With no poker to play until the 5PM $1000 NLHE WCOOP, I made a second trip to the Jean-Talon Market. Perhaps I burned up all of my run-good, because I found a bike at the second Bixi station on my route, which was a far sight better than the six stations it took me last time. Not only that, but this bike was in good shape: nothing rattled or squeaked, it made no funny noises, and the grips were still on the handlebars. It was a keeper, and unfortunately I had two stops to make along the way. Both times I stashed the bike towards the middle of the station, where I thought others would be less likely to take it, and made a mental note of where exactly it was so that I could find it upon my return.
After scoring a delicious St-Viateur bagel, I headed over to a coffee shop called Le Lapin Pressé. This means “The Hurried Rabit”, which I thought was probably an Alice in Wonderland reference, though there was no evidence of this inside. What they did have inside were some of the highest-quality coffee beans I’ve tasted.
A good cup of coffee (or two) is one of the few luxuries I permit myself on a daily basis. I buy high-quality beans, grind them myself when I’m in a place where I can do that, and make my coffee in a french press. I have one that’s built into the lid of a travel mug, so that goes with me pretty much anywhere I go. I probably pay about 100x more per cup than I would if I drank the cheapest coffee I could find, but since we’re only talking coffee, that’s still cost of perhaps a couple hundred dollars per year which I consider money very well spent.
Partially because I already had good beans that I didn’t want to go to waste and partially because I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to find in Montreal, I brought about half a pound with me, but that wasn’t going to last much more than a week. When I started doing my research, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of well-regarded microroasters and coffee shops in Montreal. I’ll probably have cause to try another before I leave, but I was quite pleased with what I got from Lapin. It comes from a microroaster called Saint Henri, and it looks like they actually sell their stuff online, if you’re so inclined….
I was also pleased to be a bit more comfortable getting around the city by bike. It’s actually quite easy if you know the cardinal directions you want to go and the nearest bike path. If you need to go north and east, you just start following the path east, and eventually it will intersect with a north-south path. Until you get very near your destination, there’s no need to ride in traffic or guess about which roads are best for riding.
A few hours later I was home with my new victuals and ready to start grinding. There was nothing too remarkable from the 1K really. Here are the two most notable hands:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 15/30 Blinds (9 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t7425)
Hero (UTG+1) (t5969)
MP1 (t7400)
MP2 (t7470)
MP3 (t7927)
CO (t7728)
Button (t7285)
SB (t6780)
BB (t8261)
Hero’s M: 132.64
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with J♦, K♦
1 fold, Hero bets t90, 3 folds, CO calls t90, 2 folds, BB calls t60
Flop: (t285) K♥, A♥, 4♦ (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, CO checks
Turn: (t285) Q♣ (3 players)
BB bets t120, Hero raises to t420, 2 folds
Total pot: t525
Results:
Hero didn’t show J♦, K♦.
Outcome: Hero won t525
Villain may be drawing, in which case I want to draw him, but I also think that bombing blank rivers will get him off of many Aces.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 1050 Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 60 Ante (8 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB (t16023)
BB (t30871)
UTG (t49675)
UTG+1 (t27647)
MP1 (t32325)
MP2 (t14812)
Hero (CO) (t17634)
Button (t14461)
Hero’s M: 14.34
Preflop: Hero is CO with 2♠, A♠
4 folds, Hero bets t1000, 2 folds, BB calls t500
Flop: (t2730) 9♥, 2♥, A♣ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1234, BB calls t1234
Turn: (t5198) 7♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t3333, BB raises to t6666, Hero raises to t15340 (All-In), BB calls t8674
River: (t35878) 5♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t35878
Results:
BB had A♥, 7♣ (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Hero had 2♠, A♠ (two pair, Aces and twos).
Outcome: BB won t35878
I really like to avoid chalking stuff like this up to a cooler. Villain was a pretty big calling station, so it was alarming when he min-check-raised the turn. My hope was that he could play 97 or 72 this way, but if at all (I did expect a quite range for calling from his BB) he probably only plays those suited. A7 and even 77, on the other hand…. I don’t know, I think this is probably foldable.