Damned funny movie. Achingly funny. See it. Set your TiVo or, hell, it’s even worth driving to the Video Movie Store. I personally recommend “Mr. Video” at 71st St. and State Road 37 in Indianapolis, just across the street from Steak N Shake, you know, right next to the Noble Romans.

I make no secret about my affinity for “shopping” (some call it scrounging”) at the Goodwill. Ostensibly, this is a donation center and charity thrift store where a person can buy used and overstock donated goods, and the proceeds go to some sort of charitable enterprise.

We all know that it doesn’t work that way, and there is crookedness in the system - but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good deal when I find one.

So - what kind of deal is it that really makes me love Goodwill so much? Speakercity justification could include:

Profit - Pioneer HPM-100 speakers bought for $50 sold for $300, Advents for $2 sold for $75, Bose $20/$75, AR Speakers (x3) $20/$50-$75, Bose Wave radio $20/$150, various amps/recievers I’ve at least doubled my money on.

Sound - I’ve been using my Dahlquists for $50, AR-3 speakers for $50 - collector value $800-$1000, and other stuff for $15-$20: Advents for $20, a 1980 Pioneer monster reciever for $25, B&W speakers, two turntables, etc.

History - CDs out of print for 10 years, a Beach Boys Pet Sounds original pressing mono LP.

Experience - You might not like it, or think older stereos sound good, and think vinyl sucks.  But I dig it, and I get to try all this cool stuff for cheap - in fact I make money at it.

All good.  But what really makes me love some Goodwill is this past week. Saturday I was thinking - “I really need to find some brand badges to finish restoring Dad’s speakers, ” and “I need to fund an amplifier upgrade,” and “I’d like a good racing wheel for my PS2″ and almost bought one for $70 on Craigslist. So all of the sudden between Saturday and Monday, I picked up:

- another pair of $300 speakers for $40 (there’s my amp $)

- a pair of trashed RtR speakers with perfect badges for $15

- a $100 Logitech GT racing wheel for the PS2 for $9.

So there you have it. It’s like shopping e-bay without e-bay prices. Maybe I wait a little longer for stuff, but I pay lots less.

Plus, I get to hang out with such an interesting crowd, and I get to be the best smelling one there.

I’ll be in Vegas for July 4, as we’ll set up the booth on July 3 but the Gaming Life Expo doesn’t begin until July 5. So what to do on July 4?

Well, the $5k World Championship Deuce-Seven NL Triple-Draw Lowball (w/ rebuys) does take place starting 7/4/07. Hmm. If only I had a wealthy backer. The chances to win in this event are much better than pretty much any other WSOP event — last year there were only 81 entries! If there’s any question whether deuce-to-seven is an action game, there were 159 rebuys out of that 81-player field. Winner of the event took home a cool $481k plus a bracelet. Man, that would be fun to play. If I had like $30k on my hands that is.

PokerStars 3/6 Hold’em (10 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K.

1 fold, UTG+1 calls, 2 folds, MP2 calls, 3 folds, Hero raises, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls, MP2 calls.

Flop: (7 SB) 2, A, Q (3 players)

Hero bets, UTG+1 calls, MP2 calls.

Turn: (5 BB) J (3 players)

Hero bets, UTG+1 calls, MP2 folds.

River: (7 BB) T (2 players)

Hero bets, UTG+1 calls.

Final Pot: 9 BB
Hero has Kh Ks (royal flush).
UTG+1 has As 8s (one pair, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins 9 BB.

Some would say that NL Triple-Draw 2-7 Lowball is only for total degenerates. But when Mike “The Mouth” Matusow says that something is “a game for donkeys and morons,” well, then I say that something must be the game to play. Plus, there’s a bracelet for it and you don’t have to go through 10,000 NLHE experts to win it. Not that I’m even close, but I’m just saying. Anyway, PS has a .25/.50 game (both PL and NL) and I’m finding it to be quite entertaining, even with the beat in the second hand below. Many things carry over from NLHE, but most especially the Sklanskyrific “Hammer of Future Bets.” Enjoy.

