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

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.

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.

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