Edgar Allen Poker Poe-try

This is just too good not to share. Before you can fully appreciate the awesomeness contained in this poem and its reading, you need to know a bit about the history of Bing Blan Blaow. Some time earlier this year, some online poker player named ch3ckraise created a song that he would copy-and-paste into the chat box whenever he took his opponent's money in a head-up match.

It went like this, and somehow it got popular (a Google search gets over 400,000 hits on the exact search phrase). Just a silly, silly thing to say.

ch3ckraise: BING BLANG BLAOW
ch3ckraise: CH3CK RAISE IN THA HOUSE
ch3ckraise: I JUST WON $50.00 FROM YOU
ch3ckraise: U COULD HAVE USED IT TO BUY SOME FOOD
ch3ckraise: BUT YOU CANT NOW
ch3ckraise: CUZ IMMA CASH IT OUT
ch3ckraise: AND RUB IT ON MY TITT1ES

The original song can be found on YouTube here: Bing Blang Blaow.

But, this poetic interpretation is pure genius.

Halloween Weekend

We had a blast out in Vegas. It was pretty wild and crazy, but it makes me wonder just how much crazier things get when Vegas is actually doing well. In any case, we stayed out there a day longer than usual, so at least we got in some relaxing on our final day there.

We met up with two different groups of friends that were out there the same weekend by coincidence -- we only found out about them in the couple weeks leading up it. Friday night was fun, as we went out drinking and dancing at the side bar of the Wasted Space nightclub. There were lots of wild people ready to party dressed scantily and slut-worthily just as you would expect from Vegas.

The next night a high school friend of mine, JC, I all found ourselves at a super low-limit poker table at the Mandalay Bay. It's a lot of fun when you play well below your usual limits. I got to splash around a lot while doing my pre-party drinking. Basically, I get to enjoy myself rather than be forced to play seriously.

Finally for Halloween night, we started off at a bar at the MGM and eventually made our way over to Studio 54 once it got less crazy. Apparently, one of the "Girls Next Door" stars (Holly Madison) was the host for the night, and when she left things got less hectic. It was a good thing to wait, since I don't think I was really up for fighting crowds to enjoy the night.

Both JC and I dressed up as vampires, and surprisingly, it was not as popular a costume as we were initially fearing. The costumes worked well, and I had my fair share of randoms that wanted me to bite them, etc. But, those stories will have to stay in Vegas... it's the rule after all.

On Sunday night, JC and I went to watch the Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity. I had seen Mystere and O before, and I would say that Zumanity would rank third of the three. But, it was still highly entertaining -- definitely not something you should go see if you're conservative and opposed to adult conversations and themes. While many of the acts were impressive, I was not as big a fan of the music as I have been of the other shows.

Later on, we ate at an overpriced Japanese restaurant at Planet Hollywood called Koi. The quality was perfectly fine. I felt the salmon was par at best, but most everything else I had was decent quality, but not worth the prices they were charging. After our meal though, as we were about to take off, a nearby table blurted out that they saw a rat. Turns out that JC also spotted it. We did not try to get any refund or anything... seems like poor form when we were very much done with our meal. Still pretty gross though. In short, I wouldn't recommend Koi to anyone.

Since I'm too lazy to put up pictures of the food at Koi, I'll share a picture I took of some non-alcoholic Berry Fizz drink that JC at some cafe in one of the hotels.



Then, on Monday we went over to the downtown area and grabbed a lot of souvenir chips for JC's collection. Also, we did some gambling, but overall it was a more relaxing day of recovery. I also have a silly story about getting tricked to tell.

So, we are walking out of the El Cortez and we walk towards the intersection, and we decide to turn around since there were no more hotels in the direction that we were walking. A cop then tells us to halt and tells us that we had been tagged for jaywalking by a police car. We are in disbelief, because we hadn't even set foot on the street let alone jaywalked. The officer then talks on his radio saying that he has secured the suspects, and as we verbalized (loudly) our incredulity, he started laughing and said, "I got you guys." He sure did.

The End.

Halloween in Vegas, Badugi, and Sports Betting Update

The bad news is that I've been incredibly busy at work recently. The good news is that I get to party it up a bit this coming Halloween weekend as JC and I are meeting up with a few friends in Vegas. We'll be dressed up, but there aren't any hard plans regarding where we'll be going. On Sunday, we're going to see Zumanity, the adult-themed Cirque du Soleil show. It's been a long time since I've seen a show in Vegas, and JC has never been to one... so hope it's a good one.

Now, it's time to talk briefly about this poker game called Badugi. PokerStars has it available online for as low as 25 cent/50 cent stakes. I've mostly been playing 0.25/0.50 through $1/2. Anyway, it's a lowball triple draw game where you try to make a badugi, which is a 4 card hand with 4 different suits and 4 different ranks. A 4-Card Badugi will beat any 3-card hand will beat any 2-card hand, etc.

