Road trip: St. Louis

I have two brothers and two sisters. When I was a kid, we did lots of things together. Mom and Dad would drag us to an Illinois or Indiana state park for a long weekend and we'd swim, hike and sight-see -- things like that. After I left for college, we drifted apart as we each had our own families and careers to worry about.

A few years ago, we made an effort to spend time together again. For example, last February, four of us spent eight days at Key West, Miami and the Everglades.

This past weekend, we traveled to St. Louis to see the S.L. Cardinals and do some other stuff.


Look at that sea of red (above).


I use some simple software to crop and do a few other things. I noticed there was a section called Fun Effects. One of the fun effects was called cartoon. I used it to produce the second image (go ahead and click on it -- you know you want to).

Give a man a toy, and he'll play with it.


The iconic Gateway Arch! If you click on it you may see that there is an image of the arch in the grass. I know they mow it to be that way, but, really, how do they do it?

All of these photos were taken with my cheapie point-and-shoot. I'll post a few more tomorrow that I took with my "good" camera.


During the game Sunday, I went up to the fourth level, and wandered around. I wouldn't want to fall from up there.


"Ice cold beer. Get your ice cold beer, here!"

Busch Stadium is very family-friendly. Look at the fans to the left. I'll guarantee they had a good time.

They say the St. Louis Cardinal fans are the best. They are loyal and knowledgeable. Let me share this vignette: There was a man on first with two outs. The batter hit a grounder to the shortstop who threw to first base to retire the side. The girl sitting directly in front of me asked why the shortstop didn't throw to second (for the force out). The mother said that because there were three balls and two strikes and two out, the batter took off with the pitch. The shortstop had to go to first base to make sure of the out.

The girl looked to be five- or six-years old. Note the age and genders.


Having a bad hair day? The guy above is obviously a Cubs fan, right lightning36?


I'd hate to meet these mouth-breathers in a dark alley.

SLCardinals

Above was taken with my phone on Sunday. You can see it was overcast.


SLCardinals
Originally uploaded by dave1smith

The second shot was taken Saturday. The game started at 6 p.m., and there were shadows by then, so ignore that and look at the top part.

Train makes it to the station

I played online at OKbridge with Kate last night. In first seat I held:

♠K ♥K 10 8 6 5 3 ♦3 ♣K J 9 7 3.

Would you open the bidding? This meets the requirements for the Rule of 20. It states that you can open if your high-card points plus the length of your two longest suits equal 20. I don't pay much attention that that, however, as I've found that it's just an excuse that overbidders use to justify doing what they want to do anyway: Bid, bid, bid!

Of course, I like to bid, too. Probably too much testosterone. The good texture of my round suits argues for opening, as does the fact that it makes life tough for opponents, so, I clicked on 1♥. Partner responded 2♦, and I rebid 2♥. We play the a 3♣ rebid can be made without showing extras (we play a 2/1 style with a big club), but I wanted to slow the train down. Runaway trains wrecks are not pretty. Just sayin'.

Partner rebid 2♠. You knew that was coming, didn't you? I hate this dumb game. I bid 3♣, and partner followed with 3♦. It looks like I'll pay for my sins this time. I really hate this dumb game. Being backed into a corner, I shrugged my shoulders, and bid 3NT, ending the auction. I really, really hate this dumb game.

At this point I clicked on my opponents' avatars to check their stats to try to gauge how accurate the defense would be. Both were Diamond Life Masters. Also, East ranked himself a "near expert." I'm not sure what that means. Maybe it's like almost being a virgin. I rode to the top of the Eiffel Tower, so I'm a near astronaut.

West led the ♦6, and these were the two hands I saw:

                ♠ A Q 10 8
                ♥ 9
                ♦ A J 8 7 4 2
                ♣ A 2
==
                ♠ K
                ♥ K 10 8 6 5 3
                ♦ 3
                ♣ K J 9 7 3

It's a good thing partner had her bid because I sure didn't. I played low, East won the ♦Q, and shifted to the ♠3. After winning my king, I led a club to dummy's ace, and advanced the ♥9. Mr. Near Expert covered with the jack, I played the king, and it held.

Now what? I continued with the ♥10, West played the 7 (sweet!) and Mr. Near won the queen. He exited with the ♣6, and I played the jack which held. Things were starting to look up.

I led the ♥5 which forced the ace, and Mr. Near led another club, putting me in my hand! He lost his near expert status this time. I ran my good hearts and discarded diamonds from dummy.

With one heart to cash, dummy had ♠A Q and ♦A. If I cashed my last good heart, when I exited with a club, I would not be completely positive which good card to sluff, so I exited at trick 11, instead. The last two cards in dummy were high, and East had to lead one of them -- making 3NT.

Here are all four hands (rotated):

                ♠ A Q 10 8
                ♥ 9
                ♦ A J 8 7 4 2
                ♣ A 2
♠ 9 7 5 2                     ♠ J 6 4 3
♥ 7 2                         ♥ A Q J 4
♦ K 10 9 6 5                  ♦ Q
♣ 8 5                         ♣ Q 10 6 4
                ♠ K
                ♥ K 10 8 6 5 3
                ♦ 3
                ♣ K J 9 7 3

Let's see what Mr. Near did here. Covering with the ♥J at trick four is wrong. If he wins his ace, he can take three heart tricks, instead of two. Then, Mr. Near had no fear -- he put me in my hand (with a club), when I'm known to have running heart tricks. That should have been clear to Mr. Near (ahem).

Let's go back to the opening lead -- a diamond? Don't you normally lead dummy's second suit (spades) rather than the suit she bid and rebid (likely showing six or more)?

