I didn't eat a cookie this afternoon. That's quite an accomplishment. You see, I'm getting quite fat which is an impediment to playing decent volleyball this summer. Granted, it's a recreational league, but I'd still like to play decently. It's also an impediment to living a healthy life which isn't horrible, but some recent bloodwork shows that my blood pressure and cholesterol are a little high. Plus my weight, which at 200 lbs. might be a wee bit high for a 5'7" man. That weight puts me in the highest risk category for our health insurance, as bad as a smoker. Ouch.
So back to the cookie. There are free cookies every afternoon at work - you can see why I'm fat. I actually got up from my chair and headed upstairs to get one, but stopped myself and instead had some yummy, refreshing water.
I'm planning on getting my bicycle tuned up, since it hasn't been used in (hmm, how old is Ben? Almost 7?) almost 7 years. I live near the Prairie Path which also runs very close to work, so I have a safe 7-mile ride to work. I intend to ride to work a couple times a week along with some volleyball and basketball, so you see that it's actually possible for me to get into shape. We'll see. Everyone should feel free to give me a hard time if I have a cheeseburger in my mouth or if I'm still obese in August.
- schneid
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Min-raise
I haven't decided what I think about the min-bet or min-raise. This is when someone makes the smallest bet or raise allowed. With the min bet, it's almost always a poor player who is trying to make a "pre-emptive" bet, to prevent someone else from betting, and it often works at the low limits. The usual scenario is that there are a bunch of limpers, someone min-bets the flop, then someone else bets the size of the pot and everyone folds. Occasionally this is also a skilled player who doesn't really like his hand, like top pair bad kicker. It's actually a decent play. God knows that I've paid off this hand enough times. The good player probably figures that if his opponent doesn't raise the flop and turn, they must have a worse hand than top pair, bad kicker. Inevitably they make a bigger bet on the river and win. The action goes flop-small bet, turn-small bet, river - 1/2 pot or pot-sized bet. When this bet is 1/2 pot size, they often get paid off by a player with middle pair. And it's smart that they don't create a big pot during the flop and turn when they really don't have much of a hand.
The other scenario is a min-raise. This is scarier. The min-raise is always a bluff or a monster hand. Period. OK, it might rarely be a semibluff, but that's a bluff anyway. You often see a min-raise when you've raised preflop, and make a continuation bet on a ragged flop, and that one is almost always a bluff. If you've got a draw, it's an easy call since you have good odds; but when you have completely missed, even though you know the guy is bluffing, you can't call. Unless you have a lot more guts than I do, which is true of many no-limit players. When you do have a good hand, and you re-raise the min-raise, they almost always fold or go all-in. The folders are almost always bluffing and the all-iners almost always have a monster, so your course of action is pretty easy, unless you have great pot odds to continue.
Tonight was a good night. I played .10/.25 no-limit with $25 max stacks on 5 tables, and almost doubled my original buy-in. I hit more than my fair share of draws and flopped some nice hands. I bailed (or was bluffed out) on a couple of mediocre hands when my opponent made a big bet on the river. I was dealt AA on one hand, there were already 3 limpers so I made a big raise and there were 4 callers! The pot was already about $7, the flop was all rags, I bet the pot and took it down. When I stacked other players, it was almost always when I had the nuts or damn near, and they went all-in.