For example, a Jh 5d 3c Ah is a 3-card hand: Ah 3c and 5d play. The Jh won't play since it copies the heart. This would beat someone who held 7d 6c 2s Ac, as they would play Ac 2s 7d for a 7-high 3-card hand. Any badugi, say Kh Qc 8d 7s, would beat both of these 3-card hands.

Well, to make a long story short, I've been semi-hooked on this seemingly simple game. The players at the lowest limits are horrible... at least that's what it seems so far. I don't think I'm simply getting lucky though it's certainly possible given that I haven't put in a ton of hands yet. I am up roughly 120 bets so far... we'll see if this trend continues.

And, a quick update on the sports betting. Basically, I'm very close to break-even after 81 bets. I'm up a whopping $25.20 with an average wager of $17. So, it's not good, but I guess it's not horrible either. Hehe.

Upcoming Bachelor Party and Poker

So, I'll be attending a bachelor party for Ken (some of you know him as Captain Kings) this weekend. The plan is to head down to Pismo Beach and do some ATVing followed by the usual bachelor party activities of boozing and wasting money at strip bars.

We'll see how it goes. I've never really been a fan of strippers or of the establishments where they work. I haven't been to a strip club in a number of years, and that last time was for a bachelor party as well.

Been playing a lot of cards lately and running good... maybe I'll go again tonight. The drop at Bay101's low limit games is now $5. When I went a few times in January, it was only $4. Fortunately, the games are still great for the most part. But, it still sucks to pay 25% more in rake.

Las Vegas and Le Cirque

Last weekend, I was out in Vegas for our annual trip during March Madness. A bunch of the usual group was able to make it, and there were some new faces this time as well. All in all, when the various groups were accounted for, there were around 12 of us.

Before I even got there, I had already lost $50 betting on Memphis. They got spanked. I figured I better try and win some back, so during our first meal together, we played some game where we'd choose a category and then a person and then make over/under bets on how many from that category the person could name without too long a lull. Some categories were famous aviators, serial killers, NFL quarterbacks, etc. I won a few bucks mostly betting against a certain someone. Not all of it was his fault... at one point, Mr. Tarek set a ridiculous line of 30.5 for the category of NHL players when the person doing the naming wasn't a hockey fan at all (I think he ended up naming 6 or 7 total).

There was a fair bit of negative EV gambling to start off the night. The first night Paul (some of you know him as Womper) and I ran good and started the trip up a fair bit of money. Paul was able to win a quick $750 at the quarter blackjack table as he pressed his bets a few times and managed to go 13 hands without a loss (there were some pushes, of course).

I did alright playing blackjack, but my big winner was playing Let It Ride. I was mostly playing $10, but then decided to go for $20 since it was getting late. So, I've got 3 $20's out there and I pick up K55. I pull a bet back, and 4th street brings a K. With a sure winner, the last two $20's stay put, and the river is a 5 for a boat. That paid a lovely 11:1 on $40, and since I was actually up a fair bit already before that hand, I was able to finish the night solidly ahead.

The next day was mostly recovery, as we were all up pretty late and indulging too much in the 'free' booze. At night though, we had our nice dinner at Le Cirque over at the Bellagio. Seven of us participated in what would be one of the best Vegas meals I've ever had.

Here are some pictures.

Mint Gazpacho with Bacon and Mushroom Foam Topping

Burgundy Snails in Garlic Herb Butter

Terrine of Foie Gras

Brioche to go with the Foie Gras Terrine

Risotto Topped with Truffles

Duck Magret

Sea Bass Wrapped with Crunchy Potatoes

Filet of Beef and Sautéed Foie Gras

Crème Brûlée

Chocolate Soufflé

Lemon Soufflé

Pistachio Cream and Chocolate Cake

Yuzu Cream and Strawberry Sorbet in Ice Bowl

Strawberry Sorbet, Foam, and Gelatin with Chocolate Bits

Strawberry Souffle and Sorbet

Plate of Goodies

I am a bit too lazy to write more, but it goes without really saying that the food was outstanding, and the service was great. We were all able to taste each of the different desserts, as we played a game where the various plates got passed all around the table. Also, all of us got a taste of the risotto with truffles... we purchased 4 orders, which they be split up into 7 bowls.

We had a nice view of the Bellagio Fountain show, and an unexpected bonus was that during dinner, we were able to see the Las Vegas Strip go dark for Earth Hour. Here's actually a pretty cool page showing some before and after pictures from around the world. And, we did see one of the Dallas Cowboys at the restaurant, but none of us really knew who he was. All we know was that he was a very, very large man.

Anyway, later on that night, a few of us (including the Tiffster herself) hit up Tao. The lines were super long, but her boyfriend (the smooth talking fellow that he is) was able to work some magic and allow us to skip the line. Tao was pretty nice and all, but I wasn't a big fan of horrendously overpriced drinks ($16 Red Bull Vodkas -- no thanks).

