Fast relexes

Playing online last night, I was declarer in 5♠ after the opponents bid diamonds, diamonds and more diamonds. West led the ♥7, an obvious singleton. Here is what I saw:

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

I won the ♥A and cashed the ♠A K, pleased to see the suit split 2-2. Next I advanced a low club and played dummy's 9 which forced the queen. (Yes, I know West could play the queen from ♣Q 10 x, but this is online don't forget.) East tried to cash a diamond. I ruffed and led another club to the 10, jack and king. East cashed the ♥K and I was down one. Here are all four hands:

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

Minus 50 was a loss of 8.66 IMPs. I was a little annoyed to note that 5♥ was cold. It wasn't until today that a friend pointed out that 5♠ was also cold!

Even though it's a singleton, I need to duck the opening lead. East can win the ♥K, but then what? If he gives West a ruff, I win any return, draw trumps and run the heart suit. All other defenses also lead to 11 tricks.

Winning the ♥A was a reflexive play. Like so many contracts, the play at trick one was crucial.

Tunica casinos to close due to flooding

All the Tunica casinos are located on the river side of the levees. They can rise with floodwaters because of how they are built (basically on barges on canals). I believe they are closing because the parking areas are likely to be underwater.

Here's the staggered closing schedule (subject to change):
Thursday, April 28, 2011 Resorts Casino

Friday, April 29, 2011 Bally's Casino

Sunday, May 1, 2011 Fitz, Hollywood, Sam's Town, Harrah's

Monday, May 2, 2011 Gold Strike, Horseshoe, Roadhouse Casino

You can read what the local TV station, WREG, says if you click here.

Image taken from the www.mississippicasinos.com web site.

How long does it take to build an ark?

Each winter snow falls in the mountains and each spring the snow melts. The so-called runoff and spring rains swell rivers, some years more than others. The Missouri, the Ohio, the Illinois, the Tennessee, the Cumberland Rivers and many more -- they all eventually flow into the mighty Mississippi.

The Mississippi River at Memphis is normally about 183 feet deep and nearly one mile wide. Now it looks to be about two miles wide, sprawling on the Arkansas side. The depth is measured from what they call gauge zero (183 feet at Memphis, but different at other places along the river) and it's around 40 feet above that and heading higher. The river is considered to be at flood stage when it's 34 feet above gauge (also spelled gage) zero. Read more about that here and here.

Photo by MOJO and taken after work today with my P&S.

The process begins

I was able to withdraw from Poker Stars tonight. This is the e-mail they sent to confirm:

Cashout request time: 2011/04/26 17:50 CT

Cashout amount: USD XX,XXX.XX

A check for USD XX,XXX.XX will be issued.
Credit transaction #YYYYYYYY

The check will be issued by our payment processor, NOT by POKERSTARS. If you have any questions or require further clarification please contact the customer support number detailed on the check. Alternatively, you may contact "PokerStars Cashier"

Please allow up to 72 hours for cashout processing.

Note: USD Checks will be delivered by regular mail and are expected to arrive within 15 business days. We strongly recommend that you deposit your check at your bank and avoid using check cashing stores.

Your PokerStars Account Information:
Name:
Email:
User ID: MemphisM0J0

If you have any further questions regarding this transaction, please contact "PokerStars Cashier"

NBA playoffs are exciting in MOJO-land

"Man, that was exciting."

That's what I heard a fan say after the Memphis/San Antonio NBA playoff game tonight, and he is right. The Memphis Grizzlies (formerly the Vancouver Grizzlies) had never won a playoff game until last Sunday. Now they actually have a chance to win a playoff series against the No. 1 seed in the West, the San Antonio Spurs (the Grizzlies lead the series two games to one).

It goes without saying that the game was exciting. The Grizzlies led the whole game, but SA kept making little runs to cut the deficit. Finally, they tied it at 80-80. The Griz didn't fold, however, and pulled out a sweet victory.

On the ride home, I was listening to Fox Sports radio. When they gave the scores, they called the Grizzlies' victory "shocking." I looked it up when I got home -- the Grizzlies were either a 1 or 2 point favorite, depending which bookmaker you believed. The guys on the radio (Rob Dibble and somebody else whose name I didn't catch.) need to learn more about their craft or keep their mouths shut -- what dumb asses.

