So sick...

So tonight I was watching the first episode of the new season of High Stakes poker. They usually play $300-$600 No Limit Holdem and I think the minimum buyin is 100K. But these guys are such degenerate gamblers that they need more action, so they all decided that the first person to win a hand with 7-2 would get $500 from everybody else at the table. Phil Helmuth and Mike Matusow are at the table and after the first televised hand they're already at it. Mike picks up kings in early position and raises to $1800, everybody folds to Phil who has 7-2 of course and raises to $7000 in the big blind. The other guys are actually talking about, when Phil raises, Esfandiari says "I love it, you don't know if he has aces or seven deuce!". Mike just calls. The flop is Q-J-6. Phil checks and Mike checks behind him. Not sure why he didn't re-raise pre-flop and why he doesn't bet on the flop. The turn is an 8, and Phil bets 17K. Mike flat calls. The river is a 6. Phil takes his time, looks over at Mike's stack a couple of times (he's got about 65K left). Keep in mind that these guys were just talking shit to each other. Phil finally bets 4oK with seven deuce!! Mike goes in the tank, and he just couldn't believe that Phil would make a big bluff on the river, and he folds the Kings face up! Phil of course shows his hand to collect from the group.

It was so sick. I just know I couldn't pull that kind of stone cold bluff myself. Not with people talking about it during the hand and with that kind of money. I don't like the way Mike played the hand, and it's easy to say that he had an easy call on the river, but it was just a sick hand. Unfortunately, it did help to keep Phil's ridculous ego in check!

So my original post ended with the previous paragraph, but I had to add to it for reasons that will become obvious. At this particular table there were 2 unknowns (at least from me). Rich amateurs getting in the game. On one of the last hands, one of them picks up 7-2 of spades and raises to $2100. The other one picks up, yup, you guessed it, pocket kings! This hand was also sick, but for different reasons. The dude with the kings raises to 10K. The 7-2 guy re-raises to $37K! The kings call. The flop comes K-4-k! And the pot is already 75K. The kings check, and 72 bets 30K. 72 is wearing a fancy watch and the kings asks him how much his watch costs, prolly trying to throw him off and then calls the 30K. The turn is a 10 and the kings checks, and 72 bets 50K! The pot is now 185K... The quads raises to 100K and 72 finally folds. That seven deuce rule cost him about 100K all in the hopes of winning $3500! So sick...

Random Panama thoughts

A few random tidbits from my Panama trip.

-When flying in to Panama city with clear skies you can see the Atlantic (Caribean) on one side and the Pacific on the other.

-My godson, Fernando Fabian, who is my cousin Fernando's son in now 4 years old. He loves batman for some strange reason and can be a bit of a terror!

-My niece Ines now likes to read. 8 months ago I couldn't get her to pick up a book. Now she complains cuz she doesn't have enough time to read! And not surprisingly, the book she's reading now is The Sword of Shannara. In French unfortunately. Even though she's picked up on the family penchant for fantasy books, she hasn't joined our tri-lingual clan and didn't have as much fun on this trip as she should have since she only speaks french and not many people speak french in Panama!

-Un desayuno para cinco en Nikos cafe = $14!!!

- Most expensive meal = $140. That's for 5 people at a steak house and with 2 bottles of wine.

- Tons of condo high-rises have gone up in the past 2 years and are still going up. A whole section of the skyline seemed completely new to me.

- Traffic is as bad as ever.

- My spanish isn't so bad, I should use it more.

- The Venato hotel/casino has a poker room, but they don't start playing till 6 and I didn't get to play.

- My cousin Carolina is 18 and going to law school. That's crazy to me.

- My nephew Clement is also 18, likes to smoke cigars and pipe, and gives me funny looks when I drink rum and cokes instead of drinking it straight. Straight rum??? Crazy kids...

- Bocas del Toro is a pretty cool set of islands on the caribean ocean right off the coast. Even though tourism is developing there quickly it's still pretty raw and ghetto like the rest of the country. That's a pro and a con in my book. It's still has a very real quality that's missing from the fancy resorts in the rest of the caribean but it's lacking in some of the comforts and commodities.

- Swimming on a 'wild' semi-deserted beach with strong waves can be real dangerous. If it wasn't for a random boat that happened to come by we could have been in real trouble. It's hard to tell how much since the boat showed up real soon after we realized we were in trouble. Just the possibility of me, my brother, my niece and nephew being in a real life threatening situation with my mom watching from the beach is almost too scary to contemplate.

- The scary experience and minor miracle above made my non-religious brother takes us to a church the next day to give thanks.

- My mom can still cook up a mean meal. Salmon souffle, pernil de puerco (pork) con arroz con coco y guandu (y concolon para mi!), y flan/cheese cake de philly cream cheese. So tasty!

- After lunch at my mom's we went to my grandfather's grave. He's buried in Nuevo Emperador not far from my mom's house. This was the first time I'd gotten to go to his grave since he died in October and I was crying before I even made it through the gates of the cemetery. It was very sad.

- Gilberto Santa Rosa is coming to Panama with Olga Tanon on December 7th. Would be fun to go back to see that concert and spend some more time there. Not sure if I can swing it.

- Shrek 3 and Spiderman 3 = 2 bad movies. Not bad enough for me not to watch them on the plane but very close.

- Food I brought back from Panama: yellow corn tortillas that I can't find here, white yuca and cheese tortillas closer to the arepas I can find here, bollos, and some coffee

Unas fotos...

Here's a link to some pictures from my Panama trip last week: http://picasaweb.google.com/fcamargo4/PanamaAgosto2007

As always, it was great to get back to the motherland, spend some time with family and friends and re-connect with Panama. It had been about 2 years since I had been back and that's way too long. I need to try to go back more often but it's not easy.

Anyway, I may write more later, but for now enjoy the pics (let me know if the link doesn't work).