StudioGlyphic

You may have caught this on Daily Kos or some other site, but this week another son of a Republican president endorsed Kerry:

John Eisenhower, son of Republican President Eisenhower, said in a newspaper column this week that he will vote for Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president on Nov. 2.

In a rare public announcement, Eisenhower said he switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent after 50 years after losing confidence in his former party. He said Kerry has demonstrated courage, competence and a concern for tackling the "widening socio-economic gap in this country."

"There are times when we must break with the past, and I believe this is one of them," Eisenhower wrote in the opinion column published Tuesday in The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H.

The column assails President Bush and the GOP for federal budget deficits, for "unilaterally" invading Iraq and for infringing on personal liberties.

...

"The fact is that today's 'Republican' Party is one with which I am totally unfamiliar. To me, the word 'Republican' has always been synonymous with the word 'responsibility,' which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms.

"Today's whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion," Eisenhower wrote.

Eisenhower, a former U.S. ambassador to Belgium and author, was a registered Republican for 50 years — until the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq "as a maverick," he wrote.

"Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance," he wrote.

Eisenhower scolded the Republican leadership for embracing a tax code that "heads us in the direction of a society of very rich and very poor."

"Senator Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country," he concluded.

Check out Parking Spots for some interesting photos.

Villagers rescued from burning church. Theale, UK.

Even Kerry's hometown paper, the Globe, will fall into line behind Kerry and endorse him in every single election. Which is funny because they're always some of his harshest critics.

In sharp contrast, Bush's hometown paper, the Lone Star Iconoclast, has decided to endorse Kerry, going against everything you'd expect of a hometown paper, especially one that endorsed Bush in 2000.

Wow. This is some powerful stuff:

This seems all the more incredible considering that the Iconoclast endorsed Bush in 2000. How could a paper with whom I have so much agreement on why the Bush administration is bad for the country endorse the idiot from Crawford in 2000? I understand that for people who had only a shallow understanding of politics (myself included) at the time may have been suckered into supporting Bush, but presumably the Iconoclast would have in-depth knowledge of their hometown celebrity and Governor. It only goes to show that, as the Iconoclast argues, the Bush-Cheney campaign of 2000 suckered a lot of people into believe it was something it wasn't. For that alone, his supporters should turn against him.

Thanks to Glasstrack for the link.

CR took off early. He'd been up since 6AM or so, and it's amazing that he showed up at all.

    This week  Cumulative  Average

CR    -$0.15      +$1.20   +$0.11

EM    -$5.00      -$6.10   -$0.51

ER    +$0.75     +$14.30   +$1.30

JB    -$1.90      -$6.55   -$0.60

JC    +$1.35     +$14.50   +$1.32

Me    +$4.95      -$6.60   -$0.55

JC continues to hold onto his top spot, but now ER is close behind. Not sure if she's necessarily playing better, but she's certainly trying out more aggression and if the numbers mean anything to anyone, I think it's working. The one thing she may want to do is figure out on the turn/river whether she wants to keep throwing chips in the pot or cut her losses when it's clear that someone has her beaten and is unlikely to fold.

Of course, being a weekly game we all tend to know one another to a certain extent, and it's difficult to take the skills we are developing and apply them to online and B&M play. I honestly believe that anyone in our group is better than most people I've encountered online and in my limited B&M experience, but really, they all ought to get out there and pound the tables at Party to sharpen up their play against the fish.

The Gentleman Drinker posts infrequently, but it is often worth reading:

So when, might you ask, will the Gentleman Drinker give us his thoughts on drink?

They've revoked the bonus. They didn't just expire it, they took it back from anyone who used the code. There's a consolation 10% retroactive bonus with no hand requirements, so I get fifty bucks for my troubles. That's nowhere near as good. Ten percent I could make on my own fairly easily. One hundred percent would be tough. Oh well. Time to cash out my deposit.

