Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons is the best sportswriter/columnist working today. I hope ESPN is smart enough to keep him around for a long, long time. His work is insightful and funny. Either quality is pretty rare today, the combination is as rare as valid Yeti encounters. Read his latest gem on the NBA Playoffs here

Fans of Bill Simmons will also enjoy freebillsimmons.com. This site was founded by five sports fans who bring a non-company line/pc view of the sports world. Visit their site. You will not regret it.

Good luck at the tables everyone.

Congrats BAX!!!

Congrats to online poker legend and WSOP Bracelet winner Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy. JohnnyBax won the $1,000 NLHE Tourney on PokerStars last night. He beat out 346 other competitors to win $68,250.00.

From all accounts Bax is a great guy and in addition to being a fantastic player. So, since it isn't going to happen to me, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Well Played Sir!!!

Froch v Taylor

One of the best fights of the year happened Saturday night and you didn't have to shell out pay per view dollars to see it.
Showtime showcased the 168 lb super middleweight bout between undefeated WBC champ Carl Froch and former champ Jermain Taylor.
The action packed fight saw Taylor knock down Froch early and control most of the early and middle rounds.
The champ stepped up the pace in the latter rounds, pressuring Taylor who had shown in recent fights that his stamina was questionable. Froch, behind on two of the judge's cards, knocked Taylor down midway through the twelth round. The clearly hurt Taylor got back up and gamely continued. But Froch was too much. Pinning Taylor against the ropes, Froch unleashed a flurry of punches that dropped Taylor's hands and closed his eyes. The referee, Michael Ortega, wisely stepped in and halted the fight at the 2:46 mark of the final round.

I was disappointed that Showtime's announcers implied that the fight should have been allowed to finish and that the ref should have allowed it to play out the final 14 seconds. However, both fighters and the ref handled the questions well and did a great job of explaining what had happened. Clearly Taylor was defenseless at the time of the stoppage and would have endured close to a dozen hammering blows were the fight to continue.

Pics from www.boxingplanet.net
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NFL Draft and the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas traded away the team's only pick in this year's draft yesterday. That certainly took away must of the interest in the draft for me.

It has been a very active off-season. Jon Kitna was acquired and T.O. and Roy Williams, the saftey, were released. Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher were not hired to replace Wade Phillips.

Kitna's acquisition is certainly an upgrade at backup QB and, while I have been a fan of Tony Romo's since he became the man, I now have a nagging doubt that makes me wish Dallas had moved up to get Mark Sanchez.

I cannot let go of the shot of Romo smiling from ear to ear on the field during a break in the action in the season finale while Philadelphia was kicking his ass and knocking the Cowboys out of the playoffs. For a team that started the year with such high expectations, watching the QB act like going home instead of going to the playoffs has really made doubt Romo is the guy who will take Dallas to the Super Bowl.

As I write this, on day two of the draft, Dallas has attempted to address needs in CB, WR and Safety by drafting a linebacker and a defensive end. I am not saying these guys can't play or that they are bad picks, but these positions are important and Dallas needs help there in a big way. I miss Jimmy Johnson.

When to walk away and when to stay

Tuesday even I bled money at the tables and was crushed in the tournaments and sit-n-gos. I was really frustrated and discouraged and was looking forward to a fresh start on Wednesday.
Wednesday started off the same way. I lost half my cash game buy in what seemed like two hands but was really a couple of rounds. So I signed up for a couple of sit-n-gos. In less than two minutes time, my flopped two pair was drawn out on to elimate me.
I turned off the computer and walked away. Briefly I understood the reason why people believe internet poker is rigged. Tuesday's bad beats made the feeling exponentially worse. I turned on the TV. I tried not to think about it. But, I couldn't.
I hate to lose. Bad results bother me. Then it dawned on me, bad play should bother me. Bad results shouldn't be a problem that lingers. I thought back to Tuesday's blood bath. Cash game. Cut off tried to steal my big blind. I flopped good and re-raised him. Flop missed him. I put him in. He called. I was right he had a bare ace and a gutshot. I was right, the river was wrong. Ace for the joker.
Bad result is not the same as bad play. Now tilting off another buy-in after that was wrong. Aggressive for aggressive's sake won't usually get the job done. I thought about the plays that busted me out of the sit-n-gos. Kings ran up against Aces.
Bad luck, not a bad play.
AK all-in vs A9. 9 hits the flop.
Bad luck. Bad result.
When the breaks go against you, it is hard to believe that the breaks will even out or that good play will eventually make up the difference. But I remembered some pretty good advice I read, don't quit playing because you have lost or are down, quit playing because your play is off. Looking at my play, the last half of the cash game was poorly done but the tournaments were played well. I was doing a good job of deciding where I was in the hands. Playing more wouldn't be an invitation to diaster, it is what I should be doing while playing well.
Good things happened. I final tabled a sniper tournament to end the night due to a mixture of good cards, good luck and good decision making.
I really think that this is kind of a milestone in my development by consciously shifting my focus to analyze my play from a decision making perspective rather than simply looking at the results.
I hope I remember and that maybe others will get it quicker than I did.

