I remember when Labour brought in the minimum wage. So many people were telling the public that it was a disaster which was going to make thousands of businesses go under and destroy the economy. It didn't.

24 things JC believes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34209478

Most of those things seem pretty reasonable to me, even those that I do not agree with.

She is right, the old guy is wrong. However, it was a small slight and the severity of the punishment is completely disproportionate. It is wrong that a professional should be judged so blatantly on their looks, but the lengths she has gone to to shame this guy and possibly ruin his career are much worse and obviously much more calculated.

This ^^

For those who are advocating jamming, at what point does a hand become strong enough to make raise/calling the preferred choice with this stack depth? JJ+ and AK?

Great post Tal, really enjoyed reading it.

Not perfect on these type of tourney spots, but I'd assume 99 is strong enough to induce with, so I'd raise/call. It's higher variance than jamming though ofc.

Cool video... the guy is moving exactly like McGregor!

If there is any logic at all to my thinking above ^^ then (closer to the time obviously) Aldo to win by submission might be a great bet. He has no submissions in the UFC, very few people will be expecting it to happen (or betting on it) and the price could be way too big. Obviously it is a long way off, but forward thinking ftw etc. What you reckon?

Haha, yeah I just watched that press conference this afternoon. Love McGregor, but thought he was massively over the top even by his standards.

The Aldo v McGregor fight is gonna be intriguing. I just can't decide how it will go. Maybe Aldo is just so much better than McGregor that it is going to be an embarrassing mis-match. Or maybe it will be a proper changing of the guard fight like Barão v Dillashaw where a seemingly invulnerable world champion was completely dominated by the challenger. Or maybe it will be ridiculously close and a brilliant fight.

I had one thought about the Aldo v McGregor fight that I would like to run past those guys who know more about MMA than me (probably all of you)... I gather Aldo is absolutely top notch on the ground, but ofc we have never really seen it in action because he stuffs almost every takedown attempt and is so dominant on his feet that he never goes for takedowns himself. My thought is that Aldo might surprise McGregor with a gameplan based on waiting for the right moment, then taking him down and submitting him. Assuming Aldo really does have a high level ground game, this would seem to be an excellent plan. McGregor's ground game is obviously not as strong as his stand-up game. Plus, McGregor will likely not prepare too much for Aldo taking the fight to the ground; and even if he does he will have little idea what to prepare for as we have never seen Aldo proactively use his ground game. At the very least, Aldo going for takedowns would give McGregor something else to think about and require him to focus on more than just Aldo's kicks and punches. Does this seem like something that could happen, or am I just completely naïve in thinking this?

Demetrious Johnson looked pure class last night. I really like Paige VanZant too; she fights with complete joy, massive smile, loves the game.

Did anyone catch the Lineker vs Rivera fight on the undercard? Was absolute insanity, I couldn't believe what I was seeing lol.

Also, who subscribes to UFC Fight Pass? I'd highly recommend it. They have a huge back catalogue of fights. And a really good feature is that you have a slow-motion option. I love watching fights in slow-motion, either entire fights or just parts of them. You get a much better understanding of what is going on; which strikes actually connect, footwork, positioning etc. Especially good for really fast fighters like Rousey/Johnson. If you're very experienced with MMA then you probably take in all this stuff at real speed, but for someone like me who is just getting into MMA the slow-motion option is a brilliant learning resource.

That said, slow-motion of Rousey's armbar vs Tate (in their first fight) was a horrible experience, almost made me hurl. At full speed it is so fast that it does not look like anything much, but in slow-motion it is sickening. You can see Rousey stop applying pressure for a split second as she can see the arm is totally fucked, but then when Tate does not tap Rousey just keeps going and pretty much bends Tate's arm back on itself. Horrendous.

[its]

really, it should be "whyg" what have you got?

now i know what wug means (often wondered), its pretty tilting that it is both an abbreviation and an inaccurate one, bro.

WTF!!!!

Ha ha. Great spot!

Previously I chose to change a deuce as well only if the opponent showed a lot of strength and I was relatively sure he had a strong range.

Because of the maths of the game (you are rarely getting odds to chase, especially not vs a strong pat hand) you should not usually be in the hand on the third draw if an opponent has shown a lot of strength/likely has a strong range. Unless of course you have made a big play on the second draw (usually vs a range that is likely to be weak, such as a hand that was pat from the get-go) and have been called by a pat hand that now chooses to slowplay/pot control (and is now clearly a strong hand). *

I'm not sure what the generic play is meant to be though or whether this game should always have a liquid strategy. Great game though haha.

Padooki is cool because it lends itself to GT/mathematical analysis really well, whilst at the same time allowing a lot of read/feel based adjustments. That's why I prefer it over any other game.


* [I'm talking 'normal' padooki here; in the version of 5 card padooki that you describe it is obviously more difficult to identify spots where an opponent is likely to have a weak range]

I have never played 5 card padooki where you have 5 cards all the way through the hand. The only variant of 5 card I have played becomes normal padooki after the first change - i.e. if you keep three cards and throw away two cards first change you only get ONE card back from the draw. Seems that 5 card played the way you describe would be a nightmare with the re-shuffling unless playing very short-handed.

What are your personal thoughts on the question you pose in your OP?

Can't go myself but anyone who's considering this- do it! Seen them twice and they're incredible

I second that. Saw them at Manchester a few days before Dave Grohl broke his leg. They were incredible. I have never seen a frontman with so much presence. Plus, they played for AGES. In fact, they started 30 mins early because they'd been told there was a strict curfew at 10.30pm but they still wanted to play a long set. I loved the fact they did that, it shows how much they love playing and how much they care about giving the best value possible to their fans. Proper band.

Wish I could go on Sunday, I'd SNAP them up!

If we don't we still have a A24 3 card?

Unlike Badugi, the way Padooki is usually played is that you do not play a 3 card incomplete hand - you always play a 4 card hand. So if you end up with then you have what a '7 flush' or if you have then you have an 'Jack flush' (flush just means a non-padooki lowball hand). Any padooki beats any non-padooki, but if no-one has a padooki then the best 4 card lowball hand ('flush') wins. I assume this is the rule for the game OP is referring to.

This means that it is probably a better idea to discard one of the deuces and draw two cards. The reason for this is that if you do not make a padooki with one of your two cards then you have a better chance of making a decent flush (as opposed to pairing up or making, say, a K flush). I would have to run some maths on this though to be sure.

That said, if you only draw one card then it looks like you have already made a padooki and are simply trying to improve on the final change. So it gives you a decent chance of bluffing the river if you miss (but less implied odds if you hit).