I'm not used to spending money

[peterbirks]

... I'm just used to winning (and losing) it. The actual spending part seems to have passed me by this year. Well, until this morning, when I splashed out on a new suit, my new monitor arrived (except that it's bloody big, so I'll leave that until tomorrow before I take it home) and I cracked and bought Windows XP.

I actually went into PC World with the intention of buying it, but I couldn't bring myself to pay out £180. Hell, I could have bought top-notch base unit (with Windows XP, and a TV Tuner), for £500. So I came back to the office and ordered it from Checknow software for £116. Unfortunately it comes with Service Pack 2. I think I shall uninstall all the Norton SystemWorks stuff before installing XP. With luck, that will get rid of most of the problems I have been suffering.

On Saturday I had two experiences of Party just disappearing from the screen, even though the program was still running. Needless to say, the second time I had KK with a K on board on one table (and I had a set of 8s out against me) while on the other I had just bet out an Ace-eight on the turn (board A 7 J 5) from the small blind (checked round three players on flop) and had been raised by a player who thought I was on a steal. Just about to three-bet, when, empty screen.

I only had one disconnect-protect left, so I was folded out on this one, while the three Ks just won me $60. So, I reckon that crash cost me in the region of $80. Bleah.

I'm going back to an office design company on Friday for a quote on a new modular desk system and chair, although I fear I may faint at the cost. But it really does look so cool, with the monitors running along on tracks built into a screen behind the narrow-footprint L-shaped desk. But I think that this would be one purchase that I wouldn't regret.


Oh well, it's a holiday in the US, so I guess that I should rush home to try to fleece the occasional bank holiday punter....

Comments

Cashing in on 4th July

[(Anonymous)]

PLO $25 on PP was very soft this morning :-)
I don't like this move to 6 player tables on PP though :-(

You need SP2

[jellymillion.livejournal.com]

Don't believe the hype about SP2 problems - the actual incidence was microscopic and often related to obscure hardware combinations or duff manufacturer-written drivers. My (fairly obscure) Shuttle box had no issues. Do, however, make sure Norton is nowhere near your machine before attempting any upgrade: Norton is evil for entwining itself around important things. Frankly, you probably don't need it: AVG anti-virus (free edition) and ZoneAlarm (also the free one) are all the protection I use and my machine is connected 24/7. No problems in over a year.

Feel free to print these words and cook them for me when it all goes tits up...

Mike

Re: You need SP2

[peterbirks.livejournal.com]

I uninstalled Norton this evening. Completely, I hope. Anyway, the machine has been running fine since I did that. It's not viruses I'm worried about, but online hackers. I didn't realize that there was a free version of Zone Alarm. I shall install that tout de suite.

Rasaad at work seemed to have terrible problems when he installed SP2, but that may just be down to him rather than SP2.

As for fleecing the mugs, well, that went belly-up. A rapid $200 lost in an hour. Then I crawled back to an $8 profit in an hour on Ultimate (working off new bonus at $5-$10 gets $6 an hour, but I haven't counted that yet).

There was then a moment of pure farce when I played another half hour on Party. Neither table (5-10) was particularly soft, and I had been $100 up before losing $50 on something or other. I had already got up from one table and was about to get up from the other when I thought to myself, hell, even UTG I might get Aces.

And, sure enough, they appeared. With a poster behind, I probably should have raised here, but I knew that I was likely to get a raise behind me before the poster got in. Sure enough, I did. Poster duly folded, Small blind called and I also called (a reraise here holds up a sign saying I HAVE ACES).

Flop came a hideous QT9 two clubs (I have a spade and a heart) and already I have a feeling of impending doom. SB checks, I check, hoping that the inevtiable bet to come is from KQ no clubs. Pre-flop raiser bets and small blind raises. I could almost throw my hand away here and now, but I plough on with a call. Well, at least that restricts my losses to two more bets.

Turn is a rag 7. SB bets, I call, preflop raiser calls. River is a King. Small blind bets and I dump my hand quite happily. Preflop raiser folds as well and SB obligingly reveals a flopped straight.

Can't be bothered with hindsightitis here. Sometimes limping with AA works, sometimes it doesn't. Volatility is much greater. If there was a time to do it, this was probably it. As it was, that last hand cost me another $30 and I was back to level for the session. So it goes.

But I DID win $6 in a couple of rounds of Triple Draw $1-$2. Hot, or what?

Re: You need SP2

[simong-uk.livejournal.com]

Hope you had more luck with the occasional bank holiday punter than I did - they were definitely not for moving off bottom pair yesterday.

On a side note, I got a wonderful note from Pacific telling me that as I have been "tremendously successful" (Christ, what's their definition of THAT??) they are withdrawing my right to convert their loyalty points into cash. Not that it's worth a fart anyhow, 1c for every $10 of rake or something, but what a great line to take.

[You have been helping generate huge sums of money for us by demonstrating you can stay in front of the game over time, so we are going to reward you by taking your microscopic benefits away. This will help fund re-deposit bonuses for all the muppets out there that we need to entice back but don't want to fund - your contribution to this is appreciated. We hope you like this and continue to play on our site in preference to other sites that are giving you better offers at this time. If we can help you in any other way please let us know.]

Righto.

Re: You need SP2

[jellymillion.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it counts as hot or not, but I finished 2/189 for $756 in a limit O8 $20+2 tournament on Stars last Friday. So on the first, I'm around about my usual monthly profit. Which was nice.
Then managed 7/27 at Full Tilt on Saturday (no cash obviously) in my first attempt at Razz, a result with which I was well-pleased. At that level ($20+2 again) it seemed pretty straightforward to assess from betting patterns whether the other player had the hand they were representing. Or I just got lucky. I'll go back to that particular well sometime to see...

Re: You need SP2

[peterbirks.livejournal.com]

Cool. You would almost certainly stuff me at O8 and (possibly) at Razz, although I have a pretty good record at that game the few times that I have played it. Then again, I consider seventh out of 27 to be worst than 27th... Win rates, and all that.

Re: You need SP2

[jellymillion.livejournal.com]

7/27 - the position was less important than the 2 hours practice I got. Being (massive) chip leader for a good proportion of that was fun too. What will be interesting is the next time I go to that particular well, when I find out how much was beginner's luck and how much I actually learnt. I may do a little research (a dangerous thing in all probability). I suspect that - at the lower levels at least - Razz is mostly about reads. I rather suspect your reads would be better than mine. Face-to-face would be no contest - I haven't played a serious live hand for about 16 years.

I'm rather fond of O8 just now, and there seems to be a little momentum online. I'm starting to spot others making the same Hold'em-inspired moves that I was making a couple of months ago. Which is nice. Getting a read on the level of the opposition towards the mid-levels is holding me back - there are plays that work against the more experienced players that are suicide against the novice. Aggressive pot-sized semi-bluffs can compensate a little, which is why I still intend to steer clear of limit ring games.