Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Blogger Beta

I've just updated to the new Blogger beta. At first glance it seems to make customizing the blog much easier, with sections able to be dragged around to re-order them. However, I am having trouble with the comments section (not that I get many) as my Haloscan code has been wiped out by the new template, and at the moment HTML editing is not available, so I can't recreate it.

EDIT: Got the Blogger comments working, there is now a separate setting in the Posts section of the layout, as well as the global setting.

Friday, August 11, 2006

That little voice...

You ever play a hand, and that little voice in the back of your head is saying to you - "He's got the Ace, fold" but you ignore it, and call him down to the river, and he's got the ace? Well thats what I did today, and it cost me.

Climbing the Slippery Slope

After a modicum of success playing short handed on Pokerstars, I have decided to move up, to the dizzy heights of 0.05/0.10 NL Hold'em! I'm back to playing full tables again, and have , in the last 3 days, managed to turn $20 into $50, and had some really enjoyable games at the same time. My recent record in SNGs now sits at 1st, 17, 1st, 16th. To be honest, my heart wasn't really in the last one, but it got me the one FPP I needed to get my bonus.

I've been giving Pokertracker a try this week, and it's been quite useful. It has shown that my BB wins per hundred hands is still the same at the higher level as it was at the lower ones, so I don't appear to be out of my depth yet.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Turbo Charged

Maybe I do like Turbo after all. Played 3, won 2 (busted out 17 out of 18 in the other, making a stupid call). I seemed to find the right tight-aggressive balance, gained some fold credit, stole some blinds and went all in with the right cards (and of course got the luck at the right time).

Here's the last hand - 3 of us left, blinds 400/800, I'm on the button with 15000, SB has 10000, short stack sitting out and put all in by posting big blind. I'm dealt Ac 8h, and go all in, SB calls, and shows Ad 7h. Then a flop that puts me in the lead, but puts SB on a straight draw, 5c 4c 8s. Turn increases my lead, 8d. Prayed that there was no 6 on the river; no, its Kh, so a set for me, and I take the game.

I think the fewer players there are, the weaker my game is, so I'm pleased to have won these two. Maybe I should play some short handed tables to improve in that area.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Vive la France??

Just got back from a family holiday in France, and I have slightly revised my opinion of the French. It seems they are not all totally arrogant. Most of them that I have met have been polite, helpful, and tolerant of my meagre French (perhaps because their English is equally meagre!). Most notably, we got on very well with the family camping on the next pitch, each of us getting by with a mixture of English and French, and I think all of us improving their understanding of the others' language as we went along. This Entente Cordiale culminated in a game of Boules on the final night, which the French obviously take very seriously.

What really astonished me was the price of wine. I could buy a perfectly reasonable Corbierre for just over €1. I've brought 20 bottles of various wines back with me, at a total cost of around £20!.