Games For Money

How to blow a win real good

2005-09-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how to fuck up beating a really good player? I mean, the kind of player who should be a professional?

Just check this out:


Move number 9: X to play 25



    GNU Backgammon  Position ID: d9sIAAn35zAAAA

                    Match ID   : UQn1AEAAKAAA

    +24-23-22-21-20-19------18-17-16-15-14-13-+  O: The Goat

    | O  O  O  O  O    |   |    O             |  4 points

    | O  O  O  O  O    |   |                  |  

    | O  O             |   |                  |  

    |                  |   |                  |  

    |                  |   |                  |  

    |                  |BAR|                  |v 7 point match

    |    7             |   |                  |  

    |    X             |   |                  |  

    | X  X     X       |   |                  |  

    | X  X     X       |   |    X             |  Rolled 25

    | X  X  O  X  O    |   |    X             |  5 points

    +-1--2--3--4--5--6-------7--8--9-10-11-12-+  X: Brother9 (Cube: 2)

Pip counts: O 83, X 45

I have a 2 5 to play.
What do I play? 8/1
Did I see the 8/3*/1 move? Hell no.

To put it another way:
If I have moved a check from the 8 to the 3, putting him on the bar, then on again to the 1, my odds of winning the entire match are 89.1%. The WHOLE match. To 7. Not just the game. The whole freaking match.

After the move I made? 8/6/1? No hits? 69% to win the match.
Yet I ended up lsing this game and the next one, meaning I lost the match.

FUCK!

Dopamine Agonist

2005-07-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

Seems that if you take dopamine agonists, which are new drugs used to battle Parkinson's, you are at risk to being an addict, mostly to gambling but addictions to other things (sex, drinking, eating).

News at MSNBC

Lost the 2nd.

2005-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

I lost the 2nd match to John, 7-5. Goin home early.

First Match

2005-05-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

First match, I beat Karl 7 to 1. Will lightning strike twice? There was, actually, a thunderstorm as I drove in....

Weekly tourney

2005-05-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Time to make the draws for the weekly backgammon tourney.

Recent play

2005-05-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday I did manage to squeak out a little action for my buck. $30 per person, my daughter and I both played. The guy sitting next to my daughter gave her everything he didn't use in the tournament (~80 cards). I actually won to the level where I got cards as a prize as well.

Last night - backgammon night at the club had me win four matches in a row to take the win for the weekly tournament!

I think last night's performance is a stellar example of offering doubles just below take levels. A lot of players will take, and many more will drop. Determining a good take/drop is exceptionally hard.

Magic Pre-Release

2005-05-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Even though I didn't get to see Hot MagicArsenal.com Chick at teh pre-release, I did manage to win! Holy crap!

Good times.

Well, Crap!

2005-05-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here I am at the Magic: The Gathering prerelease, and the hot chick from magicarsenal.com isnt here! dammit!!

Magic dork dork dork

2005-05-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Saviours of Kamigawa pre-release is this weekend and all of the regular readers know what that means.

Hot chick who works at MagicArsenal.com will be there in a tight shirt.

This time: Photos. I must have photos.

Backgammon at the Casino

2005-05-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

FINALLY I was able to strat playing backgammon again last night. And of course I had my ass handed to me - losing 7-4 to Molly in the main flight and 7-4 to Dan in the consolation.

But I'm back in it.

Plus Seattle got the crap kicked out of them against San Antonio; Seattle is not a great team and should really not be playing at this level anyway.

Writing

2005-05-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

I've not been writing here as much as I should - I know that.
I've been spending a lot of time writing at my other blog - gamesformoney.net - as it actually pays me.

But that doesn't excuse me from the more personal blogging I should be doing here.

I'm starting a new job soon. Thankfully. Blessedly. It's temporary but it's paying me closer to what I deserve. I should have some more money to get more involved in the online gambling (as opposed to my strictly gambling at the brick & mortar of the casino) not to mention pay down other debts.

