By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept
Mar. 6th, 2007 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
There is an advert on TV at the moment for Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's an interesting advert because it's a semiologist's dream. Ostensibly, it's an advert for the KFC "Mum's Night Off" Bucket, costing a mere £12.99 (that's about $25 in your quaint monotone money).
But dig deeper and you see that, far from being a "Mum's Night Off" BUcket, it's a "lazy fucks family" bucket. Because the KFC Mum's Night Off Bucket doesn't so much emphasize the "finger lickin' good" aspect of KFC, as the fact that there is no cutlery to wash up. Yep, this is not just food for the family too-lazy-to-cook, it's food for the family too-lazy-to-wash-up as well. It's an advert of true despair.
+++++++
A brief hand history. It appears the epitome of simplicity, but it's a hand where many players seem to go wrong.
Table Pine Meadow
Seat 1: jkbergu ($19.00 in chips)
Seat 2: PhilEdmond ($67.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Alfred2006 ($64.00 in chips) DEALER
Seat 4: Hero ($216.00 in chips) Small Blind
Seat 5: liana211 ($100.00 in chips) Big Blind
Seat 6: sacavinasse ($111.50 in chips)
Seat 7: curryninja ($200.50 in chips)
Seat 8: megaacess ($112.50 in chips)
Seat 9: stubbie ($56.00 in chips)
Seat 10: skreppo ($107.50 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to stubbie [D4 DK]
Dealt to Hero [D8 C9]
Dealt to sacavinasse [C8 CQ]
Dealt to PhilEdmond [HA D7]
sacavinasse: Call $2.00
curryninja: Fold
megaacess: Fold
stubbie: Call $2.00
skreppo: Fold
jkbergu: Fold
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00
Alfred2006: Fold
Hero: Call $1.00
liana211: Check
A limp with 98o is okay here.
*** FLOP *** [C7 D5 D6]
I would say that nine out of 10 $2-$4 players would check here. Indeed, in the past, I have done so myself. But it's a mistake. People think that, the more oppomemts you have, the more likely it is that there will be a bet into you, but in cases where all players have limped in (indicating, per se, a lack of aggression) you will frequently get it checked round. Then some donkey card comes on the turn. Now you bet, no-one is getting odds for their hand, and they all fold.
As Gary Carson observed, a check here is a big mistake made in the vague hope that your opponenets will make a bigger one later on. If you bet, and all players call, then some of your opponents might be getting correct odds to call on the turn that they would not otherwise have been getting. But, hell, so what? Their mistake has already been made, on the flop.
Hero: Bet $2.00
liana211: Fold
sacavinasse: Call $2.00
stubbie: Call $2.00
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00
One player is drawing to a flush and the idiot end of the straight. Another player is drawing to tie, and the third player is virtually drawing dead.
*** TURN *** [S3]
Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00
stubbie: Call $4.00
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00
One opponent has hit his idiot end of the straight. To be frank, I'm surprised that stubbie didn't raise here. He effectively has the second-nut straight and a draw to a flush. But, well, it was one of those weak-passive games that you see so rarely these days. The other two players are still showing strange optimism. Clearly their call on the flop has got them emotionally involved.
*** RIVER *** [SQ]
I'm still sitting on the nuts.
Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00 (I've hit top pair. It might be good).
stubbie: Call $4.00 (I still have the second-nut straight even though I've missed my flush.)
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00 (I'm the last to bet. If I fold and I'm winning, I'll be on tilt for the next three days.)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $47.50 Rake $2.50
Hero: wins $47.50
++++++++++++
But dig deeper and you see that, far from being a "Mum's Night Off" BUcket, it's a "lazy fucks family" bucket. Because the KFC Mum's Night Off Bucket doesn't so much emphasize the "finger lickin' good" aspect of KFC, as the fact that there is no cutlery to wash up. Yep, this is not just food for the family too-lazy-to-cook, it's food for the family too-lazy-to-wash-up as well. It's an advert of true despair.
+++++++
A brief hand history. It appears the epitome of simplicity, but it's a hand where many players seem to go wrong.
