Double Trouble with Prim and Harrier - Poker, Sports, Cooking, Gardening, Mixed Drinks and more

I wanted to play some poker today already, but didn't get to it, I guess I still just felt too tired after the run. It's often the second day after the event that feels the worst.

Don't worry, we're going to get to poker very soon. But until then, the next sporting challenge is coming right up tomorrow already - unless the weather ruins our plans.

If you have been following for a while, the Trollympics, which now enter into their third Trollympiad, need no introduction. For everyone else, I will be doing the German Sports Badge again, after securing Gold in the past two years. That means that will be doing certain track & field challenges with a licensed examiner and my performance will be rated based on my demographics.

Bronze is worth one point, Silver two, and Gold three. I need to pass events in the areas of stamina, strength, speed and coordination (all four, one from each) to get the badge, and at least 11 out of a possible 12 points are required for Gold overall.

The list of possible events (disregarding some extra credit ones) can be found in the spoiler.

"Trollympic Records":

Technically, those meetups have been underway for two weeks already, but I shall be joining tomorrow. We will hit a break soon, and I'm afraid the local pool is now closed as well, so no aquatic events for the time being, at least not there.

Let's make those few meetups before the break count, my goal is definitely to get Gold again. And who knows, maybe Primrose will eventually join in.

Here's the venue for our track & field events, known as the "Trollympic Stadium":

The final one ...

Coming up this Saturday: Trollette Open! It´s the final one this season. Harrier has his half-marathon run behind him, I´ll have Trollette Open behind me this weekend. Going to play women´s singles 50 plus and women´s doubles 50 plus. Still got a bit trouble with my right achilles tendon, so gotta be careful. Would love to close the Trollette Open season with two good and interesting matches, I will enjoy them for sure!

Will there be another win despite my slightly injured achilles tendon? Will Villainesses be beatable anyway?

We will find out ..... soon ....

Medicine Ball Throw (2kg) (Strength)
Bronze: 9.50m
Silver: 12.50m
Gold: 14.00m

Not an Olympic event.
No known world records.
Trollympic Record: 14.60m by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2024 Trollympics, June 17th, 2024.

Harrier's distance: 13.70m

Short meetup today - mostly because of the rain, as expected. Some other people were there before me, and one of them even turned out to have been another participant in last Friday's half marathon. He even beat my time by about ten minutes there. Today, however, it was only a few medicine ball throw attempts for me, during slight breaks in the rain.

Didn't go too well under these less than optimal conditions, but I was doing a lot better than the other guys, at least. I realized that I would likely have a better chance next time too, so we left it at my Silver distance of 13.70m for the time being. The examiners and the other contestants were already just about to leave anyway when I was first showing up.

We should have a bigger meetup next Monday, with a lot more events and likely a much greater chance of success, so don't go anywhere, guys - this was only the warm-up.

New "Medal Table":
Medicine Ball Throw (Strength): Silver

Current Progress
Stamina: -
Strength: Silver (Medicine Ball Throw) - 2 points
Speed: -
Coordination: -

2 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Medicine Ball Throw (2kg) (Strength)

Yikes!
I read that as "2km" which would have been more than noteworthy!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by Harrier88
Medicine Ball Throw (2kg) (Strength)

Yikes!
I read that as "2km" which would have been more than noteworthy!

You had me worried for a short moment, even though I knew I copy-pasted that stuff.
Then again, having made that same typo for two years would have been an even more epic fail.

Whew!

We have a great starting hand, improving to an amazing draw on 4th street. Normally, this would be a good moment to get the chips in, but there was one important factor to consider: This was on the stone-cold bubble.

