Everybody Likes a Big Muff

Waffles and Al, get your minds out of the gutter -- I'm talking about my new toy:



The Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff Pi. Designed specifically for the bottom end, yeah. Thick thick fuzz, true bypass, and enough sustain to pluck a low E and leave it until you're feeling the brown notes.

Cost me less than I ususally donk off in buy-ins on a Tuesday, and since I'm on hiatus, I figured a new toy was in order. I've been using a Big Muff for years, but it wasn't for the bass, and was sucking out enough bottom end for me to think that pedal was a river two-outer. Besides, there's enough demand for Big Muffs that I should be able to recover 2/3 of the cost by selling my old muff. Read into that what you will, heh.

Anyway, this is one badass pedal, especially when added behind the overdrive I'm already using.

No live poker action this past weekend, and I haven't played a hand since Tuesday since I began my online poker hiatus. A piece of me is thinking about having my hiatus just go through the month. But that's only because I haven't yet filled up my dance card with other stuff. I'm pretty damn sure I won't be playing online till '09. So far, I'm using some of the down time playing more bass, and working New Ben Franklins toward playing shows as of January. But in the meantime, I'm actually planning on a couple hours of bar poker at the Bit tomorrow, just for old times' sake.

For those of you at the tables, may all your stacks and pots be huge.

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

Very quiet times, indeed, at least on this lil' page. I suppose I could be writing more, but then, I haven't done anything lately even close to what this luckbox has been scoring. (way to go, btw!). I also haven't quit my job like this donkshover did this week.

Somehow, I believe both of them are sitting in very +EV spots right now.

Anyway, I've only played in one poker event since last Tuesday, and there was absolutely nothing at all worth mentioning on that. I called too many pf raises out of position with small pocket pairs, having forgotten to turn on my setmining boomswitch, and shoved A2 soooted into A9 soooted shortly after first break, when I was already at 1/2 average stack.

Oh yeah, it appears as if I have finally found a new musical outlet. Well, not new, but new to me. They've been playing around Denver on and off for about ten years or so. The outfit's called New Ben Franklins, and it's basically whatever musicians Dave DeVoe puts together for a stretch. After a couple of loose jam rehearsals on some old NBF's material, it seems as if Dave and I are natural musical matches. We also have a drummer who looks to stick; maybe we'll be able to start playing shows in a couple months, but that means less pokering, for certain.

I would describe the New Ben Franklins as some sort of mashup of alt-country with occasional big britpop/shoegaze sensibilities, in terms of things such as effects and phrasing. If you're so inclined, you can check out some earlier recordings here (in particular "Braids" and "Gonna Be Alright", as examples of the weird melding of styles)

Anyway, tonight is Tuesday, which means it is my one real online poker night of the week. No doubt I'll be in the usual Bodog events tonight ($10+1, $20+2, $30+3, $5R), and likely a couple others. I'm going to start sitting out the PLO and Limit O8 events I've been playing at Full Tilt, simply because I'm running so bad in those for the last two months, it feels like I've giving money away.

Maybe I'll live blog if I get bored, or if my beloved Rockies tilt me into turning off the telly tonight. In the meantime, I'm pulling for a trade for Justin Duchscherer, we'll see if it happens or not.

Why Do Hookers Love the 2008 Main Event?

....perhaps more than any other year?

That's easy. The Blogfather's made it to the mobnies. Yup, everyone's favorite poker midget widget rode his short stack to the cash, and he's still riding it hard. Hookers in the IP Geisha Bar are already lining up to buy second homes. By Saturday, at least one or two will be at the Maserati dealership.

Going into Day 4, Iggy's still on a shortish but growing stack, but would he really want it any different? Anyway, he's still got plenty of play left, and a great story is brewing. Go go go, Iggy, go go go!

