Poker Cats

All poker depends on it

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:43:00 +0000

You have to accept that the only hope you have is that you are already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function the way a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends on it. -Band of Brothers

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- The big stack bets into me with a queen on the board. I have a gunshot draw but nothing else. My chips had been dwindling and I was down nearly a buy-in, having won not a single pot in more than two hours.

So what can I do? I fold.

He sighs and shows KTo. It's the same hand I raised with.

He gets up to leave and now it's four players. Nobody bats an eye but the scraggly Asian player in the one seat announces, "Four-handed. No chop, OK?"

Nobody says a word. I certainly don't. It's been more than a year since I've held live cards in a casino and I really haven't taken too many reps this year, only at the Gnome's poker games. Still, I am 0-fer this year in poker, a weird sight on my balance sheet.

I don't think I thought that would necessarily change by playing in a California poker room but still I was hopeful. Yet I already was behind for the trip, having already had AA cracked by 26o for two pair on the river in a previous session the day before (Banana Republic, 9-3).

But it probably wasn't the best time to return, although I'd (correctly) been envisioning juicy Friday night games President's Day weekend.

The difference between showing up Thursday night and Friday night at the poker room at Ocean's Eleven: The parking lot was packed and I couldn't even have parked where I had during the "weeknight" session since it now was a valet parking area.

Looking back, I probably was more than a little rusty those first six hours. When you lose chips, you start to play tight -- not tight as in hand ranges, but more as in worry over what's to come.

When the game is not easy for you -- no sets or gutshots to put all the chips in the middle, you have to improvise. And it's awful when you throw out more of your chips on a well-timed bluff, only to have the scraggly Asian dude check-raise you on the turn.

But amid that sensation of steadily draining wealth and exhaustion, something happened -- I didn't care if I lost my chips and just wanted to play.

I open raised with 75s, getting the scraggly Asian to call. An ace flopped on the board. He checked, I continuation bet, forcing him to sigh at the "tight player" and fold.

Next hand, he raises with what I'm sure are ATC. I look down and see TT. Obvious reraise and when he is studying his cards I am thinking that I am ready to put all of my chips in the middle. He folds. The spark of desperation breaks the game.

I don't say anything but when it turned three-handed, I finally felt ready to play, as if this is how it's supposed to be then I'm going to play. But instead I get moved to another table. I only have an hour left in my session but I decide that I'll just play the rest of it out, win or lose.

I actually start to get some playable holdings and my stack builds, just as my session is about to end. And then it comes down to a final hand, the board is 7T4, a person bets into me and then a second player late just cold calls the action.

When the turn comes 4, I actually know my hand has been strengthened against raggedy two-pairs I have seen this trip but the late player who spouts poker theory and claims to have gone to Harvard is just still overcalling, waiting for the end.

And when it's all over, with a lot of chips in the middle, I can't believe the hands. T3o by the early player betting into me. ATo for the woman in late.

I show the cowboys, obviously a monster pre flop hand but in many ways a questionable post flop holding against random cards in this kind of poker room.

I scoop up all of the chips and just like that, I have recovered for my loss and also will, bad beats willing in the last 12 minutes of my session, be able to log my first win (Biscuits, 17-3) for the year.

When I get up to leave half a round later, I know it looks like a hit-and-run but my 4 hours are up and I'm already exhausted from still being on East Coast time. I don't care what anyone will say, keeping with my recently developed mood at the tables.

It turns out nobody at the table cares either, and I leave with my rack of chips without having to say a word.

Nobody knows what's on the board?

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:52:00 +0000

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- So we're all just sitting there, at a $2/3 NL table at Ocean's Eleven, with the dealer mucking the cards and everyone having a blank look on their faces.

Only thing is, two players are in the middle of being all-in.

In nearly 10 years of playing poker I have never seen this happen. We flew into San Diego for the funeral of my wife's grandmother and were staying up the road at Solana Beach. Equidistant between this poker room and San Diego's Palomar, the temptation was too great not to play in the evenings. Especially during President's Day weekend.

So anyway, the older blonde woman in the three seat goes all-in on the turn. The five seat folds. The guy in the Sham (9) seat starts thinking about it and while he's doing that, the dealer starts to flip over the board to muck it.