PokerStars, $4.90 + $0.60 - 7 Stud H/L Limit - 350/700 (140 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 5: 22,233 (32 bb)
Seat 6: 2,290 (3 bb)
Seat 7: 12,952 (19 bb)
Seat 2: 19,513 (28 bb)
Seat 3: 34,142 (49 bb)
Seat 4 (Hero): 7,870 (11 bb)

Third Street: (840) Hero is in Seat 4
5♣ 4♥ 3♥ Hero bring-in 210____Hero calls 1,190
Xx Xx T♣ UTG folds
Xx Xx A♥ MP raises to 700____MP calls 700
Xx Xx A♦ MP+1 raises to 1,400
Xx Xx 4♦ CO folds
Xx Xx T♠ BTN folds

Fourth Street: (5,040) (3 players)
Xx Xx A♥ 9♦ MP checks____MP raises to 750 (all-in)
Xx Xx A♦ 3♣ MP+1 bets 700____MP+1 calls 50
5♣ 4♥ 3♥ 6♣ Hero calls 700____Hero calls 50

Fifth Street: (7,290) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx A♦ 3♣ 3♦ MP+1 bets 1,400
5♣ 4♥ 3♥ 6♣ K♣ Hero calls 1,400

Sixth Street: (10,090) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx A♦ 3♣ 3♦ 4♠ MP+1 bets 1,400
5♣ 4♥ 3♥ 6♣ K♣ 9♥ Hero calls 1,400

Seventh Street: (12,890) (3 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx A♦ 3♣ 3♦ 4♠ Xx MP+1 bets 1,400
5♣ 4♥ 3♥ 6♣ K♣ 9♥ Q♦ Hero folds

Total pot: 12,890

Showdown:
Seat 7 shows 8♥ 8♣ A♦ 3♣ 3♦ 4♠ 7♣ (HI: two pair, Eights and Threes; LO: 8-7-4-3-A)
Seat 6 shows T♦ 2♥ A♥ 9♦ 2♠ J♠ 7♦ (HI: a pair of Twos)
Seat 7 wins 12,890

...and it's a good thing that the shortie didn't improve, because we missed big time.

Mincash in the end.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Mincash in the end.

yup mincash beats no cash every time

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
yup mincash beats no cash every time

Agreed - but we had something better in the Stud8 today.

Another 2nd place, I hope I will one day be able to convert those HU-spots. In general, though, the chip graph looked pretty good, I had a good lead for much of the tournament. The HU-phase was entered relatively short-stacked, but I got it back to about even. It still wasn't meant to be.

The rest of poker was mostly a snorefest, and quite literally so in Badugi, where I fell asleep several times, sometimes in the middle of a hand.

I don't mean to build up too much optimism so soon after a few decent results, but it seems like Stud8 is finally starting to look like something. Let's keep at it and see where this could go.

Oh, and I accidentally first opened up the Pokerstars client with my VPN still on, set to the United States to access some kind of news article that was US-only for some reason, which I forgot to turn off afterwards. I was confused and a little scared for a second when I tried to reg a tourney and a window popped up, saying that real money cash games are not allowed in my area.

Even after re-starting the client VPN-free, that satellite I tried to reg still refused me, with a familiar message:

After a few minutes, it worked again, but I decided to preemptively explain myself to chat support, just in case. I didn't manage to reach a human, however, and the automated assistant showed little understanding for my situation.

No, let's not try again. I'm sure it's all going to be all right.

A good hand to get back on pace in the tournament, maybe.

PokerStars, $4.90 + $0.60 - 7 Stud H/L Limit - 100/200 (40 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 5: 7,937 (40 bb)
Seat 6: 10,041 (50 bb)
Seat 1 (Hero): 2,541 (13 bb)
Seat 2: 3,000 (15 bb)
Seat 3: 5,893 (29 bb)
Seat 4: 180 (1 bb)

Third Street: (240) Hero is in Seat 1
Xx Xx 3♣ BI bets 140 (all-in)
Xx Xx J♣ UTG folds
Xx Xx 5♥ MP calls 140____MP 4-bets to 600____MP calls 200
6♠ 6♦ 6♥ Hero raises to 200____Hero 5-bets to 800
Xx Xx J♦ CO calls 200____CO calls 600
Xx Xx K♠ BTN 3-bets to 400____BTN calls 400

