losing with a straight flush

I played a $1.25 45 seat tourney today. I was doing quite well, always managing to stay ahead of the curve (my ‘Q’ was always >1).

Early on in the tourney, I remember calling from the small blind position when the button limped in. I had 55 and the big blind checked.
The flop came 557, I flopped quads!
(I actually tried to practice not showing it, even though this was online poker.)
I checked, and it checked all around.
The turn was a queen.
I checked, and Big Blind bet 150. We both called.
The river was a 2, and I bet 200, which was called by the big blind only. He showed a Queen for two pair.

Not a huge pot for such a huge hand.
I saw two more times someone hitting quads. The first was three nines showing on the board, with A9 in the hole, and the third was also pocket 5s hitting 55x on the flop. (She more than doubled up with her effort).
I wonder the odds of quad 5s on the flop twice in one tourney.

I got knocked out in 13th place with a monster hand.

The hand summary is as follows:
Full Tilt Poker Game #13242215407: $1 + $0.25 Sit & Go (98129591), Table 1 – 200/400 – No Limit Hold’em – 19:42:05 ET – 2009/07/06
Seat 1: 2totry2 (8,137)
Seat 2: Dargismo (3,636)
Seat 3: Ari-Mkd (2,105)
Seat 5: lol007lol (7,644)
Seat 7: SmokeyGun (1,650)
Seat 9: bluebehir (5,586)
bluebehir posts the small blind of 200
2totry2 posts the big blind of 400
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bluebehir [7d Ts]
Dargismo folds
Ari-Mkd folds
lol007lol folds
SmokeyGun folds
bluebehir calls 200
2totry2 checks
*** FLOP *** [Td 8h Jd]
bluebehir bets 800
2totry2 calls 800
*** TURN *** [Td 8h Jd] [8d]
bluebehir bets 1,200
2totry2 raises to 2,400
bluebehir calls 1,200
*** RIVER *** [Td 8h Jd 8d] [9d]
bluebehir bets 1,986, and is all in
2totry2 calls 1,986
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bluebehir shows [7d Ts] a straight flush, Jack high
2totry2 shows [5d Qd] a straight flush, Queen high
2totry2 wins the pot (11,172) with a straight flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11,172 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 8h Jd 8d 9d]
Seat 1: 2totry2 (big blind) showed [5d Qd] and won (11,172) with a straight flush, Queen high
Seat 2: Dargismo didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: Ari-Mkd didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 5: lol007lol didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 7: SmokeyGun (button) didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 9: bluebehir (small blind) showed [7d Ts] and lost with a straight flush, Jack high

It’s not every day you can lose with a straight flush. I guess I was never getting away from that hand, although I could have folded it preflop or on the turn, if I wasn’t getting great odds to call (and didnt put him on a flush, which I had not yet done).

I was a bit concerned that nobody even seemed to notice a straight flush got beaten by another straight flush though. That sort of thing should make people sit up and notice. Well, people who play poker, at least.

Crazy poker game

I just played a game of No Limit Texas Hold Em.
The buy in was $1 +$0.25, so it wasn’t high stakes. There were 18 players.

As per normal, I started folding hands early. I do that for two reasons, firstly to dodge the crazy hands people usually play early on, but also to present a tight table image to those who take notice.

But I won a couple hands early, I think my first raise with AQ stole the blinds, my next winning hand I won by betting on the flop.

I quickly found myself in 3rd place of 15, and was content to sit and fold my way to final table. But I kept getting hands.
Not monster hands, like AA through TT or AK suited or anything, but things like… Ks5s on the Big blind, and hitting the nut flush draw on the flop, and the flush on the turn.

Also, once we were getting low handed, I noticed that the player on my left was sitting out, so I capitalised on that. Instead of 6 handed, we were 5 handed, and I adjusted accordingly, raising with hands like A8o second to act, or limping on the button with 75, etc to go heads up with big blind.

But I kept hitting straights and such, and I knocked a few people out.
Then I stole some pots, and then I hit a few more hands, and so on.
Next thing I knew I had about 9000 in chips, we were playing “five” handed (four handed and my player to the left sitting out) so I was playing and raising and winning almost every hand.

Then when I knocked out two more players, we were put into the final table, I had about 12000 in chips.
Nobody else had more than 2000.
And I folded quite a few hands, but I will wager nobody noticed any of those, because my raises pre flop were always pot sized, and I could do it with any two cards – and often did so.
KJo was an easy raise, and I could bet into aces on the board.
Even when I was paying people, I didn’t notice a dent. But when I won, I cleaned up.

And I was winning a lot.
The final heads up I had nearly 23000, and the next guy had just over 4000.

And then, even though we muscled for several hands, he kept drawing out on me.
Soon he had 7000, and 9000, and then we were nearly even – about 15 to 11.

I kept setting up plays, which he would fall for, and then win by luck.
On one hand, he outplayed me, for me to double him up, leaving me with 7.5K
I hit two pair on the flop, and he hit a four outer on the river to knock me out.

So even though I was a monster stack the entire game, I still managed to come in at second place.
Poker can be a weird game.

I play poker online at full tilt. I mostly play fake poker for play money.
I have around 500,000 play dollars to gamble with, and I buy in to sit n gos for 10,000.
Managing a bank roll means that you can spend up to 5% of your bank roll on a single table. However, full tilt only offers sit n gos for 10,000 or then you can jump up to 100,000 buy in.
It’s a huge leap, and currently it is slow work improving with 10K sit n go tables, with slow prizes. I’d need a million or two before justifying the larger game. And this will take months and months to achieve – if at all!
So when I get 550K I take a gamble and play a 100K game. If I lose, I’m down to 450K and its easy to get back to my 500K benchmark. If I win… I have some room to maneuvre. I came second one time recently when doing this, but lost the next few games to bring me back where I started.

The best I’ve had this bank roll was actually 2 million, about a year or two ago. Foolishly, it seems, I spent 1 million of that trying to convert play money to real money. I missed out both times. The game was a buy in of 500,000 play money, and the reward is the top $40 get a few US dollars. I tried buying in when the numbers seemed low, but there was always last minute spikes of a few hundred players. It seemed to make just enough of a difference.

As my first blog outlines, I once tried my luck with real cash, but US$5 didn’t go far. It left me with 40 cents that I couldn’t find anywhere to spend.

It was my birthday recently. A friend whom I relay poker hands to made a deposit into my account for US$15.
Excitedly, I stepped back into the realm of gambling for cash.
I was a little dismayed at first, as I lost (usually on the bubble) my early games. I was down to about $7 before I started to win!
Getting it back to $15 felt good, but getting it to $30 felt better. I actually played a couple larger $1 games and made the cash, winning one for $17. I played a $2 shoot out and came second there.
The highest my bank roll has seen so far is $35, which almost justifies playing regular $2 games.
So I tried a couple. And lost. Still at around $29 dollars, I tried a couple very large $1 games, with $1600 up for first place. The top 1080 players make their cash back or more.
Yep, got knocked out each time.
I’ve dropped down to the $1 games again, because I’m back down to $21.31.
I’m still ahead based on the original deposit, but I’ve just lost $14 straight.

It’s kinda depressing.

I’m having trouble navigating players who just get lucky more often than I do. These games tend to be “all in” affairs, where if you wanna take a stab you have to be prepared to go all in.
Playing poker like that is much like a lottery. Well, a lottery where only 9 players can enter, and someone wins it all each and every time.
So it’s slightly better odds than a lottery, but the problem is if you lose (as you often will) you’re felted.

I guess I’m not bad at dodging bullets, seeing as I’ve actually done OK, but it will be nice if I can ever get out of these low entry no limit games.

The Dragon’s Hoard

This post is mostly the rules of the game I’m creating, partly descriptive of said game.