Making the contract was a miracle scored 6.04 IMPs for our side. On a board like this, there are always some haha results: 6NT doubled down 800, 6♣ and 5♦ down 300. There was 4♥ making five, and watching the defense at that table must have been amusing.

You can see all the results, if you click here.

Bridge World Championship set to kick off

North American bridge players are heading south -- to South American, that is. The World Championship of bridge begins Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The U.S. has two open teams and Mexico has one. In the women's competition, the U.S.Has two teams and one for Canada. There is also a seniors' competition for players 55 years and older, and the U.S. and Canada are represented. (Note that I had a brain hiccup about the teams when I posted yesterday. This is the updated version.)

You can watch
If you're like me, you'd love to go, but can't. If so, you can join thousands of players from around the world and watch the vugraph presentation of various matches over the Internet at Bridge Base Online.

You can read
You can also read the Daily Bulletins (Brent Manley and his staff) if you go to the World Bridge Federation's web site here, and click on "Bulletins" in the top right-hand corner.

You can play
Jump in the pool -- the water's fine. Just as poker players have crazy prop bets, bridge players like to do nutty fun things, too. There is a pool in which participants have to guess the order of finish of the final eight teams in the various categories. It costs nothing to enter, and Ray and Linda Lee of Masterpoint Press (out of Toronto ON) are giving away some nice books as prizes.

To enter, go here. If you don't know who to pick, you can get some tips if you click here or here. The deadline to enter is Friday, so what are you waiting for?

If you want even more action, reader Paul Gipson of Scotland has a European version, and you can sign up if you go here.

Bridge bloggers are cranking out posts. You can follow Canadian reader Glen Ashton, if you go to Bridge Matters. You can also expect blog pieces from Linda Lee and Stacy Jacobs.

Ah, the world championships. If you're a bridge player, this is a fine time of the year. Good luck to all teams representing the ACBL.

Take another look

Suppose you are playing 7♥ on this layout:

                ♠ K 3
                ♥ A 8 5 3
                ♦ Q 10 4 2
                ♣ A K 5
==
                ♠ A Q J 10 8
                ♥ K Q J 9 4
                ♦ ---
                ♣ 8 7 3

West leads the ♣Q and you win the ace. Now what?

If trumps split, making the contract is easy. You can draw trumps, run the spade suit and discard the club loser from dummy. Later, you can ruff your club loser in the North hand. That requires only that hearts divide at least 3-1.

Would I give you a deal where it were that easy? Nope, so you better decide what to do if trumps split 4-0. The answer is to reverse the dummy. Ruff two diamonds in your hand. Then, you can score four heart tricks, two diamond ruffs, five spades and two clubs for 13 tricks.

Accordingly, you lead a diamond at trick two and ruff it. Now, when you play the ♥K, East shows out. Don't say I didn't warn you. Here are all four hands:

                ♠ K 3
                ♥ A 8 5 3
                ♦ Q 10 4 2
                ♣ A K 5
♠ ---                           ♠ 9 7 6 5 4 2
♥ 10 7 6 2                      ♥ ---
♦ K J 9 6 3                     ♦ A 8 7 5
♣ Q J 10 6                      ♣ 9 4 2
                ♠ A Q J 10 8
                ♥ K Q J 9 4
                ♦ ---
                ♣ 8 7 3

There is one little gotcha, however, that you needed to play for. Remember I said ruff a diamond? Didn't that sound innocent enough? If you ruffed with the ♥4, you will go down because you will have to use a spade to get to dummy to draw the last trump, after you ruffed the second diamond. Yes, there is a spade void. You didn't think I'd post an easy deal, did you? Not happening.

While a singleton club occurs more often than a void in spades, West is highly unlikely to have led a singleton queen against a grand slam. Given that, when West has four trumps, you should plan to use the ♣K to get back to dummy to draw the last trump.

Let's take another look at how the play should go: Win the club lead and ruff a diamond with the ♥9 (instead of the ♥4), cash the ♥K Q, and lead the ♥4 to finesse dummy's 8. Now, do you see the necessity of ruffing with the 9?

After a second diamond ruff (with the ♥J), cross to dummy with a club, draw the last trump, and you have 13 tricks -- you play them so well!

What would happen if it were East who had four trumps? Then you would have to hope East began with at least two clubs and one spade, because you need the two remaining black-suit entries to arrange the second diamond ruff and draw the last trump. That would surely work -- I'm not that mean, am I?

Not a success

The American Bridge Association, known as the ABA (no, not that group of lawyers -- we're talking bridge here), is a bridge league that is composed mostly of African-American bridge players. In the Thirties and Forties, during a shameful era in our country's history, blacks were not welcome in the ACBL. Because of this, they formed their own group.

African-American players have played in the ACBL for many decades now, but the ABA is still alive and well, so to speak. It held its Summer National Tournament here in Memphis recently. One of my black friends played, and reported this unusual deal.

Suppose your right-hand opponent opened a strong 1NT and you held: ♠A J 7 4 ♥A K 8 3 ♦K Q 6 2 ♣10.

What would you bid? Most conventions over 1NT cater to one- or two-suited hands, and they are easy to bid. But three-suiters, however, are awkward to describe.

The unknown player who held this hand passed. I have a lot of sympathy with that. If he had doubled, he could be in big trouble. Suppose his partner was broke with no long suit. He would likely pass, and hope for the best, and his opponents might make overtricks. Because of your club holding, often partner would have length there -- another reason not to bid.

So, the unknown player passed, and the person on his left (my friend) bid 2♠, Alerted as asking for size. It could have been many different types of hands including an invitational notrump hand, a signoff in either minor, or the beginning of a slam try in either minor. His RHO rebid 3♣, showing a maximum 1NT bid. The unknown player passed again, and found himself on lead.

