December Poker Winnings

As per the updated resolution that I made on my November 22nd post, I have withdrawn my goal of $400 from my poker bankroll this month. I have also taken out an extra $600. I had a great month boosted by my big Live Poker Tournament Win on the 3rd. YTD=+$4,800. My next withdrawal of $400 is due by January 31, 2006. Please continue to wish me luck and keep me accountable.

Merry Christmas

This is how it happened...I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know. He then answered me with a simple statement, "TEACH THE CHILDREN!"

I was puzzled; what did he mean? He anticipated my question, and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said, "Teach the children! Teach them the old meaning of Christmas. The meaning that now-a-days Christmas has forgotten."

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE and placed it before the mantle. "Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round, depicting the everlasting hope of mankind, all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven."

He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a Savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of His promise."

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of He who displaces the darkness."

Once again he reached into his bag and removed a WREATH and placed it on the tree. "Teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the real nature of love. Real love never ceases. Love is one continuous round of affection."

He then pulled from his bag an ornament of himself, SANTA. "Teach the children that I, Santa symbolize the generosity and good will we feel during the month of December."

He then brought out a HOLLY LEAF. "Teach the children that the holly plant represents immortality. It represents the crown of thorns worn by our Savior. The red holly represents the blood shed by Him."

Next he pulled from his bag a GIFT and said, "Teach the children that God so loved the world that HE gave HIS begotten SON...Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. Teach the children that the wise men bowed before the Holy BABE and presented HIM with gold, frankincense and myrrh. We should always give gifts in the same spirit of the wise men."

Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a CANDY CANE and hung it on the tree. "Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherds' crook. The crook on the staff helps to bring back strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper."

He reached in again and pulled out an ANGEL. "Teach the children that it was the angels that heralded in the glorious news of the Savior's birth. The angels sang 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men."

Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. "Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return."

Santa looked back and was pleased. He looked back at me and I saw that the twinkle was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but a humble servant of the One that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD."

--Author Unknown

My Third Royal Flush

On Interpoker, I just hit my third royal flush at a .50/$1 limit hold 'em table. I was dealt KJ of hearts. Flopped the nut flush. The river card was the 10 of hearts. I thought that I'd be able to pull the hand history for the details, but for some reason I can't find the hand. I won about an $8 pot. In the very recent past, this site gave an immediate royal flush bonus of $125 (at these stakes). I thought I won it. But when I checked their site, they had taken this promotion away. How is that for luck?

6/22/05-My First Royal Flush
12/01/05-My Second Royal Flush

It's a Sin to Shop at Wal-Mart?

There is a ridiculously idiotic and one-sided article written in the Los Angeles Archdiocese newspaper, The Tidings, that is titled, Is it a sin to shop at Wal-Mart? I have long given up trying to expect a balanced report in any type of newspaper. Here is another example.

The article gives too much credibility to a Jesuit priest, Father John Coleman. It is obvious from his comments that he has never had the responsibility of owning a business. According to him, it seems that the only reason to own any business is for, "paying a living wage and allowing workers to engage in collective bargaining."

Here is a gem from the article on the omnipotent and evil Wal-Mart: When asked what Catholics trying to live a moral, ethical life should do about the super company, the priest didn't hesitate. "They can boycott it," he declared, "just as people have said they're going to try to buy coffee that supports fair labor practices. Why would you support it? Just because you can save a few dollars, a few cents?" Yes.

As I have written before, I Like Wal-Mart. I honestly cannot understand the hatred that there is out there for this company. Do people really believe that the world would be a better place if Wal-Mart had never existed?

Good Advice

I heard Alex tell Marisa today, "If you don't believe in Santa Claus, then you won't get any presents from him." True.

A Smart Business Decision

This story is from the WRAL: Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville, North Carolina website. More businesses would be wise to follow the lead of this McDonald's restaurant. The key of the article is the final highlighted paragraph.