Game contents
The game consists of the following components.
One gameboard.
One dragon.
One dragon token.
48 adventurer tokens (2 each of F1, F2, R1, R2, S1, S2; all come in each of four colours)
A token of each colour to mark each player’s game colour, and a token each for wealth and fame.
A deck of action cards
A deck of treasure cards
A deck of search cards
A deck of magic items
A deck of spell cards
3 decks of adventurer cards (one each for fighters, rogues, and spellcasters)
20 Focus counters
12 stat modifier counters
X life counters (enough for the healthiest 12 adventurers to be alive at the same time.)
12 corpse counters. These will be in pairs – one to mark the location and one to mark the contents at that location.

Setup:
Place the dragon in the centre of the board, facing any chosen direction.
Place your fame counters on zero, and your wealth counters on 24. (Subject to change.)
Choose one player to be the first player. This player takes the dragon token. Beginning with this player, each player takes one adventurer by choosing a card from any of the adventurer decks. Continue clockwise until you have three adventurers each. You may have up to two of any single type of adventurer.
For each adventurer you draw, pay the hiring cost, and advance your fame accordingly.
You have one chance to purchase equipment for your adventurers before they begin their quest.
After you have drawn three adventurers, you may purchase any number of cards from the magic item deck (or should I distinguish a shop deck, comprised of smaller magic items?), at a cost of 3 points of wealth per card. When you choose to cease such purchases, you must allocate each of these cards to be carried or equipped by your adventurers, as you desire.
Place the adventurers on any of the available entrances, and keep the reference cards visible on the table.
(Use your tokens labelled F, R or S to represent these adventurers.)

Beginning with the player holding the dragon token, deal or draw five cards each from the action deck. The limit throughout the game is seven cards in hand. You may not exceed this limit by drawing cards.

Turn Order
The player holding the dragon token begins the game, and in his turn takes two actions. Each player in clockwise order then take similar turns. When play returns to the player holding the dragon token, he replaces his turn with a dragon turn, where he activates the dragon once and forfeits his normal two actions. Once he has done so, he passes the dragon token clockwise, and the player receiving the token becomes the new player 1.

Adventurers
There are three adventurer decks. Fighters, rogues, and spellcasters.
Fighter deck is comprised of many fighter types, such as archers, heavily armoured combatants, nimble warriors, dwarvish axebearers, maybe a monk or samurai, and anything else I come up with. They all have a defining trait, and their cost reflects how valuable to your team they will be. If you’re lucky, you’ll get an expensive famous warrior who will increase your fame just for hiring him.

Rogues will be any devious character I can conceive. Mostly cutpurses and pickpockets and such, but I’ll also throw in a bard or a jester, or maybe even a ninja. Or more.

Spellcasters will be all flavours of magician, sorcerer, elementalist, summoner, and even cleric. One magician will be a diviner, and will have the ability to view decks of cards and hands of other players. He may not feel as valuable as a firemage but played correctly, he might do just as well.
I might even throw a necromancer into the mix. We’ll see. I’ll have to see if I can raise corpses or something!

Adventurer stats.
Speed – how fast they can move. This will be adversely affected by armour.
Attack – the ability to strike an enemy. The Damage value will be attack plus weapon modifiers.
Agility – the ability to avoid attack. This value is improved in a defend action. The Defence value will be agility plus armour modifiers.
Strength – how many items they can hold in their pack and still be effective in their skills
Search – your ability to discover hidden objects, effects or actions.
Stealth – your ability to manoeuvre without being detected.
Concentration – how many focus tokens you can use.
Health – the number of wounds they can absorb until death.

Magicians will have a spell repertoire available. These might be spells that they begin with, or spells that they can gain during their gameplay.
Magicians might cost more than the average adventurer. Some magicians will expire spells once cast, but be able to discover new spells during play. Others will be able to repeat spells but run out completely until they rest or return to town.

Cards
The largest deck is the action deck.
This deck is comprised of two main types of card. The foremost are adventurer action boosters. These cards will improve the ability to fight, or improve the ability to take treasure, or improve any number of actions in any number of ways. They will never be detrimental to other players, only helpful to your own adventurers.
The second type of card will be dragon actions. You may play one dragon action card when it is your turn to take a dragon turn. This type of card boosts the abilities of the dragon to slay opposing adventurers and protect its treasure.

Treasure cards represent the dragon hoard. When you steal from the dragon, you earn a loot card.
These cards are held in your hand of cards, and the cardback is identical to an action card.
The treasure deck is the game clock. When there is no more treasure in the dragon’s hoard, there is no reason to return.
If you manage to get all your adventurers back to town, you secure your treasure, and increase your wealth by their combined value. You may then send your healed adventurers back in to continue the quest.

Search deck.
This deck will have random events that occur when adventurers search caverns and passages for misplaced or hidden treasures. These cards will include cards that allow you to find equipment or magical items but it will also have adverse encounters, like a group of wandering orcs that attack. There will also be search cards that show ‘nothing’. Sometimes when you search a room there is nothing to be found.
If you are able to search well, you draw multiple cards and choose the resultant card. The card must be shown to all players and resolved. Anything found is placed in the pack of the searching adventurer, unless stated otherwise.

Turn actions.
On your turn you may take two actions. They may be any combination of the following.
Recruit: – Hire a new adventurer if you have less than three. This adventurer arrives at any chosen entrance at the beginning of your next turn.
Rest: – Discard any number of cards from your hand, and draw action cards until your hand size is seven cards. But discard all focus tokens you have on all your adventurers.
or, Activate an adventurer.

When you activate an adventurer you may have them perform one of the following.
Move – the adventurer moves a number of spaces equal to his speed. During your movement, you may spend one point of speed to give an item from your pack to an adjacent adventurer. You may do this as many times as you require, providing you have surplus points in speed remaining. These items are placed in the pack of the receiving adventurer.
Attack – the adventurer may move a number of spaces equal to half his speed value (round down) and then attack an opposing adventurer within his range when he finishes his movement. See combat for further details.
Defend – the adventurer improves his agility value by 2 until your next turn. If he is attacked, he returns an attack of his own.
Support – the adventurer may move a number of spaces equal to half his speed (round down), and then may provide support to any combat that takes place within his range, at any time until your next turn. See combat for further details.
Search – the player may draw a number of cards from the search deck equal to his search value (minimum zero). The character reveals and resolves the card. The agility and attack abilities are reduced by 2 when you search.
Cast – any spellcasting adventurer may cast an appropriate spell that they have in their repertoire.
Loot – grab any and all items that resides in this current location. These items go into the looting adventurer’s pack.
Equip – take one item from their pack and equip it. This may include unequipping items of your choice.
Steal – Thieves may attempt to steal from other players’ adventurers. To do so, the thief must be no more than one square from a target adventurer.
All characters may steal from the dragon hoard if they are adjacent to it and you hold less than seven cards in your hand. On a successful attempt, draw one card from the treasure deck and place it in your hand. Improve your fame by one point every time you successfully steal from the dragon hoard.

You may only activate a single adventurer once on any turn. If you activate two adventurers in the same turn, then your third adventurer gains one focus counter. If you take a rest action in any turn, you lose all focus counters on all of your adventurers.

Focus Counters
An adventurer may hold a number of focus counters equal to his concentration value. These are gained by not being activated when two other adventurers of your party were.
Each focus token held adds one point to the next ability they use, and then are consumed. Such tokens are returned to the available pool of focus counters.
For example, if a rogue is not activated for two consecutive turns, but both other adventurers are activated both turns, the rogue would now have two focus points.
Here is the impact of two focus tokens for each of his action choices.
Move – His speed is increased by two.
Attack – His attack value is increased by two.
Defend – His agility is increased by two, over and above the increase already given. His attack value is not so increased if he is attacked.
Support – His attack value is increased by two before the penalties of supporting are applied.
Search – His search value is increased by two, allowing him to choose from two additional cards.
Cast – The range or the damage of the spell is increased by two, where possible. The choice is given to the caster which benefit is gained.
Loot – No benefit
Equip – Regardless the number of focus tokens, only one extra item may be equipped.
Steal – The stealth ability is increased by two. Stealing from the hoard has no benefit.

