Shaking my head

I'm continually amazed by how donkeys poker players play. Last night I was in the Saturday night Goldstrike tournament. The blinds were 200/400 with 25 antes. I picked up ♥J ♦J and raised to 1200 from late position. An old man (who I'd pegged as a weak player) moved all in from the big blind. We each had around 10,000 in chips, so why the massive overbet?

I finally decided he had A-K and didn't want to play big slick from out of position. But, my read was that he was bad enough to bet the same way with 10-10, 9-9 and similar hands. I could just fold, but decided to gamble with him, so I called. I was shocked to see him turn over ♠A ♣J. Sometimes, all you can do is shake your head. A-J? Come freakin' on.

Well, you know what happened, don't you? The flop was ♣A ♥K ♦Q. Isn't that special? There is one jack left in the deck, but basically I have to root for one of the four 10s to get a chop. No such luck.

It was only around 8 p.m. so I scooted over to the $1/2 NLHE game. My table was a dream and I had a profitable evening. This was an interesting deal: I checked my hole cards and saw ♦K ♠K. There was one limper to me and I raised to $15. Two players called.

The flop was good news/bad news: ♥K ♦Q ♥8. Yes, I hit a set, but the board is fairly coordinated. There was $50 in the pot ($15 + $15+ $15+ the limper's $2 and the $3 from the blinds). I bet $35 and got one caller. The pot was now $120. I had started the deal with ~$200 and the villain's stack was similar.

The turn was ♥4. I cautiously checked and the villain bet $35. Let's do some math. I have these outs: three 4s, three 8s, three queens and one king = 10. So I'm around 20% to improve to a winner (assuming I'm facing the heart flush). The pot was now $155, and it cost me $35, so it's about odds-on to call from an express-odds point of view. I can assume I'll get a little more out of the villain if I hit, so the implied odds are decent, too. If he's bluffing, my hand might be good. Also, $35 is an odd amount. I called.

The river was the ♣A. I checked again and the villain checked. He turned over ♠A ♣J!

Apparently, he was savvy enough to figure out I was afraid of the third heart on fourth street. Should I have made a probe/defensive bet into him there? Then, when an ace hit on the river, he checked because he hoped his hand would win in showdown. Um, I don't think so.

Why did he call the flop? I can guarantee you this guy has never heard of floating. He wouldn't know floating if it came up and bit him on the knee. His bet on the turn was a good idea, but not large enough (given the size of the pot) to get the job done. Sometimes, all you can do is shake your head.

UPDATE: I just played this hand online. With three players left, I raised on the button with ♣A ♣Q. The big blind re-raised all-in with ♠10 ♠7! This was pretty sweet until he flopped a boat:


Time to do something besides poker for a while.

Putting faces with names

I'm going to Las Vegas for the WSOP for four days. I'll be playing in Event #43 as will lightning36. We hope to show those donkeys what two bloggers can do. Hey, we can shove with the best of them.

Last year the same one was called Event #42 and there were nearly 2500 runners. First place paid a cool $368,832.

They say they withhold 30% for taxes. That's complicated and a real pain, but I'll put up with it to be able to have poker stories to blog about for both of this blog's readers.

I'll be arriving late Saturday night, June 20, and departing Wednesday, June 24. Definitely looking forward to meeting CK and some of the other degenerates bloggers I've read and respect.

If you see me, come up and shake hands or give me a hug. I'm the little old man with a SL Cardinals' baseball cap and glasses. If you still can't find me, look for the MOJO tee shirt.

Friday and another poker tournament

At the last minute I decided to play in the tourney at the Goldstrike. When I came home from work, I was tired and laid down and fell asleep. I got there 20 minutes late, but they allow late entries for the first three levels (one hour).

There were 49 players, the entry was $70 and I ended up coming in third. I went out on a race: ♥6 ♦6 vs. ♠Q ♠J. There was no chop because one guy had a huge stack. Too bad I didn't win the race and double up (and essentially knocking out the other guy in the process) because I would have had enough chips so that one more double up would put me back in business. Oh well.

I'm too tired to do a proper recap, but maybe I'll add to this tomorrow. I'll probably play in the Saturday night tournament (6:00 p.m.). Sunday I have tickets to see the AAA Memphis Redbirds and Iowa Cubs. I checked the weather and it's supposed to be sunny and clear (although they say it will hit 90 degrees!), so I am excited about taking some photos.

School's out

This is a textbook deal that was flubbed at the club last night (hands rotated and low cards are approximate):

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

After two passes South opened 1♥. North bid 2♣ Drury showing a heart fit and limit raise values. South rebid 4♥, ending the auction.

West led the 3♥. Declarer played two rounds, both opponents following, then played the ♠A and another. East won to shift to a club, knocking out South's ace.

Declarer now played the ♦A and then the ♦J to the king to lead a third round, ruffed in her hand. She was hoping for ♦Q 10 x in either defender's hand. The ♦9 would then be good for a club discard. That didn't work and she made four for a score of 620 and 1 matchpoint on a 7 top.

