Owner: Chip In URL:http://chipinwade.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 07:34:00 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Life and Poker In Japan Site statistics:Click here
Chalk and Cheese 2007-05-22 07:03:00 I have a couple of friends called Misaki and Ryu who have two little girls who have become like nieces to Rieko and I. Recently we went to their kindergarten sports festival and I thought I would uplaod a few pics and write a bit about the kids.These two are like chalk and cheese. Hana, the oldest at 4, is very shy and quick to cry at the first thing. She is a nice lass but is just really lacking in confidence. Sachi, the little one at 2, is a real bruiser. She will fight, get knocked down, laugh, and then just get back up. She is always in the middle of the ruckus when I take my dog around to theirs and she plays with their dog. They are like two canine whirlwinds and Sachi is right in the middle.Anyway here are some pics:Sachi posing for the cameraRyu and Hana doing the obstacle courseMe, Rie and Sachi before I helped her on her raceWe had a great time at the festival and it is good to be able to spend some fun time with these kids before they get too big. Read more:Chalk
, Cheese
They just got better... 2007-05-22 03:03:00 To make my play for this week better
I just got my third cash from three.I just won the $5 hold-em event on Poker.com and I got to say I have never run so good in all my life.Top three were paid and the battle for the bubble was insane. One guy had an enourmous chip lead and the rest of us were around or below the 1500 mark with the blinds at 75/150. I was hoping for a cash place and be done with it but managed to stay around until the heads up with a chip stack of 400 with his somewhere just over 10000. Then I had the most unbelievable heads-up and won 8 hands consecutively to win the tournament. I totally couldn't believe it. I have to feel sorry for the other guy as I caught some monster hands (two full houses in a row!).If I could run like this every day I would be a rich(er) man lol.
Good day of Poker 2007-05-21 22:03:00 Well this sunday I had the 5th Street forum game in the morning and our family game in the evening.I started out well in the 5th Street game by winning it and getting my 3rd star on the forum. However I have to say luck was with me on that game. I can think of two occasions when my all-in was saved on the turn or river and I doubled up when I really should have been busted. And then in the heads-up with skinski I got to the flop with Q9 and put out a hefty continuation bet. If I remember right, Earl came back over the top of me and had me I was pot commited by then and had to call the all-in. Earl showed Ax with the x being paried on the flop. I was drawing to a Queen or nine and managed to catch one on the turn to take the tournament.Then in the family game we only had a field of five but I was running good. The cards were falling incredibly nicely for me and I had a large chip advantage when we were down to three. My younger brother then felted my dad with a very nicely slowplayed nu Read more:Poker
Go Fish contest 2007-05-21 21:39:00 I often frequent some of the various video websites available on the net and found the Go Fish ‘Seduce a Celeb’ contest. In this contest you have a chance to win a date with Mirelly Taylor. For those of you who don’t know Mirelly Taylor is a well respected actress who has starred in movies such as Kiss Me Again and Serving Sara and television shows including “Las Vegas”, “Punk’d”, and “Numb3rs”. I personally love Numb3rs and set my dvd recorder to get it every week. Here is a clip of Andrew Firestone explaining a bit about the show:Basically contestants have to submit videos of themselves trying to win over Mirelly. The videos are voted on by the Go Fish community and then the top three will be left in a showdown for the date with Mirelly. This competition is open to anyone and it only takes a video to get the date. This contest is only up and running for 14 weeks so the quicker you get your submissions in the better your chances.This is only one in a series of show
JPPA 2007-05-18 17:09:00 In my endless search for a live game in Japan I came across the JPPA online. The site is all in Japanese and so I need the help of my girl to read it (which normally entails me doing an hour or so of mundane shopping with her as a bribe but she will reluctantly have a go at translating).Anyway the thing I wanted to get across is that there is hope. With the very first All Japan Poker Championship (AJPC) on the horizon, taking place over the weekend of June 2nd-3rd, the influences of poker can be seen to be spreading slowly over the face of the globe.I am not super well versed on Japanese gambling law but I am under the impression from various snippets I have read that any form of gambling that involves human to human interaction is illegal. In fact as far as I am aware the only gambling available is on the horse/bikes/boat races and pachinko.However the buzz is that with other Asian countries capitalizing on the gambling industry, Japan is set to change its approach and there are likel
Honeymoon Part 2 2007-05-17 21:54:00 Following up on my post about our Honeymoon
I decided to search some sites and found a company called Hotel Reservations and went through their site a bit and was pleasantly surprised. First of all you have the option of selecting what it is you need exactly whether it be flights, hotels, car rental, vacation rentals or a package combining everything. I set up the details for our plan and was offered a wide range of cheap Hotels and prices with the flights included and options to tailor make the package itself. And once you have your selection of hotels you can arrange them by whatever criteria you wish…I went for the star rating of the hotels to see if I could afford a nice hotel and was pleased to see I can get a classy hotel for a reasonable price. One of the best things about the site was the ease of use. Not everyone is great with computers and while I was looking at this my fiancé came over to have a look and pushed me off the pc and was cruising around the site in minu
