Thursday, October 22, 2009

Gregg's Game

Another fine game at Gregg's and another win for both me and Peter.
Again I appreciate any memories of particular hands. I walk away with fewer remembered hands every week. Sad to get old.

But if I keep winning, while I get old, I get rich.

Phil broke about even with his play. Gregg was the day's loser, down at least $70. Jerry walked with some money. Again he accumulated a good bit, but lost half of it back.

I took a little. I might have taken more if Jerry had called.
The turn gave me Broadway.
I checked.
Jerry made a healthy bet and Phil called.
I went all in.
Jerry hummed and hawed and shared with us what he knew.
He knew he had me beat, and he knew Phil would fold like "a house of cards."
With all this knowledge, he incongruously opted not to call, and so he folded against his astute analysis.

Phil, of course, called my all-in bet, figuring I guess that if Jerry was not going to listen to his own judgement, then perhaps Phil would just make his own decision.
Phil's own astute analysis put me perfectly on my nut straight, but he held two pair.
He decided to go home way up or broke.
He had been the guy I wanted to push out, so I was not happy he called me, until the river gave him nothing, and then I was happy.
And he had my all-in more than covered, so he did not go home broke.

By the way, with Jerry's cards folded and mine not yet shown, I offered Jerry a side bet.
$10 to see if he did in fact have me beat at the turn.
He wisely declined once again to trust his own analysis.

I liked that hand very much.

I took some of Bruce's winnings when I held trip kings and he held trip tens. Both were pockets and invisible. He kept betting 20 and I kept merely calling, fearing the straight, but unwilling to lay down three kings. It was an expensive loss for him, but had the board paired I might have taken every one of his chips with the nut full house so he saved money by not catching what he had hoped for the river card.

It is rear to have two hidden trips in a game with only five players.

These two hands took me from $60 buy-ins to a nice profit and I held on to it, ending up $70.

Gregg loved the game even though he lost. He loved the action. Near the end I gave him plenty of action, and he connected too a couple of times, but he lost it back to either Peter or me.
On one of those hands I overbet just to give him a shot at gaining some chips back, I put him all in when I had pocket nines and there were only three chips at stake.
I even said, "If you have good cards, you have a shot here."
He called me with suited cards. Tilt cards. A three and a four of hearts.
He did hit one pair.

We also had some discussions of nonpoker topics.

The recent decision of Obama to not pursue people in states where marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes was debated.
Jerry was adamant that for twenty years people in New York State have been able to be given a doctor's script and legally use marijuana, but just shouted his one bit of anecdotal proof in a manner that admitted no other information. His mind was clearly made up, why confuse him with facts.
We gave it up.

Actually, I think, Jer, you were very harse toward me.

The nice thing about the blog is that Jerry can't shout me down here.

So here are the facts:

These are the states where raising and selling marijuana has been crazy. They sell openly and even put out signs, but the Feds can still send them to jail. This ruling makes their lives a bit less crazy. Playboy magazine did a great in depth article this year on what it is like to be growing and selling in California. It was amazing to me that the places selling actually had different varieties for different medical symptoms and helped the sick folks pick just the right variety.

Scroll down to see the states affected by this ruling on the color coded map:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wise4living.com/kiddrugs/images/medipot-states.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.wise4living.com/kiddrugs/medical-marijuana.htm&h=600&w=800&sz=101&tbnid=y7QaKbOs-z2YDM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmedicinal%2Bmarijuana&hl=en&usg=__n4WnglAFioKXqXVv2LUZY4_c4f8=&ei=CDrgSqLwC4bGlAeRqNSEDw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=12&ct=image&ved=0CDIQ9QEwCw

Here is a fine summary of New York State law:

http://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4554

In short, don't expect not to be fined or jailed for marijuana in New York State.
Obama's recent decision has really no impact on our law since the state itself will arrest. There is no medical legal loophole.

On the other hand, if any readers are looking for a change of employment and would like to move to Colorado, this might be a great opportunity: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8319950.stm

Gregg says legalization for medical purposes is coming. I hope he is right, although I also have to say that this weed has caused much havoc in my circle of friends and in my family, even when suggested by medical people, and while that could be true of any misused prescription drug, I'll stick to wine.


And speaking of wine. I brought the worst bottle of red wine to the game. I bought two for $2 and drank one this week and it tasted fine. The one I brought to Gregg's was in Gregg's words.
"Harsh"
But he and I and Phil finished the bottle nonetheless.
So another time I'll have to donate a nice Bordeaux to make up for being so cheap.

Don't forget John's game this Friday. Call and see if he has room.
Don't forget Bruce is hosting two games in November. Call him or contact Phil to call him as Bruce will limit to six players.
Please don't contact me for either game as I won't be here to arrange much, although I expect to make both Bruce's games. Put me down Phil, if you don't mind.

Details are in Gregg's response to today's game:

It was a sizzling game from 1 am til 7pm AND Bruce was still playing at 7pm. A great game even if I took the biggest hit. The Hill Corporation pretty much cleaned the table today.
Friend of Ed's, James Rogers, may be joining us next week.
And I've been asked by a couple guys for John Blowers Address which is:
34 Van Buren Road 12303 (Bldg. 34; Apt. 5)
And in November 11 and 18th the Wed. game will be a Bruce's. Next two games will still be at 738 Bobby Court 12309
Unless you come out for John's game, I won't see you guys for awhile. I'll be off spending Gregg's money in New Mexico. Since Gregg will be off for the following two weeks, it will be a long while before I get another shot at the legendary Pokermaster and I suppose by that time he will be out of his slump. Too bad. I need money for Florida in December.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

good post, everyone close i know who died from a drug it was tobacco. tobacco kills thousands and costs millions every year. nobody much died from tobacco until the roller machine was invented. I dont see any of them being arrested. I know bad bottles i just tried the club's octoberfest lager we brewed. its off taste pretty bad. they are doing a whysky porter in used barrels this weekend. i am still microchipping at pstars. havent played in a week or so am at $148. computer crashed and am working on garage drywalling the ceiling dont want fibreglass falling in brew pot. i dont think i'll make it fri. nov 11 is day off and wed. will play definitly home or fw

charley

Anonymous said...

Well, someone's obviously old enough that they actually read the articles in Playboy.

Dewey said...

Playboy isn't what is once was. The fiction especially has suffered and the general move of magazines to soundbite-like shortening for the modern reader who wants things in short bites.
However, they still do a good job on articles like these, sending in real reporters who do some in depth journalism.
I probably have this copy still hanging about.
Ask me if you'd like to read it. It was long, detailed and fascinating.