"Everyone celebrates religion and holidays in their own individual ways, but currently there are questions about whether the two should be more connected. One of the latest places involved in the controversy is a McDonald's restaurant in Raleigh.

[The sign] reads: "Merry Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season." It is a holiday message that Amanda Alpert thinks comes on a little too strongly. "It offends me because it specifically talks about Jesus. It doesn't give credit to anyone else," Alpert said.

Alpert called the McDonald's corporate office in Atlanta and requested that the sign be changed to the politically correct Happy Holidays. The response was the owner has the right to do what she wants with the sign.

None of the drivers WRAL spoke to were offended by the sign. "I've always known it to be Merry Christmas, and it is Jesus' birthday," said Tom David of Smithfield.

McDonald's managers say the sign has been good for business. They say church groups have stopped by to eat, and some people who usually don't eat food from McDonald's have stopped by because of the sign."

Writer's Block

I am having a terrible case of writer's block. I haven't posted anything here for one week. There goes my goal of trying to post at least one item per day. I have been sick the past week. I will use that as my official excuse.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Last night, we all watched the 40th anniversary showing of the Peanut's classic cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas. It is amazing to me how much the message of the show of 'what is the true meaning of Christmas in the midst of its over-commercialization in our society' still holds true today. Perhaps even more so.

When I watched the show when I was a kid, I didn't even recognize that there were religious overtones to the story. I honestly can't believe; based upon how references to Christmas are being removed from the holiday today, that the cartoon actually aired on network television. I guess that I have become hyper-sensitive to the fact that the anti-Christmas people have become so powerful. Even while their numbers are probably a lot less today than forty years ago.

Here is the text from Luke 2:8-14 (KJV) that Linus recited on stage as to the reason for the season:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Merry Christmas!

Republican Babe of the Week

OK, I admit that JerseyGOP.com's Republican Babe of the Week is a little silly. It is only interesting to me because you rarely see out-of-the-closet Republican/Conservative celebrity women getting any kind of publicity in the media for their political views. There is also a GOP Dude of the Week on the site. The one thing that I noticed while comparing the two, is that the average age of the men seem to be about 20-30 years older than their female counterparts. I wonder why this is the case? Hmmm...

Pope: Understand the "Evil of the Crime of Abortion"

(from LifeSiteNews.Com) - In a meeting Saturday, with the presidents of the Latin American Episcopal Commissions for the Family and Life, Pope Benedict XVI told the gathered bishops "it is necessary to help everyone to realize the intrinsic evil of the crime of abortion which, in attacking human life at its beginnings, is also an act of aggression against society itself."

Pope Benedict explained how, "also in the field of life, new attitudes are putting this fundamental right into question. ... The elimination of the embryo is being facilitated, as is its use in the name of scientific progress which, in not recognizing its own limits and not accepting all the moral principles that enable the dignity of the person to be protected, becomes a threat to human beings themselves."

The Pope observed how "in Latin America, as elsewhere, children have the right to be born and to grow up in the bosom of a family founded on marriage," and he emphasized how children are an expression of the wealth of a family. "Consequently," he said, "politicians and lawmakers, as servants of the social good, have the duty to defend the fundamental right to life, the fruit of God's love."

Addressing concerns such as artificial procreation and embryonic stem cell research, Benedict XVI continued, "Likewise, scientific and technological advances should always be evaluated according to sound ethical criteria, and nothing that threatens the inherent dignity of the human person should ever be tolerated. Only by faithful adherence to these unchanging truths can society create the conditions in which human beings may flourish and prosper."

Live Poker Tournament Win!

Last night I went to a friend's brother's home to play in a very friendly poker tournament. It was a no-limit hold 'em tournament. 31 men paid $50 and received 2500 in chips. There was one rebuy/add-on within the first hour to get an additional 1000 chips for $20. I was the last one standing after about 6 hours of play and won $930. $850 for first place and an additional $80 in bounties. We were given a $10 bounty for each player that we knocked out of the game.

