Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by Harrier88
I'm happy to report that I did get started with NL 2-7 Single Draw tournaments, at least. Results weren't good yet, but I expected that much, and I'm willing to pay a bit of a "tuition fee" while I'm learning the ropes. This game requires nerves of steel, but it seems to be a decent option for the grind, I would like to stay at it for a while.

The phrase that fits is "more guts than a slaughterhouse".

The game is the essence of poker -- a combination of knowing the odds, and unbridled aggression.

What I've realized when I got back on track in Badugi last month was that in poker in general, it really pays to be fearless - which is not to be confused with being reckless.

To be reckless is to take foolish risks, either because you lack the understanding to properly evaluate the odds and rewards, or because you simply don't care to do it, which may sound stupid, but is more common and normal than one may think. It can often happen on tilt, when emotions override your capacity to reason, it may happen due to fatigue in a long session, and it is the modus operandi of the classic recreational "gamblefish", as they are called - as well as a good chunk of actual casino gamblers who voluntarily play games where the odds are stacked against them by design. It is also what I often end up doing in those weekly Hold'em freerolls I play with Prim, which are the last bastions of Hold'em for me, frequently making we wonder why that game is still popular - and especially how I could have once been passionate about it myself. Looks like this firmly puts me into that "gamblefish" category in that game, at least.

To be fearless, on the other hand, is to know the situation, to be aware that you may lose, but to still make the objectively best decisions in the face of the risk that is involved. In order to do that, you need to be skilled. Skills are what give you the ability to properly determine your odds and rewards, and I'd argue that bankroll management, which is another important factor, is also to be considered a skill. Not having these skills means that you won't be able to take these risks without automatically landing in the reckless category, since you were not able to ascertain the chances and rewards of the risk you took, or because you risked so much that it put you into an unreasonable risk of ruin despite favorable odds, to get back to the point about bankroll management.

I've been through my worst Badugi downswing yet this year, and as I had pointed out before, this and other smaller downswings before have often led me into a trap where I played overly cautious and only tried to wait for the really good hands after having come up short so often with the more marginally good hands. I may still play those good but not great hands, but give up at the first sign of resistance. The problem with that is that it's simply a losing strategy. It only pays off if you're lucky enough to have an opponent dealt another great hand that slightly loses to you - and that would need to happen several times in order to get a decent MTT result. You need to push those smaller edges too in order to have success. I had the skills to determine those edges, but I was not fearless, so it all went to waste.

And why was that? As I mentioned above, it was because emotions overrode my reasoning. I experienced many of those situations within a short time where my hands with marginal edges lost, and it eventually it made those spots seem like losing situations even though they weren't. Even after reading back up about the odds and ranges to improve my confidence, I may have correctly taken those risks again, only to come up short yet another time, making it seem like it really didn't work. In fact, it made it seem like my entire strategy wasn't working anymore. I did not conclude that through reason, but through emotions (or rather through reason being guided by emotions), and being impeded by that, I could not use my skills to play fearlessly - and instead adopted what was a losing strategy.

It can happen the other way around too. After making a bunch of overly cautious laydowns, possibly several against the same opponent, I may eventually end up getting frustrated with my own folding and take a risk that I shouldn't have. Again, emotions overriding my reason and leading to me making a reckless, not a fearless decision.

NL 2-7 Single Draw is still mostly uncharted territory to me, and while I believe that my feel for the situations in this game has improved, I still don't know enough to confidently evaluate my situation in most cases. In other words, I still lack the skills that are required for me to make those correct, fearless decisions, and as we pointed out, those really are the essence of that game, possibly more so than in any other form of poker. Not having these skills, I could only choose the reckless or overly cautious options, and having the choice between only the two of them, I usually erred on the side of caution. This may be better than the only alternative in this case, but it's still not how you win the game, especially because this one has antes.