PokerStars Game #10141418828:  Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/05/28 - 00:56:52 (ET)
Table ‘Cordelia’ 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Roadkillr ($14.50 in chips)
Seat 3: boxerlover1 ($12.65 in chips)
Seat 4: TV7777 ($7.45 in chips)
Seat 5: ramtheman ($18.60 in chips)
Seat 6: iuchamp ($11.10 in chips)
boxerlover1: posts small blind $0.25
TV7777: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to Roadkillr [6h 3s Qd 3c 7c]
ramtheman: folds
iuchamp: calls $0.50
Roadkillr: calls $0.50
boxerlover1: calls $0.25
TV7777: checks
*** FIRST DRAW *** (4 players, $2)
boxerlover1: discards 1 card
TV7777: discards 4 cards
iuchamp: discards 3 cards
Roadkillr: discards 2 cards [Qd 3c]
Dealt to Roadkillr [6h 3s 7c] [6c Ad]
boxerlover1: bets $1
2 folds
Roadkillr: calls $1
*** SECOND DRAW *** (2 players, $4)
boxerlover1: stands pat
Roadkillr: discards 2 cards [6c Ad]
Dealt to Roadkillr [6h 3s 7c] [7d 4h]
boxerlover1: bets $1
Roadkillr: calls $1
*** THIRD DRAW *** (2 players, $6)
boxerlover1: stands pat
Roadkillr: discards 1 card [7d]
Dealt to Roadkillr [6h 3s 7c 4h] [2s] ***a/k/a second nuts***
boxerlover1: bets $2
Roadkillr: raises $4 to $6
boxerlover1: calls $4
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Roadkillr: shows [6h 3s 2s 4h 7c] (Lo: 7,6,4,3,2)
boxerlover1: mucks hand
Roadkillr collected $17.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $18 | Rake $0.85
Seat 1: Roadkillr (button) showed [6h 3s 2s 4h 7c] and won ($17.15) with Lo: 7,6,4,3,2
Seat 3: boxerlover1 (small blind) mucked [6d 5h 4d 3h 8c]
Seat 4: TV7777 (big blind) folded after the 1st Draw
Seat 5: ramtheman folded before the Draw (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: iuchamp folded after the 1st Draw

—

PokerStars Game #10141614943:  Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Pot Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2007/05/28 - 01:12:57 (ET)
Table ‘Portia III’ 6-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: TimBalos ($15.80 in chips)
Seat 2: ezwin123 ($47.30 in chips)
Seat 3: southpa1 ($32.10 in chips)
Seat 4: trouble1111 ($22.25 in chips)
Seat 5: Roadkillr ($26.25 in chips)
Seat 6: Greenbottle2 ($28.20 in chips)
TimBalos: posts small blind $0.25
ezwin123: posts big blind $0.50
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to Roadkillr [7s 2c 5s 2d 4d]
southpa1: calls $0.50
trouble1111: folds
Roadkillr: calls $0.50
2 folds
ezwin123: checks
*** FIRST DRAW *** (3 players, $1.50)
ezwin123: discards 3 cards
southpa1: discards 2 cards
Roadkillr: discards 1 card [2d]
Dealt to Roadkillr [7s 2c 5s 4d] [Jh]
ezwin123: bets $0.50
southpa1: calls $0.50
Roadkillr: calls $0.50
*** SECOND DRAW *** (3 players, $3)
ezwin123: discards 1 card
southpa1: stands pat
Roadkillr: discards 1 card [Jh]
Dealt to Roadkillr [7s 2c 5s 4d] [Ac]
ezwin123: checks
southpa1: checks
Roadkillr: checks
*** THIRD DRAW *** (3 players, $3)
ezwin123: discards 1 card
southpa1: stands pat
Roadkillr: discards 1 card [Ac]
Dealt to Roadkillr [7s 2c 5s 4d] [6c]
ezwin123: bets $1.50
southpa1: raises $1.50 to $3
Roadkillr: raises $5 to $8
ezwin123: folds
southpa1: raises $20.60 to $28.60
Roadkillr: calls $17.25 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
southpa1: shows [4c 5d 2h 7d 3s] (Lo: 7,5,4,3,2) ***a/k/a the mortal nuts. DOH!***
Roadkillr: mucks hand
southpa1 collected $52.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $55.25 | Rake $2.75
Seat 1: TimBalos (small blind) folded before the Draw
Seat 2: ezwin123 (big blind) folded after the 3rd Draw
Seat 3: southpa1 showed [4c 5d 2h 7d 3s] and won ($52.50) with Lo: 7,5,4,3,2
Seat 4: trouble1111 folded before the Draw (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Roadkillr mucked [7s 2c 5s 6c 4d]
Seat 6: Greenbottle2 (button) folded before the Draw (didn’t bet)

Saturday, April 28

We flew out from DAL to LAS via Southwest Airlines on a 1-hopper through Amarillo late in the morning. Surprisingly, the up-and-down nature of the flight was more refreshing than the direct flight from DFW on American. I guess I like a 60-minute flight and a two-hour flight better than one continuous 3-hour flight. Only downside was that we forgot to bring enough cocktail tix. 7/10 for the flight even though it was fully-booked. At least I was the fattest one sitting in our row.