Sixth Sense and snakes 2007-05-17 21:24:00 I was out walking with Maron this morning and came across this little chap taking a nap in the sun. I say little but he must have been about 2 foot long.I don't know much about japanese snakes but I am guessing he isn't a poisonous one. From what I know there is only one type of venomous snake on Kyushu (the southern most of Japan's 4 major islands) and that is known as a Mamushi and belongs to the viper family. Growing up as a kid we used to go adder hunting (not to kill then more like adder finding) with my brothers and dad. Adders are also from the viper family and I am pretty certain that vipers have a large triangular head and this little fellow doesn't. He doesn't have the V markings in his colouration either so I think he is some kind of grass snake or something.I only had my mobile phone with me so the shot in't great but from now on I think I will take my camera along for the ride each morning.Anyway about a 100m down the road I got this strange feeling. When I walk Maro Read more:Sixth
, Sense
Bid for goods 2007-05-17 19:03:00 I was just looking around the net and came across this bidding site where by you place bids for a wide range of things from cars to mobile phones and the lowest unique bid wins. What that means is that 10 people could have bid $300 but you can win if you are the only person who bids $234.65.While I was looking I came across this nice tv and dvd theater system. After moving house recently we are pretty much set up with a new sofa and bed but the one thing we really need is a nice tv. At the moment we have to get up to change the channels as our old thing doesn't even have a remote control. The thing comes with with a dvd player, surround sound speakers and a 42 in plasma screen HDTV. Now the only things I have to work out are where to put it and what my unique bid will be...lowest bid Read more:goods
Well I'll be... 2007-05-17 10:04:00 Just surfing to check my site on Google (comes up 4th if you use the keywords poker, japan, life) and came across a few other fellow bloggers who are in Japan and poker players. Two of them are in Tokyo and one in Misawa. It is nice to know I am not alone:Check, Raise, BluffSignals In The FogMicks Poker PagesI also came across a site that said they are having the very first All Japan Poker Tournament in Tokyo on June 2nd with a seat to the WSOP up for grabs...going to have to look into that...
Honeymoon Plans 2007-05-17 08:56:00 We went to the travel agents yesterday to ask about our honeymoon. I am sure you are thinking it is too early and as it happens you are right. The brochures for October don't come out until July but we had a look at the ones they had anyway.I absolutely hate flying, which is strange considering I have flown to Japan and back at least 7 times in the past few years and that is a good 12 hour flight, and Rieko has never been on a plane before. So we are at a bit of a loss as to where to go. All the places we thought of such as Bali are good 9 hour flights and neither of us fancy that,It is looking increasingly likely we will head to Guam as it is less than 4 hours away and a bit on the tropical side. My only concern is that it might be a but more touristy than some of the places designed specifically for honeymooners. I really want a relaxing time on a beach with out any hassles. I know Rie will want to do a bit of sightseeing somewhere as this will be her first trip abroad so we will ha Read more:Honeymoon
Draw, Drawing and Drawing Dead 2007-05-13 20:53:00 Recently I have been playing a bit of 5 card draw online thanks to Skinski setting up some forum games for people to join. The numbers haven't been huge and I think that is testament to the power of tv. The "in" game of the moment is Texas Hold-Em and the other forms of poker tend to take a back seat. The new players only know Hold-Em and don't look to play anything else except the occasional stint of Omaha.With Poker.com bringing in a selection of new games like 5 card draw and some other less known games like Badugi, I thought there might be a bit more interest in the game as a whole, but most times I go into the Poker.com lobby the tables are pretty empty on these types of games.I learnt the hand rankings and generally the rules to poker playing 5 card draw. We used to play it at home with the family taking 2 or 3 draws to allow us to get a stab at some good hands and keep the interest going for young kids. When you are young folding seems worse than playing a hand and losing in t
Back with some thoughts 2007-05-08 04:57:00 Hey everyone. I am back in the land of cyberspace and need to post something to get myself back into the routine of regular posting. With every day that goes by when I don't post I can feel the motivation slipping further from my grasp.So what to write about. This one is a bit forced as nothing came to mind straight away but with the things that have been happening in my life recently I thought I would talk about opinions.As most people know I have recently got myself a small puppy (although she is growing at one hell of a rate of knots) and moved house recently. I have come to find out that when it comes to things like these, everyone and their mother has an opinion. "You should do this..." or "You shouldn't do that..." and so on. I have decided that "should" is officially top on my list of the worst words in the world (how's that for alliteration!). To me should implies a position of superiority by the speaker. It doesn't just emcompass what they think but also that they know bet Read more:thoughts
Time Out 2007-04-02 00:51:00 Well I can't find much time for posting at the moment with everything that is going on so I am looking like I am going to take a break for a month.Once I move into my new place on the 15th I will be without internet until I can get it reinstalled and they have told me it will take a couple of weeks so I will be unable to post anything until after that.I recently got a puppy too which has been a real challenge and outside of work I am spending every minute looking after that little lass.I hope to get back to regular posting in May so check back then for some updates on my time here in Japan.
