Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

The Crypto Option

Okay, so I have ₮111.29 left on that one crypto site, built up through some initial freeroll winnings and some OFC games, which have sadly since been discontinued. I don't think the OFC tables, which were the reason why I joined in the first place, will return any time soon, but what about the standard Hold'em games? Maybe some MTTs?

I've had a look at the schedule. I don't plan to deposit, so micro buy-ins will have to do, maybe around ₮1. There is a Daily ₮0.10 tournament at 21:00, but that one may be a little too low. Alternatively, there is a ₮3 Turbo at 21:45, which might be more like it, but ₮3 is a little on the expensive side for my bankroll, I think. So this one has the opposite problem. Still, I would be more inclined to play this, the other one is just not really worth my time.

There are some Hypers, which are not ideal either. I think there is a ₮1 PKO at 20:00, however. It's a little before my usual grinding times, but it could be worth a look.

One good thing is that all of those tournaments have pleasantly short late regs, which don't last longer than one hour. The player pools tend to be relatively shallow too, it seems, with maybe around 100-150 players? Still unlimited rebuys in many of them, however, which is something I would have rather avoided. But other than that, it doesn't look too bad... aside from the unfortunate fact that this is NL Hold'em...

You can't have everything. Those games could fill some gaps, at least.

What a week... had to work a standard shift on Saturday, which technically wasn't mandatory, but it was paid at almost double my usual hourly wage, and I also felt like I should demonstrate a readiness to go beyond the usual schedule. Then a social meetup with work colleagues in the evening that day, which also technically wasn't mandatory, but I feel like I need to show up in order to maintain good relations and therefore a good working environment. In addition to that, there were also sports almost every evening, which of course also aren't technically mandatory, but I feel like I have a duty to not only do them, but also do well in them.

So yes, a lot of kinda sorta not really required things to show up to multiple times every day, and a few other stressors like a €55 parking ticket for stopping my car on a dedicated parking space for electric vehicles when I was getting a kebab sandwich after coming home a from a full-time shift last week. I knew that I was not supposed to park there, but the other spots were taken and I figured that getting that kebab would only take like five minutes - which it did, but apparently, the town is really eager to get the money these days, I have heard many similar stories recently.

Finally, I have a free day now, so I could regain a week's worth of sleep. Sure, I love coffee, but it can't completely replace a good rest.

I tried finally re-installing PartyPoker, which was a bit of a mess, with Malwarebytes even blocking the uninstaller of the software, but we should be fine now. I am currently playing one of their daily freerolls, just to check that everything is up and running. No complaints so far, let's hope that things will stay safe too after ignoring all those warnings by my overly suspicious antivirus.

Just folded my way to a 5th place in Badugi. PartyPoker update can be found here. The crypto rooms may be worth exploring.

In general, my poker plans for now are to just keep playing that one Badugi MTT and otherwise see which rooms could be suitable for a secondary bankroll. Bare bones stuff at the moment.

A new week is starting, and it should be a bit more relaxed than the previous one. I will have Friday off, I will see if I can get Thursday off too.

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Same here, Harrier. And don´t forget, during summer we both use to have a quite busy sports schedule.

That's interesting. I used to sport more outside the holidays.

Poker is still taking a bit of a back seat at the moment, though I might play some tables tonight. The week was still crammed with sports in the evenings, but I will take a short stay-at-home mini vacation soon, and my sports schedule will ease up after tomorrow for a while too.

If you are here for deep runs, crushing graphs, sick hands and strategic insights into exotic games... we will get there eventually. There is not a lot of poker right now, and a few things to figure out about what to play when and where, but I'm starting to miss the proper grind already. Just a few things to figure out, then we only need the right moment, and we should be back at full force. Hopefully before the end of summer.

If you are here for mixed drinks instead... I may have something for you very soon. I figured that it's time to collect all the mixed drinks recipes I have been posting here over the years in one big post to be updated periodically and to be linked in my signature and all. This will also help me remember which drinks I have yet to try, and which ones haven't been posted about yet. Any drink that comes with ingredients and pictures should be good, whether it's a classic, a mostly unknown drink or even one of my own creations. I have already looked through my posts and collected them, I should be able to post something tomorrow.

