Workout

Saturday's tramp (see next post for photos) was a real workout. Luckily the weather was just about perfect. We started at the Brooklyn wind turbine, were greeted by ostriches along the way, and ended up at some Second World War bunkers at the southernmost point of the track following a steep descent over perhaps half a kilometre. Not all of us did that last bit; I certainly had second thoughts about it. We had lunch by the bunkers and then had to climb up that steep slope. I struggled. My heart was pounding furiously. At the top of the steepest section (it was still pretty steep for a good way after that) I took a rough measurement of my pulse using the second hand of my watch. Boom-boom-boom, tick, boom-boom-boom, tick. One-eighty. We got back to the windmill at about 3:30, then went to the café attached to the Penthouse cinema. It turned out the one of the trampers is an actuarial student, with three exams to go before qualification under the US system. He seemed almost as disillusioned with the whole thing as I did towards the end. I must say I felt good after all that exercise, though I've felt a bit washed out and unmotivated so far this week.

My poker cash-out cheque arrived today. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss online poker, but the withdrawal symptoms are starting to wear off now I think.

The highlight at work today was when a colleague of mine thought frangipani (the flower) was pronounced "fraggy penny". She was then persuaded to ring up a local florist and ask if they had any "fraggy pennies". On Friday we've got that damn Christmas party.

Last night the autism group had their Christmas party (of sorts); we played a few games of Tsuro (one of Tracy's board games) and ate junk food.

Bond and bowling

I've now played my last hand of online poker for what I hope is a very long time, and it feels pretty good. I've been wondering what the big draw card, so to speak, of online poker was in the first place. I can't say I got a thrill from it. It was mentally stimulating however, it felt "safe" because the rules never changed and made sense, and I never had to deal with real people. Plus it was a means of escape. But I've finally had enough of staring at a screen. I'm just about to cash out all my money, but how will I spend it? I've got enough for a pretty decent holiday, so I'm thinking I might go somewhere in May or June. Vegas?! Watch this space.

Last Wednesday we had the fortnightly depression group, which was made harder for me when one of my work colleagues turned up. Even in Wellington, which can be almost villagey at times, you'd get fairly long odds on that. Even though her desk is within twenty feet of mine, I don't know her that well. She's a large lady (about my height and considerably broader); she broke her arm at that work event (I'm guessing alcohol was a factor) and hasn't been in the office since. She was talked about yesterday - her ears would have been burning. Anyway, it almost defeats the object of a group when feel you can't talk openly.

On Wednesday we had all the Hobbit hysteria in Wellington (seeing that Hobbitised 777 flying over town at low altitude was impressive I must say), on Thursday I had lunch with Tracy, then on Friday I saw Skyfall, the latest Bond movie, with people from work. I don't find socialising with work people easy, but seeing a movie with them I can just about handle. We saw it in the Gold Lounge where we could lay back on Lazyboy-style chairs. The film was pretty decent I thought, a huge improvement on Quantum of Solace.

On Saturday I played my final hands of online poker, then on Sunday met up with three members of the depression group in Petone to try Laser Strike (i.e. a version of paintball that still allows you to walk afterwards), but that was all booked out so we did bowling instead. We played two games. My very first ball landed in the gutter but I recovered to post a solid 125 in the first game. Then, at the half-way stage of the second game my scorecard looked like this: 9/ X X X 9/. Sheesh. Breaking 200 was a serious possibility. But I basically crashed and burned in the second half to shoot a 159. I've always had reasonable accuracy without any style, technique or speed to speak of. And I haven't played that much, except for a spell in Peterborough when I played weekly; my highest score was 191 and I once broke 500 for three games. I don't think it's a game I could really get into seriously - it's all a bit brash and American.

Kicking the Hobbit

When I was eight my teacher Mr Wright gave me the Hobbit to read. I only got about half-way. I hardly recall any of the plot but I remember thinking runes were cool. The copy of the book was a fine physical specimen: at least A4 size with colourful pictures throughout.

Twenty-five years on, here I am in Hobbiton. The centre of Wellington has gone Hobbit crazy in the run-up to tomorrow's world première. On Sunday I went to the Hobbit market; the summery weather brought people out in droves. It was very well done, with bamboo poles and cloth bunting adding a certain authenticity, and great for kids.

I'm now on my last carton of soy milk: my dairy-free experiment is almost at an end. It hasn't made any difference; I'm still coughing up thick phlegm. But as I go back on the dairy, it's time to cut out something else.

I'm talking online poker. It's really started to take over again. I've been cooking meals while playing, which can't be clever. The money isn't really the problem, it's the time spent staring at a screen when I really could be doing something more constructive. I did quit once before: in the middle of last year I cashed out my bankroll, leaving behind just some tournament tickets. But I was back in no time. Before long I'd turned those tickets into cash and was grinding away again. This time I want to give up for good, or at least a very long time (I'm talking years), so all the cash, tickets and everything else must come out. I've got about US$4500 which will be useful money anyway. It will feel good to draw that line in the sand.

Last night I went to the autism group. It went reasonably well. A woman from WINZ came in to talk about plans to make it harder for people on the spectrum to claim sickness benefits. Those of us who weren't currently getting a benefit split off from the rest of the group; perhaps that made things easier as we were generally at the milder end of the spectrum. Tracy said she tried to be an extra in the Hobbit but was too tall (the first time in her life she'd been too tall for something). I'll be meeting Tracy for lunch on Thursday.

Cold spell

My cold has pretty much written off the weekend for me. Yesterday it tipped it down and blew a gale, and I didn't want to do anything even remotely active anyway, so it was the perfect day so sit on the sofa and lose money at online poker. Today was a little more productive - I hoovered my flat, went to the market, had a large soy flat white on Cuba Street, and worked on a puzzle. And played some more online poker, fortunately winning back most of what I lost yesterday.

I need to be much more assertive the next time I see the doctor. I mean I'm getting these colds all the bloody time. In fact it never goes away. It's always there, bubbling under the surface, ready to flare up every sixth or seventh week. I don't know what's causing it. My near-perpetual cold seemed to start in February, when I moved into the flat, but I don't know if that's just coincidence. I can't see any reason why it should be making me sick, but then again I can't see why it's a serious earthquake hazard (I expect the yellow sticker will be slapped on the building some time in December).

I'm not looking forward to the coming week at work. On Wednesday there's an after-work function which I'm now committed to attending. It'll be some kind of rah-rah-rah to do with the company; all I know is that simply won't want to know.

This coming Sunday the depression group are going paintballing; I've put my name down. I wish it was on Saturday instead but hey.

The presidential election is almost upon us. The media here keep telling us the race is "too close to call" or "neck and neck". Some commentators are implying Obama is about a 55/45 favourite, when objectively it's more like 80/20 in favour of Obama. He's not a shoo-in but I don't understand why the media outlets keep telling us it's a virtual flip of a coin when so much objective data is saying something quite different. When I think about it, it's amazing that Romney has any chance at all. If the election were held in France or Germany, or even New Zealand, he wouldn't get a look-in.

Puzzles, poker, parachutes and paintings

Nothing of note has happened since I last posted, so you might as well click the back button now.

After work today I finished off Puzzled, a book on cryptic crosswords by the Australian cruciverbalist David Astle that Tracy had lent me. I've dabbled in cryptic crosswords a bit myself (both solving and making them) and it was a very interesting read. He can't avoid seeing anagrams in everyday life, and to a lesser extent I suffer from the same affliction. I can't go past the Medusa bar (the one I didn't dare entre last week) without feeling "strangely amused". This isn't too far from the Tetris effect I suffer from when I see poker hands in car number plates. Putting the two together, if I got stuck behind a Honda Integra (granite, tearing, ingrate, Tangier, any others I've missed?) with 7432 on its number plate (that's the best draw in deuce-to-seven) then I'd really hope my insurance hadn't lapsed.

As for online poker, the less said about that the better. Over the last month my bankroll has been going in the same direction as the bloke who jumped from the edge of space this morning, and at about the same speed.

I was hoping to give the book back to Tracy at the autism group tonight but she didn't turn up - she wasn't well last week and presumably she still isn't now. The group wasn't too bad - better than last time because the two new guys weren't quite so disruptive, but I still miss last year's sessions with the smaller group and different facilitator.

On Friday I went to a watercolour exhibition with my cousin. It was a big event - several hundred attended including various dignitaries; you could hardly move. The quality of people's work varied enormously. A lot the time I'd be thinking, that's a bit like what my dad would have done, only he'd have done a much better job of the cows.

Saturday was a bit of a write-off weather wise for most of the country (my parents got over two inches of rain) but Sunday was sunny and I went for a short drive along the coast.

Next Saturday I'm heading down south for what will be a family reunion of sorts.