Here are all four hands:

                ♠ 9 6 5
                ♥ 7 5
                ♦ 10 2
                ♣ 9 7 6 5 4 3
♠ A J 7 4                    ♠ Q 8 2
♥ A K 8 3                    ♥ 10 9 6 4 2
♦ K Q 6 2                    ♦ A 9 8 5 4
♣ 10                         ♣ ---
                ♠ K 10 3
                ♥ Q J
                ♦ J 7
                ♣ A K Q J 8 2

Do you notice anything? East-West can make 6♥ or 6♦. In fact, it looks like they can even make 6♠, and defending 3♣ was not a success.

Some fast facts: The ABA was formed in 1932 in Hampton VA by a group of black tournament tennis players. The original group had 20 members. The ABA held its first national tournament in Buckroe Beach VA in 1933. The first black ACBL Life Master was Marion Wildy (1956). The first ABA Life Master also to become an ACBL Life Master was Leo Benson (1962). One of the best players in the world is Ron Smith, a black man from San Francisco, who plays in both ABA and ACBL tournaments. (Ron is originally from St. Louis, and a former teammate of mine.)

These people kill me

This morning, I was catching up on some blog reading, and drinking a cup of coffee. On Sunday, online poker is de rigueur, so let's multitask. (I get one fancy word per blog piece. If I ever use lagniappe, however, just shoot me.)

I opened Ultimate Bet and entered a $5 MTT, (I'm known as a big spender.) and very early, this hand played out:


A guy on my right made a big raise, and I had presto on the button. Normally, if the raise is less than 7% of my stack, I call, and mine for the set to try and stack him (especially when in position). It was early in the tournament, however, and I was feeling mellow, so I folded. Nittiness is embedded in my DNA.

One of the blinds moved all in -- another reason not to get involved, there might be a re-raise.

The all-in guy had ♦2 ♣2 and flopped a set. The other guy had ♠K ♠10. He turned a flush. Stuff like this happens all the time in low buy-in tournaments. It makes sense in a way -- who cares much about $5? If you bust out, there's another tournament right around the corner. I don't necessarily agree, but just sayin'.

Now the fun started:

2-2 guy: No justice. All in with K-10, stupid.

(These are usually college kids with pimples out in Nebraska or somewhere, so I normally don't get involved. This time, I couldn't resist.)

MOJO: 2-2 isn't exactly prime real estate.

2-2: new he was a donk

2-2: flopped a set, justice would have been served, but I have no mojo

(Hey, watch it, guy -- mojo is my territory.)

2-2: Dumbest are always the luckiest

K-10 guy: so you must be VERY lucky, lol

More Omaha fun

I played poker at the Gold Strike last night (Saturday). The tournament was a disaster. I'm not sure how many players entered. I lost interest when I lost half my stack on this deal during Level IV: The blinds were 200/400 and three players limped to me in the big blind. I had A-Q and just called (mistake #1). The flop was A-5-5 rainbow, so I led out for 525, and one guy called, an older guy. The next card was a rag, and I bet 1250 (mistake #2), and he called. Can you see where this is going?

The river was a jack, no possible flush. I checked, and the other guy bet something (can't remember how much), and I called. He turned over ♥9 ♥5. I've played with these guys before. When he called the first bet, I could have given up on the hand. If it were a younger guy, then, yes, he might have been floating. But only way this guy would be a floater is if he turned up in the Mississippi River. Just sayin'.

Now I was the short stack, but I was patient. Finally, a guy raised in front of me to 1200, and my hole cards were: ♥Q ♦Q. I moved in, and he called and showed ♠A ♣K. The flop included a king, and I was busted. Of course, this play was a result of the first FUBAR. When you're a short-stack, you have to try and double up to get back in play.

I signed up for the Omaha-8 limit $4/8 with a kill. I love that game. BWoP is right when she says how exciting it is.

There was a list, so while waiting for my name to be called, I sat in the hold 'em $4/8 limit game. There was an open seat in that game, but not one in the NL game. Limit is not the most exciting, but it's not terrible either (contrary to what some no-limit players say).

I won a $100 pot which is hard to do in a limit game like this, unless it's wild and crazy (this game was not). There were several limpers to me. I held two of my favorite ladies: ♥Q ♦Q, and raised to $8. This never drives the others out -- if they've put in $4, they will always put in another $4. So I didn't thin the field, but if they want to play in your world, you have to charge them.

The flop was pretty nice: ♠Q ♦10 ♣4. The early limpers checked to me, and I bet and got three callers, two behind me. I don't remember the fourth-street card, but it was something safe, so I bet $8, got a call, then a raise! What would you do? Well, at the table, I could see the lady who was between us had picked up some chip$ and was going to call, so I didn't re-raise. I wanted to keep her in the pot. I put her on A-10 or something like that.

I don't remember the river, either, but I checked, the raiser bet and now I re-raised. She called and turned over ♥4 ♦4 for a set of 4s. Sweet for me, but brutal for her. I may not have the betting exactly correct, but I'm positive the pot was more than $100.

I finally got to the Omaha table. Hee haw, it was wonderful. There were several loose players there. I'm trying to improve my written expression, so here's a quick question: Loose Omaha player, redundant or not? Maybe it's better to just say Omaha players -- you do the math.

The biggest pot of the night was the one in which I held my best hand: ♦A ♦2 ♥A ♥5. I was first to act and raised to $8. (Update, I originally had the numbers wrong.) There were four callers to a goof ball the big blind who raised to $12. I raised to $16 and another player re--raised to $19 and was all in. Six of us had put $19 in the pot.

