AK suited....DONKEY!
AA < 84 ... AK < 26 ... QQ < 55 ... KT < 27
Huh you ask? That's right..POKER. Online poker at PokerStars to be precise. Last Friday I noticed that PokerStars released an update that clearly changed their random number generators for the better of their rakes. It used to be that more than 50% of the time when you had a damn good set of pocket cards you were to win. Ever since this past update it's less than 50% (yes I took the tedious chore of charting all of my hands over a 100 game series since last Friday (aka: I have the proof!).
Official Poker Ranking. You all know it as a friend, also a sworn enemy when you are up against a re raiser just to find out that he has a 99% ranking. I had a 91% with a 22% Profit and a 27% In The Money prior to this update. And no it wasn't one of those one good game wins that got me that high, I worked my ass off to keep it that high and it was up there for many months. Well let's just say that now it's 74.07% with a Profit of -22% and a 21% In The Money.
Why you ask? Algorithms; simple math. It has been said that a true random number can never be obtained through programming; I haven't a clue whether that is true or not. What I do know is that the better hands used to almost always win on PokerStars, but now it seems 80% of each game is judged based on the river card. Someone goes all-in pre-flop, I call with an Ace of clubs and an Ace of spades, he has an 84 offsuit. The flop is an 8 of hearts, Jack of clubs, King of clubs. As you can see I had a lot of outs. The turn is a 4 of clubs...my god I am one away from an ace high flush! Sweet! The river...8..clubs. He pulled off a full-house against my A high flush.
Donkey..Fish..Chaser...IDIOT!
Is he to blame? Sure, partially. Who is more to blame? PokerStars for their malicious tactics in order to raise their rake on ring games as well as to make games move faster By creating more hands in which more players have worthwhile pocket cards hey in effect are raising the stakes and the pots. More folks will go all-in and lost more money. The more the pot, the more rake PokerStars wiggles away with.
Ethics 101. When putting oneself off as a fair system, you must play fairly.
They do not play fairly, in fact I believe this is borderline fraud, false advertising, and money philandering. Want to know something more humorous than this? Prior to the update everyday their averaged anywhere from 100,000 - 160,000 people playing at any given time (including the Saturday after the update). Now? 60,000-100,000. No way they can deny that their update and clear breach of ethical conduct has scared a lot of folks off.
Will I continue playing on PokerStars? Sure, I'll learn the way this new algorithim works out one of these days and I will learn how to beat it just as I did the previous one. If you are slow to learn, I recommend leaving and preserving what you have left in your bank roll.
[ 14 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 61 ]
Huh you ask? That's right..POKER. Online poker at PokerStars to be precise. Last Friday I noticed that PokerStars released an update that clearly changed their random number generators for the better of their rakes. It used to be that more than 50% of the time when you had a damn good set of pocket cards you were to win. Ever since this past update it's less than 50% (yes I took the tedious chore of charting all of my hands over a 100 game series since last Friday (aka: I have the proof!).
Official Poker Ranking. You all know it as a friend, also a sworn enemy when you are up against a re raiser just to find out that he has a 99% ranking. I had a 91% with a 22% Profit and a 27% In The Money prior to this update. And no it wasn't one of those one good game wins that got me that high, I worked my ass off to keep it that high and it was up there for many months. Well let's just say that now it's 74.07% with a Profit of -22% and a 21% In The Money.
Why you ask? Algorithms; simple math. It has been said that a true random number can never be obtained through programming; I haven't a clue whether that is true or not. What I do know is that the better hands used to almost always win on PokerStars, but now it seems 80% of each game is judged based on the river card. Someone goes all-in pre-flop, I call with an Ace of clubs and an Ace of spades, he has an 84 offsuit. The flop is an 8 of hearts, Jack of clubs, King of clubs. As you can see I had a lot of outs. The turn is a 4 of clubs...my god I am one away from an ace high flush! Sweet! The river...8..clubs. He pulled off a full-house against my A high flush.
Donkey..Fish..Chaser...IDIOT!
Is he to blame? Sure, partially. Who is more to blame? PokerStars for their malicious tactics in order to raise their rake on ring games as well as to make games move faster By creating more hands in which more players have worthwhile pocket cards hey in effect are raising the stakes and the pots. More folks will go all-in and lost more money. The more the pot, the more rake PokerStars wiggles away with.
Ethics 101. When putting oneself off as a fair system, you must play fairly.