The height of class

Last Wednesday I attended the fortnightly depression meet-up. Only three of us showed up - the usual suspects: Martin, Giuseppe and me. With almost a foot separating the other two in height (Martin is 6' 5", Giuseppe 5' 6") and me being slap-bang in the middle, we could have re-enacted the "class" sketch by the Two Ronnies and John Cleese. Giuseppe had started taking weed as a stress-reliever. I only tried it a handful of times in 2001 when I lived in France. I must admit that I quite liked it. Some of the people I lived with were heavily into it though, not to mention stronger stuff that I wouldn't have touched with a barge pole.

The weather at the weekend was almost balmy, but blowing US$300 in two hours of online poker put a damper on things for me. On Sunday afternoon we had another depression meet-up, this time at the Southern Cross.

On Tuesday I'd planned to play a freeroll poker tournament at the Big Kumara in town. I turned up there, as did two older blokes, only to find it had closed its doors for good at the weekend. I then remembered Medusa had a tournament starting at the same time, but that place looked so dark and dingy that I didn't dare go in.

After work tomorrow I'm going to an art exhibition with my cousin.

It's August already...

It was with a certain sense of pride that I watched last weekend's Olympic opening ceremony. Music, film, comedy, sport, industry, one small island was at the forefront of so much of it, and that small island happens to be where I was born and bred. Once or twice during the ceremony I thought, hey, that's a bit odd, but eccentricity is after all a particularly British trait. The only slight annoyance for me in an otherwise impressive ceremony were those film clips. I wanted to see what was going on inside the stadium. I bet the Chinese found it all rather baffling - it was a very different show to the one they came up with four years ago. I must say it made a nice change to see the teams come out according to the Roman alphabet for the first time since Sydney.

I do like the Olympics. For once individual sports get a look in. In the UK in the eighties and nineties, you'd often see individual sports on TV - athletics, swimming, boxing, snooker, darts, tennis, sometimes even squash or badminton. But in New Zealand in 2012, team sports are totally dominant: the various rugby teams, the Warriors league team, the netball franchises, and more recently the Breakers (basketball) and Wellington Phoenix (football). I gather (from hearing names like Susan Devoy) that people used to care about individual sports in NZ, but those days are long gone.

I've only caught sporadic Olympic action so far. I've enjoyed the weightlifting the most - it's simple, it's dramatic, and there's something quite marvellous about seeing someone lift nearly three times his own body weight (even if he might be juiced up to the eyeballs).

A couple of questions about the London Olympics:
1. Who designed the logo? It's awful! It doesn't help that the zero in 2012 looks a lot like Australia.
2. Who designed the font? I quite like it, but it looks a little too Greek for London.

Last Friday I saw a psychologist at Massey. She thought I did have Asperger traits but didn't think it was worth my while getting a diagnosis. She emphasised the importance of exercise and social contact. Perhaps most importantly she said I need to exercise even when I feel like crap both mentally and physically. The session cost me $130; I decided not to get a report which would have been another $130. It wasn't completely pointless but I still feel rather let down by the mental health system. I don't qualify for any actual help, without paying through the nose, simply because I've got a job. It wasn't always this way but the current government have cut back mental health funding to the bare bones. Now that's a false economy if ever there was one.

I'd planned to come off Efexor completely under my own steam but having reached 150 mg, I made an appointment to see the doctor yesterday. He recommended that I stay at 150. He also said I shouldn't bother taking any supplements, that I need to get back on that e-therapy course that I'd given up on, and that I probably should set aside a couple of grand for a full course of CBT.

On Monday night I played my first ever live poker tournament at the Cambridge Hotel pub, just down the road from me. It was all very anxiety-provoking for me - lots of scary people of both sexes with tattoos; at times it felt like being in a Western movie. I had a reasonable understanding of the game (no-limit hold 'em of course) but the physical chips and cards, as well as all those scary people who were regular players, added several extra dimensions to the experience. I bought in for $10; four hours (and plenty of good fortune) later I took home $85 for finishing in the silver medal position out of around 25 or 30 players. I've been on edge for the rest of this week - I wish there was some way I could calm down.

In other poker news, it looks like I might be getting my hands on the US$1400-odd I tried to withdraw from Full Tilt Poker over a year ago, just before the site was shut down. I'd almost given up on the money but Poker Stars have just bought the company. It's not a massive amount of money but it's still my bloody money, so this is excellent news.

It was sad to hear last week of Margaret Mahy's death. I read plenty of her stuff as a kid, completely oblivious to her Kiwiness.

Things are looking up (especially my mana level)

I've been offered a permanent role downstairs at work. I've been given three options:

A: go back upstairs (which would be sheer lunacy in spite of the extra money)

B: stay downstairs

C: leave.

This is a very easy decision for me. Lock in B Eddie. It’s clearly a less taxing (and depression-inducing) role than the one upstairs, but it’s still a permanent job in a multinational corporation and everything that comes with that: team meetings, performance appraisals, little red squares on my screen. All the stuff I want no part of. My strategy will be to pretend it isn’t permanent at all. In 2012, who really has a permanent job anyway?

Thursday was an interesting day. I set a new PB that morning for the number of letters I sent out, not that anybody would have noticed. I then had lunch with Tracy from the autism group. We have quite a lot in common. We’ve both lived in France, we both like British comedy and we both take antidepressants. However she has a lot more self-confidence than me (that isn’t that hard I guess) and does get very animated when talking about certain topics. One of her interests is board games. She plays a variety of (sometimes obscure) games with a bunch of friends, participates in an online forum and even attends conventions. She sent me a link to the forum; I found one of her posts where she asked what to do when her mana level drops to zero. The next time I see her I might ask her whether she managed to top up her mana. I’m not sure whether she has a boyfriend, but if she does I bet his mana level is off the scale.

After work I went to the depression group on Cuba Street. There were only the two of us – the long-haired six-foot-five bloke and myself. After a few months of living with his parents (whom he said he didn’t speak to – yikes) he was about to move into a boarding house. He was also about to change jobs (from one office job to another) but had no interest in pursuing a career in that kind of environment. Instead he fantasised about becoming a (semi-)professional online poker player. That gave us plenty to talk about. I’ve since sent him a long email telling him the story of my poker career so far. I’d be more than happy to teach him strategy for badugi and triple draw – I’m all for people having dreams, and here I’m in the unusual position of being able to help someone along the way. To deal with his depression he has tried a number of unconventional therapies – with considerable success I might add. But, like me, he often loses the ability to take pleasure in things. When I got back there was an email (there’s no way I could have read it in time) saying that the depression group had been cancelled.

So New Zealand wants to lead the world in becoming smokefree, which apparently is now all one word. By 2025 the price of a packet of 20 will be $100, which nobody will be able to afford, so nobody will smoke. Simple. I think it’s time for one of those Tui billboards. In reality cigarettes will be smuggled in from countries where they cost a fraction of the amount, and the purchase and sale of tobacco will be driven underground like we already see with marijuana. Previously law-abiding smokers (yes they do exist!) will turn to crime to feed their addiction, and it’s a very strong addiction! Yes it would be nice if nobody smoked but the Ministry of Health seem to be going about achieving smokefreedom in completely the wrong way. In this weekend’s Dom Post there were several statistics given about New Zealand’s smoking. So 650,000 Kiwis smoke. My back-of-a-fag-packet calculations tell me that’s about 20% of adults. Between them they bought just over two million cigarettes, so while one in five Kiwis smoke, on average they only smoke three fags a year! My hunch is that the number of cigarettes is missing three noughts from the end. If my hunch is correct, that’s nearly nine a day per person, which would seem about right if you also add in the 600+ tonnes of rolling tobacco.

Last week I got a birthday card from my aunt (Dad’s sister) in the UK. This was a pleasant surprise – I wouldn’t have thought she knew either my birthday or my address. I must reciprocate in six months’ time. I should also write a blog post about my aunt at some stage.

I live almost next door to the National War Memorial (whose campanile houses 74 bells) so I had absolutely no excuse not to attend the Anzac Day ceremony there. Plenty of my relatives have fought in wars so I feel duty-bound to go. It seems to get bigger every year and has surely overtaken Waitangi Day as our national day.

The x factor

Firstly, from now on I'll be moving all those deadly dull poker posts to a separate blog which I've called Plutoman's Poker Planet, so you'll be spared all that badugi bollocks in future. Phew!

On Tuesday night I gave an hour's tuition to a 16-year-old Takapuna Grammar boy. He'll be doing the same exam as the girl from Remuera, only he's not quite at her level. His arithmetic was fine but his algebra needed a lot of work. I asked him to solve the equation (x-4)/2 = 7 for x. "Can't I just say it's 18? he said. Well, yes I suppose, although I'm not sure whether you get all the marks in the exam if you just slap down the answer. I then gave him the very similar expression (x-4)/2 = a and asked him to make x the subject, but he was all at sea there. I can understand how he finds the transition difficult. I always found numbers easier to handle than x's and y's. But I think a major reason why a lot of people find algebra difficult is that they just learn a bunch of rules to get them through their next test or exam, without knowing why they're applying those rules. For instance this kid could solve a quadratic equation like x² + 7x + 10 = 0 with no trouble, by finding two numbers that add to give 7 and multiply to give 10, but didn't know why that method worked. Of course he might also like to know why you'd want to solve a quadratic in the first place, and I can't help him there. I hope I can help him get through his exam in mid-November though.