I had a guy ask "it took you that long to call" when he raised big preflop, I called with AQ, the flop was A33, and he went all-in about the size of the pot. I thought about it for a minute, because I really thought he had AK; however, I decided he was capable of making this play with a lot of aces. Turned out he also had AQ and we split. I was getting 2:1 so I think it was a decent call. This guy gifted me his stack at least once; this was when I raised preflop and he reraised; the flop came a beautiful AQT, giving me a set; yes, he could've had a straight which I considered but which was pretty unlikely. He bet about the size of the pot and I just called. I really wanted the board to pair and would have been really disgusted if a K or J fell on the turn. The turn was a sweet T, giving me quad tens. He goes all-in about the size of the pot and I called. There is no better feeling than when your opponent goes all-in and you have the nuts. Turns out that he had AK. He whined less than the usual player. But he was beat by so many hands...including AQ, KJ, AA, QQ, or any ten. Another player, Freudian Knot (I love that name), told the guy "You should've known he had a good hand" (referring to me). He said something like "He called your preflop raise and called on the flop, you should've known he had something, and you know how mschneid plays". That was somewhat flattering so I asked "How DOES mschneid play?" and he replied "tight". I assume this guy uses tracking software or takes good notes. He was right, I play pretty tight, and he plays the same. I don't bother with tracking software; I tried it for awhile and it's nice, but there's no way I can play 5 tables and also use the monitoring software - it's hard enough just to keep up with 5 tables. I could maybe manage 3 tables absolute max while using the software, and it's just more profitable to play 5 tables without it.
- schneid
The other scenario is a min-raise. This is scarier. The min-raise is always a bluff or a monster hand. Period. OK, it might rarely be a semibluff, but that's a bluff anyway. You often see a min-raise when you've raised preflop, and make a continuation bet on a ragged flop, and that one is almost always a bluff. If you've got a draw, it's an easy call since you have good odds; but when you have completely missed, even though you know the guy is bluffing, you can't call. Unless you have a lot more guts than I do, which is true of many no-limit players. When you do have a good hand, and you re-raise the min-raise, they almost always fold or go all-in. The folders are almost always bluffing and the all-iners almost always have a monster, so your course of action is pretty easy, unless you have great pot odds to continue.
Tonight was a good night. I played .10/.25 no-limit with $25 max stacks on 5 tables, and almost doubled my original buy-in. I hit more than my fair share of draws and flopped some nice hands. I bailed (or was bluffed out) on a couple of mediocre hands when my opponent made a big bet on the river. I was dealt AA on one hand, there were already 3 limpers so I made a big raise and there were 4 callers! The pot was already about $7, the flop was all rags, I bet the pot and took it down. When I stacked other players, it was almost always when I had the nuts or damn near, and they went all-in.
I had a guy ask "it took you that long to call" when he raised big preflop, I called with AQ, the flop was A33, and he went all-in about the size of the pot. I thought about it for a minute, because I really thought he had AK; however, I decided he was capable of making this play with a lot of aces. Turned out he also had AQ and we split. I was getting 2:1 so I think it was a decent call. This guy gifted me his stack at least once; this was when I raised preflop and he reraised; the flop came a beautiful AQT, giving me a set; yes, he could've had a straight which I considered but which was pretty unlikely. He bet about the size of the pot and I just called. I really wanted the board to pair and would have been really disgusted if a K or J fell on the turn. The turn was a sweet T, giving me quad tens. He goes all-in about the size of the pot and I called. There is no better feeling than when your opponent goes all-in and you have the nuts. Turns out that he had AK. He whined less than the usual player. But he was beat by so many hands...including AQ, KJ, AA, QQ, or any ten. Another player, Freudian Knot (I love that name), told the guy "You should've known he had a good hand" (referring to me). He said something like "He called your preflop raise and called on the flop, you should've known he had something, and you know how mschneid plays". That was somewhat flattering so I asked "How DOES mschneid play?" and he replied "tight". I assume this guy uses tracking software or takes good notes. He was right, I play pretty tight, and he plays the same. I don't bother with tracking software; I tried it for awhile and it's nice, but there's no way I can play 5 tables and also use the monitoring software - it's hard enough just to keep up with 5 tables. I could maybe manage 3 tables absolute max while using the software, and it's just more profitable to play 5 tables without it.
- schneid
Crazy Summer
It's going to be a crazy summer. My dad and his wife were just in town for a cousin's bat mitzvah. Those events lasted all weekend. Here's our crazy schedule for this summer:
The kids also have a lot of activities scheduled all summer long which should keep them happy. As for the long car trip, we'll make frequent stops, try to stop at Children's Museums or something fun, and swim in the pool at the hotel at night.