As one commenter in the chat of Vorpal's stream who was railing my progress in a Badugi tournament once put it (I wish I had taken a screenshot, because it was pretty good):

Why is Harrier still in? Oh, I see - no antes.

But let all this "philosophical" talk about poker not prevent me from announcing that I shipped the Badugi tonight for $108.32 including bounties! It's my first outright win in Badugi this year (not in poker in general, as I did ship a $1.10 8-Game in January). Better late than never, right?

Also, let me point out a few hands which illustrate my concept a little.

As far as I remember, we were not ITM yet, and my opponent had the stack to push me and the other players around quite a bit. Not only that, but my stack was decent too, and perfectly capable of folding into the money. I had a 32A, the best possible 3-card hand. I know that I will always be ahead (with a tiny chance of a split pot in the very rare event of a tie) as long as my opponent keeps drawing and doesn't hit. Their chances of hitting any Badugi over three draws to beat me is about 50%, but at the same time, I know that I have the same chance of hitting a Badugi on my own, and my other three cards are guaranteed to be ahead of all other three cards, putting the odds slightly in my favor.

1-2 months ago, I may have laid it down, hoping to lock up a slight profit in the tournament. This time it went differently:

Note that if my opponent had been standing pat on the first draw while I was missing, I would have had to fold, because I would have had only about 40% equity in that situation (against a genuine hand, at least).

So that worked out quite nicely and tipped the balance in our favor, but here is another hand later down the line against the same player, whom I had now covered and who had a juicy >$10 bounty on their head:

A very similar situation, I once again had a 3-card hand that was ahead of theirs, and which I could reasonably expect to be ahead of theirs - only it didn't work out this time, and my opponent hit on the last draw. But those are just are the just the risks you have to take, obviously they will not always work out every time. No biggie, it's how it goes.

And if that's not enough, sometimes you just need a little donk luck, like later on the final table:

My first raise was a semi-bluff. My opponent raised from the small blind, so their range may be pretty wide, possibly making them fold to aggression. If they don't, I still have a good 3-card hand to possibly hit something nice. Also, they may reasonably expect to be ahead with a missed draw against my draw 2 while holding a 3-card hand that may still lose to mine unimproved.

I called the small bet on draw two hoping for a cheap showdown. I would have stood pat in position against any draw and checked behind, but after my opponent was standing pat ahead of me, I knew that I that my only feasible chance of winning was to go for a lucky draw - and boy, did I get it. My opponent had quite the hand too, making their small bet sizes more likely an attempt at trapping rather than an act of caution, and leaving me with a two-outer, a 4% chance of still turning this hand around - and I spiked it.

And if that's still not good enough yet, here's one final hand from the heads-up phase, which I entered with a considerable chip deficit:

Confused by my weird lines? Well, the heads-up phase, sometimes also the later final table rounds, is when I usually start pulling out some more deceptive moves like bluff check-raising with snow in this case. Luckily, my opponent made me get away with checking on the 2nd draw, which was supposed to be a simple check-fold, so I could aim for a proper hand on the last draw, and once again spike the gin card. I revealed that the jig was up when I was drawing after standing pat, so I was able to go for a successful check-raise for value this time.

It wasn't the last deceptive move I pulled off in that heads-up phase which lasted for quite a bit, but the ones that worked, which were a good chunk of them, did not have to resort to that kind of drawing luck anymore.

So, as you can see, there was quite a bit of luck involved tonight too, but we took some correct risks, and it all paid off in the end. Better to lose a few times and then win big than to bring home a flow of trivial cashes only. And today was the day for that big prize that will have to pay for all those other situations when the correct risks won't pay off.

Originally posted by Harrier88
What I've realized when I got back on track in Badugi last month was that in poker in general, it really pays to be fearless - which is not to be confused with being reckless.

Bravery is not lack of fear.
Bravery is making bold moves in the face of fear.

Really impressive hands in the Badugi -- Congratulations on the bink!