These are the drinks I have made or discussed so far on this forum:

Cocktails
Chocolate Squirrel
Corpse Reviver #2
Espresso Martini
Final Table
Grasshopper, Pink Squirrel
Green Russian
Golden Dream
Knecht Ruprecht
Japanese Slipper
Lemon Drop Martini
Lion's Tail
Margarita, Blue Margarita
Mosquito Killer/Summer's Night
Sapphire Martini
Scarlett O'Hara
Sex with an Alligator
White Lady

Longdrinks
Blue Gin Kinley
Deep Blue Ocean
John Collins, Gin Fizz
Long Island Iced Tea, Tokyo Tea
Mojito
Moscow Mule
Perfect Storm
Poison
San Francisco
Swimming Pool, Bushwacker
Tequila Sunrise

Lowballs
Caipirinha
Casino
Falling Homer
Fernandito
Godfather, Godmother, Deep Horse
Masturbating Butterfly
Negroni, Americano
Nsavov's Underpants
Old-Fashioned
White Russian

Shots
B-52
Dead Nazi
Red, White and Blue Shot, Freedom Shot

Non-Alcoholic Mixed Drinks
Caramel Frappuccino (revisited here and here)
Chocolate Milkshake
Highway, Yellow Orchid, Davis Cup, Surfing Woman
Mint Cooler
Lemonade
Orange Smoothie (revisited here)
Oreo Milkshake (Blondie version)

Cocoa
Plain Milk Chocolate
Dark Chocolate with Salted Caramel
Chili Chocolate
Madagascar Noir
Kinder Riegel
After Eight Chocolate
Toblerone
Lumumba

Other Hot Drinks
Caffé Americano
Drambuie Coffee
Maple Pecan Latte
Pumpkin Spice Latte

Useful Notes
About Ice
How to make simple syrup (Sweet and sour mix briefly discussed here)
Allspice Dram Recipe Link
Shaking vs. Stirring
How to serve Absinthe (revisited)
How to apply a salt/sugar rim

Wooooooooooooooooooooooow! It´s HUGE.

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Wooooooooooooooooooooooow! It´s HUGE.
And it's going to get larger over time.

That a decent list for sure. Most drinks I never heard of

Originally posted by SDK1987
That a decent list for sure. Most drinks I never heard of
To be fair, some of those drinks are my own creations. The Final Table, Knecht Ruprecht, Mosquito Killer/Summer's Night (couldn't settle on a name), Falling Homer and of course Nsavov's Underpants are all drinks I came up with myself, also the Punchin' Prim and the Deep Horse, which haven't been posted about on this blog yet.

The Blue Gin Kinley and the Poison are drinks that were included as recipes on a box of hurricane glasses I once ordered, I haven't seen them anywhere else. Some other drinks may have been personal creations by other people which have been shared online.

Other drinks on the list, of course, are classics. But I felt that especially the lesser known ones are worth sharing.

All right, the mini break is over. I have mostly spend it on "housekeeping" stuff, as well as another very enjoyable meetup with Prim, of course. Still no proper poker.

I can show some new mixed drinks, though. These ones will involve amaretto, and they are quite simple to make. I will introduce them both at once, because they are basically just variations of each other - I'm not sure which one came first.

To the left is a Godmother, containing 35 ml of vodka and 35 ml of amaretto. To the right is a Godfather, containing 35 ml of scotch instead, together with the 35 ml amaretto.

In both cases, you would simply pour the ingredients on the rocks in a lowball glass, and stir. Conveniently, 35 ml is a common shot size, so if you have any shot glasses in that size at home, you could simply pour a shot each, without having to bother with any measuring equipment.

The looks are quite similar, and so is the taste. I've had both, and I think I slightly prefer the Godmother, but both of them are good.

Let me introduce you to a third variation, while we're at it:

This one is called the Deep Horse, and it is actually one of my own creations.

