I have recently taken up with SliceThePie.com which is a site that allows you to make money by listening to music and reviewing the tracks... what a fantastic idea :-)
The artists are all non-signed (the idea for the bands is to get finance) and you only get 3p per track to start with... but it is great if you want to get into new music. I have done around 50 reviews now, in around 2 weeks of occasional use, and am now a 2 star scout, which means I now get 5p per track review. At this rate, I will make a tenner by the end of the year :-)
The quality of the music is pretty high most of the time. The issue at the moment is that there is a mix of genre in the scouting room, and you have to review tracks randomly assigned to you and anonymously, so you have to listen to all sorts of stuff... country, rap, folk... although mostly indie rock so like a lot of it. I have discovered a couple of tracks which I would not otherwise have bothered to listen to but actually really like (one rap, one weirdy foreign one) so is opening my eyes ot a wider range of music..
All in all, if you have a spare half hour here and there during the week, like listening to music generally and have the patience to listen to then review the tracks, then you may find this interesting yourself.
More info on the FAQ page at http://www.slicethepie.com/About/Default.aspx
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 3
As the first hand started you could cut the tension in the air with a knife ! Having said that, everyone was eager to get into the action straight away and the first hand was a family pot to the flop. Karen bet out from the small blind (SB) and everyone called except Sean (!!) Only Alex and Karen saw the showdown with Karen's flush beating Alex's top pair to take down a reasonable first pot.
It had to come sooner rather than later, and sure enough we saw the first husband/wife battle on the next hand, with Darren pressuring Viki who very reluctantly folded on after seeing the turn.....
It was all action early on with the next hand seeing Alex check/calling Sean on a 9-9-x flop, but re-raising Sean's large bet on the River but Sean showed A-9 which had Alex's K-K well beaten so Alex's stack was already looking depressingly low.... but hope came the next hand when Alex hit flush on the River to overturn Darren's trip A's
Already into the second level, no-one stopped for breath as Karen bet out against Sean in another domestic.... despite thinking she had two pair a very scared looking bet on the River was called by Sean, who folded when Karen said she had two pair.... pointing out she actually had a flush was just an added bonus.....
There were a couple of hands of relative calm, before Sean and Alex started laying into each other on a K-Q-9 flop. Alex check calling Sean's bets on the flop and turn. When the river came down with a 9 to pair the board, Sean went all-in which was insta-called by Alex who shows K-9 for the full house, leaving Sean with 300 chips !!
The blinds went up and Sean immediately got done for a BB (which was folded to a raise) Lady Luck was obviously with the ladies, as Sean went all-in on the SB but was called by the two ladies..... the flop was J-7-2, another 2 on the turn and T on the river saw Karen take both pots down with her 4-2 off suit, busting Viki's 9-9 and taking Sean out in last place !
Viki was looking short stacked. With the blinds now 125/75 Alex raised to 500 from the button. Viki told Alex off for raising but called and Karen also called. To teach the big bully a lesson Viki bet out another 500, called by Karen but Alex took the hint and folded his A-Q on a flop 4-4-x Viki kept it friendly after that and led out with min bet on turn and checked River, showing A-4 against Karen's A-J, so all had a good hand but Viki made a monster and doubled up
At the break the chip counts were Alex 7000, Karen 6000, Viki 5000 and Darren 2000
Blinds are now 200/100 so Darren needed to get busy... so he raised with K-Q and Karen called with J-7 suited. With Flop of J-T-7 Karen called Darren's all-in bet and the J on the river was not needed and Karen had claimed another victim !
Viki's chips were dwindling again and Karen was getting aggressive with her chip lead and was hammering Viki. Karen picked up big pot by making a straight on the Turn, and a couple of hands later her pair 4's beat Viki's 2's With short stack, no luck and the blinds going up again, Viki was all-in against Alex who had pocket 5's. With no improvement on the board Viki went out a respectable 3rd place.... but she had the satisfaction of doing better than hubby !