While the dealer is doing that, the dude in the Sham seat says, "all-in."

So everyone at the entire table is just staring blankly at the felt while the supervisor comes over.

The dealer explains what happened. But neither he nor anyone else seems to remember what was on the board -- including the people who decided to push all their chips on the middle BECAUSE OF THE CARDS ON THE BOARD.

Incredible.

Normally I won't say a word in this kind of situation, especially if I'm not in the middle of it. But the incredibleness of this is just too much to bear.

So I go, "Wasn't the board K,8,7?"

And then everyone says yes. The dealer starts to remember it. The players start to remember it. Then the dealer starts to flip over cards. A,A. A, T.

It's clear he is not sure where his mucked board is.

Um, it's over there, I point.

He flips it over. Sure enough, it's a K, 8, 7 flop.

The supervisor asks the two all-in players if they agree that's how the board is. They do.

Play ball.

A 4 comes on the turn with a blank on the river. The blonde shows AKo for top pair, top kicker. The Sham seat turns over 56o for a straight. The chips go to him and the universe seems to be righted again.

For jest, I say: "Who mucked their aces?" lololol

Prelude to the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Dec. 7, 2011, Paris, France.

I'm looking forward to 2012, but it will be hard to top this New Year, which was filled with milestones:

February: Trip to Dallas, PR in the Charles Harris 10K, Tucker, Ga.
March: Trip back to Chapel Hill, N.C.
April: Trip to Washington, D.C. (Cherry Blossom 10-miler)
May: Wedding in Maui, honeymoon in Australia
June: Trip to San Diego (Rock'n'Roll San Diego Half Marathon)
August: Announcement of baby on the way! Trips to Richmond, Va., Great Smoky Mountains National Park
September: Second trip to Washington, D.C.
October: Trips to Chicago and New York (and freak snowfall there)
December: Trip to London, Stonehenge, Paris. Second trip to Richmond, Va., Daily running streak marks five years.

The pull of the Mississippi

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:01:00 +0000

I was in London but stayed away from the Gutshot. I was in Paris but did not find my way to the Aviation Club.

But Tunica. I live nowhere near it -- 391 miles -- but it has to happen.

I was last there nearly four years ago. But it's still my home field for poker, where I've won the most money in live games outside of Vegas.

Rolling up along the flat Delta, jumping from one poker room to the next, the artificial facades, the buffets. Sitting down at a table to eke out the required five hours of play for a poker room-discounted rate room.

Can't wait.

Joey Chestnut and online loss leaders

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:38:00 +0000

Today is the Fourth of July and the grand day of the famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

I first started seeing lines for competitive eating contests in 2007 during the Krystal Square Off in Chattanooga, Tenn. There you had familiar characters, including the reigning hot dog champion, Joey Chestnut.

Basically in the world of competitive eating there is Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. But Kobayashi has not competed in the last few years in the main competitive eating circuit.

So that leaves an eating giant and everyone else.

Although the lines that were out there weren't too generous (-500), they still amounted to an online loss leader since it was highly doubtful that anyone could break Joey's stride.

Recent news reports indicated that he was feeling fine and wanted to try to eat 75 hot dogs this year after only eating 59 last year.

My main interest was that he would win outright and not have to think about how many hot dogs he would eat to do so, since he really was ahead of the pack.

And late in the day he ended up doing so. Who knows if next year what kinds of challenges he'll face, either personally or via new eating competition. But this year at least, his dominance continues.

Going far, going light

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:44:00 +0000

Headed to San Diego for the weekend and it's the first time in a long while, including my honeymoon to Australia, that I won't be lugging my laptop around.

Why? Well I can do most everything I need from my iPad2. And thanks to Gnome, I can even access my computer at home to play some cards on Bocat.

The world keeps getting smaller and smaller. And lighter and lighter.

Back to Bodog

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 03:34:00 +0000

Dunno why, but today I logged onto Bodog and saw some hands. It's been a while since I've done so.

The fear I guess is that I'd become incredibly rusty not playing for a long while but I think I miss the electronic humming of cards being dealt, the monotony of beeps while you wait for a hand.

Decided to play even lower than normal, $.02/.05, and was entertained when a hand would pop up, say, 83 and I'd think "Snowman Taterlegs." Guess I haven't forgotten much at all.