Fourth Street: (3,580) (5 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 5♥ 5♠ MP bets 200____MP raises to 600____MP calls 200
6♠ 6♦ 6♥ J♠ Hero raises to 400____Hero raises to 800
Xx Xx J♦ T♣ CO calls 400____CO calls 400
Xx Xx K♠ Q♦ BTN calls 400____BTN calls 400

Fifth Street: (6,780) (5 players, 1 all-in)
Xx Xx 5♥ 5♠ 3♥ MP bets 400____MP raises to 1,600
6♠ 6♦ 6♥ J♠ 2♠ Hero raises to 800____Hero calls 101 (all-in)
Xx Xx J♦ T♣ 7♦ CO raises to 1,200____CO calls 160 (all-in)
Xx Xx K♠ Q♦ T♥ BTN calls 1,200____BTN calls 400

Sixth Street: (12,241) (5 players, 3 all-in)
Xx Xx 5♥ 5♠ 3♥ J♥ MP bets 400
Xx Xx K♠ Q♦ T♥ A♥ BTN calls 400

Seventh Street: (13,041) (5 players, 3 all-in)
Xx Xx 5♥ 5♠ 3♥ J♥ Xx MP bets 400
Xx Xx K♠ Q♦ T♥ A♥ Xx BTN folds

Total pot: 13,041

Showdown:
Seat 6 shows K♥ K♦ 5♥ 5♠ 3♥ J♥ 3♠ (HI: two pair, Kings and Fives)
Seat 4 shows A♣ Q♠ 3♣ A♠ A♦ 9♠ 8♠ (HI: three of a kind, Aces)
Seat 1 (Hero) shows 6♠ 6♦ 6♥ J♠ 2♠ 7♠ 5♣ (HI: three of a kind, Sixes)
Seat 2 shows 8♣ 8♦ J♦ T♣ 7♦ 9♦ 5♦ (HI: a flush, Jack high)
Seat 6 wins 1,280
Seat 2 wins 11,761

Well, I already knew that I could have used some help. Not this time. Looks like a pretty crap session in general today.

So poker went poorly, and Badugi was no help either. There were successes elsewhere, however.

Time to beat: 26:45 Minutes
Current PB: 26:47 Minutes

Today's Time: 26:24 Minutes
GOAL REACHED!
NEW PB!

The running is not done yet, just because the training for the half marathon is over. We are now more flexible again, so I will still try to do one or two timed runs per week. Today's run reached our goal and broke the old PB, but I expected no less, after all that training.

We need a new goal. The "Intermediate" time posted above looks utopian for my standards and will probably always be, so let's set some smaller goals and just try to get below 26 minutes for now.

New Goal (5 km): 26:00 Minutes

Eternal 2nd Place?

In Badugi tonight, the only game I played that day. Well, I don't think I should be faulted for losing the heads-up battle this time. Not only did I enter with a big chip deficit once again and achieved a dominant position, but I even managed to get my opponent right where I wanted:

PokerStars, $3.92 + $0.48 - Badugi Pot Limit - 1,000/2,000 - 2 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

SB: 66,260 (33 bb)
BB (Hero): 149,740 (75 bb)

Deal: (3,000) Hero is BB with 3♦ A♦ 4♣ 2♠
SB raises to 4,000, Hero calls 2,000

Draw One: (8,000) A♦ 4♣ 2♠ K♦ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws 3d, SB draws 2
Hero bets 4,000, SB calls 4,000

Draw Two: (16,000) A♦ 4♣ 2♠ 2♥ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws Kd, SB draws 1
Hero bets 8,000, SB calls 8,000

Draw Three: (32,000) A♦ 4♣ 2♠ 7♥ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws 2h, SB draws 1
Hero bets 16,000, SB raises to 50,260 (all-in), Hero calls 34,260

Total pot: 132,520

Showdown:
SB shows 6♠ 4♦ 2♣ 3♥ (a Badugi: 6,4,3,2)
BB (Hero) shows A♦ 4♣ 2♠ 7♥ (a Badugi: 7,4,2,A)
SB wins 132,520

Super snap call in such a spot, I knew that it would be a big cooler if I was to lose there - and it was.

