On the stairway to heaven, will there be canapés?

To lunch at 24 yesterday, the confusingly named restaurant at Tower 42. As usual I arrived at the reception and said "Lunch at Tower 42", only to be told "this IS Tower 42, sir".

"Sorry, I mean, er,..."

"Gary Rhodes' restaurant?"

"Fuck me, is he in charge there now?"

"I believe he's been 'in charge' there for some time, sir".

"Okey-Dokey".

Last time I was at 24 I wasn't impressed, but this time it was top-notch. Perhaps Gary had actually made an appearance, although I doubt that he would stoop to preparing any corporate stuff. Another possible cause could be that there were fewer of us this time, about 16 rather than 24. The ability of restaurants (particularly high-class ones) to cope with large seating plans deteriorates rapidly above 10, I've found.

So, top marks to 24 for their Roast butternut squash risotto with sage and parmesan, served with a Bourgogne Blanc, Les Setilles, Olivier Leflaive 2004, then a main course of Roast duck with honey-glazed parsnips and soft buttered cabbage (Solar De Smaniego Rioja, Crianza, Bodegas Alavesas 2001), and Pecan Pie with banana and white chocolate cream. I mention the wines for academic interest. If you want to know, the sparkling water was nice as well.

Virtually impossible to criticize any of it really, although Rhodes remains steadfastly in the "I hope you didn't arrive hungry" school. You do sometimes feel the urge to say "and a side-order of fries with that, please". Say what you like about Fatburger, you aren't hungry again a couple of hours later after a meal at El Fattos..

A Limit Hand

$2/$4 Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, February 22

Seat 1: (Small Blind) Teddyman10 ( $18 )
Seat 2: (Big Blind) Skiboo ( $26 )
Seat 3: Quilantis ( $93.50 )
Seat 4: thepro0517 ( $102 )
Seat 5: Birks ( $198 )
Seat 6: Labchemist ( $93.50 )
Seat 7: jagryes ( $76 )
Seat 8: alas7 ( $110 )
Seat 9: MassimoOddo ( $131.24 )
Seat 10: (Button) gambler7183 ( $118.50 )

Dealt to Birks [ A♠ A♥ ]
Quilantis folds.
thepro0517 folds.
Birks calls [$2].
Literally an attempt to throw a bit of variety into my play and nothing more. I had only just sat down and most of the names were strangers to me (so I assumed that I would be a stranger to them). I was hoping for a raise behind, of course. This would be less likely against opponents familiar with my play, who would have seen my open-limp and said “ahh, Aces” almost straight away.

Labchemist calls [$2].
jagryes folds.
alas7 folds.
MassimoOddo folds.
gambler7183 calls [$2].
Teddyman10 folds.
Skiboo checks.

But, no raise. So it goes. Enter plan B

** Dealing Flop ** [ 7♠, 2♠, Q♣ ]
Skiboo checks.
Birks bets [$2].

By way of an aside, you should never underestimate the importance when you have Aces of having the same suit as the potential flush. This gives you a redraw if the third of the suit comes on the turn and if there happens to be a flush out there. And, if there is just a singleton of a suit out there, it eliminates the possibility of a flush suck-out. I play much more cautiously at this level with, say, two red Aces and two spades on board after the flop, than with the Ace of Spades and the Ace of Hearts. All that said, this flop isn’t too bad with three opponents.

Labchemist calls [$2].
gambler7183 calls [$2].
Skiboo folds.

One down, two to go.

** Dealing Turn ** [ 6♦ ]

Birks bets [$4].
No reason for any change of plan. This is a nice flop card for me.

Labchemist calls [$4].
gambler7183 calls [$4].


** Dealing River ** [ A♦ ]

Hmm, I think I like that.

Birks bets [$4].
Labchemist folds.
gambler7183 calls [$4].

Birks shows [ A♠, A♥ ] three of a kind, aces.
gambler7183 doesn't show [ J♦, Q♦ ] a pair of queens.

Birks wins $33.50 from the main pot with three of a kind, aces.

So, a hand where I would most likely have won $5 or thereabouts turned into a hand where I won $23.50. I mention this only as an illustration of Abdul’s point that flat-calling with Aces can be more profitable than raising, although you have to accept the higher variance. I still do not like it as a general play and I distinctly dislike it if you are on the button and everyone has passed to you. I also dislike it under the gun, mainly because in both cases it looks so suspicious. Also, with a raise UTG and a raise on the button (no previous callers), you are more likely to find customers — in the first case because there is a chance there will be another good hand out there and in the second case because calling standards are drastically reduced when the raiser is on the button and no-one else is in.