Fortunately, we were able to strike up a conversation with this one girl from Hawaii who was out there partying with a big party. She was super cool and hooked us up with a couple cups full of vodka, which we could then mix with whatever we could buy at the bar. So, that made things a bit better. There were also some mostly naked women with nothing on but pasties that were floating around in these tubs, and a lot of the drink servers were wearing nothing but lingerie... sort of reminds me of the attire seen at Vietnamese coffee shops.

After the club, a few of us played some craps, and we were quite fortunate to be at a table with this guy with his lucky shirt. He was the shooter for 15-20 minutes making 8 points. So, let's just say that we were all big winners. This more than wiped out some smaller losses I took earlier in the day from additional -EV gambling. Gotta love being at the table when the shooter has a golden arm.

The next day I played some low 1/2 NL poker, and won $240. NL isn't really my game, and nothing too exciting happened. The two biggest hands I had were flopped sets. I was able to get all of my money in with TT on a monotone QT3 board when a guy with the Ace flush draw attempted a semi-bluff. I called and did not get unlucky.

My other set, I should not have won as much as I did. I had 33 and the flop came AK3 rainbow. Somehow A7d 3-bet me on the flop and called my final bet that put him all-in. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by this, as donks will be donks.

And, that's all I've got to say about this most recent Vegas trip. For those that went, if any of you want pictures, let me know. Check you all later.

Bubble Girl and Bubble Boy

Last night, JC and I played in a home poker tournament. It was $100 buy-in with no rebuys, and there were a total of 24 entrants. Everyone started out with 5K in chips, and the blinds went up every 15 minutes. I felt the blind increases were a bit steep, but it still took over 4 hours for the tournament to finish.

The top 5 spots were paid, plus there was a 'bad beat' payout to the worst beat that caused someone to get knocked out. The worst beat was based on the exact cards (and board, if applicable) when the money went in. It didn't matter how many chips you had or anything, so if you were down to your last 100 chips when everyone else had many thousands, you'd be hoping to pick up Aces and get them cracked by something like AK. Anyway, the bad beat payout went to KK that got knocked out by 55 (all the money went in pre-flop).

JC ended up in 6th, and I ended up in 7th. So, we were effectively co-bubblers. In a twist of sorts, she was the one that knocked me out. She had about 8K in chips, and I had around 6K. Blinds were 1K/2K at the time, and she goes all in from early position. I call with all my chips from the small blind with QQ, and she tables AK. The flop came out ragged, but a K hit the turn, and I was out. A short while later she got all her money in with A7c, but was called by A8o, and the A-high board didn't come with enough high cards to get her a chop, and that was pretty much it.

It was fun. There was no cut taken out by the house, and the host provided tons of snacks and drinks, which was real nice. I did make back $60 playing some head-up limit against one of my buddies. I had some pretty good cards and pretty much ran him over.

Night of Poker

It's been forever since I last played cards.  I think it's been almost three months.  Totally unacceptable in my view.  But, I guess I just don't have as much free time as I would like.

The dead stretch came to a close last night, as Dan and I hit up Commerce in the afternoon yesterday.  We sat in a newly formed 9/18 game, and I have to say that initially the table was pretty horrible.  You can always tell when you get 3 or 4 blind chops each orbit in a full-handed game.  Fortunately, this was short-lived and the game got quite a bit better by early evening.

Dan basically ran over the table.  He was up over 3 racks at one point fairly early in the night.  I was unfortunately on the wrong side of variance.  I was stuck a little over two racks before a few hands started to hold up.  The game got better and better as the night progressed, and I was not stuck much any more when midnight struck.  It was around then that Dan took off... he had to work today.

The game was really, really good after midnight.  It no longer amazes me when people cold call 3 bets cold with J6s in a game that is a few steps above the lowest limits offered.  9/18 is still considered low-limits, but a bad night and you're going to be out close to a grand.  You'd think that players with no real clue would have just as much fun playing smaller.  Surely, they're not playing to make money.

By 2am I was completely unstuck and treaded water for a while.  I managed to win just shy of a rack by the time I left at five in the morning.  Money won is twice as sweet as money earned, but money won after being stuck like a pig for 10 hours is even sweeter.

Okay, off to do some last minute Christmas shopping.  Check you all later.

Poker Blues

As some of you know, I haven't had much time to play any poker lately. I've just been really busy with work and some travel. For the first night in what seems like forever, I had the chance to head down to the local card room and play some poker. The list for my usual low-limit 6/12 game was a bit long, so I opted to sit in the 5-200 spread limit ($200 max buy-in).

Well, three hours later, I call it a night as a two buy-in loser... this, after being up a fair bit earlier in the night. Looking at the hands, I suppose I should be happy that I put in my money for the most part quite good. My downfall really came from 3 hands where the 'big' money went in on 4 occasions (one of the hands had large bets on both turn and river).

Stop reading now if you don't want to read about bad beats.

OK, those of you that are still with me, here we go...