Short Story 2007-03-17 01:04:00 Here is a short story I wrote today. I haven't edited it at all and will probably do so over the weekend. It isn't great but it is the first thing I have written in a long time so bear with me.Commute It was the smell more than anything that got David Greenburg’s skin crawling. There was no way to put a name on the exact aroma. It was a cigarette perfume cheap dirty sweat stench; the collective emissions from a horde of tired commuters making the dreary trek from the concrete confines of city offices to the suburban illusion people liked to call middle class life.David caught the same train everyday. He had been doing it for the past 6 years of his 10 year stretch at Cobble and Jameson, a struggling accountancy firm clinging on to its dwindling customer base with a frigid grasp. For the first four years he had been a typically eager and fawning new recruit never hesitating to put in the overtime needed to keep the bosses smiling. He left that to the losers drafted in to try and Read more:Short
Freeroll courtesy of Andy 2007-03-13 10:41:00 This is up over at the forum and I am posting it here to help get some people interested in the forum to take the plunge and sign up now in time for this freeroll...Over at the 5th Street Forum we are looking for some folk that like to play some serious poker and our pit-boss ( Cerberi from the Home of the River Demon ) over there has offered to put up another $50.00 for a freeroll for any new members between now and Saturday ! All we ask is to go to the 5th Street Forum , become a member and introduce your self so we know who you are . If you are a serious online player , regardless of the type game that it is , we are looking for you ! We're all a good bunch that have a good time cuttin the fool , and you'll find some of the best games from any forum on the net . Over at 5th Street we don't tolerate foolish play , we believe that poker is a game of skill and wits and not just in luck , and expect our members to play as such . We hold a small buy-in every Saturday and Sunday and yo
Japanese Blues 2007-03-13 09:39:00 I went to a little live house in the town I live. Live music isn't so big over here and blues music is virtually impossible to find.However I stumbled upon this little group in this small place and managed to catch a video of it on my mobile phone hence the quality is bad and it cuts out but here it is anyway... Read more:Japanese
, Blues
5th Street Win 2007-03-13 08:50:00 I had a good weekend game in the 5th Street
game to win the tournament.I caught some great cards at all the right moments and even sucked out on the river after overplaying my pocket 10s against a board of 679 when the other guy flipped Kings. The 8 hit and I was able to felt him and took a good chip lead then.By the time it was 3 headed we were all on about 4500 chips and it was anyones game. Again the cards came when I needed them.The final hand saw me with JJ and the board came xJK. Scottishlad pushed with his pair of Kings and I flipped my set to win the tournament.A great fun game. Thanks to everyone who played.
