Monday, December 29, 2008

12 29 08

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Paul Harvey's Man and the Birds Christmas story can be read here

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative

I woke up in the middle of the night, in pain from a knee that seems like it will never get better. I had fallen asleep with the TV on USA Network, so that is where I started when I decided that sleep wasn't coming back anytime soon. I was surprised to see a church service underway. It was a service, I would learn, in the Abrahamic Faith tradition, a service of Christians, Muslims and Jews emphasizing the common ground of the Three Great Religions and urging peaceful co-existence.

I enjoyed the service and am sorry that I have been unable to find the entire service online to see the part I missed.

You can visit the site here
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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/11/madrid.anniversary/

The Times online has details about the Mumbai attackers in a story published today. You can read it here.

The election of Barrack Obama for President of the United States seems to be causing a great deal of optimism for progess and a new direction in the war on terror. A panel of former top international officials comment on President-elect Obama and Iran in a story from The Jerusalem Post here.

Recently I have been reading a lot about terrorism and the middle east. It seems like the number one non-economic threat to the United States. I ran across a great story on foreignaffairs.com by Philip H. Gordon. You can read it here. Also, this story in the New York Times about the Indian Muslim reaction to the Mumbai attacks makes me hopeful that a Muslim backlash against the terrorists may be beginning. You can read that story here.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

http://www.doubleqcountry.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=38&num=4279&printer=1

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

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The Smokies

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Great win for WV

The Mountaineers got a big win over SEC foe Auburn and continued to show marked improvement last night. The offense got a huge effort from Noel and was much more effective at throwing the ball downfield
The defense continues to get better as they get more experience
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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Another nice win for JAKoon1985

Fellow Mountaineer jakoon1985 wonthe PokerStars $109 NLHE [2X Chance - |$50,000 guaranteed|] yesterday. For finishing 1st out of 369 players, he won a very nice $9750.00.

Congrats Sir! Keep up the awesome work!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Jakoon1985 smashes the field at Stars.

Jason "jakoon1985" Koon, WVU fan extraordinaire, kicked major ass in the PokerStars $11+R NL Hold'em [|$80,000 guaranteed|] yesterday. He beat out 2051 other players to win the event and take down a cool $17k. Fantastic job by a great player.

Happy Birthday to Sicktight and Congrats to Wretchy!!!

Double celebration today as it is the birthday of a great guy, Greg "Sicktight311" Benoit. If anyone deserves a great day, surly it is him.( yeah I know, don't call me Shirley)

Congrats to Wretchy for taking down the $100rebuy on Stars last night to the tune of $29,892. Another great run by the Wretched One who is truly a great player and an even better friend.

Sorry for missing so many great finishes by friends of the blog. I will try not to let it happen again. Have a great day everyone and good luck on the felt.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

great week so far for OT

Wretchy cashed in the PokerStars $22+R NL Hold'em [|$20,000 guaranteed|] on 09-22-2008, bringing in $6006.00 for 1 out of 466.

JAKoon1985 playing as NovaSky made the final table in the FullTiltPoker $28,000 Guarantee on 09-23-2008 and won $1868.43 for finishing 5th out of 1270. He followed that up by winning the FullTiltPoker $30,000 Guarantee, bringing in $8472.80 for beating 355 competitors.

iLLNuGWichee cashed in the FullTiltPoker $1 Million Guarantee Satellite on 09-21-2008, bringing in $535.00 for 1 out of 808.

mathclub cashed in the UltimateBet Bounty 8K Guaranteed on 09-24-2008, bringing in $920.00 for 3 out of 156. mathclub final tabled in the UltimateBet Deep Stack on 09-23-2008, bringing in $80.02 for 7 out of 97. Mathclub, playing as jakehekejnr, final tabled the PokerStars $11 NL Hold'em [1R1A - |$10,000 guaranteed|] on 09-22-2008, bringing in $427.73 for 8 out of 819.


agriffrod won the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em on 09-22-2008, bringing in $30250.00 for 1st out of 225.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Wretchy, TranquilChaos, and JAKoon1985 make big scores

Pocketfivers Dan "Wretchy" Martin, Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter, and Jason "JAKoon1985" Koon both won silver medals at big tournaments last night.

Wrethcy final tabled the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em. He finished 2nd out of 243 and won $20125.00. Wretchy is on the verge of a triple crown, having won huge events last week at both FullTiltPoker and UltimateBet. His rise up the rankings will likely continue this week and I wouldn't be surprised if he hit the top 20 by the end of the year. Another great run by the Wretched One! Good luck tonight in the triple crown action.

JAKoon1985 playing at FullTiltPoker under his alias NovaSky won $10369.50 in the FullTiltPoker $40,000 Guarantee for his 2nd place finish out of 446. A couple of tough hands hurt Jason at the final table. Great play sir!

Devin Porter continued his great play by final tabling the PokerStars The Nightly Hundred Grand yesterday. Playing as tobias fuke on Stars, Devin won $2217.60 for finishing 9th out of 1056. Great job by a great guy!

Continued good luck at the tables gentlemen!

Monday, September 1, 2008

The Wretchy Roll Rolls on!

Dan "Wretchy" Martin is the featured guest in the latest installment of the Pocketfives.com weekly podcast. Wretchy has rocketed up the world online rankings at pocketfives and is currently ranked 51st. The other guest is former MIT Blackjack team and FullTiltPoker team member Andy Bloch. Andy will explain why FullTilt has waited so long to try to sign up Wretchy when it is so obviously the right thing to do.

To hear the interview, please visit pocketfives here

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Great day for Wretchy

I was out of town and away from the internet since Wednesday night, so I missed the Wretched One's great day on Thursday.

Dan Martin, future World Number One, blew up the poker world on Wednesday, August 27, 2008.

Wretchy made four final tables and took down two legs of the triple crown in one evening. Dan won the FullTiltPoker $35,000 Guarantee for $11360.16, finishing 1st out of 672.

He also won the UltimateBet Sniper 80k Guaranteed on 08-27-2008. Wretchy cashed in the amount of $20000.00 for finishing 1st out of 364.

WRETCHY also final tabled the Absolute Poker $100K Pro Bounty Guaranteed on 08-27-2008. He won $1683.00 for finishing 9th out of 99.

Finally, Wretchy got heads up for the title in the UltimateBet 20K Gtd Deep Stack on 08-27-2008. Dan won $3200.00 for finishing 2nd out of 153.

A fantastic year for most all in one evening. I am really pulling for Wretchy to take down the triple crown. This week is likely to propel him further up the world rankings at pocketfives.com. A great guy and fantastic player, expect great things from Wretchy in the years to come.

Great job sir!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Old School

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Mathclub rules!

Mathclub, playing under his screen name of ktpie, won the FullTiltPoker Daily Double - B last night. He won $2335.10 for finishing 1st out of 1229.

Great job! The man can play some serious cards.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tourney Updates

I was out of the office yesterday, so I missed updating the tourney results of friends from Tuesday night on. Time to make up for that now.

Wretchy final tabled the PokerStars $22+R NL Hold'em on 08-12-2008. He won $4084.50 for finishing 2nd out of 288.


Mathclub aka silverfern made the final table of the Bodog $3K Guaranteed (rebuy) on 08-13-2008. He won $83.20 for finishing 8th out of 126.

Congrats guys!

Wacokidd

Congrats to TheWacoKidd for making the final table of the 100rebuy on Pokerstars last night.

It took a horrible beat to knock him out when his set of Aces was gutshotted on the river.

Either way it was an excellent effort
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Monday, August 11, 2008

The Olympics

I don't know a whole lot about swimming. I don't go out of my way to either watch it or do it. In fact, the only time I prefer swimming is when the alternative is drowning. But I do like the Olympics, have ever since I was a little kid and the USA had to sports battles with the evil empire. So last night I found myself watching the finals of the Men's 4 x 100 meter freestyle swimming. The story of Michael Phelps' attempt to make individual history is interesting. He seems like a nice guy and so I tuned in to see if he would be able to continue on his quest.

The announcers led into the race by stating how much of a favorite the French team was, how it would be almost impossible for the Americans or anyone else to win. Then they told how the French captain had said that his team would smash the Americans, that what was they were there for. So I watched hoping he would proven wrong. Sports is one of the great stages for drama no matter the sport. We really don't know what is going to happen. Watching the final leg of the relay, with the French captain in the lead and the American anchor closing was fantastic. The ending was fantastic. Jason Lezak caught the French swimmer and touched the wall in world record time. It was incredible as was the fact that the top five teams broke the old world record. But the part that will stick with me longest is the sight of Michael Phelps standing on the edge of the pool cheering Lezak on down the stretch, quickly looking up at the scoreboard to see who won and then celebrating with unadulterated joy when he saw that his team had won.
Beijing Olympics Swimming Mens Relays
It was a great example of why we play games long after we are no longer kids and regardless of the fact that it is for pay or love of the game. I would bet that last night's win was the highlight of his Olympics. I am so glad that I had the chance to see it live without knowing the result ahead of time.

