Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

Just checked the Liquor Board listings website.
the Butterscotch is not available here.
Their Crème de Menthe isn't either, which is sad -- it was the best.

Maybe one day I'll be able to go to the States again, or perhaps one of the independent stores will have it.

Since the subject is "mixed drinks", I had a friend in University that mixed Crème de Menthe and 7-Up
He called it "Scope" -- which apparently still exists...
https://crest.com/en-us/products/mouthwash/scope-mouthwash-original-mint

Originally posted by Harrier88

because I figured that Sex in the Shower is best served for two.

I would assume that Sex in the Shower for one would be kinda boring.......... and a little bit sad.

Originally posted by Lazza61
I would assume that Sex in the Shower for one would be kinda boring.......... and a little bit sad.
Maybe, but drinking alone doesn't have to be sad or boring, there are other drinks you can enjoy in that situation.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Since the subject is "mixed drinks", I had a friend in University that mixed Crème de Menthe and 7-Up
He called it "Scope" -- which apparently still exists...
https://crest.com/en-us/products/mouthwash/scope-mouthwash-original-mint/blockquote >
Funny that it's a mouth wash... when my brother was visiting one time this year, I let him try some of the latest additions to my home bar, including some white crème de menthe by DeKuyper. Not being the best when it comes to dental hygiene, he figured that he didn't even have to brush his teeth now that he has this nice minty flavor in his mouth. I'm glad that I was able to convince him otherwise.

If you can't get Bols for certain drinks, another brand I'm often using is Giffard, since that's the one that my liquor store of choice usually carries. I haven't tried any drinks side by side yet for comparison, but they seem to be somewhat similar to Bols in both price and quality.

FT in the Badugi, even though it was only good enough for an 8th place ($6.59), plus $4.50 in bounties. Still room for improvement results-wise, but at least it felt like I got my mojo back in this game. If I manage to keep playing like that - and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't - I should be able to get back to my old performance in no time.

8-game busted shortly before the bubble, and with good reasons too, I made some massive mistakes at some points. That's okay, though. Making and identifying mistakes means that you are learning and that you can improve. I'm more worried about the 2-7 TD, where I got a very good stack early on, but couldn't take it all the way until the end of late reg. However, unlike the 8-game, I couldn't really point the finger at what went wrong, except for not getting the cards I truly needed once the blinds got a bit higher. Being card-dead at the wrong point in a game like this where monster hands and complete trash can run so closely together can indeed be a serious problem - but is this really all that happened here? I don't know, and that's what's bothering me.

To be fair, it was getting a little late at that point, and playing different games at the same time can require a lot of focus. And tonight, I even played something different, and started a Stud hi cash game at the beginning of my session. Yes, Stud. Figuring that I could massively increase my chances in 8-game by getting good at Stud and Stud8, which I still consider my weakest games in there, I did some basic reading on it recently. I did seem to grasp some new things, so I tried to put them into practice at the lowest stakes that are offered, which are $0.04/0.08. I didn't really expect to win anything, it was just to gain some experience, also by watching other players and identifying what they are doing right or wrong. Surprisingly, though, I ended up leaving the table with about $3 in profit.

Now don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that I "got it" and that I can expect to be a winning Stud player now. We all know about small samples and results-oriented thinking, and sometimes, you are just lucky enough to be blessed with some amazing hands that can square off against slightly less amazing hands, like here:

PokerStars, 7 Card Stud Limit - $0.04/$0.08 ($0.01 ante) - 8 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 4 (Hero): $2.67 (67 bb)
Seat 5: $0.88 (22 bb)
Seat 6: $0.75 (19 bb)
Seat 7: $0.76 (19 bb)
Seat 8: $2.73 (68 bb)
Seat 1: $2.85 (71 bb)
Seat 2: $1.05 (26 bb)
Seat 3: $1.64 (41 bb)

Third Street: ($0.08) Hero is in Seat 4
Xx Xx 2♥ BI bring-in $0.02____BI folds
A♠ K♦ A♦ Hero raises to $0.04
Xx Xx Q♥ UTG+1 folds
Xx Xx 5♠ MP calls $0.04
Xx Xx 4♦ MP+1 folds
Xx Xx 4♠ LP folds
Xx Xx 7♥ CO calls $0.04
Xx Xx 4♥ BTN folds