Good luck at the tables.

Congrats to Wantagolf

Congrats to Mike aka Wantagolf, a proud member of the United States Navy. Mike made the final table of the $10+1 NLHE tournament on PokerStars. There were 3771 entrants into the tourney and Mike finished 3rd. He won $2,451.16 for his great effort. Mike played great and was knocked out when his KK lost to AK.

Fantastic job sir! Be safe and thank you for your service to our country.



Anchors Aweigh!

Congrats to Chaz

Chaz playing as RevMental on LockPoker, a skin of the Cake Poker network, did another great job in the $10 rebuy NLHE tournament last night. Chaz finished 3rd out of 373 entrants to earn a very nice $1,006.00. Chaz played great and had an all-star rail headed up by former Crew member and WSOP braclet winner Gank. Chaz is a great guy and becoming a force on the felt. Continued good luck sir! Very well done.

Good Luck Alex!

Best of Luck to Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald. He is currently 4th of 16 players remaining in the PokerStars.com EPT San Remo event. Alex is a great player and really cool guy I would love to see him win this tournament.

UPDATE: Alex has made the final table which will start tomorrow. EPT final tables are comprised of only eight players. Alex is currently sitting in 5th place.
Good Luck tomorrow Alex Take this down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Teacher Definitely Can!

There is an expression that is as wrong as it is old that says "those who can do and those who can't teach." It is silly and online poker teacher extraordinaire Jennifear shows on a regular basis that she definitely can play the game.

Playing as PunkinBear, Jennifear made the final table of the PokerStars $11 NL Hold'em on 04-17-2009. This tournament had a $30,000 guarantee and Jennifear won $2640.00 for finishing 3rd out of 2745 entrants.

Great job Jen! Very well played!

If you want to improve your game, contact Jennifear for help here.

FTOPS

May will see me enter my first FTOPS event. I entered a seven card stud high low tournament earlier. I didn't realize it was a satellite event for the FTOPS. There weren't many entrants in the tournament but I was able to win one of two satellite entries. I am pretty happy to say the least.

Back to Back Final Tables at UB

Today's tourney only had 79 entrants, but I was able to beat 76 of them. The deck hit me in the mouth early at the final table but unfortunately I kept gettting outkicked once we were down to three and then found top pair up against an over pair on the hand that knocked me out.
It has been a pretty good run lately. In four out of the last six tournaments I played, I have cashed and have two final tables that were both top three finishes. I should have one the one I made it to heads-up play, but I am pleased with how things are going in the tournaments now. This was definitely a good way to start off the weekend.

Good luck at the tables everyone.

Peace and Love all around

Triple play for iLLNuGWichee and Final Table for Mathclub

Congrats to Zac, who plays online as iLLNuGWichee had an awesome day yesterday. He made the final table of the FullTiltPoker $75,000 Guarantee, winning $2338.95 for finishing 7th out of 503 entrants. Zac also final tabled the FullTiltPoker $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a), winning $742.50 for finishing 9th out of 123 runners.

Over at PokerStars Zac's good work continued. He final tabled the $109 NL Hold'em [turbo - $15,000 guaranteed], cashing for $1759.50 for a finish of 5th of 306 players. Great playing sir!

Shaun aka Mathclub playing as ktpie on FullTilt, final tabled the FullTiltPoker $19,500 Guarantee (Rebuy) on 04-16-2009. He won $1642.13 for taking 5th place out of 266 runners. Congratulations Shaun! Well played sir!

Congrats to ChazMental

Congrats to Pocketfives.com legend and all around great guy ChazMental. Playing on the Cake Poker network, Chaz made the final table of the $10rebuy tournament earlier last night/this morning. Chaz earned $360.00 for finishing 7th out of 338 runners in the tourney.

This was Chaz's second final table this week.

Great job Sir!


Shaunne and Chaz

Final Table at UB

I played in the UltimateBet $4 sniper tournament last night. I got enough good cards and got lucky enough to make it to the final table and then heads up. I started off heads up with a chip lead. Lost it. Then got it back. Then I was inpatient and tried to steal a blind w J5 when I had no business pushing, lost the hand and then lost the tournament.

It was so cool to get to the final table but I am really disappointed in not being able to finish off the tournament. I got some nice rail action from Pocketfives.com's Dr.GHouse, who was also nice enough to make a rail thread when I made the final table. I hope to seal the deal next time.

Good luck at the tables everyone.

