This week is finals week here at WPI. Yeah I know it's mid-semester for most people but WPI runs 4 7-week terms with 3 classes per term rather than having 2 14-week semesters and 6 classes a semester. The good news it more time to play cards since I'm only in class 10-14 hours a week. The bad news, we're doing about 10 weeks worth of material in 7 and with only a handful of tests in each class, the slightest mistake can lead buy you a one way ticket to anal-grade-rapage. Putting my best effort forward to avoid such a fate, I put my cup on backwards and locked myself down in the library for the past 48 hours only returning to my apartment to eat/sleep (helps that my internet went down Wednesday night anyway). All that work came to a head today...finals day.

That's right boys and girls, all my finals were on the same day. I do have to admit though scheduling-wise it is not as bad as it sounds. My first Final was at 12PM (also happens to be my first class of the day) which was followed by my 1PM class where the professor planned to review more for the final, which was scheduled to start at 6PM that night. Finally at 2PM I had to give a presentation with my group for my finance class. Yeah it's kind of a lot, but it's not like I was going to go from one test to another and I did have some downtime along the way. While the scheduling was in my favor somewhat, the exams were not.

Have you ever been bitch slapped by a piece of paper? If you've ever taken a test you weren't really prepared for then you know exactly what I'm talking about. In college it gets far worse. There is so much material that get's covered it is nearly impossible to remember every detail you have learned leading up to that fateful test. The bitch slapping gets so intense that I have actually walked out of tests bruised and bloodied. I have spent in the past 2 weeks nearly 65 hours of my time on my 12PM class just getting ready for my final. He then handed me the piece of paper and an hour later all I can say is I was glad I wore my cup backwards or I would have had to assume the position and take it like a man. It was a disaster. Though all I can do is <SPAN>speculate</SPAN> since I have obviously not gotten feedback on it. Maybe I did well...and maybe Paris Hilton deserves a second virginity who knows.

My 2PM presentation was a breeze. This class is one of the easier course I've taken since freshman year because I've seen all the material 3 or 4 times in other classes already. I walked in, laid the hammer down, got my applause, and then took a much needed nap in the back of the room in preperation for my 6PM showdown with my final test of the term.

To set the stage a bit, this class is in my major field and the professor is my acedemic advisor. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met and he goes out of his way to help students out (he even buys 4-5 Pizzas for the class review sessions on Sunday and Thursday nights). While he may be a great guy, his tests are satanic in nature. Not because of him, the material is just so detail oretiented that one false step and you're racking up a 20/70 on a quiz. The final rules are simple, it starts at 6, no notes, no time limit, 12 questions. Sounds pretty sweet right? That is until you go through the test, can only do 7 of the 12 problems, and then just sit there staring at the other 5 like a man awaiting his fate on death row. It took me almost 3 hours before I cried uncle and handed the paper in. One positive note is that about 1/2 the class was still in the room taking it when I left.

I have learned something this week. I learned the true reason why the question always pops up on the forums, "Should I drop out to play poker full time?" It's actually pretty simple...FINALS BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. But now it's over, I just have to wrap up a few online quizes and I'm on spring break. Time to eat, drink, and be drunk. I think at this point I've earned it. Here's to all of the college grinders out there who share my pain, this shot is for you.

Ah yes, the retarded cousin of that game we all started playing (No Limit). It's been often quoted that that two games are as alike as Chess and Checkers. Transitioning between the games is one of the harder things to do in poker. Cash game play is comical at low stakes Limit tables and if you play long enough I can assure you your blood pressure will skyrocket without the proper preparation. And if you really want to drive yourself to drinking, play in a Limit HE MTT.

Now I'm one of those sick and twisted bastards that actually like playing limit games. Not just holdem either. Razz and HORSE rotations are often tables I frequent when I have the proper BR. There are so many more adjustments to be made than people understand that your edge in Limit can be huge over the average player even if you yourself are a much better No Limit player. Just learning what hands to push and when will literally make you look like Negreanu compared to the Jen Tilly like players in most limit games (minus the mammoth rack). I actually got a chance to show off a bit last Saturday night.

Sick of writing my paper, I entered a few MTTs I used to hit up every night. I entered the $4.40FLHE 2K Guaranteed at 9, the $9.90 360max at 9:15, and the $3.30 Triple Shootout at 10:15. After a few moments of glory in the 360 max I was pushed out faster than a guy that ripped one during sex, yet at the first break in the $4.40 I was holding pretty steady. The Triple Shootout had no sooner started than I found myself with a chode of a chip stack. Unable to make it out of the first round, I decided to turn my attentions to the Limit MTT.

What started off as a quick break from my schoolwork turned into a 6 hour marathon and sure enough I found myself at my first FT in a while. The one huge downside was really only the top two spots were worth the 7 hours you would eventually have to play to win them. All the rest of the payouts I would have been better off applying for a job at a McDonalds in Mexico and spending my time there. Sure enough, I found out what it was like to run good and managed to take the sucker down for a cool $472.51. Is it huge, no. But god damn it felt nice to win one. I then crawled into my bed at 4AM (right when the MTT ended, got 4 hours of sleep, and went to film a new MOD for Command and Conquer: The Forgotten with the crew. Lol, the life of a low limit grinder is never glorious, but it's fucking fun anyway.

Ok, I'm going to try to hit this one off at the pass. The blog's title has nothing to do with the fact that I saw Jesus. It's a joke. Now with that out of the way...It occurs to me in my last blog post I made a glaring omission and I believe an apology is in order. Last time I was talking about things I do in my free time away from the grind of low limit poker and I completely forgot to mention one of my personal favorites. When taking a break and just looking for some laughs I love to listen to the Two Jacks In The Hole podcast on www.pokerroad.com.

For those of you who are not privy to the comedic genius that is the Two Jacks radio program, I highly recommend you check them out. Scott Huff and Joe Stapleton host a show that is quite possibly one of the funniest things I have ever heard on the web. I was listening to this week's episode and Huff was talking about how he vanity googles his own show just to see what comes up. He then starts talking about how he found some blogs that trashed the show for some obscure reasons and how those bloggers basically disappeared off of the face of the earth. It seems the key to success would be to rave about these guys so I have assumed the position, put on the nose condom, and am ready to brown it up. Scott if you see this, I love the show and I would appreciate a plug next Wednesday .

All joking aside these guys are fantastic for a laugh. The show is an assortment of what can only be described as a mix of comedic elements blended together with news stories and play along games that will leave you laughing harder than when you crack AA with 76o. I’m not the only one who thinks this either. If you check them out on the iTunes music store the actual review opens with the line, “At Worst, the Best Podcast Ever”.

The other stuff on www.pokerroad.com is very funny too. From Poker Road Radio to The Poker Beat and yes even a cash game show called Cash Plays; they have a whole treasure trove of shows that I typically listen to during a normal session. However they are all just as funny when not at the tables I assure you. So if you’re sick of taking the worst of it, or just sick of writing that history paper, www.pokerroad.com is a fantastic way to procrastinate.