Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
What is "Hold'em"? I've heard it is a card game played mainly in Texas

Yes, it's some obscure poker variant. Allegedly, it was once quite popular in online circles. I wonder why...

Last night, though, it kind of saved me, because apart from small cashes in Stud8 SNGs, another 1st place in a 6-max Hold'em SNG was the only success I could speak of. I had a terrible day at the tables, and while the runouts were quite bad at times, I'm the one who's to blame for the losses. My game selection was atrocious.

There was that $7.50 8-Game MTT that runs early in the evening, fair enough. I also discovered a new 6-Card Omaha MTT for $5.50 around the same time. I have very little experience in that format, so my decision to play it was very questionable, but I figured I'd take a shot, since I'm going to play other games around that time anyway. I even took the chip lead in time for the break, but then didn't get a lot going. Those five minute breaks often end up being counterproductive for me, I think, because they can break my flow and get me out of the zone, and I believe that's what happened here too.

Fatigue was a big problem, of course - the morning shift takes its toll on me. I finished a few places short of ITM in both games, I probably would have done better under more favorable circumstances. Same case for the Five Card Draw SNGs, where I really need to make it a point not to play them when I'm tired. It applies to all forms of poker, but especially in a limited information game like 5CD, it is crucial to stay alert.

By far my biggest blunder, though, was the $11 WCOOP Stud8, which I did play even though I should have been well aware by that point that I wasn't in the best condition for poker, and that it would only get worse as the evening drags on. Case in point, it has 2h 30m of late reg - any decent run would have lasted well past any point where I should have hit the bed already, even disregarding the amount of sleep I had to catch up on before. Playing this game was plain foolishness. It is frustrating to think of how much money I have donked off so far out of a pure lack of discipline, because I wanted to play more poker, lacked the time, and thus forced myself when the conditions were bad. I really need to get this taken care of.

To add insult to injury, there are also plenty of non-poker (and non-work) related things to take care off this week, and I've been neglecting them too. Luckily, I made some progress with that today, at least. But I really need to find a better way to fit poker into my schedule, because just squeezing it in there like yesterday simply won't do, as I found out the hard way.

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
What is "Hold'em"? I've heard it is a card game played mainly in Texas

Yes, it's some obscure poker variant. Allegedly, it was once quite popular in online circles. I wonder why...

It is fast-paced and easy. I've actually been playing a lot of it recently. Well "a lot of it" means in proportion, since I haven't been playing much poker at all.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
It is fast-paced and easy.

That really is its main draw (no pun intended), and pretty much the only reason why I'm currently playing it despite being such an "anti-Hold'em" player. Especially those SNGs - turbos in particular - simply are excellent filler games.

That feel when you're trying to get a Stud Hi-Lo STT going and you're getting automatically logged out of your account three times due to inactivity while you're waiting... and then you still can't get it to start. It's what happened yesterday, and it's the reason why there was no poker for me that day. I also learned my lesson from Monday, about not forcing things.

Some quick Hold'em SNGs are great for those moments when you're either waiting or have room for one additional table. I already prepared a spreadsheet and all, so my stats in there can be compared with the statistics from other games, which is also interesting.

The spreadsheets in general could use an overhaul, I believe. It's one of those projects that evolves over time. The original version was started two years ago (an instance which was recorded on this very thread), and only contained basic stats for the three MTT formats I was grinding at the time, which were Badugi, Five Card Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw. More sophisticated graphs were added during the same year as part of the same spreadsheet.

The current version was created towards the beginning of last year, and includes support for all poker formats that were available in the Pokerstars MTT at that time - which for example means no 6-Card Omaha yet, but I had enough forethought to include an "Other Games" category for these kinds of situations. I also outsourced the graphs to another spreadsheet to improve performance, as the file ended up taking a long time to load at that point and was prone to crashing. The new statistics spreadsheet still is, but it only gets used once a month or so, so this is tolerable.

As for my SNG spreadsheets that now exist in various versions for different formats, the original was added on to a spreadsheet that keeps track of my FL Five Card Draw cash games towards the end of last year, because this was the only format where I intended to grind SNGs in. And the FL Five Card Draw cash one, in turn, is actually a modified version of a spreadsheet I created earlier that year to keep track of mahjong games.

Now that I have such a wide variety of SNGs, it could make sense to come up with an "Overall SNGs" spreadsheet that includes stats for all games. And while we're at it, my trusty MTT spreadsheet could also use a new version, to include support and separate stats for multiple tournaments of the same game type. My current version only includes one big column for each format on any day, because that was once all I intended to play anyway, and tournament-specific stats like at the end of this post need to be collected manually. I added an additional "afternoon games" spreadsheet in early 2021 when I tried to introduce a new MTT grind during these hours, which never really took off and which now has me stuck with a very awkward afternoon/evening split in my statistics that does not make a lot of sense for my current situation and future grinding plans.