Why is it called Deep Horse? It all goes back to the date of its creation, which we can pinpoint to the night from the 15th to the 16th of July 2019, when Vorpal had a great run in a MicroMillions HORSE event. The tournament was streamed live on Twitch, and I was sipping on the above drinks as I was watching. Occasionally, I would discuss my drinks in the chat, and Vorpal asked at one point if gin would also work together with the amaretto. I had a brief look online and couldn't find any existing recipes for it, but I didn't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I said that I would try it out, and Vorpal just chuckled, saying that he was glad that he was not my head in the morning - he knew that I had already had a few drinks by that point.

Well, no worries, there was no hangover to report - but an amazing 4th place finish for Vorpal instead, returning a whopping $1.249.54. In recognition of this memorable deep run in the HORSE, I went on to call this new cocktail version "Deep Horse" as well, because this was when it was first conceived.

And there you have it. 35 ml of gin, 35 ml of amaretto, you got yourself a Deep Horse. I personally prefer the other two versions, but this one, which was just experimental anyway, is also a decent fit, I believe.

It's August, and I have now made it through my first month of the new work hours. No reason to complain, it is still more than manageable, and both the extra pay and vacation days come in very handy. In fact, I have now made it through half a year at my current job already. Remembering the stressful times near the end of last year, where I was aggressively job hunting while working bad full time shifts, often until 10 PM, I know that this job was something to fight for... but it was worth it. I have every reason to be grateful for how this has turned out so far.

Poker this year is another story. I haven't played at all this week, instead doing a lot of "housekeeping" stuff. I should be back by the weekend, at least, and I hope that I can also present some new stats until then, though there is not a lot to show for last month.

Stats

Not a whole lot of poker last month, but let's see how it was going.

Overall MTT stats aren't looking so good, but at least they are still better so far than the very poor 2021 stats.

Badugi is still lagging behind, but I think it is slowly starting to pick up.

Now the graphs...

Not bad recently... slow, but steady progress.

Same story with Badugi, which now made up the bulk of the MTT grind anyway.

Again, pretty steady progress since May. I need to pick up the pace, though. Those columns are not as good as they look, check out to how little profit they amount.

OFC is dead, and SNGs are now largely being ignored too, and the few SNGs that were played didn't go well. MTTs have to carry it at the moment.

That's where we are right now, I hope we can finally make a breakthrough soon.

I got around to playing a little today, and I am currently sitting at the final table of a Badugi MTT, with a not so great stack. I should go to bed pretty soon after this is over, though, so let's write about it right now.

It's not really the Badugi that is worth posting about, but another thing that I discovered in the tournament lobby:

New Mixed Games tournaments - including FLHE, which apparently now also counts. The buy-ins are higher than what I would prefer, but that is not a huge problem, because there are satellites.

There is one tournament for each weekday, and they all take place at 20:30 CET. The new tournaments are:

Monday: Snow Fest - $22 2-7 Triple Draw
Tuesday: The Cadillac - $22 FL Hold'em
Wednesday: The Hunt - $22 FLO8
Thursday: Limbo - $22 Razz
Friday: Study - $22 Seven Card Stud
Saturday: Snowman - $22 Stud Hi-Lo
Sunday: Tarantula - $44 8-Game

Some are more interesting than others, of course, but especially with these games only taking place once a week, I think some of them could be worth checking out, especially with satellites. This is good, because I am currently dealing with a motivational crisis right now. Maybe this could be the push I need to get back into things.

FT Update: Finished 4th for $24.01 including bounties.

What's the Plan?

I have taken a bit of a break from the game in the last few weeks. I would like to get back, but honestly, as I mentioned last night, my motivation has just not been there recently. Badugi is going okay, but not much else. I miss the pre-February 2022 SNG grind, but there is no point in longing for days gone by, they are not coming back - just like the 2013 grinds when rakeback was worth something, or for that matter, the pre-Black Friday times, though that was before I started playing myself, I can only imagine what it was like.

To cut a long story short, I will have to take an L on my modest SNG goals for this year, I think. The traffic is just not there, and neither are the results. There might be marginal profit to be had, but I'm not about that. I have been experimenting with a few games recently, even some spins on a crypto website - now that's desperate. Don't get me wrong, grinding out marginal edges for a profit through volume is a completely acceptable approach to the game, it's just not what I would like to go for. I have made that decision many years ago, when I was just about ready to call it quits entirely.

