Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Yay yay rawr!

After work today, we had a little "homegame" No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament. Six participants, two places paid and a good time was had by all.

I was the only one who had much real experience playing and I mostly folded, folded, folded and watched them become committed to a pot and staying in with nothing. However, there were five other players and one cannot affect everything, so I at least came out with my ego intact at second place. We will play more.

By the way, this morning I was at the dentist sooner than I expected, they'd had an appointment cancelled and a spot open so I went there to get the dental work started. Had a deep cavity in one tooth filled (no root canal, phew!), almost an hour's work. Maybe the Novacaine stayed in an gave me a proper poker face?

Then I woke up. I then came home and saw that my discs had come.

Eighties sci-fi synth punk yay yay rawr! The Epoxies must have raided Devo's office or something and stolen purloined all their synthesizer settings. Their CD is the proper length. Eleven tracks, less than half an hour. Possibly they also stopped at an Irish pub after the raid on Devo's office.

Makes me want to get a Prodikeys and start keying.

\m/<^_^>\m/

Yay rawr!

Friday, November 26, 2004

oveD. The Epoxies .Devo

Tipped of by a mention by club owner Jamie Zawinski in a posting at the DNA Lounge homepage, I download and listen+view a song.

Gaddies and lentilmen, I present:

The Epoxies

The Epoxies!

I've always been a huge Devo fan, and this sounds like Devo, except with a female singer. And in the 21st century, or Century of the Fruitbat or what-evah.

Ordered online a little while ago. And the "Complete Truth" Devo DVD (devovid?) while I was at it.

She's (the singer, Roxy Epoxy) cute too. Her and Gwen Stefani, mmmmm...

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Nuts?

I've made it my "thing" on all the NLHE freerolls I enter to exclaim in the chatbox whenever a four of a kind is shown:

That's a lotta Xs!


(or replace the exclamation mark with three periods...) For example "That's a lotta threes".

Why? A phrase is stuck in my head ever since I saw a movie from, by and starring Steve Oedekerk; Kung Pow: Enter the Fist:

That's a lotta nuts!

Sunday, November 21, 2004

¡Maldito rio!

So I went to my third live tournament full of hope. I brought my green felt table cloth, as last time, and also a toolbox with chips and decks for possible cashgames.

There were 43 entrants, five tables. The No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament starts and at the very first hand (I think, it might've been the first hand I participated in) I'm dealt QK and limp along. The flop comes TJA. Wham-zoom, an ace high straight. Some betting and raising, the turn comes and everybody folds after my betting. Nice to start off on plus.

Man, it's hard to keep a pokerface. And if you might've given something away, to counteract it with a double or triple fake. But I think I handle it well when I look at my cards and see American Airlines, pocket rockets, Alcoholics Anonymous, bullets, AA staring back at me. I raise a bit and (only) one other player calls. Flop, bet. The opponent (whom I have met at two other live tournaments and played against in one, where I folded K9o to his all-in) goes all-in. Hamina hamina hoo, I call! He has more chips than me so this is it. The cards are turned over and he has nothing, no made hand, so he is beat, beat, beat at the moment. He comments that he didn't expect a call but I understand him, this early in the tournament you'll have to play wild and maybe bluff to get anywhere (or out).

But...

The turn comes and gosh, he has a straight draw. If a six comes on the river, he'll have it and win.

Guess what comes at the river?

6


So I'm out at 42nd place of 43. Curseword genitalia intercourse feces.

When two tables are freed up (by the way, The Tournament Director is excellent for tournaments, the two guys running the tournament could manage 43 players including themselves, timekeeping, table balancing, prize money easily without hassle) I start up a cashgame, 6/12 Limit and we are about eight who play for a while. I lose a bit there too, but not because of bad play, just ups and downs. Next time I'll bring change, so you can cash out more easily.

All at the final table get a t-shirt, the three first get a cap (promotional material from a sponsor), the six first get paid.

I pack up my felt, chips, cards and sorrows and walk silently into the night. It was fun but next time, ooh, next time...

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Bite me

I was at the dentist this morning, for the first time in, oh, fourteen years.

The reason I've never been to the dentist as an adult is that I've never had any problems with my teeth (toothache, teeth falling out, bleeding gum etc) and that it costs money - not covered by Sweden's health service as everything else. Strange in a way, if I get a hole in my head or a tumor I just pay a small patient fee and get it fixed but when it's specifically the teeth, you pay dearly.

But now I'd discovered a cavity in one tooth that I can feel with my tongue and food gets stuck in it, so I made a dentist appointment to have it checked out.

Oh my. There are three or four other fillings that have to be made, plus that big cavity that will probably require a root canal. A few appointments are made for January to have it done. Afterwards, on advice from the dentist, I get a pack of fluoride tablets to suck after meals and will use my electric toothbrush more (it's actually better than a manual toothbrush, it doesn't irritate the gum as much, I believed the opposite).

Well well. "Having a root canal". I think that's a (male?) rite of passage, along other things you have to have done such as:

  • Partaking in a high stakes poker game
  • Get howling drunk on a weekday
  • Drive a vehicle really fast
  • Blow shit up
  • Get stitches
  • Change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. (From Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love")

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Reco'nize!

About a week ago, I discovered that Iggy, a fellow Blogspotter, a notorious pokerblogger, had mentioned my little blog among (thirtyfour) other blogs. Now I see that he has put the link (among a hundred others) in his listing on the right. So, at least someone has found me. The statistics over daily pageviews sometimes soars into the double digits, wow!

Pokerwize, not much. Been in a few NLHE freerolls, best placement 198th of 6000. Or out early. In the no-limit freerolls, it's like in limit poker; you can only afford one mistake at most, or one mistake for every two successes. Things have to happen early, either you go out early on a gamble (riverred or kickered) or you build a stack so you can survive at least a few blinds waiting. It's no fun having $10.000 in chips when the tournament leader has $100.000. But! Things can change fast. The other day I was down to $800 in chips late in the tournament and a few played hands later I was up to $18.000. (Then down again, then out).

I'll probably maybe tentatively enter in a live tournament next Sunday, if there are seats left. I'll know during the week if I'll have other commitments and obligations. The last time was fun, even if I didn't win anything.

If you're running a poker tournament, definitely check the (Windows) software The Tournament Director out.