If he was attacked while he had two focus tokens, his agility would be increased by 2 and he would lose his focus tokens.

Dragon Turn
When a player is about to take his second turn while holding the dragon token, his turn is replaced by a dragon turn.
In this turn, he is allowed to activate the dragon in an attempt to protect the dragon hoard from opposing adventurers.
The player may first move the dragon 90 degrees left or right if he desires. The dragon never leaves the hoard, however.
If the player holds any dragon action cards, he may play one such card as the dragon’s attack.
If he has no such card, or chooses not to play it, he may use the dragon’s standard attack.
(The standard attack is a claw attack in an adjacent front-facing square.)
The attack is resolved immediately.
He may withhold the dragon’s attack if he chooses to do so.

After he has performed the dragon turn, he passes the dragon token clockwise and his turn ends.

Theft.
When you attempt to steal from an adventurer, compare the stealth of your adventurer to the search of your target. The highest value wins. Each player may play one action card from their hand or one spell to boost their ability. The thief plays their card first.
If the thief is successful, they may choose to take one card randomly from either the adventurer’s pack or the player’s hand (in an attempt to steal dragon hoard terasure.)
A stolen equipment card goes into the pack of the thief; an action/treasure card goes into the thief player’s hand.
All hand and adventurer strength limitations apply. A card that cannot be kept is given back to the target player.

If the thief was unsuccessful, now the target gets to make an attack against the thief out of turn order. This is considered a free action.

Combat
When a character makes an attack, he has the chance to deal wounds to that character.
There are two ways to make an attack. Ranged or Melee are physical attacks, and spells are magical attacks.

Magical attacks are made by spellcasters. The range of the attack is the range of the spell. The target character must be within a number of spaces equal to or smaller than this range.
There are two types of magical spells that can be used as a magical attack.
Some spells, such as lightning bolt, attack a character based on agility and can be avoided, to avoid all damage.
Penetration spells, such as fireball cannot be avoided, and deal damage based on the range and the armour of the target.
Quite often, spells can target multiple opponents. Spells can not tell the difference between friend and foe. They harm everyone equally.

Magical attacks usually have a range much larger than physical attacks, but provide melee counter attacks if in range.
Focus counters applied to the spellcaster can affect either the casting range of the spell, or affect the attack value of the spell.

agility spells
Spell attack + focus modifier > target agility + card modifier – armour penalty = target takes damage of spell.
Spell attack + focus modifer target armour + card modifier = wounds taken by target.

Physical attacks have a range dependant on the weapon used.
Physical attacks can be defended against, but they can also be supported by other adventurers.
However, in physical combat, it can be possible and more likely that both combatants attack at the same time.

Supporting characters must be within range of the enemy adventurer, not the adventurer they support.
Their attacks are not fully effective, as they are merely providing distraction and cover for the allied combatant.
Hence, their attack and defence values are halved. However, the supporting adventurers do not take damage, unless they were the target of the attack.

Add all combat modifiers, including weapons, armour, action cards, spells, and focus counters, before halving for the support value.

To resolve a physical combat:
For the attacker,
Attack + weapon + spell modifers + action card + support attack + focus counters = Damage
For the target of the attack,
Armour + agility + defend modifier + spell modifiers + action card + support defence + focus counters – search penalty = defence
Damage – defence = wounds taken, minimum zero.

If the target was attacking or defending in their previous turn, they are allowed to counter attack – even if the attack made against them kills them. These attacks happen simultaneously, but for sake of clarification, we resolve them separately.

An attack only lasts for one round of combat. Further combat may take place in the future turns of either combatant, or such a combatant may choose to flee.

Character death
Characters will die, frequently. Usually by spells, traps, monsters, the dragon, or combat with other adventurers.
If yours dies, remove all focus or stat modifying counters from the adventurer card. The corpse remains at the adventurer’s last position, and holds the equipment once held and worn. Use a corpse marker to identify the location of the corpse, and another to mark the equipment at that location. Place the adventurer card in the discarded adventurer pile. Remove the corpse markers if the corpse is looted.
Your party size is now reduced, but on a brighter note you are now allowed to take a recruit action during your turn.
A recruited character begins ‘in town’ and you are allowed to purchase one magic item at a cost of three wealth. However, that item must be carried or equipped by the newly recruited character. This character may equip the item as a free action.

Returning to town
Any adventurer that exits the board through an entrance has made it back to town. Their health is restored, the character may sell any equipment being worn or carried, may purchase one item, and you might be able to replenish the spells of certain spellcasters.
You must take a ‘recruit’ action to bring them back onto the board, or the adventurer may wait until the remainder of the party escapes the caverns.

Increasing your score

When all living party members are in town, as one of your actions you may convert any treasure cards held in your hand into wealth and you may convert your fame into wealth. You may then redraw your hand back to five cards.
You are permitted to change the equipment and carried items between your adventurers, as you see fit.
Your following action must be a ‘recruit’ action where you place all of your adventurers back on the board at any entrance(s) of your choice.

Fame points
Fame can be converted to wealth when your entire party is in town. To do so, decrease your fame to 1, and increase your wealth by the following chart. Your first five points of fame are worth nothing.
If your Fame was:
- between 6 and 10 you gain 1 wealth.
- between 11 and 15 you gain 2 wealth.
- between 16 and 22 you gain 4 wealth.
- on 23 you gain 6 wealth.
Fame cannot be increased more than 23.

Once the last treasure has been removed from the dragon’s hoard, or when any deck of adventurers is depleted, you may not convert your fame into wealth.

Ending the game
When the last treasure is taken from the hoard, all players must expose the treasure in their hands. These cards still count in your hand size. The game ends when all loot has made it to town. (Shuffle your hand before any theft attempts are made from you!)

The winner of the game is the player with the highest wealth. Ties are broken by fame points.

Live werewolf game in the works

This game is spontaneous creativity after an evening of f2f werewolf. I want to take the game in my local game store to the next level.
I will advertise this one in advance, but note that the ad will be pinned in my FLGS.

LOOKING FOR DEDICATED WEREWOLF ENTHUSIASTS

This will be a night of werewolf taken to the next level. Please recognise that this will be a more difficult game of lies and deduction.

ROLES:
Wolf: 2
Vampire: 2
Witch: 2
Necromancer: 1
Priest: 1
Wolf hunter: 1
Vampire Hunter: 1
Villagers: 3 or 5
Optional – Lovers: 2

Total: 13-15

Rule adjustments:
1. The dead go back to sleep. They are not allowed to view the night actions once they die.
2. Each role might have more action choices than normal.
3. The dead can come back to life.
4. Winning conditions apply differently for some teams.

ROLES:
Wolf.
Night actions.
The wolves know each other, and can choose one of three actions.
Attack and feed, infect, or abstain.

To attack and feed, the wolf points at the victim.
To abstain, the wolf covers their mouth instead of pointing.
To infect, the wolf covers their mouth AND points at a victim.

If the wolves cannot agree on a target, no kill occurs. All wolves abstain.
If all wolves abstain, no kill occurs.
If all non-abstaining wolves choose to infect, the target becomes a wolf.
Any player that becomes a wolf will be tapped on the shoulder. They do not wake until the next night, but they are considered a wolf at dawn. No kill occurs and wolves are considered to have abstained.
Vampires, witches and undead cannot become wolves.

If one or more wolves choose to attack and feed, but others choose to infect that same target, the infecting wolves are considered to have attacked but not fed, ie abstained.

Any wolf that abstains two nights in a row is revealed dead at dawn.
Wolves win if they reach a clear majority of the group (ie more than half.)

Vampire.
Night actions.
The vampires know each other and can choose one of three actions.
Attack and feed, infect, or abstain.
See the description for wolves.
Wolves cannot become vampires.
Vampires are considered undead for the necromancer’s win condition.

