Memphis MOJO

Robots take advice from the Rabbi

2012-01-25T18:45:00.007-06:00

One of the mistakes that new players make is when they have a combined 10-card holding missing the king, they try to drop it instead of finessing. I don't remember the exact percentages, but it's considerably better to finesse.

Bridge has lots of great colorful names for various plays. One of them is called the Rabbi's Rule. It says when the king is singleton, play the ace. You can even buy a tee shirt from Zazzle that sports this whimsical advice (see here).

Playing against the robots recently, I made a takeout double of 1♥ and the robot's partner raised to 2♥. My robot partner passed, and the first robot rebid 2NT. I doubled again, and it went all pass. Here are the two hands from declarer robot's perspective (rotated) after I led the ♦K:

I switched to the ♣9 and my robot partner won the king. He returned a club to the queen and my ace. I continued with the ♣J and 8, then took the setting trick with the ♦K and exited with a low diamond (the club suit blocked).

The robot declarer won that and led the ♥7 to his ace, dropping my king, ouch.

Here are all four hands in their original position:

I don't know how the declarer knew to drop my king as I'm more likely to double again with a void than a stiff king, no?

Kapow

2012-01-20T06:40:00.000-06:00

Players like to complain when the robots do crazy things. Yes, sometimes they don't play well, but often the make plays that an average club player wouldn't find, such as this one.

The auction was 1♣ Pass 3♣ (preemptive) to me. I held:

♠J 7 ♥K J 8 ♦A K Q 7 6 5 4 3 ♣ --

What would you bid? I'm old and conservative, so I bid only 3♦. The surely auction won't end there, will it? Unfortunately, everyone passed, West led the ♠K, and this was what I saw:

It looks like it might make 5♦, but look what happened. West continued with the ♠A and the ♠Q. On the third round of spades, East ruffed with the ♦10 and that set up a trump trick for his partner. Here are all four hands:

East's play is called an uppercut. Bridge is filled with colorful expressions such as this. Don't you love it.

I'm still not sure how to get to 3NT. A 4♠ contract might also make, and I got a bad score.

Crisscrossing the Internet

2012-01-19T07:56:00.001-06:00

Playing online with the crazy robots, I held:
♠A K Q J 8 ♥J 8 6 ♦A 7 5 2 ♣7.

Partner opened 1NT -- what would you do? In robot-land, you always have the best hand. Therefore, you know North holds exactly 15 high-card points, so slam would be dicey at best (a combined 30 HCP). I raised to 3NT, ending the auction.

The robots often do things that humans think are crazy. Recently, I led a club from Q 8 7 2. Dummy had the stiff 10. My robot partner held J-9-X-X didn't cover and declarer won three tricks with A-K-X-X opposite a singleton 10.

But the bots do good things, too, as you are about to see. Here are all four hands:

East led a low spade. North won with my ace and played five rounds of the suit. West discarded two clubs and two diamonds. Declarer continued by running the club suit. After two rounds, this was the position:

On the next-to-last club, dummy and West discarded a diamond. On the last club, dummy threw a diamond (baring the ace), but what could West play? If he discarded a diamond, North can play a diamond to the ace, cross back to his ♥A to cash his good ♦J. So, West was forced to discard a heart. Now it was easy for declarer to play the ♥A and another, setting up dummy's jack. The crazy robot had executed a variation of that rare bird, a criss-cross squeeze!

I put the deal in Deep Finesse and it said declarer had to play it basically the way it did (although it could run clubs first). DF also says that a diamond lead will hold it to five. A heart lead will hold it also, but only if the ♥10 or ♥9 is led. A low heart won't work.

If squeezes fascinate you, check out Bridge Squeezes Complete, written by Clyde Love and edited by Linda Lee and Julian Pottage at Masterpoint Press. It's also available as an e-book.

I hate trump leads

2012-01-18T08:41:00.004-06:00

Playing online with the feared robots, I held:
♠A J 6 ♥9 6 3 ♦A K 6 ♣Q 10 9 5.

My right-hand opponent opened 1♥. What would you do? Normally, making a takeout double with 4-3-3-3 isn't a good idea, especially with only three spades. I did have 14 high-card points, however, and defending with a robot partner is dicey at best -- get in there! My LHO passed and North bid 1♠. RHO rebid 2♦, ending the auction.

I think trumps leads are usually a poor choice. It's not that you finesse your partner, but what usually happens is that you lose a tempo. You should be trying to set up your side's tricks, not helping declarer by drawing trumps.

Some auctions scream for a trump lead, however, and this was one:

I led the ♦K, the ♦A, cashed the ♠A to extract that card from declarer's hand, then exited with a low diamond.

Declarer played the ♥A K Q and another. Partner won the heart, shifted to a low club and declarer misguessed by playing low. I won my ♣Q and returned a club to partner's ♣A for down one and a score of 100%. Even if declarer had guessed clubs and made +90, we would have scored 72.73%.

Maybe I should rethink trumps leads? Nah -- I still hate 'em.

Always give count, right?

2012-01-17T13:23:00.008-06:00

Playing online against the famous robots, I picked up:

♠A K Q 5 ♥A K ♦A 9 6 3 ♣A 7 4.

I started with 2♣, my robot partner bid a waiting 2♦ and I bid 2NT. Do you agree with this bid?

This auction delivers 22 to 24 high-card points in robot-land, but the hand is really worth 25. Did you notice I had all four aces? Aces are undervalued in the standard HCP methods. Even Charles Goren says to add 1 point for having four of them.

On the other hand, the robots are aggressive as responders, so it's unlikely you'll miss game.

Over my 2NT rebid, the bot bid 4♥, a transfer to spades. Having underbid previously and holding great trumps, I jumped to 5♠, ending the auction. Here are all four hands:

First I underbid, then I overbid landing in a contract that won't win any prizes -- there's a lesson in here somewhere.

I won the ♥J opening lead with the ace, cashed one high trump and advanced a low diamond. West played the ♦Q, dummy played low and East contributed the ♦7! I assume this was to show four diamonds, but look what happened.

West continued with a heart and I won my king. I played a low spade to dummy and advanced the ♦10. East covered with the jack (playing low wouldn't matter) and I won the ace and continued with the ♦9, discarding a club from dummy. East won and now the defense shifted to a club -- too late. I won the ace and discarded dummy's last club on my ♦6 which was high (East was left with the ♦5).

Plus 650 scored 94%.

Would you see this?

2012-01-10T21:15:00.004-06:00

The International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) has a newsletter that has many interesting deals, such as this one:

East opened 1 ♥ and South overcalled 1♠. West raised to 2♥ and North ended the auction by bidding 4♠.

Because West had raised on three low, he led the 9♥. East won the ace and shifted to a low club, South winning the ace. How would you play the contract?

It's almost 100% that East had the ♦A, so South played this way: He led a spade to the king, ruffed a heart, ruffed a club and ruffed a heart. He continued by ruffing his last club and leading a heart and discarding a low diamond.

Now East was endplayed. He could cash his ♦A, setting up the king or he could present declarer with a ruff and discard -- either way declarer had 10 tricks and claimed his contract.

A remarkable hand

2012-01-09T14:40:00.009-06:00

Tong Tjoa reported to the Bridge Bulletin (my favorite magazine) about the following hand he held in a regional team game. His partner opened 3♥ and he was looking at:

♠A K Q J 10 8 7 6 ♥ -- ♦-- ♣A K Q J 6.

Tong doesn't give the auction, but I assume from his commentary that he bid 7♠ directly. West led the ♥A and here were the two combined hands:

Tong recognized the power of the ♠9. He ruffed the heart, played the ♣A and ruffed a club in dummy. His careful play was rewarded when the opening leader had the ♥A K, the ♦A and five clubs to the 10!

Two points:
1. The opening lead that defeats the grand slam is a trump. West had a lot of information and perhaps should have figured this out. South must have long, solid spades and cards somewhere else, i.e. clubs. Am I being results oriented in thinking he might have worked this out?

2. When you have basically 13 tricks in your own hand, don't just jump to the grand. You should try to get doubled and a better approach is to bid 4NT. After North's response, then bid 7♠. West might think you've had a key card accident and double. If he tries to cash one of his aces, you have a surprise for him.

What if you gave a party and no one came?

2012-01-06T10:00:00.000-06:00

Above: Noodles is a nice little Asian restaurant at the Horseshoe Casino. It's open on weekends.

I went to the 7 p.m. Wednesday poker tournament at the Horseshoe. This is a deep stack that is one of my favorites. Only eight runners signed up and it was cancelled -- boo! I've never seen this before, so I asked another player and she said she hadn't either. Once in a while a daytime tournament doesn't get enough interest, but never at night. I guess all the holiday weekend tourists went home, although there were plenty of cash games going on.

I jumped on the list for $1/3 no limit and they immediately started a new table. It was soft and I had doubled up by the time they called my name to move to one of the regular games. My big hand was when I saw ♥5 ♦5 in the big blind. A guy from under the gun bet $13 and got one caller. Presto is gold, so I called, too. The flop was Q-9-5. I'd have rather seen A-9-5. I checked and the original raiser bet $35 and the other guy called. I had about $135 left, so moved all in and they both called! The turn was a jack and the river a rag. I showed my set and scooped the pot.

I moved to the (one of the) main game and had one other big hand. I had watched a guy at the first table raise and later show ace-rag. At the new table he raised to $13 and I was on the button with ♠A ♣K. I could re-raise, but elected just to call.

The flop was ♣A ♦7 ♥4. The villain bet $25 and I raised to $60. He thought for a while and called. What do I know? He has an ace, for sure, and probably not two pair (although he could be getting tricky). Can you say "kicker problem?" The turn was a rag and I bet $70 and he called. The river put three spades on the board and the villain bet $25. WTF? I know I'm a wuss, but I just called and he showed ace-rag, just like I knew he had, but not two pair or a flush.

After playing for a little more than two hours, I was up two buy-ins, and decided to call it a night. Less variance in ca$h games than tournaments, for sure.

Matchpoints are crazy

2012-01-03T21:10:00.004-06:00

I played online bridge tonight. Blogger Michael Yuen and I had a nice game. He's a good guy and terrific bridge player.

Feeling warmed up, I played a second tournament, this time with Kate. On the last board I held:
♠A K Q 7 6 2 ♥K 4 ♦8 7 3 ♣K 3.

Kate opened 1NT which shows 13 to 15 high-card points in our version of Precision Club. What would you do?

I knew we had 28 to 30 HCP, so slam would be a stretch. With that many points, it often plays the same in notrump, and it was matchpoints. MPs makes us do crazy things, so I bid 3NT. I've done that before and they've led the suit!

As you can see, if the ♥A had been onside, it would have made slam. As it was, we made five and scored 84.4%.

The board was played 108 times. You can see all the results for this deal if you go here.

Big casinos, part 2

2011-12-30T18:34:00.005-06:00

Above: Mohegan Sun is the second largest casino in the U.S. according to Wikipedia.

I decided to play at Mohegan Sun today at the 2 p.m. tournament (see here).. The buy-in was $200 and 145 runners signed up.

Things went wrong from the beginning. I had A-Q twice, raised, got two or three callers, then had to fold when I whiffed the flop and somebody else bet. The worst was when I picked up A-A and raised dicw times the big blind. Two called. The flop was J-10-9. I bet two-thirds of the pot, got a caller and the next guy raised three times my bet. He was an older guy, so no way he was making a move. What would you do? I folded.

I made it through five hours and dribbled from the original stack of 20K to 9K. The blinds were 1200/600/100. There were four callers to me in the big blind and I held ♥Q ♠9. I checked and the flop was:
♥10 ♥8 ♥7.

I moved all in. I have a straight and flush draw, but more importantly, I need to win the pot. A guy with J-J (but no hearts) called. The turn was the ♣8 and the river was a heart: ♥J. At first I thought, hey a flush, then I realized that it gave the villain a boat because the stupid turn paired the board.

I enjoyed playing there. The interior had Native American themes. The various casinos were called Casino of the Earth, Casino of the Wind, etc. The poker room had 43 tables and each had places for 10 players. The place was well-run and staff were competent and friendly.

Which did I like better, Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun? I can't say as they were both just super.

Above: The Mohegan Sun Casino opened in 1996.

Above: The place is big, so it's a good thing they provide lots of directions.

Photos taken with my P&S.

Does size matter?

2011-12-29T11:02:00.007-06:00

Above: The tournament poker area at Foxwoods Rainmaker Casino about 30 minutes before yesterday's tournament started.

They say that the Foxwoods Casino is the largest one in the U.S. in terms of gaming floor space. I'm in Connecticut on a holiday visit and decided to check it out. Let's see what an old man from Memphis can do.

Very Josie conveniently posted a schedule of the tournaments at Foxwoods and a Wednesday tournament caught my eye: a 6 p.m. $230 Super Bounty Deep Stack ($20K starting chips). (See here for the schedule.) $100 went to the prize pool, $100 was your bounty (collected by whoever knocked you out), and $30 went to the house.

There were 186 runners who signed up and 20 got paid. The blind structure was good. Example: When we got to blinds of 100/200, they next level was a repeat of that with 25 ante.

I doubled up early when a someone overplayed A-K on a flop of A-8-2. I had 8-8 in the hole and doubled up. After that, I was able to pick and choose my spots and play my typical nitty old man game. (Note to self: blogspot spell-check doesn't like the word "nitty" -- what's up with that?)

When we got to the final table, some players wanted to chop. The three short stacks would get $1000 and the rest would get around $1500. There was a huge stack and he (rightfully) didn't go along with that plan.

