Harrier's Blog - Mixed Games & Mixed Drinks

I did not take any shots yet, and that was probably for the best. Tonight's session was terrible, almost rock bottom. The only thing to get was a $1 bounty in Badugi. It was on the light side anyway, with only three SNGs having been added. No poker at all yesterday either.

Next week is going to be tough. The late shifts at my new place of work are a bit longer, and I will have another interview on Friday morning in addition to another shift later on. After that, at least, I know that I will have another short vacation, the final one this year before my big Christmas break. Poker will surely take a back seat yet again, but I hope I can add some SNGs at least, maybe even some late tournaments.

Almost done with this crazy week. I will have another full slate tomorrow. A job interview in the morning, followed by a brief trip to my old place of work to give them their equipment back, and finally a standard work shift. I will be on the road a lot.

There was no poker so far. I could have played some 5CD MTTs, but I didn't feel ready. While the results in the SNGs have been good recently, which is what made me want to check out the MTTs again too, my results in the few of those tournaments I played in the last two years left a lot to be desired. At least I didn't find the confidence for them yet right after a long day at work, with dinner still left to be prepared.

I guess the weekends would be a better spot, but then the 5CD MTTs get bumped up from a $7.50 to an $11 entry. And in the weeks with morning shifts, I won't be able to stay up long enough to play them. Maybe I can get to them in a less chaotic late shift week.

I can give myself a little pat on the back for following through with my resolution to go jogging after waking up, though. The only time when I didn't do it this week was on Monday, when I had to go grocery shopping instead. On the first day, it seemed like I would hardly last a few steps at first, but after forcing myself through it, things are looking a lot better by now. It doesn't help that my current jogging track starts out with a nasty uphill section right away...

It's not like I go for long distances yet anyway. I just jog over to a nearby forest and tag a certain moss-covered tree I know, then it's time to go back. I should look at some satellite pictures some time to see how long the track is, but it can't be very long. The purpose is to just get going at all for now. I saw my last couple of sicknesses as a warning sign, I need to get more outdoor exercise. Following through with that jogging routine, at least in weeks with late shifts, should bring many health benefits if I can keep it up.

Just one more day, and I can get a short, but well-deserved vacation. Wish me luck in my interview tomorrow.

Best of luck

Originally posted by Bettingsocks
Best of luck

Thank you.

I will hear about the results of the interview early next week. It's another blue collar warehouse job, but with better hourly pay, less hours worked, more vacation days... almost only advantages. If it works, then great. If not, there are plenty of other applications running, some of them for white collar jobs instead, which is where I would like to end up eventually. I did not go to university to toil away in some warehouse.

But now... vacation time! Until next Wednesday, at least. And there should be an Advent surprise on Sunday.

This happened at the FT tonight. Look at those hands, what a cooler!

PokerStars, $3.92 + $0.48 - Badugi Pot Limit - 1,400/2,800 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG (Hero): 50,204 (18 bb)
MP: 129,970 (46 bb)
CO: 81,633 (29 bb)
BU: 7,541 (3 bb)
SB: 67,360 (24 bb)
BB: 23,292 (8 bb)

Deal: (4,200) Hero is UTG with 7♣ T♥ A♥ A♣
UTG (Hero) folds, MP calls 2,800, CO calls 2,800, BTN calls 2,800, 1 fold, BB checks

Draw One: (12,600) (4 players)
BB draws 3, MP draws 1, CO draws 2, BU draws 1
BB bets 10,206, MP calls 10,206, CO calls 10,206, BTN calls 4,741 (all-in)

Draw Two: (47,959) (4 players, 1 all-in)
BB stands pat, MP draws 1, CO draws 1, BU stands pat
BB bets 10,286 (all-in), MP folds, CO calls 10,286

Draw Three: (68,531) (3 players, 2 all-in)
BB stands pat, CO stands pat, BU stands pat

Total pot: 68,531

Showdown:
BB shows 5♣ 2♦ 6♥ 3♠ (a Badugi: 6,5,3,2)
CO shows 3♦ A♠ 2♥ 4♣ (a Badugi: 4,3,2,A)
BU shows 4♠ 6♦ 5♥ 2♣ (a Badugi: 6,5,4,2)
CO wins 68,531

Finished 4th with two minimal bounties for $23.25. Small profit in the SNGs too. 8-Game still looks terrible.

