My brain hurts a bit after this weeks launch of the new site. I think it looks great, but man we took on a big task on the support side with so many things happening at once. Luckily we have a great group of people and it has made it much easier to get through.

I don't really have much to blog about at the moment (well I do, but my brain is fried right now). I will def keep this blog more updated as I have neglected it quite a bit lately.

I'll update soon once I have a couple days away from the computer monitors.

- Later.

Well, I've actually been doing quite a few things recently, but for some reason just haven't felt like blogging.

I just recently moved into a house that my friend owns, cheap rent, lots of space for my stuff. No complaints. The really nice thing about it is that I have an office to work out of, it's a pretty nice setup:






Though it's a bit messy right now, it's pretty nice to have my work area separated from the TV and Xbox etc.

When I moved in I also met probably the coolest cat ever (no not Shaft). His name was something like Stripes or whatever, I immediately renamed him Agent Jack Bauer (AJB to friends).




The cat is more like a dog, likes to hang out and will come right up to people, loves to chase the dot from a lazer pen, and never hisses, claws, or bites.

I will have more posts in the future and more often, I just kind of wanted to put up a random one so I could get the blog layout looking better.

Later.

Hey blog reading people, it's been a while. Honestly I've just been kind of doing regular daily stuff this year, not much to blog about as of yet. I'm moving on Feb. 1st which should be nice, since I will have a separate office for my computer (not in the same room as a bed and TV), which I think will be great for actually wanting to play poker.

Anyway I've been buying a lot of stuff lately, I luckboxed some money in two of my fantasy football leagues (1st place for 50% of a pool, and 2nd with top scoring and best record for 40% in another) which ended up being a little over $500. I decided that I wanted new monitors, there wasn't really anything wrong with my 22" monitors, but since I've been playing more PC games I wanted a bit better resolution. So I found a pretty nice deal on techbargains (DAMN YOU TECH BARGAINS!) for two Dell 24" monitors with HDMI ports for $189 each, free shipping. Ended up after taxes around $400,.

I also decided that since my last xbox for some reason is afraid to go online (damn phobias, I know). I found an xbox 360 elite bundle deal that comes with 2 games, a $50 giftcard free shipping, and no tax. The $50 Giftcard pretty much = free 12 months of live and $10 off a game of my choice (DAMN YOU TECH BARGAINS!). Today I bought another bundle, which was Tekken 6 for xbox 360 with a wireless arcade stick thing. I don't usually go for this kind of stuff, but those nicer arcade sticks are usually like $100, and this was on sale for $65 (normally $150) so I figured thats pretty much just buying a game by itself. Will probably slow down a lot on the purchases after I move on the 1st though.

Oh and that last deal was from techbargains too, if you don't know what this site is they basically just find nice deals on stuff online http://www.techbargains.com/?r1=1 .



EDIT: Just ordered another one of those Tekken 6 Arcade stick bundles, I figure if I'm lame enough to have an Arcade stick I may as well have two so ppl can play some drunken arcade style fighting games.

EDIT:EDIT: DAMN YOU TECH BARGAINS!


P.S. I apologize in advance about your credit card bill and/or checking accounts.

I'll try to update this pile a bit more (probably get some pics up when I get my office set up).

Later.

Posted in OT www.cardrunners.com/members/forum/ubbthreads.php

I have been a member of CardRunners for nearly 3 years now. I've had other poker training site memberships overtime, but I've always stayed with CR.

What has always set CardRunners apart from everywhere else, is our community. I've seen some amazing things happen when this community has come together. I can honestly say I have made some great friends the last 3 years, and not just "internet friends", good people.

One of those good people was taken from us too soon, but his impact on this community will never change.

Lou Pinella was monumental in this site not only being a top notch training site, but also a site where you can feel like you belong. A site where you can post a topic or jump into the chat and make real connections with good people.

Please join us in honoring our friend Lou Pinella this Sunday. If you can't afford it, that's ok, honor him by becoming a bigger part of this community.

To those who lurk the forums and sparingly post, take advantage of the opportunity you have, don't be afraid to jump in head first. You won't regret it.

Click Here For More Info

I just had to use that title, it's so dumb it makes me laugh.

Anyway I've just gotten a small sng group together and last night was our first meeting. We decided to set some short term goals for ourselves for the month. I usually play regular 9 man sngs and I am lazy. That's pretty much the main point, I tend to always be able to find another thing to do besides play poker.

I've never been the type to put in major volume at poker and I'm not sure I ever will be. I need to at least start with some volume, so I can try to add to that. Just trying to play a ton has never worked so this months goals are achievable and more of a stepping stone than anything major.

My December goals:

- Play 300 9 man regular sngs
- Be playing $30s regularly by the end of the month

These aren't insane goals by any means, like I said I've never been the type to put in a lot of volume. I can't remember the last time I even played this many sngs in a month though, so it will be a good starting point to build from. Once I reach these goals then I will start adding to them like ROI% etc. This month is purely a volume goal and I want to hit it.

I'll update this with progress reports in the coming weeks.

Later.

Well my Xbox is currently.....broken?

So I won't be able to review games for a little while. I did just order a new PC that should be pretty nice for gaming. I plan on getting Left 4 Dead 2 which will no doubt be awesome. I'll try to find some other random crap to blog about in the meantime while I get my 360....fixed?



.......later?

I've kind of been lazy lately, I could have done this review anytime within the last two weeks, but just forgot about it. Timing wise it's not bad doing it now since the terrible 6th installment of Saw is coming out soon.