2008_08_10t235450_293x450_us_olympics_swimming

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Olympic Gold

I was up late last night/early this morning and watched some of the Women's Olympic Fencing on USA Network. I was surprised how different the competition was from how fencing is portrayed on TV and in films. There was a lot of wild lunging and wild "swings." It was interesting how close each match was. The USA was able to win all three medals, including the first gold of these games.
Also, there was some wild Badminton action in singles action. The court looks so small to hit the shuttlecock into but so large to cover by yourself. The players I saw were making some incredible shots.

Congrats to Chazmental!

Chaz took down the PokerStars $11 $5,000 gtd NLHE MTT last night. He beat out 1376 players, an incredible feat. Chaz took the lead once the tourney was down to the final two tables and never looked back from there. Chaz is a great guy with a wonderful family and he won $1400+ for his effort. Great job sir!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Haapy Birthday to Wretchy

Another birthday today, Dan "Wretchy" Martin turns 22. Wretchy is a great player, fine person and an even better friend. It must be nice to have a beautiful girlfriend and already pwn the world at 22.

Here's to hoping that it is a great day and he gets a lot of cool prizes.

You can read a recent interview of Dan published at PokerWorks.com here

Have a great one sir!

Peace and Love

Congrats to the WacoKidd

Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby final tabled the FullTiltPoker $65,000 yesterday. He won $3320.10 for finishing 7th out of 714. Congrats Waco!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Happy Birthday to a good friend who puts his life on the line everyday to protect the streets of Canton,Ohio, ESS286. Happy Birthday sir! Hope that is a great one.

Wretchy moves up in the rankings

Dan "Wretchy" Martin climbed to number 50 in the most recent rankings of online players at pocketfives on the heels of his great week on the virtual felt. This move up the rankings was fueled by performances like last night's, where Wretchy made the final table of the FullTiltPoker $100,000 Guarantee (Rebuy). He won $9222.50 for finishing 6th out of 627.

Wretchy was featured today in a front page article on pokerworks.com.

It is good to see the rest of the poker world come around to what readers here have known for a long time, the Wretched One can play this game. Congrats sir!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Final Tables for Nuggy and Diss

Tuesday saw continued success at the table for the members of Pocketfives.com.

iLLNuGWichee cashed in several tourneys and final tabled the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em [$70,000 guaranteed]. Nuggy won $1643.25 for finishing 9th out of 288.


dissident11 final tabled the UltimateBet Ultra Turbo NLH. He got heads up before the magic ended. Diss won $77.87 for taking 2nd out of 89.

Great job gentlemen! Here's to continued good luck on and off the felt for the both of you.

Monday, August 4, 2008

RIP Skip Caray

I was so saddened by this news of the death of Skip Caray last night.

Skip has been a huge part of my summers for the past 3 decades and was by far my favorite announcer.

He was a fan of the game who respected the game but he didn't think it was the most important thing in the world. Skip was a part of the team and wanted the Braves to win but he was brutally honest about the team's ability during the many years the Braves were so bad that they were never really in the playoff race. Skip always acknowledged good play no matter which jersey the player who made it wore. He was a comfort to listen to when I was going through the process of losing my dad and has seemed like a member of the family for a very long time. He will be sorely missed. Prayers for his family, friends and fans. Braves baseball has lost a great and it will never be the same.

caray
Skip(right) with his Hall of Fame father Harry Caray.

You can read more about Skip at CNN and the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Another great story about Skip from the AJC

My favorite call by Skip.

Awesome day yesterday!

In addition to the tourney that Wretchy won Sunday mentioned below, there were other incredible results for friends of the blog.

Nick "agriffrod" Mitchell won the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em [$70,000 guaranteed] on 08-03-2008. He won $62287.50 for finishing 1st out of 846.

dissident11 won the UltimateBet $2.5k Gtd 6 Seated on 08-03-2008. Diss won $606.25 for finishing 1st out of 407.

illnugwichee also won the AP Major tourney yesterday after my bedtime. I don't have the stats for it at the present time but I will update it when they become available.EDIT Nuggy beat 591 players and chopped HU for $20,500. Tourney buy in was $162.00.

agriffrod made the final table of the tourney Wretchy won on FullTiltPoker, the FullTiltPoker $17,500 Guarantee. He made $2213.87 for finishing 6th out of 713.

iLLNuGWichee and Wretchy both made the final table of the FullTiltPoker $22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) Sunday. Nuggy won $2081.48 for finishing 5th out of 296. Wretchy won $1507.28 for finishing in 6th place.

Awesome job gentlemen. Fantastic work by all of you. Continued success and good luck.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Congrats to Wretchy

Congrats to Dan "Wretchy" Martin for winning the $75 NLHE MTT on FullTiltPoker, $17,500 guaranteed. Wretchy beat out 712 players and won $11,808.28.


Great job as usual.

Wretchy win aug 3 2008 FTP

Nobel Prize winner dies

Russian Author and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn died today at age 89. For those of us old enough to have lived through any part of the Cold War, he was a symbol of the resistance to the oppressive Soviet regime.

You can read more about his life at CNN and NY Times.

ESPN's Sports Reporters

When Dick Schaap was alive, the Sports Reporters was one of my favorites shows. I really looked forward to it every week. The show just isn't anywhere near as enjoyable as it was. I like John Saunders a lot. He isn't the problem now. A big part of it to me is Mike Lupica and Mitch Albom. I find them almost intolerable now. They both have an overwhelming combination of smugness and arrogance that is intolerable. ESPN now usually brings in a couple of clowns to sit in with Lupica if Mitch isn't there. It is almost to the point where I don't want to watch even if I am watching tv when it is on. Maybe I am being too tough on them because the topics they discuss are usually disected by Around the Horn and PTI well before the Sports Reporters airs, and those two shows need to quit covering almost identical topics on a daily basis if the Horn is to survive.

/rant

Good luck at the tables today!

Congrats to the Dissident

A raised fist

Pocketfives legend dissident11 won the UltimateBet NL Holdem on 08-02-2008. For beating out 104 other players, Diss won $283.50. Fantastic job.



Here is to hoping that some of the athletes in Bejing have the courage to speak out against the Chinese government's mistreatment of its citizens during the Olympics.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Law and Order

I have come to realize how great the mini-marathons of Law & Order TNT runs are. I have been with the show since it started and am amazed at how the show has maintained a high level of quality. I am not so enamored of the new prosecutor, but his assistant is great and the new cops are interesting.

Law & Order Criminal Intent is great too and, although it is often the least realistic of the franchise, Law & Order SVU is good more often than not. It won't be too long before there are enough of each series to stock an all Law & Order channel.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Tourney updates!

Last nights cyber action saw some more fantastic results for friends of the blog.

iLLNuGWichee final tabled the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em on 07-31-2008. He won $5083.00 for finishing 5th out of 189.

agriffrod final tabled the PokerStars $222.22 NL Hold'em [2X Chance] yesterday. Griff won $2928.02 for 4th out of 110.


Great job guys.

Great weekend on tap!

Can't really go into the details right now but this is looking to be a fantastic weekend. More info later. Peace and love

Danny Way is the Man

Was flipping through the channels last night and came across this jump by Danny Way in the X Games on ESPN. First off, they were starting on a ramp that was a vertical drop of close to seventy feet. That is sick. Then Danny Way had this happen.


I thought he would be lucky to have only a broken leg. He eventually walked off the ramp. Then he did this.



Incredible! I was very impressed with his determination. He got right back on the board and nailed it.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Trade deadline has brought a lot of heavy action

The Braves traded Teixeira for a guy I don't know much about, the Yankees stole Pudge Rodriquez from the Tigers to replace an injured Jorge Posada and that might not be the biggest deals we will see before the evening is done.

I never would have thought that Ken Griffey Jr.'s run in Cincinnati would turn out the way it did, but he is now a Chicago White Sox. Hopefully he will be healthy the rest of the year. It's a shame what injuries to Griffey have robbed from the history of baseball. He should be up with Aaron and the Babe.

I can't believe with the way that Manny Ramirez has loafed the last month that teams are actually lining up to trade for him. He has been a great hitter but what a shame to see him walk on groundballs, play left field like he has no interest and take days off for the hell of it.

MATHCLUBNZ made it to heads up action in the Absolute Poker $7K Guaranteed (Rebuys) yesterday. He won $1167.18 for finishing 2nd out of 700.

iLLNuGWichee made the final table of the PokerStars $22+R NL Hold'em on 07-30-2008. He won $768.56 for coming in 8th place out of 360.

Great job guys

Monday, July 28, 2008

One of the highly rated players on www.pocketfives.com, your internet poker authority, is Tristan Wade aka Cre8ive. He recently started a blog which is a very well written, in-depth look at his efforts on the felt.

When you have a few moments, do yourself a favor and visit it via the link below.

Cre8ive Blog

Monday Morning Highlights

Congrats to agriffrod for winning $15420.00 for finishing 5th out of 387 in the PokerStars $215+R NL Hold'em [$150,000 guaranteed] yesterday.

Great job by ess286 made the final table of the PokerStars $4.40 NL Hold'em [180 players] on 07-27-2008. He won $25.20 for finishing 7th out of 180.

Another great tourney for iLLNuGWichee. He made yet another final table, this time it was in the Bodog $20K Guaranteed (DS) on 07-27-2008. He won $340.00 for coming in 9th out of 171.