Of course, the CR offense still is with me. I would love folds when I'd open raise with 88 or A5s and pick up the blinds. Or when someone called and I'd have to c-bet. And then get a fold.

I realize it's not the money I play for but maybe just for the nostalgia of playing a game that I'd once been pretty proficient at.

UPDATE: I triple up when I limp (I never do this) in late with JJ and get a flop of Q2J. All in 3 way on the flop vs 22, Q2.

An online banking cautionary tale

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sun, 22 May 2011 23:26:00 +0000

On Friday I was about to go out for a run when I decided to procrastinate a little more and decided to check one of my bank accounts.

I noticed a very strange debit -- an E-check in the amount of $29.95 to some kind of online entertainment site. When I looked at the E-check, it had my routing number and bank account number, something that doesn't happen by chance.

This set off alarm bells in my mind because I:

1). don't use online "entertainment" and 2). don't typically use this bank account for anything other than paying rent. I've paid my taxes with it and used a check for a down payment on my recent car. And those have been actual paper checks that I've signed instead of an electronic check.

But poker withdrawals have come through here. And, remembering all the way back to 2004, it dawned on me that with all of the places where I burned off poker and casino bonuses, you often had to include a voided check in the process. Who knows where those old checks and/or bank account information have gone?

So I went and called up the bank's fraud department and ended up having to completely close down that account and set up another one. The bank kindly credited my account with $29.95.

Truth be told, I have no idea where my bank account information was purloined from. I'm just glad I caught it before the account was cleaned out entirely.

I'm just passing this on for fellow bloggers to scrutinize their bank statements a little more closely, especially when it may have had contact with the nebulous regions of the online 'verse.

It also makes me think that credit card transactions are much better than traditional checks now. It's much less hassle to cancel a card or get one replaced than to have to set up a new bank account.

What I've been up to lately

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:04:00 +0000

Outside Holy Ghost Church, Kula, Hawaii.

For starters, I got married, in a tiny historic church 4,400 miles away from where I live. And then we piled on 5,100 more miles for our honeymoon in Australia.

We're back now but I'm likely to have a few retro posts along the way. I didn't get to play poker in Star City Casino in Sydney like I thought (small outside chance) and there was no poker in the so-called "boutique" casino at the Pullman Reef in Cairns (pronounced "cans"), Australia, where we traveled to catch the Great Barrier Reef.

But I did devour a January 2011 issue of CardPlayer magazine on last night's flight from DEN-ATL and it made me think about playing again.

And this is for a bright blue sky

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:09:00 +0000

Unicoi State Park, Georgia

The word that would best describe this feeling/Would be haunted...
-Love and Rockets

So less than 24 hours ago, I was out with a few co-workers at Highland Tap when this guy comes up to the bar and wants the bartender to change the channel. I thought this would be something pretty random, but guess what? It was CNN's feed and the word was out that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in a U.S. commando raid.

Wow. I'm sure there are thousands of blogs that also are keeping this account for posterity but it was absolutely surreal. There are many times that news shocks but few times that it rouses the collective spirit.

It brought me back to the senseless death of my freshman roommate, Karleton Fyfe, how the world could be so small that strangers could affect our country in the 9/11 attacks.

But a shrinking world works both ways and the same world power that effectively ended online poker for U.S. players on April 15th is the same one that has no boundaries when it's time to get the job done.

We're talking about the U.S. of A, the biggest gang on the planet. Maybe terrorists should learn from Young Jeezy's world: "The only thing I fear is the mother----ing feds."

So where was I when I heard the news? I was sipping Remy Martin V.S.O.P. with friends, six days before my wedding.

A nice surprise

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:13:00 +0000

Gnomey told me yesterday that cashouts for U.S. players on PokerStars was available but I didn't have time to do it until today.

But when I did, I noticed that it included compensation for my tournament tickets. An added bonus!

The first day of the rest of my life

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:14:00 +0000

... has been ok without poker. Seems like I have a lot more time on my hands for other pursuits.

Do not adjust your dial

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:33:00 +0000

Looks like another historic day in the world of poker. When you type in the web address for Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker, you get the picture above.

Here's the Department of Justice press release.

At least there's geocaching.