The flop was Q-10-3 with two diamonds. Now is that sweet or not? I have the nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. It looks like there won't be a qualifying low hand, but if so, I have some low cards, too. I think the turn was a 6, and I bet again. The river was another 3, and one of the players bet. I folded as my hand was obviously no good, and she turned over some junk that included a 10 and a 3 for the boat. Boo, but that's Omaha.

Now, a funny thing happened. This guy said, "With all this betting going on, I had a really good hand," and showed: ♠A ♠2 ♣A ♣J. No wonder I didn't hit a third ace.

It was nice to earn a profit on a night in which I started by losing my tournament entry fee. CK is right -- Omaha, ya gotta love it.

I'm getting some nice photographic tips from Wolynski, and so I took a few shots with my point-and-shoot. (She's probably thinking, oh sure, blame that mess on me.)


When you get inside the casino, there are often lines. Sometimes, there are lines outside, too (see below).

Playing dominoes

I played bridge online Friday night with Kate. The last round, we were matched against a player named domino and his partner. He opened 1♣, his partner made a non-forcing raise to 2♣. I overcalled 2♥, domino bid 2♠ and my partner, Kate, raised to 3♥, and that was the final contract.

                  ♠ 10 9 8 2
                  ♥ K 4
                  ♦ A Q 8 4
                  ♣ A 3 2
==
                  ♠ Q 7 5 3
                  ♥ Q J 7 6 5
                  ♦ K 4 2
                  ♣ 7

My 2♥ bid is not a thing of beauty, but we like to play that the one on our side who is short in the opponents' suit should strain to balance or pre-balance. Even so, my bid was frisky. What is it they say? Kids, don't try this at home.

Domino led the ♠K and shifted to a low heart. The first domino had fallen -- the defense wasn't off to its best start. I played low and when East played the ♥9, I won, and led another. Domino grabbed his ♥A and now shifted to the ♣6, taken by the ace. If hearts split, I could draw the last trump, and test diamonds or try to set up a spade trick. But what if hearts didn't split?

I ruffed a club and led my ♥J. East showed out -- domino had the ♥10 left. I led a diamond to the queen, ruffed another club with my last trump on which domino played the jack. The deal was now a read-out (hands rotated):

                  ♠ 10 9 8 2
                  ♥ K 4
                  ♦ A Q 8 4
                  ♣ A 3 2
♠ A K J 6                     ♠ 4
♥ A 10 8 2                    ♥ 9 3
♦ J 6                         ♦ 10 9 7 5
♣ J 9 6                       ♣ K Q 10 8 5 4
                  ♠ Q 7 5 3
                  ♥ Q J 7 6 5
                  ♦ K 4 2
                  ♣ 7

I cashed the ♦K and led another. Domino ruffed, but his last two cards were the ♠K J, and the last domino had fallen -- he was endplayed. I was so sure of his hand, in fact, I claimed before he led to trick 12.

We gained 4.77 IMPs on the board. A common result was a club partial their way making plus 110. A few played our way in their 4-4 spade fit, and didn't enjoy that very much. You can see all the results here.

Come on out -- you're surrounded

I played in a club Swiss teams game Wednesday night with Ed, a decent Flight B player. He missed his chance to make a nice play on this deal. You're Ed and you hold:
♠K Q 4 ♥A J 9 ♦5 2 ♣K 10 8 7 4.

The auction went pass pass to him in third seat with both sides vulnerable, and he opened 1♣. It continued pass, I bid 1♠, pass back to him. He chose to pass. What do you think of that bid? I guess it's okay, but the downside is that we could still have game. Now his left-hand opponent balanced with double, I said redouble, and Ed's RHO bid 2♦. Ed competed with 2♠ and LHO tried 3♦. This passed back to Ed and he chose to double.

I understand double, although it's pushy. Just because our side has the balance of the high-card points doesn't mean we can set them if the distribution is crazy.

Ed led the♠K. I'm not sure I agree with that -- if you're making a double based on HCP, lead a trump. I'm just sayin'.

Here's the dummy that he saw:

                ♠ A 3
                ♥ Q 7 5 3
                ♦ A J 7 3
                ♣ Q 9 3
♠ K Q 4                         
♥ A J 9
♦ 5 2
♣ K 10 8 7 4          

Defend along with Ed. Declarer ducked the spade lead, so he continued with another. Declarer won and led the ♣3, 5, jack and Ed won his king. Now what?

Partner redoubled, showing a maximum passed hand, so let's try and figure out where his 10 or 11 HCP are. He has the ♠J for 1 HCP, the ♣A for 4 more. If he had the ♦K Q (x), that would be 10, but with good diamonds, he might have doubled 3♦ instead of passing. Voila, East has the ♥K (and if he doesn't, it's not likely to matter as a discard is available on the ♣Q). If East (me) also has the ♥10, then a shift to either the ace or jack will work. But what if declarer had the ♥10?

Here are all four hands (low cards are approximate):

                ♠ A 3
                ♥ Q 7 5 3
                ♦ A J 7 3
                ♣ Q 9 3
♠ K Q 4                       ♠ J 9 8 5 2
♥ A J 9                       ♥ K 8 2
♦ 5 2                         ♦ K 6
♣ K 10 8 7 4                   ♣ A 6 5
                ♠ 10 7 6
                ♥ 10 6 4
                ♦ Q 10 9 8 4
                ♣ J 2

Notice that if Ed shifted to the ♥A, declarer's 10 would set up. He could have shifted, however, to the ♥J -- a classic surrounding play.

Now when (if) declarer covered, I could lead a heart back through the ♥10.