Congrats to Sicktight311 for cashing in his first Sunday major yesterday. You can read about his experience here

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
by Dylan Thomas


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Nuggy's rep leads to monster chop

Nuggy's final table prowess led to an even chop even when he was at a 1-2 chip disadvantage yesterday. Read more about it at Pocketfives.com, your internet poker authority, here

Another awesome job Nuggy! Congrats

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Motto

I play it cool
And dig all jive.
Thats the reason
I stay alive.

My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig And Be Dug In Return.

by Langston Hughes

illNugwichee continues roll

Zac "illnugwichee" Fronterhouse bounced back from final tabling the final table of the FullTiltPoker $33K guaranteed 1rebuy + 1addon to make the final table of the 20K rebuy at UltimateBet and win the deepstack $15K on bodog. After adding in his other four cashes, it was quite a big night for the Indianapolis Colts' biggest fan.

In the Bodog $15K Guranteed (DS), he beat out 116 other players and won $4500.00. At UB, he finished 9th of 153 and won $600.00.

Congrats on a great evening Nuggy. It would have been a helluva week for most of us.

Mathclub, playing as silverfern on Bodog, made the final table in the $5k guaranteed tourney yesterday. He finished 3rd out of 81 players and won $600.00. Congrats to Mathclub who is currently visiting Texas from the great country of New Zealand.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Mathclub takes down tourney

Just hours after making the best decision of his life and declaring himself a Dallas Cowboys fan, Mathclub, playing as silverfern on Bodog, won the Bodog $5K Guaranteed (rebuy) last night. He won $1828.80 for beating out 164 other players.

Great job sir!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

top pair top kicker
the river washes away
shot in the gut now

5 -7 -5

You all know the drill
it is the time not to rhyme
the rising sun warms

Chipper breaks up no-hitter, Teixiera probably gone

Chipper Jones got the Braves' lone hit in yesterday's loss to Florida. Atlanta is now in 4th place in the NL east, 7 games back of the Phillies.
The Braves just can't get the offense going consistently this year. I hear that Jeff Francoeur has an ankle that is pretty messed up and which may require surgery at the end of the year and Chipper's injury seems to taken away some of his power. Of course the pitching staff has been bombarded with injuries too. How much better would the record be if Smoltz and Hampton were in the rotation and Glavine hadn't gotten hurt? We will never know for sure but this is a season that might have been.
Now the payroll cap which has hamstrung the Braves ever since Ted Turner sold/merged his empire is about to futher gut the offense. I cannot imagine that Mark Teixiera will a Brave on August 1. He is hitting the ball well and his power and defense will definitely make him a trade target. It's too bad. He is the perfect guy to have hitting in the cleanup spot behind Chipper and as a Georgia Tech alum, you would think that Atlanta would be a place he would like to stay. But with Scott Boras as his agent and the fact that they refuse to discuss a new deal before the end of the season, Tex is likely gone. That is way too bad. My time watching the Braves began when they were in the cellar of tne NL in the late 70s. I hate that by setting an unreasonable payroll they are now making it more likely that is their destination instead of the playoffs.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Wretchy, Waco, Nuggy: Rinse and repeat.

I swear I am repeating previous columns, even though the names and deeds may sound familiar. Another incredible night on the felt for a trio of really good guys.

Dan "Wretchy" Martin continued his excellent play by making the final table of the PokerStars The Nightly Hundred Grand last night. For finishing 3rd of 1087, he won $16305.01. What can I say? That was another incredible effort and yet another huge cash. Very well done and I can't believe that he doesn't yet own the triple crown. But then again, it's only a matter of time.

Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby final tabled the FullTiltPoker $1K Monday on July 21, 2008. Wacon won $8680.00 for placing 9th out of 434. Waco is another example of a great player who has developed so many skills at such an early age. He will be around for a long, long time.

Finally, Zac "iLLNuGWichee" Fronterhouse continued to be a final table machine. Nuggy final tabled the UltimateBet Rebuy 20k Guaranteed yesterday. He won $1700.00 for finishing 4th out of 154. Then he moved over to FullTiltPoker. There Nuggy final tabled the FullTiltPoker $22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy). For finishing 6th of 285, he won $1647.45. "Wow!" you say? "That's not all," I say. In the Bodog Players Choice Semifinal yesterday, Nuggy won the tournament and took down the nice sum of $12000.00. I don't know how he does it. If I find out I promise that I too will move to final table. Fantastic night Nuggy. Well played guys.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Peace and Love

A lawyer I have known for a while, who is a pretty cool guy but I wouldn't describe us as close friends, once closed out our conversation by saying, "Peace and Love" instead of goodbye, see ya later or anything similiar. This was several years ago and when it happened I thought it was just a way of him trying to be a little different.

Now, with all of the stuff that's going on in the world, I think it's the nicest thing you could wish for someone.

Peace is contentment, the lack of stress and worry, safety and something we all could use a lot more of every day.

Love. There's no better feeling to love and to be loved. Not just a romantic love, but love like you feel for your family if you are lucky or the love I feel for my dogs. They just want to be around me and are excited to see me each time I walk through the door. Who wouldn't want that? Something tells me we would have a whole lot more peace if we had more love.

So good luck at the tables.

Peace and love

Monday Morning shout outs

Great playing continued by friends of the blog over the weekend.

Wretchy won the PokerStars $55+R Pot Limit Omaha on 07-20-2008. For beating 234 other players he won $12176.25. Maybe more impressive than the prize Wretchy won for first place was the way he won the tournament. Once the final table was down to four players, Wretchy knocked out one player on each of the next three hands to win the event. Wow!

mathclub made two final tables yesterday. He finished 5th out of 450 in the UltimateBet $8K Guaranteed Rebuy on 07-20-2008, winning $480.00. At UltimateBet,
mathclub finished in 4th place in the UltimateBet Deep Stack $3k GTD. There were 104players in the tourney and he won $353.60 for 4 out of 104.

Finally, -AG- final tabled a UltimateBet NL Holdem tourney on 07-20-2008. She won $116.10 for 3 out of 86. She is also serving our country so a big shout out to AG. Congrats everyone. Great job.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Dinner at Chili's ...

... is good even if you don't get the babyback ribs. Tonight's meal will feature some chicken crispers, chips and a ribeye. Chili"s has fantastic cheesecake (caramel topping ftw) and since the kids are with their grandparents, we might actually get to see a non-animated movie. Weeeeeeee!
Congrats to Nuggy for final tabling two rebuys yesterday and to WVUmaniac2 for his final table.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Good luck at the tables!
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Final table for Nuggy

Illnugwichee made the final table of the PokerStars Daily 50 grand ($50+5 50,000 guaranteed prize pool)tonight. He finished in 6th place out of 1530 players and collected a prize of $3,213.00.

Great job Nuggy on a very impressive effort.

Another Huge Night for the Wretched One

Dan "Wretchy" Martin continues to slice through the big fields in the big buy-in tournaments online.

Last night he won a $200 buy-in NLHE Tourney at AbsolutePOker. For beating out 80 opponents he won $3,240.00. Then at Pokerstars he made the final table of the PokerStars $11+R NL Hold'em [$45,000 guaranteed]. Wretchy finished 7th out of 1971 and won $2123.41.

Dan "Wretchy" Martin cracked the pocketfives.com rankings, making his debut at number 84. I truly expect the rise up the rankings to continue. Congrats to Wretchy. Check out the pocketfives rankings here The free poker forum at www.pocketfives.com is a fantastic community and entirely free. Visit it today.
Congrats to a great player and an even better guy. Continued success sir!

1371972965_l

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Nice night for E-friends

Another big night on the virtual felt for members of pocketfives.com.

Wretchy got heads up in the PokerStars $222.22 NL Hold'em [2X Chance] on 07-14-2008, bringing in $5172.22 for 2nd place out of 113.

The dissident aka dissident11 final tabled the UltimateBet NL Holdem earlier today. Dissident won $33.60 for finishing 9th out of 112.


Finally, TheWacoKidd final tabled the PokerStars $109 NL Hold'em [$20,000 guaranteed] yesterday. Jared won $688.50 for finishing 9th out of 459.


Great job guys!

Monday, July 14, 2008

In the money at UB

I signed up for a five dollar rebuy last night without realizing that it was a rebuy. The crazy aggressive play in the rebuy period is not something that my style meshes well with. There were 525 players in the tourney so it was likely to be a long time before the cash bubble was busted.
About three and one half hours later, the 61st player was eliminated and everyone left was in the money. Below is the one key hand that got me a stack to case. I flopped full house and slow played it effectively so that I was doubled up on the river by an opponent who had made a straight.

Getting Hand History Information...
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #55190554-143 at 7pm8K-007 (No Limit tournament Hold'em)
Started at 13/Jul/08 21:37:42

Todd3313 is at seat 0 with 16220.
reep11 is at seat 1 with 8755.
wrapking is at seat 2 with 24240.
jfs888888 is at seat 3 with 3570.
Mancoe is at seat 4 with 13305.
SluggerWV is at seat 5 with 17020.
jkoch1405 is at seat 6 with 56735.
speedy15453 is at seat 7 with 8895.
candysticks is at seat 8 with 38005.
M2 is at seat 9 with 19855.
The button is at seat 1.