Fourth Street: ($0.22) (3 players)
A♠ K♦ A♦ 6♥ Hero bets $0.04
Xx Xx 5♠ J♥ MP calls $0.04
Xx Xx 7♥ 8♦ CO calls $0.04

Fifth Street: ($0.34) (3 players)
A♠ K♦ A♦ 6♥ K♥ Hero bets $0.08
Xx Xx 5♠ J♥ 8♣ MP calls $0.08
Xx Xx 7♥ 8♦ 2♦ CO calls $0.08

Sixth Street: ($0.58) (3 players)
A♠ K♦ A♦ 6♥ K♥ K♠ Hero bets $0.08
Xx Xx 5♠ J♥ 8♣ Q♦ MP calls $0.08
Xx Xx 7♥ 8♦ 2♦ 5♦ CO calls $0.08

Seventh Street: ($0.82) (3 players)
A♠ K♦ A♦ 6♥ K♥ K♠ 9♣ Hero bets $0.08____Hero raises to $0.24
Xx Xx 5♠ J♥ 8♣ Q♦ Xx MP raises to $0.16____MP calls $0.08
Xx Xx 7♥ 8♦ 2♦ 5♦ Xx CO folds

Total pot: $1.30 (Rake: $0.04)

Showdown:
Seat 4 (Hero) shows A♠ K♦ A♦ 6♥ K♥ K♠ 9♣ (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
Seat 6 mucks Q♠ 9♠ 5♠ J♥ 8♣ Q♦ T♣ (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Seat 4 (Hero) wins $1.26

But the important thing is that I did learn some new stuff which I believe has already improved my game a little.

If this continues, maybe I could become a serious threat in 8-game after all, and maybe eventually give games like HORSE a try too, possibly even dedicated Stud hi tournaments if I REALLY improve. But one step at a time. Right now, I'm just satisfied with the progress so far. And the extra $3 actually helped to turn a very slight profit tonight.

PokerStars, $3.92 + $0.48 - Badugi Pot Limit - 500/1,000 - 7 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 27,430 (27 bb)
MP: 23,507 (24 bb)
MP+1: 23,359 (23 bb)
CO: 108,991 (109 bb)
BU: 19,598 (20 bb)
SB (Hero): 5,565 (6 bb)
BB: 4,550 (5 bb)

Deal: (1,500) Hero is SB with Q♥ 5♦ A♣ 6♠
1 fold, MP raises to 2,000, 3 players fold, Hero calls 1,500, BB calls 1,000

Draw One: (6,000) 5♦ A♣ 6♠ K♠ (3 players)
SB (Hero) draws Qh, BB draws 2, MP draws 1
Hero checks, BB bets 2,550 (all-in), MP calls 2,550, Hero calls 2,550

Draw Two: (13,650) 5♦ A♣ 6♠ 3♥ (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB (Hero) draws Ks, BB draws 1, MP draws 1
Hero bets 1,015 (all-in), MP calls 1,015

Draw Three: (15,680) 5♦ A♣ 6♠ 3♥ (3 players, 2 all-in)
SB (Hero) stands pat, BB draws 1, MP draws 1

Total pot: 15,680

Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows 5♦ A♣ 6♠ 3♥ (a Badugi: 6,5,3,A)
BB shows 2♦ A♠ 6♣ 5♥ (a Badugi: 6,5,2,A)
MP shows 6♦ 2♥ 7♠ 8♠ (a 3-card: 7,6,2)
SB (Hero) wins 2,030
BB wins 13,650

We had 94% equity on the last draw in this hand to almost triple up and take a $4 bounty with us at the final table... that is pretty damn sick. Even though it was probably foolish to break that Q-Badugi in the first place with such a shallow stack, but it has been a long night.