Jamal, whom I mentioned yesterday, is also still alive, and with 201,000 chips, he's actually in fairly decent shape. Considering he's completely free-rolling the Main Event, it's all gravy. Oddly enough, his chip count wasn't even listed at the end of play last night, but then, no one knows him. They will soon -- Jamal's a great ambassador for Blackhawk poker, even if the $5 max betting limit pretty much pisses away all the goodwill.... Go go go, Jamal, go go go!

In other news, I had my informal hang with The New Ben Franklins last night, and we're getting together to jam on Saturday. Got a real good vibe about the guys, and we seem to have common ground, musically and otherwise. High hopes for this bunch -- they made some interesting music back in the day, and I would like to be part of their re-entry into the Denver music scene. However, the proof is in being able to actually play *together*, so much more to be learned tomorrow.

UPDATE: Sad to say, Iggy's out -- fought hard, and I think he even moved up one payout slot. But it's early in the day, so the Spearmint Rhino's getting ready for his grand entrance. Jamal, on the other hand, had nearly doubled up today, and was firmly in mid-pack, but took a hit and is now short (250k) with 363 remaining...

Go Go Go!!!

Go, to you, Iggy -- pump those lil' legs deep into the mad poker mobnies!

And go, to you, Jamal -- represent the Colorado mountain casinos well. Jamal, the ultimate lucksack, who wins his main event buy-in via a drawing at the Gilpin, and who's already won one bad beat jackpot worth near $100k this year. You're a damn good player nonetheless, and every donk here in the Rockies is railing you. Take it down. Preferably HU versus Iggy.

Maybe Phil Hellmuth will shave his scalp again. Or better, yet, clean up the cheaters at Ultimate Fraud.

Now that would blow ESPN's mind, eh?

Iggy's at about 85k, and Jamal's at 152k.

No news on the poker front for me any time soon.

Meeting a dude about a band tonight. If I don't get river three-outed by cruel band fate, I may have just finally found my next project -- a reforming band that was a pretty cool part of Denver's scene back in the 90s, and a sort of blend of britpop and alt-country. Cool.

Welcome to the Funhouse

Playing a bar poker single table SNG, of a real turbo variety, and a lot of 'orrible non-poker playing mofos who like TV shows of people with funny reflective glasses. 11 players, starting stacks of 2000, blinds of 200/400 (with about 5 minutes to 500/1000):

1st hand in, I lose 400 by calling from the SB.

2nd hand, on the button: AA (woohoo!)

FIVE flat calls in front of me (I told you play was 'orrible). Jam 1600 from the button. Only the SB folds. BB reshoves for his 2k stack, and all five of the flat callers call the rereraise. So I'm seeing five cards with AA 7-handed. Sick. I haven't plugged that into the PokerStove, but I'm pretty sure I could not have been more than 30% PF with all those callers. I can't get AA to hold heads-up, much less 7-handed?

I don't even remember the full board, but flop was something like 337, couple more random cards, and yeah, AA held. So two hands in to an 11-player tourney, we're down to 5 players (lost one on 1st hand), and I've got about 58% of the chips. The rest was easy, gg me. Ship the $10 gift certificate to be used on a future Chicken Monterey sammich. (Sadly, I went out of the $300 real portion of the day by calling quads with the raggiest boat I've ever been in.)

Tonight is either more bar poker, or I'll fire up a few 7pm tournies at a couple of the sites. Undecided for now, since I'll be playing the BoDonkey tomorrow for the first time. Yeah, baby.

Oh yeah, these guys are looking for a new bass player. I lurves me some deep wet reverbed surf. In fact, I taught myself bass playing playing Dick Dale surf guitar riffs on an old Fender Mexican Jazz Bass. Methinks there may just be a chance to jump once more into the breach.

Is this 2007?

I need a new band. TheMumbles are done as a gigging entity. All my fellow former Palisades have their current projects up and running. And the less I gig and rehearse, the more I rebuy. Heh. That said, perhaps this could bring a $1500 buy-in, if I hang it up for good.

Anyway, as Pokerpeaker can attest, we're getting pounded again, with another foot or two expected by Sunday, so perhaps some time at the tables is in order.