When we got down to four, the aforementioned big stack had 1,200,000 and the rest of us had in the 450K to 550K range. The blinds were 60,000/30,000/10,000 and I raised to 150K from the button. The big stack called from the big blind and looked reasonably comfortable. The flop was A-7-2 (good hand for the hammer) and he checked and I checked. The turn was a second ace and the big stack bet 200K. I pretended to think and finally called. The river was some low card and the big stack moved all in. I called and showed him ♥A ♦9 to double up and take the chip lead.

My trap had worked. He couldn't conceive that I had an ace and didn't bet the flop. Against an aggressive player, why bet? Let him bet it for me was the plan,and it worked. Never underestimate tricky old men from Memphis.

Now, the former big stack wanted to chop! He proposed for he and I to take an extra $500 and then divide up the rest equally among us. That, along with my four bounties, was a nice payday, so I decided to agree.

Did I mention the tournament was well-run? It was. The TDs were on the alert and stayed busy. I love rulings. Here's one where they called the floor. See what you would do.

The guy on my left was the small blind. On this particular hand, the big blind and the guy to his left were knocked out. The button moved (to the guy on my left) and now they brought in two new players from another table to replace the two who were eliminated. Would you make them take the small and big blind? Would you make them sit out until the button passed? How would you rule? Leave your answer in the comments section, and, after people get a chance to respond, I'll tell what happened. Here's a clue: What they ruled is probably not what you'd expect.

The tournament ended around 2 a.m. (after eight hours of play). We had to get our vouchers, and take them to the cage to get paid. Then I had to find my car. This place is huge. I didn't know which of the five casinos that comprise Foxwoods held the poker room It was in the Rainmaker Casino and my car was in the Grand Pequot parking area. After asking, I was able to find it and got home around 4 a.m., tired but happy.

Above: The blinds and antes were sky-high when we stopped play. There were four players, not five -- the clock had not been updated.

I had the dealer take a photo of me with my one million chips (mostly 10K denomination), but it was fuzzy, darn it. Shots taken with my P&S.

Back in the saddle

2011-12-17T15:17:00.005-06:00

Above: Nice return on a $13 investment (click to enlarge). Notice Bodog is now called Bovada and there's no more MemphisMOJO -- everybody has a number.

I haven't been able to play poker lately. I went to Seattle for 10 days, then had minor back surgery when I returned (nothing too serious). After the surgery, I had doctors orders: I could stand or lie down, but no sitting! Yikes, that makes it tough to play online poker.

Yesterday, cleared by my doctor, I played in this same tournament. Eighteen players got paid and I was 19th. I decided I could do better than that today, and so I did.

Above: The cooler shown above knocked me from chip lead to short stack when we were three-handed -- ouch.

Above: I returned the favor on the final deal, although by then I had a three-to-one chip lead.

What's this losing trick count?

2011-12-09T09:09:00.005-06:00

Above: A total of 11,429 tables of bridge were in play at the Fall NABC in Seattle. A table is four persons who play one session of bridge.

Your partner opens 1♥ and you hold:
♠7 5 4 ♥Q 9 7 ♦K 9 2 ♣A J 7 5.

Would you make a limit raise to 3♥? Would you only bid 2♥ with 10 high-card points? Would you do something else?

If you think this hand is worth a limit raise, you need to think again. Yes, you have 10 HCP, but you should subtract 1 point for your flat distribution. Better yet, you should learn about losing trick count. This hand has 9 losers and you should have only 8 losers to invite. If LTC makes your eyes spin, check out the web site Jenn Bridge. Jennifer Jones has written a booklet that explains what it's all about. She also has written some articles for the Bridge Bulletin, the first of which is in the December issue.

I played this deal in the first qualifying session of the Senior Mixed Pairs -- board No. 25. Here are all four hands:

Kate and I received a bonus when the opponents balanced. I was able to double the final contract and +300 was worth 23.5 on a 25 top.

For information about ordering Jennifer's booklet, go here.

Photo taken with my Canon 40D.

Seattle slams

2011-12-08T14:01:00.007-06:00

Above: The spillway at the Chittenden Locks is a popular Seattle tourist destination. It has a fish ladder that allows salmon to circumnavigate the dam.

Kate and I bid several slams at the North American Bridge Championship that just concluded in Seattle. We play a big club system (our version of Precision Club), and it's awesome for bidding slams.

Look at the deal below (rotated) from the first Sunday Fast Open Pairs, board No. 8 in the first session:

Kate's 2♣ bid was a transfer positive showing 5+ diamonds and game-forcing values. At IMPs, I would have bid 2♦ to set trumps and ask about controls. Because it was matchpoints, however, I had to introduce my good five-card heart suit. Over my 3♦ bid, Kate bid out her pattern because on some layouts, I would have to give a false preference. My hand is only 16 high-card points, but turned into a monster as the auction unfolded.

My left-hand opponent, Dick Budd, led a spade, but it didn't matter. The 6♦ contract is cold with any lead.

I wonder how the auction would go playing standard 2/1 methods? We scored 32- on a 35 top for getting to slam.

Above: No beauty and the beast jokes, please. Photo taken by Jonathan Steinberg.

Top photo taken with my Canon EOS 40D.

Airlines are crazy

2011-12-04T13:29:00.004-06:00

Above: The Seattle skyline is normally overcast -- lots of drizzle and not too much sun. (Click images to enlarge.)

I was in Illinois for Thanksgiving so could leave to travel to Seattle from St. Louis or Memphis. When I checked the fare, it was $100 cheaper to fly out of Lambert Airport in St. Louis, so I did. When I checked my itinerary, I saw that my return flew from Seattle to Memphis and then a plane change to continue to St. Louis.

Let me get this straight: It's cheaper to fly to Memphis and then St. Louis than it is to fly to Memphis. What's wrong with this picture?

On the return, my flight was to leave at 9:14 a.m. and arrive in St. Louis at 6:09 p.m. They asked for a bump and I volunteered. For this, they gave me a meal and a voucher for $400. Then they put me on a 10 a.m. flight to Salt Lake City (instead of Memphis) connecting to St. Louis. I arrived at 5:30 p.m., forty minutes ahead of when I would have landed.

Let me get this straight: You change my flight to get me in 40 minutes sooner and pay me $400 and feed me? What's wrong with this picture?

Above: Because Dale Chihuly calls the Seattle area home, glass blowing is huge there.

Above: United Parcel Service began in Seattle in 1907 as two nineteen-year-old boys who made deliveries on bicycles and evolved into what it is today. The Waterfall Garden Park is built on the UPS birthplace.

Above: The Pike Place Market as seen from Matt's in the Market restaurant.

Photos taken with my Canon 40D.

Pike Place Market or bust

2011-11-29T19:30:00.002-06:00

Above: Pike Place Market is Seattle's No. 1 tourist attraction.

Kate and I took the day off from bridge and did some sightseeing. After a bus tour, we asked the driver to let us off at the Pike Place Market. It's huge. We spent lots of time and barely scratched the surface.

One of the places I've heard about is the Pike Place Fish Market. The employees there throw fish around and have fun with what could be a boring job.

Seen on a tee shirt: "After Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says W T F."

Above: Pike Place Fish Market will FedEx seafood to you anywhere in North America. A worker prepares crab legs to be sent to some lucky person.

Above: A customer orders a five pound salmon. A worker heaves it to another who weighs it. Excitement ensues.

You can read about the fish throwing if you click here.

Above: Pike Place Market has zillions of stalls. You can buy artwork, cherries, tee shirts, just about any kind of food and things you've never heard of. This is a shot of one of the many hallways.

Photos taken with my Canon.

Quick update from Seattle

2011-11-28T11:25:00.006-06:00

Above: The Washington State Convention Center is the venue for the Fall North American Bridge Championship.

Bridge players are pouring in and the fun has begun. I played with Kate yesterday in a warm-up game. We are going to play again today, then sight-see Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will be the Senior Mixed Pairs.

Temperatures are in the low 40s and there has been some rain. Really, it's more of an occasional drizzle. Downtown Seattle has a nice vibe. At 5 p.m. it doesn't close up like some cities.

You can read the Daily Bulletins and get other information here.

Above: People get sight-seeing advice.

Above: Bridge at the Convention Center is played on the fourth and sixth floors. Escalators take people to the playing areas.

Photos taken with my P&S.

A common name

2011-11-26T07:19:00.000-06:00

Blogger Very Josie recently posted about being a member of the mob -- no, not that mob, the Henden Mob. She's listed in their data base and posted about it here.

I looked myself up and they had me as David Smith from Memphis, David Smith from Walls MS, and I found a couple more of my cashes listed under David Smith, but no home town. (I used to live in Memphis, but moved six miles south to northern Mississippi.) That's the problem having a name like mine.

I e-mailed them and they were responsive. They combined these into one place (see here) and asked me to send a photo. Two of my biggest cashes are missing. Twice I chopped for first through fourth in tournaments that would qualify, but they aren't listed. Maybe, I'll try and find a link to them -- or maybe not.

Poker pearl #69

2011-11-25T10:04:00.000-06:00

Ed Miller is one of my favorite writers in Card Player magazine. In the latest issue (see scan above), he discusses continuation betting.

"When you raise preflop and get called by a competent player who has position on you, you should check many flops. Most players bet too often in this situation . . . if you checked half the time, it wouldn't be too much.

"You shouldn't check only with hands you plan to give up. You should check planning to check-call with good hands. You should check planning to check-raise good hands. And you should also check-raise bluff.

"When you play this way, you put a lot of pressure on other players."

Best in the world coming to Seattle

2011-11-23T22:11:00.004-06:00

Above: Seattle is the site of the Fall North American Bridge Championship.

I'm leaving Saturday for the NABC in Seattle. The world's best bridge players will be there, the equivalent of the WSOP in poker.

I'm playing with Kate in the Open Board-a-Match Teams and the Senior Mixed Pairs. We'll also be doing some sightseeing, so expect photos.

I'll try and update the blog occcasionally.

Photo taken from the ACBL web site.

Saturday night's alright for poker, get a little action in

2011-11-20T00:41:00.006-06:00

Above: The clock said five players left, but it hadn't been updated -- there were only two of us.

I chopped the 7 p.m. tournament at the Gold Strike Saturday night. I wish I could say I played great, but mostly I stayed out of trouble and had a big hand at the right time. At the final table and from under the gun, a big stack moved all in and was called by a short stack. I peeked at my hole cards and saw ♠K ♣K. I had a big stack, too, but I'm sorry, I'm not folding kings. I moved in as well. The other two had A-J and A-10 -- what were they thinking?

After that I just played fairly passively until there were two of us. We battled for a while, but neither could get an edge so we chopped.

During the evening, I saw Q-Q beat K-K with a queen on the river. I saw A-Q beat A-K, again with a queen on the river. I saw J-J beat K-K when jacks ended up with a straight. I saw 10-7 go all in, called by A-A and flopped a straight. Poker can be a crazy game.

The worst play I saw was from a good player. Blinds were 2000/1000/200 and he raised to 6000 with A-Q. A lady who played nothing but the nuts moved all in for 34,000 and he called! She showed him A-A. I'm still not sure what he was thinking. He said later he didn't think she would play that way with aces. Apparently, he hadn't been watching the table.

Photo taken with my iPhone.

I hate carelessness

2011-11-18T12:46:00.005-06:00

Reporters these days seem to take less care in their work. I saw an example of that today. A write-up of Event No. 14 of the Borgata Fall Poker Open stated:

(The winner) "had to take down a field that included heavy hitter regulars such as Gionni Demers, James Boyle, Kalid Ali, Larry Gold, Sheree Bykofsky, Dave Zeitlen, Adam Lippert, Leanne Rosenblatt, Arkadiy Tsinis, Austen Johnson, Nachman Berlin, Mike Sica, Josh Brikis, and Dave Zeitlen."

Do you see any mention of his main competition, blogger Very Josie? I don't think so.

There's just no excuse for sloppy reporting.

You can read the entire recap here.

School kids discover the magic of bridge

2011-11-17T11:44:00.008-06:00

Above: The cover story for the DeSoto county version of The Commercial Appeal is about bridge.

I stopped at a store today and happened to notice the front page of the area newspaper: bridge! Not only bridge, but bridge for elementary-school students, yes! Bridge has a reputation as a game for old people, so I love to see youngsters taking up the game.

The American Contract Bridge League has programs to teach bridge in elementary and high schools. The typical set-up is for local bridge players to ask to teach bridge outside of regular classes as an enrichment program.

ACBL Marketing Department staffers, Vicki Campbell and Darbi Southers, have come up with a better plan: Teach the Teachers. At the beginning of the school year, they contacted school teachers and offered to teach them bridge. Teachers who were interested came to Horn Lake MS, site of the ACBL Headquarters, for a workshop. Teachers gained skills to be able to teach the students. The program is called Youth4Bridge.

More than 30 students at a local elementary school are participating, and they are excited. "The best part is playing against your friends," fifth-grader Kayla Farmer said.

The young player makes a good point: Bridge has a social aspect to it. You are only as good as your partner and you're playing against other humans, not a computer.

"A lot of kids have fun ... pressing buttons on the video games," said fourth-grader Adrian Mills. "This (bridge) is a game where you actually have to think, and it helps reasoning," he said.

You can read the newspaper article here.

You can read more about the Youth4Bridge program if you click here.

USA Today strikes again

2011-11-14T14:26:00.004-06:00

If you can't read the image above, click to enlarge and you'll see this headline:

"Penn State-Nebraska doulbes ESPN's TV ratings"

What is a doulbes? Must be something new. I think it's an Outer Tasmanian expression with a meaning similar to gesundheit or something.

