Although I would have been appalled if Adam went out last night, it would have been just what American Idol needed to experience to change the way voting is done.  It’s ridiculous that I could hypothetically vote for an opponent up the amount of text messages that I could send in two hours.  That’s stupid!  Also, I told Hailey at the moment of its conception that the judge’s save would be a disaster.  It should have been used only up to the Top 10 and maybe the Top 8.  Never should it have been used up to the Top 5.  Alexis should have gotten the save when she went out in 11th.  She clearly had a better chance of winning over at least Megan, Michael and Scott.  Also, it was much earlier in the game and would have been much better used then instead of saving Matt that all only comprised the integrity of the competition.  Even Simon said, “You don’t have a chance at winning.”  Then, they saved him and pretty much hung Anoop out to dry.  Obviously, voters are going to vote for the guy that way saved and in effect Anoop was the victim of that entire mess.

Anyways, back to the voting process.  AI needs to stop letting people vote an unlimited amount of times just so Seacrest can say, “We had 35, 37, 42, 47 million votes!  A new record!”  Adam almost got knocked off because people are voting for who they don’t want to get knocked off and not who is the next American Idol.  The only reason the save was necessary was because of this.  Here’s a solution to the problem

First, I think it would be better for voters to vote for who they want to be ELIMINATED rather than to stay on until there are 10 contestants remaining.  This will most likely never happen though since it will confuse people once you start to vote for the contestant that you want to stay.

Voters should have 6 votes with 11-16 contestants remaining, 5 votes with 9-10 remaining, 4 votes with 7-8, 3 votes with 5-6, 2 votes with 4 and 1 vote with 2-3.  Each phone number can vote for each contestantly only once per week.  The remainder of the votes can be used on the other contestants.  Lets get rid of the judge’s save and not lettle Paula babble on so that they run out of time every other week.

Until then things change, please vote endlessly on Kris Allen FTW!

I haven’t been able to get anything going in online cash games for just about the entire month.  I’ve stuck to playing almost exclusively 100 & 200 NL, but it’s just been a struggle throughout April.  Even still, I’m going to manage at least a $1,000 profit on the month in that department but that is far from what I expect to earn on average.  For the most part, the ponies have been doing quite well.  Some are doing better than others and some have taken it easy.  That’s how it seems to go in that department in the fours years that I have been involved with that.  School is just about finished.  I have only a few things left to complete and then it’s off to another exciting summer!  I’m really think that I’m going to have to start playing at Commerce once I get back from Vegas 30+ hours a week.  The results that I have are great, but I’m hesitant whether or not I can manage playing consistently for between 3 and 5 days per week.  We’ll have to see.  For now, I really want to get things back on track playing online.  On the days that I’m going to play 5/10, 10/25 this summer, I want to grind a 2-3 hour session online first.  It’s really important to me that I balance the different ways that I’m going to earn money.  I don’t want to concentrate too much on a particular area.  If I maintain a healthy balance, I’ll continue to play well and earn monies at a faster rate.

Today I have a practice round at Porter Ranch in preparation for the golf tournaments that I’ll be participating in.  The first is this upcoming Monday and the next is the following Monday.  I’ll be golfing with my brother, Russell and Unknown.  I hope to not be a complete hack and left to drink heavily throughout the tournament.  American Idol is only a few weeks away from the Finals.  Although it’s unrealistic, I hope that Kris Allen is able to somehow finish 1st.  If so, I’ll be $2,500 richer.  If anything, I’d appreciate to sweat it for another week.

I’m very pleased with the decisions that I’ve made so far in 2009.  In each of the last three years, I wasn’t satisfied with the way that I went into the WSOP.  Unless I do something unorthodox, that won’t be the case this year.  Certianly, things could have gone better, but I’m not going to find a reason to complain.  I’m content.  I’m going to continue to play 100/200NL just about every day and try to turn things around and start to play much more steadily.  In backing/coaching, I want to get a couple ponies to play a little more consistently and once I’m done with school I’m going to play a handful of sessions at Commerce.

I can’t believe that I’m 8 years removed from high school and now on the wrong half of the 20s.  I’m not going to say that I’m disappointed with where I’m at, but I had higher aspirations.  That’s alright though.  There isn’t much that I have to complain about.  For the most part, I’m pretty content.  I’m certainly a dinosaur compared to most of the poker players out there, but I still have plenty of youth in me.  I don’t have any resemblance to an old nit and probably won’t for quite a while.  There’s plenty of gamble circulating throughout the body that I reside.