Back in black

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:24:00 +0000

Five years ago when I turned in my 1991 Mercury Tracer for a brand-new Mazda 6, I'd realized I'd missed on a few generations of car improvements -- air bags, side curtain air bags, digital odometers and readings, power locks and even a folding key that popped out like a switchblade.

When I returned to the showrooms after less than five years, I didn't expect many changes. But the field is clearly different with the car that I purchased to replaced my wrecked one.

One of the first things starts with the key fob, er fob, as there is no key.

You just keep it in your pocket and the door will unlock for you as you open it. Same goes with the ignition. With the fob nearby, all you do is put your foot on the brake and push the start button.

The car has Bluetooth, meaning that calls can come in through the car's system and speakers. Even after I bought my '6, I'd said that my next car had to have an iPod dock. This one does.

In addition to the airbags that my '6 used to have, this 2011 Hyundai Sonata SE comes with side air bags located on the side of the driver's and passenger's seat. It has a stability control that I'm told was invented by Mercedes. I was surprised that when I called my insurance to transfer the car over, they said coverage would be cheaper than my old '6, something that I attribute to these safety improvements.

It's interesting to note that the car's 200 horsepower from its small 2.4L engine is what my old 1977 Pontiac Trans Am produced in its 6.6L engine. (6.6L!) From what I've seen so far, it does carry a bit more power than my old Mazda, although what I've read in reviews is true -- the '6 had a lot sportier suspension. But all the extras thrown in (including steering wheel-mounted paddle gear shifters developed by Audi) are what makes this car worth getting.

I do miss my '6 but am happy that a sportier and hopefully safer alternative was available.

Cracked

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:17:00 +0000

Last Monday I had an early start and was coming home from some grocery shopping when a wraithlike blur appeared to my right. You have that inner voice in your head to tell you that something is wrong even while it's happening and so I slammed on the brakes and jerked my wheel hard to the left.

A small-size pickup truck had run a stop sign from a side street in the neighborhood and smashed into the front of my car. I remember being surprised at myself that I didn't curse while it was all happening but let out an elongated "Ohhhhhhhh" while trying to control my car and in that amount of time my car had been struck, was being pulled along and finally stopped, destroyed. I was five blocks away from my house. The end of the Summerfest 5K, which at the time was a personal best for me last year, is just beyond this spot.

When my car came to a stop I smelled a dusty, chemical, smell. My air bag had deployed and I could see myself just staring at it. My head hadn't come in contact with it but my right hand had a rectangular welt from it bursting forth.

A week later, it still strikes me as something hard to figure out. It's like those hands where the money flies into the middle of the pot and you never see the rest of the cards until the dealer is pushing the pot to someone.

And just like a poker hand, I can think what if a second here or a second there but that doesn't matter. Reaction -- and a bit of luck -- are the reasons why neither I nor the other driver were injured. It's a good lesson for me that nothing in life can be taken for granted.

I'm thinking of this now, a week later, because the other driver's insurer called me today to say they are taking liability for the total loss of my vehicle.

When I bought that car in 2006 I thought at the time that I was going to have it for a long time. I really needed a car then, as my old one was breaking down. So many buy-ins from my bankroll went into it. Even more went in 2009 when I paid it off a year early.

I guess in a way that money has come back to me as I've been reimbursed for the wreck and am soon to buy a new catmobile.

And just like a hand, the money is immaterial. It's the sequence of events -- and its conclusion -- that always has you thinking about what happened.

Crossed signals

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:12:00 +0000

Sometimes when I don't play as much as I should, I don't play as optimally as I should in hands.

Case in point just now when I had flopped a set in late position with 22 and there was a bet and a raise.

I called it, really should have raised, and then the raiser bet out the turn with three flush cards showing.

On the river, when the opponent also had a chance to make a straight, he laid out a nice value bet and I called after going into the tank.

It's hard enough to make the right choices in poker, let alone when you come in cold.

-----------------

Earlier in the day, Sham and I met up with Skidoo and son at Turner Field for some tailgating and a Braves game. It was good seeing you and we'll have to get another group out soon!