Here are all four hands:

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

Do you see where declarer went wrong? After drawing two rounds of trumps, she should lead a diamond from dummy and play the ♦J. If it wins, she can unblock and the ♦K is available for a club discard. If the diamond finesse loses, she is no worse off. She can still discard a club on the ♦K and four still makes. It's a no-cost play.

This player did't see the textbook play. She is already on summer break -- I'm just sayin'.

Here's the same deal with BBO's Handviewer:

Miracles happen

I played at the club last night with Mary. This deal (rotated) was interesting:

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

   West   North   East   South
                  Pass   1NT
   Dbl    2♣      Dbl    2♥
   Pass   4♥      All Pass

The double of 1NT was Alerted and explained as a one-suited hand. The 2♣ bid was Stayman. East-West were vulnerable.

West led the ♣10 won in dummy with the queen. I advanced the ♥10 which lost to the king and West led another club which East ruffed, ouch. East exited with a low heart which I took in hand as West showed out. Ouch again -- I lost to a singleton king. I drew the last trump -- now what? I had lost two tricks and had a sure spade loser.

How should I play diamonds? One way is to lead the ♦Q playing West for the ♦K 10 doubleton. Where were the spades? It seemed they were likely 4-4, so that leaves West with a singleton diamond, so leading the ♦Q won't work. I led a low diamond and West played the ♦K! He had two red singleton kings! A miracle!

The deal was over at that point. I led a diamond back to my queen, cashed the ♣A discarding a spade and played ♠A and another, claiming. If West won, he would have to give me a ruff-sluff, and if East won, he had a choice between a ruff-sluff or leading a diamond which I could run around to the ♦9. Making 4♥ was a tie for top. I wonder how the other declarer played it.

Here's a look at all four hands:

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

Here is the BBO Handviewer presentation:

Missed opportunity

The USBF is holding the team trials to see who will represent the U.S. next year in the world championships to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Lynn Baker team has already claimed one of the spots and the Glasson team is playing the Mancuso team for the right to be the second squad to represent the U.S.

The Glasson team missed a chance to make a game pickup with spectacular play on this deal (rotated):

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

North opened 1♥ and South bid 2♣. North rebid 2♦, and South supported with 2♥. North cuebid 3♣ and South jumped to 5♣, ending the auction.

West led the ♠10 to the ace. East continued with the ♠K, South ruffed and led the ♣4 to dummy's ace. Bad news -- East had all four trumps. Declarer led the ♦6 to her jack and the contract could no longer be made.

Let's see what happens if she played for a trump coup. At trick four, she can lead the ♠J and ruff it. Then she can follow by playing the ♦J to dummy's king to cash the queen, discarding a heart. Her next play should be the ♦A, ruffing (an ace) for maximum style points.

Declarer can next play the ♥K and another heart to the ♥A.

Here is the position at this point:

                ♠ ---
                ♥ 10 8 6
                ♦ 6
                ♣ ---
♠ Q 9                     ♠ 4
♥ Q                       ♥ ---
♦ 8                       ♦ ---
♣ ---                     ♣ Q 10 7
                ♠ ---
                ♥ ---
                ♦ ---
                ♣ K J 9 8

Declarer can lead either red suit from dummy and ruff as East discards the low spade. Finally, South can exit with the ♣9 to East's 10, but her ♣K J will be placed over East's ♣Q 7.

Have you noticed anything? The defense had to help you by leading a spade at trick two for you to ruff. If, instead, East exited with any heart or diamond or a low club (not the queen or 10), Deep Finesse says the contract cannot be made. If you were East, would you have found that?

Here is the BBO Handview of what actually happened:

What if trumps don't split?

This deal was played in a local duplicate game. How would you plan to make 10 tricks after West leads the ♥Q?

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

Most of the declarers played for four trump winners whenever the suit breaks 3-2. There are five top winners on the side and one diamond ruff will be enough to make 10 tricks. After playing to the ♠K and another spade, they discovered the 4-1 trump split and that line didn't work on this layout. They lost two trumps, a diamond and a club.

Tommy Technique showed how to take 10 tricks. He cashed the ♦A K and led another and ruffed. East overruffed and returned the ♣J taken in dummy. T.T. next cashed the ♠K, then ruffed a heart back to his hand to ruff his last diamond.

It did not matter whether East overruffed or not. All T.T. would lose was one club and two trump tricks. When East had started with two trumps, he would have no trump to overruff the fourth round of diamonds. If he had started with three (or four), once he overruffs the second time, there is only one trump outstanding and South can pick that up with his ♠A.

Here is the BBO Handviewer:



Click "next: in the diagram above to advance trick by trick.

Allow for bad splits

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

==

       West   North   East   South
       3♣    4♣     Pass    4♥
       Pass   6♥     All Pass

The 4♣ bid was takeout for the majors. After South took a preference to hearts, North could see no way to intelligently explore, so shot it out with 6♥.

