Paul Ryburn’s Journal

Early yesterday afternoon I posted “Who the real and who the jabroni at BBQ Fest?” It’s a question retired pro wrestler The Iron Sheik asks on Twitter. A “jabroni” is someone who loses all the time, and is the opposite of “the real.” Last night, the Moody Ques proved we are the real, taking home the first-place trophy for Best Booth.

Our booth facade is a tribute to the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. Memphis in May always brings in dignitaries from the honored country to help with the judging. I’ve been told that any Swede would instantly recognize what we were doing with our booth.

Huge thanks to Brent, Travis and the team at Holliday Flowers who made this awesome booth happen. They weren’t even going to do it this year, but they got excited and jumped on board. If you need an event designed, these are absolutely the people you need to call.

Let’s see what else we have on the camera:

Chef David Scott Walker working on the fish fry for lunch

Chef DSW’s hot sauce was amazing on fries.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating, two booths down the sidewalk from ours. She tried not to get caught eating. Thank goodness for my 10x zoom lens.

Greene family portrait

Lunch

The guest of honor

Due to injury Puckett couldn’t talk for a while yesterday. Puckett not talking is about as rare as the Nuh-Uh Girl not eating.

Ciara and Christina

Our inspirational leader

Our bartenders

Before I started this post, I uploaded yesterday’s pics to Facebook. Air Traffic Mike commented, “Katie Mac and a rack” on this one. I can’t do any better for a caption than that.

Cody

Roglly and the Nuh-Uh Girl

In the evening I paid a visit to my friends at Squeal Street BBQ, where an ice luge was happening.

Shout-out to the LOSER who flipped me off in Squeal Street’s booth, by the way (not pictured above and not a team member). You are insignificant to me, so flip me off all you want. Then go get your foot stepped on by Bill the horse again. Or whatever today’s crisis of the day is.

Okay. Sorry about the brief rant. Let’s get back to the Moody Ques. As we all know, 2012 was not exactly our best year, and 2013 was sink or swim time. We could not afford to disappoint this year, and if we did the team was likely done. So far, we’ve brought a first-place trophy back to the booth, kept our team members well fed, and kept the door free of drama. And the way Chef DSW has been cooking, I have a feeling our work hauling trophies around the park is not done yet. We have redeemed ourselves and our team is now poised to be a force at BBQ Fest for years to come. I am proud to be on the team and proud to be associated with my teammates.

Here’s the full Thursday photo album (130 pics).

Plan for today: Pre-gaming at the Saucer at 11, park at 12. Another fine day at BBQ Fest.

Today I got to the Flying Saucer around noon, totally intending to stay there a while to hold the fort for the BBQ team again. It wasn’t very busy, and I started playing with my phone. After about an hour I checked Gmail just for kicks, and saw an email saying that only 4 people had shown up at the park to help build the booth. I actually felt bad for the people in Tom Lee Park. With a 2-story, 25×35 foot structure plus more space for the cookteam, it simply wasn’t going to get done on time  with that few people. So I did the unthinkable, at least for me. I texted one of our team captains and told him I was on the way down.

While there, I snapped a few pics of the booth in its early stages:

The facade. I’m told that anyone who has been to Stockholm will instantly recognize what this has to do with Memphis in May’s honored country, Sweden.

The interior of the booth looking in from the entrance. The booth will be divided into a small front room/patio and a larger room which will serve as a place to eat during the day and a dance floor/Blind Bear Speakeasy at night.

The second floor in an unfinished state. As you can see, even though we didn’t pay for a riverside space, team members will have no trouble viewing the river.

And yes, I did actually do some work. I laid carpet on both floors and then helped hang some silver curtains. I was down there for about three hours.

Big thanks, by the way to BBQ teammates Justin and Roglly. They saw that I had abandoned my post at the Saucer to go help at the park. They were at a Redbirds game, and after the game concluded they stopped by the Saucer to check on things for me. They reported that all was well and that nothing had come up that one of our team members would need to handle.

