Life As Nick Starr

Wow…I am below 170. I can’t believe it. Sticking to my diet and doing lots of cardio at the gym. I also spent Saturday walking around San Francisco for a good 5-6 hours before the Flickr 4 party. I had a great time at the party (got to meet Stewart Butterfield the founder of Flickr and guy who personally banned FlickrLicio.us from using Flickr to host my Babes of Flickr site), and then at dinner afterward, and then the party across the street after that…needless to say it was a long, but very fun night.

I didn’t even get home till around 4 or so in the morning, and I slept until 2pm the next day. I was so wiped out, I barely made it to the gym, but I did go in and started working on some bench pressing, and other weights. I have been concentrating on cardio as I have/had a lot of fat to lose. I didn’t want to replace the weight with muscle mass yet, but I think I am low enough to start trying to build up some muscles and hope they replace the fat.

I am feeling better about myself, still not where I want to be, and 160 might be a goal that while attainable, might not have me in the shape I would like unless I start to build some muscle mass. I think that my goal should be able to be reached….but getting to where I feel comfortable with my shirt off is a new goal.

Other then that, I’m getting a lot of requests from people asking if I am glad I moved and if I am enjoying the area. The answer is a resounding yes, I am glad I am out here in the San Francisco bay area (besides the weather which is so cold at night and hot during the day). Besides my rough start, it has been all uphill from there.

Until later…buh bye.

Well this will be my 3rd trip to Orlando in 6 weeks. I really like being able to get away from everything that is familiar here and feel like I am on a mini-vacation. There’s a spot in Orlando called Old Town, that I went to with my Aunt/Uncle & Grandparents after my Great-Grandmother’s funeral back in January. It’s setup with all the olde-timey shops, etc and is a pretty cool place to hang out, watch a vintage car show, and have some great food.

The first time I went was for a poker tournament, but now its turned into a mini getaway.

Even found a few good spots to sleep that are isolated. So, today I went and got my hair done (was going to do it tomorrow but because of this trip I went today). I saw Jen Holloway, news anchor for Bay News 9, getting her hair done at the same time.

(Time Jump)

So, I’m back from Orlando, and a bit under the weather. I had a good time, as many of you might of noticed from my twitter updates. I didn’t leave till Sunday night (typically leave Sunday afternoon), so I didn’t get back to Tampa until WAAAY late, and barely got any sleep that night.

I did make it to Disney’s MGM Studios, which was remarkably less enjoyable this time around, then when I was a child. There just didn’t seem like a ton to do there, I had done everything by 2pm, and left at 4pm (after riding Tower of Terror and Aerosmith’s Rocki ‘n’ Roller Coaster another time).

Check out all the pictures in this Flickr set.

This post was started on Friday as I was leaving for Orlando, and finished after I got back.

I play in local poker tournaments that are free. The first prize awards a certificate, second place gives you additional starting chips the following week. Every quarter or so, there is a regional tournament for all of the certificate holders. Starting off at $10,000 in chips, each additional certificate is an additional $1,000 to start off with. I had more certificates then I could find, but I did end starting off with $17,000.

I started off folding for quite some time, not getting anything even worth calling a poker hand. Early on I had AA, bet $1,200, when the blinds were $200/$400. No one called. A few hands later, I had the same hand. In the small blinde I raised to $1,200 and the big blind and one limper called. The flop was J/4/8 (rainbow). I bet somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. Big blind folded, limper called. On the turn, a blank, I went all in. The limper pondered for a few minutes, and eventually called leaving me with only $3,000 left if I lost the hand. He flipped over KK and didn’t catch a King on the river. I was now around $35,000 in chips.

I continued to grow my stack to $40,000 at break, and $50,000 by the next break. I got up to around $65,000, with only 20 minutes left until the end of the day. Once the blinds reached $4,000/$8,000 they called it a day, counted your chips, and you qualified to come back Sunday for the finals. There were tournaments Thurs night, Friday night, Saturday morning and evening. I played Saturday morning. In an unopened pot, early position raises to $16,000 (big blind was $4,000). I re-raise to $40,000 with AK of hearts. He goes all in after pondering for a few minutes for around $50,000. I am make the call and see his 77. His pair held up, and I was left crippled. In a desperate move, the next hand I went all in after just seeing the Ace of spades (yep that’s what we call tilt). I had A/9 off, and the chip leader called with KK. I caught a 9 on the flop, and Ace on the turn.

After that I chopped a few pots with ace high against the board pairing with a player who often was caught bluffing. I ended the day with $25,000 in chips. Not great, but the only one from Midtown Sundries (where I play) to qualify in the morning shift.

Last night I spent the night in Sarasota, can’t really find anything to do here, but I did make it out to one of the most beautiful poker room’s I’ve seen down at the Sarasota Kennel Club.

I will post how I do tomorrow, with some players with over $100k in chips, I’m going to play as tight as I can, and hope for the best. Either way, it’s been a fun experience.