Learning NL Holdem

In my poker career, I've primarily been a limit player, with no-limit sit and go and no limit tournament play as well. I've dabbled in no limit cash play, but it is quite a departure from tournament strategy (at least my tournament strategy) that it never particularly interested me in taking up. But after a recent run of playing limit a month or two ago, the mechanical nature of the game, and the lack of creativity started to get on my nerves. After a few recent trips to the casino, a trip to Vegas, as well as discussing the game with Sonny and his recent run of success at No Limit, it has become clear to me that no-limit is where the money is. Limit seems to be a dying game online as well as in the casino.

My take on limit is that you try to capitalize on mistakes, or make your opponent make a mistake. The thing is, all of the mistakes are generally small mistakes, and it takes a long time for the "long run" to kick in. In my brief no-limit experience, it's a game of forcing your opponents into making big mistakes. It's also a game of hand reading. The part I enjoy the most is reading the hand an opponent is on, and selecting a bet size or line of play that makes my opponent do what I want him to do (whether it be call, raise, or fold). It's a game of minimizing your losses, and not getting carried away with one pair hands. Pocket aces are the best hand, but can be quite weak after the flop if facing a big bet or raise, as it doesn't have a lot of room to improve.

The area that I needed the most improvement right off the bat was recognizing that these one pair hands are not very strong after the flop facing resistance. Same goes for top pair (whether it be with top kicker or good kicker). That change is something I have done for the most part, but is still a potential leak that must be fought, especially considering my limit or SNG background.

The other main thing that I need to work on is blind defense...as in not doing it with marginal hands. In limit holdem stealing blinds is an integral part of the game, but in no-limit the blinds are so small relative to your stack size (sometimes less than 1% of your stack) that it is hardly worth chasing.

A few weeks ago I jumped into Pokerstars playing the 1/2 NL game (max buy-in of $200). I am actually amazed at how much can be won at this game. I am averaging over $50/hour, playing only two tables at a time. Granted this is a small sample size, but with proper game selection, and good play I think a rate close to this is attainable.

The plan right now is to get at least 10K hands in at 1/2, then move up to 2/4 (assuming my bankroll has increased nicely as a result of this). Following the change, I will stay at that level for 10K hands. Some of these numbers may change as I grow more comfortable with the style and amount of money, but I will set a minimum of 5K hands at the level before I move on to the next level.

Ruby on Third review

A week and a half ago I had a strong desire to celebrate my big Vegas weekend with a nice steak dinner. So on Friday I decided to call the Brown Derby, in downtown Detroit at MGM Casino. It turns out that a new restaurant called "Ruby on Third" is now in it's place. The person that took my reservation assured me that they were a 5-star steakhouse, and since all I really care about is the food, it could have been called "Dog Shit on a stick" and I might have gone being promised a good steak.

The restaurant is on the 3rd floor of MGM, and as you wind through the maze of obnoxious slot machines, you enter the restaurant, which is like walking into a different dimension compared to the chaos of a casino.

Immediately after sitting down I could tell I was in for a different type of dining experience. First, the server brought warm wet washclothes to wipe our hands off with, while this in itself isn't new to me, it was a nice touch. Then the server offered me my choice of napkin color (black or brown). I'm not sure the significance of this, nor do I care (I selected black). Strangely red was not a choice, despite the overall red decor of the restaurant and the red in the title.

The menu was short, but most of the items sounded excellent. Victoria selected the Filet (cooked medium well), with some kind of potato and leeks (neither of us had any idea what it was, and she was in a gambling mood). Maybe she can chime in as to what exactly the leek was, and what kind of potato she got. I chose the surf and turf, which was a filet (cooked medium) with a lobster tail, along with a baked potato. We also split a caesar salad. We also started with an adult beverage. I got a spicy bloody mary, which was delicious. I wish I knew which mix they used for it. Victoria got a strawberry daiquiri.

The salad was excellent, though hardly worth $8, with just the right amount of dressing. We had two different types of bread, one with poppy seeds, one without. Both were good, but the one without was the best.

We were both very hungry, and everytime the door from the kitchen swung open we were teased by the false hope that our entrees were on the way. Finally, they arrived. Everything looked excellent, and the steak actually tasted far better than it looked. It was prepared perfectly. Quite honestly one of the best steaks I've had in a few years. The lobster was also quite succulent. After all of that I had very little need to eat my baked potato, which was merely good by comparison.

