Seven at the table this week.
Ed, Jim, Ezzy, Greg, Charlie, dewey and Peter.
I brought two unwrapped new decks of cards. Thank you, me.
I think it is a very different game with seven over out usual five.
The frustration goes up because there are more real contests, more close calls, more frustrating second best hands.
Peter socked me with one when he went all in on the river with a full house that beat my Ace high heart flush.
Jim seemed to get the brunt of frustration in this game. Rivers were not good to him. I can't remember all of them, but I was in one huge hand with him. He had the nut hand, a straight. The river counterfeited it and so I had it too. There were plenty of chips by the river. We split.
Peter had a similar hand with Ed. A jack on the river gave him a straight.
Straddles were better challenged. Ezzy used a few to his advantage with good bets that stole those large blinds. It was much more rare to see head to head battles and more common for a good hand to be aggressively bet and push out the speculative blinds. Ed picked up the straddle passion a few times, but in his position there was not an immediate double straddle.
All straddles, and especially double straddles, are affectionately dedicated to the memory of John Blowers who used to be a poker player at Greg's games. No, he didn't die. He just faded away.
Along with more drama in the poker, we managed a bit more talk than usual. There was talk of horses at Saratoga, including the recent upswing of anti-horse racing sentiment. I saw an anti horse billboard on I -90. 1,000 horses die every year, it says. I am curious where the horse meat goes. In the UK it goes to market.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/06/racehorse-slaughter-animal-welfare
The US exports to Mexico because we don't slaughter horses for meat.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/02/kentucky-derby-horsemeat-pipeline
I see new legislation in the pipeline
http://poststar.com/blogs/all_politics_is_local/legislation-to-ban-export-of-horse-meat-advances/article_9fd1de6f-9319-5e58-8393-7efb315e08e0.html
I know some of the meat used to go for dogfood but not so much for glue anymore.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/02/what_do_horses_have_to_do_with_glue_.html
In Spain when they kill the bulls at the bullfight, the meat used to go orphanages. However, recently it has become popular as a healthy, ecological food.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/20/fighting-bull-beef-most-ecological-meat-in-world
A related controversy over wild horses rounded up for meat.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/09/eating-wild-horsemeat-America
There may be some issues with eating racing horses due to the chemicals that can be in their bodies.
http://www.americanhorsemeat.com/
I did hear an NPR special that suggested there was more of demand now for race horses as home horses or pets than was worked into the market system and that a system much like the one used to preserve the lives of greyhounds merely needed some interest in getting the horses to loving owners rather than the meat market.
Ezzy told some stories of interesting inspections where chickens or ducks hung unrefrigerated in the kitchen. I don't think he is a fan of Chinese food customs. However, he reassures us that our favorite Dragon buffet was fine for eating even with some issues on inspection.
I eat Chinese duck whenever I get a chance.
And by the way, China has lots of duck races and we have at least one I've always wanted to attend in New Mexico
http://racingducks.com/
Hey Bill, how does one handicap a duck?
Most of the ducks sold in the US come from one place. I can't seem to cook one right anymore. Honest Weight has organic ducks, but they are $25 each. Still, I might try again one of these days.
There was some talk of Vegas. A few jokes went around including the joke about marriage and cards. In the beginning all that is needed is two hearts and a diamond, but a couple decades into marriage, the players are looking for a club and a spade.
It was not a quiet game; I like that.
After Ezzy left we played Pineapple. Thanks Jim. I'm not certain you wanted to accommodate us for that game. I like it, so it was a treat to me. Not profitable, however. Ed played it with Greg another time and he likes it. We play a very conservative version with the third card discarded right away. It is hardly any different than hold'em. However, if anyone objects, we just keep with the classic hold em.
Greg has a million ideas for adding a variety of Pineapple mutant games, but I object.
At Turning Stone the Pineapple tournament on Sundays, the third card is held to after the flop. Crazy Pineapple.
I thought it went well. There was some mild confusion, but we are often confused anyway, and sometimes we are even confused about how confused we are.
I did not like my own need to rush at the end. Peter and I wanted to make the Texas Steakhouse over near Wolfe Road and the early bird specials end at 6, so we were pushing and gambling on getting a seat in time.
Usually we have to wait for a seat.
We just made it, but it all was a bit too frantic for me.
It made the end of the game too hectic for me. I think we'll look for another place to eat next week, perhaps the Country Buffet. Anyone interested in joining us for supper there or at another venue of your choice would be enjoyed.
As a result of the rush I don't have everyone's scores, but some players must have donated to Peter's $70 win, including me. I lost $20. Very few playable hands for me. I think Ed suffered hard this week.
I took him in one hand where I flopped trip sevens, slow played in early position, called Ed's bets until the river where I check raised him with an all-in (not much left of my chips at that point) after it gave me a full house. Since I showed no strength, he was understandably surprised.
I am sorry for the confusion on high hand payouts Greg. I'm going to just pay out of my pocket and not have the little piles. I'll collect and pocket the money at the beginning, do the math a to how many players are in, keep record of the players, and then count the money out of my wallet in front of the winner.
Much easier with less chance of confusion.
I did count three times, one dollar at a time, but if you did lose a buck or two, just think of it as your donation to the new playing cards.
Greg won the high hand with kings full of jacks.
Jim took the Aces cracked, his trip Aces beat by a straight.
Dewey caught quad sevens after 4 PM.
Just a review on the rules of the two bonuses. We play the high hand until 4PM each day unless we have a table of folks all staying until a later time who agree to extend the bonus. Then it can be extended, but the extension for that bonus needs to be made before the cards are dealt. Folks arriving late or leaving earlier than 4 PM do suffer some reduction in odds to hit it. If you hold the high hand and have to leave before 4 PM, I'll pay you the following week if that hand holds up until 4 PM, but if someone beats it before 4 PM, you lose.
Aces cracked is very different. If it is not hit and anyone leaves, s/he gets a dollar back on the way out. It can be extended for as long as the game lasts.
Also, once it is hit, we can start a new Aces cracked bonus if anyone is interested. Charlie asked about that. I'm happy to restart it because I hate the heavy losses of Aces cracked.
Both high hand and Aces Cracked are totally optional and no one needs to participate. Not even any peer pressure on those, Just a bit of a fun side bet.
Ezzy would have won high both high hand awards again after his two week in a row victory. However, the good hands that would have qualified for the $$$ Ezzy overbet to push out the straddle and double straddle, and so they were not given the chance to develop.
Jerry "Goat" Silver. SILVER!!! was fondly remember for the shake of his head as he folded and his mournful, "What a shame!"
Oh, if there are any Elvis lovers out there who would like some old calendars or an old Elvis era photo, Greg has them in the sale section of SOS. Email him for price and have him save them for you.
See you all next week.
Gail, we all expect you.
Great seeing you again Chuckmonk. Try to keep your family from visiting, so they don't preclude the truly important things in your life. Or bring them along.
Jay.....you fink......
Please respond to this newsletter using the reply-all function. It is meant to be discussion, not lecture.
Ed, Jim, Ezzy, Greg, Charlie, dewey and Peter.
I brought two unwrapped new decks of cards. Thank you, me.
I think it is a very different game with seven over out usual five.
The frustration goes up because there are more real contests, more close calls, more frustrating second best hands.
Peter socked me with one when he went all in on the river with a full house that beat my Ace high heart flush.
Jim seemed to get the brunt of frustration in this game. Rivers were not good to him. I can't remember all of them, but I was in one huge hand with him. He had the nut hand, a straight. The river counterfeited it and so I had it too. There were plenty of chips by the river. We split.
Peter had a similar hand with Ed. A jack on the river gave him a straight.
Straddles were better challenged. Ezzy used a few to his advantage with good bets that stole those large blinds. It was much more rare to see head to head battles and more common for a good hand to be aggressively bet and push out the speculative blinds. Ed picked up the straddle passion a few times, but in his position there was not an immediate double straddle.
All straddles, and especially double straddles, are affectionately dedicated to the memory of John Blowers who used to be a poker player at Greg's games. No, he didn't die. He just faded away.
Along with more drama in the poker, we managed a bit more talk than usual. There was talk of horses at Saratoga, including the recent upswing of anti-horse racing sentiment. I saw an anti horse billboard on I -90. 1,000 horses die every year, it says. I am curious where the horse meat goes. In the UK it goes to market.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/06/racehorse-slaughter-animal-welfare
The US exports to Mexico because we don't slaughter horses for meat.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/02/kentucky-derby-horsemeat-pipeline
I see new legislation in the pipeline
http://poststar.com/blogs/all_politics_is_local/legislation-to-ban-export-of-horse-meat-advances/article_9fd1de6f-9319-5e58-8393-7efb315e08e0.html
I know some of the meat used to go for dogfood but not so much for glue anymore.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/02/what_do_horses_have_to_do_with_glue_.html
In Spain when they kill the bulls at the bullfight, the meat used to go orphanages. However, recently it has become popular as a healthy, ecological food.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/20/fighting-bull-beef-most-ecological-meat-in-world
A related controversy over wild horses rounded up for meat.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/09/eating-wild-horsemeat-America
There may be some issues with eating racing horses due to the chemicals that can be in their bodies.
http://www.americanhorsemeat.com/
I did hear an NPR special that suggested there was more of demand now for race horses as home horses or pets than was worked into the market system and that a system much like the one used to preserve the lives of greyhounds merely needed some interest in getting the horses to loving owners rather than the meat market.
