they make such a big deal about it, but then the ladies race right before that the US girl LOST at the last second to GBR and it wasn’t really talked about much. With the men, it was replay after replay and all the hype was just too much.

I must say, NBC is very difficult to watch. It is soooooo all about the USA team it is almost unbearable. At least with CTV you get a well balanced perspective.

Padrig Harrington is obviously #2 in the world now. He’s won the last two majors in dramatic fashion. Can that guy putt or what? I guess that answers this question. Oh and yes, Nadal is now #1 in the world in my books as well.

It’s the Rafael and Padrig show!

The weekend I just had was awesome. Much rest and relaxation was had by Lola and myself over in Victoria (Vancouver Island) at a summer beach front property. Bike rides, boat rowing, prawning, reading, sleeping, drinking and an amazing dinner at the Harbour House for our 2 year anniv. were the highlights.

Good times.

Playing some live poker with Willy at the Rock tonight after work before he heads back to San Francisco. Should be a good time as per.

Still haven’t touched a club since my win. I have a match on Thursday I should start preparing for, but I doubt I will. Too much else going on these days!

Later.

Live Poker... on a school night?

My homeboy Willy is in town right now and he has been on a total poker binge. He's played 5 nights in a row varying it between 1/2NL and some midnight madness tournies at the Rock. So far he is up about $2K total which includes chopping 2 midnight tournies (worth $770 per) with 55 players in each. Well done Willy! Buyins are usually around $50 and you start with 2500 chips, 15 minute blinds. Not bad, but if you don't make a move early and double up your night will be short lived.

So last night Lola and I met up and went for dinner. After that him and I planned to hit up the new casino by my place called Starlight. I'm not going to get into too much detail with hands and such only because I really don't have the time... oh and I can't remember most of the hands as usual. I never take notes when I am out playing live, however I think I might "borrow" one of the small tape recorders we have here at work next time and pull a Gus Hansen.

Anyway, Willy is playing close to 70% of the hands. Raising with air and playing an all around aggressive style that I've never seen him play before. No one will play back at him, everyone is weak weak weak. He was dealt aces twice and took down a couple of nice pots. I think he finished up about $250. I finished up $177, so it was a great night for both of us.

I hate it when one buddy wins and the other person loses. Its like, why even bother wasting time. Why don't you just give me your buy in and we do something else? Sometimes I feel that way, other times I just want to take anyone's and everyone's money. It's probably a leak because there were a few times I made some preflop folds that I may have otherwise called against some other fish. He's a solid player, and I was giving him the respect since he was only showing good hands. He wanted to show his bluffs, but made the right decision and kept his table image as an aggressive card catcher.

When the night was over I asked Willy why he was so much more aggressive than usual...?

His answer was basically - he had three buttons. He stated that he had never had two uber weak tights to his left before in a game like that. So everytime he was in the CO or HJ he would play it as if it was his button. Neither of the weak tights would catch on and they would always fold to his raises. I found it to be an interesting concept and one that works well if you can take control and be willing to fold if they push back.

One hand I do remember I will outline quickly here:

I am in SB with about $130. Two callers, including the button. I bump it to $10 with AKo. Only the button calls.

Flop comes K-8-2 - two clubs.

I took the Fuel approach and checked TPTK to portray weakness. Button bets $20. I flat call.

comments?

The turn is a 9 (non club). I check again. This time he bets $35. I push my stack of about $100 in to the middle hoping to look like a bluff. He tanks, and eventually folds showing me K-10. He stews and asks me a million questions and I stay quiet. I tell him I might let him know later when I leave.

Turns out he was the first one to leave as Willy layed the smack down on him numerous times and he weakly folded to any c-bet. Preflop calls of $20 were the norm with holdings like 66, KJc etc. Total donk fest was my observation and Willy and I basically took over the table for a good 90 minutes.

Anyway, I am just wondering if I should have done something differently. Obviously the goal was to get his whole stack, but I really think I played it poorly, because if I flat call again, I am sure I can value bet a safe river card and get him to call.

Anyway, I really didn't have to show a single hand all night, which was great. We left at about 11:15 and I was in bed by 11:40.

Good times.

I finally won! (in golf, not poker duh)

Somebody pinch me please. I’m still on cloud 9 right now and I am not sure if I’ll ever come back down. I’ve managed to finally do it. I won my Club Championship over this past BC Day long weekend (Canadian civic holiday to be exact). It was certainly a grind, one that I’ve never experienced before, and one that I will never ever forget. Ever. I must be running on adrenaline right now because I’ve had very little sleep as one can expect when they party like a champ after making that final putt.