SluggerWV posts ante (75).

jfs888888 posts the small blind of 300.
Mancoe posts the big blind of 600.


SluggerWV: 9h 9c

Pre-flop:

SluggerWV raises to 1600. jkoch1405 folds.
speedy15453 folds. candysticks folds. M2 folds.
Todd3313 folds. reep11 folds. wrapking calls.
jfs888888 folds. Mancoe folds.

Flop (board: 8d 8s 9d):

SluggerWV checks. wrapking checks.

Turn (board: 8d 8s 9d 7h):

SluggerWV checks. wrapking checks.

River (board: 8d 8s 9d 7h Tc):

SluggerWV bets 1400. wrapking raises to 2800.
SluggerWV goes all-in for 15345. wrapking calls.

Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:

wrapking shows Jh Kh.
SluggerWV shows 9h 9c.
Showdown:

wrapking has Jh 8d 9d 7h Tc: straight, jack high.
SluggerWV has 9h 9c 8d 8s 9d: full house, nines full of eights.


Hand #55190554-143 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
SluggerWV wins 35540 with full house, nines full of eights.
----------------------------------------------------------------


I had not realized how the rebuy allowed for some good deep stack action. Even though I was card dead throughout most of the action, I wasn't ever dealt aces or kings, and only had two sets throughout the tourney, I was able to get enough pots to stay alive until that double up. I finished 50th, busting when I pushed AJ v KK.
I believe that there will be more rebuys in my playing future.
Good luck everyone.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

$5 rebuy NLHE MTT July 13 2008 finish 50th won $34 70cents

Friday, July 11, 2008

Amanda Leatherman interview of Devin Porter

Here is a short interview of Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter by PokerNews' Amanda Leatherman during a break at the World Series of Poker Main EventTM. It seems that TC is a bit more superstitious than you mightt have thought.



Good luck Devin.

Natalie Portman to star in poker movie

I saw a link in Shane Schleger's blog about an article written by a friend of his where the friend discusses working with Natalie Portman for her role in an upcoming poker movie, My Blueberry Nights. The author is Peter Alson who wrote the well received poker book Take me to the river.

First, it was great to hear that someone with some poker credibility was working with the director and an actor on a poker movie. Second, it's great to hear that Natalie Portman will be starring in a poker movie.

The article is pretty interesting, though short. You can check it out here.

Final Table early Friday

I had a block of free time in my office this morning. Since I was just sitting around making phone calls and doing computer work, I decided to play a small tourney on AbsolutePoker. I played a limit Omaha HiLo MTT with 63 entrants. I was very happy to make the final table. I finished in 8th place after my final two hands each saw the flop hit the exact opposite of my cards. Hopefully there will be another final table this weekend.

Good luck on the felt everyone
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

$5.50 Limit Omaha 8b 7 11 2008 finish 8th won $14 17cents

Thursday, July 10, 2008

DexterCain's daily double

A post today on Pocketfives.com pointed out that San Jose resident and forum member DexterCain had an incredible day at PokerStars on July 7.

Dexter started off the day by beating out 935 other players and winning the $11 NLHE MTT. He won $2,340.00 for his efforts there. Dexter said that two hands stood out after the tourney was down to two players. When the heads up action began, he was faced with about a 4 to 1 chip deficit. When the first hand was dealt, his opponent pushed all-in, after tanking Dexter called with KJ. His opponent turned over a QJ and the KJ held. A later hand saw the players all-in for a huge pot with A5 and A9 respectively. Fortunately for Dexter the board produced a chop and he stayed alive to take down the tourney.

The confidence boost he received from this win helped in another tourney he was now playing at the same time. The $11 cubed(1r+1a) Pot Limit Omaha. This tournament had started while the No Limit Hold Em tourney was moving to an end. Dexter reached the final table and, in his words, "got hit in the head with the deck." A nice run at the best time saw almost every hand produced a flop which gave him top set or the nut straight. His opponents didn't know what hit them, but they saw Dexter walk away with the top prize. For beating 107 opponents, he won an additional $531.31.

This impressive day of playing also saw Dexter reach another final table, this time in the $30 PLO freezeout on Pokerstars. Dexter's rating on pocketfives has reached the nintieth percentile. Many more days like this and he will find himself in the top 100. Congrats on a great day.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Finally bagged my white whale

The 4:00 EST $8.80 tournament on PokerStars has been my personal white whale tournament. No matter how close I came to cashing, it slipped away from me. I once was two away from the cashing and found myself with TT. Not wanting to limp into the money, I moved all-in only to have the big blind call with Ace Jack and, well, you know the rest.

But today the white whale was bagged. I finished 14th out of 1107 in the tournament. I can't tell you how happy I am about finally doing well in this event and what a relief it is. It was a pretty good afternoon as I finished in 17th in a tournament at Doyle's Room. I am impressed with the new software they are using and it seems that there are more players there now.

$8 NLHE MTT July 9 2008 finished 14th won $66 43cents

Friends taking over final tables across the interweb

Wretchy visted the final table a couple of times yesterday. In the PokerStars The Super Tuesday (2x) on 07-08-2008, he finished 7th out of 552 and won $19320.00.

In the FullTiltPoker $15,000 Guarantee on 07-08-2008. Wretchy finished 3rd out of 367, winning $2202.00. He also final tabled a $1,000 live event in Las Vegas the same night.

iLLNuGWichee final tabled the FullTiltPoker $23,000 KO Guarantee on 07-08-2008. Nuggy won $1600.09 for finishing 5th out of 431.

Today, iLLNuGWichee kept the ball rolling in the UltimateBet Bounty 10K Guaranteed on 07-09-2008. He won $800.00 for a 4th place finish out of 220.

ess286 just missed the final table in the FullTiltPoker $3 + $0.30 Tournament on 07-08-2008. He finished 11th out of 366 and won $15.37.

Great job guys! Continued good luck on the green felt and off as well

New evidence in Jonbenet Ramsey case

It is too bad she died and that her mom didnt live to see this day.

New dna evidence shows that a non-related male killed jon benet and the Boulder District Attorney today issued a letter of apology to John Ramsey for the actions that led to suspicion of him and his family in his daughter's death


Read more at aol news.

Also, if you get a chance to read John Douglas' 2002 book The Cases That Haunt Us where he convincingly argued that the other evidence exonerated the Ramsey family, do it. It's a great read.

July 9. 2008

Here is a link to an interesting Cardplayer.com interview with Howard Lederer about the WSOP Main Event. Q & A


Johnny "World" Hennigan won the Ante up for Africa tourney earlier this month at the WSOP in Las Vegas. You can read more about it here at pokernews.com.

Barack Obama is gaining a lot of support in the poker community. You can read about it at poker pages.com

Monday, July 7, 2008

Congrats to TranquilChaos and Wretchy

I wasn't able to keep up with all of my friends tournament results last week while I was on vacation but I did want to meantion a really good run in a tourney by Devin Porter.

Playing as "tobias fuke" in the PokerStars $109 NL Hold'em [$15,000 guaranteed] on 07-01-2008, he finished 2nd out of 414 and won $6210.00.

Great job sir!

good luck in the main event

Also congrats to Wretchy for making the final table in the PokerStars $22 NL Hold'em [1R1A] on 07-05-2008. Wretchy finished 4th out of 279 and won $1080.24.

Fantastic job sir!

July 4th weekend

Here are some pics from my trip to Cherry Grove which is right beside North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

July 4 2008 056

July 4 2008 055

July 4 2008 107


July 4 2008 098


Copy of July 4 2008 100

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Deep run at Stars

After banging my head against the wall last month in MTTs, July has started off pretty well. I cashed in the daily 15k yesterday and made a deep run in a $3 MTT there today. I had connection problems when we got down to the final 4 tables. I was disappoonted that I couldn't re-connect, damn you hotel ethernet, but I was happy to finish 25th of 1404. I was particularly happy to deep because I didn't ever get a great run of cards.

Hope everyone in Vegas is having a great time and I can't wait to see an OTer take down the main event. Good luck on the felt everyone.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Friday, June 27, 2008

Couple of local guys go deep

A couple of WV guys made final tables recently.

Really good guy and an excellent carpenter by the way, one old one cashed in the UltimateBet 3k Guaranteed Sniper on 06-25-2008. For finishing 2nd out of 493, he won $450.00.

WVUManiac2 made deep runs in both of the FullTiltPoker Daily Double Tournaments on 06-25-2008. In the FullTiltPoker Daily Double - A, he won $70.49 for finishing 16th out of 1007.
In the FullTiltPoker Daily Double - B, WVUManiac2 went even deeper, making the final table. He finished in 5th out of 915 entrants and won $439.20. Great job guys.

Me? Well yesterday I played a $2.20 satty to the Sunday Hundred Grand and the 4 pm EST $8.80 tourney, or as I like to call it, "My White Whale Tourney." I played well in the satty and made a bad move and busted out when I should have cashed. I busted out of the 8 with AQ vs AK. The funny thing is that $11 in losses shouldn't have been much of a concern because it was a really good afternoon at the day job. But the almost 5 figures earned didn't take away the bad taste of the eleven dollars lost. Fast Eddie was right: "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."