The dangers of limp raising

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:36:00 +0000

No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: $17.58

UTG+1: $33.21

MP: $31.02

CO: $3.36

Hero (BTN): $25.00

SB: $15.00

BB: $25.00

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is BTN with 2 3

UTG calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP calls $0.25, CO raises to $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, 2 folds, UTG raises to $2.25, 1 fold, CO calls $1.75, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.60) Q 8 T (2 players)

UTG bets $1.25, CO calls $1.11 all in

Turn: ($7.82) T (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($7.82) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $7.82

UTG shows A A (two pair, Aces and Tens)

CO shows T J (a full house, Tens full of Jacks)

CO wins $7.43

A cat in Washington, D.C.

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Posing before the Chinatown gate in Washington, D.C.

Iron Man, continued

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Had to burn 150 Full Tilt Iron Man medals today to get a continuing month since I didn't play enough days last month.

I can't remember the last time I had to do it but I'd better earn this one the regular way since I imagine with next month's wedding and overseas honeymoon it'll be hard for me to qualify then (you can only get a continuing month two months in a row).

A stacked deck

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:50:00 +0000

In the Fulton County jury waiting room.

When I returned back from Chapel Hill on Monday evening, I had to check on the jury summons I received about a week ago.

I had to call into an automated line to see if my group number would be required to serve. Of course, it was.

I made my way down to work, parked, then walked over to the courthouse. When I got to the jury waiting area, it seemed it had changed since the last time I was called for jury duty five years ago.

First, it had wi-fi, something I didn't realize. People were there with their laptops and power cords and I just had a travel book on Sydney (this gave me a bunch of time to research the first and last day of our honeymoon!).

They ran a pretty nice introduction video by the State Bar of Georgia on jury service. Then names were called out when judges needed jurors. My name wasn't called out in the first pool of 60 names. But it was #6 for the second. The 48 of us went up to our courtroom.

I've been summoned to jury three times so far in Atlanta and once when I worked in Little Rock, Ark. Because I'm a reporter, I've never had to serve on a jury. Lawyers typically don't pick us because we cover so many topics and easily could have previous knowledge of a case, particularly criminal ones.

In 2006 when I was called to jury duty, I primarily was excused because I had covered court cases and had interacted with the district attorney. Before that, in Little Rock, I was excused because I'd written articles on drug cases.

This time seemed a little different. It was a civil case, which meant the bulk of my excuses working on criminal cases was out the window.

Another thing that was different was an indication of the times that we live in. The judge had to tell us to not Facebook, tweet, or do anything else in social media related to this case. We didn't have this warning the last time I was called to jury duty.

I did have a few outs that potentially could disqualify me from serving on that jury -- I have an extensive background as a health reporter, having worked the beat in three states.

But the trump card came when one of the attorneys asked me what my fiancee does for a living. The case involved a person who works in that industry.

Although I would have fulfilled my civic duty as a juror if picked, I was honestly relieved when my name ultimately wasn't called to serve for that five- to six-day trial.

Carolina: Two decades later

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:59:00 +0000

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Life is pretty interesting in that you never really know where you're going to end up next.

When I left Chapel Hill nearly two decades ago, I was just a young cat headed to new adventures in Japan. It wasn't that I never wanted to come back to campus, I just never needed to. Plus my parents moved back to Chicago from Winston-Salem when I was overseas.

So it's kind of crazy I'm back now. My fiancee has her pediatric boards here and I jumped at the chance to explore a setting of my past.

Sure, everywhere you go, after a while things won't be exactly like how you left them last. I'm constantly amazed at how much Atlanta has developed in the eight years that I've been there.

But the essence of my experience at Chapel Hill has remained. I remember what it was like cutting through the quad or the arboretum on my way to/from class and to Franklin Street, the main drag. I ate a chicken and cheddar biscuit at Time Out. I saw my freshman/sophomore dorm trying to find a place to park.

Being here also has reminded me of my days as a pretty neurotic college student eager to explore the world.

Opportunities like this make you take a step back and review your life like nothing else. There are a lot of things I can be proud of -- my marriage in 40 days to a young doctor, my streak of more than 1,500 consecutive days of running, the friends and travel that are in my life.

And being here, thinking about my past, makes me think that nothing is set in stone. I thought back then that I'd be a lawyer when I was all grown up. Every day is a new page. Turning 40 allows me to look forward to the next two decades ahead.

