Monthly Archives: January 2006

Table image (online)

I received this email from a fellow poker bluffer named Zarbuck:

I hear there is this thing called table image. I would think the qualities of table image must be that the person has been winning. Or at least not losing. This would attribute to table image. But wouldn’t another quality be a big stack? If I am small stack head to head against big stack, I feel intimidated. Her 10% stack bet, is 60% of mine. Isn’t that the real table image? That without danger to them, they could crush me in any of the next 3-4 hands. And only in the very most luckiest of cases, do I double up, each time?I think those smart and clever players get table image a lot, but even the luckiest noob can get table image.So do you think there really is such a thing as table image?

David aka Zarbuck Continue reading

Tilting the Power

I read the following from an interview in MacLean’s with Betsy Hart.  She is the author of ‘It Takes a Parent:  How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting’:

What exactly is the “culture of pushover parenting”?:

I think it comes down to being told by the “experts” that children come into this world full of inherent virtue and goodness.  They just need a little tweaking here and there.  They need a parent’s cheerleading.  Not so much parent’s guidance.  And once you believe that – then the stage is set for being intimidated by them…..it’s our job as parents to civilize them.

The interview goes further to point out that parents are whimps and are forgetting to say ‘NO’ to their child to avoid adversity.  One thing that struck me is that there is a trend for parents to use their children as surrogates for their competitive impulses.  I.e. invest all your efforts into your children so they can achieve the glories you failed or didn’t even consider to accomplish when you had the chance.  Yikes.  It’s like their reading my mind.  Yes, I definitely have goals for my child to become that superstar athlete in whatever sport she can earn a massive living.

 At any rate, a cool concept to foster a sense of accomplishment in the family:  The Family Cup.  This can be a nice trophy that gets handed to a member of the family when they accomplish something remarkable.  The goal is to be the person who gives it to the next person.

Don’t Get Chained To Your Baby

I fell into the trap.   Sonia and I were discussing the fact that our evening life seems to fall into a very scary routine:  I come home from work and entertain/nurture the baby counting the hrs until she goes to sleep.  If you can’t tell from the verbage, this has brought about a very negative attitude toward’s family life where it feels like I’m just going through the grinder waiting for the day when she’s old enough so that I can break free. Continue reading

SkyDome 2006 – SloPitch Mania runs wild!

This is the 1st year Sonia and I have gone down to the SkyDome to participate in the ‘Round the Clock SloPitch Tournament in Toronto.  Tina has put together a team that consists of mainly members from the 2005 reigning NCR champions and/or from the 2003 championship team.  These members would be:  Sonia, Jay, Tina, Kaastra, Joey, Amy, Josh, Nancy and Roach.  In addition, we stole Debbie from the Flyers and have Vicki and her boyfriend as well. Continue reading

Raising from early position

I have been discussing with some folks the strategy around a no-limit sit’n’go. One of the interesting questions that was raised by Dave Loop was with a table of passives, does it make sense to try to steal blinds from early position. My response was this: Continue reading

Body Magic

Here’s something I read at Men’s Health.  It may be useful some day.  Item 1 is certainly useful to me as I am going through a bout of the cough lately:

1. If your throat tickles, scratch your ear.

When you were 9, playing your armpit was a cool trick. Now, as an adult, you can still appreciate a good body-based feat, but you’re more discriminating. Take that tickle in your throat; it’s not worth gagging over. Here’s a better way to scratch your itch: “When the nerves in the ear are stimulated, it creates a reflex in the throat that can cause a muscle spasm,” says Scott Schaffer, M.D., president of an ear, nose and throat specialty center in Gibbsboro, New Jersey. “This spasm relieves the tickle.” Continue reading