tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67373282024-03-07T03:37:43.712-05:00Tour JournalGregg's Journal, on the road with the National Tour of "The Producers"Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-51578815204105546882008-05-29T21:04:00.001-04:002008-05-29T21:04:32.003-04:00I love California. Not LA, but California as a whole. I think I will live somewhere here sometime in life. More later...Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-77164647980815083452008-05-22T19:30:00.002-04:002008-05-22T20:54:16.536-04:00<B>I'm Alive!</b><br /><br />I have really neglected this page forever. <br /><br />That being said, I'd like to congratulate Pete and Jess, and MB and Tieds on the arrivals of Dylan and Natalie into this world! I can't wait to get home and see them in person. I'll be home a month from tomorrow for good, and I really can't wait. <br /><br />I've been getting into Frisbee Golf lately, and it's alot of fun. My best score so far is a +7 on a 9 hole course. I shot 18 out here in the desert in Arizona in Monday and shot a terrible +19. The triple bogey on 5 and throwing my putter in the water on 9 really killed me. I did make the best shot of my short career though, nailing a putt on 16 on my knees from under a tree about 20 feet away. The past 2 weeks we were in Houston and there was a park with a course directly behind our hotel. Since it's free to play, it's nice to have it so close so there's no "cost" involved with taking a cab there, like there is here. I probably won't get to play again this week, as rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. The weather is just crazy here in Tempe. It was 106 the first 2 days when we got here and today it's 65. <br /><br />Also saw the midnight screening of Indiana Jones last night, and I won't give any spoilers, but I was very disappointed. The first 1/3rd of the movie was classic Indy, great cinematography, great sequences and everything. But once the plot got set into motion, I understand why Speilberg didn't give anyone a broad sense of what the movie was about. What really makes me upset is all the reports I had read about how they kept rejecting scripts. But after seeing the film, there HAD to be a better story to choose than this. I know that this is Steven and George's love of their childhood movies come to life, but it just didn't feel like an Indiana Jones story to me. Enjoyable, but nowhere near the hype that it had been built up to. If this is indeed the swan song for Indiana Jones, I feel sad. <br /><br />That's all that's going on for now. Peace out from Arizona.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-85942318209728726022008-01-16T16:15:00.001-05:002008-01-16T16:15:55.031-05:00First Try!
This is just a test, seeing if I can post to my blog via my Mac's Dashboard. Hopefully it will work, and it will curb my laziness in updating about my life. Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-64974508749044889872007-03-17T13:53:00.000-04:002008-11-18T20:27:14.192-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCW7k8jHshZ3voJVhrNkVMyDb0zxmrOVFOso8RT7IDB0S7FMDs231L4Qw-QyvDXxPsUNjxufPvtAtr9_QMc1-MHrYeyVyLm8bpsN-Shvun0X1UGLosR5hn-AAWHuXVmu79daQqbQ/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCW7k8jHshZ3voJVhrNkVMyDb0zxmrOVFOso8RT7IDB0S7FMDs231L4Qw-QyvDXxPsUNjxufPvtAtr9_QMc1-MHrYeyVyLm8bpsN-Shvun0X1UGLosR5hn-AAWHuXVmu79daQqbQ/s320/Producers+Edmonton+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042956770517057202" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Vancouver</b><br /><br />So I'm a little behind with my reporting, laziness has ensued again. Vancouver is hands down the best place that I've been to on tour in the last year and a half. The city itself is beautiful, kinda like a less crowded Manhattan at times. Lots to do, enthusiastic audiences, beautiful sights, and a casino 3 blocks away. Let's just skip to the poker.<br /><br />They have morning tournaments every day for $30 so I played in the Wed. morning one and did quite terribly, something like 38th out of 66 or something. Played some side games for a little while made $300 or so, then went back to the hotel. Then I did some sightseeing around the riverwall downtown. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjQv8jhxy9CZLVqXe5KxKsZZiPBEYDQs10tVAKIA8LIQOidaRGUL9m2uNPx9NyXrYVJYvDaO18FMIpDeKo-98IyX9YS2BkinuzF8VIiG81eaXV5WHXWApNZkfY0doEhTQin6pfA/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjQv8jhxy9CZLVqXe5KxKsZZiPBEYDQs10tVAKIA8LIQOidaRGUL9m2uNPx9NyXrYVJYvDaO18FMIpDeKo-98IyX9YS2BkinuzF8VIiG81eaXV5WHXWApNZkfY0doEhTQin6pfA/s320/Producers+Edmonton+040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042959871483444930" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXQBtRQWicBNTWXndcgvMjLrEP4cpXqZ5o5I2TLxOb2t6B3hQV60LmYTyLdNyxVH-SX0GtTqCVHmSP2Sw5PKhINyHX34jmXI98lIfMHMy42Zj6BaywboXl7JEefzQllwOxzDvDw/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXQBtRQWicBNTWXndcgvMjLrEP4cpXqZ5o5I2TLxOb2t6B3hQV60LmYTyLdNyxVH-SX0GtTqCVHmSP2Sw5PKhINyHX34jmXI98lIfMHMy42Zj6BaywboXl7JEefzQllwOxzDvDw/s320/Producers+Edmonton+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042960438419128018" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfq2UA5ueKRkroTBa29yQvjAYMlQXx9zny4MKs3CghZUKvynbChapHYYDAe2vdAIOKJSq8nH93l2j5kYXjeFOlS_Rk2GrsU9PGnDzfJI6ixfWLBCmj1jCv7L21VHJ2HKlnp4r0A/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfq2UA5ueKRkroTBa29yQvjAYMlQXx9zny4MKs3CghZUKvynbChapHYYDAe2vdAIOKJSq8nH93l2j5kYXjeFOlS_Rk2GrsU9PGnDzfJI6ixfWLBCmj1jCv7L21VHJ2HKlnp4r0A/s320/Producers+Edmonton+038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042961104139058914" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxdlzAabA2CmvcvLkK03yYBZSiU7Z04PwRUXHIyd8c9qLpsFXbr2-QWp4PnQ3_GZNjBuBGdQQuvIMBCBrT-iMNtHiYf8OXH30LUBNK6CXelh-DHS2tNCuPzYek4oOd3yPBw8UQg/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+041.