Time flys... 2007-03-07 23:20:00 It has almost been two weeks since I last posted!!!! Ahhhhh. Things are hectic. I am looking for a new apartment and have been spending a lot of time at the girlfriends house thrashing out some details about the wedding with her family and they don't have internet access for posting. Lame excuse but makes me feel better.Anyway on the poker front only the family game to report and I managed to win that one thanks to a great run of cards when I needed them and some dodgy calls by my opponents. Down to three players with blinds at 100/200 and I had a chip count of 1000 with the other two both around the 4500 mark. I managed a double up and then kept going from there to win it with my AK of clubs against and all in with 78 offsuit.I have a class in 5 minutes but am thinking in the future to post some short stories. I like writing when I get the time and Margie aka MommaJello over at the forum has started up a creative writing thread which I am really enjoying. So thanks to MommaJello for
Up and down 2007-02-25 07:00:00 I haven't posted on poker for a short while because I have seriously cut down how much I have been playing to the family game and the 5th Street forum Saturday buy-in.I have to be honest I was frustrated this morning as I bubbled in the forum game. Normally not a problem but I also bubbled last week and then bubbled in the family game the same day. So three games in a row I missed the cash by one position. This post was going to be about that but out of the blue Titan Poker credited my account with a ticket to a $2 satellite as I blew my cash there on blackjack and never deposited again so I guess they want me to stick in some more cash. In these tournaments, if you win 4 in a row you win $2000. I got off to a good start by taking down the first one with the coupon and netting $12 in the process. I never really felt in danger the whole tournament and my game seemed on.Now if I can keep it up and win three more in a row I am set to buy a couple of wedding rings with the $2000...and if
It really is the small things 2007-02-15 08:24:00 So how was everyones Valentine's Day?I came home from work at about 21:30 and Rieko had cooked a nice curry and set up the room all nice with candles and stuff. We didn't have long together as she had to get home so as to get ready for the day after as she is working all hours god sends to save cash for our wedding.Valentine's day is a funny thing over here as it is solely for the woman to give the man a gift, normally chocolate. It is known as 'giri choco' where giri means obligation. On March 14th (White Day) the man reciprocates by returning a gift.Anyway back to the story. I have a bad gut so there are a lot of foods I can't eat and chocolate is high up on the list. Rieko knew she couldn't give me any of that stuff so she gave me two gifts: a pair of new shoes (my old ones have been kicking around for a few years and while there is sentimental attachment, they are pretty battered up), and a letter. I won't go into the details of the letter but needless to say it made my day Read more:things
The 5th Street WHAT???? 2007-02-13 22:57:00 So what is this 5th Street
Forum I keep harping on about? Here is a bit of my history with the forum.I started playing poker online in August last year and signed up through Interpoker as they had their 100% deposit bonus and it was the first poker site I came across. I deposited $25 and set to playing through the requirements while reading Small Stakes Hold-Em. In actuality my bonus was mainly cleared through playing Blackjack as the casino was linked to the poker bonus at that time. Anyway after my first bonus was cleared I was up to $100 and thought I like this poker lark.This led me to explore some of the other sites and I came across Poker.com. Now Poker.com was designed with small stakes players in mind and they had a lot of freerolls as introductory offers and so I played in a lot of these and won one and came third in a $500 freeroll to get me about $80 over there. I liked Poker.com and found out about the BPT and signed up. The Blogger Poker Tour introduced me to alot of other
I think i am getting old... 2007-02-13 22:31:00 Is not really caring about being fashionable or cool a sign of getting old? Just recently if something fits with how I feel I act on it without too much thought about how others will view it.What happened?I got a Take That cd...I hope this is one post my family members don't read as I will take some punishment for admitting that. But like I said, I heard one of their new songs (Patience I think
it is called) and thought I might give the album a go.Now a few years ago pride alone would have stopped me considering taking it further. I don't know how popular Take That were across the Atlantic but in England they were one of the biggest boy bands around. I would like to think they are now more of a man band as they all look really old now but old images die hard. Their fan base was probably 90% women and as a young bloke it was a shameful thing to admit liking their songs. That is what I mean about getting old...I don't care anymore: I like the song so I get the album. It is a short ro
The devil plays poker (and wears prada...quite a fashionable guy) 2007-02-08 20:16:00 Sometimes I see something or think of something that I think will make a good post. This normally happens when I am away from my pc and I will go into a daydream state wherein I will write the post in my head. Most of these posts never make it to the blog as I know that the muse will not be there when it comes time to get it down in concrete form and the flowing and well structured post I crafted in my head becomes a jumbled mess in which I remember some of the key points and try to add some filler around them.Anyway I want to try to recreate one of those posts that has been forming in my mind for the last day or so...I hope it comes out the way I wanted it to.The inspiration for this post was in part from a post on Steelie's blog called Random Thoughts on Life and Fishing.After reading that post I thought about the changes that have occured in my life and how they have affected the thing inside me which for today I am going to call my soul. I don't like that word much but what I mea