This wasn't buried in the back pages; it was near the top on the sports home page. (I captured a screen shot before they had a chance to correct it.)

If you enjoy typos like this, you might want to check out Kim's blog here.

(Steam)rolling into Memphis

2011-11-14T00:19:00.007-06:00

I was playing poker online Sunday evening and my phone made a noise indicating an alert. I checked and realized that in one hour I was supposed to be at the Memphis Orpheum Theater to see Mannheim Steamroller. How could I have forgotten? Their show is Christmas music and I guess I'm not thinking Christmas yet. Good thing I set the alert.

What is Mannheim Steamroller? They are a group that offers contemporary interpretations of Christmas music. Are they rock, jazz, classical or what? The answer is yes. What I mean is that they are a fusion of many types and styles.

The show had a video background that changed and corresponded to the piece being played. They were backed by a 12-person orchestra. The Steamroller played 11 pieces, took a 20-minute intermission, then played 10 more plus an encore.

The show was great. The music was amazing and was attractively presented with a nice light show that included fog and other special effects. The group members wore colorful outfits.

Most shows like this ban cameras, but the Steamroller didn't. This was good news for me.

The audience was a mixed bag of all ages. Many concert goers came as families.

Here are some images from the show (click to enlarge):

Photos taken with my P&S.

No, I'm not bitter

2011-11-13T02:44:00.007-06:00

The last event of the Magnolia State Poker Championship was yesterday at the Horseshoe Casino (See hotel above). There were 143 runners who paid $560 to play, including moi. First place paid $23.5K - nice. Unfortunately, I finished 20th (18 were paid), so nice run, no moolah. On my bust out hand, I raised three times the big blind. A guy called with ♣7 ♣5 and hit a straight. I couldn't put him on 7-5, sorry. But they were soooooted. Yeah, right.

During the tournament, there was lots of ego at my table. A guy who won this event last year made sure everyone knew about it. Another guy had won a bracelet. Not only did he have it on, he made sure everyone was aware of it. If I ever get like that, just take me out and shoot me.

I did have the pleasure of busting last year's winner. He wasn't bragging so much after that. I raised 2.5 times the big blind from middle position and got called by another player and Mr. Winner. The flop was 10-8-3 rainbow. It went check, check to Mr. Winner who bet the pot. I check-raised enough to put him all in. He went in the tank and called and turned over ♣A ♦8. I showed A♥ ♥10 and my hand held up. Suh-weet.

Usually, I would just lead out with top pair and top kicker, but previous winners are usually winners because they are aggressive, so I let him fall into my trap. Maybe he'll keep his yap shut next time. Nah, probably not. This play had meta-game considerations. After that, if I didn't continuation bet, players weren't so fast to try and take the pot away from me.

After I busted out, I got in the Omaha-8 game. It was $4/8 with a half-kill and lots of fun. One disappointing hand: I was in the big blind and got a free play with A-10-5-5. The flop was A-10-10. Yahtzee! No other pairs came and three of us played to the river. I turned over my hand and one of the others also had A-10, oh well. I had hoped to scoop (no qualifying low) instead of chopping the pot.

I left about 2:45 a.m. up a buy-in. As I was walking out, I went past the tournament. There were still seven players left! The guy who busted me had what looked like the biggest stack. Maybe my chips helped him win, but I don't really care one way or the other. Screw him, but I'm not bitter.

Photo taken Friday with my P&S.

Cooler or bad play?

2011-11-12T10:19:00.004-06:00

Above: The Horseshoe Casino Tunica is the site of a 10-day tournament that is wrapping up this weekend.

I hadn't made it back to the Horseshoe this week until yesterday. One day a doctor's appointment, one day a meeting and one day something else. I thought I was supposed to have all this free time when I retired. What's up with that?

Yesterday, I played again. The tournament began at noon, cost $340 to enter, gave 12,000 in chips to each of 93 runners who decided to give it a try.

After seven hours, we were down to 16 players. The average stack size was ~55k and I had 45-ish. We had just reformed to two tables, so I didn't have an image with many of the players. The blinds were 1600/800/200 so there was 4000 in the pot before any betting.

It folded to the button who raised to 3600. The small blind mucked and I checked my hole cards to see ♠A ♠K.

Obviously, folding is out of the question, so I have three choices. I could just call to see a flop. I think this is weak. I could raise to 10K or so. The problem with this is you're almost pot-committed. I mean if he re-raises to 25K are you going to fold? I could just shove. This has the advantage of (possibly) folding out a hand like J-J or 10-10. The disadvantage is that you might be racing for your tournament life or you might be behind A-A or K-K.

If you just call, the flop is K-7-4 rainbow. Now what? Would you give up the hand now? Of course not.

At the table, I shoved, and the villain had A-A. A king came on the flop, but a second one didn't, and I was walking to the rail. It always seems like a bad play after you've shoved into aces.

Was I always destined to be stacked or could I have avoided this? If I had a good-sized stack, maybe I could have gotten away from it, but being slightly short-stacked means (I think) I was destined to lose and whine in my blog.

Photo taken yesterday with my P&S.

Ruff partner's winner

2011-11-10T23:41:00.006-06:00

I heard through the grapevine that Collins Williams, a player from Raleigh NC, is a fan of this blog, but he wishes I would do more bridge and less poker. Okay, Collins, this deal is bridge, and it's for you.

Take at look at all four hands. You are South, declarer in 5♦ doubled. How many do you expect to go down?

I played this deal on BBO. It looks like I had to lose two top spades. Both high diamonds are onside, so I planned to go to dummy and advance the ♦J and lose only one trump trick for down one, right?

Whoa, not so fast. West cashed two high spades, then led a third and East ruffed his partner's winner with the ♦8. Now I had to lose two diamond tricks. If he discards, I can play to only lose one.

There's lots of bad bridge online, but give East credit -- he made a nice play.

Where are we going and what's a handbasket?

2011-11-09T14:55:00.010-06:00

"Bowl projections: LSU will face of with Oklahoma State"

This was a headline in the online USA Today that I just saw. Face of, really? Things like this seem to be worse now that more writers are using the Internet. Perhaps they don't take the time to proofread.

Typos are rampant in printed media as well, and seem to be getting worse. The latest issue of Card Player, an excellent poker magazine, has a sub-headline that says the Commerce Casino "sits nicely minutes from downtown Los Angeles." It might be a nice drive, but I'm sure they mean 90 minutes.

The most recent Bluff magazine had a ton of typos, as well. Is it asking too much for a second person to take a look before sending to the printer?

Poker pearl #68

2011-11-08T06:43:00.001-06:00

Ante Up magazine has a section that I like titled "Call The Floor." Here's a situation described in the November issue:

At a monthly no-limit tournament, a few guys limped, the small blind (with K-K) raised five times the big blind. Everyone folded but the guy on the button. The flop came 10-6-3. The small blind bet and the button went all-in. After tanking for a few minutes, the small blind called.

The button said, "you got me," and didn't show his cards, though they were still in fron of him.

The small blind threw his cards into the muck face down.

The button said, "You mucked, I win."

The small blind said, "You conceded; I win," and turned over the K-K from the muck.

Who's right?

What do you think? I'll give the answer from the magazine after readers say in the comments section what they believe should happen.

UPDATE: I've given the "answer" from the magazine. See comments.

Event No. 1 is in the books

2011-11-06T19:50:00.003-06:00

Above: The Horseshoe Casino (Tunica) is the venue for the Magnolia State Poker Classic.

I finished 10th in Event #1 of the Magnolia State Poker Classic. Tenth out of 308 runners (some of whom were re-entrants) sounds good, but it was a let down.

Early on I called a raise with A-K. The flop was 8-high. How was I to know the villain had raised with A-8? Another 8 came on the turn and he moved all in. Boo on donk villains. I did manage to check top pair twice and let the same guy bet 60,000 into me on a bluff, so I got some of it back.

My bust-out hand was an ace that ran into a bigger ace. The blinds were 16,000/8000/3000 and a regular raise would have pot-committed me (I had around 125,000 chips), so I shoved. He thought forever and finally called.

Photo taken today with my P&S.

What are the odds?

2011-11-06T10:49:00.005-06:00

Above: The Magnolia State (Fall Classic) Poker Tournament is being held for the next 10 days at the Horseshoe Casino in Robinsonville (Tunica) MS.

The starting stack in the tournament I played yesterday was 15,000. I stayed at that level forever, it seemed -- I was keeping up with the blinds and antes, but that was about it.

When the blinds were 800/1600 with an ante I can't remember, I picked up ♠A ♥A and raised to 4100. Everyone folded and I showed. "Too bad, no action," "Unlucky," etc. were the comments.

On the very next hand, I again picked up ♠A ♥A. Not only two aces but the same two suits!

What are the odds of this. We all know that once out of 220 deals, you might get A-A, but I mean of the same suit? I'm bet that the Poker Grump could figure it out. Does anyone know?

What happened on the deal? Another short stack (similar to mine) re-raised all in with 9-9. I called, of course, and my hand held, putting me back in the game. Nothing jump-starts a blah game like pocket aces.

Photo taken earlier with my P&S.

Wish me luck tomorrow

2011-11-05T23:32:00.006-05:00

Above: Want to know what 216,000 in chips looks like? Check out the photo above. The gray ones are 5000 each and I had 40 of them. (Click to enlarge.)

I finished running my errands this morning and thought again about re-entering the tournament that I played in yesterday at the Horseshoe Casino. Because so many players had busted out yesterday, it seemed like there was an overlay -- similar to when an online poker site adds money to the prize pool, but this money added by the players themselves. Anyway, I talked myself into playing again, and I'm glad I did.

We played through the middle of level 14 (stopping at the exact point that the players from Friday (Day IA) did. Yesterday 20 (out of 132 entrants) made it to that point and today 28 did (out of 176). So, tomorrow at 2 p.m., they will combine the two fields and continue play. Of the 48 players left, only 36 will cash.

There are two monster stacks of more than 300,000 chips and a few in the 220,000 range. I have 216,000 and am guessing I'm around fifth or so. The players who barely cash will only win $241 or basically get their money back. First place, however, pays about $18,500, an amount worth shooting for.

Here's my major win for the day: The blinds were $3000/1500/500 and I raised to $7100 from under the gun. A guy called and the small blind peeked at his hole cards to see: ♠A ♣K. He just called. The flop was ♥A ♦K ♥6. He bet 5000 and I raised to 15,000. The other guy folded and it was back to the small blind. He didn't really give it much thought and moved all in. I called and showed ♠6 ♣6 for the flopped set. There were still two aces and two kings in the deck, but the board bricked out and I doubled up from about 110,000 to around 230,000. Life is sweet.

Photo taken by me with my iPhone.

Fun and games not so fun, after all

2011-11-04T22:55:00.007-05:00

Above: Cocktail waitresses at the Horseshoe Casino are using iPads to take drink orders. Very high tech. What's next? Robots to make the drinks?

I played in the poker tournament this afternoon and busted out around 60th (there were 132 runners). We started with 12K in chips, the beginning blinds were 25/25 with 40-minute levels -- a great structure. I was shocked, however, to see the big pots players were playing with marginal hands. They obviously didn't understand deep-stack poker. I guess because they could reenter tomorrow, they treated it like a rebuy tournament where anything goes.

My downfall was ♦A ♦K. I raised and only the small blind called. The flop was ♥K ♦10 ♦9. The small blind led out, I made a big raise and he moved all in! What would you do?

I still had 15 big blinds left and talked myself into folding (although mathematically it was right to call and hope for the best). The villain showed Q-J for the flopped straight, so my laydown was a good one, I suppose. I eventually ran 9-9 into jacks and was out the door.

I have some errands to run tomorrow, so may not play. What's the rush? There are two tournaments each day: a main tournament that starts at noon, and a secondary one in the evening at 7 p.m. I'll get to play plenty poker in the next 10 days.

Photo taken by MOJO with my P&S.

Fun and games

2011-11-04T11:16:00.003-05:00

Fun and games at the Horseshoe Casino for the next 10 days -- The Magnolia State Poker Tournament means poker, poker and more poker.

The first event is interesting. It has Friday as Day IA then Saturday as Day IB and the players who advance from each day combine on Sunday for the final. The prize pool is guaranteed to be $40,000 and there is a guaranteed seat to the Main Event at a tournament in January that is paid for by Horseshoe (i.e. does not come out of the prize pool). There's also a twist. If you play today and get knocked out, you can reenter tomorrow.

I notice there's a Senior Event on Thursday and the age is 40 or older. I need to check my driver's license, but I believe I qualify, so I'll be playing in that one as well as the one today (and maybe a few others).

Small ca$hes add up

2011-11-01T14:34:00.003-05:00

Came in third in a cheapo $5 tournament on Bodog. Every little bit helps the bankroll.

He had more faith than I

2011-10-30T12:03:00.003-05:00

Above: The St. Louis Cardinals win the MLB World Series.

Just read about an unnamed man who won $375,000 betting on two baseball outcomes. He wagered $250 that the St. Louis Cardinals would win the National League Pennant. Not content with this long shot, he also bet $250 that the Cards would win it all. Guess what, he was right?

The bet was made on Sept. 12 at the MGM in Las Vegas. At the time, the Cards were 999 to 1 to win the World Series.

You can read more if you click here.

Image copied from a Yahoo! news item.

Something new all the time

2011-10-29T22:52:00.010-05:00

Above: The Horseshoe Casino has a Starbucks where I like to go get a Caffe Americano during a poker tournament break.

