May the norse be with you

It isn't often that I get accosted by aliens when I am on my way to work, not least because it's rare at 6.30am to see humans, let alone the occasional wanderer from Alpha Gamma Prolix. This morning, however, was different. Leicester Square was teeming with them. Indeed, I would say, of the 1500 or so sentients in the square, at least 30% were alien life forms. Many of the remainder seemed to be dressed up as Andrei Rublev from the Tarkovsky film of the same name, but apparently this is the the mode de jour amongst many fans of the Star Wars sexology.

Oh, and the Royal Philharmonic will be there this evening as well.

It's possible to put pictures in these blogs, although I have to upload them to another server (say, "my photos" on BT Yahoo) and then reference the location. At least, I think that's what I have to do. I haven't looked at the technicalities yet. But it would be a neat way to do a "this is what I am doing on my holidays" gig.

When the horse is with you

Sometimes you just know that the force is with you. Perhaps it was those aliens that I met this morning. Anyway, I have no idea whether or not I played this hand correctly at any point (apart from after I had got all my money in, by which time I had no choice). But one of the advantages of playing $5-$10 is that you don't mind gambling with a piffling sum like forty bucks. And, well, it turned out nice again, Ethil.

POT LIMIT OMAHA HI
Table "Bargara" (real money) -- Seat 8 is the button
Seat 1: zRanchRich ($90.25 in chips)
Seat 2: snacktime ($25.75 in chips)
Seat 3: Big Tuna ($65.25 in chips)
Seat 4: vodka7 ($61.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Benglian ($63.75 in chips)
Seat 6: Sir Bluff ($39.00 in chips)
Seat 7: ZRocketman ($68.50 in chips)
Seat 8: ,,,,, ($56.00 in chips)
Seat 9: LowCash ($29.00 in chips)
Seat 10: Birks ($39.25 in chips)
LowCash : Post Small Blind ($0.25)
Birks : Post Big Blind ($0.50)
Dealing...
Dealt to Birks [ Ah Js Ac 2d ]
zRanchRich: Call ($0.50)
snacktime: Call ($0.50)
Big Tuna: Call ($0.50)
vodka7 : Fold
Benglian: Fold
Sir Bluff: Call ($0.50)
ZRocketman: Raise ($3.75)
,,,,, : Fold
LowCash : Call ($3.50)

Well, I reckon that I can flat-call with this hand or raise with it, or even fold with it. THe trouble with flat-calling is that it has no back-up to speak of. I really want just one opponent rather than several. And, with someone calling the raise, I have enough to put in a fair amount pre-flop. Sod it, let's raise it up...

Birks : Raise ($16.50)
zRanchRich: Fold
snacktime: Fold
Big Tuna: Call ($16.50)

Oh. This was not what I had put in the possible occurrence scenario.

Sir Bluff: Fold
ZRocketman: Call ($13.25)
LowCash : Fold


*** FLOP *** : [ 4c 5h 7c ]

Well, you remember that hand I had last time where I raised and then bottled it on an unhelpful flop? I had already decided that all the money was going in on the flop, no matter how horrible it looks. In fact, this isn't so bad. I reckon my opponents are on something like TJQK or9TJQ double-suited. Perhaps AKKQ. So, the clubs are a threat, but I don't think that I am facing a set or a made straight.

Birks : Bet ($22.25)
Big Tuna: Call ($22.25)

Oh. Doesn't look good.

ZRocketman: Fold
*** TURN *** : [ 4c 5h 7c ] [ 6d ]
*** RIVER *** : [ 4c 5h 7c 6d ] [ 3s ]
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $97.75 | Rake: $3
Board: [ 4c 5h 7c 6d 3s ]
Big Tuna lost $39.25 [ Ks 9s Ad As ] (a pair of aces)
Sir Bluff lost $0.50 (folded)
ZRocketman lost $17 (folded)
LowCash lost $3.75 (folded)
Birks bet $39.25, collected $97.75, net +$58.50 (showed hand) [ Ah Js Ac 2d ] (a straight, ace to five)

What was that I was saying about the hand not having any back-up? Well, you've really got to feel sorry for Big Tuna here, although I wonder at his flat-call pre-flop.

A Monte Carlo run on Poker Calculator puts it at 51.08 to 48.9, with 66,000 of the 108000 being ties. By the time the flop comes down, we still have 636 of the 820 results being a tie, but I have 169 winning chances to his 15. OK, I had decided to put all my money in anyway, but I should have been cognizant of the fact that a three gave me the straight!