Coconut Monkey Cornerclub

[WoodenSaucer]

I like how everyone is always trying to make England sound so awesome. "We turn both left and right!" "We add 'U' to words!" "We say 'pants' and we aren't even talking about pants!" Whatever. I'm not impressed.

Just never forget that "humor" does indeed have a 'u' in it!

 

[Brian Boru]

Apparently horse racing all goes counter clockwise in Britain

Huh, apparently not! Difficult to find a tabular list with the info, but the first two I checked on this awful site—Perth & Musselburgh, northernmost—are clockwise. So both directions are in play. Same in Ireland. There are some straight races too, longest I know is the Rowley Mile at Newmarket—which of course isn't a mile, but 10 furlongs

trying to make England sound so awesome … I'm not impressed

Totally agree, I'm much more impressed with our humility here in the US.

back in the American colonial days, they used to run clockwise

I can't find anything credible on this, so I'm not at all convinced. It would mean the majority of courses for some reason changed direction, which is unreasonable when not obviously documented. I had a big interest in the game for decades and never heard of it.

Total guess here, but the first-gen Irish-American who built the first course in USA probably heard of some local clockwise track from his parents and assumed that was the British Isles standard.

 

[ZedClampet]

Totally agree, I'm much more impressed with our humility here in the US.

We have a tremendous amount of humility. At least half the country is heavily involved in self-loathing.

 

[Zloth]

Besides the point above, they also have road courses and street races now.

Street races? Jeez, ours are going to lose bad. I've never seen any of our streets move at all, never mind move fast.

 

[ZedClampet]

Street races? Jeez, ours are going to lose bad. I've never seen any of our streets move at all, never mind move fast.

If you don't mind, I'm going to pretend I didn't read that.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Huh, apparently not! Difficult to find a tabular list with the info, but the first two I checked on this awful site—Perth & Musselburgh, northernmost—are clockwise. So both directions are in play. Same in Ireland. There are some straight races too, longest I know is the Rowley Mile at Newmarket—which of course isn't a mile, but 10 furlongs

Interesting! For some reason this just reminded me that my long passed Grandad used to say 'Well, blow me!' when he was surprised, and that these days that doesn't quite come across the same way.

I lived near Newbury for quite some time, and there's loads of race horses and horsey people in the Lambourn valley there but not something I ever got into much.

 

[Brian Boru]

not something I ever got into much

Horse racing British Isles style is a magnificent sport, but not one you can be half into—it's like a Paradox game, all or nothing!

A former pal is/was the largest jumps owner in the British isles for a long time, and of course Ireland is world class at the game, so it's always been a big deal where I'm from. I loved it, haven't been near it in ~25 years.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Interesting! For some reason this just reminded me that my long passed Grandad used to say 'Well, blow me!' when he was surprised, and that these days that doesn't quite come across the same way.

I used to think old people saying stuff like that were just naive and things used to mean something different in their day. But I've come to find out that they usually know exactly what they're saying. Lol

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Horse racing British Isles style is a magnificent sport, but not one you can be half into—it's like a Paradox game, all or nothing!

A former pal is/was the largest jumps owner in the British isles for a long time, and of course Ireland is world class at the game, so it's always been a big deal where I'm from. I loved it, haven't been near it in ~25 years.

Sport of Kings and all that. Largest owner as in owned the most horses? Wow, do you think your mate could spot me a little cash? My power bills getting a little dicey these days. Never been in a bookies, my other Grandad and my Uncle on that side liked a bet though.

I used to think old people saying stuff like that were just naive and things used to mean something different in their day. But I've come to find out that they usually know exactly what they're saying. Lol

The full saying is 'Blow/knock me down with a feather'

I can believe that's true in a lot of cases, but if my Grandad wanted to tell anyone to **** off he'd have said that too their face without blinking. My Gran didn't swear as much but she was even straighter, it was pretty hilarious, especially towards the end when she really didn't care.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

The full saying is 'Blow/knock me down with a feather'

I can believe that's true in a lot of cases, but if my Grandad wanted to tell anyone to **** off he'd have said that too their face without blinking. My Gran didn't swear as much but she was even straighter, it was pretty hilarious, especially towards the end when she really didn't care.

