Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

But do you know what has been missing from this blog for a long time? A mixed drink! High time to fix that, especially because I have some mussgos.

I got back into drinking freshly squeezed orange juice for my special Saturday breakfasts a while ago. While freshly squeezed is always better, and many bartenders insist on using that one only, I never noticed a particularly huge difference for other citrus juices between freshly juiced and store-bought, but when it comes to orange juice, they're really worlds apart...

There was a big bag of oranges on sale at the grocery store a while ago, not the best class of quality, but I decided to take it. Now they've been sitting around for weeks taking up lots of space in my fridge, so I decided to squeeze a few more oranges than usual for breakfast, before they start to go bad. Turns out that there was really a noticeable lack of quality in the juice compared to the oranges I normally use, I guess you get what you pay for. There are still a few left to use, and I also have some cream that probably can't be completely saved before expiring, but I should at least get some use out of it.

The solution is called the Golden Dream.

Ingredients:
20 ml of freshly squeezed orange juice
20 ml of triple sec
20 ml of Galliano
10 ml of fresh cream

Just shake up the ingredients with some ice and strain the mixture into a chilled glass.

It wasn't bad. With it's mostly orangey ingredients, it's a quite sweet drink, which I don't necessarily mind, but this tasted almost candy-like, which is not something I usually prefer. I remember writing a something like this about another sweet orangey cocktail before, namely the Sex in the Shower, and indeed, it did remind my a little of that drink. I know Prim enjoyed that one very much, so maybe she will also approve of the Golden Dream when she gets a chance to try it.

I am *not* going to take the bait -- I'll just let the reader imagine all the things I'm not posting

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I am *not* going to take the bait -- I'll just let the reader imagine all the things I'm not posting

Yes, I indeed enjoyed THE DRINK!

For sure, Prim very much enjoyed the Sex in the Shower she had at my place. I did too - we were enjoying it together, after all.

Spoiler

THIS ONE!!!

Trolls gonna troll.

This is going to be a really awkward post once Imgur shuts down or the picture stops working for some other reason...

I already suspected in the past that my poker results on Saturdays leave a lot to be desired, and I noticed it in the last couple of weeks too. Now that we have our casual Troll Challenge on those days, I figured it may be best to leave it at that and save the proper grind for all those other days.

As for the reasons why that might be, I'm still not sure. It could be because I follow an entirely different routine on Saturdays. Among many other things, I typically cook one big, hearty (and some would say "banhauser") meal in the afternoon on most days, and then something quick and simple in the evening, 1-2 hours before my grind. On Saturdays, I only have some croissants for breakfast, and then visit my mother downstairs for a big dinner at her place in the evening. This sometimes includes a glass or two of wine, but I noticed the same issues when I skipped the wine, so I don't think it's just that. I suspect that I may simply still feel a little "stuffed" when I start my session on those days, which maybe hurts my focus.

Anyway, I did add one Five Card Draw SNG tonight, and shipped it again to make it 6 out of 9. Courchevel, which was part of the challenge, also went well with its 10th place finish, so we're still doing pretty good with those five cards.

My 5CD tracking spreadsheet has already been updated to accommodate for both cash games and SNGs, so I think we can look forward to some interesting stats and comparisons at the end of the month, but until then, I would like to grind out some more games to get a better picture. And with December approaching, the annual "Troll Calendar" is another thing we can look forward to. I certainly do, at least.

Originally posted by Harrier88
For sure, Prim very much enjoyed the Sex in the Shower she had at my place. I did too - we were enjoying it together, after all.

Spoiler

THIS ONE!!!

Trolls gonna troll.

This is going to be a really awkward post once Imgur shuts down or the picture stops working for some other reason...

:mdr::mdr::mdr: :mdr::mdr::mdr::mdr:

How long did you think the SNG heater would last? I can tell you now, it lasted precisely one more hand.

Yes, in the very next SNG I started this evening, I received trip 5s in my first hand. There were a couple of limpers, one raise, and I decided to re-raise because I expected to be ahead of the raisers range. Unexpectedly, one overlimper re-raised again, and I called. They stood pat, and naturally went all-in. That line looked snowy, trying to take down that pot all of a sudden after it had been inflated. I went for the hero call, my opponent had a pat full house...

Five more SNGs were played (so six in total today). I did not do very well, only placed 2nd in two of them, no 1st places, for a loss of over two buy-ins. Maybe this brings me a little closer to reality. Cash didn't go great either.

