Can't Close the Deal

I've been sick this past week. One of the good things about being sick is that my wife lets me play poker when I'm sick. I final tabled three times this week and had several other deep runs in tournaments. But I couldn't close the deal in any of them which stinks. I had a 4th, a 3rd, and a 4th place finish. Also had a 20th, 14th, 19th, and an 18th. Cashing is nice, but all of the money is in the top three spots so it's still pretty disappointing. I wish I had the time to play seriously again, but playing in mega tournies with multiple thousands of people takes a serious time commitment and I just can't.

US Health Care Costs

Good series by Uwe Reinhardt on US health care costs. Very readable. This installment is about practice variation, the most important and least discussed issue in health care.

Thanks Men's Health!

The good folks at Men's Health magazine sent me a list of the "20 Symptoms a Man Should Never Ignore." This list is really helpful and includes important advice about not ignoring such things as:

Sudden Blindness, Sudden Groin Pain, A Mysterious Lump in Your Testicle, and A Wound That Doesn't Heal.

Thank you Ravens

God bless the Baltimore Ravens for ending the Cowboys season.

Pondering

Took two sick beats today which cost me some serious money in tournaments I was playing. No one likes bad beat stories, but this is my blog so tough.

First. I'm in the $109 tourney. 1st place is $12K. Cruising along, about 200 people left out of 639. Got about $12K in chips. Blinds are 200/400. Cut off, who has about 6300, raises to 1200. I've got JJ. He's probably got a marginal hand and is just looking to take the blinds, though his raise here has put about 20% of his chips in already. In any case, I have an actual hand so I repop him to $4400. So....he calls, which leaves him with $1850 and out of position playing a pot which has $10k in it. Board comes 634 and he bets his last $1800. I, of course call, and he has KQ. Of course a Q comes in the tune and I lose the pot. But how much worse could he have played his hand? My answer, it's not possible to play it any worse. This was one of those hands that was going to vault me up or put me in short stack. I went out shortly thereafter.

The second bad beat involved me getting AA cracked against the chip leader. Would have put me top 5 in chips. Such is life. Guy had QQ so can't fault his move, but still.

Last one. This is the one I'm pondering. $50 tourney. It's pretty deep in the tourney, probably about 170 people left or so (out of more than 1000). Blinds are 1500/3000. I have a little over $90K so I'm in good shape. In early position I raise to $7500 with 77. The big blind calls. Flop is Ks2d3d. He leads out into the pot for $8000, less than 1/2 the pot. I raise him to $30K and he calls. Now I'm concerned. Problem is he has $12K left and the pot is pretty large so I'm committed. We get all in on the river and he has KQ and I'm down to about $30K. Pretty sure I misplayed the hand, but need to think on it. Ended up cashing in this one.

Poker Isn't Gambling

Michael DeMichele.

OU Sucks

Hahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaaaahahaahahaha

Best wishes to both players on a speedy recovery.

Battlestar Galactica

So Newsweek asked some "cultural critics" what work best described life under Bush. One of the works chosen was Battlestar Galactica. The guy who writes about it makes the show seem interesting enough to watch. I've always assumed when I was scrolling through the channels that it might be good for a laugh, but now I might actually have to watch it.

54 Degrees

It was 54 degrees in Austin this morning....in my house. Ive been described as stubborn before. After an ice storm two years ago the company that provides propane to us jacked the price up and then came out and filled us up. One month cost us $1000. They are the only provider out there so I can't switch. So I stopped turning the heat on and I haven't looked back. But this morning kind of sucked.

Fed Refusing to Disclose

This strikes me as a problem.

The Big Three

Good article in the NYT on the bailout and the Big Three.

I am not a big fan of the bailout. The "czar" concept is stupid. As the article linked to above points out, the Big Three's problem is mainly that people don't want their cars. And reading lefty bloggers rejoice that the bailout could allow Congress to direct automakers to build only "green" cars should scare the hell out of every sane person.

I will, however, take a moment to defend the Big Three on a few charges. The CEOs have faced some scathing commentary, some of it deserved (going to Congress to ask for billions and having zero ideas on what the plan to remain viable is) and some of it unfairly placed (that the specific CEOs in question ran their companies into the ground). I love cars. I can't fix them or work on them. In fact the only thing I know how to do is drive one and put gas in it. But I'm a gear head in that I read all the reviews and have followed the plight of Detroit for multiple years. The Big Three have taken numerous steps to remain competitive, from negotiating concession with workers, to shedding products and lines, to making vastly improved vehicles.