At the table, Ed exited with a club, declarer played the 9, and I won the ace. We eventually took two more hearts and a diamond for down two and plus 500. I don't remember what our teammates did, but we won 12 IMPs on the board which helped us win the match. I wish my mistakes were 12-IMP pickups.

Eddie Kantar gives an example of a surrounding play here (scroll down to practice hand #4). You can see another example at the Bridge Depot.

Here's the Handviewer presentation from Bridge Base Online:

Poker cats purr-fect

Poker Cats usually blog interesting deals. Yesterday (Thursday), they had some wise words to share:

What I find interesting is the instructors' play somewhat deviates, even at those levels from ... basic (play). And that makes sense because you build someone's skills by teaching them the safest way to play and think about the game, and then you add other weapons.

It looked like a completely different game than the pretty soft games I'm used to at Full Tilt. But exposure to many different styles of play can only help you in the long run.

Check out their site. I always read them, although I seldom have a worthy comment to make.

Tee hee

Playing in a cheap sit and go: He bet into me on the river. I decided to take a chance and raise. He called that, too!

Canned, and I don't like the taste

I was encouraged by Full Tilt Poker (with a free roll) to be directed to the Poker Players's Alliance web site to send a letter to my different congressmen about legalizing online poker. The PPA had a canned letter, but I took the time to modify it and add some of my own stuff. I wanted my congressman to get something different, so as to take it seriously (um, well one can dream). I also wanted to make sure they knew I was just some average Joe not a nut case or a goofball.

Here was the (most likely a canned) reply one of them sent back:

Thank you for contacting me regarding S.1597, the Internet Poker and Games of Skill Regulation, Protection and Enforcement Act of 2009. I am glad to have the benefit of your views on this important issue.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced this legislation in the Senate on August 6, 2009 and it was referred to the Committee on Finance. This bill would modify federal internet gambling laws.

Be assured I will keep your views in mind as Congress considers this or any legislation affecting internet gambling. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can ever assist you.

With best wishes, I am
Sincerely Yours,
Roger F.Wicker
U.S. Senate

Translation:
Dear [insert name here]
Thank you for writing to me.
==>(This is called a buffer statement -- good start.)

[Reiterate here what dumb voter sent.]
==>(So far, it's standard fare.)

I am glad to have the benefit of your views on this important issue.
==>(He said it with a straight face? Hard to tell with e-mail -- probably chortling, but maybe only giggling.)

Be assured that I will keep your views in mind although, of course, they have absolutely zero possiblity of affecting how I vote on anything.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you intend to make campaign donations to help perpetuate the corrupt political system that is now in place I can ever assist you.

Your truly,
Blah blah

Actually, it was more than I expected. I at least received a reply which was mildly surprising. Also, it was tailored to the comments I made, so could have been worse.

A guy who blogs under the name Zaphod sent a letter to his congressman (not about poker), and received a reply about illegal immigration. Huh?

Did any of you send an e-mail to your congressmen? Did any of you receive a reply?

Poker pearl #27

Above is a scan of Card Player magazine, Aug. 12, 2009, Casino Edition.

Steve Zolotow is a two-time bracelet winner. In his column in this issue, he had several complaints about the Main Event of the WSOP. Here's one of them:

   I arrived at a table after the dinner
   break, and found myself seated to the
   left of a very sweet lady who was
   totally inexperienced. On several
   occasions, she called a preflop raise,
   and then, when it was checked to her,
   she folded. It is hard to believe that
   there are players in the WSOP who don't
   know that they can take a free card.
==
   Early in the day, she had played a pot
   against an aggressive opponent. The
   board was J-10-10-3-2, and her opponent
   fired out a large bet with jacks full
   of 10s. She, however, had pocket 10s
   for quads. Evidently she didn't
   realize that quad 10s was the nuts,
   and just called on the river.
==
   She was given a one-round penalty
   for "soft play." Moron is too kind
   a description for the floorman who
   made that ruling.

[Zolotow is also a bridge player. I interviewed him in July of 2008, and you can see what I wrote and photo I took if you click here.

Zolotow is a funny guy. He is part-owner of some bars in New York City. He asked me if I frequently get to NY. I said not really. He said: "Good! The drinks are on the house." I also read somewhere that he says his goal is to have a mid-life crisis at age 75. I'm sure he stole that from somewhere, but still funny.]

Take me out to the ballgame

Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

These are some photos from my trip to Autozone Park Sunday to see the AAA Memphis Redbirds.


This guy in the middle was wearing a #5 Pujols jersey. When he saw my camera, he turned around and posed. I remember thinking I'll never even process this shot, but I took it anyway. Somehow, I felt he would be disappointed if I didn't. When I came home and looked at it, something about it appealed to me -- his excitement about going to a baseball game, I suppose, or perhaps the fact his mother seemed so proud of him. I included it in the collage you see. Picasa put him right in the middle. I clicked on "shuffle" and it moved the other images, but left him in the center. I tried shuffle one more time. When he was still in the middle, I gave up. He was just destined to be prominent on my web site.


In the collage above, the little girl (lower left) threw out the first pitch. I had to shoot it through the netting that protects spectators from being hit by a ball. It's a shame, because it would have been a strong photo, otherwise. Still, it was good enough for a collage.


(Above) The pitcher winds up, he throws, it's in there for strike three.


This batter (above) is Brett Wallace. He is highly rated, and was the cornerstone of the trade in which the St. Louis Cardinals received Matt Holliday from Oakland.


Do you see the red seat? The Redbirds have won the Pacific Coast League one time (since moving to Memphis from Louisville KY). The last game of that series was a 12-inning affair decided by a home run that landed in that seat. You may have heard of the player who hit the home run: Albert Pujols.