Overnight Updates

While most of the East Coast was asleep last night, several top online poker players were raking in the cash with both hands.

Dan "Wretchy" Martin made two final tables last night/early this morning. He finished 5th out of 3626 entrants in the FullTiltPoker $750,000 Guarantee which began on 04-12-2009. Wretchy took home $31050.00 for that great performance.

Wretchy also made the final table in the FullTiltPoker $75,000 Guarantee which started last night. For finishing 6th out of 856 in this tournament, he won $5778.00. Great job sir!

Jason Koon aka JAKoon1985 aka NovaSky won the FullTiltPoker The Sunday Mulligan which started on April 12, 2009. The win earned Jason $53020.00. He finished 1st among 1205 entrants. It has been a great week for Jason and he bounced back from a horrendous beat in the SCOOP $10,000 main event in which what should have been a triple up for him turned into a runner runner flush for a dominated opponent. Well done Jason!

Finally, Jared Hamby aka TheWacoKidd final tabled the FullTiltPoker $200,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) which began play on 04-12-2009. Waco won $8063.10 for finishing 7th out of 514 players. Good to see Waco at the final table again. Excellent play sir!

Final Table updates!

Congrats to Alex Fitzgerald aka TheAssassinato. He made the final table in the FullTiltPoker $60,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) on 04-11-2009. Alex won $6481.50 for finishing 5th out of 263 entrants.

Jennifear, playing as PunkinBear, made the final table in the PokerStars $109 NLHE [|turbo| - |$35,000 guaranteed|] on 04-11-2009. She won $2328.75 for finishing 5th out of 405. Congrats Jennifear.

JAKoon1985 gets paid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS to West Virginia native Jason Koon. Playing as "jakoon1985", Jason won the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) event number 17 on PokerStars which started last night and finished play this morning.

The $2,100 buy-in No Limit Hold Em with 1 rebuy and 1 add-on ( NLHE [1R1A]) had a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000.00. For his win, Jason recieved the top prize of $302720.00.

Jason beat out a field of 267 other players which included most of the biggest names in online poker. Great job Jason!!!! Very well played sir!!!

click this

Wretchy in PokerPro Magazine

PokerPro Magazine interviewed Dan "Wretchy" Martin in the April Edition of it's Pros Speak Column. It is great to see Wretchy get some of the recognition he deserves for his play over the last couple of years. Dan and several big name online stars were asked to comment on multi-accounting and online poker.

If you would like to read the article, click here

Congrats Dan!

Congrats to Old School OTers

Congrats to Michele aka -AG- who, playing as ArmyGirl on FullTilt Poker, made the final table of the FullTiltPoker Daily Double - B on 04-08-2009. She won a very nice$350.35 for finishing 6th out of 1001. Very well played mam!

Also congrats to Nick "Agriffrod" Mithcell. Griff made the final table of the $5,200 No Limit Hold-Em, 6 max, buy-in SCOOP event, event number 14. This event had a guarantee of $1,250,000. He finished 6th out of 331 players and banked a very nice $66200.00 for his effort. Excellent work sir!

Winning $40 Million and then losing it

Congrats to Tranquil Chaos and WVUManiac2

Congrats to Jacob,who playing as wvumaniac2, made the final table in the FullTiltPoker $35,000 Guarantee on 04-07-2009. Jacob won $2922.24 for finishing 4th out of 1522 players. Extremely well played sir!


Congrats also go out to Devin "TranquilChaos" Porter. Devin playing as "tobias fuke" on Pokerstars, final tabled the PokerStars $109 NL Hold'em [|$50,000 guaranteed|] on 04-07-2009. Mr. Porter won $1620.00 for finishing 8th out of 720 runners. Great job Devin!

Huge Pot from the latest High Stakes Poker

High Stakes Poker on GSN (formerly the Game Show Network), channel 309 on DirectTV, is one of my favorite shows. This is a hand from last night's episode.

Braves to Honor Greg Maddux

The Atlanta Braves have announced the organization will retire the number 31 in honor of Greg Maddux on July 17 in a game verus the New York Mets at Turner Field. Maddux, one of the best pitchers of all-time, was a member of the Braves for 11 years. During his time in Atlanta Greg won 4 Cy Young Awards.

I had the pleasure of watching Greg pitch in 3 different stadiums (Riverfront, Three Rivers and Turner Field) during his time with Braves as well as countless times on TBS and ESPN. I loved watching him pitch. He always seemed like a really nice guy and usually gave a demonstration on the way pitching should be done. I am pretty sure he was a great teammate too. He respected the game and treated the fans well. I hated seeing him leave the Braves, although that seems to be more because of the team rather than Greg.

Five years from now it will be a joy watching him enter Cooperstown.

If you would like to read a very intersting story about Maddux on CNN from Joe Posnanski, please click here.

