It's been, what, about 11 days since my last entry? Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm not even sure why I've not been writing in here, even though I have been playing a lot in the last week. I tend to go in waves, where I'll play thousands of hands in a week, and the next week I'll play absolutely zero. I have to work on getting back to playing an even amount per week, rather than this erratic schedule, because my return to the tables always leaves me a little off my game. There's nothing quite like throwing money away by being rusty. So lame.

So, let's get to what I've been up to, yah? Dah.

Don't get me wrong, please understand that I love the game of poker, and everything that comes along with. The camaraderie, the knowledge used in other facets of life, and of course, there's always the money, albeit for me, that's a small part of the deal. I do, however, think the obsession might've gone too far when I sat down in front of my computer on Sunday, and watched the PokerStars month end $500 tournament. I watched almost the whole tournament, as digital representations of chips, cards and people zipped around the screen faster than a baby on crank. What excited me so much about this? There was no DVP spouting off poker chiches, no fancy lighting, and no studio audience cheering on the players. True, there were a thousand railbirds surmising that "dblgutshot" was Daniel Negreanu, and "devilhorns69" was, in fact, Satan himself, but that's not the same as a true audience cheering the players on. I just sat back and said absolutely nothing, absolutely giddy that I got to watch some of the big names play, in real time, and in the privacy of my own home. Why yes, I am rather lame, thanks for noticing.

While watching the final table, I also perused blogs and noticed-much too late-that Pauly was doing a lot of the leg work on the WPBT Holidy Classic tournament being held at Sam's Town Casino. Man, oh man, I wish I'd known about this sooner. Not that I would've had any chance of placing in the tournament, but if I'd been able to play, it would've been wise for me to just mail a check to Pauly and get a t-shirt. I wouldn't even be playing poker for the sake of playing, but the amount of fun involved would well be well worth the entry fee, that's for sure. It's sort of akin to the time your cousin-who just happens to think that Black Sabbath is still together- shows up to a family function completely annihilated, and all you could think is "It's about time the entertainment showed up!". Like a plane crash falling directly on a train wreck.

I can't even begin to comment on my play as of late, as it tends to be a tad on the boring side. I've just been working my online bankroll back up after withdrawing for some unexpected expenses over the past month, and though it's not hefty by any means, it's getting back to a level where I feel comfortable that a big hand won't break me. Yes, it was that small.

As far as live play goes, it's been going, well, bad. I need to learn to up my aggression level a little when playing home tournaments, as I'm seeing fewer hands per level, and fewer hands before I get shortstacked. While looking through PokerTracker the other day, I noticed that most of my 2x-3x buy-in wins in a night, come when my V$IP is between 20-25%, and I lose the most when my V$IP is lower than 15%. I'm a tight player, but I should start taking notes to figure out if my live aggression level is the problem. I wish I could expand on that right now, but I don't even remember many of the hands played, as the last home game was a few weeks ago.

Speaking of home games, I'm planning one for this Friday night. Chris, if you're interested, let me know if you'd be able to make it. It seems like it's been 6 months that we've been trying to plan this damn thing!