After an icy blast early in the week things have warmed up again. On Saturday I've got the Asperger's group to look forward to.

KCL commentary

If you're wondering, KCL stands for Kansas City Lowball, another name for single draw deuce-to-seven, so if you're not interested in poker you may as well click the back button now. Here I'm posting what I think are some of the more interesting hands I've played in the last fortnight; just imagine if I'd also included the boring ones. For good measure I've also added a couple of bonus hands from other lowball games.

Hand 1
What’s going on here? Will doesn’t bet his eight after the draw. Judging by all the action he puts in pre-draw, he was drawing to a seven, so I guess he thinks he “missed” his draw.

PokerStars Game #50338251433: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/29 5:13:46 ET
Table 'Jokaste V' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Metallor666 ($25.05 in chips)
Seat 2: plutoman20 ($31.20 in chips)
Seat 3: Will090681 ($15 in chips)
Seat 5: Peter0985 ($16.45 in chips)
Seat 6: popaionut ($32.65 in chips)
Seat 7: dkpiatt ($42.60 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
Will090681: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Kh 7d 8h 4d 2c]
Peter0985: raises $1 to $1.50
popaionut: folds
dkpiatt: folds
Metallor666: folds
plutoman20: calls $1.25
Will090681: raises $2 to $3.50
Peter0985: folds
plutoman20: calls $2
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Kh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7d 8h 4d 2c] [Td]
Will090681: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
Will090681: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [Td 7d 8h 4d 2c] (Lo: T,8,7,4,2)
Will090681: shows [7s 6s 5h 8c 2s] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,2)
Will090681 collected $8.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $8.50 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: Metallor666 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [Td 7d 8h 4d 2c] and lost with Lo: T,8,7,4,2
Seat 3: Will090681 (big blind) showed [7s 6s 5h 8c 2s] and won ($8.10) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,2
Seat 5: Peter0985 folded before Flop
Seat 6: popaionut folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: dkpiatt folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 2
The biggest pot I’ve been involved in so far, and a strange one it was too. I don’t know what Alex was playing at after the draw; his 9-8 was nothing more than a bluff-catcher.

PokerStars Game #50626977303: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/05 1:40:49 ET
Table 'Aurelia III' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: DBL_J_22 ($82.25 in chips)
Seat 3: oberon782205 ($27.55 in chips)
Seat 4: alexsongyu ($25.75 in chips)
Seat 5: Greg941 ($36.90 in chips)
Seat 6: bmw_mseries ($38.50 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($30.20 in chips)
alexsongyu: posts small blind $0.25
Greg941: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 2s 6h Ad 4c]
bmw_mseries: folds
ThissucksPS leaves the table
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
DBL_J_22: folds
oberon782205: folds
alexsongyu: calls $1.25
Greg941: folds
alexsongyu: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ad]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7h 2s 6h 4c] [5s]
alexsongyu: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
alexsongyu: raises $4 to $6
plutoman20: raises $22.70 to $28.70 and is all-in
alexsongyu: calls $18.25 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($4.45) returned to plutoman20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [7h 2s 6h 5s 4c] (Lo: 7,6,5,4,2)
alexsongyu: shows [2h 9c 8c 6d 4d] (Lo: 9,8,6,4,2)
plutoman20 collected $49.45 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $52 Rake $2.55
Seat 2: DBL_J_22 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: oberon782205 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: alexsongyu (small blind) showed [2h 9c 8c 6d 4d] and lost with Lo: 9,8,6,4,2
Seat 5: Greg941 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: bmw_mseries folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: plutoman20 showed [7h 2s 6h 5s 4c] and won ($49.45) with Lo: 7,6,5,4,2

Hand 3
I three-bet out of position with just a draw, albeit a very good one. I’m not sure if that’s ever a good play. However, this time my early aggression seems to help me get my big hand paid off when I hit it.

Dealt to plutoman20 [Qs 2s 4s 6d 7d]
Jayme_Mackow: folds
LaDaL_1er: folds
trouble1111: raises $1 to $1.50
carlosrap: folds
bmw_mseries: folds
plutoman20: raises $2.50 to $4
trouble1111: calls $2.50
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qs]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 4s 6d 7d] [3c]
trouble1111: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $5
trouble1111: calls $5
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [3c 2s 4s 6d 7d] (Lo: 7,6,4,3,2)
trouble1111: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $17.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18.25 Rake $0.85
Seat 1: plutoman20 (big blind) showed [3c 2s 4s 6d 7d] and won ($17.40) with Lo: 7,6,4,3,2
Seat 2: Jayme_Mackow folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: LaDaL_1er folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: trouble1111 mucked [4d Qc 7h 3s 6h]
Seat 5: carlosrap (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)Seat 6: bmw_mseries (small blind) folded before Flop

Hand 4
He took a long time to fold here. He looked a competent player and I’m guessing he had a rough nine of some sort. In hindsight I wish I’d four-bet to $12 instead of going all-in. I don’t think he’s calling my shove without a 9-7 at least, meaning I’m odds-on to lose if he calls.

PokerStars Game #50772084629: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/08 1:13:03 ET
Table 'Lumen VII' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: susankramer ($9.65 in chips)
Seat 2: Ic3-T ($54.35 in chips)
Seat 3: igrok.o777o ($15.85 in chips)
Seat 4: swordfish910 ($36 in chips)
Seat 5: A Red Horse ($22.80 in chips)
Seat 7: plutoman20 ($43.75 in chips)
swordfish910: posts small blind $0.25
A Red Horse: posts big blind $0.50
illarion878: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3c 9c 5d 4d 2s]
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
susankramer: folds
Ic3-T: folds
igrok.o777o: folds
swordfish910: folds
A Red Horse: raises $3.50 to $5
plutoman20: raises $38.75 to $43.75 and is all-in
A Red Horse: folds
Uncalled bet ($38.75) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $10.25 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.25 Rake $0
Seat 1: susankramer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Ic3-T folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: igrok.o777o (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: swordfish910 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: A Red Horse (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: plutoman20 collected ($10.25)

Hand 5
I hope to knock out a few people when I three-bet my 10-8. That plan flies out the window when we go to the draw four-way. I break my hand even though an 8-7 isn’t really something I want to go war with should I make it. Luckily I do make an 8-7, it holds up, and I take down a big pot.

PokerStars Game #50847845879: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/09 15:44:33 ET
Table 'Janacek V' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: swordfish910 ($32.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Ruskor777 ($22.10 in chips)
Seat 3: jose weston ($51.05 in chips)
Seat 4: Ic3-T ($70.60 in chips)
Seat 5: Angyalfold ($18.95 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($27.55 in chips)
Seat 7: annsarah ($20 in chips)
Ruskor777: posts small blind $0.25
jose weston: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Ts 7d 8s 2c 4c]
Ic3-T: folds
Angyalfold: raises $1 to $1.50
plutoman20: raises $2.50 to $4
annsarah: calls $4
swordfish910: folds
Ruskor777: calls $3.75
jose weston: folds
Angyalfold: calls $2.50
Ruskor777: discards 1 card
Angyalfold: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ts]
Dealt to plutoman20 [7d 8s 2c 4c] [5h]
annsarah: discards 2 cards
Ruskor777: bets $2
Angyalfold: calls $2
plutoman20: raises $5 to $7
annsarah: folds
Ruskor777: folds
Angyalfold: calls $5
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [5h 7d 8s 2c 4c] (Lo: 8,7,5,4,2)
Angyalfold: mucks hand
plutoman20 collected $30.95 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32.50 Rake $1.55
Seat 1: swordfish910 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Ruskor777 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: jose weston (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Ic3-T folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Angyalfold mucked [9c 3h 6h 2d 5c]
Seat 6: plutoman20 showed [5h 7d 8s 2c 4c] and won ($30.95) with Lo: 8,7,5,4,2
Seat 7: annsarah folded on the Flop

Hand 6
I get lucky here. Volk happens to have $5.50 left so I raise to that amount after the draw. That’s a bit more than I normally would, and it seems to be just enough to get ThaSlosh to fold the best hand. He took a long time over his decision which actually wasn’t a bad one: I’ll have a better hand most of the time here.