West led the ♣A. Declarer could see that if trumps were 4-0, then he needed spades to divide 3-2. Declarer tested that by drawing one round of trumps with the ♥A. Now what if hearts divided at least 3-1, but the spades were 4-1? Can you see what he had to do?

South cashed one high spade, then led a diamond to his ace. He advanced a spade. West could see that if he ruffed, declarer would have an easy path to 12 tricks.

Suppose West (correctly) discarded. South would win the second round of spades with dummy's king to lead a third round. This should be ruffed with the ♥Q. Notice that if he ruffed with the ♥9 instead, West can overruff and lead a third round of hearts to defeat the contract.

Next, South ruffed a diamond in dummy to lead a fourth round of spades, ruffed with the ♥9. As the cards lie, West can overruff, but to no avail. Declarer can win the return, draw the last trump and the spades in dummy are established. If West refused to overruff, South can ruff a club back to dummy, cash the king of trumps, and run the spades, losing a trick when the trumps were divided 3-1 originally.

Here's the same deal presented with the BBO Handviewer:



You can click on "next" and Handviewer will show you the first trick. Click "next" again to see the second trick, etc.

Would you club a baby seal?

I was playing in the $1/2 NLHE game during the weekend at the Goldstrike Casino. A guy joined the table and bought in for $100. I could tell immediately he was a newbie. He didn't understand how blinds worked. He didn't know that if you tossed in a red bird ($5 chip) for a $2 bet that it was just a call. Eventually the dealer corrected him on some point and he stated it was his first time to play in a casino. No kidding.

On one hand, he kept calling bets including on the river. When he showed his hand, he had ace high! His elderly mother came to the table at a point when he had lost most of his buy-in. She gave him another $100 (in twenties) and he bought in again. Sad.

On another hand, a player with him was all-in, so the other guy turned over his hand: 10-10. The turn and river were dealt (an ace and a jack). The noobie mucked his hand (without showing) and left. The dealer whispered to the guy next to him that he had mucked an ace, meaning his pair of aces would have won the pot.

I love to win at poker. It's my job to take their money. I (basically) don't soft-play friends, and I don't expect them to soft-play me. A poker friend of mine named Mark says it well: "Just because I take your money doesn't mean I don't like you." On the other hand, taking money from this guy just didn't feel right. What do you think?

I didn't mind this hand though. A guy in middle position held: ♦8 ♣8. There were some limpers for $2 and he limped as well. I was in the small blind and put in $1 to complete. Six of us saw a flop. That's the trouble with a $1/2 blind structure. Making it $1/3 makes a big difference. The pots are a little bigger even though fewer players limp.

The flop was ♥J ♥8 ♠4. I bet $10, a guy called and the middle set (8s) raised to $25. It folded to me and I moved all in. The next guy thought, but folded, and the guy with the set of 8s called. Unfortunately, he only had around $100 left because I turned over ♣J ♦J for top set.

Isn't poker suh-weet?

What was he thinking?

I played in the penny game tonight. I know these players aren't bracelet winners or anything, but really! When the third heart came, I figured he'd check. Then I'd bet on the river to get what I could out of him. (When I checked the turn, I was giving him a free card to draw to his boat so maybe the title should be "What was I thinking?")

Imagine my surprise when he bet big and didn't just call my check-raise, he moved all in.



Of course, if he had A-A, he would be writing a blog piece about me. He left after this hand, unfortunately, instead of reloading.

If the movie above doesn't work, you can go here.

Third time's a charm

I played in the Goldstrike tourney Friday night -- zip. I tried again Saturday night -- zip. But today I made the final table. When we were down to five players someone suggested a chop and so we did. This was a $90 buy-in, 20 minute levels, five tables and your usual mix of tourists who are mostly clueless and locals, some of whom can play.

When the blinds were 200/400 with a 25 ante, I held ♠A ♣K under the gun and raised to 1200. There was one caller. He had an average stack, as did I. The flop was ♥K ♦J ♣6. I bet 1500 and he called. The turn was ♣2 and I checked for pot control. I didn't want to go broke on a TPTK type hand. The villain checked behind. The river was a rag that couldn't have helped either of us, so I bet 1200. Now the villain, an internet-type player moved all in for 9000 more. What the heck?

Usually I lay hands like this down, but something didn't add up. If he had a set, why not bet something on the turn? Then why make this massive overbet on the river? Finally, I called and he showed ♣Q ♥J for second pair, so-so kicker. Nice try, buddy. I suppose he read my check on fourth street as weakness. Also the river bet was small relative to the pot, so he figured he could muscle the hand away.

At the final table the average stack was 19,000. I had around 27,000 so was sort of in good shape, that term being relative. The table played tight. A typical scenario was someone raised and everyone folded. I was looking to steal, but never really had the chance, not to mention the fact I was card dead.

On one hand, a small stack moved all in for 4700. I was in the small blind (blinds were 800/1600 with 100 antes, so there was already 7800 in the pot when it came to me. It would cost me 3900 to run with her. Guess what? I was getting exactly 2:1 on my money. I re-raised to isolate (I didn't want the BB to join the party) with ♥A ♦10 and was unfortunate to run into A-A.

