JG Y2K RGP Awards

Date: 12/26/2000
From: Jim Geary
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Subject: JG Y2K RGP Awards

Join me, will you, on a personal trip down the year 2000 in poker.

POST OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Could there be any doubt? The Diamondliliad, which begins: 

 "After quitting poker, I returned to playing for awhile to see about
  getting to know a certain dealer at Diamond Lil's Cardroom better...."

and mercifully ends several thousand words later:

"...Tess, I love you and I want you. Please call me."

Link: http://x53.deja.com/threadmsg_ct.xp?AN=627516176&CONTEXT=967772164.791150611

REPLY OF THE YEAR AWARD:

To the above, Tyler Wong wrote simply: 

  
   Tad Perry wrote:
  
   > 
   > Tess, I love you and I want you. Please call me.

This was the best BARGE trip report I've ever read. Thanks to Chuck and Mike for making it all happen!

Link: http://x53.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=627719924&CONTEXT=967772164.791150611&hitnum=5

GLAD THEY'VE YET TO THINK OF THIS ON COMP.LANG.COBOL AWARD:

To all those trailblazers who have decided to make their favorite usenet group the starting point for gracefully severing ties with their employer rather than telling them face to face.

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD:

The Badger Rule: "Anyone who posts these I'm-a-loser-because-of-cheating accusations should legally have to post their last 100 hand histories."

JIM'S POKER MAKES SENSE HAND OF THE YEAR:

Pot-limit game at the WSOP. I call a small late raise with pocket 3's in multiway pot. Flop quads. Play the hand nicely and completely empty a big stack.

JIM'S POKER SUCKS HAND OF THE YEAR:

Three-handed(!) pot-limit Omaha-8 (yes -8) at Gila River Casino. Holding A2TT, I get a couple thousand in the middle on a flop of T84. Incredibly, my opponent only holds AQT7. Turn K, river J. I get nothing.

AGING WITH GRACE AND DIGNITY AWARD:

To all the poker legends who, no doubt already millionaires many times over, when faced with legitimate concerns that they might want to keep an eye on the ethics of those with whom they have entered business alliances, dodged any acknowledgment of a problem and responded simply,

"Go screw yourself."

RALLY 'ROUND THE FAMILY WITH A POCKETFUL OF SHELLS AWARD:

To all those who stand by their man, nobly sacrificing any personal credibility in the process.

BAD TIMING AWARD:

I arrive in New York City for the first time in my life on August 3rd, 2000 at approximately 2pm. After seeing Times Square and the Empire State Building, I walk over to the Mayfair Club at 10pm. They had been shut down for good at 6pm. (note to self next time: Aviation club, then Louvre)

(pointless appendix: while retelling this story last night after a few glasses of wine at Christmas dinner, I conflated the punchline with the setup somehow and had myself walking over from Times Square to the Eiffel Tower and it was all downhill from there.)

SIGN O'THE TIMES AWARD:

I'm at lunch one day at the Orleans with a coupla notable RG'rs and they BOTH(!) pull out of their wallets indices for heads-up no-limit holdem born of their own computer simulations. To protect their privacy, I won't mention any names, but one of them did have a pretty good year playing no-limit.

BEST POKER HOUSEGUEST AT THE GEARYS AWARD:

Maverick, who brought gift baskets, good beer and great champagne to the New Year's Eve Party, then left promptly the next morning. And, he waaay overtipped the babysitter. I know you hate me letting out that last part the most, Mav.

WORST POKER HOUSEGUEST AT THE GEARYS AWARD:

Lee Jones, who made his bed everyday, filled the pantry with groceries, reorganized the CDs by date of original recording rather than release date and rebolted a loose scupper. Lee, you missed some spots in the corners while brushing the pool.