Something unusual happened in the 4 p.m. tournament at the Horseshoe today. There were 71 runners who paid $160 to get their 10,000 in chips. Nothing unusual about that.

The blind structure was the usual one that the Horseshoe uses except that levels were 30 minutes where normally they are 20. You wouldn't think that extra 10 minutes at each level would matter very much. I used the Arnold Snyder formula and was surprised to see that it made a large difference.

When we were down to 12 players, two from the money, someone asked how much would we get if we chopped. I've seen chops when the field was at the final table, but I'm not sure I've seen a 12-way chop. The answer was $833, so everyone at our table agreed. The Tournament Director went to the other table and they agreed, too.

Now here's where it gets weird. A guy at our table changed his mind. He said he didn't want to chop. The TD said that after everyone agreed, he wasn't allowed to change his mind (news to me). Then the guy said he never agreed in the first place. This was a big fat lie. The TD asked the dealer and he said the guy had agreed. Then the other players at our table confirmed this.

If you were the TD, what would you do?

I think he did a sensible thing. He asked everyone to wait and he called somebody more experienced than he. When he came back, he said he'd been told that once a chop was agreed upon, there was no changing ones mind. If at least two people were witnesses that the guy had agreed to chop, then it was a chop.

I've never seen anything quite like that before.

At the time, I had 75,000 in chips which would have been an (arithmetic) average stack at the final table, so I was fine to play. First place was $3400 which would have been something nice to shoot for. On the other hand, $833 was about fourth-place money. When the blinds and antes get high, one lucky (or unlucky) deal can change everything, so a chop was okay, too.

Photo by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

The champs

2011-10-28T23:55:00.004-05:00

Above: Busch Stadium, a place of much excitement tonight.

Cards live to fight another day

2011-10-28T14:07:00.011-05:00

Above: Busch Stadium was rockin' last Thursday (for World Series game No. 2) when this photo was taken. It will be rocking again tonight.

The World Series has been awesome -- a little bit of everything. Albert Pujols hit three homeruns in one game, Derek Holland pitched a masterpiece and each team has made comebacks -- it's been exciting.

Last night's game was amazing. No it wasn't a well-played game. Hoyazo called it unbearable (see here). On the other hand, Very Josie wrote in her blog that it was incredible.

Unbearable or incredible, which one? The answer is easy: I agree with both of them. It wasn't well-played, but it was thrilling. Lucky Duck agrees with me.

Tonight is for all the marbles and either Rangers' or Cardinals' fans are going to be disappointed. I'm a die-hard Cardinals' fan, but no matter what happens, I think this is as good as it gets.

Photo by MOJO and taken with my Canon at 1/60 sec., ISO of 400 and F-stop not recorded.

Can't seal the deal

2011-10-26T14:18:00.005-05:00

Can't seem to close these things out.

At 10 a.m. CDT, there's a $12+$1 tournament that I like to play in each morning on Bodog. I get an espresso and settle in. Last week I had a fourth and a fifth. Yesterday I bubbled. Sounds good, but the money is in the top three places (there were 172 runners). First was $618 in this one, a big difference from what I actually won.

Today was typical. I had a good stack, but never a huge stack, then went card dead towards the end. For my bustout hand, it folded to me in the small blind and I moved in for 6 big blinds with Q-5 off. Big blind called with ace-rag. Brick city and I was history.

Time to mow the lawn.

Poker pearl #67

2011-10-25T13:11:00.002-05:00

"U.S. Alleges Full Tilt Poker is a Ponzi Scheme" was a common headline not long ago. See here for an example.

In the Oct. 24 issue of The Poker Player, columnist and expert on gaming law I. Nelson Rose disagrees. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Full Tilt was worried about the U.S. Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act, so it used money from players in other countries to pay off American winners. Even if true, this has nothing to do with a pyramid scheme. Rose says the DoJ used the Ponzi scheme phrase to bring attention to the situation -- hype, in other words. Nelson adds that Full Tilt actually ran a real business and made profits raking pots.

Even though Full Tilt wasn't a Ponzi scheme, Rose did have some choice words for the Full Tilt owners.

"Full Tilt's insiders were greedy and stupid. While the company was losing players, they continued to pay themselves tens of millions of dollars, including, allegedly, funds they had promised players would not be used for operating expenses. Insiders, including poker-pros Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson, allegedly took out $443 million in the last four years.

"Greedy and stupid, but not necessarily a crime...Not every company that loses customers' money through incompetence is guilty of a crime."

It seems to me that if you take money that you are supposed to pay to people, that's stealing, but what do I know?

You can read the full text of Rose's article if you click here.

Poker pearl #66

2011-10-24T02:48:00.001-05:00

Above: Phil Hellmuth is on the cover of the Sept. 21 issue of Card Player magazine.

Phil Helmuth was asked what he thinks the future is for online poker in the United States.

"Online poker is going to be licensed and regulated very soon.... If you look at what happened in Italy and France, you'll get a decent idea about what could happen here in the States. France and Italy legalized online poker and it exploded overnight by nearly 10 times the original number of players. I have no doubt that the same would happen here. If my prediction does come true, I think we'll see a WSOP main event field of 25,000 players."

Cards playing with house money

2011-10-21T23:52:00.007-05:00

Above: A super-fan poses for this shot one hour before the World Series game Thursday.

When I was a kid, the highlight of each summer was when Dad took me to St. Louis to see the Cardinals. Willie Mays was the best player in baseball, but my favorite was Stan Musial. He hit for average and for power, but I also liked him as a person. I remember reading that after a baseball game, he was smoking a cigar. There were photographers around. "Don't take any photos of me smoking," said Musial. "Don't forget the kids." He realized he was a role model and didn't want to set a bad example. He'll be 91 years old next month.

Going to a World Series game was on my bucket list, but I can scratch it off now. Thursday, I saw my first one and it was exciting. The Cards lost 2-1 when the Texas Rangers scored twice in the top of the ninth to pull out a squeaker. Besides being an exciting game, Stan Musial was there!

I'm disappointed they lost, but anything now is icing on the cake. Hardly anyone expected them to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. They were underdogs to the Milwaukee Brewers. They are underdogs (according to the oddsmakers) to Texas. Heck, they were lucky to even get in the playoffs. They got hot at the right time and a good Atlanta Braves team had to collapse.

Above: TV cameras were everywhere. Here they zoom in on players doing their pre-game stretching. Click to enlarge any of the images.

Above: The first pitch of the game was from Jaime Garcia to Ian Kinsler.

Above: The grounds crew kept the field in good shape.

Above: Albert Pujols is the face of the Cardinals' franchise, but is a free agent as soon as the World Series is over. Do you expect him to return or will one of the rich teams outbid St. Louis?

Above: David Ortiz was honored before the game as the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award. Boston fans, such as this one, remember that he hit 54 home runs in 2006, the year the Boston Red Sox won the World Series.

First photo taken by an usher. The others taken by me and with my Canon at F/4, 1/60 sec. and ISO 400.

Poker pearl #65

2011-10-20T08:51:00.002-05:00

Above: The October issue of Ante Up has an excellent article about something called decision fatigue.

In a recent post (see here), I referred to something I called tournament fatigue. Since then, I've found I was on to something, but it's more properly called decision fatigue. I didn't know what it was called, but I did see the behavior.

When people have to make many decisions, you could say they become overwhelmed. When they have to make decision after decision, something in their brain wears down and their ability to make quality decisions deteriorates.

According to a piece in The NY Times (see here), decision fatigue is different from ordinary physical fatigue. The more choices you have to make during a day, the harder it becomes for your brain and the brain looks for shortcuts. At poker (late in a tournament), I sometimes see players move all in when they know better. I also see players who go into fold mode -- they can't pull the trigger. Playing too passively is just as bad as playing too recklessly. Both are ways for the brain to shortcut the difficult decision-making process. It's like they are saying, "What the hell, I just don't care anymore."

Here's an excerpt from an Ante Up article (see link beneath image above) that cites studies by Roy Baumeister:

His studies show people with the best self-control are the ones who structure their lives to conserve willpower. They don’t schedule endless back-to-back meetings. They avoid temptations like all-you-can-eat buffets, and they establish habits that eliminate the mental effort of making choices. Instead of deciding every morning whether to force themselves to exercise, they set up regular appointments to work out with a friend. Instead of counting on willpower to remain robust all day, they conserve it so that it’s available for emergencies and important decisions.

Now that you're aware of this phenomenon, can you create tactics to conserve your willpower and avoid decision fatigue? Can you apply this to poker or bridge?

For another interesting The NY Times article titled "Why You Need To Sleep On It," click here.

Wikipedia has a section on this topic here.

Online pokering more fun when you ca$h

2011-10-19T14:20:00.007-05:00

I've started playing poker tournaments on Bodog. I've played before, so I guess I should say I've started again. This one was at 10 a.m. CDT that had a $12+$1 buyin with 191 runners.

I finished fifth in the one today and fourth in one yesterday (sorry, no screen shot, you'll have to take my word for it). Hey, retirement works for me.

Above was my busto hand. The big stack was aggressive and raised with A-8. I moved all in and he called! I'm not sure what he thought he could beat, I mean really. I guess the fool was a super-user and knew what was coming on the flop.

The Cardinals fly high

2011-10-17T01:54:00.005-05:00

The Cards are in the World Series! Admit it -- you didn't think they could do it, right?

It starts Wednesday in St. Louis. I couldn't go that day, but I scored a ticket for Game 2, Thursday.

If you click the image above, you might look for Section 233, Row 8, Seat 1. Not the greatest view, but you'll be watching on TV and I'll be at the game. Nuff said.

Above: Everyone knows the NY Yankees have won the most World Series. Did you know the Cards rank second? For a list of previous winners, check out Wikipedia here.

Photo by MOJO and taken last Wednesday with my Canon.

Local tournaments are fun when you win

2011-10-16T13:08:00.003-05:00

I realized yesterday (Saturday) I hadn't played live poker for more than one month. What's the advantage of living near the Tunica casinos if I don't take advantage, right?

The Gold Strike tournament had 56 runners and we started with 10K in chips. I was up early, then dribbled down to 6K. Two players limped for 800 and I moved in with ♦K ♦J. Both limpers called me! That can't be good news, but the flop had a jack and the river was a king. One of the limpers proudly turned over K-10, haha.

After that, I had a series of medium pocket pairs and bet them hard with continuation bets to build my stack. Then this: A guy with a big stack limped in. He normally came in for a raise, so I decided he didn't have much. I made a big reraise with ♦K ♦10 -- he called! The flop was 10-x-x and the limper moved in. I called and he turned over ♠J ♣10. My hand held and I was a big stack now.

Seven players got paid. When we got down to four of us, three had big stacks and one guy a small (but playable) stack. We did a chop where we got eight times the buyin and he got 5 times. Nicely done, MOJO, nicely done.

I saw a guy do this twice. A short stack moved all in and he held K-K. Instead of reraising, he just called. Because it didn't cost that much more, the big blind came along for the ride. The flop had an ace and the big blind won a nice pot with ace-rag. If the guy had reraised, he would have won a nice pot.

When we were down to two tables, again a shot stack moved all in and again the same guy had pocket kings. Again he just called so another player called and ended up winning the pot when the board came with four spades. The K-K guy didn't have a spade, but the other caller did. A reraise would have driven him out and allowed the K-K to win.

"I could have raised," the guy said, "but it's more important to knock somebody out."

Wrong. It's more important to build your stack, A-L-W-A-Y-S.

I saw one other huge error. When there were six of us left, a guy moved all in. Another guy with a similar stack called with ♠A ♣10. The first guy had a bigger ace and took out the A-10.

"I knew I shouldn't call, but I was tired of folding," he said.

I call this tournament fatigue. When the blinds and antes get so high, there is stress on every hand and you just want it to get over with, but you can't give in to those feelings. I'm more patient than most, but I find I have to fight that myself.

A little rain doesn't stop a Cardinal

2011-10-14T22:03:00.003-05:00

Above: Before the game in St. Louis Wednesday night, the rain clouds rolled in. The rain was more of a on-and-off drizzle.

The St. Louis Cardinals won Wednesday night by a 4-3 score. Apparently when I go there, I'm a good luck charm. They should bring me to all the games, no?

Do you think the Cards can make it to the World Series? They need to win one of the two remaining games. Maybe I'll have a chance to get some more photos, ya?

Above: The color guard participated in the national anthem before the game.

Above: Three of the best in the game: Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Albert Pujols. Pujols and Fielder will be free agents after the season is finished.

Above: St. Louis fans have fun: A Cardinal is abusing a Milwaukee Brewer.

They said it couldn't be done

2011-10-07T22:14:00.005-05:00

Above: Guess what this is.

Nobody gave St. Louis much of a chance to advance past the Philadelphia Phillies. Yes, the Phillies are considered the best team in baseball, but in a five-game series, anything can happen.

I heard Mike Shannon say (on the radio) that anyone who has not been to a playoff game in St. Louis doesn't know what they are missing.

Guess who will use the ticket (shown above) to go to the St. Louis Cardinals' first home game of the NLCS next Wednesday?

October means baseball playoffs

2011-10-05T10:51:00.011-05:00

Above: The iconic Gateway Arch overlooks Busch Stadium. This shot was taken before the St. Louis/Philadelphia baseball playoff game Tuesday. (Click once or twice to enlarge the photos.)

I traveled to St. Louis yesterday to watch a baseball playoff game. The place was full of energy. A sold-out crowd enjoyed an exciting game that the Philadelphia Phillies won 3-2.

It was disappointing to lose (if you are a Cardinal fan like me), but it was an exciting game and fans got their money's worth.

