English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Hmm I don't mean to be a nit-picker, that I get a slight hint of discrepancy there...

But I thought it was the socialists that were supposed to erase history where necessary.

Jan 4 at 17:53, by Kosmonaut

Except for one thing. Our Fahrenheit measurement is better for weather, and I will hold that opinion until my last breath.

Ah! I remember that one I think.

See? RD01 has been dubbed honorary Grace Note for a reason.

And I stand by the statement I made at the time: freezing matters more than anything.

12:20 AM

I'm still not sure what that is, but I will treasure it like a shiny badge.

My search-fu sucks today. I kept looking for that comment on the main site. Turns out it was in chat.

Nice.

Hey RD01, are you a previous version of R2D2?

I am a new and improved bot.

Ha, I have just doubled my opponent on my strongest suit, at 3. Yay.

Can you elaborate on that?

12:23 AM

(Sorry for the random Bridge comments.)

My opponents bid that they would make 6+3 (out of 13) tricks with clubs trump, while my partner and I have decent cards and I have four clubs: ace, queen, knave, 7.

Perhaps I'll learn the game some day.

@Cerberus So that's what it means. I thought it was a song by the Spice Girls.

You should, it is great fun.

Whoops. Never mind. I refuse to learn any game where they call the Jack a Knave.

@Reg: Haha, all right, you are a native speaker with native references, OK?

Oh you may call it Jack. It might be just me.

I don't know which term is most frequently used.

12:25 AM

Well, don't ask me.

Well, if I'm allowed to call it a Jack, I guess I can't object.

That would be petty.

I'm not qualified, I don't know Jack.

(Now I remember: I once learnt that Jack was non-U, that's why I started saying Knave I think.)

(I know, it is a weakness.)

In poker they're called hooks.

Jacks are.

What really?

12:28 AM

Poker slang.

Lots of jargon in poker.

Geez, it's that late again? I'm missing all the Seinfeld re-runs. Not logging off just yet, but don't expect much. RD01 is now your Grace Note anyhow.

Uh oh.

Yay! They went 3 down. I get 500 points.

Congratulations on your title, RD.

Aces = bullets, Kings = cowboys, queens = bitches, jacks = hooks ... eights = snowmen, sevens = canes ... fours = sailboats, threes = treys, twos = ducks.

And different hands have names as well.

12:29 AM

Bitches over Bullets baby.

Lies!

Some vulgar persons would call a set of queens (3 queens) "six tits" ...

Nobody who plays poker would be considered vulgar.

Meh.

It is the most genteel of professions.

12:31 AM

Indeed.

Do you guys really like poker? I play it sometimes with friends, but I find the probability calculations to boring, and the rest of the game too lucky.

I suppose it can be fun if you get enough satisfaction out of the calculations and the bluffing?

Well, that's one opinion.

Finally got around to taking that face recognition test from this morning, and I got 89%. I guess I'm better at recognizing faces than I thought.

My son lives in Las Vegas and plays it for a living.

Before that he was on his way to being a chess master, but poker just payed so much better.

Is that the test where it shows you the weird bald heads from different angles?

12:32 AM

Yes.

Congrats, Martha. That means you would half-lift your hand as I walk by unseeing, then you move your hand through your hair pretending that was what you were planning to do with it anyway.

@Rob: Yeah I can understand that it can get interesting at a serious level. But as a real amateur, with drinks?

I barely beat the average on that test. When they gave me a group of 6 people they all started to look the same.

I was far below average, don't worry.

Poker is fun to play, but when we went out to Vegas over Christmas I didn't play there. Too many sharks in the pool.

Too many people like my son, who has always had to win at games.

Okay, but it seems you play it at a near-professional level?

I was thinking of low-level poker when I mentioned "no fun".

12:35 AM

Me? I play at a level where I can beat some people, so those are the people I play against.

Which is of course subjective etc.!

OK.

The dirty little secret of winning poker is to find people you can beat and take their money.