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxdlzAabA2CmvcvLkK03yYBZSiU7Z04PwRUXHIyd8c9qLpsFXbr2-QWp4PnQ3_GZNjBuBGdQQuvIMBCBrT-iMNtHiYf8OXH30LUBNK6CXelh-DHS2tNCuPzYek4oOd3yPBw8UQg/s320/Producers+Edmonton+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042961834283499250" border="0" /></a><br />I wish the bottom translation was easier to read. It says "You Not Afraid Here". Which I thought was appropriate as Vancouver is full of Asians that moved here after it was given back to China I believe (maybe Hong Kong...)<br /><br />Played a bunch more poker, including the next morning making the final table and busting 6th out of 40 ppl. No money, as I was the bubble boy. Was going to play in more side games, but got a txt message from Colin informing me that Lingerie Lunch was happening in our hotel. I had no idea what to expect...<br /><br />When I got there, I met up with the other straight guys in the show and we made our way to the restaurant. Lingerie lunch is held the last Thursday of every month and it's a competition with 6 girls who walk around the restaurant in bikinis, and very loosely "evening wear". The men all applaud them as they come around and are then "judged" and whittled down to 3. It was kinda a great day, scantily clad women, poker, beer, and chicken fingers all before 1:30.<br /><br />Will and Erin came on Friday and I met up with them after the show. They've already put up a nice report on their website <a href="http://www.willschwarz.com">www.willschwarz.com.</a><br /><br />We left on Monday morning, extremely early, about 430am to make an early flight to Saskatoon. I played poker all night and then hopped on the bus to the airport, up for the week $870 winner (including tournament losses, yes tieds). A good couple of weeks in the poker front, could it continue into Saskatoon? Or would I have a losing week? Time will tell in the next blog report. And that will hopefully be soon.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-58871942735550152402007-03-08T13:51:00.000-05:002008-11-18T20:27:14.641-05:00<b>Feeling Better</b><br /><br />Ok, where to begin.<br /><br />2 weeks ago, we were in lovely Edmonton, AB. I didn't think I'd believe it, but they did indeed have the largest mall in all of North America. Suck on that Minneapolis! It was around 8 blocks long I think and boasted a rollercoaster (more on that in a minute), sea lion show, water park, and Urban Outfitters. Well, the rollercoaster was quite impressive for being next to a food court. Our group went on and halfway through on a piece of flatland about 50 feet in the air, the ride suddenly stopped...Turns out Aaron, one of our trumpet players, had decided to film the ride with his digicam and security was on to us. They harnessed a woman onto the track, and she climbed up to remove the camera from the ride. In all fairness, they were very nice about the whole thing and didn't even delete the footage. I'll try and post the video if I can get my hands on it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLCytSTvJsq5deH0bPvathiIQgdrye-0NzWp9jpK-o4KVEI5NnY3Tn5o4mrCM0La1UI6QAtAPGpqUDrC0AV7LKZfZ2aDLuOqrljiORqvYUTxLxWJERrQj70jqVwPX8S2ClsFLbg/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLCytSTvJsq5deH0bPvathiIQgdrye-0NzWp9jpK-o4KVEI5NnY3Tn5o4mrCM0La1UI6QAtAPGpqUDrC0AV7LKZfZ2aDLuOqrljiORqvYUTxLxWJERrQj70jqVwPX8S2ClsFLbg/s320/Producers+Edmonton+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039634328054275554" border="0" /></a><br />It was then onto lunch where I realized that Canadians are very confused about American cuisine. KFC does not include biscuits here in the Great White North! Scandalous! Also, they have a Boston Pizza (which I don't believe they're famous for) and New York Fries (which again, I've never heard of the triumphs of fries in NY). Bizzare.<br /><br />They also have a casino in the mall too. Fairly nice as well. There were picketers outside of the entrance that were former casino workers who wanted more stuff. I didn't really listen as I just wanted to play poker. There was no game going on, so I just wandered around for a while and chilled out. Met up with some people by the Urban Outfitters and found a jacket for $180, marked down to $100, and then take 75% off. 25 CAD for the jacket! ($22.63 on my credit card receipt.)<br /><br />Walked by the ice skating rink, oh yeah forgot to mention a full size ice skating rink in the mall too. The place is sick. Went to the water park, but 40% of the rides were closed, so only having 90 minutes left in the mall made that not the smartest move. Aaron almost went bungee jumping but that didn't pan out either. We then passed by Flamingo Bay, nothing happens, just flamingos hanging out inside a glass wall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganW69c630IZM2nsE52dYbXB8oWReIDOun34eFPrVediw3N1tZAfiZ59uRBLSj4yWbdep2k92n0r74XHkm_7iD5Yyp1DQbDbZw94QsMd5MpSRXTSHv3c3PfjZa8MGCZNHt8BEYA/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganW69c630IZM2nsE52dYbXB8oWReIDOun34eFPrVediw3N1tZAfiZ59uRBLSj4yWbdep2k92n0r74XHkm_7iD5Yyp1DQbDbZw94QsMd5MpSRXTSHv3c3PfjZa8MGCZNHt8BEYA/s320/Producers+Edmonton+021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039632906420100562" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">This was connected to a large tank of water with a Pirate theme.