Wire to wire. That’s what they call it when you start the first day with the lead and never look back. When I say it was a grind, I mean it. I bogied the first two holes of the tournament and somehow still felt very very calm about it. I had asked an old buddy of mine to caddy for me as he happened to be in town for the weekend and man did it ever help. He’s won the same tournament twice earlier this decade and was a huge help in me getting that elusive first win.

I’ve tried many times before. 15 years straight in fact. My first attempt was back in 93’ as a junior member. I shot 70 the first round that year which earned me a medal for low 1st round. I did that again this year, only this time I never relinquished the lead. My first round score was 69, the next lowest were three guys at 75. I had a six shot lead after day 1 and realized I had never been in that position since I first entered my Club Championship 15 years ago.

Shooting 4 under the first day was definitely the key to my victory. After starting the day off 2 over after two holes I settled in and played some solid golf. As I had said previously, my expectations weren’t that high, but I knew I could still compete. I made a good birdie on the 4th and then made an eagle three on the 5th hole to get it back to 1 under. From there, I coasted along and made 4 more birdies and a bogey. It was a great start and I knew that all I had to do was shoot two or three over the next two rounds and the trophy would be mine.

I was nervous when I teed it up on day 2. How could I not be, really. In the back of my mind I knew I could do it, in fact, I remember feeling like I knew I would do it, but I never said that out loud (jinx) to anyone. Day 2 was mentally tougher than Day 1 for sure. I did get off to a better start, but I just wasn’t making many birdie putts. I would head to the 9th hole at 1 over for the day (3 under for the tourney).

I hit my tee ball into the right trees and punched out to about 120 yards in the left ruff on this par 5. I hit a shitty wedge to the front of the green and the pin was tucked on a turtle back in the back left portion. I had about an 80 foot putt and I left it 15 feet short. I remember cursing myself for being such a pussy and not getting to the hole, if not within 4 or 5 feet. I missed my par putt, and then missed the next one coming back! I had just four putted for double bogey… I was steaming, but knew there were still 27 holes left, and I still had the lead. I calmed back down again on the back 9 (thanks to my caddy who was a huge help in that regard) and shot an even par 36 on the back to finish day 2 at 3 over par.

I now had a 3 shot lead over 2nd and an 8 shot lead over third. I was more nervous than ever and I tried not to let it show. I knew they were gunning for me and just waiting for me to make a mistake. We teed off on the back 9 first on the final day so that when we finished our 18th hole (the 9th) we were closer to the club house and all the members could be there for the dramatic finish.

So I get to the 13th (our 4th hole of the day) and it is a 175 yard par 3. The guy that was 3 back had just hit into the water and I was looking to slam the door on this thing early. I wanted to get a lead that couldn’t be touched.

I ended up pulling my six iron over the left corner and chipping it on the green. I had 15 footer for par and was prepared to take a 4 and get out of there. Mr. "3 back" made a 5 which was great news for me. However what happened next, I was really not expecting at all.

I four putted again (different day)! That’s right I made a triple bogey six on the easiest par 3 on the course… the good news was I only lost one shot (he made a 5) so mentally it really didn’t feel like I was choking at all. I basically three putted from a foot and a half. A foot and a fucking half. Ok it was a side hill slider, but still it sucked. Very disappointing, but I knew I was still in charge of my fate. I refocused and started to roll the ball like I had been doing the first two days. Ironically, it was my putting that won me the tournament. I've never putted so well in a three day span, it was a great feeling of confidence and focus.

Moving on, I made a 35 footer from off the green on my 8th hole (the 17th) for birdie and that basically was the turning point. I put it into cruise control after that and the other two guys battled it out for 2nd. I hit all 9 greens on the last 9 holes. I could actually see the hairs on my arm standing straight up as the goose bumps were wiped with my sweaty palm. I finished the day with a 77 and finished the tournament at 3 over par. Good enough for a six stroke victory.

As I type this, the trophy sits on one of the file cabinets I have in my office. Every so often I relive the story again with another passer by co-worker. I just can’t help it. It’s a relief to finally get this win out of the way; it’s something that I have wanted to accomplish for a solid 5 years now at least. And now I can finally say that I’ve done it. I’ve won a multi day tournament… a 54 hole event.

The cool part about winning is the benefits that come along with it. Not only do I get my choice of any golf bag I want, they embroider my name and credentials on there as well. Along with that I get to play in two other invitational tournaments. The big one that I look forward to is called the Canadian Club Championship. It will be a trip to somewhere in Canada early next year. They will provide me with the clothing and the money and I just need to cover some expenses. I can’t wait. It’s something that I’ve wanted to play in ever since I heard about the opportunity back in the 90’s.

I didn’t tee off until 12:45 yesterday so I needed to keep my mind off of golf… so I played some cash game poker! I spewed off 1 buyin but at the time I really didn’t care because I knew it was all in the name of me not thinking about my round to be. The final round that would cinch my first victory as Club Champ.