The chips were exactly level for the heads up, and both players were being very cagey. Lots of calling and checking (and folding) It needed two good hands to get action going, and it soon came when the flop showed A-8-x all diamonds. karen was betting out but Alex called it down to the showdown, taking it with A against Karen's 8
With the blinds going up to 1000/500 Karen went all-in. Despite feeling he was behind Alex called with T-9 and sure enough was behind to J-3 Karen didn't need the 3 on the river as was ahead all the way to the showdown and took her back to 9'000 chips to Alex 11'000
After a few more hands of calling, check /folding, Karen was down to around 6000 chips and went all in. Alex said he was behind, but again called anyway (why can't you do that when playing me !) Karen was ahead (again) with her A-2 to Alex K-7 but the flop of K-8-3 put Alex ahead and the K on the turn killed it and gave Alex a bravely won victory. We'll see you in the final !
It had to come sooner rather than later, and sure enough we saw the first husband/wife battle on the next hand, with Darren pressuring Viki who very reluctantly folded on after seeing the turn.....
It was all action early on with the next hand seeing Alex check/calling Sean on a 9-9-x flop, but re-raising Sean's large bet on the River but Sean showed A-9 which had Alex's K-K well beaten so Alex's stack was already looking depressingly low.... but hope came the next hand when Alex hit flush on the River to overturn Darren's trip A's
Already into the second level, no-one stopped for breath as Karen bet out against Sean in another domestic.... despite thinking she had two pair a very scared looking bet on the River was called by Sean, who folded when Karen said she had two pair.... pointing out she actually had a flush was just an added bonus.....
There were a couple of hands of relative calm, before Sean and Alex started laying into each other on a K-Q-9 flop. Alex check calling Sean's bets on the flop and turn. When the river came down with a 9 to pair the board, Sean went all-in which was insta-called by Alex who shows K-9 for the full house, leaving Sean with 300 chips !!
The blinds went up and Sean immediately got done for a BB (which was folded to a raise) Lady Luck was obviously with the ladies, as Sean went all-in on the SB but was called by the two ladies..... the flop was J-7-2, another 2 on the turn and T on the river saw Karen take both pots down with her 4-2 off suit, busting Viki's 9-9 and taking Sean out in last place !
Viki was looking short stacked. With the blinds now 125/75 Alex raised to 500 from the button. Viki told Alex off for raising but called and Karen also called. To teach the big bully a lesson Viki bet out another 500, called by Karen but Alex took the hint and folded his A-Q on a flop 4-4-x Viki kept it friendly after that and led out with min bet on turn and checked River, showing A-4 against Karen's A-J, so all had a good hand but Viki made a monster and doubled up
At the break the chip counts were Alex 7000, Karen 6000, Viki 5000 and Darren 2000
Blinds are now 200/100 so Darren needed to get busy... so he raised with K-Q and Karen called with J-7 suited. With Flop of J-T-7 Karen called Darren's all-in bet and the J on the river was not needed and Karen had claimed another victim !
Viki's chips were dwindling again and Karen was getting aggressive with her chip lead and was hammering Viki. Karen picked up big pot by making a straight on the Turn, and a couple of hands later her pair 4's beat Viki's 2's With short stack, no luck and the blinds going up again, Viki was all-in against Alex who had pocket 5's. With no improvement on the board Viki went out a respectable 3rd place.... but she had the satisfaction of doing better than hubby !
The chips were exactly level for the heads up, and both players were being very cagey. Lots of calling and checking (and folding) It needed two good hands to get action going, and it soon came when the flop showed A-8-x all diamonds. karen was betting out but Alex called it down to the showdown, taking it with A against Karen's 8
With the blinds going up to 1000/500 Karen went all-in. Despite feeling he was behind Alex called with T-9 and sure enough was behind to J-3 Karen didn't need the 3 on the river as was ahead all the way to the showdown and took her back to 9'000 chips to Alex 11'000
After a few more hands of calling, check /folding, Karen was down to around 6000 chips and went all in. Alex said he was behind, but again called anyway (why can't you do that when playing me !) Karen was ahead (again) with her A-2 to Alex K-7 but the flop of K-8-3 put Alex ahead and the K on the turn killed it and gave Alex a bravely won victory. We'll see you in the final !
Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 2
Oops, nearly forgot to post some words about Bill's heat ! It was a while ago, so only have vague memories.....
It was quite a tense affair to begin with (aren't they all :-) ) even Bill was playing a more considered, tighter game than we are used to seeing !!
