Poker and pork loin

Using the end of the day to kick back, play some points on Full Tilt and cook a pork loin. The weather is nice enough so I'm on the deck, and hopefully I'm playing relaxed!

Pretty good weekend in Atlanta, after a brutally cold spell a few weeks ago. My dad was in town so he provided some much needed handyman help around the house and it spurred me to take care of other things that I've needed to get done.

It was nice to catch the NFC and AFC championships last night. It seems like the strongest teams this season definitely will be in the Super Bowl. Not sure though if I'll have much interest in watching it. Too much stuff to do with the wedding coming up to devote too much time to the game.

I think the pork loin's done. Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday!

A blogger battle

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: XXXXXX 962254

This free series from Poker Stars includes preliminary events from Jan. 24 to Jan. 29 with the Main Event tourney at 3 p.m. ET on Jan. 30.

A schedule below:

Monday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m. Pot Limit Omaha
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. No-limit Hold'em
Wednesday, Jan. 26, 10 p.m., Pot Limit Omaha Hi-lo
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2 p.m., No limit hold'em
Friday, Jan. 28, 5 p.m., 8-game mix
Saturday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m., No-limit hold'em

That mid-month lull

I'll usually start a month gangbusters at poker, playing every day and getting the right amount of points for Full Tilt's Iron Man each month.

But invariably, somewhere in the month will be a lull, in which one missed day becomes two ... and then I'll stretch it into a week.

Usually by that point I'll be back in the fold by resuming my play again. This month there have been lots of things going on, including a rare snowstorm in Atlanta that turned to ice pretty quickly, crippling a lot of the city and making running really dangerous.

Luckily the electricity and the Internet didn't go out, so I was able to play. But I missed my points on two of the five days that I played.

Today it's a little more of the same. We've been busy setting up our registries for the wedding.

So close to the midnight cutoff for points for the day, I'm playing but I've found when I'm not really well focused to not keep playing.

Points may come and go (if it's really bad you can buy up to four extra days for Iron Man or even the entire month) but the main thing is to always play poker when you are alert and thus have an edge.

You just haven't earned it yet baby (Packers 48, Falcons 21)

You just haven't earned it yet baby/
You must suffer and cry for a longer time
-The Smiths

The team assumed that despite its spotty play during the regular season, everything would suddenly, magically come together once the playoffs arrived. The only thing that was sudden was the end of our season.
-Phil Jackson, "The Last Season"

I've witnessed some really great moments in Atlanta sports history -- the Atlanta Hawks forcing Game 7 in the playoffs vs. the Boston Celtics, the 2008 Falcons field goal to beat the Chicago Bears, a walk-off grand slam by the Braves against the Cincinnati Reds.

And yet this is the first time I can say I witnessed a truly devastating loss in a game of this significance. The Falcons, with the best record in the NFC and home-field advantage in the playoffs, get destroyed by the Green Bay Packers.

I guess this makes up for Michael Vick and the Falcons beating the Packers in 2003 in Green Bay.

This time around, the Packers clearly were the better team. The Falcons defense looked pitiful, giving up 8- and 9-nine yard passes with seeming every play.

And just like that, a once promising season is done. It seems to be the fate of Atlanta teams, from the wild-card Braves to the second-round Hawks. What is promising is fleeting and the end especially nasty and short.

A New Year's treat

Full Tilt is running triple points right now, I think for the New Year's holiday and all of the bowl games going on right now.

I've started a fire out on the deck with the 'bachi and the wireless covers out here. Which is awesome.

I hope everyone had a festive New Year's celebration and here's to poker profit in '11.