Mind Games

50 years between visits...

I had lunch at a restaurant called "The Chatterbox".
It is a small cafe at the Britannia Mine Museum.
I grew up in that town, and even worked underground in the mine before in 1972.
The Chatterbox was the name of the only cafe in town, and it closed when the mine shut down in '74, so I feel confident in saying that prior to today, the last time I ate there was over 50 years ago.

There is a picture of the Chatterbox here: https://www.britanniaminemuseum.ca/pages/what-to-see-do
The building when I lived there was the first aid room.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Showdown:
BB shows T♠:A♦:4♥:J♦:2♠: (HI: two pair, Jacks and Fours; LO: 7-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 56%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 71%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) shows A♣:5♣:A♠:6♥:T♣: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 6-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 44%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 29%, River: 100%)

SB (Hero) wins $75.42

I was surprised that your opponent was so far ahead preflop (by 5 Card PLO8 standards) with this hand.

The Chatterbox seems like a nice and cozy little place. Has it changed a lot over the decades?

And have you often seen it so covered in snow back then, like in the picture? It looks lovely.

Originally posted by Harrier88
The Chatterbox seems like a nice and cozy little place. Has it changed a lot over the decades?

And have you often seen it so covered in snow back then, like in the picture? It looks lovely.

The original Chatterbox Cafe was in the Company store. I don't remember it, since that store burned down in 1958.
At the time, the mine was shut down due to a downturn in copper prices. The gymnasium was converted to a store, and a portion of it became the "new" Chatterbox. Since the road to Vancouver opened in 1958 also, people did most of their shopping in the city, only 40km away. The store was independent of the mining company though, as was the Chatterbox.

That building too is long gone. The building in the picture was the first aid room when the mine was open. When I was age 12-14 the company provided free first-aid instruction to all the kids, and most of us got free first-aid certificates, so I was quite familiar with the building.

The exterior (including colour scheme) of the first aid room is as it always was. The interior is totally different.
And yes, we pretty much got snow a few times every winter.

Always nice to revisit those places of yesteryear. I often like to take some detours on my ways if I can visit certain places that come with good memories.

Btw, what do you think of your new Mii?

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Hey Guy! Ya Wanna Play for Stacks?

Why certainly sir! I haz Aces, two wheel cards, two broadway cards, and a nut flush draw — what about you?

PokerStars, 5 Card Omaha H/L Pot Limit - $0.25/$0.50 - 3 players

BU: $34.38 (69 bb)
SB (Hero): $53.37 (107 bb)
BB: $37.21 (74 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with A♣:5♣:A♠:6♥:T♣:
BTN raises to $1.75, Hero calls $1.50, BB 3-bets to $7, 1 fold, Hero 4-bets to $22.75, BB 5-bets to $37.21 (all-in), Hero calls $14.46

Flop: ($76.17) 5♦:J♣:7♠: (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($76.17) 4♣: (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($76.17) 2♣: (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $76.17 (Rake: $0.75)

Showdown:
BB shows T♠:A♦:4♥:J♦:2♠: (HI: two pair, Jacks and Fours; LO: 7-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 56%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 71%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) shows A♣:5♣:A♠:6♥:T♣: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 6-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 44%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 29%, River: 100%)

SB (Hero) wins $75.42

The deuce on the river counterfeited his low and gave me my low, and since it was 2♣: I have the flush for a scoop. I was actually behind on the turn. His hand is actually somewhat better with 3 broadways, 3 wheel cards (including the deuce which I don't have) and he also had the nut flush draw but in :diamond:s

BB left pretty much immediately after, and BU folded the next couple of hands, so I left.

What a spot, the equities here are just so hard to grasp sometimes.
I like Omaha, I love PLO8 but PLO8-5card seems just crazy. - How do you approach learning this game, are there any good resources out there? Orr do you just combine NLHE and PLO(8) knowledge and try to somehow extrapolate this with another additional card in your hands and hope to be ahead of even more unknowing villains?

GL at the tables!

Originally posted by TheGrindChronicles
I like Omaha, I love PLO8 but PLO8-5card seems just crazy. - How do you approach learning this game, are there any good resources out there? Orr do you just combine NLHE and PLO(8) knowledge and try to somehow extrapolate this with another additional card in your hands and hope to be ahead of even more unknowing villains?

I would be interested too, especially for the Courchevel version. There seems to be a lot of potential in there, but any success I had has been pretty inconsistent so far.

A few things I have picked up so far are:
- It's all about draws, look for hands with as much (good!) flush and straight potential as possible, and draw to the nuts, not the second best hand.
- Watch out for blockers, they are even more important than in Omaha.
- (exclusive to Courchevel) Low preflop sets are very vulnerable. Be very careful with them, ideally don't even enter the pot if your hand gives you no other draws.

In any case, 5-Card Omaha seems to be more than PLO with just one extra card, in the same way that PLO is more than just Hold'em with two more cards. The extra hole card has some important strategic implications.

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Showdown:
BB shows T♠:A♦:4♥:J♦:2♠: (HI: two pair, Jacks and Fours; LO: 7-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 56%, Flop: 63%, Turn: 71%, River: 0%)

SB (Hero) shows A♣:5♣:A♠:6♥:T♣: (HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 6-5-4-2-A)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 44%, Flop: 37%, Turn: 29%, River: 100%)

SB (Hero) wins $75.42

I was surprised that your opponent was so far ahead preflop (by 5 Card PLO8 standards) with this hand.