We didn't see a casualty until after the break, when Roger got done by Mick. Bill could contain himself no longer by this time and got busted by Andy.
The three remaining players were playing steady and the chips were circling the table, but Andy was next out.
The chips were very even for the heads up, and again was very steady with a lot of calling and checking but Lynns chips gradually got pushed over to Mick, particularly when the blinds went up and Mick took a well fought win
It was quite a tense affair to begin with (aren't they all :-) ) even Bill was playing a more considered, tighter game than we are used to seeing !!
We didn't see a casualty until after the break, when Roger got done by Mick. Bill could contain himself no longer by this time and got busted by Andy.
The three remaining players were playing steady and the chips were circling the table, but Andy was next out.
The chips were very even for the heads up, and again was very steady with a lot of calling and checking but Lynns chips gradually got pushed over to Mick, particularly when the blinds went up and Mick took a well fought win
Friday, April 11, 2008
Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 1
My heat was the first to run and turned out to be an exciting affair. The evening got off to a friendly start with everyone limping into the first couple of hands. Overall the play was tight, which made for a tense game.
I started out well and built my stack up, but later played a couple of hands against Lynn where I was drawing and her pair held up to take away my chips putting me back to starting levels, that will teach me to try to fool the wife !
A key hand early on was my AJ against Simons AT when an A fell on the flop. The board cards were a little scary for both of us so the betting was steady rather than aggressive, but my kicker played and got my stack back.
Derek played a large hand against Lynn, but Lynn's inspired calling found her pair holding up against Derek and Lynn had a good size stack as well.
Simon was the first victim when his pocket A's got stuffed by Steve hitting a second pair on the River taking Simon out and giving Steve the chip lead.
At the break Steve was around 6000 chips, I was 5000, Lynn was 6000 and Derek was low stack with about 3000
As the blinds increased, the play became more cautious until two good hands came along. Derek decided pocket Q's was a good hand and decided to play with Lynn calling his raise. The river didn't look too scary so Derek went all in. Lynn thought about it then called with Ax Unluckily for Derek an A came and took him out in 4th.
The blinds went up again and are becoming significant to all players. Lynn called from the small blind and I checked my 7-8 suited. The flop came an unbelievable 4-5-6 flopping me the straight! I bet after Lynn checked but she called. The turn was a 9 giving me a higher straight, but I bet a reasonably large amount and was slightly concerned that Lynn called again. The river was a K with no flush possible so I had the nuts and went all in when Lynn checked. She called again and revealed a Straight draw so I took a huge pot, leaving us heads up
Steve had around 6000 chips to my 14000. Steve played it cool and the battle was tough. My more aggressive style probably gave me an edge (as well as the edge of having twice as many chips of course !) After a bit of give and take, Steve seemed to not get any playable cards, so I accumulated chips from the large blinds. In the end Steve has no choice but to go all-in and I had no choice but to call. My 6-4 didn't look good, but was favorite against Steve's 5-3 !! I hit a 4 on the flop and took the game
Everyone played well so was an exciting game, but I can't wait for the final table now :-)
I started out well and built my stack up, but later played a couple of hands against Lynn where I was drawing and her pair held up to take away my chips putting me back to starting levels, that will teach me to try to fool the wife !
A key hand early on was my AJ against Simons AT when an A fell on the flop. The board cards were a little scary for both of us so the betting was steady rather than aggressive, but my kicker played and got my stack back.
Derek played a large hand against Lynn, but Lynn's inspired calling found her pair holding up against Derek and Lynn had a good size stack as well.
Simon was the first victim when his pocket A's got stuffed by Steve hitting a second pair on the River taking Simon out and giving Steve the chip lead.
At the break Steve was around 6000 chips, I was 5000, Lynn was 6000 and Derek was low stack with about 3000
As the blinds increased, the play became more cautious until two good hands came along. Derek decided pocket Q's was a good hand and decided to play with Lynn calling his raise. The river didn't look too scary so Derek went all in. Lynn thought about it then called with Ax Unluckily for Derek an A came and took him out in 4th.