Above: Cole Hamels pitches to Albert Pujols as Ryan Howard looks on. The game started at 4 p.m. local time to accommodate television and there were horrible shadows. This helps the pitchers and the game was scoreless for the first six innings.

Above: The pre-game show included the famous Budweiser Clydesdales.

Above: The place was rockin'. At one point with the bases loaded, I got a text message from my buddy, Richard. "Is it loud there?" Heh, heh, very funny, Richard.

Above: The mascot and cheerleaders were on top of the Cardinals' dugout amid a sea of red.

Above: This guy actually thought the Cardinals could win. Getting old leads to delusions, I think.

Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon 40D.

Exciting finishes in baseball

2011-09-30T14:44:00.006-05:00

In the movie The Perfect Storm, a confluence of weather events combine to create a killer storm. It took just the right conditions.

Baseball was like that this year. On Sept. 6, the Atlanta Braves held an 8 1/2-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the Wild Card playoff spot. The Cardinals had to get hot, but also the Braves had to collapse.

Even in the last game of the season, the Braves had a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning. Their ace relief pitcher gave up the tying run and they lost in extra innings.

(Other teams had problems, too, see here.)

St. Louis will now play the best team in baseball: the Philadelphis Phillies. The first two games are in Philly, but game three will be next Tuesday in St. Louis. I've got a ticket and there will be photos.

All along the watchtower

2011-09-29T06:42:00.006-05:00

Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in 1740 to control the Matanzas inlet, the so-called back door to St. Augustine FL. The word fort is a misnomer. It's too small to be classified as a fort and is more properly called a watchtower. Seven men at a time were posted here. If an unknown ship was spotted, big cannons fired warning shots.

Fort Matanzas is located about 14 miles south of St. Augustine. It's on an island and visitors have to take a U.S. National Parks ferry to tour it.

You can read more about it if you click here.

Above: A U.S. Park Ranger stands next to one of five cannons.

Above: I wasn't the only tourist with a camera.

Above: Fort Matanzas offers a unique glimpse of a vanished style of military architecture and engineering.

Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon. Click on images to enlarge.

Elevate your game

2011-09-28T00:44:00.003-05:00

Accurate hand evaluation is the key to good bridge bidding. Milton Work developed the high-card point count which Charles Goren simplified then gave to the masses. For many years after that, methods of hand evaluation didn't change much.

Now top players are incorporating losing-trick count into their repertoire. LTC doesn't replace point count, but is an additional tool. Jennifer Jones, in her 28-page booklet titled Losing Trick Count, explains what this is and how to use it.

Jones gives examples from actual play. I love this. Many authors make up deals to illustrate whatever point they are making. I prefer real-life deals.

There have been other books on losing-trick count, but Jones takes it a step farther. She explains how to incorporate LTC with Bergen and constructive raises. Because many tournament players use Bergen raises, this is important.

Here's a hand from Jones' booklet that is instructive. You hold:
♠A 10 8 4 3 ♥10 9 6 2 ♦5 ♣K 9 7.

Your partner opens 1♥ and right-hand opponent overcalls 2♦. What would you bid?

Many players would see and ace and a king for 7 HCP and add 2 for the singleton and raise to 2♥.

As Jones' excellent booklet explains, this is an eight-loser hand, so you must invite such as by bidding 3♦. If you don't know how to calculate losers or what all this means, grab a copy -- you can thank me later.

You can order the book for only $10 (includes handling and shipping) in North America if you go here.

You can find out more about Jones' book if you click here.

===============================================

Jennifer Jones is a retired attorney and an ACBL Diamond Life Master. She lives in Santa Rosa CA.

Jones regularly attends North American Bridge Championships and has many high finishes. Several of the example deals in the book are from world championship play (World Bridge Series) held in Philadelphia last year.

Read her blog JennBridge here.

Our Spanish heritage in St. Augustine FL

2011-09-27T13:57:00.002-05:00

Above: Castillo de San Marcos as seen from Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine FL.

There's lots to see and do in St. Augustine FL, but the old fort, Castillo de San Marcos, is a must. Construction began in 1672 by the Spanish, about 100 years after St. Augustine was founded. Previously, a series of wooden forts didn't get the job done, so this masonry fort was built. It was used to help guard the city and the treasure ships that traveled up the Florida coast taking gold, silver and trade goods back to Spain.

Did you know? Castillo de San Marcos was built out of coquina, a Spanish word meaning small sea shells. The shells would bond together making a stone similar to limestone.

You can read what Wikipedia says about this historic place if you click here.

Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon 40D.

Poker pearl #64

2011-09-26T11:24:00.006-05:00

Above: The book Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em by Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta and Matt Flynn is a terrific read. They had a special sale two weeks ago offering it for $10 (Plus shipping) and I snapped it up.

In the book shown above, the authors describe a situation in which you have ♥
K ♠K and raise to $7 preflop in an online $1/2 NL hold'em game -- both blinds call.

The flop is ♠8 ♣8 ♥3. The small blind bets $12 and the big blind folds and you call.

The turn is the ♥8 and the small blind bets $20 and you call again. The river is the ♥Q and the small blind checks. What should you do?

The authors suggest betting the pot -- $85. In their scenario, the small blind calls and shows ♦6 ♠6. Pocket kings are good.

"When you have an overpair on a paired dry flop with no straight or flush draws, you are in a classic way ahead or way behind situation. Either your opponent has trips or a full house . . . or you have him crushed.

"In way ahead or way behind situations, you should often dial your aggression way down and make small bets or allow your opponent to control the betting. If you are way behind, then you'll be happy you didn't put in extra action. And if you are way ahead, then you don't want to give your opponent an easy fold."

Miller's web site is here.

2011-09-22T01:08:00.001-05:00

Above: The Charleston SC harbor.

My niece was married last weekend in Florida, so I decided to drive and make a vacation out of the trip. I lived in Raleigh NC for 21 years, so visited there first, then drove to Charleston SC.

There, I took a GrayLine bus tour and it was okay, but what I really wanted to see was Fort Sumter. Even if you hated history in school, you probably know that when Confederate artillery opened fire on this installation in 1861, the American Civil War had begun.

Fort Sumter's located in the Charleston harbor on a man-made island. (Seventy thousand tons of granite were shipped from New England to build it.) It was originally constructed to help guard the Atlantic coast after the War of 1812 with Great Britain. The structure is five-sided and made of brick.

I traveled from Charleston to Saint Augustine FL, founded by the Spanish in 1565. There are forts there, too, and I'll blog about that later this week.

Above: Fort Sumter seen from the ferry.

Above: The place is a fort and forts have cannons.

Above: This shot shows the left-half (looking towards Charleston) part of the fort. The bricks you see on the left are what's left of where the enlisted men were quartered.

Above: I hear they give discounts to seniors such as the old guy in this shot.

Images by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

Short attention span? No problem, play a speedball mini

2011-09-21T21:09:00.005-05:00

I like playing the speedball mini-tournaments on BBO. They go quick (12 boards, a good number) and you don't have to worry about getting opponents. Yes, the players are mostly terrible, but isn't that true in most fields? Part of the skill is how much you can beat them up.

I enjoyed the scorecard shown above (from tonight's 9 p.m. ACBL speedball tournament). I was wired and played with Kateb135. We had all plus scores except one board the last round. That works.

Poker pearl #63

2011-09-06T13:32:00.006-05:00

Above: Andy Frankenberger is shown on the cover of the Sept. 7 issue of Card Player magazine.

Andy Frankenberger, former Wall Street trader, decided to take off a year and see if he could make it playing poker. The results have been terrific: a WSOP bracelet and a World Poker Tour win. Here's what he says:

"Some people will refer to me in casual conversations as a gambler, and I stop them and say, 'I am not a gambler. I am a poker player.' Anyone who thinks poker is happenstance probably doesn't have a good frasp for the game. Luck can win you a hand -- or even, if you are extremely fortunate, a tournament -- but another tournament? No way. Evaluating the chance in any given hand is a skill, and it is a skill I learned well as a (equity derivatives) trader."

Odds and ends:
I love the Card Player magazine -- it's the best of many. Having said that, I've noticed that it's getting thinner and thinner. I'm guessing it has fewer ads, fallout from Black Friday. Fewer ads means cost cutting, so fewer articles as well.

My check from ~~frigging~~ Cake Poker bounced. That was bad enough, but my bank charged me a $17.50 fee for this. They really suck. I mean really, really suck.

My check from Bodog didn't bounce, so it looks like that site is a place to play. I play mostly $4 sit and goes when I'm killing time.

Crash and bastin like Poker Academy. Poker Grrl got her start there, too. I tried it, but find playing for something, even small stakes, to be more interesting. Part of the fun at PA would be if I knew the players -- there's a social part to poker. I go there and feel lost, so I'm thinking I'll stick to Bodog.

Take me out to the ballgame

2011-09-02T22:57:00.003-05:00

Above: Autozone Park is the home of the Memphis Redbirds.

It's not summer without baseball, right? Thursday night I visited Autozone Park in downtown Memphis to see the Redbirds play the Albuquerque Isotopes, Los Angeles Dodgers' AAA farm club.

Yes, there were fast balls and stolen bases. Yes, there were hot dogs and tons of other good food. Hot dogs always taste better at a ball game.

Above: A young fan follows Rockey, the mascot, around the basepaths.

Above: A Redbird slugger takes a whack at a fastball.

Above: In the middle of the seventh inning, fans stood and sang "Take Me Out To the Ball Game."

Some days M&Ms melt in your hand

2011-08-30T18:44:00.007-05:00

Above: Some of the 220 runners in Event No. 4 (the Seniors) at the Gulf Coast Poker Championships.

Things didn't go very well for me in Monday's poker event. The second level (blinds 50/100) a player raised to 300 and two called to me on the button. I had ♥J ♦10 and also called. The flop was 10-X-X and the original raiser made a CB of 800. The other two folded and I called. The turn was great: ♣J!

The villain bet 1200 and I called. He seemed confident, but I had a little surprise for him. The river was a rag that couldn't have helped either of us and he bet 3000! I shrugged and (cautiously) only called. He turned over ♣10 ♠10 for a flopped top set.

It was unfortunate that not only did he have a strong hand, but the turn hit me. Thinking about it later, I wondered if I should have raised the turn. Even so, I'll still end up losing about half my stack.

My ex-wife plays poker, and when I discussed it with her later, she thought I made a loose call pre-flop. Do you agree with her? I was on the button and we were deep-stacked, so I thought it was a normal call, but maybe not.

I built my stack back up, but several other unfortunate hands left me short-stacked during level 6 and I shoved with 7-7 and got a call from a big stack with ♠J ♠9 and he hit a 9 to take me out.

Geezers: They wore headphones, sun glasses and ballcaps, just like the young guns. I did think they were a friendly bunch -- lots of joking around and having fun. One guy spotted a Tournament Director who was female.

"Massage lady, over her," he called out jokingly.

"F**K you," she mouthed. Apparently they knew each other and she was smiling.

"Yes, that works!" he exclaimed. "My day is getting better and better!"

There were vendors including a crew, shown above, who took photos for the players to purchase.

Above: I believe I read that the Beau Rivage (they call it "The Beau") was originally a Wynn property. No wonder it's so gorgeous.

They sold sun glasses and the guy above is trying on a $100 pair. Maybe if I had won, I would have splurged and bought a pair? Nah, probably not.

One down, one to go

2011-08-29T02:29:00.003-05:00

Above: The beautiful Beau Rivage is the venue for the Gulf Coast Poker Championships.

There were 308 runners in Sunday's No Limit Hold'em Tournament here in Biloxi MS located on the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty-seven of the 308 cashed and I finished 15th -- you always hope to win, but I did outlast 293 of them.

It's nearly 3 a.m., so this will be short.

When we were down to three tables, a young guy with 40 tattoos had 400K chips where most players had about 100K. Another guy limped in for 8,000, I called from the button with ♦10 ♦8. This big stack guy was in the big blind and he raised to 40K. This is a huge overbet, so it's obvious the guy smelled weakness and was being a bully. Would you call? (I had about 80K at the time.)

Before I had a chance to decide, the limper (another young gun) reraised all in for about another 40K. I folded. The big stack in the big blind turned over ♥8 ♥6! And, he wasn't afraid to call the all in (who had ♠K ♠Q and won the pot). I know it's good to be aggressive, but these young guys are fearless.

My bustout hand? I had ♠A ♠J and ran into big slick.

Tomorrow is another event starting at noon -- a seniors No Limit hold'em with a $230 buyin. Maybe I'll do better against the geezers.

Above: This is an image of the shot clock when the bubble burst.

Poker at the beach

2011-08-27T06:47:00.001-05:00

I'm headed to Biloxi on the Gulf of Mexico for four days. I love seafood, walking along the beach, and, oh by the way, there's the Gulf Coast Poker Championship going on. A little mini-vacation, why not?

I'll try and get some photos. If I do any good at the table, I'll report that, too.

The Memphis Beat

2011-08-26T01:06:00.004-05:00

Above: Just one block off Beale Street in Memphis, the Rock 'n' Soul Museum is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate. Admission is $11 and includes a movie.

According to the Smithsonian Institution: "In the quest to identify the roots of America's music, all roads lead to Memphis."

I spent Thursday afternoon at the Rock 'n' Soul Museum. The list of artists who recorded in Memphis is long. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis are some of the white artists. They were signed by and recorded at Sun Records.

The list of African-Americans is even longer. Stax Records (originally called Satellite Records) signed or recorded: Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Wilson Picket, and Carla and Rufus Thomas. Booker T and the MGs, B.B King, Isaac Hayes (think the movie Shaft), Al Green, The Staple Singers, the Bar-Kays and many, many more were Stax products. The company strongly competed against Motown Records.