I doubt I will have time for any of this soon, though. This may be possibly even be a project for the winter months.

I've been gushing before about how much I love the rain. Well, I do. Especially when it comes at a time like this, when the land sorely needs it. What I don't love, however, is driving my car in heavy rain when it's pitch black outside, and that's what I had to do this morning on my long commute to work. Add some serious fatigue, and this is really a situation that you shouldn't take lightly. Terrible accidents may only take a second to occur.

It continued to rain all day, and I already knew at work that it will be a very good idea to catch up on some sleep in the afternoon. This is the kind of weather that tends to make you sleepy even when everything is going fine. And with a bad sleep deficit, a good nap really is a necessity.

It's what I did today, followed by a nice shower, which I would normally take in the morning if I didn't have to leave early. It did me a world of good. I should be ready to face the remaining challenges of this week now. Obviously, it meant another day without poker, and also another day of postponing those phone calls to potential new employers, which I actually still considered doing today despite my fatigue, because let's say it how it is: My current job is crap! I don't even care if anyone from work reads this (which they won't). I should find something else forthwith, at the next opportunity.

Until then, I will hold my nose and continue to work as well as I can, because slacking off won't benefit anyone, but seriously... I need to take care of this. And that's what I'm going to do in the next few days and weeks.

I grew up about 40km N of Vancouver on the E shore of a fjord.
It wasn't a particularly narrow one, but even so, from November to the end of February, The sun didn't come up until well after 10:00, and even then it was likely behind cloud. Most days were rainy or foggy or both.

I love it.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I grew up about 40km N of Vancouver on the E shore of a fjord.
It wasn't a particularly narrow one, but even so, from November to the end of February, The sun didn't come up until well after 10:00, and even then it was likely behind cloud. Most days were rainy or foggy or both.

I love it.

Sounds like a place I'd like.

It's almost weekend, and after more than one hard day's night, I really do think that I'll be sleeping like a log this Saturday morning...

Those phone calls that I finally got around to didn't amount to much. In one case, I received a number of a person in charge who couldn't be reached at that moment. In the other, I had another close look at the job description and figured that most of my questions were already answered. I decided it's not worth it, I just sent out those applications so we could discuss the details later, if and when they do express an interest in my labor. My goal is still to have found a new occupation by the end of the month.

There was some time for poker tonight. Got 2nd places in another 6-max Hold'em and a Stud Hi-Lo. The other Stud Hi-Lo was crazy unlucky, really not much I could have done better to avoid that loss. Five Card Draw finished on the bubble, with some bad luck, but I do think I could have done better there, that game was winnable.

Unless I'm missing something, I should have now dealt with everything important this week, so I'm ready for a nice, pleasant weekend. I'll have nowhere to go either as soon as I get home tomorrow and slip out of my steel-toed work shoes, so as far as I'm concerned, you can bring on the monsoon this weekend.

Bar Update

Apologies for the lack of mixed drinks recipes during this busy summer. I actually did take some pictures, but never got around to posting them. Maybe next year.

With the season for cocktails coming to an end, I got another addition for the home bar, though.

Those are drinking horns, in 150 ml and 350 ml sizes. They are supposedly made of real bull horns too.

I originally also intended to get another 1 liter horn, for the true King of the Vikings, but that would have been a little pricey for the few times I would ever use it, at least for the time being. And there were even some much larger ones available...

They still need a good cleaning, but I'm already looking forward to trying them out soon - together with the grindette, ideally, who recently mentioned that she never had mead before. I say it's high time to fix that, especially considering that I haven't had any mead in years either.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Those are drinking horns, in 150 ml and 350 ml sizes. They are supposedly made of real bull horns too.

There are a couple of Vikings running around with naked helmets.

When I was a kid, this was always on display in our house.
I do not know where it came from, nor how old it is — except that my Mum said she learned to blow it when she was little.
I believe my maternal grandfather acquired it in his travels, which were many.
As you can see, no drinking is possible due to the hole in the wee end. (you wouldn't want to drink out of it anyway — it's over 100 years old, and smells like you'd expect a 100 year old ram's horn to smell.)

It does make a rather loud sound though — you could hear it for a good long way.

I also have a conch shell ground for blowing — I've no idea where it is though...

Since when am I an SNG Grinder?

Yeah, what's up with all the SNGs? Mixed games MTTs were supposed to be my jam, right? Now I even introduced NL Hold'em SNGs to the grind... how pleb.

Tonight, I finally did get to some of the classic stuff, Badugi and 8-Game, but with no winnings. The one 5CD SNG I played also bricked.

As expected, poker is going very poorly this month, which is not surprising at all. There are just way too many things on my mind these days, and too much stuff to get done. The best thing I could realistically hope for would be one big cash towards the end of the month to get me barely back in the black, but this is almost guaranteed to be a losing month, and likely a big one too, if not the biggest this year.

