socalpokerjoe (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} socalpokerjoe) wrote,@ 2007-10-25 12:45:00 |
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FIRESTORM 2007 a.k.a. The Great Omaha Marathon
Well it certainly has been an interesting couple of days here in Southern California. I remember driving eastbound on Encinitas Blvd. on the way to the gym on Sunday and seeing a thick plume of smoke over the mountain tops of Rancho Santa Fe. I didn't think anything of it at the time and, in fact, when I left the gym, the smokey odor in the air had somewhat subsided.
Monday morning started out as a regular day. I was up at about 5:15 because I had a client from Colorado coming into town and I had some tours planned for him at Callaway, then we were going to play golf in the afternoon. When the sun came up after 6, i could tell the fires had gotten significantly worse over night. There was thick, dark smoke covering the southwestern skyline. At around 7:30 there were rumblings that some people might have to leave because their homes were in areas that could potentially be evacuated. At about 8 am it was pretty apparent that we were shutting down for the day, which we did at exactly 9:10 am Monday morning. Headquarters wasn't in any immediate danger of burning, but the Santa Ana Winds were pushing the smoke from fires raging to the north-east of us.
My fiancee was stuck at work, so I was left to my own devices for the remainder of the day. With air conditions listed as moderately unsafe to really unsafe, playing golf was out. All i could think about was the $4-$8 Omaha 8/b game at Ocean's 11, what a great idea! There was no game going when I arrived at ten 'till ten, so I decided to play in the $35 NLHE tourney that was about to start. Long story short, I was short stacked at the first break, had about 15 Big Blinds at the second break and with about 40 players left (out of 110) i lost a crucial hand with 9-9 vs. 10-10. I was out shortly after. However, the good new was that there was a full Omaha game going by that time. I played until about 2:30 when i got the call that my fiancee was getting let off work an hour early because she is considered a "non-essential" employee of Scripps Hospital in La Jolla. (I netted a $25 loss for the Omaha session) The weather in Oceanside was picturesque: hot, bright & sunny with a big blue sky. However, as i made my way south into Encinitas, things looked much different. The sky was a greyish brown and there was ash falling from the north-east like a light drizzle. We were under an optional evacuation advisory and decided it was safe enough to stay in our place with the windows and doors shut. None of the smoke penetrated the building but the flip side was that we couldn't run the air conditioner on this balmy 80 degree October night.
Maureen and I both had off on Tuesday due to the worstening conditions of the three major fires that continued to punish San Diego County, most noteably, The Witch Creek Fire that blew through Rancho Bernardo and Poway and was now threatening Rancho Santa Fe and Escondido. With all that going on, we decided to get out of town and head north to Temecula, safely above the Poomacha Fire. Temecula, of course is the home of The Pechanga Resort and Casino. After a great lunch, I made my way to the Poker Room to sit in their $3-$6 O8b game. I had and unbelieveable run of good luck where i was getting good starting hands, favorable flops with multiple outs towards scoops and I netted about a $250 take for the day. Great session!
Sidebar:
So, you might be asking, why am I so high on Omaha all of the sudden? Well, i've always enjoyed Omaha, but for the sake of my bankroll I stayed away because I had a tendancy of playing much too loose. Recently, after continued frustration with both Limit and No-Limit Hold'em, I have re-dedicated myself to being a better, smarter Omaha player. The main difference is that I think that you find a better class of people playing Omaha. There is a definite lack of young, brash, 21 year old hotshots who think they know everything because they've been logging hands online since they were 17, and play like they have a huge chip on their shoulder. There is no where near as much passive-aggressive behavior, the games seem friendlier and bad beats roll off the player's like water off a duck's back. I really think that Omaha is to Hold 'em like Chess is to Checkers. Thinking man's Hold'em. By the way, this is not meant to be an edict against anyone I know who is a Hold'em enthusiast, i'm just saying, i was looking for something different and I found it in other games like Omaha High/Low & Stud (which I still try to get to the Stud Game at the Mirage every time i'm in Vegas) And while I'm on the topic, I've really enjoyed ESPN's recent coverage of the $50K H.O.R.S.E. Event from the 2007 WSOP. I love seeing games like O8b, Razz & Stud High/Low on TV. It's a little harder to follow, but it is a welcome change from NLHE.
Wednesday my fiancee was back at work but I was on the shelf for one more day. I called up Stevie "the Saint" and we decided to head back to Temecula in search of those clear blue skies and 18 holes of golf. The Poomacha Fire, however, had grown in size and ferocity and a shift in the wind got us off of the course after about 12 holes. So it was back to Pechanga for more Omaha.
No game going when we arrived so I sat in the $4-$8 Hold'em game untill we could get 8 players for Omaha. After a little over an hour and donating about $75 to the game, the O8b game finally started. Omaha was again, good to me and I recouped about $45 of the $75 i lost playing Hold 'em in about an hour.
So, I had a favorable week of poker:
Monday - -$35 Tournament Entry + -$25 Omaha losses = -$60
Tuesday - +$250 Omaha session
Wednesday - -$75 Limit Hold'em losses + $46 Omaha winnings = -$29
Total = +$161
Back at work today after three sessions in three days. I gotta say, I'm glad. Had a great time, or, as good a time as I could have knowing that there were over a half-a-million people throughout San Diego who were displaced by these fires. I gotta say though, the poker room was a great place to get information about everything that was going on. Lots of different people from lots of different places in San Diego sharing their stories and experiences. And lots of TVs to watch CNN & Fox News. I haven't watched this much news since 9/11. Not even during Hurricane Katrina.
