Still Moving Up

Dante Hicks: But you hate people.
Randal Graves: Yes, but I love gatherings. Isn't it ironic?

”Clerks”

It’s funny, poker is always described as a grind, and right now I am enjoying that grind. Sure, I only play for an hour or so a day, and yes winning sessions are a lot more fun than loosing ones, but the grind is good at the moment. With the current exchange rate I have surpassed the AU$720 mark for the first time. If however the exchange rate were back to where it was 18 months ago, it would have been over $1K Australian by now. Come on Americans, where is your mighty Greenback now when I need it?

I had only 30 minutes or so to play yesterday, as the distraction and I were headed into the thriving metropolis of Sydney, as she had scored some corporate tickets to the basketball semi-finals. It’s amazing how similar every SNG has been lately. Fold, blind down to be second smallest or smallest, double up, double up, steel, knock a few out, take home some money. Happy to say I had no bad beats and caused none. I did manage to double up with JJ vs TT, which was very handy at the time. In the end, first hand of heads up (me with a $5K, him with $3K) I bluffed with 23h and he raised all-in. I had bluffed far too much, and with the distraction waiting for me I called to see him show Q8o. It was good enough. Next hand I was all-in with QJh, and his King paired to take 1st place. I was out the door before the table had even closed down.

The basketball game was excellent, and corporate box seats are just the best. The Sydney Kings (two time defending NBL champs) blasted the Brisbane Bullets in a high action game, and the crowd was really into it. Afterwards we went into one of the corporate lounges at the Entertainment Centre and had a few drinks. Before long, half the players and a few legends joined everyone. It made me think – this would never happen in the NBA. All the players and their partners (and their kids too) mixing it with the punters and having a few drinks. No player was above having their photo taken or chatting to the fans there, it was a real family atmosphere. I know these teams run on their corporate sponsors, but it was really good to see. But I still had to rush home in time to see the highlights of the game on the news - I don’t know why but I just have to do this for any game I see live.

So the grind continues. I had some bad news yesterday, as one of the scripts I entered into a competition was knocked back – disappointing, but not a real surprise. The majority of contestants and judges are the 35+ arty type. Our script features 18-24 year olds, lesbians, lots of swearing and one guy who masturbates using popcorn. Apparently the focus groups were too narrow-minded.