Did you know:
Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, but never recorded at Stax.

You can read what Wikipedia says about Stax, if you click here.

Above: Visitors enjoy the exhibits at the Rock 'n' Soul Museum.

Above: Mark James wrote "Suspicious Minds" on this organ. He recorded it in 1968, then gave Elvis Presley a copy in 1969. It went on to be one of Presley's biggest hits.

Above: Showy costumes were part of the act and Stax performers liked to do it in style.

Images by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

One down - Cake Poker delivers

2011-08-25T15:21:00.006-05:00

This small check arrived by UPS today -- quite fast, actually. Fast, that is, from when they said they were sending it. Not so fast from when I originally asked for it (last May).

I wonder why Cake didn't just say "We're trying to find a way to pay you, but we will pay you," instead of the other rigamarole that each e-mail said.

Poker site withdrawal updates

2011-08-23T13:03:00.003-05:00

I asked Bodog for a cashout of part of my money. Here is their reply (which sounds good, but your check is in the mail is sometimes a big fat lie):
=============================

RE: Payout Reference Number 3460070

Thank you for your recent payout request dated Mon, Aug 22, 2011 for the amount of US$ 800.00.

Your payout has been processed for the approved amount of US$ 800.00. Please note that it may take an average of 7 business days before you receive your payment.

Sincerely,
Bodog Payouts Team
=============================

I haven't received anything from Cake Poker. I originally requested a cashout in late May, and have followed with an e-mail about once each month. Below is their latest reply to me. It sounds encouraging, but I'll believe it when I see it.
===============================

Hello David,
Thank you for your email. Please note that your cashout will be completed shortly. As soon as it has been completed we will email you to confirm it for you.
Kind Regards
Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

Bodog, the only game in town

2011-08-21T20:46:00.004-05:00

(Click to enlarge.)

This was a good return on a $15 + 1.50 investment.

A new Yogi Berra

2011-08-21T14:45:00.005-05:00

Above: Ralph Kiner is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He led the National League in home runs for six consecutive years.

Now that I've retired, I spend more time watching TV. I'm picky, however, and don't watch just anything. I purchased a Blu-Ray with WiFi. The latest ones have apps already loaded, so you can use your flipper to watch NetFlix movies, for example. They stream over the Internet directly to the Blu-Ray gizmo (my house has WiFi) which is connected to my TV. (I bought this one that CNet recommended.)

One of the things I've signed up for is MLB.tv. For $60 I can watch almost any major league baseball game for one year. (The exception is any game that is televised nationally such as the Fox game of the week.) For a baseball fan, this is heaven. Yes, it comes in high-def.

While watching the NY Mets, I noticed they have Ralph Kiner as an announcer. Huh? He's now 88 years old, but before you dismiss him, I can assure you he has lots of interesting things to say, especially about hitting.

Kiner, however, is known for his malapropisms. Yogi Berra doesn't have too much on him. These are a few of the ones I like:

"If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave."

"On Fathers Day, we again wish you all happy birthday."

"The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning."

"Tony Gwynn was named player of the year for April."

"All of his saves have come in relief appearances"

Kiner's official web site is here. You can read what Wikipedia says about him if you click here.

Image copied from the Internet.

Withering on the vine

2011-08-20T09:17:00.004-05:00

Playing in a mini-tournament (12 boards) on the Internet at BridgeBase Online, it goes Pass Pass 2♥ and you hold:
♠Q 8 7 ♥A Q J 4 ♦K 4 ♣K Q J 8.

You overcall 2NT. The opponents are now silent. Partner bids 3♠. What is that?

You bid 3NT, all pass, West leads the ♠6, and these are the combined hands:

Your right-hand opponent plays the ♠J and you win the queen. To have any chance, you must win some diamond tricks, so you cash the ♦K and it goes low low queen! Well, four diamonds is a start at least, so you lead your ♦4 to the ♦9 and RHO wins the ♦10! Your good diamonds are now stranded!

Here are all four hands.

The opponents take one diamond, four spades, one club and still get a heart in the end for down three and 9.18 IMPs for East-West (Kate and me).

After the deal is over, partner tells you he was trying to transfer to diamonds with his 3♠ bid. Playing online with different partners is always dicey, isn't it?

You can see all the results for this board here.

Two for the price of one

2011-08-19T14:07:00.004-05:00

There are various themes in bridge that one sees over and over. Newspapers columns take a theme and make an article out of it. Playing online bridge today at BBO, I was pleased to find two themes in one deal.

In a robot individual, on Board No. 8 I held:
♠Q ♥A J 10 9 2 ♦A K 2 ♣A Q 7 2.

My robot partner opened 1♣ and right-hand opponent overcalled 2♠. I bid 3♥ and partner raised to 4♥. What now?

I tried 6♣ and partner corrected back to 6♥. West led the ♠4.

I won the ace and crossed to my hand with the ♦A to advance the ♥J. Why did I play this way? It's the percentage play to finesse West for the queen of trumps, so why not take out some insurance against a 4-1 break. A low heart in the East hand is four times as likely as the singleton ♥Q.

The jack held, so I led the ♥10 and both robots followed. Now instead of drawing the last trump, I played three rounds of clubs. If they split 3-3, then I would make seven (it was matchpoints). If West ruffs the second or third round, then I still make six (ruffing my club loser in dummy) and that was the max on the deal anyway.

The payoff is when West has the third trump and four clubs, as above. I didn't think too much about it and was surprised to see I got a complete top on the board.

You can see what all 39 players did if you click here.

I can't wait for 2009

2011-08-11T15:02:00.006-05:00

Above: An ad in the August 15 issue of Poker Player newspaper. Click to enlarge.

If you take a look at the ad shown above, you might notice something.

"New for 2008!" says the headline. Oh really? Proofreading must be a lost art or maybe I'm missing something.

You won't see this very often

2011-08-10T22:12:00.007-05:00

I played in the Wednesday night poker tournament at the Horseshoe tonight and saw something I've never seen before.

When play started, there were only five players at our table. Newcomers can buy in for the first two levels, so they put out stacks in all 10 seats. The stacks with no players post a blind at their turn, just like the live players.

In one hand, the small blind and big blind were stacks with no players. It folded to the button who mucked his hand! He forget that all he had to do was bet the minimum to pick up both blinds.

The dealer shrugged her shoulders and picked up both blinds and put it in the stack of the big blind. I play a lot of tournaments, but that was one I haven't seen before.

What would you do with this hand? The blinds were 300/600 with a 50 ante. I was on the button with ♥10 ♦10. It folded to the guy two to my right who opened for 1200 and the guy on my immediate right called.

I decided to raise to 6000. Most of the time, you will pick up a nice little pot. Also, pocket 10s are awkward to play if overcards come, so winning right now would be a good outcome.

The first guy folded, but the other called. The flop was ♦Q ♥7 ♣5. The villain immediately bet 15,000! What is going on?

From the preflop betting, K-Q is in his range. But then, wouldn't he check to me before springing his trap. He could have A-K (which I beat), but, again, the preflop betting would have gone differently. Why did he overbet the pot? Nothing added up, I decided he was full of it, and moved all in for 22,000.

The guy got this sick look on his face, counted his chips and hemmed and hawed. Everyone was looking at him as if to say, "What is going on?" He only needed to call 7,000 more to win this huge pot. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and called.

His cards were ♣A ♠J. Yes! He figured the queen didn't hit me and was making a stab at it. That's the good news, but the bad news is that an ace came on the river, and I was out of there.

Sometimes you get knocked out of a tournament and fee awful. This time, I didn't mind, actually. I made a good read, I stuck to my read, but was unlucky. Sometimes poker is like that.

Poker pearl #62

2011-08-10T03:37:00.000-05:00

Above: Phil Helmuth writes a column in each issue of Card Player magazine.

In his latest poker column, Phil Helmuth describes a hand where he had a set of 8s, but his opponent had a straight.

"The reason I didn't raise on the river was that I noticed that my opponent had his hands formed in the shape of a steeple.

"According to Navarro, the steeple is a sure sign of strength at the poker table.

"Had I paid closer attention, or just slowed down for an extra 20 seconds before making my bet, I might have saved myself at least 100,000."

What's wrong with this picture?

Does Helmuth think he's the only one who has read (the Navarro book) Read 'Em and Reap? It sounds like if I ever play against Helmuth, he will believe my reverse tells. Bluffing? No problem, bet big, steeple your hands and rake in his chips.

Poker pearl #61 and my 900th post

2011-08-09T00:14:00.003-05:00

Above: The August 10 version of Card Player magazine has Brian Rast on the cover. He won the $50K Player's Championship at the WSOP this summer. He also won a bracelet in a $1,500 pot-limit hold'em event.

In an interview, Rast says:

There's a reason why people like tournaments. They're exciting, and there's an opportunity to make a big, life-changing score, but they are also extremely volatile, and variance has a way of picking on some people. Until this summer, I had to force myself into believing that my time was coming after so many near misses.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

On May 13, 2008, I started my blog and made my first post. I had been checking out other blogs and read that Smokee had started a series of free poker tournaments for bloggers. Being ~~a cheapskate~~ frugal, the word "free" got my attention.

I had been thinking about blogging anyway and the chance to play in a tournament with other bloggers was too tempting. I didn't know how to sign up, but Katitude helped by sending Smokee an e-mail and that was 900 posts ago. Thanks to all of you who come here.

Cake Poker sucks, too

2011-08-07T22:13:00.002-05:00

It's been longer than two months and I still haven't received my cash-out from Cake Poker. If they aren't going to send it, I wish they would just ~~cut the shit~~ say so.

I wrote (August 3) and asked what was going on and when could I expect to get my money. Here is their reply:

Hello David,

Thank you for your emaiI. I understand your position, and we would like to apologize for the delay and the inconveniences caused once more. Please rest assured that we are working hard to have the situation rectified and your cash out processed as soon as possible.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Kind Regards

Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

Timing is everything

2011-08-02T21:40:00.005-05:00

Kate and I bid to 5♣ doubled on the auction shown above (hands rotated). (If you don't see the auction, click 'next' and it will appear.)

West led a low spade, won in dummy. What now?

I played a high club and a high heart, then led a second club, taken with my king. Next I advanced the ♥8 and West was stuck. If he ruffs, he's ruffing a loser with his master trump, so he discarded.

I was able to ruff a heart and had the entries to ruff a second heart before returning to dummy for a diamond discard on the good hearts (a spade ruff and the ♦K).

After the game, I put this in Deep Finesse and was pleased to see that I had to play a high heart at trick two or trick three to make the contract. Do you see why the timing needs to be this way?

We won 12.85 IMPs for plus 750. You can see all the results on OKbridge, if you click here.

Toronto NABC in last day

2011-07-31T02:03:00.002-05:00

Cindy (Bernstein) and I bid slam on this (low cards approximate) in the second match of the first qualifying session (Saturday) of the Roth Open Swiss Teams:


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


   West   North   East   South
                         1♥
   Dbl   2NT     Pass    4♥
   Pass  5♥     Pass    6♥
   All Pass

The 2NT bid by Cindy was a limit raise or better. When I showed more than a minimum (4♥), she raised to five, asking about trumps. I was happy to bid slam.

Notice that we could make it even if I had two low clubs instead of K-2. Cindy told me later that she reasoned it might be (at worst) on a diamond finesse which rated to be on.

This was an 11 IMP pickup as the players at the other table didn't bid slam.

Daily Bulletin for Sunday will be available here.

Downtown Toronto is very cool

2011-07-30T16:25:00.012-05:00

I think I need to add something to my bucket list: rent an apartment and live in Toronto for a summer. Why not? Same language, same culture (more of less), although different money -- they use Monopoly money, lol, just kidding although it does look funny because I'm not used to it -- picture of the Queen, people I don't know and all that.

Canadians are more practical than Americans. They have coins for $1 and $2 and they use metric. Americans are too lazy to switch.

Canadians are fairly laid back. If the traffic light says "wait," well, pedestrians wait. Americans seem to always be in a hurry.

I'm playing in the Roth Open Swiss Teams, but we have a six-bagger, so I sat out rounds three and four of today's qualifying and walked around. Here are some images I captured (click to enlarge).

Above: The Eaton Centre is one of the largest malls in the world. It's located on Queen and Yonge Streets in Toronto.

Above: Cultures is one of the many eating places in Eaton Centre. It obviously has a colorful decor.

Above: Chalk Chick, as she calls herself, draws on the sidewalk and works for tips.

Above: The new City Hall is very futuristic looking, even though it was built in the Sixties. The curves remind me of the Wynn/Encore in Las Vegas.

Above: The Sheraton Centre Toronto has two towers. This is the one on Queen Street West.

Images by MOJO and taken with my point and shoot.

Mixed team event in the books

2011-07-29T23:19:00.003-05:00

Above: The Sheraton Centre Toronto (as seen from the CN Tower) is one of the playing sites for the North American Bridge Championship. Click to enlarge.

My squad came in third place in the Mixed Board-a-Match Teams. I played with Cindy Bernstein and our teammates were Sally Wheeler and Buddy Hanby. We were more than three boards out of first, but less than one-half a point out of second.

You can read about it in the Daily Bulletin here later on tonight.

It was a pleasure to meet bloggers Jennifer Jones and Bob Klein. You can read their blog Jenn Bridge if you click here. Jennifer has a great booklet on losing trick count. If you're interested in elevating your game using this tool, check out how to get one from her at the web site.

