I couldn't resist...
Sköl,
VS
Notifications
Clear all
There's something about the delivery of that "It's green" line together with the music that makes it hilarious, but I can't quite put my finger on it. 
Didn't manage to get on the right side of the cooler's tonight either. 
First I lost a potential quadruple-up in the Badugi with another 6 vs a 5, then I ran trips into a pat flush in the Five Card Draw. Couldn't really get away from it, because a lot of worse hands could have re-raised me predraw as well, and even after the draw, a snow from my opponent would have been a definite possibility. At least the chance of being up against a snow in that spot were higher than my chances of coming back with what would have been left of my stack if I had folded, I believe.
Speaking of which, snowing is something I might be well-advised to try out myself to build a stack earlier on, but I haven't really done it yet, nor identified any good opportunities for it.
Badugi results continue to disappoint. While most of my exit hands have been very unlucky, it should still be noted that I might be too passive and/or not focused enough on it lately. This could be partly because I had to late reg almost half an hour into the tournament a lot in the last few days, mostly due to coming home late from work, which also often leads to me having to cram in a quick dinner while already playing. It also happened today, though, on a day off.
Oh, and the 2-7 Triple Draw didn't even start tonight, because the minimum number of entrants couldn't be reached. It happens with those kinds of tournaments...
This could be partly because I had to late reg almost half an hour into the tournament a lot in the last few days, mostly due to coming home late from work
This makes PKOs even tougher.
As for snowing in 5-Card Draw I do the following:
Only snow if you raise first in
Snow only with a hand that is all blockers, but nothing else -- for example A♠:K♥:J♣:T♦::9x:
Bet like you mean it. You can't just min-raise or (horrors) limp.
Snow only from CO onwards.
Regardless of what the other player draws, you must CBet. It doesn't matter if you get called, and of course you'll fold to a re-raise post draw, so your stack has to handle it. If you get caught, it merely increases the likelihood that your next pat hand gets paid off handsomely
You fold your snow job to a pre-draw raise.
I'm not sure if I missed anything.
Give it a try -- it is fun.
oh -- and Best of luck :gl:,
VS
Wheelin' and dealin'
As you surely know, straights are bad in 2-7 Triple Draw.
As you may know as well, A5432 does not count as a straight in that game, because aces are always high.
And as you can probably figure out, any hand containing an ace is still not very good at showdown, straight or not.
In this case... it was somehow still good enough.
Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
PokerStars Limit Triple Draw ($6.69+$0.81) t50/t100 - 5 players
SB: t2,950
BB: t3,250
UTG: t3,200 (Hero)
CO: t3,000
Button: t2,600
Dealing Hands: (t75) 
(5 players)
Hero raises to t100, 2 folds, SB calls t75, BB folds
First Draw: (t250) (2 players)
SB discards 3, Hero discards 2,
|| 
SB checks, Hero bets t50, SB calls t50
Second Draw: (t350) (2 players)
SB discards 2, Hero discards 1,
|| 
SB checks, Hero bets t100, SB calls t100
Third Draw: (t550) (2 players)
SB discards 2, Hero discards 1,
|| 
SB checks, Hero bets t100, SB calls t100
SB mucked
Hero showed , Lo: A,5,4,3,2
Hero won t750
SB mucked 2♣:4♠:5♠:9♦:5♣:. Calling a bluff is all fine and well, as long as you can beat that bluff.
And honestly, it performed better than the wheel I got dealt in the regular Five Card Draw tonight...
This converter is going to be a cash cow...
PokerStars Pot Limit 5 Card Draw ($6.69+$0.81) t125/t250 ante t60 - 6 players
UTG+1: t2,940
CO: t1,000
Button: t3,086
SB: t2,585 (Hero)
BB: t6,598
UTG: t15,032
Dealing Hands: (t735) 
(6 players)
UTG raises to t750, 3 folds, Hero raises to t1500, BB folds, UTG calls t750
First Draw: (t3,610) (2 players)
Hero stands, UTG discards 3,
Hero bets t1025 and is all-in, UTG calls t1025
Hero showed , a straight, Ace to Five
UTG showed 
, a full house, Queens full of Tens
UTG won t5660
Session still going. It has been pretty terrible mostly, but there is still some hope left...
There's a $11 PL Five Card Draw tournament that starts a few minutes after 8 PM my time. This is more than an hour earlier than my usual grind, but I've always wanted to check it out. One of the reason is that there have been some promising results in the $7.50 PL 5CD last month, another one is that unlike those tournaments, the $11 ones are non-turbos.