The blinds went up again and are becoming significant to all players. Lynn called from the small blind and I checked my 7-8 suited. The flop came an unbelievable 4-5-6 flopping me the straight! I bet after Lynn checked but she called. The turn was a 9 giving me a higher straight, but I bet a reasonably large amount and was slightly concerned that Lynn called again. The river was a K with no flush possible so I had the nuts and went all in when Lynn checked. She called again and revealed a Straight draw so I took a huge pot, leaving us heads up
Steve had around 6000 chips to my 14000. Steve played it cool and the battle was tough. My more aggressive style probably gave me an edge (as well as the edge of having twice as many chips of course !) After a bit of give and take, Steve seemed to not get any playable cards, so I accumulated chips from the large blinds. In the end Steve has no choice but to go all-in and I had no choice but to call. My 6-4 didn't look good, but was favorite against Steve's 5-3 !! I hit a 4 on the flop and took the game
Everyone played well so was an exciting game, but I can't wait for the final table now :-)
Friday, April 04, 2008
Poker: Home Tournament - April 2008
Everyone got their priorities right tonight, wives and jobs took second place and turned out for Poker instead :-)
For me, it was one of those nights where nothing seemed to go my way...... everyone on my table seemed to be in mellow mood so lots of limping and calling going on. I got a couple of decent starting hands in the early stages and raised but got called. Raised a couple of times with dodgy hands and got called (and then either got called all the way to the showdown, or I was put under pressure and folded) so my timing was not good !
At the break I had around 1200 in chips but felt good when I managed to double up with a legitimate hand in the first few hands. Just when things looked good and was accumulating chips, I hit two pair on the flop with A-2 in my hand for a A-2-3 flop. Went all-in and got called by Bill who had 9-5 (they were suited) and of course a 4 came of the River to send me out in 10th.
The game got quite bloody very quickly after that and we were soon down to a final table of 7, after Andy trounced his opposition on the other table to me. Incredibly Mick had the foresight to not stick his last 100 chip in when on the small blind and he was on the final table with a minimum of 2 points. Despite a gallant fightback he finished 7th when the Big blind came round
Things settled down a a short while, until Alex got a good hand and busted out Simon and Bill. It was tense for the final four, but then Andy got going again and busted out both Jon and Steve in one go, leaving us heads-up
The final battle was tight and tense, with only 500 chips between them. Most people were watching the action, well at least until free sandwiches were offered, then everyone went to get some grub ! The chip counts remained close for several hands until Alex made a move pre-flop but Andy went over the top. When Alex folded Andy showed pocket A so I was not the only one with bad timing tonight ! After that it was soon over and Andy took a well deserved win.
Despite a disappointing result for me this time, it was a great night of poker and looking forward to getting myself into a league dominating position with a good show next month !
For me, it was one of those nights where nothing seemed to go my way...... everyone on my table seemed to be in mellow mood so lots of limping and calling going on. I got a couple of decent starting hands in the early stages and raised but got called. Raised a couple of times with dodgy hands and got called (and then either got called all the way to the showdown, or I was put under pressure and folded) so my timing was not good !
At the break I had around 1200 in chips but felt good when I managed to double up with a legitimate hand in the first few hands. Just when things looked good and was accumulating chips, I hit two pair on the flop with A-2 in my hand for a A-2-3 flop. Went all-in and got called by Bill who had 9-5 (they were suited) and of course a 4 came of the River to send me out in 10th.
The game got quite bloody very quickly after that and we were soon down to a final table of 7, after Andy trounced his opposition on the other table to me. Incredibly Mick had the foresight to not stick his last 100 chip in when on the small blind and he was on the final table with a minimum of 2 points. Despite a gallant fightback he finished 7th when the Big blind came round
Things settled down a a short while, until Alex got a good hand and busted out Simon and Bill. It was tense for the final four, but then Andy got going again and busted out both Jon and Steve in one go, leaving us heads-up
The final battle was tight and tense, with only 500 chips between them. Most people were watching the action, well at least until free sandwiches were offered, then everyone went to get some grub ! The chip counts remained close for several hands until Alex made a move pre-flop but Andy went over the top. When Alex folded Andy showed pocket A so I was not the only one with bad timing tonight ! After that it was soon over and Andy took a well deserved win.
Despite a disappointing result for me this time, it was a great night of poker and looking forward to getting myself into a league dominating position with a good show next month !
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