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July 31, 2005
The Biggest Game
While overseas, I took the opportunity of using my cousin's clean computer to sign up for a new Party Poker account. My old account had been closed for "inappropriate chat" at the blogger NL tables; the same thing happened to Bonus Code Iggy, but somehow he got it all squared away. This time I decided to sign up through PokerSourceOnline. Unfortunately, their rake rebate program no longer has Party as an option. Still, by signing up through PSO I got 6000 PSO points, 5000 of which I promptly traded in for a $50 Amazon Gift Card.
One of the three poker books I picked up was The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King. Once I started reading the first few pages, I was hooked. I can't even tell you why I found the book as interesting as it did.
Michael Craig pieces together what happened when wealthy Texas banker Andy Beal went to Vegas to play the biggest cash game players for stakes that no one had ever played before. We're talking limit hold'em for millions of dollars, blinds of 50,000-100,000. One of the LA bloggers once asked us how much money it would take for us to be able to go off and do whatever we wanted for the rest of our lives. For these players, it was just one big pot.
I take back what I said earlier.
This is what makes the Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King so interesting:
1. Most of us have wondered if we could go after the biggest players, provided we had the bankroll. Andy Beal had that bankroll.
2. Two of the hardest things to really learn as a player is separating bets from their dollar values and accepting fluctuations in results (and bankroll) as normal variance. When the stakes got large enough, the best poker veterans in the world re-faced those same struggles.
I personally have no ambitions to face off against great players. Hell, I play so little poker these days I feel guilty. But I'm glad Andy Beal took a shot at the best, and I hope he keeps at it.
Posted by glyphic at 12:59 AM
July 29, 2005
Back to responsibility
Eventually you have to give up waiting on Full Tilt to give you a job. There's probably some kind of restriction on how many LA-based bloggers they can employ (though if Joe Speaker or Absinthe announces next month he's making the switch, I'm going to kill somebody).
Anyway, I'll be starting my new job next week. Drop me a line if there's something you've always wanted to see on MySpace. Erm, it's not a Planning job.
Posted by glyphic at 06:49 PM | Comments (3)
July 28, 2005
One Booth Joint Episode 27
My friend Jake is apparently making his acting debut in a play that is being put on in a bar in West LA. I can't tell you if it's good or not, but here's what Jake says:
This Weekend, One Booth Joint Episode 27, the penultimate battle between ambiguous spirituality and hazy, rambunctious inner demons... or something like that. It takes place in a dive bar. You can see a play and get drunk at the same time! That's what I call culture. Look if these guys made it to episode 27 they must do something right...
So come on down to The Black Box, 12420 Santa Monica Blvd., at the corner of Santa Monica and Centinela. The show starts at 10:30 on Friday July 29th and Saturday July 30th. It will be fun. Tickets are $10 with a reservation at (310) 979-7078. Or $12 at the door.
Jake
Posted by glyphic at 02:56 PM
July 23, 2005
Keep those Kiwi dollars
At the passenger unloading curb, I pulled all my Kiwi money out of my wallet and shoved it into my sister's hands, figuring I wouldn't need it anymore. Wrong! Apparently you have to pay New Zealand $25 or they won't let you leave. Those bastards. I charged this one last expense to my AmEx, knowing full well I was getting shafted by their exchange rate.
Posted by glyphic at 12:13 AM | Comments (3)
July 21, 2005
PokerTracker and GameTimePlus Updates Available
The latest version of PokerTracker is 2.07.03. If you haven't updated PokerTracker in the last month, check out the new support for PostgreSQL as well as the latest bug fixes. For those of us with largish hand history databases, this new feature is almost more welcome than hand histories at Full Tilt. Maybe I'm smoking crack, but I swear that auto-rating players and exporting notes is faster this way.
You'll need to update your version of GameTimePlus to use with the PostgreSQL database.
Eh? What am I talking about? You slack monkeys who haven't picked up the PokerTrackerGuide ought to do yourselves a favor and buy it today.
Posted by glyphic at 03:22 AM | Comments (2)
July 20, 2005
Google Moon
Ever want to pinpoint where the moon missions landed? Now you can with Google Moon.
And don't forget to take Google Earth for a spin.
Posted by glyphic at 05:18 AM | Comments (3)
July 11, 2005
WPBT Charlie Tournament
BG organized a poker tournament this Sunday in memory of Jason's friend Charlie.
Details:
PokerStars
WPBT "Charlie" Tournament
No Limit Hold'Em
Tournament 9680072
Sunday, July 17th
18:00 ET
$20 buy-in
You'll find it under Tourney --> Private. The buy-in will go to Charlie's family to do with as they like. So we'll be playing purely for bragging rights.