What I've been doing lately

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:54:00 +0000

Just chilling out at the Ty Cobb memorial in Royston, Ga.

It's Sunday, time for grilling and poker

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:22:00 +0000

Back on the deck again grilling some split chicken breasts and some turkey brats while of course playing a few tables.

It's nice to get this down to a routine now that the weather is a lot nicer.

Live poker is definitely more of a possibility in the future -- because of the natural disaster in Japan, we decided to change our honeymoon destination from Tokyo to Sydney.

Even though the Aussie Millions is played at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, there is one official casino in the Sydney suburbs. With any luck I'll get to pay it a visit!

No high pair but the better hand

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:40:00 +0000

An interesting low-stakes hand. I liked having overcards, the gutshot and the 4-flush.

Full Tilt Poker $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1219104

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $13.89

BB: $26.95

UTG: $37.18

Hero (CO): $25.00

BTN: $6.01

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is CO with A J

UTG calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1.25, 1 fold, SB calls $1.15, BB requests TIME, 1 fold, UTG calls $1

Flop: ($4.00) 7 8 T (3 players)

SB checks, UTG bets $2, Hero raises to $10, SB raises to $12.64 all in, UTG raises to $35.93 all in, Hero calls $13.75 all in

Here's what the odds turned out to be on Cardplayer's odds calculator:

Turn: ($64.14) 9 (3 players - 3 are all in)

River: ($64.14) 4 (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $64.14

SB shows A T (a pair of Tens)

UTG shows T 9 (two pair, Tens and Nines)

Hero shows A J (a straight, Jack high)

Hero wins $21.31

Hero wins $39.83

(Rake: $3.00)

Beating the computer in Roshambo

noreply@blogger.com (kurokitty) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:02:00 +0000

The New York Times today has an interesting interactive that pits you versus a computer that throws Roshambo.

This, of course, is something that's irresistable to me, both as a poker player and as someone who loves randomization.

Here's how it stacked up:

Round 1: Computer 1, Cat: 0. Having an aggressive strategy to Roshambo, I throw rock. The computer instantly sums me up and throws paper.

Round 2: Computer 1, Cat: 1. The computer doesn't realize how aggressive I am when I go back to throwing rock. It throws scissors.

Round 3: Computer 1, Cat: 1. I go with paper now, and it does too.

Round 4: Computer 1, Cat: 1. I throw rock. It does, too.

Round 5: Computer 1, Cat: 2. I change it up and throw scissors, just when the computer thinks that I am the most aggressive person on the planet and throws paper to foil what would have been my fourth rock in a row. Not in the real world, compy.

Round 6: Computer 2, Cat: 2. I mix it up at the wrong time and throw paper when the computer throws scissors.

Round 7: Computer 2, Cat: 2. I throw paper again and it matches.

Round 8: Computer 2, Cat: 3. I dare it to throw paper again but this time my rock beats its scissors.

Round 9: Computer 3, Cat: 3. I throw the scissors and it foils me with a rock.

Round 10: Computer 3, Cat: 3. Not to be undaunted, I throw scissors again. it does so.

Round 11: Computer 3, Cat: 4. I throw paper now when it throws rock, possibly picking up on my three-throw pattern from the opener.

Round 12: Computer 3, Cat: 5. It's close-out time, so I throw a rock and it follows with scissors.

The interactive says you need 20 rounds to post your results, so I continue.

Round 13: Computer 4, Cat: 5. I throw scissors when it decides to go rock.

Round 14: Computer 4, Cat: 6. I do what it did and throw a rock when it throws scissors.

Round 15: Computer 4, Cat: 6. I throw another rock for the set-up, but it does the same.

Round 16: Computer 5, Cat: 6. I throw paper now, but it responds with scissors.

Round 17: Computer 5, Cat: 7. I throw scissors and it decides paper is, right, possibly thinking that after throwing paper I have gone with rock three times in this series.

Round 18: Computer 6, Cat: 7. I throw paper now, not realizing I've done this after scissors twice already. It's ready with the scissors.

Round 19: Computer 6, Cat: 7. I throw scissors for the set-up, it matches.

Round 20: Computer 6, Cat: 8. FTW. It doesn't know that I like to close out with rock, but I do it anyway. It decides to throw three scissors in a row for the loss.