I noticed I'm not really in the swing of things yet. No wonder after such a week, I guess. I will try to get some good rest over my extended weekend.

I hear you, Harrier! Loosing with double suited acies sucks big time! No matter what! :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_biggrin:

Originally posted by Primrose6789
I hear you, Harrier! Loosing with double suited acies sucks big time! No matter what! :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_biggrin:

You're such a Troll puppy...

Today was the day when I first tried one of those $16.50 Stud8 MTTs. Sorry to say, but we didn't cash yet... The runouts just didn't come our way when they mattered.

Still, that tournament seemed beatable enough. Quality of play doesn't seem to be any better than in the SNGs I'm used to. I guess I should stick around, but further lack of success will be expensive. We better get some results sooner rather than later.

My other games all cashed, but couldn't help much recovering those $16.50. Just two 2nd places in the SNGs, one 5CD and one Stud8, and a bountyless mincash in Badugi, which doesn't even cover its own buy-in.

A Ship Is Coming...

All right, time for an Advent surprise!

There is a German Advent song called "Es kommt ein Schiff, geladen". A non-direct translation, which is altered slightly to make the lyrics rhyme while still staying close enough to the original meaning, can be found here. It is commonly sung in both Protestant and Catholic churches all across the country, but not often used outside of a church setting, I believe.

The song is about the arrival of a metaphorical ship, bringing the son of God to earth.

Here's another version. This one includes a verse from another language in the beginning, I was told it is Elvish, or so? Quenya, possibly? No idea, maybe Vorpal can enlighten us, if that's the case.

Anyway, this will be our motto for this year's Advent calendar on this blog - a ship is coming. And in our case, it will be a Lego ship: The "Black Seas Barracuda", released in 1989. I believe it was the first pirate ship ever released by Lego, and it is by many considered to be the best. I have always wanted one as a kid, and even started a challenge in the Troll Challenges blog last year to get my hands on one in time for Christmas, but failed in my attempt.

This year, I got one - in summer already, actually. But I have been saving it up until today. The building instructions come with 28 steps, and we will build this ship up one step at a time starting today, so we will have a seaworthy vessel in time for Christmas.

I will not include a picture of the finished ship yet, in case you want to keep it spoiler-free and follow along in real time, but if you're curious, feel free to look it up.

Day 1

Our first step is simple, just fetch three standard hull pieces and put them next to each other.

The instructions tell us to put them upside down, for reasons that will become obvious tomorrow, if they aren't already.

...and that's all for today. It may not look like much right now, but building on it step-by-step, our ship will soon be sure to instill fear and awe in the hearts of any Lego sailor.

Okay, we´re starting with a raft .... and on Christmas it´s gonna be a yacht?

Originally posted by Primrose6789
Okay, we´re starting with a raft .... and on Christmas it´s gonna be a yacht?
Well, keep following along and find out.

*Trollololol* ♠_biggrin:♠_ugly:

Such a terrible session! It's incredible.

Absolutely couldn't set a foot right in another shot at the $16.50 Stud8. I did get good hands... but my opponents just hit even better, there were some nasty coolers. I think I only managed to get a low pot once, that was all to be won tonight.

Then Badugi... also an early exit there, thanks to a massive cooler, then I rebuy and get a good stack, only to make a big mistake later on and finish right on the bubble. I got a good $3.75 bounty, but that's the only positive thing about tonight, and it doesn't even cover one bullet, let alone two, or the $16.50 I lost in Stud8. Absolutely inexcusable.

No help from any SNGs this time either, because there were just none running. This was a very demoralizing weekend, and an expensive one too.

2022 was, on the whole, excellent so far when it comes to poker. Continued failure at those shots would put a serious stain on it. Maybe I can afford another shot tomorrow, then it's mostly SNGs, if anything. We need results, things cannot and must not continue like they did this weekend.

A Ship Is Coming - Day 2

Another small step today, we're simply going to properly connect our hull pieces with some 2x4 blocks. How is our ship supposed to be any use in a naval battle if it wouldn't even hold together?

That is also the reason why the hull was supposed to be put upside down yesterday. But now we can turn it back around, we basically have a functional raft now already.