Hand 1: I have black AA and make it $25 pre-flop in early position. There are 2 callers. Flop comes Q76 rainbow. I bet $50 (maybe this is too small, I don't know... I am not that confident about my non-limit poker skills). Anyway, one guy folds and another guy thinks for a while and then pushes in the rest of his money... another $130. He's not one to fool around pre-flop so much, so I figure him for AQ (probably not KK, I'm pretty sure he re-raises me pre-flop). If he's got a set, so be it. So, I go ahead and make the call. The turn comes a K, the river brings a 5, and away go my chips when he shows KQ.

Hand 2: A4o in the big blind. There's no raise, and we see a flop multi-way... maybe 6 or 7 in the hand. Flop comes Q94 with a club draw. It checks around. Turn comes a 4, no flush. Small blind bets $30, and I raise it up. I think I made it $90 (I can't even remember for sure now, but I know it was less than $100 since I basically pushed out one of my incomplete stack of chips). The others fold, and the bettor makes the call. The river brings an offsuit J.

The bettor now bets $10 into this largish pot. Maybe this is when warning bells should go off. I am thinking this really makes no sense, and I raise it up. He then pushes the rest of his money in, and I had to call an additional $80. He shows J4 and I lose. So, money definitely went in good on the turn, but it clearly went in bad on the river.

Hand 3: So, this is the hand that busted me out. After this one I no longer had a desire to play, so I chose not to buy in again. A very aggressive player straddles and so it's a live $10 bet. I have ATs and limp after some limpers (maybe I ought to raise this, I really do suck at this game). More limpers after me and then the straddler makes it $40 more. There's 2 callers to me, and I call. The button also calls.

So, we see the flop 5 handed, and the pot's pretty large. The flop comes T33 with 2 diamonds. The straddler now bets $15. One guy calls, and it's on me. I have $140 left and I decide it would be really stupid of me to call pre-flop, hit my hand pretty solidly, and not bet it hard. So, I go ahead and push all my chips in the middle. Only the straddler guy calls, and the turn comes a 8 of diamonds, and the river brings an offsuit 9. I am shown the A6d for the big flush and I kiss my chips goodbye.

While I may have played some (or maybe all) these hands incorrectly, the bottom line is that I got most of my money in good... sometimes it was more than good, as I was better than a 4:1 favorite in a couple of those spots. Still sucks though. Ugh.

Vegas

I'm still dead tired, and I'm just about to head in to the office. Surprisingly, I played zero poker over the weekend. Two of my friends played in the $1500 NL WSOP Event (the one that Gaamblor took 5th in... good job, btw). One of them busted out early running into Aces twice (his bustout hand was QQ vs AA). The other one suffered a bad beat with about a hundred or so players to the money (2700 players to start down to about 400, and 270 spots paid). He had an average stack and re-raised all-in with KK. He was called by a slightly bigger stack's AK, and he lost. Gross, but that's poker.

I lost a chunk playing Texas Hold'em Bonus... ya, ya, it's -EV, but the house edge isn't gigantic. All in all it was a fun trip. Barber and I ended up in a really nice room at the Wynn with a view and all. Unfortunately, there was only one King bed since they ran out of the Queen rooms, and so they rolled in another bed for him. Managed to make it out to the pool for a change as well.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend with plenty of food, as you can imagine. Five of us went to dinner at Alizé atop the Palms for a 7-course meal.

Corner Room at the Wynn

Golf Course View

Wynn Pool

Lump Crab Stuffed Piquillo Pepper

Spinach and Black Truffle Salad
and Duck Confit Topped with Quail Egg

Pan Seared Foie Gras

Dover Sole

Palate Cleanser - Passion Fruit Sorbet

Veal Medallions
with Sweetbread in Fondue and Country Ham

Three Cheeses - Manchego, Blue, and Gouda

Dessert Trio - Banana Cream and Cake,
Black Cherry Cheesecake, and Chocolate Bar

Poker Bots

I don't play very much online poker these days. Games are generally many times tougher than they used to be, and I guess I just don't have quite as much time as I used to have. Anyway, a friend of mine sent this my way, and I thought that it might be an interesting read for those who do (or did) play online.

How I Built a Working Poker Bot

Poker Update

Well, the rake for the 8/16 game at Garden City was raised to $5 a month or so ago... or, so I heard. While that sucks, the game was wild and also had a half-kill, so the increase will probably be tolerated. However, I found out tonight that as of last Friday, the rake for the 6/12 game was increased to $5. That's a bit steep, and so I will not be playing there if I can help it.

I played in both the 6/12 and 8/16 games at Bay 101 this past week, and I'm happy to report that the rake is still $4. I've heard rumors that they might up it, but for now I'm going to play there exclusively.

Also, one quick update... the weird rule at Bay 101 that I brought up a month ago is no longer in effect. I guess management realized it was a dumb rule and got rid of it. Glad to see that it was so short-lived.