The table still was playing tight, so I took a shot and raised to 4000 with another A-10, this time both spades. It folded to the big blind who moved all in. I knew I couldn't call that, but took my time to make it look good, then folded. The villain showed K-K, whew, good thing I didn't call (Our stacks were about the same).

My stack dribbled down due to these two fiascoes and the normal blind/ante attrition. When I had 10,000, I picked up 2-2 and moved all in. Everyone folded, thank goodness. Then I moved all in again with ♣A ♣J and was called by a player with 8-8. I flopped an ace and doubled up to move back up close to 30,000.

After that I had chips to work with and when we chopped, I had worked it up to 44,000, about average. GG me.


I loved this guy's tee shirt. He was playing at the Goldstrike today. His name is Brett Pelham and he was nice enough to let me take a shot of it.


Third time's a charm
Originally uploaded by dave1smith

Running cold

There's cold and then there's ice cold. I seem to be doing the latter.

Last night I played in the Goldstrike Saturday night tournament. It was $80 buy-in with $10 added to get more chips for dealer appreciation. When the blinds were $200/400 with a $25 ante, my stack was about what I started with. I was on the button and pleased to see I had: ♠A ♣A. From early position, there was a raise to 1200, folded to me. I usually re-raise to get heads up and get more money in the pot, but because there were only the blinds behind me, I smooth called to disguise my hand. If the flop would be queen high, for example, and the guy had a queen, I might get his whole stack. Indeed, both blinds folded.

The flop was ♣J ♣9 ♣8. This isn't the greatest flop for me, so I knew I'd have to be careful. I did have the ♣A, however, so when he checked I bet 1200 and he called. The turn was magnificent: ♣3, giving me an ace-high flush.

I don't remember the betting, but we got it all in and the villain turned over ♣Q ♣10 for a flopped straight flush. I would never raise with a hand like this, but it worked for him. Nice hand, good game, screw me.

Tomorrow's another day. Oh wait, I said that in Friday night's post!

What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture?
Originally uploaded by dave1smith

Casinos flying the flag this weekend - cherries

Flying the flag in the rain - lemons!

UPDATE: I did some searching today and I guess I'm being old-fashioned. Most places say it's okay to fly the flag in the rain if it's an all-weather type flag. I found info here and here.

Trumps 5-0? Not to worry

What happens when you are in a small slam, off an ace, and trumps are 5-0? First you take a deep breath, then you try to see what you can do about it.

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

==

       North      South
                  1♦
       1♥        2♠
       3♦        4♣
       4♠        5♦
       6♦        Pass

Jonathan Steinberg played this deal in a sectional knockout teams in Peterborough ON (hands rotated). West led the ♣Q. Jonathan won the ace in hand and cashed the A♦, getting the bad news. He led another diamond to the queen and advanced the 8♦ which won (covering wouldn't have mattered according to Deep Finesse).

Next Jonathan led the ♠6 to his queen and advanced the ♥6. West took his ace (ducking wouldn't have mattered as long as Jonathan put in the ♥J), and exited with a club, hoping his partner could ruff. The king won in dummy and Jonathan paused to consider the layout.

From the fall of the low cards, it looked like his right-hand opponent had two clubs and five diamonds. Were the majors 3-3 or 4-2? Based on his table feel, declarer decided to play for 3-3.

Declarer led the ♠K and overtook with his ace and cashed the ♠J. He led the ♥10 and overtook with the jack. Next he cashed the ♥K, discarding his good spade to reach a two-card ending. Dummy had a heart and a club, but South had the ♦K 10 sitting over East's ♦J 9.

"Had I played a diamond to the Queen at trick two," said Jonathan, "I could pick up the 5-0 break. But, then there wouldn't be a story to tell!"

The other table played in 3NT, so Jonathan's team won 10 IMPs on the board. One of the players involved said it was a Grand Coup, but that's not the case. A grand coup is a situation in which you trump winners to shorten your trump holding to the same length as RHO. This was an everyday, garden-variety trump coup that you can read about on Wikipedia here or The Bridge World glossary here.

Here's the deal deal presented with BBO's Handviewer:

Some nights you should stay home

Memorial Day weekend is always a good one for poker. Players come to Tunica and are hot to play. The chips are flying and you can win some serious ca$h.

I decided to play in the tournament at the Goldstrike tonight. They've changed it. It used to be $100 with 6000 in chips. Now, the buy-in is only $60 and you get fewer starting chips. I don't know the exact number, but I think there were around 65 runners.

I had two missteps which killed my night.

When the blinds were 150/300, there were four limpers to me on the button. I had ♦A ♥J and raised to 2100. I was hoping to win the pot right there. When there are that many, you have to make a pretty stiff raise, or you'll get several callers. Unfortunately, the big blind moved all in for 3600. Everyone else folded to me and I called the additional 1500.

He turned over ♠A ♣K. The flop was three low cards, but all hearts! I had two shots at a flush, but the board bricked out.