I also will be more involved in backgammon now that my schedule will allow me to return to the Pacific Northwest Backgammon Club and play there once more.

Look more more and more frequent updates.

Derby

2005-05-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't bet Giacomo, nor did I have him in any wild exotics.

$9,800 exacta. Holy crap.

People are sheep. Kinda.

2005-05-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

The best way to see what someone does with a pocket pair in a poker game is to watch. Payign attention is everything. If they raise, and have QQ, you can be damn sure they'll raise again when they have it again.

Holy crap, they're serious

2005-04-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Intrade Trading Exchange trades "stock" on their own exchange. Actually it's more like futures. You can buy a "share" of "Osama Bin Laden Captured/Neutralized by May 31, 2005" for $5 - if May 31 rolls around and you own a share of this Intrade pays you $100.

They have "shares' of crap as ridiculous as American Idol winners, who hosts the 2012 games, and - get this - "USA to launch an Air Strike by June 30 against Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan or Syria" (which is currently going for $4).

Live where????

2005-04-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

American Cities That Best Fit You:

65% Austin

55% Miami

50% Atlanta

50% Denver

50% Washington, DC

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

Austin? Miami? Are you freaking insane????

My eyes are my best feature

2005-04-22T23:55:00.000-07:00

Games For Money Dot Net

2005-04-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've been posting less and less here because Niner Niner asked me to blog for their network. I'm set up over there at Games for Money; but I'll keep posting here as well. Especially backgammon, since I found out that the recent bugs with GnuBG have been fixed and I can output to HTML. Sweet!!!!!!!!!!

Shuffle Machines

2005-04-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

A lot of counters think the continuous shuffling machines are the bane of life's existence. To hear some tell it they're worse than pit bosses.

But a smart counter would investigate the math of the machines before they make a decision. And oddly enough, the reason you don't want to play at a table with a CSM is not what you think it may be.

A Continuous Shuffling Machine is a combination automatic shuffler and 4 or 5 deck shoe. After each round the cards played are put back in to shuffle, meaning that you have a constant freshly shuffled 4 card deck before each round. Unlike a game that uses a cut card.

Which would make you think "Holy Crap! I can't keep track of cards any longer if they could be popped right back out almost immediately!" And on the face of it, that's true.

But a substantial mathematical inquiry was taken by Michael Shackleford which showed four points of consideration (and I'll spare you the raw statistics):

The average number of 10s per hand is slightly higher in a CSM game than in a hand-dealt game
The probability of getting a blackjack is slightly higher in a CSM game than in a cut-card game

Which would obviously lead you to the conclusion that
The casino's edge over a basic strategy player is slightly lower (due to #1 moving odds in the players favor and #2 moving more money in the player's favor) in a CSM game than in a cut-card game

however

(everyone I know has a big 'however', including me)
The player is dealt about 20% more hands per hour in a CSM game than in a cut-card game. This means the player will stand to lose about 20% more money per hour (as you cannot truly count a CSM game, only play basic strategy) because while the casino's margin is smaller, the margin is still in the casino's favor.

Best advice? Stay away from the CSM.

Hooters

2005-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

John Daly is now sponsored by Hooters.

Once as a Bartender I was forced to deal with this guy. Drinks a lot? That's not even a sensical statement. That's like saying Hunter S Thompson was a bit wild.

*scratches head*
I don't understand how J.D. wasn't already sponsored by Hooters.

Backgammon News - $1 Million Tournament Postponed

2005-04-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

$1 Million Tournament Postponed.

Well, crap.

Freaking taxes.

The Marbella Backgammon International Club regrets to announce that the planned inaugural event featuring the Palamedes Challenge Cup for US$1 million has had to be postponed.