It's not pretty, but that's how it goes - sometimes real life just throws a wrench in the works. There will be some rebuilding to do once the situation improves. At least we still have plenty of cash to burn from our excellent results in July.

No poker today. I made some progress with other personal projects instead, so I didn't just spend all day slacking off either, but I did regain on some sleep.

I didn't quite manage to relax as much as I hoped this weekend, but enough to make it through another week, I believe - and what a week it's going to be... There will be late shifts again, of course, but I will also take a look at some other jobs. One of them I will check out tomorrow morning already, and I'm awaiting the response from two additional local companies, to whom I already mentioned that I would be ready for a trial shift this week, at some time in the morning. Then there are still the other old pending applications, but I'm looking for something in the short term here.

This means that I will be away all day tomorrow, and possibly on other days this week too. Whatever happens, I will have some important decisions to make. If I will have any time for poker until the weekend at all, it will just be the odd SNG, it's quite possible that I won't be able to play anything until the weekend.

I'll keep you guys posted about any major changes, and what they will mean for the poker grind, to which I'm longing to return some day. Meanwhile, check out how nicely the lawn has recovered. Compare this picture from today to the one from about a week ago, shown in the spoiler. I guess I will eventually have some recovering to do myself.

Mid-Week Update:

I made all my phone calls, got some of the info I needed. I decided that it's enough talk and just sent out five additional applications this week, there will be time to work out the details later. The goal is still to find an alternative as quickly as possible, but it looks like it won't happen until some time next month at the earliest.

Until then, the poker grind will continue to be bare bones, with MTTs being reserved to the weekend, in some weeks even Saturday only, and SNGs only filling a few gaps here and there every odd week. If I'm making it sound like poker is an important factor in my search for better jobs, that's only because this is a poker blog, obviously there are more important things on the line. But yes, it is a minor factor too, and it adds on to the bigger ones.

Job hunting is stressful enough even without full-time employment, so this week is quite taxing on me. Luckily, the bulk of it is behind me now, though there are still things to do. And now... it's back to work, squirrel!

As you guys heard in my shared Troll Challenges blog, it was my birthday yesterday. Harrier turned 34 (suited, of course). Thank you very much for your well wishes, it made my day.

Saturdays are dedicated days for relaxation to me, but also days for cleaning. Today, it was more about the cleaning. I already wrote about my big tupperware clean-up in the IDC-thread, I'm sure you can relate to that situation. In addition to that, I went through that kitchen drawer which houses all those dry goods, like flour and various mixes of all kinds. Again, some ancient stuff was to be found, and a lot of it had to be thrown away, with sadness and a resolution to do better in the future (bring on the spreadsheets! :f_cool:), and also an intention to do more baking at home, once I replaced the old stuff with fresh ingredients.

I also received a big package today, which was unrelated to my birthday - I ordered all that stuff myself the other night. I think I will just let you guys know about that one in my next post...

Mixed Games and... a Latte?

It has cooled off outside for quite a while now, much to the delight of the grindette and me, and with the autumnal equinox now safely behind us, the season of Fall has officially begun! This may not be the typical time for refreshing longdrinks anymore (though as I like to say: cocktail season is only over when I say it's over!), but how about some drinks for the colder seasons instead?

Today, a big package arrived with plenty of stuff for Harrier's Home Café, located right around the corner from Harrier's Home Bar. What was in it? Well, first of all, a bunch of coffee and related drinks, of course.

I'm using one of those capsule based coffee makers from K-fee at home. As far as I know, they are unrelated to that company with the canned coffee drinks which spawned those slightly infamous commercials in the mid-2000's (if you're unfamiliar, I strongly recommend doing some research on them before considering to look them up). You insert a capsule of whatever hot drink you like, press a button for the correct size of your cup, and out comes the hot goodness. Certain drinks, like Latte Macchiatos, may require multiple button presses, and often even multiple capsules. This device has served me quite well over the years, whether it was to give me my caffeine kick in the morning, a nice warm drink to enjoy in the afternoon, or something to keep me alert during my poker sessions in the evening.

There was plenty of others stuff in that big package too, like this milk frother:

Cheapo handheld milk frothers are available for a couple of bucks, and yield some acceptable results. This one is a lot pricier, costing me close to €90, but I saw one when I was visiting my mum some time this year, and decided that I should invest in one too, because I was very impressed with the results.

As the packaging advertises, it comes with several different settings, to get you just the kind of frothing you need to make your drink perfect:

I would love to give it a test run, but this will have to wait until tomorrow, I believe. There was plenty of other stuff in that package, though:

A bunch of glassware. Let's start with those little espresso glasses I got. Espresso is usually served in little cups, which is obviously fine, and it's what I've been doing all this time as well. With those glasses, though, your guests get to marvel at all those nice little layers that make up their espresso, which adds a nice touch. The glasses are made of borosilicate glass, and therefore very heat resistant, ideal for those hot drinks. They are also double-layered, similar to the kind of technology used in thermos containers, to keep the drink on the inside hot, while keeping the outside cool to the touch, so no handle is required. I look forward to see how well it works.