All the reasons for cashing out of my online poker account remain true. But that Empire reload bonus tipped things in the right direction for me to make time for poker. I've only played just over a hundred hands, but so far I've made a few big bets here and there, playing 1/2 and $25 PL, and I'm 1/25th of the way to my rake refund. I checked PT to see how much I've paid in rake, and it's a whopping $700+ since I started keeping track back in mid-March. The way I see it, Party/Empire/Multi owe this to me.

Tonight I got more than my fair share of playable hands--oh yes, I'm being set up (once again) for the fall. But while you've got the advantage, you've gotta push it as far as it will go. That said, the 1/2 table I spent the most time at tonight was tough. Some good players there, which is not usually the case at the Party skins. But this late at night, I've tended to notice the limit tables are full of maniacs or sharks. I won some big pots, but I also paid a lot into some pots I didn't win. After a few of those, I decided to change gears and move on to the pot limit tables. There I did much better, offsetting my short-run losses at the 1/2 table. The two big pots I won were those where my victim flopped the nut straight or flush draw and decided to raise on the draw that never completed. My gut tells me that this is not a good strategy. And as HD will tell you, at a low-limit table on Party (or any aquarium), with a family pot at stake, this is definitely not optimal strategy. Of course, I was playing PL and after the drawfish raised, it became heads up. So all you poker strategists out there, if you have any thoughts on semi-bluffing with a raise in PL or NL where you're unlikely to get more than one or two callers, let me know. Since you have a greater range of what the bet could be, this certainly does open up possibilities. I suspect that these will depend heavily on your read of the other guy's hand and betting style.

This brings me to the last thought of the night. I really need to mix up my play. Not to the extent where I find myself severely short stacked, but every so often I need to throw in something the table hasn't seen before.

I said I was giving up the online poker, but then Poker Grub came along with this crazy reload bonus for Empire:

Back in the day (circa 1999), we used to go to this Britpop club called Popsuperstar. Its best incarnation was Sunday nights in West Hollywood at the Firehouse. It was a big space with smoking areas front and back. We went nearly every week and came home drenched with sweat (not pretty). At some point we stopped going--I think it was a combination of a change in venue and the fact that EM was going to become ER and was too busy to go. At any rate, Popsuperstar disappeared from the club lists and hasn't been seen since. Since then, we've tried Bang!, Underground, Hang the DJs, and some of the other established/startup Brit/New Wave/Indie type places and have mostly come away dissatisfied.

Endtroducing...

There were signs this might be good: West Hollywood, Sunday night, sample setlist, and the graphic used to advertise opening night (above).

The place was great. We were there from just after opening to just after closing, grooving to the Charlatans, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blur, The Strokes, St. Etienne, Pulp, The Cure, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Suede, The Stone Roses, New Order, and much, much more. Drinks were pretty cheap, too: Bushmills for five fifty, draft beers for less than five. Unfortunately, I think our group was really the only people there, and that doesn't bode well for Vox Pop. But we're going to try to enjoy it while it's still with us.

Five weeks from now we have a choice between the right-wing of the Republican Party and the Democratic nominee. It's been a while since I've posted the reasons why GWB should be denied a second term (check Loud Noises and Machine Samba), but now you can read an excerpt from Howard Dean's new book on MSNBC. The factors that led Dean to run for the Presidency in the first place still hold true today: the current administration has made this country less safe, has failed to keep up with a basic level of job creation, has set in place irresponsible structural deficits, has allowed industry to run roughshod over our longstanding health and environmental standards, and has catered to the social agenda of the Christian Right. These people have to go.

Dean was the first candidate to speak out on all of these issues at a time when most Democrats were quivering in fear of an illegitimate President. Reading this reminds me of why I supported him in the first place, and why I voted for him in the primary. That was the time to vote your heart. Now is the time to support Kerry: get everyone you know registered to vote and committed to voting for Kerry on November 2.

I don't read that many poker blogs, to tell you the truth. But thankfully I read Iggy's today, where he posted a bit of someone else's post that linked to Poker Nerd's guide to winning SNGs. I've been playing the two table SNGs at Pacific, and mostly my results have been dictated by holding and catching good cards. However, I will have to give the guide some careful study so I can place higher more consistently.

