http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6479/20086maxte3.jpg

The above link is to my 2008 in $100/200 and $200/400 games online. I'm showing it for a few reasons:

1) I read on forums occasionally things about how the CR pros only blog about their wins and not their losses, and how those wins are only replacing the losing sessions that aren't blogged, and how we're in fact all break even players (LOL). Yeah, it's true I've probably done more poker related blogging during winning streaks. That's because I try not to harp on negative stuff.

2) I figure it might be motivating to some of you LHE players. Yeah, even I've experienced a 600BB downswing this year. LHE is painful, why do we play it?!?

3) I'm really hoping that my downswing is over with...

4) I'm really happy that even with a 600BB downswing, I still have a 1.4BB/100 winrate in virtually all six max games. I only know a few people with any amount of sample size this year who are winning more than 1BB/100 in them.

And to change gears a bit, people have asked me a few times, "why do you like the Twins so much?" Here's why: win or lose, at least the Twins are our baseball team with our own guys. Our guys are players we develop in our farm system, or trade for. We don't go out and spend zillions of dollars on big names, simply because we are a small market team and can't. How many other teams in MLB, or any professional sport, can make that claim year in and year out, all while still being extremely competitive almost every season? I can't think of too many (in the MLB, us and the A's have a longstanding tradition of this, and this year's Rays also fit that mold). So, yeah, as a sports fan, it's fun (and amazing) getting a front row seat watching young talent develop and reaach their potential (and in the case of this year's Twins, drastically overachieve). Am I bummed about the way our season ended? Absolutely. I'm also peeved that major league baseball hasn't changed their tiebreaker procedures, since there is no way we should've had to play the tie breaker game at Chicago when we beat them in the season series. But regardless, this year's Twins team provided our state with a fantastic, captivating season -- and certainly high hopes for the next 2-3 years (until we are again stuck trading away our talent because we won't be able to resign them, repeat and rinse this same farm system process...). There's truly a lot to look forward to when the new stadium opens in 2010.

When driving home a few days ago, I heard this song on the radio and at about the 1:30 mark it gave me shivers, cuz they play the chorus of it at Twins games before the start of the bottom of the 9th when we're down by a run or two... The shivers caused by a sort of out-of-body type flashback to many awesome comebacks this past season.

It was a fun run in 2008, here's to 2009!