Most worryingly, Badugi continues to go poory, with only a $1 bounty tonight. It would have been a pretty unsuccessful day if it hadn't been for that $1.10 HORSE tournament from our Troll Challenges, which finished 2nd, though that one should have been shipped too. A profitable day, but I need to do better when it comes to playing, though it was a pretty long session, to be fair.

Today went a lot better, I managed to squeeze in six SNGs today and cashed all but one. Three were shipped, I placed 2nd in the other two. Very slight profit at the cash tables too.

Badugi only mincashed without bounties, for a slight loss. I did not play 8-Game today and I'm not sure if I will in the future, looks like my focus is better spent on Five Card Draw at the moment.

Six more SNGs, three shipped, one 2nd place, two lost. Also a 9th place in Badugi for $13.24 including bounties. 5CD cash went poorly and lost $1.47, but that's all right, in light of those results.

With around $35 in profit after just five days of playing (27 games in total), I believe that I might be on to something with the 5CD SNGs. Maybe the money that was gained there could encourage me to give those PL 5CD MTTs another try after all. I will keep working on my game.

Cold Shower

It's pretty clear that a great run like the one I had with the Five Card Draw SNGs in the last few days can't be sustained in the long run, but I had hoped that it would go on at least a little bit better...

Today, I managed to put in 10 SNGs because I included an afternoon session as well, and lost all of them except for the last one, which was shipped. Still, it meant a seriously bad 9 game losing streak, and a loss of almost $10 in this format for the day. We're still doing good overall, with about $25 in total profit in there, but it is clear that those games are not the cash cow they seemed to be a first glance.

I think that's one pitfall that may be pretty specific to Five Card Draw in general, that it is very easy to be tempted into thinking you got the game all figured out during a good streak due to the nature of the game. With only one draw to improve your hand, the majority of your winning showdown hands will have been better than your opponent's from the start, so it can be easy - and flattering - to rationalize that you're just playing better, when in truth, you were just lucky to get better cards. While this may be a common mental game leak, most other types of poker involve more factors, making this trap a little easier to avoid.

It's not like I thought that I had mastered the game already, but today's results were a bit of a cold shower, and I clearly don't have such a big edge after all, despite decent overall results in both cash and SNGs. I will continue to play as planned, and keep track of my results. If they continue to show some promise, I may eventually re-introduce the MTTs as well - which I originally planned to do today, but not after that abysmal performance in the SNGs. When I was grinding the MTTs last year, after all, I also started out on a hot streak, only to have a bitter reality check in the following months.

At least the 1st place in my final SNG for the day ended things on a high note, and with another pretty cool hand to boot. And speaking of 1st places, all those losses were easily offset by shipping the Badugi tonight, for a payout of $98.47! It doesn't help with the big hit to my 5CD statistics, of course, but it does increase my bankroll to easily over $2,200, with the $2,300 milestone already in sight. It's not very likely, but with some amazing results, we may be able to crack the $2.5K target this year after all, which I never thought possible after the terrible start.

That´s awesome!!!

And what about Prims nervous system?

Originally posted by Primrose6789
And what about Prims nervous system?

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by Primrose6789
And what about Prims nervous system?

That´s a great idea! ♠_love:

Originally posted by Harrier88
And speaking of 1st places, all those losses were easily offset by shipping the Badugi tonight, for a payout of $98.47!
Congrats!

I've been talking about this problem before. Two tables should be my absolute limit with the kinds of games I play, Five Card Draw SNGs in particular take a lot of attention, especially when you get to the heads-up stage. But because their traffic is so bad and you can't simply fire one up whenever you want to play, you have to make do with the few games that are running, so I'm often still tempted to reg for one even though I already have two tables running. This especially tends to happen when I expect to be out of one of them soon.

Tonight, this had resulted in another complete mess of a session. Tables beeping left and right, sometimes with a new prompt for a decision every second or so, it seemed. Try to play a marginal Badugi hand in a multiway pot while at the same time being involved in a heads-up 5CD battle against a tricky opponent. You formulate your plans for all kinds of situations, but by the time you have dealt with that heads-up hand, it's your turn to act again and you don't even have any idea who drew how many cards, which is absolutely vital information for your course of action.

It was complete chaos. Those kinds of sessions are especially frustrating, at least for me, because you know that you had defeated yourself, and you have no one but yourself to blame, you got exactly what you deserved. This didn't have to be a losing session, it would have had as much potential as any other if I had kept it together.

