There was a shooting at a post office less than two miles from me. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/31/postal.shooting.ap/

GOLETA, California (AP) -- A former postal worker shot five people to death at a huge mail-processing center and then killed herself in what was believed to be the nation's deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman.

The attack Monday night was also the biggest bloodbath at a U.S. postal installation since a massacre 20 years ago helped give rise to the term "going postal."

I finally got my ring for my 299 game. Here's a picture, which will probably get changed once I manage to actually take a good picture of it.

Tonight is the WWdN: penner42 Invitational. I busted Wil last week when my AK beat his TT, becoming the first former champion to get this tournament named after him. I'll do my best to win my own tournament.

Everyone go wish Ryan good luck tonight in LAPC event #12. Play resumes tonight at 7PM, with 29 remaining and 27 getting paid.

I haven't been playing much poker, online or live, lately. Too busy playing with my new toys. Last week, I got a Cox HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta 8300), and it's a piece of crap. It has so many stupid issues that could be solved easily by any decent programmer who cared about it at all. It's such a shame to switch from Tivo to this thing, except that it displays and records high definition shows. It's worth all the hassles just for the HD recording. 24 in high definition last night was amazing. I just can't wait until Tivo releases their cablecard/HD box later this year.

I also got a Logitech Harmony 880 remote. This thing is amazing. 5 minute setup on the computer, and it controls all my devices (DVR, receiver, projector) perfectly. It also has a battery charging base, and a screen better than most phones. Very happy with it.

I probably have more I could talk about, but I can't think of anything right now. I really need to start blogging more often, just because I think of things I want to write about and then later forget them.

I bowled in a ten game tournament Saturday. My first five games were horrible with one 213 or so in the middle of four 160 and 170 games. Then we broke for lunch, and my second five were pretty good. Three games over 200, a 192, and then out of nowhere I pulled out a 279. First nine strikes, and then a damn four pin. Still, pretty happy with that.

Afterwards, I went to Chumash and made some money. The very first hand, I got aces UTG. I didn't have chips yet, so I said $25. Folded around to a shortstack who had $45 total who pushed all in. I called, and he had jacks. The flop was a disgusting 9TQ, but the turn and river didn't help him and I had $45 in front of me before the chip runner came with my $200. I ended up +$383, but would lose all that and then some the next day at Commerce.

My first table at Commerce on Sunday was a rollercoaster. I dropped $100 quickly missing the flop with AQs 5 times, and then built up to +$200 with KK vs QQ and then AK vs JJ vs KQ. Then I missed a whole bunch more flops, and a flush draw with 5 people in the pot, and finished the session down $83 before breaking for dinner. Had dinner with glyphic, absinthe, change100, pokergnome, and a friend of his and a friend of mine. Shane had been at Commerce, too, but got killed at the tables and left before dinner. We ate at the Arena Sports Bar and Grill inside the casino, which was decent enough food.

Then I sadly went back to playing poker. Dropped two buyins at the $200nl game. The first, I raised to $25 UTG with TT. I had been getting zero action with my $25 raises. Not a single one had been called. This time, four callers. The flop looked pretty good to me, a 345. I had about the size of the pot left in front of me, so I pushed all in. I figured if someone had an overpair or a set, there was nothing I could do. All four people called. Even if I had the best hand at the moment, I figured there was no way I could win the pot so I pulled out another $200 before the rest of the cards were dealt. They turned over: A7o for a double gutshot, 53o for a flopped two pair, A6o for an open ended straight draw, and 52o for top pair with an open ended straight draw. The turn was a 2, and all four of them beat me. A6o won the pot. I needed something like running 88 or 99 to win that pot after the flop.

With my second buyin, I was getting good starting cards and missing flops and was down to around $65 and ready to go home. I looked down at the hammer UTG and just pushed it all in, expecting to get one call from the maniac at the table, lose, and go home. Three people called my $65. The table had certainly loosened up since that TT hand. The flop was K75, and the big blind bet $100 to knock out the other two players, and showed KQ. The turn was a 2, the river a blank, and I quadrupled up, and yelled "Hammer!" while tabling my cards. I played another hour or so, and finally busted out, getting all in with a flopped flush against a set. I didn't even have to sweat out two cards, as the board paired on the turn to have me drawing dead. Had I won that hand, I would have been even for the day instead of down almost $500. Snakes on a plane.

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Congratulations to Ryan for his amazing first place finish in the first event of the LA Poker Classic, for a nice six figure payday!

Iggy owes everyone in IRC a dollar for a bad beat story from the tournament in Tunica. Maybe more, since it started, "So, I had KJ...". Sucks to get knocked out that way, though, especially with a good shot at going deep in the money had you won.

For some good tournament reporting, check out Pauly's coverage of the Borgata Winter Open and Spaceman's reports from the World Poker Open in Tunica. We need to get someone covering the Classic in LA, too.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. No particular reason, really, just laziness. Poker's been way up and way down since the last time. My Stars account is marginally ahead of where it was before Christmas, after jumping up 9x and then back down. Actually, it's at about double where it was, thanks to my first final table at a 180 SNG last night, and a 7th place finish after getting crippled getting all in with AKo vs A8s preflop. Snakes on a plane.

My FTP account was doing well until I got AA and two people pushed all in preflop ahead of me in the $200NL game. They had 56 and KK and the flop was 34K, giving them both a better chance to win the pot than I had. Oh well.

Live poker has started off well for the year. Played the $200 NL at Bicycle when a friend of mine was in LA from New York. Cracked aces with 83s for an $830 pot, and I only made one mistake in the hand which was calling the $10 straddle preflop in the first place. I was in the cutoff, the people behind me hadn't been raising much, and there was already $60 in the pot. The button then raised to $30, and everyone called, so I looked back at my cards and disgustedly called, saying "I'm just giving my money away." I was getting $220:$20 on the call. Flopped T83, and the button pushed all in after I bet. Ended that game up $570.

Made $105 playing 2/5 $300-$500 NL the next night at Chumash, too.

Congrats to Ryan, who is in the final 18 of the $330 event at the LA Poker Classic. Good luck doubling up early a few times tonight!

Congrats (belatedly) to Factgirl for her win of the $16K guarantee at FullTilt!

Congrats to BadBlood on his WWdN tourney win, and Poker Nerd on his second place finish in the WWdN west coast warmup/whatever it's called.

Congrats to Chris on his win of the $2k Triple Draw event in Tunica!

I know I'm forgetting someone here. Dammit. Sorry.

WPBT HORSE Tournament tonight, 7 PST. April rules. Password: princess

I'll try to start posting more often again. Honest.

This is tacked to the board in the office kitchen.