Aug. 25th, 2005

peterbirks: (Default)
I realize that I haven't been posting a great deal about poker the past few days. Part of this is because I don't really want to give away too much of my own style, and there is a chance that some of the people I play at $5-$10 (and certainly a chance that some of those playing $15-$30) might read this. So, in effect, I am on a hiding to nothing. I have no such worries posting about lower level PLO, where the stakes are fairly unimportant and the whole thing is a learning experience.

I may make up with it with a few hand über-posts this weekend. I'm going to work from home tomorrow and we have an "official" half day, so I can play poker or write gibberish from 10am onwards without feeling guilty.

+++++++++

I could never run out of material to write about here -- the Financial Times throws out so many examples of the world going mad every day that I discard thoughts by the dozen before they even approach "that would make a good article" status. And then there are other people's blogs. Some of the, er, younger bloggers, print hand histories that have me cringing with embarrassment for them. They head off on a wrong path at step one, and then wonder why, when they get to step four, they are in deep shit with an almost impossible decision. Fortunately they are probably playing $50 no-limit, so no real harm will be done in terms of their lifetime earnings.

Clearly we can now ignore 99% of the posts (and posters) on Gutshot or The Hendon Mob. I have no desire to educate them any more and I can't be bothered to sit down to try to take their money -- particularly since 40% of the time they are likely to get lucky and do a Homer Simpson Woo Hoo war dance when ... ohh, whatever. I'm sure that you can think of examples.

++++++++++

The Japanese business system seems to be on its last legs, to me. Their company structures look like they need dragging into the 20th century, not the 21st.

I'm developing a macro-theory here (I can't understand why macro economic stuff is what I understand these days -- it was my worst subject at University after statistics) on the far east. This is that for a fast-developing economy the business structures seen in these countries are very suitable. Thus South Korea and Malaysia are now taking over the Japanese mantle of some kind of far-eastern myth that has found the answer. However, as soon as these countries reach First World average levels, the business structures that they have in place (kind of substitute families, little job mobility, heavy egalitarianism, the concept of "manager" as a job title in itself) work against them. The rigidity of the Japanese business world is murdering it, leading to the farcical situation that the Japanese companies now achieving success are using foreign workers abroad.

However, this is very much a theory-in-progress at the moment, in the sense that it might be completely incorrect, and that in reality the Japanese business world today is a hive of adaptable efficiencies. But somehow I doubt it.
peterbirks: (Default)
Lord Miros (Bill Purle) doesn't allow anonymous posts on his blog (http://bitharsh.blogspot.com), so I will just have to rip off a quote from his latest piece of marvellousness:

then there were things which reminded me just why I hate people, and why I sometimes hate poker, and why I really hate Luton. Luton was a timely reminder of just what FUCKING ARSEHOLES people can be.

Bill was just wondering why he was occasionally suffused with gloom, even when things seemed to be going perfectly. It goes with the territory, mate. Andy Ward suffers from it. I suffer from it. Christ, Daniel Negreanu suffers from it, so we have the comfort of knowing that it won't even go away if we become multi-millionaires.

Andy responded to Bill's post with the line that depression is part of the human condition, and that even if we have nothing to be fed up about, every so often the body takes over and pushes us into a black dog funk. Of course, Andy may just be referring to the people that count. Let's discard the 95% of the world that, as Woody Allen found in Annie Hall, are perfectly content because they are utterly shallow and vacuous.

My own line is that it all went wrong with the American Constitution, which people seem to imagine gives you a right to happiness (it doesn't, of course, it just gives you the right to pursue it -- no guarantees there). If I feel fed up or depressed or, generally just sad (which I do a lot of the time) I just say to myself: Come to terms with your sadness rather than trying to do something to change it.

In its own little way, this works. I avoid places like Luton. In fact, I avoid lots of places, because I don't care about most people. Many of them are utter arseholes and, one day, I might do something I regret and bugger the consequences. Best, therefore, to play on the computer.
peterbirks: (Default)
$5/$10 Texas Hold'em
Table PokerBulls #485245 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: katiephil111 ( $259.50 )
Seat 5: LitleGee ( $245 )
Seat 6: Jollyjokerxx ( $156 )
Seat 7: golgolgol ( $182.50 )
Seat 9: orvlly ( $352.50 )
Seat 8: einsamerWolf ( $265 )
Seat 4: twoh2s ( $170.42 )
Seat 3: moonMasterq ( $236 )
Seat 2: Birks ( $445 )
Seat 10: DemonKoi ( $114.50 )

twoh2s posts small blind [$2].
LitleGee posts big blind [$5].


Dealt to Birks [ Jd Ad ]

Jollyjokerxx calls [$5].
golgolgol folds.
einsamerWolf folds.
orvlly calls [$5].
DemonKoi calls [$5].
katiephil111 folds.
Birks raises [$10].
moonMasterq folds.
twoh2s calls [$8].
LitleGee folds.
Jollyjokerxx calls [$5].
orvlly calls [$5].
DemonKoi calls [$5].