Victoria's steak was slightly undercooked in the middle (more for me!!!), but was also very good. Her's came with a sauce on the top that she really liked, but I was kinda meh about it. The leeks were a disappointment to her, but overall the entree's were excellent.

Neither of us had any room for dessert, so the meal closed with more warm wet washclothes, and some chocolate covered strawberries with our bill. Overall the tab was $125 with tip, which wasn't that bad considering how great the meal was, and that it included one drink.

I definitely would recommend this restaurant to anyone interested in upscale dining.

Sexual predators

Lately I've taken a real liking to watching "Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator". I've even went as far as to add Dateline to my DVR so I don't miss an episode of it, even though it's the same thing over and over.

On that same note, I heard something on the news about Ohio looking to identify sexual predators of children with flourescent green license plates. As much as I hate child molestors, this just doesn't make sense to me. I've heard arguments that if they drive to the park, you can see if they drove to the park by looking at their license plate...but what if they walked???? I live near a few parks/playgrounds that can easily be walked to.

I think a better solution would be a tattoo right on their forehead, so that wherever they go, people can see who/what they are. But then again, what if they are wearing a very wide headband, or a hat with the bill pulled way down???

I am making light of this in order to show just how ridiculous this idea is. It seems to fall under cruel and unusual punishment, as well as punishing someone twice for their crime (as most of the time they will serve some sort of jail sentence). Can you imagine the ridicule/danger a sex offender could be in if a group of people decided to be vigilantes????

There's also a big difference between different types of sexual predators. There is the middle aged man chasing 13 year old tail, and then there is the 15 year old guy who gets charged with statuatory rape for having sex with his 14 year old girlfriend. Do we treat all of these the same?

Besides, does the system really work as it is now? They have to report that they are convicted sex offenders, and you can see their names on the internet now. But does that stop people? I'm sure that there is a high number of repeat offenders.

If they really want to get tough on this, they need to change the punishment. Hit these monsters where it will hurt. Castrate them in a very painful way (like unleasing a hungry wolf on their genitals). I guarantee you that this would start to have an immediate effect.

IKEA trip report

I finally made the trip to IKEA in Canton this Sunday, after avoiding it for the several months that it has been opened. Something about going there just didn't seem very fun in my mind, after reading about people camping out for several nights just to be the first people to get into the store when it opened. My thinking is that anything with that much hype is bound to be incredibly disappointing.

I generally make a point to try to avoid the Ford Rd and I-275 area altogether, as it is a mess of overbuilding and congestion, and can take 10-15 minutes just to get through it if the traffic is bad. But Victoria wanted to go to look for pictures for Abby's bedroom, so the 3 of us got in the car and made the drive. Since it was 11am on a Sunday, I figured the area wouldn't be too horrible, but wasn't sure what to expect for the store itself.

If anyone doesn't know what IKEA is, they basically have everything, from kitchen and
bedroom stuff to full fledged furniture. Most of the furniture is less expensive, but requires assembly (why anyone would want to spend 8+ hours assembling a couch/futon to save $100 is beyond me).

As we arrived, my annoyance level increased with the idiocy that is the parking lot. We did find a spot without much effort about 1/2 mile from the entrance, which was fine considering the 25 degree temperature with matching wind. Upon entering the store, there is an area where parents can drop off their kids while they shop. I opted to keep Abby with me. As you enter you are immediately whisked upstairs. We got upstairs and then went right back down into a mess of people into the kitchen area. There was actually a lot of worthwile items. I picked up a kitchen knife set for $2.99 (!!!) and 6 wine glasses for the first time I decide to have people over to drink win for like $5.

The rest of the trip is a blur. The store forces you to trek through all of the items to get to the checkout. There are stregically placed shortcuts, which are damn near inaccessible if you have a cart (I did). We also had to make a trip to the bathroom for Abby, which led us completely across the store, and then all the way back to the beginning for an item that we missed. When all was said and done, I was hungry, tired, sore and annoyed.

After checking out, I had spent about $20, on the above mentioned items, as well as some pictures and frames for Abby's room, 2 toilet brushes, and a silverware tray. Afterwards I commented that it was amazing how little I had spent on those items, but I also commented that I would have rather spent twice that then have to deal with that mess.

Basically I strongly recommend the store if you can get there when there is nobody there or in the area. Since that is very unlikely to happen, I recommend avoiding it unless you enjoy dealing with massive throngs of people walking around aimlessly or standing in the middle of aisles.