And in case you saw this linked somewhere else way back in July and are wondering why I've posted the link so late in the game, I just want to be able to find it more easily later. That's part of the rationale for this blog. I never really use the IE favorites list. Something about it just doesn't work for me.

Had the pleasure of playing Omaha tonight with someone who knew this blog. Wow, I'm famous.

Sat in seat 1 of a 4/8 table today. Last week the best pocket pair I got was tens. This time I got pocket kings, queens, and aces, and raised pre-flop with each of them.

Kings in MP2: MP1 raises, I 3-bet, BB calls, MP1 caps. Flop is Q-x-x. MP1 bets and I call all the way to the showdown. MP1 has rockets. -4.5BB

Queens in CO: UTG+1 raises all-in .5 SB, I 3-bet, BB and UTG call. Flop is A-T-x. Checks to me, I bet, Button calls, UTG raises, I call, Button calls. Turn is a K. UTG bets, I fold, button folds. UTG wins the side pot with K7, UTG+1 wins the main pot with KT. -2.25BB

Aces UTG: I raise, it's folded to the blind, who also folds. Damn.

I also missed out on a couple big bets when I didn't bet the river with top pair high kicker. The calling stations had second/low pair or a middle pocket pair, but I freaked out about getting check-raised. Bad, bad play.

Then there were the hands where I had AJ, KJ, JT, AQ, and the flop missed me completely. Suck.

On another hand I flopped bottom two pair in the blind, and my attempt to check-raise backfired when it got checked all the way around. The turn gave my opponent a flush draw and second-pair, high kicker, leading her to call my bet. The river paired the board, and she outkicked me. Oh well.

All in all, I was down 10.875BB, most of which is a result of losing with kings and queens.

SL played the 6/12 tables and apparently got hit in the face with the deck. Lots of pocket pairs and suited cards made sets and flushes, leaving him up +10.3BB for the session. Nice.

So here's the admission: it's become a problem. Not a major one, but a problem nonetheless. Last night after the weekly game I was tired as hell, but fired up Multi and Pacific and played 1/2 and a $8+.80 SNG. Two hours later, I had bubbled out of the SNG and was up 5BB at the 1/2, but I was so tired that I kept half dozing until Multi would beep at me to act. What the fuck was I doing? This morning I overslept and showed up a couple hours late for work. That's when I figured I had to cut myself off completely.

I just can't do it. I have a full load of classes and work three days a week. Having money in my accounts just makes me want to play, and late night play when I'm tired has always been -EV for me. So I'm cashing out what remains of my OPM bankroll and putting online poker on hiatus until I get some time to devote to some good, winning sessions. That'll probably be December at the earliest. I'll still be playing at the weekly home game and on the occasional Hustler run, but other than that, there won't be much poker content from StudioGlyphic. Watch for a content spike in mid-November as I get ready for the Vegas trip.

Editor's note: The original post's time stamp was screwed up, so it's been fixed.

JB sat out this week. Apparently he had a gig.

    This week  Cumulative  Average

CR    +$1.00      +$1.35   +$0.14

EM    +$2.00      -$1.10   -$0.10

ER    -$0.85     +$13.55   +$1.36

JC    -$3.60     +$13.15   +$1.32

Me    +$1.45     -$11.55   -$1.05

On the online front, things have been going very poorly. More on that later.

Apparently.

You already know about the trip to Hustler.

And I guess it wasn't enough because I immediately jumped into a $25 PL ring game. Suck. Ever since Thursday it seems I haven't been able to do anything in PL. I lost another buy-in today and really it was just awful. No bad beats or anything like that; just missed draws and missed flops. Blah.

I jumped into a few 2-table SNGs over at Pacific and placed in the money enough times to net me $20 for the day there. I also watched Pauly take a shot at the Aussie Million prize over at Party Poker, but unfortunately the Hiltons ran up against Big Slick and bounced Pauly out in 30-somethingth place when an ace hit the flop. Can't say I blame him for pushing; he needed to make a move and this was the time to do it.