The way it went, the Badugi was of course bricked, cash games broke even, and I placed 2nd in three out of five SNGs, but no first places, for a tiny profit in there. Let's be a bit more disciplined tomorrow, the next Troll Challenge is coming up, and we're going to play Five Card Draw...

At least there are some cool hands to post. We've had our fun with full houses getting coolered in our Hand of the Day thread already, and the trend continued today:

PokerStars, $1.32 + $0.18 - 5 Card Draw Pot Limit - 10/20 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 1,650 (83 bb)
MP: 1,590 (80 bb)
CO: 1,770 (89 bb)
BU (Hero): 1,390 (70 bb)
SB: 1,100 (55 bb)
BB: 1,500 (75 bb)

Deal: (30) Hero is BTN with T♦ 8♠ 8♦ T♥ T♣
3 players fold, Hero raises to 60, SB 3-bets to 100, 1 fold, Hero 4-bets to 300, SB calls 200

Draw One: (620) T♦ 8♠ 8♦ T♥ T♣ (2 players)
SB draws 1, BU (Hero) stands pat
SB checks, Hero bets 420, SB raises to 800 (all-in), Hero calls 380

Total pot: 2,220

Showdown:
SB shows Q♣ Q♠ 2♣ 2♥ 2♦ (a full house, Twos full of Queens)
BU (Hero) shows T♦ 8♠ 8♦ T♥ T♣ (a full house, Tens full of Eights)
BU (Hero) wins 2,220

While it's always nice to have your pat full houses paid off, what really made me want to post it was that I received the exact same hand (well, almost, one card suit was different) only moments later in the same game:

PokerStars, $1.32 + $0.18 - 5 Card Draw Pot Limit - 15/30 - 5 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 1,810 (60 bb)
CO (Hero): 2,510 (84 bb)
BU: 1,445 (48 bb)
SB: 1,715 (57 bb)
BB: 1,520 (51 bb)

Deal: (45) Hero is CO with T♦ 8♣ T♥ 8♦ T♣
1 fold, Hero raises to 75, 1 fold, SB calls 60, 1 fold

Draw One: (180) T♦ 8♣ T♥ 8♦ T♣ (2 players)
SB draws 1, CO (Hero) stands pat
SB checks, Hero bets 120, SB calls 120

Total pot: 420

Showdown:
CO (Hero) shows T♦ 8♣ T♥ 8♦ T♣ (a full house, Tens full of Eights)
SB mucks 2♠ 5♠ 5♣ 2♥ 7♦ (two pair, Fives and Twos)
CO (Hero) wins 420

Keep it going!
I mentioned trying different tactics in another thread.
One of them is leading small post-draw when I have a hand that will showdown well — I used to just check and take the pot after the checkback. This way, I get an additional big blind — and If I get strongly raised I get out of there losing only a blind.

It seems to be working

Well, decent success in the SNGs today, Five played, two shipped, and one 2nd place. Bad luck in Badugi, though. There was the regular $4.40 tournament, of course, where I had a good start and $3.50 in bounties, but then got coolered twice. Also, I discovered that there was a special side event of the Big 20 Rewind Series tonight, which was a PL Badugi tournament for $22. I tried my luck in this one as well, and also had a decent start, but eventually ran a rough pat 9-Badugi into a smoother pat 9-Badugi. So that one was bricked, about 15 minutes before the end of late reg.

It will take a while to recoup that loss, but I wanted to give this tournament a shot. It's a shame that there is mostly just the same old micro limits for many of my mixed games, so events like these are the only chance to play for some good prize pools for once.

I guess it's back to the usual grind, then.

Desperation Equity - Cash Edition

Let's end on a high note, though, because I played some more FL 5CD cash to end the day. Actually, I was trying to get a SNG or two started, but there doesn't seem to be any traffic whatsoever around this time of day. So I fired up some cash tables and ended up playing them only.

I don't do auto top ups in cash games. I'd lose track of where my session is going too easily if I played with them. Also, I need to know how much exactly I used for my reloads for accurate tracking in my spreadsheet. Still, I try to make sure to top up before my stack gets super short, I typically reload when I only have around four big bets or less left.