Witch.
Night actions.
Each night, the witches may choose one of two actions.
View one deceased player, or dose a player.

The witches may view any deceased player, and learn if they were a wolf or not.
If the player was a wolf, they have the ingredients to make a witches brew.
The witches choose who to view by pointing at their target.

If the witches own a witches brew, they may choose to dose a player with their brew.
They indicate this by pointing at their target and pointing to their mouth.
If all witches agree, this player becomes a witch, and are tapped on the shoulder.
If the witches dose a wolf or undead (including vampire), the player does not become a witch.

The witches win if there are ever four living witches after a lynch.

Necromancer.
Night action.

Each night, the necromancer may choose one deceased player to raise their corpse as a zombie of their former self.
Only humans become zombies, so deceased wolves and vampires remain deceased. Witches can become zombies.
When a player is raised from the dead, they will be tapped on the shoulder. These players are now undead, and win if the necromancer wins.

The necromancer and zombies all awaken together on following nights, but only the necromancer makes any decisions.
The necromancer and his zombies win when the undead are in the majority. This includes vampires, but vampires do not win this way.
The necromancer is not undead. He can be infected or be purified as a villager after his death.

The priest.
Night actions.
Each night, the priest may choose one deceased player to raise their corpse as a purified human. This player now wins if the village wins.
Zombies, wolves and vampires may not become villagers. The priest can be infected or become a zombie. The priest can purify deceased witches.
The priest is not infected by wolves or vampires.

If the priest and necromancer choose the same corpse, the player remains deceased, but as a deceased zombie.

Wolf Hunter:
Night actions.
Each night the wolf hunter chooses one player. That player will receive a tap on the shoulder.
If that player was the target of a wolf infection, he prevents the infection. The target does not become a wolf.
If the target was attacked by a single wolf, the wolf is slain instead.
Otherwise no action occurs.
When all wolves are destroyed, the wolf hunter receives a tap on the shoulder.
The wolf hunter wins with the village.

Vampire Hunter.
See wolf hunter.

Villagers.
No night actions. Must remain aware of which phase in which their shoulder is tapped.

Lovers.
Know each other. If one dies, the other always dies on the following dawn.
Can be otherwise affected as any human.

The village wins when no other team remain.

An hour to kill, killed in no time.

I just played pot limit hold em to pass the time today.
I had lost a few sit n goes so wanted to mix it up.

I started playing tight, as I always do, but the table was tight and I took advantage of that.
Not to mention I kept hitting trips.

I ended up playing a very loose and aggressive game, betting into almost every pot.
I sat down with 20K and after 120 hands I had 86K, and quickly got it to 60K and then slowly creeped up to 86K

Statistics for 119 Hands
Street Saw Saw/Total
Flop 93 78%
Turn 59 50%
River 46 39%
Showdown 34 29%

Street Won Won/Saw Won/Total
Pre-flop 4 3% 3%
Flop 19 20% 16%
Turn 5 8% 4%
River 5 11% 4%
Showdown 20 59% 17%

So I won 53 hands in 119, which is higher than average for me.
I felt really good how I’d adjusted my play to suit the table, and then some new guy sat down to my right.

Two guys all in, me and he had them covered. The flop was K44. I had K9.
He bet into it, I called. The turn 5. He bet the huge pot. I had an inkling he had the 4 but I called.

He had the 4.

Then the next hand I had KQ, and hit the KQ on the flop, he hit a set though, and cleaned me up.
So then I had only 20K last hand.
I had AQ, and hit a Q high board. He had JJ and hit a J on the river.

Lost it all in three hands.

Heavy Metal is underated

If I’ve learned anything from experience it’s that Heavy Metal, as a musical genre, is highly underated, and highly misunderstood.

When I tell someone that I listen to or enjoy Heavy Metal there is an automatic stereo type blanketed over me, because there is a blanket conception of what Heavy Metal is.

Actually there are two, that I frequently hear. One is that heavy metal is all screams that you can’t listen to, and the other is that heavy metal is all growls that you can’t listen to.

I can’t deny that these factors don’t *exist* in heavy metal. In fact, they’re quite prominent. So I can understand where the stereotype comes from, in a sense. But most of the time, people hear one song and take a stance that all metal sounds like the song they just heard. They didn’t get it, or couldn’t hear it, or it actually was so extreme they couldn’t like it. The simple fact is that they didn’t understand it and they fear what they don’t understand. Then they don’t give anything labeled as ‘heavy metal’ a chance.

Or perhaps they just “remember” it being worse than it actually was. It’s like coming out of the tropics for the first time in your life into a brisk cool morning, and going away thinking the place was the coldest you have ever been, even if eight years later you go to the mountains where it’s snowing. It’s all relative at the time, but the relative difference is what you remember. You’ve never been so cold as you were that day you first left the tropics – and you’ve been to the snow!

And then so many people might hear something I’m listening to and tell me that it’s not what I normally listen to. They don’t say that the metal isn’t what they expected. It’s that they didn’t expect what I’m listening to to be classified as metal, so they assume it’s not. And then make a statement that they thought I *would* be listening to metal, increasing their own misconception of what metal *is*.
It actually took me several times to be told this before I really got a grasp on how to react. Should I be upset that they stereotyped me so badly? Should I be defensive that they attack my tastes in music? Or should I look down at them for being ignorent or idiotic?
I try to explain that metal isn’t what they expect, or that my taste in metal is not what they expected, or that there’s so much more to metal than they can fathom, but they pass it off as incorrect and hold their viewpoints – usually.
In some rare cases, they’ll actually listen to what you’re listening to and say it wasn’t as bad as they expected. But that’s really the end of it.
In the end, I try to just take a bla-se stance, realising that it’s not worth my effort to explain myself or metal to these people. In some ways I like that they will never take the chance to listen to metal, because they could actually start enjoying it, and I actually like knowing that people are missing out – and that I don’t follow the societal norm. It’s my thing.
Or the reverse, that they actually *do* take an interest, and I have to spend time teaching them 30 years of music that has completely passed them by. Where do you start?
Metal has grown with me over the years. I have grown with metal.
It was raw when I discovered it, and over time recording qualities have improved. Media has improved. The abilities of musicians have improved. There’s no formula to determine at which point an introductory course in metal could or should begin.
Start at the beginning, and the raw sound would turn them away for not being polished, or being too close to their fear – screaming incoherance.
Start too new, and work backwards, and you’ve started with better quality music, and they’ll get bored with older tunes. And then they’ll miss out on so many of the classics. And never understand the progression of any single band, or genre or connect sub genres.
Start in the middle? Work forward from there? Let them not understand the influences of bands, musicians, eras and genres?

Yes, people. There’s more than one kind of metal. And each genre has its own fanbase, and these people can be mutually exclusive. Different genres can be likened to each other like house and RNB, similar enough that you might like both as much as each other, or like Rap is to Jazz – so different you couldn’t possibly appreciate both.

But it’s even more than that. Heavy Metal is the culmination of all that is good in music. I think of it as an elitism.
It combines everything that is great in every other style of music. You like a solid rock beat, and energetic rythm? Rock metal for entree. Power metal for main course. You like delicate fingerwork, classical music, wind instruments, symphonies or anything similar? You might like neoclassical and perhaps some progressive metal.
You like the beat in house music? Industrial? Techno? Industrial metal for you. Try some fear factory or nine inch nails, for example.
You just like some good old tunes to tap along to? You might like the classics. Maiden, Sabbath, that sort of thing. And so on.