<br /></div><br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoRCTktCHnXGOAUNGEgUlNwJhA3Zl6QFVyj9yGlhLFpF0bZYFlqQVIef1EvL41ROf9ZhdDL-kvRQeUlnFhlpZrotoG16Di9vODq5GHJg7E9iUbJJxhli8DX6gn5o3gQD42NRv6A/s1600-h/Producers+Edmonton+024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUoRCTktCHnXGOAUNGEgUlNwJhA3Zl6QFVyj9yGlhLFpF0bZYFlqQVIef1EvL41ROf9ZhdDL-kvRQeUlnFhlpZrotoG16Di9vODq5GHJg7E9iUbJJxhli8DX6gn5o3gQD42NRv6A/s320/Producers+Edmonton+024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039636286559362546" border="0" /></a><br />The sea lion show was next to this and ran 2 shows a day. We watched the show and I was pretty impressed with what sea lions can do. I had videos, but somehow lost them. After that I got a haircut and went back to the casino, still no game. Met up with people and went home. Fun day all around. <br /><br />Did I mention I played poker?<br /><br />Been a long time since I've typed that. Admittedly, off my game the first session back in a 3 months, but the game was different! <br /><br />In Edmonton, boy do they love to play Omaha. In fact the 1/2 NL game was not just NLHE. It was "dealer's choice" meaning you the button picks, and you can choose from HE, Omaha, Pineapple or Crazy Pineapple! 95% of the hands were Omaha, (NL Omaha, mind you...crazy), and I occasionally chose HE when I realized people saying, "How can you play with just 2 cards?" and just muck like crazy. In about 3 hours, I was stuck $800 playing 1/2 NL. Those are the swings of NL Omaha I guess. I came back and finished only $165 down after playing some big pots and having things go my way. My big hand was flopping the nut straight and getting check raised by a guy with top pair, no redraw whatsoever, just top pair. Thankfully he missed perfect perfect after we stuck it in on the flop. <br /><br />The next night I went back and played more of the same, winning $185. Things got interesting the next 2 days when I went back to play inbetween our 2 show days. I ended up killing the game playing 1/2 NL on Saturday and 4/8 with a kill on Sunday. In the 4.5 hours I played, I ended up $1040 winner. It was sad to leave, but it was time to go to Vancouver! Most definitly the best place I've been on tour so far. More pictures and poker in the next blog entry.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-21066850765538622892007-03-05T20:54:00.001-05:002007-03-05T20:54:57.961-05:00<b>Updates</b><br /><br />Canada posts and pictures will be updated tomorrow. I'm not feeling well today. Time for 24, pizza and bed.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-53694028715849969002007-02-22T15:57:00.000-05:002007-02-22T16:03:35.085-05:00<b>Brrrr</b><br /><br />Canada is cold, and far away. I've realized it's just like America, but everyone's nicer on the whole. Even the plane was nicer aesthetically. Weird. I spent a nice couple days in NY with Karen, and left far too soon for me. But, it's back to work, the show must go on, whatever other cliches you can think of. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go to the Edmonton Mall, supposedly the 2nd biggest mall in North America. I've heard rumors of a water park, sea lion show, rollercoaster, flamingos, and an Urban Outfitters. Should be fun. Pics as they become available...Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-89120081586024549852007-02-19T23:21:00.000-05:002008-11-18T20:27:15.034-05:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b> Some quick pictures...</b><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM92wzIXVIvzsh0744BN_USYaIxuN3Oyq_BuRK-pqbda-9gsrKv3dl7q9E4fQbRdsPS3dIDcoVHrpaMa8JblMN0h1DNYVgHi-rJ-NOo42isEHtDcEcpK6jbUi8f0CJAe_fU-Ih8Q/s1600-h/Producers_Akron+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM92wzIXVIvzsh0744BN_USYaIxuN3Oyq_BuRK-pqbda-9gsrKv3dl7q9E4fQbRdsPS3dIDcoVHrpaMa8JblMN0h1DNYVgHi-rJ-NOo42isEHtDcEcpK6jbUi8f0CJAe_fU-Ih8Q/s320/Producers_Akron+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033467265688146514" border="0" /></a> My nephew Colin, playing the drums in Akron, OH like his big uncle...<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwh85KLf7HlksmiHMzcvlv8r9h66bDZMuZeo2dv6ssbMlcGUZtG4efzguGmRcZPONVsb3MuErmxuearEbAHFYhG3QTgF6mnH9-ATJCnxQjGSnjHGvZP5UceO0WBHhtCh9aqHuIw/s1600-h/0213072238.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwh85KLf7HlksmiHMzcvlv8r9h66bDZMuZeo2dv6ssbMlcGUZtG4efzguGmRcZPONVsb3MuErmxuearEbAHFYhG3QTgF6mnH9-ATJCnxQjGSnjHGvZP5UceO0WBHhtCh9aqHuIw/s320/0213072238.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033467265688146530" border="0" /></a><br />Me outside during our snow day in Springfield Il. Aaron (2nd Tpt player) got a new pocket trumpet with LSU colors. It should be noted that this was after 5 beers or so. It should also be noted that this was taken by my new LGenV cell phone.<br /></div>Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-17509049794009685492007-02-19T11:25:00.000-05:002007-02-19T11:55:44.644-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><b> Back in NY</b><br /><br />Well, for a day. I'm in Queens in Karen's apartment for the day, let me explain. Our Sunday evening show was canceled and we don't have a show till Wednesday night in Edmonton, AB. (Canada) So I decided to come back and hang out for a day and then fly to Canada tomorrow night to get in just after 1am on Wed. morning. We had a good weekend in Aurora, didn't see Wayne and Garth though, sadly. I also found out that Will and Erin will be coming to see me in Vancouver next weekend which is pretty exciting. Maybe he can smuggle a copy of Windows Vista over the border for me.<br /><br />Karen came and visited this weekend, which she had quite a terrible travel day. She usually travels standby on Delta but because of the weather delays it didn't look good to travel without a ticket. She ended up buying an expensive one way ticket that connected through DC, then Detroit before landing in Chicago. It turns out that she would have gotten 1st class on the standby flight, and EVERY one of her flights were delayed, resulting in her getting to Chicago at 2am. Oh, and they lost her luggage. It was a disaster of a day, but it didn't ruin our weekend. <br /><br />Well, I'm off to run out and get some lunch with my brother, then get some pizza tonight and watch some 24. I won't be using my phone for 3 weeks after tomorrow, because of the Canada ripoff plan. So, see ya on MySpace!