They do not play fairly, in fact I believe this is borderline fraud, false advertising, and money philandering. Want to know something more humorous than this? Prior to the update everyday their averaged anywhere from 100,000 - 160,000 people playing at any given time (including the Saturday after the update). Now? 60,000-100,000. No way they can deny that their update and clear breach of ethical conduct has scared a lot of folks off.
Will I continue playing on PokerStars? Sure, I'll learn the way this new algorithim works out one of these days and I will learn how to beat it just as I did the previous one. If you are slow to learn, I recommend leaving and preserving what you have left in your bank roll.
[ 14 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 61 ]
Ha Noi Pho
Pho 79.. Pho Duy.. Pho Saigon.. 75 Pho.. Pho 2002.. Ph 33.. Pho So 1..
Pho here, Pho there, everywhere a Pho Pho. For lunch today I went out to Federal with a friend to visit the predominately Vietnamese section of Denver in search of some Pho. For those of you that are unaware of what consists of a proper Pho meal you may be surprised at its' uniqueness as well as ability to have so many different variations and flavor options. We ate at Ha Noi (1036 S. Federal Blvd, Denver, CO) and were there at about 12:30. Maybe we should have been tipped off by the fact that there was only two other people eating at the time we showed up (prime time for lunch) but we decided to go for it anyway.
It started OK though we noticed almost immediately that the biggest setback for the place was the lack of quality servers. One guy was working the entire restaurant (which clearly needed just one guy at the time) and he failed to even give us a worthwhile service. We ordered some eggrolls which were actually very good and were served with a fish sauce based liquid that had julienned carrot and daikon within. It wasn't until we had finished our eggrolls that I ended up having to call our server over so that we can actually order some drinks; we ordered two strawberry smoothies and a durian smoothie. After we ordered the drinks the waiter took another 15 minutes to bring us two glasses of water and another 15 to get us our smoothies.
The smoothies were watered down and clearly came from a mix that had the excellent addition of chunks of not blended ice... The durian smoothie was actually not to bad (though it still had the chunks of ice) and also had a good texture. Next was the Pho. With the traditional raw beef that's thrown into a bowl of steaming hot 'jus' also came a side of fresh sprouts, and thai basil (with of course rice noodles in the bowl). With the addition of some spicy sambal and a little hoisin sauce it started to taste OK. Sure the beef was a little outdated (had a bit of an aroma and flavor) but it was OK. The noodles were cooked nicely and the broth was tasty.
I would not recommend this place to anybody else as it was not the greatest experience. I give it a C for quality of food and a D for quality of service. Atmosphere was OK but the guy behind us was on his damn cell phone the entire time.
[ 12 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 56 ]
Pho here, Pho there, everywhere a Pho Pho. For lunch today I went out to Federal with a friend to visit the predominately Vietnamese section of Denver in search of some Pho. For those of you that are unaware of what consists of a proper Pho meal you may be surprised at its' uniqueness as well as ability to have so many different variations and flavor options. We ate at Ha Noi (1036 S. Federal Blvd, Denver, CO) and were there at about 12:30. Maybe we should have been tipped off by the fact that there was only two other people eating at the time we showed up (prime time for lunch) but we decided to go for it anyway.
It started OK though we noticed almost immediately that the biggest setback for the place was the lack of quality servers. One guy was working the entire restaurant (which clearly needed just one guy at the time) and he failed to even give us a worthwhile service. We ordered some eggrolls which were actually very good and were served with a fish sauce based liquid that had julienned carrot and daikon within. It wasn't until we had finished our eggrolls that I ended up having to call our server over so that we can actually order some drinks; we ordered two strawberry smoothies and a durian smoothie. After we ordered the drinks the waiter took another 15 minutes to bring us two glasses of water and another 15 to get us our smoothies.
The smoothies were watered down and clearly came from a mix that had the excellent addition of chunks of not blended ice... The durian smoothie was actually not to bad (though it still had the chunks of ice) and also had a good texture. Next was the Pho. With the traditional raw beef that's thrown into a bowl of steaming hot 'jus' also came a side of fresh sprouts, and thai basil (with of course rice noodles in the bowl). With the addition of some spicy sambal and a little hoisin sauce it started to taste OK. Sure the beef was a little outdated (had a bit of an aroma and flavor) but it was OK. The noodles were cooked nicely and the broth was tasty.