It’s 6:00 and I’m home to hydrate and to drop off my team packet so I don’t lose it. Then I’m back out to check on the Saucer again, then over to Blind Bear to continue my research on their PBR. One more day when I have the daytime to myself, then Friends & Family Night kicks off at 5:30.

In this post, I’m going to analyze how “experts” at the weekly bar poker games Downtown – Silly Goose, Blind Bear, Double J, and Dancin’ Jimmy’s – play select hands. The game is Texas Hold’em.

Why am I posting these hands the way other people would play them, as opposed to the way I would play them? Well, you see, I’m just a recreational poker player. I just play in these games to have fun. I might drink a few PBRs and run up a $6 tab while there. The “experts,” on the other hand, often run up a $48 tab in the same time period. If they’re willing to spend that kind of money, they must know a thing or two about poker.

Why am I posting this to my main blog, rather than my poker blog? Because my poker blog is about how I play hands. Whereas, in this blog I share good things happening around Downtown. In this post, I share the excellent poker play of others.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Hand 1

Blinds are 25/50, and it’s the first hand of the tournament. Player A raises to 200, Player B makes it 700, and player C goes all-in for 4000. You take a look at your cards.

Your hand: Q♣ 2♥

Do you fold, or call all-in for 4000?

Solution: You call all-in. There are five community cards to be dealt, and if one of them is a Queen, you have yourself a mighty big hand, my friend. Now, it’s true you’d be in trouble against a few other starting hands if your Queen pairs, namely A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-Q, K-Q, Q-J, Q-10, Q-9, Q-8, Q-7, Q-6, Q-5, Q-4, and Q-3. But those are only a small subset of all the possible starting hands that could be out. And besides, who would really be foolish enough to call all-in with a hand like Q-4 or Q-3? It’s better to focus on the positive outcomes, such as when both a Queen and a Deuce are dealt, giving you two pair. And what about the dream scenario, when the flop comes 2-2-2? How could you ever live with yourself for folding four of a kind? All-in it is.

Hand 2

Blinds are 200/400. Player A goes all-in for 5600.

Your hand: 9♠ 5♦

You have 4500 in your stack. Do you call all-in, or fold?

Solution: This one is absolutely a no-brainer. This hand has the potential to make a straight if an 8, 7, and 6 fall. You certainly are not going to fold a straight draw pre-flop, under any circumstances. All-in. I almost didn’t include this one in the post because it should be obvious what a powerhouse hand 9-5 is.

Hand 3

Blinds 50/100. Player A calls 100, and five more players follow. You’re in the small blind.

Your hand: K♥ K♠

You have 3400 in your stack. Do you fold, call 50 to complete the blind, make a raise to something in the 300-500 range, or go all-in?

Solution: You just call. Sure, with the second-strongest hand in the deck, some people would argue that a raise is the correct move here, especially facing so many other players. But this is not the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. This is a bar game, where you know most of the other players. Do you really want to be that douchebag who makes all his friends fold without even seeing a flop? No. You call for 50, and the big blind checks his option to raise.

Flop: 9♣ 8♣ 7♣

As small blind, you’re first to act post-flop. Do you check or bet?

Solution: HA! This is exactly the kind of flop you were looking for!!! Someone surely is holding a Nine, Eight, or Seven, and has made a pair. If that’s the case, they are about to lose all their chips to your pocket Kings. There’s no point in waiting to build the pot, though, with seven other players in the hand. You bet 50, and after the tournament director tells you that you have to bet at least the amount of the big blind, you make it 100. Two players call, a third player raises to 400, and a fourth player goes all-in for 3200. Folded around to you.

Do you fold, or call for 3200 of your remaining 3250?

Solution: You call. Like I said, you just KNOW your opponent has paired a Nine, Eight, or Seven. Looking at the board, there certainly don’t appear to be any other threatening hands that could have a pair of Kings crushed.

There’s an additional consideration here. If you call and lose, you are NOT knocked out. You will still have a stack of 50 left that you can wield like a club against your opponents. As the man once said, “All it takes is a chip and a chair.” This is a compelling reason to call.

In the actual hand, your opponent turned over J♦ 10♦ for a straight, and your Kings did not improve on the turn or river. Unfortunate, but that kind of thing will happen from time to time, and well, that’s poker. You shouldn’t let it discourage you from making the same excellent pre-flop and post-flop plays next time.