Afterwards I tried to do some homework, but decided to fire up Pacific and MultiPoker instead. The 1/2 game (I decided that I should try mixing it up) started out very well for me. Big stack raised pre-flop while I had AJ in the BB. I check-raised the flop when QJx came up, and watched with delight as an ace appeared on the turn. Big stack called to the river and folded when his hand didn't improve. A few hands later, KT on the button flopped two pair and I raised LP on the flop. Didn't want any draws to complete. Turn was a rag, and LP check-called. River was another king, and LP check-called once again. He had AJ, giving him nothing. Seriously, I've seen lots of showdowns (in which I'm not involved) where ace high takes it, but c'mon, how often can that really happen?

Soon after that, a complete maniac bought in and promptly raised with any ace, any king, and a good number of other hands besides. Oh, it was brutal. The first beat she handed down was when I had Big Slick UTG. I raised and she called. Flop was A23. I bet and she called. Turn was a 4. I bet and she raised. Really? A 5? Did she have A5 suited? Pocket fives? I called. River was another ace and I check-called. She had K5, giving her the wheel. Oh goodness. After that it was all downhill. She was jamming lots of pots pre-flop, on the flop, etc. And either she spooked people out or happened to win with her pair of kings or pair of rags with king kicker. It was incredible. She saw 87% of the flops voluntarily and raised pre-flop 21% of the time, or 2 out of every 9 hands. It suddenly became a 2/4 table, and it took me a little while to adjust. In the meantime, I lost the $25 profit and $20 of my buy-in. In fact, for that session, this chick alone was responsible for taking $33.50 off my hands (net -$17.50). It soon caught up with her, though. After running up her stack to nearly double her buy-in, she began losing badly as she continued to jam pots with nothing. I'm happy to say that the biggest pot I won was one where I had a King high flush on the turn. She had Ace high. Not an ace high flush, just ace high, yet she was happy to 3-bet when I check-raised the turn (it sucks because I'm sure it chased out the two people who were caught between us--even when she lost, she cost me money). After I capped it, she just called down the river with her Ace high. Anyway, she went out with nothing and left the table.

Big stack had made fun of this girl because of her play, and I tried to stand up for her, saying that her aggression was winning her lots of pots (of course, by this point, she had less than $5 left--I wanted her to stay so I could tighten up the gap). After she left, I told big stack that it was a shame she was gone because she was giving her money away and that he shouldn't have made fun of her. She was profitable for him and anyone who actually had a hand. He said she ruined the game, and I agreed that it had gotten a little crazy. Then I got cowboys on the button, and when LP1 raised, I 3-bet and declared that I was going to take her place. I think that made big stack a little mad, since he was the BB. I got four callers and the flop came up 746. I bet and got four callers again. Turn was a K and I bet; this time I only got BB and LP1 to call. River was a 3 and when it was checked to me, I suddenly got worried about some idiot calling 3 bets and flopping an open-ended straight draw with the odds to call to the river. I checked and found BB with the 6 to 9 straight draw and LP1 with KJ suited. You just gotta love calling stations like LP1.

When I left the table, I was up $24. I could have saved myself some time by just leaving after my first five hands. Then again, I need 200 raked hands to enter some Poker Cruise Freeroll tournament that I probably can't even play (it's on a Thursday morning).

All in all, I ended up about $70 for the day. Really, that PL loss just put a big drag in my daily numbers. Maybe I should just give it a rest for a while.

So there it is. About 12 hours of poker. I need help.

MT and I went down to Gardena today to get in a few hours at the Hustler Casino. Much better than Hollywood Park, in my opinion. First of all, the parking lot is right next to the casino, as opposed to a couple hundred yards away. Inside, it's kept clean and the materials are somewhat better than the Park's. The clientele's not as sketchy or obnoxious, and the food/cocktail/coffee servers come by pretty frequently. In terms of the games, the rake's the same as at Hollywood Park, but there's no small blind at the 3-6 and 4-8 tables, and the bad beat jackpot money comes from the blind instead of the button. So for every orbit, you're only forced to put in one small bet versus two. That's 5BB/100 hands you're saving, which is pretty substantial.