I treaded water for a while, then with blinds at 300/600 and a 50 ante, my stack was just below 5000, so my M was less than 5. I had ♦A ♦8 in late position and shoved. That won me the pot. On the very next hand I had almost the same hand: ♣A ♣9. It folded to me. I was afraid if I shoved again, it would look suspicious, so I bet 2100 and got one caller. The flop was ♣K ♦4 ♥2. I completed my stop and go by shoving. This might have worked, except the villain had flopped a set. He called and turned over ♥4 ♠4 and that was it for me.

Tomorrow is another day. Before I left, I scooted over to the Horseshoe to check out their tournaments for the weekend. Here is a shot of their band:

ACBL annouces new HQ

ACBL CEO Jay Baum and Horn Lake MS Mayor Nat Baker at today's ceremony.

[photo taken with my cell phone]

Bridge on front page of NY Times

The article basically says that people who age but keep active are less at risk for various dementia.

"Researchers are trying to tease apart cause from effect: Are they active because they are sharp, or sharp because they are active?"

You can read the story if you click here.

Don't be too greedy

Playing in the Poker Slut tournament last Sunday, this hand was big for me. (I can't find it in my HH, so the facts are approximate. I don't know the size of the blinds or the bets, but they don't matter too much for the point of this post.) The game was NLHE and the starting stacks were 3,000. The villain and I each had slightly more than our starting stacks. The villain, in the Big Blind, was a good player.

It folded to me and I completed from the SB. The villain (BB) had J-5 or something similar (He had 5, but I'm not sure of the other card). The flop was 2-3-6. I checked and the BB checked. I agree with this. He had a draw and if he bet, I might check-raise him off it. The turn was an ace. The board is now A-2-3-6 rainbow. I bet about half the pot and BB called. No problem.

The river was the gin card: the ♣4. The board read A-2-3-4-6 with no flush possible. I bet two-thirds of the pot and the BB raised. Do you see any problem with this?

I now moved all in -- oops! BB had put himself in a position where he was faced with a nasty decision. Finally, he called and I showed ♣5 ♣7 for the stone cold nuts. This doubled me up and left BB crippled.

I think this is a case where BB raising was too greedy. I wouldn't call his big raise without a straight myself, and there's some risk (as in what actually happened). What do you think?

Break the rules

One of the rules they teach you when you are learning bridge is don't give declarer a ruff-sluff. I was playing at the club last night with Beverly, and she doesn't believe in rules (deal rotated):

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

       West   North   East   South
                      2♦    2♠
       2NT    Pass    3♦    3♠
       All Pass

Beverly led the ♥A (ace from A-K) and continued with the K♥ and then another. Declarer discarded a club and led a spade to her jack, forcing Beverly's ace.

Now partner broke the rules. She led a fourth round of hearts, giving declarer a (useless) ruff-sluff. I ruffed with the ♠Q, forcing the king and setting up partner's ♠10. It was "only" a saved overtrick, but a nicely thought-out play indeed.

The play is called an upper cut. Here's the definition from Wikipedia:

Uppercut -- To ruff in the expectation of being overruffed, when the overruff will cause a trump in partner's hand to become a winner.

An uppercut is often confused with a trump promotion, but that is a different maneuver. Go here and scroll down.

Here is the deal in HandViewer mode (from Bridge Base Online):



You can (repeatedly) click on "next" to see the play of each trick.

Big Easy photos a little easy

This is where I spent two evenings last weekend -- Harrah's Casino at night:


Trolley's take you downtown or uptown. You can ride all the way to the Garden District on them. The price is $1.25 and exact change is required.


There were mimes on St. Peter Street on the edge of the French Quarter. This one was my favorite. Covered with silver paint and some robot-looking stuff, he did his thing when people put money in his bucket.


This statue is dedicated to those who created New Orleans: A Native American, a priest and a Spanish conquistador.


The Steamboat Natchez was the boat I traveled on.


Skyline of New Orleans from the river:


This behemoth is the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship that begins its voyage in New Orleans. It travels to Key West FL, then normally to Mexico. Because of the swine flu, it is currently going to the Bahamas instead. Is this the one 36lightning traveled on? If so, maybe he'd leave a comment.


I believe the tour guide said these homes were 9 feet below sea level and the river was 13 feet above sea level. The levees are amazing. None of the Mississippi River levees broke during Hurricane Katrina. There is a canal that goes from the river to Lake Ponchartrain. It is also leveed, and that is the one that broke and dumped the flood into the Ninth Ward.


These are called water taxis. Ship crewmen cannot just get off their big boats. They have to go on the water taxis and clear customs.


This is a Greek ship. You can see from her waterline, that she is not loaded yet. She will carry grain and Kentucky coal back to Europe.


Even though this ship needs a paint job, if you click you can see that the white numbers (feet? meters?) are freshly painted. Before she leaves, the insurance man will check the numbers to see how fully loaded she is.


Notice the name of this ship has the word "ice" in it. It carries frozen chickens. Notice, also, the small ship to the left of it? That boat comes out to refuel the big boat and also drop off water.