Anyway, that's all for now. Been running pretty well in poker lately, but nothing too interesting to report. But, I know the poker playing types that read my crap like to hear about hands, so here's a stupid hand that I played over the weekend. It says a lot about how ridiculous the players can get sometimes.

So, I'm at fairly competent table, save for two morons. If they weren't in the game, I'd be looking for a table change ASAP, but they are basically making the game for all of us. Anyway, I'm in the big blind, and everyone folds to the small blind. Now, it's customary to chop (players take their blinds back, and no hand is played out), because the drop is only $1 if there's no flop. The small blind is one of the two fish, and he's been chopping all night. It's bad etiquette to selectively chop. You either never chop, or you always chop.

Anyway, this time the small blind looks at his cards and yells out NO CHOP! I'm like, ugh, what a dick. Maybe he's got a big pair or something. To my surprise, he calls. This is retarded. If you're not going to chop, you really ought to raise. I look down and see K7o. I check my option.

Flop comes: 4 5 6 rainbow.

He bets, I call. Turn is a K, he bets, I call. River is a 3. He bets, I raise, and he calls. I say I've got a straight and turn over my hand. He says he missed his straight, and turns over T9o (???!!!). Like, wow. I don't get it. And, now you have a taste of the juicy nature of the games around here.

Vegas Summary

I'm still dead tired after the Vegas trip. So, I'm just going to make a list of twenty random things all about this Vegas trip. And, yes, it was awesome!

1. Venetian recently upgraded their electronics... there were 3 plasma TVs in our suite, and no less than 5 separate remote controls including one for the DVD player and another for the automated curtains and drapes.

2. Degenerate Gambling > Pokering... basically broke even playing poker (Net: -$30). Lost at 1/2 NL, but I won playing limit 4/8 and a really tiny bit of 15/30 (must-move table at the Wynn broke up in record time). But, craps + blackjack = the awesome, so the trip was solidly positive after all expenses.

3. When you are giving black chip action, and you get dealt two 8's with the dealer showing a ten, you obviously split, but you do so begrudgingly. When you get another 8, you repeat. And, another... well, you go ahead and split for the third time. How about your 5th 8? Yes, you split again!!! Trick question time. What happens on your 6th 8? You hit, because the casino only allows a maximum of 4 splits. That hand also included a double down, and in the end, the net result was a loss of one bet. Things could have been MUCH worse. So, it was definitely an interesting hand for all of us to witness.

4. Question: What happens if you're a luckbox, and you put down a large bet at the blackjack table? Answer: You get dealt a blackjack, and you get PAID!! Ha ha.

5. $15 craps is really steep, but that's all you can find in the nicer casinos on the strip during prime time. Lucky for us, we are all lucksacks. And, let us not forget some words of wisdom: ALWAYS BET ON YOURSELF, even if you lose, you still possess a winning attitude.

6. At least one person in our party should invoke the "Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" line. And, based on what happened the following night, it should probably be invoked twice!

7. Liar's dice is just as fun when you play with hotel towels instead of actual dice cups.

8. I am not as good at Rock, Paper, Scissors as I think I am. Not only did I lose money, but I was unable to get one of the hotties (yes, really... that's plural, there were several of them) in our group to have another drink, because I lost our best of three game.

9. I am awesome at the Birthday guessing game, however. I won more money there than I lost at Rock, Paper, Scissors... go me!

10. I am really a fan of the food at Landry's. It's the second time I've been now. For this meal, it was, me, Barber, Rowr, Mr. Pet Dander, and his wife. However, I am not that much of a fan of the service provided (this time), and I don't think anyone else was either. And, oh ya... Barber must LOVE fried food. Ha ha.

11. Credit card roulette is fun, but I obviously suck at the game. I lost during the breakfast round. [Note: For those who are unfamiliar, credit card roulette is a simple game. At the end of a meal, everyone throws a credit card into the bread basket. Mix them up, and cover the basket with the napkin. Have the server pick the losing card, which will cover the entire bill. It's a great game, because most of the time you win!!!]

12. Tiff has a golden arm, so I heard. Too bad I had to leave before I experienced the awesome money making that was to be had with her amazing shooting. (First time female shooter... no wonder.) Hopefully, her dude got in on that action (yes, I'm talking about craps).

13. There were 3 lawyers in our overall group of people. There were also 3 lawyers at the table where I played drunken low-limit poker with Rowr. Two of them played well, and one had little to no clue.

14. Unfortunately for Rowr, a fair number of my big hands were against her decent hands. So, I eventually cleaned her out, much to her dismay. But, I am sure she had a good time, despite hearing her version of her sad poker tale.

15. Barber is getting quite a bit more aggressive when he plays poker now, and as a result, his game is certainly improving. So, to the friends who typically write him off as a non-threat, heed this warning: You better start watching out next time!

16. Pelton and his peoples... they love sports and sports betting. Unfortunately, there was no higher limit Cha-Blah to be played. Long ago, we played for dimes (quarters was the 'big' game). I really want to play for $2 or more a point with the special 2's penalty rule in place. Maybe next time.