Yeah, in the old Popeye cartoons, Popeye used to always say, "Well blow me down." I guarantee they weren't trying to be obscene in those cartoons.

 

[ZedClampet]

My Tennessee Vols won 63 to 6 last weekend. We're now ranked 11th and facing Florida this weekend.

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

Speaking of horse racing, the first bet I ever made was on a horse race. My parents were in their recliners, and I was lying on a bean bag chair in the floor. We were watching the run-up to a Triple Crown race, not sure which one. I was small and knew less than nothing about horse racing, but I loved horses.

Dad suddenly said, "We should bet on a horse with each other." Mom picked a horse, and Dad picked a horse and then said, "(Zed), you should pick Secretariat."

He was a good dad. I made $10.

 

[Zloth]

I've only done pro gambling once (as opposed to penny ante in the dorm rooms). I think I played blackjack? These were the days soon after college, so $10 wasn't "ten dollars," it was "one large pizza." The thought of losing a pizza because I would get a face card or a 10 instead of a 9 or less, was terribly frightening. A young man needs to KNOW if he's going to be able to have pizza this weekend or not! Leaving important matters like that to the whims of chance!? No!! NO NO NO!!

I ended up losing a little money. However, when I got out of the den if vile pizza snatchers, I found that they counted my chips out wrong, so I ended up $20 ahead. I'm a winner! And, as long as I stay away from the casinos, I'll stay in the plus column.

 

[Brian Boru]

Secretariat

Damn, what a pick for your first!

 

[ZedClampet]

I've only done pro gambling once (as opposed to penny ante in the dorm rooms). I think I played blackjack? These were the days soon after college, so $10 wasn't "ten dollars," it was "one large pizza." The thought of losing a pizza because I would get a face card or a 10 instead of a 9 or less, was terribly frightening. A young man needs to KNOW if he's going to be able to have pizza this weekend or not! Leaving important matters like that to the whims of chance!? No!! NO NO NO!!

I ended up losing a little money. However, when I got out of the den if vile pizza snatchers, I found that they counted my chips out wrong, so I ended up $20 ahead. I'm a winner! And, as long as I stay away from the casinos, I'll stay in the plus column.

I've gone to casinos a few times and am overall ahead by just a little. I don't really love gambling, though. I just accepted invites by friends. However, I do love poker, which I don't consider to really be gambling. I used to play online poker a ton. I had $1800 in my account when the government froze all online gambling accounts, and I had to fight to get my money. When I finally got it, I never played another hand of online poker. I've got a few Texas Hold'em games, like Governor of Poker, but they are way too easy to be any fun.

 

[ZedClampet]

Damn, what a pick for your first!

I'd never heard of him and thought he was a female horse because the name looked like "secretary". I was your typical small boy and wasn't enthusiastic about picking a female horse, but that's what Dad said to do, so I did it.

 

[Brian Boru]

pro gambling … thought of losing a pizza because I would get a face card or a 10 instead of a 9 or less, was terribly frightening

Yeah, temperament is the first requirement of a pro. You've gotta be able to set fire to a $100 bill and watch it burn without any panic or qualms. Money is a tool, and losing it must be no worse than breaking a drill is for a carpenter.

poker, which I don't consider to really be gambling

I've heard it said that poker is the most skillful card game, because it's the game which most minimizes the role of luck—ie the best player can be most sure of winning. So you have a point
Personally I rate bridge higher, but that's just me.

 

[Brian Boru]

poker

Hah, co-incidence—BBC article today:

The inside story of the poker boom: 'We blew the doors off' - BBC Sport

 

[ZedClampet]

Yeah, temperament is the first requirement of a pro. You've gotta be able to set fire to a $100 bill and watch it burn without any panic or qualms. Money is a tool, and losing it must be no worse than breaking a drill is for a carpenter.


I've heard it said that poker is the most skillful card game, because it's the game which most minimizes the role of luck—ie the best player can be most sure of winning. So you have a point
Personally I rate bridge higher, but that's just me.