Chip graph:

Qualified for the Boogie today (the new $22 Badugi tournament that runs on Fridays). The satty cost me $2.20, but I also regged another one for $3.30, which didn't succeed.

I was up to a pretty good start in the Boogie itself too, but it got super close in the end. Luckily, I still got my mincash, which would normally just mean breaking even, but since we sattied into the tournament for effectively $5.50, those are some decent returns.

No success in any of the other games either, though Stud8 got close once again. It was a long session, so it can be hard to stay focused. I think I could have done a lot better today if I had avoided some careless mistakes in certain spots.

We haven't heard all that much from Primrose lately, who will be playing her last "Trollette Open" of the season tomorrow, as she mentioned a few days ago. I could do a full analysis again, except I have nothing to go by - her opponents are complete unknowns. I know Prim is just trying to get through without any bad injuries, but I do think she will do well tomorrow, just like she did last time.

Win, lose or whatever, she has certainly earned her break afterwards - which should also mean that she will have time for some tournament poker again.

Finally came out on top in the heads up phase - and I almost gave up that game earlier in the tournament. In fact, I already found myself playing a Briscola game online (wanna try it yourself?) as I was seemingly just folding my way to getting blinded out.

Eventually, I received a few hands that got me back on track, but things didn't really pick up until the very end. It was kind of a sneaky win, as the chip graph suggests.

There were definitely some clutch hands. This one happened relatively early already. Clearly my opponent was trying to trap, and it backfired big time. To be fair, it could have easily worked if I had picked up a slightly worse hand.

So this put us into a good position, but a bit later, it was my time to be on the receiving end. This one was just unlucky, we had 84% equity when the chips went in.

That hand seemed like it would be the turning point for the worse, it kept going downhill from there. But as you know, things eventually turned around after all, and I found myself at the final table in the end. This one didn't look very promising either, and after mostly having to fold my way through it, I reached a point where I figured I was short-stacked enough that I couldn't afford to wait for anything better. So it all came down to the luck of the draw.

Outch! Injured!!

Now this is it, guys! I´m "offically" injured. Couldn´t finish my women´s singles match anymore - too much pain in my achilles tendon. This means that I will take a break from tennis for about 2-3 weeks, but hey, that doesn´t mean no sports at all! Swimming, cycling and achilles-tendon-friendly Crossfit-workouts are allowed. So, I will keep fit this way until I return to the tennis court probably in August.

I have a successful season behind me, maybe one more competition ("Troll Open") is planned for September, and then it´s off-season! We don´t plan any more competetions from September until January. And guess next year, I will compete a little bit less..... because less is sometimes more ...

Originally posted by Harrier88

Congratulations!

Cheers, Vorpal. Tonight's result was a bit more "typical", with yet another 2nd place finish. For some reason, that little box with the winnings didn't pop up this time, but the game returned $45.06 including bounties.

Couldn't really get a hold of my opponent at all in the heads-up phase. I had a chance to take them out much earlier, however. This is one of the first hands of the final table, and the winner of the hand was none other than the player who would eventually face me heads-up and win the tournament.