Monday, June 23, 2008

Shout out to ESS286

Thanks to Ess for keeping Northern Ohio safe for the good citizens there and congrats to him for cashing in the PokerStars Sunday Hundred Grand [$11 NLHE, 10m levels] on 06-22-2008.

That tournament is a monster wiht a huge field.

Ess finished 1132nd out of 20825 and won $20.83. I usually bust about 30 away from the money in it. Congrats sir.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Congrats to Dan "Wretchy" Martin

Congrats to Dan Martin aka Wretchy for cashing in his first World Series of Poker event today. Wretchy finished in 121st place out of 2,720 entrants in Event 39 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. He won $ 4,084.

Great job by Wretchy who was hit with some very bad luck today as his QQ was cracked by JJ all in pre-flop. It's the first, but it won't be the last.

Wretchy at 2008 WSOP Martin1

Saturday, June 21, 2008

At the Rail with Annie Duke

Annie Duke is a World Series of Poker bracelet winner and arguably the best women’s poker tournament player ever. More importantly though, she a the mother of four and one of the co-founders of Ante Up for Africa. Conservative estimates put the number of murdered in Rwanda at 800,000 over the last 15 years and the massacre in Darfur has left at least 400,000 dead and caused millions to flee their homes and now are living as refugees.

On July 2, 2008, the second annual No Limit Hold-Em Tournament held in conjunction with the World Series of Poker® will be held in Las Vegas at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino®


070706_poker_hmed_11a_hlarge
Annie Duke, 2007 winners Dan Shak and Brandon Moran, and Don Cheadle

Thank you for joining me here at the rail Annie.
How did Ante up for Africa begin?


One day Don and I were having Lunch back in September of ’06. Sushi. We were chatting about nothing much and then I mentioned a charity poker tournament I had just hosted that had raised almost a million dollars. We had just been talking about Darfur so the two topics just had a light bulb go on over our heads. It was a Duh! Moment where we realized we could raise money to help the crisis in Darfur though poker.


How are the funds raised put to work?

The funds are divide equally between two charites. One is Not on Our Watch (http://www.notonourwatchproject.org/) and The Enough! Project (http://www.enoughproject.org/)

I’ve read that several states have passed legislation requiring that Sudanese holdings be divested from state operated retirement/pension plans. How many states have made passed laws as of now and are there others who may soon do so?

Here is the best place for information on that:

http://www.sudandivestment.org/home.asp



Are there other lobbying or non-direct aid to the people affected by the unconscionable acts of the Sudanese Government that the organization is able to provide?

That is what The Enough! Project does. It raises awareness about issues like Darfur.


What is the one thing that you’d like to make sure that everyone who reads this knows about the plight of the people in Africa?

What I want people to know is that there are over 2 million people driven from their homes, in refugee camps where they need clean water, food and medicine. These people cannot turn to their own government for help because it is their government who has driven them from their homes. The US does not have a strong economic interest in the area so as a country we have not focused much attention on Darfur. Without an economic interest such as oil the only way we can effect change is by making our voices heard, letting the world know that this is an issue we care about. We hope that events like Ante Up For Africa will help in that cause.



Your first tournament raised more than $700,000 last year and a non-WSOP related event raised another $500,000 at the San Manuel Casino near Los Angeles, California recently, is there a specific level you hope to reach with this year’s tournament in Las Vegas?

Last year we thought the pie in the sky number would be $250K. Obviously, we raised much more than that. We were so ecstatic. I would hate to make a goal because any number we raise is so fantastic. But, obviously, that million dollar mark is very enticing.


With the success of the tournament in Los Angeles are there plans to have additional tournaments throughout the country and the world?

We did an event at the WSOP Europe last year. We are planning an event at the Aruba Classic this year as well through our presenting sponsor, Ultimatebet.com. They have made an extremely generous commitment to the charity and part of that commitment will be the event in Aruba in October.


Are there any non-poker tournament fund-raising events held in conjunction with the tournaments such as an auction or a dinner?Thank you so much for taking time to talk to me Annie. One final question, many poker players don’t get to make the trip to Las Vegas for the series. For those who don’t, where can they contribute to Ante Up for Africa?

We will be doing a silent auction this year at the even during the WSOP. Also, you can donate you player points at Ultimatebet.com. UB will also be auctioning off cool items to raise money for the charity such as poker lessons from me, a signed guitar from Scott Ian and other really cool stuff. Check the auctions area of the ultimatebet.com website for more details. The auction and special tournaments for Ante up for Africa are running June 21st and 22nd. A computer problem prevented this interview from being published when it was originally conducted on June 10th. Click this link to find out more about the UltimateBet.com promotions for Ante up for Africa.

I hope that everyone who is able to play can help support this very worthy cause. To learn more about the Ante up for Africa organization, to register for the tournament at the World Series of Poker, and/or to make a donation, please click here

Editorial Note: This interview was completed before Annie Duke's final table at the 2008 WSOP and the purpose of the interview was solely the charity Ante Up for Africa. There was no attempt on the part of the interviewer to ask Ms. Duke questions about poker strategy, her role at UltimateBet or the problems which UltimateBet has suffered in the past year.

Sicktight311 Final Tables HORSE Tournament

Congrats to FLB guitarist and all around great guy Greg "Sicktight311" Benoit for making the final table of the $3.30 HORSE tourament at PokerStars earlier this today. He finished in 4th place out of 216 competitiors and won $46.66.

Sick going deep in a tourney is becoming a nightly event. Well done sir.

Write more songs though.

Check out Greg's band here.

You should hear the future of music today.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Wretchy pwns UB $200 MTT

Last night/early this morning, the Wretched one, Dan "Wretchy" Martin, took down the $200+15 80K guaranteed tournament on UltimateBet. For his win, Wretchy collected a cool 20,000.

Another very impressive win for Wretchy. He has won major tournaments at each big site still open to play for American players.

WP GG and Congrats sir.

6 18 8 Wretchy UB $200 win

Good Luck to Ess

Grade A guy and officer of the law Ess has a very important union election today. Best of luck to Ess. Take it down sir
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Sunday, June 15, 2008

PokerNews interview with Devin Porter



I just found this interview of Devin and thought you might like to see.

PokerNews interview with Jared Hamby



Interview of TheWacoKidd at the World Series of Poker

Saturday, June 14, 2008



Clonie Gowen talks about the WSOP shootout event and ladies events.

Tourney updates since last entry

iLLNuGWichee cashed in the Bodog $5K Guaranteed (rebuy) on 06-12-2008. He won $278.30 for finishing 7th out of 89.

Wretchy chopped the PokerStars $109+R NL Hold'em heads up evenly 06-13-2008. He would have had a commanding chip lead as he got it all in with JJ v AJ pre-flop when the stack sizes differed by less than 30k, but his opponent hit the three outer on the turn. Wretchy won $11,175 for the even chop and finishing 2nd out of 117.


iLLNuGWichee won the Bodog 5K Guaranteed on 06-13-2008. Nuggy won $1500.00 for winning in the 126 player field.




iLLNuGWichee made the final table of the PokerStars $22+R NL Hold'em on 06-13-2008. His prize was $1499.20 for finishing 4th out of 252.


Great job guys and gl at the WSOP

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

How could I get more value out of this hand?

On this hand, I think my river bet smelled like value bet or he thought i hit an open ended draw. I am pretty sure he either had a set or two pair on flop.

I thought that if i checked the river looking to check-raise, he would have checked behind. My bet must have convinced him that I had the goods or he was totally on a draw. I'd like thoughts on what sized bet you think he would have called on the river or any other way to get more value out of this hand.

PokerStars Game #18069826573: Tournament #91352474, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/06/11 - 15:33:14 (ET)
Table '91352474 20' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: No jinx here (1490 in chips)
Seat 3: Khales (1540 in chips)
Seat 4: Zeon26 (1470 in chips)
Seat 5: bombay black (3630 in chips)
Seat 6: ninnig1 (1680 in chips)
Seat 7: Isabella7 (1460 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: SluggerWV (4530 in chips)
Seat 9: BAYvw (3690 in chips)
Isabella7: posts small blind 10
SluggerWV: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Jh Th]
BAYvw: calls 20
No jinx here: folds
Khales: folds
Zeon26: calls 20
bombay black: calls 20
ninnig1: calls 20
Isabella7: folds
SluggerWV: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s Qh 9c]
SluggerWV: bets 100
BAYvw: calls 100
Zeon26: folds
bombay black: calls 100
ninnig1: calls 100
*** TURN *** [8s Qh 9c] [7d]
SluggerWV: bets 200
BAYvw: raises 200 to 400
bombay black: folds
ninnig1: folds
SluggerWV: raises 640 to 1040
klem mate is connected
BAYvw: calls 640
*** RIVER *** [8s Qh 9c 7d] [6c]
SluggerWV: bets 1040
BAYvw: folds
Uncalled bet (1040) returned to SluggerWV
SluggerWV collected 2590 from pot

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

World Poker Tour and GSN part ways.

Season VII of the World Poker Tour will not be shown on GSN it was announced today. The WPT and GSN have parted ways. Apparently a change in leadership at GSN after the acquisition of the rights to the WPT were acquired by GSN has been a large part of this decision.