One observation: I wish, just once, Tim Duncan would commit a foul without holding his arms out like "Who me? I couldn't have possibly fouled him" type stuff. Give it a rest, Tim. I know you've been one of the best players in the history of basketball, but it's pathetic, actually.


Above: Zach Randolph is ready to get the rebound in case the ball rimmed out.


Above: I think this was Darrell Arthur going in for a layup.


Above: The San Antonio cheerleaders were there. They thought the Spurs were going to win. I had to have a little talk with them and straighten them out.

Images by MOJO (except last one) and taken with my P&S.

Test your defense

Here's another deal from the International Bridge Press Association's newsletter. The IBPA is a group of more than 300 bridge journalists from around the world. The newsletter, edited by Canadian John Carruthers, is a nice source of information and bridge deals such as this one. Test your defense as East:



Partner leads the ♥2. Declarer wins the ace and ruffs a heart. He lays down the ♠A and gets the bad news. An easy contract just got harder.

South continues by cashing the ♣Q, then playing the ♦A K. You ruff the second diamond -- now what?

Trick question. If you ruff, you are endplayed. If you exit with the ♣J, declarer can win the king and lead the ace. You must ruff or he has 12 tricks. Declarer overruffs, draws trumps and arranges to ruff a diamond in dummy for 12 tricks.

If you discard the ♣J on the second high diamond, you can ruff the third diamond and exit with a heart and the contract can't be made.

Back to the tables

Above: The Gold Strike Casino in my rear view mirror. Maybe it should be online poker in my mirror?

"Why you no play poker anymore?"

I was working in my yard yesterday and my Korean neighbor had rolled down her car window to talk to me. Her husband is a pit boss and she doesn't work so she practically lives at the Tunica casinos. I don't remember what I told her, but I started thinking: She's right. Why haven't I played much lately?

I decided to enter the 7 p.m. tournament at the Gold Strike along with 60 other donkeys runners I didn't make it to the second break, so who's the donkey? I'm sure it must have been all bad luck, lol.

One cute hand: a tight player raised from early position and had one caller. The flop was J-10-7 and there was a CB and a call. The turn was a 9 and more betting and raising ensued. The river was an 8, so the final board read J-10-9-8-7, for those of you who are keeping score at home. They both checked and the first guy turned over K-K and the second guy turned over A-A -- your basic split pot.

Sometimes you wonder why players bother to sign up to play. An old guy was sitting next to me in the 9 seat. He made a big bet and got one caller, a young guy. The Flop was ace high, but had two clubs. He bet and was called again. The turn was a third club. He checked and the second player bet big. Now the old guy moved all in. He was quickly called by the younger guy who had a flush, surprise! The old guy showed A-Q for top pair, second kicker with no clubs. Huh??

"That's the second time I've got my aces cracked," he said as he gathered his stuff to leave. "It's just not my night."

Um, you had a pair of aces, but usually getting aces cracked means you had a pocker pair of them, but what do I know.

I played at table 15, but the real excitement of the night was at table 14. I just happened to look over there, and the guy I could see best had six stacks of black chips and a bunch of green ones -- more than $12,000 in chips. Then I looked again -- he also had a huge stack of $100 bills, at least 10 grand worth. WTF?

I wandered over, couldn't resist. It was a badugi game! Huh? The blinds were $50/100 and the minimum buy-in was $2000. The others also had big stacks. I've seen NL games that were this big, but badugi? I can't believe that these guys knew what they were doing. I don't have that kind of money to gamble with them, but it sure made me daydream about what could be.

Nuff said

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. Check out these images that I saw when I tried to log in today to two of my favorite online poker sites.

Don't rush me

One of the things I like about online bridge is that it moves pretty fast. When I play at the local club, it seems like it drags on forever. Sometimes, however, you have to stop and think.

The opponents bid to four hearts on this auction (I was West - partner, East, overcalled 1♦):

       West   North   East   South
              1♣     1♦     1♥
       Pass   3♥     Pass    4♥
       All Pass

I led the ♦2 (third and low) and saw the North hand as dummy.

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

How do you like the 3♥bid? I don't think it's worth that -- South is allowed to respond in a four-card suit. The singleton ace isn't worth full value because you only have three trumps.

Declarer won the ♦A and led a low heart. Partner followed with the queen, declarer the ace and I played low. South then led a low heart, I played the ♥7 and she ducked. I guess she hoped pard had K-Q. Partner discarded the ♠3, encouraging in our methods.