What is the approach that I am going for, then? It's about finding big edges in exotic games, accepting the fact that I will have to play a very low volume - even appreciating it, because it gives me time for so much else - and instead making every game count. It's about getting three-figure ROIs in games that run once a day, rather than grinding out 5% edges over hundreds of thousands of tables.

Badugi has been just the ticket for that over the past few years, though it's not looking so hot this time, but we're still winning. What else is the plan? It used to be to grind out a bigger bankroll so I could take shots at higher stakes mixed games tournaments, and then try to establish a foothold there so it won't be just Badugi for me. Not only did my skills get quite rusty in most of these games, but the regulatory changes that require to display my bankroll in Euros also makes it confusing to figure out where I stand, and what BRM to go for, with most games still running in USD.

Those new mixed games tournaments could be just what I need. They negate the problem of having to build big bankrolls not only by being limited to certain weekdays, making it easier to take occasional shots, but also especially by offering satellites, which have the added benefit of allowing me to practice these games without risking big amounts. The tournaments seem to have one $2.20 and one $3.30 satty running, so even if I brick both of them, the loss would be comparable to losing a micro stakes MTT that I would be comfortable playing. And yet, the prospect of big returns if I do succeed is still there.

I think this is the best approach right now. Keep up the Badugi grind, even though it may rob me of some sleep at night, and pick a few of those mixed games tourneys, trying to satty into them. I will have to experiment a little to find out which games are appropriate (certainly not the FLHE one, lol), depending on several factors including my personal schedule, which tends to change around a lot, as well as my abilities, of course.

Everything else, including the bankroll I will maintain, will have to be figured out. But I am glad that I have finally found a new approach at all, which might just rejuvenate my grind after the uninspired past few months.

Playing RollerCoaster Tycoon while playing Badugi because why not.

Got yet another 4th place finish, which is good, and it seems like we are slowly getting something going, but we're still left looking for the big scores this year. Also, there was much more potential tonight.

I am fully aware that my opponent's line in here is a common trick, but I just happened to hit a hand that was so strong that it might just win anyway, leaving my opponent to be hoisted by their own petard. Besides, any 6-Badugi would be more or less where the "all-in no matter what" territory begins as far as I am concerned.

I already thought to myself here, if this is what my opponent was going for, then they sure got lucky, but there is no way away from there anymore.

PokerStars, $3.92 + $0.48 - Badugi Pot Limit - 800/1,600 - 4 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 50,580 (32 bb)
BU: 14,472 (9 bb)
SB: 139,898 (87 bb)
BB (Hero): 29,050 (18 bb)

Deal: (2,400) Hero is BB with K♦ 8♥ 4♥ 9♦
UTG calls 1,600, 2 players fold, Hero checks

Draw One: (4,000) 4♥ 2♦ 5♠ 5♦ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws Kd 8h 9d, UTG stands pat
Hero checks, UTG bets 1,600, Hero calls 1,600

Draw Two: (7,200) 4♥ 2♦ 5♠ 6♣ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws 5d, UTG stands pat
Hero checks, UTG bets 4,800, Hero raises to 11,200, UTG raises to 40,800, Hero calls 14,650 (all-in)

Draw Three: (73,850) 4♥ 2♦ 5♠ 6♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)
BB (Hero) stands pat, UTG stands pat

Total pot: 58,900

Showdown:
UTG shows 6♥ A♦ 4♣ 2♠ (a Badugi: 6,4,2,A)
BB (Hero) shows 4♥ 2♦ 5♠ 6♣ (a Badugi: 6,5,4,2)
UTG wins 58,900

As you may know, I am capable of making some super tight, often outright nitty folds in Badugi, so all the planets must have aligned for my opponent here. Not only did they need their monster hand, but they also needed me to draw another monster that is barely worse than theirs - I would have been much more careful with anything even slightly worse. All the while avoiding me drawing another monster that is even better than theirs, of course... which is also a very real possibility, as evidenced on my night stand:

Oh well, sometimes all you can say is "well played" and move on.

"Guest 3175 is lost and can't find the tournament exit."

So Close...

Heartbreakingly close exit in my first satty for The Hunt, one of the new midstakes mixed games tournaments, this one being FLO8.