Hey, that´s awesome! Bravo! :appl::appl::appl::appl:

So, we got something to celebrate.

Thank you very much! I haven't played since shipping that Badugi, and I'm not sure how I much I will be able to play this week, but as long as I can keep making those few games count like last time, it's all good.

Just a funny little anecdote: There's this ballet step called "pas de bourrée", literally meaning "step of the drunk", so you'd think I'd be a natural at it, but after restarting those weekly ballet sessions a few weeks ago, I realized that I kinda forgot how it went after not doing any ballet for so long.

As usual in those situations, I decided to just wing it, watch what those other ladies are doing, and try to imitate it as best as I can, but I realized that it wasn't quite right yet. I could have looked it up, but I always forgot about it by the time I got home.

And then on Monday morning, I ended up sleeping in on the couch again after staying up so late for that Badugi run the night before. I woke up groggy and kinda in a fog, noticed that I was losing my balance as I was walking to the bathroom and almost started falling to the side - and instinctively did a perfect pas de bourrée as I was trying to catch myself.

Well, not exactly perfect, you don't usually look too elegant right after getting up, but it instantly made me remember how that step goes. And no, I only had one or two shots of herbal liquor that night, so I wasn't exactly "bourré".

I heard there's also some trick-taking card game called Bourré. Never played that game, but maybe I'll end up instinctively crushing that one too after getting up one morning.

Hello from Portugal 👌👌👌

Nice blog

Hi aafrancis, glad you're stopping by, and GL with your challenge too!

There probably won't be any more poker until Saturday or Sunday, it has been a slow week with a bunch of other stuff to do. Quality over quantity, I guess - well, hopefully.

But as always, stay tuned for more mixed games and mixed drinks.

When I read "drunkard's step" the first thing I thought was "How would crawling on the floor work in Ballet?"

No poker yet since shipping that Badugi last weekend, I just didn't feel all that motivated.

Let's have a mixed drink instead, and even a brand new one that I came up with myself. This one didn't just involve grabbing some ingredients off the shelf, I decided to make some lavender syrup first.

I already posted a recipe for simple syrup before. You can flavor it with all kinds of stuff, and I thought about giving lavender a try some time, but it looks like I'm not the first one who thought of that. There's even a bottled version from Monin.

For my own lavender syrup, I simply used some lavender from the front yard. I think I cut off around eight lavender blossoms. Carefully, because those flowers seem to be quite popular with the bees from around here.

Since it came straight from outside, washing it with some water before using it might be a good idea.

Then I simply prepared the simple syrup as planned, I think I used 150 ml each of sugar and water, possibly less. The only extra steps involve tossing those lavender blossoms inside and letting it steep for an hour or so. I remember playing poker as I was doing it, so it went for a lot longer.

Then you just transfer the finished syrup into a bottle, as usual. The result is pretty much what you expect, some sweet sugary syrup with a hint of lavender.

So this takes care of the lavender syrup, but what else goes into the drink? The main ingredient is a drink called "Parfait Amour" from Giffard, which is a violet-flavored liqueur. Not everyone likes the flowery taste, I think it's okay, others think it's too "soapy". I like the purple color, in any case.

The full ingredients list is:
50 ml of Parfait Amour (or any other violet-flavored liquor)
20 ml of triple sec
10 ml of lavender syrup

I think I originally used a 40/20/20 ratio, but I thought it was a little too sweet, so I changed it around and much prefer the 50/20/10 version.

Shake it all up with ice and drain it into a martini glass. Here it is served, and garnished with some additional lavender blossoms from the front yard.

As for the name, I thought of "Mosquito Killer", since the smell of lavender plants tends to have a repelling effect on mosquitoes, I believe. An alternative title could be "Summer's Night", because I associate that smell with some late summer nights where I was hanging out on the balcony when I was younger.

Let me know which one you prefer. As for the drink, the grindette approves, but when I was visiting my mum earlier this evening and let her have a try, she did not like it. Personally, I think it's all right.

