Recreation

An Anecdote About a Bad Beat

The majority of poker players will experience what they consider a ”bad beat” in texas hold’em poker at some time in their career. The question is what constitutes a bad beat and how does a professional avoid such an occurrence?

According to the Poker Bible written by my other half, Mark, the definition is as follows: -

An irrational play that wins. It usually involves a call after significant action and where the probability of the underdog reasonably or rationally thinking they have best hand is extremely low. And also where the actual percentage of  the underdog having the winning hand is extremely low.

One way to avoid getting a bad beat is to become a student of the game and thoroughly learn how to play texas hold’em. There are many avenues and means of doing this and once you have mastered the basics you will be more able to survive the bad beat and come out on top.

An Anecdote About the WSOP

With an anecdote about the FIFA World Cup and the Wimbledon Tennis Championship all over the news, one might be forgiven for not noticing the World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) forty-first tournament currently taking place, right now in Las Vegas. It has received very little, if any, live, TV coverage.

The Main Event of this championship begins in two days time in Las Vegas, Nevada and promises to be as packed and full of surprises as it was last year, but probably won’t break the record of 8,773 entrants in 2006. The Main Event is strictly texas hold’em poker with a $10,000 buy-in, but attracts players with all skill levels and from other poker genres.

The return on investment is truly special and that’s why it has prompted the “average joe” to learn how to play texas hold’em. The rewards to be reaped by making the final table in such an event bring with it all the trappings of a successful businessman.

So why are you still sitting here reading? Book that plane ticket before it’s all over!

An Anecdote About Mind Sports

The argument has long existed about whether or not certain competitions or games qualify as sporting events.

For example chess is considered by some to be a sport whilst others cite its lack of any real physical challenge as an affront to this assertion. The question of the World Series of Poker being a sporting event has also come up in recent years.

I have read many an anecdote about players attitudes regarding this question,  in chess and poker events. In both categories participants have maintained that the physicality of these events come by way of endurance through physical fitness. They have also added that mental stress can affect one’s stamina and actual muscle strength.

It is an interesting question with good arguments on both sides. As far as I am concerned I will be happy to class these types of competitions as mind sports. However it must be said that these events can put just as much strain on the body as some other more typical sporting events.

A Baseball Season Starts Anecdote

I am still a big footie (soccer) fan and will die a consummate Tottenham Hotspurs fan, but after living in America for sixteen years, I have grown to love American Baseball.

Monday was opening day for my favorite baseball team, The New York Mets. It started well and they crushed the Florida Marlins by a score of seven to one. It gave us Mets fans hopes because last season was a washout.

There are some real American traditions that I adore and going to a baseball game on a Sunday Afternoon is one of them. I have several anecdotes about going to games on a crisp Spring afternoon or a warm Summer’s evening.

Hopefully this year will be filled with many trips to Citi-Field, the NY Mets home ground. Let’s just hope that this season will be filled with cheers and not tears!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

As a die hard New York Mets Baseball fan, I was surprised by my enjoyment of this year’s World Series. I hadn’t planned on watching, because as a Met fan, the Phillies are our divisional arch rivals and the Yankees are, well, the Yankees.

However the players on both teams played their hearts out to such a degree that it was practically impossible to ignore their talent and tenacity. In the final game six, which of course everyone knows the Yankees won, the tension was palatable from the first pitch.

I had spent the entire season trying to avoid baseball as the Mets Team imploded and collapsed. It was refreshing to watch eighteen players on the field performing at the highest of standards from every position. It was very difficult to find that weak link.

Every last one of the players impressed me, but especially Yankee designated hitter (DH) and World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui. Who would have thought that he would be the lynch pin in such a pivotal game?

So in spite of how unfortunate and disappointing the Mets season was, I have to tip my hat to the Yankees and a team of players who came to win and did just that.

The Vick Connection

I’ve lived in the U.S. long enough to understand the basics of American Football (Footy, to us Brits). The controversial nonsense, surrounding some players can be annoying at best and a down right pain in the butt at worst.

Michael Vick’s woes are an interesting story because, in my opinion, he truly is an athlete worth his weight in gold. So what do you do with someone, who is so talented in the body but a little less than smart in the head. We have all made unwise decisions in life but Vick’s choice seems to have gone beyond that. Should the NFL have allowed him back in to play?

I have heard the “yesses” and reasons why and I have listened to the “nos” and the weighty facts that go along with that decision.

Several months ago, I watched an interview with a young man who was a gang-banger in California and ended up in jail for murder. Whilst in prison, one of his nephew’s was killed. He had brought this young boy into the gang life and as a result felt responsible. For the first time in his life he felt accountable for something he had done. This in turn led to him feeling actual remorse and deciding to turn his life around. Now you may think that this person is a waste of time and that all murderers should be left to rot in jail. You could be right, however in this case things turned out a little differently.

The young man became an older man and eventually got out of jail. He ended up working with other young gang members to turn their lives around before it was too late. You could still be skeptical of his motives and his actions and of course only time will tell. However, his intentions seemed genuine and his actions, those of a man healed and truly remorseful of his past actions.

So give Michael a chance to prove us wrong. After all, he is just a man and as fallible as the rest of us.