17. The Palazzo was pretty nice, but the cell reception there was seriously shitty. I'm sure that was by design. I definitely want to see more if it next time.

18. I should have taken the other side of Womper's UCLA bet, but we called it off, because we were too lazy to get an official spread from the nearest sportsbook at the time we tossed the idea around.

19. Good thing it was AD's birthday over the weekend. Not only did we get him sloshed (he passed out on our couch for a couple hours, while I was playing a losing credit card roulette game with everyone else). An added bonus? His girlfriend (one of the aforementioned hotties) had a shot (of Patron) for the first time... ever!

20. And, finally, speaking of ever. Rowr was told by one of the random poker playing lawyers that she was the most beautiful girl to have come from <insert our alma mater here>... ever!

And, that's it.... twenty highlights from the weekend.

New Move: Inducing the Bet Out of Turn

So, get this... there's a new rule at Bay101. I don't quite understand the reason for it, and I think it adds more problems than it solves. The new rule is that if a player bets out of turn, then if called on that mistake, that player may only check or call. He may not bet or raise.

This rule was called on someone today, and I thought it was pure horseshit even though I was not a part of the hand in question. What's crazy is that the dealer was required to announce the situation along with the new rule and give the other players a choice as to whether or not they wanted to call the 'bet out of turn' rule into play (much like how it is the player's responsibility to call a string raise).

This rule introduces a new angle to the game. You can try to induce the bet out of turn (to get a free card or showdown)... maybe by feigning a quick bet, where your opponent might beat you to the pot calling, or by the much more questionable action of obscuring slightly your cards from view.

I thought about this for a bit, and I really couldn't think of any reasons why this rule would be a good one. Like, I can see how calling out of turn poses a problem... say, 3 of us were in a hand. And, I know full well that the bettor has a weak hand, and I also know that you feel the same way. However, neither you nor I have a hand that can overcall. So, I call out of turn, effectively shutting you out of the call. I can understand this. But, I do not understand how betting out of turn is the same... is there similar reasoning behind the rule?

Anyway, that's the latest.

Poker Comeback

I just got back from a 7 hour session of poker. As you know, my session on Tuesday night was brutal, and I lost 30 bets. Tonight started off horribly, and I was stuck a rack pretty early on. The first early beat that I suffered, I had KQc and raised it up pre-flop. A few of us see the flop for two bets apiece. The board comes medium cards with 2 clubs. I bet and get called in two spots. The turn brings a 5c, and the river pairs the board. I go 3 bets with a guy on the river, and lose to his pocket 5's.

Luckily, things turned around not long after. I finally pick up a premium hand... KK. The betting is capped 7 ways, and the flop is a beautiful K high, but it's dangerous with a flush draw possible. A guy bets into me, and I raise it. There are 5 of us that see the turn for 2 bets each. The turn and river are safe (the only way someone could have a straight was if they hit their runner-runner with a 74 or something like that). I scoop a really large pot, and I'm back to positive.

After that turning point, I continued to play really tight and fortunately, I started hitting a few flops. And, even more fortunately, the hands held up. I end up a whopping 58 bets for the night. If I didn't have a morning meeting tomorrow, I'd probably still be there playing right now. Ha ha.

I did flop quads once, which was sweet. A5h flopped 555, the turn was a 7, and the river was a T. I was paid off nicely by a guy holding TT. What was interesting was that every street was raised exactly once. I did the raising on the river. TT did the raising on all the other streets. And, there was a super donkey that was in the hand along with us. Too bad he folded on the turn after betting into the TT guy and getting raised.

Okay, anyway, that's the scoop. It's certainly nice to be on the positive side of variance. Time for bed.

Return To Poker and Obligatory Chess

Well, I have been on such a chess kick lately that I haven't had the urge to go play any cards. But, I know that I really should, because it is a gainful hobby. So, today was my return to the game. I went to play a session with Captain Kings, and it was fairly uneventful. I lost 30 bets in roughly 6 hours of 'boring' play.

I was card dead for most of the night. Except for some reason I got dealt AK five times (lost 4 times, and took down a small pot with a flop bet). I lost with AQ vs KK on a Q high board, and I also got jizzacked when 3 of us flopped flushes (one guy holding the nuts). What can I say? I never really got out of line, and I simply pissed my chips away slowly. But, I did go out with a bang... 3 losing hands in a row. I called it a night right after these took place, as it capped off a 2 1/2 hour stretch with zero pots won.

Hand #1

A8s, I limp after several limpers. Flop comes 876, rainbow with 1 spade. Checks to a guy that basically bets anything. I raise, then a decent player 3-bets it from the SB. I definitely have not not so good feeling about my hand at this point. Original bettor now caps it. Okay, he bets anything, but he doesn't re-raise without the goods. I lay down my ultra-vulnerable (if not already dead) TPTK. There is a lot of action, and the hands are finally revealed. Both of them flopped straights. The decent player had T9s, and the initial bettor had 54o.