Bridge players need shades: The future is bright

Who's that guy in the center? Bill Gates is a bridge buff and that's him (that is he?). Four young bridge players from San Fancisco got to meet him at the Youth NABC in Washington DC that recently concluded. They are: Samuel Kuang, Jason Yee, (Gates) Edmund Wu, Kendrick Chow. Thanks to Lauren Friedman, who sent me the photo.

Bridge gets a bum rap as a game for your grandmother. While it's true that many players are older (often looking for entertainment after they've raised their family and are approaching retirement), there are young players, too -- just check out the image above. Don't they look enthusiastic? Don't they look handsome?

One way to facilitate the future of bridge is to introduce it to the younger set at an early age. School kids soak up bridge like a sponge. One of the more active and successful teaching programs is based in the San Franciso Bay area, and is called the Center For Bridge Education. This non-profit organization has brought bridge to its area middle schools and high schools (often taught as an enrichment program). and I try to give them publicity in my favorite magazine for their worthwhile efforts.

The CBE sent the four to Washington DC last month, and Lauren says they had a wonderful time.

I didn't talk to these guys, but I imagine it was a thrill to interact with Bill Gates. I haven't met him, although he and his bodyguard were nearby when I interviewed Warren Buffett last year. (You can read what I wrote and see the photo I took of Buffett, if you click here.)


The four players pictured at the top won one of the Knockout Team games. Lauren tells me they began playing bridge only last September. Early results say to look out for these guys in the future.

Draws and missed draws

I played live poker last night (Saturday) at the Gold Strike. There was a list for the Omaha-8 game, so I played some $4/8 Limit while waiting.

There was a married couple at the table. At some point, one of them volunteered, "This is only our second time to play poker." This hand bore that out: Mr. Newbie limped in, Ms Newbie limped as did two more players. The flop was A-2-2. Mr. Newbie bet, and one player called. The turn was a brick and Mr. Newbie bet and the other player raised. Mr. Newbie just called. The river card was another brick, so Mr. Newbie checked. The other player bet, and Mr. Newbie again just called. The other player turned over J-2 for trip deuces. Mr. Newbie turned over A-A!

We had trouble keeping a straight face, but one of the players pointed out to him that it's okay to raise with A-A that turns into a boat. This was a missed draw.

There was a hot young blond at the table. She was wearing one of those push-up bra things. About every five minutes, she would rearrange her blouse to try and cover things up. I couldn't help wondering: Are you trying to show the stuff or not? Please, either way is fine, but make up your mind. Just sayin'. Was this a missed draw or one that completed? You decide.

Finally, I got called to the Omaha Hi/Lo table. It was a typical loose game. Because there was a kill, some of the pots got pretty big. Unfortunately, I kept having hands with good draws that bricked out -- not the formula for success. I'm still learning how to play, but I do know that Omaha is a game of draws, but you have to hit once in a while.

I was getting short stacked, when I picked up: ♦A ♦K ♣2 ♣5. Because it was a kill pot, the bet was $6 to me, and I was happy to call. The guy behind me raised to $12 and five of us saw the flop. The ♦J ♦10 ♥2 were dealt. The 2 was bad; I needed a 3 or 4, but I still had the nut flush draw and a gut-shot straight draw. Also, another 2 might work out.

The turn was a brick and somebody bet $12, and I called, putting me all in. The river was another brick. This was a missed draw.

I had played probably an hour, and not won a pot. I could have reloaded, but decided to give it up for the night. Sometimes, it's not happening.

When I arrived home, I had an e-mail from Wolynski. She sent a comment (thank you!) about one of my photos in the Elvis series. No, not about one I took, but rather one that I didn't take. This was a draw that came in.

Incidentally, if you like great photos, give her blog, Vegas Images, a look.

Today (Sunday) I went to a baseball game. Guess what? I took my camera, and I'll try to get some photos posted by Tuesday.



The jury is out: We'll see if the photos are a missed draw or a draw that came home.

Thank you, thank you very much

Some more Elvis stuff from Thursday.

There was an Ultimate Elvis contest held in Memphis. First place paid $20,000 and a contract with Legends in Concert in Las Vegas. See story here.

Elvis is in the building

"Are you playing poker this weekend?" asked Joulesdiver in google chat. I messaged back that I wasn't sure.

I explained to her that here in Memphis, it's Elvis week. Each year, the week before the anniversary of his death, people come from all over the world. There are various events scheduled. I'm not a big fan of all that, but I wanted to get some photos.

My office is only a few miles from Graceland, so, at lunch Thursday, I scooted over there and took a few early-bird photos -- just in case I get busy over the weekend and miss my photo op.


There were lots of guys like this one above, and they came from all over. Heck, he looks more like Elvis than Elvis.

A stage was set up in a tent and Elvis singers performed one after the other. One was from Oregon, the next from Pennsylvania, and so on. Apparently the successful ones get hired for work at theme parks, special occasions, etc. There was an Elvis contest (held in downtown Memphis), and the winner collected $20,000.


Above is Graceland, Elvis' home, as seen from the street.


Do you think the people in this car (above) are Elvis fans? License plates say Ohio.


There is a rock wall across the front of Graceland so that people can't just walk in. Let's zoom in (below).


People leave messages and it doesn't seem to be considered graffiti. All photos are high rez, so click to enlarge if you like.


The lady above is leaving her tribute to The King.

I'm not sure of my schedule this weekend, but I might try and get some more shots. But then again, Joules, I might just play some poker.

What's n-e-r-n-i-w? Answer: w-i-n-n-e-r!

Bridge player Dave Wiegand (right) plays a match at the 2005 national Scrabble championship.

"Bridge players are the best Scrabble players," said a friend of mine while we were walking one day.

