Penn State, the whole world is watching

Back to the Trail

A lot has happened since my last post here. Congress has gone out of the way to make life difficult for people who play poker. A few good people have died. Borders bookstores filed bankruptcy and closed down my local brick and mortar bookstores.

Injury and illness disrupted a very promising AAU season for the 6th grade team. The 8th grade team had a promising start with some talented ladies but injury and softball intervened. The high school season hasn't really gotten running and time keeps ticking on the summer clock.

But each time you are knocked down you have to get back up. Quitting is the only way to lose.

I'll be back around here. Hope to see you.

Drama returns to the boards at Pocketfives

No, not Johnny Drama, drama drama. When we last visited the frailties of the human condition, our friend Chaz and his Big Red cohort were grilling their way to a bodacious 10k.

Now the seldom visited Poker Discussion forum on the site may very well be watching a misplayed con blow up in the member's face. Justin Weitzman, aka amandaw111, aka runningthisg333 aka justin bieber's bff?, started a thread claiming that embattled online poker site Ultimate Bet had stolen approximately $40k from him. While dodging requests to provide proof for his claim, Justin revealed instead that he had colluded in online play and had played on more accounts than the number of police cruisers Lindsay Lohan has ridden in. The story is ongoing and you can read more about it here and also improve your game too.

Welcome to the Scandal

welcome to the scandal
we've got chaz n scams
we've got everything you need
we know the address
We know the phone number and
When the pizza will come
If you got the money buddy
Don't Ship it online


Chorus:


In the scandal
Welcome to the scandal
Watch it bring your account to z-z-z- eroooooooooooo, see
I wanna watch you bleed


Welcome to the scandal
It's updated each day
If you think the check's coming
I don't know what to say
If you'll stop by Treasures
It is easy to see
You can get in the door
But you won't get in for free
In the scandal

Welcome to the scandal
I can't Feel my, my, my knee
I, I wanna grill your meat


Welcome to the scandal
It gets worse here everyday
Ya learn ta live like a criminal
In the scandal everyday
If you got a debt for winnin' a league
You'll get it eventually
It was guaranteed you see
But you better go ahead and breath


Chorus


And when you think it's over
The Check'is on the way, here's a pic so you will see


You know where you are
You're in the scandal baby
You're gonna cry
In the scandal
Welcome to the scandal
Watch me cook on my g g g g grilllllllll, grill
In the scandal
Welcome to the Chaz scam
Feel my, my, my left knee
In the scandal
Welcome to Chaz's scam
Watch me grill some steak Get the da da da da door please
In the scandal
Welcome to Chaz's scam
Watch him spend your winnings
Their gonna get you clown!
Ha!

Charles Kraynak Scandal on Pocketfives.com

Online poker Scandal

Since shortly after thanksgiving, there has been a revelation of an online scam by a member of the community who was previously highly revered. The community is pocketfives.com"

Personally, I was stunned when the allegations first surfaced and then saddened when a confession was issued.

Pocketfives.com is a great site and the OT community is second to none on the internet. I hope that people don't hold this sad event against the many good people there.

I find that as more time passes, that the goals and achievements I once thought necessary for a successful life are unlikely to happen. I do find that the one consistent accomplishment is helping people through rough times and lifting them up in their time of need. It makes the difficult times bearable knowing that at some time I will have a stranger or friend who needs to hear that someone else has been through what is happening to them now and came out the other side.

Peace and Love

The smokescreen by the MLB Player's Union

Watching the David Ortiz press conference yesterday, I was struck in particular by a couple of things. First, the union attorney who came to assist Ortiz didn't think enough of the event's importance to comb his hair. Second, his attempt to put up a smokescreen on behalf of the players who tested dirty was pathetic.

The union asked the Court to seal the list and the results that it allegedly shows. Now the Union is saying, "we'd love to go into this in detail, but the Court Ordered us not to." Pathetic. All the union has to do is petition the court to unseal the record. There's no reason the Court would want to keep it secret. The results would be public and the matter could be better dealt with. This is a transparent stalling tactic. The more time that passes, the more likely we are to hear that people don't want to talk about the past (Hi Mark McGwire. You'll need a ticket to get in Cooperstown just like me now) or that people shouldn't care because the test was so long ago.

Baseball has lost its way and is close to losing its soul. The game's connection with history means more to baseball than any other sport. Why is baseball so unconcerned about the statistical break with history that steroids has created?

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Online Poker Age Verification Works

One of the arguments used against online poker is that of children playing. It is a canard used by opponents who would take away the freedome of others without good cause. Please take a moment to read this article by The Engineer of the Poker Players Alliance don't believe the lies.

Wretchy on CardplayerTV

Bloomberg on Legalizing Internet Poker

WVUMANIAC2 Final Table

Congrats to Jacob who playing as wvumaniac2, final tabled the PokerStars Nightly Seventy Grand on 05-11-2009. Jacob won $980.00 for finishing 9th out of 1382 entrants. Great job sir!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

I am very happy to wish Happy Birthday to a really cool guy and rabid Duke fan, Pratyush "FenwayKing" Buddiga. I have gotten to know him a lot better over the past few months at pocketfives. Pratyush is a very talented young man and one of the great group of writers at freebillsimmons who is fortunate that his birthday falls the week after finals. If you haven't had a chance to read his writing, do yourself a favor and check out the site today.

I hope it is truly a great today and the first of many more! Don't worry the doctors will soon come up with a cure for the rapidiness :)


In this undated photo Pratyush visits the Duke Library for a picture to send to his parents to convince them he is serious about his studies. It is believed but unconfirmed at this time that this was his only trip to the Library.

Major Flooding hits Southern West Virginia

My part of the world was hit hard early yesterday morning by heavy flooding. We have had heavy rains all week and the result was a lot of people suffered a heavy loss in their lives.

Thanks to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the National Guard. Flooding isn't unheard of here and these groups have shown again that they can be counted on during tough times again.

Some news coverage of the flood can be found WSAZ-TV,WCHS-TV, TV59 and Register-Herald.

Poker News

PokerNews is reporting that Actor Don Cheadle, one of the founders of the Ante up for Africa charitable organization, has been signed as a friend of FullTiltPoker.
Read more about it by visiting Poker News Daily.

Congressman Jim McDermott, (D-WA), introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, HR 2268, this week. This is a companion piece of legislation to Barney Frank's previously introduced bill for comprehensive internet gambling regulation.
For more on these proposed pieces of legislation, visit Poker News Daily and Poker News.

To help support the efforts to keep online poker legal, visit Poker Players Alliance.