Hand #2

I get dealt QQ on the very next hand. I raise a few limpers, and it's 6 of us to the flop for 2 bets apiece. The flop is AT3, and tight old guy bets right out into me. I contemplate a call, but see there are two others that are basically going to call him. I just go ahead and muck it. The turn is a 9, and the river is a blank. Some guy won with T9, and the tight guy flashed an Ace and mucks in disgust.

Hand #3

Then, I get another playable hand right away.. AJh. I raise a limper, and there's a cold caller. The blinds also call. 5 of us see a flop of A64. I bet and get a couple callers. The turn is a 5, and I get only one caller. The river is a 2, and I pay off the guy with 43o in the blind.

That's poker. Sometimes you play well, and you lose money. I think I played my B+/A- game, but the card gods frowned upon me.

Okay, well that's the poker update... I'll probably play again on Thursday. If I get brutalized again I might take a break from the game (again).

Now, for more chess. So, I played a game with Jim recently. I found a winning move when presented with the following position. It was a nice combination that results in the loss of his Queen. After my move, he saw what was going on, and immediately resigned. Crafty actually preferred a different move, but I'm not good enough to pass up a Queen trap.

Anyway, here's the position. It's my move as White after Jim pushed his pawn to g5.

New Camera and Losing Bets

Well, I received my new camera today... Canon SD850 IS. It only cost me 25,000 PokerStars FPPs. Sad thing is that while collecting those FPPs, I didn't win as much as I'm used to (the games have really gotten tougher there, imo), but hey, it sure beats losing.

Speaking of losing, I have pretty much lost my SanDisk (SNDK) bull spread bet. It would take a near miracle, I think, for the spread to be anywhere in the money for me. Oh well... I guess that's why it's a good idea to keep gambling bets relatively small.

That's all for now!

Four Day Weekend

I guess this is first day of my four day weekend. I've got nothing to do really, so I look forward to a week of relaxation and possible boredom. Last night I went to a couple neighborhood bars to play have some beer and play some word games (to cover the cost of the beer).

I've only got two things to report. The bars were packed, and my score in the word game tournament is still holding up as the #1 score to beat... top prize is around $700, and the contest ends the first week of January. If I end up winning it, that money will go towards a new TV. I really need to upgrade from the old one I got shortly after I graduated.

Anyway, after I sobered up, I played some poker over at Garden City. It was a really short session, but managed to win a rack. I was on the lucky end of a sick hand... an absolute cooler for my opponent. I get 55 and limp after a couple of limpers, and the button raises. We get to see the flop 6 ways... T55 with two spades. Okay, we get to the turn 3 ways. It comes a K of spades. I go ahead and lead out, a guy calls, and the button makes it two bets. I make it three, and the other guy drops out. We end up getting in 7 bets on the turn, and one more on the river. I turn over my flopped quads, and he laughs and shows his flopped full house with TT.

That's pretty much it... okay, time to continue my relaxation therapy consisting of doing nothing, nothing at all (well, I might squeeze in some time to create shitty grade-school art).

A Sick Session

So, I just got back from playing some cards... I sat in an 8/16 with half-kill. Anyway, I think I just experienced the most disgusting live poker session I've ever had. I mean, seriously, it was so sick that it was starting to get funny. If you don't want to hear me whine, stop reading now. Otherwise, relish in my misery, and think about this session of mine the next time you are running badly.

Tonight, I played for roughly 4 1/2 hours. I won 4 pots. Yes, that's right... 4 pots. On average the game was 7-8 handed, and I would think close to 25-30 hands were dealt each hour. That means I was winning around 3-4% of the hands. I surely don't expect to win 1 out of 7 or 8 hands, mostly because I play a lot tighter than the rest of the players. But, I definitely don't like it when I win less than one pot per hour.

Gross. Final tally was -50 bets. In reality it was a little less due to the kill, but normalizing for that doesn't change the amount I lost in absolute terms. I guess I'll give you some highlights, because I have nothing better to do right now. What sucks is that I've been playing well and running OK lately too... what a brick wall I hit tonight. It's like the punch you don't see coming. That's the one that really hurts you the most.

Anyway, I had a total of 11 good draws (8 or more outs) that missed... I hit none of them. I started counting them after I missed the first 4. Of the 11 draws I missed, 4 of them were to the nuts, and as far as I know only one flush draw was actually drawing dead (QTs vs K9s on a spade draw flop). I had to pay off two missed draws (one straight and one flush), because I hit my overcard on the river. Both times this happened, I lost. Once to an overpair, and another time to two pairs.

I had KK, QQ, and JJ once each. In the QQ hand, an Ace flopped, but my hand held up. The JJ hand, a K flopped, and the KK hand, an Ace flopped. I paid off the JJ, but let the KK go on the turn. My hand was not good both times.

