oldbloke's mutterings

Trucking along at just under the 30 limit this morning, in a well-spaced line of traffic, suddenly saw a cat on a collision course with my front wheel. It was coming in at a shallow angle, so luckily a bit of deceleration, a slight course adjustment, and a (reflex) blast on the horn saved the day.
Never hit an animal yet, and don't want to.

Good night at the poker table last night: quintupled my buy-in (which, Ok, is only a fiver, but it's the principle that counts). With only 6 players, that sounds like I busted almost everybody out, but with re-buys the table total was up to around 50 quid, so actually I got about half of it.

Thought it might go well when I doubled up on the very first hand - they'd already started when I arrived, so I'd hardly even sat down and handed over the cash when I found a pair of aces in the hole. And Fred had AK and liked the A on the flop enough to think we were on that same pair but she had me out-kickered.

A couple of times I dipped below the "what I started with" line, but with good hands where I felt there wasn't much risk; and once I went "down to the felt" but I knew I was winning that - quad 8s in Omaha high.
I think I played well, but I admit a lot depended on getting decent cards. But I didn't call anywhere I shouldn't have, I think, and got the bets right for sucking people in when I was pretty sure of a win and forcing them out when it was a bit riskier.

One thing that helped, I think, was that Tom called a nice old-fashioned variation (simple high draw) which I used to play a fair bit 20 years ago and can do almost in my sleep. Being dealt a pat straight is obviously also quite handy in that one, and it then lets you stand pat on a good 2 pair as well on the next hand...
Also somebody called 7stud lo(A-6) which is a pretty straightforward game (though I prefer the a-5 version) and I did OK there. The 7high straight in Omaha HiLo8 was pretty handy for a scoop, too.

And, with caveats, I reckon I can take Dan or Tom most nights. Chris seems to have been playing below the level I know he's capable of for a while - though I should check how much he takes home before I say that really. Which leaves Si and Fred. Fred seemed a bit off-form, and Si was having one of those "second best" nights. "Warhorse" Hoadley wasn't there, luckily: I have trouble with him, he knows the numbers backwards and does tricky plays too.

Andy Bellin's "Poker Nation" is an excellent book for putting you OFF becoming a poker pro, I think. He paints a pretty unappetising picture of the lifestyle it involves.

otoh, Dan reckons he does Ok at the 10 table tourneys online, coming at least 3rd often enough to make it worth the time. And if I reckon I can outplay Dan...

I was just Googling the Befunge language - no, never mind WHY - and found a complete chess program in it. I daresay it doesn't play very well, but a complete chess program in just 25*80 locations...

http://www.stephensykes.com/chess.bef