PokerStars Game #50850805671: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/09 16:46:35 ET
Table 'Una II' 7-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: popaionut ($70.95 in chips)
Seat 2: Angyalfold ($57.05 in chips)
Seat 3: Ruskor777 ($5.40 in chips)
Seat 4: ThaSlosh23 ($24.65 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($34.25 in chips)
Seat 7: volk0076 ($7.25 in chips)
Angyalfold: posts small blind $0.25
Ruskor777: posts big blind $0.50
bmw_mseries: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c Jc 7s 8s 2c]
ThaSlosh23: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $1.25 to $1.75
volk0076: calls $1.75
popaionut: folds
Angyalfold: folds
Ruskor777: folds
ThaSlosh23: calls $1.25
ThaSlosh23: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Jc]
Dealt to plutoman20 [6c 7s 8s 2c] [4c]
volk0076: stands pat
ThaSlosh23: bets $1.50
plutoman20: raises $4 to $5.50
volk0076: folds
ThaSlosh23 said, "34578"
ThaSlosh23: folds
Uncalled bet ($4) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $8.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $9 Rake $0.40
Seat 1: popaionut (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Angyalfold (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Ruskor777 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: ThaSlosh23 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: plutoman20 collected ($8.60)
Seat 7: volk0076 folded on the Flop

Hand 7
I think it would have been easier just to pat this hand when Volk draws two, especially because I’ve got a gutshot straight draw. When he check-raises me it could be a bluff but I doubt it, so I fold.

PokerStars Game #50852518139: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/09 17:24:21 ET
Table 'Una II' 7-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: billymac222 ($22.60 in chips)
Seat 2: Angyalfold ($57.30 in chips)
Seat 3: Ruskor777 ($25.25 in chips)
Seat 4: ThaSlosh23 ($14.20 in chips)
Seat 5: bmw_mseries ($19.25 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($52.45 in chips)
Seat 7: volk0076 ($17.50 in chips)
volk0076: posts small blind $0.25
billymac222: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 8c 6h 5h Qd]
Angyalfold: folds
Ruskor777: folds
ThaSlosh23: folds
bmw_mseries: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
volk0076: calls $1.25
billymac222: folds
volk0076: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Qd]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9s 8c 6h 5h] [3s]
volk0076: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
volk0076: raises $4 to $6
plutoman20: folds
Uncalled bet ($4) returned to volk0076
volk0076 collected $7.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.50 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: billymac222 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Angyalfold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Ruskor777 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ThaSlosh23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bmw_mseries folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: plutoman20 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: volk0076 (small blind) collected ($7.15)

Hand 8
Immediately prior to this hand I showed down the second nuts. I try to capitalise of that good fortune by representing a big hand with my three-bet. I have no idea what Bob is doing calling the three-bet cold and drawing two.

PokerStars Game #50921453151: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/11 2:31:47 ET
Table 'Quintilla V' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: popaionut ($19.25 in chips)
Seat 2: ThaSlosh23 ($24.30 in chips)
Seat 3: URIEL_ROCK ($44.65 in chips)
Seat 4: general85555 ($19.80 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($48.10 in chips)
Seat 6: BOB LOBLAW44 ($6.55 in chips)
Seat 7: cfh2401 ($33.10 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
BOB LOBLAW44: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 6s 5c 5d 7d]
cfh2401: folds
popaionut: folds
ThaSlosh23: folds
URIEL_ROCK: folds
general85555: raises $1 to $1.50
plutoman20: raises $2.50 to $4
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $3.50
general85555: folds
plutoman20: discards 1 card [5d]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2h 6s 5c 7d] [8s]
BOB LOBLAW44: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets $44.10 and is all-in
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $2.55 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($41.55) returned to plutoman20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [2h 6s 5c 8s 7d] (Lo: 8,7,6,5,2)
BOB LOBLAW44: shows [9c 7h Td 4c 3h] (Lo: T,9,7,4,3)
plutoman20 collected $13.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $14.60 Rake $0.70
Seat 1: popaionut folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ThaSlosh23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: URIEL_ROCK folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: general85555 (button) folded before Flop
Seat 5: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [2h 6s 5c 8s 7d] and won ($13.90) with Lo: 8,7,6,5,2
Seat 6: BOB LOBLAW44 (big blind) showed [9c 7h Td 4c 3h] and lost with Lo: T,9,7,4,3
Seat 7: cfh2401 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 9
Unfortunately I've lost the history for this one. I was getting endless junk in this session; I rarely saw a hand without at least two picture cards or aces. To make matters worse I had an aggressive regular player on my right who raised pre-draw at every opportunity. This particular hand I was dealt QJ on the button. More junk. It folded round to the aggressive guy and sure enough he made it $1.50. I re-raised to $4, he called and drew one, I patted my QJ. It turned out he had a genuine draw (to an eight I think) but he paired up so I won the pot and just as importantly I got to show my QJ.

Bonus badugi hand
I've been monstered more times than I care to remember in badugi, but I can't remember losing with a dealt hand as good as number seven before. If my opponent had had a bigger stack I'm not sure what the correct play would have been on the river. I might just have called his river bet. I also think Bingohero should have got out of the way before the last draw; when it was two more bets back to him he was clearly up against some big hands.

PokerStars Game #50773300165: Badugi Limit ($1/$2 USD) - 2010/10/08 2:17:08 ET
Table 'Hersilia' 8-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: CowboyBeBop5 ($23.75 in chips)
Seat 2: bingohero ($19.75 in chips)
Seat 3: fearmybet ($10.25 in chips)
Seat 5: MEEEEEET ($14.75 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($75.75 in chips)
Seat 7: Lumelia ($80.50 in chips)
Lumelia: posts small blind $0.50
CowboyBeBop5: posts big blind $1
adrian432: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [6h 4d As 2c]
bingohero: calls $1
fearmybet: folds
MEEEEEET: calls $1
plutoman20: raises $1 to $2
Lumelia: folds
CowboyBeBop5: folds
bingohero: calls $1
MEEEEEET: calls $1
*** FIRST DRAW ***
bingohero: stands pat
MEEEEEET: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h 4d As 2c]
bingohero: checks
MEEEEEET: checks
plutoman20: bets $1
bingohero: calls $1
MEEEEEET: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW ***
bingohero: discards 1 card
MEEEEEET: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h 4d As 2c]
bingohero: checks
MEEEEEET: checks
plutoman20: bets $2
bingohero: calls $2
MEEEEEET: raises $2 to $4
plutoman20: raises $2 to $6
bingohero: calls $4
MEEEEEET: raises $2 to $8
Betting is capped
plutoman20: calls $2
bingohero: calls $2
*** THIRD DRAW ***
Chuchulainn joins the table at seat #8
bingohero: discards 1 card
MEEEEEET: stands pat
plutoman20: stands pat on [6h 4d As 2c]
bingohero: checks
MEEEEEET: bets $2
Chuchulainn leaves the table
plutoman20: raises $2 to $4
bingohero: folds
MEEEEEET: calls $1.75 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($0.25) returned to plutoman20
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [6h 4d As 2c] (Badugi: 6,4,2,A)
MEEEEEET: shows [3d Ah 5c 4s] (Badugi: 5,4,3,A)
MEEEEEET collected $41 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $42 Rake $1
Seat 1: CowboyBeBop5 (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: bingohero folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 3: fearmybet folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 5: MEEEEEET showed [3d Ah 5c 4s] and won ($41) with a Badugi: 5,4,3,A
Seat 6: plutoman20 (button) showed [6h 4d As 2c] and lost with a Badugi: 6,4,2,A
Seat 7: Lumelia (small blind) folded before the Draw

Bonus triple draw hand
I don't play a lot of triple draw, and when I do I rarely try this sort of thing. But when I hit trip fours on the second draw I give it a go. I'm sure this is a losing play in the long run.

PokerStars Game #50855353068: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/10/09 18:27:30 ET
Table 'Lydia VI' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: jj9201 ($5.30 in chips)
Seat 2: Allanws ($12.45 in chips)
Seat 3: SHRAM 11 ($17.10 in chips)
Seat 4: Alexsar777 ($4.25 in chips)
Seat 5: AKrAsAtA ($10 in chips)
Seat 6: plutoman20 ($10.70 in chips)
Alexsar777: posts small blind $0.10
AKrAsAtA: posts big blind $0.25
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 4c Qs Qh 6d]
plutoman20: raises $0.25 to $0.50
jj9201: folds
Allanws: calls $0.50
SHRAM 11: calls $0.50
Alexsar777: folds
AKrAsAtA: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Qs Qh]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 4c 6d] [Kd Th]
Allanws: discards 2 cards
SHRAM 11: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
Allanws: checks
SHRAM 11: bets $0.25
plutoman20: calls $0.25
Allanws: calls $0.25
*** SECOND DRAW ***
plutoman20: discards 2 cards [Kd Th]
Dealt to plutoman20 [2s 4c 6d] [4s 4d]
Allanws: discards 2 cards
SHRAM 11: discards 1 card
plutoman20: checks
Allanws: checks
SHRAM 11: bets $0.50
plutoman20: raises $0.50 to $1
Allanws: calls $1
SHRAM 11: calls $0.50
*** THIRD DRAW ***
plutoman20: stands pat on [2s 4c 6d 4s 4d]
Allanws: discards 1 card
SHRAM 11: discards 1 card
plutoman20: bets $0.50
Allanws: folds
SHRAM 11: folds
Uncalled bet ($0.50) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $5.35 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $5.60 Rake $0.25
Seat 1: jj9201 folded before the Draw (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Allanws folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 3: SHRAM 11 (button) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 4: Alexsar777 (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 5: AKrAsAtA (big blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 6: plutoman20 collected ($5.35)

Three more hands

Maybe I should set up a separate blog for poker, but anyway here are three hands from last night's short but profitable single draw session.