Braves win Opener!

Atlanta started the season with a 4-1 win at the home of the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies. Derek Lowe pitched brillantly in his Braves debut, giving up only 2 hits in eight shutout innings.
Brian McCann provided a two run homer in the top of the first.

Jeff Francoeur and Jordan Schafer each homered in the top of the second off Phillies' starter Brett Myers. Schafer's home run came was a bomb to center and came in his first major league at bat.Chipper added a couple of hits. This team looks like it will be much more competitive than last year's squad if injuries can be avoided by the starters and the bullpen can avoid meltdowns like the one Mike Gonzalez teased Phillies fans with in the bottome of the ninth.
This is the first season opener since I became a Braves fan that Skip Caray isn't with us. I always loved listening to Skip and he and the rest of the crew were like members of the family when TBS was showing the Braves. I miss ya Skip. I'm sure you are smiling tonight. RIP sir!
GO Braves!

Help Catch a Serial Killer

Help solve 'The Grim Sleeper' serial killer case


For more than two decades, a serial killer has stalked the streets and alleys of south Los Angeles. Police have linked 11 slayings through DNA and have the eyewitness account of the sole survivor of his attacks. But the killer's identity remains a mystery, and now police need your help in finding the man dubbed "The Grim Sleeper."

Follow his trail in this CNN.com multimedia presentation here

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG: $22.17
UTG+1: $86
MP: $49.20
CO: $65.42
BTN: $23.80
Hero (SB): $27.22
BB: $23.95

Pre-Flop: 9 9 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls $0.25, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($0.75) T 9 6 (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.50, UTG calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2.50, BB calls $2, UTG folds

Turn: ($6.25) J (2 Players)
Hero bets $5.50, BB calls $5.50

River: ($17.25) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets $16.75, BB calls $15.70 and is All-In

Results: $48.65 Pot ($2.43 Rake)
Hero showed 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and LOST (-$23.95 NET)
BB mucked Q T (two pair, Queens and Tens) and LOST (-$23.95 NET)

Congrats to Jennifear!

Jennifear aka PunkinBear won the $120 Tourney on UB yesterday to the very James Bondish tune of $7,007. She beat out 244 other players to win the tourney.

Congrats Jen, very well played!

Jennifear is also a fantastic teacher who can really help your game. Visit her site Jennifear's Poker Palace here.

You can also read a conversation with Jennifear from May, 2008 here.

Badugi

I have no idea why, but I love Badugi. I have to make myself stop playing after awhile because I would sit there all evening.

It has been a good last 24 hours on the carbon felt. I cashed in a micro Stud High/Low tourney on Pokerstars last night. I got an early start in tourneys today on UB, playing two bounty tournaments. I made the final 3 tables in both and supplemented the prizes with 7 bounties. Definitely an enjoyable day.



The first game in the final four was a bit of a surprise to me. Michigan State is a very good team and I am a fan of Tom Izzo, but I really expected UConn to win. They have played very well this year. Of course the connection to the Big East made me pull for UConn.

Congrats to UConn Women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma. Geno won the Coach of the Year award today. His team is undefeated and seeking a 6th National Title. As a fellow Italian-American, I always pull for Geno unless his team is playing WVU.
Good luck in the Lady's Final Four Geno.

TheAssassinato slays competition again

Congrats to Alex "theassassinato" Fitzgerald for another big win on FullTiltPoker. He won the FullTiltPoker $40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) on Thursday, April 2, 2009. For winning the tourney and beating out 317 other runners, Alex won a very nice $31150.00. Very well played sir!

You can read about the life of a poker pro and see other cool pics he has taken by reading Alex's blog here

Nuggy wins again!

Congrats to iLLNuGWichee. He won the FullTiltPoker $25,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) on Aprils Fools Day, 04-01-2009. For dispatching 387 other players, Zac won $10845.00.
Great job sir!

Congrats to Mathclub

Playing as ktpie on FullTiltPoker, Shaun aka "mathclub" finished 2nd out of 358 in the FullTiltPoker $22,500 Guarantee last night, this morning or next Wednesday (I have a hard time keeping New Zealand time straight)but it was apparently March 31, 2009 in the Eastern United States. He won a nice $3952.32 for making it heads up.

Very good job sir and well played.

Congrats to Wretchy

Congrats to Dan "Wretchy" Martin. He won seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker on FullTiltPoker last night. Wretchy was one of only three people to qualify. Congratulations and here's to hoping for a good run and a final table.

Congrats to The Assassinato

Congrats to Alex "TheAssassinato" Fitzgerald for winning the TheAssassinato the FullTiltPoker $30,000 Guarantee on 03-31-2009. He earned $7800.00 for beatint out 324 other players.

Another great performance by a great player. Well done sir!