Party Poker Blog

Yowza - This late breaking poker news is just too juicy to pass up. I posted a week or two ago about Andy Beal's open challenge to The Corporation. Nobody figured that Doyle and the crew would take him up on it.

Chapter 2.
Doyle Brunson responds to Andy Beal in the new CardPlayer.

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From The Desk Of Doyle Brunson

Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: October 2004
To: Andy Beal

I'm very surprised at the hostile tone in which you wrote this open letter to us. It doesn't reflect the true character of the man all of us have learned to respect and admire. While I haven't talked to everyone concerned in this, I believe I speak for most.

First, I would like to apologize for any "fishermen's tales" that have been told. I know you are aware of the concern we have always had about discussing our game with anyone. I think you are aware of the way the media can distort anything they write about. I personally called you about the two writers wanting to write books on "the big game." After you had me give them your number, it appeared you weren't concerned with privacy any longer. You even wanted one of the writers to be an observer the next time we played.

As far as your challenge goes, we concede that you have more money than all of us put together. So, why would we want to get into a $100,000-$200,000 game in which we would be underfunded? We are pros, and we know the disadvantage of this. So, here is what we propose:

1. We will raise a $40 million bankroll and post it along with yours. (Everything is contingent on raising the money, but I think it is very realistic that we can expand and raise it.)

2. We will play 30K-60K. If either side loses half of its post-up money, it can raise the stakes to $50,000-$100,000. There is an old axiom that applies here: Get out the way you got in!

3. We will choose who plays and when.

4. We prefer to play in Vegas, the gambling capital of the world. Most of us live here, and what would we do in Dallas when we weren't playing? This is negotiable. The first three points aren't.

Andy, I'm chuckling as I write this closing paragraph. If Bill Gates came to Dallas and wanted to flip coins for $100 million per flip for four hours a day until one of you ran out of money or cried uncle, would you do it? My money says you would decline.

Respectfully,
Doyle Brunson

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Now go read Lou Krieger's latest column on the loose, insane games that are online poker. Even he plays at Party Poker. Plus, he even quotes Marshall McLuhan, for Gods sake.
It's Not Real, is It?

"I believe that every person with a physical disability can play the hand they've been dealt in the game of life."
Christopher Reeve

I found a wonderful photo of that bastard who stole my poker blogroll, but I'm going to refrain from posting it. It's a kinder, gentler Iggy. Hell, now I feel bad that I wrote him those rude emails.

His site is nearly as unattractive as he is. I can say that because I'm a little person, k? Anyway, do those retarded casino sites actually make people money? Am I coming on here writing idiotic uber-posts for a year for free, while guys like that are building huge bank accounts and sleeping with lingerie models? It doesn't seem fair, damnit. Or more accurately, I'm just a dumbass.

Anyway, I shall keep plowing away. Maybe someday I'll put up a online poker site review web page with my honest-to-God-thoughts on each site. With bonus whoring possibilities.

For now: Bonus Code IGGY! :D

Alrighty then, go sign up for the damn tournament. We only have 18 signed up thus far, when we had 70 in the last one! Cmon, let's have a good showing for our community now that we are finally allowed to play with a Major Site. Also, I was very happy to see the Poker Vegan signed up to play in his first ever Poker blogger tournament. Hell, he's been blogging longer than I.

For the record, I retract all the disparaging things I said about vegans in my archives. If you miss the reference, you aren't an old school reader. ;)

So, as a bounty for whoever knocks the Poker Vegan out of the tourney, I will buy you a bacon scented candle or two, to rid yourself of vegan houseguests who have overstayed their welcome.

The next poker blogger and their readers tournament:
October 21st, Thursday, at 9pm EST.
Poker Stars
It's a $20 No-Limit tournament, per usual.

Open to anyone and everyone who reads or writes a poker blog. The table chat alone is worth the price of admission.

The tourney is now officially listed on the Poker Stars Private tournament tab. I think it's called Guinness and Poker Tourney or something. Go sign up now with my link, damnit! You'll have fun, trust me.

The tournament is password protected. The password is: iggy2004

So I don't have much to offer right now. Real life has taken over and RGP has nothing of value. It's been hijacked by players begging for $5 and $10 stakes. Truly unbelievable. Lowest. Point. Ever.

I've been prowling around 2+2 when not reading my beloved poker blogs.

But I've been helping a brand spanking new player in hold em. It's been an interesting experience, to say the least. It makes me realize how far I've come.

I think there is a distinct correlation between poker players who desire to improve, to study and become winning players and the poker blogging scene. It's difficult sometimes to be brutally honest with our play, to dissect it and try to understand the "why and how" of what we are potentially doing wrong. I guess I'd like to rant about losing versus winning poker players, maybe bash the online poker conspiracy theorists again (head to the archives if you want a taste) but that's a very dead horse.

It seems like many losing players have a propensity to blame losing on outside forces like bad luck, bad cards or rampant cheating. Winning poker players believe that winning is a direct result of their own studying, ability and preparation. Losers, because the idea of incompetency is so damaging to their ego, tend to point to reasons outside of themselves.

I'm not disavowing bad luck or a terrible run of cards, believe me. It's accepted that even good players will experience long losing streaks - it's unavoidable. I'm just referring to the gambloors who whine and complain and post about "fixed" internet poker (Action Flops!) instead of taking a hard, cold look at their game.

And that's what it takes to become a winning player. There can be no self-deception for a poker player. You have to be a realist to be successful. You can't think you've played well if you lose consistently. Unless you can judge how well you play relative to the others, you have no chance. It takes a gut-check of our emotional discipline at the table to play _each_ hand as they come, one by one, to shrug off the bad beats and play each hand in a vacuum. Don't think about the money, the last hand, the last hour. Just focus on playing *this* hand correctly.