This ship says "St. John's" so that sounds like Canada. Actually, I believe the ship is from Australia. It's waiting to be loaded like many other ships.


I always thought New Orleans was close to the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, it's 110 miles away. There is no salt in the river here (that would make it an estuary) and there are no tides. The river is 200 feet deep and the current is strong. The ocean has no chance against the big muddy.

ACBL to move North American headquarters

These two photos should be of interest to bridge players (click to enlarge). About one year ago, the American Contract Bridge League sold its office complex near the airport in Memphis, and the search began.

This building in Southaven MS, about 10 miles from our present location, has been chosen to be our new headquarters. The Mississippi Governor will make an announcement this Friday about what they are calling "an exciting economic development." I'll have to be there with (unfortunately) a tie and jacket.

I grabbed my point-and-shoot camera about a month ago, and took a short trip. These photos give bridge players an advanced sneak peek.

The ACBL serves 160,000 members in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Bermuda. There are also a few bridge clubs overseas in various locations, as well.

Here's a shot of the old building in Memphis near the airport:

Test

I can now send photos to my blog from my iPhone. I had to set up something with flickr and now I can e-mail the photo to them and they post it for me. Other than a little dark, it's a pretty good shot for a camera phone, ya?

Test 2, originally uploaded by dave1smith.

This photo is the second one I sent. I took the first photo through a window and (I think) at an angle which resulted in distortion/warped stuff on the right-hand side. I don't see it in this one (also taken through my hotel window). I timed it on the second try, and it was here in about three minutes after I tapped "send" -- amazing.


Test 3
Originally uploaded by dave1smith

This is the third (and last) photo I took with my phone. It has no distortion either, although (like the others) it is dark. Perhaps it I took it outdoors, it would be better? Bottom line: a cell phone will never replace a regular camera.

Home again

I had a great time this weekend -- a read trip with some poker included, how bad can it be? I went on a riverboat trip Saturday afternoon, and took some photos. I'll post them later. I was scheduled to take a two-hour bus tour of the Big Easy today, but it was raining a ton, so I decided to skip it this time and head for home.

When I got there Friday evening, I checked in to my hotel and hustled over to the poker room around 5:30. I knew it would be packed, but that seemed like a good time to get a seat. W-R-O-N-G. There was a list, and I was #40-something and had to wait nearly one hour and a half.


You can take photos in Harrah's (New Orleans), but it specifically says no flash. This photo above, well, it is what it is.

Unfortunately, it was the poker session from hell. Example: There were limpers to me on the button and I held ♠J ♠9, so I limped, too. The flop was J-9-X rainbow. It checked to me and I bet $10 and got one caller. The turn was a queen and he checked and I did too. The river was a blank and he bet $15 and I called (sigh) and he showed 10-8 off suit for the straight. (I wish he'd had K-10 instead -- that would have been easier to stomach.)

Another hand I held J-J in late position. There were some limpers to me and I popped it to $15 and got two callers. The flop was 10-3-3 rainbow. It checked to me and I bet $25 -- one guy called. The turn was a blank and he checked and I did, too. If he's on a draw, then so be it, but as I watched him, he was looked pretty confident calling the flop bet. The river was a third spade, so he checked and I did also. He turned over 7-3 off! I mean, come on. Playing it to begin with is silly, and to call a pre-flop raise is ridiculous. Then, he got little value for it. I guess he hoped I'd bet the turn, and the third spade scared him on the river, so I lost the minimum. The whole evening was like that, but at least I didn't go for a number.

Saturday, again the wait was long. I was #60-something, but they had nine tables of $1/2 NLHE going, so I knew it would go faster than you might think. I went to get something to eat.

When I got seated, the poker was the exact opposite from Friday. I sat down and was between the blinds and the button, so had to wait one hand. Then on the first hand I played, four players limped to me (for $2) and I checked my hole cards to see ♠K ♣K. I had no read on the table and no clue what a normal raise was, so I bet $15 and got two callers. The flop was A-X-X, yuck. They checked to me and I gritted my teeth and bet $25 and both players folded! Yes!

This was pretty much how my whole evening went. I cracked A-A with this hand: I had 6-6 in late position. The UTG guy bet $12 and two players called, and so did I. He had A-A and doubled me up when I hit another 6.

On another hand, I cracked K-K. A guy raised to $15 from early position. I had ♠A ♠K and position on him, so I called. the flop was 10-X-X, with two spades. He bet and I called (I forget the amount). The turn was another spade, giving me my nut flush, and he checked and so did I. The river was a blank and he moved all in! Folks, I couldn't make this stuff up.

Then this hand: A guy raised to $15 from early position and there was one caller to me on the button. I had 2-2 and called. The flop was wonderful: A-6-2 rainbow. The guy did a strange thing now, he bet $20, but he was a little reluctant. I put him on K-K or Q-Q and the ace scared him. The guy in between was a short stack and he called, as did I. I'm not a fan of slow playing, but if he didn't have an ace, a raise by me would run him off, so to speak. The turn was another blank, and he bet $20 again. The in-between guy called for $15 of it and was all in. I called, as well. The river was a rag and the original bettor checked. I bet $45. If this isn't a value bet, I don't know what is. It looked like a value-bet duck, and quacked like a value-bet duck, and, in fact, I had ducks. The guy called and I scooped the pot. Poker looks so easy when it goes like this.

