Final Table

Guess I can run 5K in about 35 mins, 10K in about 65 mins, ran a half-marathon this year in a particularly sorry 3 hours, drive Bangalore to Madras in about 5 hours; and when I got busted early in the final table of a online Poker tournament it took about 6-1/2 hours.

The weight of these hours will, I hope, give enough credence to the said activity & make you read on!

It is pretty cool to be in a position to watch chairs being removed from the final table. Last visit, I managed to watch only one chair removal. For what I can only put down to be “the Indian attitude”, my decision making process settled me down to a 30 to 40x earning on the tournament buy-in. Not that bad in itself, until you lie down wondering that a 2nd place finish to a 8th place finish is a earnings factor of 10x. So, yes, when you say it is 30x instead of 300x – that is a kick in the teeth. Settling for this I suppose is what I call “the Indian attitude”.

I am not sure if these ratios hold in other pursuits as well. Getting into a “top” b-school takes an engineer’s annual earnings from about four hundred thousand rupees to say sixteen hundred thousand rupees(4x), whereas a top-notch campus job could rake in another 10x from there (total 40x). Surely, just being on Facebook, having a LinkedIn profile or a Gmail account form the ‘real life’ equivalent of making it to the ‘in-the-money’ tables. So, I am going to summarize the stuff that I hope I will remember to appreciate when the time comes. It is also my hope that it will get you a little interested in Hold’em, if not the entire gamut of Poker games.

1. AJ suited has more potential to make you money than a random hand, but when coupled with illusions of grandeur it will cause a lot more damage too. My sense is that most of us have AJ suited

2. Mid pairs, say walking sticks, are strong provided they are played with courage. If you don’t make the guys with top cards/ chip lead pay through their nose to stay in the hunt, they will most likely hurt you bad (they do tend to have luck running for 'em!). I look around my company at guys without fancy degrees but who add a lot of value for the organization – mid-pair guys; not sure if they realize it.

3. If you want to earn well from a killer hand, you have to give hope to the hopeful. It may mean leading them on, it might mean giving them a free turn or river. Most of time those around you will smell a rat, sometimes someone doesn’t. Most of the times he will pay up for being foolhardy, sometimes catch lucky cards. One way or the other, your work is not done the moment you open pocket rockets. On the otherhand, if you got a free turn and scored a pair – think about it a bit.

4. Think in terms of the number of ‘Big Blinds’. Deep into a tournament you might find yourself with 300x your starting bank roll(say $900k from a starting $3k), but you aren’t as far away from annihilation as it appears. That is because the blinds went up from$20 (so, you had 150 big blinds to start with) to $30k (30 big blinds). Guess that is like getting older, at a tournament everyone is hurtling toward running out of blinds and antes. When you reminisce about the days when your pay stub showed one-twentieth of what it does today, remember that you are probably closer to joblessness than you ever were in the past.

5. The tricks that you pulled at the start of the tournament are probably well worn on the guys sitting with you at the final table. Recognize that ‘standard good play’ early on is probably ‘dead duck’ play now. Things change, values become liabilities, murderers become saints, ilegal aliens write books that go to become best-sellers, education becomes dogma, maybe except sh*t, nothing remains the same. Adjust yourself.

6. I am no Mary Schmich and Poker is no Sunscreen – but recognize the role of chance in the best played hand or in the best played tournament; smile about it even if its only through a broken row of front teeth

I remember in SAP there were these chaps in the hostel who would have a cot out on the corridor (think it was there permanently, in fact) and play cards all night. Used to think "Cards all night?!?", now its changed to wondering "what could have been" if the internet was this big then and one of them chanced upon Hold'em - I could've been saying "well, XYZ, poker champ, we were in the same class for 5 years (although XYZ would have quit archi to go pro)!!". Thanks for reading the blog-post of guy who recently got busted (discovered) at a final table of a tiny stakes poker tournament.

The Post Modern Duathlon (TPMD)

TPMD consists of about 360km driving, 20km running, & followed by 360km driving - at least my first TPMD did. The drive back to Bangalore, in my limited experience in driving, was tough - consistent rain, mostly in the dark, and the occasional 'motor-water-boarding'. The last mentioned occurs when an on coming, over taking or to-be over taking vehicle passes at reasonable speed over water on the highway, and causes a generous splash on your windscreen. Momentarily it creates an effect of suddenly plunging into water, car borne. Dont ask me why but my first reaction has been to brake hard - in hindsight, not the best thing to be doing. Any suggestions what one needs to do in the instance of being motor-water-boarded?