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

UTG: 27,583 (28 bb)
MP: 10,850 (11 bb)
MP+1: 20,505 (21 bb)
CO: 17,347 (17 bb)
BU: 26,147 (26 bb)
SB: 34,962 (35 bb)
BB (Hero): 72,606 (73 bb)

Deal: (1,500) Hero is BB with K♥ Q♥ 6♦ 3♠
3 players fold, CO calls 1,000, BTN calls 1,000, 1 fold, Hero checks

Draw One: (3,500) 5♥ 4♣ 6♦ 3♠ (2 players)
BB (Hero) draws Qh Kh, CO draws 1, BU draws 1
Hero bets 1,750, CO calls 1,750, BTN calls 1,750

Draw Two: (8,750) 5♥ 4♣ 6♦ 3♠ (2 players)
BB (Hero) stands pat, CO stands pat, BU draws 1
Hero bets 4,375, CO calls 4,375, BU folds

Draw Three: (17,500) 5♥ 4♣ 6♦ 3♠ (2 players)
BB (Hero) stands pat, CO stands pat
Hero bets 11,000, CO calls 10,222 (all-in)

Total pot: 37,944

Showdown:
BB (Hero) shows 5♥ 4♣ 6♦ 3♠ (a Badugi: 6,5,4,3)
CO shows A♣ 2♠ 6♥ 4♦ (a Badugi: 6,4,2,A)
CO wins 37,944

Not sure what's up with the converter. This and one of yesterday's hands required quite a bit of manual editing.

Not a perfect result tonight, but great progress in general in the last few days. As much as I would like to keep riding this momentum, it looks like there is a busy week coming up. There will be more Trollympics action tomorrow, of course, and there is still a high demand for lifeguards. I think I may be due for a work assignment at the karate dojo too, so there is a decent chance that I won't get a free day at all, not even on the weekend.

If there is time for poker, I will try to make the most of it. I can take comfort in the knowledge that summer won't last forever.

"Closing ceremony" today ...

Tonight, we´ll have a little "closing ceremony" with the Trollettes: Trollette Open is over! Despite my latest injury, I can look back to a successful season with a lot of tennis matches won, most singles won, except for two, where Villainesse was CLEARLY better and WAY higher ranked and one so called "walk over" (I gave up due to pain in my foot) last Saturday. My doubles statistics (either mixed or just women´s) look good as well. Could improve my ranking and this is also very nice.

And now I won´t be able to compete for a while. Gotta go for swimming, cycling, resistance training, stretching and physical therapy. The next step is healing! Then we can go from there and re-build skills and speed! Then we can think about competing again ....

To be continued soon ..........

This Saturday will be my first free Saturday after a long time!! This means, that we finally can continue with the Koopa Freeroll Challenge and the Bankroll Queen! During Trollette Open I didn´t have time for tournament poker, because I usually have only on Saturdays time for MTTs. But Trollette Open competitions were also on Saturday and every time I got home late (because after the matches we all have dinner together). So now: Saturdays are free from now on and can be used for freeroll-MTTs and freeroll-sattys again! Yaaay!

Standing Long Jump (Strength)
Bronze: 1.65 meters
Silver: 1.95 meters
Gold: 2.25 meters

Olympic Record: 3.47 meters by Ray Ewry (USA) at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, September 3rd, 1904.
World Record: 3.73 meters by Byron Jones (USA) at the NFL Combine, February 23rd, 2015.
Trollympic Record: 2.40 meters by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2024 Trollympics, September 2nd, 2024.

Harrier's distance: 2.32 meters

After missing Gold last week with the medicine ball throw, I decided to settle it in the long jump pit instead, which should be a relatively safe bet. 2.32m is good enough to take down Gold for sure, though it's not my personal best.

The track events were what I was most curious about, after the half marathon training and all. A 3K run would be the most logical event, but I gave into the temptation to give the 100m a shot as well before the run.

100 Meter Dash (Speed)
Bronze: 17.6 seconds
Silver: 15.9 seconds
Gold: 14.2 seconds

Olympic Record: 9.63 seconds by Usain Bolt (JAM) at the 2012 London Olympics, August 5th, 2012.
World Record: 9.58 seconds by Usain Bolt (JAM) at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, August 16th, 2009.
Trollympic Record: 13.75 seconds by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2024 Trollympics, September 2nd, 2024.

Harrier's time: 14.96 seconds

Crap time, I knew it right from the start - but still good enough for Silver. It's okay, I just wanted to put a time on the board already.