Bridge is okay, but it's hard to find enough 90 year old women to get a game going.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I like playing Texas Hold em with friends, much prefer a game where there's more skill involved even though I'm not great or anything.

Never been in a casino though, I'm such a sweet child of summer

 

[Brian Boru]

Bridge is okay, but it's hard to find enough 90 year old women to get a game going

I understand finding equivalent players at your level would be a challenge.

But back on topic: for consideration of skill, I'm talking about the likes of The Blue Team. Why I preferred bridge to poker is that in club tournament play, all teams play exactly the same cards—so the winners are those who do best with the same resources as everyone has.

Anyway, they're very different games, so comparison is mostly meaningless. I would say poker is a gambling game, in that it's meaningless without stakes. Whereas bridge never needs stakes to be worthwhile, same as most other card games.

Texas Hold em

Seven-card stud was mostly what I played, or 5-card draw in social games. 7CS is an interesting variant due to the many betting rounds and significantly changing tableau one has to deal with.

 

[ZedClampet]

I understand finding equivalent players at your level would be a challenge.

But back on topic: for consideration of skill, I'm talking about the likes of The Blue Team. Why I preferred bridge to poker is that in club tournament play, all teams play exactly the same cards—so the winners are those who do best with the same resources as everyone has.

Anyway, they're very different games, so comparison is mostly meaningless. I would say poker is a gambling game, in that it's meaningless without stakes. Whereas bridge never needs stakes to be worthwhile, same as most other card games.


Seven-card stud was mostly what I played, or 5-card draw in social games. 7CS is an interesting variant due to the many betting rounds and significantly changing tableau one has to deal with.

You can like Bridge better. You don't have to defend it. You are very much a Bridge-type person. Had I thought about it, I would have assumed you liked it.

For me, for a game to be gambling there has to be significant risk of losing money. If you and I played poker. You would be gambling. I would not.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I've only been to a casino once, and that was before our state allowed card tables. So the only thing there was slot machines. I actually hated that experience. The atmosphere felt so heavy. You could look out at all the people and they all looked like zombies sitting there.

As for cards, my favorite game is Buck Euchre, sometimes called Bid Euchre. It's a version with every man for himself.

 

[Brian Boru]

If you and I played poker. You would be gambling. I would not.

You're probably right, all it did for me was some pocket money in college—never felt I could compete with the big boys, especially if they had super-Santa beards to hide behind

Bid Euchre

I know the name euchre, but probably only played it a few times—we used to experiment with dozens of games for fun. Bid Euchre sounds a bit like Solo Whist which I played a good bit—it and normal Whist were what got a group of us interested in bridge. Haven't played any of them since college.

 

[ZedClampet]

You're probably right, all it did for me was some pocket money in college—never felt I could compete with the big boys, especially if they had super-Santa beards to hide behind

I'm sure your pair would beat mine in Bridge. My mom ran a neighborhood Bridge club when I was young and taught me how to play so I could be a substitute. I hardly ever played and after leaving for college I only ever met one other person who knew how.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I know the name euchre, but probably only played it a few times—we used to experiment with dozens of games for fun. Bid Euchre sounds a bit like Solo Whist which I played a good bit—it and normal Whist were what got a group of us interested in bridge. Haven't played any of them since college.

Bid euchre plays like normal euchre, only there are no teams. And the method of scoring is different. You start off with 18 points. When a hand is dealt, you go around the table, and each person bids on how many tricks they think they can take. Whoever bids the highest gets to call the trump suit. Then you play the round, and everyone gets a point knocked off for every trick they take. But if the person who bids gets under the number of tricks they said they could take, they get "bucked" up 6 points, which is why it's also called "Buck Euchre." Whoever gets to 0 first wins. If you're bidding on a hand, and you think you can take all 6 tricks, you can "Shoot the moon." If you shoot the moon, and you're anywhere under 18 points, you win. If you're over 18 points, you go down to 18.

I think it's a lot more fun than normal team euchre. Another difference with normal euchre is that the bidder can call no trump, which means any Ace is high card. But you still have to follow whatever suit is led. So if someone led with a 9 of hearts, and you lay down an ace of diamonds, you lose.