My only tip to those thinking of the ECR runs is this - read up a bit on the monsoon patterns on the south eastern coast of India. Pretty straightforward - Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan it is the Northeast Monsoon - so if you are headed toward Mahabs from Muthukaadu, then the wind is behind your back on the way out...for any fellow novices (may I add a hundred 'stupid's too, although Mr.Vasu counts that a 'bad word') - the run up to the half way point is as good as it gets. The good people at ChennaiRunners (they rock) had excellent arrangements for refreshments, encouragement and watchful eyes every 2.5kms of the way. Didnt matter that the traffic wasnt stopped - it is after all a state highway, and as far as one stays way over to the right there wasnt much of a problem - except, of course, for the immediate challenge of running.

Appears that running aground at about the 14km mark is my problem. I need to read/ chat up on how to overcome this 'barrier'. Mr. Nitin - the most learned runner, cyclist, treasury guy - suggests that training might help.

Also, the first TPMD is only the second time in my adult life till date that I have made it up and down this road without being drunk at least one half of the way. The first time was this final year trip to see something of architectural significance - a group of stone carvers & their work - all thanks to Dr. Srivatsan. A number of things were vastly different then - and I guess there is just no time before heading to office to get into all that. Couple of guys fell off their bike, somebody was examining the 'axis' at Mahabs and it restoration/ conservation, somebody got to spend the entire ride back with a pretty awesome girl and the lucky idiot was me.

Maybe it is this particular previous trip which makes me call it the 'Post-Modern' Duathlon. My run measured by any Modern (read: objective measurement like timing) benchmark can't be anything but mediocre and an utter waste of a weekend & petrol money. But you add 'memory' and maybe it is not entirely useless. There is something about going back to the same place but doing slightly different things.

Chennai Intl Half Marathon - Sep-27, 2009

This was after a long time that I attempted to do anything more than driving around in Chennai. You normally hear this and that about how the temperature and humidity here adds to the difficulty levels, but is 10 years enough to get 'un-used' to the conditions?
Before the running started a gentleman gave a speech and orchestrated an 'oath'. Both were unbelievably shabby - although he might just been holding the fort before the dignitaries were ready to flag 'go'. Unlike the 10K in Bangalore earlier in the year, given the less than 1,000 people taking part, there was no rush at the start and no challenges to keep oneself from tripping up.
From War Memorial up till about the Foreshore Estate bus-stand I managed to match pace with this chap who appeared to know what he was doing. At the time it registered as him pushing up his pace a notch - in hindsight, it was probably me beginning to fade. Yes, already - just 4 or 5 kilometers into the run. Marina cricket ground, Santhome - basillica and school, St. Bede's, Rosarie Matric and Foreshore market all passed by with no energy for me to look around and take in the sights.
It was beginning apparent now that the only 'refreshments' on offer at the stalls kept 1km apart was water. Why some people carried their own energy bars and health drinks now made a lot of sense. Just before the Ayyappan temple at MRC Nagar, the professional runners were making the return trip. And these guys actually run!!! The bikes keeping with them was definitely in 4 gear and the two guys appeared to be plotting their race finish strategy. That made it them going at about double the speed - me 7k into the run and them 7k from the finish.
For anyone else who is used to seeing the St. Patrick's chapel from Adayar bridge, it is no longer visible - the trees there must have grown even bigger or the September foliage hides the chapel. Once into Besant Avenue, the only runners slower were the 'sprint-stoppers'. It is unbelievable how someone who cannot sprint well never takes part in the 100m while someone who cannot run slowly and steadily still gives it a shot over 21k distance!!!
The big-break in the run for me came when it was clear that the run up to the beach was not going to be through 5th Avenue but much much before that, down 3rd Main road. So, add Sunny Brook to KFI and Adayar Aawin in the list of other landmarks. Of more immediate relevance, half-way!!! Anjana was standing at the turn-back and later told me two things - first, that I appeared to be totally exhausted and second, that she was perhaps the only one cheering at the half-way point.
By now we had been running for more than 80 minutes, much slower than the Bangalore 10k - rationalized it given the weather, given the extra half - kilometer. From here on, it was all unchartered territory. I have always wondered how people stop while running a distance - or rather, what makes them stop. On the way back, over Adayar bridge, I realized that I was running slower than some people walking - cant be running then, can it? Hence from about 13k onward started the trek to the finish line.
With some good company of guys trying to get to the finish, went into a run/ jog - walk - run/ jog mode that appeared to work quite well. Only the first few steps switching into the run/ jog hurt a bit - that must be some muscle group/ action related bio-mechanics. This guy - Shailendra - who joined the race about 15min joined somewhere near the Ayyappan temple, and clear difficulty in breathing was his problem. But in the run/ jog phases he made a good speed and keeping pace saw us through from MRC Nagar to Lighhouse. The few details - trained for this run for about 1-1/2 months, smoker, played football in school and landed up late for the start - were all pretty impressive.
Although there was still time to go for the 3 hour cut-off of the men's run and a lot of time left for the women's run cutoff, there were a lot of people milling about on the running path. Somehow, this made the final couple of kilometers feel rather unlike the finish zone of a half-marathon. And yes, there we had switch from plastic water bottles to plastic water 'pouches' - well and truely Madras!
Got to the finish in what should be about 3hr10mins. The only guys at the finish belonged to the company running the timing chips - 'TimingIndia'. Among the assorted things strewn around was a half-open packet of 'Tiger' biscuits which it was blissful eating. The shamiana with the cops being the most official looking thing, I went and found a chair. A north-Indian couple was also there. The guy had run the distance and his wife was very proud of his achievement. I borrowed the cop's cell phone and spoke to my dad, including mention of hunger. Once the call was done, the cop offered 'pulisaadam' and I happily accepted. This was breakfast organized for the cops - hundreds of them - assigned to this event. It appeared a strange choice but right then I didnt care.
Borrowed another pack of 'Tiger' to go, and as planned started the walk to Central to meet up with Anjana who was catching a train. I know from school-time trivia that the bridge over the suburban tracks adjoining MMC is the 0km mark for the city of Chennai. This is what the milestone reads - "NH45, 0km". It is at the highest point of the flyover and a picture of this milestone with no (or just a little) clue of the background would make a good picture for a quiz question. While stepping on and off the sidewalk hurt, it wasnt until the subway in front of Central that I go wind of the things to come.
Thus goes the 'Unofficial Guide on How Not to Go About a Half-Marathon'.