I liked it, it´s refreshing and not too sweet.

I've had Parfait Amour before.
Different.

When we made liqueurs in ages past we took various flavoured herbs and steeped them not in syrup, but in alcohol.
One of the more intriguing ones was sage.
(It might have been savoury, not entirely sure).

I wonder how the lavender would turn out steeped in alcohol.

As I have learned recently, the next MicroMillions on Stars are just around the corner.

Even though my results in those kinds of events are not always great, they're still a good opportunity at scooping up some bigger wins if you keep trying, I believe, so I will continue to give them a try with some selective games.

I've made a spreadsheet about it as well, of course, so I'll just post the schedule I came up with directly from there:

A light gray background means that I'm not sure if I will play it. A dark gray one means that I'm unlikely to play, but I might. I plan to play all events with a white background.

There are also some events that I would have liked to play, but can't, because of other obligations. None of them are included in the list. I should potentially be able to play every game that is listed there.

Pretty decent schedule this year, I believe, and I should make it to both Badugis this time too.

Best of luck to everyone else who is playing!

Nice that there are two of most of the draw and stud family.
I guess it's about time I posted my own schedule.

In the past PokerStars published a schedule that I could easily import into a spreadsheet.

If they have, I can't find it.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Nice that there are two of most of the draw and stud family.
I guess it's about time I posted my own schedule.

Yeah, I like the schedule this year. Too bad I can only make it to one 8-Game, I will be busy on all the other days when one is running, even though I would have preferred them over the one I can play.

The PL Five Card Draw games are gray in my schedule only because of their time slot. One begins past midnight and for the other one, I will return home late the evening and may have to late reg. I expect I will end up playing both of them. It's also very likely that I will play the NL Five Card Draw right at the start, even though I prefer PL.

As for the regular grind, I was finally able to squeeze in a Badugi tournament tonight and at least managed to final table it, finishing 7th for $15.14 including a meager $1 bounty. Pretty good result overall, though, and as I said earlier, I don't mind the low volume as long as I can make the few games I play count.

Originally posted by Harrier88
As for the regular grind, I was finally able to squeeze in a Badugi tournament tonight and at least managed to final table it, finishing 7th for $15.14 including a meager $1 bounty. Pretty good result overall, though, and as I said earlier, I don't mind the low volume as long as I can make the few games I play count.

Nicely done!

Thanks, Vorpal!

Unfortunately, some additional appointments came up on short notice yesterday. Tomorrow evening, I will be away on some theory session with my football coach and teammates, so I would still make it to the 22:00 HORSE if I choose to play, but won't be able to finish the 17:30 NL FIve Card Draw, so there's no point in starting it.

There will also be an all-day training session on Saturday the 24th, so playing the PL Five Card Draw at 1 AM the night before wouldn't be very wise anymore either. Too bad, I otherwise would have had plenty of time to sleep in on Saturday, and I was looking forward to playing it. I will make it back to the 23:30 Badugi that day, of course, though I might feel a bit tired at that time then, and possibly not on my A-game anymore. I still definitely plan to play it.

Pretty unfortunate stuff, but poker is not really an excuse to blow those things off. My first event of the MicroMillions will now either be the HORSE tomorrow or the 8-Game on Friday.

Not a good start to the MicroMillions. 8-Game bricked, of course, but I also made the mistake of playing too many tables at the same time, even though I should know better by this point. I tried another 2-7 Single Draw and of course the Badugi as I was playing. No cash in any of those.

Late at night, I also tried the MicroMillions 2-7 SD and a regular Five Card Draw on the side. It's not usually recommended to do that, but I have successfully done it many times in the past and it didn't pose any problems this time either, though the amount of times I got dealt a good lowball hand in the 5CD and vice versa was frustrating. At least Five Card Draw showed promise, I got a bounty and was on good track for ITM before busting out with a bad suckout (pat flush all-in predraw vs opponent drawing a full house). 2-7 SD still didn't cash, as expected, and I should really reconsider if I see a lot of potential in this format at all.