JUST MISSED CHANGING THE COURSE OF POKER HISTORY AWARD:

To David Z, who wrote: 
  "If this game (which I invented/discovered in 1998 and 
   called mississippi) had been around in 1971 there is 
   every reason to believe that it would have been the
   natural choice as deciding game of the WSOP"

MY NAME NOT IN LIGHTS AWARD:

Me, thanks to Roy Cooke, who when ballyragging those who weren't so impressed with the edge concept in a followup Card Player article mentions Tom and Patri specifically by name, and leaves me out. I came up with most of that funny shit lampooning the CEC and those nimrods got the print credit! And the later post where I quoted Epstein's 1967 work on the subject while pretending not to know what was going on? That was pure gold. No justice. What, do I actually have to play poker to get my name in Card Player?

BEST ONGOING TREND:

Tournaments continuing to convert to nonsmoking affairs. A bunch down, one biggie to go.

HEY, DIDN'T YOU USED TO BE:

------?

(fill in your own choice here; great interactive fun)

BEST TIP OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Mike O'Malley for convincing skeptical me to give Paradise a try.

WORST TIP OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Maverick for telling me how great his company ONSEMI was just before the stock tanked 40%.

BEST NEW TIP OF THE YEAR AWARD:

Maverick, who this time he's goddam serious super pick lock of the year can't miss says ONSEMI is really a buy now.

MIXED EMOTIONS RG EVENT OF THE YEAR:

River rafting before Tom Weideman's wedding.
Upside: Jennifer Poirier, soaking wet.
Downside: Mike McClain, soaking wet.

WILL SKLANSKY STILL THINK I'M SMART AWARD (in conjunction with the) FAT AND BALD LOOKED BETTER ON KOJAK AWARD:

From the above mentioned weekend: http://www.shutterfly.com/my/openshare_dt.jsp?e=00001&s=211e9090bf70bfc977f8687c6bc678ae&state=67b0de21b3f7fbcf8411&idx=24

which, in case he has the good sense to take it down, is now also archived at http://www.jimgeary.com/pix/tommy.jpg

THE JAMISON ALSO RISES ENTHUSIASM AWARD:

Jim Jamison, who upon reading the McManus Harpers article proclaimed it: 

"FABULOUS", "HISTORIC", "ABSOLUTELY AMAZING"

and the author, 

 "one of the truly great modern American writers"

THOSE MAGIC BULLETS OVER BROADWAY AWARD:

Abdul Jalib, who needs to know when the broadway card comes which times his gut-shot drawing opponent hit the straight and he can pull back while at the same time he can bet for value and get paid off the times the card in fact pairs his opponent: 

  
 "With a board of ATx, there are 39 gutshots (KQs/KQ, KJs/KJ, QJs/QJ)
 the fish could hold and once the second ten hits on the turn there
 are about 36 plausible tens he could hold  (KTs/KT, QTs/QT, JTs/JT,
 T9s/T9, T8s, T7s).  If those are the only hands he could hold and 
 he would not pay off on the river if he caught a pair on his 
 gutshot draw, then it would be six one way, half a dozen the other,
 regarding betting versus check-calling.  But given that he likely
 would pay off if he caught a pair, .."

and later 

"a calling station will call with all manner of garbage on the
turn, but not on the river."

Abdul is giving himself enough extra equity from getting paid off on those putative river broadway cards that pair the opponent so as to justify the earlier course. But betting the river when the picture card comes is -EV as he has stipulated the situation.

Mr McEvoy can show us the conditional probabilities that demonstrate why it's 40-42.857% that a picture card completes the broadway as well as the Game Theoretic Optimal bluffing frequency that prevents Abdul from folding to a river raise.

And Dr Weideman can demonstrate the roundoff error above and why it could have been avoided using a base-35 numbering system.

And everyone else can wonder if he's serious.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW AWARD:

The Tiltboys for the second year in a row. One more and we retire the trophy. Token December bursts from Perry and Kim just don't cut it, I'm afraid.

(last one isn't poker related, but as long as I posted all that pseudo-content, I'll allow myself this indulgence) :

WHERE ALL MY OLD POKER TIME GOES:

http://www.jimgeary.com/pix/0010/hal_kit2.jpg
and
http://www.jimgeary.com/pix/0011/drummer2.jpg

Have a peaceful and healthy new year, everyone!

Last Modified 1/18/01

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