Murphy’s Law – DD Corollary

Law : “If anything can go wrong it will” 
DD Corollary : “Many things get noticed only when they go wrong” 


I remember the two times that I have missed the train connection because the onward train was late. The excruciating discomfort that went hand in hand with these experiences has made it impossible for me to forget. Both times I remember thinking, stranded on some railway platform – “if anything can go wrong it will”. Also, it is one of the building blocks of my working in a (rather exaggerated) buffer if there was anything very important at the other end of a train journey. 

As a cerebral office conversation tried to track the current crisis to its roots, someone quoted the same Mr. Murphy in lieu of giving his own 2-bit take on what exactly the first step of this current calamitous financial turmoil really was. He then went on to point out that of the many opportunities for mis-representation, fraud, financial over-reach, etc. – the current crisis might have been started just because a couple of largely unlikely events happened together or in close succession – and then snowballed into its current avatar. It could go wrong and it did. 

I, for one, am always surprised when I cover twenty kilometers in a city like Bangalore in an hour, or when I successfully back out my car in one of the city’s railway station parking lots, or when angry motorists cause traffic mayhem for no more than ten minutes, and every time a nurse or an intern manages a rather smooth IV setup at a blood donation camp. 

It is only when one of the above gets really screwed up and you are late for a date, or wedged-in a parking slot between cows, bikes, etc., or when the traffic snarl escalates into a four-hour jam on Hosur road, or when you return from blood donation with your hand in a sling that you really notice the existence of these risks in our respective daily hum-drums - perhaps, the very existence of the hum-drum.

It is almost like it is nature’s way of forewarning the human brain given that it is inherently weak in negotiating the risk of relatively rare events that can introduce variance in outcomes. And as I say that, it strikes Nassim Taleb and Murphy could well be cousins!!! So, without things going wrong once in a while – either first hand, or heard second-hand – us humans will blissfully walk over a cliff, burning coal or nails - assuming it is just another step. Things going wrong, once in a while, is good for us – in the long run. It might have a key role to play in the very existence of the 'long run'.

Murphy’s Law is more like a free lesson natures gives us, so that we can survive for longer than we would otherwise - disguised as it is as a funny, smart lament. 

Maybe, batsmen all over the world would guard their wickets a little less zealously if not for Bradman’s last test innings. We appreciate his batting average that little bit better due his last innings duck. We notice and appreciate getting close to 100 runs every time you bat – that it was achieved amidst despite the enormous frailty of a batsman’s wicket. Even if the batsman is Sir Donald.

The corollary, in my humble opinion, pays more attention to this survival lesson angle of Mr. Murphy’s succinct Law. 

Law : “If anything can go wrong it will” 
DD Corollary : “Many things get noticed only when they go wrong”