It was time to go for the event I really cared about:

3,000 Meter Run (Stamina)
Bronze: 19:50 minutes
Silver: 17:20 minutes
Gold: 15:00 minutes

Not an Olympic event.
World Record: 7:17.55 minutes by Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) at Chorzów, August 25th, 2024.
Trollympic Record: 14:57.50 minutes by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2024 Trollympics, June 10th, 2024.

Harrier's time: 14:09 minutes
NEW TROLLYMPIC RECORD!

Now we're talking. 15 minutes should be no problem for a half marathon finisher, and I got a nice improvement over last year's time. Getting sub 14 minutes would have been nice, of course, but that could be a goal for next year, or possibly for another attempt after the break.

And yes, the Trollympics will enter a break now, the next scheduled meetup will be on August 18th. Until then, we may see a few aquatic events, but not in the near future either, as the local pool remains closed until the end of next week. But who knows - maybe we can even schedule an extra meetup featuring the grindette herself in early August?

Either way, we are still missing a coordination event, which will likely be the sling ball throw, though I would be interested in trying out high jump as well, if I get a chance, possibly even gymnastics or rope skipping. We will see after the break. Until then, we can rest assured that Silver overall is just about in the bag (even a Bronze in coordination would be enough), and I'd say we are on track for Gold.

New "Medal Table":
3,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Gold
Medicine Ball Throw (Strength): Silver
Standing Long Jump (Strength): Gold
100 Meter Dash (Speed): Silver

Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (3,000 Meter Run) - 3 points
Strength: Gold (Standing Long Jump) - 3 points
Speed: Silver (100 Meter Dash) - 2 points
Coordination: -

8 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.

Gotta love Stud Hi...

PokerStars, $1.96 + $0.24 - 7 Card Stud Limit (8-Game) - 750/1,500 (185 ante) - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

Seat 2: 43,870 (29 bb)
Seat 3: 24,986 (17 bb)
Seat 4: 18,110 (12 bb)
Seat 5: 33,483 (22 bb)
Seat 6: 22,299 (15 bb)
Seat 1 (Hero): 12,920 (9 bb)

Third Street: (1,110) Hero is in Seat 1
A♦ A♣ 4♦ Hero bring-in 750____Hero raises to 3,000____Hero 4-bets to 6,000
Xx Xx 6♥ UTG folds
Xx Xx K♥ MP raises to 1,500____MP 3-bets to 4,500____MP calls 1,500
Xx Xx Q♥ MP+1 folds
Xx Xx 8♣ CO folds
Xx Xx 7♠ BTN folds

Fourth Street: (13,110) (2 players)
Xx Xx K♥ 5♥ MP bets 1,500____MP raises to 4,500____MP calls 1,500
A♦ A♣ 4♦ Q♦ Hero raises to 3,000____Hero raises to 6,000

Fifth Street: (25,110) (2 players)
Xx Xx K♥ 5♥ K♠ MP bets 3,000
A♦ A♣ 4♦ Q♦ 9♦ Hero calls 735 (all-in)

Sixth Street: (26,580) (2 players, 1 all-in)
K♦ 5♣ K♥ 5♥ K♠ 7♦ - Seat 3
A♦ A♣ 4♦ Q♦ 9♦ 2♥ - Seat 1 (Hero)

Seventh Street: (26,580) (2 players, 1 all-in)
K♦ 5♣ K♥ 5♥ K♠ 7♦ 2♠ - Seat 3
A♦ A♣ 4♦ Q♦ 9♦ 2♥ 6♠ - Seat 1 (Hero)

Total pot: 26,580

Showdown:
Seat 3 shows K♦ 5♣ K♥ 5♥ K♠ 7♦ 2♠ (a full house, Kings full of Fives)
Seat 1 (Hero) shows A♦ A♣ 4♦ Q♦ 9♦ 2♥ 6♠ (a pair of Aces)
Seat 3 wins 26,580