Here it goes:

In Saw: The Video Game you play as Detective David Tapp (Danny Glover's character from the first film). Jigsaw has removed the bullet lodged in your chest, replaced it with a key, and has locked you in an insane asylum filled with booby traps. You are not alone, and that is where the key in your chest comes into play. There are several others locked in the building with you, and the key in your chest is the key to their survival.


I want to play....a video game?


The game itself actually looks pretty decent (as far as dirty rundown insane asylums are concerned). If you're a fan of Survival Horror games like Alone in The Dark, then this is your type of game. It's not focused on a ton of combat, and you don't have lots of "jump scares". Mainly the strength of the game comes with it's decent puzzles, and non stop tension. Things like broken glass, and trip wires connected to shotguns will keep you on alert through out. There are some combat situations where you will encounter the other people in the building, the combat is clunky and unresponsive. Luckily once you figure out Det. Tapp has a sick jab, you can pretty much punch any AI foe to death (since they are so slow when attacking).


I want to ride a tricycle...

The main thing besides the annoying combat system that I did not like is that the creators got lazy. Instead of creating more challenging puzzles for you to work through, they just start putting you in situations where you have to solve several tough (but familiar) puzzles with a time constraint (bombs in the room). It gets annoying when instead of having something where you have to think, your just having more and more puzzles piled on, but with less time to solve them.


One of the members of Slipknot makes a cameo.

Overall the game isn't that great, with better combat and more variety of puzzles it could have been a decent game. I wouldn't recommend spending any money on it, probably not even worth a rental unless you are desperate. Too many good games coming out soon to bother with this one.

NEXT UP: Brutal Legend

AFTER THAT: Borderlands

Later.

WET

In WET you play as a hired gun named Rubie. The game itself is pretty much a playable Grindhouse film. The story is solid enough to move you along to different set pieces. To describe the action I would probably compare it to Max Payne meets Stranglehold. Some unique things include unlimited ammo for your pistols (you dual wield everything and never have to reload), knee slides, back flips, and dives all with the press of a button along with a sword for close combat situations. One cool thing is that when you perform an acrobatic move such as a slide or a dive you go slow-mo. While in slow-mo one of your guns auto locks on a target, while you manually aim the other gun. You can take out multiple targets at the same time, or focus both guns on the same target to take it down faster.


She decided to give him a lil peek before he died...skank.


She used to play lead guitar for an 80's rockband.....well not really, but I could totally see that being true.


Nothing funny to say, it just looks cool.

There are some cool set pieces including a high speed freeway chase where you jump from car to car while jumping and gunning the entire way. Also you dive out of a wrecked plane without a parachute, gunning the entire way down. Then you go through a (very annoying) free fall through debris where you cannot get hit by anything on your way to finding the planes only parachute (attached to a piece of the falling wreckage).


Really cool set piece overshadowed by a really unforgiving hit system (1 hit you start all over).

One last cool thing is a Kill Bill style blood rage mode. Scattered throughout the story there are cutscenes where a henchman will run at Rubie, and she blows his head off. The blood sprays onto her face and she goes into a blood rage which turns the screen red and everyone looks very Sin City-ish.


This is what it's like to overdose on Kool-Aid. I tried it last week....I didn't kill anyone, I just WET my pants.


The overall grade on this is that it's a fun, run and gun 3rd person shooting game. I wouldn't say go out and buy it for the price it is now, but it's definitely worth a solid rental or when it lowers in price it's worthy of a pick up.


Up Next: SAW: The Videogame

Just thought I'd stop in and give an update to what's coming up next...

Next review will be....




"WET is a highly-stylized third person shooter that seamlessly blends gun play, sword kills and over-the-top acrobatics to create the ultimate interactive action experience. The game allows you to shoot anywhere, anytime. You will have the freedom to shoot while running, sliding down ladders, sliding across the floor, or performing any number of acrobatic moves. Featuring an ironic mix of humor and violence, unique retro film visual treatment, and original 70's inspired music, WET is a third- person shooter experience unlike any other."

{CRYOUTUBE v=cKg6CVki5hk&feature=related}




After that will be the one you've all been waiting for...






SAW: THE VIDEO GAME!

Halo 3 ODST Review

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this one, because the game isn't all that much different from Halo 3. Pretty much think of it as 2 expansion packs. Part 1 of that expansion pack is the new Campaign, where you play the role of The Rookie on a unit of soldiers named ODST. You pretty much wander around a dark city center and find out what happened to your crew members earlier in the day (you play as them during the flashback periods).

Part 2 of the expansion pack is Firefight mode. Think of it as a complicated version of Nazi Zombies from CoD: WaW. You pretty much team up with 3 other people and take down waves and waves of more difficult enemies.

Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of the game, but that's because I don't care that much about Halo 3. The campaign was fun, but not $60 fun. Same with Firefight mode. They give you Halo 3 multiplayer on the 2nd disc that comes with it, as well as all the maps that have been released, and a few new ones.

Here's how you decide if you want to buy it. If you kind of like the Halo games, but find yourself getting bored with them and spending more time on a game like CoD, then this isn't for you.

If you liked Halo 3 and it's multiplayer, but never got around to buying it, then this is worth the money. If you have Halo 3 already, I would only advise you to get ODST if you absolutely love Halo 3.

Otherwise there will be a lot of really good games coming out and this is just an overpriced expansion pack.