And there’s nothing you can’t sing about in metal. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is taboo.
And you might be sitting there telling yourself that the music you listen to is just as versatile, but if it ain’t metal, it ain’t so versatile.
Sure, in rap you can sing about shooting someone. How many rap songs sing about true and everlasting love? How many songs can Celine Dion sing that *aren’t* about love, or some other emotive state? How many angry songs can Elton John sing?
Heavy metal can have all of that and more. So much more. It can be descriptive or philosophical. There are songs of birth, of death, of afterlife. Theft, love, cars or bikes, the music, women, apocolypse, faith, broken faith, the future, the past, dragons and magic, ANYTHING. Tombstones, graverobbing, I’ll bet they’re out there. (and worse!) Ghosts, faeries, demons, succubi, vampires, alien life, even poltergeists.
Getting drunk and alcoholism – both considered in positive or negative tones, drugs, and drug abuse, the earth and environmental affairs, the philosphy of war, the irony of war, the effect of war, or just a song about war. Even just a song about the social effect of greed.

Anything you didn’t think there was a song about, there’s probably a metal song out there about it.
And the lyrics aren’t the only thing worth noting in most metal.
(And how often have you heard a song on the radio where the music took a pathetic second place to the vocals, or even just the catchy chorus?)

Most heavy metal songs are an *experience*. The songwriting talent abounds. The music is as much the focal point as any lyrics, and usually more so. It’s the energy it provides, or the resonance created within from a guitar riff, or the talent required to play the intricate melodies or solos.
But you have to focus. Metal isn’t usually background music, it’s something you listen to. Something you concentrate on, think about, appreciate. There’s gemstones in the background of a metal song, stuff you don’t hear until you listen closely. Each instrument usually presents a work of art in its own right, in so many thousands of songs.
That’s why fans of heavy metal consider it not just music but their way of life. They spend so much energy enjoying it that it becomes an integral part of them. It’s who they are. It’s what they do. It’s what they WANT to do, want to listen to, want to spend time thinking about.
Maybe that is what is feared by the others – to become totally gripped by this beast they can’t control and don’t understand.
To give up the life they know, and thought was right, to learn there’s more out there than they knew.

Stealing the blinds

I tend not to bluff.
I have played enough hands now to see what happens to me, and others, when I or they bluff – they lose.

I think it was Dan Harrington who taught me that you can’t bluff a novice. If they can’t imagine you have what you’re representing – and then fold a hand not quite as good as that (but better than what you have) then you’ve only cost yourself more chips.

On the other hand, an expert would likely have such a good read on me and the situation to know he actually has me beat, statistically or otherwise.
So when I put my chips in, I usually think I have the best hand or a good chance to get there. Most of the time, mind you, I still want everyone to fold. That is a pot you don’t have to earn.

There-in lies the allure of the bluff. Sure, it’s all about having more gustre than your opponent. That game of chicken, making the enemy stand down to your brute force, sly wit, or intimidating threat of taking all their cash. Sure, for most people, that’s what bluffing is about – I guess – but for *me*, it’s about winning something I didn’t earn with the minimal effort. Cunning.

In other words, I like to bluff when I think it’s a sure win. Some might say it’s not really bluffing if it’s a sure win, but anyone who calls usually has me beat. So I wait til they’ll fold before I even bet.

I’ve never been good at stealing blinds.
Phil Gordon tells me that to make a profit on my blinds, (because I intend to lose them usually) I need to bluff four times every three rounds to steal the blinds. Then I make a profit of one and a half bets.

Anything else on top of that is just gravy.

And every book I’ve ever read tells me that a standard play is to try steal the blinds when you have the button.
But as Phil again points out, that play is so standard, that it’s expected. Nobody raised until the button? Well he’s just gonna raise to scare us all off, right? So Phil says he makes *his* steals from the cutoff – one before the button. But who hasn’t read Phil’s book? We *all* know that’s now the new standard.

And when I raise from these positions, I always get called. Either by a good hand or by junk in the blinds – that usually hit and smash me.
So unless I have a great but speculative hand, or a monster hand (AK or AQ suited, for the former, AA,KK,QQ for the latter) I won’t raise from those seats. Instead I try to play small and hit hard, to take a bigger pot or get out early.

So why would I be writing this blog if I don’t have anything to say on this matter?

What I’ve discovered is that because I play a recognisably straight forward tight game that the only place I can steal the blinds is when I am under the gun. It really is harder to pick my spot, and I don’t usually do it with *absolute* junk, but quite often a standard raise – by me – from under the gun takes the pot. I’ve had players fold hands like Ace-Jack suited with only a Queen Ten in my hand.
Of course, this won’t work against any table with a fresh untutoured player on it – all players on the table need to recognise a tight player, and know how to play in position, and what it means to play out of position.

But when I get that table, I can steal my blinds back. I don’t get to steal four times every three rounds, but I get one or two.
And when I *finally* get called, I know I’m up against a monster. If I don’t hit the flop HARD, I bow out, get caught bluffing, and change gears. If I *do* hit the flop hard, I actually get paid for the effort.

And maybe when I get my AA under the gun, I’ll get a caller too.

Anyway, if I’ve only discovered one thing for myself in poker, or invented a play, it’s that I steal blinds from under the gun.

Evolution of a dream

It’s 1989.

I’m 15 years old, and find myself yet again changing school. I made a friend named Dean, who gave me a cassette recording of an amateur radio show on the local radio station.
This cassette was given to Dean by his brother and given to Dean’s brother by a friend of the family, who recorded the show presented by *his* friend. So I’m like the 5th generation tape owner here. Until now, my involvement in music has been particularly low. I grew up hearing Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, pop music, and a lot of country music, such as Johnny Chester or Slim Dusty. I liked none of these bands or genres, so I actually believed I didn’t like music at all. Until I had been shown a cassette with some Anthrax and some Metallica, and then I was hungry for more.
Metal.
It was a little difficult for me to get much exposure to metal * but this cassette opened a window for me. It was biblical in its teachings of what was to become so holy.

The next year, and if my calculations are correct (and recollections!), it really is quite amazing that Dean had heard about a concert in Germany. Well not just a *concert*, but a festival of concerts. If my calculations are correct, it was the first festival held in a town named Wacken, in northern Germany. And it was amazing to us because it was such a congregation of immense proportions. 20 bands, 50,000 fans. Back then, it was unimaginable to me how this was conceivable. And I still remember Dean telling me their catch cry slogan.
“Where Metal Dreams Come True”.

Now you have to realise that there was no internet back then. In fact, in my home town of Wagga Wagga, there was no accessible internet providers for many years. “Word of mouth” really meant what it said it meant. Information passed from person to person in the form of a chinese whisper, and in the back of your mind you always questioned the legitimacy of anything you heard, but you passed it on just the same.

But the catch cry hit home a very solid truth. Where Metal Dreams Come True. And where metal dreams came true was in Germany. I must say that I *never* had the travel bug. I think I understand why, mind you, but it was just not interesting to me to travel around to see things – especially true because I had heard of nothing worth seeing. Until now.
I realised that no metal band, especially not the ones I was coming to love, would ever set foot on Australian shore. And I would never see live any of the bands which were so famous for their live performances. Unless I went to Germany.
But even then I didn’t dream to travel. I knew that if I *did* travel, it would be to see this festival, but it was an ethereal dream of great expense and unrealistic realisations. It would never happen.

Years went by, and Wacken shows were heard about from time to time. They were a myth. Something that because you couldn’t become involved you could wonder if they really were true. My collection grew, but the only concerts I was ever able to see were small and local.
There was a Ratt concert that I wasn’t able to afford to see, which Dean went to. It was held at the local Uni and he had better connections than I, and somehow managed to get in.

There was also a Screaming Jets concert that I couldn’t afford to go to, and so I gave my interim license (proof of age) to a mate of mine so he could go.
They came back the next year, and this became my first ever concert. And they were bringing a band from Scotland, called “The Almighty”. I remember I had seen a full page advert in a magazine called Hot Metal. This gave the band some credence, so I purchased their album “Soul Destruction” before the show to familiarise myself. And I liked the music. So I enjoyed the show.

This was really a bigger event for me than I then realised. It was an international act, and it didn’t even really register. And the show was in a tiny nightclub which could probably hold 200 people. The stage was literally just a raised dance floor. The guys had no room to move, were standing right over their audience, it was all up close and personal, but it was all I’d ever known, so I didn’t even appreciate the situation. But I *liked* it.

