Posted by Johnnymac 11:00 AM
As I have no other forum other than this blog to reveal my opinions to the world - and that's not saying much given the site traffic analytics I have seen - I feel compelled to say this in this space:

THIS IS NOT A 'MAN'

I don't care what you call yourself. I don't care if you have facial hair. I don't care if you are as butch as Batman, Teenwolf, and Matthew McConaughey all rolled into one... If you have ovaries and a womb and all the other body parts necessary to carry a child to term and give birth, even by c-section, then you are a woman. A woman who happens to have a hairy face and a really screwed up opinion of yourself, but a woman nonetheless. Thank you and good bye and please tell Oprah I would be happy to share my - and, I suspect, the vast majority of people in this country's - opinion on the subject anytime she wants. I'll even jump on the couch. Cheers.


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Posted by Dr Fro 3:34 PM

_Texas Hold 'em (1995): Poker in which each player is dealt two cards face down and all players share five cards dealt face-up.

I finally feel legitimized.

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Posted by Dr Fro 2:15 PM

To: Dr. Fro
cc: ARH
From: Vlad
Subject: 21

Watched the 21 movie tonight. I guess the Vegas scenes were cool, but overall I thought the movie bombed and didn't even portray the counting schemes even close to correctly. Tyra suggested that I was taking it too literally.....

Watched Semi-Pro the other night -- AWESOME!


To: Vlad
cc: ARH
From: Dr Fro
Subject: Re: 21


Very few people in gambling circles, very few people who read the book and very few people associated with the actual MIT students thought the movie came any where close to reality. A handful of criticisms:

- the protagonist in real life was Asian. So were almost all of the other counters. They were Anglicized for the movie.
- the card counting schemes are too simplified. You don't just get to a count and bump your bet. That is part of it. The harder part is that the strategy tables change as the count changes. You make different hit/stay/double decisions.
- the story about med school was manufactured for the movie.
- the story arc involving him losing his discipline and all that money was largely manufactured to Hollywood up the movie.
- the riddle told in the classroom (an all time favorite of mine) was not told correctly. The omission of a key fact (that the game show host knows which is the winning door and will never open this door) fundamentally changes the riddle, the answer to the riddle and the lesson to be learned from the riddle. Then they chalk it up to some highbrow sounding theory, when it is actually simple math.

DF

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Posted by Dr Fro 1:58 PM

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Posted by Dr Fro 3:00 PM

From the Mailbox, with my comments in red.

From: D. McNabb

Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:47 AM

To: Dr. Fro

Subject: Poker Hand

Fro,

An interesting hand at a tournament the other night:

Early in the Tournament, everyone has roughly $3,000 in chips. Blinds are $10-$20. I don’t know anyone at the tournament and how they play. I am under the gun, raise to $60 with AK offsuit. I agree with that. Get 5 callers.

The flop comes 10-3-3 rainbow. For the most part, that is a terrible flop for you with 5 callers. I bet out $200 to see where I stand. I agree with that. For starters, whenever a pair flops and all cards are smallish, it is quite possible that everyone mised the flop entirely. You might win the pot right there. If not, as you said, at least you know where you stand. Middle position player raises to $500. Late Position player calls, I call. You can call or fold. I would fold. You just found out where you stand (in a big pile of sh_t) You can only win by hitting runner-runner or perhaps by hitting one of the 6 outs that would beat a ten. In all situations that you could win (and there aren't many), your opponent (the raiser) likely has re-draws. To make matters worse, the other guy calling along could be hiding in the weeds with a monster. Three players to the turn.

J comes on the turn. I check, middle position bets $500, late position calls, I call. It isn't a terrible call. You've come this far. The worst set of decisions would be to call the flop just to fold the turn. While I would have folded the flop, you are committed to stick around for what could be a great suckout or a great call.

A comes on the river. I bet $500 Since you fear a raise, it is better to check and call than to bet. If he can't beat your two pair, he can't call, so there is no value in betting. There is, however, downside, middle position player calls, late position player raises to $1500. I reluctantly call, leaving me with roughly $400. Again, you came this far, so you need to stick with your plan. But, this is precisely why I would have folded the flop. Middle position player calls.

How would you have played this hand, and what to you think the other players had? See above

I will e-mail you later with their holdings, and where I think I went wrong. I look fwd to it.

D. DF

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Posted by Dr Fro 1:49 PM

I guess I was wrong...GOOD NEWS, we get another season of High Stakes Poker. I heard the River Chief is going to be on Season Five.

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Posted by Dr Fro 3:14 PM

GSN wasn't doing anything with WPT or High Stakes Poker. Well, they sold WPT to Fox. Maybe, just maybe, this means HSP isn't dead after all - maybe they are just shopping it around.