I played 3-6 while MT hit the 4-8 and 6-12 tables. I ended up +8.5BB after a little over 3 hours of play. Not a monster session, but much preferable to losing money. In terms of BB/100 hands, it's really not bad at all. Having a small blind and a separate bad beat contribution would have probably eroded most of my winnings.

The first hand I got dealt was AT. Flop showed a ten high and I bet every round and took the pot after the river without having to show. No fold 'em indeed.

Raised pre-flop only twice, both times with Big Slick--offsuit and suited. Won the first time when the board came up AQJ9A. Again, I won on the river without having to show. I'm sure some of them had the odds to call to the river. The second time I bet the flop then check-folded the turn when the flop and turn missed me completely. It's hard to bluff these guys if they've got top pair (or any pair, for that matter). The winning hand was a pair of eights with a ten kicker.

I profitably check-raised the turn a couple times: had T8s and flopped trips the first time (she folded to my raise), had AXs and flopped two pair the second time (he called to the showdown).

One guy tried to bluff every hand by leading the betting. One time I had pocket 8's and the flop came up 77x. The bluffer bet and the next guy called. The caller worried me, and I folded. Of course an 8 appeared on the turn. Blah. Folding pocket pairs for one small bet is really questionable. On another hand I had KTo and the flop was Kxx. The bluffer bet every round and then mucked his cards at the showdown before I even had to show. Okay. On another hand I had AT (got this hand four times) and the flop came up QJ8. The bluffer bet, the guy next to him raised all-in ($2 more) and I called with 8 outs. The turn was a rag and I checked, only to discover that the bluffer was already all-in. Lucky me. The king appeared on the river. Lucky me. Turns out the bluffer had pocket eights and was pretty mad about his set losing to my straight.

I don't think I had anyone suck out on me, which is pretty lucky. On the other hand, a woman at our table had a bad beat handed to her early on when she flopped the wheel, bet and raised at every opportunity, and lost to a 7-high straight on the river. A few hands later, her top pair lost to the wheel on the river. Insult to injury. She had to rebuy soon after that. Other people had pocket aces, kings, queens, or jacks, and lost to players with flushes and straights that had no business being in the pot in the first place. Love it.

All in all, it was a good way to spend the afternoon. MT lost several big bets (mostly through blind attrition, though his cowboys failed to hold up a couple times), but we agreed that we should try to make it out there more often.

One bottle of Cognac, two bottles of triple sec, half a bottle of Grey Goose, a third of a bottle of Tanqueray Gin, a bottle of cranberry juice, a bag of lemons, a bag of limes, a rapidly cooling Numero Uno pizza, a birthday cake, three packs of cigarettes, 5 hours of New Wave hits, a bevy of dancers, and a two-girl massage. Now that's a party.

Lost another $20 in PL games today, but came in first in a 2-table 8+.80 SNG on Pacific. Pretty lucky for me, since I entered the final table as one of the low stacks.

Here's where it turned around: I had big slick and only about 4 times the big blind. I pushed and got one caller: AQ. Neither of us improved and I won our bets plus the blinds. From there on out, I hit big or scared people out of pots while one or two of the big stacks started taking out small and medium stacks.

By the time I made the money, two of us were the small stacks, but my run of good cards, luck, and decent plays continued. By the time big stack knocked off the #5 finisher, my stack was much more respectable. My favorite thing to do is to make my bet exactly equal to the number of chips the short stack has left. When things got desperate for them, they started to push back against my pre-flop raises and flop bets. Fortunately, my good hands usually stayed good, and the short stacks went out one after the other.

I was psyched to be heads up with big stack since I had entered the final table and the money at a disadvantage. In fact, big stack now only had a 20% advantage. After trying to make some moves and finding himself dominated by my hands, he soon switched tactics and started folding hands and blinds. Then he'd try to make a move or sniff me out, but fold to a good-sized turn bet. We switched leads perhaps twice, but once I took it the second time, I outchipped him 6:1 or more. It didn't last much longer after that. First pays $56, netting me $47.

As for PL, I really don't know what's going on. Maybe it's the other side of that variance coin finally kicking in. Maybe it's punishment for my hubris. Maybe it's me not playing at optimal times with enough time and energy to commit to a good session and trying instead to suck out a quick hit and run with 2-6 suited. Oh, hey. That could be a problem.