I hope anyone reading this in the Southern California area is safe and back at home. Even though the fires are still burning, there seem to be less and less reports about damaged or destroyed property. Be safe.
Well it certainly has been an interesting couple of days here in Southern California. I remember driving eastbound on Encinitas Blvd. on the way to the gym on Sunday and seeing a thick plume of smoke over the mountain tops of Rancho Santa Fe. I didn't think anything of it at the time and, in fact, when I left the gym, the smokey odor in the air had somewhat subsided.
Monday morning started out as a regular day. I was up at about 5:15 because I had a client from Colorado coming into town and I had some tours planned for him at Callaway, then we were going to play golf in the afternoon. When the sun came up after 6, i could tell the fires had gotten significantly worse over night. There was thick, dark smoke covering the southwestern skyline. At around 7:30 there were rumblings that some people might have to leave because their homes were in areas that could potentially be evacuated. At about 8 am it was pretty apparent that we were shutting down for the day, which we did at exactly 9:10 am Monday morning. Headquarters wasn't in any immediate danger of burning, but the Santa Ana Winds were pushing the smoke from fires raging to the north-east of us.
My fiancee was stuck at work, so I was left to my own devices for the remainder of the day. With air conditions listed as moderately unsafe to really unsafe, playing golf was out. All i could think about was the $4-$8 Omaha 8/b game at Ocean's 11, what a great idea! There was no game going when I arrived at ten 'till ten, so I decided to play in the $35 NLHE tourney that was about to start. Long story short, I was short stacked at the first break, had about 15 Big Blinds at the second break and with about 40 players left (out of 110) i lost a crucial hand with 9-9 vs. 10-10. I was out shortly after. However, the good new was that there was a full Omaha game going by that time. I played until about 2:30 when i got the call that my fiancee was getting let off work an hour early because she is considered a "non-essential" employee of Scripps Hospital in La Jolla. (I netted a $25 loss for the Omaha session) The weather in Oceanside was picturesque: hot, bright & sunny with a big blue sky. However, as i made my way south into Encinitas, things looked much different. The sky was a greyish brown and there was ash falling from the north-east like a light drizzle. We were under an optional evacuation advisory and decided it was safe enough to stay in our place with the windows and doors shut. None of the smoke penetrated the building but the flip side was that we couldn't run the air conditioner on this balmy 80 degree October night.
Maureen and I both had off on Tuesday due to the worstening conditions of the three major fires that continued to punish San Diego County, most noteably, The Witch Creek Fire that blew through Rancho Bernardo and Poway and was now threatening Rancho Santa Fe and Escondido. With all that going on, we decided to get out of town and head north to Temecula, safely above the Poomacha Fire. Temecula, of course is the home of The Pechanga Resort and Casino. After a great lunch, I made my way to the Poker Room to sit in their $3-$6 O8b game. I had and unbelieveable run of good luck where i was getting good starting hands, favorable flops with multiple outs towards scoops and I netted about a $250 take for the day. Great session!
Sidebar:
So, you might be asking, why am I so high on Omaha all of the sudden? Well, i've always enjoyed Omaha, but for the sake of my bankroll I stayed away because I had a tendancy of playing much too loose. Recently, after continued frustration with both Limit and No-Limit Hold'em, I have re-dedicated myself to being a better, smarter Omaha player. The main difference is that I think that you find a better class of people playing Omaha. There is a definite lack of young, brash, 21 year old hotshots who think they know everything because they've been logging hands online since they were 17, and play like they have a huge chip on their shoulder. There is no where near as much passive-aggressive behavior, the games seem friendlier and bad beats roll off the player's like water off a duck's back. I really think that Omaha is to Hold 'em like Chess is to Checkers. Thinking man's Hold'em. By the way, this is not meant to be an edict against anyone I know who is a Hold'em enthusiast, i'm just saying, i was looking for something different and I found it in other games like Omaha High/Low & Stud (which I still try to get to the Stud Game at the Mirage every time i'm in Vegas) And while I'm on the topic, I've really enjoyed ESPN's recent coverage of the $50K H.O.R.S.E. Event from the 2007 WSOP. I love seeing games like O8b, Razz & Stud High/Low on TV. It's a little harder to follow, but it is a welcome change from NLHE.
Wednesday my fiancee was back at work but I was on the shelf for one more day. I called up Stevie "the Saint" and we decided to head back to Temecula in search of those clear blue skies and 18 holes of golf. The Poomacha Fire, however, had grown in size and ferocity and a shift in the wind got us off of the course after about 12 holes. So it was back to Pechanga for more Omaha.
No game going when we arrived so I sat in the $4-$8 Hold'em game untill we could get 8 players for Omaha. After a little over an hour and donating about $75 to the game, the O8b game finally started. Omaha was again, good to me and I recouped about $45 of the $75 i lost playing Hold 'em in about an hour.
So, I had a favorable week of poker:
Monday - -$35 Tournament Entry + -$25 Omaha losses = -$60
Tuesday - +$250 Omaha session
Wednesday - -$75 Limit Hold'em losses + $46 Omaha winnings = -$29
Total = +$161
Back at work today after three sessions in three days. I gotta say, I'm glad. Had a great time, or, as good a time as I could have knowing that there were over a half-a-million people throughout San Diego who were displaced by these fires. I gotta say though, the poker room was a great place to get information about everything that was going on. Lots of different people from lots of different places in San Diego sharing their stories and experiences. And lots of TVs to watch CNN & Fox News. I haven't watched this much news since 9/11. Not even during Hurricane Katrina.
I hope anyone reading this in the Southern California area is safe and back at home. Even though the fires are still burning, there seem to be less and less reports about damaged or destroyed property. Be safe.