I saw the Jets a couple more times, but never having such a huge support act. I also travelled three and a half hours to Canberra for two shows: the first was Faith No More, on the “The Real Thing” tour, and also Anthrax in 1992, (I think) on their Stomp 442 tour. They brought with them Cyco Miko – effectively Suicidal Tendencies. Also, I remember an Armoured Angel concert around that time, who actually came to Wagga (but then, they were an Aussie band trying to get on their feet.)

And then no more concerts. Ever. Well, I mean, not for about seven years.
By then I had moved to Sydney, and missed some really great shows, that I didn’t know had occurred or could afford even if I had. Stuff like Megadeth or Yngwie J Malmsteen, and also a Nevermore show.

My collection had ever grown, expanded. I was able to find the existance of foreign metal with a deft precision unmatched by anyone I actually knew. Effectively, this made me the smallest minority in an already minority group. But I didn’t care – I loved the music I had.

Yet it was clear that all the concerts I had ever seen, or even missed, were either Aussie bands, or American Bands – or iconic bands such as Iron Maiden. The bands that *I* loved were European, and never before had such a band stepped foot on Australian soil. The Wacken dream was still alive, but still ethereal.

And then in 2001, beyond all of my wildest dreams, beyond all expectations and bewilderment, hope of all hopes, I learned that Edguy was touring Australia.
I can hear you now. Even through this worldwide forum called the web, I can hear you say “who the hell is Edguy?” And not just because you just read what I typed. (If you even made it this far!!)
Edguy is a band that formed in Germany, in 1992, when two guys met each other in their music class, and realised they shared the same passion. They got a foothold in the Industry, which was later boosted by having as a guest vocalist Hansi Kursch, the vocalist for Blind Guardian. (Who? Look them up. **)
This really is why I took an interest in them, and bought their album “Vain Glory Opera”. I was greatly surprised, of course, to love the entire album.
So Edguy had become another one of those bands. A band that I loved listening to, that nobody else had even heard of, and here they were – touring down under!
I was over the moon. I was beyond elation. That concert couldn’t come quick enough. Every day in waiting was an eternity. And not just for me, I’ll wager. My work colleagues would have had the same sensation in waiting for me to come back down from whatever planet I was racing across.

But it was worth it. And then some. That concert was the best show ever. It was the ultimate in concert performances, never to be outdone. It exceeded all expectations, and the expectations began high.
I don’t know if I was just in a zone, but there was an electric charge in the air that night, in the Manning Bar in Sydney. I swear the place was registered to hold 300 people but had crammed in 500. It was jammed packed. You could hardly move!
How in the world could there be 500 people in the one place who loved this band, unheard of? 500? Just like me!? 500 screaming fans, all sharing a common bond in that we were at the first European power metal concert in Oz. (well, the first performance was in Melbourne. But otherwise…)

And the band gave an effortless, incredible, performance. They played to perfection, and Tobias Sammet, the frontman, was incredibly entertaining. I was frontstage the entire time, and the stage was only waist high, so the band was within arms reach the entire time, and used that to great effect. Tobias even managed to sneak to the back of the crowd to question two patrons why they weren’t having as great a time as the rest of us. I have never been *so* hoarse ever again as I was the day after that show. I was given *three* guitar picks by the guitarist Jens – one of which I gave away, one other I dropped by accident on the floor.

Everything Tobias did felt spontaneous. None of his humour was scripted, and he made us laugh between every song. Audience participation was intense, and there was such a connection between the band and the crowd that was just so amazing.
One thing I’ll always remember is that Tobias promised that he would take back to Germany how great we were, and next time maybe even bring back even bigger bands, such as Blind Guardian or Gamma Ray. And it was clear, then, with the crowd’s reaction that my dream was not mine alone.

They came back in 2004 which was also a special performance. Alas, it was without any of the great bands so promised, but there is more to that, perhaps later.

In 2002, my grandmother passed away, leaving me a small amount of cash (due to the fact that there were so many people so entitled.)
Her possessions were divvied out among my relatives and I, but for this cash, I decided to do something that would never be forgotten. Instead of buying something that would become obsolete or not leave a lasting impression, I wanted to do something with such an impact it could always be remembered, and be something – the last thing – that was given to me by Nan.
And it so happened – by fate, or destiny? – that Wacken was garnered the most impressive lineup I have before or since ever seen.
Approximately half of the 50 or so bands were straight out of my collection. At least… well, there were A LOT. And not just subsidiary purchases that were less significant. I’m talking *the* bands. The ones that had made an impact on my musical choices through life. Rage, Gamma Ray, Annihilator, Iced Earth – who were later replaced by Twisted Sister and equally as influencial – Testament, Sentenced, and then some. No Blind Guardian, mind you, but I mean, you can’t have everything, right?

There were just TOO many bands there that I loved. Primal Fear, and their sister band Sinner, Sonata Arctica, Symphorce, Circle II Circle, and did I mention Rage and Gamma Ray? These two were my first two loves in European metal (Gamma Ray was formed by the founder of Helloween. That counts.) This was massive.

So my nan’s money purchased the air fare for Rachel and I to travel to Frankfurt, Germany. From there, it was a simple case of driving to Wacken, where metal dreams come true. Where metal dreams DID come true. Everything was just as they promised. 50,000 fans, all in the same place. Joined by a common bond – the love of the music. It was a cultural exposure that isn’t documented. The Deutsch have a different attitude toward metal than I (or many Aussies I’ve met) have – simply because of the abundant availability.
I met people who spent the entire three days in the campsite! They were there for the party because they’d seen all their favourite bands in concert so many times they didn’t need to do so here.
I could write forever about the experience, so I won’t.

When it was over, there was a change in me. A dream had come to fruition, and really, I didn’t have any other dreams. I guess I still wanted to see Blind Guardian, and a few other bands that I love, but … I had now seen live so many of the bands I love that the impact wasn’t so significant. I knew. I knew what the concerts would be like. I knew that my dream had concluded, and so it evolved.

I started dreaming a new dream. A bigger dream. One much harder to fulfill than the last one ever was – and when I look back to the beginning of that dream, it seemed so inconceivable that to have actually achieved it can’t be fathomed, even though I know it’s true.
It took fifteen years to come to fruition, and when you look at it like that, it’s the single greatest achievement of my life. When I first started listening to metal, it seemed to be a *fact* that I’d never see them. It was completely inconceivable to change.

So my new dream is so immense that I wonder if it will take as long to complete.
My dream, conceptually, is simple. Bring Wacken to Australia.
Not Wacken, per se, certainly not the town that *is* Wacken, but the idea of the festival. The culture. The culmination of bands and the fruition of dreams. I would have to take a lot of things from Wacken, simply because it is a model that has worked. I haven’t investigated, but I sure hope that wouldn’t be a problem.

I’ve been to many concerts since 2003, and in fact many of the bands I’d have died to see in Germany have in fact played Australian shores now. Many are those I saw in Germany: Gamma Ray, Nightwish, and well, ok. Not that many. But others include the infamous Blind Guardian who toured in Feb 2007, but only played in Melbourne. Also there was Evergrey, and.. well, did I mention Gamma Ray? Not to forget Helloween are on their way over as I type, and Iron Maiden played last night (and will again tonight, tho’ without me in the audience). Anthrax have returned twice, Nightwish also – and Megadeth too, and even the shows I *missed* were huge. Angra played Sydney while I was in Melbourne watching Nightwish, and played Melbourne while I was in Sydney, watching Nightwish. Then Angra loved Sydney so much they came back that weekend, when I was travelling to Wagga. While I was in Germany in 2003, Doro Pesch – formally of Warlock – played Oz.
In each of these shows I try and take stock of things such as the number of people there, the shirts they wear, and the price they paid.
There is a level of dedication and commitment in these fans that is tangible. The shirt you wear to a concert are your colours, your pride, a statement of who you are and who you listen to. So when I see European power metal shirts at an Anthrax concert it means more to me than it would just seeing a metal shirt worn down the street.
There are people dedicated enough when a band tours to see more than one show of that band, and in more than one location.
When Nightwish toured recently, Rachel and I bought tickets to BOTH shows in Melbourne, and also the show in Sydney. That’s three times we saw them on consecutive nights, with air fare and accomodation between. I wasn’t the only one, and many others do it by grander scale.
At Blind Guardian, there were people from outback New South Wales there. There were people from PERTH. These people are willing to travel, willing to pay. They went to both shows in Melbourne (as did I) and perhaps would have followed them to other cities if they so much as went. I know a person who followed Edguy through four cities one year, from Adelaide to Brisbane.