Here are the two glasses I got, together with the spoons and ceramic saucers that came with them, adjacent to my 6 inch/15-16 cm tall squirrel friend for reference.

Next, I got some Latte Macchiato glasses. Same principle as with the espresso glasses, but way bigger. I've used other glasses for Macchiatos before, and indeed, they got a little hot to the touch. Maybe those work a little better.

Then, I got some porcelain cups, advertised as cups for "brewed coffee". Their main selling point is their size, which holds up to 366 ml, as opposed to the Latte Macchiato glasses, which only hold around 250 ml. While the capsule based Macchiato drinks come with a fair bit of froth already, I of course want to use my brand new milk frother too, so the extra space may come in handy. Besides, milk froth is also an excellent addition to hot cocoa, and while there are cocoa capsules available for my machine, in my opinion, nothing beats some good old-fashioned stovetop cocoa. Some nice and roomy cups may come in quite useful for that one.

Those cups are also supposed to have that double-layered design that keeps drinks warm without burning your paws.

You may have noticed that they didn't come with any of those saucers. Not to worry, because I also got some nice leather coasters.

They have a velvety bottom and feel quite well-made. They better be, because they weren't cheap. They should go well with other drinks too, including some summer cocktails, but as you can see, they also work quite well with those porcelain cups.

It may have cost me an arm and a leg, but I've been working hard, so it's nice to treat yourself to a little luxury once in a while too - especially if you can share it with your friends and relatives.

Whoooah, how cool is that?!! ♠_cool:♠_love:

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Whoooah, how cool is that?!! ♠_cool:♠_love:

So cool that it's hot, and so hot that it's cool.

Looking forward to test it all out soon.

To give you guys a mini-update already, I tried out that "Share Honduras" espresso with one of those little glasses tonight.

Very happy with the glass. It's a joy to watch the espresso settle down in there as it comes out of the machine, slowly setting those lovely layers in place. The heat-resistant glass design works fantastic too. Even with espresso fresh out of the coffee maker, the glass feels hardly any warmer than if it was empty, and the coffee is still as hot as it's supposed to be.

As for the espresso itself, it's quite good, but I'd have to taste it side by side with other espresso versions to really notice a considerable difference, I believe. It's still nice to have some variety on offer.

My recent poker slump had almost reached levels where you could speak of a downswing, but tonight's espresso-fueled session helped correct the trend a bit. My Stud Hi-Lo SNG had another very unlucky finish right on the bubble, and the Hold'em SNGs were just lol, but the MTTs went well. Badugi finished 2nd, with disappointing bounties, but still enough to rake in $41.01. 8-Game saw some especially bad results recently, but even there, I could secure a 14th place finish, which returned a decent $4 to my $1.10 buy-in.

SNGs were never supposed to be the main game anyway, so it's good to see some results in the MTTs again. Tomorrow, however, there will most likely be no time for them, so SNGs will be the best I can do.

More news from Harrier's Café. I tried those Macchiato glasses today, this one is a Vanilla Macchiato, served with a (store-bought) mini brownie. I still have two capsules for a Hazelnut Macchiato left, which is very popular with us squirrels, but I'm saving those for one of Prim's visits.

Looks really nice straight out of the coffee maker, and as you can see, it already comes with a fair bit of froth too. Very happy with the results, I think those glasses were a good purchase.

Still curious about the milk frother? So am I. Another time...

As expected, there have only been a few SNGs so far, but maybe all that fine coffee came in handy. I only managed to play one Five Card Draw and one Stud Hi-Lo SNG on each of the last two days, but all four games were shipped.

I'll take any kind of momentum I can get in poker these days. I will have a bit of a vacation starting tomorrow afternoon, because I'll have Thursday and Friday off and there's a national holiday on Monday. There might be some MTTs too during this time, would be nice if I could make them count like I did with my SNGs so far this week.

Wednesdays may continue to be my nap days... Caffeine will only get you so far, and while you can usually make it through a day just fine after getting only a couple of hours of sleep, lasting an entire week that way is another thing. It may be a good idea to catch up on some sleep in the afternoon, once in the middle of a week with early shifts.

It's what I did yesterday. Today marked the first day of my short vacation, and while I didn't get that vacation feeling quite yet, I managed to get a lot done at home - among other things preparing my apartment for the visit of a certain grindette tomorrow.

There was no poker at all on either day, for those reasons. Probably none tomorrow either. This weekend, however, may finally be the time to get some of those MTTs in.