The Chatterbox seems like a nice and cozy little place. Has it changed a lot over the decades?

And have you often seen it so covered in snow back then, like in the picture? It looks lovely.

I guess it has something to do that villain has a decent change to win the low with A2 in his/her hand. In normal 5 card PLO the odds would be a lot different I guess.

Originally posted by SDK1987
I guess it has something to do that villain has a decent change to win the low with A2 in his/her hand. In normal 5 card PLO the odds would be a lot different I guess.

Quite true. I don't have an equity calculator for PLO5 otherwise I would check.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Quite true. I don't have an equity calculator for PLO5 otherwise I would check.

It turns out my Odds Oracle license is still good.

PLO5 pre-flop hero is now at 54.4
OTF it goes up to 55.2%
OTT it drops slightly to 50.0%

The 2♣: OTR is truly the one card that gives me the entire hand: It destroys his lo hand, and gives me the flush. Other cards will give me the hi hand as well, but for those cards, BB would hold the low half.

after a fantastic Family Reunion
Temperatures reached the mid 30s, but luckily the skies were supremely clear for the Perseid meteor show.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Quite true. I don't have an equity calculator for PLO5 otherwise I would check.

It turns out my Odds Oracle license is still good.

PLO5 pre-flop hero is now at 54.4
OTF it goes up to 55.2%
OTT it drops slightly to 50.0%

The 2♣: OTR is truly the one card that gives me the entire hand: It destroys his lo hand, and gives me the flush. Other cards will give me the hi hand as well, but for those cards, BB would hold the low half.

That's good to know.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

I'm Back

after a fantastic Family Reunion
Temperatures reached the mid 30s, but luckily the skies were supremely clear for the Perseid meteor show.

Nice that you are back again

Originally posted by SDK1987
Temperatures reached the mid 30s, but luckily the skies were supremely clear for the Perseid meteor show.

Nice that you are back again
We're heading to Alaska on the 25th for an 11-day cruise.
We'll be doing a helicopter tour of the Mendenhall Glacier on one stop.

We leave tomorrow on an 11-Day cruise to Alaska
So posts will be rare until September 5

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Off On Another Trip

We leave tomorrow on an 11-Day cruise to Alaska

Sounds cool!

I expect there will be pictures?

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

Off On Another Trip

We leave tomorrow on an 11-Day cruise to Alaska

Sounds cool!

I expect there will be pictures?

I suspect so. The on-ship internet is very, very slow though.

The voyage is over, but we're not done yet.

The first port-of-call was Sitka. There were 3 cruise ships in port that day, the passengers on those ships represented 3/4 of the population of Sitka. There were two things we wanted to see. It took so long to get downtown we saw neither.

Next up was Juneau. Here we had booked a helicopter tour of the Mendenhall Glacier. For Mrs Vorpal this was the highlight of the entire trip. I had been on both helicopters and glaciers before, but even so it was an extremely good outing. Unfortunately the guy in the back seat had a cough.

Skagway next. Here we took a train ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railway, which for various reasons was my highlight.

By evening though I was having a mild sore throat, which I tried to subdue by gargling salt water. It got worse and worse, and the timeline blurs.
I developed a severe chest and head cold (though the sore throat went away), and this still persists. The day we got back (the 5th) I used a rapid antigen test and found I have covid, so we presume Mrs Vorpal does as well. Three days later and little improvement. I have little energy, and my mental faculties are not up to where I would like them to be. I'm taking an evening and a daytime cough preparation and a nasal spray to help with the fountains of snot, though none of the three seems to be effective.

I still haven't unpacked.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
By evening though I was having a mild sore throat, which I tried to subdue by gargling salt water. It got worse and worse, and the timeline blurs.
I developed a severe chest and head cold (though the sore throat went away), and this still persists. The day we got back (the 5th) I used a rapid antigen test and found I have covid. Three days later and little improvement. I have little energy, and my mental faculties are not up to where I would like them to be. I'm taking an evening and a daytime cough preparation and a nasal spray to help with the fountains of snot, though none of the three seems to be effective.

Oh dear... Well, many of us had gotten it by now, myself included, I suppose it was a matter of time until it was your turn too. I hope you are going through it as well as we did. For how long have the symptoms been persisting by now?

I'm glad that you're back, but most importantly, please get well soon.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Oh dear... Well, many of us had gotten it by now, myself included, I suppose it was a matter of time until it was your turn too. I hope you are going through it as well as we did. For how long have the symptoms been persisting by now?

I'm glad that you're back, but most importantly, please get well soon.

Assuming we actually caught the bug on the 28th, we pretty much OK until the 30th, when we each began to feel a bit rough.
Low energy, mild cough and head cold on the 31st, but couldn't get off the ship on the 2nd.
So let's say 9 days now. The absolute worst symptom was the sore throat, where it caused excruciating pain to swallow. Thankfully that has gone, and I can drink water easily.

Welcome back and nice that you had a nice trip

Originally posted by SDK1987
Welcome back and nice that you had a nice trip
Thanks!
We're told we're stuck inside for another week — maybe two.