Poor players don't even care about these concepts. They play hunches. They believe in hot seats or rushes. They think certain dealers never deal them winners. That's insane to me.

I absolutely believe that game selection & emotional discipline are two of the biggest issues for the vast majority of players who simply want to win & build a bankroll. Too many players spend too much time focusing on the wrong thing. They play on tight tables when there is no reason to do so.

Why? Because most winnings come from the relative difference between your skill and that of your opponents, and are not just a function of ability alone. If you play with players worse than you, over the long-term, you will earn money. Any player - pro or not - who plays to win money, should simply table hop and find a table to their liking.

It's not that difficult to use Pokertracker and follow fishies around. So my long-winded, roundabout 'tip of the day' is focus more on game selection and developing iron-willed discipline.

A focused grinder will get the money in the long-term.

/end rant

So now I have two nuggets for you. Here's the first, on a new poker forum:

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Subject: CardPlayer.com's New Poker Forum
From: BJ Nemeth

CardPlayer.com has recently opened up a new poker forum.

It's free to sign up, and there are categories for different aspects
of poker: strategy, tournaments, psychology, etiquette, people in
poker, and a separate forum for off-topic posts like politics. There
is also a forum for Card Player feedback, whether you want to post
questions or comments about the magazine, the Web site, or the Card
Player Forum itself.

It's been open for less than six weeks, and we already have almost
2,000 registered users and plenty of active discussions. Of course,
the more members who sign up, the more active (and varied) the
discussions will become.

Whenever a Card Player writer or other confirmed pro posts at
CardPlayer.com, they'll be signified by the title "Card Player Expert"
and their post will be highlighted to draw your attention. This means
that this person has been confirmed by Card Player to be who they
claim to be. So if you see a post by Daniel Negreanu, you'll know it
really IS Daniel Negreanu.

Also, posts by anyone at Card Player will also be highlighted, showing
their title. When you see a post by Barry Shulman (publisher of Card
Player), you know it's by Barry Shulman.

It's a moderated forum, and as it matures we will have more moderators
patrolling the forums to remove advertising* and other spam. The goal
of the moderators isn't to censor people or stifle the discussion;
it's to keep the forums on topic by deleting spam and moving off-topic
posts to the appropriate area. We just want to create a nice
environment for people around the world to get together and discuss
various aspects of poker.

Will the CardPlayer Forum replace RGP? Of course not. But it's another
alternative for people to consider. I imagine there will be quite a
few people who end up becoming regular members of both groups.

(By the way, for those who know and care about such things,
CardPlayer's forum is php-based.)

To find the CardPlayer Forum, you can click on the "Poker Forum"
button at the top of the CardPlayer.com site, or follow this direct
link: http://forums.cardplayer.com

Thanks,
BJ Nemeth
Creative Director, Card Player Magazine

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Here's a picture of Anna to balance out the above.



Secondly, a giant subscription-based Party Poker hand history database:

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PokerEdge is a windows program that gives you access to a database of PartyPoker player statistics. It is much more than just a tool; It is a service. By subscribing to PokerEdge, you gain access to our massive database of player statistics - containing over 115,000 players, and gigabytes of hand history files. And the best part is that our database is updated daily! This means that the number of players tracked is growing daily, and you get the most up to date statistics.

http://www.poker-edge.com/

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I'm obviously a Poker Tracker guy, but I may try the above out and report back for ya'll.

Damnit, my time is up. My apologies to the fifty new poker blogs that I have yet to pimp. Next post, I swear.

Thanks for reading. I'll be gone till next Monday or later - I promise a better post next time. In the meantime, please don't forget about the blogger tourney.

Link of the Day:
That Baby is Breathtaking
The Ugly Babies Gallery proves one commonly accepted myth to be false: All newborn babies do not resemble Winston Churchill.

Nevermind. 30 minutes after that post, he removed the stolen link list.

And I was just amassing the forces. Awwww.

Anyway, thanks all. I'll try and post tonight.

For now, enjoy this new Annie Duke interview on Poker Lizard:

Exclusive interview with Annie

I've been down this road before. So has Pauly and the Poker Prof. I wrote supportive, flaming email on their behalf. Let's see if I can't recoup some of that karma here.

We all hate the fucking thieves. OK, annoyed more than hate. It's a matter of principle, damnit.

I hope everyone understands how much work I put into this humble poker blog and also, my attempts at supporting the poker blog community. I love pimping da blogs!!

And I'm happy to think that I have the most comprehensive, up-to-date poker blog list over there on the right.

But now, this jackass just stole it for his shitty, awful scam site. He wasn't even subtle about it! He's had two days to remove it, which he refused to do.

Go look at this page and his poker links on the right hand side.
He stole my entire list, including my 'Languishing' list, which I just recently commented out, in my code. Flat out copied. Lazy bastard.

Here is the evil site in question. I refuse to give a link so copy and paste....

http://www.casinomantra.com/pokeronline.htm

Gabriel Mora

"G Moraschini" moraschinig@yahoo.com

Feel free to email this bastard. I've been calling him to no avail.

The address he listed on a WHOIS search is for the public library. I can locate his real address with minimal effort but haven't had time yet. Hopefully it won't come to that.

If I end up with time, I'd like to email every single affiliate casino program he is hawking as well, noting his theft. If anyone else wants to do any digging, feel free.

I'd also like to put my foot up his ass.

Anyway, I'll hopefully be up with an uber-post tonite. At the very least, I'd like to pimp all the new poker bloggers out there.