I hardly played any hands for the first 4 hours or so. When we reached the final 12 players, I only had about 6000 chips (there was over 90,000 in play). I was able to get more involved in pots because I finally started receiving some decent starting hands. I can honestly say that I did not lose one 'race' situation all night. On one hand, I was almost all-in with pocket 8's. My noble opponent showed pocket J's. I hit the set on the flop. A few hands later with AJ, I put someone all-in. He flipped over pocket 5's. I spiked a J on the flop. On another hand, I had KQ on a flop of J-10-5. Opponent (the host) went all-in with A6. I called because I had the proper pot odds (I assumed that he had a pair) and caught a K on the river. Another knockout occured when I had AQ vs KQ on a Q high flop.

When it was heads-up, I had about a 3 to 1 chip lead. It was about a dozen hands later that I won the thing! This is my biggest win ever. I think that I am still in a daze. I know that winning a tournament like this involves a lot of luck, but it is still a great confidence booster for me. I learned a lot about how to play in a live game. Hopefully I can build on this experience.

A funny side note - I didn't get back home until about 4:00 AM. We still went to our regular 9:45 Mass. Friends were coming up to congratulate me on my win before Mass, during the 'sign of peace', and as we were leaving our seats to receive Communion. My priest, Fr. Gary even made it a point to see me after Mass to congratulate me. I had just gotten home 6 hours ago! Boy, word travels fast around here.

Eucharistic Minister = Police?

I went to a Eucharistic Minister training today at our parish. Lisa and I have decided that we would like to be available to help distribute the Precious Body and Blood of Christ during our regular Mass time. We are already on the schedule for the 18th of this month.

The one thing that I came away with during the training was how important it is to make sure that people coming up for Communion actually consume the Host in my presence. I need to make sure that this is done. If someone starts to walk back to their seat with the Eucharist still in their hands, I must follow them and politely ask them to consume. We spent a lot of time talking about how to deal with these types of situations. We also talked about how to deal with situations when people come up to receive and they do things that are out of the 'normal' or correct way to receive Communion.

I hope that I will be able to deal with these situations if they should occur during my duty as an EM. At this time, it feels that I will be more like a policeman than a eucharistic minister.

2008 Presidential Election Odds

I was looking at a site that had the odds of winning the next Presidential Election. I listed the favorites, and a few of the long shots that you could bet on. Some of the names are pretty funny to see on the list. Do people actually bet on the long shots? It's kind of scary that Hillary is the favorite. Also, the fact that the top three are pro-abortion.

Hillary Clinton 3-1
Rudy Giuliani 10-1
John McCain 12-1
George Allen Jr. 20-1
Dick Cheney 20-1
Condoleezza Rice 25-1
Colin Powell 25-1
Bill Frist 30-1
John Edwards 30-1
Jeb Bush 35-1
George W. Bush 200-1
Jesse Jackson 200-1
Arnold Schwarzeneggar 250-1
Bill Clinton 300-1
Clint Eastwood 750-1
Laura Bush 1000-1
James Carville 1000-1
Bill Maher 2500-1
Donald Trump 2500-1
Michael Moore 7500-1

My Second Royal Flush

I hit my second ever royal flush at Absolute Poker today.

It was at a short-handed .5/$1 table. There were five players at the time. I was in the big blind, everyone folded preflop except the small blind. I was dealt [Qh 10h]. The flop came [Jh Ah 3h]. Check, check. Turn [Kh]. Check, bet $1, call. River [5h]. Check, bet $1, fold. I won the enormous $2.85 pot! I get a free 'Royal Flush Club' t-shirt though.

This was even less exciting than My First Royal Flush.

Alex's Top Ten List

Here is an unsolicited favorite things list that Alex wrote.

1. God
2. Mom and Dad and Marisa
3. Church
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the book)
5. Books
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the movie)
7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (the book)
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the book)
9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the movie)
10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (the book)