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Manufacturer says it contains a special lipid mix to help accelerate fat loss. My cousin, who goes about 6’1″, 210 and 12-15% bodyfat, has recommended it so I am interested but I like to get second opinions when I can.

Any other thermogenic recommendations appreciated as well – so long as they don’t make me feel like I am having a heart attack.

I am finally feeling healthy enough to get back into the gym, couple that with the fact that my 20th High School reunion is coming up in July and I have some pressure to change, which is good.Byu Cytosport Muscle Milk.
Looking for any advantage to jumpstart the process so I can see progress early (helps keep me motorvated).

Last time I routinely used supplements I used Creatine, a low-fat protein and Andro (until they outlawed it – good thing too, I was a pr!ck on that stuff) – worked out 6 days a week alternating between free weights\machines and light cardio. I was in damn good shape, but that is 10 years ago now.

1. I can’t handle his voice.
2. Whereas some poker commentators try to explain what a player might be thinking while deciding what to do with a hand (see: Lederer, Howard and Gordon, Phil), Kaplan usually states the blindingly obvious (“He’s got a pocket pair!”) and then states the exact opposite of what the player subsequently does (i.e. “He’s gonna have to lay this one down!” [Player goes all-in] “Or maybe not!”).
3. His calls are invariably wrong (see above). Gabe, you’re a lousy commentator, but you’re invited to any home game I ever hold. Bring money. Lots of it.

I swear, it seems like he has never even played the game – not a single variant of it. I’ve read some folks who get irritated by Vince Van Patten breathlessly exclaiming that so-and-so is looking down at a wired pair of 8s! In my opinion, Vince and Mike actually make a good announcing team, but Kaplan? Total car wreck. You could team him with Phil Gordon AND Howard Lederer and he would still be so awful that he might actually decrease their ability to offer insightful commentary on the play, sort of like the way that Chernobyl’s meltdown had effects on surrounding areas.

On the other hand, it might be funny to watch that – I can’t imagine that either one of them would put up with Kaplan’s constant stream of incorrect calls and bumbling asides that have nothing to do with the play.

Welcome back, Kotter. Please go away again. Now.

1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?
People rely on all-ins “as seen on TV!” far too much. They overlook how to bet properly and sensibly and fail to craft a credible story about their hand in doing so. In the long run, that failure costs them money because they don’t get called on their good hands and get called on their bad ones. That sort of recklessness can also push them out of tournaments quickly if they make that play at the wrong time. I will always remember the time I caught pocket aces and someone ahead of me – who had been stealing blinds all night – went all-in and I called (remember, it ain’t bluffing if you call). They turned over off-suit rags and got annoyed when I told them to get their hands out of the cookie jar (my exact words). Sure enough, only a few hands later, they went all-in again and I had pocket aces AGAIN but this time, having doubled up off them already, I now had them completely covered. That ended their tournament. A more sensible bet might have spared them for a few more hands.

2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?
Fixed or Pot? In fixed, I suspect people have a tendency to call it to showdown since the stack consequences are smaller. In pot limit, I suspect it would be a tendency to consistently bet the pot to price people out.

3. Why do you play poker?
Relaxation, a social activity and a mental exercise. I’ve been playing poker since I was a kid – it was mostly five-card draw and seven-card stud then, but I’ve played in Vegas for fun and to pay for trips there, I’ve decimated office games (I used to work with a poor bastard who was such a fish that – even playing limit at .05 minimums and .25 maximums – I would routinely take $20-$30 off him in one night. One lost hand put him on perma-tilt and he wouldn’t stop – he just bet harder … I trash-talked him mercilessly. After about three weeks of taking everyone’s money, I was banned from the game – it didn’t bug me much – my back was starting to hurt from all the change I had to carry home every Friday) and a friend of mine and I used to play no-look poker on overnights at the radio station. It used to be one of the few ways I could interact with my dad without fighting. It’s always been a way for friends of mine and I to get together, have a couple of beers and talk trash to each other for three or four hours while taking each other’s money (read: I take their money).

4. If you weren’t playing poker, what would you be doing?
The same things I do when I’m not playing poker.

5. What is your favorite poker book and why?
Phil Gordon’s “Little Green Book.” Clear, concise … it is a deceptively simple book which explains complex ideas in ways that are easy to understand. It’s a masterpiece of writing about poker, even if some of the concepts aren’t quite as advanced as something Sklansky puts out.