There really are far too many blogs to read out there, but I happened to be reading through the Vitriol ® at Loud Noises and noticed a rather lucid comment from a certain Terrette. The comment wasn't an anomaly. No, Terrette leads off with a 57-word summary of the Bush administration from Chomsky, and follows up with wide-ranging commentary on the political and the social. I like Terrette's style. And the fact that the word Terrette makes me think of Terrapins and Tourette's is extra.

Today's been lousy. $30 of losses led me to the $50 NL table where I got my ass handed to me. It seemed like everyone was involved in a big pot but me. My few wins barely kept me floating until I finally figured that rockets could finally win a big pot:

Poker God was very unkind today with the beats. Argh. Bad Poker God.

JC stepped out this week. In honor of the occasion, we changed the game from limit to spread limit: nickel-quarter-fifty cents. Not sure if this or the more aggressive play last week had more of an effect, but the game was more aggressive and the pots were bigger. JB finished on top this week:

    This week  Cumulative  Average

CR    -$4.55      +$0.35    +$0.04

EM    -$0.80      -$3.10    -$0.31

ER    +$1.25     +$14.40    +$1.60

JB    +$4.65      -$4.65    -$0.47

Me    -$0.55     -$13.00    -$1.30

Happy Rosh Hashana, and Happy Birthday to those born on the 16th.

No, sorry, this is a poker-related post, not a political post.

All the Party sites run into problems with hand histories from time to time. You request them, they don't come. Last Sunday this happened after I'd lost a bunch of money and before I made it back, which screwed up my stats. Anyway, I wrote to MultiPoker customer service about the issue and here's what they said:

Just booked a room for mid-November at the Tuscany, which is a block and a half off the Strip (i.e., halfway to California). I'm really looking forward to this. I've never played poker in Vegas, and my B&M experience is limited to two sorties to Hollywood Park about a year ago. So any advice, tips, recommendations, other synonyms you can offer will be quite welcome. For instance, which casinos have the shortest waits, the most tourists, the most schooling (implicit collusion), the best drink service, the most professional staff, smoking at the tables, etc.? How much do you tip the dealer/cocktail waitress to make him/her your best friend? Good experiences, bad experiences, whatever.

Multipoker stopped sending me hand histories some time Sunday evening, so I've decided not to play at the Party skins while they work this out. Instead, I played 4 SNGs at Pacific Poker and placed in the money in 3 of them (2nd - $40, 3rd - $20, and 5th - $2). Too bad the one I busted out of cost me $33 to play. So I'm only up $8 for the night. Um, never slowplay a set. Sometimes you have to relearn this lesson the hard way.

I think Grubby was saying that the games at Pacific are really soft. He's right. I've never done this well in Party SNGs. Plus I'm playing with one of their sign up bonuses, so it's not even my money. You should check it out.

Only played another 634 hands of $25 PL this past week, though part of that is due to the 200 hands of $50 PL I played and the fact that I don't get to include any Labor Day play in these totals. Since my last update, the win rate has settled down to a more than respectable 13.85BB/100 hands for my 2,468-hand history. Just wait until the beats and dead-end draws start coming down fast and furious. You'll see me grateful for 1.39BB/100 hands when I've got 10,000 hands to review.

Editor's note: I updated some of the numbers (but not the text) after MultiPoker customer service finally sent me my hand history (as an attached Word doc!). Looks much better than before--in fact, so much so that the title of this post doesn't really make sense. Ah well. Just goes to show that you need to have a lot of hands in your PT database to get any kind of meaningful results

The thing about blogs is that you are more or less making public declarations. And in my mind, one should try to keep one's word, stand by one's statements, etc. For instance, if I talk about not ending a single day with a net loss in pot limit, well by God I'm going to play until I make it happen!

And this, boys and girls, is the foundation for a proper full-blown tilt session.

