It's still poker, isn't it?

Prince Edmund: Percy, you are dismissed from my services.
Percy: Me? why?
Prince Edmund: Because Percy, far from being a fit consort for a prince of the realm, you would bore the leggings off a village idiot. You ride a horse rather less well than another horse would. Your brain would make a grain of sand look large and ungainly. And the part of you that can't be mentioned, I am reliably informed by women around the court, wouldn't be worth mentioning even if it could be. If you put on a floppy hat and a furry cod-piece, you might just get by as a fool, but since you wouldn't know a joke if it got up and gave you a haircut, I doubt it. THAT is why you are dismissed.
Percy: Oh, I see.
Prince Edmund: And as for you, Baldrick...
Baldrick: My Lord?
Prince Edmund: You're out too.

"The Black Adder"

One of the presents I was lucky enough to get over Christmas (lucky as in I picked it while my fiance wrapped it) was the four seasons of the Black Adder seires. What can I say, you either like Biritsh sitcoms or you love them.

Scury Dog's Casino bonus challenge has certainly been somthing different. I have cashed out of Planet Luck casino a fair bit in front. Aside from the one time I threw $100 out on the table, I had an amazing run towards the end. When I finsihed the WR of $1600, I was ready to cash out my $280. But you have to wait 24 hours after meeting the requirment before you cash out. This normally isn't a big problem, but I was about to leave for Melbourne for a few days and that would delay the whole process more. So just before we were ready to head to the airport, I fired up the casino and tried to make the withdrawal - only 20-21 hours not the required 24 after passing the requirement. Naturally, the withdrawal was denied. Why then, why don't I try to make them pay for this insolence? Why don't I try to make the $280 bigger? I could see the mafia bosses no doubt behind this casino laughing, thinking another punter has been drawn into their little plan. Wait 24 hours? Why, that's just enough time for them to get the itch and loose the lot.

I even ventured away from Blackjack.

I wanted to play poker. 3 card poker.

On the first inspection, I coudn't see how this game was -EV. Basically if your 3 cards beats the dealers, you win - right? Well, yes that is right, but only if the dealer has a King. Otherwise, no matter what I've got it is a nil all draw. I was less than happy about that fact. Welcome to the world of qualifying hands! I had played a little of 3-card poker in the free-play, just to get used to it. I even hit a striaght flush, which was nice.

I set myself the task of giving it a shot, if I fell below $250 then I would stop. Naturally, I went straight down in quick fashion, and on the last hand before I fell below the mark (always playing pairs plus) I hit a Flush. Brilliant, now I was back right where I started. Before long, I also hit a straight, even better. I decided my little dash was over so I made the withdrawal at $321. Below I will compare my results with the "expected" results of SD.

Casino Expected Profit
SD.......................................... HEAFY
StarLuck $90.00..................... $40
CasinoCounty $81.00 .............$221
PlanetLuck $90.00
William Hill $70.00
AceClub $63.00
Casino-On-Net $193.00
Reef Club $175.00
InterCasino $88.00
Omni Casino $88.00
GoldenStars Casino $110.00

So I am a little ahead at this time. I have already started at Casino County, and after 300 hands I am up to $210. I am keeping track of this one very well, even on how many times I get blackjack, the dealer gets blackjack and how many times we push with it. Interesting to me at least.

I am trying to organise a home game for the new year, hopefully 1st or 2nd of January to co-inside with the public holidays. No word on them yet.

Had fun down at Crown Casino in Melbourne, by far Australia's best casino and host of the Austrlian Poker Championships next month. Their poker room is impressive by Aussie standards, with about 20 tables and well organised. We were there at lunch time to find out the poker room doesn't open until 4pm. We had to catch a plane that night so we were leaving the casino at about 4.30pm. I watched from the rail for a little while at what looked like a $2/$4 game. Passive enough, everybody either limps or folds pre-flop. They had some $10/$20 games just starting as we left.

My brother sat down at $10 blackjack with only $50, just to waste some time. First hand, blackjack. Nice start. Then he hit 20, 20, 19. All wins. A push on 19, then another twenty and already he has doubled his money. The little asian lady next to him stopped playing her own hand and bet on his. It was a nice run, and he pocketed his initial outlay plus a $20 gain and then plaied the remainder until it went dry. On one hand the dealer showed a ten, when my brother had A7. Now, my little strategy card says hit here. Dealer called "18" though, instead of "8 or 18". My borther said hit. Dealer says "Hit? On 18?". Yep. So he gets his third card, another ace. "19. Smart Arse." He stood on 19 and the dealer got blackjack anyway. While it may seem in writing that the dealer was being nasty, it was pretty funny and good to see they can show some personality in what must be a pretty hard job at times (remember, you can't tip your dealer in Australia).

The only other activity that got close to poker was a few games of echure we played. 6 handed, the game ends when one team hit 15 points. Out of the 5 games, the scores were 15-1, 15-0, 15-9, 15-12, 15-4. Of course, my team won them all. It was uncanny, we just couldn't loose. Even the one close game when we were loosing 2-12 we never looked threatened. If only there was money on the line...