Hand 1
I've never taken much notice of so-called timing tells before. There are all kinds of reasons why a player might take a long time to act that have nothing to do with the strength of their hand. Perhaps I should have taken some notice here though. Sariia took a long time to check, then I decided to bluff when I paired my second top card.

PokerStars Game #50235683826: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/27 3:20:20 ET
Table 'Philomela IX' 7-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: IOthLetter ($48.70 in chips)
Seat 2: DreamerRay ($54.80 in chips)
Seat 4: SARIIA ($38.80 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($28.25 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($91.05 in chips)
Seat 7: shadetree26 ($23.90 in chips)
IOthLetter: posts small blind $0.25
DreamerRay: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9d 6h As 3d 5s]
SARIIA: calls $0.50
plutoman20: raises $1.25 to $1.75
B4MyEyes: folds
shadetree26: folds
IOthLetter: folds
ge0rgia1 joins the table at seat #3
DreamerRay: folds
SARIIA: calls $1.25
SARIIA: discards 1 card
plutoman20: discards 1 card [As]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9d 6h 3d 5s] [6d]
SARIIA: checks
plutoman20: bets $3SARIIA: calls $3
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [9d 6h 6d 3d 5s] (Lo: a pair of Sixes)
SARIIA: shows [7c 4d 2h 9h 3s] (Lo: 9,7,4,3,2)
SARIIA collected $9.75 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.25 Rake $0.50
Seat 1: IOthLetter (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: DreamerRay (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: SARIIA showed [7c 4d 2h 9h 3s] and won ($9.75) with Lo: 9,7,4,3,2
Seat 5: plutoman20 showed [9d 6h 6d 3d 5s] and lost with Lo: a pair of Sixes
Seat 6: B4MyEyes folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: shadetree26 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 2
Georgia checks post-draw, I hit my smooth nine and bet out, but then she (?) shoves! Did she have a monster? Her line isn't something I'd be likely to take myself, so I couldn't easily tell what it meant. To be honest when I called I expected to see a top-ten hand, but at least I'd get some information which is precious to me as a new player in the game.

PokerStars Game #50235868652: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/27 3:31:16 ET
Table 'Philomela IX' 7-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: IOthLetter ($54.50 in chips)
Seat 2: D.B.Cuper ($14.90 in chips)
Seat 3: ge0rgia1 ($19.95 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($24.05 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($88.90 in chips)
Seat 7: shadetree26 ($19.30 in chips)
B4MyEyes: posts small blind $0.25
shadetree26: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [9d 3d 4s 2h Ks]
IOthLetter: folds
D.B.Cuper: folds
ge0rgia1: raises $1 to $1.50
plutoman20: calls $1.50
B4MyEyes: folds
shadetree26: calls $1
shadetree26: discards 2 cards
ge0rgia1: stands pat
plutoman20: discards 1 card [Ks]
Dealt to plutoman20 [9d 3d 4s 2h] [6d]
shadetree26: checks
ge0rgia1: checks
plutoman20: bets $3
shadetree26: folds
ge0rgia1: raises $15.45 to $18.45 and is all-in
plutoman20: calls $15.45
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ge0rgia1: shows [9h 5s 8d 2s Jh] (Lo: J,9,8,5,2)
plutoman20: shows [9d 3d 4s 2h 6d] (Lo: 9,6,4,3,2)
plutoman20 collected $39.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $41.65 Rake $2.05
Seat 1: IOthLetter folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: D.B.Cuper folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ge0rgia1 showed [9h 5s 8d 2s Jh] and lost with Lo: J,9,8,5,2
Seat 5: plutoman20 (button) showed [9d 3d 4s 2h 6d] and won ($39.60) with Lo: 9,6,4,3,2
Seat 6: B4MyEyes (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: shadetree26 (big blind) folded on the Flop

Hand 3
This was a strange one. What hand could he do this with? He raises under the gun, calls my three-bet, but then draws two after I pat. Maybe something like T9732? And what about my bet after the draw? Should I have just checked here? By the way he took a long time to fold so it's likely he hit something, perhaps a jack. It's possible I even got him to fold the best hand, although I doubt it.

PokerStars Game #50236218004: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/27 3:51:50 ET
Table 'Philomela IX' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: bassviol ($19.10 in chips)
Seat 3: ge0rgia1 ($58.15 in chips)
Seat 4: SARIIA ($41.40 in chips)
Seat 5: plutoman20 ($53.75 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($75.80 in chips)
SARIIA: posts small blind $0.25
plutoman20: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Td 7h 8d 5s 4h]
B4MyEyes: raises $1 to $1.50
bassviol: folds
ge0rgia1: folds
SARIIA: folds
plutoman20: raises $2.25 to $3.75
B4MyEyes: calls $2.25
plutoman20: stands pat on [Td 7h 8d 5s 4h]
B4MyEyes: discards 2 cards
plutoman20: bets $5
B4MyEyes: folds
Uncalled bet ($5) returned to plutoman20
plutoman20 collected $7.40 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $7.75 Rake $0.35
Seat 1: bassviol folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ge0rgia1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: SARIIA (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: plutoman20 (big blind) collected ($7.40)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes folded on the Flop

Lowball draw musings II

I've finally kissed goodbye to 25c-50c badugi after beating the game, over 30,000 hands, for six big bets per hundred. My guess is that I had slightly above average luck in that time: I won 58% of showdowns - a high number even when you consider that I drew much smoother than many of my opponents.

Yesterday I cashed out $1640 leaving a little over $600 in my account, just enough to have a crack at no-limit single draw. After 500 hands of that I'm marginally in the black. I realise I have some leaks that need repairing. Here are some hands that spring to mind:

Hand 1. I'm dealt a very breakable J97 on the button. There's a raise in early position, then a call, so I three-bet hoping to get a better hand to break. They both call and draw one; I stand pat. One of my opponents bets small after the draw, and I simply fold. If I get that hand again I'll just call the raise and draw to the nine.

Hand 2. I raise under the gun with a draw to the nut nine and get three callers. All four of us draw one. I make a 9-7 and bet $4 into a $6 pot. My lone caller turns over an 8-6. How did he not raise me there? This game seems a bit like five-card draw in that certain people only raise with absolute monsters and sometimes not even then. In future, with three people behind me, I'll probably just check-call there.

Hand 3. I call a raise in position with a nine draw. We're heads up, he pats and I draw one, pairing my nine. He checks post-draw and I bet $4 into a $3 pot. He calls me with a T98. I don't think the bluff was too bad, but the overbet possibly screams "please fold!" I should have bet $2 or $2.50, as I would if I'd hit my draw.

One thing I'm still not sure of is how much action to put in with pat tens and better. This afternoon I four-bet my 10-7 to $11 pre-draw. My sole opponent had a 10-8. I was a little surprised to win that. A few hands later I four-bet to $9 in position with the nut ten, a great two-way hand, and that held up too.

This game will take some figuring out, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Update: four hands from what I thought was an interesting session.

Hand 1
Should I break here? I tried to get to showdown as cheaply as possible. I thought there was a reasonable chance my smooth ten would hold up, and a slimmer chance of drawing better, though this doesn't take into account potential extra money I could make from Brick_Mag if I hit a monster.
PokerStars Game #50183666376: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/26 2:46:16 ET
Table 'Olshaniya IV' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: 2J4U ($33.90 in chips)
Seat 2: dominikavery ($8.40 in chips)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG ($32.15 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($37.30 in chips)
Seat 5: Greg941 ($26.05 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($66.10 in chips)
Seat 7: REDFALL ($26 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
Greg941: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [3s 6c Tc 5c 2d]
B4MyEyes: folds
REDFALL: folds
2J4U: folds
dominikavery: raises $1 to $1.50
BRICK_ MAG: raises $3.50 to $5
plutoman20: calls $4.75
Greg941: folds
dominikavery: raises $3.40 to $8.40 and is all-in
BRICK_ MAG: calls $3.40
plutoman20: calls $3.40
plutoman20: stands pat on [3s 6c Tc 5c 2d]
dominikavery: discards 1 card
BRICK_ MAG: stands pat
plutoman20: checks
BRICK_ MAG: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [3s 6c Tc 5c 2d] (Lo: T,6,5,3,2)
dominikavery: shows [2c Jh 4d 6d 7d] (Lo: J,7,6,4,2)
BRICK_ MAG: shows [7s 8c 5s 2h 9s] (Lo: 9,8,7,5,2)
BRICK_ MAG collected $24.45 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $25.70 Rake $1.25
Seat 1: 2J4U folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: dominikavery showed [2c Jh 4d 6d 7d] and lost with Lo: J,7,6,4,2
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG (button) showed [7s 8c 5s 2h 9s] and won ($24.45) with Lo: 9,8,7,5,2
Seat 4: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [3s 6c Tc 5c 2d] and lost with Lo: T,6,5,3,2
Seat 5: Greg941 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: B4MyEyes folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: REDFALL folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 2
I'm not even involved in this one, but what's going on after the draw? 2J4U seems like a good regular player. Perhaps these two have some history, and Bob knows there's a good chance the huge overbet is a bluff, hence the call. I don't really get Bob's small blocking bet either.

