Found this on YouTube

Found this contributor in Youtube. Turns out she's Filipina...

http://youtube.com/user/HappySlip

So Close... Yet So Far...

I finished 2nd place in a Razz (a variant of poker) tournament. It was fought valiantly for 3+ hours.

Here's how it happened:

When it was down to 12 players, I was a short stack, but something clicked... I always felt anxious when it's going down the wire... This time, I was calm, and didn't mind if I get eliminated. Luckily, I started hitting cards and built up my stack to a comfortable size, putting me 4th place. The final table, which has eluded me a lot of times finally felt close.

I put just enough pressure on the table to steal some pots, and avoid getting bamboozled by traps. I notice a lot of the players left are really skillful and they have trapped me masterfully. I should remember to be careful around them. The countless heads-up matches I played were paying dividends; I was playing like a pro. I knew when to push, and when to be gentle. I knew when to spring the trap and to avoid one. I was dancing. It was perfect.

Then, the last 4 were eliminated and I reached the final table with 7 others. Looking at their stacks, I was somewhere in the middle. I was happy, because it meant I would be cashing this time. But my goals changed at this point. To win is the only goal worth right now.

At the onset of final table action, I played aggressively, trying to instill terror into the hearts of my opponents. What I instilled upon them however were my chips. And my stack dwindled to one of the small ones. In a short amount of time, I lost 3 semi-big pots and that put me near the bottom of the ladder.

At this point, winning the entire thing seemed so far away. I had to change my goal. And so I focused on getting just to the final 4. Being at 6th or 7th on the leader board, it will still be tough. I knew I had to climb the ladder somehow.

With that new perspective in mind, I waited for an opportunity to come back. And come back I did... I played according to how I profiled the players... One guy will call as long as you put pressure on him. That meant if I have the goods, I just have to bet out to him. Another guy will check, and try to re-raise when you bet. So you gotta play his game as well.

I played them all good. So good in fact, I got back up to 2nd place, busting 3 people along the way. I was doing good, except against one player--the friggin' chip leader! On the course of the final table, we played heads up for a pot about 5 times. Frustratingly, I lost each one of them.

I played him behind, I played him ahead... regardless, he'll win the pot. I can't friggin' believe it... He gets lucky so many times, I tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Unfortunately, when you're down to 3 players, it's hard to avoid him. And we had one big confrontation. I was giddy because the law of average states that I'm due for a win, so I was ok with a semi-big confrontation. However, needless to say, he won that pot too. Un-fuckin-believable.

Good thing is the other player committed harakiri and went ballistic with a mediocre starting hand against the ultra-lucky chip leader. He too fell from the hands of the almighty card rack (poker term for someone who keeps on catching cards).

Now, finally it's down to just the two of us. We've played for more than 3 hours now. I've eaten 2 pizza slices and countless carrot sticks. I'll finally have my way. Going heads up, I was confident, I was calm, I knew exactly what I had to do to win, and know how to execute that. "You can't possibly win every hand in a heads up match", I told him in my mind. I've been in this situation countless times before and I know I can pull this thing off.

We started out... we got into a decent pot immediately... Forget about small pot plays, this guy wants to keep it big. So, I gave him that courtesy...

But the friggin' card rack keeps on getting cards. He won that which further made my stack dwindle. After that, I decided to play conservatively. This guy is aggressive, but aggressive players will usually trip if you stuck it to them at the right time. I'll just wait for good cards to come, and I'll stick it right to him. Right up his ass.

At this point, I was 5-1 underdog in chip stacks, but I was still big enough to hurt him if I can just stick it to him at the right time.

The hand finally came, a decent hand... I bet and bet... he called and called... until the final cards came... I bet... and he re-raised!

I can't believe he caught his card... In order for him to win, I had to not improve my hand, and he had to improve his... I put him at 15% favored to win before the final cards were dealt... How could he get so lucky... How fuckin' insane is that.

I'm done. No more chips left...

Moving On...

Well, my stint with my current group in Microsoft has ended... And am now moving to a new one. I was fortunate enough to get into MSN Money. It's a little bit more high profile than my previous one. I just hope it will be a worthwhile experience.

Interesting Coincidences... Or Are They?

A few weeks ago, I watched Serendipity. I realized how much I like it much more now. How many more things I notice the 2nd time around. One of those things was that the book used by Kate Beckinsale's character to give her phone # to John Cusack's character was titled "Love in the Time of Cholera." I didn't give it much thought then and just enjoyed the movie, especially yummy Kate

Now, fast forward a few more weeks, I watched another John Cusack film... High Fidelity. And I noticed that in that movie too, the book was there. So, nothing spectacular here. Two John Cusack movies two appearances of the book. I guess he loves the book. No biggie.

Until I got to this page tonight. It's a list of the best/worst endings of stories (according to the author at least). Now, I'm a sucker for a good story, so I figured, I might get a few ideas on what to watch next. I looked at the movies section... a lot of the titles, I'm not familiar with. I continued browsing... I went to the book section and lo and behold one of them was "Love in the Time of Cholera".

That piqued my interest. So that must be a good read...

A quick look at Wikipedia reveals that it was written by Gabriel García Márquez. Somehow that name sounded familiar to me.

I remember in college of reading a novel by an author with 3 names and sounded Latino. The novel was "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and it blew me away. It shook me to the core. I couldn't put the book down and when I finished reading it, I emailed my professor to tell her how the book affected me. To this day, I still remember bits and pieces of it.

So out of curiousity, I looked it up as well. Bingo. It's written by the same author!

This has really piqued my interest! Seems like the stars are pointing me to this book. Now, if I can only find a copy of it...

Weird

From:
http://brymac.blogspot.com/2007/06/weirdness.html

Each player of this games starts with 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Ok, here's my shot:

1. I love my room being messy. The kitchen, living room and bathroom are clean and orderly, but my room is an absolute mess. And I love it that way.
   
2. I make a sound when I am eating something I like very much. I didn't know this until someone pointed it out. lol.
   
3. I would zone out sometimes when I'm talking to someone.
   
4. I like cheesy feel good movies.
   
5. I have a self-deprecating humor that only a few people get. Hmmm...
   
6. My skull is flat at the back because when I was a baby, my then young mother laid me on a wooden bed. The result is that the mass went to the sides of my skull, that's why there are bumps at the sides of my head.
   

Road Trip

Long weekends, like last week are almost a call to do something out of the ordinary. And a friend and I decided that a road trip to nowhere is a good thing to do. As the weekend approached however, it was looking more and more uncertain whether it's indeed the best thing to do. So instead, we pinned a destination. Crater Lake!

It's basically a bigger (and colder) version of Taal Volcano, with it's top blown off. The lake that formed in the middle is about 6 miles wide. I took shots and clips and this is what came out of it. My only regret is having only one battery for the camera. We missed out on a lot of other places.

The music is inspired by Ewan McGregor's world trip on a motorbike.