It has been a pretty exhausting week overall, and I doubt the next one will be any better. I'm not feeling all that great this weekend in general - just mentally, I'm not sick or anything. So I don't mind at all that the next MM event I plan to play will probably be next Wednesday (I might play the Stud on Monday night before that). Maybe I can get a few personal things sorted out until then, not sure if I will play anything else at all these days.

Originally posted by Harrier88
though the amount of times I got dealt a good lowball hand in the 5CD and vice versa was frustrating

Although I'm fairly sure that the hands come up with the same frequency in both games, you definitely notice it more when you're playing both.

I have been so unlucky in 2-7 SD lately I'm going to take a week off from that one.

Today I have the Stud Hi/Lo which is usually good for a laugh.
I'm also going to play the PlayNow.com PLO8 by last-second registration -- again just for laughs

Best of luck :gl:,
VS

It's late at night for me as I'm posting this, and you'd think that's a good sign - except not really...

I decided to play the MicroMillions Stud at 1 AM, and also that little $3.30 Five Card Draw that I played during my last late night session. To get it out of the way first, I got massively trolled in that 5CD. Got a bunch of pretty good hands early on, but I don't think I was able to play even a single one of them to the end because people on my table kept getting even better hands and were betting them like crazy. I always got out cheaply but was usually proven right when those other players did go to showdown against each other. When I finally hit an ace-high flush after the inevitable card-dead phase that followed, I wasn't even surprised when a player behind me re-raised me and showed quad Kings. An absolutely crappy tournament with an early exit, but there really wasn't much I could have done about it.

The important part was the Stud, and I indeed had a good run. I made it past late reg with a pretty good stack and on pace to ITM, until a few hands ruined it again.

Here is the first one. I had been pretty tight all around before, so I was itching for a playable hand, which a connected three card sequence deep in a multiway pot with only two dead outs usually is. I was almost hoping that I wouldn't even get that nice multiway situation in the first place, mostly because I feared that I would actually hit a good draw and then be up against heavy aggression from my opponent only to keep missing, especially since LP/Seat 7 was short and likely see himself forced to re-raise all-in early on. Unfortunately, I was exactly right, but after getting that open-ender draw on 4th street, there really was no reason to get out at that point anymore. Even less so after hitting that open pair on 5th street, which gave me additional outs for other good hands.

I felt like I had to show some aggression myself upon hitting that second Queen, trying to represent something in addition to my straight draw. After that, I opted for check-calling, but decided to fold on 7th at least because I very strongly suspected being up against a better two pair, even though buried aces weren't necessarily on my mind.

That surely hurt, but the real neck breaker came later, when I had buried Kings myself. Since I was in an early position, I decided to just call the bring-in on 3rd, because I figured that raising with such a weak door card in that position would only give away my strength, while I could play much more deceptively later down the line by just calling. It's consistent with what I've read in the Super System chapter too. Of course, I was hoping for nothing more than another King later on - as long as it is in my hand! Though I suspected the worst, I still had the hope of either hitting a good two pair or having my opponent bluff into me due to my deceptive line, which is why I kept calling down all the way too.

Not sure if that was the right move. I got out a little later with aces on third street running into a weaker pair that improved to a two pair, standard stuff in that game.

While I wasn't sure about those two hands, I was generally pretty pleased with my play in that tournament, I think I made good reads overall and picked my spots well, but that won't buy me anything. Having come that far only to wind up empty-handed isn't fun either, as we all know, and I know why I don't usually like big field tournaments in pretty much any format.

Let's just hope that those MicroMillions won't be a complete brick for me this time, and that I will be able to make up for the losses in Badugi quickly enough.

Those stud hands looked depressingly familiar.
Props to getting out of the queens-up hand