I would not recommend this place to anybody else as it was not the greatest experience. I give it a C for quality of food and a D for quality of service. Atmosphere was OK but the guy behind us was on his damn cell phone the entire time.
[ 12 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 56 ]
Robiola Bosina
The original, the great, the highly requested cheese. At Italco Food Products (where I am employed) we go through this stuff like it’s going out of fashion (then again, isn’t everything technically going out of fashion? *shrug*). Robiola Bosina is one of the most highly requested and sought after cheeses in the United States right now, with it’s super creamy and smooth texture, young age (just two weeks!) and very delicate paper thin rind, what’s not to like.
This cheese has a high fat content with a very milky and acidic flavor if eaten just after coming out of aging. If you wait another month or so (total of 6 weeks aging) then the cheese really starts to shine. I have purchased two pieces from work, one is aged, one is not-so-aged.
I’ll start with the not-so-aged version. Tucked away in a tight plastic packaging you will find a semi-soft cheese, I have to call it semi-soft because compared to it’s got nothing on it’s more aged version, that has a very soft bloomy rind. Though thin this rind helps to protect the paste from the rigors of aging and handling along with providing a base for the good bacterias to grow. While young, Robiola has a very creamy texture, mild aroma, and mild flavor. Definitely eat this cheese at room temperature or else all flavor and aroma will be lost, cowering under it’s covers. Even young, I would not recommend this cheese for the youngsters as they might be a bit worried about the very subtle aroma and the bloomy, yellowing rind.
Up next of course is the pride and joy, the aged Robiola Bosina. Though one of my co-workers (he’s Austrian..) feels that this particular piece could go longer, I feel that it is perfect the way it is. Again like the younger version, you definitely want to let it sit out for a while at room temperature to let the flavors and aromas penetrate the space around you. You can let this slack out at room temperature with the cover in place because it really doesn’t have very much bad odor to it, in fact the odor that formed over it’s short aging was very pleasant. Once you cut into it you will notice a uniform color among the center and a very oozy, sticky, creamy paste that does not want to let go of either the cheese of the knife. Smear onto fresh bread and serve with Baked Montagnoli Figs for one of the rare treats in life. (Great with a semi-woody white wine, get it too woody and it will overpower this delicate cheese, and the Robiola Bosina has no chance against a red wine of any sort).
A+ as far as fresh cheeses go.
PS: The last image you will see the young Robiola (up front) next to the older one, behind.
Click to view!
Click to view!
[ 12 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 738 ]
This cheese has a high fat content with a very milky and acidic flavor if eaten just after coming out of aging. If you wait another month or so (total of 6 weeks aging) then the cheese really starts to shine. I have purchased two pieces from work, one is aged, one is not-so-aged.
I’ll start with the not-so-aged version. Tucked away in a tight plastic packaging you will find a semi-soft cheese, I have to call it semi-soft because compared to it’s got nothing on it’s more aged version, that has a very soft bloomy rind. Though thin this rind helps to protect the paste from the rigors of aging and handling along with providing a base for the good bacterias to grow. While young, Robiola has a very creamy texture, mild aroma, and mild flavor. Definitely eat this cheese at room temperature or else all flavor and aroma will be lost, cowering under it’s covers. Even young, I would not recommend this cheese for the youngsters as they might be a bit worried about the very subtle aroma and the bloomy, yellowing rind.
Up next of course is the pride and joy, the aged Robiola Bosina. Though one of my co-workers (he’s Austrian..) feels that this particular piece could go longer, I feel that it is perfect the way it is. Again like the younger version, you definitely want to let it sit out for a while at room temperature to let the flavors and aromas penetrate the space around you. You can let this slack out at room temperature with the cover in place because it really doesn’t have very much bad odor to it, in fact the odor that formed over it’s short aging was very pleasant. Once you cut into it you will notice a uniform color among the center and a very oozy, sticky, creamy paste that does not want to let go of either the cheese of the knife. Smear onto fresh bread and serve with Baked Montagnoli Figs for one of the rare treats in life. (Great with a semi-woody white wine, get it too woody and it will overpower this delicate cheese, and the Robiola Bosina has no chance against a red wine of any sort).
A+ as far as fresh cheeses go.
PS: The last image you will see the young Robiola (up front) next to the older one, behind.
Click to view!
Click to view!
[ 12 June, 2008 ] • [ sneako ] • [ Leave comment - 738 ]