7th place this time for $7.09 plus $6.50 bounties. Tried some PLO again too. As usual, I tried to register to that one regular speed tournament really late but couldn't get much going with the blinds being that high. So I tried another hyper turbo which starts near the beginning of my session, and figured that it's most likely a better choice. Had some success in it too, we made a ladder and cashed for $8.24. I don't remember the exact placement, but it was right before laddering up a second time, so maybe I took a foolish risk there.

Another relatively deep, but ultimately unsuccessful run in the 8-game and a bust in the Triple Draw, which was an $11 Weekend special today, meant that I had to settle for a small loss tonight, unfortunately.

At least I managed to find some time to do some good cleaning at home, though. I guess many homes have at least one of those forgotten spots that people neglect to check out in years? Well, I have one of those behind one of my kitchen cupboards:

As disgusting as that was, I'm glad I checked.

Only managed to deal with the kitchen counter (and those filthy cupboards above it) today, but considering how many appliances and other stuff has been standing around there - all of which needed a cleaning as well while we're at it - it still kept me busy for a few hours.

I will continue tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to clean up at the tables too.

Unlucky in that Badugi hand.

We have a corner cupboard in our kitchen that we use to keep plastic bowls, food containers etc.

We call it "plastic hell"
In order to clean it, you must be on your hands and knees, and reach way in to the back.

I hate it.

Atrocious start the session tonight, unlucky early exits in both Badugi and the PLO hyper turbo, which has become another temporary addition to the grind, but a fourth place in the 2-7 Triple Draw for $36.39 brought it all back. Also mincashed in the 8-game, finally.

Other than that, not a very productive day. There will be probably no session tomorrow due to sports.

I might take a look at some new poker rooms to expand to, though. Not sure if I'll get to it tomorrow, but I hope I will have it dealt with by the end of the week.

I went on to play a small session containing the $1.10 8-game and the $7.50 2-7 Triple Draw after all last night, and as some people may have read, both Vorpal and I had deep runs in the 8-game. While that's nice, the $2.77 in there didn't come close to cover the losses from the Triple Draw.

So it was not a good session for me, but an enlightening one. What exactly happened? I came home late at night, a little beat up and tired from my football practice, and see that there is still plenty of time to join two of my tournaments - so, as an ambitious little tournament player, I do.

The problem? It's late, and my body has gone through a lot of physical exercise. So even though I feel ready at that very moment, it comes as no surprise that I get a little tired down the road and that I'm not always on top of my game.

I remember when I was starting out with poker, mostly grinding MTTs on 888 back then, I often jumped straight into new tournaments even after many frustrating unlucky bust outs. Sure, I heard about tilt and all, but I was reasoning "Why does it matter? All I need are a some good hands that hold for once. I had plenty of bad luck before, it will all end up evening out".

Well, wrong. It's true that luck and the distribution of good and bad hands will even out in the long run, but that's not what poker is all about. It's not about getting good hands, any idiot can get a good hand in a nicely set up spot that earns them a big pot. Winning poker in any format is about working out what your opponents are going for, what they think you are going for, and then figuring out a way to get the most value based on a good evaluation of where you stand and where you are perceived to be standing. It's about maximizing value when you're ahead, minimizing losses when you are beat, managing the risk between the two situations, and sometimes making your opponent lay down a better hand or denying them a draw that could put you into trouble. The ability to do all of that and more is what makes winning players prevail in the long run, not getting good cards, as much as we yearn for them during certain stretches.

Doyle Brunson put it this way in the Super System:

The difference between playing good Poker and playing good Blackjack is as vast as the difference between squad tactics and grand strategy in warfare. You can beat a Blackjack game by knowing exactly what to do in every situation... and doing it. That's tactics. But in Poker you may face an identical situation twice against the same opponent, handle it two different ways, and be right both times. That's strategy.

He went on to say "And that's why there's never going to be a computer that will play World-Class Poker. It's a people game." and elaborated a bit on that point, which certainly made sense in 1979 when the book was released, but today's GTO-savvy computer programs may have different things to say about this. I would also add that without gaining a mathematical edge by counting cards or something like that, knowing the perfect way to play is not enough to beat the house in Blackjack, but other than that, his point stands. A lot about successful poker strategy is opponent- and situation-specific, which requires not only experience, but also a lot of focus and a good mindset. And if your body is exhausted, you can't expect a whole lot of focus or a great mindset.