So after losing $48 in the $50 PL games (I think I'll avoid these and opt for NL in the future), I was determined to make it back later in the day. I did some studying (catching up) and took a 30 minute nap that stretched into 80 minutes. Then I got up, poured myself some whiskey, had a smoke, and got to work. It took me 3 hours and another glass or two of Knob Creek to make it back at the $25 PL tables, and now I'm up $2 for the day. Considering that I have more studying and assignments to do, that's probably a good cutoff point.

Oh, did I say something about tilt? I said it was the foundation for a tilt session, which is what the earlier losses might have put me on. But taking the study, er, poker break and the nap helped me put that behind me. Good.

With yesterday's monster pot, my bankroll is now looking slightly more respectable. The question is, what do I do with it now that I have it? If it's still there when I go to Vegas in November, I'm taking it with me. But in the meantime...

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.

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:

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.

...but probably worth doing:

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.

...if he were running against Jesus?

Hard to believe there's already a replacement for the 360, but here it is:

Check this out:

I certainly don't, but the Republicans have made such a big deal about Kerry's service record (their attacks don't stand up to the facts, by the way) that it's only fair to take a look at Bush's service record. Lots of documented evidence shows that Bush was unfit, negligent, etc., and his family connections were pulling all sorts of strings to get him into the Air National Guard and then allow him to shirk his responsibilities. The one thing I'll say about this bit of history/biography is that it shows the beginning of a pattern of character flaws, making his claims about his ability to keep Americans safe questionable at best. I say it's time for new leadership.

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.

Had the damnedest time catching cards and fish tonight at the pot limit tables. All the fish were cleaned out by other players while I folded my flopped nothings. It was probably a clear sign that I needed to change tables, but it was late, and I didn't want to get up with a loss (i.e., I was fishing for a big win).

The three or four wins I did get were worth just a few dollars apiece, and I watched my stack slowly dwindling away until I found myself short stacked at a table full of tight people and a few big stacks. Finally I got a hand where big stack #2 bet the pot after pairing the same jack I paired. I had an ace kicker that I suspected was good and raised the pot. He called and then check-called my river push (25% of the pot). I outkicked him and managed to scrape by the night with a 26 cent profit. That's a glorious win rate of .29BB/100 hands. At least I can still say that I've not had a losing night playing pot limit. Sheesh.

Here are the results:

    This week  Cumulative  Average

CR    -$3.00      +$4.90    +$0.61

EM    -$2.75      -$2.30    -$0.26

ER    +$8.50     +$13.15    +$1.64

JB    +$1.50      -$9.30    -$1.03

JC    +$0.00     +$16.75    +$1.86

Me    -$1.65     -$12.45    -$1.38

MT    -$2.60      -$2.60    -$2.60

Guess who did win a few choice pots? That's right. ER. I think she's also adopted a slightly looser but more aggressive style of play. In fact, I witnessed quite a lot of betting from several players on open-ended straight or flush draws. Interesting.

JB also had a good run initially that got him a big stack early on. It got whittled down and then finally came back up a bit to allow him to finish in the black.

Toward the last half hour of play, CR tried his best to lose his chips, but still ended with some money left.

Good God it's hot this week. Glasstrack suggested we play in the yard. That probably wouldn't be such a bad idea if we had some lights out there.

Really now. $8 a pound is approaching the price of a good cut of beef, so for us carnivores it might make sense to pony up a few extra bucks and get that USDA Prime steak that melts in your mouth. I haven't quite made up my mind whether my sense of values and my concern for my health justifies the 200% cost increase for organic. Still, if you're thinking of grilling some chicken (organic or otherwise) this weekend, give this marinade recipe a try:

This is one of those posts about linking to someone else's blog, which is kinda silly when it comes to Poker Perspectives, since it's not as though it's not a known site. Anyway, what I like about what I've read so far on Maudie's blog is that it's all about her poker experiences, written from a personal point of view. It's not just hand histories or PT stats--you know, the boring stuff I put on this blog to gloat or groan about my insignificant wins and losses. By contrast, her recaps are more narrative in style, and she throws in a dose of "Here's what I thought" or "I felt like this."