The next two days will be the Roth Swiss Teams. I have the same group, but we've added Danny and JoAnn Sprung to make a six-bagger.

Image by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

Toronto NABC at half-way point

2011-07-27T10:35:00.007-05:00

Above: The CN Tower in Toronto is an icon. It's seen here from just outside the Royal York Hotel, one of the two playing sites for the Summer North American Bridge Championships.

I'm happy to congratulate my friends and partners Richard and Mary Oshlag who won the Truscott Senior Swiss Teams yesterday. You can read about it in the Daily Bulletin if you click here.

John Schwartz and I qualified for today's final in the Wernher Open Pairs. We had a below-average game in the afternoon, but came back in the evening to make the final.

John held this collection on board No. 9 in the second session:
♠10 8 4 ♥10 9 6 5 3 2 ♦Q 7 ♣9 8.

I opened 1♠ Pass Pass and John's left-hand opponent bid 2♦. Partner doubled and your RHO redoubled, and you?

John jumped to 3♥, a great bid in my opinion. His hand is worth something in hearts. In spades, not so much.

The opponents continued on to 5♦ and I bid 5♥. This was doubled, but made for plus 650 and 23.5 matchpoints out of 25.

Here are all four hands:


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

Above: More faces and places -- Paul Gipson ponders his play in the Spingold Knockout Teams.

Images by MOJO.

Faces in a crowd

2011-07-25T22:54:00.008-05:00

All these people were playing in the Spingold KO Teams yesterday. How many of them do you recognize? (Answers at bottom)

1. Boye Brogeland - Norway
2. Rose Meltzer - U.S.A.
3. Aleksander Dubinin - Russia
4. Marshall Miles - U.S.A.
5. Bjorn Fallenious - Sweden/N.Y.C.
6. Tadashi Yoshida - Secretary General (CEO) of the Japanese Bridge League

Somebody has lost their mind

2011-07-25T10:58:00.004-05:00

Above: The Tour Desk in the lobby of the Sheraton Centre Toronto is a popular place.

In the second qualifying session of the Life Master Pairs, you hold:
♠A 10 7 6 4 ♥K Q 7 5 ♦10 4 ♣A 7.

You open 1♠, pass and partner bids 1NT. Your right-hand opponent overcalls 2♦ and you rebid 2♥. Your left-hand opponent raises to 3♦ and it's passed out there.

You lead the ♣A (I prefer the ♥K) and you see dummy:


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

Partner plays the ♠9 on your lead, then realizes you led a club, not a spade, and corrects to a low club. The ♠9 is a penalty card and when the director comes, she tells declarer (me) his options and he asks for a spade lead. You play the ♠A, partner plays the ♠9 and declarer the ♠Q. Partner or declarer is out of spades. Who?

If declarer started with ♠Q 3, he intentionally opened himself up to a ruff. If partner had the ♠9 3, she should have played the 3 the second time (she was already known to hold the 9) to clear things up for you. Someone has done something irrational.

Declarer decided to trust his partner, always an adventure, and continued with a low spade. I put in the ♠8 and discarded a heart.

Here are all four hands (rotated):


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

I made four for plus 130 and 22 matchpoints on a 25 top.

What do you think of the 2♦ overcall? I used not to make two-level overcalls on bad hands. In this case, partner will often be on lead. You've got to help partner, bid that good suit.

Deep finesse says the opponents can make 5♣, and, in fact, can make 5♥. Your 2♦ bid and North's raise blew them out of the water.

Updates: Our team won the Bracket 1 Knockout. In the final match we were down 9 IMPs at the half, but rallied to win a squeeker by 7. You can read the results in the Daily Bulletin if you click here.

I've had nice visits with two bloggers: Linda Lee of Toronto and Masterpoint Press and Michael Yuen of Vancouver BC. I'm still looking for Glen Ashton, another blogger who lives in a Ottawa suburb and Ray Lee.

I plan to take today off and do tourist things. The have a step-on/step-off bus tour of the city that has an add-on of a harbour boat trip to the islands. On the islands, I plan to rent a bike and get some exercise. It was raining earlier (boo), but has cleared up, so the day's plans look like a go. Have camera, will travel.

Photo by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

Survive and advance

2011-07-24T10:02:00.008-05:00

Above: The Sheraton Centre Toronto has this terrific view from its lobby. The Sheraton (along with the Royal York) is one of the two venues for the North American Bridge Championship.

Our team is in the top bracket of the Knockouts and we won both matches yesterday. The second match was against a Scottish team captained by bridge blogger Paul Gipson. He has a very worthwhile blog and you can read it if you click here.

The match against the Scots was hard-fought. Do you think this is a good slam (hands rotated and low cards are approximate)?


                  ♠ K 9

                  ♥ A 9 7 5 2

                  ♦ J 4 3

                  ♣ K J 6

==

                  ♠ A 10 4 3

                  ♥ K Q J 4 3

                  ♦ 2

                  ♣ A 3 2


          North (MOJO)   South (Rich)

                         1♥

          2NT            3♦

          3♥            3♠

          4♣            5♣

          6♥            Pass

The opening lead was the ♦A. Rich ruffed the diamond continuation, drew trumps in two rounds and played ♠K, ♠A and ruffed a spade. When the ♠Q J x ruffed out, the ♠10 was his 12th trick and 11 IMPs for our side.

If nothing good had happened in spades, Rich could finesse the club. Also, If his left-hand opponent held the spade guard, he might have some kind of a squeeze where he could drop a doubleton ♣Q offside. Not likely, I'm just sayin'.

There are four teams left and this afternoon we play another blogger! We drew Jeff Miller and his team.

Image by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

First day hot, but not so hot

2011-07-23T10:56:00.005-05:00

Above: Free WiFi in the lobby of the Sheraton Centre Toronto is a big attraction.

The weather in Toronto has been record highs. The bridge for me was not so hot, however.

Rich Rothwarth and I had 52% and 47% games yesterday in the qualifying of the Life Master Pairs, and that won't get the job done. Several bad decisions and several fixes -- not a good combination.

We're heading to the Knockout Teams today. There's good news and bad news. The bad news is we had to pick up a team. The good news is that it's John Diamond and Brian Platnick. We could do worse.

O Canada

2011-07-19T15:57:00.004-05:00

The ACBL has three major tournaments each year called North American Bridge Championships (NABC). The summer one is the biggest.

This year the NABC is being held in Toronto, one of my favorite cities. I'm leaving tomorrow to go play. You can follow the results in the Daily Bulletins which will be posted online here.

Image of Toronto taken from the ACBL web site.

Did you notice this?

2011-07-16T19:58:00.005-05:00

There have been 50-some bracelets awarded at this year's WSOP. Did you see the winner of Event #12, Triple Chance No Limit Holdem? Some guy named David Diaz? David Diaz? Huh? Besides the great first name (David), who is he?

David is a guy whom I play against in local tournaments. He and his family, immigrants from Honduras, came to Memphis when he was four-years old. One of the great things about Memphis is that it has excellent health care. The University of Tennessee Medical School is located here. St. Jude Children's Hospital is also here. David had cancer and says that it saved his life.

Some young guys are full of themselves -- that's a turnoff to me. David's not that way. He's just a regular guy and nice as he can be and I'm very happy for him.

You can see an interview with Diaz on Poker News here -- notice the blue Memphis University Tiger tee shirt. Also notice he has only one arm. I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing that the arm was a victim to his cancer.

You can also see an interview on YouTube here.

Image taken from the WSOP news site. You can see it here.

A dealer earns her tokes

2011-07-11T12:18:00.005-05:00

Dealers have a thankless job. "Blinds and antes, please," is heard about 50,000 times during one tournament. Players are clueless and some have to be reminded twice. I get tired of hearing it, and I know the dealers get tired of having to nag self-absorbed players.

Yesterday, a dealer potentially saved my butt. With the blinds 5000/10,000 and 500 antes, I held ♦J ♥J and raised to 25,000. A guy two to my left was a short-stack and moved all in. Another guy thought for a while and folded. When it got back to me, I started to turn my cards over.

Do you see what's wrong?

The dealer said, "Wait," in an urgent tone of voice. I looked up and she asked, "Do you call?"

Sure enough, the other guy had 3000 more than my bet, and, even though it was obvious, I had to officially say call.

The other guy turned over ♠A ♣J.

"I folded Ace-Jack," said the guy who thought about calling. "There's no more jacks coming." (Calling a raise and an all-in with A-J is suicide, but that's casino poker for you.)

That was also good news for me -- only two aces left in the deck. My hand held up and I won a nice pot.

"If you turned your hand over without saying 'call', he could claim you were folding face up," the dealer pointed out.

She was right, of course. I don't usually make errors like that. I don't know what the tournament director would rule, but the dealer (her name is Vanessa) acted quickly to avoid a sticky situation.

When I left my tip after cashing, I felt good about it.

Photo of Horseshoe Casino by MOJO and taken with my P&S.

Today is another day

2011-07-10T19:20:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I went deep in the poker tournament, then had a hiccup to finish out of the money. At the end of my post, I said tomorrow's another day -- and it is/was!

I played today in the 2 p.m. tournament at the Horseshoe Casino (Tunica). The entry was $110 and 49 runners sat down to 20,000 in chips. Early on, I was card dead, but then the cards started coming. I had A-A twice and K-K twice and got big action all four times.

At the final table, there were 980,000 chips in play. When there were eight left, I had 320,000 and the other seven had 80,000 to 100,000 range. Several times a player suggested a chop (divide the prize money) of the $4,050 prize pool. I kept saying let's play for a while. Finally one of them said, let's give the big stack $1,000 and divide the rest ($440 each). That was good for me, so we did.

I wish I could write about how awesome I played, but actually I stayed out of trouble and didn't have anything bad happen. And, oh yes, I had good cards. Hard to beat good cards.

Photo of the Horseshoe taken by MOJO with my P&S.

Aces vs. aces vs. MOJO

2011-07-09T22:34:00.004-05:00

Above: The shot clock at the tournament today after five hours play.

One hundred and eleven runners paid $160 to play in the Saturday poker tournament at the Horseshoe Casino. I busted out in twenty-second place. My downfall was calling a three-times the big blind raise (12,000) with ♥Q ♥J. A guy behind me moved all in for another 18,000 and the original raiser called. It would cost me 18,000 to win a 101,000 pot (there were 6,000 in blinds and 5000 in antes), so I called. The original raised turned over ♥A ♦A. The all-in guy showed ♠A ♣A!

The flop had a jack and the turn had a queen -- I'm ahead! But the river put a fourth spade on the board giving the all-in guy a flush.

I started the hand with 35,000 in chips where the average stack was 55,000. Should I have called. I think I shouldn't have called the original 12,000 bet, but once I did, the pot was too big to give it up. If I got lucky, that would have given me the chips I needed to win the tournament.

Tomorrow's another day.

Photo by MOJO with my P&S.

Poker pearl #60

2011-07-07T00:46:00.009-05:00

Jake Cody (see above from Card Player magazine) won the $25,000 Heads-up WSOP Championship. He's a 22-year-old professional player from the United Kingdom. Cody says:

You should be very flexible when you play heads up. One of the most important things is adjusting to your opponents to combat their styles. Don't make it easy for them and don't play into their hands. Always be the one who's making them answer questions.

Odds and ends:
I played in the Wednesday night tournament at the Horseshoe Casino again yesterday. When we got down to three people, we all had about the same sized stacks and agreed to chop. I like this tournament because you start with 20,000 in chips. Even so, a player busted out in 25 minutes. If they gave you an infinite number of chips, some people would find a way to lose them.

One cute hand. I limped in for 2000 from the cutoff with ♦9 ♦8. I often raise with hands like this to mix up my play. The button raised to 7000 and one of the blinds called, so I did, too. The flop was a rainbow 7-6-5 -- Yahtzee, as Grange says. It went check, I checked and the raiser moved all in! I obviously called and he showed ♣A ♣J. I don't blame him, he needed chips and figured the flop (even though coordinated) probably didn't connect with anyone -- wrong!

I'm going to the North American Bridge Championships (also called NABC) in Toronto later this month. I'll be playing in the three-day Life Master Pairs with Rick Rothwarth and in the Werner Open Pairs with John Schwartz. I've been to Toronto before and it's one of my favorite places in the world, so I'm looking forward to it. My first day of play will be July 22.

Add Cake Poker to the list of corrupt sites

2011-07-06T08:16:00.003-05:00

I had nearly $400 in my bankroll at Cake Poker and decided to withdraw it. That's not life-changing money, but things are shaky right now in the online poker world.

May 23: When I tried to withdraw, Cake told me to use UseMyWallet. When I went to that web site, they wouldn't let me open an account. I wrote to Cake and they basically said, "Too bad." I wrote back and asked how, then, could I get my money?

May 24: Cake wrote back and said they could send me a check, but I had to send a copy of my driver's license and a recent utility bill. I did so. Then Cake told me I could withdraw. When I tried to do that, however, their system wouldn't let me.

May 25: Cake now told me that the withdrawal by check method wasn't enabled. Another e-mail followed. I asked them to fix this, and they said:

From: CakePoker Cashier
To: dave1smith@yahoo.com
Sent: Wed, May 25, 2011 10:14:39 AM
Subject: Re: Re: cash [Ticket#: 548546]

Hello David,
Thank you for your email. Please be informed that we can manually cashout via check on your behalf. Can you please confirm if you wish to cashout your total balance $364.67?
Kind Regards
Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

May 26: Yes, dammit! Of course I want my money. What have we been e-mailing back and forth about? I wrote and verified the amount and asked them to proceed. Their reply:

From: CakePoker Cashier
To: dave1smith@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 7:38 AM
Subject: Re: Re: cash [Ticket#: 548546]

Hello David,
Thank you for your email. Please be informed that the cash out has now been requested for you. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Mark
CakePoker Cashier.