I don't know if that's true, but the 2009 national Scrabble champion is Dave Wiegard of Portland OR, and he's a bridge player. The 35-year old Wiegand is a Silver Life Master. In fact, he met his wife, Chris, playing bridge. She's also a Silver Life Master.

The national Scrabble tournament was held in Dayton OH, and first place paid $10,000. Not bad, for knowing the word O-P-A-Q-U-E-R. Is it a person who makes things opaque? Does it describe something that is more opaque? Don't ask me, but Wiegand knew and used all the letters in his rack, giving him a 50-point bonus called a "bingo."

One of his biggest coups was 10 years ago. His rack was: A-S-N-N-R-P-D. This is a bad rack because he had only one vowel. On the board, however, he saw A-G-O. Boom, he put out S-N-A-P-D-R-A-G-O-N. This was good for a bingo.

Are serious scrabblers geeks? Absolutely. Wiegand spends hours memorizing lists of obscure words, just in case. There is more to scrabble than this, says Wiegand. There is the strategy aspect. You have to play defensively, he says, and think about what your opponent can build on your words.

You can see his photo and read what USA Today said about him here.

The National Scrabble Association currently has his photo on the front page of their web site here. If you check out the web site, you'll see he also won in 2005. He is one of two players who've won the title more than once.

You can read what Wikipedia says about him here.

You'll find out that 500 players competed in the Scrabble championship and they came from all over the world if you read The Oregonian here.

I hear the Vienna Symphony

I played online bridge last night at OKbridge in the fish game regular mini-tournament.

On board #6, I was in 3NT on this layout:

                ♠ Q 10 9 7 3
                ♥ 10 4
                ♦ Q J 8
                ♣ A 8 3
==
                ♠ K 4
                ♥ A K 2
                ♦ K 10 7 4
                ♣ Q 10 4 2

I opened 1NT and my partner, the famous Viking known online as Xwing, transferred to spades and bid 3NT. West led the ♥6 and I ducked East's queen. I won the heart continuation and advanced the ♠K. West grabbed that and led another heart, driving out my king.

What next? I didn't have nine tricks yet, so I played a diamond from my hand and West took his ♦A. He cashed his good ♥9 (the suit divided 4-4), and exited with the another 9: the ♦9, taken in dummy with the jack.

I had available three diamond tricks, two hearts, one spade and one club. The opponents had scored four tricks for book, so it looked like I needed to finesse for the ♠J, and hope the suit divided. But could I improve on that?

There is a chance for a squeeze, but when I play my diamonds, dummy may reduce to a singleton ♣A. If the ♣K now dropped, I would have no way back to my hand.

Aha, a Vienna Coup. This is a maneuver in which you cash a trick, setting up a winner for a defender, then squeeze him out of it. It is so-named because it is thought to have been first defined at the whist tables in Vienna, Austria. (Whist is the granddaddy of bridge.)

I cashed the ♣A, then overtook the ♦Q with my king and cashed another diamond.

Unfortunately, my plan wasn't necessary, and anybody could make 3NT. West had the tripleton ♠A J 5, and the suit was always playing for four tricks. It would have been a better story (and sweet music) if he had ♠A J 5 2 and the ♣K. Just sayin'.

Here are all four hands (rotated):

                ♠ Q 10 9 7 3
                ♥ 10 4
                ♦ Q J 8
                ♣ A 8 3
♠ A J 5                       ♠ 9 7 2
♥ J 9 7 6                     ♥ Q 8 5 3
♦ A 9                         ♦ 6 5 3 2
♣ J 9 6 5                     ♣ K 7
                ♠ K 4
                ♥ A K 2
                ♦ K 10 7 4
                ♣ Q 10 4 2

The deal was played 60 times. Thirteen pairs went set in 3NT. Twenty-nine pairs played and made a part-score. Eighteen pairs bid and made 3NT. We gained 7.56 IMPs for plus 600.

Bridge is a beautiful game. Our score was only so-so, but it's enough knowing I made a thoughtful play that (most likely) no one else made. If only one person saw the Mona Lisa, it would still be just as lovely.

You can see all the results if you click here.

Omaha: The drug of choice

I went to the Gold Strike last night to play in the regular Saturday evening tournament. They weren't holding it because the World Poker Open is still going on. They did have two tables of Omaha Hi/Low $4/8 limit with a kill, however, and the waiting list wasn't that long. Sign me up. I admit I don't really know how to play, but I know more than these donks. Just sayin'.

Most Omaha games are crazy, but, in this one, everybody played like they were high on meth. Players were calling with anything. There was a guy who raised every time it was his turn. "Let's build a pot," he'd say. Another crazy guy who had been raising a lot moved to the seat to his left when it became open.

"Every time you raise, I'm going to re-raise," he said. "I don't care what I have in my hand."

The first crazy guy said, "I didn't drive 600 miles to fold. Let's play some poker."

I wouldn't necessarily call that poker, but so it went. If one bet, the next guy would raise. If you wanted to see a flop, you had to be prepared to pay $20 if it was a regular deal, or $30 if it was a kill deal. I raise. I re-raise. I re-re-raise. You could smell the testosterone in the air.

This led to $300 pots, and was juicy if you hit, but expensive if you missed. Often you caught a draw and the pot was big enough that you had to stay to the river.

The worst player at the table was a lady in the four seat. She would play anything, call all the way to the river, turn over junk and win a pot when she had caught runner-runner or whatever. She honestly couldn't spell p-o-k-e-r with a dictionary, but had a massive stack. Whe she finally checked out, she had to be up $600 or $700.

