Taking a risk

I was playing poker against a guy with the user name of CalQl8tedrisk. I went all in after the flop, needing an ace for a straight, and a high pair if I missed the straight. He called, I caught the ace on the river, and then he said I was damned lucky. With a name like his, you think that sort of bet would be right up his river.

Sony Warranty

As I was growing up, I always wanted to buy Sony equipment. It looked cool, that smooth casing with SONY written across the middle, it oozed quality, I always felt that buying Sony meant you were buying the best. Of course, I had to settle for Amstrad, Saisho, Matsui - my budget would never stretch to Sony. I still linger longingly in the electrical stores as I pass the latest Sony widescreen TV, but I am still buying the cheap stuff.

Over at Nickerblog, Shane Nickerson is someone who could afford to buy Sony, but is now having serious difficulty in getting them to cough up for replacing a damaged screen on a camera under warranty. Apparently it is physical damage, which isn't covered by the warranty. I had a similar problem with a Siemens mobile phone in the past, picked it up one day, screen was cracked. It hadn't been dropped, sat on or abused in any way, but I had no luck in getting it fixed. These companies just don't seem to get that a screen can break because of a fault that was there all the time, a small crack, imperfections in construction etc. I hope Shane gets somewhere with this one.

Land of Hope and Glory

What a weekend of sport - I can't remember so much success in the space of two days - England beat Australia at rugby union, Great Britain beat New Zealand at rugby league, England beat Argentina at Football, and Pakistan have thrown away a strong position in the first cricket test. Finally, Nigel Mansell wins the inaugaral Masters Grand Prix in South Africa!

Change of Style

I've been finding the low stakes Hold'em cash games really frustrating. Because of the low values involved, people don't seem to play sensibly. They're seeing the flop with 29o, raising and calling with nothing. It's incredibly difficult to read what they've got. So now I'm only playing the best hands, KK, AA, AK I'll raise preflop, and hit them hard after the flop. 77, 88, 99 etc I'll limp in, likewise with suited connectors. Anything else I fold. Its already paying dividends. I trippled my starting moneylast night, and doubled it today. I've just got to resist the temptation to play more hands when I've built up some money.

Eights

I just had a dream poker hand.

Nothing special to start of with - 78 suited. I limp in from seat 5, along with 4 others.

The flop comes 8 8 8. Oh my God, I've got 4 of a kind. What do I do now? If I raise, everyone else will fold. Then the incredible happens, UTG raises. Only half the pot, but its a start. I assume he's got a full house. I smooth call, SB and BB both call. Guy to my left folds.

The turn is a queen, SB make a pot sized raise. Great! I assume thats another full house. I go over the top, BB folds, SB calls.

River is 2s, SB bets again, nearly half his stack. Enough messing around, I put him all-in. He calls! I show my 4 eights, he mucks.

The last time I had 4 of a kind, all I got was the blinds. Not that I did anything clever this time, I was just helped by someone else raising for me. The luck didn't hold though, I got cocky and ran a set into a full house, losing just under half my stack. Oh well, that will teach me some restraint (I hope).

A refreshing holiday

Aren't kids exhausting? We've just come back from a week in sunny Grange-Over-Sands, staying in a beautiful bungalow, looking out of the lounge window at a fabulous view, and I'm knackered.

On holiday the kids seem to live at a fever pitch. Everything is at full volume, everything has to be done NOW!. The weather wasn't too great so they spent most of the time inside. Not to be recommended. Two 6 year olds in a confined space for a week is not good.

We did manage to get out on Friday. Visited Grasmere with some friends. two families, both with kids under two years old. However, it started pouring down when we were there, so were forced to take refuge in a coffee shop. A very nice coffee shop I must say (Sara's Cafe/Bistro, number 32 on this map), but again, a confined space, now with 4 children.

One latte later, we departed, and set off down the side of Lake Windermere to the National Park Visitors Centre at Brockhole. It has an adventure playground, so it is an ideal place to let my two let off some steam.

Saturday morning started out wet, but by 10 it had brightened up, so I dragged the children out for a walk. We went up Hampsfell setting out from grid reference SD411785. You can see all of the route on this map. We walked up from the road to the viewpoint on the top, along to Fell End, and back down into Grange. I'll try and stick some photos on later. The view of the Lyth Valley and the Morecambe Bay is great.