Update: July 14, 2005. I'm happy to report that 46 players are now signed up for the tournament. That's $920 raised through the blogs, $20 at a time. Let's push it over a grand. Sign up now, even if you don't think you'll be able to play.
Posted by glyphic at 05:18 PM
July 09, 2005
Teen pays $7.3m for talking and driving
Stupid teen.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
A stunning verdict emerged from a Palmdale courtroom in 2003 that sent a statement about public opinion on cellphone use by drivers, but the case also showed how insurance policies shape the outcome of accident litigation.
The jury was considering the matter of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer injured by a 16-year-old driver of an SUV, who made an illegal U turn.
The teenager was not drunk, under the influence of drugs or otherwise engaged in criminal behavior. The police officer was not permanently crippled, though testimony indicated that he suffered significant pain and that the injuries prevented him from an important promotion.
Although the teenager denied using a cellphone at the time of the accident, her phone records showed that she was on a call at the approximate time of the crash.
"She said she hung up before the accident," said Hugh J. Grant, the attorney for the young defendant. "The jury didn't believe her."
Indeed, the jury delivered a stunning award: $7.3 million for the officer.
"It was an angry jury," recalled R. Rex Parris, the Lancaster attorney who represented the police officer.
"It was a very unusual case with some very unusual injury allegations," Grant said.
What inflamed the jury? Was it the cellphone? The fact that the injured defendant was a police officer? The behavior of the defendant?
The teenager "showed up with a $1,000 Louis Vuitton purse and $1,000 spike heels," Parris said. "I just wanted the jury to see the purse again. She didn't want to show it. I asked her if she had the cellphone with her. When she pulled it out, the power was on. She had come to court with a cellphone turned on. The jury was kind of incensed by the whole thing."
There was other testimony, Parris recalled, that showed the girl's father, a car dealer in the Antelope Valley, had pressured the police to change the accident report.
Cellphone use has galvanized the auto safety community. In the aftermath of this verdict, the California Assembly considered — but then failed to approve — a bill to outlaw hand-held cellphones by drivers. New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have outlawed hand-held cellphones.
Despite the controversy and big verdicts, cellphones continue to gain popularity among drivers.
A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released in February showed that cellphone use by drivers doubled between 2000 and 2004. Surveys of drivers show that 8% of drivers ages 16 to 24 use cellphones at any given time. By comparison, just 1% of drivers age 70 and over use them.
That's troubling to Parris, who said he believes teenagers' brains have not developed enough to handle the mental demands of talking and driving. And Grant cautions that using a cellphone carries a clear legal risk.
"It is more and more common in accidents to subpoena production of the driver's cellphone records," Grant said. "At all times, drivers are responsible for the safe operation of their vehicles, and when they breach that duty they are liable."
Posted by glyphic at 04:13 PM
July 05, 2005
Gambool
In case you haven't heard, I've returned to the US. I jumped right into the gambling frame of mind with the start of the month, playing Blackjack with bonus money at Will Hill and Intercasino (see ScurvyDog for the affiliate links), O8 and NLHE at the LA Blogger Home Game, and 2/4 HE at the Bad Beat Jackpot tables on Party Poker. Yep. I finally got a new Party account after getting myself banned last January for "inappropriate chat." I still don't know what the hell that means, but whatever.
There are some excellent tables to be found under that BBJ tab. I happened to catch -EV 4-tabling a few of them, but I opted to play elsewhere. No need to sit down with a known tight-aggressive player who reminds you everytime he sees you about that $50NL session where he took two buy-ins off of you (5 months ago!). Anyway, with several players playing in excess of 35-55% of all their hands, my BBJ sessions evoked fond memories of playing in the LA and Vegas casinos.
Coincidentally, I'll be heading out to Vegas in the morning to bake in 105 degree sunshine and immerse myself in the madness that is the WSOP. No, I won't be playing in any of the events--I don't have the skills or the bankroll for that--but I do intend to sit myself down next to some poker-crazed tourists and try to dodge bad beats while building a mountain of chips. There will be no blackjack or roulette on this trip; then again, Grubby's a persuasive guy.
Posted by glyphic at 12:23 AM
July 04, 2005
The new poker machine
Thrower-induced recovery notwithstanding, it was time to get a new poker machine. I can't trust my laptop to keep on working the way it's been working the past few days, and rather than find myself without a computer at what will most likely be the most inconvenient time possible, I figure the best thing to do is get a replacement. I checked out Dell's site to see what kinds of deals they had available, but they seemed rather so-so. A little over $500 would get me a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 with 512MB SDRAM, an 80GB HD, DVD-ROM/CD-RW, and integrated video with a 2 year warranty.
I don't really need a high-powered machine. But Glasstrack assured me that for the money I was willing to spend, I could get a much better machine if I were willing to shop around and buy the components I needed. Here's what we came up with...