- schneid
- Memorial Day - bat mitzvah weekend
- June - Key Largo for a week's vacation with the kids (flying to Miami, it was really cheap)
- July - we're going to drive to Boston with the kids (yes, we are insane) to visit my sister, and we will also visit my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Terry in Virginia and possibly our friends Bob and Aili in New Jersey. It will take 2 days to drive out, we'll spend Monday-Friday on the east coast, and it will take 2 days to drive back. Whew! (Did I mention that our longest drive so far is 5 hours? Did I mention that we're insane? Can you say "DVD player"?)
- August - I'm going to the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison for a day with Westy and maybe some other friends.
- Labor Day - driving to Minneapolis for another Bar Mitzvah.
- September - driving to Bloomington, IL for my cousin Jason's wedding
- Thanksgiving - fly to North Carolina to visit my dad and his wife
The kids also have a lot of activities scheduled all summer long which should keep them happy. As for the long car trip, we'll make frequent stops, try to stop at Children's Museums or something fun, and swim in the pool at the hotel at night.
- schneid
Monday, April 30, 2007
Dark Lord Day 2007
I've been getting very interested in good beer the last few months, trying a new beer or two every week. When I heard about Dark Lord, the Russian Imperial Stout from Three Floyds Brewery, I knew I had to try it. And how do you get it? You can't buy it at the store. They sell out almost every single bottle on Dark Lord Day, the last Saturday in April.
After several calls to my friend Westy, I got off the highway and took the back road to the brewery instead of crossing the Illinois-Indiana border insanity on 80/94. I made it from Aurora to the brewery in Munster, Indiana in 65 minutes. OK, maybe I was a little too excited about it.
There were already cars everywhere and at least 300 people at 10:30 AM, with the doors opening at noon. Fortunately, no line had formed yet. Everyone was milling around the tasting tables, chatting, trying different beers. About 95% of the beer was commercial, but difficult to find stuff. The remaining was homebrew. I brought some beer to share, including some Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout that people wanted badly. Westy and his wife arrived shortly after I did. We found a table that had some beer we wanted to try (including Surley Coffee Bender) and parked there. There were many Beer Advocate people there, and presumably a lot of RateBeer people too.
It was difficult to pace yourself. I wanted to stay level-headed since I had a long drive home. And I'm proud to say that I managed to do it despite trying at least 20 beers between 10:30-11:45, at least half of which were high alcohol monsters. I took very small pours of everything, and there was only one beer that I tried twice. Erdinger2003 had several coolers of New Glarus beer to trade, with several types that I had never tried. I really wanted to try the Raspberry Tart, and he was kind enough to open a bottle. It was fantastic, all raspberries. It was a lot like a raspberry dessert wine that I've had.
Westy made sure that we hung out at a table near where the line would form. At around 11:30, someone opened a big door to the brewery, and everyone started moving in that direction. Even though we were only 50 feet away, we couldn't hear a thing he was saying. Not that it mattered, unless he was saying "Oops we don't have any Dark Lord" in which case he would've been instantly destroyed by an angry mob. Westy and Margaret were in front of me, then the next time I looked up they were about 10 feet ahead in the line. Eventually I lost them. At 12:00, the line started moving into the brewery. We were starting to get hot standing in the sun. When the line formed, the only thought was "get in line fast". Next time, I'll make sure I have a nice cold beer with me. The only beer being passed around in line were a couple of growlers filled with really strong stuff that looked like maple syrup.
Westy called me every few minutes to check my progress. When we were near the door, we could see that they were selling some beer on tap - Gumballhead, and also Alpha King, I think. Then Westy magically appeared with a cold frosty Gumballhead for me! After 45 minutes standing in the sun, that was one of the best beers I've ever had. And my first Three Floyds on tap.