And now that our "raft" is floating, we may as well introduce our crew. I originally didn't want to do that until our ship is done on Christmas Eve, but now I thought it's better to do it right away.

Four sailors, two more swashbucklers, a pirate chick and our captain, complete with a hook and a wooden leg. We also have a parrot and even a monkey. And I suppose we're going to be sailing through Advent together this year. But we don't want to do this on a raft, so let's get back to the shipyard tomorrow.

Another rock bottom session. Losses in Stud8, 5CD and Badugi MTTs as well as a 5CD SNG, totaling about $30. We can be happy if we can undo the damage from this weekend alone by the end of this year, and I'm not even talking about the big confidence hit. And if we keep digging ourselves a deeper hole by then, it may take until spring.

What can you say? Not much. And there's not much to do either, because we'll be back to a small handful of baby stakes SNGs until next weekend. I'm not prepared to take too many more shots at higher stakes either, because it seems like I may have overestimated my skills. This may be a once a week thing, and I don't think I will be keeping it up for many more weeks either.

A Ship Is Coming - Day 3

My MTT shots sank like a stone, but maybe our Advent ship will do better.

Our next step is going to be a bigger one, because it includes some sub-steps. We're going to install the bow and stern parts this time (that would be the front and rear, respectively).

The bow is already ready to go, but the stern is going to need some extra work. That's where those sub-steps come in.

First some small pieces and some red flaps in the back - not sure what they are for.

Building on it...

And some additional pieces to make it all nice and even. I do like that those old Lego sets come with all those little pieces, it's more interesting. Later sets were a lot more "dumbed down" by comparison.

We are ready to insert the bow and stern pieces now, completing today's step.

A Ship Is Coming - Day 4

Another small couple of sub-steps today, involving these flat 2x3 and 2x2 pieces...

We're just going to put some of those smooth pieces on top - slightly offset, for maximum stability.

All of this four times.

They get inserted on our hull, together with some other small pieces. I wonder what we will eventually add on top of it. Is this where the cannons go, maybe? Or is it some part of the hold? I don't know, I didn't look too far in advance in the instructions either, so I can keep guessing as well.

We also add some floor pieces on top of yesterday's construction in the stern.

It's starting to come together now.

A Ship Is Coming - Day 5

A few sub-steps again, starting with this:

You probably won't be able to tell what it is yet...

...and you still probably won't be able to tell.

Maybe now you will be able to tell, but possibly not. It's done, in any case.

Turns out it's the rudder. Here it is attached to the stern of the ship.

We also added a few more pieces in the hull. Looks more like it's going to be a hold, not the deck.

Here's what our Advent ship looks like now:

Oh the boat gets bigger ♠_biggrin:♠_thumbsup:

Stats Time!

Didn't play any poker since Monday. I chose to relax on Tuesday, which was the last day of my vacation, and did some "housekeeping" the following day. Today, I had plenty of other projects, but the stats are in.

Let's start with the Sharkscope leaderboards. This month, we managed to hold on to that number one spot in the world in the 5CD SNG rankings. Stud Hi-Lo is also looking nicely, in a sharp contrast to last month. We finished number one in Germany, and number two in the world. The only other format that matters would be scheduled tournaments, and we are not looking good there at all, mostly due to those $60 or so that were lost during my shots across the weekend. But more on that later.

MTT Graphs:

A losing month, the worst one this year so far, in fact... but still nothing big.

Badugi has still been going steady, even though it wasn't remarkable this time.

8-Game, however, is looking bad. You can't see it here, because this graph only shows the evening MTTs, but taking the afternoon ones into account, we are actually in the red for this year now, despite the hot start early on. Note that this format also featured various shots, which can have a big impact.

Updated stats:

Still looking very good overall.

Badugi is going great, hopefully we can keep the pace until the end of the year, ideally bringing it back over 150% ROI, though I'm very happy with anything in the three figures, which we should have more or less locked up now.

8-Game, as I said, is now losing...

...and believe it or not - we're still in profit in Stud Hi-Lo MTTs, despite my expensive bricks in my shots over the weekend, amounting to almost $50. The reason for that is my success in the two low buy-in afternoon MTTs I once played for practice purposes, which both ended at the final table, with my first one even being outright shipped.

SNG stats up next...