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Well, I didn't pick the best conditions for my first ever tennis practice session. It was raining several times throughout the day, and also when I showed up at the court. Luckily, it cleared up as I was playing, but the ball had a bit of a weird bounce on the wet clay. Might as well get used to less than optimal conditions from the start, I suppose.
I think I did pretty well for a beginner. That backhand stroke takes some time getting used too, but I quickly improved on that one too. I didn't quite manage to get a rally of 10 going during my final exercise, but I got pretty far, I think we reached like 8 or so? The proper positioning when you're playing on the whole court rather than just doing a quick technique lesson is another thing I have to get used to - and today, I can always blame the wet court, when in doubt. 
I believe this will be a very welcome addition to my weekly schedule.
Yeeeeeeeees, blame the wet court! This is right!
We tennis players ALWAYS must have excuses ready! (Really! No joke!) :f_ugly::mdr:
Originally posted by Primrose6789
We tennis players ALWAYS must have excuses ready! (Really! No joke!) :f_ugly::mdr:
I remember our first ever Troll Challenge, when we were playing those Chinese games, and you claimed that you didn't get your coffee early enough, or maybe even too early, and your contact lenses weren't right, and there was alcohol, and maybe bad lighting, and... maybe the weather wasn't right either. 
Originally posted by Harrier88
Originally posted by Primrose6789
We tennis players ALWAYS must have excuses ready! (Really! No joke!) :f_ugly::mdr:I remember our first ever Troll Challenge, when we were playing those Chinese games, and you claimed that you didn't get your coffee early enough, or maybe even too early, and your contact lenses weren't right, and there was alcohol, and maybe bad lighting, and... maybe the weather wasn't right either.
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees! That´s the spirit! :f_thumbsup::mdr::mdr::mdr::mdr:
Wow, that's something you don't see every day... 
Two 8-Game SNGs running!
I only played in one of them, and got out in 4th place after flopping a set of 9s in the FL Hold'em part, against an opponent flopping a set of Ts.
There was a Stud Hi-Lo SNG running too. Finished on the bubble after getting essentially blinded out.
No success in Badugi either, I probably didn't play aggressively enough. Anyway, the downswing continues in full force, and it may last a while.
Can you guys see the pic in my last post, about the two 8-Game SNGs running? imgur is behaving in a really weird way for me right now. I already asked about it in my shared Troll Challenges blog, but I'm not sure if everyone who read my own blog also follows that one, so if the pic above doesn't show up for you, please let me know.
Anyway, it has been a pretty exhausting week, which I guess is normal when you are trying out a brand new sport, which comes with brand new movements that your body isn't used to yet. Then there was the swimming and water gymnastics yesterday, and on top of that, my regular physical labor job and just not enough sleep in general. Honestly, I was starting to get a bit tired of being tired all the time this week. 
Those are obviously not the best conditions for poker, maybe I will elaborate on the situation a bit more in another post. Yesterday, there were standard bricks in Badugi and an 8-Game SNG, but I finally managed to ship a Stud Hi-Lo SNG again, which was sorely needed. Also, I played another $1.10 8-Game MTT, and that one took longer than I anticipated... I was almost falling asleep a couple of times at around 1 AM, in fact, and considered just sitting the rest out, but always found a reason to stay in just a little longer.
In the end, I was heads-up and just about even in chips, when I could finally reach an agreement on a 50-50 deal with my opponent during the 2 AM break. I was still fumbling about trying to find a way to re-enable chat, but apparently, that's not necessary anymore, a pop-up window with all the necessary stuff appeared instead. So we made a deal for around $25, and I went on to get the nominal win after that one too, as we were quickly wrapping the game up.
I got a few hours of sleep, at least, but I'm still pretty much a zombie right now... Driving to work this morning was probably not very safe in that state, but I made it. Thank goodness it's the weekend now, though I still have another meet-up with my work colleagues later this evening.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Can you guys see the pic in my last post, about the two 8-Game SNGs running? imgur is behaving in a really weird way for me right now. I already asked about it in my shared Troll Challenges blog, but I'm not sure if everyone who read my own blog also follows that one, so if the pic above doesn't show up for you, please let me know.
Please post a link to the exact post that has a picture that should be there but isn't.
I went back three pages here and three pages back in troll challenges, and although some posts had no pics, I could not tell at a glance if there should have been one.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Please post a link to the exact post that has a picture that should be there but isn't.
