Archive for March, 2010

Today’s the last day of March and the last chance for you to help out the Boston Debate League in its March for Goodness competition. This is an organization that’s near and dear to my heart, and if you’ve enjoyed and/or profited from this blog, a $10 donation is a great way to say thank you. If we secure the most distinct donors of $10 or more, we stand to win $10,000!

Please donate here, right now!

I’ve got another story for you today about the power of debate, this one actually from a similar organization that I worked with in Chicago before I founded the Boston Debate League. I was a junior at the University of Chicago: white, reasonably well-off, over-educated, and sheltered. I grew up in a solidly white, middle-class suburb of Baltimore and, aside from a few summers working at a 7-11 and a year of volunteering in the Chicago Debate League, I had very little experience interacting with people from backgrounds different than my own.

I’d just gotten a job as an assistant coach in the CDL and had been assigned to Orr Academy, an under-performing (to put it mildly) high school in Chicago’s Harlem. As the name suggests, the neighborhood was virtually all black (the only white person I ever saw on the streets there was selling pornographic DVD’s out of a briefcase) and economically depressed.  Read the complete post...

I don’t necessarily call here vs. randoms, but these two were both red pros and knowledgeable tournament players (Jon Turner and Mandy B). Against the, it’s a mandatory snap-call. Jon isn’t the wildest player in the world, but he has to be on at least 60% of his hands here, quite possibly a lot more. Mandy is going to read that range accurately enough to call at least 20%, and AJ is way ahead of both of those ranges.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t9720)
Button (t6369)
SB (t8366)
BB (t4058)
UTG (t16047)
UTG+1 (t13681)
MP1 (t7540)
MP2 (t10121)
Hero (MP3) (t21091)

Hero’s M: 20.09

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with J♣, A♦
7 folds, Jon Turner raises to t2596 (All-In), MP2 calls t2596, Hero raises to t3291 (All-In), 1 fold, MP2 calls t695

Flop: (t12917) 7♣, 2♣, 5♣ (6 players, 8 all-in)

Turn: (t13857) 6♦ (9 players, 13 all-in)

River: (t14737) 9♦ (8 players, 15 all-in)

Total pot: t14737

Results:

MP2 had 10♠, J♠ (high card, Jack).

CO shows K♦, Q♣

The girlfriend and I were driving yesterday from White River Junction, Vermont to Burlington, and is par for the course for us, we consulted the GoogleMaps application on her Blackberry for directions. To our pleasant surprise, Google actually suggested a route consisting of small highways and county roads rather than the few major interstates that criss-cross Vermont. Like most people, we’re always torn between the faster highways and the more interesting/scenic byways, so we were glad to see that latter actually seemed to be the faster and more efficient route in this case.

Quick aside regarding White River Junction, which you probably haven’t heard of: it’s a small town just over the Vermont/New Hampshire border, near Dartmouth College. Hanover, New Hampshire, the town in which Dartmouth is actually located, was surprisingly boring. There were about two “downtown” blocks of shops, mostly chain stores and clothing retailers, with a few bland-looking restaurants and one pretty good independent bookstore (the official Dartmouth bookstore, like that of most major universities, is operated by Barnes and Noble).  Read the complete post...

Yesterday, I posted a hand where I paid a price for not blatantly jamming a big draw and discussed some of the pros and cons of playing big draws this way. Another reason not to go for the last bet when you have a big draw is when you believe your opponent will get the money in with a dominated draw if you give him the illusion of fold equity. Thus, I’m very happy to raise the nut flush draw in this spot and get the money in on the flop. Or, as happens here, to snap him off on the river:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Button ($1106)
SB ($1413)
BB ($1030)
UTG ($1383)
MP ($1015)
Hero (CO) ($1000)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 2♦, A♦
2 folds, Hero bets $30, Button calls $30, SB calls $25, 1 fold

Flop: ($100) 5♣, K♦, 8♦ (3 players)
SB bets $40, Hero raises to $120, 1 fold, SB calls $80

Turn: ($340) Q♣ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($340) 2♠ (2 players)
SB bets $250, Hero calls $250

Total pot: $840 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had 7♦, J♦ (high card, King).
Hero had 2♦, A♦ (one pair, twos).

Outcome: Hero won $837

A lot of players make too much of the idea that when you have a draw that you’re willing to get all in with, you’d prefer to make the final bet yourself. This is true when better hands will fold, but often people make huge shoves that make it pretty transparent they are on a draw, in which case no one folds anything to them. I prefer to make more reasonable raises with a balanced raise, which I think is generally better. Of course, if you accidentally convince someone that they can shove on you with a better hand that would have folded to a shove, then you’re going to wish you’d just shoved yourself.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($2218)
BB ($1135.80)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q♦, K♠
Hero bets $30, BB raises to $110, Hero calls $80

Flop: ($220) J♠, 10♣, 6♠ (2 players)
BB bets $150, Hero raises to $408, BB raises to $1025.80 (All-In), Hero calls $617.80

Turn: ($2271.60) 4♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($2271.60) K♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $2271.60 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero had Q♦, K♠ (one pair, Kings).
BB had 3♥, A♠ (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $2271.10

Hopefully these new suit characters will solve the problem of people not being able to see suits at work (pun):

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (2 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($1799.75)
Hero (SB) ($2339)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 2♦, 4♦
Hero bets $30, BB calls $20

Flop: ($60) 4♥, 7♥, 10♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $44, BB calls $44

Turn: ($148) 3♥ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $111, BB calls $111

River: ($370) J♥ (2 players)
BB bets $260, Hero raises to $1150, 1 fold

Total pot: $890 | Rake: $0.50

Results:
Hero didn’t show 2♦, 4♦ (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $889.50

This was kind of a gameflow thing, but I’d been playing pretty aggressively in position, lots of triple barrel bluffs and thin value bets. This is just a spot where I can be expected to bet a lot, and it didn’t make sense that Villain would randomly take the lead if he actually had the nuts. It’s a perfect spot for a check-raise. My guess is he’s either blocking/value betting or turning something into a bluff, but in any event my pair of 4′s is no good.

The Wired Game|Life blog featured today a unique indie game in the early stages of development. Chris Hecker’s SpyParty is

an asymmetrical multiplayer game: One player mingles among computer-controlled party guests, attempting to perform sly feats of espionage. The other player watches the action from afar through the sight of a sniper rifle, hoping to pick out the human spy from a roomful of robots, then assassinate him.

When the laser focuses on you, the tension is intense. And the relief, when the beam swings away, is powerful. But if you’re playing in the same room as your opponent, you can’t sigh or show relief, or you’ll reveal your hand. Hecker says he’s seen players fake button presses to fool opponents.

Big thank you to everyone who’s contributed to the Boston Debate League so far to help us get more unique donors for our “March Goodness” competition (details here). If you enjoy reading this blog, and especially if you feel like it has helped to make you money, please donate to the Boston Debate League using this link. With as little as $10, you will make my day and contribute to an incredibly valuable program for young people who badly need and deserve such opportunities.

I want to share with you the story of one of the first BDL students to really make an impression on me. “Angela’s” school didn’t join the League until her senior year, so she only had one year to compete, but she really tore it up. She steamrolled the Novice division in her first tournament, won first prize, and immediately moved up into the Varsity division. She won two tournaments in the Varsity division that year and ended up taking second place in the City Championships.  Read the complete post...