The lady to my right was about as bad. She had already been to the ATM when she leaned over to me and said, "She sure plays garbage," meaning the lady who was in the four seat. That's the pot calling the kettle black I thought as she played every deal and called all the way. The only difference was she wasn't getting lucky like four-seat was.

I wish I could play in a game like this every day. I would have to quit my job -- the money would be too good.

Unfortunately, I only won around one buy-in. I tried to keep some sanity to my play. This limited my losses, but also my wins. Nevertheless, it was fun and amazing to watch.

The bad-beat jackpot has been hit a lot lately, so most of the players have moved the O/8 play over to the Horseshoe which is next door. The last time it was hit, the pot was bigger than each player's share.

Heard at the table:

A gender-specific answer:
"Do you have the nuts?" asked a man who had called all the way to the river.

The woman who had been betting said, with a straight face, "No, but I've got the breasts," as she turned over the nuts.

From the it-all-depends-how-you-look-at-it department:
A guy made a move on the river (never a good idea at limit O/8), and he was called down and lost. "You made a move!" observed one of the players. "No, I was trying to take advantage of the situation," he answered. Um, [MOJO scratches head] okay.

Down to the river: Poker in Vicksburg MS

On my trip to Vicksburg last weekend, I found out that there are four casinos in town, but only one has a poker room: the Ameristar Casino. The room had 12 or so tables. When I got there they had a waiting list, but shortly opened a $3/$6 limit hold 'em table. They also had no limit going ($1/2 and $2/5) and an Omaha high/low game that was $5/$10 limit.

I jumped in the 3/6 limit game and played for about two hours and thirty minutes. There was a sign that said "Welcome to the new Ameristar Poker Room." The card shuffler at my table was broken, but everything else was new, so, apparently, they've recently refurbished the place.

There were TV screens that showed the waiting list. I like that. So many places have a list scribbled on a piece of paper. You have to look over someone's shoulder and can't read it.

The dealers were, for the most part, competent.

The players weren't very sophisticated. There was virtually never a pre-flop raise. Some players were in every hand. I know that's how limit games are, but this one seemed worse than normal. If a player caught a piece of the flop, then he generally stayed to the bitter end. Example: I raised preflop and three players called. The flop was ♠Q ♣6 ♦2. I bet again and a guy called. His hand: ♥9 ♦6. I'm not making this up. He called a pre-flop raise with 9-6 offsuit. I don't remember the turn, but I bet and he was the only caller. The river was the ♥6, giving him trips. I bet and he raised. I re-raised, and this time he only called. I turned over ♥Q ♦Q for the boat.

I won another big pot with K-K. No ace came, and, in fact, a third king came on the river.

They say that when you avoid losing money that it's the same as winning money. In late position, I held: ♦K ♣10 and limped in behind three others. This is a pretty cheesy hand, even in a limit game, but I had position. When it got to the big blind, he raised. This was the first time anyone raised pre-flop (other than me). There were some callers, but I folded (even though I was getting 7:1). The flop was 10-X-X. Notice I would have hit top pair, second kicker. If you stick around and hit your hand, you just keep getting sucked in further. There were two more cards dealt (I don't remember them), and the pre-flop raiser turned over what I knew he had: ♣A ♠A to win a good-sized pot. I had saved $18 by folding.

I checked out, up one rack of white. This was enough to pay for my hotel and gas money.

Overall, I'd give the poker room a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. It gets good marks for friendly staff, being new and nice looking, and weak players (at least in the game I played in).

Below is a poker-room shot taken with my phone:

A thief in the night

Suppose you are declarer in 1NT on deal #11 in the semifinal of the Spingold Knockout Teams from the just-concluded NABC in Washington DC (hands rotated):

                ♠ K Q 5
                ♥ A Q 8 6 4
                ♦ Q 7 6
                ♣ 6 5
==
                ♠ J 10 8
                ♥ K J
                ♦ K 10 9 5 4
                ♣ 10 8 7

After partner opened 1♥, you responded 1NT and played there. West leads the ♠6. You played low from dummy, East encouraged, and you won the jack.

Here are two lines of play:

1. Try to sneak a diamond or (another) spade through. Then play for hearts to be 3-3 and cash your seven tricks.

2. Unblock the hearts and lead a spade. If clubs split 4-4, or if the club suit blocks, you have seven tricks. It's also somewhat possible that the defense won't switch to clubs.

Polish star, Cezary Balicky, didn't try either of these. At trick two, he played the ♦K, ducked all around. He continued with a low diamond to the queen. It held, as East played the ♦J.

Balicky could see that he still didn't have seven tricks, unless hearts divided 3-3. Apparently, he didn't come all the way from Poland to play for that. At trick four, he advanced the ♣5, East played the 2, he played the 10 as West won his king.

West continued with the ♠2. East won her ♠A and led a another round. Balicki won, but didn't play any more clubs. He had seven sure tricks now: two diamonds, two spades and (at least) three hearts.

Here are all four hands:

                ♠ K Q 5
                ♥ A Q 8 6 4
                ♦ Q 7 6
                ♣ 6 5
♠ 7 6 3 2                        ♠ A 9 4
♥ 10 7 3                         ♥ 9 5 2
♦ A 3 2                          ♦ J 8
♣ A K 9                          ♣ Q J 4 3 2
                ♠ J 10 8
                ♥ K J
                ♦ K 10 9 5 4
                ♣ 10 8 7

1NT was set at the other table when declarer adopted line #2 suggested above. When east won her ♠A, she shifted to a club and the defense took five clubs and two aces.

According to the BBO Vugraph, this was a 5-IMP pickup for the Lynch team. (Hearts did split and he made plus 150 versus minus 50 in the other room for a combined 200.)

You can see the hand record if you click here.

BBO Handviewer presentation: