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Deadly Attack

Wed Apr 22, 2009 (Chess) Comments

Positional struggles that lead into endgames with slightly unbalanced material have their own appeal. But it's the attack that appeals most to beginning players.

I played this blitz game online the other day. I slowly marshalled my forces then launched a deadly attack against the enemy king. Very satisfying.

chesstao versus Erik

After 23 Rb1

Replay Game

She's Nineteen Years Old

Tue Apr 21, 2009 (Music) Comments

Muddy Waters is the man.

I ask her where she's going.
She tells me where she's been.
She start a conversation that don't have no end.

She's nineteen years old.
Got ways just like a baby child.
Nothing I can do to please her,
To make this young woman feel satisfied.

Daily Minutia

Tue Apr 21, 2009 Comments

Elaine mocks the entire premise of the Seinfeld show.

"I can't spend the rest of my life coming into this stinking apartment every ten minutes to pour over the excruciating minutia of every single daily event."

So funny!

Alien Abduction

Tue Apr 21, 2009 (Seinfeld / Curb) Comments

I love this non sequitur from Seinfeld.

Jerry: Alright, how about this one. Let's say you're abducted by aliens. They haul you aboard the mother ship, take you back to their planet as a curiosity. Now, would you rather be in their zoo or their circus?

George: I gotta go zoo. I feel like I could set more of my own schedule.

Jerry: But in the circus you get to ride around on the train. See the whole planet.

George: I'm wearing a little hat. I'm jumping through fire. I'm putting little alien heads in my mouth. Nah.

Jerry: At least it's show business.

George: But in the zoo, you know, they might put a woman in there with me to uh... you know, get me to mate.

Jerry: What if she's got no interest in you?

George: Then I'm pretty much where I am right now. At least I got to take a ride on a spaceship.

Blitz'n The Weak

Mon Apr 06, 2009 (Chess) Comments

I managed to figure out how to play against the Chess Master 10 engine in the Fritz GUI. It wasn't easy. But the struggle to resolve all the technical complications was worth the effort because the Fritz GUI is so much slicker than the Chess Master GUI. Plus, the Chess Master engine is a much better fit for a novice player. It comes with many personalities of varying strength (each with their own opening book) and it allows the user to create custom personalities. Piece value, center control, mobility, king safety, and other factors can be adjusted. I have not come across a chess engine that is as flexible as the Chess Master engine.

Once I got Chess Master running in Fritz, I played a fun blitz game against a weak opponent. Afterwards, I examined the game with a strong chess engine (Rybka) and annotated the game, noting my mistakes. I figure that spending time to annotate a game is just as valuable as playing a game, so far as it helps me improve my chess skills.

Erik versus CM10 / Duke

After 20... d3

Replay Game

March Poker Report

Fri Apr 03, 2009 (Poker) Comments

March was a tale of two games. I played a lot of low limit, large tournaments. I went deep in almost every tournament I played. I felt like I made very few mistakes. However I did not cash, not even once. It was frustrating to play so well and have nothing to show for it.

I played one cash game at the end of the month. Over two hours at a loose table I made $56.04. All told I lost $4.52 for the month of March.

I lost $60.56 in 26 tournaments.
I won $56.04 in 1 session at a cash table.
I experimented with Omaha 8. I played 6 single table tournaments but only cashed once for a net loss of $4.40.

My play at the cash table was solid. I played a higher percentage of hands this month because I played at a 6-max table instead of full ring (9 players).

214 hands
VP$IP = 34.58%
PRF = 22.90%
W$SD = 62.50%
AF = 3.14
AFq = 54.32%
BB/100 = 130.93

My balance sheet is healthy.

$248.20

52%

52.33

32%

$151.68

Balance

Investment*

Finish

Hours

In the $

$51.68

Profit

$6.07

Max cash game & single table tourny buy in

21%

ROI†

$3.03

Max multi-table tourny buy in

$0.99

Hourly Wage

* = Sum of all tourny and cash game buy-ins.
† = Profit ÷ Investment

Double Barrel Gutshot And A Flush Draw

Sun Mar 29, 2009 (Poker) Comments

I made a loose call on the flop and it worked out for me. Actually I shoved my stack rather than flat called. I would have been pot committed on the turn and I figured there was a chance that my opponent would fold if a spade came, so it was better to get my money in on the flop.

Show Hand Hide Hand

My opponent berated my play for the next few hands. I said nothing. It wasn't as terrible a play as he thought. With a double barrel gutshot straight draw plus a flush draw plus other unlikely scenarios I had a 40% chance of winning the pot. That's a 1.5 to 1 dog (60% to 40%). By betting the pot he offered me 2 to 1 odds. So actually my play was not loose. I was correct to shove all in because the pot offered me better odds than my draw.

Complicating the analysis, there was one player yet to act. Now, I couldn't calculate all this in real time, but I've looked into how the third player affected my implied odds. I'm drawing to a straight or a flush. Let's ignore unlikely scenarios like me hitting runner-runner cards for a better set than my opponents. If I assume both opponents hit sets on the flop, then I need to calculate two scenarios. 1) I complete my straight or flush. 2) The board pairs, making a full house or four of a kind for my opponents and counterfeiting my straight or flush. On the turn...

52 cards in the deck.
I know my cards (2), the flop (3), and assuming my opponents have sets, I know their cards (4).
That leaves 43 unknown cards.
I need an eight (4) or a queen (4) or any spade (9) to complete my hand.
15 of 43 cards give me the best hand. (I can't count the eight of spades and queen of spades twice.)

On the turn I have a 35% chance to improve to the best hand. On the river...

42 cards are unknown.
4 distinct cards are on the board.
2 cards in the deck make a four of a kind for one of my opponents.
6 cards in the deck pair the board, making a full house for both my opponents.
8 of 42 cards counterfeit my hand.
19% of the cards counterfeit. 81% do not.

To win the hand I must make a straight or flush (35%) and avoid counterfeiting (81%). 35% x 81% = 28% chance to win the hand. 28% = 2.5 to 1 against (72% to 28%).

If the player behind me had called my all in bet, there would have been $92.13 in the pot instead of $65.55. I'd have a 2.5 to 1 chance of winning a pot that offered me 3.5 to 1 odds ($92.13 / $26.58). These odds are slightly more favorable to me than heads up against a single opponent.

Analysis shows that I played the hand correctly. My opponent was steaming and none the wiser about what had transpired. Exactly the state of mind I'd like to play against. Poker, after all, is just a math test. Calm and analytical wins against mad and ignorant.

A Game of Patience

Tue Mar 24, 2009 (Poker) Comments

Poker is a game of patience. But sometimes even my fairly deep reserve of patience is tested.

I have been playing a number of $2 or $3, 180+ player tournaments lately. I figure it makes sense for me to play these large, cheap tournaments because there's so much dead money in the prize pool and I have an advantage, knowing a thing or two about positional play, bet sizing, and hand versus pot odds.

Here's a hand from a 180 player $2 tournament at Full Tilt- where the top 18 players are paid. At this stage, 43 players remain and my stack ranked somewhere around 30th best.

I believe that, had I won this hand, I would have been in contention to win the tournament. As it turned out, I got eaten alive by a big stack luckbox. He had been pushing players around at my table and I thought I had succeeded in trapping him overplaying top pair or two pair.

Show Hand Hide Hand