Now we were getting somewhere, or so I thought. They had given me the run-around, but finally they promised to send my money.

June 27: One month later, I still hadn't received a check, so I wrote and asked about it. Their reply:

From: CakePoker Cashier
To: dave1smith@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: Re: cash [Ticket#: 548546]

Hello David,
Thank you for your email. Regrettably, we have experienced some delays due to technical problems, which have created a backlog. We are working hard to have this situation rectified quickly. Please rest assured that your cashout will be completed as soon as possible.
Kind Regards
Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

July 5: This wasn't looking too good, now was it? I mean it's only $364, and if they can't get that small amount to me, then they have issues. Yesterday, I wrote and asked when I could expect the check. Their reply:

From: CakePoker Cashier
To: dave1smith@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2011 7:03 AM
Subject: Re: Re: cash [Ticket#: 548546]
Hello David,
Thank you for your email. We do understand your frustration in this matter since this cash out is having an unacceptable delay on which we are aware of. Unfortunately our support and cashier staff cannot promise you an ETA in this matter nor have a cash out process speed up as the issue is due to technical problems with the transfer system. We're working to have this resolved and your funds transferred shortly.
Kind Regards
Norah
CakePoker Cashier Department

Who knows? It might have been a juicy murder trial

2011-07-02T18:02:00.003-05:00

I've never been on a jury, but would like to. What goes on behind the scenes? How do the different personalities of the various jurists mesh -- or not! Is it like you see on TV or is that just Hollywood's version?

Today I got a summons (see scan above). Unfortunately, it was for July 25 and I will be in Toronto for the North American Bridge Championship or NABC as we call them, so won't be able to serve.

Have you ever been on jury duty?

Giving back

2011-07-01T14:08:00.004-05:00

Above: Dan Cates gave a seat to a stranger to the WSOP Main Event. Image is a scan from Bluff Magazine.

Poker players often get the rap of being degenerates. Me, me, me, it's all about me. Well, Dan "Jungleman12" Cates has proven that all players are not that way. He says: "I noticed that people had not given back to the community without taking a piece of the action."

Cates held a drawing to select the lucky fan and it was uber-blogger Poker Grump. It's great to see a blogger win the seat, especially one who has a chance to do well. Go Grump!

You can read what Grumpie says about it here and here.

A good night's work

2011-06-30T10:39:00.006-05:00

At the last minute, I decided to play in the 7:00 p.m. tournament at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica last night. Thirty-seven runners paid the $110 to enter. When there were three of us left, a chop was suggested. I had been the big stack for most of the final table, but at this point I was actually in third place, so we all agreed to take $833, not a bad night's work.

When there were six players left (five to get paid), the blinds got all in against each other. When one showed ♥A ♣6 and the other ♦A ♠6, hilarity ensued (to use one of crAAKKer/Grange's favorite expressions). One of the players wasn't laughing when the board was dealt and showed four hearts, giving the other an ace-high flush and eliminating him. Poker is mean sometimes.

Last Saturday, there was a $500 buy-in tournament that paid $13,000 for first and $7,400 for second. The guy who was second played last night and every time a new dealer came to the table, I had to listen to him tell how he came in second along with all the gory details -- enough already. (You are allowed to brag on your blog, just not so much in person, lol.)

Poker pearl #58

2011-06-28T22:37:00.006-05:00

Poker Pro magazine has a section called Pro's Corner. A different expert answers questions each month. In the June issue (see scan of cover above), Mike McDonald fielded a question by a reader who says he saved his whole life to play in the WSOP Main Event. On the first hand another player pushes all-in and he has pocket aces. He asks what should he do.

"This probably isn't what you want to hear, but I would recommend you save your money for something else if this is even a question. Play a few $1K events. Anyone who would consider folding A-A has zero chance of making it through giant fields.

"Good players make money by pushing small edges rather than passing them up."

They should get me to answer these questions. This one, I could handle.

What the heck is a hoodoo?

2011-06-26T16:05:00.015-05:00

Spires, arches and hoodoos -- oh my! We aren't in Kansas anymore. Bryce Canyon National Park has all of these and more at an elevation reaching higher than 9000 feet above sea level.

The climate is ideal for forming hoodoos -- tall, skinny rock formations that are also called tent rocks or earth pyramids. There are freezing temperatures more than 200 days a year. The relentless cycle of freezing and thawing widens cracks in the cliffs. Eventually pinnacles are formed and subject to even more weathering.

Hoodoo: A pinnacle or odd-shaped rock left standing by the forces of erosion. From voodoo: something which causes bad luck.

Bryce Canyon has shuttle buses that you can take to various lookouts. You can hike to the next jumping off point or wait for the next shuttle bus. They run every 12 minutes during the day.

The Park also offers escorted bus tours (free with admission) that are 3.5 hours long that run once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I took the morning trip from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and highly recommend it. You have to sign up ahead of time. On the bus trip, we saw deer, antelope and prairie dogs. The guide said they often see bears, too.

The park also has many trails to hike that are spectacular. I took the combination Navaho Loop and Queens Garden Loop. This was about a four mile hike and I figured I'd knock it out in maybe an hour and one-half. Um, not so fast. The trails go down (about 800 feet) then back up and are at altitude - think thin air. It was a great hike, but not as easy as I expected. See here and here for descriptions.

The shuttle bus picked up the hard-core hikers. We met a group that spent three days hiking (about 20 miles, I think). You could also take horse or mule trips down into the canyon.

I spent most of two days at the park and wish I'd planned for a third. There was lots to do and majestic scenery.

Above: Hikers take a close-up look at some hoodoos.

Above: At the end of the Navaho Loop Trail, the path has switch-backs. If you click to enlarge, you can see hikers. This will give you perspective as to how large the rocks are.

Above: Hikers go through a tunnel on the Navajo Loop Trail.

Above was taken at Red Canyon, just outside Bryce Canyon National Park.

Images by MJOJ. Nos, 2 and 3 with my P&S.

WSOP happenings - part 3

2011-06-24T16:37:00.005-05:00

Above: The Rio at night.

Nine states, 11 days, 3800 miles and one road trip. I had fun, but it's nice to be home.

I've been to Las Vegas five times and flew the other four. This time, I decided to drive. I saw rice farms in Arkansas. I saw wind farms in Oklahoma. Our country is diverse and huge.

Besides playing poker, I took a trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. There are photos, natch, and I'll post when I've had a chance to catch my breath and look them over.

Lessons learned
One more deal from the first day of WSOP Event No. 30. It folded to me in the cutoff seat and I raised to 600. An older lady on the button, an ABC player, called. The flop was low cards and I made a continuation bet of 700 and she moved all in. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but it would cost me another ~700 to call a ~3200 pot.

This is an automatic call from a pot-odds perspective. Even though you know you're behind, you might get lucky. The problem was I had raised with crap (I don't even remember what my two cards were). My image was good and I didn't want to show my hand and ruin future chances to steal. Do you see the dilemma?

To stall for time to think, I asked the dealer to count her stack.

"Oh, it's not that much more," she blurted out.

That settled it. "I believe you," I said and folded.

Lesson for lady: Be careful how you act, how you handle your chips and, particularly, what you say. Better yet, don't say anything.

Lesson for me: It's a cardinal rule of tournament poker to pay attention to the stack size of your opponent. Also, I didn't have to make a CB. I could check and she would tell me if she had anything or not. I could always take the pot away on a later street.

Above: Workers giving massages were everywhere. Playing poker makes one tense -- getting a massage is relaxing.

Above: An old guy stacks his chips in the WSOP Event No. 30.

The last image courtesy of Wolynski, the premier photographer of all things Las Vegas. The others were taken by me with my Canon.

WSOP happenings - part 2

2011-06-23T03:31:00.003-05:00

Above: The back of the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign looks like this.

The poker on Friday was poor. Players limped, players called when they knew they shouldn't and players were too ABC (not mixing up their play).

Saturday was the exact opposite. Anyone who limped was punished and players were aggressive and tricky. A big-stack player raised from under the gun. A short stack moved all in and he had to call because it didn't cost him much more (I don't remember the exact figures now). The raiser turned over ♦7 ♦5. The same thing happened to the other big stack. He raised and then called because of pot odds and showed: ♣K ♣3. That's how these guys built up their stacks -- they weren't afraid to put their chips in the middle.

The only really terrible play I saw was this: An old man who obviously had no clue, but did have a stack of ~32,000 made a min-raise to 6000. It folded to me in the big blind and I moved all in for ~20,000. The old man had ♣A ♠Q and called.

What hand can he beat? If I had A-A, K-K or Q-Q he's crushed. The most likely hand in my range is A-K which also crushes him. The only hands I could hold that he could play against are J-J or possible 10-10 and even then he's an underdog.

He got lucky, I had ♠J ♣J. He got unlucky because my hand held up.

This guy thinks on Level I: I don't know what you have, but I have a good hand so I don't care. He had plenty of chips if he had folded, but that concept whizzed right over his head.

One more common mistake I saw (more on Friday than on Saturday) is the 100% continuation bet. That doesn't work against seniors -- if they have something they'll call and if thy don't, they fold.

When I went to a table, who made CBs and who didn't was one of the things I looked for. I was able to exploit this three times. I would check to the raiser, then check-raise his CB (twice on air, once I actually had something). Folks, mix up your play -- I'm just sayin'.

Best story: A guy came running over to our table on Saturday to tell his friend about a pot he just saw. Two players were all in pre-flop for a pot of T90,000 and it was A-A versus K-K, obviously. A king came on the flop! And they say online poker is rigged.

Above: The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is so popular, it has its own parking lot so tourists (and poker players!) can stop and take photos.

Images by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

WSOP happenings - part 1

2011-06-22T02:34:00.001-05:00

Above: MOJO prepares to move chips into the pot on Saturday of WSOP Event No. 30. You can see all the results here.

Tournament poker is a strange combination of taking chances to build your chip stack and staying out of trouble. Here are three deals I played in the WSOP.

Extract the max
I don't remember the level, but I had T2700 chips (starting stacks were 3000) and a player UTG limped in for 200. It folded to me and I raised to 750. The blinds folded and the limper called. So far so good: I had driven out the blinds and was playing a bloated pot in position.

The flop was A-10-4 and the limper checked and I checked. The turn was the ♣Q making the board A-Q-10-4, rainbow. The limper now bet 1000 and I moved in. The pot was 4650 plus whatever the antes were (I don't remember now) and it would cost the limper 950 more to call.

"I know you have the ace," he said, but called anyway. He showed ♥K ♦Q. I turned over ♣A ♣J. There are two queens and three jacks to save him, but the river was a blank, and the dealer pushed to pot to me. Notice that a king would give him two pair, but give me a Broadway straight.

Normally, it's better to just bet when you have something (on the flop). When you get cute, bad things happen. But this was at a point where I needed those chips.

What mistakes did the limper make? He could have raised pre-flop or folded to my raise, so that's a minor mistake. The real mistake he made was betting on the turn. About the only hand that will call him has him beat, so there's no point betting.

Know your customers
The third table I was moved to on Friday had a man with a huge chip stack. I played for several hours and noticed that he would take a swing at orphan pots. I also noticed that he would always call from the button if the pot was unraised.

I limped from middle position with ♠K ♠J when he was on the button and the blinds were 200/400 with an ante. My stack was around 17,000 and the villain had about 27,000. Sure enough he called, the small blind completed and the big blind checked.

The flop was K-X-X. The blinds checked as did I and the villain fired out a 2000 bet. The blinds folded and I pretended to think about it before calling. The dealer dealt a low card on fourth street, and I checked again. The villain bet 5000 this time. Again I thought about it and called. On the river, I checked again and the villain thought for a long time before checking. I had to show first and he folded.

If I had bet on the flop, he would have folded. If I had check-raised the flop he would have folded. If I had done anything but what I did, I wouldn't have gotten as much out of him. Check-call, check-call -- normally that's horrible poker, but was the right move this time.

Lesson for the villain: It's okay to be aggressive, but you have to mix up your play against observant opponents.

MOJO makes a rookie move
On Saturday, I made my only truly bad play that I'm aware of. When the blinds were 1000/2000/300, the guy to my right raised to 6000 and I held ♠9 ♣9. My stack was around 50,000 and his was more than 120,000.

What would you do?

I can see a case for raising to about 17,000 and hoping for the best. I can also see a case for folding and living to fight another day. I called!

The flop was K-Q-5 and the villain bet 12,000 and I had to fold. I had just given away more than 10% of my stack for no reason. Calling? I know better than that.

Tomorrow, I'll post some more thoughts and reflections of my experiences from last weekend.

Image courtesy of Wolynski.

Some things in Vegas are free

2011-06-21T06:37:00.001-05:00

The downtown casinos struggle to complete with the newer and fancier ones on the strip. The Fremont Street Experience is their way to draw tourists and players to their area of the world and it works.

The Fremont Street Experience always has one band. This one looked better than they sounded. They weren't bad, just not great.

Carl "Safe Sax" Ferris has performed on Fremont Street for 11 years. Other than the light shows, he's my next favorite thing/person to watch and listen to.

The light show begins on the hour at nights.

There are plenty of performers in costume. You can have your photo taken with them, if you wish -- they work for tips. Notice I managed to keep my eyes looking straight towards the camera.

Photos by MOJO and one passerby. I used my point-and-shoot on the second and third ones and my Canon on the others.