To read more about this bad decision in my opinion, please visit Pocketfives.com here

Online Final Table for Devin Porter

Devin Porter, playing at PokerStars under the screen name of Tobias Fuke, made the final table of the $109 $30,000 guaranteed tournament yesterday.

Devin finished in 3rd place out of 306 competitors.

For his great effort, Devin cashed for $3151.80.

He is playing great and I expect to see him at least one other final table during this year's World Series of Poker. Congrats sir!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Poker and the Presidential Candidates

The Poker Players Alliance is a great organization which each American poker player should be a part of in my opinion. They are working to protect our right to play poker and with the upcoming election, they have information on the presidential candidates' position on poker.

To read more, please click here

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Congrats to Devin Porter

Congrats to Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter on finishing 3rd in the World Series of Poker 6 handed event yesterday/this morning depending on what part of the world you may read this from.

He played great and I predict this isn't the last you will hear from him during this year's event. Read more about the tournament here at Pocketfives.com

Saturday, June 7, 2008

TranquilChaos final table!

Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter has made the final table in Event Number 9 of the World Series of Poker, 6 handed no-limit hold'em tournament. A couple of three outers were hit by opponents on the final table bubble. Without this bad luck TC would have had a much healthy stack. But he certainly is still in it.

Great job and hopefully Devin will bring home the bracelet when the tournament resumes tomorrow

Friday, June 6, 2008

I'll be playing as a blogger in the PocketFives Open. P5s is adding some $530 Sunday Million seats for the poker bloggers out there.The PocketFives Poker Forum is source of the best online poker rankings in the world.In addition, PocketFives features regular content contributions in the forms of poker articles from top poker players such as AJKHoosier1 and USCphildo.Registered:518908949

Final Table at FullTilt Poker

I haven't been able to play as many non-satellite tournaments for the past month or two. I have never had a lot of success at FullTilt even though I really love the structure of the tourneys there. Last night I found a $5 PL Omaha 8b tourney that fit into my schedule and was very happy to make the final table. I started the final table with a chip position of 8 of 9. I finished 7th and got a really good return on my buy-in.
$5 PL Omaha 8b 6 5 7 final table won $25.50
Good luck to Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter and Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby as they are both deep in the money in the World Series of Poker 6 handed no limit hold em tournament. Both are great players and even better guys. Hopefully they will get heads up for the bracelet.

Chipper hits number 400!

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones hit career home run number 400 last night in the Braves 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins. Chipper became the third switch hitter of all-time to hit at least 400 home runs. He also went 4 for 5 at the plate to raise his league leading batting average to .418.

Marlins Braves baseball

Congrats to Chipper and here's to continued good luck and success for the rest of the year.

Reports from the game Yahoo Sports

ESPN

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Lakers Celtics

I grew up a huge Philadelphia 76ers fan. I loved watching Dr. J play and hoped one day to be able to dunk (didn't happen) and Andrew Toney was my other favorite because he could shoot the lights out and always played great against the Celtics. As a good Sixers fan, I always wanted them to win, especially against LA and Boston. If they didn't, then the mission became hoping that whoever was playing LA and/or Boston would beat them(damn you twin towers of the Houston Rockets for letting me down and wtf Ralph Sampson? Getting your ass kicked by whiner Jerry Schisting).

If LA was playing Boston in the finals, then conference bias set in and I decided that a Boston win was more honorable for the Sixers.

I haven't really had a team since I disowned the Sixers after watching Barkley plant a shoulder in the gut of some guard years ago and the style of play reminded me not one bit of the teams I grew up rooting for. I liked MJ and wanted his teams to win but didn't consider myself a Bulls fans. Today I find myself rooting for any team that Mike D'Antoni coaches for reasons explained in previous blogs.

But I also find myself, a good long time after I was a Sixers fan, looking forward to this finals series. ESPN has had a lot of programming about the Lakers-Celtics rivalry and it has actually inspired an interest for me. It's going to be as close to an old-school matchup that will happen for awhile. It should be a close series and we know that drama is good.

Attached via link is a story by ESPN's Bill Simmons, who grew up a Celtics fan and now lives in Los Angeles. Simmons is one of the best sportswriters going now.
Read and enjoy and thanks to BGX for tipping me off to the link

By the way, F Kobe Go Celtics

Surgery for John Smoltz

I was really sorry to read today that John Smoltz is going to have season-ending surgery on his shoulder today. Smoltz has been the heart and soul of the Braves for a long time. If there was one game I needed to win to save my life, he'd be the starting pitcher not only because of the quality of pitcher he was but because he has always left it all on the field. I hope that the surgery only ends this season for John, not his career.

Read more about Smoltz' condition and career at ESPN.com and at the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Smoltz

The World Series of Poker

The 2008 World Series of Poker is now underway and unfortunately I won't be among those participating this year. As I reviewed the list of events some things occurred to me.

It appears that there is a more diverse selection of games offered, but there are still too many no limit hold 'em tournaments. It seems to me that by having too many of the same type of tournament it takes away some of the prestige of winning one. I believe that there shouldn't be more than one tournament at any specific buy-in.

I also wish that there was at least one event for five card stud, five card draw and Kansas City Lowball. These are important games in the history of poker and a single tournament at even a thousand dollar buy-in would be a nice acknowledgement of that fact and a way of keeping the games alive. Given the new hyper-aggressive style practiced by so many players today, there's a decent chance that a no-limit or pot limit version of either five card stud or draw could gain a lot of new players. Many of the practioners of that style love to take any chance they get to show they have bigger balls than everyone else, these games would be right up their alley in my opinion.

Good luck to everyone making the trip to Las Vegas this year. I hope it's a safe, fun and profitable time.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

UltimateBet signs Eric "Rizen" Lynch

On the heels of hiring online legend Johnny Bax, UltimateBet has made another excellent hire by signing poker star Eric "Rizen" Lynch to be a part of team UB.

I have been impressed with the recent moves by UltimateBet to rehabilitate the site with these two hires and the increased involvement of Annie Duke in the tournament offering.

Hopefully these are just the first steps in a concerted effort by UB to regain it's former status as an elite site.

Read more about the deal with Rizen here

Wretchy Final Tables another big tourney

Online poker star Dan "Wretchy" Martin followed up his win in the Sunday Brawl at FullTilt by making the final table in the FullTiltPoker $65,000 Guarantee last night. He won $1950.00 for finishing 8th out of 520.

Another incredible effort by the Wretched One. I look forward to seeing him on ESPN's broadcast of the WSOP later this year. There will be several players from the OT section of Pocketfives.com there I am sure. Look for Mathclub, iLLNugWIchee, Wein, TranquilChaos and TheWacoKIdd to crush some felt this summer.

Braves rebound to win

The Atlanta Braves were able to recover from a rocky first appearance by John Smoltz since returning from the disabled list to beat the Florida Marlins 7-5 in ten innings. The Braves won it on a two-run homer by Yunel Escobar.

Atlanta also got homers from Jeff Francoeur and Mark Texiera, and two more hits from Chipper Jones. It's great to see Frenchy and Tex hitting the ball better.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Wretchy takes down Brawl!

Wretchy won the Sunday Brawl on FullTIltPoker today. The $240+16 MTT attracted 1,627 players and had a payout of almost $70,000. He played great, especially after the tournament was heads up.

Great Job by the Wretched One. Expect to see him on your televisions soon m a broadcast from the World Series of Poker.

Coverage of Wretchy's win makes headlines on Pocketfives.com

Wretchy 06 01 2008

Friday, May 30, 2008

Pocketfives Open

The Pocketfives.com Open will be held June 7th on PokerStars. This event offers fantastic value for the online player as there will be at least $20,000 worth of added prizes, including one WSOP main event entry.

To read more about, visit Pocketfives.com here

Thursday, May 29, 2008

UltimateBet report released

The report on the UltimateBet superuser scandal was released today.

Great job by Nat Arem in compiling info.


You can read Nat's post at Pocketfives.com here

You can visit Nat's blog here

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Online Poker Legend Cliff Josephy joins UB

Online poker legend, World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and former Number 1 ranked online player Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy has been added to lineup of poker pros at online poker site UlitmateBet.com.

UltimateBet has added a great asset to the company and look for this to really help UltimateBet increase the prestige of the company.

Read more about it at Pocketfives.com

Bill to Block Implenmentation of UIGEA gains support

From PokerPages.com comes a story about a bill in the House of Representatives intended to block implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Hopefully Washington will reverse the mistake that was the UIGEA.

Read more at PokerPages.com

Monday, May 26, 2008

WoW

Guest on FoxNews jokes about knocking off Obama. Youtube video of Liz Trotta

While I had never heard of this lady, the site newscorpse.com said she is a FoxNews contributor and a member of the Washington Times

Interesting situation with QQ from the $109 rebuy

Attached via link is an interesting discussion of a hand played by online poker fiend Wretchy in the $100+9 rebuy on PokerStars yesterday.

There are definitely different points of view about how he played his QQ after a re-raise all-in and a second re-raise all-in.

To read what happened, visit Pocketfives.com here

How would you have played this?

Only had been at the table for a few hands so I didnt really have a read on anyone.