I went back three pages here and three pages back in troll challenges, and although some posts had no pics, I could not tell at a glance if there should have been one.
The one just a few posts above, where I talk about two 8-Game SNGs running, should come with a little pic from my SNG lobby.
A good place to check in the Troll Challenges would be the very first page, where the opening post includes the title logo, my next two introductory posts contain a cartoon each, and towards the end of the page, there is a recap of our first Live Challenge with a bunch of photos.
In either case, if there are any missing pictures, you should usually see a visible gap at the place where they were supposed to be.
It's a really weird issue, it looks like everyone else can see my pictures just fine. When I post them in a Discord chat, for example, it would even show a preview of the picture there without any problems.
In imgur itself, the pictures show up like this for me:
If I attempt to edit one of my post to get a direct link to a picture, pasting the link into my browser results in this message:
I have not the slightest clue what is going on. It started happening some time yesterday all of a sudden. As long as everyone else can see the pics fine, though, I guess it's not a big problem, but it will make creating posts with pictures more of a hassle than it should be.
The pictures in this post, and all subsequent ones that I will upload for the time being, will be powered by imgbox. Hopefully, it will avoid the previous problems, without introducing any new ones. And hopefully, all of you will still be able to see the old imgur uploads.
There was another weekly mahjong freeroll today at 11 AM my time. And look at this - we won our first round. 
I guess this message comments on advancing to the next round - for which I only needed to finish in one of the first two positions in my round, btw, there is no need to finish 1st like in some other tournaments. Note that the list of participants already assigns an even share of the total prize pool to each player for reference, before we get to the ITM ranks.
Round 2... we ship it again!
Only 20 players left, with 10 ITM. We are almost there, and it seems like there is no stopping us right now, so let's take down this round too.
Wait a minute, where are my opponents? 
And where is my hand, where are the tiles? Where is anything?
Maybe this message explains what is going on. Maybe... I wouldn't know. It's what popped up, in any case.
I recognize "game" at the beginning and "please" at the end... I assume it tells me that something happened to my game and that I should please contact support. Well, good luck with that... 
I don't even know what "support" means in Japanese.
My opponents would eventually show up, but nothing else. I can still hear some table sounds, though, and funnily enough, I am at some points even asked to make decisions with the invisible tiles that my opponents must have discarded.
That's just great... we're playing blind mahjong. 
There actually is a famous manga series about mahjong called Akagi, which at one point features a battle against a blind mahjong master. Through tactile senses, skill, experience, and a great memory, he still manages to not only successfully play the game, but even to cheat at it:
Well, even if I was able to pull off such stunts, it wouldn't do me any good online. But there still is a chance: Finishing 2nd is enough to advance, so if two of my opponents keep dealing into my third opponent's hands, I would still win.
First hand finished without a winner, with just one opponent having a ready wait, therefore collecting the "Tenpai" side pot for it.
In the next hand, another opponent wins by self-draw, and since I'm in the East (dealer) position, I have to pay twice as much as my other two non-dealer opponents have to pay.
That pretty much seals it already, since I cannot mount an offense without any hands. I suppose everyone of us must have been in a situation in poker before where we thought to ourselves that we "just can't get any hands"... Well, it was true in a literal sense for me here today.
My auto-discards dealt into two more cheap hands, putting me into last place for the round.
And just like that, I'm out, shortly before the ITM ranks.
Well, I'm calling でたらめ on it, because that is supposedly what "bullsh*t" means in Japanese. But it's okay, it was only a freeroll.
First I'm uploading invisible pictures, then I'm playing with invisible mahjong tiles... and in both cases, apparently I'm the only one who is affected. The last few days sure were weird for me.
No poker nor mahjong so far this weekend, but the shared 1st place in that small 8-Game tourney helped save the poker grind from going into full freefalling mode, before it was about to surpass the mahjong losses. Those games may have been cheated out of some freeroll winnings too, as I mentioned yesterday.
There hasn't been a lot of mahjong in general lately.
In poker, the winnings last Thursday have especially helped to improve morale, which was very important. I should really get a move on in there. I will try to continue to improve in Stud Hi-Lo, because if I can conquer the Stud games, I can conquer 8-Game too, which would be a very good addition to the MTT grind. I think there could be a lot of untapped potential in the Five Card Draw MTTs too, so it may also be worth it to make an effort to develop a solid tournament strategy there.
