While the standard uberpost is pretty good reading, Iggy’s latest is a rundown of his Aruba vacation, complete with losers, con men, and hurricanes: “This is the only game in town and we’re gambling like it’s our last night on Earth, which very well may be true with the fucking Hurricane on the way!” Good stuff.
Monthly Archives: September 2004
Best call I’ve ever made.
Earlier today I lost twice with pocket aces–$27 total. I’d forgotten the rule about top pair not being that great. This time I was determined not to let anyone limp in and decided to raise with rockets. Here’s how it went down:
Party Poker Pot-Limit Hold’em, $1 BB (9 handed) converter
SB ($90.70)
BB ($88.75)
UTG ($78.60)
Hero ($67.70)
MP1 ($53.70)
MP2 ($52.50)
MP3 ($122.35)
CO ($47.50)
Button ($47.25)
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Ad, Ac.
UTG raises to $2, Hero raises to $6, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $6, CO folds, Button folds, SB calls $5.50, BB folds, UTG calls $4.
Flop: ($25) 5c, 7h, Qc (4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $6, MP3 calls $6, SB folds, UTG calls $6.
Turn: ($43) 4s (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $20, MP3 calls $20, UTG folds.
River: ($83) Qh (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $35, Hero calls $35.
Final Pot: $153
Main Pot: $153, between Hero and MP3. > Pot won by Hero ($153).
Hero has Ad Ac (two pair, aces and queens).
MP3 has 8c Tc (one pair, queens).
Outcome: Hero wins $153.
Wow. I was sweating (well, okay, it’s really hot today). That second queen obviously gave me a big scare, and I probably nearly blew it by not betting, but when jerky in MP3 bet the rest of my stack, I decided that I needed to see just what he had. And I lucked out. Big time. Wow.
Turns out that I did play the hand more or less correctly up until the river, though. UTG later commented that he had had a queen. If I hadn’t raised pre-flop and bet half the pot on the turn, he wouldn’t have suspected me of having the better hand. Still, it would have been better to bet more than half the pot on the turn, since MP3 had 12 outs for his flush and gutshot straight draws. Half the pot gives him 3:1, which is better than the odds of making his hand.
At any rate, I was very happy to take MP3’s money.
Playing the odds can be expensive…
…but probably worth doing:
Party Poker Pot-Limit Hold’em, $0.50 BB (8 handed) converter
saw flop|saw showdown
BB ($25)
UTG ($10.15)
UTG+1 ($75.85)
MP1 ($44.65)
MP2 ($10.60)
CO ($43.45)
Hero ($15.70)
SB ($55.25)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 5h, 3h.
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, CO calls $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, SB completes, BB checks.
Flop: ($3.50) 6s, 4h, Qc (7 players)
SB checks, BB bets $3.35, UTG folds, MP1 calls $3.35, MP2 calls $3.35, CO folds, Hero calls $3.35, SB folds.
Turn: ($16.90) 9c (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets $6, MP2 calls $6, Hero calls $6, BB folds.
River: ($34.90) 2s (3 players)
MP1 checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets $5.85 (All-In), MP1 folds, MP2 calls $0.75 (All-In).
Final Pot: $41.50
Main Pot: $36.40, between MP2 and Hero. > Pot won by Hero ($36.40).
Pot 2: $5.10, returned to Hero.
MP2 has Kh Qd (one pair, queens).
Hero has 5h 3h (straight, six high).
Outcome: Hero wins $41.50.
If you’re playing pot limit with a good hand and there’s some kind of draw on the board (8 or 9 or more outs), make certain that calling someone else’s bet doesn’t give someone downstream the odds to go fishing. You should raise.
I went looking for that straight because the pot was paying 4:1 on the flop and almost 5:1 on the turn (I was also expecting BB to call and give me greater than 5:1), and there wasn’t anything very threatening on the board (like a board pair or three-flush). Needless to say, MP2 was mad about losing with top pair to a riverred straight (from the chat: “talk about fishing”). It’s his fault for not raising the turn: What some people don’t know will win you money.
One final point: If I hadn’t gotten my straight, I would have been out $10 in one hand, and that does happen. I’m just lucky that playing the odds actually paid off.
The 360’s replacement: Ferrari F430
Hard to believe there’s already a replacement for the 360, but here it is:
Check this out:
What’s the most significant feature of the Ferrari F430, the replacement for the 360 Modena? The clue is in the name: it’s the all-new 4.3-litre V8 engine.
This generates 483bhp, or 83bhp more than the regular 360’s 3.6-litre V8. Ferrari’s latest supercar is good for a 0-62mph time of precisely four seconds and a top speed of 197mph – that’s an increase of 11mph over the 360.
4.3L? That’s nuts. And that 0-62 time is pretty crazy, too. My guess is that this car will easily go for a shade under $200k, which probably means that the rich have gotten richer since the 360 first came out. Well, if you can’t swing 200 large, you can probably pick up a used 355 for 90 and have money left over to pay the insurance.
Strange happenings
Just as I was about to leave for work, I heard a weird sound coming from outside. It was water falling from the sky! Woah. With the heat and yesterday’s humidity I guess it’s not that surprising to see some rain, but it’s still a pretty rare thing to happen in September. I hope it comes down really hard and cools things off a bit. Lord knows we need a break.