I went to 'barrack' Obama in Berlin

Last Thursday I took a trip out the Tiergarten with K to watch US Presidential candidate Barack Obama deliver a speech to the German public in front of the Siegessäule (he wasn't important enough to speak in fron t of the Brandenburg Gates).

I do like good public speaking and was not let down by Obama who gave an excellent performance technically though he did not really say anything very earth shattering.

We couldn't get any nearer than about 300m away, so never actually saw him. However, there was a huge screen less than 15 metres away and the sound and pictue was excellent. The first thing I realised was that here was a person speaking a foreign language - using complicated language and ideas and expecting to be understood. Hardly any German (due to false pride) would admit they could not understand him and that is possiblly why his speech did not go down as well as he might have liked. There were a few ripples of applause when he mentioned key phrases but it was not spontaneous.

It seemed to me he had come to get Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan and attempted to use the Berlin airlifts to engender some guilt. The crowd was mostly apathetic and drifted off at the end a little confused. Nobody was really talking about it and it appeared many people were there just for the curiosity factor.

Anyway, there was plenty of booze and cheap food for sale as there always is for any public gathering in Germany. I didn't barrack him during the speech but shouted my annoyance (much to the confusion of peope) that he turned up late.

Carlos Queiroz and getting the big decisions right

I think they will be in trouble next season without him.

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Anton Talks About The Digg Recommendation Engine from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

When not to play Q3 offsuit

I've never had the confidence to write about my poker playing before. Any success I have had I have put down to luck and my opponents being fairly poor but I think I'm ready to start saying something

My level is either $5 or $10 mtts on Betfair Poker. I have occasionally moved up to $20 mtt and faired ok but I have yet to win a tournament at that level. So far I have played just one $40 tourney but was a little out of my depth.

The main problem with thse Mtt's is the length of time they take. On average 3-4hrs if you reach the final table. I really enjoy playing. Love bluffing and bullying and strangely get a kick out of playing short-stacked. It's just a bit of fun. But, as I said, it takes so long to play.

Therefore it will take me a long time to improve because I just don't have the time to play. I'm fairly busy with work and I like to spend time with K in the evenings. So, I'm limited to playing maybe one or two per week - more if I get knocked out early.

So, onto my first bit of analysis (if it can be called that).

Q3 offsuit is obviously not the best starting hand but in certain situations I will play it. At this stage of the tournament I needed chips to make a serious challenge on the lead and felt that if I could see the flop for $400 it may have been a risk worth taking with plenty of money already in the pot.

In the end I decided against it but flinched in horror when the flop gave me a full house.

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 371086415 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $5 Buy-in + $0.50 Entry Fee, Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante)) - Sunday, June 15, 22:59:38 GMT 2008
$400 GTD Regular $5+$0.50 NLH #150459
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: eddiepack ( 8,185.25 )
Seat 2: the catcher ( 27,793 )
Seat 3: Vicedice ( 6,508 )
Seat 4: davidoff280 ( 3,675 )
Seat 5: teacup77 ( 1,960 )
Seat 6: cod4 4eva ( 7,532.50 )
Seat 7: freevalue ( 4,015 )
Seat 8: Kirk2 ( 1,585 )
Seat 9: Quarty ( 5,342 )
Tourney Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante))
Kirk2 posts small blind [100]
Quarty posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to freevalue [ Qh, 3d ]
eddiepack folds
the catcher raises to [400]
Vicedice calls [400]
davidoff280 calls [400]
teacup77 folds
cod4 4eva calls [400]
freevalue folds
Kirk2 folds
Quarty calls [200]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, Qs, 3h ]
Quarty checks
the catcher bets [800]
Vicedice calls [800]
davidoff280 calls [800]
cod4 4eva folds
Quarty folds
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kd ]
the catcher checks
Vicedice checks
davidoff280 goes all-in
davidoff280 bets [2,475]
the catcher calls [2,475]
Vicedice goes all-in
Vicedice raises to [5,308]
the catcher calls [2,833]
** Showdown **
the catcher shows [ As, Ac ]
Vicedice shows [ Qc, Kh ]
davidoff280 shows [ 8h, 8c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6h ]
** Hand Conclusion **
Vicedice wins 5,666 from side pot #1 with full house, Queens full of Kings
Vicedice wins 11,925 from main pot with full house, Queens full of Kings
************ Game 371086415 ends ************

I'm lucky at times.

