Boston and Foxwoods

I'm writing this in a motel with Carl and Justin about 2 miles from Foxwoods. We played a bit tonight and all won a little money, $300 for Carl and me, and about $2K for Justin. He was playing in a big no-limit game that I just can't handle. I'm too big of a wuss and I'm not very good at NL cash games so I stuck with the $20/40 limit. The players are so bad and I play on such auto-pilot that it's beginning to bother me. I'm not becoming a better poker player and not really challenging myself as much as I could be. I think I want to either start learning other games like Omaha or 7-card stud or get into bigger hold 'em games that force me to think once in a while.

The lat two days in Boston were great. Friday night Justin's ex-boss, Bob, held a home tournament, $20 with rebuys. There were only 19 people in the tournament but I ended up spending $100 and the total prize pool was about $1100, not too shabby. The top 4 places paid money and I came in 4th for $114, a whopping $14 profit! Justin got down to heads up and decided to chop ther remaining money, taking home about $470. Most of the players there were horrific and I really thought we would get heads up. I got stuck in a difficult spot, 4th in chips with a very shortstacked 5th place who I had to wait out. My stack was whittled down while waiting for his elimination and I got to experience being a short stack on the bubble. I much prefer having a large stack but sometimes things don't work out. It was a good tournament and I drank quite a lot of Schlitz. Bob is very rich but still drinks extremely cheap beer so he's OK in my book.

Earlier today I met Noelle for lunch on Newberry Street. Noelle is currentl working on getting her masters in medical Sciences from Boston University. She just finished midterms and could relax for the first time all quarter. We ate at a really good Tapas place that came highly recommended by Erica. Erica knows her food and we had garlic shrimp, pumpkin canneloni, lobster ravioli and some pork dish. Afterward we went to the Prudential Tower, one of 2 big skyscrapers in the city, and had Martinis at a restaurant called "Top of the Hub". It was a clear day and we had a great view of the city and its suburban areas. Boston is a really pretty city in the fall and I love going to the top of the hub. Justin took Renee and I there when we visited 2 years ago and I want to make it my Boston tradition. I had a martini called "Purple Rain". It sounds fruity and it is fruity but I like it.

We picked up Carl around 5 PM and headed down to Foxwoods. It's only 100 miles from Boston and it took less than 2 hours to get here. Tomorrow we're planning on playing a bit longer and possibly drinking a bit harder. I hope we all end up winners again tomorrow. Carl starts playing the tournament on Monday and I'm flying to Seattle on Wednesday. Joy to the world.