Very little of interest, so far

** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 3d, 5d ]

I can handle this flop. I have a four-flush and two overcards. I don't really see anyone being out there with 7-4.

twoh2s checks.
Jollyjokerxx checks.
orvlly checks.
DemonKoi checks.
Birks bets [$5].
twoh2s folds.
Jollyjokerxx has been reconnected and has 20 seconds to act.
Jollyjokerxx folds.
orvlly calls [$5].
DemonKoi raises [$10].
Birks raises [$10].

orvlly folds.
DemonKoi calls [$5].

A little more interesting. I three-bet here because if the guy four-bets, I reckon he has a set or just possibly 6-5. But he doesn't cap it. He just calls. Now, that is the kind of thing I might do, but there aren't many players at $5-$10 with that degree of subtlety.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ]
DemonKoi checks.
Birks bets [$10].
DemonKoi calls [$10].

Fortunately, I don't need to think that hard any more, since I have the nut flush


** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]

Well, there's unusual for you! The board hasn't paired, I've improved, but I no longer have the nuts. Indeed, I now get a horrible flash of "what if he's got 6d 7d?" That, after all, cannot be ruled out from the way that he has bet the hand.

DemonKoi checks.
Birks bets [$10].
DemonKoi calls [$10].

As soon as he checks I really can't see him having the straight flush. Once again, $5-$10 players on Party usually canot resist putting the bet in on the river if they have made their hand. And rightly so, because most players will check down anything but a real monster. Marginal bets for value are rare at this level.


Birks shows [ Jd, Ad ] a straight flush, five high.
DemonKoi doesn't show [ Kc, Kh ] a straight, two to six.
Birks wins $127 from the main pot with a straight flush, five high.


Well, would you have put him on a pair of kings? In fact, his play is just bizzaresville USA. He could probably have saved himself a lot of cash just by raising pre-flop, although the way things were going at the table, I would probably have called. Then he bets the flop. I call. He bets the turn, I raise, and he can either fold or call me down to the end. As it was, he seemed to find a line of play that cost him the most money. Genius.
peterbirks: (Default)
A brief Omaha hand. Not much of interest, but it illustrates a general Omaha point.


(blinds $0.25/$0.50) Pot Limit Omaha Hi
Table "Makaroa" (real money) -- Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: Birks ($47.50 in chips)
Seat 2: ScootsNYC ($60.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Tatianna7777 ($19.25 in chips)
Seat 5: muddiver ($44.25 in chips)
Seat 6: myhand ($38.75 in chips)
Seat 7: D-man ($48.50 in chips)
Seat 8: Droop ($28.00 in chips)
Seat 9: golpin ($93.25 in chips)
Seat 10: ItHappens... ($46.00 in chips)

D-man : Post Small Blind ($0.25)
Droop : Post Big Blind ($0.50)

Dealing...
Birks [ 7c ] [ Ad ] [ Kc ] [ Ah ]

golpin : Fold
ItHappens...: Call ($0.50)
Birks : Call ($0.50)

Aces is not a powerful hand out of position with many opponents. I'm happy to see a cheap flop.

ScootsNYC: Fold
Tatianna7777: Fold
muddiver: Call ($0.50)
myhand : Call ($0.50)
D-man : Call ($0.25)

Although I said that I was happy to see a cheap flop, I also happned to know that there was a serial raiser in the house and, sure enough....

Droop : Raise ($3)
ItHappens...: Call ($3)
Birks : Raise ($15)

I either want to take this hand down pre-flop, or to get a large proportion of the participants' stacks into the pot pre-flop. Unfortunately, AA in Omaha is a bit like a middle pair in Holdem. You either want one opponent or five. I vaguely hoped that Droop would call and that ItHappens would drop. But in retrospect I should have guessed that this was unlikely. I feel in hindsight that I should have folded this hand pre-flop.


muddiver: Fold
myhand : Fold
D-man : Fold
Droop : Call ($12)
ItHappens...: Call ($12)


*** FLOP *** : [ 9c Qs 4s ]
Droop : Bet ($12.50)
ItHappens...: Call ($12.50)
Birks : Fold

I only got ItHappens in for $12 of his $42 in remaining chips, so although my raise gets Droop in for a large majority of his stack, ItHappens is still getting implied odds, particularly after Droop calls the flop, because he is probably fairly sure that Droop is going to bet out. This is actually of a slight advantage to me, because if ItHappens folds, I can call with bare Aces and be getting the right odds (since Droop can only bet $12.50 all in). But, as soon as ItHappens calls the $12.50, I am gone.

*** TURN *** : [ 9c Qs 4s ] [ 6d ]
*** RIVER *** : [ 9c Qs 4s 6d ] [ 9s ]
*** SUMMARY ***
Pot: $70 | Rake: $3
Board: [ 9c Qs 4s 6d 9s ]
Birks lost $15.50 (folded) [ 7c Ad Kc Ah ] (two pair, aces and nines)
Droop lost $28 (showed hand) [ Kh Js Ts 3h ] (a flush, queen high)
ItHappens... bet $28, collected $70, net +$42 (showed hand) [ Jd 9h 7h Qh ] (a full house, nines full of queens)

Like I say, not a particularly fascinating hand, but one which illustrated a good general principle.

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