Down in the football dumps

So, I have managed to witness Rot Weiss Essen being relegated twice in two seasons, since I started supporting them in October 2006, I feel slightly guilty. It's obviously not my fault but I can't help thinking that my intrusion into the world of lower league German football was in some way to blame.

It had all started so promisingly with a 4-4 draw which I mentioned in a comment on the excellent Bundesbag although that game should have hinted about what supporting Rot Weiss Essen is about - the equaliser for the opponents came in the very last minute.

This season, having looked dead and buried, RWE came with a storming late run to put the issue in their own hands on the final day. Victory at Magdeburg meant they just had to win the final game against lowly Lübeck. Despite dominating the game and having many chances, Lübeck survived (and played well despite having nothing to play for) and won the game late on as Essen pressed forward.

The fans did not know what to do at the end of the game. Some wanted to attack the Lübeck fans, others wanted to attack the players while they should really have been attacking themselves because I partly hold their complacency partly responsible.

With debts of around 11 million Euros there is a possibility that the 1955 German Champions will not survive in their presnet form. Certainly the new stadium project will be put on hold and with the prospect of having to pay up to nine reserve sides in the Division 4 (North) next season there are not going to be many days at the Hafenstraße next season full of atmosphere.

I have avoided looking for another team to watch since moving to Berlin in December. I went to watch Union twice but was put off by them serving non-alcoholic beer and a general lack of atmosphere depite them having everything to play for. Other options for next season include Babelsberg, Tennis Borussia and possibly Hertha Berlin.

I'm not really looking forward to Euro 2008 with England not being in it. I may have a bet on the championships and become another nationality for a few weeks.

No booze and you lose

A fine win on Saturday gives Rot Weiss Essen a great chance to qualify for Bundesliga 3 next season but a win for Magdeburg at Union Berlin (which I attended) makes it more difficult.

Magdeburg currently lie in the coveted 10th place on 50 points. RWE are in 11th on 48 points, level on points with with Dortmunnd Reserves.

It's all in the mathematics (as Sir Mark Prescott would say) and it leaves Essen basically needing six points from their last two games. The crunch game is against Magdeburg next Saturday 24 May and I hope to be attending my first match since nearly missing my brother's wedding to watch the cup defeat against Hamburg in January.

It was my second time at Union but the experience was disappointing due to them selling non-alcoholic lager. WTF (I've learned that recently). Yet another human rights abuse. It was all a bit shady because they advertised it as 'Leicht' and the signs were not clear. The colour just didn't look right.

I can imagine them selling non-alcoholic beer at a Who concert but not a football match. Therefore, the crowd were a bit subdued. It's all wrong. The good thing to come out of the day was that Magdeburg were pretty poor.

So anything less than a victory, like the one we secured against Magdeburg in November, will make it a very long 1hr 40 mins journey back to Berlin on Saturday evening especially with the non-alco piss water swilling through my body and the likelihood the toilets on the regional German trains will be out of order. Wasserlassen ist verboten!

Rot Weiss top of the league

Yes, Rot Weiss are top of Regionalliga 3 (Nord) however it is not Rot Weiss Essen but rather Rot Weiss Ahlen. Second place is filled by Rot Weiss Oberhausen and it would have been a near clean sweep if Rot Weiss Erfurt had not conceded a late equaliser against Dynamo Dresden last Saturday.

Rot Weiss Essen scored an important away victory the same day to give them a slight chance of reaching 10th place and the soon to be formed Bundesliga 3. They now trail the team in 10th place by six points with five games remaining.

Results needed this week are for RWE to beat the struggling Hamburger SV II at home on Wednesday, Braunschweig to lose at home to the struggling Lübeck, Wuppertaler also to lose at home to the struggling Cottbus and Madgeburg to be beaten away at struggling Babelsburg.

If these unlikely events take place, I may go and watch Union Berlin play Dynamo Dresden on Thursday evening.

**UPDATE** Struggling Lübeck managed a 3-3 draw with Braunschweig on Tuesday evening.