How would you continue?

I thought for at least 30 seconds -- an eternity for online bridge. If partner had the ♦K Q, I could cash a high heart and lead a second round of diamonds. The declarer finally said something in the chat box to try and speed me up.

I thought some more and then I saw a better defense -- I shifted to a high spade.

Partner won the king and led the ♦K to make dummy ruff with its ♥10, setting up two more trump tricks for me. Yes! Here are all four hands (rotated):

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

When I later used Deep Finesse to analyze the deal, I was surprised to see that a spade at trick four is necessary to defeat the game. Good thing I didn't let the opponent push me into making a hasty decision.

Setting 4♥ was worth 4.61 IMPs. Allowing the contract to make would have been minus 7.58 IMPs.

You can see all the results if you click here.

Let's play ball

Above: The members of the CDRL prepare (yesterday) for the 2011 fantasy baseball draft.

I love baseball. I know some people think it's too slow-moving, but that's one of its appeals -- just go to the ballpark, sit back, buy a hotdog and enjoy the game.

One thing that makes it more exciting is to play in a fantasy baseball league. I'm in two (plus some public online leagues that I play in so I can practice with their mock draft). One is with bridge players from Raleigh, one that we started it back in the Eighties. It's a straight draft and we redraft each year. I'm (ahem) the defending champ -- bragging rights with bridge players go a long way.

I'm also in a local Memphis league (CDRL) with keepers, an auction and 12 owners. This is my seventh year. Three years I was in rebuilding mode and did lousy. Twice I was second and once I was fourth.

We hold the draft at various places. One of the owners was the Director of Communications with the Memphis Redbirds (the AAA club of the St. Louis Cardinals) and twice we've held the draft at Autozone Park. Cool, no?

The guy left the Redbirds to start his own business and since then we've moved to other places. This year we met at the Fogelman Executive Center on the University of Memphis campus.

I won't bore you with my team -- I'm rebuilding this year and I have a lot of duds prospects, lol.

Do you play fantasy baseball? Do you prefer a straight draft or an auction?

Image by MOJO and taken with my point and shoot. Have P&S, will travel.

What's the rush?

The International Bridge Press Association has a monthly newsletter that includes interesting bridge deals such as this one.

                ♠ J 9 5 4 2
                ♥ 6 5
                ♦ 6 3
                ♣ K Q 8 5
==
                ♠ A K Q 10 9 7
                ♥ A
                ♦ K Q
                ♣ A 10 6 4
==
       West   North   East   South
                              2♣
       4♥      Pass   Pass   4♠
       Pass     5♠    Pass   6♠
       All Pass

When this deal was played at the club, Hasty Harry won the ♥K and drew trumps with the ♠A and ♠J. He next ruffed dummy's low heart. Because of West's preempt, he played East for club length and led a club to the king -- the slam could no longer be made.

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

Careful Carol, also in 6♥, played the same to the first four tricks. "What could it hurt to play diamonds first?" she thought. East won the ♦A and returned the jack -- West showed out!

CC counted East's hand as two spades, two hearts, eight diamonds and so could only have one club. She played the ♣A, led low to the ♣8 and claimed.

I'm not interested

What does it take to win 3340 masterpoints online in one year? You have to play well, play a lot and (apparently) you have to mix it up. This player who won all these points has entered enough tournaments that he must have a figured out a good strategy for playing with the robots, right?

I looked at a recent online 12-board tournament from the player who set the record. He was playing against robots for ACBL masterpoints on BBO.

See if you can match bids with the champ:

Board No. 4 - you hold:
♠K 9 4 ♥K Q 9 6 ♦A 8 ♣9 6 43
The bidding is Pass Pass 1♦ to you. What's your choice?

* * *

Board No. 9 - you hold:
♠K Q ♥Q 10 6 ♦A Q 10 9 8 6 ♣6 2
The auction goes Pass, your RHO opens 1♥ and you?

* * *

Board No. 10 - you hold:
♠K Q J 10 ♥K Q J 8 5 ♦Q J ♣4 2
Your right-hand opponent passes. What would you open (assume you don't play Flannery)?

* * *

Board No. 12 - you hold:
♠A Q 7 3 ♥7 ♦A 8 4 2 ♣A Q 5 2
Three passes to you in fourth seat. What would you bid?

* * *

In all the cases, the online record-holder opened or overcalled 1NT.