Conclusion: I need to stop kidding myself when I should know that I won't stay mentally on top during a session. Barring a few exceptions, Mondays will be off-days now for me, as far as poker is concerned. I don't know yet what other days will be similarly affected. Wednesday, for example, will have me either going to football practice or firefighting training. Altogether, though, it is clear that I need to be more disciplined about when to play and when to skip.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Well, wrong. It's true that luck and the distribution of good and bad hands will even out in the long run, but that's not what poker is all about. It's not about getting good hands, any idiot can get a good hand in a nicely set up spot that earns them a big pot.

Doyle Brunson put it this way in the Super System:

The difference between playing good Poker and playing good Blackjack is as vast as the difference between squad tactics and grand strategy in warfare. You can beat a Blackjack game by knowing exactly what to do in every situation... and doing it. That's tactics. But in Poker you may face an identical situation twice against the same opponent, handle it two different ways, and be right both times. That's strategy.

Works for me ...

Doyle Brunson had Game Theory intuition before it was known as Game Theory -- he called it "switching gears"
I find that it works best (in cash games anyway) if I play tight early, then get wider -- especially if I have a decent stack when I widen out.
And even more so if I have shown down good hands.
It doesn't work well the other way around for some reason.

Also, taking the risk of another less than ideal poker mindset, I visited my mum downstairs today and made the two of us some Tequila Sunrise.

As she put it: "It tastes like being on vacation." Well, going on vacation trips isn't all that easy this year, so this can be a nice way to bring you some of the vacation experience right at home.

Just fill a highball glass with ice (many recipes call for ice cubes, I personally believe crushed ice will do better), then add 45 ml of tequila and 90 ml of orange juice and stir it a little. Then carefully add 15 ml of grenadine near the edges of the glass, and let it settle down to get this nice chromatic "sunrise" effect. You are not supposed to stir now, but I find that a careful little one at that point gives pretty good results. Feel free to stir a little with your straw, if nothing else.

If you don't have any tequila at home, you can substitute it with rum for a "Caribbean Sunrise". I never tried it, but I heard that it's pretty sweet - possibly too sweet for some people. I also found a different version that instead uses vodka and substitutes the orange juice with pineapple juice.

I like the glass straws.
Do you have any problem keeping the insides of them clean?
It seems that if you had some fruit juice or sugary drink in there it would not easily come out.

The straws came with some bendable brushes for the inside, so cleaning them is not a big issue. Rinsing them out with soapy water followed by a good brushing seems to work quite well.

There have been some cashes here and there in the last few days, the bounties start coming in again in the Badugi, but overall... not much to report, unfortunately. I also tried the Five Card Draw again last night, but I was quickly reminded why I put it on hiatus last month. I don't see a lot of potential for at least somewhat consistent success in there. Maybe I'll give it a few more tries, but it might be time to drop this game entirely and move on.

As baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra supposedly once said, "90% of the game is half mental", and that's where the problem may be right now. I rarely keep my focus until the end of my sessions, I tilt easily and tend to lose heart after setbacks. Some real life frustrations negatively impact my game, and lack of success in the games then adds up to real life frustrations and so on. I'm sure we've all been there before.

A little morale boost might be in order. Not sure when I will eventually find one, but this weekend, I should at least have a pleasant distraction with my brother and his cute little son coming over for another visit - and for the first time since forever, I'm actually home this weekend too. There may or may not be sessions, and if there are any, they may or may not be shortened. But there will very likely be cocktails. Not for my cute little nephew, of course.

Originally posted by Harrier88
As baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra supposedly once said, "90% of the game is half mental", and that's where the problem may be right now. I rarely keep my focus until the end of my sessions, I tilt easily and tend to lose heart after setbacks. Some real life frustrations negatively impact my game, and lack of success in the games then adds up to real life frustrations and so on. I'm sure we've all been there before.