Hand 4

Blinds 25/50. You are “under-the-gun,” first to act pre-flop, at a nine-handed table.

Your hand: J♥ 4♣

Do you fold, call 50, raise to an amount like 150-200, or go all-in for the 3850 remaining in your stack?

Solution: One time you were watching the Aussie Millions on ESPN. There were four players left at the final table. Blinds were 250,000/500,000. Johnny Chan was first to act, just like you, and like you he had Jack-Four. He went all-in for his remaining 860,000 chips. Any time you can emulate one of the world’s top pros, you should. All-in for 3850.

Hand 5

Blinds 1000/2000. Player first to act goes all-in for his remaining 19,000.

Your hand: 8♠ 3♦

You have 14,500 left in your stack. Do you fold, or call all-in?

Solution: You call all-in. You see, folding just isn’t very fun, and going all-in is so much fun. So you go all-in!

Hand 6

Blinds 1500/3000. Player A goes all-in for 36,000. Action to you, with five players left to act behind you.

Your hand: 8♥ 2♥

You have 32,000. Do you fold, or call all-in?

Solution: There has to be a method to your madness when you’re playing poker. In the last hand, you were willing to call all-in with Eight high. This time you have Eight high suited, which is much much better! Therefore, you should be willing to call all-in with this one too. Just think how sweet it will be if three hearts hit the board and give you a flush. Of course, it won’t be so sweet if someone else is holding two hearts if one of them is a Nine or higher, but you can’t dwell on worst-case scenarios all the time. And besides, what if those five players behind you all call, you pair your Deuce, and none of the other players improve their hand? You would build yourself a huge chip stack. This hand just has too many positives to consider folding. All-in it is.

Hand 7

Blinds 100/200. Player A raises to 700 and player B goes all-in for 3200.

Your hand: 10♥ 4♠

You have 2800. Do you fold, or call all-in?

Solution: Sometimes it helps to think back to previous hands when making your decision. A few weeks ago you were in a hand with A♠ A♦, known in poker terminology as “Pocket Rockets.” You called a player who had gone all-in pre-flop with King-Queen suited, and two players called behind you with Q-Q and J-J. Your Aces held up and you took down a huge pot. The lesson to be learned here is that hands with nicknames are lucky. And nothing matters in poker more than luck, am I right?

Truckers who communicate with each other via CB radio have their own code that they speak in. For example, they refer to cops as “Smokey” or “Smokey the Bear.” Perhaps the most famous piece of code they use is “10-4″ to communicate “yes” or “OK” or “I got ya.” For example, “That’s a big 10-4, good buddy!” For that reason, Ten-Four in poker is a hand with a nickname, the “Good Buddy.” Because of that, you have to be all-in. If you end up against K-Q suited, Q-Q, and J-J as you did a few weeks ago, mathematically you’ll be at a disadvantage, but you’ll still have luck on your side. All-in. Let your “Good Buddy” work its magic for you!

Hand 8

Blinds 50/100. Ten-handed table. The player first to act pre-flop raises to 300. All fold around to you in the big blind, last to act pre-flop.

Your hand: 9♦ 3♣

You have 3100. The player who raised has 21,700. Do you fold, call, or raise, and if you raise, how much?

Solution: As much as people have been doing kamikaze all-ins pre-flop, it would be nice to see a flop for a change. You call for 200 more.

Flop: A♠ K♥ J♠

You’re first to act after the flop. What do you do?

Solution: Folding is an option you consider long and hard. But then you realize, bluffing is a key skill in poker, and this is an ideal spot. By going all-in, you could convince your opponent to fold, and take down the pot right here.

There’s an additional thing to understand about this spot though. If you go all-in, it’s not a pure bluff, but rather a semi-bluff. Yes, you could get better hands to fold, but worse hands might call. You’re a mathematical favorite against Eight high, Seven high, Six high, Five high, Four high, and Trey-Deuce, all hands that could potentially call your all-in bet. With two ways to take down the pot, your hand is looking exceptionally strong and you go all-in.