This postponement is for the benefit of our participants. The Spanish Tax Agency – The Hacienda – has today advised us that in addition to paying 16% IVA on the Tournament entry fee, Players could be liable for withholding tax of up to 35% on any prize money won in excess of €600. This clearly would be unacceptable for our participating Players and could not be absorbed by the Tournament

ah well, at least I didn't enter.

But it does raise some points:
Facts:

a tournament payout in American dollars at a Spanish Resort organized by British
the website promoted how all of the VAT would be returned for non-Spanish entrants
the Spanish Tax Agency is called "The Hacienda" making it sound like some central american code for "kickbacks"
Travelling with more than $100,000 in American Cash will cause problems at *any* border, especially the American one.

Speculation:

probably 30% of the entrants are tied to "extralegal" businesses, such as gun running, oil trading, etc.

Nothing about this says "squeaky clean and 100% above board"

I'm just wondering why the payout wasn' t made in diamonds. Easier to get across borders, no worries about exchange rates, etc.

Counting with illegal prostitutes

2005-04-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

I was poking around some sites and I was practicing a little card counting (always work on those card counting skills!!!!!!!!) and I came across the blurb about how Nevada casinos can toss anyone for any reason, blah blah blah.

But then it hit me. That’s a state law. I’m not in Nevada. Have I been hyper-sensitive all this time??? I did a little research and sure enough, New Jersey (a/k/a Atlantic City) casinos are prohibited from barring patrons for counting cards. A HA!!!!

Now I just need to check the Washington state laws.

Keep counting.

At the library

2005-03-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

I just tried to go to my blog from the library and whaddaya know. It's blocked by the library's "Safe Surf" or whatever brand software they use. Huh

Lucky with the Gigi's.

2005-03-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

My dad sent me his picks for today's Hawthorne card:

#5 in the first race
#3 in the 8th race
#6 in the 9th race
#9 in the 10th race (trifecta box 2,6,9 or 2,3,9)
#6 in the 6th race (trifecta box 3,5,6 or 5,6,8)

I'll check with my pops later if indeed I do go on my lunchbreak. He'll have more up-to-date info later. It's 9:20 as I write this; first race at Hawthorne fires at 11:10 (pacific - I'm in Seattle, I know that Hawthorne is in Chicago. Calm down!)

And a double helping

2005-03-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hey! Oscar odds were first posted on February 22nd and I missed them? How the hell did that happen?

Let's recap.

77th Annual Academy Awards

Best Motion Picture

Aviator - 1/2
Million Dollar Baby - 6/5
Sideways - 11/2
Ray - 20/1
Finding Neverland - 25/1

Best Actor

Jamie Foxx - 1/12
Leonardo DiCaprio - 9/1
Clint Eastwood - 12/1
Johnny Depp - 16/1
Don Cheadle - 20/1

Best Actress

Hilary Swank - 1/5
Annette Bening - 2/1
Imelda Staunton - 8/1
Kate Winslet - 15/1
Catalina Sandino Moreno - 18/1

Best Supporting Actor

Morgan Freeman - 2/7
Thomas Haden Church - 2/1
Clive Owen - 4/1
Alan Alda - 8/1
Jamie Foxx - 18/1

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett - 1/3
Virginia Madsen - 9/5
Natalie Portman - 7/2
Laura Linney - 8/1
Sopie Okonedo - 10/1

Best Director

Martin Scorsese - 1/2
Clint Eastwood - 6/5
Alexander Payne - 22/1
Taylor Hackford - 30/1
Mike Leigh - 30/1

Are you freaking kidding me? Thomas Hayden Church at 2/1? No way in hell. Hillary Swank won't win again, but there's a magentic repusion for Annettte Benning as well, so who freaking knows.

I'm wondering if I can get a teaser somewhere (probably the UK - they're bet crazy at the locals) on Jamie Foxx not winning either category. I'd take that in a heartbeat.

Craigslist

2005-03-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Let's get a job on craigslist!

Sheesh.

Next thing you know they'll start having "Muscle" want ads on Monster.com.