I had AK once, AQ twice, and AT once. AK flopped A 9 3. A 2 came on the turn, and the river came a 5. No bets went in after the turn, and the big blind showed down 23o for the win. One AQ hit nothing and I gave it up on a K high flop after there was action. The other time I had AQ I gave it up on the turn after I c-bet and got everyone to call me. AT hit with a T98 flop. I raised the flop, bet the turn, and the river went check-check. A guy with 89s took that one.

I suppose I should also mention that I had at least 10 small pocket pairs (22-77). I never did flop a set. Not that unusual, but you would think I deserve to hit a few seeing how badly I was brutalized.

Okay, enough about the losing hands... here are only other winning hands in addition to the QQ hand I mentioned above.

JQs flops Ts 9x 4s. Checks to me, I bet the flop and get a single caller. The turn brings a T, I bet and take down a small pot.

J5d in the BB. I call a raise getting 7 to 1. Flop comes 5 4 2 with 1 diamond. The raiser bets, and I am the only one to call. The turn brings an offsuit 7. I don't exactly put him on a pair, so I go ahead and check-call. If he has one, good for him. The river is a 9, and I have to make the call. He shows ATo and I win.

A8s in the big blind. I flop top two pairs. I check-raise the flop. There are two callers. Turn puts out three clubs, I bet and there's one caller. River is a blank. I bet, and she folds. And, that was the last time I had chips pushed my way.

What a brutal night. To make it even worse, I won the first two pots in the first half hour or so, which means I won 2 pots in the next 4 hours. There were probably a few bad calls on my part, but thinking about it a bit now... nothing really stupid. Oh well. There is always next time.

Desperately Seeking Nepenthe

I sought her in the form of Vegas, and it was nice. I did have a good time in Vegas, all things considered. I played a good amount of $1/2 blinds, No Limit poker, which I more or less sucked at. The game is so very different than limit, and I managed to walk away from two lengthy sessions losing only $16.

I lost with top set of flopped queens again... and I basically lost my entire stack when a flush rivered. The sad part was that I had bet quite large on the turn, and I was forced to make a crying all-in call with the pot laying me almost 10 to 1. In poker, as in life, you don't always win.

There was a fair amount of drinking on Friday night, and some random -EV gambling where I lost a small amount. However, Patron shots were $13 at the bar, but I managed to get quite a few of them at the craps table, so it was probably a lot closer to a wash.

In what form will Nepenthe take next time? I don't know, but I really need to find her.

Three Sets: A Tale of Sorrow

Well, just when I thought I was in the clear and ready to resume my poker uptrend, I got hurt. Dropped my session limit of 50 bets tonight, which pretty much sucked. But, what really kills me is flopping exactly 3 sets, and losing with all of them in fairly brutal fashion. Of course there were other beats, and a few hands where I actually won decent pots, but the trio of losing sets takes the cake.

Set #1
A good player raises and there are 3 cold callers, I 3-bet with QQ, the small blind calls all the bets cold, and the raiser now caps it up. We see the beautiful rainbow flop of Q73 six handed. The raiser bets out, and there is one caller. Now, here's probably where I made a mistake. I pretty much don't slow play anything, but I took a chance on this really safe looking flop. I smooth call with my top set here. And, the small blind calls closing the action.

The turn brings a J, putting two clubs on the board. The raiser bets, the caller calls, and I pop it. The small blind thinks a bit and calls 2 bets cold. The raiser now 3-bets, and the caller puts in two more bets. I cap it up with the current nut hand. Small blind also calls. The pot is just huge now.

The river brings an offsuit K, and the small blind bets out. The initial raiser guy calls, the other caller folds, and I make the crying call... T9 is about the only hand I could think of, and sure enough, the guy that called 3-bets cold pre-flop tables T9 offsuit to scoop the largest pot of the night.

Set #2
I raise a couple of limpers with AA, and an aggressive player 3-bets right after me. Some old guy calls 3-bets cold, and others follow his lead. I cap it up, and we see the flop 6 ways again. The flop comes As Ks 4x. I lead and get 3 callers. The turn brings another spade... I can't really check this, so I bet out. The aggressive guy calls, and then the old guy raises. The others fold, and I call. Aggro guy folds. The river doesn't pair the board, and I'm shown Q6s for the nut flush. I guess this one wasn't that brutal, but it's just a bit nutty with Q6s calling 3 bets cold.

Set #3
A prop player raises his button after a couple limpers. I'm sitting in the BB with 33. I go ahead and call. The flop is nice... K 5 3 with 2 hearts. I check-raise the prop, the others fold, and he calls. The turn brings a T of hearts. I bet, and the prop pumps it up. I only call here... if he's got the flush or the bigger set, so be it. The river brings a small heart, and I check and make the crying call. I suppose I could fold here, but it's only one more bet for some peace of mind. He shows AK with the Ace of hearts for the winner. Pretty demoralizing.

Now, you've got a pretty good idea of how my night went. Ugh.