I should mention that this casino has what is called time rake. Instead of taking money out of each pot (10% up to $4 plus $1 for the badbeat jackpot), when each new dealer sits down, you give him $6 for the next 30 minutes. If you play for five hours, that's $60, for example. It's not hard to see why there are few winning players.

In my car, when I exited the parking garage to come home, I turned on Ms. Garmin. She couldn't acquire a satellite fix -- that's how hard it was raining. (It finally did, but took about five minutes.) I know how to get home, but Garmin is good for finding cheap gas and other more important things such as locating a Starbucks (heheh).

Can you see the sign for the WSOP in this photo:

A room with a view

Sucked at poker last night and can't attach a cell phone photo. Nevertheless, I'm having a good time. This from my iPhone, excuse any typos!

Update: This shot, from the ninth floor of the Hilton Riverside, shows a fairy crossing the river:


In the distance, you can see a ship that has made the 90 degree bend in the river and is heading for the ocean.

I saw this in a store and couldn't resist buying it:

Heading south --> Nawleans

I decided to use a vacation day tomorrow and take a road trip. There is a WSOP Circuit event poker tournament in New Orleans called Harrah's New Orleans. It's almost over, so I'm not going to play in the tourney, but they have inexpensive rates at nice hotels. I intend to drive so that makes for a reasonably-priced get-away weekend.

I will be playing in the cash games. This is my fourth poker trip to the "Big Easy," and the first three were worth it, so let's hope that trend continues.

I might also do some tourist-type things on Saturday during the day. You know me: I'll have my camera handy, so look out when I return.


Fall of 2006 on Canal Street: The guy above was telling people about his version of Jesus. It's hard work, so he's taking a break.


Harrah's Casino has a fairly big poker room. I expect at least 25 tables in play each night with donkeys, monkeys and fish -- oh my!

Cavendish Invitational Pairs complete

In poker, it's all about the money. Bridge is different -- it's played for glory and honor. There is an exception, however, called the Cavendish Invitational and it's held in Las Vegas each May. Fifty pairs from around the globe entered this year's event. It is run on what is called a Calcutta style. Does this mean you have to travel to India to play? No, silly. Before the bridge begins, pairs of players are auctioned off. When the event is over, the pairs that did well and their owners divide the money collected in the auction.

This year's Cavendish prize pool was nearly $1 million dollars. First-place paid $214,228, not bad.

The winners were Bobby Levin and Steve Weinstein. Weinstein is also an expert poker player and won the Winter Borgata Open Poker Tournament that I blogged about here. This deal helped Levin and Weinstein win:

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

West (hands rotated) opened 2♥, North, Levin, bid 2♠, East passed and South closed out the auction by bidding 3NT.

West led the ♥6, East played the queen, and Declarer, Weinstein, allowed that to hold. East shifted to the ♦8 which ran to dummy's 10. The communication was awkward, so declarer tried the effect of the ♠Q at trick three, which held. What would you do now?

Weinstein led a diamond to his ace, and a spade and rose with the ace, dropping the king!

Here are all four hands:

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

East could see if he won his ♠K at trick three, the contract wasn't likely to be set, so his duck was a good play.

Most players would be happy to make the contract, but not Weinstein. He now stated that if West had the ♣K, he was going to be squeeze-endplayed in hearts and clubs. In the four-card ending, if West kept K-X in hearts and clubs, the play of the ♥A and another would endplay him, forcing a lead from the ♣K.

The claim was accepted, and making five was worth 212 IMPs. You can see a photo of the winners and the final standings on the Cavendish last day's Daily Bulletin if you click here.

Below is the Handviewer from Bridge Base Online:

I thought the economy was supposed to be bad??

On April 2, Ed Miller announced his new book Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em. He calls it the "affordable poker ebook," and you can read that here. I'm into technology and all that, but I prefer a book in hard copy. When I go to bed each night, I like to pick up a book (or magazine) and read for a while. When I'm on an airplane, I like to read. There are lots of cases where an ebook clearly doesn't work for me. I'm just sayin'.

Today I read on Ed's web site here that this "afordable" ebook has an introductory offer of $39.95, then, after two weeks, will jump to its regular price of $99.95! Yikes, does it have a gold lining or something? Is the cover diamond encrusted? No, wait, it's not a real book, it's a freakin' ebook.

I thought buying poker books was so last-year. I thought the economy was in bad shape. Is it just me, or is this is a very steep price? Just askin'.

A night at the ballpark

We have the Memphis Redbirds baseball team, the AAA team of the St. Louis Cardinals.

I spent three hours at Autozone Park tonight watching them play the Las Vegas 51s.