What I’ve seen is that there are a whole lotta people who have a whole lotta commitment to these bands, and I actually believe that had I the funds behind me, a successful venture would be created. And so I have dreamed. I don’t dream often, so I don’t dream small.
I have dreamed of a place where people from Australia can all travel to, over a long weekend, and listen to all their favourite bands. The success is in the fact that *everyone* would have to travel, the bands and the fans, but because of this, it would be a huge success.
It’s worth it for a fan to travel to see even three of their favourite bands, because I’ve seen them do it just to see one (as I have also done).
And its worth it for the bands to fly to Oz just to do one show, because ALL their fans would be there, not just the small cult population in each major city. 300 in Sydney? 500 in Melbourne? 200 in Bris or Adelaide? Or perhaps 900 instead at my show.
Saves their costs in flying city to city, and renting motels for a week or two. And they could even relax for a day to see Australia – and let’s face it. They all want to. Or mingle with their fans, and increase their fan base. Because there would be people there who had never heard of them – come to see other bands instead, but are caught up in the moment, or watch the show between the two they wanna see. Or meet the band and think they were so cool, they’d catch their show. Or even through word of mouth of people they had met on the day, or last year, or whenever. “You like Maiden? You really need to see Edguy, and probably these bands too. But don’t miss Edguy!”

Everything builds upon itself. Not to forget the economic gain of a community that hosts for as many as 20 bands (and crews) and 10,000 fans. Or more.
The Acer Arena last night was almost packed. It’s a 21,000 seat arena and that probably doesn’t include the standing area which I guess held another 2000 people last night. Even if there was 20000 people, that’s a huge exposure for any other band who catches some of that. A silver ticket costed $100, a gold was $180, standing tickets were $140. Even at $100 a ticket, that’s 2 million bucks turnover, without food and drinks. For one night, and they are holding the show two nights.

Catering to 20000 fans would be a factor. In fact, you’d need to cater to more. If you billed Iron Maiden and even just five other bands you can easily get fans of the other bands who are no fans of Maiden. And that was just SYDNEY. Maiden played Melbourne also, which would have been just as big, and I doubt the crowd was even as high a percentage of Melbourne fans catching an extra show as 5%. So let’s double that number. 40000 fans. Make it an even 50000 fans that you can expect to turn up each year to an annual event, if you get the right billing, at the right time of the year, when everyone is available (or makes themself available.)
At $100 a ticket, that’s 5 million in turnover on tickets alone. Yes, your expenses are high, especially your set up costs. But Wacken has been running 20 years now. At some point their expenses flattened, while their revenue increased. They must be profiting or they’d be closed. If any fan of any band is willing pay $100 to see ONE band, how much would they pay to see more?
I am going to say not much more, simply because there are other factors involved. Travel. Accomodation (which is why camping is provided at Wacken), food. These are hidden costs that fans need to and will consider as part of the cost.
But if any fan is willing to fork out as much as three grand to go to Europe every year to see Wacken (and other festivals to make it worth their while), they would certainly pay $100 plus maybe $300 airfare, plus food for a three day weekend on their homeland.

To establish the festival ground, you can generate income from vendors such as food, liquor or retail. Promotions, advertisement, and self made merchandise. I believe that every year the planning would be almost year long, just to make the next show available. So it would be a full time job, and actually require a staff that needs to get paid. But all in all, it would be a success. If it wasn’t, there would be no Wacken.

Not to forget the impact on the community. 50000 mouths need to be fed for three days. Bands need accommodation. That’s a lotta motel rooms (that I would try to buy in bulk), and all these fans might wanna go into town, or look around. Or in the least get to the camp ground from the airport – which is a lucrative contract for a bus company. Taxis would do well also. Local taverns would prosper. So too would any custom tailored retailer who set up on the grounds. CDs, shirts, memorabilia, and other heavy metal accessories would all sell like hotcakes.

So that’s my new dream. The problem is that it would require a massive amount of capital to kick it off.
I don’t dream small. I want proper plumbing for showers and toilets. I don’t just want portaloos, I want a permanant festival ground, owned and operated by me. (I could lease this out, of course, to other clients during the year.) I want this to be an enjoyable experience to make sure people return year after year.
So I’d have to buy the land, and goodness knows how many permits to be too loud for too long. Plus what festival doesn’t sell beer? So there’s a liquor license required, and they ain’t easy to get. And a Security contract.

But the huge cost is in my stage idea. I don’t want to reveal it cos, well, it’s such a GREAT idea. Wacken have a temp stage that they assemble every year, and dis-assemble afterward. They run the show in a farmer’s paddock, and leave it as a paddock afterward. I wouldn’t have to do this. I could have a grand stage, permanantly erected, and I have – as I said – a vision for that. This vision is what would actually make the venture such a success.

Not to forget the costs of bringing big named international bands to Australia at a time assigned by me, not them, to fit into my schedule, not theirs. That is significant also, but would ease over time as popularity grew, and word of mouth spread about the festival’s achievements.

Could you imagine if I pulled this off? It would be a dream come true. Doubly so, because I would be creating the MEANS to achieve my own dreams – to see those bands live that I always thought I’d never see. Manowar on Australian shores? That would be intense. Every metal band out there would have a “Down Under” DVD. Edguy down under. Blind Guardian Down Under. Manowar Down Under. They’d probably call it Manowar goes down under, or something else with crude connotations.

I would never have to *work* again, I would only have to constantly chase my dream. That would make it three dreams in one, no?
And it would have all started from a single cassette given to me by a friend, a long, long time ago.

* A blog on this to follow, perhaps.
** Blind Guardian, by all surprises, was first introduced to me on *that* cassette! I searched all media for four years and never heard or read their name. Nobody knew who they were, but my favourite song on that cassette was theirs. I searched and searched, and one day by pure chance happened upon their album. A new passion developed for German Power Metal. Well, I mean, Helloween was already in my reportoire but that’s a technicality. And Rage. Shoosh.

Iron Maiden at the Acer Arena

As far as bands go, Iron Maiden aren’t one of my favourites.

I mean, one of the first songs I ever heard that I actually *liked* was an Iron Maiden song, and if the first album I ever purchased wasn’t Iron Maiden’s “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”, the second album I purchased was.
Not to forget that this same album holds the record for “most times I’ve purchased a single album”. (Once on cassette, and three times on CD, and no purchases were with the intent to give it away.)

I’ve listened to Iron Maiden since 1989, or so, and so have many of my friends – somewhat thanks to me.
But just because they were ‘first’ doesn’t make them ‘favourite’ – merely ‘prominant’. Very often it’s easy to give too much credit to the people who do things first, rather than best.

After I fell in love with 7th Son, I went back through some of the collection. Number of the Beast was next, followed by Killers, and Iron Maiden (the self titled album). I then went and filled the gaps – Powerslave, Somewhere In Time, Live After Death, and so forth, in no particular order. Indeed, I didn’t purchase these until MUCH later in life. I listened to them when my friends did, which was often enough already.
I did purchase No Prayer For The Dying on its release, and I found it somewhat boring, to be honest. So when Fear of the Dark was released, I let my friends buy it.

In 1992, Iron Maiden came to Australia off the back of that album. A lot of my friends bought expensive tickets and travelled five hours to get to the show. (And five hours back!) I couldn’t afford it and wasn’t able to go, but then, I wasn’t entirely disappointed by that. I mean, my friends raved about that concert for years – literally – but I was OK with that. Even then, only three years after my introduction to metal, Iron Maiden was already fading. I loved Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and perhaps also Number of the Beast; but overall, they never ever rated as a favourite band.

So when Iron Maiden returned to Australia, the same friends were very keen. Somewhere between 1992 and now, 2008, I realised that a lot of Iron Maiden’s music was very repetitive. Somehow that worked in their earlier music, but annoyed me greatly in more recently released stuff. But as I listened to anything Maiden, I kept listening – and hearing – excessive repetition. Like I already said, sometimes that worked in their favour, but that only seemed true for earlier recordings.
For example, the Live in Rio DVD that my friend bought was not something I could have sat through a second time. Even in Dolby Surround.
Safe to say that I didn’t jump out of my seat to get any tickets for the return concert.

My friends did!

Not too long ago, my friend advised me – with great regret – that he would be unable to attend the Maiden show. He, in particular, loved the 1992 show, and had followed them closely when Bruce returned to the band, and had bought all releases and judged them fairly on their merits. He even bought the compilation album even though he owned every album. But his overseas holiday travels had him leaving the day before the concert and he offered his ticket to me.

I figured this was one of those destiny moments when something I’m meant to do just falls in my lap, so I accepted the offer, and the agreed upon price was that I buy him a way cool shirt, as is our wont.
I asked Rachel if she wanted to go also, and she declined. She too wasn’t *particularly* interested in the band as a whole, even though there are songs she likes.

So the day drew nearer. In fact, the day is/was today. And this morning, Rachel asked me if Lee (one of the other friends) still had any spare tickets. I called him, and as it turned out, his wife had hurt her back and couldn’t go.
This was very unfortunate for her – she was greatly looking forward to the show. Very keen. But the ticket was going to waste, and so Rachel came along and we paid Lee for the value of the ticket. I’m sorry that my friend’s wife missed the show.

I bought two shirts, stashed them in the car, and met up with the guys.

And then the show began. We found our seats without difficulty.

The first support act was actually the daughter of the bass guitarist, song writer and founder of Iron Maiden.
When we walked in five minutes before the doors were advertised to be open, she was already on stage playing. And not bad at all.
I’m gonna go check out her tunes after I write this blog.
Lauren Harris. Look her up.

The second support act was an Aussie band, the name of whom I am unsure. As I also am as to why they were chosen as the support act. I’m not saying they were of low calibre, but their style was greatly misplaced at a Maiden show. They were actually booed off stage, and didn’t really deserve it. It was greatly amusing!

And then Maiden played.

Actually, at 9:10PM I figured the show wouldn’t continue (begin?) for at least 20 mins, as things usually work by the half hour. So I made the executive decision to visit the lav. And would you believe it? The music blaring during the roadie’s setup time smoothly rolled into a Maiden tune. An earlier song, with no lyrics. From the Killers album I believe. And I was at the loo, hearing the cheers of thousands of fans. I made my way back, to hear the intro to Aces High.
That’s a great song, one I’ve always liked, and fitting for an intro song. I tried taking a few photos with my phone camera but I don’t think they came out too well. I couldn’t find a zoom function, and realised that I haven’t really played with my phone much.
I later learned that I missed some video footage of Bruce flying (or landing?) their jumbo and the band signing stuff for airline staff. Darn!

The next song was another of my favourites, as Maiden goes, called Revelations. This was when I experimented with the video capture feature. But apparantly you have to press the ‘record’ button twice for it to work, so I missed most of that. I worked out by the second verse that it wasn’t recording. So I got the guitar solo, and settled for that.

The next song the played was another classic, called The Trooper. I actually filmed this song in entirety, but only later through the song I discovered there was a zoom ability. So OK, I’m still quite a novice cameraman. I’m getting there
And I wonder how it turned out. I kinda took this footage for my mate who couldn’t be there. And also kinda cos I like experimenting with filming and photographing concerts.

The next song, “The Wasted Years”, is one that never really was a favourite of mine. They played it well, to their credit, and I tapped along, but I didn’t get into it like many other songs.
It was followed by the ultra-classic “Number of the Beast”, though, which was when I began to attempt to sing along. I tried capturing it on my phone, but my battery was low, and it flatly refused to assist me further. And that pun was not intended!

Can I Play With Madness was the next enjoyable tune, but I kinda started daydreaming through the next three songs.
Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner – for me – is too long and tedious. There’s nothing about it that catches my attention and holds it. Powerslave is ok, but again not one of my favourites, and Heaven Can Wait kinda bores me. Without the ‘kinda’.

Maiden snapped me back into the show, though, when the entire roadie crew came on stage and started singing along to the backing vocal choruses. It was very amusing, and then the song ended soon enough after that I was focused again.

The next song was Run To The Hills, and I realised while singing that song that I was starting to go hoarse, so I backed off a little.
They followed up with Fear of the Dark, which was enjoyable, but not entirely enthralling, and their self titled song (from their self titled album) Iron Maiden – which has always been one of my favourite Maiden songs.

I didn’t care that I was going hoarse. I didn’t even care that I don’t *truly* know all the lyrics to that song. I just loved singing along to a song I love.
After that, they left the stage, we did the standard cheering, they did the standard ‘come back for the encore’.

They finished the night with Moonchild, The Clairvoyant and Hallowed Be Thy Name. These three are all great songs, and I enjoyed them greatly.
So what did I think, overall of the show? Did they rock? Or suck?

Iron Maiden rocked. And, honestly, we expected no less, did we?
No band can last 30 years without knowing how to provide excellent live entertainment.
The stage show was amazing. The set was amazing. The performance was excellent and energetic, with very few pauses. And when they did need to change their gear, Bruce covered it very well with amusing banter about anything he could think of. Whether it was the Aussie guy providing the fireworks “on demand” (which he didn’t!), or the Australian airline QANTAS (which they had absolutely no requirement for, seeing as they own and fly their own self-branded jumbo!), or even just getting us to cheer, which seemed all too easy – for a change.

In fact, somewhere early in the set, we cheered for a solid 45 seconds or more. Not that I timed it – I didn’t – but Bruce admitted that we’d done his work for him, because he was supposed to amuse us for the 45 seconds it took for them to change guitars, and he’d been given a standing ovation without having to do a bloody thing. It was certainly a highlight of the night. The band was genuinely appreciative of the fans’ appreciation. But that’s a topic for another blog – about Metal bands that tour Australia.

Speaking of highlights, another was during the song “Iron Maiden” where Eddie the Head made an appearance. If you’ve never seen a Maiden gig, and you dunno to what I am referring, you are missing out. They had a 15 foot characature of their mascot Eddie appear on stage. It walked out on stage, carrying a laser gun which it pointed at the crowd several times. It pretended to (or actually did?) bang on Janick’s guitar several times before walking back and pretending to play someone else’s. Meanwhile Janick managed to throw his guitar perhaps five metres into the air and catch it without a problem. Sorry for mixing my measurements there. (Feet and metres.)

This act was enthralling. And I have to say, that so many times there were so many things going on – either on the stage, or on the screens displaying the footage of one of their cameras (I think they had four?) or even stuff going on in the crowd.

Like the two guys actually dressed up as different versions of Eddie, one of whom was in the standing crowd and got a direct response from Bruce.
Something like “What are you doing out of your box? You’re not due until later!”

Do you know, the only thing that wasn’t enjoyable about this show was the ending. Yep. It ended. Would have loved at least another hour. And I *know* that they have enough quality songs to deliver that.

So we left, paid for parking, got to the car, and left in short order. It was all too easy, even with the 10,000 cars that must have been leaving at that time. And I started dreaming an old dream that I’ve had so many times while driving home. But that, too, is for another blog.