Morale is still a more precious asset than the financial cushions in my bankroll, I believe. It is therefore extremely important to keep the mental game in check and make improvements there too, or everything else will collapse like a house of cards.
I should also reach out to CoinPoker support once more, because I would really like to know what happened to the OFC tables. It is possible that I didn't receive their last response because my email inbox was crammed.
Well, one problem with the above plan is still the absolutely terrible traffic... I think Stud Hi-Lo once reached 7 out of 8 players, then fizzled out again.
There was one 8-Game SNG running, where I unfortunately bubbled, making it 3 for 3 losses so far. At least I got "Daily Quads" early on:
PokerStars, $1.72 + $0.28 - Omaha H/L Limit (8-Game) - 25/50 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat
UTG: 1,820 (36 bb)
MP (Hero): 2,165 (43 bb)
CO: 1,785 (36 bb)
BU: 465 (9 bb)
SB: 1,415 (28 bb)
BB: 1,350 (27 bb)
Pre-Flop: (75) Hero is MP with 5♣ A♦ 4♣ A♥
1 fold, Hero raises to 100, 1 fold, BTN calls 100, 1 fold, BB calls 50
Flop: (325) 4♠ 6♥ 4♥ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 50, BTN calls 50, BB calls 50
Turn: (475) 4♦ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 100, BTN calls 100, BB folds
River: (675) T♥ (2 players)
Hero bets 100, BTN calls 100
Total pot: 875
Showdown:
MP (Hero) shows 5♣ A♦ 4♣ A♥ (HI: four of a kind, Fours)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 69%, Flop: 72%, Turn: 84%, River: 100%)
BU mucks 2♥ 2♠ K♣ 3♣ (HI: a full house, Fours full of Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 31%, Flop: 28%, Turn: 16%, River: 0%)
MP (Hero) wins 875
Because not much else was running, I played a Five Card Draw SNG, which was shipped - in style:
PokerStars, $1.76 + $0.24 - 5 Card Draw Pot Limit - 150/300 (30 ante) - 2 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat
SB (Hero): 5,335 (18 bb)
BB: 3,665 (12 bb)
Deal: (510) Hero is SB with A♦ 4♦ K♦ 7♦ 3♦
Hero raises to 600, BB 3-bets to 1,800, Hero 4-bets to 5,305 (all-in), BB calls 1,835 (all-in)
Draw One: (9,000) A♦ 4♦ K♦ 7♦ 3♦ (2 players, 2 all-in)
BB stands pat, SB (Hero) stands pat
Total pot: 7,330
Showdown:
SB (Hero) shows A♦ 4♦ K♦ 7♦ 3♦ (a flush, Ace high)
BB shows 6♥ 8♦ 7♥ 9♣ 5♦ (a straight, Five to Nine)
SB (Hero) wins 7,330
Badugi final tabled, and with good bounties too. $24.22 for a 3rd place finish plus $21.69 in bounties add up to total returns of $45.91. I narrowly missed another two figure bounty and a guaranteed 2nd place, but oh well... it was a good result nonetheless. Actually my best MTT returns so far this year.
And that's all for tonight. Luckily, I will have a shortened work week. Thursday is a public holiday and I have a vacation day on Friday.
Originally posted by Harrier88
I should also reach out to CoinPoker support once more, because I would really like to know what happened to the OFC tables. It is possible that I didn't receive their last response because my email inbox was crammed.
I received a reply yesterday:
Thank you for contacting CoinPoker support. The OFC issue is not region-related. CoinPoker has decided to discontinue and remove OFC games. Currently, we do not have a plan to bring these games back. However, if this decision does change, it will be reworked and brought back in a different format.
Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.
RIP OFC. 
And RIP CoinPoker, because I won't play Hold'em tournaments. But fair enough, if I ever do get back to playing them, CoinPoker would probably be one of the first sites I would try.
Worrying news from Pokerstars... looks like there is some kind of account migration going on to their new DE client for German players, to comply with new regulations.
As of today, it is no longer possible to login to play any new games. I am trying to follow through the steps to make the transition, because it has already been confirmed that it will no longer be possible to play using the EU client.
Quoting from their FAQs:
How to move your account to PokerStars.DE
As a resident of Germany, you can only continue playing with us on PokerStars.DE. You'll also need to use our new PokerStars.DE software. These changes are in line with German regulation.
