Poker Perambulation

or value anything or anyone. At least that is how it sometimes seems. You can’t be so negative and prosper. But you can select situations and learn along the way. So, today is a rant about that crapped out laptop and crap tables. What does it boil down to?  ALSO a bit of poker and some UIGEA stuff

	Hello Ken Prevo,The items listed below have been added or updated on the Toshiba Support Website in the past week for the models to which you subscribe:Support Bulletins: Satellite A210 and P200D, Satellite Pro A210: Computer locks up, display goes blank Model: Satellite A215-S7416 You are receiving this message because you subscribed to receive Support Updates from Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. If you would like to be removed from future email broadcasts, please visit the Support Updates page on the Toshiba America Support Website.

I just got this email. Remember the horror story of my trying to get service for my broken Toshiba? I not only got this – a bios update – but, since it died I have gotten two other bios updates for the same problem. You can view the info about that serial number by clicking on the above link.

If you look at it you will see that each one solves the same problems. Do you think the third time will be the charm? I don’t care for the odds here.

Shared wisdom says the Japanese are superior at engineering these days. Bigger and better than the U.S. Donks. You might see why they’d do their own BIOS. BIOS problems were rampant when IBM introduced the PC. There were horror stories galore. Today, it isn’t a problem. Folks like Phoenix provide the industry with a stable product. My Dell has never needed a BIOS update. BIOS updates are iffy things; you can kill a computer if all the I’s aren’t dotted and the T’s crossed.

In a couple of months Toshiba released three of the darn things. So much for Japanese engineering.

If you’ve followed the horror story, I thought I’d solved it with the host of folks involved but I just may end up with two laptops before it is over. So, if that plays out what do I do? I need to dump the dog and I can’t in good conscience pawn it off on the next sucker without full disclosure which should mean pennies on the dollar being recovered.

*********

There are some tables that the risk:reward is all out of proportion. You might do great but there also lurks the dark side.

Seat 6: ennis7legend mucked [Ad 6s 6h Td Ts 2d Qd]

Seat 7: Iambrian showed [2h Ac 4h 2s 5d 3s Qc] and lost with a straight, Ace to Five

Seat 8: probizy showed [8c Jc Kc 5s 9d 3c 7c] and won ($22.65) with a flush, King high

I guess birds of a feather do flock together. The hand started with the bring in and a raise and another. We had the 6 bet/raise at ever opportunity – including the river. There were 5 at the river. The top two hands were made on the river with nothing but what they were seeking having potential to make them money. The 7 seat actually raised the 6’s bet with ol’ 8 popping it one more time with a better that was strong and had a pair up. You have to respect pairs as indicators of possible full house hands.

Of the players at the table, 3 had called every door. Another 3 had VP$IP’d 2 out of three. I played one of those silly raising wars with having along the way: 2 pair, a straight draw and backdoor flush that all missed. You invest too much in such a hand and such a table. The clown with 10’s up that bet or raised every street was actually ahead until getting double rivered.

Not only is playing such a table dangerous but it attracts poorer play by better players. You lose respect for your opponent and think those middle hands will work against them. I have to admit to falling into that trap at times. Sometimes your 9’s up prevail; but you might as well bet 00 at the roulette wheel.

ADDENDUM:

The last few days around here have talked at or around respect. Whether it is poker, Walgreen’s, Walmart, or Toshiba, respect is not a common currency. And they are all -EV for those involved. Yeah, LV tourist are there for some fun and bluffing can be fun. But, that is three or four days out of the year. What is sad is where companies and people are -EV 24/365.

———–

Speaking of things that suck, The Poker Enthusiast had one of those truly life affecting periods. Adversity either makes things stronger or causes real agony. If there is a happy part of that, it seems he got the stronger card.

———–

In the banker’s world, the good ones are belt and suspender types; the bad ones evidently go to work for Countrywide. The good ones are up in arms — finally — over the UIGEA’s draconian requirements on their business. These guys are pretty anal guys and love binary decisions. The UIGEA is an enigma wrapped in confusion. They can’t do business with gambling sites but 2nd parties and gray areas abound. What’s a poor banker (oxymoron) to do? Evidently, scream at their elected officials who know they aren’t poor. Nor are they reticent about the matter: “We believe that UIGEA will in the end catch more banks in a compliance trap and do greater damage to the competitiveness of the American payments system, than it will stop gambling enterprises from profiting on illegal wagering.”

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Journal, Off Topic, Other poker, poker legislation. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.