<br /></span></span></span></span>Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-50934535790071030652007-02-14T12:02:00.000-05:002007-02-14T13:24:30.961-05:00<b> Ok, This Is Ridiculous</b><br /><br />So, I started this blog thing to keep people updated on my life, but now never update it. Granted, my worst trait is maybe my procrastination, but I'm about to make a change on blogging. We'll see if anyone still reads it, but it'll give me something to do when I'm bored. <br /><br />The main inspiration for my resurgence to the blogosphere would be <a href="http://jovoneverett.blogspot.com/">Jovan's blog</a> about his new experience on the "Spamalot" tour. Im genuinely excited about reading about a bigger tour than mine and hearing other stories from the road. Definitely check it out if you like theater talk. <br /><br />Ok, let's talk TV. Lost started again thank god, and 24 had a sweet 2 hour episode this past week. The Office is consistently the funniest show on TV, even though I wanted to hate it, loving the BBC original and all. But my new fix has been, oddly enough, a poker show. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbcsports.com/poker/index.html">Poker After Dark</a> on NBC is right up there with <a href="http://www.gsn.com/specific_page_elements.php?link_id=S82">High Stakes Poker</a> as being the best show on television in that field. HSP lets you in to how a cash game is played, for the first time on TV, so now people can see how to play before they make that trip to their local casino. The problem with poker shows in the past is that a) they're all tournaments, and b) they don't give you a good sense of how the action is going, because they're editing down a 7+ hour tournament to 2 hours. High Stakes Poker is a great example of how cash games are different from tournaments, and should be played just as such. <br /><br />With Poker After Dark, they take 5 days to show what is essentially a 6 handed deep stack sit-n-go. I find it very informative as they show 85% of the hands and you see the natural ebb and flow of the tournament. You see the setups for the hands that they would just show the result of on something else. Another key thing for me is that they turn the player mics all the way up, and there's one announcer who you never meet. His comments are 99% awful and stupid, but thankfully he doesn't talk all that much, they just let the players play. <br /><br />They also skip back story stuff and just introduce the players for 15 seconds and play. They don't make a "story" of the tournament, they just play poker. It's a great show for people who have a knowledge of the game already and want to study the game more indepth. I can't recommend in enough, TIVO it or <a href="www.bittorrent.com">Bittorrent</a> it, which i do. <br /><br />As for the show, we're in Springfield, Il and we got snowed in last night, thanks to this beautiful midwest weather! We found out we were canceled around 3PM and decided to just lounge around all day. I spent the day watch aforementioned poker shows and The Apprentice alone in the hot tub, ate some dinner and drank a few beers watching more poker shows. I'm pretty addicted to these. <br /><br />It's Valentine's day today and I'll be seeing Karen late tomorrow night in Aurora, Il, home of Wayne and Garth. There's a casino nearby too, I wonder if we'll go? It's about 12:30 right now, so I'm gonna hit the gym, hot tub, lunch and do a show I guess. I'm goin to Canada soon so I won't have my phone. In the words of Jack Bauer, "Dammit!"Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1166216003899835672006-12-15T15:40:00.000-05:002006-12-15T15:53:23.913-05:00<B>Bleh...</b><br /><br />This is my current emotion...just tired for no reason. I just pulled into Scranton, PA and "The Office" theme went off in my head. I thought that was funny. Just watched the hour long Christmas special from last night, and there were some amazingly funny moments. Check it out if you can. <br /><br />Maybe I'm tired because of my resurgence of going to the gym again. It's been a while admittedly, but I feel good every time I go and it's hard to turn that down. I'm getting older now, (my birthday was yesterday) and maybe time is just catching up to me. <br /><br />I feel awful for Will and Erin in Seattle who have no power and no way of personal transport. My thoughts go out to them in this, the hardest of times. <br /><br />In other news, NO, I haven't returned my phone yet. I actually love it and plan on keeping it the full 2 years until something better comes along. <br /><br />Back to my birthday, I had a great time with all my friends from the show in Binghamton, NY. I got presents in the mail from Karen and her parents which were much appreciated. Thanks baby! <br /><br />I didn't realize how many people that go to school there are from Long Island, and I met quite a few. Then we came back and a few of us watched Jackass 2 that I got online earlier this week. Overall a great birthday! <br /><br />Ok, off to the mall and soundcheck, and then I'm hanging out with Pete and Jess tonight. Happy times!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1164841034754266722006-11-29T15:53:00.000-05:002006-11-29T17:57:15.563-05:00<B>Guess who's back?