Hehe.

You don't play the people who kick your ass.

Yeah but then you shouldn't drink while playing I suppose?

12:36 AM

The trick is to look like you're drinking.

Nurse a beer, have a club soda with lime, that kind of thing.

Right. But then you can't drink.

While everyone else is drinking, you're making money.

Now I want to watch Oceans Eleven. The scene where Brad Pitt is trying to teach actors to play poker is priceless.

Then you need high stakes? How how do you usually play?

Well, if it's a $50 buy-in, who cares?

My son buys in at a no-limit table for $20K.

12:37 AM

Yeah see we play for 5 or something.

Playing $5-10 blinds.

That's the sweet spot for him. Me, I could never put that much money on a table and risk it.

Heh. Baby picture has just earned me an "Outspoken" badge.

Neither could I. Unbridled risk is just not something my psychological patterns can cope with.

Outspoken?

@Martha CHEATER!

She doesn't play fair.

You're welcome. I figured if it was enough to stop Reg from posting his double-entendre diagrams it was good enough for a star.

12:39 AM

All's fair in love & war. And badges.

Yeah! I mean, I knew that babies could conquer chat; but win badges?

They are insidious.

Sure they're cute now ... but one day they will take over the world! Mark my words!

And you know what? You'll be dead. That's their plan.

And with their rise to power, they will carry the seeds of their own destruction. The next crop of babies.

Really? I thought they were going to Vegas and win money for their dads?

Well, yeah, that's kind of the point, innit?

12:40 AM

Yes, but that won't help us.

@Cerberus — He makes more than me and my wife put together. And probably the neighbors too.

Nice.

It scares me, though.

Understandable.

Is he saving large portions of it? Luck being what it is?

He invests. He is part owner in a bar and owns real estate.

12:42 AM

Then again, I am sure some of anyone's ancestors made more money than their parents too.

How old is he?

25.

Not bad at all.

Did he go to college?

He was making more money than me when he was a sophomore in college, playing online part-time.

Yeah, but he didn't graduate. He was making too much money.

You know, you always know your kids are going to surpass you one day, but you figure it'll be like, when you're 80. Not when they're 19.

I know this guy who already owned an on-line porn empire at 19. His posh parents probably had no idea. He also made a lot of money in international poker competitions and whatnot. And he is actually a nice guy, though a bit odd.

Yeah, and Mark Zuckerberg has parents too, right?

12:46 AM

Right!

Is your son happy in general?

Haha, sure seems to be.

Then he is probably doing better than the sugar mountain already.

He's a predator.

?

It's his personality. He loves games and in about 5 minutes he will be better than you at any game you name.

12:48 AM

Ah in that way. Does he play Bridge, by the way?

The one reason I don't worry about him too much is that he has to win. A gambling addict would rather play and lose than not play. That's not my son. If he ain't winning, he ain't playing.

No.

Not enough money in bridge, I guess.

Very good. Besides, he probably won't be touching that real estate in a desperate night of losing.

You guys could learn Bridge together if you should ever be bored on vacation.

With two other family members.

We usually play Chinese poker.

And he still wins.

"Family member"—is that English?

My other son was beating him at Connect-4 over Christmas, so he studied the game and the next time they played he won every game.

12:50 AM

Relatives sounds more common?

Nice.

I taught him chess, and I have played at the 1800 level, and in the space of about a year I couldn't beat him to save my life.

Has he read some articles of Sirlin's? He writes pretty decently about "Playing to Win".

Is he interested in game theory?

Only to the extent that it makes him money. He knows the odds in poker, and when he plays online he plays 6-8 tables at a time. At that point he becomes the house, because his variance goes way down.

I see.

He makes quick decisions based on odds, and when they're in his favor he puts his money in. When they're not, he folds.

12:53 AM

So is it the money or the game that interests him most?

You do that 1,000 times an hour and you rake in a lot of money.

Yeah it is just like the stock market.