Case: Antec Sonata
Purchased: Fry's Electronics
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $79.06
Motherboard: MSI 865PE Neo3-F
Purchased: newegg.com
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $83.69
Processor: intel Celeron D 325J
Purchased: newegg.com
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $88.66
Memory: 1GB Corsair ValueSelect 184-Pin DDR SDRAM (PC 3200)
Purchased: newegg.com
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $90.42
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 200GB (7200 RPM)
Purchased: Fry's Electronics
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $57.86
Graphics: ATI Radeon 7500
Purchased: 3B Tech.net
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $29.00
Optical Drive: NEC ND-3520A DVD-R
Purchased: newegg.com
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $47.29
Network Card: D-Link DWL-520
Purchased: CompUSA.com
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $8.65
Input Devices: Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop Elite Keyboard w/Tilt Mouse Combo
Purchased: 3B Tech.net
Price (after tax, s/h, rebates): $53.00
Total Cost: $537.63
I'm looking forward to getting this thing put together. The Sonata case is supposed to be super-quiet due to several noise dampening features. For whatever reason, I have this thing about computer noise--it drives me crazy. Let's see if this thing lives up to the hype.
Damn this national holiday! I want my computer now!
Posted by glyphic at 03:26 PM | Comments (3)
July 03, 2005
Kicking your computer
Back in Beijng my laptop decided to stop working. I'd hit the power button, a few of the LEDs would flash, and nothing. No POST.
I then removed the batteries, the hard drive, and the memory, and tried booting using one DIMM and the power cable. It worked!
I moved the DIMM to a different slot. It worked. Cool. Probably a memory problem.
I tried the second DIMM in the second slot. It worked. Eh?
I tried the second DIMM in the first slot. Okay... this works, too.
I eventually added the hard drive, the second DIMM, and both batteries, and that seemed to work, too. I sealed it up, and boom, no POST.
I took that thing apart and put it back together again for hours and never got it to POST consistently. More often than not, I'd get nothing. I figured there was something broken somewhere on something expensive, and rather than fix a 2 year old laptop for a few hundred dollars or more, I'd get a new one.
I tried getting it to boot a few more times while in China and Korea, but finally gave up. I knew the hard drive was still good, so I could get my old data off the machine at the very least.
---
Jack: Was it ticking?
Airport Security Officer: Actually throwers don't worry about ticking 'cause modern bombs don't tick.
Jack: Sorry, throwers?
Airport Security Officer: Baggage handlers. But, when a suitcase vibrates, then the throwers gotta call the police.
Jack: My suitcase was vibrating?
Airport Security Officer: Nine times out of ten it's an electric razor, but every once in a while...
[whispering]
Airport Security Officer: it's a dildo. Of course it's company policy never to, imply ownership in the event of a dildo... always use the indefinite article a dildo, never your dildo.
Jack: I don't own...
[Officer waves Jack off]
---
Well, son of a gun. My computer works. It booted right up when I pulled it out of my suitcase.
Posted by glyphic at 01:35 PM
July 02, 2005
La Vida Robot
Good morning. Jet lag sucks. This story doesn't.
The winter rain makes a mess of West Phoenix. It turns dirt yards into mud and forms reefs of garbage in the streets. Junk food wrappers, diapers, and Spanish-language porn are swept into the gutters. On West Roosevelt Avenue, security guards, two squad cars, and a handful of cops watch teenagers file into the local high school. A sign reads: Carl Hayden Community High School: The Pride's Inside.
There certainly isn't a lot of pride on the outside. The school buildings are mostly drab, late '50s-era boxes. The front lawn is nothing but brown scrub and patches of dirt. The class photos beside the principal's office tell the story of the past four decades. In 1965, the students were nearly all white, wearing blazers, ties, and long skirts. Now the school is 92 percent Hispanic. Drooping, baggy jeans and XXXL hoodies are the norm.
The school PA system crackles, and an upbeat female voice fills the bustling linoleum-lined hallways. "Anger management class will begin in five minutes," says the voice from the administration building. "All referrals must report immediately."
Across campus, in a second-floor windowless room, four students huddle around an odd, 3-foot-tall frame constructed of PVC pipe. They have equipped it with propellers, cameras, lights, a laser, depth detectors, pumps, an underwater microphone, and an articulated pincer. At the top sits a black, waterproof briefcase containing a nest of hacked processors, minuscule fans, and LEDs. It's a cheap but astoundingly functional underwater robot capable of recording sonar pings and retrieving objects 50 feet below the surface. The four teenagers who built it are all undocumented Mexican immigrants who came to this country through tunnels or hidden in the backseats of cars. They live in sheds and rooms without electricity. But over three days last summer, these kids from the desert proved they are among the smartest young underwater engineers in the country.
Posted by glyphic at 07:07 AM