PokerStars Game #50184615005: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/26 3:36:36 ET
Table 'Olshaniya IV' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: 2J4U ($20.20 in chips)
Seat 2: dominikavery ($50.25 in chips)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG ($52.40 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($27 in chips)
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 ($27.15 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($55.90 in chips)
Seat 7: Flyers19001 ($10.35 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
BOB LOBLAW44: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Qh Js 2s Tc Kc]
B4MyEyes: folds
Flyers19001: folds
2J4U: raises $1.50 to $2
dominikavery: folds
BRICK_ MAG: folds
plutoman20: folds
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $1.50
BOB LOBLAW44: stands pat
2J4U: discards 1 card
BOB LOBLAW44: bets $1
2J4U: raises $11 to $12
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $11
*** SHOW DOWN ***
2J4U: shows [6h 9d 3d 4d 9h] (Lo: a pair of Nines)
BOB LOBLAW44: shows [8c 7c Ts 4s 3s] (Lo: T,8,7,4,3)
BOB LOBLAW44 collected $26.85 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $28.25 Rake $1.40
Seat 1: 2J4U showed [6h 9d 3d 4d 9h] and lost with Lo: a pair of Nines
Seat 2: dominikavery folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 (big blind) showed [8c 7c Ts 4s 3s] and won ($26.85) with Lo: T,8,7,4,3
Seat 6: B4MyEyes folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Flyers19001 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 3
I had a good two-way hand in position here. If he'd patted (as I expected) I'd have broken. By just calling his four-bet and patting, I'm setting myself up for a possible bluff; if he bets say $10 after the draw, then what?

PokerStars Game #50184745026: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/26 3:43:15 ET
Table 'Olshaniya IV' 7-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: 2J4U ($51.20 in chips)
Seat 2: dominikavery ($48.25 in chips)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG ($52.90 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($25.45 in chips)
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 ($35.75 in chips)
Seat 6: B4MyEyes ($57.65 in chips)
Seat 7: Flyers19001 ($8.90 in chips)
BOB LOBLAW44: posts small blind $0.25
B4MyEyes: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [Th 4s 2s 8h 5h]
Flyers19001: folds
2J4U: folds
dominikavery: raises $1 to $1.50
BRICK_ MAG: folds
plutoman20: raises $2.50 to $4
BOB LOBLAW44: folds
B4MyEyes: folds
dominikavery: raises $4.50 to $8.50
plutoman20: calls $4.50
dominikavery: discards 1 card
plutoman20: stands pat on [Th 4s 2s 8h 5h]
dominikavery: checks
plutoman20: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dominikavery: shows [6d 3s 7c 5d 7d] (Lo: a pair of Sevens)
plutoman20: shows [Th 4s 2s 8h 5h] (Lo: T,8,5,4,2)
plutoman20 collected $16.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $17.75 Rake $0.85
Seat 1: 2J4U folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: dominikavery showed [6d 3s 7c 5d 7d] and lost with Lo: a pair of Sevens
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (button) showed [Th 4s 2s 8h 5h] and won ($16.90) with Lo: T,8,5,4,2
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: B4MyEyes (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Flyers19001 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Hand 4
Seven hundred hands and I'd never been all in, or even close to it. I'd been lamenting the total lack of action my pat monsters had generated, while anything marginal had always got plenty of callers. Then this hand happened. When Bob called my all-in, I didn't expect to see a 9-8.

PokerStars Game #50185528152: Single Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50 USD) - 2010/09/26 4:23:02 ET
Table 'Olshaniya IV' 7-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: sjcroy99 ($19.50 in chips)
Seat 2: dominikavery ($31.15 in chips)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG ($49.15 in chips)
Seat 4: plutoman20 ($22.50 in chips)
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 ($49.40 in chips)
Seat 7: ThaSlosh23 ($16.65 in chips)
plutoman20: posts small blind $0.25
BOB LOBLAW44: posts big blind $0.50
Greg941: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to plutoman20 [2d 5c 4s 8d 6h]
ThaSlosh23: folds
sjcroy99: folds
dominikavery: folds
BRICK_ MAG: folds
plutoman20: raises $1 to $1.50
BOB LOBLAW44: raises $1.50 to $3
plutoman20: raises $4 to $7
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $4
plutoman20: stands pat on [2d 5c 4s 8d 6h]
BOB LOBLAW44: stands pat
plutoman20: bets $15.50 and is all-in
BOB LOBLAW44: calls $15.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
plutoman20: shows [2d 5c 4s 8d 6h] (Lo: 8,6,5,4,2)
BOB LOBLAW44: shows [2s 9c 5s 4h 8c] (Lo: 9,8,5,4,2)
plutoman20 collected $42.80 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $45 Rake $2.20
Seat 1: sjcroy99 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: dominikavery folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: BRICK_ MAG (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: plutoman20 (small blind) showed [2d 5c 4s 8d 6h] and won ($42.80) with Lo: 8,6,5,4,2
Seat 5: BOB LOBLAW44 (big blind) showed [2s 9c 5s 4h 8c] and lost with Lo: 9,8,5,4,2
Seat 7: ThaSlosh23 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Lowball draw musings

I've played a couple of thousand hands of triple draw now, at 25c/50c and 50c/$1, and I'm roughly break-even. Given my badugi record, and the similarities between the two games, I thought I'd do better than that, but it hasn't panned out that way. Just like in badugi, I see what appears to be poor play, but unlike in badugi I seem unable to capitalise. Maybe my sample size is too small to draw any reasonable conclusions, but I'm sure I have a few leaks that need patching up. Certainly I can't hand-read as well in triple draw as I can in badugi.

I've read some discussion on forums about the comparative variance of triple draw and badugi. The swings seem more brutal in triple draw, although I've done no statistical analysis of my hands to back this up. A couple of reasons why triple draw might be more "swingy":

1. Triple draw hands run closer in equity, particularly on the last draw; for instance 8763 is a 44% shot against 7432 with one draw remaining. Compare that to 652 in badugi, which is about a 4-to-1 underdog to 32A on the last draw.
2. When you're up against a pat hand in badugi and you've missed the first two draws, it's likely you won't have the odds to continue, so you can (and should) pull the plug at that stage unless the stand-pat person has a propensity to snow. In triple draw you generally have more outs to complete your hand and can therefore see all three draws. So in triple draw a bad run of missed monster draws will cost you considerably more than in badugi.

In addition to those factors, you play more hands per hour at triple draw than badugi (because the tables are smaller) so your ups and downs seem more pronounced.

My current overall profit has just nudged over US$6000, including (of course) that tournament success back in May. If and when it reaches $6100, I'll cash out all but $600, which I'll use to play single draw as well as badugi (and maybe low-stakes triple draw too).

I managed to convert some of my frequent player points into tournament money, and I'll use $22 of that to buy into tomorrow morning's turbo WCOOP badugi satellite, starting at 7:30. The turbo aspect doesn't appeal - if you don't hit a few hands early you'll be out - but I'll give it a go anyway. After that I've got a busy day: a WINZ appointment at 10:30, the WRAP (mental health) course between 1 and 3pm, teaching fractions in Browns Bay a little later, then the men's group in the evening.

No poker for four weeks

I had my Italian class this evening. At the beginning we all have to talk about what we did in the past week, in Italian of course. I always find this awkward. Tonight I tried to make a joke of it: "Nothing much. Next!" But I can't do that every week. I'll have to start making things up. The rest of the session was easy in comparison.

I'm happy to report that after tonight's short badugi session (which I played when I got back from Italian) my bankroll stands at $2000.40. I've promised not to play again until 1st September.

A good face for radio

Wednesday was a crappy day. It was the most depressed I'd been in ages; at one stage I let out a loud yell in my (thankfully empty) street. It was more of a roar than a yell actually. That afternoon I'd met up with some agency-type person at a café on Ponsonby Road. In a rather uncomfortable semi-interview, he told me two things I already knew. Firstly I'm unlikely to succeed in a large corporation because I don't have the right personality type. Secondly my lack of outward self-confidence puts a severe dent in my chances of getting through an interview unless it's over the phone: apparently I have good mannerisms and facial expressions for phone interviews, just like some people are said to have a good face for radio. This bloke had a fair few contacts in the corporate world and suggested I join the business networking site Linked In. He said he'd become a world kickboxing champion after being badly bullied at school (a quick Google search confirmed that he indeed was an ace kickboxer). I presume he told me this by way of encouragement but, the way I was feeling, it had the exact opposite effect. The men's group that evening, where we watched the end of the Australian film Crush, came at a very good time.