I like to get tops as much as the next guy. I love to be the declarer. At the risk of sounding righteous, if this is what it takes to win online, I'm not interested. I'm just sayin'.

What do you think?

This was tournament No. 3177 held last Monday. You can see all the boards for yourself if you click here.

Odds and ends

Above: It's slightly farther than 1200 miles from Memphis to Connecticut.

My retirement has been pushed back to early May. The lady hired to take my position starts May 2. Meantime, it's business as usual.

* * *

In May, I'm taking a road trip (see map). In Connecticut, I'll visit some friends and play in a bridge tournament with Kate in Hamden.

On the return, I'm going to stop in Cooperstown NY. You might have heard of this small town because it's home to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I haven't seen it before, but I imagine that it's pretty special for a baseball fan.

Next stop on the way home is Gettysburg, a must whether you're a history buff or not.

Finally, I'm hoping to see a baseball game or two. When I lived in Wilmington DE, I used to go to ballgames all the time in Philly at the old Veteran's Stadium. I'd love to see a game in the new park. I haven't checked to see if the Phillies are home or on the road, so that's still tentative. After Gettysburg, I might head to Pittsburgh and see the Pirates. Also on the way home is Cincinnati -- so many choices! All this is still in the planning stages, so stay tuned.

* * *

I don't claim to be good, but I do claim to enjoy taking photos. Anybody could go to an orchid show and take great photos -- it's a slam dunk. Sometimes, however, it's not so easy and you have to be creative. I just read this quote on Digital Photography School:

"The fact I couldn’t draw annoyed the hell out of me so photography was the next best thing."

That's it! Anybody who knows me knows I can't draw and my handwriting is atrocious. But with a camera, it's different -- my chance to "draw," without being able to.

* * *

I finished reading Harrington's latest book on online cash games (see here). His two previous books on cash games were useless, but this one focused on online play and was great. Even though it has Harrington's name on it, I'm guessing it was written by co-author Bill Robertie, or somebody else who actually plays online.

The author(s) assume you already know how to play, and focus on what a heads-up-display is -- in other words how to interpret it, how to play given what you know about the villain and his or her tendencies, etc. There are also pratical tips such as how to take notes on players that you can read at a glance, yet are meaningful. The stuff in the book won't be news to players such as Poker Meister or Matt at Hold 'em Notebook, but was relevant for me. The book's main thrust is six-max tables. Strategies for both micro-stakes and small stakes are explored.

For a more complete review by Andrew Brokos, click here.

* * *



Congratz to Very Josie for winning Survivor Donkey Island.

Image at top created by Google maps. Donkey island logo swiped from Josie's site.

Stop and smell the orchids

Above: The Japanese Garden is a popular destination at the Missouri Botanical Garden. (They call it MOBOT for short.) Notice the snow on March 27 - are we having crazy weather this year or what?

Last weekend, I visited the Orchid Show at the MOBOT in St. Louis. They claim to be the oldest botanical garden in continuous operation in the U.S. The say it's "An oasis of great beauty in the city (and) is also a place of research, conservation and learning."

I met one brother and one sister and we went together. Besides the beauty of the place, it was an opportunity for three siblings to enjoy fellowship together.

MOBOT is proud of its orchid collection and you can read about it here.


You may click to enlarge.





Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

Fantastic opportunity for young bridge players

Above: The only thing I like to see better than a roomful of bridge players is a roomful of young bridge players. The Youth Bridge Camp was held at Lake Williamson last summer (near Carlinville IL). Campers from four states attended.

Bridge has gotten a bum rap as being a game for grandma -- not so! Young people are playing the game, too.

There's a fantastic opportunity for young bridge players this summer. Youth in grades 5 through 9 can attend a six-day bridge camp for $230 -- a bargain. The third annual Youth Bridge Camp, sponsored by Chris and Mary Beth Shaw, will be held June 26 through July 1. There will be classes and games for players on all levels, even beginners. For details, click here.

If you know kids who are interested, pass the word. Besides bridge, there will be swimming, boating, hayrides, volleyball, fireside cookouts and $100 bills handed out. Well, just kidding about the Benjamins, but the rest is true.

Bridge is the ultimate card game. I play poker and lots of other card games, so trust me when I say that poker is like a nice Toyota Camry, but bridge is like a fancy Mercedez Benz. Um, well something like that.

Photo taken from the Youth Bridge Camp web site.