I had to reg a bit late, but it went all right for a while. Just about until this hand:
Converted by a herd of feral cows
PokerStars Pot Limit 5 Card Draw ($9.80+$1.20) t100/t200 ante t50 - 6 players
UTG: t2,180
UTG+1: t1,450
CO: t5,526
Button: t2,280
SB: t2,660
BB: t5,647 (Hero)
Dealing Hands: (t600) 
(6 players)
UTG raises to t400, 2 folds, Button raises to t1000, SB folds, Hero calls t800, UTG raises to t2130 and is all-in, Button raises to t2230 and is all-in, Hero calls t1230
First Draw: (t6,990) (3 players)
Hero discards 1, UTG discards 2, Button discards 2
UTG showed 
, a full house, Tens full of Threes
Button showed 
, four of a kind, Aces
Hero showed 
, a full house, Eights full of Fives
Button won t6990
Now, to be fair, it was a predraw all-in and it is likely that my opponents were already ahead with better trips at that point. But still... hitting a full house in a three-way pot, and losing to both? This is pretty cruel.
I already posted the exit hand from the other 5CD tournament, looks like I still can't catch a break from the coolers. Had to take a 2nd bullet in the Badugi early on, and eventually managed to cash with some bounties, which made the 2nd bullet worthwhile, but not much else tonight. Played the 2-7 Triple Draw again and succeeded to get a promising stack, only to make some undisciplined mistakes in the late phase.
Still pretty tough going, and I now have some catching up to do with my bankroll this month.
Poker is still going poorly, so let's have a drink instead.
Vorpal mentioned a drink called the "Lime Crush" the other day. While the name makes it sound like it calls for some muddling, this does not seem to be the case, as far as I know. Nevertheless, it made me think about the drinks that do require some muddling.
This is the muddler I have at home. Wooden models like this one are quite common. They tend to be pretty durable, but require a bit more maintenance to make sure that they won't go moldy. It is recommended to clean them immediately after every use. Varnished wooden muddlers are not ideal, because the varnish will eventually peel away after some uses, which means that tiny portions of it are likely to end up right in your cocktail.
There are also plastic and steel versions (often still with a plastic tip) that are usually easier to clean. Many of them may even be dishwasher safe. And not all muddlers have that teeth design at the bottom, but it tends to come in handy for releasing the juice from whatever you're muddling.
So let's take this baby out for a test drive. We're going to make an old classic, the Caipirinha. The name is derived from the Portuguese word caipira (something like "country person") and it's considered the national cocktail of Brazil.
We will need some cachaça for it, a Brazilian liquor which is made from fermented sugarcane juice. Fortunately, it's easily available in my town, which isn't always the case with these kinds of drinks. If you can't get your hands on it, some white rum might do in a pinch, technically making your cocktail a "Caipirissima". Alternatively, use vodka to make it a "Caipiroska" instead.
We will also need half a lime, cut into four wedges.
To start, simply put all the lime wedges in a lowball glass (which should hold around 180 ml) with two teaspoons of sugar.
Then, use your muddler. Remember, it's not a pestle. The idea is to release the juices from the fruit and to combine it with the sugar, not to smash the ingredients into a pulp. We can achieve this by gently pressing the muddler down, followed by a half twist. Repeat a few times.
When we're done, the lime juices will have gathered at the bottom of the glass, mixed with the sugar. The limes will remain in the glass, so do not strain. It might be a good idea to use limes with edible peels for this.
Next, fill the glass with ice cubes. Four or five should do. Many bars will serve this with crushed ice instead, but I've been informed that ice cubes are supposedly more authentic. They're usually easier to get anyway.
Now, pour in 50 ml of cachaça. It may look like it will hardly fill the glass at all, but just give it a good stir to combine it with the other ingredients and it should all work out.
And after a little stir, you're all set.
Not included is the beautiful summer weather that would go well with this drink...
"Muddling" is how I play poker 
I wouldn't like a varnished muddler -- there is the real possibility that some ingredients like acidic ones, or even the alcohol itself might partially dissolve some varnish into the drink.
VS;
Raise your glasses, friends, we shipped the 2-7 Triple Draw! 
♠_drink:
The heads-up battle vs my highly respected Badugi rival Ogotop (we've been sharing final tables for about four years by now) was very tough with a lot of back-and-forth, but I entered with a slight chip lead and could finally emerge as the winner.
$89.77 brings us back to break-even for this month, even with a few bucks to spare.
I was about to drift into a major downswing, so this cash definitely comes in handy. 