</b><br /><br />Well well well...I know it took a long time but I'm back with plenty of things to write about. I'm a little hopped up on cough medicine right now so my attention is waning. Bear with me. <br /><br />Tour has been going really well overall. Great people, great audiences, great show. Since the last post, we've been through the Carolinas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, UMASS (we played where the Minutemen play), Maine, and West Virginia. <br /><br />So far we've had 3 individual shows canceled, which is fine with us as it doesn't affect our pay and we get to do less work. AKA - The American Dream. When we were in Maine, a girl in the show caught an ad for Bob Saget doing his stand up show at a college gym in Lewiston, ME. She promptly rented a car and I was lucky enough to snag a seat in it to get to the show. It was a random night to say the least, getting lost in Maine and such. By the way, Portland is a really cool city. <br /><br />Backing up to UMASS, we were scheduled to have a show Mon, Tues and Wed night. Tuesday and Wednesday were cancelled by the presenter and Thursday was a travel day leaving us with Nov. 7th 8th 9th off! Now, I'm sure you all remember Nov. 7th really well. Democrats across the country rejoiced, because Guitar Hero 2 came out, and we took the House and Senate!<br /><br />Someone found a way to take the best game ever created...and make it better. I didn't think it could be done, but in every facet, they made the game better. Do yourself a favor and spend the best $200 of your life on a PS2 and a GH2 Bundle. <br /><br />In other news, I openend up an ING Orange account online, and find it to be very financially sound. I've saved up some money so far without having to do much really. Just auto transfers every week and it couldn't be simpler. I've also referred some people on tour to be able to do the same thing too. If anyone's interested in saving more money, email me and I'll tell you all about it. <br /><br />On to Thanksgiving. We were supposed to have the past week in DC, but we were told we were cancelled the Tuesday before we were to go there. We finished our week in Philly, then the company flew me to Chicago to hang out with Karen where she's doing the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Met some of her family in Chicago at her grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, had a great time. <br /><br />Friday I flew home to Long Island and spent the day at home just hanging out, but found a card game later that night. The place that I usually play at, closed while I was gone. So I called my friend to find out where people were playing. Did well for the night, but made 2 huge errors, that I honestly should just know better. Left +$130 for the night, not stellar, considering how much I should've been up. <br /><br />We played till 9am then I went home to sleep till 1230. Then Maureen and I drove up to Pound Ridge to see Jennifer, Patrick and the kids. I really miss them and it was great to have them there instead of on the phone. I'll be seeing them in January when I play the town right next to theirs. That'll be a fun weekend indeed. <br /><br />Sunday I didn't move from my chair more than 5 times the whole day, due to a football coma. I always have Sunday matinees so I NEVER get to watch live football. This was like Christmas in November. This coupled with the fact that my Fantasy team is really starting to heat up. I was quietly winning 75% of my games this season till I got murdered 2 weeks in a row and was an underdog, going into this week. Donovan McNabb, Ronnie Brown, Kevin Jones, all hurt. I did some studying (and some gambling) on who I thought would be good options and I was able to win decisively this week and have the 1st place guy, lose. Now tied for 1st with 2 weeks to go, we play each other this week, in what should be a crazy matchup. I'm almost too excited for words.<br /><br />Right now I'm in Pensacola, FL and I'm a little under the weather. I've been coughing for about 3 weeks now, and not once have I tried medicine or a doctor. Now I pay the price. I pulled a muscle in my chest this morning coughing, and now the middle of my chest plate is reeeeeeeeally sore. Overall I just feel achy. We all went out for Kasey's birthday (my roomate/boss) and today is kind of a recovery day. I'm in the hotel bed ready to nap as I write this. <br /><br />I'll leave you with another classic Gregg story. Never being happy with the current technology and being eligible for a $100 discount towards a new cell phone can be troublesome. That coupled with Verizon's 15 day worry-free guarantee leads to me exploiting the living hell out of a loophole. Since Oct. 23, I'm now on my 3rd phone. <br /><br />The 1st was the Motorola Q. While it was a nice phone, I didn't need the Data Plan to do what I do, and the cost per month was too high. I really just wanted something fancy and grabbed the sleekest thing I could. I returned that about 13 days later and went back to my old phone. <br /><br />Then in Philly, I was bored one day. On days where we just have 1 show at night, I find myself to be stir crazy during the day. Anyway, we stayed 1/2 block away from a Verizon Store, and I really liked the White Chocolate. The phone is really sleek looking and has a great resolution screen and a nice camera. But after another 13 days (and dropping it in my soup) the touch sensitive controls were a little too much for me. I would try to send a text message and it would move options over the to the right instead of "enter". Stuff like that. I didn't think I would be happy with the phone for the next 2 years of my life, so I gave it up on the exact date that the phone I've been waiting for since October, finally came out. <br /><br />The LG9900, or the en-V. (jealous?) It's the update from the last year and basically it's a regular phone up front but it flips on its side to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and a 2MP camera. The screen is a nice resolution and the pictures look amazing. I'm finally happy with a new phone, and not just settling anymore, which feels nice. <br /><br />Well, it's time for a nap now before the show. This was fun, perhaps I'll get back to the habit of doing this a little more often...Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1164751773606915292006-11-28T17:05:00.000-05:002006-11-28T17:09:33.623-05:00Hey, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in 2 months, but that will change later today/tomorrow. I'm just extremely lazy, won't even try to lie...be back soonGregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1159548826175700662006-09-29T12:46:00.000-04:002006-09-29T12:53:47.583-04:00<B>Opening, and Florida</b><br /><br />So I pulled into Sarasota, FL last night and had an uber expensive dinner at a seafood place and hung out on the beach till 1am. And someone pays me to do this...<br /><br />I was just here at this same venue and hotel in December, and it's such a great vibe, everything is very peaceful. <br /><br />We opened on Monday in Columbia, SC and while the first performance was a bit of a tech disaster, we pulled it off, and the crowd loved it. It's nice to know that the material alone in the show is enough to give the crowd a good time. Tuesday and Wednesday's shows went great, and we had yesterday off to get ready for the 5 show weekend starting tonight. My folks will be coming later today so it'll be really nice to see them and to have them see the show. See you guys soon!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1158631338453588412006-09-18T21:51:00.000-04:002006-09-18T22:02:18.466-04:00<B>Pit Photo</b><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Owensboro%20009.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Owensboro%20009.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This is a shot taken just 10 min ago from the house in Owensboro, KY. See ya at the show!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1158549904449424602006-09-17T23:04:00.000-04:002006-09-17T23:25:04.490-04:00<B>A Packed Morning</b><br /><br />Well, I'm here in Owensboro, KY, and back from Canada. Everything is going really well in rehearsal and we're getting close to running the complete show with everything. Exciting times indeed. <br /><br />This morning Kasey, John (my two bosses) and I took our company car to get some food before rehearsal. I was going along minding my own business and a car comes across traffic making a left turn! I slammed on the brakes and swerved right, but still hit the car going about 20mph or so. We pulled over and a tiny frail old lady comes out and says she knows it was her fault but "I just got so tired waiting at that light! It just never changed!"<br /><br />I kid you not, this was her first and only defense. Her next line "I guess that's what I get for going to church" was not helping in the least either. I just felt so bad for her, but clearly it was not my fault. I found a cop across the street and he straightened everything out. During this, Dycka called me to tell me a WR for my fantasy football team isn't playing this week and I should take him out. I didn't make it to the theater till 102pm EST and was unable to make the switch. Fearing the worst, I checked my score to see that thanks to McNabb and the Ravens defense, I have a very solid lead against my opponent with just his defense playing tomorrow night. Take that Gyros!<br /><br />Well, I'll have some pics of my setup up tomorrow. Hope all is well, back soon!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1158043149209883142006-09-12T01:37:00.000-04:002006-09-12T02:39:09.816-04:00<B>Random ramblings from the Great White North</b><br /><br />I'm on my way back to the States on Thursday, so that's some good news. In other good news, the CD that I recorded back in May in Philadelphia is finally done! 2 guys from the Oklahoma tour got together and did a country singer/songwriting team project. They asked me to play for the 12 tracks they were doing. I'm honestly very impressed with how the whole thing came together. You can check out the tracks at:<br><br /><a href=" http://www.myspace.com/haroldbarnard2 ">http://www.myspace.com/haroldbarnard2 </a><br /><br />It's probably because I had something to do with them, but I can't stop listening to the songs. Especially "Three Wise Men". That's got "hit" written all over it.<br /><br />In other news, Karen visited this weekend and we had a great time. She left today and it was really sad to see her go. She'll be back in October before she goes out to do Radio City in Chicago and Boston. on a side note, we did manage to watch all 13 episodes of Arrested Development Season 3...in 2 days. If anyone has not seen this show, please do yourself a favor and get the DVDs. Easily the best writing and acting in any sitcom, ever, of all time, period. (Have I made my point?) <br /><br />As for the show, rehearsals are going really well. We did 2 runs in the studio this weekend, and it's really starting to turn into something. I'm really excited to get it in front of an audience and hear their reactions. That's where the excitement will really start to set in. <br /><br />Anything else? Oh yeah, I did manage to get the woman working at some Canadian clothing store here, to get a sweatshirt from a different store, because they were out of my size, and drop it off at my hotel tomorrow. This would NEVER happen in the USA. <br /><br />Which brings me to something that I had totally forgotten to mention. The general politeness of everyone in Canada has been pretty amazing quite honestly. EXCEPT when you fail to obey every traffic law. Jaywalking for instance is taken quite seriously here. Not even by the police, just like regular people will shoot you nasty glances for crossing at the wrong time with NO cars around. <br /><br />It's really weird. Kinda like the metric system. Well, on that note, I'll leave you with 2 pictures. The 1st is from the audition scene and the 2nd is of Max (Jason) Ulla (Elizabeth) and Leo (Austin). On that note, I'm gonna finish my 591mL of Coke and get ready for my 17 degree Celsius weather tomorrow. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Producers%20Kitchener%20024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Producers%20Kitchener%20024.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Producers%20Kitchener%20028.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Producers%20Kitchener%20028.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1156917030780193932006-08-30T01:39:00.000-04:002006-08-30T01:50:30.806-04:00<B>Blame Canada!</B><br /><br />Well, the first update in over a month and I have some pictures from the first couple days up here in Canada for the Producers tour! If you've seen the show, it's pretty cool to be here and see all of the B'way stuff that we're using.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Producers%20Kitchener%20003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Producers%20Kitchener%20003.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Producers%20Kitchener%20002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Producers%20Kitchener%20002.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/1600/Producers%20Kitchener%20001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5833/379/320/Producers%20Kitchener%20001.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />All is well so far, we have a day off today (Wed.) so I'll be posting a more indepth report later on. Hope all is well!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1153327143660087362006-07-19T12:12:00.000-04:002006-07-19T12:39:03.690-04:00<B>Here's how I'm running</b><br /><br />First hand last night. <br /><br />AK in BB, UTG player raises to $6, a smallish raise for this game. It folds to the SB, a loose player who calls, I have AKd. UTG has $53 left. I elect to call. Flop: AK4. We check to the UTG player. He bets $12. SB folds, I call, planning to check raise the turn, or if he checks, make a value bet on the river. I check the 9 on the turn and he moves all in. I call of course, and whaddya know? He has AA. <br /><br />Ok. Later on in the night, the SB from the previous hand announced that he wanted to put all his money in blind (about $80), and either double up or go home. I get KK, he limps, folds to my raise. I get AA he limps, calls my raise to $11. Flop is 245 with 2 diamonds. He checks, I bet 15. He's so ready to fold, and I tell him if he has any pair there, he's probably good. He sends his money in QUICK with Kd4s. Nice, I call. Turn 8d, river Jd. Oh wait, yup he has a flush. I'm actually playing really well the past 10 days, just getting super unlucky. Including a hand where I put in $225 each preflop with AA vs. KK. Flop K94. Yup, it's been one of those weeks. <br /><br />Enjoy the video below if you haven't seen it yet. It's terrific.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1153238843832257152006-07-18T12:04:00.000-04:002006-07-18T12:07:23.850-04:00<b>How to Steal a Bike in NYC</b><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5TNTq3nhuh0"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5TNTq3nhuh0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />Hector is a true HeroGregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1150906353525465952006-06-21T12:08:00.000-04:002006-06-21T12:13:27.300-04:00<B>Pics from the cruise</b><br /><br /><a href="http://greggmonteith.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnDFw0ZtGJ6¬ag=1">Cruise Pictures</a><br /><br />Enjoy! <br /><br />I'm going to type up a trip report but I'm really lazy right now. I will tell you I got into a "discussion" at the poker table that almost lead to an altercation. That should be enough to whet your collective appetites.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1150599871085667952006-06-17T23:03:00.000-04:002006-06-17T23:04:31.113-04:00<b>Back from the cruise!</b><br /><br />We had a great time, and full report to follow!Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1149890087769387882006-06-09T17:50:00.000-04:002006-06-09T17:54:47.783-04:00<B>The Light at the End of the Tunnel</b><br /><br />Well, this week I've taken a beating in the game of poker. I won't bore you with results, but since I'm off this whole month from work, my vacation if you will, I've tried to play about 4 nights a week. Basically I'm ahead a little for the 2 weeks, but man oh man has it been rough. <br /><br />But the good news is....Karen and I leave for our cruise on Sunday! We're so excited to just leave everything and have fun for 6 days. I'll post pictures when we get back. <br /><br />Also, you tech guys, I want to post a copy of my schedule for The Producers tour so my family/friends can see where I'll be at any given time. Only problem is I don't know where to put it up online. Can you guys help me?Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1149149603046346492006-06-01T04:12:00.000-04:002006-06-01T04:17:30.450-04:00<div style="height:140px;width:520px;"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/"><img src="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/images/blogger-tournament-2006-2.gif" alt="Texas Holdem Poker" width="250" height="90" border="0"></a><p>I have registered to play in the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/">PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker</a>! </p><p>This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/">Texas Holdem</a> event exclusive to Bloggers.