-01- Know Thyself
Make sure you know your strengths and weaknesses before sitting down at a table. Whether it’s the ability to control your emotions, your math skills, or your discipline, recognizing what you’re good at is key. “That requires an unwavering clear headedness, free of complacency and self delusion,” says Duhamel.

-02- Know The Table
Be aware of who your opponents are and try to pick up on their style of play as the game progresses. Duhamel insists that the players with the greatest advantage are the ones who can “figure out not only what’s in their opponent’s heads, but how aggressively they’re playing, how likely they are to bluff or how confident they are.”

-03- Practice Patience
Despite being a very aggressive player himself, Duhamel recognizes the importance of caution at the table. “You can’t regularly win at poker without a certain amount of restraint, without carefully weighing every decision in light of all the other information you have.”

-04- Don’t Be Afraid to Take Risks
Poker is a game of extreme unpredictability, which means that a certain level of risk is involved in almost every decision you make. But Duhamel stresses not to take risks blindly. “Once you’ve analyzed the available information, and made your calculations, you just have to go for it.”

-05- Be Confident
Sit down at the table, whether it’s with friends or at a professional tournament— with the belief that you’re going to win. “You can’t play at a high level without having a lot of confidence in yourself, your skills and your ability to win.”

How to Cheat at Poker

The simplest way to cheat at Texas Hold Em is by hiding a card from a previous game in your sleeve, or your lap. Do so by waiting to fold only when there is a muck (the area of the table where all the dead cards go) and throw just one of your cards in. This will give you an extra card to swap in with future hands.

1. The grip is extremely important. The laces are your friend. You want your fingertips on them, index finger extending towards the tip of the football.

2. Secure the grip with your opposite hand. It’s there for consistency and as a guide hand.

3. To ensure a high release, make sure your elbow is above your shoulder.

4. Shoulder rotation is extremely important. Always point your front shoulder to your target, take a little step, and finish to your target with your opposite shoulder.

5. Release high and in front, with your index finger being the last thing to come off the football as your palm rotates out. You’ll feel that pulling motion, and the index finger will snap off the football, ensuring a tight spiral.

Light:
Ultraviolet light can destroy wine, a reason why bottles tend to be darker in colour. Wines prefer a cool, dark resting place.

Smell:
Strong odours can penetrate the cork and affect the wine. Ensure good ventilation and keep the bottles away from paint, cleaning products and even onions and garlic.

Humidity:
60% to 70% humidity is considered a good range. Lower levels cause the cork to dry out, allowing higher levels of oxygen into the bottle, which in turn destroys the wine.

Location:
Remember that your collection will grow over time (at least, we hope it will). If your home has limited space, consider using a wine storage facility. Companies that offer this service ensure climate-controlled environments and often provide 24-hour access. SY

History
Absinthe was invented in 1792 by a French doctor, Pierre Ordinaire, as a panacea for ailing patients. Five years later, Henri-Louis Pernod and his father-in-law purchased the recipe and began to distribute the elixir to the French aristocracy. Its popularity continued to grow, and The Green Fairy, as it became known due to its colour and potency, became a mainstay of French café life in 1870, when vineyard blight caused wine production to plummet.

Production
Generally, absinthe contains three main botanical ingredients: wormwood, anise and fennel, but other ingredients, like coriander, juniper and nutmeg, may be added to introduce different flavours. Absinthe has long been rumoured to have hallucinogenic properties, but this may have been due to other chemicals added in the 1850s for colour that had poisonous side-effects. Absinthe does contain thujone, a chemical that can cause hallucinations, however the amount of the chemical found in absinthe is so minute that the imbiber would likely die from alcohol poisoning long before having any psychedelic adventures. There are three main types of absinthe: blanche, verte and absenta. Blanche is bottled immediately after distilling and is clear, verte is coloured with a blend of herbs after distilling, and absenta is of Spanish descent and is sweeter than traditional absinthe, with slight notes of citrus.

Service
While purists enjoy absinthe straight up with a splash of water, in what’s known as “the French method,” absinthe is poured into a glass, with a slotted absinthe spoon holding a sugar cube placed over the top. Ice water is then poured over the sugar cube into the absinthe, which mellows the flavour and turns it from clear to milky, known as a “louche” (French for opaque). A variation of this, “the Bohemian method,” involves lighting the sugar cube on fire before dousing it with ice water. Similar to adding a little water to open up a good Scotch, the louche allows you to better appreciate absinthe’s depth of flavour and various botanicals.

ABSINTHE COCKTAILS
Death in the Afternoon
1 oz. absinthe, Champagne
A Hemingway classic. Pour one shot of absinthe into a Champagne flute and then add Champagne until the liquor becomes opalescent. Hemingway suggests drinking three to five of these in the 1935 celebrity cocktail book So Red the Nose, or Breath in the Afternoon, but we’ll leave that to your judgment. Either way, big game hunting and sailing are not suggested as accompanying activities.

Tremblement de Terre (Earthquake)
1 oz. absinthe, 1 oz. cognac
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the pint-sized painter, is said to have concocted this drink in the late 1800s. Simply combine the two liquors into a brandy snifter and swirl. Lautrec liked his a little stronger, mixing three parts of each into a wine goblet, but that’s not necessarily advisable—especially if you’re under five feet tall. BM

• Call for help or instruct someone else to do it.
• The biggest risk is that the panicked victim will drag you under as well, so keep your distance. Start with a tethered floatation device or long pole you can use to tow the victim in.
• If you’ve got no choice but to get in close, approach feet first, propelling yourself with your hands and one leg (kind of a reclining doggy paddle); your other leg should be extended in front of you, pushing a floatation device and ready to kick them off if they happen to lunge at you.
• Once the victim’s got firm hold of the device and calmed down a bit, grab the other end and start pulling back to shore, instructing the victim to kick in the process.
• If at any point the victim grabs hold of you and compromises your ability to stay afloat, swim downward. He won’t likely follow.

• Realize that six inches of water is enough to carry you away to a watery demise. Two feet of it can do the same to your car, so don’t try motoring your way to safety.
• If you find yourself surrounded by water while on the road, ditch your vehicle and head for safety on foot.
• Safety is high ground, which means heading away from canyons, ravines and ditches, as well as bodies of water.
• The water level can shoot up in a matter of minutes, and it’ll be carrying all sorts of wreckage, trees and (royally pissed off) snakes. Need a better reason to stay out of the water?
• If you do find yourself caught in the torrent, keep your feet pointed downstream to fend off obstacles.
• After the excitement’s over, stay away from the flooded areas until everything’s cleaned up; the water has likely destabilized buildings, left chunks of debris everywhere and spread around all kinds of toxins and diseases.

• Open your window as quickly possible, before the water takes out the electrical system.
• If you’re too slow on the button, don’t panic. Just remove your seatbelt and look for something to smash the glass with. Ideally, you’ll already have an emergency hammer stowed within easy reach, but whatever you use, it won’t be easy. Remember to aim for the edge of the pane, not the centre and don’t even bother trying to break the windshield.
• No luck? Time to try the door, but first you need to wait for the inside of the car to fill up completely and equalize the pressure. Take one final breath just before the last pocket of air disappears and try to force the door open.
• Once you’ve found your exit, leave everything (except your passengers) behind. No stopping to save the wallet or gym bag.