I'm kinda in the same space atm.
I had planned to take today off, but then I noticed that there is a WCOOP $2.20 PL 5-Card Draw at 11:05
I was actually disappointed.
I'll play it, but off stream unless I run deep.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I had planned to take today off, but then I noticed that there is a WCOOP $2.20 PL 5-Card Draw at 11:05
I was actually disappointed.
I'll play it, but off stream unless I run deep.

A $2.20 5CD? Guess I gotta play that too, then, if I can make it.

Originally posted by Harrier88
A $2.20 5CD? Guess I gotta play that too, then, if I can make it.

It is listed as a "side event"

Best of luck

Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
PokerStars Pot Limit 5 Card Draw ($1.96+$0.24) t1000/t2000 - 6 players

UTG+1: t13,795
CO: t33,030
Button: t63,570
SB: t50,425 (Hero)
BB: t25,530
UTG: t55,093

Dealing Hands: (t3,000) (6 players)
UTG raises to t4559, UTG+1 folds, CO calls t4559, Button folds, Hero calls t3559, BB calls t2559

First Draw: (t18,236) (4 players)
Hero discards 1, BB discards 1, UTG discards 1, CO discards 1,
||
Hero bets t8000, BB raises to t20971 and is all-in, 2 folds, Hero calls t12971

Hero showed , a full house, Tens full of Kings
BB showed , a full house, Sevens full of Queens
Hero won t60178

We indeed had some success in this WCOOP 5CD side event, finished 71st out of over 1K players for $8.83.
Also got an 8th place in the 8-game for $7.89 later on.

While this was only another break-even session results-wise, the deep runs did give me a little morale boost, I guess.

The success in this WCOOP side event also makes me think twice about my idea to officially cut 5CD tournaments from the grind. As I have seen from both a positive and a negative point of view, a lot of this game simply depends on getting the right cards in the right situation. The question is if I can find a strategy that could give me a real edge in those tournaments instead of turning them into a gamble. Could a tight-aggressive Badugi style strategy that mainly focuses on patiently waiting for really good hands and then milking them aggressively lead to success, or would it only lead to consistent blind outs and bad desperation shoves? Or are well-placed snowings maybe the key to beat the big element of chance?

I don't know, but at least I am willing to reconsider now if there is a place for 5CD in my plans.

Originally posted by Harrier88
As I have seen from both a positive and a negative point of view, a lot of this game simply depends on getting the right cards in the right situation. The question is if I can find a strategy that could give me a real edge in those tournaments instead of turning them into a gamble. Could a tight-aggressive Badugi style strategy that mainly focuses on patiently waiting for really good hands and then milking them aggressively lead to success, or would it only lead to consistent blind outs and bad desperation shoves? Or are well-placed snowings maybe the key to beat the big element of chance?

The most common strategy I see in the PL 5-Card Draw and NL 5-Card Draw tournaments is "limp any pair and hope to hit", coupled with "call with any flush or straight draw and hope to hit"
The real difficulty in playing against those is that you need a strong hand -- Raising AA UTG won't cut it because unless you are the one that hits, it won't stand up.
On my 2nd bullet today I tried some pre-draw squeezes successfully -- as opposed to just calling mw with two pairs, raise pot.
Snowing is really worth while, but it needs to be done against the right players
in 5-Card Draw the big problem with tightening up too much is that when you do get your good hand, all you get is the blinds.

For mental game, I teach 99% rule.

It's not enough to play 99% of times your best game, if that 1% kills your profits.

Here's what it means:

Beefy Bob plays a 1000 hand session in poker, and his A-game is EV +5bb/100. So on average, his 1K hand session EV profits are 50bb. Nice.

Bob has a habit of getting annoyed couple of times in the session, which leads to him playing 1% of the hands badly. That would be 10 hands in that session. Doesn't sound like much, as there are still 990 hands of good poker?

If he makes on average a 5bb mistake in each of those 10 hands, it leads to 50bb losses due to mental game mistakes. Wiping out the 50bb profits from his A-game. Due to those 10 hands, Bob became a breakeven player instead of a winning one.

And if those mistakes are bigger, he turns to losing one.

Even if Bob makes only one mistake in the session, but it's worth 50bb, it wipes out the 999 hand session profits.

I really think that mental game should be really high priority for anyone who likes to make money in long run playing poker.