The player who raised pre-flop calls, and turns over A♥ A♦ for a set of three Aces. You turn over your hand for Nine high.

Turn: 9♣

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! You hit a Nine and made your pair. OMG!!!!!!!!!!

You go all-in, but the tournament director informs you that you were already all-in and your cards are already face-up. Well that sucks! You could have made some serious chips if you had the chance to go all-in again!

River: J♥

You start to rake in your chips with your pair of Nines, but the tournament director informs you that your opponent won, full house Aces over Jacks. You’re disappointed that you did not win, but that’s poker. Semi-bluffs do not work 100% of the time. The fact that this time didn’t work out should not discourage you from making the same excellent pre-flop and post-flop moves in the future.

I hope these hands have provided you with some insight into the great minds of poker. See you at the table! Bonus tip: Fireball will make your poker skills exponentially stronger. Even if you’re a novice, you’ll find that after 10 or 12 Fireball shots, you’ll be playing as well as the “experts” discussed here.

This morning I received a sign that this vacation is long overdue. I had a dream about marking up unordered lists using HTML and CSS. Seriously, I did. I should be dreaming about tube tops and PBR. Hopefully events of the coming week will effect that change.

Speaking of tube tops, here’s a scenario that will likely occur sometime this week at BBQ Fest. I’ll get caught looking and be asked, “Are you staring at my tube top?” And I’ll have to consider my possible responses:

() yes
() no
() bitch I might be

It’s National Train Day today. There will be special exhibits and trains by Amtrak and Canadian National at the Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum. The museum is in Central Station at S. Main and G.E. Patterson.

The Blind Bear is opening early today, at 2 PM, for those who want to pre-game before heading to FedExForum as well as those who want to watch the game there. Say “basketball special” to your server or bartender from 1 hour before game time until the end of the game for $2.50 select domestics, $3.50 apps, and $5 chili cheese Bear dawgs.

In a new TV show, Mike Tyson will team up with a talking pigeon to solve mysteries. No, I’m not kidding.

The Redbirds host the Fresno Grizzlies (hey, nice name!) tonight at 6:05 and there will be fireworks after the game. The theme will be “2 strikes, 2 outs, no problem,” paying tribute to the clutch hitting of the Cardinals’ David Freese in the 2011 World Series and Pete Kozma in the 2012 NLDS.

Interesting how social media and apps add value to BBQ Fest. Yesterday I started the annual “BBQ” note in Evernote to keep track of who said they were stopping by the booth and what day and time, so I can make sure I’m there. After I got home, I checked Foursquare to see who was out and about. In addition to the usual checkins, there was a notification that the Nuh-Uh Girl had saved several BBQ booths to her Foursquare “to-do” list. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Good catching up with one of the leaders of one of the other local BBQ teams last night at the Flying Saucer. Although I have great respect for their team in general, they made a bartending hire that I wouldn’t have made. When I go visit their booth I’ll make sure to get a full cup of beer in my own booth before I walk over, so I don’t have to deal with their bar. My prediction is that when BBQ Fest is over and they look back in review, this will be a “WTF were we thinking” type of thing.

I see one of the new patio porker teams has “We like pig butts and we cannot lie” as their slogan. Wow. That’s original.

Back to Foursquare for a minute… It’s going to be nearly impossible for me to maintain three bar mayorships while in a park for 12-13 hours a day. The Saucer opens early, so I can stop by there on the way. The Blind Bear is the sponsor, so most likely I’ll get by there after the park closes. But the Silly Goose mayorship is probably going to change hands before BBQ Fest ends. I’ve been watching checkin patterns and have identified the three people most likely to steal it, and I’m comfortable dropping it to any of the three. If I thought some dumbass from Collierville or Cordova might steal it I’d fight to keep it.

In case you haven’t heard, the majority of ESPN analysts are now expecting a Memphis Grizzlies-Miami Heat matchup in the NBA Finals next month. Let’s make that happen with a win today at the FedExForum! For those not going to the game, it will be on ESPN at 4. As usual I will watch the game at the Blind Bear. Dennis and Karen, will you be joining me?