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Posted by Johnnymac 6:51 PM
Obama Releases List of Approved Jokes About Himself

Bid to Help Late Night Comics

Saying he is "sympathetic to late night comedians' struggle to find jokes to make about me," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) today issued a list of official campaign-approved Barack Obama jokes.

The five jokes, which Sen. Obama said he is making available to all comedians free of charge, are as follows:

Barack Obama and a kangaroo pull up to a gas station. The gas station attendant takes one look at the kangaroo and says, "You know, we don't get many kangaroos here." Barack Obama replies, "At these prices, I'm not surprised. That's why we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

A traveling salesman knocks on the door of a farmhouse, and much to his surprise, Barack Obama answers the door. The salesman says, "I was expecting the farmer's daughter." Barack Obama replies, "She's not here. The farm was foreclosed on because of subprime loans that are making a mockery of the American Dream."

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Why the long face?" Barack Obama replies, "His jockey just lost his health insurance, which should be the right of all Americans."

Q: What's black and white and red all over?
Barack Obama: The New Yorker magazine, which should be embarrassed after publishing such a tasteless and offensive cover, which I reject and denounce.

A Christian, a Jew and Barack Obama are in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. Barack Obama says, "This joke isn't going to work because there's no Muslim in this boat."


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Posted by Dr Fro 8:34 AM



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Posted by Dr Fro 9:22 AM
Phooey to the naysayers that believe poker popularity is on the decline. I have discussed here that the WSOP (and in particular, the Main Event) is not the best meter of popularity. This is mainly because the ME attendance drop is due to fewer online qualifications due the legal issues. Well, even if the WSOP were to be the official meter, consider this (from WSOP):

• This is the largest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of 58,720 players entered into 55 gold bracelet events surpassed last year’s number of entries, which was 54,288. These figures represent an 8 percent increase over 2007.
• 
  This was the richest World Series of Poker in history. A grand total of $180,676,248 in prize money awarded in 2008 makes this the richest event in all of sports. Note: This figure does not include the upcoming four events to be played at WSOP-Europe. These figures represent an increase of 13 percent over 2007.

Take that, naysayers!


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Posted by Dr Fro 4:06 PM

Last night, on the last hand of the night, the Poker Brat got bluffed out of a big pot. He threw a tantrum, and as a consequence, he was suspended for one orbit - the first orbit of the day today. Yet, when play started today, there was Phil. Evidently, the suspension was overturned. I wonder why. Hmmmmm. Did I mention that he was at the featured table? Seriously, ESPN couldn't handle 9 whole hands without Phil.

On a related note, Phil is violating the logo rule with his UB shirt, but nobody is enforcing that either.

He does increase ratings, and this is a business, but I do think that rules should be enforced. Trust me, this guy knows all too well what it feels like when another player is given preferential treatment in a tournament.

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Posted by Dr Fro 8:07 PM
The Main Event has been going on for some time, but commenting on it too early is a bit like commenting on who will win the Lotto tonight. Now that we are down to ~100 people, there is plenty to discuss:

• In 8th place is Jim McManus who is of no relation to Jim McManus. The former is from Ireland. The latter wrote one of my favorite books of all time.
• In 20th place is David Benefield. Although he is from Texas, I met him in Nevada. When I did my ~24-hour poker bender at the MGM during the CCM/FRO,Phd. trip, he sat to my left. He was playing $2-$5 NLHE. Evidently, he has really stepped it up since then. Me? I'm still the same - lost in a crowd, looking for the rain in a thundercloud...
• The biggest names toward the top are Victor Ramdin and Allen Cunningham. If AC goes deep, can we tolerate Norman Chad's man-crush on him? Methinks no. Update while I write this, Allen is out of the tournament.
• In 106th place is the man with more WSOP hardware than any man on the planet: Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Say what you want about him, but dude can play some freaking tournament poker.
• Matusow is right behind the Poker Brat. I'll bet on Phil over Matusow any day. ESPN would love to have these two progress in the Main Event.
• Iggy got knocked out and already has 80 comment on his blog.

I so wish I was there.

================================================

I have been concentrating on my .25-.50 HORSE game, and that has been profitable. I have won in 10 of 11 sessions, netting about $50. Maybe I should quit my job. Imagine the high-rolling lifestyle of the dude that can make $50 a month on the computer.

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Posted by Dr Fro 8:45 AM
15/1 was too good to pass up,’ he commented later.

Damn I wish I was a professional gambler and hung out with these guys.


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Posted by Dr Fro 8:35 AM

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Posted by Dr Fro 10:42 AM

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