Table Pine Meadow
Seat 1: jkbergu ($19.00 in chips)
Seat 2: PhilEdmond ($67.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Alfred2006 ($64.00 in chips) DEALER
Seat 4: Hero ($216.00 in chips) Small Blind
Seat 5: liana211 ($100.00 in chips) Big Blind
Seat 6: sacavinasse ($111.50 in chips)
Seat 7: curryninja ($200.50 in chips)
Seat 8: megaacess ($112.50 in chips)
Seat 9: stubbie ($56.00 in chips)
Seat 10: skreppo ($107.50 in chips)
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to stubbie [D4 DK]
Dealt to Hero [D8 C9]
Dealt to sacavinasse [C8 CQ]
Dealt to PhilEdmond [HA D7]
sacavinasse: Call $2.00
curryninja: Fold
megaacess: Fold
stubbie: Call $2.00
skreppo: Fold
jkbergu: Fold
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00
Alfred2006: Fold
Hero: Call $1.00
liana211: Check
A limp with 98o is okay here.
*** FLOP *** [C7 D5 D6]
I would say that nine out of 10 $2-$4 players would check here. Indeed, in the past, I have done so myself. But it's a mistake. People think that, the more oppomemts you have, the more likely it is that there will be a bet into you, but in cases where all players have limped in (indicating, per se, a lack of aggression) you will frequently get it checked round. Then some donkey card comes on the turn. Now you bet, no-one is getting odds for their hand, and they all fold.
As Gary Carson observed, a check here is a big mistake made in the vague hope that your opponenets will make a bigger one later on. If you bet, and all players call, then some of your opponents might be getting correct odds to call on the turn that they would not otherwise have been getting. But, hell, so what? Their mistake has already been made, on the flop.
Hero: Bet $2.00
liana211: Fold
sacavinasse: Call $2.00
stubbie: Call $2.00
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00
One player is drawing to a flush and the idiot end of the straight. Another player is drawing to tie, and the third player is virtually drawing dead.
*** TURN *** [S3]
Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00
stubbie: Call $4.00
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00
One opponent has hit his idiot end of the straight. To be frank, I'm surprised that stubbie didn't raise here. He effectively has the second-nut straight and a draw to a flush. But, well, it was one of those weak-passive games that you see so rarely these days. The other two players are still showing strange optimism. Clearly their call on the flop has got them emotionally involved.
*** RIVER *** [SQ]
I'm still sitting on the nuts.
Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00 (I've hit top pair. It might be good).
stubbie: Call $4.00 (I still have the second-nut straight even though I've missed my flush.)
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00 (I'm the last to bet. If I fold and I'm winning, I'll be on tilt for the next three days.)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $47.50 Rake $2.50
Hero: wins $47.50
++++++++++++
What's wrong with being lazy in the kitchen?
Date: 2007-03-06 10:28 pm (UTC)I asked whether he would accept £1 to do the job of cleaning 100 metal forks. He declined.
DY
Re: What's wrong with being lazy in the kitchen?
Date: 2007-03-06 10:40 pm (UTC)I spend far too much time eating in an undesirable fashion (at my desk, etc), but at least I realize that it is undesirable. and I have never voluntarily sunk to eating with a plastic fork (or to munching a Danish and drinking a coffee while walking along the road), David. Shame on you!
I wash my metal forks for nothing. No-one pays me. Why do I do it? It obviously isn't to save the £1 that I could spend on 100 plastic forks. Therefore I must do it for another reason. To slightly alter your question to your flatmate, why do you think I am willing to undertake such tasks for, effectively, nothing? Does it make me irrational, or does aestheticism have a monetary value? It's an interesting philosophical question.
PJ
Re: What's wrong with being lazy in the kitchen?
Date: 2007-03-07 09:28 am (UTC)However, as Pete will recall from our silver wedding bash, if you care about the people coming to the party it's worth the effort to ensure there's proper plates etc. We rented plates and cutlery and the right to hand them back mucky. It cost relatively little in the context of the party - I think it was £5 more to hand them back without cleaning them, but was well worth it.
It is a societal thing, but the KFC family bucket is hardly the place where all this starts - for that I think you have to back to the Smash adverts of the early 70's. The idea that putting convenience over quality is a good thing just makes me want to shake society by the throat. There is a place for convenience over quality, but it's a compromise and you should understand it for what it is, not laud it as a virtue.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-07 11:28 am (UTC)I would have to agree with you that most players would check the flop here and that it is a bad play.
With 5 bets in the pot, you really cannot protect your hand against flush draws so you should bet for value and there's no sense in allowing a potential free card (remote, but possible). By betting the flop you may even get raised by a flush draw and get to pump the pot some more while ahead.
Michael