On Friday I had an appointment at a recruitment agency in the city. There was a queue of about a hundred people outside the Queen Street Vodafone store, presumably itching to get their hands on the latest iWhatsit. I was at the agency all afternoon and got tested up to the eyeballs. Which shape comes next? Which of the following words means the same as 'random'? Which of these numbers is the odd one out? Well you can make any of them the odd one out if you really want to, but I suppose figuring out what it expected of you is a skill in itself. Then came some typing tests and, finally, tests on Word and Excel. These were the most stressful of the lot; it's amazing how many functions in Word and Excel I've never used. A lot of the time I'd be thinking, is it under Format or Tools or View or what? Unlike in real life where you can work it out eventually, click on the wrong menu and a box would appear: "Incorrect Answer!" It might as well also have said "Ha ha ha!" I needn't have worried though. I had more than enough points in all the tests to be eligible for some temporary work, and if I hassle them enough times over the coming weeks, who knows? When I got back to Devonport I bumped into the younger brother of one of my old colleagues at work. He knew I no longer worked there and asked me where I was working now. When I told him he was incredulous. "What do you mean, you're not working?!" There was a certain irony to this. According to his big sister at least, he's never been particularly fond of work. In fact he used to go to Australia to play a bunch of poker tournaments. I didn't think to ask him whether he still does.

I spoke to Richard last night. The first six weeks of his job involve role-plays and various forms of team bonding. Not my idea of fun at all, and I don't think it's his particularly either. I might pop over and see him again some time this week.

I had a successful day on the badugi tables yesterday. Playing exclusively at the lowest level I made $63. My plan is to take a few weeks off when my bankroll hits $2000 (I've got more important things to do), and then play some bigger games on my return. After yesterday's effort I'm tantalisingly close to the magic milestone, just eight dollars short.

92.5% of the world's population...

...are not on Facebook. That's a pretty overwhelming majority and they can't all be wrong; the remaining half a billion people who insist on all that social networking bollocks really need to get with the program.

To me Facebook sounds like one giant pain in the arse. Until someone can convince me that I should join up, I'm staying right out of it. You have to tell everyone what you've been doing every five minutes (or is that Twitter?) and upload photos constantly, presumably photos with people in them. And then there's this business of accumulating friends as if they were football stickers or baseball cards. If I was on Facebook I know I'd only have four friends, or something pathetic, while the bloke in the upstairs flat has 382. I feel inferior enough as it is, thanks. And what if you decide someone isn't your friend any more? You have to "unfriend" or "defriend" them, and that sounds rather messy. Best to avoid it altogether.

Last week the job search was really starting to get me down. Maybe I am unemployable after all, I began to think. Who would ever want me in their company? I've got plenty of skills and qualifications, but none of the ones that really matter, i.e. people skills. Next Wednesday I'll be meeting one of the recruitment agents and for that reason I decided to get a haircut yesterday. This was a shame; my hair hadn't been cut since that job interview and it was the longest I'd had it in eight years. Sure, I was beginning to look a bit like a caveman, but why shouldn't I look like the person I really am? I had my hair done in the city where it was quick and painless. I also bought two CDs in Real Groovy costing $6 between them, one by the French group Matmatah (unfortunately I didn't like this one nearly as much as an earlier album of theirs) and the Cranberries' To The Faithful Departed. I really must stop listening to such depressing music. I heard the George Thorogood song "Get a Haircut and Get a Real Job" on the radio today; if only the second part of that equation was as simple as the first. I have some good news at least: that publishing company want some more puzzles from me. Only ten, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Last Wednesday Richard invited me round to his place; he lives in a boarding house in Remuera, built in 1855 (by New Zealand standards that's seriously old). Upwards of fifteen people live there and I can understand why he's thinking of moving out. Still, it was great to see him in his own habitat, so to speak. He cooked a very good meal and gave me the excellent news that he's now got a job on the phones at BNZ. He starts on Monday so they're not hanging around. To be honest I never expected him to get something as mainstream as that (and I hope I'm not being prejudiced against people with Asperger's by saying that) but good luck to him. I hope it all works out.

I've had my worst day ever of badugi today, losing $65. In my first session, on the 25c/50c tables, I dropped $17 in 124 hands. Worse was to follow as I dumped $39 in 114 hands on a 50c/$1 table, all laws of probability disappearing out the window. The whole lexicon of badugi nightmares came into play as I was monstered left, right and centre, normally by someone who called three bets pre-draw and drew three. My 5432 ran into number two in a massive pot in a display of rampant badugiflation. After a while I wondered whether it was all some sick joke and my opponents were drawing cards from some special deck stripped of all high cards and unhelpful suits. In my last session (at 20/50) I ran red hot in comparison, losing just nine bucks. The good news is that I'm still up $308 on the month and a lot more overall thanks to that big SCOOP result. It was funny cashing that cheque. "So where did it come from?" "Er, the internet," was all I felt I could say.

Fush and chups

I had a blood test this week, the results of which were a pleasant surprise. The big news was my cholesterol reading which had dropped from 6.4 to 5.2, so on Friday I had fish and chips to celebrate. They were the best fish and chips I'd had in yonks; I'm sure the length of time since I last had them helped increase my level of enjoyment. For some reason there's always been a certain aura surrounding fish and chips for me, and for six years (until I got that shock cholesterol score last year) I took full advantage of living in a country with perhaps more "fush and chup" shops per head of population than anywhere else in the world. As kids we had an old shed at the bottom of our garden; my brother and I pretended the shed was a fish and chip shop; we'd pass the imaginary fried food through the windows of the shed which had long been broken.

Yesterday I went to the monthly Asperger's group for the first time in three months. As always I got to talk to a very kind bunch of people, including one or two I hadn't seen before. Some of us might meet up and see a movie in the coming weeks.

On Thursday I saw the classic Italian film Ossessione and tomorrow I'll be starting a new term of lessons. I've gone back to evening sessions just in case I somehow find myself a job. I'm finding the job search process a bit frustrating but I'll keep plugging away. I still haven't heard anything back from that mental health job I had the interview for. I'm seriously considering studying for a Certificate in Mental Health in 2011.

To my relief that US$4000 cheque (the poker winnings I cashed out) arrived last week. Until I saw the money it almost didn't seem real. This month I'm up $333, mostly from badugi. Yesterday I tried five-card draw for the first time. It took some getting used to - my opponents were reluctant to raise, even with huge hands, so I'd often be betting and raising, not realising that I was behind. To give an example, on one particular hand I was dealt a pair of queens. I raised and we were four-way to the draw. I hit a second pair and bet out after the draw. I get one caller who promptly turns over three kings!

I had an interesting call from my grandma at 6:20 this morning. She wasn't making a lot of sense, and I was half-asleep, so all in all our conversation wasn't up to much.

Nearly a year ago, when I was down in Geraldine, I posted some pictures of Dad's model plane crash. Well today there was drama on another level entirely as his plane caught fire!

Richard has kindly invited me over to his house for dinner on Wednesday, so that will be one of the highlights of the coming week.

Independence Day

Last weekend Americans celebrated Independence Day. At the same time I regained my own independence by getting myself a new set of wheels. For a minute I thought of avoiding the whole "anonymous box" thing and getting something exciting and European like a Saab or a Citroen, but in the end I spent $2500 on a red 1996 Toyota Camry. As well as being an anagram of "my car", the Camry is one of the most exciting cars on the planet. In the week I've had it, I've been getting stares at every red light. In fact Camrys are so exciting that 74% of New Zealand's actuaries choose to drive them. In all seriousness it should be a reliable car, if perhaps a bit big for me.

I did have some real excitement last week, in the shape of a phone interview. I'd applied for a job at my local mental health support centre; the impromptu interview took me by surprise a bit. "Is now a good time?" Sure, it's a bloody great time! But I'd met the interviewer before, and I handled the questions as well as I could have hoped. Whether that'll be good enough, somehow I doubt it (I come from a very different industry after all) but if I did get it, I'd be over the moon.

After catching the end of this morning's third-place World Cup match, I saw a programme about an Auckland teenager who, three years ago, got into a car with one of his drunk mates behind the wheel. The resulting crash left him brain damaged. The programme certainly brought home the horrors of drink-driving, but what really amazed me was that after the accident, none of his so-called mates, not even his girlfriend, wanted to know him any more. I didn't have any friends to speak of at that age, but if that's what teenage friends are like, perhaps I didn't miss much.

In other news, I'm back badugi-ing again. I've asked to cash out most of my SCOOP winnings ($4000) and am anxiously waiting for the cheque to arrive. Yesterday I made eighty bucks at the tables (a mixture of 25c/50c, 50c/$1 and $1/$2) but I gave back thirty today. I'm also trying to get a handle on triple draw, although the variance in that game seems even more severe than in badugi. I'll be restricting the bulk of my play to weekends and will try to give weekly updates on my progress from now on.