As usual, I'll be on duty on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe I will post some hands before I leave for work tomorrow. I have definitely noticed the impact my work days have on poker, so I'm not sure yet how my session will look like. The bankroll and confidence boost - in the game I've felt the least confident in, no less - surely helps out either way.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Raise your glasses, friends, we shipped the 2-7 Triple Draw!
Very nice!
Hi Harrier,
Very nice Caipirinha I have seen this drink before, but never had the privilege of trying one out for myself.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Raise your glasses, friends, we shipped the 2-7 Triple Draw!
Is that "good cocktail equity"? ♠_ugly: Very nice! ♠_thumbsup:♠_cool:♠_drink:
Thank you very much, guys! 
Decided to play a full session tonight, didn't go too well, unfortunately. Mincashed the Badugi without bounties, busted the Five Card Draw and finished 8th in the 2-7 Triple Draw... with 5 places paid.
There will probably be another full session tomorrow night, hopefully with better results. More drinks coming up next week.
Triple FTs tonight!
If I remember correctly, I finished 7th in the Badugi, 5th in the Five Card Draw, and 3rd in the 2-7 Triple Draw.
If not, I shall correct myself tomorrow.
2-7 TD was definitely the biggest cash, amounting to around $70. We finally have some cash to spare now again, after recovering from the downswing.
Success in the Five Card Draw was made possible by this hand early in the tournament, where I decided to do "The Vorpal" (discarding the higher kicker with trips) and it worked out perfectly, allowing me to outdraw a pat hand and get rid of a tough competitor in the process. Which was good, because I may have tried to bluffcatch a possible snow otherwise, putting me into a pretty precarious situation for the rest of the tournament.
Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
PokerStars Pot Limit 5 Card Draw ($9.80+$1.20) t40/t80 ante t20 - 4 players
Button: t4,749 (Hero)
SB: t3,071
BB: t3,340
UTG: t3,773
Dealing Hands: (t200) 
(4 players)
UTG calls t80, Hero raises to t240, 2 folds, UTG raises to t920, Hero calls t680
First Draw: (t2,040) (2 players)
UTG stands, Hero discards 1,
|| 
UTG bets t1020, Hero raises to t3809 and is all-in, UTG calls t1813 and is all-in
Hero showed , a full house, Kings full of Queens
UTG showed 
, a straight, Six to Ten
Hero won t7706
It is always nice when that works -- not so nice when you draw the card you threw.
Part of the reason I do it is just to avoid a decision point.
In this case, I might even have discarded 2, to slightly increase my chance at quads -- which would have been a disaster.
Nice hand -- and nice result!
Originally posted by Harrier88
If I remember correctly, I finished 7th in the Badugi, 5th in the Five Card Draw, and 3rd in the 2-7 Triple Draw.
If not, I shall correct myself tomorrow.
Correction: Finished 4th in the Five Card Draw, not 5th, for $37.69.
Incidentally, the other cashes were $12.32 (including bounties) for the 7th place in the Badugi, and $72.03 for the 3rd place in the 2-7 Triple Draw.
It is interesting that I've been doing poorly at mixed games recently, and doing well at NLHE, whereas in the past it was always the other way around.
I think what happened is that the earth is passing through a zone of space in which random number generators favour NLHE for me and the rest for you.
I know this can happen. I saw it on Star Trek once...
VS
Deep run in the Five Card Draw yesterday, but not deep enough to cash. Finished 11th with 8 places paid. Almost even made a miraculous recovery with lucky predraw trips shortly before I would have been blinded out, but ran a good two pair into not so lucky drawn trips shortly later.
Also tried the non-turbo $11 again, but couldn't get anything going, my opponents just hit better than me this time. I'm not sure about that Five Card Draw, the results are good overall, but so much of my strategy seems to boil down to "just get better hands", if I think about it. Now, I don't mind a pure gamble as long as it's a +EV gamble, but still, there must be more to this game that I haven't figured out yet.
Badugi was okay, mincashed with bounties. Got close to laddering up too.
2-7 Triple Draw had a great start, then I squandered my stack again. At least I seem to get those "great starts" with decent consistency by now, so I guess the foundation is there. I need to learn not to underestimate the short stacks in this game, I believe. At least I got a little more disciplined with my folds overall by now.
Both the 2-7 TD and 5CD tournaments have very short and steep payout structures, which is actually the way I prefer it, but it does mean that early successes can quickly fizzle down to nothing later on. It definitely requires some mental adjustments, and maybe some strategic ones too. I might give 2-7 TD cash games another chance some time, so far I have mostly played them for practice purposes. My cash game mindset is not all that great usually, but maybe I would be able to apply some of the principles I have learned in the tournaments with greater success there.