6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?
Depends on the day and which aspect of the game. I like watching Phil Laak for entertainment, Daniel Negreanu for his joy at the table, Annie Duke is amazing to watch because of how skillfully she applies her psychology background to manipulate a table, I love watching Chris Ferguson for his methodical approach (I want to know how he almost NEVER makes a bad decision at the poker table), Phil Gordon for his ability to explain the game, Mike Matusow for good-natured trash talk (as opposed to, say, Tony G.), Lance Funston for pure comedy (I literally cried while watching some of the hands he was in – Norman Chad’s running commentary about his play should be burned to CD and sold in the comedy section of record stores), Barry Greenstein and everyone else who gives part or all of their tournament winnings to charity, John Juanda for his short-stack play and incredibly calm demeanor … the list could go on infinitely.

7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?
Tony G. Pure and simple. His outbursts and insults are uncalled for and inappropriate. Matusow toes the line. Tony G. goes so far over it that I doubt he can remember where it was.

8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?
Not this one.

9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?
Single hand in a cash game? Maybe $20-$30. I still play low limits. MTT? Around $100 or so.

10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?
Cash game – I had a bad run the other day and lost around $12 for the day, but made up the loss with SNG / tournament play.

11. Who was your first poker blog read?
Wil Wheaton.

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?
The bluff, especially with 7-2 off-suit, the reason this blog exists. Any idiot can win with aces. It takes a special kind of idiot to win with 7-2 off-suit.

13. Why do you blog?
It helps me understand my game better, learn from my mistakes and get insight from others to help improve as a player. If I can explain or teach a concept to someone, I usually understand it fairly well.

14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?
I visit them.

15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?
I’m perfectly happy with poker remaining a pastime.

16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?
No.

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?
The constant ability / desire to learn and improve their game, regardless of where the learning or improvement comes from.

18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?
Beats me. No opinion.

19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?
I probably should set some goals, huh?

20. What is your primary online site and why?
Lately, Full Tilt. The interface is awesome and the custom tabs are great – no more scrolling through $200 heads up SNGs to get to the ones that are appropriate for my bankroll. I aso really like the last hand feature because it shows screenshots of up to 50 previous hands. In addition, the players seem to be a little better – I’m not playing poker to earn money – I’m playing it to improve as a player. Playing calling stations and fish may be good for my bankroll, but I’d rather improve than cash out.

21. What site do you dislike and why?
I’ve only played on two. I really don’t dislike either.

The tournament was brutal. I kept making do with junk all night – the highest pair I had was pocket jacks. After that, I caught a pair of 10s which ran into queens and rivered a straight to win. I caught a pair of 9s that resulted in this doozy:

$5 + $0.50 Tournament (4828390), Table 7 – 25/50 – No Limit Hold’em – 4:27:44 ET – 2006/06/28
Seat 1: puckett101 (3,285)
Seat 2: Tripten (2,165)
Seat 3: mcmoney28 (855)
Seat 4: NiceUnderground (3,665)
Seat 5: _Skyody_ (3,320)
Seat 6: Swinganamiss (2,335)
Seat 7: TheHappyBurrito (1,285)
Seat 8: 72master (1,985)
Seat 9: billyHo10281 (1,155)
TheHappyBurrito posts the small blind of 25
72master posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to puckett101 [9c 9s]
billyHo10281 folds
puckett101 raises to 300
Tripten folds
mcmoney28 raises to 855, and is all in
NiceUnderground folds
_Skyody_ folds
TheHappyBurrito folds
72master folds
puckett101 calls 555
mcmoney28 shows [9h 9d]
puckett101 shows [9c 9s]
*** FLOP *** [5c Ac 3h]
*** TURN *** [5c Ac 3h] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [5c Ac 3h Tc] [Qc]
mcmoney28 shows a pair of Nines
puckett101 shows a flush, Ace high
puckett101 wins the pot (1,785) with a flush, Ace high

Yes. It really happened. And wow.

As tons of people keep saying, “That’s poker.”