We arrived in Vegas slightly early and were met (after a phone call) by our driver. I’d ordered a sedan to cart us and our bags from the airport to Mandalay Bay; I hate standing in cab lines for any appreciable time. Instead of a Town Car, we got the stretch limo treatment, including fine champagne and a red long-stemmed rose “for the lady.” Very nice. Having to chase down the driver was a bad start, but the fact that mrs. cipher and I combined to down about 3/4 of a bottle of fine champagne on the 15-minute ride from airport to hotel turned it around. Calling the driver started this at 5/10 but with the champagne having the desired effect on mrs. cipher if you know what I mean, limo ended up at 9/10.

I’d heard competing opinions about the Mandalay Bay over the past couple years. Some people told me that they didn’t like it, others were merely okay with it. I can’t say that I understand why, as this hotel is fantastic. The hotel is in the process of rennovating all its rooms and we got a recently-remodeled room. It was easily as nice (if not nicer) than the suite we had at the Rio for the WSOP last summer. 46″ HD plasma screen, grossly-overpriced mini-bar, very comfy king-size bed, nice couch, chair, desk. And a really cool iHome iPod-based clock/radio.  Mrs. cipher particularly appreciates the full tub and separate shower. Room had a couple of quirks that we had to have hospitality/engineering fix (squeaky door, etc.) but overall a solid 8.5/10.

The biggest plus about Mandalay Bay is the pool complex. There are something like 6 pools, including a lazy river and a very large wave pool and beach. I spent an hour or two down there every day to get some sun and swim, and the pool is fantastic. 4-foot waves every 90 seconds or so. As with most places in Las Vegas, there are 10% of the women who could get away with showing even less skin and 90% that you wish that would put on some clothes. It’s notable how many people have tatoos these days. I guess I just don’t understand it — most especially the mid-40’s cute mom who had “faith-hope-love” as an ass-tat. It takes all kinds, I guess. Mandalay pool = 9/10.

The only real downside here is that this is the Mandalay Bay Resort and Hotel, and they have definitely taken “resort pricing” to heart. From an economy standpoint, I feel like I’m living inside an airport. Breakfast for just me on Sunday was $15 plus tip; 2 adult beverages, salsa, guacamole, and chips on Sunday afternoon for mrs. cipher and myself were like $33 with tip. Yow. Mandalay pricing = 3/10. Food quality = 8+/10 overall.

No poker action to report on Day 1 of the trip. Since mrs. cipher was to be in meetings all day on Sunday (Day 2) we made Saturday into our tourista day. After unpacking and getting settled in at the hotel (ahem) we made our way over to the Catholic church on the Strip for Vigil Mass since mrs. cipher wouldn’t be able to make a regular Mass on Sunday. It might surprise you to know that the Shrine of the Holy Redeemer is directly across the Strip from the Luxor hotel. It’s not actually on the Strip, the Luxor employee parking lot is in its way, but it’s just on the other side of the lot. And it is a HUGE church, I think it seats something like 1,800 when completely full. On top of which it does not have a regular parish population — the Las Vegas diocese opened it something like 10 years ago just to service pro-drinking pro-gambooling Catholics visiting Vegas. Who would imagine that those people even exist?

And the service was very full, especially for a Vigil Mass. Not just the usual crowd of cafeteria-bound seniors, but people of all ages (although we were certainly on the younger end of the demographic spectrum) and from all over. We had a couple from Denver on one side of us and from Seattle on the other. Nice service, 7/10. Eternal salvation = 11/10.

Following the cleansing of our souls, we hoofed it up to Bellagio. It was a sunny, hot day so we were quite warm once we were there, but it was nice to burn off some of the calories we were about to consume at the buffet. Which was fantastic as always, but it also confirmed my belief that the best time to consume there is the brunch buffet. Dinner is essentially the same menu as the brunch buffet (except for the morningtime specialties) but is like $20 more per person.  Buffet = 7/10.

After dinner we walked through the mall at Bellagio then went over through Caesar’s and the Forum Shops. mrs. cipher was wearing out at that point so we crossed the street to Harrah’s and trekked through there to the Monorail, took that to MGM, then crossed over to Excalibur and took the cablecar tram back to the Mandalay. We were both pretty worn out at that point so although it was kinda early Vegas time, she had a big day on Sunday, so we hit the sheets. Being tourists without the kids around = 8/10.

Day 2 will featuer first blood, poker style, with a bad beat like you have never, ever seen. Seriously.

More hands to laugh at.

How to go broke with the third nuts:

PokerStars 3/6 Hold’em (6 handed)
Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, A.

1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, MP caps, Hero calls.