Lift-off

I'll be on the plane pretty soon now. I'm a bit nervous to tell the truth. For the first time in a long time I'm actually going to miss people. Even back in 2003 when I shifted my whole life 12,000 miles, I wasn't particularly affected emotionally. With the notable exception of my grandmother who I saw maybe every other weekend, I simply didn't have anyone around me to miss.

I'll be flying out at 11:15 tonight on NZ39. It's a great time of day to leave because I'll feel like falling asleep then. Whether I actually do is another matter of course. I'll then touch down in Hong Kong (assuming my plane successfully negotiates the skyscrapers) and I'll be stuck there for bloody ages. Six hours. I'll be cursing the fact that none of the cafés and shops will be open when I arrive (they'll have opening times of 8am till 8pm or whatever, even though when you're flying there's no longer any sense of a.m. or p.m.). I then fly Lufthansa to London via Frankfurt; when I finally get to my gran's it'll be elevenish on Sunday night. I hope she won't mind.

I'll only have a couple of days in the UK before I take a Ryanair flight to Brescia. From there I'll catch a train to Venice, which will be an amazing experience I'm sure. Hopefully I'll be able to get accommodation there for two nights, at least, before exploring a bit more of northern Italy. I then plan to travel through France on the TGV, maybe catch some of Roland-Garros if I can somehow get hold of a ticket, then take the Eurostar to London on the 25th.

I'll spend as much of my remaining time in the UK with my gran as I can (I feel a bit bad that I'm not spending longer there) although I'll want to catch up with my brother as well as some old friends from university in Birmingham (with the exception of one bloke, I've almost fallen out of touch with them).

I leave London on June 9th and then head to Bangkok. Hopefully the political situation in Thailand will have improved by then, or else I'll have to cross the border into one of the neighbouring countries, meaning all kinds of fun and games getting visas. I get back to Auckland on the 24th when the big job search will really begin.

I did follow the British election yesterday, quite intently. I was shocked to learn that many people ended up in long queues at badly understaffed polling places and were unable to exercise their democratic rights. Heads will roll I'm sure. And some of the results from individual seats were frankly bizarre. It reminded me a bit of the 2000 US election when all those people in Florida accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan. I really do hope they get things sorted quickly.

The poker win. It's not like I hit six numbers on Lotto or anything, but I can't deny it's a significant financial boost to me. I hope I can enjoy it.

Wow!

Tuesday. What a day. At 9am I fired up the SCOOP badugi tournament, not really expecting much. I was sure I'd played significantly more badugi than most of the field, and I rated my chances of some kind of payout at just about even, but making the serious money was such a remote possibility I had hardly considered it.

I didn't start well. In the first hour I won just one pot. During the first break I brought my washing in and then got back to business. Or so I thought. Dammit, I've lost my internet connection. Unplug, plug, unplug, plug. Still no reading, captain. I ring Vodafone. I'm on hold for ages. Stop it with the dance music at this time of the morning, would you? I finally get through to a bloke who was nice enough but clearly not based in New Zealand. "Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?" "Yes, five times." I was told to type in various passwords and codes, then he noticed his switchboard was red hot. There was an Auckland-wide outage; he gave me a two-hour timeframe. Oh well. A quick back-of-an-envelope calculation told me I'd be blinded out of the tournament in almost exactly two hours.

I wasn't too disappointed. I hadn't invested much time or money in the tournament and I had plenty of other stuff to be getting on with. I left my computer on just in case; having worked in a large company I knew that "two hours" can be anywhere from a minute to some time next Tuesday.

When my connection miraculously sprung back to life - I was out for forty minutes - I still had nearly 80% of my initial 5000 chips. Things didn't improve much after that though, and I thought there can't be many tournaments where you can win just one pot in more than two hours of play and still show signs of life. In the third hour, with half my original stack left, I made a six badugi to virtually double up against a fellow short stack who I could tell had simply had enough of this badugi shit. I kept hanging in there but in the fourth hour, with half the 2408-player field remaining, I got involved with a couple of marginal hands and my stack was crippled. I was then dealt a one-card draw to a rough eight and had no real choice but to commit. I was three-bet by a monster draw and my tournament life hung by a thread. On the second draw I hit the two of diamonds to make 872A, my opponent missed, and I survived. I was about a 35/65 underdog on that hand. Two out of three times I would have exited right there.

I capitalised on my good fortune to build my stack up to 31,000 only to become one of the short stacks again as the money approached. When the bubble burst with 440 players left I was down to 11,000. Then something funny, but totally understandable when I think about it, happened. People started dropping like flies. You see, the payout structure was totally wack. Paying 440 is too many. Most of these people would only get their money back, plus a tiny bit more, and what's the point of that? And even as players were eliminated, the payouts hardly went up at all; 200th only paid slightly more than 400th, while even 100th was only enough to double your money. So it was hardly surprising that many of the short stacks said "sod this" and loosened up their play. Hence I decided to do the exact opposite. I haven't got a lot of chips here, but if I can just wait for a good hand and let everyone else knock each other out, who knows?

This strategy seemed to work. I played straightforwardly, betting aggressively with my good three-cards and staying out of the way with anything dodgy. With eighty or so left I hit the tournament lead and, almost in disbelief, took a screen shot of the lobby. At the ten-hour mark I realised I had a number of advantages over much of the field:
1. Yes I've been playing for ten hours and I'm getting a little tired, but think of all the poor sods in the States downing cans of Red Bull to avoid falling asleep at the wheel, or rather the screen. In contrast it's 7pm here and I'm still very much awake.
2. I've taken - and studied for - a lot of exams in my time, so concentrating on one thing for ten hours or more in a day is not a foreign concept to me.
3. I'm playing only this tournament. There were big Omaha tournaments going on at the same time. The very thought of playing simultaneous badugi and Omaha sounds like a nightmare. And of course people will be playing cash games and surfing the net and heaven knows what else.

I never thought seriously about the money until we were down to two tables, or to be more specific, eleven players. By this stage I was guaranteed a couple of hundred, but man were there eleven of us for a long time. And my stack was dwindling. Reaching the final eight would mean an extra hundred or so, while seventh paid over twice what eighth did! I wondered what was so special about seventh. As I said, the payouts were all wack. In fairly dire chip poo, I then won two big hands. On the first of these I committed with 43A while my opponent, who had tried to push me off my hand, had complete junk. I won the second as my six badugi went up against a seven.

As we hit the much-needed 15-minute break at the twelve-hour mark, I was chip leader with five players left. I glanced at those prizes again. What's fourth? Whoa. What's third? Oh man. I took a walk around the block in a bit of a daze. On my return we were soon down to three. Many more hands become playable three-handed, so I had to keep telling myself not to just click fold all the time. When we got heads-up I was at a slight chip disadvantage. Also I’d played very little heads-up badugi so I was flying by the seat of my pants. What should I three-bet with pre-draw? Three-card sixes? Smooth sevens? Nine badugis are monsters now, right? My opponent then wanted to make a deal. He was talking chip equity numbers and I had no real idea if I was being screwed over or not. In hindsight perhaps I was (at the time I was behind in chips by nearly two to one) but some PokerStars guru was on hand and everything seemed above board. I felt I had very little bargaining power as I’d never been anywhere near that situation before, and heck, win or lose the resulting payout would be beyond my wildest dreams (I later found out that my foe had taken home four figures a few times before). I took over the chip lead and on a couple of occasions I was a massive favourite to win, but after going head-to-head for more than an hour I’d had my chips. Second place for a whopping payout of US$4758. I was stunned.

Despite the previous day winning more than enough to pay for my next car (and the insurance for it!), yesterday was just a normal day, though I was very tired from Tuesday’s 14-hour-plus marathon. I talked at length with my counsellor about my relationship with Mum. Last night I attended the men’s depression group for the first time in ages (and also the last time in ages). I’d thought about buying drinks for everyone as a gesture, or perhaps going across the road to Hell Pizza (which, as the player who beat me was called Hellhound, would have been appropriate). In the end, as Andy suggested, I just got a few nibbles. We chatted about life, one of the blokes read out part of a play he had written, and I even talked about my gambling exploits with a “don’t try this at home” disclaimer.

Yesterday I spent some time just sitting out in the garden; it was a glorious autumn day. I realised one thing: whatever my next job is, I don’t want it to involve staring at a screen for 14 hours a day. I want to see some sunshine, some people, some life. I haven’t done enough of that lately. Tomorrow I’ll be seeing the careers advisor again.

The results of Britain’s general election will come in tomorrow. It will be a very tight race. If I was still in my old job I’d follow it on the internet at work, but I’m not sure if I will tomorrow. I’m hoping for a hung parliament and the Lib Dems to gain some influence, though I’m not sure it will really make much difference whatever happens.

It’s not long till I’ll be on the plane and I’ve still got so much to do before then. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write a quick post giving some idea of my itinerary over the next six or seven weeks. One thing’s for sure: poker will be off the radar.