</p></p><p>Registration code: 3246300</p></div><br /><br /><p><br />I've decided to take part in this to try and snag a free seat at the WSOP. Can't hurt to try no? If you decide to try also, tell them that you were referred by www.greggm.blogspot.com. I have no idea if I get anything from that by the way. Wow, I've tried to edit this text above but I can't get it to not go into the sidebar. I could probably fix it, but I'm lazy and just got in from another cash game. <br /><br />Quick results: 5/30 +$170; 5/31 -$90. Sickest hand was when I made trip K's on the river but the K was the Kd that completed a flush on the board. Could have probably lost less on the hand, but I didn't, lost the max. Never really got any hands after that. Game was a little too aggressive for me, I prefer to be the agressor. Won't be going back there, too many other easy games to beat up on.Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6737328.post-1148887782228485532006-05-28T09:10:00.000-04:002006-05-29T03:29:42.900-04:00<B>A great few days</b><br /><br />Starting with Thursday, I finally got the official call from the company, and they offered me The Producers tour for the next year! I've been assuming that I'd be getting the call for a couple weeks now, so it's a huge relief to actually just have it over with. I'll be starting rehearsals in the city August 28th and living there hopefully until we leave Sep. 14th for the tour. Unfortunatly our first break is only for a week and it isn't until May. Long time, yes. On the good side we'll be having a lot of week long sitdowns, so Karen can come out and visit. Also, we'll be doing alot of cities that I didn't do on Oklahoma, like 6 weeks in Canada, which I'm really excited about. <br /><br />Friday was great because I only had a morning show for a school group, giving me my first Friday night off since January! Having no show until Saturday night, I took advantage of the situation and went to go see The Wedding Singer in NYC. Kudos to Karen for getting us the ol' Student Discount for $26, and front row to boot! She's so awesome! <br /><br />The show was ehhh...could be better. Lot of really easy 80's jokes that, in my opinion, were just results of lazy writing. There were basically no setups to the jokes, just really obvious references to song lyrics and pop culture. (Ex. A wall street scene, buisness exec says "Seriously, is anyone ever going to pay $3 for a cup of coffee?" Immediatly followed by "NEW Coke? Buy as many shares as you can get your hands on!" Ugh...)<br /><br />Saturday I came home in the afternoon and met up with Phil for a delicious lunch at Fridays. He told me that the card club he works at had a Freeroll tournament at 4. Not having a show until 830 I decided to check it out. You get T2000 chips for free, and there's $20 rebuys for the first hour, blinds are 15 min long. I rebought right away and paid $5 for another T500 to go to the "dealer pool", a sort of pretip for the dealers. So basically I started the tourney with 4500 chips. I had my chips all in at one point with KQ vs. AK and 55. The flop came K83, then 8 8...whew, split pot! When Phil was dealing, I limped with QT on the button and flopped top two pair. I bet the pot of 3000 and got one caller. The turn bricked and I moved him in for 7000. He did the "look at the clock and 'I want to go home anyway'" routine and called with KJ for an open ended straight draw. Phil smashed a 9 on the river for me to leave me short. I was able to steal some pots and not really see showdowns and get back up to 11k. I did a double add on for $40 and jumped up to 17k at the break. Soon afterwards, we made the final table and they posted the prize breakdown: $755, $455, $310. <br /><br />Just like the books say, things tightened up considerably as everyone was frightened to put money in the pot. I stole some pots as there was 6K just there for the taking each time. I stole about 3 times and then there was a raise to 13k from the chipleader directly to my right with the blinds at 1k/2k. I find AA and decide to move in for 31300. Folds around to him and he makes the fastest call with 33. I win and double up. It's at this point that I realize with these chips and the other people's styles, I have to get really unlucky to LOSE this tournament. <br /><br />Same sort of situation as before happened again. There was a raise preflop and I get Kk this time. I move in again and he calls with KQh. I win that one too and we're down to 9. This helps the image even more, because now they've seen the cards I've had and any raise will be respected. I steal a bunch more pots and when we get to 5, a player decides to ask for a deal for 4th and 5th. $50 off the top 2 spots to go to them. We all agree and have now made the money. I could care less about anything but first though. I knock out the 5th place person with AT against his QJ preflop. Then I get the 4th place guy with 77 vs. his A9. 3rd place is also knocked out by me with T6o on a TT5 board. We both checked the flop. A K hit the turn and he checked so I bet 10k, he went all in for 23k, I called and he had Kx. Now heads up, I had about 146K to 100K. The blinds were 5k/10k now, but I had a small dilemma. It was 7:30 and I had a show in an hour. I still had to get home, change and get to the theater in an hour from 109 in Lindenhurst/Deer Park area. I offered a deal of $620/$500 in favor of me which he decided to "play a few more hands." I lost 2 of the next 8 hands, both preflop, and increased my chiplead due to his ability of calling 25k preflop and then folding on whatever board I bet. When I had close to 200K the other player asked if I wanted the deal. I knew I had him on the ropes but I wasn't in the place to argue, seeing as I had to go. I accepted and claimed the $620 prize, my biggest tournament win to date. I tipped the dealing staff $40, roughly 6% of my winnings, leaving me +$515 for the day. <br /><br />Like I said, a great couple of days...Gregghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07332692262988913139noreply@blogger.com1