To do so, you have to move your account to PokerStars.DE. It's a simple process:
- Log in to PokerStars.EU or PokerStars.DE with your current username and password.
- Read and accept our General Terms.
- Fill out the Real Money form with your details and complete the verification process. You can find more information about it here.
- We'll clear your deposit limits. You'll need to set new limits at your first login to our .DE platform besides time and loss limits.If you choose not to complete the migration process, we won't move your account to PokerStars.DE. You'll be only able to access your account and cash out your funds.
What do I need to know?
- Your username, password and account history won't change.
- We'll transfer your balance, tournament tickets and T-Money. If they're in other currencies, we'll first convert them to EUR.
- We'll move your Play Money balance to your new .DE account.There are only a few cases where you won't be able to complete the migration process:
- If you're self-excluded. Contact us once your self-exclusion expires and we'll help you.
- If you have a pending withdrawal. Please wait until we process your withdrawal. It can take up to 48 hours. Otherwise, you can cancel it by visiting ‘Cashier’ → ‘Pending Withdrawals'. Then, you can complete the migration process.
- If you have a negative balance. Contact us and we'll help by checking your balance with the relevant team.
- If you are active or registered in cash games or tournaments or have an active Vegas session. Complete your session or unregister from any upcoming tournaments. Once done, you can complete the migration process.
I really hope that everything will work out... I am keeping an eye on the DE forum too.
Update: I downloaded the DE client, but cannot properly log in so far, probably due to maintenance.
No use... I guess I will have to try again tomorrow. I can only hope that everything will go smoothly, and that I will soon be able to access the same games, with the same bankroll, against the same players.
If not... I'm afraid it will be curtains. No Pokerstars means no mixed games, and no mixed games means no point for me to bother with poker anymore. I trust that everything will work out, but I don't think we will be able to see until tomorrow.
Late Night Update: According to reports in the DE forum (other people were dealing with the same problems), the Pokerstars client should now be functional again.
Someone mentioned that the new tournament lobby looks terrible. I hope this is just a case of this person forgetting to disable the quick seat function, which may be the default under a fresh installation. It happened to me before. It is also mentioned that HEM3 wouldn't work anymore, though that doesn't affect me if that's the case.
I will attempt to deal with it tomorrow, well rested. Tomorrow is a holiday, but I am pretty tired right now and don't feel like untangling red tape, signing agreements and handling 4-figure amounts of money in this state.
Fingers crossed that the grind will remain unimpeded and that I will be back at the tables soon.
All right, looks like it was a good idea to play the waiting game. The migration to the DE client seems to have gone smoothly when I tried again today, I assume they were simply dealing with technical difficulties last night - which should be expected if they have to process so many player accounts within a short time.
Honestly, this should have been communicated much better. It was really sloppy to just force everything through at once without any prior notice, which could have avoided a lot of chaos. It is especially jarring considering that the SCOOP was underway, and while I was not participating myself so far, many other German players were, and they may have had tournaments starting at that time. I have heard many stories of players having been kicked out of SCOOP events and having their entries converted into tournament dollars.
What I still haven't managed to do is to verify my account. This is as far as I got:
Occasionally, I will be able to advance a few steps, but this message always pops up at one point before I get to uploading my documents. I guess it's better to wait until later today once again. If it still won't work, I think I should at least contact support about it before I miss any deadlines.
I noticed, however, that most of the mixed games SNG are gone, except for the $2 PL Five Card Draw games.
Is this another German thing, or have they been discontinued entirely? It would be imaginable, considering how poor their traffic often was.
Can anyone please check?
Sad news.
I hope it works soon.
At least you still have some ways to play poker. iPoker just abandoned Canada completely, stating that it was due to regulations.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
At least you still have some ways to play poker. iPoker just abandoned Canada completely, stating that it was due to regulations.
Same in Germany, I believe. But as I said, once Pokerstars is gone, that would be pretty much the end of online poker in general for me.
The account verification still fails, same error message as above. Stars lets me know that there is some pressure, though.
Just great... the verification still won't work about half a day later, and reaching out to support requires having a verified account.
Aside from the pressure of having to have this dealt with within three days, I have also heard reports of people who have hit the maximum amount of verification attempts during this fiasco.
I have written an email to support, since this is still possible without any verification. I imagine they are getting tons of them right now.
We are not there yet...