It turned out that there were only 2 bouncers inside the door checking IDs, and only 2 cashiers about another 50 feet inside the doors. But the line was easily 10-15 people wide, so there was a terrible bottleneck. I enjoyed chatting with people in line. I think I got my Dark Lord around 1:15, about 30 minutes after Westy did. I also bought some Gumballhead t-shirts, but they didn't have any 2007 Dark Lord t-shirts.
After getting the Dark Lord, the line for the brewpub (for food) was way too long. There was also a line for barrel-aged Dark Lord, which would have been a great treat. But no one wanted to stand in any more lines. By this time (1:45), the line spilled into the street and there were easily 1000 people there. We headed home.
Fox News even showed up - after I left.
- schneid
Sunday, April 29, 2007
poker at Rockford Charitable Games
On April 19, instead of going to the usual weekly poker game, I went to a charity poker event with my friend Jeff. You would think that once poker was legalized in Illinois, the charity poker would have suffered - but just the opposite. With the online poker boom, Rockford Charitable Games is probably busier than ever. 18-year olds can get in, so this is the only legal live poker that you can play if you're under 21.
The event was held at Empress Banquets in Addison. Jeff and I met beforehand to have dinner and discuss some strategy. This was the first time Jeff had played live poker outside of a home game. Jeff is improving all the time but he's still learning.
There were about 15 tables of tournaments (single and multis) and about 8 tables of cash games. They were spreading 1-3 spread limit, 2-5 spread limit, 5-10 limit (I think), some no limit, and maybe some Omaha. I played 1-3 spread limit with Jeff and we discussed almost every hand after showdown. Over the course of 5 hours, Jeff improved quite a bit.
It was definitely a no-foldem holdem game. The players were some of the worst that I've ever seen. Jeff was the third best player at the table, and in our Thursday night home game, he'd be 7th best. I would say that at least half of the players learned how to play by watching no-limit holdem tournaments on TV. They were overly aggressive when their bets and raises wouldn't make anyone fold anyway. On one hand in particular, two guys were heads-up and betting and raising all the way. It turned out that they both had middle pair with crappy kickers, with an ace and a king on the board. Jeff just stared at the hands, stared at the board, and gave me a puzzled look.
I was dealt very few playable hands but got paid off when I did get them. I had a nice hand where I was dealt 55, there were several raises preflop, and I flopped a set - the board was 578. I bet, someone raised, I reraised, he called. I wasn't too happy to see that the turn was a 4, but with this crowd, I bet anyway. I was raised and just called, assuming he had a straight, but I still had 10 outs. The river was a beautiful 5, giving me quads. I bet and he only called...I had gotten a tight reputation at the table.
Unfortunately for Jeff, he was dealt AA twice and didn't make any money! The first time, he was heads up, but the other player left the table before the flop was dealt, Jeff bet the flop, and her hand was declared dead. The next time he had AA, everyone folded. That was the only time all night that the entire table folded to a preflop raise.
Players berated each other openly after someone sucked out or made a poor play. They would say things like "nice 2-outer" when the opponent actually had many more outs. They said "How could you call that" when the caller was getting the proper odds. And they would keep calling or even raising when it was pretty obvious they were beat. One guy called a preflop raise with 32, the flop came X22, the other player had KK, and they both kept raising all the way. My favorite quote, spoken by someone after aces were cracked, was "Aces are the worst pair to get. I'd rather get any pair other than aces". A lot of heads nodded in agreement. What a bunch of idiots.
In hindsight, I think I should've played more suited and connecting cards for raises before the flop. I did try to limp in with a lot of hands, but if there was a large raise or reraise, I usually folded.
It would be hard to win much at the $1-3 level unless you get great cards. The rake was bad and the play was incredibly slow. The dealers did a decent job, but some of the players never knew when it was their action. One guy was wearing sunglasses and he was a total idiot. I think he may have been asleep. He never knew when it was his turn, and when he did, he placed his bet about 1 inch in front of his chip stack, so no one knew that he called.
