Many times in life we need inspiration and perspective. Tonight I received a healthy dose of both from Kyle Maynard.

Kyle just published his autobiography titled No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life.

Born with no arms and no legs, he faced many challenges ahead of him. Instead of giving him special treament, however, his parents decided to let him figure out how to do things on his own. Walk. Eat. Play. He adapted and figured out how to live and be self-sufficient with his condition, including writing, driving, and even typing 50 words a minute!

Kyle played football when he was younger, but then gave it up to pursue wrestling. He lost his first 36 matches, but did not give up and by his senior year in high school was a championship wrestler!

It’s amazing how far you can go when you have the drive and determination – and people that believe in you!

This book quickly made my wish list on Amazon.

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Finished 8th in the FT $20 tourney tonight (132 entrants)… for $79 — not great, but not bad.

Went out when I called from the SB with J10 and two limpers ahead of me. The flop came J high and I moved in, as the post was equal to my stack. Everyone folded, except the guy with A J. Oops. Don’t think that I can really get away from this hand with that flop though.

Layed down JJ twice in the tourney — one time pre-flop behind a raise and reraise. The player after me moved-in and had KK! The other players had a weak ace and AK, respectively. Good lay down, as it kept me in the game!

Two final tables tonight… Also finished 7th in the $10 tourney (158 entrants).

The hand I went out on: I was dealt and raised to 7,500 (blinds 1200/2400 with 300 antes) and the big stack called — the same guy that said “I will get you back” when I showed him a huge bluff earlier on in the tournament.

The flop was and I bet 12,500. I was open-ended on the flop and needed to bet here since I raised. He raised to 36,000 and I called. In hindsight I probably should have thought about this for a minutes instead of automatically calling. If I had laid this down I could have been in the game much longer.

The turn was . Right now the pot was almost 100K and I only had 18K left. Realistically I only have two moves here — check and then fold to his bet, or move all-in. I opted for the latter. He called with .

A horrendous call, based on my raise, bet on the flop, and all-in on the turn — but good enough to win, as I got no help on the river. Total winnings — just under $60… Not great, but first was just over $400 and I’ll get it next time

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Busted 10th in tonight’s FT $5 tourney — for a whopping $16!

Was 1st with 15 or so players left, then could not chase away a guy drawing to a non-nut flush draw — he kept calling large bets and then hit on the river, so I moved down to about 5th.

Ended up busting when my A 10 could not hold up against 99 (against the same player! UGH).

Not bad considering the tourney started with 250+, but 1st would have been nice! Maybe later this week!

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Apparently this is what we are missing while in Hawaii. I can’t say that I am too disappointed!

To the left is a photo of I-45 right near our house – with both sides of the freeway heading north! Notice no headlights – only taillights! Unreal!!! It was taken at 11pm Thursday night.

Below is a photo from sometime earlier Thursday, with stalled cars in the median – I assume that had either run out of gas or overheated. This is near the Woodlands also, probably the Rayford-Sawdust exit, but I am not sure.

In the meantime, all of our family is out of town safely – many of them taking 9–12 hours to make 3–4 hour trips. Now we just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Carrie and I are probably evacuating to one of the best places possible – Honolulu! We were scheduled to fly back to Houston on Saturday, arriving Sunday morning. Instead, we’ll take our original flight from Lihue, Kauai to Honolulu Saturday morning, but will extend our trip by two evenings there – arriving back in Houston Tuesday around noon. At least that is the current plan, let’s see what Rita does first.

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