Flop: (9.33 SB) J, Q, A (2 players)

MP bets, Hero raises, MP 3-bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (7.66 BB) Q (2 players)

MP bets, Hero raises, MP 3-bets, Hero caps, MP calls.

River: (15.66 BB) T (2 players)

MP bets, Hero raises, MP 3-bets, Hero caps, MP calls.

Final Pot: 23.66 BB

MP has Ah As (full house, aces full of queens).
Hero has Qh Ad (full house, queens full of aces).
Outcome: MP wins 23.66 BB

——–

Then get paid with the third nuts:

PokerStars 3/6 Hold’em (6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP with T, T. CO posts a blind of $3.

1 fold, Hero raises, CO (poster) calls, Button calls, SB calls, 1 fold.

Flop: (9 SB) T, 9, A (4 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, CO folds, Button raises, SB calls, Hero 3-bets, Button calls, SB calls.

Turn: (9 BB) 9 (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, Button raises, SB folds, Hero 3-bets, Button calls.

River: (15 BB) 6 (2 players)

Hero bets, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, Button caps, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 23 BB

Hero has Th Ts (full house, tens full of nines).
Button has 9c Ac (full house, nines full of aces).
Outcome: Hero wins 23 BB.

——-

Coolered this guy bad:

PokerStars 3/6 Hold’em (5 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, K.

UTG raises, MP 3-bets, 1 fold, SB caps, 1 fold, MP raises, SB calls.

Flop: (10.83 SB) A, T, A (3 players)

SB bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (6.41 BB) A (3 players)

SB bets, Hero calls.

River: (8.41 BB) 2 (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.

Final Pot: 10.41 BB
SB has Ts Td (full house, aces full of tens).
UTG has 3c 6c (three of a kind, aces).
Hero has Ac Kd (four of a kind, aces).
Outcome: Hero wins 10.41 BB.

when slowplaying goes right (for the wrong reason), then wrong?

Testing out formatting here. Hero (YT) sucks out nicley.

PokerStars 3/6 Hold’em (5 handed)
Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 3
2 folds, Hero raises, SB 3-bets, 1 fold, Hero calls.

Flop: (7 SB) 3, 5, 2 (2 players)

SB bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.50 BB) 4 (2 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.

River: (6.50 BB) A (2 players)

SB bets, Hero raises, SB calls.

Final Pot: 10.50 BB

SB has Th Ts (flush, ace high).
Hero has Ah 3s (straight flush, five high).
Outcome: Hero wins 10.50 BB.

The following is the hand history of the 10 billionth hand. Support explains that everyone that gets dealt gets $10k and the winner of the hand gets $100k.  Some players inquired about chopping the winnings, but support told them they couldn’t.  After announcing the structure and payouts to the table, the hand then proceeds. Let’s watch:

PokerStars Game #10000000000: Hold’em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2007/05/19 - 16:51:40 (ET)
Table ‘Venusia’ 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Rechargeable ($4.83 in chips)
Seat 2: inwooke ($1.73 in chips)
Seat 3: The_Moog ($6.43 in chips)
Seat 4: XTedForrestX ($2.95 in chips)
Seat 5: Ferius ($3.10 in chips)
Seat 6: justine0003 ($0.82 in chips)
Ferius: posts small blind $0.01
justine0003: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
[random chat snipped]
The_Moog said, “gl table”
Rechargeable: raises $4.81 to $4.83 and is all-in
inwooke: folds
The_Moog: raises $1.60 to $6.43 and is all-in
XTedForrestX: folds
Ferius: calls $3.09 and is all-in
justine0003: calls $0.80 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Ac Kc Td]
*** TURN *** [Ac Kc Td] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Ac Kc Td 9c] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rechargeable: shows [5c 4d] (high card Ace)
The_Moog: shows [9h Th] (two pair, Tens and Nines)
The_Moog collected $3.31 from side pot-2
Ferius: mucks hand
The_Moog collected $6.49 from side pot-1
justine0003: shows [3c 8c] (a flush, Ace high)
justine0003 collected $3.13 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $13.58 Main pot $3.13. Side pot-1 $6.49. Side pot-2 $3.31. | Rake $0.65
Board [Ac Kc Td 9c 8h]
Seat 1: Rechargeable showed [5c 4d] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 2: inwooke folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: The_Moog showed [9h Th] and won ($9.80) with two pair, Tens and Nines
Seat 4: XTedForrestX (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Ferius (small blind) mucked
Seat 6: justine0003 (big blind) showed [3c 8c] and won ($3.13) with a flush, Ace high

If you liked Stevo’s gay motorcycle game, you’ll love this.