But here’s the amazing thing about the tourney (besides me reversing a recent string of bad luck, final tabling and finishing 6th for a nice cash payout when my pocket fives ran into Ac-Jd and the board came up Kd-4s-8h-Kh and, purely for the hell of it, 8d at the river to make two pair with top kicker against Our Hero) – The Hammer was utterly dominant. It was more dominant than A-J, a hand that took out at least two people (myself included). The Hammer induced folds, gave the big blinds walks and resulted in this little beauty here:

$5 + $0.50 Tournament (4828390), Table 3 – 800/1600 Ante 200 – No Limit Hold’em – 7:05:31 ET – 2006/06/28
Seat 2: IZZY412 (18,448)
Seat 3: BiggES77 (49,220)
Seat 5: preacher76 (39,580)
Seat 6: puckett101 (17,615)
Seat 7: PostModernBoy (21,266)
Seat 8: LaParka (47,371)
IZZY412 antes 200
BiggES77 antes 200
preacher76 antes 200
puckett101 antes 200
PostModernBoy antes 200
LaParka antes 200
PostModernBoy posts the small blind of 800
LaParka posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to puckett101 [6c 3h]
IZZY412 folds
BiggES77 calls 1,600
preacher76 folds
puckett101 folds
PostModernBoy calls 800
LaParka checks
*** FLOP *** [8d 6d 4d]
PostModernBoy checks
LaParka checks
BiggES77 checks
*** TURN *** [8d 6d 4d] [4s]
PostModernBoy bets 3,200
LaParka calls 3,200
BiggES77 folds
*** RIVER *** [8d 6d 4d 4s] [5h]
PostModernBoy checks
LaParka checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PostModernBoy shows [2d Ac] (a pair of Fours)
LaParka shows [7d 2h] (a straight, Eight high)
LaParka wins the pot (12,400) with a straight, Eight high

Players pushed all-in with it pre-flop and showed after they folded – for a while, it felt like a WWDN tourney. It was utterly beautiful.

One hand in particular got me thinking though. We all know about outs, but what about the opposite of outs? I’m thinking of this, not to get all meta on you here, as poker’s equivalent of dark matter – the cards that can hit that are utterly meaningless to either player and yet decide the contest. Here’s the hand that got me thinking:

$5 + $0.50 Tournament (4828390), Table 15 – 40/80 – No Limit Hold’em – 4:45:13 ET – 2006/06/28
Seat 1: puckett101 (6,575)
Seat 3: crazi_ivan (3,570)
Seat 4: Dwill13 (1,870)
Seat 5: veritaslost (5,935)
Seat 6: pod300 (1,515)
Seat 7: francys (4,325)
Seat 8: PostModernBoy (3,875)
Seat 9: BBC111 (4,635)
BBC111 posts the small blind of 40
puckett101 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to puckett101 [Ah Qh]
crazi_ivan calls 80
Dwill13 folds
veritaslost folds
pod300 calls 80
francys calls 80
PostModernBoy calls 80
BBC111 calls 40
puckett101 raises to 480
crazi_ivan calls 400
pod300 calls 400
francys calls 400
PostModernBoy folds
BBC111 folds
*** FLOP *** [7c 5c 4c]
puckett101 bets 2,080
crazi_ivan folds
pod300 calls 1,035, and is all in
francys folds
puckett101 shows [Ah Qh]
pod300 shows [Ac 8h]
Uncalled bet of 1,045 returned to puckett101
*** TURN *** [7c 5c 4c] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [7c 5c 4c 2d] [9h]
puckett101 shows Ace Queen high
pod300 shows Ace Nine high
puckett101 wins the pot (4,150) with Ace Queen high

I’m chip leader, I bet big before the flop because I’m tired of limpers. Amazingly, three people called a 6x blind bet pre-flop with blinds of $40/$80. I was stunned. The flop was bloody ugly – all clubs and low cards, me with nothing. So what do you do as a chip leader with a possible flush on the board and nothing but two overs? That’s right! BET THE POT! It should be a game show, like Press Your Luck – have little poker whammies dancing around – we could call them suckies for suck outs.

At any rate, I had one caller – Ac-8h. Nut flush draw. Gutshot straight draw. Any 6, 8 or club makes their hand. Crap. 15 outs. That’s 54% to make the hand before the turn. 35% after the turn.

As I was sitting there hoping for blanks, it occurred to me that:

1. 18 cards had bean dealt, all but four of which had been discarded.
2. Three cards had been dealt on the flop with one burned.

That means 30 cards remained in the deck with 15 possible outs (and people grousing about how the 9 they threw away woulda won the pot, dammit!). What about my outs? Any card that isn’t a club, 8 or 6. I don’t need a queen or an ace – I just need blanks … poker dark matter, if you will. I need the absence of meaningful cards, the absence of poker stuff, if that makes sense.

So are those also outs? Or are they something different? And do we count / consider those in the same way? We certainly don’t seem to consider them unless we’re watching tournament poker and someone is praying for their tournament life that only blanks hit the board, but – when we’re counting outs – maybe we also need to start thinking of the inverse of outs – not cards that will make our hand, but cards that will nullify or negate the impact of our opponent’s hand.