Hands up if you are an idiot 2007-02-03 17:49:00 I for one am touching the ceiling now! Damn I am mad at myself. This is going to be a rant so tune out now if you don't feel like listening. I have definitely noticed a big flaw in my poker persona and I an coining it Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. Today I played 3 pots in an hour on the 5th Street Game because I was so card dead and one of those was a BB free flop where I hit top pair. Dr Jekyll folded again and again and waited for the right moment and then after my second flop and a double up within 2 hands I turned into Mr Hyde and performed a blow up Mike Matusow would have been proud of. I went from chip leader to short stack with an M of 2 because I played like a 1st class idiot for one hand. A pair of aces with a J kicker against two shows of strength including an all-in from skinski!!!! Am I insane. There was at best only a 10% chance Earl was making a play especially since I had only played 3 hands all game and reraised his raise preflop! I can't even begin to explain how pissed Read more:Hands
Mr Anderson 2007-02-02 23:44:00 I don't know if anyone can remember but there is a scene in the first Matrix film where Neo has been captured and is being held in a room by the agents. In the ensuing conversation the Agent goes on to say how humans are a virus swarming across the earth destroying everything in their path. Even the first time I saw that it struck a cord with me and every now and then I see something which reinforces the idea that humanity is a curse for this planet.This post may sound a bit self-righteous and preachy but sometimes I need to say what is on my mind. I am not a self-proclaimed environmentalist (more about them later) but I do have a deep respect for the natural world and what I believe to be the natural order of things and in my mind the evolution of humanity has lead us down a path which has created an unbridgable canyon between us and the rest of the natural world. The development of a recognisable consciousness has lead us to a world of complexity and social confusion which has creat Read more:Anderson
SirSkinski.com 2007-05-24 21:23:00 Recently we found out that our 5th Street forum host Earl was gravely ill. This shocked and upset us all.Over at the forum we decided to do something to try and help Earl out with his medical costs as the drugs are what keeps the pain at bay and without insurance the expense is incredible.We have come up with SirSkinski.com.This little website is there to try to help Earl and his family out with their medical bills and to help keep Earls quality of life bearable.Please come and check it out. There are many ways to help out. Either give a small donation, sign up to out poker percent scheme, or simply leave some words of encouragement on the shoutbox as well wishes can go a long way to lifting the spirits.Earl is a fantastic guy who has made me feel welcome and proud to be a part of the forum and it's poker games. I just hope we can all do something to give back the kindness he shows every day.
PayPerPost Direct 2007-05-24 20:17:00 The site where I have begun doing sponsored reviews has just announced the release of an upgraded website and a whole new feature known as PayPerPost
direct. This is a feature that now allows those people with blogs to attract advertiser directly through their blog. By including the necessary code in your blog you can be targeted for specific posts by specific advertisers. The advertiser simply clicks on the banner and the negotiation process can begin. The software pretty much handles everything and it is easy for you to decide whether to take an offer or not. The whole process is secure and safe with the middle man essentially cut out. How is the middle man cut out? That is what makes this program so different to the many other programs like it across the net with the biggest difference being your profit margins! Other sites with charge as much as 50-100% mark-up on your post. If the advertiser offers $200 you only get $100. But with PayPerPost direct there is only a 10% charg Read more:Direct
The run continues... 2007-05-27 02:49:00 Things just seem to going well for me at the poker table recently...4 tournaments and 4 cashes.This one was pretty safe for most of the way through. There were 45 players and I was at the average chip stack fo most of the tournament.The bubble was a bit hairy with myself and one other person the short stacks with around 3000 chips to the 400/800 blinds but I managed to hang on and then get some cards to stay in it until third.I almost pulled of a nice double up in the last hand when I was all-in with KJs against KQ. I managed to hit my Jack on the river and would have won if it weren't for the 9 and 10 that fell on the flop to make his straight.I had fun though and that is what counts the most I think, especially at such a low level (I am never going to get rich from poker!).Lets hope the run continues.
Stop Your Addiction 2007-05-26 18:40:00 I used to do a lot of voluntary work in the UK and came across many people with addiction problems. Addiction can be a crippling thing and there comes a time when it has to be faced and often this involves a stint in a rehab clinic.Stop Your Addiction have launched a new website about their drug rehab clinic in Michigan. It has a lot of detailed information about types of addiciton and about their program for rehabilitation, along with extenive details of drugs and their effects on a person.I hope it never happens, but if you or anyone you know are the victim of addiction then knowing about sites that can help is of a great advantage.This is a sponsored post.
The law of Athena in Poker 2007-05-25 20:40:00 When I was at University I majored in English Literature. Of all the books and plays I read in those three years I enjoyed nothing more than the classical Greek Tragedies by authors such as Sophocles and Aeschylyus (that is the geezer in the picture).In my final year I wrote my dissertation on Aeschylus' trilogy "The Oresteia". The dissertation was entitle 'The Disruption and Restoration of Human Order in Greek Tragedy'. It centered around themes such as dike (justice), hubris (difficult to define but kind of like pride...) and revenge.In a simplified and easy version in the plays Agamemnon returns home from war to find his wife, Clytemnestra, with another man, Aegithus. His wife is mad because to ensure safe travel from Greece, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to the gods. So when he comes home there is a big argument and eventually Clytemnestra kills him and his fancy lady.Then Agamemnon's son, Orestes, comes into the picture and decides to seek revenge on his mother for killi Read more:Athena
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