I recently purchased an exhaust system for my Yamaha R1.

I found a smoking deal on a Micron full system. This includes the headers, mid pipes and silencers. I always liked Micron. I purchased one for my old 2001 Yamaha R1.

Turns out, Micron has decided to pull out of the motorcycle exhaust market to focus solely on cars.

I purchased a use PowerCommander from a local racer. He had a map on the PCIII, so I was using it. The graph shows the original map (a downloadable map for a Two Brothers slip on) compared to my custom map. I am not overly happy with the Air/Fuel ration, as it really should be a flat line. The horsepower is respectable, but not terrific.

However, he had tuned another 2008 Yamaha R1 with a much more expensive Akropovic exhaust system. Here’s the dyno chart. Mine pulled more horses.

I recently began using my poker account again. I had, at one time, about 8x my original deposit. I then started getting back beats in little SnG tournaments and heads up games, so I too an extended break. I would play a little here and there. Eventually, my stack dwindled down to just over 2x my original buy in.

I have always been a decent tournament player. I really enjoy them. However, I hadn’t been playing these games very often.

I decided to take a chance on some $3+.3 90 player games. Much to my surprise, I won. I took first place, which started me on my current poker binge.

I started playing these, usually about 1-3 a day. Most SnGs take about an hour to win. There are 9-10 players (depending on the site) and the top 3 pay. In a 90 player (10 9 player tables), the top 9 pay. But the payout is pretty progressive. The top player makes 28.8x the buy in. If you win a 9 player tournament, you win 4.5x the buy in. The initial payouts start at a paltry 2x buy in on the 90 player, there is significant advantage to making it deeper into the pay cycle. Second place is slightly less than half the amount paid to first.

Anyway, with this, I have been doing quite well and placing, for a while, in about 40% of the tournaments I played, including 2 firsts.

I have had a couple droughts, including a 13 tournament run without any payout (minus a couple bounties). I was bubble boy on one, and very close to the money a couple others.

After I reach back to 6x my original buy in, I plan on trying the $6 + .6 buy ins to try my luck.

I finally decided to purchase my first Window’s PC in a long, long, long time. In fact, I had not purchased a complete system since the early 90s. In 1992, I bought a 486 system and then proceeded to upgrade that for nearly a decade.

Then I decided to switch to a Mac. I had used Macs in the past, but had never owned one. They seemed like adequate machines, but they were out of my price range. A few years ago, I started working with Intuit and they required Mac support, so the company I worked for purchased an iMac for me. It was a first generation iMac with the CRT. I liked what I experienced and decided if I could use that machine for 30 days, I would buy one. And I did. I bought a PowerMac G4. It had two processors and was quite nice. The build quality was excellent.

Since that first purchase, I have owned numerous Macs. So, recently I decided to sell a couple. I had two Minis, one G4 and one Dual Core Intel. I sold those and wanted to purchase another computer. However, the Apple tower systems are generally very expensive. So, I decided to go with a PC. Originally, I was going to buy a bare bones kit and build it, but I found a great deal on a Dell system.

And so, here’s the specs on the Dell Studio XPS:
2.66 GHz Core i7 processor (Quad core, Hyperthreading enabled)
750 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
ATI 4850 512MB RAM
Vista 64-Bit.

I added a 1.5 TB Seagate drive.

So, I started looking around on how to set this machine up with Mac OS X. I found some information on the InsanelyMac forums. And away I went. First, I went through a number of Hackintosh distributions, but iAtkos 5 worked the best. Some had issues booting on my system.

I was able to get my system up and running with a lot of work. Eventually, I was able to get everything working except sound. I am still working on that one.

I recently picked up a monster deal on a full exhaust system for the R1. It has everything from the headers back to the silencers.

I installed the system and now I need to get the system tuned. This involved taking the motorcycle to a shop and they hook it up to a machine which measures horsepower. They are able to tune the motorcycle using a PowerCommander which allows for near maximum performance.

I started playing the Dead Money Poker Tour in 2007. I placed in the money once that year. In fact, I won the tournament. Last year, I made the money once, taking second place. Both times were in the second half of the year.

The new season started in January. I went out relatively early to my preference. I went out somewhere in the middle. I had top pair, lower kicker (A6). There was a flush draw on the board with 5 players. I decided to make a move. I pushed my entire stack all in. I was called by K8. He had bottom pair and a flush draw. He hit another 8 on the turn and my tournament was over.