Hailey and I went to the zoo yesterday.  I hadn’t been in about a decade when I went with youth group to Santa Barbara.  It’s one of those events that changes a lot when you’re no longer a child.  Lets start and finish for that matter with the giraffes.  It didn’t have anything to do with height or that there was a baby giraffe walking about why they were so popular on Sunday.  It was for far more immature reasons.  Mr. Giraffe had a mission to accomplish and Mrs. Giraffe didn’t want anything to do with it.  That didn’t stop him from trying time and again.  Hailey and I were on the rail that didn’t have an available place to stand while Mr. Giraffe failed to enter Mrs. Giraffe every few minuts for about an hour.  We couldn’t help but root for him a little bit.  He was very determined, but she was as well.  In the end, Mrs. Giraffe stood tall and ate some celebatory hay.

When we got back, Hailey and I played Rummy 500 for a couple hours.  We had a really interesting hand that left me speechless.  Hailey held (1) Ace, I held (1) Ace and there was (2) Ace in the discarded pile.  She couldn’t scoop since she didn’t have a discard, so she had to draw.  The drew an 8 which obviously played and discarded an Ace to end the game.  It was sooo weird!

This was a routine quote that I had delivered when I attended Kansas and was exclusive to the first year that I went there.  Often, I would go to lunch with friends and then ask, “Where should I be right now?”  The answer was always the same - class.  Today, I asked myself that same very question and the answer is still the same.  I’m in no way bragging or making light of the importance of an education.  When I’m not motivated to do something, I won’t do it if I see there that there’s a way that I can fade any significant consequences.  I’m currently playing hooky (sp?) to Anthropology 300ish.  I don’t like the teacher at all.  In fact, I hated him from the first day, but I didn’t want to bother to find another class that fit the same criteria.  I will, on the other hand, be attending class at 2:00.  It’s an English course on popular culture.  It’s a great class and taught by a professor that you’d expect to have as a tour guide of  the old mine at Virginia City.

This semester is quickly coming to a close and I’m very, very busy for the next few months.  Marla is graduating from Loyola Marymount.  Yes, my sister is graduating from college a semester before me and after transferring from Colorado inf act.  Very impressive!  I have (2) charity golf tournaments in May.  Matt and I are moving out of the apartment and I have to go to Vegas prior to an annual Father/Son Mono Hot Springs trip in the last weekend in May to prepare for the summer in Vegas.  Tonight, I’m going out with family to Roy’s for an early birthday celebration and Hailey and I are going to the zoo on Sunday.  Busy, busy, busy…

I’ve always been a sap for inspirational stories.  Lately, I’ve been browsing through YouTube to find moments that are truly special.  I’m a huge fan of Family Feud bloopers, but I’ll save those for another day.  Last week I came across videos of those that won the 100,000 Pyramid.  The reaction shots of those that just won $100,000  twenty-five years ago are pretty amazing to me.  During American Idol last week, I heard about this contestant, Susan Boyle, that tried out for Britain’s Got Talent.  It wasn’t until today that I searched for the video on YouTube.  Let me say, it was truly amazing.  There’s something about the underdog to the greater public.  Every March, everyone stands behind the unlikely as they try to defeat the favorite in March Madness.  This was one of those moments to me.  There wasn’t a person in that room, nor a person that was viewing, that didn’t think she was going to tank.  We’ve all seen it plenty of times in which a contestant thinks that they have talent, but don’t, are front and center before a large audience and fail miserably.  If you haven’t seen it yet, search Susan Boyle, watch the video with 35 million + views and remember that dreams do come true.

I remember this story Patrick told me back in 2006.  It was the day of the Big 12 Championship.  I was still in Lawrence at the time and went to watch the game with Patrick and a bunch of his friends from high school.  Kansas won obv.  The story is not about the beer tower that Patrick and I put away but the way in which the day began.  Lawrence experienced a microburst that morning.  I had never heard of such a thing at the time.  In the wee hours of the morning, our apartment began to shake a bit and Reed pounded on the door to wake me up.  We went outside and saw a pretty dismal sight.  Next to the apartment complex was a pretty large vacant piece of land and for a minute I thought I saw a tornado coming right at us.  However, after wipping the sleep out of my eyes, we realized it was just a really bad storm or so we thought.  We went back to bed but when we awoke we realized it was more than just that.  There was a lot of damage around town.  Apparently, a microburst is an event in which vertical wind occurs.  It certainly did its damage across town.