Next time, I'll definitely try some of the single table SNGs, and some higher limit hold'em. Presumably the skill level is a lot better at $5-10 hold'em, but with this crowd, there will be some suckers in the game. I would like to play no-limit hold'em, but I would be bored out of my mind. When playing online, I play four tables at a time, 70+ hands per hour at each. With 280 hands per hour, you don't get bored and start playing marginal hands. But if I sit down at one table and play about 20 hands per hour, I'm going to get really bored and do stupid things.
- schneid
The event was held at Empress Banquets in Addison. Jeff and I met beforehand to have dinner and discuss some strategy. This was the first time Jeff had played live poker outside of a home game. Jeff is improving all the time but he's still learning.
There were about 15 tables of tournaments (single and multis) and about 8 tables of cash games. They were spreading 1-3 spread limit, 2-5 spread limit, 5-10 limit (I think), some no limit, and maybe some Omaha. I played 1-3 spread limit with Jeff and we discussed almost every hand after showdown. Over the course of 5 hours, Jeff improved quite a bit.
It was definitely a no-foldem holdem game. The players were some of the worst that I've ever seen. Jeff was the third best player at the table, and in our Thursday night home game, he'd be 7th best. I would say that at least half of the players learned how to play by watching no-limit holdem tournaments on TV. They were overly aggressive when their bets and raises wouldn't make anyone fold anyway. On one hand in particular, two guys were heads-up and betting and raising all the way. It turned out that they both had middle pair with crappy kickers, with an ace and a king on the board. Jeff just stared at the hands, stared at the board, and gave me a puzzled look.
I was dealt very few playable hands but got paid off when I did get them. I had a nice hand where I was dealt 55, there were several raises preflop, and I flopped a set - the board was 578. I bet, someone raised, I reraised, he called. I wasn't too happy to see that the turn was a 4, but with this crowd, I bet anyway. I was raised and just called, assuming he had a straight, but I still had 10 outs. The river was a beautiful 5, giving me quads. I bet and he only called...I had gotten a tight reputation at the table.
Unfortunately for Jeff, he was dealt AA twice and didn't make any money! The first time, he was heads up, but the other player left the table before the flop was dealt, Jeff bet the flop, and her hand was declared dead. The next time he had AA, everyone folded. That was the only time all night that the entire table folded to a preflop raise.
Players berated each other openly after someone sucked out or made a poor play. They would say things like "nice 2-outer" when the opponent actually had many more outs. They said "How could you call that" when the caller was getting the proper odds. And they would keep calling or even raising when it was pretty obvious they were beat. One guy called a preflop raise with 32, the flop came X22, the other player had KK, and they both kept raising all the way. My favorite quote, spoken by someone after aces were cracked, was "Aces are the worst pair to get. I'd rather get any pair other than aces". A lot of heads nodded in agreement. What a bunch of idiots.
In hindsight, I think I should've played more suited and connecting cards for raises before the flop. I did try to limp in with a lot of hands, but if there was a large raise or reraise, I usually folded.
It would be hard to win much at the $1-3 level unless you get great cards. The rake was bad and the play was incredibly slow. The dealers did a decent job, but some of the players never knew when it was their action. One guy was wearing sunglasses and he was a total idiot. I think he may have been asleep. He never knew when it was his turn, and when he did, he placed his bet about 1 inch in front of his chip stack, so no one knew that he called.
Next time, I'll definitely try some of the single table SNGs, and some higher limit hold'em. Presumably the skill level is a lot better at $5-10 hold'em, but with this crowd, there will be some suckers in the game. I would like to play no-limit hold'em, but I would be bored out of my mind. When playing online, I play four tables at a time, 70+ hands per hour at each. With 280 hands per hour, you don't get bored and start playing marginal hands. But if I sit down at one table and play about 20 hands per hour, I'm going to get really bored and do stupid things.