For the February tournament, I wanted to place a bit higher. Each time I had won money, it required a level of reckless abandon. My first win was by being extremely aggressive and playing lots of hands. My second place finish was similar, but different. I played conservatively until nearing the final table. Then I became aggressive. In fact, on that final table, I delivered about 8 bad beats. I started by cracking Aces and went on from there.

I wanted to play decent poker, yet be aggressive. I played my hands very aggressively, but i didn’t have that many hands to play. And there was one person in particular that I had a hard time beating. If I picked up QQ, he picked up AK. An ace would hit the flop and shut me down. It was very obvious when I bet 10x the BB and he flat calls and leads out on the flop. Later he confirmed his AK.

At the first break, I was a little shy of break even. With the 11,000 starting chips, I had 9,200. This was a good thing, as I had taken a beating earlier. I had picked up AK and raised 5x the big blind. Another player, who can play recklessly, called as did the big blind. I completely missed the flop, but decided to push with a continuation bet. I bet and his reraise gave me enough odds to call. I had AK, calling what I thought might be a bluff. Little did I know, he had triple 7s. Lucky for me, he had AA cracked earlier and I had him covered. I took quite a few chips back with 10s when I tripped up. So, my stack, while not great, had recovered.

Our table, out of 4, knocked out the most people. It was broken up and I moved to another table. I began to accumulate chips when I picked up aces and had Ax (K or Q) call me. He checked the low flop, I bet aggressively again and he folded. Then I picked up AJ of Clubs. I raised and was called by two players. The flop came giving my trip Jacks with a Queen. I continued to bet my way to the river. At the river, Brian folded. He called down his pocket 8s with over cards.

At this point, I was becoming a force to be reckoned with. While not the biggest stack, I was easily one of the top three stacks on my table. Then that table broke down. I moved to a new table to get a lot of nothing. Lots of 62s and 42s. I decided to just fold as long as I could. I finally pick up some hands worth playing. Eventually, I have a decent stack. Second on the table. I decide to take a chance with my Q10c. I call a raise. The flop comes 10-9-9. I go all in. I get called. He flips over JJ. I am in trouble. I need a Q or 10. And the Queen comes on the turn. I knock him out and collect my first necklace.

I have problems with a person to my left. I win one hand from him, but I continue to lose to him. I decide to avoid him for a while. I have decided to be aggressive, sometimes with less than stellar hands. But, I haven’t been playing much, so I can use my table image to push. I pick up A5 suited. I bet 5x big blind. He goes all in on the button. He is the big stack on the table. I am now third. The second stack instantly calls. I quickly fold. John called with his pocket aces and Kevin loses a huge stack with his QQ. He didn’t realize there were others to ace behind him. He was after me. He becomes a low stack after a huge loss.

We finally break down this table and begin the final table play. 39 players, 6 get paid. Upon entering the final table, I am in 6 position by stack size. I call an all in with AK against Aces. I lose. I am hurting. I have to push a few times as the game goes on to keep my stack. My cards have been horrible. So, I need to do something.

My stack fluctuates wildly. As we get to the money, John makes another huge play. Earlier he had AA against QQ. Now, he has picked up KK after two all ins. One has AQ, the other 33. His KK holds up and he knocks out 2, giving us the money makers. I start my run with a few hands. Pocket pairs hold up. The turning point for me comes with AK vs AQ. I knock him out and double up. The blinds and antes are getting large. Even with big stacks, the blinds are coming every three hands. So, I have to be very aggressive. I am on the button and look down to see A10 spades. I needed to make a move, so I push all in. He looks down and says those words I don’t want to hear “I call”. The flop shows up and I completely missed, but so did he. I call out, “10!”. A 10 hits the flop. He is now critically wounded. He later is knocked out in 4th place.

I have been knocked down to small stack and slowly rebuild. I lose AK to AA again. Wounded, but not out. I pick up KK vs 99. I double up. I then knock him out with a crap hand when I and John check down to the river.

I have more chips than John when he asks for a split. Considering the game is now pushing 7 1/2 hours, it’s 11:30 and the host and tournament director were knocked out long ago, I decide to take the offer. John and I look at out stacks and I am now in first place. After a quick discussion, we decide I will take first, he will take second and our winnings will be the same.

At the end, I knocked out 3 players. He did the same. Not bad for a few hours of fun. I had to get lucky twice to win. The rest of the time, I happened to have the stack to recover from my lost hands.