In this one, I pretty much forgot. I had another cash table open that was going much better, while I already reloaded $0.80 on this table here. I was already considering closing it to cut my losses there, until I hit a few playable hands, which still lost. This eventually left me with one big bet and one last playable hand, time for desperation equity:

PokerStars, 5 Card Draw Limit - $0.10/$0.20 - 5 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: $2.30 (23 bb)
CO: $2.69 (27 bb)
BU (Hero): $0.20 (2 bb)
SB: $2.32 (23 bb)
BB: $1.23 (12 bb)

Deal: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with K♣ 7♦ K♦ 2♦ J♦
1 fold, CO calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.20 (all-in), SB calls $0.15, 1 fold, CO calls $0.10

Draw One: ($0.70) K♣ K♦ 2♠ Q♦ 6♣ (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB draws 2, CO draws 1, BU (Hero) draws 7d 2d Jd
SB checks, CO checks

Total pot: $0.70 (Rake: $0.03)

Showdown:
BU (Hero) shows K♣ K♦ 2♠ Q♦ 6♣ (a pair of Kings)
SB shows 6♦ 4♠ 4♣ J♠ 2♣ (a pair of Fours)
CO mucks 6♠ T♠ 3♠ Q♠ 4♥ (high card, Queen)
BU (Hero) wins $0.67

Now that was a good way to limit my losses a bit. But guess what, I managed to get some even better cards in my very next hand, as my opponents surely thought I was still in suicide mode with my tiny stack:

PokerStars, 5 Card Draw Limit - $0.10/$0.20 - 5 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: $2.49 (25 bb)
CO (Hero): $0.67 (7 bb)
BU: $2.12 (21 bb)
SB: $1.13 (11 bb)
BB: $2.30 (23 bb)

Deal: ($0.15) Hero is CO with 5♦ 3♠ A♠ 2♥ 4♦
UTG calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.20, BTN 3-bets to $0.30, SB calls $0.25, 2 players fold, Hero 4-bets to $0.40, BTN calls $0.10, SB calls $0.10

Draw One: ($1.40) 5♦ 3♠ A♠ 2♥ 4♦ (3 players)
SB draws 3, CO (Hero) stands pat, BU draws 2
SB checks, Hero bets $0.20, BTN raises to $0.40, SB folds, Hero calls $0.07 (all-in)

Total pot: $1.94 (Rake: $0.09)

Showdown:
BU shows Q♥ K♠ Q♣ 9♣ 4♣ (a pair of Queens)
CO (Hero) shows 5♦ 3♠ A♠ 2♥ 4♦ (a straight, Ace to Five)
CO (Hero) wins $1.85

Looking pretty good already, after having almost closed my table with around $2 in losses.

We weren't quite done yet, though. That same player was still in for one final trolling a bit later:

PokerStars, 5 Card Draw Limit - $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: $0.73 (7 bb)
MP: $2.15 (22 bb)
CO: $2.66 (27 bb)
BU (Hero): $1.70 (17 bb)
SB: $1.86 (19 bb)
BB: $1.45 (15 bb)

Deal: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with Q♥ 8♣ 8♦ Q♣ 9♦
3 players fold, Hero raises to $0.20, 1 fold, BB 3-bets to $0.30, Hero calls $0.10

Draw One: ($0.65) Q♥ 8♣ 8♦ Q♣ 8♥ (2 players)
BB draws 2, BU (Hero) draws 9d
BB bets $0.20, Hero raises to $0.40, BB raises to $0.60, Hero calls $0.20

Total pot: $1.85 (Rake: $0.08)

Showdown:
BB shows T♠ K♠ 3♠ 8♠ J♠ (a flush, King high)
BU (Hero) shows Q♥ 8♣ 8♦ Q♣ 8♥ (a full house, Eights full of Queens)
BU (Hero) wins $1.77

I was expecting trips, and therefore didn't cap the pot in case he hit quads or a better full house. I certainly did not expect a "cat hop" to a flush/straight (I assume he kept KJT).

That feel when you nail your 2-card flush draw only to lose even bigger... Oh well, I was able to close that table with slight winnings after all, thanks to all that desperation equity. And what's even better, the other table continued to go well and finished with a $4.23 profit, which is so far my record for a single $0.10/$0.20 table this year, or any FL 5CD cash table at all, for that matter.

Combined together, this also led to my best recorded FL 5CD cash profits for a single day this year, with $7.09 to be bagged. Add the $5.57 from my SNGs and the $2.35 from the 5CD MTT I played with Prim earlier, and it suddenly becomes a little easier to forget about losing those $22 in the Badugi tournament, even though we're not completely covered.