I just couldn't resist entering with a bad A2xx hand, and then overplayed trip aces against an opponent with the last remaining ace and a full house.

Especially annoying because I was in 5th place when that happened, and one of the bigger stacks lost a big pot shortly after my exit.

FLO8 has been a bit of a wildcard game for me, with some surprising success in the past, but was mostly bogged down by a lack of good available tournaments. Getting a chance to play in a $22 MTT would have been much appreciated.

Very disappointing, but we should be back next week - with a vengeance. Razz tomorrow, a game you could say I have a love-hate relationship with, though I would say the hate part is definitely over 50% in there. Still, I think I will give it a try, and then complain about the game on the blog afterwards.

Also, Badugi later.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Razz tomorrow, a game you could say I have a love-hate relationship with, though I would say the hate part is definitely over 50% in there. Still, I think I will give it a try, and then complain about the game on the blog afterwards.

First hand of my satty:

PokerStars, $1.96 + $0.24 - Razz Limit - 125/250 (50 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 6: 7,810 (31 bb)
Seat 1 (Hero): 5,000 (20 bb)
Seat 2: 5,785 (23 bb)
Seat 3: 2,570 (10 bb)
Seat 4: 6,120 (24 bb)
Seat 5: 2,610 (10 bb)

Third Street: (300) Hero is in Seat 1
Xx Xx Q♥ BI bring-in 125____BI folds
Xx Xx J♥ UTG folds
5♥ 2♦ A♠ Hero raises to 250____Hero 4-bets to 1,000
Xx Xx 2♥ MP+1 raises to 500____MP+1 calls 500
Xx Xx 4♥ CO 3-bets to 750____CO calls 250
Xx Xx T♦ BTN folds

Fourth Street: (3,425) (3 players)
5♥ 2♦ A♠ 6♥ Hero bets 250____Hero raises to 750
Xx Xx 2♥ 7♠ MP+1 raises to 500____MP+1 calls 250
Xx Xx 4♥ K♠ CO calls 500____CO calls 250

Fifth Street: (5,675) (3 players)
Xx Xx 2♥ 7♠ 4♦ MP+1 bets 500____MP+1 raises to 1,500
Xx Xx 4♥ K♠ 7♦ CO calls 500____CO calls 270 (all-in)
5♥ 2♦ A♠ 6♥ 9♠ Hero raises to 1,000____Hero calls 500

Sixth Street: (9,445) (3 players, 1 all-in)
5♥ 2♦ A♠ 6♥ 9♠ 5♠ Hero checks____Hero calls 500
Xx Xx 2♥ 7♠ 4♦ 4♠ MP+1 bets 500

Seventh Street: (10,445) (3 players, 1 all-in)
5♥ 2♦ A♠ 6♥ 9♠ 5♠ 8♠ Hero checks____Hero calls 500
Xx Xx 2♥ 7♠ 4♦ 4♠ Xx MP+1 bets 500

Total pot: 11,445

Showdown:
Seat 2 shows 3♦ A♣ 2♥ 7♠ 4♦ 4♠ A♥ (Lo: 7,4,3,2,A)
Seat 1 (Hero) mucks 5♥ 2♦ A♠ 6♥ 9♠ 5♠ 8♠
Seat 3 mucks A♦ 6♦ 4♥ K♠ 7♦ 6♣ 5♣
Seat 2 wins 11,445

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by SDK1987
That a decent list for sure. Most drinks I never heard of
To be fair, some of those drinks are my own creations. The Final Table, Knecht Ruprecht, Mosquito Killer/Summer's Night (couldn't settle on a name), Falling Homer and of course Nsavov's Underpants are all drinks I came up with myself, also the Punchin' Prim and the Deep Horse, which haven't been posted about on this blog yet.

The Blue Gin Kinley and the Poison are drinks that were included as recipes on a box of hurricane glasses I once ordered, I haven't seen them anywhere else. Some other drinks may have been personal creations by other people which have been shared online.

Other drinks on the list, of course, are classics. But I felt that especially the lesser known ones are worth sharing.

That's good to know. Maybe you can sell you're own creations 1 day.