What do you put him on and do you do anything differently here?

PokerStars Game #17705031521: Tournament #89644731, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/05/26 - 13:15:29 (ET)
Table '89644731 295' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: SluggerWV (3040 in chips)
Seat 2: Tiguan66 (2910 in chips)
Seat 3: dribblefish (2520 in chips)
Seat 4: Stefan031083 (6080 in chips)
Seat 5: dielichtung (2980 in chips)
Seat 6: Emmapeel9 (2510 in chips)
Seat 7: ERIC36 (6410 in chips)
Seat 8: fathead603 (8620 in chips)
Seat 9: Jackdaw (3060 in chips)
dribblefish: posts small blind 15
Stefan031083: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Qh Qd]
dielichtung: folds
Emmapeel9: folds
ERIC36: folds
fathead603: raises 60 to 90
Jackdaw: folds
SluggerWV: raises 150 to 240
Tiguan66: folds
dribblefish: folds
dribblefish is sitting out
Stefan031083: folds
fathead603: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [7s 6c 2h]
fathead603: checks
SluggerWV: bets 360
fathead603: calls 360
*** TURN *** [7s 6c 2h] [4h]
fathead603: checks
SluggerWV: bets 2440 and is all-in

fathead603: calls 2440
*** RIVER *** [7s 6c 2h 4h] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
fathead603: shows [5h 3d] (a straight, Three to Seven)
SluggerWV: shows [Qh Qd] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
fathead603 collected 6125 from pot
dielichtung said, "wow"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6125 | Rake 0
Board [7s 6c 2h 4h 4s]
Seat 1: SluggerWV showed [Qh Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Fours
Seat 2: Tiguan66 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: dribblefish (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Stefan031083 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: dielichtung folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Emmapeel9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ERIC36 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: fathead603 showed [5h 3d] and won (6125) with a straight, Three to Seven
Seat 9: Jackdaw folded before Flop (didn't bet)



Let me know what you think.

Play a Micro Sattelite Tournament with Me

In my never ending effort to get better, I decided not to multi-table tournaments for awhile so I can concentrate on the key hands in the tournaments I do play and try to set out why I played hands in a particular way and if in hindsight I was right or wrong.
Below are some of the key hands from a recent micro satellite I played on PokerStars.


PokerStars Game #17617488534: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/05/22 - 17:30:54 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1200 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: Benat974 (1280 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1490 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (1660 in chips)
Seat 5: genide (1460 in chips)
Seat 6: coolman656 (1660 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: jasas6369 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1710 in chips)
coolman656: posts small blind 10
SluggerWV: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [8d 9h]
Dr Luknee: calls 20
bullyne: calls 20
coolman656: calls 10
SluggerWV: checks
*** FLOP *** [6h 7s Ks]
coolman656: checks
SluggerWV: bets 60
Dr Luknee: calls 60
bullyne: folds
coolman656: folds
*** TURN *** [6h 7s Ks] [Tc]
SluggerWV: bets 140
Dr Luknee: folds
Uncalled bet (140) returned to SluggerWV
SluggerWV collected 200 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 200 |
Board [6h 7s Ks Tc]

I’ve been working on being more aggressive. Here with the flop giving me an open ended draw I decided to bet thinking that if anyone put me on a draw, it would be the flush draw. If a spade hit, then I could lay down to a bet depending on read. With the one caller in position, I got the card I wanted. I bet out to make the flush draw pay. I felt a check hoping for a check raise would give the draw a free card.

PokerStars Game #17617539427: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/05/22 - 17:33:10 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1200 in chips)
Seat 2: Benat974 (1270 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1490 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (1640 in chips)
Seat 5: genide (1460 in chips)
Seat 6: coolman656 (1720 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: SluggerWV (1610 in chips)
Seat 8: jasas6369 (1460 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1610 in chips)
Dr Luknee: posts small blind 10
chrigu65natu: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [8h 8d]

CRAISY: raises 60 to 80
bullyne: calls 80

SluggerWV: calls 80

*** FLOP *** [7c Qh 4h]
CRAISY: bets 270
bullyne: folds
SluggerWV: folds
Uncalled bet (270) returned to CRAISY
CRAISY collected 270 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 270 | Rake 0
Board [7c Qh 4h]

This tournament hasn’t had too many hands, so I can’t be real sure of my reads, but there hasn’t been a lot of re-raising. So even with an early 4xbb raise, I’m set mining after the first caller. I don’t hit my set and Im not going to put him on something like AK here and try to go over the top because it’ll pot commit me.

PokerStars Game #17617633595: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/05/22 - 17:37:24 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1335 in chips)
Seat 2: Benat974 (1690 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1615 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (1530 in chips)
Seat 5: genide (1010 in chips)
Seat 6: coolman656 (1720 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (1530 in chips)
Seat 8: jasas6369 (1460 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1570 in chips)
bullyne: posts small blind 15
genide: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Kd Ad]
coolman656: calls 30
SluggerWV: raises 90 to 120
jasas6369: calls 120

*** FLOP *** [4d 6s 2d]
SluggerWV: bets 210
jasas6369: folds
Uncalled bet (210) returned to SluggerWV
SluggerWV collected 315 from pot
SluggerWV: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 315 | Rake 0
Board [4d 6s 2d]

I was surprised to get the caller after I raised the limper. I really loved the flop. In that position with the two overs and the nut flush draw, I am probably calling an all in or putting him in if he goes over the top.

PokerStars Game #17617713032: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/05/22 - 17:40:58 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1155 in chips)
Seat 2: Benat974 (1570 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1765 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (1800 in chips)
Seat 5: genide (950 in chips)
Seat 6: coolman656 (1645 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: SluggerWV (1695 in chips)
Seat 8: jasas6369 (1310 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1570 in chips)
SluggerWV: posts small blind 15
jasas6369: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [As Jc]
Dr Luknee: folds
chrigu65natu: calls 30
SluggerWV: calls 15
jasas6369: checks
*** FLOP *** [9c 9d Kh]
SluggerWV: checks
jasas6369: checks
chrigu65natu: checks
*** TURN *** [9c 9d Kh] [Ad]
SluggerWV: checks
jasas6369: bets 90
chrigu65natu: calls 90
SluggerWV: calls 90
*** RIVER *** [9c 9d Kh Ad] [9h]
SluggerWV: checks
jasas6369: bets 1190 and is all-in
chrigu65natu: folds
SluggerWV: calls 1190
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jasas6369: shows [5d 3c] (three of a kind, Nines)
SluggerWV: shows [As Jc] (a full house, Nines full of Aces)
SluggerWV collected 2740 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2740 | Rake 0
Board [9c 9d Kh Ad 9h]

Seat 7: SluggerWV (small blind) showed [As Jc] and won (2740) with a full house, Nines full of Aces
Seat 8: jasas6369 (big blind) showed [5d 3c] and lost with three of a kind, Nines

I couldn’t put him on a nine there. It’s probably the right move to make if he has one, either that or a small bet to get some action. Put I really expected to be splitting the pot with him.

PokerStars Game #17617731475: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/05/22 - 17:41:48 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1035 in chips)
Seat 2: Benat974 (1570 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1765 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (1800 in chips)
Seat 5: genide (950 in chips)
Seat 6: coolman656 (1645 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3125 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1570 in chips)
Dr Luknee: posts small blind 15
chrigu65natu: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [7h 7d]
Benat974: calls 30
CRAISY: folds
bullyne: folds
genide: raises 30 to 60

SluggerWV: calls 60
chrigu65natu: calls 30
Benat974: calls 30
*** FLOP *** [2s Kh 6c]
chrigu65natu: checks
Benat974: checks
genide: checks
SluggerWV: checks
*** TURN *** [2s Kh 6c] [9d]
chrigu65natu: checks
Benat974: checks
genide: checks
SluggerWV: checks
*** RIVER *** [2s Kh 6c 9d] [Ah]
chrigu65natu: checks
Benat974: checks
BuMbLeBear1 is connected
genide: checks
SluggerWV: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
chrigu65natu: shows [Tc 8h] (high card Ace)
Benat974: shows [Qd 9c] (a pair of Nines)
genide: mucks hand
SluggerWV: mucks hand
Benat974 collected 255 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 255 | Rake 0
Board [2s Kh 6c 9d Ah]

I entered the hand hoping to hit a set or get out. In retrospect, I should've bet the flop to try to pick up the pot or at least find out if the baby raise meant strength looking for action or a hand that the raiser wasn't confident in at that time. Because I play more conservatively I tend to put other players on good hands when they make moves of any type. I give them credit for being a step ahead. I really need to address this to improve.