Ezzy told some stories of interesting inspections where chickens or ducks hung unrefrigerated in the kitchen. I don't think he is a fan of Chinese food customs. However, he reassures us that our favorite Dragon buffet was fine for eating even with some issues on inspection.
I eat Chinese duck whenever I get a chance.
And by the way, China has lots of duck races and we have at least one I've always wanted to attend in New Mexico
http://racingducks.com/
Hey Bill, how does one handicap a duck?
Most of the ducks sold in the US come from one place. I can't seem to cook one right anymore. Honest Weight has organic ducks, but they are $25 each. Still, I might try again one of these days.
There was some talk of Vegas. A few jokes went around including the joke about marriage and cards. In the beginning all that is needed is two hearts and a diamond, but a couple decades into marriage, the players are looking for a club and a spade.
It was not a quiet game; I like that.
After Ezzy left we played Pineapple. Thanks Jim. I'm not certain you wanted to accommodate us for that game. I like it, so it was a treat to me. Not profitable, however. Ed played it with Greg another time and he likes it. We play a very conservative version with the third card discarded right away. It is hardly any different than hold'em. However, if anyone objects, we just keep with the classic hold em.
Greg has a million ideas for adding a variety of Pineapple mutant games, but I object.
At Turning Stone the Pineapple tournament on Sundays, the third card is held to after the flop. Crazy Pineapple.
I thought it went well. There was some mild confusion, but we are often confused anyway, and sometimes we are even confused about how confused we are.
I did not like my own need to rush at the end. Peter and I wanted to make the Texas Steakhouse over near Wolfe Road and the early bird specials end at 6, so we were pushing and gambling on getting a seat in time.
Usually we have to wait for a seat.
We just made it, but it all was a bit too frantic for me.
It made the end of the game too hectic for me. I think we'll look for another place to eat next week, perhaps the Country Buffet. Anyone interested in joining us for supper there or at another venue of your choice would be enjoyed.
As a result of the rush I don't have everyone's scores, but some players must have donated to Peter's $70 win, including me. I lost $20. Very few playable hands for me. I think Ed suffered hard this week.
I took him in one hand where I flopped trip sevens, slow played in early position, called Ed's bets until the river where I check raised him with an all-in (not much left of my chips at that point) after it gave me a full house. Since I showed no strength, he was understandably surprised.
I am sorry for the confusion on high hand payouts Greg. I'm going to just pay out of my pocket and not have the little piles. I'll collect and pocket the money at the beginning, do the math a to how many players are in, keep record of the players, and then count the money out of my wallet in front of the winner.
Much easier with less chance of confusion.
I did count three times, one dollar at a time, but if you did lose a buck or two, just think of it as your donation to the new playing cards.
Greg won the high hand with kings full of jacks.
Jim took the Aces cracked, his trip Aces beat by a straight.
Dewey caught quad sevens after 4 PM.
Just a review on the rules of the two bonuses. We play the high hand until 4PM each day unless we have a table of folks all staying until a later time who agree to extend the bonus. Then it can be extended, but the extension for that bonus needs to be made before the cards are dealt. Folks arriving late or leaving earlier than 4 PM do suffer some reduction in odds to hit it. If you hold the high hand and have to leave before 4 PM, I'll pay you the following week if that hand holds up until 4 PM, but if someone beats it before 4 PM, you lose.
Aces cracked is very different. If it is not hit and anyone leaves, s/he gets a dollar back on the way out. It can be extended for as long as the game lasts.
Also, once it is hit, we can start a new Aces cracked bonus if anyone is interested. Charlie asked about that. I'm happy to restart it because I hate the heavy losses of Aces cracked.
Both high hand and Aces Cracked are totally optional and no one needs to participate. Not even any peer pressure on those, Just a bit of a fun side bet.
Ezzy would have won high both high hand awards again after his two week in a row victory. However, the good hands that would have qualified for the $$$ Ezzy overbet to push out the straddle and double straddle, and so they were not given the chance to develop.
Jerry "Goat" Silver. SILVER!!! was fondly remember for the shake of his head as he folded and his mournful, "What a shame!"
Oh, if there are any Elvis lovers out there who would like some old calendars or an old Elvis era photo, Greg has them in the sale section of SOS. Email him for price and have him save them for you.
See you all next week.
Gail, we all expect you.
Great seeing you again Chuckmonk. Try to keep your family from visiting, so they don't preclude the truly important things in your life. Or bring them along.
Jay.....you fink......
Please respond to this newsletter using the reply-all function. It is meant to be discussion, not lecture.
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