- schneid
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Working outdoors
This weekend we stained the playset and spread mushroom compost. The weather was great all weekend so we were a little too aggressive in scheduling two serious tasks for the weekend. Now we're sore and exhausted.
The playset is really cool, with a tornado slide and a tube to crawl between the structures, but it is really weathered. It looks much better now. It took 11 man hours to stain it. I thought it would take 2-3 hours. My wife claims that I underestimate everything and she's usually right. At Lowes, we purchased 5 gallons of Olympic Maximum Semi-Transparent Deck, Fence and Siding Stain tinted a nice dark brown. We used about 3.5 gallons. Here's the before and after pictures (ok, just before, I'll have to add "after" later).
My wife spread the compost for two hours while I took the kids to see Jeff's puppies. His Springer Spaniel had a litter of 8 puppies, and they sold 7 in two days. They are going home this week, so it was the last chance to see them. They were adorable and the kids had a great time playing with them.
There's about 3-4 yards of compost left. I need to haul it to the garden. The garden is about 20x20 to the compost should be about 3 inches deep. The mushroom compost was delivered by CC Mulch and More (630-484-6852) for $190 total for 5 yards. The best part is that it was delivered within 24 hours of when I called, allowing us to get the work done while the weather was good.
I'm planning to order mulch from Kramer Tree Specialists in West Chicago (630-293-5444). Their special blend mulch is a nice dark brown and only $16.50 per yard which is about 1/2 the cost of most places. They do charge for delivery, $40 up to 5 yards, $50 for 6-25 yards.
- schneid
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Great children's books
Ben has started reading The Magician's Nephew, from the Chronicles of Narnia. Ben has been devouring books at a rapid rate. I was an avid reader as a kid, butI don't think I tackled a book like that until I was about 10 (Ben is 6). His reading skills are opening the door to a whole world of amazing books. I can't wait to share some cool books with him. I looked around and found some lists of great books for kids:
- Agate Books
- Teachers Top 100 Books for Children (from the National Education Association)
- Kids' Top 100 Favorite Books
In these lists are a lot of great books that you will remember from your childhood. Some of my favorites include The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, A Wrinkle in Time, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harriet the Spy, and Charlotte's Web. The list goes on and on.
- schneid
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
some photos
Just adding these images to my blog so that I can reference them from Google Maps. Go to Google Maps and click on My Maps. It's pretty awesome.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Beer fairy
What's a beer fairy? I'm sure you're thinking of many off-color jokes to make. No, that's not it. Once a special bottle of beer appeared on my desk at work. Immediately I knew the probable source, and reading the label confirmed it. It was a homebrew brewed by my friend Westy.
Since I've returned to Tellabs, I've been more into beer than wine. It's easier to sit down and have a beer than a bottle of wine. When you have a beer, you just open the bottle and drink it. When you have wine, usually you choose a wine that will match your meal, and then you might only drink half the bottle. The wine quickly deteriorates (oxidizes) over the next day or two. So you've paid $8 or $15 or $25 or whatever for half a bottle of wine. To enjoy a beer, on the other hand, you only need a salty snack and perhaps some poker buddies, both of which are prevalent on Thursday nights. Dennis, who hosts our weekly poker game, always has homebrew on tap, so I bring something interesting to trade.
I've vowed to drink every beer in the Best of Beer Advocate Top 100 list. I think it's important for everyone to strive for something. You need to set goals for yourself. And my goal is to drink 100 beers. I've had about 15 of them so far, which isn't bad since I've only been doing it for 6 months and many of them are hard to find.
So now instead of rare occasions, the beer fairy visits almost weekly. Westy drops off a beer or two at my desk, and I do the same for him. We get to try new beers that we might not try otherwise.
Benjamin Franklin said "Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance" but I believe it was Homer Simpson who said "Mmmmmm...beer". Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.
- schneid
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