Before the game I went to The Rendevouz and ate ribs. It doesn't get much better than this.




As they introduce a Redbird player, they let one of these kids run out on the field with each. Above you see the kids assembled.


"Wait for me, wait for me!"





The Vegas pitcher looked good, but the Redbird hurler out-pitched him.


The final score was Memphis 2-0 over the 51s.




The Red Hots show their dance moves above.


Rockey Redbird is the mascot. He's pretty cool, no?

Just back from storm-damaged area

My Mom called me Saturday to tell me the news. Thunderstorms struck Friday through southern Illinois (Murphysboro, Carbondale, Herrin, Carterville and Marion). When I arrived later in the day, there were trees down everywhere and no electricity. They were severe enough to be called an "inland hurricane." Another media source called it a "wave of powerful storms."



Above is a tree in Mom's yard. This was minor compared to much of what I saw.



A few blocks away (corner of Rod Lane and Sunset Drive in Carbondale IL), this tree was uprooted and blocking the street.

The storm was not a tornado, rather what is called flat-line winds that were more than 100 miles per hour.

If you look carefully at the next photo, you can see that is a car beneath the tree that may never be driven again.



Most people couldn't cook, so they ate out. How did restaurants manage? See the generator below that was at the Steak and Shake near Marion IL.

Results posted

Bluff Magazine has the results from the Magnolia State Poker Tournament that I played in. Here's the link to the event I finished fifth in:

Click here.

Sometimes you make more money if you check

I haven't been playing much online poker lately, so decided to enter a cheap bounty tournament called Shark's League.

In late position, I picked up: ♠A ♠J and raised 3 times the big blind. The big blind called. The flop was nice for me: ♣A ♥5 ♦8. BB checked and so did I. The turn was the ♠K completing a rainbow board. BB checked and I bet 777, around half the pot, he called! Now I know he has something, but an ace is not likely; so, when the river was the ♠3, I bet 777 and he called again.

If I had bet the flop, he would have folded. By checking, I got calls on two more streets. Here's a screen shot:


This hand helped me end up fifth.

Shuffle up and deal

Have you ever had a Royal Flush? It's exciting, isn't it?

Dbcooper has just blogged about Royal Flushes in a post he calls Great Hands. He asks don't they seem to happen more often in online play than in real-life play?

A Royal Flush is supposed to happen one time out of ~650,000 hands according to Cardgrrl here. In her comments she says that they occur more online than in person because the hands are dealt more quickly, so you see more hands online per the same time frame. She also points out that online you may be multi-tabling. All this is true.

When the ACBL first began using computer-dealt hands at bridge tournaments, players complained there was a high incidence of freak hands. Studies were done and it was determined that the computer-dealt hands were the equivalent of what you would expect from a proability standpoint. They found that when players shuffled the boards by hand, however, they didn't do a good job of mixing the cards. They would give the deck three or four riffles and deal the cards. It's been shown that to get a true shuffle, you should riffle them seven or more times. So, the players who complained of freaks thought so because they were used to seeing blah hands where the defenders' cards always divided evenly, nobody ever had eight-card suits, etc. You can read more about all that here, if your eyes don't glaze over first.

In a casino, the dealers are supposed to riffle twice, then do what is called a strip, then repeat for a total of seven or more times. (This is for a used deck. For a new deck, they do something called wash the cards.) More and more casinos are using automatic shufflers which I assume have been tested and do a good job. But, the dealers who still shuffle by hand don't do it seven times, I can assure you. I'd say four or five is about the most you'll see. Further, there is something called clumping (where cards stick together and are not intermixed properly) that adds to the problem.

Therefore, I am thinking that it is true (for the same amount of hands dealt) that you'll see more "wild" results online. But, they aren't really wild at all. They are what probability says will happen and it is the hand-dealt hands in casinos that are not true results.

Short-stacking

After I was knocked out of the poker tournament last Saturday, I still had the itch to play, so I scooted over to the Goldstrike. I got on the list for Omaha-8 (one ahead of me), and I bought $120 in chips and sat down at the $1/2 NL hold 'em table to kill some time. (I normally buy in for $200 in the NL game, but this was the amount I wanted for Omaha.)

The third hand, I picked up ♠A ♣K. UTG limped and I was next to act. What would you do? I would usually raise, but I was out of position. Because I had just sat down, I had no clue about the other players, so I limped along. Another player called and the button raised to $18. The small blind called and the early limper called -- over to you.

I decided to play the short stack game and moved all in. Unless I'm against A-A or K-K, I don't mind playing this hand. If called in one place, I have some dead money to make it worth it. I have fold equity, too. Because I limped, then moved all, this sounds scary to others. Don't forget, I'm an older guy who looks pretty nitty. The beauty of a short stack is that I can only lose $120. I don't throw money around, but this won't change my life style if I lose.

Guess what? Nobody wanted to put $102 more out there, and I picked up a $60 pot.

Lair of Lucypher has a series of posts on short-stacking. You can read Part 1here, and Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Ed Miller posted about what he called the short-stacker's bread-and-butter play here.