The last point, in particular, is important. Detroit is making much, much better vehicles today than they were even a decade ago. Their issue reminds me of the struggles the Italians faced in the wine industry. Unlike the French, the Italians decided to export all of their terrible wine. As such, Italian wine long suffered a reputation of being terrible. Ford, GM, and Daimler suffer much the same way. They have changed, they are making better and more relevant products, but it is hard to get people to come back after years of slapping a Cadillac symbol over a Cavalier and marking it up $10K.

I don't support the bailout as structured and I definitely agree that the Big Three have made some really bad decisions. My pnly point here is that it is unfair to say that the CEOs and the workers have continued slinging out terrible products because they haven't.

Mortgage Modifications

There have been many calls that mortgage restructuring or assistance should be included as part of any bailout. This report indicates that homeowners who received such aid actually defaulted at a much higher level. The gentleman from the Comptroller's office expresses surprise. I guess I'm not all that surprised.

Defending the CDS Market

The argument that CDS' do no good and should be done away with was inevitably going to be raised. Thankfully, we have Felix Salmon to explain in a readable manner why the CDS market is actually a good thing.

Lebanon, Syria, and the UN

Really good article in The Atlantic about the investigation into Syria's role in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

Mount Union

Mount Union is a DIII football powerhouse. And when I say powerhouse, I mean it. They won again yesterday which puts them in the semi-finals (yes, college football does have playoffs that work for everyone else) for the national championship. So here is what is impressive about Mount Union.

In 23 years, their head coach now has a record of 260-21-3. That's a 92% winning rate over two decades. They have lost one conference game since 1999. They have gone undefeated 5 times since 1999. They have never lost two games in a season since 1999. They have lost 5 games total since 1999.

Mount Union won the national championship in 1993. They won again in 1996. Went ahead and won it in 1997 and 1998. They missed out in 1999 when they lost by 3 in overtime in the semi-finals, then they won the title three times in a row in 2000, 2001, and 2002. They lost in the championship game in 2003. In 2004, they lost in the national semi-finals by 3 points. They won the national title again in both 2005 and 20006. They made the title game again in 2007 and lost. So, since 1996 Mount Union has made the final or semi-finals every single year. They have played in 10 out the last 12 national title games, winning 8 of those. In the tow years they did not make the title game they lost in the semi-finals, both times by 3 points.

This year, Mount Union is the #11 rushing team in the nation, the #20 passing team in the nation, has the #1 total offense, #1 scoring offense, #1 rushing defense, #2 passing defense, #1 total defense (166 ypg), #1 scoring defense (5.6 ppg), an average margin of victory of 41 points, and the closest game they have had this year was a 27 point win.

So if you ever want to chime in on the greatest college football program ever, now you know it is Mount Union. And it isn't even close.

Insurance insurance

One of the plans I represent is UnitedHealth. They get in trouble sometimes, mainly because they got so big so fast. But they have really been one of the innovators in bringing new products to market. They were the first ones to really develop the idea of medical lines of credit and now they have developed this product.

I've always wondered why term health insurance does not exist. I've had people offer explanations, but never one that I thought was particularly good.

OU sucks.

Porsche 911 GT2

In these uncertain financial times, the Porsche 911 GT2 makes for a fine investment. Right honey? 530hp, 0-62 in 3.7 seconds.

Also, OU sucks.

Technology Buying Binge

So I've been on a gadget buying binge lately.

Bought myself a netbook. Pretty pleased so far. It'll be really good for hauling to the Capitol for the late nights. Weighs only 2 lbs and I won't have to injure my thumbs typing out emails on my Palm.

New digital camera. Got the EOS Rebel at Coscto. This is an absolute steal right now as the camera comes with 2 high def lenses are usually $300-500 on their own. Costco is weird in that their online division competes with their stores so go to the physical store location. Not sure who I'm writing this to since nobody actually reads this. My wife is actually a pretty talented photographer so she has been wanting this for a while.

Got a 50 inch plasma. One of the Black Friday deals at Best Buy. Per usual, the install is turning into a debacle. We can't hang it on our wall so I'm going to have to run a pole out of the ceiling. That's going to be expensive, but it will look pretty cool when it's done.

Bout time to upgrade the old phone. I've got a Palm Treo which was cutting edge a short time ago and is now the equivalent of walkign around with a rotary phone. Thinking IPhone, but really I just want a decent phone, email, and web browser. I can live without most of the other nonsense.

OU sucks.

Solar Panels

Living in the People's Republic of Austin does have some benefits. Actually, quite a few. The city's energy efficiency program offers pretty substantial rebates on certain home improvements. I'm seriously considering getting solar panels as the city offers substantial rebates and access to low interest loans.

Peace loving religious folks strike again

Acid attacks on women.