PokerStars Game #17617842389: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/05/22 - 17:46:50 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1845 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1620 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (5375 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3065 in chips)
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (1460 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1555 in chips)
SluggerWV: posts small blind 25
BuMbLeBear1: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Kc Tc]
Dadissimo is connected
Dr Luknee: folds
chrigu65natu: calls 50

bullyne: calls 50
SluggerWV: calls 25
BuMbLeBear1: checks
*** FLOP *** [9h 8h 6c]
SluggerWV: checks
BuMbLeBear1: checks
chrigu65natu: checks
bullyne: checks
*** TURN *** [9h 8h 6c] [7s]
SluggerWV: checks
BuMbLeBear1: checks
chrigu65natu: checks
bullyne: checks
*** RIVER *** [9h 8h 6c 7s] [Jd]
SluggerWV: bets 100
BuMbLeBear1: folds
chrigu65natu: folds
bullyne: calls 100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SluggerWV: shows [Kc Tc] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
bullyne: mucks hand
SluggerWV collected 400 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 400 | Rake 0
Board [9h 8h 6c 7s Jd]
Seat 1: chrigu65natu folded on the River
Seat 4: bullyne (button) mucked [Jh Qs]
Seat 7: SluggerWV (small blind) showed [Kc Tc] and won (400) with a straight, Seven to Jack
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (big blind) folded on the River


Was going to mix it up and check-raise the turn after hitting the straight with the four flush on the board. No one bet so I had to lead at the river. Seems I have played aggressively enough that he wanted to look me up with top pair and a huge straight draw on board. Another benefit of aggressive play I've been missing is getting my hands paid off when I value bet the river. Players have too often known that I was betting the goods that I missed out on bets.

PokerStars Game #17617971683: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/05/22 - 17:52:47 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: Dadissimo (1725 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1620 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (5100 in chips)
Seat 5: Penster (980 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3265 in chips)
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (1385 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1455 in chips)
SluggerWV: posts small blind 25
BuMbLeBear1: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Jc Ac]
Dr Luknee: calls 50

Dadissimo: raises 50 to 100
CRAISY: calls 100

SluggerWV: calls 75

Dr Luknee: calls 50
*** FLOP *** [2s As 7s]
SluggerWV: checks
Dr Luknee: checks
Dadissimo: bets 100
CRAISY: folds
SluggerWV: folds
Dr Luknee: folds
Uncalled bet (100) returned to Dadissimo
BuMbLeBear1 is sitting out
Dadissimo collected 450 from pot
Dadissimo: doesn't show hand
axlatthevine is connected
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 450 | Rake 0
Board [2s As 7s]


Huge mistake not re-raising here in hindsight. I try not to play hands like that because too often at my levels people will call you down with any card that completes a flush, no matter how weak. But here I should have found out if the bet was made because I was read as weak.

PokerStars Game #17617989568: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2008/05/22 - 17:53:37 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: chrigu65natu (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: Dadissimo (2075 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1520 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (5100 in chips)
Seat 5: Penster (980 in chips)
Seat 6: axlatthevine (6440 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3165 in chips)
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (1335 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1355 in chips)
BuMbLeBear1: posts small blind 25
Dr Luknee: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [8h 8c]
chrigu65natu: calls 50
Penster: calls 50
SluggerWV: calls 50
BuMbLeBear1 is sitting out
Dr Luknee: checks
*** FLOP *** [7s 3d Jd]
Dr Luknee: checks
chrigu65natu: bets 50
Penster: calls 50
SluggerWV: calls 50
Dr Luknee: calls 50
*** TURN *** [7s 3d Jd] [Td]
Dr Luknee: checks
chrigu65natu: bets 50
Penster: calls 50
SluggerWV: calls 50
Dr Luknee: folds
*** RIVER *** [7s 3d Jd Td] [5h]
chrigu65natu: bets 50
Penster: calls 50
SluggerWV: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
chrigu65natu: shows [Js Kd] (a pair of Jacks)
Penster: shows [5s 7h] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
Penster collected 675 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 675 | Rake 0
Board [7s 3d Jd Td 5h]
Seat 1: chrigu65natu showed [Js Kd] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 5: Penster showed [5s 7h] and won (675) with two pair, Sevens and Fives
Seat 7: SluggerWV (button) folded on the River


Should have raised here pre-flop. After limping pre-flop, should have folded to bet on flop. Too many people in pot not to be drawing slim. Set still might not have won.

PokerStars Game #17618138562: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2008/05/22 - 18:00:35 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: Dadissimo (1775 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1770 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (4900 in chips)
Seat 5: Penster (2910 in chips)
Seat 6: axlatthevine (4985 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3015 in chips)
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (2460 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr Luknee (1700 in chips)
axlatthevine: posts small blind 50
SluggerWV: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [5h 4d]

Penster: calls 100
axlatthevine: folds
SluggerWV: checks
*** FLOP *** [3c Kd 7c]
SluggerWV: checks
Penster: checks
*** TURN *** [3c Kd 7c] [6c]
SluggerWV: bets 200
Penster: calls 200
*** RIVER *** [3c Kd 7c 6c] [Ah]
SluggerWV: bets 500
Penster: calls 500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SluggerWV: shows [5h 4d] (a straight, Three to Seven)
Penster: mucks hand
SluggerWV collected 1650 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1650 | Rake 0
Board [3c Kd 7c 6c Ah]

Seat 5: Penster (button) mucked [7s 7h]
Seat 7: SluggerWV (big blind) showed [5h 4d] and won (1650) with a straight, Three to Seven

His adherence to the “never bet a set” theory walks him into trouble. I would like to think that my being more active has gotten me paid off a couple of times here where otherwise it might not have (those times when my image is that of a much tighter player.)

PokerStars Game #17618362519: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2008/05/22 - 18:10:58 (ET)
Table '88687849 11' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: bandher (2591 in chips)
Seat 2: Dadissimo (3239 in chips)
Seat 3: CRAISY (1532 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyne (7875 in chips)
Seat 5: Penster (1173 in chips)
Seat 6: axlatthevine (4685 in chips)
Seat 7: SluggerWV (3590 in chips)
Seat 8: BuMbLeBear1 (2935 in chips)
Seat 9: jonah514 (2550 in chips)
bandher: posts small blind 75
Dadissimo: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Jc Ah]

SluggerWV: raises 300 to 450

Uncalled bet (300) returned to SluggerWV
SluggerWV collected 375 from pot
SluggerWV: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 375 | Rake 0


I hadn’t played a hand in a while and got respect w my late position raise. Good sign. If I do it again at this table and get resistance, I can expect someone to have a hand.

PokerStars Game #17618953185: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2008/05/22 - 18:38:57 (ET)
Table '88687849 18' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: william61 (5722 in chips)
Seat 2: thedevilfan (12922 in chips)
Seat 3: AgentDaniel (4519 in chips)
Seat 5: elexxii (7180 in chips)
Seat 6: SluggerWV (3115 in chips)
Seat 7: Frosty480 (8657 in chips)
Seat 8: bigredone676 (2271 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: enchantica19 (6112 in chips)

SluggerWV: posts the ante 25

elexxii: posts small blind 100
SluggerWV: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [7s Kh]
Uncalled bet (100) returned to SluggerWV
SluggerWV collected 400 from pot

I just love getting moved to a new table after having a good image and then having one of the superstacks immediately to my left. It's right up there with being moved after being small blind and being put under the gun at my new table. At least here he folded from under the gun and I got a walkover.

PokerStars Game #17619229490: Tournament #88687849, $2.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2008/05/22 - 18:52:33 (ET)
Table '88687849 18' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: william61 (5997 in chips)
Seat 2: Lokk (4433 in chips)
Seat 3: AgentDaniel (3219 in chips)
Seat 4: sined13 (8425 in chips)
Seat 5: elexxii (6009 in chips)
Seat 6: SluggerWV (2315 in chips)
Seat 7: Frosty480 (15795 in chips)
Seat 8: Dadissimo (12742 in chips)
Seat 9: enchantica19 (2112 in chips)

SluggerWV: posts the ante 50

Dadissimo: posts small blind 300
enchantica19: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SluggerWV [Qh Qd]
william61: folds
Lokk: folds
AgentDaniel: folds
sined13: folds
elexxii: folds
SluggerWV: raises 1665 to 2265 and is all-in
Frosty480: folds
Dadissimo: folds
enchantica19: calls 1462 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (203) returned to SluggerWV
*** FLOP *** [As Jh Qc]
*** TURN *** [As Jh Qc] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [As Jh Qc 3c] [Kd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
enchantica19: shows [6c Kc] (a pair of Kings)
SluggerWV: shows [Qh Qd] (three of a kind, Queens)
SluggerWV collected 4874 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4874 | Rake 0
Board [As Jh Qc 3c Kd]


Seat 6: SluggerWV showed [Qh Qd] and won (4874) with three of a kind, Queens

Seat 9: enchantica19 (big blind) showed [6c Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings

When the river hit I was so worried about the straight draw that I thought I had lost. Funny how the mind plays tricks on us.

I missed a couple hands from late in the tourney. The thing I really like about these satellites is the that the structure allows me to avoid playing too much with the maniacs. Of course, I tend to play too conservatively late and put a lot of pressure on myself when the shortstacks are able to avoid elimination the first couple of times they are all-in.

In this tourney, with only one person to be eliminated to win the entry, I made a mistake in calculation of when the two small stacks would go through the big blind and allowed myself to be in the big blind with less than a small stack behind. Fortunately, the table folded around to me and I was safe. In the next hand from the small blind I was dealt AK and believe I would have been ok either way because an ace hit the flop. But I still am bothered too much by busting out without making the money. That's one of the two things I am focusing on now. I would love to hear your thoughts about these hands or tournaments in general.
Good luck at the tables.