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there for that one person who may be coming here to read about poker--there's really better stuff out there. Which is why it surprises me when I find the occasional link to this blog in a list of poker blogs. I guess what I can say about StudioGlyphic, however, is that we'll cover a fair number of topics in proportions you may not find elsewhere. And nothing beats a well-mixed cocktail.

Hamlet has just accepted a challenge to face Laertes in a heads up no limit match:

"All in."

Inspiration from The Cards Speak; text from Project Gutenberg.

If you've been following my progress, you'll know that a week ago I had managed to get 13.50 BB / 100 hands for my first 705 hands. That's about $95.

I now have 1635 hands in PT, showing a win rate of 14.57 BB / 100 hands, adding up to $238. I tell you, it's fantastic out there. I can't recommend it enough.

So what's next? I guess I'll build up the bankroll to cover 300BB and then either move up to the $50 tables or start multi-tabling. Playing more than one table will be difficult, since my notebook screen is only wide enough for 1.3 tables, and it'll take a bit longer to be able to learn my opponents. Even while playing just one table in today's 20BB winning session, I managed to fuck up one hand completely. I had a gutshot draw on the flop and the pot was paying something like 7:1. Instead of calling, I folded like a tard. I think I was distracted by my poker blog browsing. The turn would have given me a flush draw, and the pot would have been paying 5:1 for my 12 outs (this is a perfect example of players making the mistake of betting too little when they have the dominating hand). Anyway, the river would have given me the nut flush and I had odds to call the entire way. So will I make costly mistakes like this while playing more than one table? You bet. Better learn to focus.

I'll admit it: I'm confounded by the gamboolers who bet, raise, and call large amounts of money on silly flush draws. I saw one guy raise 1.5 bets pre-flop with 23 suited, then bet the pot with his 5-high straight draw on the flop. Another person raised the pot with flush and open-ended straight draws on the flop. Sure, she had something like 15 outs, but I had the dominant hand when I opened betting. I folded because I only had top pair, and I've taken down a lot of pots from people who only had top pair.

Pot limit continues to be profitable for me every single day I've played; but I've seen some questionable moves by other people that have made me think twice about playing against these crazy people.

... with bunnies.

Only 30 seconds of your time!

"Anger’s not going to change this country and do what needs to be done for America," he said in Norristown, Pa.

He? He who? Some Republican? Nah, it's the senior Senator from North Carolina: John Edwards. Edwards was referring to Zell Miller's angry keynote speech at the Republican Convention, which the Bush campaign and other Republicans are now backing away from.

I wonder if Zell Miller is crazy. At any rate, the right-wingers made a mistake in picking Miller and pumping his speech as some kind of Bush triumph. Dumbasses.

Last night was the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention in New York City. Between evening classes and the weekly game, I had no time to devote to watching CSPAN's coverage of the convention, and I'm not sure I'll get a chance to watch the archive at CSPAN.org. I just have way too much work to do.

Andrew Sullivan, on the other hand, has been watching the coverage with mixed feelings. A Republican who continues to support the broad foreign policy vision of the Bush administration (I know, really?), Sullivan has nevertheless decided to throw his support to Kerry (against Bush). Apologies in advance for having such a huge block of quoted text.

I think The Cards Speak is one of the most consistently good poker blogs out there (ok, within the small sample of poker blogs I read regularly), but this latest entry stands head and shoulders above a lot of the posts, if only because it contains the Greatest Poker Monologue Ever. Henry's an LA-based poker blogger who regularly hits the Park for medium/high stakes live action. One of these days I'll join him.

Another hiatus: I was sick last week.

    This week  Cumulative  Average

CR    -$1.70     +$7.90    +$1.13

EM    -$5.00     +$0.45    +$0.06

ER    +$1.50     +$4.65    +$0.66

JB    -$1.05    -$10.80    -$1.35

JC    +$4.75    +$16.75    +$2.09

Me    +$1.50    -$10.80    -$1.35

JB is now tied with me for cumulative losses, and EM's big loss this week puts her 4th in the rankings.

There was some talk as we started about trying out pot limit, but that didn't get anywhere. Maybe we should try it next week.