Rulebreaker
Saturday was, of course, St. Patrick's day, otherwise known as "oi-it's-time-to-drink-Guinness" day. I played gooseberry with my cousin Amy, her boyfriend Brennan and some of their friends and we went to O'Byrne's to stand in line. It was such a nice day out there, it was weird not having to wear a jacket (damn winter!). After about half an hour of standing in line we got inside and there was nowhere to sit. There was practically nowhere to stand. I had a pint ($7.25!!! Jaysus!) and before long we all got tired of standing around and such so we amscrayed and went over to Squires. Amazingly enough the place was nearly empty. Perhaps it had just opened or something, who knows. Nonetheless we found a huge table straightaway and claimed it. It took a while for any of us to figure out there was Guinness to be had there (they didn't have it on tap, but they sold the big cans of it for far less than O'Byrne's sold draught), but eventually Amy's friend Garrick noticed they had the cans and us Guinness drinkers were again content (in the mean time I had a couple pints of Trad, as it was the closest thing they had). One bad thing about Squires is the waitress had the audacity to serve me a Guinness with a PLASTIC CUP. Ugh. Amy got a shot of my disgust:
After a few hours, and after a snafu where some of the group left for a bit and weren't allowed back in, we left and proceeded to Subway where we met the stragglers. Amy, Brennan and I grabbed subs while the rest went to Garrick's place across the river. I've had screwed-up feet for about a week now (damn shoes!) and didn't care to walk to Garrick's, so the three of us went back to Amy & Brennan's crib to chow down. After eating, I decided I was too tired and my feet hurt too much to go to Garrick's with Amy & Brennan, who were now going to go there. So, I just headed home. Alas something went awry cosmically and I wound up walking the 9 blocks from their apartment to 109st & Whyte to catch the bus... then when I got to Southgate it was a half hour wait for my bus, so I caught the 17 instead and got off a lot further away (but saving time ultimately versus waiting), so I had a whole lot more walking to do than I anticipated. I ran into my step-nephew Troy at Southgate surprisingly enough, as he was on his way back from the Oilers game (their 10th loss in a row, neener-neener).
Yesterday, I got a call from the city about my email complaint regarding Friday's bus "service" -- apparently the two scheduled departures I was looking at weren't actually scheduled departures. There's apparently a notation on the posted schedule that the bus stops at Heritage then goes straight to the garage afterward and no riders are actually transported. That pretty much floored me because that means between about 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. there's NO bus service around my area from Heritage. On a weeknight. None. I can't fathom how that's possible but it apparently is. What could I do but suck it up, so I placated the lady from the city and just said "okay" every few seconds. Stupid damn bus system.
And finally, last night I tried my hand at a poker tournament at River Cree. It was a so-called "freeroll" in that there was no registration cost (but there was a $7 admin fee). There were the options of two rebuys and one add-on, each at $20. Thankfully, despite not winning a single pot until the last one before the first break, I survived without needing a rebuy. Starting chips were 1500, and with the one pot I scooped I had about 2800 going to the break with blinds coming up to 200/400. I bought the addon of 4000 for $20, giving me more breathing room. Nonetheless, I couldn't catch cards to save my life and eventually I went all in, very short stacked, with 9-4 offsuit in the small blind. Just my luck the big blind had pocket 7s and caught a third on the flop, decidedly ending my evening. Still, I was about 30% to win going to the flop so I had outs. Overall I placed about 22nd or 23rd of 44 players. And the "freeroll" only cost me $27. That was more than I wanted to spend considering I decided beforehand to pay no more than $7 to play, but it is what it is.
After a few hours, and after a snafu where some of the group left for a bit and weren't allowed back in, we left and proceeded to Subway where we met the stragglers. Amy, Brennan and I grabbed subs while the rest went to Garrick's place across the river. I've had screwed-up feet for about a week now (damn shoes!) and didn't care to walk to Garrick's, so the three of us went back to Amy & Brennan's crib to chow down. After eating, I decided I was too tired and my feet hurt too much to go to Garrick's with Amy & Brennan, who were now going to go there. So, I just headed home. Alas something went awry cosmically and I wound up walking the 9 blocks from their apartment to 109st & Whyte to catch the bus... then when I got to Southgate it was a half hour wait for my bus, so I caught the 17 instead and got off a lot further away (but saving time ultimately versus waiting), so I had a whole lot more walking to do than I anticipated. I ran into my step-nephew Troy at Southgate surprisingly enough, as he was on his way back from the Oilers game (their 10th loss in a row, neener-neener).
Yesterday, I got a call from the city about my email complaint regarding Friday's bus "service" -- apparently the two scheduled departures I was looking at weren't actually scheduled departures. There's apparently a notation on the posted schedule that the bus stops at Heritage then goes straight to the garage afterward and no riders are actually transported. That pretty much floored me because that means between about 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. there's NO bus service around my area from Heritage. On a weeknight. None. I can't fathom how that's possible but it apparently is. What could I do but suck it up, so I placated the lady from the city and just said "okay" every few seconds. Stupid damn bus system.
And finally, last night I tried my hand at a poker tournament at River Cree. It was a so-called "freeroll" in that there was no registration cost (but there was a $7 admin fee). There were the options of two rebuys and one add-on, each at $20. Thankfully, despite not winning a single pot until the last one before the first break, I survived without needing a rebuy. Starting chips were 1500, and with the one pot I scooped I had about 2800 going to the break with blinds coming up to 200/400. I bought the addon of 4000 for $20, giving me more breathing room. Nonetheless, I couldn't catch cards to save my life and eventually I went all in, very short stacked, with 9-4 offsuit in the small blind. Just my luck the big blind had pocket 7s and caught a third on the flop, decidedly ending my evening. Still, I was about 30% to win going to the flop so I had outs. Overall I placed about 22nd or 23rd of 44 players. And the "freeroll" only cost me $27. That was more than I wanted to spend considering I decided beforehand to pay no more than $7 to play, but it is what it is.
posted by chris burgess at 19:33
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