Again, Patrick had friends in that weekend and they were on their Spring Break from I believe Creighton.  This girl that I can’t remember the name of apparently came outside early in the morning and with evidence of destruciton surrounding her said, “Whooooooo Spring Break ‘06.”  The way Patrick told the story really made it seem like it was quite the moment, but he was obv embarrased.

Marla and I are going to visit mom this weekend in Tahoe.  I’m currently on Spring Break, but other than school, it seems like any ordinary week.  I’m going to visit friends at the Fox and Hound that I used to be a reg when I lived in Tahoe a couple years ago, probably go play a session at Harvey’s on Friday night and spend a lot of time with Marla and mom.  We’re going to church and brunch on Sunday and then I’m going to play in the SCOOP M.E.s $1,000 & $100.

Hopefully, I wake up on Monday yelling, “Spring Break ‘09′ prior to starting Day 2 of the $1,000 SCOOP M.E.

I got off to a good start in the SCOOP series.  Granted, I won’t be playing that many tournaments, but it was nice to cash 2/2 today in the 2x Chance Turbos.  I grinded a bunch of 1/2 on Lock during, but it didn’t go particularly well.  I lost about 1,o00.  Hailey and I are going to City Walk tonight at Universal.  We’ll grab a couple drinks, sushi and maybe some candy from that awesome candy store at the end of the night.  She has work tomorrow, so I’ll spend most of the day grinding away.  Probably not going to play any SCOOP events.  Instead I’ll likely grind the 107 Triple or Nothings on Stars and watch the Final Four games as well.

The WSOP is getting ever so close.  I’m getting pretty pumped.  It’s going to be a full schedule of responsibilities until then, but I’m looking forward to getting it all done in preperation an awesome summer.  I’ve really got things going nicely in terms of the poker playing side of things.  If I can somehow manage to earn another 20,000 by the WSOP, it’ll be a truely awesome summer.

I’ve been on fire this week.  Monday was the day that it began.  I ran a few errands with Hailey and went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch before I got home to play poker.  For some reason, I felt GREAT.  I decided it was time to break the “I’m not going to play above 1/2 NL online” streak.  Usually, that would lead to many disasters, but it was not this time around.  After finally being able to input all my hands from August into Holdem Manager, I realized that I’m terrible at HU up through 5-handed.  I decided it was time to go back to my roots and play ONLY (we’ll see how longt this lasts) 9/10-handed.  I played 100 up to 600 NL for a few hours and won 2,300ish.  Before I had even really started, I decided to play the 1K on Tilt.  This is very, very unlike me.  I’ve only played a couple 1Ks online and those were WCOOPS and FTOPS, but I was just feeling really confident.  I’ll keep it short since it wasn’t anything too spectacular although it was a decent sweat.  I finished 27th and in the money for I’m pretty sure my first cash in a 1,000+ buyin online.

Tuesday I decided it was time that I went back to Commerce.  I played 2.5 hours and won a couple thousand.  There weren’t any spectaculare hands.  I won a decent size pot against Jack Haley after I was able to induce him to bluff the river and had the courage to call with a flush on a double-paired board.  I also ran a nice bluff on a 99x flop.  I overcalled on the flop 3ways with 87 for a flush draw.  I called quickly with an evident hesitation mixed in to buy the opportunity to bluff at the pot potentially later in the hand.  I made a smallish $300 bet on the turn (K) after it was checked to me and bet a measely $500 on the river (X) which was less than 1/3 the size of the pot.  Villain check/folded and I shipped.

Yesterday I scooped about $800 between Poker.com and Lock Poker (a skin on Cake) and today I played only on Lock and shipped another 1,700ish playing only 100 and 200 NL.  I’m on a stone cold heater and feeling great.  I’m probably going to grind mostly on Lock tomorrow.  This site just may be the site that I was looking for.  We’ll see how things continue to go.